#dIffeRenT from other people. demonic possesion aside'

[juniperhillpatient]

Most cherished material possesion maybe baby?

Oh gosh I have a handful 🥺

Hm… I really love the deer skull (it was part of a full skeleton, I once had most of the bones & they hung from my bedroom ceiling by fishing wire however I’ve moved since then) that I found with my Grammy back when she & I explored haunted spots together. We went to this spot in the woods in search of spiritual activity, supposedly used by cultists & demon worshippers & happened upon this perfect deer skeleton. It’s a beloved memory. (My Grammy & I are still close she’s just a bit too old to do much haunted exploration these days).

I have a handful of other interesting trinkets with fun stories behind them.

But my MOST prized I would have to say is the plastic toy spider I found while Geocaching in the famous tunnels under Bobby Mackey’s with some of my favorite people in the world. It’s bittersweet because I don’t talk to everyone in this memory these days but it’s such a remnant of a period in my life of adventuring with a beloved group of friends. He lives on a stone flame statue that was once part of a gravestone (different story) on my nightstand & aside from his fun haunted potential he just… reminds me of a time in my life that I’m very nostalgic about 🖤

Yeah. The deer skull is a close second & I have a handful of other really neat trinkets I’m fond of but I DO love the spider & that reminder of such a fun & adventurous time in my life & people I care about deeply & think of often even if life has gotten so much more complicated since that simple time.

[maratus-araneae]

🚩👯 for Al, 💭🎧 for Hannibal and Will?

Aaaa, thank you so much!!

🚩: I suppose the ship itself isn't allllll that dark, just that we're both bad guys and bad to others. Though we're also both very possesive of each other, and one would probably try to kill the other if they tried to leave. And Albert has a tendency to choke people when he gets mad, me included. Aside from that, it's actually generally sickeningly sweet for the characters involved.

👯‍♂️: As far as similarities go, we are both weapons, in a sense (hence the ship name). And again, very possesive. We're both especially smart and have a passion for science and learning, as well as having exceptional physical abilities. I think it suits us well to be so similar. We probably wouldn't like each other if we weren't. I'm a little sillier and shyer, but overall there aren't many differences.

-----

💭: Ahh, when I think about these two, it's generally a kidnapping scenario that comes to mind. I'm also especially fond of soulmate aus in this ship. Also also, I have an au where Will is a teacher at a magic school, Hannibal is his demon boyfriend, and I'm just the poor student who they think is cute (but I think they're cute too).

🎧: I'm a sucker for Take Me to Church with them lmao. I literally cannot hear the song without thinking of them. Bonus songs include No Children and Dark in Here by the Mountain Goats, but those are more for just the two of them.

Thanks again!!!

[worlds-best-sippycup]

Sometimes I think about my OCs like you should kissing 😠 why aren't you kissing 😠 and like it's because I didn't write them to kiss, I wrote them to be best friends! And it would mess up the whole story! But ughhh I want them to kissss...

[universejunction]

Midwayers, and problems of intended belief

A discord conversation (at first about fae and spirits)

Me:

I feel so far behind on learning about fae and spirits and such. When I thought The Urantia Book was more than a well-intentioned hoax it was easy to think fae and such are all just what it calls "midwayers". Now I'm... wide open to new interpretations. I know I'm not behind, I'm just where I am, but still...

A:

I would love to give you more of an idea, but I don't know a ton about the Urantia book or what you mean by midwayers.

Me:

Oof, okay. I don't expect much in the way of answers, I know I'll get what I get in time. But I will take this opportunity to share.

In the Urantia Book, it make a lot of distinction between spirit and matter, as you might expect. Mind is the means by which Spirit rules over matter, yada yada. It also has a ton of details on angels.

There's a ton of history in there too, which I'm now interpreting as metaphor at best, because it's sure as shit not factual with its racial skeletal types and what not.

Anyway... Y'know, I'm gonna give the summary and then see if I have the energy for the story, because I'm worn out.

Basically, midwayers are midway between material and spiritual (but they're not, like, pure mind), covering the gap between angels and humans. They're native to the world, but descended from super-humans. They're immortal and stick around until the "age of light and life". And there's 1111 of either all of them or that might just be the first group of them.

Midwayers also get attributed cases of demonic possession (but so does mental illness), though they're not supposed to be able to do that anymore since Jesus completed his experience of life and earned his sovereignty (which was... before his public work) as basically god of local creation.

There's so much in this book and I carved it into my brain and now I don't trust it but it's still so quick to mind 😩

Innkeeper:

Woof okay I just read this

This is....so much not correct at all but also weirdly accurate

Which makes sense considering my personal theories on bleedthrough but thats another topic for another time

Me:

"Bleedthrough" sounds so very likely correct even without knowing what you mean exactly. That's pretty much my theory on how the Absolutes stuff seems so probably accurate despite everything else

A:

I'm just going to offer that whenever you hear "superhuman," in a spiritual tome, your hackles should probably raise.

Like, it sounds like this is coming from the same branch of angelic and Christian occultism that recognize the Nephilim, but uh, just be mindful that rhetoric about "ancient superhumans" is almost ALWAYS used to sell bullshit about magic indigenous people

It sounds like you're mindful of that, but, heads up

V:

The midwayer concept is ringing alarm bells between "Magic White People From Outer Space" to "Eugenics"

Innkeeper:

^

The idea of a liminal concept, something that exists in between those two states, I feel that holds water

The idea of literally everything else is uh

Worrisome at best

Me:

I'll add more in a sec but y'all right

Me (later):

To be clear, I was raised on the Urantia Book and am now moving away from it. For reasons mentioned above, among others.

It does come very close to "magic white people from outer space" and definitely is like "eugenics is a good idea but no one is qualified to direct it".

Me (replying to A):

Adding on, yes, but it's like... Fix-it fic. There's this spirit prince for the world who rebelled with Lucifer (who was like... a local administrator, not a god or angel), but when he arrived they like... called 100 natives [of Earth], cloned them with power-ups, and put people from other worlds like ours into the bodies who served as the prince's staff in the task of cultivating culture. Those staff, through essentially spiritual sex, created the first midwayers. After rebellion, the staff split and the ones who stay loyal to the prince are called nephilim and start a line of (acknowledged in the text) big ol' nasty racial supremacists. They're also called Nodites (c.f. "Land of Nod")

Later, Adam and Eve show up to "upstep" human evolution (disease resistance, humor, art... yeah, magic white people) but because the prince rebelled and shit's fucked, they're having a hard time. Eve bangs a local tribe leader to get an alliance and fucks everything up (that results in Cain. Able is Adam and Eve's next kid). So now should-be-immortal Adam and Eve only have a few hundred years to live and their (already many) kids get the choice to leave and most of them do.

A while later, their first son, Adamson, goes off to start a new cultural center, meets a woman named Rata who "claims" to be the last pure-line Nodite. [They] have a bunch of kids, every 4th of which is invisible(???), and they make those kids get together (yikes!) and that's where the secondary midwayers come from.

And it lampshades all this like "many things in the spiritual development of a world are hard to understand." Uh, yeah! History is weird, sure, but as it's fan fic, it's creepy.

A:

So, I'm saying this with all the love in my heart, but you can only portray things as fiction which are not intended to be believed.

That's not a fanfiction, that's a religious text. That is a religious text with a fully realized theology and metaphysics, complete with creation story. I think it is harmful to approach it as anything else, or as a "generic" metaphysical practice. (Relatedly, there is no such thing as "generic witchcraft," which is a main point of this history of the occult book club).

Doing a little bit more research, it's a religious text associated loosely with the Urantia Foundation and written in 1955. I'm not seeing any indication at the moment that there's a formal power structure associated with the movement, which lessens the chance for cult behavior.

What I will suggest to you is that you need to approach this work like you would any other religious text. Set aside questions of whether the text is "accurate" or "true." If you are honestly interested in the metaphysical, you should be able to separate empirical reality and history for the metaphysical. If you can't do that, take five steps back in your practice and come back once you can.

So, setting aside questions of truth, does this cosmology reflect the things you believe about the world? Does it encourage a way of thinking about people that you think is good, virtuous, honorable, etc? Can this text be used to uphold values that you hold, or do the natural extensions of this text lead to certain conclusions? Are those conclusions harmful?

For instance, I believe that eugenics is totally and morally abhorrent, and that there is fundamentally "no such thing" as a person who could pull it off "correctly." There's no way to do eugenics "right," just like I believe there is no morally correct way to, I don't know, punch a baby.

As such, even your acknowledgment that the text accepts eugenics makes it worthy of rejection in my mind.

Maybe you are interested and capable of doing the apologetics to make this into a compassionate religious movement. I don't know. I am not interested in doing that. But I do not think you can "move away" from this text, in the same way that you cannot "move away" from the bible, only from interpretations of it.

At some point, you have to believe in a basic assumption. If there's something that "feels right," there's only so far you can push it without that basic assumption.

If you think there is a separation between mind, body, and Spirit, wonderful. I would recommend you find another text and another basic set of assumptions. For instance, one that doesn't involve angels making angel-possesed magic native people for the point of preparing the world for the "good races."

Me:

Yes, you've got it right. Except that my interpretation has moved from "I think this book is what it claims" to "I think this was (probably well-intentioned, but still) a hoax perpetrated by ex-Seventh-Day Adventists". But for whatever good intentions may've been involved, the fact that it's intended to be believed makes it very harmful. I talked about it today as a way of saying "wow, look at this crazy shit" and talking through the changes involved in my different interpretation / loss of faith.

I don't believe in midwayers anymore and don't know what to believe, I'm trying to do the work, as you say, of finding what parts are good and what's harmful, comparing with empirical stuff, etc. But, however ready I may've been to walk away from the Urantia Book, it's still a process of recognizing what ideas I have based on it and examining them in turn to see what's salvageable.

Innkeeper:

I think that's an incredibly respectful way to go about it, Toph.

When something is that formative to you as a person, it's rarely as easy as learning it's harmful and then moving on, entirely separated from the source material. There's a long process of digging up every assumption you know you have--and many you don't know you have, or don't have at all--and needing to challenge them in a newer, healthier framework. One of the most potent aspects of the danger of cults is that they're incredibly difficult to challenge that base assumption, and it can take years if not a lifetime to walk a path that steadily heads away from what was taught.

So to acknowledge something formative's deep capacity for danger and harm, and go through the long process of picking it apart piece by piece to ensure you don't retain its harmfulness as you separate from it, I think that's the best possible way to go about something.

[court-queen]

Otome characters you might like according to your OM! favourite (Lucifer, Asmo and Belphie)

I'm going to include both paid and free otome games. I'm also going to mention some games that aren’t otomes but have dating sim stuff (i.e Fire Emblem). This post is only my opinion and based on the games I've played. I hope these work as recommendations for you!

Lucifer

Hijikata Toshizo (Hakuouki): Hijikata is the first commander of the Shinsengumi, a short-tempred, but intelligent man. He is the most mature character from the main cast. Hijikata is very strict with the other commanders, who are very chaotic just like the demon brothers, and the protagonist, whom he distrusts at first. He also has a close relationship (though without any implications) with the Shinsengumi leader, similar to Diavolo. He lacks some of the kinky stuff Luci has, but leaving that aside, Hijikata might be a good route to play.

Jumin Han (Mystic Messenger): Jumin is a CEO who likes cats a bit too much. He is cold and centered on his work. The only close relationship he has is with the leader of the charity organization he belongs to, who is his best friend, and lacks any romantic experience. I would say Jumin is much less developed than Lucifer regarding to social interactions. Also, one of the characters has a strong distaste (which seems to be one-sided) for him. When you enter into his route, he is possesive, but in a slightly different way than Lucifer, more...over-protective. However, in some instances, he can have the same style of possesiveness as Lucifer. If you don’t mind he is less assertive, Jumin could be a very decent alternative.

Xander (Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest): Xander isn’t from an otome, so he  doesn’t have as much romantic stuff, but he is the most similar character to Lucifer, story and character-wise imo. Xander is the crown prince of the country of Nohr, a stoic and wise man. He is the older brother of the royal family, so he has to assume all the responsabilities, taking questionable decisions and pushing away his own feelings in order to maintain peace and protect his family. The relationship with one of his siblings, Leo, is similar to the one Lucifer has with Satan (post Satan arc). Xander has also a very complicated relationship with his father: to keep it spoiler-free, let’s just say he is what would have happened if Lucifer hadn’t rebelled against God. 

Nobunaga Oda (Ikemen Sengoku): A charismatic and intelligent warlord who is trying to unify Japan.  Very bold with the MC. He basically wants to own her, winning Go matches and claiming a part of her body with each victory. It sounds somewhat fucked up at first, but tbf it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Nobunaga isn’t as strict as Lucifer, but when the moment comes he can be very serious. 

I haven’t played it, but...I’ve been told that Victor from My Love’s Queen Choice, Jumin and Lucifer form the holy trinity of sugar daddies in mobile otomes. Chikage Kazama from Hakuouki isn't that similar to Luci, but he has some points his fans could enjoy a lot (he is one of my favourite LIs)

Asmodeus

None of these recommendations are as kinky as Asmo, sorry I don't play many +18 otomes. I still hope you like them Dx

Karma and Rumpel (Cinderella Phenomenon): I think both might work for someone who likes Asmo. First, Rumpel is quite a flirt. He has a curse that provokes him amnesia, but that doesn't stop him from trying to charm beautiful women. Then we have Karma, who has a curse that makes women fall in love with him, so he usually dresses as one to not attract them. He isn't that much of a flirt, but he is quite narcissistic. Put both in the same room, what could go wrong? Both characters end up having a decent depth and growth, so if you are one of those people who wants Asmo to be more than his quirks, you are probably going to enjoy them a lot.

Zen (Mystic Messenger): At first a narcissistic actor, then the most supportive and sweet character from all Mystic Messenger (and also the most stable). I would say he subverts the archetype of the flirt/narcissist in otomes. He has a past and context explaining why is he like that, and his route makes a twist with the rival in love with him. If you want a different focus of the archetype Zen is a really good option for you.

Ikki (Amnesia):  Ikki has a special charm that attracts women. This charm will cause the protagonist in Amnesia to get into lots of problems with people who are totally in love with him. He isn’t narcissistic nor a flirt, but if you are interested in a story about how might be dating Asmo with the consequences of his powers in other people, Ikki's route could interest you.

Yuri (Nameless): Yuri has also a charm that makes people being attracted to him. However, it isn't as exaggerated as Ikki or Asmo especially because all the main characters in Nameless attract a lot of people. He is a flirt and narcissist, practically at the same level as Asmo (I had a lot of fun with his moments). Imo, he is the most intelligent person in the game, and reads quite well the other characters. In his route we will learn more about his behavior, and he will be forced to grow and leave behind his attitude.

Sylvain from Fire Emblem Three Houses and Jiyeon from Dandelion  might also be good recommendations, it’s just that they are a bit more...controversial.

Belphie

These characters are very spoilery, I'll try my best to explain why you might like them.

Unknown (Mystic Messenger): A twin, just like Belphie. Both have violent episodes, even trying to hurt the protagonist. They direct their hate to certain characters, whom they consider responsibles of their miserable situation. At heart, they are really kind and sensitive, but have changed because of their circunstances. I would say Unknown's route doesn't portray him as well as the rest of the game, but regardless you might enjoy it if you like Belphie.

“Nameless” (Nameless): Okay, this one quite spoilery, I'll try to explain it without saying much. Belphie's situation? Imagine it but worse, with nobody knowing where you are and not being able to try anything to escape. Then combine his hate for humans and his love for Lilith, and you'll have the complicated feelings this character has towards the protagonist of Nameless. For me, he is literally Belphie, just much more dramatic and dark...

Monshiro (Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly): if the character before is a darker Belphie, this is a lighter Belphie. All the characters in Psychedelica are trapped in a mansion with monsters inside. This mysterious man appears to help the protagonist to fight them at certain times. Even if the rest of characters are very suspicious of him, he seems to be kind and calm, to the point he doesn't appear to know much about the situation the main characrers are involved in. When we continue advancing through the story, we will learn his real identity, and the sad truth about him. There is also another important similarity with Belph, but, spoilers.

Yeonho (Nameless): Like you can guess from the other character, Nameless is darker than other otomes. Yeonho is a sweet boy, very dependant on the protagonist. He is shy, and doesn't like to socialize with people, even if he is quite popular in his class. When you enter into his route, he becomes a little bit obssesive, and some of his endings are terrifying. If you are a masochist like me enjoy being alert with a sweet character that could break in any moment, Yeonho's route is for you.

I would want to recommend another character from Nameless, who I think has some points that could remind of Belphie, but given that this is not apparent at first, I'll let you discover by yourselves if you play the game.

I wouldn't consider them that similar, but Ukyo from Amnesia is quite the Belphie experience. If I had to pick an only route among otome games I would pick this one. Totally recommended. Kei Okazaki from Collar x Malice has also some quirks Belphie fans might enjoy.

[islandofmuses]

headcanons: 5, 6, 16 (all)

5 - Guilty pleasures : For Luka I would say cleaning, just cleaning everything, especially when he’s nervous about something.  For Elly , silly 90s pop song, very, very loud to dance to.  For Andy, old movies and junk food, also drinking, a lot asdfghjkl  For Zeke cocktails, and old love songs  For Lilah all things make up, I imagine she randomly comes up to her friends and offers to do their make up out of the blue.  And for Julain He loved to come up with potions, like make his own by mixing different things and such, he may have almost exploded his lab a couple of times, though...  6. Their vices (physical or emotional) do I even to say what Luka’s is? or at least was until Dawn, Women and sex, that’s yeah xD  Elly’s drinking when she’s upset she drinks, it’s not exactly a vice as much as her--usual way to deal with pain  Andy is Drinking and getting into random bar fights because yeah  Zeke I would say cocktails again because he just loves that too much  Lilah likes ice cream a little too much, she couldn’t live without it Julian, I’m not really sure, I think Julian is a tea guy, he drinks when he’s upset so...he’s beer drinking it a lot!    16 Dark secrets/’skeletons in the closet’ Luka hide his wolf side from everyone, that was his secret for a while. The other one is that when Annabeth got possesed by a demon, Luka didn’t know how to help, they were fighting and she gained crontrol for a while, she begged him to kill her, she didn’t want to live with the things the demon did in her body and so...he did what was asked, that’s why he run from his old life, he couldn’t face his other firends after that.Op.  Elly When Elly was still lerning about her powers, she got upset to the point she almost, accidently killed someone, she was always a hot headed and when she got pushed to the edge emotionally, her powers came out and the person she was having an argument with almost died  Andy He never told his parents he didn’t want to be a hunter, he wanted to be cop, but he was forced into this life and now he feels like there’s no way out, once you’re in, that’s it, he never tell anyone this, but he feels pretty much stuck. And the reason he’s lonely is also that he fears someone he cares about gets hurt because of that he does.  Zeke  When Zeke was lving in the streets, he saw a man dying, this man was also homeless, Zeke could have helped him, his magic could have saved the man, but he was so broken himself, he didn’t bother to care, that’s why he tries extra hard now to help everyone, he regrets this a lot.  Lilah help scam people for a whole, pretending to be a witch, the reason she did so was because he was angry that she never got any of the magic powers her family as, and she still feels hopeless a lot.  Julian tried to bring his wife back to life,even knwoing this was dark magic not to be messed with, he was hurting too much to care, of course, he doesn’t know much aside from the healing side of his powers and he almost died in the process, he still has a wound on his right arm it’s covered by his sleeves and a bandage but it’s a wound that will never heal.