#tw religious cult | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

byebyassociation · 9 months

Text

Analysis explaining why Daan can be inferred as a survivor of sexual violence, particularly in childhood through the Bunnymasks.

Text version below cut

“But it’s never stated Daan is a csa survivor”

Daan’s parents raised him in the Bunnymask sect of Sylvian’s cult. This sect is one of the few religious communions we’ve seen ingame.

It’s a massive orgy.

His parents traveled around to attend these orgies and neglected Daan

“Since you were a toddler, you had been travelling around the Europa with your parents. Your parents were devout followers of the older god of fertility and creation, Sylvian. Because of the nature of Sylvian's cult, in each new town you'd witness your parents putting on their rabbit masks and heading to the meadows naked with all the other cult members. You hated this life. Your parents would be more concerned on the matters of religion than you.”

Which would be the end of it if not for this line

“To make it worse, they even tried to pass on the healing gift of Sylvian to you.”

Daan does not learn healing whispers at this point in time. He does not learn loving whispers either. Both are spells which restore the body’s health. He doesn’t learn anything from this, in fact. This is not something that can be used in a playthrough nor even further elaborated on in flavor dialogue.

In the original Fear and Hunger when you encounter the Bunnymask cult you are able to join in their activities. This gives your party a full mind and body heal. Unfortunately this is likely what Daan learned in his youth.

Daan was sexually trafficked through his faith while under the age of 13.

“You were 13 years of age and alone in the Kingdom of Rondon. You had to do something for living...”

Pickpocket Route

“You weren't cut out to be a street thug, so you had to rely on the only skills you had for the money... The healing gift of Sylvian. You ended up starting a street praction of medical care where you'd heal people of all social classes. You soon became surprisingly adept with the healing gift of Sylvian.”

And sadly escaped this sex cult by further being exploited through underage sex work, here is where he learned formal Sylvian spells

“You learned Healing Whispers and your affinity with Sylvian grew!”

Honest Work Route

“A butler of a local aristocrat took you under his wing as an apprentice. You started working for the Baron Eihner Von Dutch.”

Or offering sexual knowledge to an older man in exchange for an education, a deal called a ‘proposition’ by an older Daan.

“He taught you about the modern medical practices in exchange for your knowledge on the older god Sylvian.”

Note: Eihner being a predator of some kind is a heavily contentious theory as it hinges on his behavior as a sulfer cultist. However it is pretty fucking weird tm to be having a kid talk about sylvian, goddess of fertility, sex and lust in exchange for some sort of education

This is not all, just the instances and implications that immediately come to mind.

#fear and hunger #daan #daan fear and hunger #character analysis #f&h #tw abuse #tw sa #tw cult #tw rap3 #tw csa #f&h termina #daan termina #fear and hunger termina #funger #tw religious trauma

969 notes · View notes

bizlybebo · 5 months

Text

anyways since it’s the holidays shout out to religiously traumatized people, people questioning their religion, people who just got out of their religion, people considering getting back into their religion, people who miss their religion even if it ended up hurting them, people who never practiced religion, people who have practiced religion their whole lives, and people who don’t celebrate christmas/celebrate other holidays because of their religon

and FUCK the mormon church

#i understand disliking religion #ESPECIALLY organized religion #but as someone who grew up in a cult (/srs)#i also understand how it can feel like a part of you #and religious christmases are still very nostalgic to me #esp the hymns #that’s my vixen lore for tonight #vixen rambles #religion mention #religion tw #religious trauma #< just in case #exmo #exmormon

363 notes · View notes

sky-daddy-hates-me · 6 months

Text

How delusional do you have to be to think that the religion that has forcibly invaded and converted multiple countries throughout the centuries has preserved languages and cultures.

Old norse was only converted to the Latin alphabet because of Christianity, almost destroying the runic alphabet.

Christians forced indigenous children in North America and Canada to attend schools that stripped them of their culture and abuse them into Christianity. There are still Christian organisations who are dedicated to preaching to the native tribes on the North American continent.

How many mythological/folklore/fairytale figures have been diluted down to make it more christian friendly? How many have been demonised because they went against christian values?

How many historical artifacts or culturally significant items have been stolen or destroyed because of Christianity?

It genuinely breaks my heart to think of all the pain and suffering and death Christianity has caused to numerous countries, and the historical knowledge we might have lost in the process.

#ex jw #ex jehovah's witness #jehovah's witnesses #religious trauma #exjw #cult survivor #ex christian #ex cult #apostate #possible tw #culture #culturalheritage #christianity #imperialism #conversion #languages

212 notes · View notes

smallestgalaxylemon · 8 months

Text

MILGRAM • The Purge March

#GAHH...#<- is experiencing so many thoughts #I could go on a rant about so many things:#the differences of the world through Amane's eyes and the real world and how the world through her eyes is most likely a form of escapism #how the abuse she's faced has has affected her as well as the toxic religious faith that she has been taught #and how this abuse and everything would've stayed the same/continued if her abuser stuck to her and hadn't harmed the cat #milgram #milgram project #amane momose #milgram the purge march #milgram gifs #amane momose gifs #gifs #tw cults #tw child abuse

386 notes · View notes

iridiss · 7 months

Text

I want a (non-canon compliant) Narinder whose gentle.

I want a Narinder who was once a kitten, newly crowned immortal, under Shamura’s careful mentorship. Who grew up the hard way, who learned you have to be rough, loud, mean, manipulative, and maniacal, you have to be bloody and violent and cruel, in order to survive in this world. In order to survive against Leshy and Heket’s brutality and Kallamar’s back-handed cunning. He learned from a family cruel and cold that love was a fool’s game, that sentiment was insignificant, that caring was weakness. So he scoffed at caring for anybody at all and learned how to break and toy with people as if they were dolls, made only for his own consumption and desire. That’s what his siblings told him, that’s what Shamura told him, that’s what his subjects and the fight to survive told him.

But he never saw his toys fit for anything more than the most necessary use, he never let them come any closer than professional arms-reach business, and he made sure to throw them away the second they were no longer strictly necessary. And he hated the cruelty of his siblings. He hated how they treated him, he hated how they made him fight for his fair share. And then he kept rebelling against the doctrine of the Old Faith. He would take the cruel, old, traditional rules of how one was supposed to act, and he would take them more as loose suggestions than anything severely concrete that you had to live by. He would start making up his own rules, or ignoring other rules that he simply didn’t like or deemed “inconvenient.”

He quickly became the black sheep of the “family.”

And then the Gods of The Old Faith betrayed him. And everything he was ever taught became a horrible lie. Everything became unjust. Everything turned into a false, corrupted kingdom that had to be torn down, that he could fix, that he could replace with something better. He tore it all down, violently lashing out against the family he had trusted, the family he had followed to the end of the road at his own expense, tearing them apart with his own two hands, because the scars he bore over the years became far too fucking loud to bear. Because everything had been a lie all along. Everything had been wrong, this whole damn time.

And they killed him for it. He screamed so loud about their lies that they simply had to smother the sound. They murdered their own brother—if he was ever a real “brother” to them at all, or nothing more than another religious heir to a crooked throne.

He was a God turned exiled heretic.

So he’d make his own fucking kingdom instead. He would undo everything, and start anew, following the doctrine he always knew was better. What he thought was superior. But problem is, it’s not that easy to shake off the entirety of one’s religious upbringing overnight. He was still clinging on. He would scream and shout about the incongruities and arrogance of The Old Faith all damn day—but then he’d keep Aym and Baal, a gift from his old mentor and oldest sibling, close to his side. He would call them fools and tyrants and wretched liars, but he’d remember the Darkwood flowers with a fondness, yearning to stand in his brother’s flower fields again someday. He would stay in the Lamb’s cult, when he could easily become a constant dissenter and leave like any other follower, when he could attack them, maybe even kill them, at any given moment. He doesn’t. He stays. He clings on to the fondness. He never fully let go of that old sentimental feeling.

I want a Narinder who doesn’t understand what love looks like, because the closest thing he’d ever known to true, honest love growing up was the scraps he’d receive from a withdrawn and uncertain Shamura. Those rare moments where Shamura was kind, warm, gentle, full of love, when he’d listen to the lullabies and the poems that they would weave to put him to sleep, when he’d be wrapped up in the blankets of their webs and their nests. When they would give him gifts.

When they gave him their final gift.

He doesn’t understand love. He was trained to view it as weakness. He still feels deeply, severely insecure about showing said weakness, he doesn’t want to face the severe and violent consequences of welcoming it. There’s a part in him deep down that understands devotion, that already internally understands what real trust, respect, loyalty, and integrity looks like. But it’s buried deep, under layers upon layers of indoctrination, manipulation, fear, insecurity, doubt, ungodly amounts of pain, and rage. He has enough of a natural moral compass to be able to tell when someone’s entire belief system is flawed or fucked up, and he has enough justice in him to want to tear the entire damn world apart from the ground up. Even if it’s just in the name of avenging the kitten in him that was forced to die all those centuries ago.

He isn’t aware of it. He doesn’t understand what’s going on inside of him. He’s never even taken an introspective glance at himself and why he feels everything that he does, he’s never even asked himself why everything hurts so much beyond the simple “my siblings betrayed me, therefore they all must die as they killed me” surface level. Frankly he’s too scared to look, so he pushed it all away and easily leans on the grinning, devilish, mean mask he always depended on before.

Then I want a Lamb that’s everything he ever needed. Literally, yes, as the vessel prophesied to save him, but also emotionally.

The Lamb had everything taken away from them by The Old Faith. They were killed and thrown away to Narinder’s feet like a broken toy. They want to destroy the doctrine of the Old Faith, they want to rip the world apart from the ground up and completely start anew. They share Narinder’s moral core, his drive for justice, his drive for revenge.

But they also learn, through their own cult, how to rule with love and mercy. They save and spare each follower individually, they marry their own followers, they cook for them, clean for them, house them, decorate for them, they love their followers. They learn that there is value and strength in utilizing the “sentiment and care” that the Bishops deemed as weakness. Literally: one of the best and most overpowered mechanics of the game is building your friendship level with your followers. You can’t live without them. You are their servant as much as they are one to you.

And when Narinder demonstrates his upbringing at its fullest by betraying Lamb and throwing them away like they were nothing more than a toy—The Lamb spares him, too.

I want to express to you how much that means, especially to him. I mean, hell, Narinder wasn’t spared by his own family. But instead, this tool, now proven Almighty God, gave him a level of grace that he wasn’t even allowed to fathom before. There couldn’t be a stronger, faster way to take a wake-up-sledgehammer to someone’s childhood manipulation. The Lamb was sent to destroy every last trace of the Old Faith, and I don’t think Narinder ever considered the extent of what that entailed.

He’d been lied to his entire childhood, being told that heart was weakness, that kindness would be his downfall, that sentiment was heresy. And yet here was a God besting him and every other deity/bishop in the land, and still cleaning up their servants’ shit with a broom. And I like to think that Narinder would undergo a massive change during his time in the cult.

He’d start off hostile and vicious and mean, because he’s still convinced that the Lamb betrayed him and “betrayal” is kind of a very emotionally heated topic for the guy right now. Even if the Lamb actually did the opposite of what his siblings did to him. He’s also terrified, confused, lost, and he certainly doesn’t trust any of the flowery, overly friendly mortals getting all touchy-feely with him.

But maybe he starts to show a little more wistfulness and nostalgia through his side-quests, maybe he’s trying to gauge how trustworthy the Lamb is by asking them to bring him special items from his childhood, and when they follow suit, he dips his toe in the water and shows just a little bit more of his heart, a tiny, itty bitty fragment. And then they don’t hurt him for it. They treat him with the same kindness they give to all of their followers.

And over time, he starts to see that the Lamb’s dominion is one of safety. All of their safety had been violently torn from them in the hunt for the last lamb, so now they do everything in their power to make their cult a home. And they welcome Narinder into that home, and Narinder is safe, and he’s loved, and he’s taken care of, and he’s respected, and he becomes one with the community. The Lamb is able to rule like this and still keep their power. And actually, their power is tripled by their bond with their people! Their kindness literally becomes a strength, and Narinder has never seen anything like it before, but they pull it off! In fact, the Lamb literally defied and beat Narinder into the ground because they weren’t willing to give up their home and their people.

I think he’d come to see The Lamb very differently over time. He’d go from seeing them only as an insignificant weapon for someone else’s use (possibly projecting a lot onto them), to bring in total awe of them, to learning that they’re trustworthy and safe, to seeing them as an equal.

I think they’d be two halves of the same whole. They understand each other in ways that no one else ever will. They’re the Gods of Death, past and future, they belong to the same power. They sit on this throne together. They teach each other everything they ever needed. They’re immortals together. Lamb once served Narinder in total devotion, then Narinder served Lamb in total devotion, and now they’re equals in every conceivable way. They have literally trusted each other with their lives. They were forged in very similar religious trauma and bloodshed, they were there at each other’s darkest time, working as a team. They’re vengeance-bonded. They saved each other. They spared each other, gave the other a second chance. They made each other better. Bonded in blood, divine vows, death, and resurrection. They are THE POWER TEAM.

As their bond grows, Narinder would end up letting his repressed soft side shine through. I can see him allowing himself to be kind for the first time, learning to recognize that not only is it safe for him to care here, it’s fully embraced and encouraged. The Lamb will punish him if he’s too mean to one of their followers. He can be gentle here, he can let his guard down and unwind. So he does, and he becomes a whole new cat. The Lamb eventually trusts him with leadership positions in the cult, until they’re ruling side by side, as they should. Narinder moves on from any desperate reach for power, because he’s secure enough in himself to know he doesn’t need to fight for it anymore. He would fight and die for Lamb as much as they would fight and die for him. They’ve given him true sanctuary, true family. True devotion.

#Narinder my symbol and my sponge for all religious trauma #tw religious trauma #tw religion #tw religious abuse #they are ‘wow I’m not crazy’ by AJR #true devotion #cult of the lamb #cotl Narinder #cotl lamb #narilamb #but it also works for a platonic or other relationship between them #cotl headcanons #iridiswrites

223 notes · View notes

seraphimfall · 1 year

Text

there’s something uniquely fucked up about the way christianity actively encourages martyrdom.

both judaism and islam do not encourage their followers to be honest about being a member of the faith if it puts their lives at risk. the latter religion even has a word for it— taqiyyah.

the christian view on martyrdom claims that followers cannot “actively seek out” dying for the faith. but, because of the rewards christianity promises to martyrs (i.e. guaranteed access to literal heaven) there is always a subliminal push towards getting yourself killed.

not to mention, it’s a core tenet of christianity to not deny christ, even if you’re at risk of harm (peter denying christ three times the night before the crucifixion, etc.)

the damage these teachings can cause vary due to circumstance. in countries like the united states, it means children being told they need to say “yes” if a shooter puts a gun to their head and asks them “are you christian?”. in countries like libya, it means oppressed people being pushed to put their lives on the line because they feel like they’re betraying the faith otherwise.

at it’s worst, christian martyrdom encourages groups of people—living under forces that are actively oppressing them— to sacrifice their lives to make a point. if they don’t, they risk the salvation of their souls.

474 notes · View notes

snow-owl-oddities · 9 days

Text

AU Masterlist

CW: Human tr@fficking, sl@very, cannibalism, corruption, abuse, eggpreg/ovi, platonic yandere, forced infantilism, religious themes

If you don't like dark themes, stay out.

Twisted Wonderland

Great Seven Parents - The spirits of The Great Seven attach themselves to Yuu and basically become her parents. Inspired by twisted-wonderland-but-gayer.

Zero Resistance – A Re:Zero AU in which my oc, Amora, replaces Yuu and has a magical resistance score of absolute zero. So basically magic can rip through her like wet tissue paper. She will die a lot and respawns at her last checkpoint(the beginning of each book). Inspired by twsty-lav.

Eldritch Yuu – An AU were Yuu is secretly an eldritch being and shenanigans ensues. Inspired by twisted-wonderland-but-gayer.

Beast Tamer Yuu - In which overblots change the dormleaders into rampaging beasts. Yuu has the power to tame them and change them back into humans.. sort of. They still maintain aspects of their beast forms. They have to obey Yuu, their tamer.

Creeper!Rook – In which Rook is completely, utterly, unapologetically a fucking creep. He’s much worse than canon.

Ranch AU – NRC is a ranch, and staff are ranchers, and the students are animal hybrids belonging to the ranch. This AU is heavy with dehumanization and other such themes.

Cannibal Lounge – An AU where Azul, Floyd, Jade, and perhaps Yuu(who works at the lounge willingly) are cannibals and love to produce and sell “Mystery Meat” dishes personally made by Yuu.

Drider Yuu - Yuu is a drider. That's the AU lol

Ghost Yuu - Yuu is a ghost. That's the AU lol

A Sheep Wonders Through Wonderland - Obey Me/Twst Crossover where Yuki and Yuu swap places. It's mainly Yuki centric.

A Wonderland So Twisted - Weirdcore/Eldritch TWST AU originally created by twistedtavern.

Genshin Impact

Pretty Pony AU – Kaeluc-centered Fantasy AU where Kaeya is a monster hunter and Diluc is a centaur Kaeya is hired to find and capture.

Non Human Slavery AU - All non-humans in Teyvat lose their rights following a law passed shortly after the archon war. They are gathered up and sold like pets/slaves in all of the seven nations.

Brothel Twins AU - What if their precious “Father” never came for them? What if Lynette and Lyney were trafficked into the town brothel?

Circus Twins AU – What if the twins were picked up by a circus centered in Fontaine?

Merfolk Sanctuary AU – There’s two versions of this AU. One where Aether and Lumine are a pair of injured merfolk that are taken in and cared for in a marine sanctuary that cares for mainly fish, but since merfolk were so rare, they take the two blondes in. The other version is Aether and Lumine intern at the sanctuary and some other characters are the merfolk. Merfolk aren’t so rare in that version, but they are a protected species. Both are more of a modern au.

Debaucherous Desires - Genshin Cult AU but the creator is morally black and has no problem with human sacrifices, shota/lolis as concubines/consorts, and quietly encourages whatever immoral practices their dear followers use to show their worship(and more really).

Cult of The Eldritch - Genshin Cult AU but the creator is an eldritch god.

All In The Name of Forgiveness - Venti and Zhongli had an intense falling out during the Archon War. This falling out being that Barbatos struck Morax in the chest with one of his arrows and the geo archon’s following wrath. Decades later, Venti feels awful about this and upon being invited to drink with Zhongli, he plans to try to earn his forgiveness. He’d do anything to earn Zhongli’s forgiveness. Anything at all. Even if that means carrying the geo archon's eggs.

BNHA

Good Boy, Kacchan! - Villain Izuku AU where he's gained AFO's quirk and takes Bakugo's quirk and replaces it for a dog quirk. He keeps Bakugo as his pet.

Space AU - Humans are space orcs, but BNHA flavored

Pokemon

Hybrids AU – An AU where pokemon/human hybrids exist among humans and pokemon.

Trickster King – Classic Zoroark N AU

Shadow of Hisui - Giratina!Volo & Arceus!Akari AU

Jubilife's Trickster - Zorua/Zoroark Akari AU

Pokemon Legends Arceus PMD AU - Pokemon Legends Arceus, but PMD flavored

Omori

Our Dear Cousins – An AU where Andy and Ashley are Mari and Sunny’s cousins. They come to stay in Faraway town with Aunt Mai, Uncle Dan, and little Mari and Sunny after the events of Episode 2 of TCOAAL.

Animal Hybrids – Classic animal hybrids AU for OMORI

Our Little Sunshine - Platonic Yandere!Hero and Kel & Forcefully Infantilized!Sunny

Hazbin Hotel

Pet Angel – In which Val doesn’t just own Angel’s soul, he owns Angel completely. Angel is his prized pet that Val keeps close to him at all times.

Pet Husker - Husker truly is Alastor's pet and Alastor makes sure he knows it.

The Cherubs Join Hazbin Hotel!? - In which after being cast out of Heaven because of I.M.P., they find themselves in hell, homeless, and in need of a job. They end up going to work for the Hazbin Hotel.

Helluva Boss

Corrupted Cherubs - The cherubs are sent to hell and forced to change and adapt to their new environment.

Pet Loona - In which Blitzo is more dog dad than actual dad. Loona is pretty much an overgrown dog.

Loona's Puppy Days - In which Blitzo adopts Loona while she's still a puppy and the shenanigan that ensue which the I.M.P. team.

Murder Drones

Companion Drones - Murder Drones but there's a third drone type called Companion Drones. Companion Drones are small drones that, unlike Worker Drones, get assigned to one person upon booting up. Their job is to act as a companion to their user, handling small chores, administering first aid when needs, and keeping their user company. When human life died off on Copper 9, a couple companion drones lost their users and were forced to act without them when workers discovered them and bypassed their "pairing mode".

Welcome Home

Welcome Home: After Hours – If Welcome Home was for Cartoon Network then Welcome Home: After Hours was for Adult Swim. It was made by a partner company a few years after Welcome Home’s release and dropped after two seasons. The show seems to be a NSFW parody of Welcome Home that discusses about s*xtoys and their use, kinks such as BDSM, and exploring all sorts of different sexual situations. It was dropped as it was deemed “too lewd” for television.

Welcome Home, Kids! - Welcome Home, but for little kids. Most likely aired on Noggin. Features the cast as kids.

39 notes · View notes

jasperthejester · 9 months

Text

i don’t know why i only recently realized that most kids didn’t grow up with the anxiety of thinking that at some point in the near future they’d have to hide in their basement or attic because the government would hunt them down because their religion would be banned due to ‘gods plan’.

most kids didn’t have to feel guilt at wanting that day to never come even though god said it would happen because they were scared. most kids didn’t have to see real footage of peoples homes being invaded by police in countries were their religion was banned.

most kids never watched a dramatization imade by their religion where in the end police found the basement full of people were it was implied that you better be ready for that to happen to you because there’s a high chance it will.

most kids never watched a music video made by their religion where they were in an open field and police members rushed towards them guns drawn with the implied you better have the courage to be able to face that in the future because it very well could.

most kids don’t have this fear that runs so deep in me because their religion never did that. and hell, maybe it fucking did i don’t know anything about what other kids childhoods were like. but that was my childhood. this is my life.

having nightmares about my house being raided by police and being held at gunpoint.

being terrified of police men or swat members because my only exposure growing up was how in the future they’d hunt us down.

still wondering if i would be able to survive time in prison because growing up we were told we should be ready to serve if it means keeping our faith

this shouldn’t be my normal. but it is. and i fucking hate the watchtower for making it so.

fuck the governing body, fuck all those videos they made for their convention. fuck being raised a jehovah's witness. i fucking hate it

#exjw #ex jw #ex jehovah's witness #ex christian #ex cult #i hate them for making me so afraid #religious trauma #tw religious trauma #tw gun mention

174 notes · View notes

robo-milky · 11 months

Text

[Context for Reverend Rook]

Ended up turning this into a lighthearted meme but damn- the brainrot hitting hard… My headache suddenly stopped after I finished this, so I think it’s a miracle???

Either way— to that one niche community of Reverend or Nun! Rook enjoyers— ily and me too <3

308 notes · View notes

wishiwasnevermo · 9 months

Text

okay every once in a while ill remember some random thing from my upbringing in the church. i don't know if anyone else heard this growing up but, in young women's, so many times when the leaders asked someone to say the prayer and no one volunteered they'd say that the more you pray the hotter your husband will be like 💀💀 hello wtf

i know lots of religions use rewards/punishments to get people to do things, but this one is just so weird to me. yeah anyone else have this experience? i wouldn't be surprised if it's common.

(also not everyone wants a husband 👀)

#mine #cult #ex cult #exlds #exmo #exmormon #tw religious mention #religious trauma

108 notes · View notes

0809sysblings · 7 months

Text

Amane, indoctrination, and gaslighting

and why voting Amane innocent would be the best course of action

I've been wanting to write a big post on Amane talking about indoctrination and such. Because I see takes sometimes that make it clear the person doesn't really... Get It.

Most of what I'll be explaining comes from my personal experiences growing up.

Additionally, most of what I say when it comes to outcomes (i.e. "If x happens, Amane will do y") will be based on the assumption that realism, not entertainment, is prioritized in the writing and that there are no major holes in our knowledge of what's going on. Theoretically anything could happen since this is a fictional scenario and we don't know everything when it comes to the world, the cases, and the characters. Not to mention my situation was nowhere near as extreme as hers. So although I probably have a better understanding of it than most people, I definitely can't claim that I know what she's gone through.

Personal anecdotes I add to better support my points will be in the small font (this!) since I don't want them to distract from the main text and so that they can be easily skipped for those who may be worried about being triggered. But if anyone needs plain text descriptions, I'll happily provide them!

!! TW for child abuse, religious abuse, and cults !!

I recommend skipping my personal anecdotes if more detailed discussions about these topics are a trigger for you.

At the heart of "good" (read: successful) indoctrination is gaslighting.

Since gaslighting has been one of the many psychology terms completely watered down and distorted by the internet, I will define it just so we're all on the same page!

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation used to make the victim question their own sanity, sense of reality, or power of reasoning.

Basically, you can't trust yourself. You can't trust your thoughts, your feelings, your interpretations, etc. You become completely reliant on other people (usually specific people who are the ones doing the gaslighting) to figure out what's real/true or not.

Toxic/extremist religious groups like to take gaslighting a step further though. Not only do they make it so you cannot trust yourself to judge what is right or not, they may also teach you that what feels wrong is actually right. You can see where this can start to cause some issues lol.

Anything your gut may tell you that contradicts what the group/cult leaders tell you—"this is wrong!", "this is bad!", "I don't want to do this..."—must be ignored. Because those feelings and thoughts, according to the leaders, are actually the sinful part of you trying to lead the good and faithful part of you astray. They make you question yourself to make sure you never question them.

They will figuratively or literally beat this into you until your first instinct is no longer to listen to your gut and do what it says, but to dismiss it and do what it's telling you not to do. Existing becomes a chronic power struggle between your unconscious mind and your conscious mind. Unfortunately, the fact that you're struggling often then gets used against you as proof that you need to follow their teachings. Because if you're unhappy, then you must be doing something wrong. You just need to have a little more faith, dedicate a little more time to the religion/group, go a little harder into your duties... Only then will you feel better—feel more enlightened.

An integral part in making all this work is isolation. If you don't somehow isolate the members, they may figure out that they're being manipulated and abused.

Now, isolation doesn't always mean purely physical isolation (though Amane is being isolated physically to at least some capacity). Psychological isolation is almost just as powerful. An almost universal psychological isolation tactic used by extremist groups and cults is the "Us vs Them" mentality. We can see this being very prominent with Amane. A lot of things she talks about with regard to the cult involves an Us-vs-Them dynamic. There is "Us", the cult, and "Them", everyone else.

Personally, we were taught that those who weren't believers of our religion were out to get us or will, at the very least, get us hurt/killed somehow. We were told many people wanted us dead just for being believers. You had to be careful and watch out when interacting with non-believers; you couldn't trust them. God was constantly testing you via others, and you had to make sure you stayed faithful.

This in particular is why no matter if you vote guilty or innocent, that itself will not actually do anything to change her beliefs. Voting her guilty will not make her start to feel bad and then question her beliefs. Voting her innocent will not make her listen to us and then question her beliefs. If we make her have any doubt about the cult, that's just proof to her that what we're telling her is wrong and is just another "trial" from God for her to overcome. So, changing her beliefs should not be a factor considered when voting since it's completely irrelevant. Everything can be twisted to support the cult. That's just how it works.

I don't think any amount of punishment will make Amane "come to her senses". I mean... what could we possibly do to her that she hasn't already had to endure? Punishment will likely only escalate things even more. Not to mention that having a bit of a fascination with martyrdom isn't all that uncommon in those who have been religiously abused and indoctrinated. The threat of punishment may only serve to motivate her to double down on her beliefs and behavior. Not to say she wants and likes punishment. It's obvious she's both scared of punishment and wants it to stop. After all, that's most likely the motive behind the murder.

Even prior to Amane's age, I was already fantasizing about being a martyr. A part of me almost wanted to be killed for my religion and community. It was seen as something extremely admirable. The ultimate sacrifice, if you will. We were taught that if given the choice between saving yourself by denying your faith or letting yourself be hurt/killed by standing your ground, you should choose the latter. Of course, I also did not want that to happen at all. It scared me shitless. But we weren't allowed to be scared about that stuff. It was seen as questioning God and the religious authorities, which was completely taboo. So I had no choice but to "want" it.

Isolating Amane is the worst possible thing we could do to her. No one gets better from being isolated, and this goes double for people living in abusive environments. She's been isolated her whole life. The best thing for her would be spending time with the other prisoners without restrictions. The more time she spends around people who have no connection to the cult, the better. Trying to argue with those in cults about why they're wrong and why they are in a cult (because most don't even recognize they're in a cult due to the gaslighting, indoctrination, and stigma) will almost always backfire. The best thing to do is to just be there for them to have someone to interact with who is not a cult member.

The only reason I left the extremist religious community I grew up in was because I made a friend who was not affiliated with it. I don't think I would've been able to see that the conditions I was living in were Not Very Good without that friend. He didn't even really do anything to actively help me. Just learning more about the real world through him was enough to make me start looking closer at my life.

To vote her guilty would be to continue isolating her. Not just physically as the guilty prisoners get restrictions put on them, but it's also an inescapable psychological isolation. Innocent vs Guilty is just another Us vs Them dynamic.

I fear that, if she ends up guilty this trial, she will likely be voted guilty again in trial 3. Her aggression will probably only escalate as she feels herself becoming more and more cornered. And since I know many people are voting her guilty solely to make sure she doesn't hurt Shidou or other prisoners, I can only imagine what the voting will look like for her in trial 3 once she's forced to become even more aggressive to protect herself.

And tbh... I can't imagine that having a prisoner with 3 guilty verdicts will make for all that interesting of a story for them. Not that it would be boring, per se. But having variety would, in my opinion, be the most interesting and entertaining! So, if nothing else I've said has been able to sway those who vote her guilty, then think about the entertainment factor!

Please vote this severely traumatized 12 y/o girl innocent. We can give her so many secret cakes to eat.

#Milgram #milgram project #milgram amane #amane momose #milgram analysis #... i guess?#ミルグラム #yeah im pulling out all the stops for this #tw child abuse #tw religious abuse #tw cults #this is a bit less in-depth than i wanted. but i also have a horrible rambling problem and am attempting to be more concise LOL #ive got shit to say you know? /ref #im so passionate about amane #pls have mercy... free my girl...#im nervous about posting this 😔. not sure why #my social anxiety is horrible. but. i very much encourage discussion and such #for amane i will conquer my demons. they may know how to swim‚ but /i/ know how to poison the fucking water supply

106 notes · View notes

vorpx · 5 months

Text

why does it look like a blingee gif cardlmaooaoaoao😭😭😭😭😭

#narilamb #cotl #cult of the lamb #cotl narinder #cotl lamb #cotl fanart #cotl the one who waits #tw religious imagery #tw religious themes #this turned into a completely different vibe oh god #tbh i like the sketch more than the finished art☹️#i tried to draw them differently #idk #Spotify

68 notes · View notes

sky-daddy-hates-me · 7 months

Text

I'm not sure if I'll ever recover from believing that fearing someone is a crucial aspect of loving someone and I fully blame Christianity for that.

God-fearing is such a fucked up term especially since its viewed as a positive thing.

#ex jw #ex jehovah's witness #jehovah's witnesses #religious trauma #exjw #cult survivor #ex christian #ex cult #apostate #possible tw

101 notes · View notes

amaribelt · 6 months

Text

malleus draconia and the pipe organ and why i love it

so. this is going to be a long post and thats because i have to basically tell you the entire history of the pipe organ and how this relates to malleus 'very scary' draconia. i am extreamly sorry but their will be a summary at the end if you just dont care but it would mean alot if you listen to this ramble of mine

CW: lots of mentions of religion churches and cathedrals one cult mention and some book 7 spoilers

-PART ONE TOCCATA AND FUGE IN D MINOR

youtube

Pipe organs are everywhere, from weddings and baseball games but one of the most common places to hear an organ is horror movie scoring, from youtube videos of creepy organ music to its first use in a movie doctor jeckle and mr hyde and other arrangements in things like phantom of the opera pipe organs have almost become one with fear dread and horror witch is quite odd with its religious connotations that we will get to in a second.

the pipe organ originated from greece its earliest predecessors are from the 3RD CENTURY BC, these things are quite quite old and required a lot of man power to play before technology. a pipe organ is a piano on steroids it has a bunch of connecting pipes and all of these pipes have different stuff in them to give it a variation of sound sometimes their are reeds like in woodwind instruments and sometimes their are those cut outs from things on recorders. whenever an organist plays a key wind goes through the pipes to make a sound, back in the day air was supplied though enslaved people but now we have electric moters attached to our pipe organs but because of how big pipe organs are it would take many people to get all the air needed to play these things, the Winchester cathedral organ took 2 people to play it and 70 men to blow air into it and the sound from said organ can be heard from throughout the city.

pipe organs are not small and dainty these are MASSIVE instruments that construction has to bend around to make space for all of the organs equipment their are rooms whose sole purpious is for the function and upkeep, organs are an absolute monster of an instrument not only in volume but in the sound they make some of these tones cant be picked up by *human ears* the atlantic city convention hall has a pipe that is 64 feet (19.5072 meters) and that is FOUR AND A HALF STORIES TALL.

-PART 2 BACH, CHURCHES AND HOW ORGANS WORK

not only are these things massive their are petals on the bottom that organists have to PLAY their is music solely for the foot keys their are 3 rows of manuals (keys) and stops (things you pull out to control a selection of pipes and thats where 'pulling out all the stops' came from you are going to 100 percent) and so their is a lot of skill that goes into playing an organ. so unless your like an octopus and have 8 arms or your just insane (just kidding i love you organists) playing the organ was hard

NOW THIS IS WHERE BACH COMES IN, basically one day bach watches into a church with their organ takes a prewritten melody and improvise an 8 part harmony so for non music nerds he went up to an organ started playing the pre written music and off the TOP OF HIS HEAD created 7 other melodies that he had to play with both his HANDS AND FEET. and you wanna know why this is so damn cool, it was almost impossible for organists to practice as theirs nothing that sounds quite like an organ and pianos werent invented yet so if you wanted to practice your organ playing then you were going to need a team of people just to get the air to play and then your scales are going to be heard by everyone in the town. so anyone who could play the organ were hyper privlaged music genius types, because no one would hear them practice on an organ let alone a harpsichord they just show up one day and start playing. thats the kind of person an organist is

those glorified harmonicas that were portable organs werent what people were playing on they would be playing on the organs that were so big they had to be built around by architechs, this is where the church comes in. the fact that you couldnt move them made them great for churches cathedrals and religious establishments and because of how big these were churches were the only ones with the money to fund these organs. theirs a phycology behind it too because these instruments are so big so powerful that the only person that could fulle these endeavors are god himself. so if you could play the organ you were some loner freak of nature who is one of the only people who could handle this machine

-PART 3 JECKLE HYDE AND JESUS

sooo way back at the top i mentioned its first use in jeckle and hyde were picking up that thread again because this is where this comes into play, so in the opening credits of the movie they played toccata and fuege in D minor. (the song i linked in the very top) but following that we get a scene of jeckle playing another peice by Bach Ich ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ (i call to you lord jesus christ) Herr Jesu Christ is originally in F minor but they transposed it to be in the same key as tocatta and feuge they did this not only to show they put thought and care into how these two peices would sound back to back on screen but they did it as musical shorthand

they are using a religious peice of music and instrument to show what kind of character this is, these are gigantic powerful pieces of instruments with heavy religious connotations, i swear we are getting malleus i just need to keep explaining a little more just keep this all in your mind and compare it to what we know about malleus and what other people VIEW the being that is malleus draconia. 3 years after the film jeckle and hyde we get toccata and fuege in another horror movie the black cat, this time played on an actual organ this movie follows a cult leader who plays an organ notably the track that is now associated with villainous characters due to its use in jeckle and hyde. throughout the black cat we hear other organ pieces throughout the film we are no longer looking at religious organ music in the pure and fluffy way it was originally used in churches now we are hearing a sick and twisted use of the organ being used to celebrate satanic cults all of the religious imagery has been corrupted it has had a quite literal fall from grace.

in carnival of souls our main character is in a sort of purgatory and throughout the film she plays guess what an organ for the church. over time shes not able to keep up with the holy and religious music the church expects her to play as her playing goes into something erie and haunting that upsets the minister, as she looses her connection to the living world she cant play the religious music on the organ and thats haunting to the people around her. it isnt the organ thats scary but whos playing it. this man has channeled the power of god in the power of his own home to play this holy instrument and because of the nature of the organ organists have to spend lots of time alone and praticing multiples times a week so they dont sound awful think of this with a religious background all of the power of a god but not pure intentions

-PART 4 MALLEUS DRACONIA

ohh boy we finally made it to malleus draconia this essay of a tumblr post is quite latterly lagging down my laptop but i have a LOT to say. i feel like a lot of people misinterpret malleus as a character due to the fact that hes been a shadow looming over us in the main story although its implied that the character Yuu knows malleus on a much deeper and its implied they spend lots of time together its important to know that we as the audience and the reader dont get to see that, we are purposely being withheld information about him and that adds to the ominous aura he gives off to not only students in NRC but also us as the viewer, we *know* theirs a different side to malleus that we can see in vignettes but thats only a sneak piece into the multilayered cake that is malleus draconia.

somewhere it was revealed that malleus' threateneing aura was a blessing and i dont remember where i saw it but i swear i saw it on a chapter 7 translation so if anyone knows what im talking about please let me know, because of this he has been 'cursed' to be feared by all humans and respected by all fae to the point they treat him and anyone in the draconia family as a GOD. (see heres that religious mention again) i don't want to say malleus has a god or superiority complex but the people around him certainly do see him as superior due to his family heritage and the fact that hes one of the top 5 mages at such a 'young' age (for fae standards) and due to his magical status and what his family has done for the biar valley other are not only put off by him he has that intimidating aura curse thing that makes other people who arent fae put off and avoid him. something that was ment as a blessing has only caused more sorrow for malleus as people isolate him, he has so few opprotunities to have a social life.

its heavily implied (i swear it said it somewhere im just tierd its 11:55 at night as of writing) that music is an important part of fae culture, lilia has a tallent for multiple instuments and can supposedly sooth crying infants. malleus' humming is overlayed durring his spell when he overblots and in lilias dream we hear his mom singing so its all heavily implied that music is important to fae in twisted wonderland just like it is in our real life folklore.

we see malleus play the organ at the end of the endless halloween event and although theirs one line that suggest that malleus has a bit of trouble not everyone is able to improv on an organ like bach did, we still see him play in the twistune although we dont hear it but its implied that malleus can play the organ(we hear like one bit of the opening but we dont hear it during the song but the like 3 seconds are good so)

it makes perfect sense for malleus to play the organ its an instrument that requires alot of isolation and dedication to master lest you have the whole city know you cant play, the godfearing loyalty of fae in the briar valley who treat the draconia family like gods and the humans so afraid of them they avoid them like the plague. the religious connotations of the organ with the twisting of that religious imagery all line up so well with malleus draconia as a character. the twisting of a once holy instrument into something horrid and demonic just fits with malleus so well i wish it was all intentional but i know im giving too much credit where its not due as this is just the unhindged hyper fixated ramblings of a teenager.

-TLDR </333

the pipe organ has lot of religious connotations and has often flipped those one its head to give a spookey vibe in horror movies witch is why pipe organs have become a holy wood go to for a evil character. these instruments are so expensive and require to much work to put into them characters associated are offten high class and loners preferring to keep to themselves, sometimes their is a religious aspect to the character and that correlates with their playing of the organ. malleus draconia is viewed by many as a god has a terrifying aura to him and is prown to isolation by his peers.

giving the twst devs to much credit is the name of my game as i see too much symbolism in things where theirs not

thank you for reading especially if you read all of it i love you alot<333333333333333333333333333333333333333

#cw religion #cw religious themes #cw religious imagery #tw religion #twst book 7 #book 7 spoilers #malleus draconia #musical instruments #disney twst #twisted wonderland #twst analysis #malleus draconia analysis #CEO of giving to much credit where its not due #tw cult #cw cults #Youtube #amari analysis

63 notes · View notes

occasionalsnippets · 2 years

Text

Stardust (SAGAU)

A/n: I don’t know why I wrote this, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing where I was like “I have many feelings I need to write”. Lumine is the traveller in this.

Pairing: Lumine X Reader, implied Gen

Warnings: milder side of yandere (?), mentioned cult, religious themes, the usual stuff with SAGAU

Summary: You are the stardust that ran in their veins, the echo behind every breath and the force behind their every motion. Why are you so insistent that they must hate you?

—

Lumine finds you overlooking the ocean as the sun is setting, the sky still a warm red.

There isn’t anyone around, not even hilichurls, in this little area tucked away from the world. It makes sense how no one had stolen you away yet but out of everyone, Lumine was always the best at finding you. You still catch onto her presence before she makes herself known, the same as usual.

“Lumi,” you say, the cute nickname slipping from your lips out of habit, “come to whisk me away?”

“Not really,” she answers as she walks closer until she’s behind you.

“Paimon?”

“She’s with Amber right now.”

You hum and pat the ground beside you. “Do you want to sit with me?”

It isn’t phrased like it’s an order but Lumine wishes it was. You should be more selfish, she thinks to herself, as the wind drifts past you. Everyone would rush to fulfil your commands, no matter how big or small, to make you happy. But, you never make demands so everyone’s stuck hovering around you, guessing what you want.

She goes ahead and sits next to you.

“Have you been looking for me for long?” you ask first. “I would’ve returned before it got too late.”

“I missed you.” The words that come out are honest but not the complete truth. Of course, Lumine had missed you, every waking moment without you felt like something was missing in her, but she was more terrified that you’d leave and never return. It’s better than before you arrived in Teyvat, at least, back when there was nothing she or anyone else could do if you got bored and didn’t like the world, the people anymore. But still, who wouldn’t be scared that their god had abandoned them?

You stare off into the sea as though you can’t quite comprehend the notion of someone missing you.

Lumine’s heart aches.

“Thank you.” Your words are polite, too polite for a god so far above everyone else.

“(Y/n)-“ she calls because you don’t like the fancy titles and positions and she’s desperate for you to understand what she wants to say as she scoots closer to you, “we, everyone, misses you whenever you leave. I can’t exist, can’t live, without you.”

There is no Lumine without you, no direction without your guidance, no life without your love. It’s so difficult to continue moving without you guiding her, commanding her body to do what you wished. She and Aether had been made for you. The entire purpose of their being is to be yours. The unavoidable truth of their existence was that they were always meant to be extensions of your will from the start.

And Lumine had been lucky to have been chosen by you. Aether wouldn’t hold it against you or her because he is kind. In some ways, she thinks he would have been better suited to be your vessel. He’s warmer, closer to the sun while Lumine is the moon. Still, she’s grateful that you chose her. She doesn’t know what she would do if you hadn’t.

You hold your hand out as a form of comfort for her to hold. Lumine takes it.

“But isn’t it terrible,” you say, “to be stripped of all agency? To be a puppet to whatever I choose to do?”

Even though you aren’t quite responding to what she had said, she knew what you meant. Maybe it would’ve been terrible to the others at the beginning but not anymore, not when they had felt you sinking into their skin, to their fingertips, through their entire being.

“It’s love,” Lumine whispers resolutely, “to us. To me.”

It’s hard to tell where Lumine begins and you end. You were a part of her, in her blood, in her heart, in her mind. She was yours.

And possession was love, wasn’t it? It was love in a way that she could understand.

“Did it really feel like that? Like love?”

You look small in the moment as though you were merely a child, unused to love. You had asked, when you first met Lumine, if she had been disappointed that you were human. She isn’t sure if she could really call you human when the world itself always, always answered your call without fail.

The universe bows to you and deems you its creator. Could you really only be “human”? Truth be told, she thinks you’re closer to divinity than anyone else in the world, not the Archons, not Celestia, not her.

Lumine sits closer to you and wraps her arms around you tentatively. You hesitantly place your own around her back.

“It’s like stardust in our veins,” she tries to explain. “Like falling but knowing there’ll always be someone there who loves us enough to catch us. In the face of the ever-expanding universe, it’s easier to take comfort in your presence and feel like we exist.”

Your warmth sinks into Lumine’s skin and as your breath tickles her neck, she shivers. It reminds her of when your presence had been draped over her as she travelled Teyvat. Shimmering, bright, guiding the way to those close enough to see your light.

“I love you,” she murmurs like a confession.

And you-

You don’t answer at all.

(Still, you think it’s obsession you see in their eyes, devoutness taken too far, completely delusional at worst, but you think that if you tell them that, they’ll say it’s love.)

(You’re afraid you’ll believe it is too.)

576 notes · View notes