#cult mention

[oncillaphoenix]

I don't think N would be terribly interested in most social media but tbh I can see him getting big on TikTok. he makes an account because Bianca mentions using it for scientific outreach and he figures he can use it to teach a few people how to form deeper bonds with their pokemon, and he has enough good looks and accidental cult leader rizz that he quickly goes viral despite his lack of update schedule or video editing skills. his account is half calling out habitat destruction and videos about how to read your pokemon's body language, half him rambling about random cool math concepts at 3 in the morning while his legendary dragon looms ominously in the background. ok wait I'm weirdly invested in the idea of future N as a semi-accidental tiktok influencer now

[windybluebelles]

Whiz Kid Billy Batson goes to Gotham to get an interview from the Waynes…

Only to shove all of them out of the way and start talking with this random blonde teenager???

And- is that Greek? Since when could Whiz Kid speak Greek? Are the teen’s eyes glowing? What is happening???

Guys I do badly want Billy and Bernard to interact it’s not even funny.

You cannot tell me that Billy, The God’s Champion, Batson and Bernard, nearly became a human vessel for Dionysus, Dowd, wouldn’t feel a kinship with one another over their weird relationships with the Greek Pantheon

Also also also also, I really want Bernard and Freddie to share theories they used to believe in about superhero’s. Tim could also join in with his past stalkerish tendencies, it would be like family bonding, but for autistic boys with troubled home lives.

Honestly I just want any fic where either Bernard or Billy interact with either eachother or other DC characters with relations to Gods or Cults

[awkwardandeccentric]

So I know that a lot of people are anxious about the “Stolas joins I.M.P. Arc” and I get it, but since it looks like the show is going that way, I do want to point out three reassuring things:

1. He’ll more of a chance to find community. It wasn’t just Paimon keeping him under lock-and-key that kept him isolated. It’s also a cult that actively kept him discouraged from talking to anyone that wasn’t a Goetia or a Sin. There just aren’t that many Goetia or Sin, and even less who like him. If he’s able to diversify his options for community, he’ll find other out and proud queer people. Autistic people. People who don’t use him as the scapegoat or the cautionary tale. It’s not like Blitzø will keep him dependent and locked up. If anything, I imagine Blitzø will actively encourage Stolas to find community in others.

2. Stolas’ classism/racism is at its worst when he’s around the other Goetia (namely Stella). Probably because he's unconsciously trying to fit in to a community that will not accept him. But when he doesn't talk to the other Goetia for a while, he chills out a lot. Not to where he needs to be, but he at least treats them like autonomous beings with feelings. I think it’ll be a lot easier for someone to point out his race/class issues if he’s not being influenced by a community that requires that mentality to be accepted.

3. The Ars Goetia is a cult. I cannot stress that enough. He’s in a cult. He needs to GTFO for his own safety and well-being. It’s a high-control setting that does not allow you to fraternize with anyone not like you and controls everything about you, like how you dress, who you marry, your reproductive life, your job, etc. He was nearly murdered and there were no repercussions. The Ars Goetia need to be torn down as a society. They are actively damaging not only their own people, but also a lot of Hell, itself.

[bendysinitiation]

Sammy’s cult if it was awesome

This isn’t technically in the au, it’s more concept, but I love it. It is based off of a snippet of a Snow White documentary where it was a band playing but all of them had these eerie Mickey Mouse masks on with soulless eyes. Apparently, it was extra footage in the Snow White dvd, but I can’t really seem to find more about it.

(Image ID: A black and white digital painting of Sammy Lawrence conducting a band. His hands are raised, the pose that signals the song is about to start, with his conducting stick in his left hand. He, along with the players, are all wearing plastic-looking masks of Bendy, much more 3D than his usual cardboard mask. He also wears a tuxedo with a tie and pants. End ID)

Reference photo under cut

(Image ID: A black and white photo of a band. All of them have haunting Mickey Mouse masks on. The trumpets are in the front facing to the side, and there seems to be clarinets and a sousaphone to the far left. There’s a crowd watching them. The black sign on top says “Mickey Mouse”. End ID.)

[manganumber4]

Hunter x Hunter: Chapter 401 Theory

Both English-speaking and Japanese fans of Hunter x Hunter have theorised that Beyond Netero was modelled after the Aum Shinrikyo cult founder Shoko Asahara in chapter 401.

[valictini]

I was watching a video analysing how the Yiga clan were handled in botw and how the person analysing it lamented the fact that Kohga was a joke character who totally destroyed the much more threatening image the yiga clan had all throughout the game. Although I do understand the sentiment (I felt that way for a long time) I’ve come to realise that we might not be viewing it in the right perspective. I ended up writing a comment under that video explaining how I saw things, and realised that maybe it could interest people here too? So here is the fleshed out version of it:

I think part of why they made Kohga extremely goofy compared to a way less goofy clan of literal assassins is to emphasise how even though the clan originally held some understandable beliefs, it has become a cult of personality over the years, and like most cults, the leader is way less charismatic than his followers make him out to be. Indeed, from the outside, it seems absurd how anyone could take Kohga seriously, let alone kill under his command, but from the inside, Kohga is the Beloved Leader That Guides Them Towards Victory, and anyone threatening him deserves to die.

In a way, yiga clan members feel like vulnerable, impressionable people who were enrolled into a cult and given a Big Family and a purpose (and a lethal weapon) by their lovable Master Kohga who wants the best for them… Except if you want to get out, then you’re a filthy traitor who also deserves to die. It’s especially visible when you beat him and they all get personally mad at you for killing him. They didn’t care about Ganon, they didn’t seem to actually understand the bigger picture, they only cared about Kohga.

It also shows how, like the rest of Hyrule, the Yigas are very much disconnected from their own history, seemingly holding on the grudge their ancestors held more as an excuse to continue to enact violence and perpetuate the cult of personality than fighting for a “noble” cause. Only Kohga seems to actually care about Calamity Ganon, and the rest of the yigas seem to be just tools to him. Wether or not he’s actually conscious of what he’s doing is unclear. Is he a fully aware con artist, or is he purely another product of Yiga indoctrination?

So yeah, to me it feels like a parody/critic/mockery of cult dynamics. It shows that this gang of assassins are indeed a real menace, but for seemingly no reason other than “that one lunatic they admire told them to” and “if they go away they get killed”. The reason why the clan was originally created becomes almost anecdotal. Under the current leader, no one is required to actually know what they’re doing, they just need to follow orders.

In the end, I think it is the intention the developers had because cults are a rampant problem in Japan. At the very least, even if it’s not a actually conscious critic, it’s a concept that is much more present in their cultural landscape than ours and that almost certainly influenced how they handled the Yiga clan. Basically, cults are not cool and can even be dangerous both for the public and their members. Cult leaders especially are not cool and often are con artists. Therefore, Kohga couldn’t be badass, he had to be a doofus getting beaten in the most unexceptional way possible.

[thecorvidforest]

i’m so sick of people treating cults like silly little props for their stories. here’s a list of cozy games where you start a cult! try this board game where you’re competing to be the most successful cult leader! want to join my fake cult roleplay server? cult leader character design! read this forbidden erotica romance book about a cult leader and a cult member!

it’s so endlessly frustrating. the majority of my life i suffered awful abuse because of the cult i was in. every part of my body holds an immense amount of trauma that i may never be able to let go of, and i may never be able to function independently because of it. and people are out here acting as if cults are just silly fantasy and would never happen in real life. cults are real! their victims are real! the abuse and the trauma is real!

media about cults can absolutely be well-done and respectful - but at this point it feels like it’s almost always used for either shock value or treated like a fun cutesy storytelling trope. the commodification and normalization of our trauma is nauseating, especially when the majority of cult survivors will never see justice.

idk. i’m just so sick of it. cult survivors deserve better.

(anyone can interact but please be normal. i’m not sharing any identifying info about the cult i was in, don’t bother asking.)

[the-crow-cryptids-domain]

So yeah, Silas Birchtree, amirite?

[ingo-in-places-he-shouldnt-be]

Ingo shouldn't be joining a cult.

(Version with hat under the cut because I couldn't decide.)

[jojo-heritage-posts]

truly a top 5 jojo scene is dio trying to rope avdol into his sex cult and avdol jumping out of the closest window immediately

[computer-gummy-worm]

i like silas a lot

[qhideduo]

Because I've noticed this im the notes of my mooners art and talking to peeps, I want to know:

The Mooners were the members of the Moon Cult Mumbo created back in season 8, and that Impulse, Grian, Scar and Pearl were also part of.

(Please reblog so there's a wider range of data)

[grosslyoversimplifiedpolitics]

[ID: Screenshot of an Ao3 tag that reads, "Does it count as a god complex if you're projecting godhood onto someone else? Actually wait that's called being in a cult" /End ID ]

[just-antithings]

antis: 3 year age gaps are literally PAEDOPHILIA, childhood friends are literally INCESTUOUS, adults and minors being friends at all is literally GROOMING!

antis: don’t call us a ‘cult’! how dare you water down serious terms and apply them to fandom drama, that’s so insensitive!!

👀👀👀👀

[yourpersonaljaskier]

Hello hello! I watched Whitepine and now I'm insane! I also watched a theory video! I'm very insane and I need to ramble as to what I think is going on

Theory will be under read more, spoilers ahead

First things first:

Who is mrs. Hemlocke, and how long has she been dead?

So, some things to establish the estimated time period:

- steam locomotives and steam engines are around (meaning it's past the year 1712)

- The colour black may be associated with the mourning period (early roman period til the 20th century, now very well known because of Queen Victoria, who mourned her husband for 4 decades til the the early 1900's and wore black daily)

These bring us to a rather specific time frame between 1712 and before the 20th century

Black doesn't seem to be a very 'fashionable' colour, as the theory video I watched relied quite heavily on the idea that the Hemlocke family is in mourning. While the idea in of itself isn't a bad idea, I heavily disagree with this notion for 3 simple reasons:

1. The family isn't in ACTUAL mourning! They wear black clothes, yes, but there's no other indication they're in active mourning. They wear colours not permitted by the mourning rules created by Queen Victoria (assuming they're in England due to the name Whitepine and the general outlay of architecture), which was from 1861 til 1901 iirc, which is a HIGHLY likely time period they were in. Zam participates in hunting, the household isn't in mourning (the women aren't wearing any amount of mourning regalia, ie, veils, jewelry, full black attire, similar with the men), the HEAD BUTLER doesn't tell Ivory about the passing of the hear mistress (which MEANS the mourning period is long over and the topic is dead at this rate, Ivory doesn't need to be a genius to figure out why the mistress is never mentioned), Izzy permits Ivory to be the piano, so on and so forth

2. Serapter doesn't know why the piano room was empty. Her death was before his time, and he seems plenty adult to me.

3. There were no search parties (if she had disappeared), there were no funeral arrangements, no active mention of her or her recent passing, and black clothes are not an indication of a mourning period.

These, to me, are clear signs that the family, at least the children, have long moved on.

Now, how long has mrs. Hemlocke been dead?

Well.

Let's look at the Hemlocke children. So far, we only know that Pyro is the oldest, with the others having to clear indication of when they were born. But, to me, the Hemlocke children all seem to be of a similar age. There are no tutors or extra teachers for the women to learn etiquette, Zam goes hunting and invites Pyro with him, they seem to go out semi regularly as known bacherlors (as none of the children are married), and seem to have a close bond with how they interact with one another

None of the children seem teenage-d to me, but we'll see as the show progresses

In my mind, mrs. Hemlocke died when the youngest was a few months old. It makes the most sense with how the family and household act around her death and items. The piano was moved but is still taken care of. It's tuned with no obvious dust, out of sight and out of mind but with instructions to keep it in good shape

Izzy easily absolves the previous order to not let anyone touch the piano, meaning it's been long enough where she finds it doesn't matter if someone plays it, and as Clown mildly implies, it seems that the order was given by Zombie, as he advises Ivory to not make too much noise

Obviously, as mrs. Hemlocke was the mistress of the estate, all the older staff would have been relatively fond of her and followed whatever wish Zombie made about her items, but as Serapter doesn't even seem to know as to what some of the rooms are for (like the piano room), and that he 'forgot [the piano] was down there,' quite heavily implies her death was wayyyy before his time

To compress: Mrs. Hemlocke died perhaps decades ago, to a point where none of the household is in mourning and have seemingly moved on, with new servants being unaware of the affects her passing had on the family (ex. Serapter)

Who killed Mistycat, and why do people think it's the forest?

I personally think the forest has got absolutely nothing to do with Mistycat's death, and that there's a different perpetrator at hand with no supernatural element. I'll explain after this segment as to why the forest is such a focal point to Ivory, but for now:

The forest is an ominous 'character' and looming figure during the whole episode. Multiple shots include Ivory spacing out and simply staring at the woods in some sort of trauma reaction

The forest is ominous, dense and is eerie due to the atmosphere

Forests are easy ground to get lost in and die

Supernatural activity can easily be tied with a supernatural forest

Misty's death is sudden and seems out of nowhere after a bit of a long shot with the woods

From Misty's injuries, it seems like the attack was quite violent, but it's not above that she fell down the stairs after being attacked. The injuries on the back of her head could suggest a blunt force blow, while the rest of her injuries were amassed from her tumbling down the stairs, which would draw someone to check out what happened, and of course, then the freak out

Do I have an idea as to who it could be? No. Fuck no lol, I'm not a psychic, I just don't think it's supernatural for now. There's absolutely zero reason as to why a supernatural entity would be killing the household now and not then

Why is the forest such a big deal, and Ivory's behaviour

Now. Hear me out on this: Ivory is from a cult like environment, where a settlement was in a similar forest, quite like the surrounding area of Whitepine

Her behaviour, past being autistic, is very submissive, with a fear of authority, the fear of disobeying orders to such an extent that she asks a fellow coworker permission to go outside, and a general reclusive behaviour that I associate with a want to conform and not cause issues for the ones in power

Obviously, all of these can be attributed to Ivory's implied autism, but I think it makes more sense with Ivory's behaviour towards the woods and other people

She seems afraid of talking, saying anything outside of what is asked of her, and even then, she struggles greatly and panics about being in trouble to a near panic attack level. Her dissociation with the sight of forests seems trauma related, along with the buzzing noise she gets after people rush to see why someone screamed

She seems afraid but in an abstract sense. She stares for seemingly hours after being dismissed her first day, just staring at the woods that caused her to zone out first thing

It's not normal behaviour. Even from a neurodivergent standpoint in my opinion. Her anxiety seems to come from an outside place, and Minutetech not knowing anything about her, past where he found her and what she did on the train ride gives me the impression she ran away from her cult, and now associates forests with them, causing her to have bad reactions when on edge or stressed

And that was it! Thank you for the read, hope you enjoyed my unhinged thoughts!!

[neechees]

Im sorry i cant get over that stupid Midsommar "female rage" tiktok comment. Like these are the same White women who were praising Ari Aster for this movie for allegedly being "feminist" & portraying the "inherent trauma of being a woman" or whatever the hell & using it as a prime example of "female rage", but then when someone points out that Aster himself has said this isn't a happy ending because of the main character was manipulated into and by a White supremacist cult then she switched it up and said "well Ari Aster is a man so his opinion doesn't matter".

Like are u praising Aster & his film for "accurately" portraying "female rage" or are you dismissing his messaging & intentions within his own movie because he's a man & therefore doesn't & can't understand "female rage"? Are you admitting "female rage" is for White women? Why is the messaging of White supremacy in Midsommar irrelevant if it's so prevalent throughout the film? Where is the "female rage" for White supremacy & the nonwhite female character who was murdered by the cult?