#religious representation

[g1deonthefirst]

i just think if we're going to talk about harrow being a "fundamentally religious" character we also need to talk about the way religion in the nine houses is depicted as a tool of violence and oppression both within and outside of the nine houses.

like clearly jod uses his position as god and worship of him to induce characters to murder the people they love, thereby isolating them so that they love and worship him alone and uphold his empire. in htn we literally see how he isolates harrow (by ordering g1deon to kill her) and takes advantage of the faith this deeply vulnerable teenage girl has in him.

religion on the ninth is also used to justify the murder of 200 children and the extreme abuse gideon endures growing up. but i think most importantly, worship of john throughout the nine houses is used to justify the imperialist conquest and destruction of planets outside the nine houses, in a way that clearly intentionally parallels european imperialism. so, yes, harrow in htn is fundamentally religious — and because of her religion, she also functions as a tool of a violent imperialist empire.

#tlt #harrow #meta #sorry i just think it's really funny to see queer christians in particular act as if harrow is great queer religious representation #because i mean #gestures at christian imperialism

[varilien]

(dress ref)

there's aus where u try to recreate the "effect" of a character's personality and behavior through an alternative "cause", and then there's this shit where i Just think umm well personally wolfwood being down to kill for vash is hot and it's a bummer vash doesn't think so too, but what if an au where he does ?

it's not a true "villain" vash au, basically it goes that vash decided to stick it out with knives in the hopes he could mitigate the damage knives planned to do to mankind, and it's worked for the most part-- at the expense of vash taking on much of knives' ire himself. this vash is even more isolated than in canon, unable to meet the standard knives enforces for what a god is supposed to look like, and constantly concerned with appeasing knives: dressing and styling his hair in a way that doesn't annoy him, talking very little, always offering compromises that put himself at a disadvantage

it's a wholly bad deal, up until the eye (yeah i'm blending stuff from other triguns in even tho it's a 98 au lol) offer vash their latest up-and-coming disciple to protect and serve him directly, though the "protecting" thing ends up being extremely mutual. wolfwood is the first bright spot in vash's life in a hundred years, and he's not going to allow anybody to take that away

#trigun #trigun anime #trigun fanart #vash #vash the stampede #wolfwood #nicholas d. wolfwood #vashwood #shared devotions au #<- in case i ever draw it again lol. it's an abba reference cuz abba is delightful villain music fhdhdjdj #literally my motivations here was just. i wanna see a situation where wolfwood has to do something fucked up for vash #and instead of vash proselytizing and projecting his trauma at him vash is like. Oh. you really do care for me don't you. #and EQUALLY AS MUCH SO i need vash covered in someone else's blood having thrashed a fucker for getting near wolfwood fhdhdjdjjs #wolfwood can have a lil religious moment realizing how much this traumatized godthing loves him. as little a treat. #love drawing vash's hair all fucked up as a visual representation of his decaying mental state dhfkgdkf #also love vash and knives' opposing color schemes and what you could interpret about their self-perceptions from that alone <3

[carefulfears]

thinking about mulder asking scully's mother why she wore a cross around her neck if she was such a skeptic, and maggie answering "i gave it to her," and putting it back in his hand. and that mulder puts it around his neck, carries it on him through the height of desperation and grasps for connection. his own version of catholic guilt, of being watched over. of holding onto something not because you believe in it, but because you don't have anything else. because it was given to you.

#something very hmm religious and symbolic i think! #about him fucking another woman with scully's cross around his neck #a symbol that only has meaning to him of her and through her #a representation of her #'i might not believe in god but i believe in you i speak to him through you' etc etc #devotion through supervision even in self-loathing #i'm obsesseddddd #3 #txf.txt

[suchasillygoofheehee]

maturing is realizing you finally have the (now) cringe art style that you cried for in 2019

I swear i can make art with effort guys, i promise uhh click for better quality wtf did Tumblr do

#Just in general wtf did Tumblr do #deltarune fanart #yippee #deltarune #evil art tag #kris dreemurr #kris dreemur fanart #silly #Praying for 2029 me to appreciate their art #Kris has as many piercings as a small religious hometown could allow the 'weird' neurodivergent kid to have #Which is say as many as their grubby little hands could steal #God i love you Kris dreemure and your representation for all the weird neurodivergent alt kids who were bullied all their life #(And like stealing #And piercings)

[buddiesmutslut]

I’m being so ffr rn, if the show runners definitively show that Buddie is not going to happen?

I’m probably not going to be watching anymore.

I mean it when I say that they’re literally the sole reason I watched this show in the first place. I saw a billion TikTok edits of them & was like “Idek these characters I need to watch this show and see what’s going on over there.”

And like, it’s a fun show, I’m not saying it isn’t, but first responder shows are a dime a dozen. There are other shows that have queer characters and found family and wild adventures. Granted, they don’t have Buck & his bi arc, but I’d still read fanfics to get my Evan Buckley fix lol.

I don’t need them right now, I’m so down for the slow burn, will-they-won’t-they & the pining & the yearning & the build up and the GOOD foundation. I want to see Eddie figuring himself out and dealing with his repression and figuring out he’s queer (& Demi, pls God. I hope if I just say it enough, I can will it into existence somehow) before anything happens with the two of them, but if they take definitive steps to have one of them like, marry someone else or something, I think I’m gonna head out. Find me on ao3 for the rest of my days lol.

#911 abc #buddie #demisexual eddie diaz #also pls don’t come at me with “you don’t care about bi representation”. he’s already bi #he’s always been bi & I’ve loved watching him on this journey #but his & Eddie’s relationship is literally the only reason I started this show in the first place #and again if they find good LI’s & bring them more into focus #the time spent on the Buddie relationship will decrease. that’s just how tv & time limits work #and if my favorite relationship on the show goes away then why would I continue watching it religiously? #also I know I’m a bitch & would therefore hate any person they brought in to be the HEA for them & that’s not fun for anyone #not that I would bully the actor/actress bc im not an ASSHOLE #eddie diaz #evan buckley #I literally watched Booth & Bones take like 9 seasons to get together I am IN IT with a slow burn #unless they do what they did last season & shoehorn 2 LI’s in at the last second on the last episode then I guess I wouldn’t have a choice #Tim would’ve pulled a fast one on me #also I will watch literally anything else Oliver Stark is in SNOOKUMS I love you so much. come home the kids miss you 😂 #& probably Lou also bc he’s so freaking cute irl I wanna die #with his curly hair and his silly faces and his muscles and his wanting to be held in the dark #LOU BABY ILL HOLD YOU IF THE POWER GOES OUT #I have spent too much of my life & time & energy to get 0 payout and it’s honestly unsustainable but that’s a whole different problem

[takeme-totheworld]

I'm realizing that I'm not actually invested in the Aziraphale/Crowley relationship to the same extent or the same way that a lot of the fandom seems to be?

Like, don't get me wrong, I love and adore them, I think they're incredible characters and incredibly nuanced queer representation, I was devastated along with everyone else by their breakup and I want to see them get their happy ending. And I'm so excited that we're going to get to see it happen onscreen.

But their relationship isn't the biggest emotional draw in the show for me, simply because for me nothing is more compelling than watching Aziraphale try to break free from his conditioning and from the toxicity of Heaven. I identify with that particular aspect of it so strongly that for me, that is the story.

(I'm also single and have never been in a superlong romantic relationship, so as invested as I am in finally seeing these two lovesick dopes kiss and make up, I don't have a thing in my real life that I can relate to that part of the story)

Anyway, just some random musings about my specific flavor of hyperfixation on this show lol

#good omens #good omens 2 spoilers #good omens 3 #aziracrow #ineffable spouses #queer representation #aziraphale #religious indoctrination #fandom thoughts

[tg-pilled]

Do you guys ever think about the fact that Kaneki/Haise has two found families with drastically different backgrounds so the fact that he felt like he had to pick between the two was also him picking between ghoul society and human society? Anyways I don't think about it that much haha

#tokyo ghoul #tokyo ghoul kaneki #im soooo normal #i love when characters have to pick between two different sides and cannot fully encompass all #i also love the representation it holds #especially if you place a religious context onto tg #like hear me out

[meat-church]

the only willy wonka prequel I want is what prompted the weird hell boat ride. what happened so slightly eccentric timothee chalamet to make him turn into incredibly unhinged gene "not a speck of light is showing so the danger must be growing are the fires of Hell a-glowing? is the grisly Reaper mowing?" Wilder??

#i did see the wonka movie today #it was okay #i had fun but i wouldn't call it a roald dahl's willy wonka prequel #it was a decent slightly eccentric chocolate man destroys weirdly religious chocolate cartel movie #but wonka? nah #also cgi hugh grant oompa loompa was a weird choice #AND WHY WAS HE ILLITERATE #FOR NO PURPOSE #played for like 4 jokes it was odd #i did love the landlady representation #ya know? from roald dahl's the landlady #anyway it was a fun time i just would not call it a wonka prequel #wonka #willy wonka #timothée chalamet #would i watch it again? yes i liked the music even if his rendition of imagination wasn't as charming

[thyphrog]

finding good omens genuinely changed my life. nothing can express the vast feeling i feel from finally being able to see my full self in media, every single bit of me good and bad. there's been media that has one or two of my identities but never one that has every single intersectionality. nevermind one thats written so thoughtfully and lovingly with all the compassion and delicacy even through the pain and hardships. neil and terry could have given up on the representation to get it published and adapted quicker but they stuck with us even through death. neil never let us be erased from the story even if it took almost 30 years to get a loving adaptation. theyve saved so many lives with the sheer amount of unwavering passion for protecting our existence in their creations.

#good omens #lgbtq #aroace #asexual #aromantic #neil gaiman #terry pratchett #transgender #nonbinary #genderfluid #religious trauma #phrog rambles #representation matters #representation #listen im very emotional again #but i know im not the only one

[dhaaruni]

Um. @ FBI?

#twitter #such bad religious representation #religion

[gaiuskamilah]

i need you all to understand that this is like crack to me

#domme cunty mc having d/s lesbian sex and the narration makes it religious this is CRACK COCAINE. TO ME. #finally some representation☝☝☝LMFAO #villainous valentine #immortal desires #choices vip

[jewishregulus]

YOUR USERNAME !!!!!! 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

YESSSS black family just objectively a jewish ass family to me . saw so many ppl saying they loveeee the catholic aesthetic on them but they just haven’t see the cuntiness of judaica passed down generations . also explains the family wreath ig

#answers #house of black #idk i see sirius as like a very culturally not religiously jew #and regulus as deeply religious #and then it shocks them both when sirius ends up w a good jewish boy and reg is dating a goy #jegulus is repping hinjew nation tho so respect #real representation for real people (me and my relationship)

[bellamyblasphemy]

I LOVE YOU FALLEN ANGEL MOTIFS I LOVE YOU SYMPATHETIC SATAN IMAGERY I LOVE YOU MURDER AND "SIN" AS A REPRESENTATION OF EMBRACING QUEERNESS AND NEURODIVERGENCE AND SOCIETAL OTHERNESS I love you Hannibal as a Satan figure, who finally sees Will as being a fallen angel and an equal I love you Hannibal choosing to take Will to the cliffside house as a representation of the entrance to the Pit, the mouth of hell. I love you Hannibal being shot and bleeding out yet still jumping into danger when you could've taken the chance to escape. I love you romanticism and eroticism symbolized in brutally murdering someone together. I love you Will Graham covered in blood and pure love in Hannibal's eyes. I love you Siouxsie song explicitly called "Love Crimes" that literally says "I will survive and thrive". I love you Will and Hannibal bleeding and embracing on the edge of the metaphorical Pit I love you Hannibal allowing them too fall not as a murder-suicide but an embrace of Will's choice to fully display the darkness of himself and take the plunge into the freedom of "sin" by his own hands. I love you "This is all I ever wanted for you. For us." I love you pushing yourselves off the edge not as a final trembling grasp at holiness and goodness but a fall into hell as returning home in the arms of a lover. I LOVE YOU QUEER BECOMING AND SELF REALIZATION IN ITS BAREST FORM, I LOVE YOU RECLAIMING MONTROUS IMAGERY I LOVE YOU UNAPOLOGETIC QUEER ART I LOVE YOU VAMPIRIC THEMES I LOVE YOU QUEER HORROR I am fully sane

#Just finished hannibal #And i am so normal about it #Deadass could write essays on this show #Hannibal as a satan figure my beloved #Hannibal lecter #will graham #Hannigram #Hannibal #Nbc hannibal #the wrath of the lamb #Fallen angel #Vampirism as a representation of queerness and othered identity is my special interest #And hannibal is literally that but with cannibalism #Foaming at the mouth #What a fucking masterpiece of a show #The religious symbolism will never leave my brain #Im so ill

[trashytshirt]

just finished watching the chosen season 3 and holy hell talk about a show that’ll hurt your feelings

big fan of the cast and how each of them really just absolutely nails their character.

ugh it’s just fantastic

I’m going to rewatch it soon because I feel so much right now but ouch

#the chosen #the chosen season 3 #jonathan roumie #im not religious anymore #thanks trauma #but as far as jesus fanfic goes this is a pretty good one #also what a fantastic representation of vulnerability among men #jesus christ

[charpeas]

the garden of eden

#thesightlywords #my art #persona 5 #sumire yoshizawa #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #goro akechi #p5r #takuto maruki #marukis palace being a representation of Eden was the last straw for my sanity #religious trauma go brrr #fanart

[reallifewylan]

Breaking down Six of Crows: Matthias Helvar, sexism, genocide, and ideology

Matthias might just be the most misinterpreted crow, and I'm here to talk about this.

**SPOILER ALERT **

TW: death of parents & siblings, harmful ideologies, religion gone wrong, genocide

The Drüskelle

Matthias Helvar is a Drüskelle. Drüskelle are known to be more than critical of the Grisha's abilities, they believe that Grisha represent a kind of human mutation, that they shouldn't exist and even rank them as something far inferior to humans and even animals. They think of Grisha as something so dishonorable that they aren't even worthy of a fight. Important to mention here is that the Drüskelle are people whose morality is based on religious structures. The Drüskelle train their soldiers under the protection of the god Djel, who is said to approve of their doings. They train hunting down Grisha and claim to give them a fair trial, but as both Matthias and the readers realize in the course of Six of Crows, this is rarely the occasion: The Drüskelle burn the Grisha on pyres. There's nothing fair about that. Also, the parallels to problems that are indeed very real and rooted in our own world get even more clear, for don't we live in a world where people were burned on pyres by religious people?

Matthias, a "brave, miserable boy, fed on hate"

So I suppose we can all agree: Drüskelle = bad. Does that equal Matthias = bad? Let's see.

We get to know Matthias as a Fjerdan, a Drüskelle, trained by and for Drüskelle to further their cause. At the beginning of his story, we get to know him as one of the front-runners of the Drüskelle, one of their best soldiers. At the end of Crooked Kingdom however, we see a completely different picture of the young man who might be the one who went through the most significant character development. He goes from being an ideologically influenced misogynist to a man who wants to destroy this very ideology and eventually falls vicitim to it himself. For people forget that Matthias might be a Drüskelle, but he hasn't always been.

Matthias grew up with his family, his mother, father and little sister. One day, however, when Grisha burned down Matthias' home village to the ground and only Matthias remained, he joined the Drüskelle. Let this sink in: A young boy didn't just witness his home burning down, but also the brutal murder of his own family. There is – there has to be – a deep-seated trauma of the loss of father, mother, and sister as well as the fire itself. Matthias is an orphan, all possible caregivers or confidants are dead, he lost them at an extremely young age. Instead, a man named Brum takes their place. A man who takes Matthias in with the Drüskelle and exploits his young naivety and his hurt, his mourning, and anger at Grisha, who murdered his family. Matthias is particularly vulnerable to the disgraceful ideology of the Drüskelle, which Brum shamelessly exploits, especially due to his extremely young age and the enormous trauma of the loss of his family.

In the claws of ideology

Matthias' tragic backstory can't and won't be the excuse for his actions, for he has done great harm, there is no question. But the point of this post is not to paint a picture of a saint, nor is the point of Matthias' character (development) to excuse that very behavior. I strongly believe that the point of Matthias is an even bigger ambition: Matthias is an example for how social ideologies work and that there is no need for an active decision to be or become discriminatory. Without being aware of this, Matthias has dedicated his entire life's work to a cause whose goals lie in genocide.

Even after he started questioning the ideology that raised him – mainly influenced by his complicated relationship with Nina Zenik - and even after turning against Brum, his mentor and the person who took him in with the Drüskelle, the thought patterns that were anchored in his brain for a long time don't disappear all of a sudden:

"They're the enemy, said a voice in his head, and he wasn't sure if it was Commander Brum's or his own."

It takes work and empathy and understanding to slowly get rid of these influences that were part of Matthias for the majority of his life. Sometimes these thought arise, but Mattias becomes self-critical and he learns to understand the life of Grisha and the limitations and fear under which they live. As the Crows help Nina's Grisha friends safely leave Ketterdam without getting caught by Drüskelle, Matthias is held up a mirror:

“It seemed an extreme precaution in what was supposed to be a neutral city, but perhaps the Ravkans had been forced to take extreme measures to protect their citizens. 'Because of people like me.' Matthias had been a hunter, a killer, and proud to do his job well.”

Matthias feels shame, but while he must and should be held accountable for his past actions, the reason for this lies much deeper than with this eighteen-year-old young man: it lies in societal ideology and long-term nurturing of institutional hatred against a specific group of people.

The books also criticize those justifications for discrimination that have their roots in religion, as well as the charismatic leaders of such ideologies, which exploit the naivety of (young) people instead of promoting independent and critical thinking:

“[Brum had] taken a brave, miserable boy and fed him on hate. He'd silenced Matthias' conscience with prejudice and the promise of a divine calling that was probably nothing more than the wind moving through the branches of an ancient tree.”

However, the entire belief system is not condemned or rejected, but a change of perspective is offered: instead of regarding the Grisha as unwanted, as something that should not exist in Djel's eyes, Matthias begins to see these magical people as a gift from a divine power. In addition, he learns that the motivation of Brum, his leader, lies less in a selfless approach to protecting his people and more in a thirst for power and jealousy of the Grisha's supernatural powers.

The odd one out: Matthias' story as counterweight to the crows

Why all of this, though? Why am I so insistent on understanding Matthias' story and interpreting his character in regard to societal structures? It is because Six of Crows offers great representation of those exact structures. Leigh Bardugo has been praised a lot for the diversity in her novels and even though both me and her agree that her books cannot be the pinnacle of diverse YA literature, it is indeed a start.

What makes Matthias important, both as a standalone character but also in regard to his colleagues, is the following:

In contrast to all the other crows, Matthias initially takes on the role of the oppressor instead of being oppressed himself. With this character and his role – especially in a group of teenagers who are all affected in some way by social discrimination – Leigh Bardugo creates a perspective that delves deeper into the underlying causes of discrimination. Bardugo doesn't just show diversity and representation in her books, she is offering an actual explanation for it. Using the character of Matthias, she is explaining how ideologies get formed and especially – and this is the important part – that those who fall for it can indeed change. It is also worth mentioning here that Matthias is the only one of the six main characters to find himself in a position of absolute privilege: he is a white, able-bodied male who can be assumed to be both straight and cisgender. As the only character whose tragic story serves to illustrate discrimination and ideologies, he is in no way influenced by social oppression himself. And that makes him a valuable character, for he doesn't represent marginalized groups, but the very reason for why there are groups that are marginalized.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk, this has been on my mind ever since I started writing my thesis about exactly this.

#soc #six of crows #crooked kingdom #matthias helvar #leigh bardugo #shadow and bone #representation #social issues #political ideologies #religious ideologies #grishaverse