#religious ignorance

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

When theists find out you're an atheist.

Oh, so you're an atheist. So where did the universe come from? I'm an atheist, not a cosmologist.

So where did the Earth come from? I'm an atheist, not a geologist.

So where did people come from? I'm an atheist, not a biologist.

How did the laws of the universe happen? I'm an atheist, not a physicist.

And where did morals come from? I'm an atheist, not a philosopher.

And how did the world form? Still not a geologist.

Theists don't have all the answers either. They just think they do.

The theist answer to all those questions is "goddidit."

That's not an answer.

#atheism #religious ignorance #argument from ignorance #god of the gaps #religion #no answers in religion #no answers #religion is a mental illness

[vavandeveresfan]

As a prequel to this bullshit TikTok I posted previously, here's the same asshole "discovering" the Quran.

My friends who are Muslims from Somalia watched this and almost literally spit out their coffee.

Yet another white needy brat whose own life is so boring and empty he needs to make himself feel superior to not only real women but to other whites who aren't as Enlightened as he is.

The pity is if and when he tries to join a Mosque, and if it's not a United Universalist kind in which "All Are Welcome," he's gonna have one hell of a wake-up call, and we won't see THAT TikTok.

#oh my fucking god the STUPID #trans moron #gender critical #religious ignorance #the body language jeezus fuck #white Liberal discovers the Quran

[housewifebuck]

constellations - ellie holcomb

#buddie #buddieedit #911 #911edit #911 abc #Eddie diaz #Evan buckley #Christopher diaz #911verse #my gifs #🪐 #we are gonna ignore the religious overtones of this song for the sake of the gay agenda btw #pls clap I worked all day on this #bigassdiaz #poetindenial #eddiebabygirldiaz #tuserrae #tuserjw #tuserjs #disasterbuckdiaz #alielook #jeeyuns #grandapplewit #excuseme-greentea #comfortbuddie

[finisnihil]

I think what made me instantly fall in love with Zhongli is his monologue about overhearing the boss tell his employee it was time to end work and go home for the night. I distinctly remember playing the game for the first time and being really amused but also annoyed with Zhongli and the Archon reveal made me wanna smack him but when he explained his reasons for wanting to retire as a mortal I just Instantly Got It. The horrible soul crushing pressure of being a staple for those around you, that you have to live up to expectations because too much rides on you not failing, that you're so burnt out you kinda tuned out the idea of ever being able to stop. And then being reminded indirectly “Hey it’s okay, you did well, go take care of yourself now” just kinda hit hard and Zhongli didn’t feel so annoying anymore. He felt so relatable it was like a gut punch.

#genshin impact #Zhongli #I see so many people just kinda ignore that part of his character #and I think it’s a moment of really good writing #anyways just my thoughts #this silly goose will never leave my team so I may as well talk about him religiously #Finis Analyzes

[onyx-got-clowned]

neurotypicals are weird, like wdym i can’t sit on the floor??? Because it’s ’disrespectful’ or ‘distracting’ ??? How??? Literally so confused wtf. It’s the church floor, i am sitting next to the chair with my attention on you, it’s NOT that deep 😭 Mormons are literally sooooo annoying oh my godddd

#“You need to sit in a chair we are starting the lesson” #Bro. How does that change anything #I can literally ignore you if i wanted to #Sitting on a chair is no different than sitting on the floor #Yall just soft #and force stupid ass social standards on me #Onyx rants⭐️ #Autistic #actually autistic #actually autism #Autism #neurodivergent #audhd #Exmo #exmormon #ex religious

[foxx-queen]

thinking about the way shadowheart, lae'zel and minthara deal with breaking away from a god/god-like figure they've dedicated their lives to. shadowheart immediately latches onto rescuing her parents as her new 'mission'. lae'zel immediately dedicates herself to freeing orpheus with the vigor she served vlaakith. minthara fixates on obtaining the power to make sure she's never controlled again.

its like. breaking away from gods/god-like figures leaves a void to fill. they're trying to fill it, and trying to choose what they fill it with. and they know that's what they're doing, in some ways, maybe to avoid the enormity of what it means to have broken away. maybe to avoid working out what they'll do as individuals. shadowheart doesnt know her parents, and they dont know her anymore, but she has to save them. you can ask lae'zel why she won't focus on herself, and she acknowledges there's no time for that. not yet. minthara wants you to use the power of the brain, but has dialogue/approval when you speak to ravenguard and she realizes hes still in there beneath the tadpoles influence, just like she was.

'my deference to him is a habit that will die hard, i fear'. minthara still calls the elder brain the absolute, even after she knows the truth. lae'zel still calls out to vlaakith in battle. shadowheart still wears the symbol of shar in her hair after dyeing it. indoctrination/ingrained beliefs are hard to break.

they've broken away from what was controlling their lives. they're free. they've lost everything. shadowheart can save her parents and but will always have that mark. lae'zel has been declared a traitor and will be hunted until vlaakith is overthrown. minthara can never go home, and would be executed if she tried.

they've broken away. they've lost everything. they're struggling with what that means. they're free. they wouldn't have it any other way.

#baldur's gate 3 #shadowheart #lae'zel #minthara baenre #baldur's gate 3 spoilers #bg3 spoilers #i just. i love them #i love characters breaking away from religion and dealing with the religious trauma #i love when its not simple and easy #i love when the time is taken to show that its not easy #that theres a void thats not always filled with something 'good' #minthara wants u to use the power of the elder brain. maybe shes ignoring that means using people in the same position she wa #maybe shes telling herself she doesnt care #but when u meet ravenguard and reach out with the tadpole and find out hes still in there #she approves when yuo tell him hes being controlled #and says that hes still in there just like she was. that we should help #i dont know if lae'zel still calling out to vlakkith in battle is a bug or a mistake or something but it /works/ #she hates her shes rejected her but thats been her entire /life/. its not discarded easily #same with the shar headpiece. i dont know if thats an oversight. but it works. shadowheart is still shadowheart. #like she says when she rescues her parents. she can't just forget shadowheart. thats not what she does anymore #i have some gripes about this game but god this is all so good

[m1d-45]

reverse isekai but it’s me at 6:45 pm in a car

-> warnings: spoilers for inazuma archon quest, depictions of modern organized religion(none are specified, none are in great detail, but talks of restrictions within those are mentioned. it’s only one paragraph but still), this is unedited and with zero (0) plot to it :))

-> lowercase intended

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky

your world is loud.

from the moment the favored could see it, this was clear. it was loud, filling with screaming machinery that left trails of dust and buildings so tall it made their neck hurt to view.

it was bright, with lights that shone through the darkest of nights, reflecting off glass and the speeding machines and reflecting reflecting reflecting back into eyes to sting. your sun is so harsh, so unpleasant and overbearing, hot instead of warm and burning instead of soothing.

it’s cluttered, wires suspending from towers and running along your roads. glittering signs point out things they can’t read, the sacred script only giving them a headache. at night, they can find no comfort in the stars, something that sends them into a panic the first time they see it. it’s not clouds, it’s not anything worldly blocking their view, it’s that they’re gone, the ones they can see washed out and faded. they wonder how anybody can live like this, and if you blessed them with a night sky of such beauty because yours was so…

they can recognize some of it, the plants and trees and flowers, wild or not, call to them in recognition, but so much is frighteningly new. the style of the clothing, the kinds of jewelry on the people you pass. try as they might, they can’t locate a single vision anywhere, not even on you. they wonder if people hide them, like during the vision hunt decree, but even at home you don’t reach for it, you start fires with odd devices and plants grow slowly, the air and stone unmoving to your desires. you spill drinks. you freeze water using more strange machinery.

it’s so strange, because they can feel your world brim with elemental energy. their vision beams, shining so brightly with all of the potential suspended in your world. no matter how poor their elemental sight, your world glows, the air itself carrying a blue tinge. they try, in a world without visions, to use theirs, and their power springs in an instant to their fingertips. it dances across their hands, enveloping when they barely intended for a small spark, a small flame jumping across the dry grass of unspent energy in your world. they extinguish it quickly, tightening their hand into a fist to stamp it out before they damage something, and something like awe shines in their eyes. there’s so much, their vision so eagerly lapping it up, and you.. don’t use it?

you have machines for everything, devices to harness the wind and waves, boats to travel across water at impossible speeds, strange flying machines that you can hear from the ground, mere specks in the sky, and yet… you have yet to capture them in their most essential forms. you speak of elements, sometimes, but you use different names and there seems to be many, many more. you say that the air holds ‘nitrogen’, that you seal things with foil of ‘aluminum’, and you even say that water itself is composed of ‘hydrogen’ and ‘oxygen’, something that they struggle to understand. how can water be made of something else? how can hydro users bend more than one thing to their will? how can anemo wielders command such a broad spectrum of things? you speak of other elements in the earth, and though some are familiar, such as iron and gold, others’ names hold no meaning. you say potassium is in fruit, that there’s multicolored rocks called bismuth and poisonous liquids named mercury. you say that there’s 118 elements, when all they’ve known is 7.

it takes them a while to come to terms with that one, and even then they settle on it being inherently outside of their understanding. after all, they are in a world crafted by a god.

speaking of..

there are multiple religions in your world?

and it’s not as if they’re different ways or interpretations of the same god, no, it’s entirely different ones. not in the ways of teyvat, where everybody’s aware of all seven and follows the one of their nation, not even that much. they’re wildly different, with different policies and ways of worship, some with multiple gods and others with just one. some are strict, ways of lifestyle chosen and laid out, whilst others are lax. and even within the same religion, it varies from one place of worship to another? somehow? some religions specify clothing, disallowing certain parts of the body to be exposed- which they can understand to an extent. it’s when they learn of religions that police love, ones that write in harsh lines where and when and who somebody can love, that they need to take a step away.

so many parts of your world are confusing. so bright, flashy, new, rumbling in the walls and barreling down the roads with nothing but a scream to warn. lights are everywhere, every sign and post and building vying for your attention. this they could understand, as who wouldn’t wish to be the object of your interest, but the most dizzying fact that they learn during their stay is that you are no different than anybody else. everybody is subject to these sights, everybody is pulled in by a particular shade or cut of cloth, everybody is startled by the bright lights and loud announcements. everybody. you’re lost in the ocean of people so different and yet endlessly identical, nobody’s eyes lingering on you or calling your name specifically. when you step into a crowd, nobody notices you, save for the select, precious few to whom you are known. you have to carve out a place in your world, go out of your way to make sure your name, your face, your interests are kept in somebody’s mind, and even then people dare to forget.

that’s the worst of all. overwhelming lights, sounds, smells: nothing. it makes sense that they’d be out of their depth in a world built for the divine. but to know that you’re not receiving any of the recognition you deserve, to know that nobody thinks highly of your work in teyvat, to know that you were kind enough descend and build yourself a new life amongst the world, and to share your creation across said world, only for nobody to appreciate it. nobody thinks twice. people dare to complain over something you’ve hand-crafted, over something that, even after completion, you revisited with a traveller, doing your best to save one sibling and fix the problems that had cropped up in your wake. you’ve done so much, you’ve cared after it so lovingly, and you boosted the power of some of those you granted a vision to. as somebody who had experienced this love first hand, the favored could not find the words to express their anger at the situation. your world was wrong, it was cruel, and though they found beauty in the most hidden of places, it didn’t change the fact that it didn’t love you.

it only strengthened their desire to take you back to teyvat, where you would be truly loved.

#explanation in the tags #genshin #reverse isekai #isekai #genshin sagau #sagau #genshin impact #self aware genshin #sagau x reader #genshin x reader #cw: religion #cw: religious themes #it’s… meant to be a reverse isekai #but like. they’re ‘shadowing’ you? they’re not physically there because that’s problems and you’re not aware but they’re they’re #there* whoops #spectatoring if you will? yeah that #the title is 100% accurate btw i wrote 83% of this in the car lmao #there are so many things i should be working on but yk what? my blog #do me a favor and just. suspend your disbelief for a moment. ignore how much y/n ‘speaks’ and shut up abt it #it it’s 9:32 when i’m editing and i don’t care enough to fix it tbh #have a post. as a treat <3

[unreadpoppy]

I think it's funny how the narrator basically asks you, before choosing to sign or not Raphael's contract, who do you trust more: The Emperor or Raphael, the devil himself.

And, honestly? I have no reason to trust the Emperor more than I trust Raphael.

Because give it or take, Raphael has been more honest about his shit than the Emperor. The first time you meet him, he shows you he's a devil. He kept his part of the deal after we killed the orthon, and even now, he straight up tells us what he's going to use the crown for.

The Emperor, however, has been lying to us since the begining. Like, him lying about his identity was a HUGE no no for me. I "understand" that he didn't want to scares us due to being a mind flayer, but at that point in game (when he shows his true self), we've already met Omelumm, who is a mind flayer but who tried to help us. Also, his instance on the "eat this tadpole, embrace your powers" is very iffy to me cause like dude i'm not doing it. Like you already lied about your true identity, why should I trust you with this bullshit?

Also, since I'm comparing the Emperor to Omelumm, I might as well compare Raphael to the other devil who is out there offering deals: Mizora. Mizora lies, adds shit that only makes Wyll's life harder. We have every reason not to trust Mizora, beyond the fact that she's a devil (which, i'm not gonna lie, i feel like a reason there's such a push against raphael's deal is bc he is a devil and y'know how religion messes with that But anyways, i'm not gonna get into that).

The Emperor looks worse in comparison to Omelumm, but Raphael looks better in comparison to Mizora, is basically what i'm trying to get here.

Also also, if you talk with Korilla, she legit says that Raphael's a good boss, treats her better than a FREAKING GOD did. Like, honestly, I (and i really only mean I,me,myself) up until this point in the game have no freaking reason to not trust Raphael. Like, ffs, he didn't even ask for my soul in exchange.

Anyways, this is MY opinion, MY thoughts on the choice my character has done.

#making very clear that i don't care if you disagree with me or not #don't try to change my mind #anyways #raphael bg3 #i have a big big big trouble with emperor's lies #AND ALSO HIS LACK OF FUCKING PRIVACY #LIKE RAPHAEL LITERALLY SHUT HIM OFF #AND YOU THINK IM SIDING WITH CAN'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER SO I'LL PROBE YOUR MIND? #NO #F OFF #also someone said that the whole HoH is basically to justify killing raphael #and honestly that feels so true #also i brought up the religious aspect #bc i have friends who play the game who ignore all the context the game gives #and go i cant trust a devil just cus #and i respect that but also ugh

[singingcicadas]

I find it super ironic that Cyclonus has this highly romanticized, propagandic view of the Decepticons, because like:

This is him 🔽

And this is also him 🔽

Dude you yourself was a member of the ruling elite of the old order. Even if what you said about the Decepticons were all true, you're a big part of why people needed to be emancipated in the first place.

He was part of Nova Prime's inner cadre during a time when bigotry and oppression was even more predominant. Nova. who's literally the founder of functionism, which flourished and peaked under the so-called Golden Age of his rule. And Galvatron's... Galvatron, I don't even want to talk about him everyone knows what he's like. But Cyclonus was somehow fine with being yes-man to both?

The way he spoke about the Decepticons, it sounded as if he's this super dedicated sjw filled with righteous passion about stuff like liberation and revolution and emancipation and 'the people', when in truth it's shown that he'd never cared about any of those things before that point.

Nova Prime's ideology was literally this:

And Cyclonus didn't have a problem with it during his entire life before the Ark, compared to more decent people like Dai Atlas and Omega Supreme who eventually clashed with their group and got kicked off the Ark b/c they couldn't stand Nova and co.'s lack of a bottom line and misuse of the word freedom.

As a matter of fact Cyclonus still believed in Nova Prime after he became Nemesis - not that he was much of a better person as Nova. Where's his sense of justice against corruption? Nova got turned into a literal demon, surely it's hard to get more corrupted than that. But his only complaint wasn't about what Nova/Nemesis was trying to do, it's about the process being too much of a damn ordeal.

He's super excited over the anticipation of murder and has no scruples whatsoever about killing non-combatants. The same thing happened again at Kimia.

He finally grew enough of a conscience to break off from Galvatron in the end but notice his wording. It's not 'you forced me to hurt people', it's 'you forced me to hurt Cybertron'. He even said Cybertron twice for emphasis.

It's not mind control, he just thinks like that. The guy's obsessed with Cybertron - with what Cybertron once was. The Cybertron he lived in. Nova Prime's Cybertron. The Golden Age. He's shown to repeatedly lament over it in his internal monologues.

It's all about the loss of his 'perfect world.' The infrastructure. the scenery. the Tetrahexian real estate lmao. How about let's feel some sadness for the billions of Cybertronians who once lived on it? When did he ever spare a thought for all the people who died?

The Decepticons worked so hard to destroy this. It's a gilded carcass rotting from the inside. It eats people alive. The rot was already there in his own time. He was complacent in putting it there. But he only had eyes for the beauty and nolstalgia.

In the first panel he lauded the Decepticons for wanting radical change. Well he himself seemed to be dead set against change judging by the way he kept wanting things to go back the way they were 8 million years ago.

Back in the Golden Age he would not have looked twice at a bot like Tailgate. He was part of the people who didn't give a shit about the disappearance of one waste disposal bot. He still wouldn't have given a shit if circumstances hadn't forced them together over and over again.

Looks to me he's enarmored with the grandness of the concepts of liberation and revolution and emancipation for 'the people' in the Decepticons' (theoretical) ideology. The concepts of fighting against corruption and bringing down the old order. Just like how he bought into the concepts of Nova's 'spreading freedom to the galaxy' and the glittering prosperity of the 'Golden Age.' Does he know that the Decepticon ideology is a twisted lie built on terror and massacres and genocide and despotism? Does he know that Nova's idea of spreading freedom and enlightenment is galactical conquest and his beloved Golden Age is built upon a foundation of misery and suffering and systematic subjugation? Of course he knows he's not stupid. He's nose-deep in it, it's virtually impossible not to. But he's able to willfully ignore those ugly truths as well as his role in them by only engaging in shallow romanticism through rose-coloured lens and refusing to delve deeper.

It's either that or imperalist mindset and the endorsement of violence and casual murder resonates hard.

#on one hand Cyclonus would have made the perfect decepticon #he's got the hypocrisy down really well #moral standards align too #but he wouldn't be able to stand them after a while. and they wouldn't be able to stand him #their views about the past are fundamentally different. like class different #let's not forget the fanatic religion. the decepticons hate religion. being religious is enough to get the DJD sicced on you #and taking religion to the extremes is what legitimized functionism in the first place #he's someone who's REALLY good at ignoring thing he doesn't like and brainwashing himself into thinking they don't exist #idw transformers #transformers #mtmte #maccadam #Cyclonus

[s1lly-gh02tz]

Finished sneo drawing ^^

#super happy with the results^^ #also ignore how ass the picture is I spent so long trying to get something good😢 #spamton #deltarune #fanart #spamton g spamton #spamton deltarune #deltarune spamton #spamton fanart #spamton neo #deltarune spamton neo #sneo #deltarune fanart #deltarune art #deltarune fan art #religious imagery #pencil art #traditional art #fan art

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Evidence exists because it contrasts with not-evidence. A bloodstain on the carpet is evidence because those are usually not there. If all carpets are bloodstained, then a bloodstain on a carpet is not evidence.

If everything is evidence for a god, then evidence for a god cannot be distinguished from not-evidence, and therefore nothing is evidence for a god.

#evidence for god #ignorance #religious ignorance #religion #evidence #just look around you #religion is a mental illness

[boundinparchment]

Con Clavi - II

You serve the church of the Tsaritsa, under Father Pantalone. Faith is a gift you received long ago but a certain heretical Harbinger is determined to push those boundaries. Il Dottore/Female Reader. Eventual Pantalone/Female Reader. Reader is a Canoness/Nun. Story is rated Explicit. Minors DNI. Religious symbolism, corruption, many many liberties, eventual smut. Dead Dove applies. Available on AO3 here.

Several weeks passed until the next time the Doctor stepped foot in the church.  A blessing you wished lasted for an eternity, for you had only just moved onto other topics of reflections that morning.  

Doubt was a familiar companion.  You knew its phrases, its steps, every logical pattern it wove against the teachings of the Tsaritsa.  Free will was a common argument made against faith, that humans were creatures with such high cognition that they could do as they saw fit and did not wear the yolk of the divine.  The reins of history were held in the hands of mankind, they liked to say.

But if that was the case, why did allogenes exist and were deemed to be blessed?  And why did their opposition come in the form of old god remains that took several teams to uncover, all of whom died in service, as though being punished for their sins?  

The Heavenly Principles were Her tools to wield and interpret as she saw fit.  If She wanted to hold Celestia close and sacrifice Her people, would that not be for a greater good?

Delusions were open secrets, like the indulgences Father Pantalone collected to reduce one’s punishments for forgiveness.  Those who wielded Delusions were the true soldiers of the Tsaritsa’s Will.

And your faith powered them.

The mechanics of it were, of course, lost to only those deep within the Tsaritsa’s inner circle, if even then.  

Considering the Doctor was the Second among them, he would understand the precise machinations and therefore his questions to you were nothing but pure curiosity.  Some said he hungered for knowledge in the same way a glutton hungered for food despite being full, arrogant to the point of insanity.  To have his attention was to have a rabid dog on your heels until you were caught, chewed, and spit back out.

Perhaps less like a dog and more like a snow leopard, you amended, when you looked up from your pupils and caught his tall figure in the doorway of the church library.  His steps were methodical, slow and calculated, the perfect pace and weight to ensure you heard him even if one did not look up from their studies.

Everyone else was out in service to the public or attending to their duties; the library was often empty for you to teach.  A Harbinger stalking through with no one else around was unexpected, alarming even.  Your heart hammered in your chest as though you were nothing more than a rabbit caught out of its den.

If Dottore was here, your students should not be, you assessed.  The last thing you needed was another student considering more blasphemous trains of thought after Father Pantalone’s intervention resulted in a speedy wedding last weekend.  Morale was low among your remaining students and if they were hesitant before, they were a little more distrustful now, understandably so.

Your skin crawled, icy patches fleeting over your cheeks and shoulders as they had against your shoulder blades that morning so long ago.  You once imagined the Tsaritsa’s gaze might feel that way, before you understood the warmth true faith provided.

You summarized your point and then said, “For next week, read through the letters thoroughly and provide an analysis from both perspectives.  Would you consider one more correct than the other?  Are there other examples we’ve discussed that provide further evidence or align with either one?  We’ll discuss your outlines in two days.”

Your tone indicated dismissal and you busied yourself with goodbyes, each of your students bowing low when they realized the other presence in the room as they left.

“You rushed your lesson,” the Harbinger said, not bothering with a greeting.  “Do you fear I intended to undermine you?”

“Hardly.  They simply need their focus on their studies; they can gossip when they’re out of my tutelage.   It would be an affront for me to assume you even wish to be in the presence of those undergoing non-secular education.”

Dottore chuckled as he pulled his shoulders back and stepped forward into the tucked away space between bookshelves, arms behind him.  The icy sensation finally ceased when his head turned to look around you, above you, where a stained glass image of a divine act sat.  

“You would do well in the Akademiya, Sister.  Your talent is wasted in these halls.”

His tone was sharp, a well-honed knife.  Sneznhaya had its own schools and universities thanks to the man before you, and few ever left to attend Sumeru’s hallowed halls unless it was deemed necessary.  After all, the nation was several centuries ahead of most of the Seven; why bother attending classes in a nation that had yet to master flight?

“What can I assist you with, Lord Harbinger?” you asked, tidying up the table.

“I simply wished to return a book to the good Father, but he appears to be out for the day.  Something about washing heads or kissing feet or some such nonsense.  I did not care for the explanation offered but dared not leave the material with Pantalone’s chamberlain.  If I must waste my time, I might as well have a look around.”

He rounded the corner of the table and came closer.  He was still a respectable distance away, only just, but if you shot out an arm, you could reach him with ease.  From here, you could smell lingering antiseptic and sweet mint.  Dottore picked up an errant book you still had on the table and read the spine, the slightest scoff passing his lips.

“Heloise and Abelard of Fontaine.  Fitting, for your perspective, Canonness.  Do you relate to their plight?”

He returned his covered gaze to you and tilted his head, an inquisitive raven like the ones you fed every morning.

Trying to get a reaction, you assumed.  You did not have the patience for games today.  Your faith was frayed enough and only beginning to cast light onto the shadowy doubts that plagued you as of late.

“Many do, my lord.  I find their philosophical differences to be a good vehicle for other discussions but I need not justify myself to one with a different…perspective on the world.”

The corner of his lip twitched and for a moment, you saw your entire existence flash before your eyes.  Lashing out with one’s tongue against one of the Tsaritsa’s finest, against one of her triumvirate?  Tantamount to cardinal sin.  Punishable by both revocation of divine rites and legal action if the injured party was insulted enough.

But instead, Dottore only laughed, shoulders shaking as if you’d told a joke at a cocktail party.  You felt his breath on your cheek as he reached over to put the book back into your neat pile, the cover facing you.  

“No, I suppose you do not.”

He turned his head and the heat was brief but unmistakable.  You knew the sensation but hadn’t felt it in more than a decade.  The last one you ever received had been hesitant, apologetic; this was soft, indulgent, exploratory.  A spark passed from his lips to yours and made your chest ache for more.

Your hand shot up and connected with his bare cheek.  The crack of your palm on his skin echoed through the library and bounced off the stone walls, a secret only shared with the books within its confines.  His head followed the impact, turning away and breaking the kiss.

Lord Dottore didn’t pull away immediately and you saw a wide, sharp-toothed smile accompany his angry cheek.  His skin was already red, the shape of your hand glowing right where you made contact.  You could barely breathe when his gaze settled on your (or so it felt).  His bow was nothing short of a mockery, hand over his heart as though he believed in the cause he supported.

“Thank you, Sister.  You’ve been most helpful.”

The words were spoken as if you’d delivered a speech most insightful and you ignored your burning lips as you genuflected a farewell.

Your heart hammered in your chest long after the door to the library slammed shut and then it stopped, just once, at the notion of being alone .  

How you wished you could carve it out of your body with nothing but the nearby pen.

#il dottore #dottore x reader #il dottore x reader #dottore #il dottore x female reader #dottore x female reader #corruption #tw religious themes #I FORGOT THE TITLE IGNORE THAT

[aheavenofhell]

I feel like some may be deliberately ignoring the “but I don’t want to go back to Heaven” line and lemme explain why it’s important.

Aziraphale is offered this promotion to supreme archangel, right? By the Metatron himself. This is a VERY big deal, EXTREMELY serious. This is word directly from the Almighty.

And his first reaction is to refuse (something that doesn’t exactly align with the whole “Aziraphale is a manipulator” idea).

Aziraphale refuses the Metatron until the Metatron makes it explicitly clear that he can bring Crowley with him.

This is important, because Aziraphale chose to defy Heaven in S1 for Earth, for humans. While Crowley’s company may have had a part in it, really who’s to say they couldn’t just find another way to hang out when eternity started? His motivations in S1 didn’t revolve solely around Crowley.

The Aziraphale in S2, however, is ready to surrender life on Earth with just a singular condition. This is a big leap from where he was in S1, denying he and Crowley were even friends, to S2, where he is ready to admit that he needs him. That their relationship is more than a mutually beneficial arrangement or the result of having no other immortals to converse with.

So why the “rejection”?

Well, first off I think it’s a bit unfair to call it a rejection. For it to be a rejection, they would have to turn down the idea of their relationship. They didn’t, they just disagreed on the terms of that relationship.

Second, although Aziraphale has made these significant character developments, he is still Aziraphale. Naive, and under the impression that he can make things better for everyone—including Crowley. It could be just like old times, but even better. His motive here was not to fundamentally change who Crowley is, but to move them into a situation where they are safe to be together and he can feel like he has a purpose.

I don’t know if Crowley actually thinks Aziraphale wants to change him or not. I can definitely see that being a thing, but it’s not actually brought up. Instead, Crowley reminds him what Heaven is actually like—the reason he doesn’t want to be there. Not just because he can’t, but because he doesn’t want to.

The lack of compromise here ends up making sense from both sides. Aziraphale functions the way someone who grew up deeply religious and just can’t quite pry away from their faith does. Constantly ashamed, justifying the actions of an unjust God, unable to find meaning outside of what he’s been taught is the meaning. A recipe for self loathing, for always going back because it’s all you know, of course you still pray every night, long after you’ve stopped going to church. Ask a fundamentalist Christian if Abraham would’ve been justified in killing Isaac, and when they answer ask why. You will sample some of what I am talking about.

In contrast, Crowley has completely broken off from that illusion. His own moral code is more important to him than Heaven or Hells’. He has spent thousands of years trying to get Aziraphale to see through the manipulative tactics that keep him in check. He watches Aziraphale torment himself with this idea of goodness, what it is and how he has to represent it. And by the end of S2, he is still stuck in that same rut.

Neil utilized the metaphor of an abusive relationship (Nina/Lizzy, Aziraphale/Heaven) but whichever way you look at it, it’s the same. Psychological conditioning designed to break down the spirit into obedience.

And despite all this, despite the fact that Aziraphale is actively clawing his way through processing all of this trauma on his own, he still doesn’t give in to Heaven before he’s promised Crowley.

He goes back, yes. But there was no character regression. It was still development. He’s just not all the way there yet.

There would be no S3 if he was.

#good omens #aziracrow #good omens season 2 #analysis #go2 spoilers #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #crowley #ma they’re deliberately ignoring character building again #i can’t be mad at him he reminds me too much of me #religious girlies know what I’m talking about

[deservedgrace]

So much of what bothers me about the "idk what kind of Christians YOU were around but I've never seen anything like that in MY church" is that it has this implied "it's your fault for surrounding yourself by bad Christians" when so many of us are victims of child indoctrination and had literally no choice in who we were to be in community with. It's also fucking wild to blame a child for trusting the people they were told they had to trust in order to avoid eternal torment, especially when even other versions of xtianity were demonized and could send you to hell. Victim blaming is shitty regardless but it's an especially low blow when it's a child who literally could not have known any better.

#not even mentioning that they probably DO have people like that in their church #or they ARE that person #and are just ignorant or don't think it's that bad #cannot tell you how many times my mom has been like “that wasn't what we were taught” when we literally went to the same church #i didn't pull these beliefs out of my ass! #I'm mad about things in my personal life that i can't do anything about so I'm yelling about the church what's new #ex christian #religious trauma #ex cult #child indoctrination

[vorpan-yaimi]

boba fett forever on my mind

#i love how so far tbobf is just him being ok at politcis #absolutely ignoring how in a few episodes he is meant to stop showing up #reading a bobadin fic rn that is kinda set in the same time as tbobf and holy shit its kinda messing with me but its so good #you gotta love a self hating religiously traumatised din djarin fooling around with the man himself boba fett #boba fett #the book of boba fett

[foolondahill17]

One part of deconstruction I rarely hear people talk about is the deep-seated, unshakable fear that maybe you are wrong. Maybe you have just “fallen away” from the capital-T Truth. Maybe there is a Hell, and maybe you are headed there just because you don’t believe the way you’re “supposed” to anymore.  

#ignore me #personal #deconstruction #exvangelical #religious trauma