#not with the intent to do harm

[sammyofold]

Honestly Sam and Dean were abused but I don't think John ever hit them. That's too obvious. Say what you will about the man, but he loved his sons and I don't think he would knowingly abuse them. Hitting as a form of abuse is very obvious, it's what people think of when they hear abuse, so I don't think John would have done that. He never meant to abuse his sons. But he did physically abuse them. Training them from such a young age to hunt literal monsters could not have been gentle, could not have been soft. Could not have been what any child needed and was probably more than any child should handle. He knew training from the army, and we know that's how he trained them. That no doubt left physical and mental scars for them. Sure, they ended up needing this training and it saved their lives more than once, but does that mean what they went through wasnt abuse? I dont think so

[chittychittyyangyang]

Listen, you should never film strangers in public without their consent, but I swear there need to be fines or something for people who do that shit in some spaces. For example: I had to go to the ER last night, and some jerk filmed a woman who just came in and was clearly having an asthma attack. She immediately got to go back, and he was unhappy about that. Believe me, I get that it sucks having to wait when you're in pain, but you don't get to pick who deserves care when. The medical system in the US is a nightmare, and the ER could be the worst moment of someone's life. No one deserves to be recorded because some jack ass believes someone doesn't look like they need care.

This is fine to reblog. People who film strangers should be shamed if nothing else.

[lazycranberrydoodles]

getting back into the untamed and i had a thought. / follow for more yllz babygirlism

[khaire-traveler]

Digital Temples are really lovely, and I adore the fact that all these temples are suddenly popping up (I actually have been thinking of dedicating one to two deities as well), but the usage of the words "priests" and "priestesses" is genuinely concerning to me. It makes me feel a bit wary.

Why, might you ask, would that even be a problem? Let me explain.

These words carry a lot of power with them. With these words comes the implication of religious authority. If I went around saying that I was a Priest of Hermes himself, it asserts a sense of power and authority in a religious space. There are a lot of people who would love to use that power negatively; I have been directly impacted by this many times over. I am always wary of people who use this title as a result of what I've seen and experienced.

Those titles also carry the implication of having an established religious knowledge that others do not. It's not just a title used to identify people who are in charge of a Temple; it is a title that explicitly identifies someone as a researched, trustworthy, religious figure who is extremely experienced. This ties into how these words carry power. A lot of people I've seen stake claim to this title have also claimed to speak for the gods directly. Either that, or it is often assumed of them, and that bothers me a lot. I have yet to meet someone who genuinely speaks for the gods in every situation.

On the inverse, I'm sure some who use these titles mean it in a harmless and genuine way (I've met one before), and that's fine, but if you are one of such people, realize that these words seriously do carry immense implications along with them, and do not fall into the trap of moral superiority or dictating rules in a religion you do not own. The most genuine people I've met who identify with these titles are the ones who don't advertise them publicly. I'm not saying the use of these titles are wrong, but I am saying that people seem to be inclined to abuse them. Horrifically abuse them.

Instead, I suggest using a title such as "Cleric". I've seen another temple do this, and personally, I feel it is less intimidating and claims less power of authority. Or maybe not using a title at all. Why use one if you don't need it? Hell, you could call yourself literally anything else.

So, please, those who run digital Temples, I ask you to be aware of the power the words "priest" and "priestess" have before applying them to yourselves and ask yourselves why it is that you're choosing to identify with these titles in the first place.

[a-christmas-fruitcake]

HEY!!! YOU!!!!

YOU, WITH THE WEIRD INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS YOU HAVE TO KEEP BOTTLED UP BECAUSE OTHER PEOPLE MIGHT BE CONCERNED FOR OR AFRAID OF YOU

I FUCKING BELIEVE IN YOU AND WE'RE GONNA GET THROUGH THIS ALRIGHT

[daisydisciple]

Ok thought not fully formed yet but I think everything would make a lot more sense if we thought of "sin" as more along the lines of "something that weakens your connection with God" and less "a morally bad action in the secular philosophical sense."

In modern secular philosophy, usually we only think of an action as "bad" if it causes measurable harm to society/the environment/another person etc. No victim = no crime. This makes perfect sense when we're thinking about regulating behavior with laws, rules, and, to an extent, social norms. The goal of this kind of thinking/regulating is to create a harmonious, free, and safe society in our mortal/temporal/earthly condition.

In contrast, Sin as a religious (Christian) concept is more concerned with the state of an individual soul and that soul's relationship with God. It is possible for something to be a sin and yet be a "victimless crime." (Arguably the "victim" here is actually the "perpetrator" but you know what I mean.) The goal of this kind of thinking is to help the individual be in harmony with God.

I think the problem here is when we conflate the two uncritically. Yes, there is a lot of overlap (murder, for example, would draw you further from God and also is harmful to the murder victim/their family/society.) But the two concepts are not one and the same. Just because a behavior is sinful doesn't mean it can and should be forbidden by law, rule, or even social norm. Likewise, just because enforcing or encouraging a certain behavior is beneficial to society doesn't mean that behavior is or isn't a sin.

I think this conflation is a source of miscommunication and misunderstanding. Lots of people seem to interpret calling a behavior sinful to mean "if you do this you are an bad person who is actively harming society."

I also think that's why people get so turned off by the concept of all sin being equal in the eyes of God. That isn't the same thing as all morally bad actions having equal weight or consequences in society. The point is that all sin separates us from God, and what His plan requires for us is for there to be zero separation. (That's where Jesus comes in). The point of saying all sin is the same in the eyes of God isn't to say that murder and not praying are equivalent in secular morality. The point is that someone "guilty" of not praying needs Jesus just as much as a murderer. (Because! We all need Jesus completely and equally.)

So anyway I guess my point is that Christians need to recognize that just because something is sinful (separates a soul from God) doesn't mean that that thing should be illegal or against the rules or even socially shamed.

But! Non-Christians should also understand that the concept of sin is distinct from secular morality. If I say that something is a sin, don't take it as me saying "anyone who does this is evil and depraved and deserves to be executed by firing squad." girl I sin. we all sin.

[oceanwithouthermoon]

okay some people genuinely really need to accept that the ONLY "queer coding" in saiki k is when they make gay jokes. there is NO other intentional queer coding, and i think people dont understand that claiming rep where it isnt there is much much more harmful than you think it is... just headcanon! its fun! you guys act like youre going to fucking die if you ship/hc something not canon, so you convince everyone that everything you say is canon ☠️ its literally insane

theres a HUGE difference between a headcanon or ship having what YOU see as canon backing, and a hc or ship that is actually implied or canon...

the only ship that you could argue is implied in saiki k is terusai, thats literally it, you could potentially make an argument that yumekai could be reciprocated towards the end, satoumiya, or MAYBE mikosai, but im pretty sure thats it...

nonbinary saiki is one of my personal favorite headcanons (one of the only ones i pretty much ALWAYS have in mind when talking or writing about him, it's practically a given) and i think it has pretty good canon backing, but its not ACTUALLY implied.

hes FAIRLY certain that his biological sex is male, and all evidence points to that, but he doesnt know and specifically says that he doesnt know what his true gender is... he clearly has absolutely zero discomfort with masculinity OR femininity, doesnt know or care about his gender, and is comfortable with either sex... he seems very happy to just be either...

seems like pretty solid evidence, but you also have to realize that there is literally zero chance that the author intended for saiki to be read as nonbinary, or trans in any way, this was literally just an excuse for plot and to have a reason to take advantage of his shapeshifting to do crossdressing/genderbend chapters ☠️ i love to see it as him being nonbinary and i think it has a lot of backing, but its not canon or even "implied" at all.

theres a lot of other examples of this kind of thing in this fandom, like theres a lot of people who claim that kubokai are queer coded (its usually just a joke when people say things like "hehe my ship is so canon" but im talking about like... people who see yumekai and go "um 🤨 this is LITERALLY homophobic because erm um kubokai are basically canon and queer coded and you shipping one of them with a WOMAN is HOMOPHOBIC" lmfao) and i am actually just not even sure where this comes from because they dont have anything that can even be twisted into romantic subtext, theyre just a popular ship because they have a good friendship. which is great! but theyre like the LAST thing i wouldve expected people to claim as implied or canon. they are absolutely not. the only thing i can even think of that might make people think that is saiki saying they look gay in that one chapter ☠️

[ugly-anarchist]

Perisex people will do the most horrific fetishization of intersex people and use slurs and spread misinformation about what being intersex is and then when they're called out go "nooo don't be mean to me! I just didn't know any better 😞 I believe in human error and forgiving mistakes 🙏🏼 why are you so hell bent on viewing me as malicious clearly this is a you problem you should learn to be nicer to people 😡"

[dawnbreakerluna]

The mischaracterization of Sylus aside from him being compared to b00ktok characters who are abusers is really frustrating to see & albeit almost immature. The fact that the introduction to his character is focused on and 'romanticized' above the overall of who he really is. It is perfectly okay to not like him because not everyone is going to like every single love interest in this game, but condemning people for being drawn to him is definitely not okay.

I'm no longer surprised yet am disappointed at what fandom has become for its severe stress of characters only being able to identify in a black or white scale of morality/appeal. Granted, I've learned a lot from my own mistakes of how to interact with fandoms over the past few years. However I don't ever recall fandom policing ever being this bad at ALL.

People severely dogging on Sylus for choking out/kidnapping the MC is, to me, the equivalent of the flock of BG3 players saying they killed Astarion because he had a knife to their throat when they first met him. Please make this make sense, LMAO. Especially considering that the new Star Wars Acolyte series involves a similar moment between the two lead characters, whose relationship development appeals to a significant amount of the audience and as far as I have seen, doesn't wander from the chemistry later on.

Anyway, my point is: trust, there are people who are sensibly consuming the content they're into. People understand the depths of the media they're consuming. As a Sylus fan myself, I understand that choking/kidnapping/handling with force is very much not an ideal encounter for a first meeting in real life.

However, because this is a fictional character in a fictional space, I'm considering and taking my appeal to it as a means of exploring what it is I like. Think of it as exploring kinks. I'm dipping my toe into the water safely where there's no life-threatening obstacles, so I can gauge how deep I am willing to go and not go.

(I will briefly mention my months-long infatuation with Johnny from the Texas Chainsaw game. There's a myriad of Johnny lovers who have explored more extreme umbrellas of dark content with him, because they are comfortable doing so. While I had made my own content, I simply left the topics I didn't like alone because at the end of the day, most people consuming the content related to this character/franchise are aware of their limits. The same can be said with any character, Sylus be damned.)

((Also, many have made Sylus out to be worse than he really is. I promise you he is the most tame of very extreme characters you're thinking about!))

[in-fair-verona-we-set-our-scene]

Like, the Emperor is definitely laying it on rather thick when you explore his little hidey-hole underneath Elfsong Tavern. I've seen a few people claim it placed those items solely there to manipulate us which no, I think it is just genuinely that sentimental. If it were staged 1. when would it have time to set it up, it's stuck in the Prism, and 2. I really do not think it would so readily reminds us that it eats human brains by leaving the cages there. But yes, it is certainly doing its best to reinforce it's Just Like You Really so you can Trust It and Please Don't Murder It Maybe.

But I don't really... mind? Lots of people are acting like doing that is something totally unforgivable or makes it untrustworthy but if anything I find it relatable and sympathetic.

The Emperor is in a really vulnerable position here. It cannot leave the Prism. The only reason it has not been forced to return to the Netherbrain is because it's sucking the powers from Orpheus, a tenuous ability at best. Externally, it can doing nothing but try to get a group of traumatized adventurers to do this very important, difficult thing without dying or getting too distracted or siding with the enemy before the clock runs out and the Netherbrain wins. Also it's a mindflayer, a species of known mind manipulators who common knowledge says You Do Not Trust Under Any Circumstance that have already harmed the party.

The Emperor is either functionally helpless and at our mercy or refuses to exert what mental influence it has over the party outside of mundane manipulation regardless of how dire things get. It will do no harm to us beyond some threatening mental images which it never follows through on anyway, and only if you're a real asshole (until it's taken by the Netherbrain at least). YOU hold the majority of the power here since you can act outside the Prism and what little leverage the Emperor had by being the only thing stopping us from falling under the Absolute's control can be lost if you free Orpheus (and it's entirely reasonable for it to expect that Orpheus will kill the Emperor and the rest of the party for being infected as well). Every risk you take is also the Emperor's in practice and it can't do shit to stop you beyond getting a little angry and trying to reason with you. It's position in the party is incredibly fragile and can be easily lost if an alternative is found, at which point it could be discarded unless you decide you decide the Emperor is indeed a person who want to help and trust willingly. It's fate is entirely in your hands.

So like, it's behaviour here is totally understandable! If I were in that situation, even without the additional mindflayer hurdle, I'd probably be doing the exact same thing! Also just in general I'm kinda empathetic to someone doing an exaggerated This Is How Normal People Act Please Like Me act, or trying to lead someone to a realization about yourself that you know they'd reject if you just told them. Maybe it's just the neurodivergent in me, but I get it. Who hasn't done that dance before? I certainly have. So this isn't something I can hold against it.

[forged-in-kaoss]

[uncanny-tranny]

The most infuriating form of sanism is this idea that mentally ill people/people with mental disorders are just too stupid or too unenlightened to know how to be a proper, well-adjusted person

So many therapists have ignored signs of my unwellness simply because they assumed I was just... being stupid, and I just needed educating about why I'm acting disordered (apparently, mental disorders stop disordering you once you are condescendingly told why you're just disordered and dumb, who knew (sarcasm)).

Like, I could tell them that I knew my behaviour wasn't "rational," wasn't "reasonable" to do or believe and I'd still be treated like I was so dumb I needed hand-holding and scolding about why I'm acting disordered.

I truly wish that people would be able to take the idea of guidance and stop twisting it into "I am superior and enlightened and the people I am trying to help are stupid and wrong and beneath me!"

[gojobait]

btw i think armand probably thought he could save louis some other way and lestat just beat him to it. like theres absolutely no reason to believe armand wanted louis dead/would choose the coven over him. ultimately it doesnt really matter tho bc he wanted claudia dead and he got that, he wanted to leave the coven with louis and he got that too

[dollypopup]

thinking about the 'I would never court Penelope Featherington' scene again and how angry our fandom has been at Colin for it for the last two years and wondering. . .what exactly was he meant to say?

Lord Fife and his friends are *slimy*. They are gross. They have 0 respect for women. Fife isn't *Colin's* friend. Fife is *Anthony's* friend. Fife runs in Anthony's circles. Misogynistic circles with misogynistic language. Fife and Co. are out here saying the debutantes are only good for being 'wed, bed, and bred'. Fife is the one out here, well into his 30s and with an established title, fucking an 18 year woman raw on her first year out in the marriage mart with 0 intention to marry her. That is 10000% an act of violence in this society. And you *know* he's bragging about it. Hell, he was probably bragging about it right before he asked Colin about Penelope.

Colin's not in those circles. Colin has female friends. Colin respects his mother. Colin cares for his sisters. The worst thing Colin has EVER said about a woman was to call her 'cruel'.

So. . .what is Colin meant to say? "No, we're just friends" isn't going to fly for people like Fife. As IF he wouldn't reply with 'Yeah, suuuuuure, wink wink nudge nudge'. Thus ruining Penelope and fucking over her future completely. A lesser man than Colin would have let them think what they wanted, and that would have still ruined Penelope in their eyes. Silence? Incriminating.

And he doesn't want FIFE of all people to know about his close friendship with Penelope. Fife who has never once been seen respecting a woman. Fife who has never once viewed a woman as a person and not a sexual conquest. Penelope is a safe place for Colin. Is precious to him. He KNOWS that conversation could have destroyed her reputation.

People talk about how he 'ruined her prospects', but in actuality, Colin responding the way he did. . .likely SAVED her prospects. There was NOTHING he could have said except for a vehement refusal, completely shutting down the conversation, that would have spared her from their judgement and cruelty. Sure, they laughed, and maybe it was at Pen. Maybe it was at Colin. (frankly, how good of a twist would it be if they WERE laughing at Colin? Colin the 'green' boy back from his travels after being oh so gullible and getting lied to by his ex fiance? Anthony made fun of Colin for being a virgin, we think these men, all 10+ years older than him, wouldn't do the same?) But at least they didn't go 'yeah, I guess she's a ruined woman' about it, because that *would* have destroyed her reputation

We talk about how Colin could have worded it differently, but honestly?

I think he said the exact right thing in those circumstances

[pageofheartdj]

I don't want to start shit, but it really irks me, so I want to vent anyway.

People claim Alastor is sex-repulsed because he rejects Angel's advances.

But what do we see with Pentious?

His rejection is even more vivid. But later?

It's almost like people usually want to have sex with someone they like.

Sure there are people who wouldn't mind having sex with a stranger or someone they barely know. But that doesn't mean that if you are not ready to jump into bed immediately you are sex repulsed.

I do not remember people commenting on Pentious claiming he is sex repulsed. Only Alastor. Why? Is it because he is ace? His averseness to fuck someone he knows for a week suddenly makes him sex repulsed because he is asexual and all asexuals are sex repulsed?

Upd. (It was also about him being touch-averse which is ALSO not connected to sex and we already saw that Alastor is not 100% always aversed. He has tight boundaries)

Upd 2. ( I was so angry I forgot about freaking Husk xD Who was constantly annoyed by Angel's advances. Again, no one even blinked at that)

*sigh* This is why I am even more vocal about canonically ace characters to be somewhere else on spectrum. To be grey, demi, anything! Because this stereotype is tiring. Bigots hate repulsed aces because we are freaks who don't want to fuck. But then queer community hates non-repulsed aces because we are not stereotypes.

[khattikeri]

worst thing in the world is when you love a character who is canonically deeply flawed, traumatized, doomed by cycles of violence that they are unable to meaningfully break or sometimes actively choose to participate in, and when you eagerly go to discuss how great this character is all their fans are gathered around throwing a Blorbo Did Nothing Wrong Ever They're A Good Misunderstood Person How Dare You Hate My Special Baby pity party