#or the whole question of religion and all that

[dark-dragon-8]

A Supernatural × Batman crossover where the Batfam are actual cryptids and the brothers are sent to hunt them, only to find out that these guys are pretty much immortal, god like beings whose only weaknesses are each other, the sun and some weird sentient manifestation of their home city that they seem to care about, and most of them already grew out of the second one, since, apparently, the sun only affects them when they're newborns/newly transformed/changed.

The whole reason they ended up in Gotham in the first place was because of some online rumors saying that there is a demon cult in the city, as well as Blüdhaven [it's true, partially, the Bat clan has had several cults and/or religions painting them as godly beings/saviours of Gotham throughout the years, still do (imagine the colonies from F'ing Demon Bats, only this time the cryptid part of them is actually real)] along with shrines for human sacrifices.

At first they thought the locals sold themselves to a Pagan God in exchange for their safety, that the shrines and "holy grounds" spread throughout the city were for blood and human sacrifices and the creatures were feeding on the souls of their followers or something.

Turns out, that couldn't be further from the truth. Yes there were bloody sacrifices at the shrines, but most of the time those were just grieving kids bringing their dead pets to silence's holy grounds for them to be healed, or taken care of, by the spirit and have their souls at peace. But, again, that was rare, and only occurred at the holy grounds themselves rather than the shrines people attended to daily.

Majority of those shrines were filled with books, art supplies, music boxes with ballerinas and, sometimes, you could even find a few trinkets and computer parts, as well as the occasional plates and plastic boxes filled with home cooked meals, sometimes they even put pots and kettles filled to the brim with savory goods and nice tea. Nobody ever touched the food, not even the poor and desperate, when asked why all the brothers received were looks of horror and hushed whispers about how "The bats don't like thieves" and "They'll stop coming by the shrine, maybe even destroy it if we do that"

Dean didn't like it, neither did Sam, they didn't like how the locals, people who barely even bat an eye when they see a dead body on their way to work, get so scared and terrified as soon as they hear of something that might displease the Bats. They tried asking around, trying to figure out what is it that makes them so scared of their dearly beloved deities, after all, they talk about them like such a wonder, like they're the best thing that ever happened to them. Hell, one of them is named Mercy and was revered for its compassion and understanding of those around them.

They only got their answer when investigating a place called Crime Alley. They locals were all the same, if not even more reserved than their city's counterparts, but there was one person, a young girl who couldn't be older than ten that said she'll be willing to answer their questions in return for some money and stories from their time as hunters. They were reluctant at first, but seeing as they haven't had much of an option, they agreed.

"So, Masey" Dean started

"Missy" she corrected

"Right, sorry, Missy, you said that you could tell us what's up regarding those demons"

"Deities" she said sternly, the man simply nodded "And yes, I can do that, but you'll have to do something for me first"

"And what would that be?"

"You said you were a hunter, right?" He nodded "And you also said you have some money. So I want you to give me two hundred dollars, cash, and a written story containing at least three of your adventures with your partner. You can't use big fonts, lie or omit any details from the story, it needs to be one hundred percent real and legible and needs to be at least fifty pages, understood?"

Dean was confused, confused and worried. Why would this child need a story about them hunting monsters? And why did she need it to be so long and accurate? Was she trying to sell them out to the Bats or something? Why was this so important?

A million questions flooded his head and looking at Sammy, he could tell the feeling was very much mutual.

"Um Missy" it was Sam talking to her this time "Why would you want a story of us hunting like that? We could tell you about our time together on the field, if you want, but why do you need that written so meticulously?"

The little girl shook her head before he even finished speaking "No, no, I need it written"

"How so?"

"For Passion, of course"

"Passion?"

"Yeah, Passion, the component watching over Crime Alley, it loves reading stories but only when they're worth it. It doesn't like when people give them stories only to please it or for it to give them undeserved attention. It needs to be good and interesting, a story about two hunters will definitely do that"

The two hunters met each other's eyes, both their expressions filled with worry, apprehension and suspicion.

"And why all the other rules? Why does have to be so long and accurate?"

The girl tilted her head, looking at them as though they've said something stupid "Because you're introducing yourself, maybe"

"I can't just tell you guys all there is to know about the Bat without at least one of the components acknowledging you guys and giving me permission to share that information with outsiders"

"And what makes you think it won't just kill us as soon as it realizes what we do for a living?" They might've been desperate, but that doesn't mean they're going to give an essay about their weaknesses and hunting methods to a freaky, probably homicidal spirit on a silver platter

"Because they like people like you, people who put their lives on the line in order to help those around them. Also" she leveled her gaze with Dean's, which was pretty impressive considering she barely reached his hip "Had it wanted you dead, you wouldn't have been able to take two steps inside Crime Alley without having a heart attack, or your head magically disappearing"

The two brothers tensed, the taller's eyes rapidly scanning their surroundings, hands fishing out a weird cellular device, probably an EMF reader or maybe a bottle of holy water, as the shorter failed to keep up his confident facade in front of the (probably) ten year old (because Dean isn't going to be spooked by a kid that hasn't even reached the double digits yet, he's 𝘯𝘰𝘵)

The little girl laughed, completely ignoring their - very justified!!! - panic "Relax, would ya? Passion doesn't kill people unless they feel like it's necessary"

They didn't seem to be very relaxed, she didn't care, she just told them to meet her again on the border of Crime Alley and its neighbor city in a week, before leaving.

Two hours later, Carrie Kelley was skipping into the main living room of Wayne Manor, where several of her siblings played video games and with their father reading the newspaper on the side, the perfect illusion of a normal, happy, completely human family.

She walked up to Bruce, sitting on the arm of his sofa as the last of her illusion magic slipped away

"Did you do it?"

"I offered them the deal, still not sure if they'll end up actually agreeing to it"

"Mn. You did well"

The young teen preened under the praise, thanking her father before going off to boast and scheme with the rest of her siblings, they were up planning contingencies and devising plans until Sundown.

[hoziersmilligan]

rolling with the idea that every one of john winchester's kids are fated vessels for the archangels, i would like to propose adam being raphael's vessel.

based on true religion, raphael is an angel of healing and protection. his name means "god has healed", and he is the patron saint of medical workers. he is rooted in health and healing, and so is adam. beyond the obvious connection of raphael being a patron saint of medical workers and adam wanting to become a doctor, adam to his core is a healer. he healed himself; a human who has the strength to survive being locked in a cage in hell for 1200 years is not one who rests in self-destruction. he also healed michael. not physically, but mentally. an archangel like michael, who for his whole life has had immeasurable amount of control over heaven and earth, being locked away for millennia with absolutely nothing to do is bound to break mentally. and you could argue michael did in some ways, but in no ways specifically negative. adam kept michael sane, grounded, in the cage by his presence alone. they clearly communicated in the cage, as they came to an "agreement" about who can control their body, and i think the humanity adam brought into the cage is what kept michael from cracking, whether intentional or not.

also, in regard to the "protection" that raphael reins over, adam seems to resemble this. while we get few canonical goals and traits for adam, one is that he cares and is protective of his mother. he wants to become a doctor to pay back and care for his mom just like she did him. he hates his dad, john winchester, not just because of what john did to him, but for how john treated his mother. adam even shows some protection over michael when he takes over the body in 15x08 when michael starts becoming erratic and angry. he tells the winchesters to "give it a rest" when they upset michael, and while he phrases it in a way that seems to protect the winchesters from michael, i think the opposite is true as well. adam doesn't want michael lashing out for his own benefit and safety as much as for the winchesters.

and in a more canon sense, raphael's devotion to michael is representative to adam's. while never explicitly said, raphael stayed with michael in heaven even when raphael ceased to have faith in their father. he believed in his brother even when he didn't believe in his goal. adam treats michael a similar way. it’s clear in 15x08 that michael and adam have talked about michael’s father a few times before, judging by adam’s exasperation and the lack of overall anger michael expresses towards adam's opinions about god (while yes michael shows anger, he's an archangel. if michael was truly that angry adam would not be able to express his opinion like that). adam is willing to stand by michael's side, defend him, heal him, be "his guide", even though he doesn't believe in the same goals as michael. adam is devoted to michael, much like raphael was, not because of michael's endgame or unchecked loyalty, but simply because he is michael. he's someone they both love.

and one thing less michael-related and more in line with how sam, dean, and adam are all fated vessels for lucifer, michael, and raphael. in relation to their father, dean, like michael, was devoted to his dad. unending loyalty and a willingness to look over any mistake. they both are lost without their fathers, for better or for worse. sam, like lucifer, once had faith in his dad. there was a time for both of them where they were just as devoted to their fathers as their brothers were, but they both lost it along the way. they both started questioning their dads and opening themselves up to new viewpoints that directly disobeyed their dads' wishes. and in doing so, they both were disowned. adam, like raphael, was an easily forgettable child. they both were never the main focus of their fathers' plans, and because of this they both lost faith in their dads. maybe they didn't completely despise their fathers, but they had no reason to really care for them.

this topic also opens up a can of worms. does michael see raphael in adam? is that why he was more accepting towards him in the cage then he would've been towards most other humans, especially sam or dean? did he find normality in adam in the early days of the cage because of how his soul seemed to resemble his brother's?

[thatgenderfluidmonstrosity]

Um, so I’m an lgbtq teen living in America, and the recent election has me terrified. Luckily, I don’t live in a red state/overall majority tr*mp supporting state, so I’m better off on that front.

But due to my identity, the election season/result has be feeling really scared, and through that fear, I found that I feel pretty connected to Paganism and how I could potentially help me in this difficult time. I felt drawn to it when I was younger but my parents showed me pretty quickly how they don’t really understand/care/think it’s real, so I dropped it. (my family isn’t even Christian/Monotheistic, they just don’t think well of paganism and see the Greek gods as mere myths/fantasy based beings)

But now I’m older and I do feel like I can look into it more and want to. I feel drawn to it now, and I don’t know if it’s because of how much despair I’ve felt, I just want to feel comfort in a higher being? Or something?

To spare any more backstory, I was wondering if anyone wouldn’t mind being bugged with questions? Just about Paganism as a whole, or like, the specific gods/pantheons I want to look in to. I have one friend irl who is Pagan, but I want more options, I guess? I really don’t know much, and I’m still considering Paganism as a whole because I don’t know if I’m really into it for the “right” reasons.

I’m just feeling super lost and emotionally drained, and god worship (specifically polytheistic religions) has always interested me, but I don’t know if that’s “enough” to start worshipping gods. Like, do I need to feel connected to a specific god before worshiping them, or can I just test it out for fun/out of interest?

People can respond to this via reblogs, replies or messaging me directly, anything is fine

I just want other people to talk to and maybe help me figure this out

To be specific, I am really interested in Hellenic/Greek Polytheism and Heathenry(?)/Norse Polytheism

(I’m just super scared of offending anyone or getting things wrong. (I know I’m bound to get things wrong, but I really don’t want to be disrespectful) Like, if I could run away into the woods and find a witch living in a cabin who could teach me all about Paganism and literally guide me through it all, that would be perfect, but alas, seemingly impossible.)

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

Warrior cats makes me so mad because it could've been such a fascinating exploration of how fascism takes root in a society with pre-existing honor culture, corruption of laws, the long-lasting effects on society and individual people, generational trauma, questions of compliance, guilt, responsibility, historical revisionism and so many other themes if only the Erins weren't cowards and actually paid attention to what they write

[hyacinthsdiamonds]

Ted saying that no driver has had this level of attention on them since Michael Schumacher...

Gentlemen, a short view into the past; Max's debut season, his Red Bull debut, the literal rule changed as a result of his debut in the sport... oh and everyone and their mother calling Kimi Max 2.0 and Toto's second chance at signing debut!Max since he failed the first time around...

[macbethz]

Imagine being modified and trained since birth to be the perfect servant to the infallible god-computer that your entire society revolves around to the point that you don’t believe in free will anymore. In fact free will as a concept is counter to your very purpose, which is to act as a living repository for unchanging information about the future. And then your perfect god shoves that highly engineered overclocked brain into the body of a heroin addict. And it’s not part of some grand plan it just destroyed your life by accident. Not even by accident, it doesn’t have the capability to commit “accidents” because it’s not sentient. It just miscalculated. It’s just a computer.

So there is this show called travelers (2016)-

[glimblshanks]

It's so difficult, because I genuinely do want to understand what the whole deal with Christianity is, but Christians are so apposed to any line of questioning about their belief system (in a way that no other religion is) that if you say anything they don't like they shut down and accuse you of being a sinner.

And it's like bro, I'm not trying to be insulting, I'm trying to understand why this religion is even appealing to you. How do you manage to get so many converts when you're not even willing to answer basic questions about your theology?

Everyone I've found who's actually willing to discuss Christian theology with me is an ex-Christian which is super unhelpful, because ex-Christians are people who have deconstructed Christian belief and come to the conclusion that it doesn't work for them. They're always very cynical about the whole situation. That's not what I'm looking for.

I want to talk to someone who's still into it. I want to understand what actually draws people to this religion ( I do not want to be trauma dumped at - I don't know what aspect of Christian belief confuses y'all into thinking that trauma dumping is an appropriate substitute for theological discussion, but it absolutely isn't).

Like you would really think for one of the most popular religions in the world finding answers to this stuff would be easier. Why can't you guys just talk about your beliefs?

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Sea Of Broken Glass

fantasy

two sisters who live on a floating village in a shallow ocean are exiled when one develops magic and can’t hide it like her sister does

they travel to the land, trying to survive searching for their mother who was exiled 20 years ago, through the wilderness and magical caves

crystal/mineral magic, magical creatures, sister relationships

[nthflower]

İt's funny how sexualised dust ist. And how she is always pretty and sexy like yeah she is etc. But she is in modesty. She wears an niqab. Whole point is being modest and not attractive.

Like even with hijab you always need to be careful like your tunic is not too short or your curves are not so recognisable , your things are not too tight and she is drawn always like body latex suit but add skirt.

I even saw someone say to her her niqab makes her mysterious and sexy like this is so???

[christophernolan]

Have you ever watched a show portraying your own religion in two different lights from the POVs of those who zealously worship and convolute the faith with their bigotry and misogyny and amongst the same people is a person whose beliefs are purely based on logical reasoning, philosophy and Sufism and felt such profound feelings of being seen.

[thats-a-lot-of-cortisol]

My mom just sent a message to the family group chat suggesting that my siblings download the 'For the Strength of Youth' magazine on their Gospel Library app and talked about how much the youth magazines helped her testimony growing up and like, cool. Fine. Don't know why the 'sending random spiritual thoughts in the gc' thing started out of nowhere when it hadn't been a thing for a decade but this is just another one of those, and you're ofc allowed to talk about things that are significant in your life.

I don't think sending the 'What I Did When Someone Close to Me Challenged My Faith' article right afterwards was strictly necessary though 🙃

[un-pearable]

i get normal amounts of heated about badly written multiple choice questions

[jvzebel-x]

🦋

[vampyre-kin]

I low key kind of wish I'd been raised more religiously? Like I have such a weird fucking relationship with Christianity but at the same time I only have comparatively mild religious trauma, I only consistently went to church for about two years and the most my mom ever asked me to do was pray during hard time. I guess I just wish I had something more significant to connect all these feelings to. This weird guilt, the even weirder yearning to be more involved. Idk. It's all just weird and I don't like it.

[wrongplaceworsttime]

Why do you say but also mormons are fucking awful?

because they are 👍🏼

[arandompersontryingtobehappy]

just wanna point out i had "done" some research because a few ppl i know like to try and use religion to oppress lgbtq turns out just about every religion (just about not all) is actually okay with lgbtq and is tryna support them (check tags btw)

and all of the replys where more or less saying religious figures and such are okay with the lgbtq so if some guy trys throwing bible verses at you just remeber their a fucking moron and arent understanding that the whole point of the book they are quoteing has many plot holes, mistranslations, and is about as old as time just because they grew up with it doesnt make them an expert i grew up with a cat and im not fkn veterinarian (anyways im ranting because im sick and tired of everyone being assholes to each other and im no expert so do your own research and what not if im right im right if not whatever im just some dumbass on the internet)

Friendly reminder that LGBTQ+, Queer, and LGBT+ are the preferred terms for the community (x).

Friendly reminder that Queer is approved by 72.9% of the people, and the groups who don’t prefer it’s use as an umbrella term are straight people, exclusionists, transmeds, truscums, sex-negative people, and sex work critical people (x).

Friendly reminder that aros and aces are excluded only 9.2% / 8.1% of the time respectively while being included  78.9% / 81.2% of the time (x)

Friendly reminder that exclusionists are in the minority and aro/ace people are included in the LGBTQ+ community by the people within the community.