#it's 'catholic lite'

[imwritesometimes]

lollollollollollol can't wait for my mom to call me, furious, telling me she's leaving the Episcopal church (again)

[daredevil-vagabond]

My hatred turned to pity; my resentment blossomed flowers

The truth in me grew brighter—my nature and my nurture - small red boy, AJJ

Jason Todd

[nyxi-pixie]

some may say catholic coded fantasy religions are overdone and i say kys everyone should keep doing that shit forever

[istra-ish-sucha-geek]

This is probably a terrible take.

So I grew up evangelical, and now I’m Episcopalian- and I’m dabbling in getting to know the Saints.

And ngl, it’s a bit like collecting Pokémon.

Especially since you can get little cards of them.

With prayers on the back.

And like.

Choose one … for whatever battle you’re facing …

…

SO I’M SICK, BUT I’M PRETTY SURE THERE’S A SAINT FOR THAT.

[blessedarethequeer]

someone's gotta do the necessary work of being a little shit in the name of the Lord...

...and if not me, then who?

[jellyfishhhhhhhhhhh]

religious trauma from Christians... as a Christian

I have a bit of a weird circumstance, because I wasn't Christian at the time of my trauma, but I was dating an Evangelical Christian when I was 14 (yeah, yeah, yell at me or whatever) who caused my trauma. As a result I developed PTSD and the circumstances worsened the OCD I have struggled with my whole life. I'm not going to go into detail, but let's just say his lust caused him to sin and he did not pluck out his eyes. (he did more than that but whatever) I love going to Church and talking about religion and the Bible and can usually do it without problem. But sometimes, I go into these thought spirals where my brain attributes Christianity to the things my ex did to me. Which is like... what OCD does. It attacks our morals and beliefs. I'm essentially doing therapy by myself because of bad past experiences (and in part because I can't fully trust a Christian therapist to not be anti-gay or anti-trans. I also have a fear that a secular therapist will just tell me to stop being Christian, which will just lead to more thought spirals). I've banned myself from doing compulsions (while still giving myself grace if I mess up, which is the hardest part), so I feel like a werewolf chained up to a tree at practically all times. The best thing to do is distract myself, which usually ends up with me reading interpretations of Scripture, philosophy, politics, anthropology, writing (I have writer's block, sadly), or interacting with the fandom that I'm in since these are things I whole-heartedly enjoy. But I'll do these things and then a thought will come in (i.e "Some people who are Christian have done bad things and used God to justify it, therefore, you are bad", "Well, you kinda did this bad thing 10 years ago, therefore, you're getting left behind in the rapture, sorry lol!" (I didn't even know about the rapture until I dated that guy), "You aren't doing enough to help people, therefore, you deserve to die", "You dare to eat while other people can't? Um... kys?", "What if you actually beat someone to death in your sleep and you just didn't know about it?", etc.) and then I'm back at square one. It's been like this all of my life (first time I remember having an intrusive thought/image was when I was 5). And it doesn't help that the OCD triggers my PTSD so it's just like a horrible game of ping-pong in my head. I don't know... do any of you have advice? Prayers are always appreciated (no matter your faith).

[readingloveswounds]

i am the WRONG kind of protestant for all these religious colleges. sorry but i will not be stating whether or not i am actively involved in the church. and if i did, i promise you, you're not going to like which one lmao

[hotcocoandmarshmallows]

I'm what happens when Catholicism² meets British American Protestant Pragmatism.

An atheist.

[papirouge]

"inherent Christian messaging"

In a book glorifying witchcraft and spells

[rrat-king]

fun canon things about the lake elsinore crew we learned this episode:

liv's mom has a miniature pinscher named dilly who is 11 and has no teeth

dang hates cops passionately and has vague beef with paula

russell makes an effort to stay flexible and is prideful over the fact that he is (also has a great ass)

paula is catholic

dang calls usha "his little ushie"

russell is a car guy

liv has only ever gotten drunk off of gatorade abominations at highschool parties

usha plays scrabble and is damn good at it

wendell only has his learner's permit

dang is a lite beer guy

[lemonfarmer]

Except in Canada where we elected a gay bishop who said no I'm gonna get married in my own church despite what the toddies in the UK say.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/ugly-gay-it-s-ok-the-power-of-acceptance-1.4056234/in-the-loving-image-of-god-meet-canada-s-first-openly-gay-bishop-1.4056241

the church of england was literally started because henry viii, a man who cheated on his wife multiple times and had at least one child with one of the women he cheated on her with, wanted a divorce that the catholic church wouldn’t give him.

you are the last people who should be saying anything about the sanctity of marriage, you absolute clowns 💀💀💀

[foibles-fables]

thinking once again about the delicious concept of Talanah having deeper and more numerous hang-ups about sex than Aloy would...

When it comes to the act itself, at least. We all know Aloy has a metric fuckton of interpersonal baggage to work through, and she's certainly gotten started on that. But I think, in an early established relationship with the two of them on equal ground communication-wise, she'd be way more clearheaded about the act of sex specifically.

The Nora are an incredibly sex-positive tribe, as long as it don't result in babies outside of a sanctioned mate blessing. They use contraceptives liberally ("my sister stopped taking her tea!") and same-sex couplings are accepted and not outside of the social norm. While the tribal leadership is a matriarchy specifically based on the merit of having progeny, the rest of their society is an egalitarian one.

Rost, as a devout Nora, would've felt the same way about sex. And he would have impressed these ideas upon Aloy--with frankness, with no nonsense or baggage (since there's no social backing for it)--in preparation for her to join the tribe after her Proving, as was his wish. I think any angst Aloy would have about sex would be connected to her heaps of internalized otherness rather than upbringing--but if that was settled beforehand, I don't think she'd feel shame about the act itself.

The Carja, on the other hand. lmao.

Unlike the Nora, we don't have a canon outline of their attitude toward sex specifically--however, one can infer that it would fall into the rest of their patriarchal societal structure. They're kinda Catholic-lite, if you will, but make it the Sun. Only a couple blips of ambient dialogue give reference to it and they're mostly played for idle laughs.

We know Talanah herself is a badass and hellbent on breaking social barriers--but I think it's also interesting to view her through the lens of also being a product of not only Carja society at large, but also a noble upbringing. I just think it's fascinating, character-wise, to think of her having no shame or trepidation about kicking down the door of the Lodge--but still having to fight internalized shame about sex, when it comes down to it. Obviously, that wouldn't be a part of her everyday behavior we've seen portrayed. But it's just so compelling to think about from a theoretical standpoint.

AND it ties pretty much directly into the Comphet Talanah Hypothesis. Shame about sex is one thing--shame about having and/or wanting to have sex with women is another thing entirely. To me, in-game evidence points to the idea that the Carja are at least somewhat tolerant of same-sex couples in the peasantry. But I do see it being viewed as very very very much against the grain for the upper class, because noble patriarchy. Not downright condemned as sinful in and of itself, but regarded and responded to with an extreme amount of otherness as one falls out of line re: their "rightful duty" to their Khane. For a noble who is gay, lots of repression, lots of internalized homophobia.

So consider Talanah. Already othered to the point of some pretty bitter social rejection, as we see in HZD. Why would she, as a noble with the ingrained upbringing that comes with it, want to embrace that part of herself and bring more otherness upon herself? If she's going to feel shame about sex and baggage about sexual relationships, wouldn't it just be easier to make herself take the path of least resistance and have it be with a man? Because at least that's what she's supposed to do. Right? And she barely even has the language for anything else. Even though she's never really done anything she's "supposed to do" before. Maybe it would just be better to do that, for once. But why does that feel so wrong? Why does it feel like she's going against herself? Why does the thought of being with a man actually make her recoil? That’s what she’s supposed to want, isn’t it? After everything why does this make her want to hide? Why can't she stop thinking about Aloy? Aloy's hands, Aloy's mouth? Why can't this one Sun-damned thing just be easy?

Just. Ough. I love that this concept puts another line of give and take into their developing relationship. Talanah helping Aloy come further out of her internalized isolation through shared experience--Aloy helping Talanah come out of her internalized sexual shame and homophobia thanks to her own lack of baggage surrounding the two.

I have so many moment-specific headcanons about all of this BUT this is already long enough so I'll just spare you and leave you with the meta. for now. (that's a threat)

[ailishmaurafiction]

Escaping the dungeon is their clear goal, but first Thesa (the ex-paladin Witch) and her girlfriend? lover? domme? demoness will need to cross through a floor with an out-of-place theme: Candy! Will they make it through in tact or are they going to need a trip to the dentist when this is all done?

The next chapter of Paladin to Witch is the highest production value yet!

3 new monsters with art by Botjira!

A map I made in Dungeon Scrawl!

And the start of some silly nonsense!

Goes live: Tuesday, December 17 @ 11:00am PDT

Story summary and publishing details under the cut:

Indebted to the very demoness she was sent to kill, Thesa questions everything she’s ever known, bonds with the sexy [High Devil] Merijest, and practices her interpersonal skills. Can she help Merijest rebuild her army before it's too late?

Includes:

- Slow-ish burn GL romance

- [System]-lite LitRPG about two characters accustomed to life in a video-gamey world

- Steamy tension (no explicit sex scenes, mostly implications and tension)

- A reverse dungeon-crawl from the bottom of a kaiju-sized mimic

- An ex-Paladin trying her best not to stare at a casually nude demoness

- Weird monsters from the mind of a maniac author

- Very infrequent curse words. I counted 8 times in the first volume (45k+ words).

- Religious trauma. This one is especially going to appeal to the Catholic and Ex-Catholic girlies out there. Nobody does angst like we do, babey! (Nothing inside is strictly allegorical of any religion, but the sensibilities are definitely informed by a Catholic milieu.)

Updates Tuesdays at 11:00am PDT

Chapters hover around 1-2k words each

Cover and monster art by botjira

[lafemmemacabre]

🥀🔮 G A B R I E L ⚰️🕯️

BACKUP ACCOUNT for @vampiricvenus

🦇 TME • they/them (ENG) & elle (ESP) • 32

🦇 Lesbian • femme4butch • monogamous • married 🥰 (April 12th, 2024)

🦇 Chilean • mixed non-Black Latine • ENG & ESP

🦇 Hellenic Polytheist 🏺🏛️ (Culturally Catholic)

Aphrodite & Ares devotee // Hera, Persephone, Dionysus, Hermes & Apollo worshipper.

🦇 Goth since '07 • HEAVY preference for 90s goth

🦇 Autistic • multiply chronically ill • ambulatory rollator user (aka I'd love to use it full time but right now it's impossible 🫠)

🦇 Communist • anti-psychiatry • feminist

DNI ~ Not that it stops the wrong people, but...

No lesbophobes, misogynists, biphobes, transmisogynists, transphobes or homophobes.

No transandrophobia bros.

No racists (including antiblack poc), antisemites or zionists. No US or otherwise imperial core chauvinists. Your lives aren't more worthy than those of the global south.

Very much uninterested on liberals interacting with me or my posts, for the love of God please leave me alone.

I'm very against the whole m-spec "lesbian" bullshit and no you will not convince me that it's #Valid. I'm not interested in the politics of the validity of identity labels, I'm only interested in labels in their capacity to describe our positionality within hierarchies of power and oppression. Lesbian identity describes specific gender relations within our established patriarchy, and part of those gender relations is as women or women-adjacent people who do not willingly form sexual or romantic relationships with men outside of sex work or other similar survival needs.

I'm similarly opposed to TME people claiming the transfem label. Fuck off.

If you're an able-bodied person who thinks physically disabled people have it somehow easier, are more believed, or are given more compassion/sympathy, and/or you co-opt our struggles, kindly kill yourself. <3

If you're someone who thinks misogyny is Oppression Lite™ also kindly kill yourself yes even if you're LGBT/disabled/etc. I don't care. Die. <3

I'd rather swifties stay the fuck away from me purely because you're all insufferable even if the mediocre white woman you all were worshiping wasn't a snake billionaire polluter bully.

[qothlamb]

The Latin version that St. Jerome produced was what I was taught about as the original. We also sort of knew the Torah existed but bc Jesus and the Church didn’t personally OK it, it wasn’t as good, but still holy. Sort of like the sacred text version of a store brand breakfast cereal.

Most translations from then “original” Latin were blessed by all three facets of the godhead and were thus equally legitimate. How could you tell which ones weren’t blessed? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

apparently some people are told that there’s just no way to know what the original said even tho jews have been preserving the original for forever so i’m curious how many people were told this or something like this.

[mithliya]

apparently OSA women need this spelled out for them so here’s some unacceptable and, frankly, lesbophobic comparisons that you should avoid making:

comparing lesbians to men: this is literally just what lesbophobes do. we are women, we aren’t men lite.

comparing lesbians to rapists: we are already likened to predators by homophobes purely because we are homosexual. only people comparable to rapists are rapists themselves.

comparing lesbians to homophobic youth pastors: you’re literally comparing us to the same people harming us & equating us being mean to gay people being oppressed. stop.

comparing lesbians to the catholic church: same as point 3.

comparing lesbians to violently misogynistic men like incels: saying we’re like incels & assuming every time we disagree with u it must be rooted in a desire to make you sleep with us is very much reminiscent of typical lesbophobia. lesbians are not predatory rapists trying to get into your pants because we disagreed with you

you are perfectly capable of criticising the lesbians you disagree without being homophobic. it’s not difficult to. just stop