#ex evangelical

[whereserpentswalk]

There's an orc attending your college. Your city is pretty diverse, there's a lot of human cultures represented there, and even harpies and dwarves are common. But an orc is still a really rare sight. And she's not assimilated at all, she wears the symbol of the dark lord around her neak, and the strange black cloths from the wastelands she came from, and she always seems to have a gun somewhere on her. It's strange just to see an orc in person, she's not like the green skinned monsters you see in movies, her eyes are pitch black, and her skin is so pale you can see veins, she's muscular and tell but also strangely skinny, and her teeth are sharp and spiked like a sharks, this one doesn't have tusks, just these rows of serrated teeth.

Everyone avoids her at first. There's something creepy about her. She doesn't move like a human. She emotes weirdly, being stoic during conversations, but sometimes smiling or laughing at odd times. In class it becomes clear that she lacks knowledge anyone growing up in your society has, but has extensive knowledge on things most humans will never know. She also very clearly supports the dark lord and the demons who serve him, and gets mad when his narrative of conquest and strict genetic hierarchy is challenged in class.

You end up paired with her for a class project. It's weirdly awkward. But you end up spending more time with her then most. It still takes awhile to get used to her mannerisms, and you have to convince her of evolution in a long debate (but eventually you do convince her). She seems strangely naive to a lot of things. Every time she does something that she considers a failure she goes into self loathing, and she gets really afraid she's going to be punished. You have to explain to her things are going to be ok sometimes.

You try to spend time with her. She supports the dark lord but out of a strange sense of fear more than the type of ideological support humans in nations not under his control have. When she does something that she thinks is heresy agaisnt him she becomes afraid. And while she's angry at people who follow gods other than him (which is basically everyone here) she's more afraid of them than everything. When a holy symbol you own touches her she's surprised it doesn't burn her, you have to tell her it's ok.

She has a lot more freedom here than she did back in the wastelands. You slowly help her realize she doesn't have to worry about being punished for sinning agasint the dark lord. She's able to go on the internet for the first time, you help her get everything set up. You also introduce her to your freinds, only some of whom feel safe around her, but those who do seem to like her.

It's weird just hanging out in her dorm. She can be weirdly laid back and introspective at times, at least when she's not nervous or paranoid. But when she's just relaxing she'll tell you about things, about the beauty of the desert sands, about what it was like to observe the rattlesnakes and condors and wyverns of her homeland. How she likes to observe the city, the way the diffrent people flow through it, she was scared of it at first but now she likes to explore it, and the way it lacks stars at night but the lights from the buildings replace it. She says she wishes she could stay here forever, that she wishes she could be an artist but that she was sent here to learn skills useful to the dark lord's empire.

There's something nice about showing her new things. You get to take her to a musical for the first time. Get to show her neighborhoods you like. Get to explain to her what public transport is (though she got scared feeling trapped in a subway car). You get to show her stuff she never got to experience because orcs are never really children, she loves getting to hold a plush for the first time, or watching cartoons for the first time, it's like she's finally getting to live an experience she never had. Even though she's a well armed adult she really likes plushies once she finds out about them, they weren't something she was allowed to have back home.

Over time she starts meeting people and learning things that go against her worldview. As she makes more friends, understands new things, slowly learns that she shouldn't be punished for mistakes, she slowly comes around to seeing how fucked up the world the was raised in is. She tells you she doesn't want to worship the dark lord anymore, she cries just from saying it. You hug her, and realize she's never been hugged before, she seems to really like that feeling. She bathes in the waters of a healing goddess, and she worships something out of love instead of fear for the first time.

Eventually the spawning warlock who spawned her and her siblings comes to visit her. You told her to be careful but she ended up spilling that she doesn't worship the dark lord, she ends up spilling all the things a warlock like that considers a sin. When he leaves she tells you she can't go home. Not ever. Never again will she see the shifting sands, or flying condor, or flowing serpents of her homelands. She's trapped where she is now.

You know it hurts her a lot. She says she feels like she's in a small pocket of safety. Back home she'd be hurt for being an apostate. In human lands outside of the city she'd be hurt for being an orc. But she's safe here. She stays in her apartment for awhile, while you try to make things work. She's finally changing her major to art, and despite everything she's finally free, free to watch the starless sky, free to not be punished when she makes a mistake...

#196 #my thougts #worldbuilding #writing #my worldbuilding #my writing #fantasy #urban fantasy #original fiction #flash fiction #short story #short fiction #orcs #orc girl #orc #magical realism #dark lord #dark fantasy #sympathetic monster #redemption arc #demons #fantasy races #fantasy writing #fantasy world #fantasy worldbuilding #orc rights #ex christian #ex evangelical #anti christianity

[edscuntyeyeshadow]

the way the other angels treat aziraphale reminds me of how people at church would treat obviously queer kids who didn’t know they were queer yet. especially in the flashback scenes and in s1. they all see he’s different and treat him like shit but in that really vague passive aggressive christian way y’know

#does this make any sense #good omens #good omens 2 #aziraphale #religious trauma #exvangelical #muriel #gomens #gomens 2 #ex evangelical #aziracrow #queer #growing up religious #ineffable husbands #metatron #my posts

[the-rad1o-demon]

[Image ID (sorta, basically just the text from it):

GET KOSA TRENDING.

STOP SCROLLING NOW!

AS OF FEBRUARY 21ST, 2024, WE GOT FIVE DAYS UNTIL THE DAY OF DECISION OF THE KOSA BILL, WHICH WILL CAUSE MASS CENSORSHIP ROUND THE INTERNET IF PASSED. OR DOOMSDAY. WE NEED EVERYONE TO KNOW ABOUT THIS AND CONTRIBUTE. I'M NOT GIVING UP ON YOU ALL.

WE'RE DOWN TO THE WIRE BUT WE CAN'T GIVE UP YET. IF WE GIVE UP, EVERYTHING IS OVER. IF WE DON'T, AT LEAST WE HAVE A CHANCE.

I'M THE ONE WHO SOUNDED THE ALARM, AND I'M NOT GOING TO CURL UP AND DIE YET.

Reblog this post in every LEGAL way you can under the Tumblr guidelines with the appropriate tags. TELL AND TAG EVERYONE YOU KNOW, then add the tags to see below... and more if you can think of any complying.

Visit badinternetbills.com if you want to find a way to defeat KOSA. It WILL NOT take much of your time. Reblog with any other information or sources, too-- but make sure to reblog if you can.

Reblog if you support lgbtq+ content.

Reblog if you support questioning queer youth and/or abused youth getting the information they need.

Reblog if you support Ao3 and/or other sites that wholeheartedly preserve talentedly made media.

Reblog if you're going to repost this on other sites than Tumblr and spread the word across Twitter, Tik Tok, Pinterest, or elsewhere, alongside the link to badinternetbills.com.

END image ID]

Hey, everyone. So yeah, this is happening. We're still fighting this battle. And we can't give up now. We can't. We can't stand idly by while one of the most important resources that helped us all wake up, or at least start to question things, is being threatened by the government.

We can't stand idly by when kids, teens, and adults just like us still trapped inside might lose access to the resource that could help them wake up. We can't stand idly by when they might lose access to their non JW friends and family. We CAN'T stand idly by when we can do something to stop this bill from passing.

I am sick and tired of this same old song, where conservative fuckers higher up think they can oppress everyone. I am FUCKING SICK of it.

Please, reblog both this post and the original post linked above what I've written, and do what you can to stop KOSA, please. We are running out of time.

I suggest that if it is within your power to do so, that you do more than simply reblog and assume someone else will do something. DON'T assume that. Please do more than just reblogging if you are able to, because that's not really enough at this point.

Call/email representatives in the House and tell them to oppose KOSA (you may want to list different reasons depending on who you're calling, some House representatives are anti-LGBTQ+, so it may be best to tell them to oppose because it violates people's privacy, safety, and anonymity online). Print posters and put them up where legal if you can.

Sharing all this information to other social media sites (Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, the bird app) to reach more people can really help too. The wider the reach, the better.

Thank you. Now let's fucking rip that bill apart like we rip apart Watchtower magazines and eat it for fucking breakfast. (In a "we're eating it and the politicians who are sponsoring it are looking on in horror" kind of way)

#kids online safety act #internet censorship #stop kosa #exjw #ex jw #ex jehovah's witness #ex jehovah's witnesses #not necessarily ex jw related tags but still relevant bc this bill also affects these communities: #queer #lgbtqia #lgbt #lgbtqplus #lgbtq community #ex catholic #ex mormon #ex christian #ex evangelical #ex cult

[jesusinstilettos]

Sometimes people demand you justify being an atheist with a 200 page well-sourced thesis on biblical scholarship but one of the reasons I am not a Christian anymore is so fucking simple. It made my life worse. It made me unhealthy mentally. I’ve grown one thousand times more as a person without it. If it were really the one true wisdom from an all knowing infinite god, it would make my life better. And that’s enough proof for me. And it’s a valid reason.

#deconstruction #ex christian #ex evangelical #agnosticatheist #deconstructing christianity #agnostic #ex religious #exevangelical #leftist #religious trauma

[aethling]

#ex evangelical #apostate #ex christian #ex religious #religious trauma #exvangelical

[apostateoverrubies]

It's funny how certain religious people act like accepting LGBTQ rights will lead to paedophilia being normalized when they've already let that shit slide for centuries.

Then again, what else do you expect from people who value religion over the rights of children?

Don't let them trick you into thinking they care.

#ex religious #ex christian #ex religion #religious trauma #religious deconstruction #deconstructing christianity #ex pentecostal #deconversion #apostate #ex fundie #ex muslim #exvangelical #ex evangelical #christian fundamentalism #ex fundamentalist #ex mormon #ex catholic #ex jehovah's witness #ex jw #agnostic #ex upci #lgbt #lgbtq

[welcometogodly]

Heavenly Pleasures sign next to the verse we learned in church

#midwestern gothic #midwest #kansas #religious trauma #ex evangelical #film photography #deconstructing christianity #35mm flim #queer artist #queer film #welcome to godly #godlykansas

[mayhapsyourmom]

Religion in the capital is so fascinating. In the books and movies Katniss never mentions any kind of religion or prayer when it would most likely be something those in the districts would turn towards. The absence of religion is far more interesting to me then if it were included.

Religion historically ties people together and organized religion is an extremely effective way to get people moving and ready to fight something.

To me it’s very obvious the capital must have found a way to do away with religion especially organized religion at some point in time, because of the hope it would give people and the danger an organized force in the district would present.

#relatable #ex christian #exvangelical #ex evangelical #ex religious #the hunger games #tbosas #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #mockingjay #religious trauma

[whats-a-human]

shoutout to everyone forced to go to church, church events and/or interacting with people you don't want to.

you are not "failing to stand up for yourself" if you can't say no. I know how terrible it is to balance the harm of going to church, etc, and the backlash if you don't.

you are not a failure if you are an adult living with a toxic family. Not at 18, not at 19, nor 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 + !!

you are not a failure if you are an adult living on your own but can't go non-contact yet

you are not a failure if you are a minor and are not as "brave" as you wished to be, or believe you won't be able to move out at 18

you are not a failure if you moved out and had to go back. No matter the reason!

whatever your situation is

you are not a failure

don't victim-blame yourself

❤

#ex fundamentalist #ex evangelical #ex fundie #ex catholic #ex christian #exvangelical #religious guilt #religious trauma #religion tw #tw religion #tw christianity #positivity

[edscuntyeyeshadow]

I saw a comment somewhere that basically said aziraphale and crowley are like two different reactions you can have to religious trauma.

so crowley is the self proclaimed “sinner”, has accepted that he’s “going to hell”, and hates the church/cult he left. for him going back means going back to that box of repression.

but aziraphale’s trauma seems to be much harder for people to understand, he’s the person who was slowly cast out because of the cracks showing in their facade, they want to be loved by the church/cult still. they crave belonging and want to be welcomed back.

I’m definitely more of a crowley but I like to talk more about aziraphale because I also relate to him in certain ways, plus people misunderstand him a lot.

#good omens #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #religious trauma #good omens 2 #ex evangelical #ex cult #ex religious #gomens #aziracrow #crowley

[wisteria-grows-here]

Being PIMO (physically in, Mentally out) is the threshold to freedom. It is the bravery of questioning your universal truths. It is the practice of critical thinking and opening to new, better beliefs. Yes, it's scary to still physically be within an organization, but once you learn to trust your gut and rely on your own understanding, you are at the threshold to freedom

#ex jehovah's witness #ex jw #ex jehovahs witness #cult survivor #pimo #exmormon #ex evangelical #cults #exmo #exmo stuff #exjw

[jesusinstilettos]

Christians will demonize people who deconvert as just angry bitter atheists to discredit them. But remember it’s valid to be angry after leaving the church. Anger is often your body telling you your boundaries were crossed. Emotions serve a purpose, they aren’t bad.

#deconstruction #agnosticatheist #agnostic #ex christian #ex evangelical #ex religious #deconstructing christianity

[dilliedallieallie]

if God wrote the Bible through humans, but by His law humans are inherently flawed and sinful….wouldnt that make the Bible also flawed???

#personal #ex christian #ex evangelical #deconstructing christianity #deconstruction #religious trauma

[apostateoverrubies]

Children don't need religion to develop good morals. I'd argue that certain religions get in the way of that because they encourage you to do things because a deity approves and it will lead to you having a good afterlife or whatever. And I don't know about you but I find that to be self-serving.

Not to mention, the fact that religion can advocate for immoral things.

Let's just teach children to be good just because.

#ex religious #ex christian #ex religion #religious trauma #religious deconstruction #ex pentecostal #deconstructing christianity #ex fundie #ex muslim #deconversion #agnostic #ex catholic #ex fundamentalist #ex jehovah's witness #ex jw #ex jew #ex mormon #ex evangelical #exvangelical #ex hindu

[welcometogodly]

school in Iowa 1980

#midwest #midwestern gothic #kansas #religious trauma #ex evangelical #film photography #35mm flim #deconstructing christianity #queer artist #queer film #short flim