#devout Christian characters.

[apotelesmaa]

I wish I could get a degree in lit/ethics but that would possibly be the only thing more useless than a viscom degree but goddamn do I love literary (or any media) analysis truly nothing is more fun than picking apart a story to find your own interpretation of the authors intentions and defending it. Lovveee to make a philosophical argument based on the actions of characters.

[yael-art-den]

For my next character I'm giving this dog catholic guilt

[journey-to-the-attic]

au where this was how ik and diavolo met for the first time when she was like seven

[raayllum]

one thing i think about the ghosting (that i allude to sometimes in my fic and given garlaath's existence as a concept) is not only the cultural trauma that rayla carries, but also the possible religious trauma. if you're ghosted, it would stand to follow that moonshadow elves don't believe you get to reunite with your village / loved ones in an afterlife. it's a complete shunning where they metaphorically (and somewhat literally) kill you if you refuse to die of your own accord in the line of duty. if you're ghosted, do you go to hell? does rayla already think she's damned on that level, and adds another level to thinking she'll never see runaan and ethari again? just something to think about

[beetlejuse]

watching an 11 hour video essay about glee and it’s frankly kind of bad and i dislike it but i keep watching it because it’s like microdosing glee. and i, unfortunately, love glee

[shoechoe]

It's interesting to wonder what Diavolo's relationship with religion is since he was raised by a priest and with his name and all. (Personally I like to think he became an edgy atheist because that's the funniest thing to think about)

[thecooleraveragejamm]

why is a jayfeather a devout starclanner now

what did they do to my boy

[sacrificialroses]

I love appropriating christianity/catholicism as a fun aesthetic it’s so messed up but that gothic like gold and crosses and angels aesthetic SLAAAAPSSSS 😂 but fuck everything else about it lol

[breitzbachbea]

Rotating JJerusalem AU Francetto at the highest speed in my head, because Francesco values Dolcetto for seeing through all the class and order bullshit and values him as someone who is intellectually of his rank and who he will defend and behind closed doors treat as an equal, but it IS still medieval times and Francesco values his head upon his shoulders, so he also never openly challenges the social order nor would Dolcetto ever dream to suggest something like that. And Francesco expresses his affection also partly by reassuring Dolcetto of his high and deserved status.

Like, people outside the dominant social system have always existed and putting them back into the world via historical fiction, acknowledging that we haven't heard of them because they survived by being lowkey, is fun! It is not necessarily an ahistorical modern point of view if done right. But I just think that also trying to incorporate a worldview that is as similiar to ours as it is different can be a lot of fun in fiction.

[prokopetz]

It's that time of year when Tumblr celebrates Easter by posting pictures of crucified anime characters, and inevitably somebody in the notes will pop up to helpfully explain that crucifixion imagery has no cultural significance in Japanese media because Japan is only about 1% Christian, which bugs me because it's completely wrong.

It's true that in the majority of cases, crucifixion in Japanese cartoons isn't meant to be conveying any specific theological message, but something Western audiences are likely to miss is that a large portion of those random crucifixion scenes are referencing Ultraman.

Ultraman's creator was a devout Roman Catholic who explicitly intended the titular hero to read as a Christ figure, and consequently, various Ultramen have been crucified on multiple unconnected occasions throughout the franchise's history. Crucifixion scenes in Japanese cartoons are often directly name-checking particular crucifixion incidents from Ultraman, right down to emulating the compositions and camera angles of specific shots. It's like an especially morbid version of the Akira slide.

The upshot is that, while it's true that the inclusion of gratuitous crucifixion scenes in Japanese cartoons typically has no (intentional) theological message, stating that they have no cultural significance is incorrect. A large chunk of the Japanese viewing audience are going to see them and immediately go "hey, that's an Ultraman reference".

Anyway, as an image tax, have a shot of four crucified Ultramen miraculously resurrecting a fifth Ultraman by shooting laser beams out of their hearts:

[tevinter]

Veilguard fails to realise that for those who believe, faith is stronger than anything, even facts.

Right in the beginning of Veilguard all the Dalish/veil jumpers are so nonchalant and against their gods returning, as if they were convinced offscreen that their whole faith was based on a lie (even though they all still wear vallaslin) and their gods were Evil™. This, again, fails to consider that the vast majority of the Dalish would either not believe or not care because it's their religion, their faith.

Morally ambiguous gods exist in real life religions too and it didn't stop people from believing in them. Divine morality transcends mortal understanding, so their actions are always rightful. This also leads to the concept of a 'god-fearing' person - even the term used (θεοσεβής) can mean both respect and fear. Mortals are humbled by the gods' power and greatness, and willfully submit to their divine authority.

You needn't go further than the goddamn Bible itself to see countless examples of unethical things that God did/supported including legitimization of slavery and punishment (Exodus 21:20-21 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property." is one unhinged example), cannibalism, many kinds of violence, war, and of course, genocide, one of which was literally the deliberate destruction of nearly all humanity and living creatures on earth. The god of the most widely practiced religion in the world for millenia. Ask a devout Christian if they would stop believing in God just because 'um actually he is bad'.

Mystery is also a great aspect of religion, which also makes it an excellent worldbuilding element for writers. Mystery adds to the immersion because just like the characters, we don’t know everything except the beliefs and unanswered questions. And we're not supposed to, because this is how religion works in real life, where faith is about belief rather than what’s fully understood. It makes the story feel more real and engaging. Professional writers - of a AAA title no less - should know this.

Religion was one of the greatest themes in all previous games, especially Andrastianism and the Elven pantheon. Reducing it all to 'the Evanuris did it' is disappointing to say the least, and even if it was the truth that only the writers knew, they should have kept it that way, or at least some of the mystery. It adds immersion, drama, nuance, it encourages thought and discussion. For all Veilguard failed in the 'show, don't tell' rule, in this case this is too much exposure, and not even done in a good way. ''Religion is fake, so now everyone's atheist or unfazed. Oh, except for one (1) person who is mildly upset'' is not how faith works, especially in a setting so religious as Thedas.

[historicallyaccuratecheese]

NPMD has the main cast of all time.

Peter “Has been waiting five fucking years for his hot chocolate” Spankoffski.

Stephanie “Puts her hand directly underneath a hammer to protect her phone” Lauter.

Richie “Accidentally filmed incriminating evidence that suggests he and his friends brutally murdered a guy” Lipschitz.

Ruth “Pours her entire heart and soul into a musical number that reflects the motivations and struggles of both herself and the character she’s pretending to be, and literally no one sees it except for the guy who kills her two minutes later” Fleming.

Grace “Has an extremely dirty sexual fantasy despite being the world’s most devout and chaste Christian, Stages an elaborate prank in the old base of a cult, dismembers a body and covers it up without remorse, holds a cop and detective at gunpoint, summons dark gods, fucks a ghost to save the world and then ends said world herself” Chastity.

And finally, Max “Considers a prank made to utterly ruin his life and social reputation the nicest thing ever done for him, but then proceeds to murder the people who pranked him because they made him piss his pants” Jagerman.

Incredible.

[luckthebard]

I think a huge problem I’m seeing in some attempts at meta with C3 is that there is a subset of viewers who do not understand the place, value, and meaning of real world religion. It breeds takes like “well throw the gods out! Who needs them! They caused characters and the world pain! Free Vax from the Raven Queen!”

I throw that last one in there because it is the most ridiculous yet frequent and is really the crux of the issue. Vax’s story is very much about faith and the importance of faith and devotion. If you place no value on that you’ll end up grossly misunderstanding the character and the nature of his tragedy.

I’m going to out myself as an atheist, but I think the issue with a lot of these takes are that they come from internet atheists who are either resentful of and hostile toward religion because of personal experiences or do not know any devout people in their lives who they respect and can empathize with. And while I am not trying to downplay the very real phenomenon of religious trauma, when healing from it it is crucial to realize that all spiritual traditions are not synonymous with the one that harmed you. I would really implore more people to explore why many good people find spiritual traditions and religion to be a source of solace, community, and meaning before writing off the idea wholesale as something only functioning as a means of power and control that people can be educated out of believing. I encourage you to branch out and here are some examples of things I’ve done to challenge my own judgement over the last ten years: read the writings of gay Catholics exploring the queerness of Jesus. Read some beautiful poetry written by a trans man who specializes in Anglican theology. Explore religious observances different from the ones you experienced and attend a Seder. Go if a coworker invites you to a celebration of Ganesh. Learn the significance of solstice celebrations because your coworker is officiating one for a Wiccan event. Break fast at sundown during Ramadan with in solidarity with your roommate.

Deciding that all fictional religion must be an allegory for a specific kind of toxic nationalistic prosperity gospel Christian cult found in America will only limit how you engage with both fiction and the real world. It took me a long time to get to this place about it and I hope I’ve put the spark of curiosity and not judgment into at least one person reading this.

[krystal-kade]

Emily

If Vivziepop wanted to write a REAL critique of Christianity (instead of a show misrepresenting and shitting on it) she would have made Emily the main character

A demon suffering at the hands of Christianity? It's fine, but boring

A seraphim who is a devout Christian suffering at the hands of Christianity because of the hypocritical nature of some extreme Christians? SO interesting.

I thought of this listening to "You Didn't Know" from Episode 6.

"Was talk of virtue just pretension? Was I too naive to expect you to heed the morals you're purveying?" and "If Angels can do whatever and remain in the sky. The rules are shades if gray when you don't do as you say" really made me realize how great if a premise this would be.

Emily is a fucking Seraphim. She's not just extremely Christian: She's an angel. She has a reason to be naive, she grew up in paradise. She genuinely believes everyone's good because that's all she's ever known. She's never experiences hardship, and neither has anyone around her. You know she'd be furious to find out about the exterminations: "Why are "innocent" people having to suffer." She'd want to help others live the wonderful life she's lived. She might help them as an angel, but I think it'd be even more interesting for her to become a fallen angel. Imagine. She lives her whole life a perfect Christian. A perfect angel. A by-the-book girl. A rule following, Bible following good person. She tries to help people from being slaughtered and gets sent to Hell. It doesn't matter how much of a Christian she was, because she went against those in charge of Heaven (similarly to how you can be a Christian, but are ostracized if you go against the Church). She would either get Heaven to change, and be invited back into Heaven, or she would work to create a better Hell as some sort of ruler. She has infinitely more motives than Charlie, and her naivety has more reason. She would know better how to help people become better people. Emily's journey from being a well respected and influential seraphim to a disowned and ostracized fallen angel would be so interesting to see, much more interesting than the mess we got with Charlie

[mintartem]

I’m inspired by a specific plot for this. Character A is an unholy demon/creature while Character B is religious (devout christian/catholic whatever you want).

Character A and B met in the middle of the night on Character B’s balcony and started chatting, got along, then went their separate ways. Their meetings continued on and on with B wondering why they never see A during the day. Missing people reports have been increasing in the news. As time went on, Character B has fallen in love with Character A and A felt the same. One night Character B insists on having A inside their room but A is like “I can’t as long as that,” the only Holy thing in the room, “is there.” B hides it (with so much reluctance) allowing A to enter. The next morning, Character B’s family member is devastated to know that B is now missing. Another increase to the missing persons file.

Whether or not the same plot applies here, that’s up to you. Another possibility is that Luci has nothing to do with the reports and is hunting the rogue creature doing the killing and Adam willingly joined him to be his queen in Hell.

[cultural-marxism-official]

last veilguard rant i swear

something ive been mulling over for a bit now again connects to the whole "elves/dalish rejecting the evanuris after finding out they bad"

this never really sat right with me for a whole host of reasons

-how did that knowledge spread from the inquisition?

-why would they spread this knowledge and how would they prove it?

-why would elves/dalish believe it with no proof?

but most importantly, why would it change anything for the elves and their faith? think about it, imagine if you went to ancient greece and told them "hey umm some of your gods were really bad and cruel, tryants actually" and said greeks going "oh wow that sucks, we will no longer worship them!" because that's essentially what veilguard does. granted the greeks knew more about their gods than the dalish do but that only strengthens my point. the matter of faith is written very strangely(poorly) in veilguard. for the most part it doesn't really engage with faith and religion much at all, which is very disappointing but when it does, it's done in a very blase kinda way. it feels like most characters are atheist/agnostic when that doesnt fit with thedas at all, religions are core to all societies weve encountered. what i believe has happened here, is a modern thinking issue with the writing, it plagues nearly every aspect of veilguard.

veilguard seems to look at faith as a matter of personal choice and that people follow the gods that are the good ones, so when they find out those gods were BAD, welp, not following them anymore! this is ridiculous and fundamentally not understanding the core of faith and belief. The elves/dalish don't worship the evanuris because they're the good and nice gods who's doctrine aligns with theirs. They worship them because they are SUPREME DIVINE BEINGS WORTHY OF WORSHIP. They are the creators and shapers of your reality, of your destiny, they are the arbiters of your eternal soul and to turn your back on them is to invite their ire. I say this not meaning specifically the elves and evanuris, but this is how most religions work. You don't choose this faith over that one because it fits your personal feelings, you believe because there is nothing else, no other god, other faiths are HERESY and LIES. Really, there isn't a choice at all unless you reject it all, something very rare in thedas because you know, magic and the fade are REAL.

So this notion of elves instantly rejecting their lifelong gods after discovering they did some bad shit is just stupid. Again, they are GODS, it is not for a measly mortal to remotely understand or be able to pass judgement on their actions. In religions morals, ethics, right or wrong do not function the same for divine beings, they are gods, anything and everything is within their right to do and the reason a mortal, a worshipper does not reject them for it is...BECAUSE THEYRE GODS AND THEY WILL SMITE YOU!!!

Same reason devout christians don't curse god for the bad stuff that happens in life, despite him being able to prevent them, it is blasphemy and it makes god angry.

All this on top of some elves already following fen'harel for example, despite it being known he is the god of lies and tricks. Faith here isn't based on him being a good god to worship, but because he could fuck up your life and you wan't to appease him to prevent that. So it should not matter at all if everyone magically became aware of the evanuris and their crimes, they are still GODS, in fact seeing them in the world should strengthen belief in them if anything and it shouldn't even enter into any believers mind that they need to be stopped or that it can even be done. Who are you to deny the will of the gods?

All this is just another example of how shallow the worldbuilding in veilguard is. We've all noticed that hardly anyone in game references religion in their dialog. No "makers breath", no "andraste's tits", no "by the paragons". It's not because the characters of veilguard are all atheists for some reason, there isn't some well thought out reason for it, the writers simply didn't bother to dig deeper into the core aspects of thedas and the forces that shape its societies.

game bad