#not even Christian but imagine

[censoredhysteria]

if i was a worm I'd be Emperor Worm of the worm world.

[noknowshame]

why is religious Christmas imagery all so joyful and pleasant? where is the inherent horror of the birth of Christ? A mother is handed her newborn child, wailing and innocent. Her hands come away sticky. Red. Simply by giving her son life she has already killed him. He is doomed from the beginning. Her love will not save him from suffering. Because the thing cradled in her arms is not a baby, it is a sacrifice: born amongst the other bleating animals whose blood will one day be spilled in the name of what demands it. the night is silent with anticipation. Mary, did you know? That your womb was also a grave?

[wazzi2ya]

After some time of dating, when Husk and Angel decide to get married (by Lucifer, as the closest thing to "holy" authority in Hell), the moment they exchange rings they can each feel the chains of their deals pulling and then breaking, freeing them from their contracts since, once married, their souls belong to each other.

(add on: inspired by this)

[haliaiii]

Boothill

[lesbiradshaw]

just watch as i crucify myself.

[skrunksthatwunk]

actually i'm still thinking about the moral orel finale.

he has a cross on his wall. do you know how much i think about that bc it's a lot.

a lot of stories ((auto)biographical or fictional) centering escape from abusive/fundamentalist christianity result in the lead characters leaving behind christianity entirely. and that makes complete sense! people often grow disillusioned with the associated systems and beliefs, and when it was something used to hurt them or something so inseparable from their abuse that they can't engage with it without hurting, it makes total sense that they would disengage entirely. and sometimes they just figure out that they don't really believe in god/a christian god/etc. a healthy deconstruction process can sometimes look like becoming an atheist or converting to another religion. it's all case by case. (note: i'm sure this happens with other religions as well, i'm just most familiar with christian versions of this phenomenon).

but in orel's case, his faith was one of the few things that actually brought him comfort and joy. he loved god, y'know? genuinely. and he felt loved by god and supported by him when he had no one else. and the abuses he faced were in how the people in his life twisted religion to control others, to run away from themselves, to shield them from others, etc. and often, orel's conflicts with how they acted out christianity come as a direct result of his purer understanding of god/jesus/whatever ("aren't we supposed to be like this/do that?" met with an adult's excuse for their own behavior or the fastest way they could think of to get orel to leave them alone (i.e. orel saying i thought we weren't supposed to lie? and clay saying uhhh it doesn't count if you're lying to yourself)). the little guy played catch with god instead of his dad, like.. his faith was real, and his love was real. and i think it's a good choice to have orel maintain something that was so important to him and such a grounding, comforting force in the midst of. All That Stuff Moralton Was Up To/Put Him Through. being all about jesus was not the problem, in orel's case.

and i know i'm mostly assuming that orel ended up in a healthier, less rigid version of christianity, but i feel like that's something that was hinted at a lot through the series, that that's the direction he'd go. when he meditates during the prayer bee and accepts stephanie's different way to communicate, incorporating elements of buddhism into his faith; when he has his I AM A CHURCH breakdown (removing himself from the institution and realizing he can be like,, the center of his own faith? taking a more individualistic approach? but Truly Going Through It at the same time), his acceptance (...sometimes) of those who are different from him and condemned by the adults of moralton (stephanie (lesbian icon stephanie my beloved), christina (who's like. just a slightly different form of fundie protestant from him), dr chosenberg (the jewish doctor from otherton in holy visage)). his track record on this isn't perfect, but it gets better as orel starts maturing and picking up on what an absolute shitfest moralton is. it's all ways of questioning the things he's been taught, and it makes sense that it would lead to a bigger questioning as he puts those pieces together more. anyway i think part of his growth is weeding out all the lost commandments of his upbringing and focusing on what faith means to him, and what he thinks it should mean. how he wants to see the world and how he wants to treat people and what he thinks is okay and right, and looking to religion for guidance in that, not as like. a way to justify hurting those he's afraid or resentful of, as his role models did.

he's coming to his own conclusions rather than obediently, unquestioningly taking in what others say. but he's still listening to pick out the parts that make sense to him. (edit/note: and it's his compassion and his faith that are the primary motivations for this questioning and revisal process, both of individual cases and, eventually, the final boss that is christianity.) it makes perfect sense as the conclusion to his character arc and it fits the overall approach of the show far better. it's good is what i'm saying.

and i think it's important to show that kind of ending, because that's a pretty common and equally valid result of deconstruction. and i think it cements the show's treatment of christianity as something that's often (and maybe even easily) exploited, but not something inherently bad. something that can be very positive, even. guys he even has a dog he's not afraid of loving anymore. he's not afraid of loving anyone more than jesus and i don't think it's because he loves this dog less than bartholomew (though he was probably far more desperate for healthy affection and companionship when he was younger). i think it's because he figures god would want him to love that dog. he's choosing to believe that god would want him to love and to be happy and to be kind. he's not afraid of loving in the wrong way do you know how cool that is he's taking back control he's taking back something he loves from his abusers im so normal

[talia-kane]

Damian going to hell is my roman empire

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

you are pitting Jesus and Santa Claus against each other. I am acknowledging Santa as both a mythic symbol of Christ and a cultural legend based upon a real man whose faithfulness to Christ was used by God to grant common grace not just to the people of Myra but throughout the entire world. we are not the same.

[taergalive]

Everytime I see fanart of Snake!Lucifer with Alastor, I get so happy

[crowbird]

original thought/concept, pervious part

The cosmos is much like a forest. One seed, one idea can birth a world, and any alternate timelines branch off as the tree goes but it is still the same base concept. The rules are still the same and the statistical probability one exists on another branch of their tree is never zero. You do not however have that same probability should you look to another tree. A willow cannot grow acorns and a birch does not shed needles.

Worlds can branch on into the infinite levels of plausibility but each remains it's own even if the origin is one in the same. But the chance of someone slipping from their tree and falling into another is, well, not exactly typical. In fact it's so atypical that people often assume the multiverse and alternate timelines are the same thing. But the multiverse is the other timelines, it only becomes another universe entirely when the very rules that govern reality are different. Even the slightest difference of origin or technicality can prove effective but regardless it remains so.

There are entities who plant the trees and worlds who spring from the seeds dropped by others, but the forest is vast and does not end for neither does infinity and if it ever started is beyond even the oldest of gods.

One day, at the peak of a festival in a backwater capital in Europe a part of the world slipped and broke, the power coursing through the area of old gods and new, the birth of those ascended and descended shook the world so greatly that a contest of the festival was knocked from their branch. They did not fall into the void but rather managed to catch themselves on the branch of another tree.

For as much as a birch will not grow needles it can mutate, a new branch can be grafted onto another, one entity can plant multiple trees. And as such it is a gross oversimplification to simply say that you were from another world.

It would not be an oversimplification however to say that communicating such information is beyond your ability. After all the vastness of the forest is beyond human comprehension as are those entities that roam between it. As such the both of you decided it would be more believable to say you were from another world if pressed further.

"That just begs the question then why do you believe me?"

An excellent question, one Jason was still unsure of himself. The thought haunting the back of his mind for the better part of a week now. You'd think that he'd have other things on his mind—you know like patrolling the building that as of late everyone in the narrows had avoided like the plague. As if some festering illness was rooted in the walls, yet black mold it was not. Old floorboards and peeling paint may expose insulation old enough to ensure the presence of asbestos.

You would think he'd be more concerned about potentially falling through the rotten floorboards or getting snagged on a rusty nail. Nope, none of that was present in his mind. Rather the one that lingered was your words as a a pain beyond any other in his left leg shot through his left leg, the source only partially unclear. It was only the influence of the Lazuras that kept him standing long enough to put a bullet through the man's outstretched arm.

The hand once outstretched dropped to his side, limp and bloody not from the bullet but rather the brutal mutilation of a sigil cut into skin. One he recognized even as back at your shop, in between a discussion of intentions, you had drawn out several sigils, explaining their origin with the various old gods of your world. A request that if he comes across the symbols in his to let them know. After all you had said it yourself, who were you to know if you were the only thing that fell through.

He was fairly sure it wasn't the symbol you wore on your flesh but he was a little busy dodging to check the fine details.

The man's smile grew wider, the desert dry skin of his face cracking more with the expression, eyes vacant and bloodshot all at once. The garb was something like a priest but even with the crimes done in the name of religion Jason did not want to believe this thing was a priest.

Raising his other hand the priest let out a laugh, Jason in turn let out a rather embarrassing yelp has his jacket caught fire. Throwing the red leather off, he once again launched himself across the room to put distance between them. This man would kill him. He knew that, instinctively, the fear settling in the depths of his bones as it settled there to fester under his skin.

Call it innate, call it instinctual, call it learned, call it observed, call it a thousand different things but regardless of how he simply knew. Knew that if he did not kill this man this man would kill him, and Jason Todd had no desire to die twice, least of all by whatever this was. So it was with little shame that a bullet found itself in the man's head. Body crumbling to the ground, old floorboards groaning with the sudden weight. The walls sighed a gasp of dust at the effort and Jason lets his shoulders drop.

The body doesn't move. Which is good. It would be very bad if the body moved. Jason let out a sigh, he had barely finished the book he bought a few days ago and looks like he'd be going back for another one within the hour.

crow's note: once i set up the like barebones plot i promise I'll write something silly and fun, alternatively you could drop something in my inbox and i will write something silly and fun as well

series navigation

[outlying-hyppocrate]

i have officially returned. ask me anything.

[bolithesenate]

take your culturally christian values off my emotional support space monks

[hb-writes]

Elliot and Emma: “It’s been fun. We’ve had a good run, but you parked in my spot. I’m going to have to kill you now.”

Because I love them and desperately need fluff.

"It’s been fun."

Emma looked up from her book as her brother strode onto the pool deck at their parents house. It wasn't warm enough yet for a true pool day, but the sun made it warm enough to lounge poolside in a pair of jeans and a sweater.

"What's been—?" Emma began, only for Elliot to cut her off as he continued.

"We’ve had a good run, you and I," he mused. "Some days, I even thought you were my favorite sib—"

Emma snorted. "Of course I'm your favorite—"

"—but then you went and parked in my spot..." he said, stopping at the foot of Emma's lounge chair as she rolled her eyes, preparing herself to defend her choice of parking, which had been a purposeful decision, figuring that since she was the first one to arrive home, she could park wherever she wanted, traditions be damned.

"AndI’mgoingtohavetokillyounow.”

Elliot's final sentence came out quickly enough that it allowed no room for Emma to explain herself and could barely be considered a warning. As h said it, he removed the paperback from his sister's hands and pulled Emma up in his arms, tossing her into the pool barely a second later. Her sharp, affronted screams were brief, lasting only until her head dunked beneath the surface of the frigid water.

Emma gasped as she emerged at the water's surface a few seconds later. She surged out of the water with astounding speed, scrambling to her feet as she climbed onto the deck.

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" she shouted, chasing after her brother as he headed back towards the house and the only protection he could think of—their mother's steadfast rules.

They had never been allowed in the house straight out of the pool when they were dripping wet and Elliot figured there was no way in hell Grace Trevelyan-Grey would allow it now. His mother would never risk the beauty of her hardwood floors so one of her children could exact revenge...even if that revenge was possibly a tiny bit deserved.

Elliot was right about the floors. And he was right about his mother being a stickler for rules, so he felt safe as he stood in the kitchen, watching his drenched and shivering sister approach the wall of french doors, but Elliot had forgotten something important.

He'd forgotten his mother was a doctor. He'd forgotten that she would never leave her baby soaking wet out in the cold. He'd forgotten that she'd without hesitation bring her child inside and coddle her and warm her, doing all of those things while she chastised her eldest son who "should've known better than to toss his sister in the cold water."

And he'd forgotten how infuriatingly devious and charming his youngest sister could be, and how she'd milk the situation for all it was worth, playing up her discomfort and complaining to anyone who would listen about what Elliot had done.

And while Emma hadn't come remotely close to killing Elliot as she had so vehemently promised as she exited the pool, her revenge was somehow worse because before the day was through, Elliot had been lectured at least six different times about the stupidity of his actions, all while Emma got coddled and doted on, her car still parked in his precious parking spot, the one he'd claimed when she was still learning how to ride a bike.

Send me a drabble-ish prompt.

[lonnieontherun]

Christian Slater as Will Scarlet in ‘Robin Hood Prince of Thieves’ 

[whitegoldtower]

Here’s the thing with the Christians who go door to door to spread the word.

I, personally, would invite them in for a cup of tea or coffee or whatever they prefer. I would cater to them, and be kind, though politely and non-aggressively explain to them why I am not interested.

Why?

Because these people expect hostility. More often than not, they have been sent out by older members of their group, and when they are met with hostility, they will return to essentially be told ‘I told you so’. And it will be used as a manipulation tactic to ‘prove’ that non-believers are ‘evil’ and ‘must be saved’. In the case of, and especially if, the people who come to your door are young folk, it’s likely not their fault.

Thus, with the spider as my guide as a druid…

I welcome them into my web. They might struggle in the silk a little. They might be frightened. They might think I’ll bite their heads off… but they’ll wriggle free and walk away. Hopefully with a new perspective and the realisation that ‘spiders’ aren’t so scary.

Understand that when you’re horrible to these people, you’re not just ‘making them go away’ when they leave. You’re strengthening their doctrine. And they will teach their children or younger members of the group the same thing, when they’re older. And so the cycle continues.

Understand that they’re humans too, and humans are such vulnerable things, prone to influence.

[shalom-iamcominghome]

I never really thought about cultural xtianity, but I did notice it even when I "was" xtian and... why is it that when I enter a hospital, the literal first thing I see is jesus being crucified. I understand the significance of that, but I think if I'm at a hospital I don't want to think about that.......