#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

[phoenixrisingastro]

Pluto Through the Houses: How Your Soul Has Been Marked by Darkness

Pluto doesn’t touch your life lightly. It drags you through hell, strips you bare, and forces you to be reborn. Wherever Pluto sits in your chart is where you experience power, destruction, obsession, and transformation. It’s where you meet your deepest fears—and where you find your most dangerous strength.

Pluto in the 1st House: The Dark Aura That Follows You

You don’t walk into a room—you haunt it. People feel your presence before they even see you, and they either worship you or fear you. Your entire existence is an act of power and survival. Life forced you to be strong, and now your presence alone intimidates people who can’t handle real power. You’ve been through hell and made it look effortless.

Pluto in the 2nd House: Money, Sex, and Power Games

You don’t just want security—you want complete control over it. Money, sex, and power are all currency to you, and you’ve learned the hard way that you either master them or let them master you. You attract wealth like a magnet when you own your power, but your biggest downfall? Letting others manipulate you financially or sexually before you realize you were the one holding the power all along.

Pluto in the 3rd House: Words That Cut Like Knives

Your voice is a weapon, and you know exactly how to use it. You read people like an open book, tearing through their masks in seconds. Conversations with you aren’t small talk—they’re battles. People either walk away transformed or completely wrecked. You see through the lies, the excuses, the half-truths—and it terrifies them.

Pluto in the 4th House: Family Trauma That Never Dies

Your childhood was not normal. Maybe it was filled with secrets, power struggles, manipulation, or loss—but whatever it was, it changed you forever. Family feels more like fate than love, and you carry the weight of generational pain on your back. Your biggest challenge? Breaking the cycle without losing yourself.

Pluto in the 5th House: Love, Sex, and the Addictive High

You don’t just love—you consume. Romance feels like a game of life and death, and when you fall for someone, it’s obsessive, all-consuming, and impossible to forget. But your love affairs either ruin you or make you a legend. You crave passion so intense that it hurts, and once you taste that kind of fire, nothing else feels real.

Pluto in the 6th House: The Body Remembers What the Soul Endured

Your trauma isn’t just in your head—it’s in your body, your habits, your routines. You’ve had to rebuild yourself more times than you can count, and yet, people underestimate how much strength it took just to survive. But here’s the truth: you are a force of nature. When you take back your power, your body becomes unstoppable, and your mind becomes unbreakable.

Pluto in the 7th House: Lovers Who Destroy You and Make You Reborn

Relationships for you aren’t just about love—they’re wars, contracts, and fated meetings. You attract powerful, intense people who shake your world to its core. Love either breaks you apart or turns you into something stronger. Your lesson? Stop letting others dictate your worth. You were never meant to be controlled.

Pluto in the 8th House: The Shadow You Can’t Escape

Your life is a constant cycle of death and rebirth. You’ve survived things most people wouldn’t even understand, and yet, here you are—stronger, darker, and more powerful than ever. Sex, money, transformation, power—they all follow you like ghosts. You are the embodiment of survival, and no one who meets you forgets you.

Pluto in the 9th House: The Seeker of Forbidden Knowledge

You don’t just want answers—you want truths people are too afraid to speak. You’re drawn to the occult, hidden wisdom, and philosophies that others shy away from. You question everything. Religion, power structures, morality—nothing is untouchable. But be careful—some knowledge can’t be unlearned.

Pluto in the 10th House: The Reputation That Haunts You

You were born to dominate. People feel your presence even when you’re silent, and the higher you climb, the more people try to pull you down. Power is your birthright, but you had to fight harder than most to claim it. Some will fear you. Some will love you. Either way, you will be remembered.

Pluto in the 11th House: The Puppet Master of Society

You don’t just exist in social circles—you shape them. You see the hidden power dynamics in friendships, groups, and society itself. People either flock to you or fear your influence. But watch out—being the mastermind means you attract both allies and enemies. Power isn’t just given to you. You take it.

Pluto in the 12th House: The Unseen Forces That Control You

You are haunted by the past—yours, your ancestors’, maybe even past lives. Pluto here makes you a magnet for deep, hidden truths and spiritual awakenings. You’ve seen darkness most people never will, and yet, you walk through life as if you belong to another world. Your lesson? Embrace the mystery. Your power lies in the unseen.

Final Thoughts: Pluto’s Gift & Curse

Pluto doesn’t play fair. It destroys everything false, everything weak, and leaves only what is real. If you embrace Pluto’s lessons, you become invincible—but if you fight it, you will be broken over and over again until you learn.

Pluto marks you, owns you, transforms you. And when it’s done with you, you will never be the same.

© PhoenixRisingAstro, 2025. All rights reserved

[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.

[yanderes-galore]

general Yan!O'saa hcs? i love this guy

Sure! Another Anon gave me some ideas to explore here, so I'll see what I can do.

Yandere! O'saa Concept

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Overprotective/Possessive behavior, Cruel behavior, Violence, Murder, Blood, Occult themes, Forced companionship/relationship.

O'saa, according to my research, tends to do whatever he wants.

He doesn't particularly follow a religion.

As a Yellow Mage, he follows chaos.

He prefers to act alone, is distrustful of others, and is very dismissive.

He questions everyone, even when he's in a vulnerable position, before reluctantly joining.

He's a free spirit, one uncontrolled by many of the beliefs in this world.

Since he is a follower of chaos, I imagine he'd be... dangerous as a yandere.

He isn't bound by morals and uses the gods' powers, both New and Old, to his own advantage.

Now, for this concept, I want to base it around what a previous Anon said.

O'saa, while at times playful, sees a lot of his fellow contestants below himself.

He doesn't respect their culture and often just seems to think they blindly follow things.

So in a way, I can see him viewing his obsession as a sheep.

He thinks they're easy to herd and control in a world such as this.

He sees them as much different than himself, who is able to choose his own path.

However, at the same time, he feels oddly intrigued.

Don't be surprised if O'saa thinks of you as stupid.

In fact, in an odd twist of fate, I can see O'saa taking you into his protection since you clearly can't survive here on your own.

Much to his Master's disapproval, but it's not like he cares what he thinks.

O'saa doesn't care much for feelings.

He will call you an idiot or stupid at times.

However, it's nice to have him on your side since he hates all the other contestants.

He knows he's deviating from the main mission, but hey, keeping you around is what he wants.

It's hard to read O'saa, honestly.

You know he cares for you in some way...

At least, enough to teach you some basic spells for your own use.

He might just teach you so you can be useful, but you have a hard time telling.

O'saa has never been trusting of people, except for you (He most likely doesn't see you as a threat).

Which means he's going to prevent you from befriending anyone else.

You don't need anyone else.

They'll be incompetent compared to him.

Your attempts are idiotic and this is why he's sticking around.

If he didn't, you'd get yourself killed by now.

He finds you to be too kind, too trusting...

While he enjoys it directed to him to some degree, anyone else could use you.

If you tried to befriend anyone else, O'saa would scold you before telling you to follow him.

He knows what he's doing.

It's best if you listen to him.

O'saa is never going to tell you how he feels about you or cares for you.

You can't figure it out whenever he speaks, either.

He doesn't let much slip and is one of the most mysterious and unpredictable yanderes to have.

Along with being one of the most dangerous.

O'saa has no issues with murder.

His main goal is getting out of this place alive, naturally removing some contestants will be included.

You aren't surprised at this development but it makes you cautious.

It's hard to tell if O'saa's killing to protect you, killing because he's jealous, or just... killing.

He isn't easy to read and isn't the most affectionate contestant.

He's curious about you but it's not like he's kissing or hugging you.

His obsession is more skin to... twisted curiosity.

Even if the entire time his master is whispering twisted opinions and thoughts, upset O'saa is so distracted.

I'd say O'saa would kill his obsession by the end of the third day.

It's better than being Moonscorched and he most likely needs to for his goal of leaving this place.

Fret not... O'saa would indeed make it as painless as possible.

He cares enough to not let his obsession be in pain.

He is an enjoyer of chaos, but he isn't sadistic with you.

He'd make a brief apology, promising to come back to you...

Before doing something such as slitting your throat.

He'll stay beside your body for as long as he can before continuing your mission.

You'd think that's the end of that.

You're killed by your obsessive companion, there's some mercy to that.

It's better than most of the horrors in this place.

Now there's no longer an air of uncertainty....

....

Until you're brought back, that is.

If we're assuming O'saa did a revival technique similar to what happened with Le'Garde, then you're mostly the same as you once were.

... mentally.

But even that fails you once you realize what has become of you.

O'saa had promised he'd come back for you, yes...

This isn't quite what you were expecting.

He looks oddly... giddy when he brings you back, too.

The Festival would be over by this point and hopefully he's free of his master.

He came back to you after freeing himself, claiming he thought of you for a long while now.

You try to ask questions, to ask why he didn't just leave you to die.

He may simply claim he likes you.

You've caught his eye and now that he's no longer on a leash...

He's free to do whatever.

He still doesn't allow you to be social, not like you can be now.

You're often covered to hide your revival.

O'saa, if he successfully lives through the Festival, will keep you by his side while he rewrites the religion of his home.

Even now you don't know his intentions...

You just know it somehow involves you and not even death will take you away from him.

[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…

[starlostlix]

Divine Being Amenogozen and the horror of the wrath of God

I wanted to talk about the current main threat to the BSD cast because I feel like not many people talk about him and how terrifying he is and also what he symbolises.

His creation/abilities:

So Divine Being Amenogozen was created via the 'Tripolar singularity' - a combination of 3 abilities/ability infused items. These are the Amenogozen sword (or the Space-Time sword), The Holy Sword Soluz Levni and Fukuchi's ability Mirror Lion. In short, Amenogozen can stab/move through space and time, the Holy Sword can infuse people's abilities into their bodies, and Mirror Lion strengthens any weapon by 100 times.

In terms of skills, Divine Being Amenogozen (who I will now refer to as Gozen) possesses the abilities of the Space-Time sword (liquification/absorption of people/abilities and energy blasts), as well as superhuman speed/swordsmanship, Levitation, self-healing and the ability to generate blades from himself to match his sword. He's already a powerhouse of an oppenent with just these skills that makes him an insane enemy for the characters to fight, but it's some of his other skills I want to draw attention to - mainly, spatial manipulation and his higher-dimensional existence (although I may bring mention to the others too).

As opposed to the others, I single out spatial manipulation as it is one of the things that makes him most intimidating alongside his physical appearance/actions. He's able to disappear and reappear in various places in the blink of an eye, something which really adds to the general horrifying nature of him as an antagonist.

The main aspect I want to talk about is him existing on a higher dimension than every other character in the series. Fyodor specifically says that Gozen is a fourth-dimensional being, whereas the rest of them are third-dimensional, and that Gozen's form is simply a shadow of his true self. Essentially, Gozen exists at a higher level of existence that is inconceivable to the rest of the cast, operating at this higher level not only in consciousness but also in ability/skill. It is why all of his skills are so heightened that they surpassed perhaps every single character in the current BSD canon.

To simplify the idea of dimensions, i'm pretty sure that a three-dimensional object is something that can be specifically located via 3 units (or dimensions) - usually this is the scales of height, width and depth in a physical space. A four-dimensional object also adds another variable scale (usually time I think) that you can see. In essence, Gozen is able to perceive the scales of height, width, depth and time (which implies that he can see through time itself).

[I want to clarify that this is not a topic I am very knowledgeable on, and I am kind of teaching myself the basics as I write this. So please feel free to correct me if I've got this wrong.]

So Gozen is able to travel across space and time, as well as manifest himself in multiple places at one via the past and present versions of himself (as if writing with two hands on a piece of paper, as Fyodor describes it). Fyodor describes Minkowski Space as part of his skills, a concept that I can't quite figure out how to explain so I recommend you give it a bit of research tbh). And Fyodor uses that to essentially kill the ability users that stand in his path and intimidate Atsushi into leading him to the book. It's also important to note that Fyodor, due to the seal marked on his hand from the Holy Sword, has seemingly complete control over the actions and abilities of Gozen. It is interesting to combine these concepts of Gozen's character with the general ruthlessness of his actions because it to me acts as a visualisation of the wrath of God.

Religious connotations and the wrath of God

Fyodor as a character has always been associated with religious imagery from his introduction. I don't know what specific sect of religion he's usually associated with, but for the sake of this post I'll talk about Gozen and his links to Christian imagery (since Christianity is the religion i'm most familiar with).

[My understanding is also quite limited so please don't take what i say is complete fact in case i'm completely wrong 😭]

Gozen as a higher-dimensional being to me brings associations with the concept of God and his omnipotent power. God is often said to know all, see all and have immense power (enough to create, for example, worldwide flooding). Gozen also exhibits similar concept:

- when he faces kunikida he is aware of his previous injuries (his hands being destroyed by the explosion in escape from the Hunting Dogs), despite not having been known to exist until much later.

- Gozen uses huge blades to chop down any buildings in a large area around the airport, showing he has power on a huge scale.

- Since he can present in multiple places at the same time (by manifesting past and present versions of himself at the same time) he can perceive through time.

Now, Gozen is not specifically like the Christian God. The christian God is said to have created the world we know and have complete control over it. Gozen doesn't show any evidence of this. Gozen seems more similar to a God present in a religion with multiple Gods that are worshipped by different people for different purposes. I seem to bring this towards the Christian God because often I know more about it (Christian primary school core) and see many depictions of the Christian God as one who is surprisingly ruthless - weather it be in stories surrounding Adam and Eve or The Great Flood for example. It's the inherent horror associated with this wrath (great anger and/or a desire to punish) that I bring to attention.

It is the inherently horror of being punished by someone of a higher existence and power that I focus on. I can see how Fyodor summoning Gozen to rid of his enemies here and his plan to unite humanity via the removal of the 'curse' of ability users can feel similar to the concept of Judgement day, where God is to come down and judge humanity for their actions and send them either to heaven or to hell. Fyodor however is more about force and violence in his methods, suggesting that he has perhaps invoked the more violent aspects of Gozen's wrath.

And there's a huge element of horror in fighting against a being who exceeds you in every single aspect and is at a completely inconceivable level and has so far basically killed anyone it has come in contact with before you but yet it decides to spare you and intimidate you instead because you serve, in its opinion, a greater purpose. Because that's what Atsushi is facing. Gozen is drawn in such an intimidating way at many points when facing atsushi too - I'm adding some because I think his design is so interesting too (might make a separate post on that because this is getting long).

Essentially, Gozen is terrifying because he is above and beyond everything any of these characters have ever known and possibly will ever know. He is a godly being who is ruthless in his directed pursuits and operates with such an intimidating air because of his inherent power and higher-dimensional existence. He is terrifying because he is so inconceivable and invincible in the eyes of the characters in universe, and to them Fyodor has essentially invoked the wrath of a God upon them for the 'crime' of being ability users that dare oppose him.

[This post started to fall apart towards the end because I only have a limited understanding of God's presentation in Christianity but I wanted an excuse to talk about how interesting and terrifying Gozen is as a character concept... I kind of love him as an antagonist despite him being so overpowered.Sorry that this became a bit of a mess towards the end but feel free to add anything to this idea - whether corrections or new ideas!]

[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 🙂��↕️

[roguetelepaths]

Hi! What interests you about the Dominion? :)

I've written a lot of things about what I find so fascinating about the Dominion and what I aim to do with my writing, and what it comes down to is that I want Dominion stories that are as ethically nuanced as Cardassian stories, and we never got that.

The thing about the Dominion is that it's a whole ass xenofiction concept shoved into a story that is trying to be a gritty, realistic War Is Hell narrative. The Founders alone are SUCH an interesting concept! Beings who, by their very nature, want to understand and embrace and love all that exists, who are the truest manifestation of "we are the universe, trying to understand itself", but were hated and feared so much that they decided to become the monster from the fairytale and started a whole empire just to keep the rest of the universe from coming anywhere near them? There's so much there. There's so much potential for the exploration of what they lost in the push for total safety and control, how many of their former cultural values they've abandoned and what's grown up in their wake.

(And if you are one of those people who believe the Founders aren't telling the truth about their own history, well, I respect your headcanon but please refer to this post about why it's important to my personal interpretation of canon that they are, and how their generational trauma furthers the theme established in Emissary that trauma is time distortion.)

And that's not even getting into the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar, whose entire cultures have been constructed for the express purpose of being useful to the Dominion. The decision on the part of the writers to make the mechanism of control religious in nature, specifically, has always fascinated me. Dominion religion— which is explicitly a fanatical death cult intentionally created to manipulate two entire species— has as much if not more worldbuilding than Bajoran religion.

(I have thoughts on Bajoran religion and its almost complete lack of concrete worldbuilding. Those thoughts aren't for this post.)

Anyway, I've always felt like the decision to make it a religion was interesting, not despite but because of the DS9 writers' lack of understanding of religion. (I've described this as "religion written by atheists syndrome", but it's possible to be an atheist and write very compelling religious worldbuilding and characters if you're willing to do so with a smidge of intellectual humility. It's more like "religion written by people who think they know all they need to know about how religion operates syndrome".)

Religion implies culture. Most religions around the world, for most of human history, have been inextricable from culture. The idea that a religion is a module you can plug in, unplug, and swap out, and that it exists separately from culture, is an incredibly recent one in human history, and it comes specifically from modern Christianity. So, to me, the fact that the Dominion servant races have specifically been given religious beliefs as a means to control them completely undermines the writers' stated desire to make the Vorta and Jem'Hadar into non-people. They are capable of faith. Manipulated faith, certainly. But as inauthentic as it may be on the part of the Founders, there is little evidence that it is inauthentic on the part of its believers. And therefore, they are capable of culture, which leads me to believe that they have culture we were never shown.

My mission in writing about the Dominion is to flesh out that culture, and to show how it shapes the lives of those who are part of it.

[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✨️

[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!

[raccoonzinspace]

IZ Eldritch Horror AU: Near-Final Rendition

This is the near-final rendition of my IZ Eldritch Horror AU. Here is what I have...(Tw for things such as psychological horror, body horror, cults, etc)

This creature is a horrible, biological abomination made up of ruby-red eyes, mouths, tentacles, and limbs. Its skin is clammy and a shade of a dark green, almost black. Its tendrils are incredibly bristly and have slimy suckers on the bottoms. Its mouths all have thousands of rows of razor-sharp teeth. The creature has several organ, circulatory, and nervous systems within its hideous form. This is the general description as accounts of its form change from individual to individual. You and your friend might see different details or an entirely different shape.

If you were to look upon this creature's Multiverse-sized form, you would either: (1) sh-t enough bricks to build a city, (2) scream incoherently as your brain bluescreens while trying to comprehend its scale, (3) die as your heart gives out, or (4) all of the above.

This creature acts like the Irken Empire on a Lovecraftian scale, devouring entire universes and assimilating every single soul into a twisted hivemind. Once it devours you, then you are no longer in control of yourself. You, like all the others, are part of the horrific abomination. This creature is ancient, probably predating the Multiverse. For the sake of comparison, it's probably as old as Azathoth.

This creature uses technological means in order to mind-control everyone in a given universe. These means include the internet, animatronics, and downloading itself into the Control Brains. With the individuals it manipulates and brings into its Cult, it grants them the ability to use eldritch magic and the technological means to recruit others. Some people are easy to manipulate, while others might catch on and hide away (ex: Dib Membrane, people who are already dedicated to a religion, etc.).

With people that are hard to manipulate, this creature might take matters into its own tentacles. If the Cult pestering someone doesn't work, then the creature itself will lock onto that individual and do everything in its power to break them down into a shell of their former selves. It can appear in that individual's nightmares or as a hallucination that only they can see.

Hiding away does not work if it locks onto you. Being an omnipotent eldritch being, this thing will ALWAYS know where you are and what you are thinking. No matter where you run to, you will NEVER have peace of mind. Even if you were to teleport to another universe or another dimension, it would know your exact coordinates and continue its assault on your sanity.

This creature shares some traits with Zim, surprisingly enough. It is an incredibly petty, foul-tempered, and highly persistent abomination. You don't really have to do anything to it in order for it to lock onto you; it can just choose to be a d-ck towards you for some petty schoolyard-level reason (it doesn't like your shoes, you're breathing too loud, etc). It can be compared to a very moody teenager mixed with a toddler that throws temper tantrums. This is especially true if your name is Dib (even as an eldritch being, he's still beefing with a child).

This creature's voice is that of an Irken, and it is underlayed with a hellish chorus of billions of people speaking at once. It's like the creature and all the souls its assimilated are speaking as one.

Some universes have a powerful seal of binding that prevent this creature from assimilating it. However, it can still infiltrate some of these worlds. One of the signs it has infiltrated a universe is the sudden "discovery" of an ancient tomb that predates any sort of Irken Empire or other civilization. It often appears deep in an undiscovered cave, sometimes in Irk, sometimes in Appalachia, etc. Once it has everyone in a universe under its control, it will have a select few individuals travel to Irk and enter that ancient underground tomb. Those individuals will then undo that universe's seal of binding, allowing the creature to fully assimilate it.

This creature does have extensions of itself that it can slip into a universe in order to manipulate others. One common form is a 9-foot-tall female Irken named Cazzi who often acts as the leader of the aforementioned Cult. She sometimes takes on roles such as an Invader, Technician, or even a Tallest.

Well, these are the tidbits I have. I think I am going to keep this thing separate from my interpretation of the Lovecraftian mythos, except when I am referencing it for comparison.

Honestly, I don't know whether or not I would be more afraid of this thing than I would be of an eldergod. Yeah, both can drive you mad, but one group doesn't really care you exist and one has the personality of a moody teenager. Let me know if you all want to see any more stuff regarding this...thing and if I can add or change anything!

All feedback is appreciated!

[athene-mykitologos]

I’m interested in your WIP. What about it made it seem like Fantasy, and how is it actually Sci Fi? <3

So..... This ended up being really long lol, but in order to give you a faithful answer, I felt I needed to define my terms.

If you've been on Tumblr for any length of time, you've probably see the "Fantasy is when you use 'coin', and SciFi is when you use 'credit' lol!!" or "Fantasy is when you're set in the past, and SciFi is When you're set in the future!" posts. Some of them are probably meant to be funny, a handful are tongue-in-cheek, but still others are dead serious in that belief, which is doing a massive disservice to the definitions of genres and the subtleties thereof. 

The disservice comes from the fact that "Fantasy" an "Science Fiction" are more than just their settings, they differ based on the themes utilized and the concepts explored. (This is not to say that these genres are mutually exclusive but I'll discuss that in a bit.)

For example, there's the classic debate over which is better, Star Wars or Star Trek. When it really comes down to it tho, they're not actually comparable. Star Wars is a Fantasy, Star Trek is Science Fiction.

While they both exist is space with fantastic ships, weapons, and cybernetics, they explore vastly different themes. At its heart, Star Wars is about religion. They may have justified things by creating a "scientific" explanation with the midi-chlorians, but the Force that flows through all living things and allows sensitive people to manipulate and use it, is very much the "mystical energy field" that Han Solo calls it. The story requires belief in that higher power as it's characters explore their role in the universe and their own personal beliefs in that power. 

Star Wars also follows the "Hero's Journey" format, a format that is classically Fantasy. This was done intentionally; Lucas has said "...it came to me that there really was no modern use of mythology... so that's when I started doing more strenuous research on fairy tales, folklore, and mythology, and I started reading Joe's books. ... It was very eerie because in reading The Hero with a Thousand Faces I began to realize that my first draft of Star Wars was following classical motifs".

The end result of all this is that you can take the story of Star Wars and place it in almost any setting and it will still tell the same story. You could write it now about a kid from Montana; or in Ancient China; or somewhere in Medieval Europe. The themes, including belief in a power greater than you that you can't necessarily see; and the basic root story, The Hero's Journey; are not going to change. Star Wars isn't SciFi, it's Fantasy. 

Star Trek, on the other hand, is very much Science Fiction. Isaac Asimov famously said, "Science fiction can be defined as that branch of literature which deals with the reaction of human beings to changes in science and technology." And that's what Star Trek does, if generally in a positive light. 

Star Trek ticks a wide range of the "elements of Science Fiction" boxes: predictive and speculative theories on technology, biology, evolution, and medicine. Exploration of more theoretical concepts including time travel, teleportation, alternate realities, and both communication & physical travel that are faster than the speed of light. They even touch on mind reading and control, telepathy, and telekinesis.

It's not just the elements that make Star Trek science fiction, it's the themes. Some people use the terms "elements" and "themes" interchangeably, but I disagree. The elements are the tools available, the themes are how they are used.

The confusion between the two is somewhat understandable, I suppose. Time travel is a tool, a vehicle by which we explore the theoretical actions of characters and the potential results thereof. Perhaps one author uses time travel in their story to depict how the behaviors of a person or group may have vast consequences for them and others. But another author may use time travel to say that the actions of the individual do not affect things on a massive scale, a flap of butterfly wings does not create a hurricane. Both stories use time travel, but time travel is not the theme.  

Perhaps the grandest, most overarching theme of Science Fiction is that "man should not play God". This particular theme is seen at the very beginning of the creation of the genre in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and shows up time and time and time again. To some degree it also shares a theme with the time travel examples: men's behaviors have consequences.

Star Trek is replete with examples of this theme. You see them in multiple episodes of the Original Series. The movies The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, and The Voyage Home, are excellent examples through the development of the Genesis device and its subsequent use. In some ways you might even be able to call The Voyage Home a rebuttal: perhaps man should not take on the god-like role of creation, but using the tools and skills he already has, he can change the future anyway. There are still more examples in the other series and media. (We'll touch on DS9 in a moment.)

In the end, if we removed Star Trek from the future setting in which is usually takes place (there's a lot of time travel after all), and place it in other time periods like we suggested earlier with Star Wars, it would still be Science Fiction. It would still have all the speculative and predictive elements, the need for exploration, the Themes that are so identifiable to SciFii. Those would each look a little (or a lot) different from how they are portrayed in a utopian future with unlimited resources, but the underlying values and traits would still be there.

I've been rather definitive with these divisions, but the truth is, stories are very rarely 100% Fantasy, or 100% Science Fiction, or 100% any other genre. Genres are human constructs, just as much as the stories they're used to describe. And, as with many human constructs, they don't fit comfortably into any one box. They're not a hard science, and there's usually a lot of bleeding. 

You see this the Star Trek where you have "Vulcan Mysticism" at many points in the story and even more so in the Deep Space Nine franchise where "The Prophets", despite being referred to as "wormhole aliens" display powers that are unexplained and often work as a Deus ex Machina. And that's not even mentioning the writers' and producers' decision to make one of the characters a god at the end of the show. And there are always the Q...

You see the same thing in the opposite direction in Star Wars. As the franchise has grown more and more "science" has been added to explain things. Or because it's cool (also valid). And in all fairness, while Lucas adamantly referred to his movies as a "Fantasy film" he also called them a "space opera".

In the end we come to two different media properties: one that is Science Fiction with some Fantasy in the mix; and another that is Fantasy with some SciFi for flavor. And, after that long winded explanation of terms, I can tell you that the second descriptor is essentially what happened to my story. 

When I first started writing it (I think I was 14? 15?) it was very much a Fantasy. It had what we refer to as a "typical Fantasy setting". It wasn't completely a Hero's Journey, but it certainly had some of those plot devices. It had ancient beings who weren't quite the same as normal humans, and it had a strong religious aspect. Very much a need to trust in a higher power you can't necessarily see.

I set my story on a shelf for several years. It was always in the back of my head, but in the meantime I went to college, got a full time job, gained some real world experience. When I finally came back to it, about a year ago, I had lots of answers to questions about plot and character development that I didn't have when I was younger. 

And it's been as I've reworked the story to fit those new developments that I've discovered that what I'm writing does not wholly fit in the box labeled "Fantasy". 

There's magic, but it's freely available to everyone. Anyone can learn to use it in their lives, and there's not a lot of mysticism surrounding that magic. This arguably makes it more like an energy reserve, or a utility, or a tool, which are SciFi-like angles. 

How the magic works is something I can't divulge because it's very plot relevant, but it's not ambiguous. There are quantifiable laws and principles, and it's based on organisms that exist in the real world. While I call it magic, every bit of world building takes me further and further from the amorphous thing that is supernatural magic in a lot of Fantasy stories. 

Perhaps the biggest point towards my story being SciFi, is that I too have begun to heavily include the theme that man should not play god. It is not the only theme, and there are plenty of moments planned when characters use their access to power for the greater good. But that theme also cannot be ignored. 

Returning to the original juxtaposition, there are many who argue that Star Trek and Star Wars are both Science Fantasies. The added elements of the supernatural, and the soft, rather than hard, science of Star Trek are part of the evidence. That Star Wars happens in space and the added soft science elements that have been mixed in with the growth of the property, bear witness in the same way. Despite what I said at the beginning, in some ways, these two stories are actually comparable. 

Personally, I think that more stories probably belong in this hybrid genre. The term was first coined in 1935 and has seen a variety of uses since then, but nothing widespread. Rod Serling said that science fiction was "the improbable made possible" and Fantasy "the impossible made probable". With our conventions and tools, both the improbable and the impossible are often needed to write the stories we want to tell. 

And all this is to say that my story is a Science Fantasy, it has elements and themes of both the Fantasy and SciFi genres. But when I set out to write it, I had no idea that's what it would be. 

[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."

[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.