#but also immensely painful

[heretherebedork]

History happened and history is real and history is queer and the reality of love is that it has always been queer even when people try to erase it, try to remove it, try to wash it out. But the past is still there. The past happened exactly as it happened and nothing changes that. It happened. Even if no one speaks their names or the words, it still happened.

(The whole story is so haunting but the truth is that it must be told, that the pain must be faced, again and again, because the truth is that people have been hurting and loving for so, so long and the past hurts and the future is still hurt by the past, shaped by the past, but we have the power to reshape the future with love.)

[stil-lindigo]

Context: Israel “allowed” aid in the forms of flour bags to be airdropped into Gaza, waited for hundreds to congregate, and then opened fire into the crowd of desperate, starving Palestinians. 150 Palestinians were killed. Hundreds more wounded. This is being called “The Flourbag Massacre”.

source

Meanwhile, over on the other side…

[utilitycaster]

I think the two most obvious foils for Ludinus Da'leth across all of Critical Role are Essek and Keyleth, which is both fascinating given how different those two characters are from each other (Essek being a foil in terms of isolation, single-mindedness, harm in the name of ambition, knowledge, and other such wizard themes; Keyleth being a foil in terms of people who have lost something at a young age to the gods and bear resentment for it, political leadership, belief that the world belongs to mortalkind, and longevity) but also it's extremely funny that they both are the partners of Liam's character.

[hazelnootnut]

[Did you really think the Universe would have been kinder a third time?]

I received an ask about the TCSS AU about the possibility of Loop making another wish to get out and actually be a star. While I don't think Loop would that in this AU (because they have been burned too many times), it was an interesting ask that had some discussion, and the asker said it would be cool if Loop's eye got ejected with a beam of light. So this piece was heavily inspired by that, thanks @explodedballs!

[napolean-but-cringe]

People keep talking about the whimpering horror podcast men and how distracting it can be but as a (maybe) asexual person, all I ever heard were men in pain. Other people find the whimpering weirdly erotic while I hear a guy in desperate need of a Hospital and a Therapist

[kunveekuzushi]

Isn't this what you wanted, Ajaw?

[wiltingdecay]

"but why didn't sakiko just TALK to-" because the tragedy lies in the fact that she didn't!!!

[utter-disappoints]

@utter-disappoints ♡

[sluckythewizard]

[PUT INTO PLACE, TIED DOWN AND ARRANGED, AND IS NEVER THE SAME, AGAIN.]<-listen to my favorite songs. VAMPIRES ARE WONDERFUL ARENT THEY. THE FLESH IS SO MUCH MORE DURABLE. SO MUCH STRETCHIER THAN HUMANS. THE STRESS DOESNT KILL A VAMPIRE THE SAME WAY IT DOES A HUMAN. YOU CAN TAKE THEM APART THREAD BY THREAD AND LEAVE THEM WIDE AWAKE WITHOUT WORRY OF THE BRAINMATTER SPOILING UNDER VINEGARY AGONY.

[chloecherrysip]

We're going to save your brother.

[redraven25-stuff]

we got the viktor and jinx interaction BUT AT WHAT COST. ARCANE JESUS GOT WHACKED BY JUDAS

(also i’ve seen someone get pissy over the religious imagery in arcane bc people are saying viktors jesus. it’s called parallels and imagery, literary devices are in every part of media whether you see it or not)(no one is saying that fictional man is actually jesus)

[meangreennunseen]

I know everyone in the fandom had accepted that Mortarion stinks and is rotting but I just... Don't see smell that.

Tbh I kinda came with headcanon, Mortarion caught some sort of plague like disease back on Barbarus, which greatly weakened his primarch grade immune system so he started to look very sickly (this is also why he can mostly be seen wearing gas mask). It doesn't affect other Primarchs as they haven't been subjected to it as long as Mortarion, but man is stuck in some sort of decay like state, but still regenerates. It's neverending. It's painful to him so in a way accepting Nurgle's boons had "cured" Mortarion, thus gave him way to live with disease at full max, but not to feel pain, because his body is now a dead flesh.

So yeah. Man probs has smell of the dead, but he is not rotting and surrounded by flies..

[ilovettrpgs]

Idk if you take requests... but..

Could you make a pirate au checkmatch or phoebe meme :]]

- you know who I am >:]

I'm not sure if this is what you meant but it's got pirate stuff so here :3

[keshetchai]

As someone who enjoys religion blogging/discussions, I've come to realize that it's a good practice to be aware of the general signs/symptoms of religious-OCD thinking (aka scrupulosity), because if the conversation is taking on all the hallmarks of scrupulosity, it's actually a definitive sign that we cannot meaningfully and compassionately engage in a conversation about religion in a healthy way. I've actually had this play out a significant number of times online, and when I realized what it was, I also began to realize that the intrusive thoughts/obsessive and compulsive thinking are only ever fed by continuing the discussion with that person.

[[ Important edit to clarify why I am saying it's not healthy — made after I went back to look for more concrete facts about OCD or anxiety (I have GAD, not OCD, but many resources overlap since they're both anxiety disorders):

When Reassurance is Harmful — this explains how/why reassurance-seeking specifically about an OCD fear is a compulsive behavior, and engaging with reassurance-seeking interferes with recovery/management/treatment.

This table from the Anxiety Disorders Center lists key differences between Information Seeking and Reassurance Seeking.

This IOCDF page on Scrupulosity info for Faith Leaders identifies "symptom accommodation" as enabling. Two of the examples of doing this by participating in the OCD behavior are: "Engage in excessive conversation focused on if-then scenarios (e.g., "If I did this, then would X or Y happen? And what if Z was involved? How about W?")" And, "Repeatedly answering questions about ‘correct’ religious or faith practices."

That page also goes on to outline more info about reassurance seeking. "Although providing answers to (often simple!) questions may seem harmless, providing reassurance serves to maintain the anxiety disorder cycle." (This BMC psychiatry article cites a lot of related studies establishing this.)

The IOCDF page on What is OCD and Scrupulosity? ]]

Imo, the responsible thing to do is to recognize that (even if the other person hasn't outright stated it/isn't diagnosed)* the conversation is not about religion, it is about needing mental health support from professionals and experts. Talking to me, the layperson who enjoys chatting theology and my religion — is not only not helping, but is actively harmful. I'm not just talking about the person who I replied to today, either. Like I've said, I've seen this happen dozens of times in various online forums.

*[while I am against diagnosing strangers on the internet, it's important to realize A) lots of people don't know what Scrupulosity is, so it's possible they've never considered this is a mental health concern that could be treated, and that B) for the purposes of my concern, it doesn't matter if they actually have diagnosed OCD. The only thing that matters is that their thought-process causes them genuine distress/fear, and every response given to them seems to only incite new/additional distressing questions/thoughts, or further entrenches the original distress.]

Ultimately, any discussion aside from "you might want to speak to a mental health professional about scrupulosity OCD" seemingly puts me in the position of feeling as if I am being used for their self-harm. I hate that feeling. I do not want to be leverage for fear and pain. I have GAD, I despise the idea that I am making things worse.

No matter how much I love religious discussion, the answer in these cases is always "please reach out to an OCD specialist/mental health professional. I am not qualified to discuss this." And then to stop there. I have never once seen anyone stuck in this compulsive thought spiral be reassured or feel any better by hearing from someone else's approach to theology handled with things like empathy, compassion, logic, or even atheism. It doesn't matter what we say, how we say it, or how we relate to our own religion. The urge to engage in this kind of conversation in order to chat about religion is a sign that we are not equipped to help.

You can't have a conversation here, because intentionally or not, ten times out of ten, you are adding fuel to the fire. Just like people can't simply tell me something that would erase/talk me out of my ADHD/depression/anxiety disorder, you also cannot simply argue/reassure/persuade people out of scrupulosity. We should not try. We have a responsibility to consider that it's outright harmful to do so, and to disengage.

[carmenpeach]

had this moment yesterday of "what am i gonna do, go take ceramic classes and do what i enjoy in life that makes me happy instead of being useful?" and it was this 💡 of like. thats probably something to strive for. to not be miserible.

[anderfels]

anyone that puts ratonhnhaké:ton and "boring" in the same sentence is not to be trusted. do not trust them.