#and just general manipulation is used by these religions to control people

[thehollowwriter]

"Christianity/religion is a mental illness" people can fuck right off thank you

[astrotruther]

Astro Observations

misc. (ii)

🐉 Narcissists may have Mars-Uranus aspects in their chart. Mars’s energy can be either constructive or destructive; pair that with Uranus' erratic quality, and it could make one manipulative. In my opinion, Mars & Uranus having more harsh aspects to multiple other planets could further confirm this. Look out for squares, especially Moon square Mars!

🐉 Sun harsh aspects to Neptune, even conjunction can be somewhat superficial. Neptune may bless them with a mystique that attracts public attention, but they stick to a surface-level public persona. Artists with these aspects may stick to cookie-cutter projects. E.g. Colleen Hover responding to criticism by saying 'I write to entertain not to educate'. Jake Paul also has this aspect. In worst cases there's a delusional egotism to this aspect. On the other hand, easy aspects will be more willing to go within and proudly display their shadows, creating art that is meaningful and leaves a lasting legacy.

🐉 I've observed Scorpio Sun/ Moon in charts of those who backhandedly bully people over things like their appearance. Water Moons in general are capable of inflicting deep emotional wounds to others when unevolved. Having Mercury in a fire sign makes it a lot worse since the words become harsher. I've had a Scorpio Sun - Pisces Moon girl admit to me that she makes fun of people because she had the same done to her while growing up.

🐉 Libra MC are often told they should be models. Understandable because they're so photogenic!

🐉 Pluto-Ascendant easy aspects & conjunction are always reinventing themselves. It's easier for these people to let go of things that don't serve them and realign themselves with their inner true selves. They're skilled at coming to terms with their dark sides and alchemizing it to create a positive impact in the world.

🐉 On the contrary, harsh aspects may feel like they can't be themselves due to external factors or a certain image/ aesthetic that they have to uphold. Some may be child actors/ activists or made it big in early years making it hard to disrupt their public persona. It's way harder for them to branch out within their career field. Ascendant at 0° might have the same effect. E.g. Billie Eilish, Demi Lovato, Finn Wolfhard, Darsheel Safary, Malala Yousafzai, Meghan Trainor, Hilary Duff.

🐉 I've seen so many takes on the 0° & most people romanticizing it somehow. It may manifest in a divine way for those who are self-aware/ have evolved. however MOST people aren't. So it gives a somewhat negative quality to the placement, e.g. Jake Paul has his MC at 0°.

🐉 Moon-Pluto aspects not only symbolize a strained relationship with the mother but also with other women. A lot of trauma you accumulated while growing up was because of the women around you. Some of them may have made you feel bad about yourself because they were threatened by you. The signs Moon & Pluto are in could give more context, e.g. Aries Moon, Sag. Pluto = invalidating your anger, not letting you be yourself and forcing you to be someone they like, forcing religion on you from a young age etc.

🐉 Uranus square MC will have a career-ruining public scandal at least once. All I can say is avoid doing shady stuff and if it's external factors beyond your control, handle it with grace, lay low, you'll get your chance to shine again.

🐉 Moon square Lilith is an enemy placement. Moon person hates Lilith person's guts because Lilith person may have hurt them in some way. Moon could want revenge on Lilith for what they did.

🐉 Venus-Saturn aspects may have had people criticize their appearance while growing up, but they end up having insane glow-ups. Their most attractive years come somewhat later in life and they age very gracefully.

🐉 Moon in Cancer/ Moon conjunct Jupiter people possess the ability to manipulate, sometimes on a mass level. It's on them to use their emotional superpowers to influence people in a positive way and not just keep banking on their victim narratives. Nonetheless, these people can hold public interest for a long time.

🐉 Venus in 10th House synastry is often a clout/ PR couple. E.g. Glenn Powell & Sydney Sweeney.

Click daily to help Palestinians🍉🙏🏽: https://arab.org/click-to-help/palestine/

[youremyheaven]

Random Astrology Observations

Moon in the 1h is often talked about like 🥺🥺wears their heart on their sleeve🥹🥹uwu softie way but tbh Moon in 1h can make someone incredibly manipulative, they know just what to say and when to say it and know how to work their audience, this is perhaps why this placement is found in the charts of soooo many successful actors. ex: Leonardo DiCaprio, Audrey Hepburn, Henry Cavill, Charlie Chaplin, Priyanka Chopra, Antonio Banderas, Brendan Fraser, Benicio Del Toro, Jared Padelecki, Val Kilmer, Adrien Brody etc

I think this is a very manipulative placement, again manipulation is not in and of itself a bad thing, its what we use it for that matters. Some people completely lack the ability to manipulate at all (they don't have Moon influence)

2. Debilitated placements point to unconventional intelligence & wisdom in that area. I feel like they've cracked the code . They struggle a lot but when they triumph it's magic

3. I've mentioned this in other posts but many notorious sex offenders have Venus influence. Actions of this sort, as well as criticizing others' beauty, not taking care of yourself/surroundings, being shabby or disorderly in general are all things that harm your Venus. Abusing someone is the quickest way to ruin your Venus, you start corroding and that ugliness begins to manifest on the outside.

Ex: Harvey Weinstein looks like a cartoonish villain

4. As I explore the astrology content put out by others across different platforms, I've seen how the nature of the take themselves are so specific and unique to the person making them. Claire Nakti has a tendency imo to focus heavily on romance, sex and women's sexual behaviour and what sort of men they attract.

Going through her website, it's obvious that she's deeply immersed in occult & esoteric philosophy (all of which ties together with vedic astrology, philosophy, Buddhism etc because I truly believe that spiritual truths are universal and different schools of thought/religion/culture/mythology express these same truths in their own way with a LOT of recurring patterns) and Carl Jung as well.

It's studying Jung that helped me understand that what we see or draw from something is a reflection of who we are. As a beginner to vedic astrology, I initially believed Claire's one dimensional portrayal to be the all encompassing truth of a nakshatra until I started doing my own reading and research.

The things I talk about or the patterns I find are a reflection of me and I get a lot of asks about why I don't do xyz nak and honestly it's not as simple as doing research for an essay for uni, you kind of have to have a gnosis or innate knowing of its themes, something to base your search off of. And different naks call to me at different points. I come across content that describes certain naks in lights i could've never imagined which is to say that gnosis or inner knowing is an important aspect of studying anything esoteric, it kind of has to be revealed to you and what you see, what you can discern is a reflection of you.

5. you have to have a strong Rahu to discern patterns and similarities because Rahu is maya/illusion and a well-placed Rahu will allow you to see through those patterns/illusions. it will be very hard for someone without a strong Rahu to find similarities or common tropes, patterns, themes etc. Seeing through the veil or fog is Rahuvian.

6. Claire Nakti made a video about Venusian men where she said they were the ideal type of man and tbh that just confirmed my suspicion that she's Moon dominant because I think Moon dominant people are attracted to Venusians but in my humble opinion both Venusian men and Moon dominant men are some of the most batshit crazy people (manipulative and controlling at the least, psychopathic at worst) basically men who have a lot of Yin tend to be psychotic

7. I've noticed that Revati people tend to speak in a very verbose way. Nigella Lawson, Revati Moon is a really good example. Obviously other placements will also impact speech

8. Moon dominant people hate it when others share sob stories. They're the type to have the least amount of empathy for others and will either react in a neutral way or like they don't understand why you're saying this stuff at all. They're bored by other people's mundane problems and make it known as well. Not people you want to open up to.

My former friend was this way, I once cried in front of her and she showed zero emotion and didn't even try to comfort me lol

9. The way others treat us is the way we treat others. ik this is a basic take but karma is cause and effect. if you're dismissive of others feelings, other people will be dismissive of yours. what you do is what will be done unto you. Its so crazy to see how people who've been treated like shit by their friends will turn around and treat other people like shit. this is sooo basic but genuinely dont do anything to others that you dont want done to you.

[roadside-oddity]

There is a Rampant and Vicious Cycle in the Online Left That Needs to Be Addressed

Every leftist needs to understand that not every proclaimed leftist is a safe person or one that is acting in good faith. Many people in this sphere --even if they are minorities themselves-- are Abusers. Let me be clear: they are Abusers REGARDLESS of --NOT because of-- them being a minority. Despite this, many of them have weaponized their standing as a minority in order to get away with their behavior and achieve what they see as some form of power and control over others. Let me be clear. I am referring to those that:

Manipulate and lie about pressing situations (especially when it's to harm another person or demographic)

Excessively use idpol to either elevate themselves to holier than thou levels ("listen to ___ people but only when it's something I agree with, which just so happens to devolve from constructive change to making others grovel and plead forgiveness endlessly before me") or belittle others (ie their skin color, gender, queerness, disability, neurodivergence, religion, age, etc.) in order to discount their point or not treat them as equal human beings; yes, even if their skin tone is white or if they are men, abuse does not have to be backed up by systemic issues in order to be abusive or at the very least harmful (sidenote: this does not apply to people talking about their experiences as a minority that is otherwise not experienced or understood by others, the issue I'm pointing out is when it's twisted to cover everything not directly tied to their identity and proclaim themselves as the only ones allowed to be the voice of reason, therefore shutting up everyone else and to avoid any constructive criticism or discussion)

Act on rage and at times even trauma to bring forth harmful ideals (ex: truly hating every person of a demographic, wishing for a genocide, making actual death or rape threats towards someone or a group, conversion, etc)(sidenote: I'm not discounting those that have trauma and even have harmful thoughts, just please seek help and understand that it is not healthy nor sustainable to paint or alter reality to be in line with what trauma makes you believe)

Actively try to get others they don't agree with to either permanently leave the internet or commit suicide and even celebrate when either happens

Excessively test others on their "purity" on unachievable standards to the detriment of everyone and Leftism as a whole (purity culture is fueled by christian culture in order to disguise doomerism, accepting defeat when change is not possible, of which is the very thing that will kill leftism)

Infight over weird made up issues (remember how divide and conquer is a war strategy? To split hairs and discount others for non-issues is to do the work of conservatives and nazis for them)

Shut down people or discussions over minor slights such as using an incorrect word/phrasing or any numerous perceived mistakes (example I've seen here: berating a person with schizophrenia (or a trans person or any other minority) for using a derogatory term for themselves when they're talking about how everyone else is speaking over them and not listening), ignoring the hypocrisy or not taking into account any number of mundane causes such as non-native english speakers, generational gaps, being in the process of learning (either recovering from harmful beliefs or simple ignorance), using those terms to prove a point (such as that example I mentioned above), neurodivergence, etc.

Not letting others talk about their experiences of oppression when those experiences don't match theirs, instead opting to call those people bigoted for contrived reasons

A rejection of nuance, intersectionalism, and even reality to better suit their goals (ex: claiming that every trans man benefits from the patriarchy and can never experience misogyny)

Misuse of therapy speak and terminology in order to water down those terms and render them near meaningless so they can weaponize them under the pretense of their original use (ex: gaslighting), or to cut off any need to connect or sympathize with other human beings and instead speak to them like a PR message (refer to this video by Zena and Poppy for reference)

They never speak on true leftist/progressive ideals or positive change, they only engage in destructive discourse or any behavior listed above

Making baseless dangerous accusations towards someone they don't like. Before you go harr harr you're doing that, I'm not calling out any specific person and am merely listing dangerous behaviors I've seen people here act out. What I am referring to are when someone casually calls someone specific a predator (or whatever else) with absolutely zero proof and expecting everyone to believe them no questions asked. This has been shown to ruin people's lives

Any other similar behaviors not included in this list (as well as classic logical fallacies), but what I've mentioned above should paint you a good picture

Every example I've pointed out were REAL EVENTS I've seen from people that proclaim themselves as leftists or even just progressive, and sometimes are even minorities themselves (some even infight against their own communities using the behaviors listed above, often out of internalized bigotry)(an example of a real event that happened here recently were when several people were making rape threats towards a trans man by the username of @a-faggot-with-opinions). To be blunt, I'm pointing out exclusionism in practically every form, asexual discourse, transandrophobia, TERFs/radfems, TEHMs, tankies, "cornbreadtube", nationalists and ethnonationalists, and all else I don't have the terminology for For many of the people that fall under that bullet list I would hesitate to even refer to them as leftist or progressive, as they never seem to actually show they act on it or even believe in it, only making an appearance in those communities for their own destructive personal gain; hell, often times they have ideals that directly go against what those communities stand for! Examples include TERFs with white supremacist beliefs, transandrophobes that are misogynistic, ethnonationalists that are antisemitic, puritans that are ableist, the list goes on forever. Once you know what to look for, you can see the hidden or overt bigotry behind their false "progressive" statements

No one is infallible No one is better than everyone else You are not immune to propaganda No one is immune from behaving abusively

These people are dangerous, whether they actually qualify as abusers --as I've been referring to them as such for brevity and impact-- or are people that are engaging in hurtful or fully abusive behavior (use this paragraph as a disclaimer, I of course can't know if someone is an abuser in real life unless there is documented evidence of such). Regardless, they are hurting the left and are letting the right win

If you see any of these behaviors either 1) take caution if you're unsure, 2) block them, or 3) if you have the fortitude, call them out. Either way, use your best judgement and think for yourself (or discuss with good faith leftists if you're uncertain). And remember, often times (albeit not always) they are actually fully aware of their disgusting behavior and are choosing to act maliciously, not ignorantly.

Stay safe, log off, do what you can to support your local community and leftism as a whole, don't let these people distract from the real issues at hand. Have empathy, if you don't have empathy then act in compassion, if you don't or refuse to do either please do not engage in politics. Misanthropy has no place in matters concerning humanity.

And remember: we have to stand together in unity so we can create a better future for all

[fossilfan39]

I love your modern jetko ideas :) do u have any more headcanons (modern or otherwise)? u shld write something…

Woah thank you :))))!!! I definitely want to try my hand at writing something BUT I’m shy.. so for now im posting my concepts

Jet is Not socially ..challenged.. like zuko..BUT after years of having this impenetrable mask + intensely manipulative tendencies as a means of survival, he suffered a sort of burn out. With time he more or less moved past that. Still a bit of benign manipulation, but only in the sense that he has an understanding of people in a way that easily allows him to choose the right phrasing to get his desired response. <- This wouldn’t work with zuko because he’s autistic doesn’t seem to operate using the same social rules as everyone else, so Jet would lean into gratuitous flirting and comments so sincere they almost come off as sarcastic. Attempting to charm zuko by being disarmingly genuine.

Zuko is generally miserable and hard to get along with (at least in the beginning). Jet would be drawn to him because of his scar <- “you’ve had a hard life like me trope. In my au zuko goes to an all boys catholic school, and his family is catholic. Their relationship with religion is complicated at best. it’s more of a performance + Ozai using religion & shame as a means of control. One must imagine God being a surrogate for your father when he cannot reach you. Zuko is a huge dick to Jet at the start, only because Jet lets him get away with it. Zuko’s never been around someone who allows him to take up so much space. Pushing jet away just makes him even more interested. They make me sick.

Jet would .listen to 2010s trap and hip hop, have at least one piercing, and smoke cigarettes

Zuko would listen to 90s emo. I say this because I believe URSA would listen to 90s emo. I have many modern Ursa opinions. Because I can imagine anything….

I have limited knowledge of New York/Jersey BUT☝️I know enough to know jet belongs there (or Chicago perhaps. But east coast ftw)…. He would be chinese + Italian <- inspired by natla jet actor. Adore him.

Zuko would be a native New Yorker. I find the idea of Zuko being from New York & forced to relocate to Jersey to live with iroh funny. He would hate that. He would commute to school <- I’m not sure how plausible this is. Feel free to let me know…

[sugoi-writes]

it’s mink but tumblr wants to force me to send asks via main so i had to go anon lmao

but you had to know that i was gonna ask about this 😈❤️‍🔥 I NEED TO KNOW WHERE THIS DELICIOUS MASOCHISM CAME FROM 🙏🏻❤️‍🔥

He couldn't deny how good this felt; he, himself, would have a lot to answer for later, in the privacy of the basement. He moaned as he thought of his future atonement, limbs spread and head to the floor to form the cross before a statue of Jesus. His fingers would be clawing into the floor as he recited his virtues and prayers pleading forgiveness for a sin he felt no guilt for.

(MINK, MY BELOVED-- 😭❤️✨️)

That thirst was brought to you by: my c*nt going into autopilot--

Honestly, HONESTLY though: for as much people peg (h e h) Alastor as a sadist, I think the sadism has roots in something deeper.... In fact, the phrase "it takes one to know one" feels SO Alastor Coded to me.

Even in the canon, Alastor is a manipulative asshole with a choke hold on leashes... while he himself is on a leash to a higher power.

I feel that all the torment he dishes out comes from the place of: I've been there. I've done that. I want control back... but also: a its a guilty pleasure. Almost akin to a brat fighting back against a dom? Something about putting him in his place is foreign, so different for him. He will genuinely be interested and DEFINITELY aroused from the mere defiance, let alone any success. But just know: he would be an absolute brat the whole time, unless you've made him "hail mary" few times.

To put it in the perspective of someone who is a manager, kind of a bitch IRL, and someone who generally has a short fuse: it's nice to be able to come home and be reduced to a tiny, little thing. No thoughts, no adult decisions: only bliss. To be so small, near powerless, while someone else takes care of you or your desires... or, while they use that weakness to drive you crazy? Vdhdbshs it gets me fucking GOIN

Call it projecting, but sometimes Alastor LIKES being made into a quivering little mess. Nun!Alastor, who is oppressed and objectified by his clergymen and religion ESPECIALLY.

Tldr: he's got a kink/pension for power imbalances; whether they rule in his favor or not✨️

[leprosycock]

I've been wondering! If you dont mind me asking, which of the cults related to which character in the ttwky quiz, and why? Also honestlu any explanation of any of the choices in the quiz would be great, I love hearing and learning about these guys

:D yes!! yes of course!!!

- “pick a cult that interests you the most”

jonestown and the ant hill kids were related to jay because they were both directed and controlled by charismatic but pathetic men who presented themselves as relatable and kind and generous benefactors and they used their perversion of religion and social justice to manipulate and control the people they claimed to love. heaven’s gate and the manson family were related to eva because they were knotted into rat kings through togetherness, common ideas, and a sense of faith and community. a lot of this also involved sexual exploration and discovery of the self and a greater purpose. the children of god and the true russian orthodox church are related to annie because of several self-imposed rules relating to pleasure, indulgence, and family ties. they also heavily toy with ideas of self-harm as a kind of cleansing mechanism and are ridiculously isolated, closing themselves off to ideas and living spaces that keep them safe and comfortable. they have a lot of strange ideas about sex and the body that are impossible for them to let go of because they’re so intrinsically tied to who they are as people.

- “choose the name of a mel bochner painting”

mel bochner is a typographist and his statements are the art itself, so these phrases were just meant to apply to the boys themselves. ‘do i have to draw you a picture?’ and ‘meathead’ were annie because the former is a childish expression of frustration, anger, exhaustion, and rules imposed by small-minded people who mean to control the art world; the latter is a manifestation about self-loathing and hating traits reflected back on oneself. ‘i don’t want to think about it’ and ‘it goes without saying / in other words / talk is cheap’ are jay for somewhat obvious reasons—they’re all avoidance tactics and a reservation from elaboration. a very strict want and need to ignore the worst of his trauma and never unpack it. don’t talk to him. he hates it. eva gets ‘kick against the pricks (blah… blah… blah)’ and ‘money/obscene’ because he fancies himself as a punk and a drag on society for who he is and how he performs and he loves to wallow in that and every bit of attention he can get. he wants to be famous and he wants to be good and he wants to be loved and he wants to be popular and he wants to be a subject of ridicule and hatred because it fuels him and keeps him alive.

- “choose an adult swim show”

jay’s are moral orel and venture bros for. obvious reasons. but just in case you’re unaware they both focus on an emotionally devastated abusive father whose traumatic childhood still affects him and he extends that to not only the people in his life, but his sons as well. annie gets space ghost and aqua teen because they’re both highly surreal and write extremely insensitive jokes and are cheap, cobbled-together shows that present strange characters in strange settings, but are inherently and devastatingly human. eva gets smiling friends and superjail because they’re loud, colorful, attention-grabbing, shrewd, edgy, and tons of fucking fun.

- “what feels good?”

jay (fatherhood):

annie (too-grown-up child):

eva (rotting corpse of a child inside an adult):

- “choose something that flies”

annie is an airplane and a lost balloon. airplane = wanting to escape, balloon = bright fresh young thing that will forever be lost. jay is a mosquito and a jumping cactus because they’re both annoying and dangerous things that plague arizona. eva is a canary and a bat because he’s a free spirit who still longs for companionship and will bite things because it’s just in his nature.

- “choose something gross”

these were all just things that i think each boy hates more than anything else either due to trauma or sensory issues. annie = coleslaw + puddle of pee, jay = the smell of metal on your hands + sticky stain on the counter, eva = wet food in the sink + spiders

- “pick some hentai to read”

annie = Kasetsu Toilet Sanchoume/Brocon!: i won’t explain this one because it contains spoilers

jay = Pet Shop [yaoi]/AS GOD SAYS: both are stories about older people abusing their power and influence in order to attract compliant young boys

eva = Best Friend *woof*/Super-market sweets time!!: you get no points for guessing what the first one is about. the second one is about lolis dressing up as idols and invading a supermarket to seduce older men just looking to buy groceries, which is what he imagines his dynamic with jay to be

- “pick a popular early 00s character”

annie is domo-kun and gloomy bear just because he’s boyish and edgy and emo. jay is happy bunny and spongebob because he is permanently stuck in an era that has long since passed him by and he wants to be loved and clung to. eva is gir and hello kitty because he’s bright and loud and has a ton of different outfits. this one really didn’t have a lot going for it i just kind of pulled it out of my ass

- “choose a place that’s overgrown”

annie is a local park and the woods nearby. they’re childhood spaces that are often not a lot of fun and typically contain a lot of animal and insect life and are rife with poison. jay is the backyard and the basement. a backyard because it’s a staple of a once-lived-in house that is now devastated and gnarled and all evidence of childhood is condemned, and a basement because they’re a staple of new england homes and they’re often dark, damp, unloved, and terrifying. eva is a condemned gas station covered in busted neon lights and old advertisements as well as a playground that is often retreaded by brave kids and arrogant teens looking to start problems.

i’m not going over the “choose a song” one because it’s sooo cringe and i regret putting it in. no one likes that question

but that’s pretty much it!! <333 i hope you found it enlightening 🙂‍↕️

[goodboyaudios]

Is it possible to give us a general resume of the Triad?

Like what's it's social standards? Why does it exist? What's it's purpose in society? When did this whole "doing things in the backgrounds(like sub-delta)" even start? Were they always like this?

Y'know, stuff like that.

Pls?? :3

The Triad's original purpose was to give hope to a world that was facing mass hysteria.

At the time, New Tennessee, the planet, had been split in half by cosmic horrors from Untempora called Leviathans and with it, half the population of the world had been consumed.

People were frightened as the Paladin King had met an untimely demise leading his black crusade into the abyss.

During this time, the women of New Tenessee who had been put in the position of taking care of the sick rather than helping to fight on the front lines, were forced to handle the panicked civilians and soldiers who truly believed this would be their end.

These women were the backbone of sanity for the paladins as they faced the unknown horrors now residing in the mantle of their world. The leading women were the many wives of the now deceased Paladin King. They introduced a religion and the concepts of theism in order to stir the hopes of the people. And thus the Triad of the 3 gods was born.

This might seem farfetched to a lot of you, but to a people that are desperate to stay alive, these ideals sparked and became incredibly popular among the citizens. But it wasn't enough.

The wives of the king recognized that, while their religion had brought hope, it would only be a matter of time before belief faded to anarchy once again. So, they studied and researched the artifacts found on the planet when it was first found. Within them, the found the knowledge of mental sciences. They learned to control the minds of their warriors to keep their minds from slipping into insanity as they fought. They did recognize this inhumane manipulation of the human mind as dark magic, so they disguised it as "the will of the gods coursing through the bodies of their beloved warriors".

One clan in particular willingly submitted their entire family to this "supreme will". This clan was Clan Mirio. This, of course, was not known to Ahlanaas, who was currently in the thick of it, fighting monsters for his countrymen, who he'd assumed were doing just fine. You know how that story goes though, of course.

From then until now, the Triad opted to be the true voice of the Paladins, preaching their holy ideals. But they knew that, to a bunch of punch-happy, battle hymn chanting men, they would need a male figure as their leader. Something for future cannon fodder to look up to and be inspired by. Someone for the word of the gods to enact through, at least to the masses eyes. The Triad elected to stay in the shadows, while a new Paladin King rose among the ranks.

By the way, that someone would've been Athion Blightfinder or Ahlanaas Mirio, but both of them mysteriously disappeared.

While the Paladin King acts as the figure everyone looks up to, the future wives that make up the triad is the real governing force, pulling strings behind the scenes. And whenever they screw up, they pin it on the king, absolving them of all blame.

The Triad's idea to ostracize bastard children, comes from multiple motivations. The first, obviously, is to have a test pool to experiment on without anyone truly caring. The second is to keep men loyal to their wives. For if they dare to step out of line, their "others" will be forcibly removed from the picture.

The incident with Mirio also made them realize that the men should never be allowed to read, lest the anger of mankind be turned on them.

For women its okay, because if a woman ever found out, no man would believe her, but the Triad would believe her...and that's how they'd get them indoctrinated into joining them. By forcing women and men to turn on each other. If a man ever found out...he'd never be able to trust or even look at a woman the same way.

Did I ever mention that Albus is sexist? I thought I made it obvious in the story, but I just wanted to double check lol

Hope that explains everything!

[artist-issues]

i do have a question, not to attack your beliefs at all, but please could you elaborate on how you think rebecca sugar is attacking christianity? I read your post and I really don't think you're correct in thinking she's equating religion to an evil space dictator she made in her kids show.

White diamond is a powerful figure who can create beings, yes, but she also is imperfect. She is controlling and manipulative and unable to see anyone else as equal or even able to begin to measure up to her. God isn't anything like that. He is mostly seen (though it varies person to person) as a perfect all knowing, all seeing figure who created the entire universe in his image and has a plan for everything. White Diamond certainly isn't all seeing, all knowing and as far as we know the only thing she created was the other gems, most likely from the resources of the planets around her. Putting aside all of the LGBTQ+ things for a moment, and going off the basis that you're equating her and god, and that it was meant to mirror the real world, wouldn't it also make sense for the rest of the characters to then say Oh my diamond or something of that nature? It's a minor detail but instead they say oh my stars.

And with the LGBTQ+ portion of this, I don't think your opinion's going to be swayed by anything I say, but I can provide some possible perspective or insight. In steven universe there is a lot of LGBTQ+ representation, yes, especially for a children's show where that isn't widely accepted at all and they had to work very hard to include it at all. If you believe God has a plan for everything, then wouldn't it be impossible to go against Him and His will? And if that isn't what you believe, and that we can go against God, or that he's testing us to be able to go to heaven, do you think only people that believe in Him will go to heaven? There are plenty of LGBTQ+ people who believe in god.

You could make the argument that they're picking and choosing which parts of the bible they follow, isn't that exactly what you're doing as well? He not only said to love thy neighbors, do unto others as they will do unto you, but i might add that eating shrimp is mentioned as a sin about 12 more times in the bible than homosexuality is. There is slavery and rape and genocide in the bible as well, but i really hope you aren't following those parts.

(I do not mean any of what i said to be disrespectful to you or your religion/beliefs, just here to put in my 2 cents)

I don't think you can declare the fundamental message of Steven Universe--(which is, generally "your flaws are what make you incredible, you're perfect the way you are, and if you want to change yourself into something you like more, that's even better")--without attacking the fundamental beliefs of Christianity, and what God says, and who He is. (I made those points in my previous post.)

In Steven Universe, flaws are defined as "anything you do that deviates from what you were made for." Pearl is considered "flawed" by the bad guys, and by the "wrong" way of thinking, because she has no aristocrat she's serving. Garnet is considered "flawed" because she's a forbidden fusion of a Sapphire and Ruby who aren't doing their jobs. Amethyst is considered "flawed" because she came out of the ground undercooked and small and doesn't fight as well as other quartzes. But Homeworld (the bad guys, who the narrative call "wrong" are depicted as incorrect for believing that those are flaws. But, deeper than that, you have to realize that it's White Diamond who made them (with her injectors.)

White Diamond dictated what they were made for, and that they were made at all. Just like God. But she's "wrong" for believing that in the narrative, and "wrong" for trying to tell gems who they are (because supposedly they're the only ones who get to decide who they are, and they call it "freedom.")

Now, it is true that God is flawless and perfect. He makes no mistakes and has nothing to learn because He's all-knowing and always right. But that's why it's so clear that Steven Universe is against the God if the Bible. They acknowledge who Christians claim God is by setting up White Diamond (who goes on and on about how perfect she is, how she can make everyone else perfect by shining her light through them, and how she can return them to the function they were made for.) and then, after they acknowledge that by setting her up, they knock her down. And in doing so, they attempt to knock the Christian view of God down.

By having their God-parallel character suddenly have flaws, like all the main characters, she can both be proved wrong about her perfection philosophy, and be regulated to human status. "If God thinks we need saving from our flaws and wants to erase Nything that doesn't line up with His original purpose for us, He's wrong. And if He's wrong, He's flawed, too! After all, God is no higher than us."

And like I said, that philosophy, that mischaracterization of God, is exactly what the serpent said to Eve at the beginning of the world. Same old lie. They set up a God-like character, made her perfection a bad thing, and then punished her for it--and then regulated The God-like character to "no better or more in authority than us."

Now, about what you're saying about Christians and the characterization of the God of the Bible--

God loves us. That does not mean He loves the things we do that are wrong. Just like parents (imperfect examples though they are) love us in spite of the fact that we scream hurtful things at them when we're teenagers, and in spite of the mistakes we made. They don't love our mistakes and our flaws--they love us. God doesn't love your flaws--He loves you.

And, he has to punish sin. Because He's just and perfect--and at the same time, He's loving. If someone broke into your house and raped your spouse and killed your dog and stole your most valuable possessions, they caught him, and he appeared before a judge, would the judge be just and good to say, "I know you did all those things, but I'm a loving judge, so I'm going to let you go free with no punishment?" No. He'd be a terrible judge, and actually, an unloving one, too, because it's not loving to the victim of the sin or the committer of the sin to ignore the reality of the sin without punishment.

But God does love us, in spite of our flaws, sin, the fact that we committed cosmic treason: and you can tell because He punished His Son, Jesus, instead of us. And Jesus took that punishment that we deserved, willingly, so that what's broken in us can be restored, and more importantly, our relationship with God can be restored. That's what the Bible teaches: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16.) The Bible also teaches love in the context of what God defines as love. When you "do unto others as you would want done to you," the idea is that you want what's actually best for yourself. And what's actually best for yourself is not always what you feel like having. If you feel like touching the hot stove, that's not what's best for you; you'll get burned. If you feel like being sexually intimate with someone of the same sex, (or even someone of the opposite sex who isn't going to put your relationship with God first) that's not what's best for you; you're doing a twisted version of the good thing (sex) God made you to enjoy, and it'll lead to brokenness. So when you say "do unto others as you would have done to you," you have to remember the context.

It's Jesus speaking, and He finished the sentence with: "for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Well, the Law (Leviticus, Deuteronomy,) condemns homosexuality. So the context dictates that the Golden Rule is not just "leave others alone about what makes them happy, just like you want others to leave you alone about what makes you happy."

[madamlaydebug]

The ENSLAVEMENT SYSTEM IS CRASHING....Signs of crash are everywhere. A RESTART will follow ★

The enslavement system includes:

1. Controlling systems through laws and regulations

2. Religions filled with lies and deceptions which have resulted in many wars and deaths of billions.

3. Money, debt and banking systems.

4. Finance and economic systems

5. Trading and commerce systems

6. Import and export systems

7. Corruption and deception system through threats/briberies/propagandas.

8. MIND CONTROL through inplants, frequency weapons, and etheric manipulation.

9. Etc....

All of them are crashing now.

In the midst of chaos and reordering, Remember to raise your consciousness, vibrations and frequencies. Say goodbye to enslavement and say hello to GALACTIC CITIZENSHIPS and INTERSTELLAR INTERACTION among Star Nations.

٠•● Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

The powers that be are desperately attempting to institute safeguards to a system that is crashing. WE just can’t have an economic model which funnels resources into the hands of the elite, and a social system that disregards an ethical and sustainable approach to the environment, without something eventually breaking. With their last breath they are creating secret trade agreements designed to implement a world government, yet there’s a growing community of awakening people that are discussing and designing innovative solutions to the systemic mess WE’re in.

The masses have not yet awoken to the fact that WE operate under a privately owned central banking system which maintains the monopolization of our monetary system for a dozen or so international banking families. In fact, Many of our so-called leaders – such as politicians, charity organizations and those in the public spotlight – have awoken to this insanity either.

If WE were to collectively recognize this, there is no doubt that WE would instantly stand up and institute a banking system & a world that is created for the people, by the people.

٠•● Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

The Awakening Of Society Is Just As Important As The Awakening Of Our Self ★

Spirituality is a very personal affair regardless of the various pathways or disciplines that ONE may follow. Yet even though there is an abundance of avenues for spiritual endeavor, there is generally a universal agreement on the principle of unity.

"If reality is unified, then WE must also accept that everything is essentially equal."

There are many ways that ONE may be introduced to this philosophy. WE may have been brought up around it via our family. WE might have had a profound revelation in a ONE-off experience. Some are initiated through ongoing paranormal activity. Others just intuitively feel it. Altered mind states could have been the catalyst. A gradual or instant revolution could have occurred in our mind where synchronicity deposed coincidence. There could have also been an influence by assorted texts and teachings which infer this similar conclusion. For most of us, uncovering the wisdom of unity most likely occurred via a combination of channels.

"Transcending the illusion of disconnection is a personal path."

Regardless of our beliefs, and the series of events or informational resources that led to our personal awakening, our fundamental understanding is unity. WE are each a part of a complex integrated whole, and our external environment is a reflection of our fundamental nature, including what is in harmony with us and what isn’t. So, irrespective of how peaceful WE have set up our internal environment, if WE truly want to experience peace, WE need to transform the outer world – the collective mental and physical landscapes that WE inhabit. If WE are all truly unified, WE have a responsibility as part of this awakening to continually heal and grow our internal and external worlds.

"The personal awakening is synonymous to the collective awakening."

A Global Metaphysical View ★

Unity can be used as a universal term to describe the outcomes of various fields of thought. Examples include: Energy; Mind; Consciousness; Holographic universe; Light; Love; Spirit; the Source; the Field; the Akashic Field; the Zero-point Energy Field; Quantum Field of Possibilities; the Collective Unconscious; Undivided Wholeness; Nirvana; One; God etc. If these are all equal to each other in terms of their agreement that a unifying principle exists, then WE have arrived at an agreed global metaphysical position which incorporates both our rational and intuitive hemispheres.

"The primary nature of reality is unified."

Irrespective of what reality is literally made of, whether its essence is of a material or immaterial nature, it’s irrelevant to our goals. As long as we agree that a property of reality is unity, and that unity inherently implies that everything is fundamentally equal, then together WE can get on with making this earthly experience fair and peaceful for all.

"Earth’s global culture needs to heal and grow as ONE."

That is why an agreed metaphysical view for our global society has significant implications for our future. From both a personal and societal standpoint, as well as a rational and intuitive standpoint, WE know to treat everyONE and everything uniformly. The way WE care for ourselves should be equivalent to the way that WE care for others. Our philosophical and practical social systems should also ensure that each person has access to the resources they need to adequately survive and thrive.

"Because WE are unified, the suffering of others is a reflection of our own suffering."

No matter how far WE may be personally removed from it, the reality is the majority of our fellow man is distressed from a lack of external and/or internal resources. The former is strongly influenced from an unequal distribution of food, water, shelter, infrastructure, education, medicine and political representation, whilst the latter from a lack of knowledge and skills in emotional regulation and psychological balancing, as well as a poor conceptual capacity to face and overcome the challenges to establishing and maintaining one’s inner peace.

"Suffering is pandemic across the so-called developing and developed nations."

Translating a Global Metaphysical View Into Practice ★

When WE individually undertake a process of spiritual introspection, WE all arrive at the exact same place; unity. Yet when we translate that wisdom into practice, the result is a plethora of personal, philosophical and cultural differences. That is why so many distinct religions exist, especially because the expression of how WE should operationalize this perspective is subject to the environmental influences present during its inception and development.

"There are infinite expressions of how to live in unity."

Now that many people undertake this process outside the context of pre-established models, it is no wonder that there are so many individualized methodologies to spirituality. And there’s nothing wrong with that either; there is no ONE strict way to live, so as long as it doesn’t conflict with the primary principle of unity and its inherent implications, then it should be encouraged and embraced.

“Regardless of the personal path WE choose to take, spirituality is a journey of enlightenment for both the inner and outer realms.”

¨

The Health and Growth of The Self ★

WE are all subject to the suffering of the self and it is our personal role to transcend it. But our health is much more than is usually defined; it’s not just our physical and mental well-being. The reality is WE have many layers of our life to take care of including our physical, psychological, emotional, philosophical, sexual, behavioral, creative, social and spiritual vitalities. With this in mind, WE should be continually asking ourselves what areas need more attention and what strategies can WE implement to heal and grow. WE also need to find a true LOVE for ourselves.

"Therapeutic and developmental practices which harmonize all of our life vitalities ensures that WE raise our vibration and align ourselves closer to our spiritual path."

Even though WE literally make the free choice on how WE think, feel, act and live, WE are still strongly influenced by our environment, such as parents, peers, culture, society, government and the age WE live in. Therefore, as an adult WE are both independent and conditioned agents. But WE can transcend our conditioning and align ourselves to the fundamental wisdom and knowledge of the universe. Therefore, the time WE become truly free is the time that WE take full responsibility of ourselves and ensure that WE, not anyone or anything else, are the most influential factor for how we evolve for the rest of our lives. That of course means taking full responsibility for how WE think and feel.

"To be truly free, WE must empower ourselves to guide our thoughts and emotions."

It’s the basics. Excuses which blame something or someONE for our thoughts and feelings just don’t cut it on the spiritual path. Spiritually, WE have experiences for our growth; WE are co-creators of our experience. Now this doesn’t mean that there aren’t consequences for the actions of others which hurt us, the response WE provide is incorporated into the overall context of the negative and positive vibrations that they’ve attracted into their life.

"If people act unjust, then justice will inevitably be served."

The new age mantra that “everything happens for a reason” may be true in the sense that experiences have innate information that WE can capitalize on to progress us on our path of enlightenment, but it is equally true that proportional actions need to transpire in response. Just like WE should respond to the injustice WE serve ourselves, WE should also respond to that which surrounds us. The tricky part is determining what that response should be which is why WE draw on both our rational and intuitive capacities to guide us.

"Not only should WE accept our experiences, but also respond to them accordingly."

It is true that WE make so-called ‘mistakes’ which deliver us to our destiny; however that doesn’t mean WE should make that same choice again. WE should learn from it. There are innumerable times that WE have had an undesirable experience which resulted in our growth, regardless if it was influenced from the actions of ourselves or others. And that’s what WE need; to learn, to heal, and to grow. WE need to harmonious our energies and become our new, more developed selves in every moment. When WE conceive of our experience this way – where our wants are the healthy and unhealthy desires of our ego and our needs are the experiences WE require for sustained growth – then WE always have something to offer ourselves.

"If WE process each experience as an opportunity to learn, regardless of how undesirable that experience is, WE always get exactly what WE need: growth."

Every moment is therefore an opportunity to progress our health and well-being. When WE treat ourselves and others disappointingly, WE should process it in the context of our learning and then make amends. The same applies when somebody treats us poorly; when WE are exposed to underdeveloped actions by others, WE should embrace it as a part of us, as well as give a calculated response in return. After all, WE have accepted that WE are fundamentally united. For example, what information and energy can WE embrace from it? Is there some action we can do to encourage the health and growth of both the internal and external worlds?

"When WE embrace our experience, WE must develop a healthy balance between awareness, acceptance and action."

The Health and Growth of Society ★

Mindful living is an integral aspect of spirituality. Allowing ourselves and others to make poor choices without negative judgement or condemnation is vital. Our judgement should be reasonable and realistic and WE should always radiate positive and loving vibrations too. WE should understand ourselves as a pulsing and energetic vibration – an instrument of sound adding to the orchestra of reality which encompasses us. WE should lead from our heart and consciously influence the collective vibration of our shared reality.

"Maximizing the impact WE have as co-creators amplifies the awakening of our collective consciousness."

This means being loving, patient, compassionate, empathetic and understanding. But as described above, it also means taking action to influence the health and growth of our society. It’s a misconception to think that just because everything is meant to be, that it will naturally balance itself out without our intervention.

"It is as much our responsibility to undertake appropriate responses to our outside world as it is to our inside world."

Just like there are some justified ramifications within our social models of law and ethics, there are also measures that we must apply in response to our external environment. This does not necessarily mean that the law should be taken into ONE’s own hands, but more so that as an individual within a global culture, actions need to be taken to rectify the injustices of our world which violate the philosophical principle of unity.

"The Earth and our species needs help to come back into balance."

For example, our leading philosophical and pragmatic compasses are contributing to some major ecological, social and individual injustices – systems that need to be addressed through calculated measures. If WE just sit back and allow it to continue, it will. That’s why collective action needs to balance these injustices out, so WE need to decide how WE will personally contribute to our shared goals.

"Caring for the external world really is as important as doing it for our own internal health and growth."

There are many injustices that currently plague our planet. Some serious research via alternative media will uncover a robust reflection of these social dysfunctions and the potential solutions, as well as the social movements which aim to ensure that the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual vitality of every human being is cared for and developed in our future.

"It is a shared responsibility that we transform our world."

It is by having a true sense of the healing and growth that is required for both the inside and outside of us which reflect a holistic approach to a spiritual awakening. Once WE have that awareness, WE should aim for acceptance of why and how it needs to change, as well as the application of strategies to facilitate the therapeutic and developmental process that WE and our society so desperately need to work through.

“Together WE must unite because together WE are ONE."

~ Phillip J. Watt

٠•● Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

ZERO POINT ~ Finally as WE go through the initial progress of changeover it will make available what is needed for Landings. Earth will enter Zero Point with our technological assistance. All wars will end, weapons of all types will not discharge at Zero Point. The soldiers will return home. Non violent offenders will be released from jail. Mentors and Healing technology will be made available to every human on Earth. The terra forming of Earth will continue and the Zero Point Modulators will be at 100% power connecting with all the Pyramids, Obelisks, Portals and StarGates on Earth. The Wingmaker Ships and Pleiadian Ships responsible for cleaning up the Eco System of Earth will become visible overhead. The seas and rivers will become aquamarine blue. The skies will be clear. All of the environmental pollution will be cleared away by our helping hands.

٠•● Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

13 New Perceptions ★

Premise: The Time has come to openly embrace and aspire completely to the cosmic nature of our reality. Only by lifting our minds will we dissolve the barriers of self, tribe, nation, ideology, culture, language, science and religion: All the factors that keep us enslaved to ego and at war with ourselves.

To unify and create a New World, WE need new perceptions. It is up to us to rethink the way things have been done and create a whole system perception of unity. The codes of the Law of Time provide a bridge to lift us from our rote terrestrial consciousness into the unity of Universal Resonance.

To change and up-level our perceptions at the root WE must take responsibility to create within ourselves an underlying matrix of unity. WE must take back our power and reclaim our autonomous sovereignty. WE must discover the archetypal mythic story that we are living and fashion our life around this.

1. A New Perception of Time.

2. A New Perception of Space

3. A New Perception of Science

4. A New Perception of Economics

5. A New Perception of Government

6. A New Perception of Religion

7. A New Perception of Art/Culture

8. A New Perception of Self

9. A New Perception of Relationship

10. A New Perception of Diet/Health

11. A New Perception of Community

12. A New Perception of Nature

13. A New Perception of Light/Solar Consciousness

٠•● Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

LOVE, ONE Inner Light & a New Earth to EveryONE ★

[monsterblogging]

So I watched Midnight Mass and. Holy shit. Holy shit. This show was amazing on so many levels. Like, religious horror is common enough, but it's not often informed by actual religious trauma the way Midnight Mass was. Like it's often effectively complaining that religion dares to exist at all, or upholds the idea that the religion featured within the story is inherently good. Midnight Mass does neither; it's essentially pointing out very specific and very real problems within certain forms of Christianity.

Also, I'm used to seeing religious antagonists who might quote a well-known Bible verse or two, but Midnight Mass has characters dipping from all over the Bible to justify their shit, the way real people actually do.

And I deeply appreciate the way the show touches on the fact that certain forms of Christianity simply do not equip people to deal with certain problems even when they are kind people with good intentions. Like the reality is that it doesn't matter how kind you are or how much you love Jesus, if you try to use faith as Flex Tape for actual, serious problems, you might not only fail to actually help, but you might also do serious damage.

Also, the way Midnight Mass demonstrates that it's not just one type of person who creates problems within these kinds of environments is wonderful. The nice ones who genuinely mean well can be just as manipulative and dangerous as the mean and self-centered ones if they believe what they're doing is for your own good. The mean ones absolutely do manipulate and take advantage of the nice ones, but that doesn't mean that the nice ones are just innocent victims. The whole mouse incident was an excellent demonstration of manipulative behavior from someone who only meant the best.

Both religious and non-religious people alike often assume that the problem with religious institutions like these is mean, selfish people who aren't really "true Christians." The religious tend to believe that the problem is a lack of true faith, while the non-religious frequently believe that anyone with any power or influence within such a system only cares about power and control, and nothing else.

Midnight Mass shows that the truth isn't that simple. The self-centered and mean ones are often just as faithful as anyone else, and in their own minds they are as true of Christians as anyone can be. And sometimes, people abuse their power because they mean well. Sure, lying isn't good, but when people's eternal souls are at stake and a few lies might go a long way toward ensuring their salvation, a few lies end up being the smaller burden on one's conscience.

As someone with religious trauma (I'm part of the Left Behind generation), it's just... nice seeing a show that actually knows what it's talking about, rather than another smug, cynical, hyperreductive take that is just as invalidating and alienating as the religion itself.

[loveoaths]

prefacing this question with /gen i’m not trying to start anything i’m just a bit flubbered with some of the new discussion around din and the children of the watch and i trust your interest and analysis on the subject

are the children of the watch not a cult? ignoring bo-katan’s history and hypocrisy and general “bo-katan-ness,” the children of the watch do seem like a cult.

now, i don’t have a positive relationship with the religion i was raised in so i’m a bit biased toward the narrative of din no necessarily adapting bo-katan’s version of being mandalorian, and i think din will have to choose between a bunch of mando’s saying “my way is best” before going “fuck it im making my own Way”

looking at fandom, there’s a lot of (justified) anger toward how mandalorian culture (particularly in comparison to the jedi) is celebrated, and for some reason this sentiment isn’t carried over to the Children of the Watch

again, all /gen and /lh i’m not trying to start anything

great question! well, technically, there are a couple of questions in your ask, but let's start with the main one:     

are the children of the watch not a cult? ignoring bo-katan’s history and hypocrisy and general “bo-katan-ness,” the children of the watch do seem like a cult. 

short answer: no, they are not.

long answer: the children of the watch are not a cult, because they do not meet the requirements of a cult. the children of the watch are more akin to a fringe religious group or sect.

but lio, what is the difference between a religious group and a cult?

i’m glad you asked! for simplicity’s sake, this section borrows heavily from this dictionary site.

a common definition of religion is “a set of beliefs about God or the supernatural.”

general characteristics of religions include:

the group worships a higher source of power rather than a single person;

there is a shared, sincere belief system;

the main belief or beliefs are consistent with basic mainstream standards for human dignity;

appropriate forms of conduct between people are defined;

an understanding of evil is established, especially how it impacts humans;

there are sacred ritual acts.

meanwhile, a cult is “a group of people with extreme dedication to a certain leader or set of beliefs that are often viewed as odd by others.”

general characteristics of cults include:

followers encouraged or forced to worship a specific group leader who gatekeeps or solicits knowledge to maintain social and emotional control over the congregration;

potential members are hounded into joining and rushed through the process while they are distracted from red flags and concerns by a barrage of community love-bombing, outreach, and promises of support;

questioning beliefs, recruitment tactics, or anything else are discouraged or are met with punishment, social ostracization, or other negative responses;

a belief system stolen from pre-existing religions and social movements and cobbled together to suit the leader’s personal narrative;

can be religious, but are not inherently; cults can also be secular social movements, like the nexium cult

followers’ daily lives are dictated and controlled by the decree of the leader, including, in some cases, mandating when cult members can use the restroom, when they can have sex and with who, which body parts they’re allowed to keep, whether or not they’re allowed to raise their own children, where their money and assets go, what words they may use, and other things that should be decided by human sovereignty and independent choice rather than an external force;

followers are personally monitored to ensure they’re adhering to cult guidelines, and spied upon so the cult leader can collect blackmail material, sensitive personal information, fears and desires, and more to manipulate and control them if they try to leave, start questioning the leader, or display too much independence;

the cult deploys methods of control (financial leans, debt, forced isolation, threat of punishment, kidnapping, corporal/emotional/physical/sexual violence, coercion, etcertera) to keep members close by and obedient. 

pretty nasty stuff, right? right.

but lioooooo, that wasn’t the question! is the children of the watch a cult or not?!

patience, padawan! the rest is below the cut!

cults function by relying on several key tenets, such as: preying on the vulnerable; isolating members from society through financial/philosophical/religious teachings and physical removal; re-ordering members' worldviews to centralize the cult; and worshipping or venerating a single individual or duo.

let’s look at a breakdown central cult tenets, then see whether or not the children of the watch displays these tenets in the mandalorian:

1. total authoritarian control-- cults, like any abusive toxic relationship, fundamentally rely on a membership base that is, at its core, utterly dependent on the cult. the membership must believe like they are incapable of living a distinct life outside of the cult, they must believe that it is the cult that gives them meaning and not the other way around, that the cult is beginning and the end of their selfhood. this control is often achieved by deliberately breaking down the memberships' psyches, physical punishment and harm, slowly pushing their boundaries to accept worse and worse behavior, guilting them into giving up all financial assets "for the good of the cult," and worse, all at the behest of their leader. the control must be so complete that the members begin policing themselves not just to keep themselves out of trouble, but because they truly believe this is how the world should work. authoritarian control is achieved by breaking down the individual and rebuilding them with flaws in the foundation, so they are destined to fail, and fail, and fail, so they will crawl back to the cult each time. this is because cults rely on extreme dependency to work, which is why cults are famous for preying on the sick, the elderly, the weak, the grieving, and the socially vulnerable.

verdict:  the children of the watch do not canonically exhibit signs of total authoritarian control, at least not in the mandalorian. 

for one, there are multiple coverts spread across the galaxy, presumably with multiple armorers guiding said coverts' members. real cults rarely break up the leadership like that; there can only be one godhead at any given time. the armorer never mentions running those coverts. there is a canonical line about "other coverts hearing din was in need" on navarro and coming to save him in season one, but with no implication that the armorer ordered them to respond, or was even in close communication with them.

beyond that, the armorer is designated the covert’s spiritual leader who holds the knowledge of mandalore and the way, but she does not control the movements of covert members. in fact, the visuals of the covert imply that it isn’t, exactly, a home for the children of the watch, but a hub; somewhere members return to after completing missions they choose, for the reasons they choose, and a place to return beskar to its rightful owners. 

we know that din believes in returning beskar to the covert, but since the armorer never orders him to go find more, and since we never see or hear other COTW discussing it, we cannot assume that they are mandated to search out beskar by the armorer. this freedom of movement, sans restraint or mission, and conspicuously absent of din seeking the armorer’s permission to leave, would be very uncommon among most established cults, because most cults only thrive when its members are highly segregated from the rest of society and congregated in a joint environment where cult beliefs can be vigorously reinforced until members forget the outside world is any different.

2.   worship or veneration of a single individual – cults have a godhead, a solitary figure through whom the divine knowledge/prophecy/religious beliefs/bullshit is channelled through, who all cult members must admire, obey, and serve without question or face punishment. this person is sometimes drinking their own flavor-aid and believes they really are a prophet or whatever, but more often than not they are charlatans who knowingly prey on the vulnerable for personal gain: sex, power, money, cheap thrills, fame, and so on.

verdict: din’s covert is not a cult, because its spiritual leader, the armorer, is not worshiped. she is a spiritual leader, and admired, but that is as far as her authority goes. she interprets the text of the creed, but she does not gatekeep it; all the covert members have knowledge of mandalore, and seem free to access however much of it as they want to, because all of them have access to the outside world. her status is more like that of a spiritual guide or teacher: she can tell people when they’ve strayed from the path of the creed and declare whether or not they are considered a mandalorian, but she cannot compel them to obey her. this is crucial, especially in the context of season two, where she reneges din’s mandalorian status. she tells him that according to the creed they both ascribe to, he is no longer a mandalorian; the only way to become a mandalorian again would be by bathing in the living waters beneath the mines of mandalore. she does not command him to do this, or shame him, or berate him, or excommunicate him; he is not bodily thrown out of the covert and commanded to get his shiny ass to mandalore on pain of death. he is simply told of his new status, and told what to do if he wants to fix it, but that’s it. this is precisely the role of a spiritual leader: to guide their congregation back to the path of the faithful when they stumble.

3.  social isolation – when new members join, cults go out of their way to deliberately isolate new folks from friends, family, and society as a whole. cults will assign duties and activities to keep new members busy and under the cult’s thumb, will tell them that their friends and family “just won’t understand”, will encourage them to sell their homes and move into a cult building or into neighborhoods filled with other members, convince them to quit their jobs and work in cult admin or otherwise devote every waking moment to the cult, and remind them again and again how only people within the cult will ever understand and support them, unlike their ignorant friends and family. cults actively discourage deep fraternization with outsiders.

verdict: din’s covert is not a cult, the children of the watch do not police who members talk to.  we know this because din has friends, specifically cara dune. their dialogue implies that they’ve known each other for more than just a few months, presumably much longer, because they know pieces of each other’s histories, are close enough to scuffle for shits and giggles, and have a report together. If COTW were a cult, din and cara would have none of this. and, more notably, when din brings cara, greef, the child, and IT into the covert in season two? that would have been a big no-no if this was a cult.

4.  extremist beliefs – cults are usually guided by extremist beliefs, which (in the most boiled down terms possible) are essentially beliefs that render the believer to reject and become intolerant to alternative beliefs, oftentimes to violent ends. this is another controlling tactic used to isolate members, and teach members to obey without question. think of, like… an intense conspiracy theorist. the intensity and wildness of those theories often push your “average” person away from them, causing these people to dig down even deeper in what they believe out of anger and loss, and then turning to one another and creating an echo chamber to reinforce their choice to believe these things. think about how once someone buys into one wild conspiracy theory, they’re often more likely to by into even wilder ones, until they’re suddenly screaming that the universe is actually a space worm’s dream hallucination and to prove it they’re going to blow something up. it often works like that. (however, this is not uncommon, because most people congregate around others who share their beliefs, outlooks on life, morals, values, and so on. It’s why religious communities form. it’s the human desire for interconnection and a shared knowledge base.) again, this is the most crude bare-bones description i can manage with a migraine, so i’m aware i’m missing a lot, here.

verdict:  din’s covert is not a cult, because its members do not adhere to or exhibit extremist beliefs. they don’t seem to be building toward anything, and they aren’t intolerant of all or even most belief systems outside of theirs. they are not concerned with changing the ways of other mandalorians, even if they disagree with them. their belief in the creed does not translate into violence against other mandalorians who are “being mandalorian wrong.” 

if anything, i’d hazard that the children of the watch are more like… mandalorian fundamentalists, i guess? (but even that doesn’t totally fit imo). 

we don’t know how the armorer and other covert members feel about other mandalorians removing their helmets, but we do know how din feels – in season two, he believes that all mandalorians who remove their helmets “are not real mandalorians.” 

din believes there is a right and a wrong way to be a mandalorian, however the fact that he did not know there were mandalorians who removed their helmets at all implies that he straight up was not taught about other traditions. he was only taught the creed, so it’s straight up possible that he came to that conclusion all on his own, because every mandalorian he’s ever met has been in the convert and they’ve never removed their helmets in front of him. 

but even if the armorer had explicitly told him this was the only way to be a mandalorian, it would not qualify as an extremist belief for the reasons above. this is a theosophical and cultural difference between two mandalorian sects, just as there is a long history of disagreements and arguments within real-world religious groups. 

final verdict:   the children of the watch, and din’s covert, are not cults, because they do not meet the cult criteria. rather, they are more akin to fundamentalist-lite religious group. 

now, i don’t have a positive relationship with the religion i was raised in so i’m a bit biased toward the narrative of din no necessarily adapting bo-katan’s version of being mandalorian, and i think din will have to choose between a bunch of mando’s saying “my way is best” before going “fuck it im making my own Way” 

knowing your own bias is important, as is being respectfully open to other peoples’ viewpoints, so know that your internal reflection is seen and appreciated.

as for din’s spiritual journey, i am 95% sure that is exactly what will happen. he will see the damage in-fighting has done to the mandalorians, and decide that neither of these ways works for him, because he is a new kind of mandalorian in a new era; he, and his people, need a new way of relating to one another and the GFFA in the wake of the empire’s destruction. he will find a third path to follow and invite others to join him, with a new idea of what it means to be a mandalorian carrying him to the end of his character journey. 

which is, like… definitely a character journey, i guess; just not an interesting one or one that i care for. it’s a very third-act feeling, same-y “twist”, which is about all i expect. if this doesn't happen i’ll either be happily surprised or consumed by irritation. we’ll see. 

looking at fandom, there’s a lot of (justified) anger toward how mandalorian culture (particularly in comparison to the jedi) is celebrated, and for some reason this sentiment isn’t carried over to the Children of the Watch 

now, i have a question for you (the asker, and other people who are in the same boat vis a vis frustration over fandom views on mandalorians versus jedi) – personally, i’m not sure how, or why, the jedi factor into this, or why anyone cares about the two groups getting erroneously pitted against each other at all?

the jedi are regularly vilified by numbskulls who haven’t rewatched the OT or the PT since they were like, nine, and have less collective critical analysis skills than i have in my left nut, so i don’t really give a shit what those people have to say, and i encourage you and everyone else who is bothered by them to take the same stance. It’s like arguing about the ethics of war with an uncritical call of duty lover: they are not here to engage with themes, they’re here to watch big things go boom boom. it’s a losing battle and all the casualties are on your side.

other people i see falling on the “jedi critical” side of things tend to be newer, younger fans who also are not keen on analysis, or are fans who saw the mandalorian first and are now working backwards into star wars without watching the movies. they are going to have an understandably uncharitable view of the jedi versus the mandalorians because of that framing: they are introduced to din djarin as a hero with a (gray) code of ethics, who has all the benefits of sound design and lighting and plot-armor to come across as the good guy. he is depicted as a “traditional mandalorian”, what this new audience will read as a true mandalorian, whereas the likes of bo katan and the viszlas and boba fett (if you want to go there) will always be read by them as outliers/bad mandalorians because they met din first.

pre-existing fans had the opposite framing experience: you met a bunch of gun-toting HOO-RAH assholes who were talented at two things: killing jedi, and killing each other. naturally, you’re going to be less charitable to mandalorians and whatever hype they get than the aforementioned fans. 

so, imo, the new mandalorian fans are shown a noble culture of ass-kicking space knights in a space-knight militia who rescue kids and beat the shit out of bad guys.* they hear that mandalorians don’t like jedi/annoying youtube fanboy critiques of the jedi as “being as rotten as the republic” and they side with them and talk shit about jedi. the irony is that “a noble culture of ass-kicking space knights in a space-knight militia who rescue kids and beat the shit out of bad guys” IS THE JEDI, but because of how they were introduced to it, and potentially because of some of the salt getting sprinkled around by both sides, totally miss that they can love the jedi and the mandalorians for different reasons. 

also, let’s be real: western propaganda is a bitch. a lot of media conditions people to believe that the gun toting violent man who shows up and shoots evil guys is the true hero of the people, and that anything to do with politics, religion, mediating violence, and advocating for peace is not just useless and a waste of time, but somehow, bizarrely, both elitist and the source of the world’s problems in the first place. 

the people who bought into that are the same ones who think the mandalorians are right and the jedi are wrong, and it’s largely in part because the mandalorians shoot people in the face to solve their problems and people wildly mistake that for a perverted kind of direct action, whereas the jedi are cool space monks who get unwillingly drafted into a war who are trying to straight up stop the war from happening, while not knowing that the war, their involvement, their troops, their government, and everything else was literally created to work against them and rope them in so tightly they couldn’t see it was a trap until the noose was around their neck and their legs were kicked out from under them.

that’s not a slight against the jedi; it’s fucking tragic, and is meant to convey that they were always going to lose but that still fighting to save the people they could was the right thing to do, even if it meant they had to go down swinging. 

unfortunately, once again, using anakin as the pov characters for the only movies about that era was a mistake, because people walked away believing that he’s faultless and the jedi are dumb for not seeing a political trap forty plus years in the making that was created specifically with them in mind, while these same people can’t even see that copaganda is real and shitty and insidious. but i won’t get into that because it makes me crazy.

i’m saying all this to say, you aren’t going to win with these people, because they are ideologically invested in wrongness and the “might makes right” mindset because they either think it’s cool, or it makes them feel safe, or some other reason i can no longer be bothered to guess at. 

it sucks that you and parts of the fandom feel like it is unfair that mandalorians are celebrated for the same actions that jedi are vilified for, because that is unfair, but i do not think the answer to that is to… hate the children of the watch or say the covert is a cult (i am actually not sure what the connection between this part of your ask is compared to the top, so i’m just guessing here) solely based on fanon interpretation, fandom anti-religious sentiment and bias, and two lines from bo katan kryze, of all characters, lol. doing that seems like the exact thing you are frustrated with other fandom people about: hating characters you love and want to defend based solely on how they feel and how they want to cherry-pick and twist canon to suit an anti-jedi narrative.

especially when the children of the watch actually seem quite removed from the mandalorians fandom upholds/is angry about: the children of the watch hold no ill-will toward the jedi, they are not concerning themselves with bo katan’s goal of reclaiming mandalore, they are not looking for revenge, they are not engaging in any of the behaviors and schemes that the main mandalorians are. the children of the watch are focused on survival, and following the way, and reclaiming the beskar they view as their birthright. they have the energy of a cluster of doomsday preppers who learned to prepare for the worst and keep their head down to avoid getting slaughtered again. they do not seem, narratively speaking, like the mandalorians to get angry at, because they are fundamentally disengaged from those people.

it seems to me that the only way to contend with this is to block idiots quickly and without mercy, ignore people who are just flat out wrong, and know that you don’t have to pit two bad bitches against each other to prove a point, or drag one girlie through the mud to make the other one shine. 

again, all /gen and /lh i’m not trying to start anything

no worries. i enjoyed the question! thanks for sending it my way.

and, for the record: i’m a pro-jedi, 100% jedi-lover, and i am a fan of the children of the watch. (in general, my interest in mandalorian history – aside from my fascination with mandalorian jedi – bounces between “oooh shiny” and “whatever this is dumb and you’re all losers” so i don’t really talk about them.)  we exist! happily! join us!

*this is an oversimplification for comparative purposes. randoms reading this, do not come for me in my fucking inbox with some “well actually” shit or i will stomp your crotch to dick-dust.

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

Heyyy :D Just got here and have a mighty need for an infodump on Luna. She sounds so cool from the bits I've learned via ask games.

omg omg I would love to! You'll find most of her story in the snippets of my novel, but I don't mind infodumping some :))

I'll stuff it under the cut cos this is pretty long!

So, Luna lives in an urban fantasy world, and she grew up in a slightly authoritarian country, Luxatia. They had the barbaric practice of removing the magic of anyone who was a forbidden mage (forbidden mages are the ones of the mind, death and blood), an act akin to ripping out someone's soul.

Of course Luna had the misfortune of being a mind-mage. She came into her powers as a budding mean girl at 9, and used them in the name of cheating in tests and gossiping with her friends. She had no idea that she was a forbidden mage, and only a few hours before the state-mandated magic tests were to be carried out, did she realise what trouble she was in.

On the other hand, she'd also snuck in more practice using it everyday than the guards had expected. So she made a break for it, and was declared an enemy of the state at age 11. To survive she began mind-controlling people into her thralls. She understood that what she was doing was wrong, but she saw no other choice. It was that or have a part of her killed.

From there, it wasn't all too hard to sneak back into her home city and take it over entirely with her new army, under the cover of a brand new cult religion. She did it carefully enough, wiping all physical trace of her life there, that no alarms were sent up, save a couple of curious reporters, wondering about the strangeness that had sprung up. And so she reigned there for a decade, slowly growing her powers.

It's why she can't cook or clean to save her life (or drive). It's also why she simultaneously acts like she never came out of high school while also behaving like a dark queen of old. Nobody would say it to her face, but she was pretty badly damaged by the whole affair.

Her downfall came when she decided to invade a major trade city across the border. She did so successfully for about 5months, then got hit by neurotranquiliser and captured by the Nyctomachian government.

One of the bigwigs in the government, Pullman, had the bright idea of hunting for her files online, when they couldn't find any information on her life before being an outlaw. That was when he realised that she'd been a little kid pushed to the edge, and even with all her power, she'd been fighting for her soul for 12 years. So he made her an offer: she was allowed to walk free if she served 50 years in the Nyctomachian mercenary force as a convict. She accepted, and that's how the novel begins.

But as for the sort of person she is? She's naturally a tad bitchy, with the classic lack of booksmart. Whatever she did learn was from bothering the art director at her local gallery, rather than from all the classes she failed in class. She's vain and deeply insecure, though she does have a genuine love of fashion and makeup. She loves beautiful things in general, and is a terrible snob. The natural result is that she takes extremely good care of herself (or at least her skin).

Her magic actually isn't all that strong, but she's had such practice using it daily that it's hard to tell. In particular, her talents lie in mind controlling people. She's an asset in battle, just because she plays as dirty as humanly find to take her opponent down. Notably, when she goes up against a stronger mind mage in the novel, she punches her instead of just using magic to fight her.

As for how she treats people, she dotes on children (especially those under 11), and generally adores animals. Adults, though, she sees as things to manipulate, in any way possible. She's an incessant flirt, because she's seen the results it gets. (Luna's actually aroace tho. She has no idea why men and women like flirting with her, but if it works, it works.)

As for some fun facts about her:

I came up with her after having a dream about sailor moon being a cult leader

Her 'cult' actually follows an ancient religion that Luna was fond of reading about when she was little

It pleases her to no end that her hair is naturally curly, and infuriates her that she's short

Her least favourite drink is alcohol

She killed her family and wiped the memories of all her distant friends to escape being ratted on (it haunts her to no end)

She played the lute when she was a little girl (after she saw a cool painting of a bard playing the lute)

[spontaneouslygeneratedfly]

𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟 𝕣𝕡 𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝

hey everyone! looking for some new rp partners (21+ only) .

I've been missing the hobby lately & I'm so excited to jump back in. my name is nellie, i'm 22 & from the west coast. I love hiking, the sims 3, baking, & all horror media! If anyone 21+ with similiar hobbies just wants to chat that's cool too!

Here's a little info about my rp style: 

•I like to write around 2-6paras, it really depends on context of the scene & my partner's length. I write in third person pov only. EX: "Do you prefer writing with asterisks? I don't." She said, looking down at her paper & pen.

•I do not rp with people who exclusively play submissive role characters. I feel like rp should be both of us putting in effort to write, not one person indulging a fantasy.

•love, LOVE long term plots with OOC planning & world building. i feel like many rps fizzle out after the beginning events when partners have no idea where to go next, I want to try to avoid this with plotting!

•i do play male/nb & comfortable with mxf (either role) but I prefer playing sapphic F characters. 

•Love playing non human characters! 

•I am not very worried about replies as long as I hear from you once a week. I can commit to 3-5 responses a week, sometimes I'm more active than that. I'm very patient, so if you're a person with a hectic life & can't commit to frequent replies, we might work well together! I just ask if you know you'll be a gone for week+ to give me a heads up. 

•Smut is fun/allowed but I think building drama, tension, & plot is more important to a long term rp's success!

I'm just gonna cast a wide net for the best chances! These are just concepts/genres/barebone ideas TBD further in dm. 

high/urban/dark fantasy. Adventure, court politics/intrigue, exploring, etc

small town, creepy american gothic. Town with many secrets, dark past, smth that impacts the PCs & they must solve it. Super interested in combining this w/next bullet

A situation which seems normal on the face, but deeply disturbed in reality. PCs know something is off but don't really accept it. think shows like severance & s1 Legion where smth larger than the PCs highly regulates information & controls the narrative. This can go into lot of different genres & I have some plot seeds. 

•This is a dystopian/highly dramatic rp inspired by 2000s media treatment of young celebs. MUMU best for this. In a hyper-capitalistic, plutocracy/autocarian govt, a small group of children were selected by an algorithm which predicted their abilities to become famous stars. These children were taken from their homes & trained in the arts. They were placed into the public eye young - some children actors, other singers. They had a constant barrage of praise by the media & public - as they became young adults, the way they were raised deeply impacted them in negative ways. Their mistakes were broadcast to the whole world & the media ripped them apart & manipulated them. I lowkey want to combine it with Hunger Games aspects but I'm not sure how to develop it further or where it could go! :)

Obsessed with any plots involving spooky religions or cults in general (imagine a "pure" cultist getting involved someone they were told to be evil, only for the cultist to realize their own deeply held beliefs are harmful as well - & either lean into that or exit.)

STEAMPUNK

Sci fi dystopian. 

Surreal horror

I also have some character concepts I'd like to rp as, if they strike anyone's interest:

•CREEPY fey. She would be better for dark fantasy - she is a little feral, I envision fey as creatures who live in a surreal, dream-like world. They are violent & powerful, with inhuman tendencies & ideologies. (Her name is Melrose & I love her)

•Interested in playing an anthro character that's perhaps an exotic pet. I'm interested in illegal, shady anthro pet trade, along with themes of rebellion, crime, & escaping. Very half baked atm.

•Vampire who is a high ranking member of the local vampire syndicate - they control the weapons black market (when dealing with human criminals) & fresh meat/blood trafficking. Perhaps the other character is a human cop assigned to investigate, but then gets embroiled in the supernatural world. 

•I also love playing bratty characters!!

I'm always open to brainstorming, suggestions, and reworks. Dm or comment if you're interested :)

Again, 21+ ONLY

[everymlmhybrid]

everyoneeeee Larry's profile from the Profiling The Reservoir Dogs bonus feature thang from the dvd. which i hate and disagree with completely. but I couldn't find it anywhere online so I had to write it down myself sitting in front of my TV.

Mr. White

Mr. White is a cold-blooded psychopath. What you may see as empathy for another human being is nothing but an expression of his own needs.

He probably grew up in a rough neighborhood, possibly in foster care homes.

Soon he would learn quickly that the way to survive is to lie and steal, but to do it with a smile.

The empathy he shows others may be a methodology he learned to control others when he was still a youth.

Mr. White seems to have received an education of some substance; perhaps, he spent some time in parochial schools where he got just the right mix of discipline and religion to make him cocky and self-righteous.

He may have actually finished high school or left to join the military at age seventeen because he has a very strong almost fatherly side to him in which he behaves as a sergeant might with his men.

He is also very skilled with weapons, which means he may have worked in some fighting capacity.

Mr. White has a grandiose view of himself; whatever he does is correct and what everyone else does is wrong. However, he is the type that tries not to make the same mistake twice. Most likely has has not spent much time in jail.

Mr. White hates the police because they are the enemy. For that matter, he has no use for anyone who gets in his way, even innocent people. Again, a military type of thinking: the police are the enemy and the innocent bystander is collateral damage. He makes this perfectly clear when he says "the choice between doing ten years and taking out some stupid motherfucker is no choice at all."

Mr White is a good manipulator and because he has learned the art of congeniality, people generally like him, women want him, and he likes that they like him because then he can stay in control. Mr. White could sustain a relationship with a female for at least a reasonable period of time because he doesn't seem to express any hatred or fear of women. He could have kids but he doesn't like owing people anything like time and consideration. Women are okay for a short time but kids would just be a stone around the neck. If he did have any kids out there, he wouldn't have visited them in the last five years.

Mr. White liked Joe because Joe was an amiable and generous guy and may be like the brother he never had. For a long time, Mr. White benefited from this relationship. But, as Mr. White grew older, he became resentful of the fact that Joe, a rough, crude character with a whole lot less charm than Mr. White, had made it this far in life and was now his boss. He started doing things to attempt to prove his superiority to Joe who was getting mighty irritated with his behavior.

It was his consuming desire to be in control, his desperate need to be respected, and his extreme arrogance which ended up being factors in the group's downfall. His desire to be a leader again made him take on Mr. Orange, a man he knew little about, a protege. Mr. White was hitting those years when even a hardened criminal realizes death is around the corner and it is a lonely road downhill for people with no family or friends. Now, Joe had power, money, and a son, but Mr. White was just an aging crook. So it happened that Mr. White found a new puppy to take home in the form of Mr. Orange. It is interesting that while many psychopaths despise people and cats, they do like dogs because dogs are a narcissist's best friend. Mr. Orange made for a nice puppy; and innocent, eager, adoring, lapdog. And because Mr. White had assigned Mr. Orange this particular role, he let his guard down and revealed too much information to him. Mr. White feels responsible for Mr. Orange getting shot and because of his carelessness in spilling information as well, he has to leave Mr. Orange out in the cold. He feels awful about this. He is not feeling so awful for Mr. Orange or he would have driven him to the hospital and saved his life. No, Mr. White felt very badly for himself. He might end up losing the new pet that was making him happy and he is angry that he is the one who is at fault. He takes it out on everyone else, gets mad at them for not trying to save Mr. Orange's life, yet he, the only one with feelings for Mr. Orange (however self-centered they may be) ignores his anguished pleas to get him to a medical facility. Finally, when Joe shows up and says they need to put the rabid dog down, Mr. White is furious. He knows nothing is going to save Mr. Orange's life at this late in the game, yet he is willing to kill his longtime friend to make a point; that Joe is not better than him, that Joe is not smarter than him, and that Joe has no right to think he can order him around. Joe cannot destroy what is his as if he was just swatting a mosquito that is annoying him. If he allows Joe to have his way, Mr. White will be admitting he is a total has-been who commands respect from no one.

Mr. Orange is but a symbol of Mr. White's ego. Since psychopaths do not really recognize personhood and all people are just pawns in their personal game of power and control, Mr. White's emotional behavior towards Mr. Orange is about love for himself, not the dying man. In the end, when Mr. Orange admits he is a cop, Mr. White's ego is completely destroyed and he realizes what a failure he is. Shooting Mr. Orange in the head is not an act of homicide (Mr. Orange is almost dead anyway) but the suicide of Mr. White, a mercy killing that ends his pain and makes the statement, "no one is going to fuck me over ever again."

[scretladyspider]

I hate America. I hate being American. “Oh you’re so free you have so much” my government regularly uses my tax dollars to fund wars — and as I write this, a genocide — without my consent. America has been at war 2/3 of my life, killing people for America’s own political power. I have no say in if my tax dollars go towards basic infrastructure and things like free healthcare or bombing innocent people who just happened to be born near something the American government wants. They constantly expand the military instead of providing healthcare and education and food to their citizens, creating such poverty that many who join the military (any branch) do so just to pay for college to try to get a better life. My government is using my tax dollars not to help the citizens of Gaza, but to supply the IDF with weapons for an ongoing massacre for a tiny strip of land that’s important in a book that was written over two thousand years ago and which no one can really agree on the meaning of anyway. Those who are deployed either don’t come back or are abandoned by the government they fought for when they do, no matter if they went because they agree with what they were ordered to do or because they were that desperate and manipulated for a better life that they were at the end of their rope. Around 130,000 - 200,000 veterans are homeless. There are no safety nets, not unless you’re rich. My government has funded murder of millions in the name of a few people getting a little bit richer and continues to do so. If you become homeless, you didn’t work hard enough, even though most jobs barely pay enough to survive. If you don’t have a savings account, or generous family, or if you lose your job, you will also be homeless. Nearly every state has “at will” employment, meaning you can be fired at any time and not given reason. Simultaneously race, gender, religion, and disability are supposedly protected under equal opportunity employment. Many in my government want to erase queer and especially trans people from existence and are trying to make it happen. If you get fired due to some type of discrimination, you need money to hire help to take your employer to court. Judges are elected but often run unopposed, but when they are opposed this can drastically effect how they rule a court case. The prison system is modern day slavery and for profit prisons are legal, and common, and just, a thing that actually exists. Medical care is decided by insurance companies, not patients and doctors. This is determined by the cost and risk factor, not what’s best for the patient. Politicians are still advocating for Israel, no matter what they do, but also doing nothing to fight rising antisemitism in the USA. Politicians decide whose vote counts where. Its “majority rule” in democracy— except for the presidency, which os decided by “electors” who are not chosen by the people and who, depending on the state, don’t have to use their electoral votes for the state’s popular vote. Police are so overpowered they often get away with murder and even laugh about it. Children are regularly massacred in schools and teachers somehow can’t understand why they don’t want to do their homework or are acting out in class. People who want gun control are treated as being just as extreme as the people who can’t recognize that their defense of their “hobby” has killed countless people and will kill again and safety from gun violence shouldn’t be a matter of luck. My government is ignoring an ongoing pandemic which has killed and disabled millions of people already. Corporations decide my rights on their own interests by how much money they give what politicians. Studies have been done, and what the people want isn’t likely to pass because money is what matters most. My government is backing the current president of Israel, who has defended the choice to bomb hospitals. I am not proud to be an American. Why would I be? This is broken.