#tw: religion mention

[incorrect-quotes-egos]

Darkiplier: What do rainbows mean to you?

Wilford: Gay rights.

Anti: There's money.

Magnum: The sign of God's promise to never destroy the whole Earth with a flood.

Schneep: It is an optical phenomenon that separates sunlight into its continuous spectrum when the sun shines on raindrops.

#markiplier #markiplier egos #jse #jse egos #jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye egos #darkiplier #wilford warfstache #antisepticeye #captain magnum #ahwm captain magnum #dr. schneeplestein #incorrect quotes #incorrect ego quotes #incorrect egos #tw: god mention #tw: religion mention #tw: flood mention #tw: flooding mention

[eternalstarlights]

Someone explain me this... Dazai just fell from a high drop in the elevator, breaking the bones in his legs so he couldn't even walk properly. He needed a crutch to help him walk.

And then suddenly, now he can run just fine and pull "Fyodor's body" out from the helicopter just fine? How did his legs heal so quickly! His ability is nullification, not healing lol. Am I missing something?

Unless he lied and pretended that his bones are broken but then who the fuck fall from that height and be perfectly fine?

XXX

Also, Fyodor's fake body face is hilarious.

XXX

Also idk why everyone is comparing Fyodor to Jesus. Jesus died and came back to life. Fyodor's ability is to transfer his soul to a different body or change bodies in some sort of manner, he didn't even die lol. They are both different. Come on, don't do Jesus this dirty.

#Bungou Stray Dogs spoilers #mun speaking #tw: religion mention

[hermesserpent-stuff]

Fight for child custody lol

#tw: religion mention #animatic #spider nephew au #hermes art #tssm shocker #tssm doctor octopus #tssm #tssm peter parker

[barely-a-person]

i'm not religious but the "don't blow me off, god" in shawn's monologue during cult fiction is even to make me consider changing my mind

#bmw s4 e21 #boy meets world #shawn hunter #cory matthews #topanga lawrence #mr turner #tw: religion mention

[theimaginatrix27]

I just saw a post on a friend's blog talking about how talking about what a character "deserves" is culturally Christian, and how characters are tools in a story that serve a purpose and you shouldn't impress your own morals on that character when they had bad things happen to them/weren't redeemed because that served the story better.

And like, I get it, which is why I'm not putting this comment on their post out of respect because their point about critical analysis shouldn't be derailed.

But also they were talking about people complaining about certain villains they liked/sympathised with not being redeemed, or tragic characters not getting the "happy ending" the reader thought they "deserved", and this person was like "I want this arc to be satisfying," and honestly? This is why I don't usually get into tragedies. The exceptions being The Magnus Archives, which nobody at the time would shut up about, and A Song of Ice and Fire, which I got sucked into at 2 in the morning on a Sunday when Mum and I started watching GoT reruns and whose characters I'm still attached to.

And I still do not like tragedies/tragic arcs.

Why? Because sometimes I feel like I'm fucking living in a tragedy. I won't get into the details, but in a lot of ways life has been hard on me and my family, and it sucks. And I think we deserve a fucking happy ending, and characters who go through any of the same things we did in stories, and don't get one, make me fucking depressed. Authors who kill off three quarters of their cast after fleshing them out just enough for you, the reader, to get attached are fucking sadists. This is why I no longer read Terry Brooks.

So no, I'm not going to stop saying or believing these characters deserved better, because the real people living through real kinds of hell also fucking deserve better and it isn't fair that they don't get it either, and that shouldn't be just related to popular Christian ideas of redemption and earning rewards, even if that is your first thought, Poster-I-Will-Not-Tag.

#Trix Rants Rarely #TW: Religion Mention #You can look at things as technically as you want #But satisfying endings to me involve resolutions after the conflict #And characters I love being killed off still breaks my poor battered heart

[softpine]

take your time, let the rivers guide you in you know where you can find me again

[transcript]

#I MET GOD. SHE'S A LESBIAN <- asa's t-shirt when he returns home #the blurred out parts are for asa's ears only fjksdjs #anyway i'm gonna go watch supernatural season 4 episode 18 'the monster at the end of this book' #which totally did not alter the way i view fictional writing for ever and ever. not at all. because i am normal #frozen pines #camellia #asa mayfield #AND ME. #alcohol tw #religion tw #suicide mention

[bizlybebo]

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

[wolfythewitch]

wait.. im confused... are you actually christian?

or are you also just forced to your parents views?

Yes.

It's complicated LMAO

I would call myself Christian, but not subscribed to the same sort of belief my parents are? From a young age they've taken me to church, involved religion in every aspect of my life, and in a way tainted it for me. Same goes for the church I go to. At the same time, I think I still believe in a higher power. I've gotten more cynical as I've grown older, and though I've kept silent about it, my views almost always clash with theirs. I think a big part of it is they've (my parents and the church) uphold themselves to such a standard of being a good person, they've forgotten that being a good person requires being, well, good. Not self righteous or wise or inherently more morally upstanding, but being kind and understanding and loving. How am I to believe in a god that loves everyone when my parents preach about loving my neighbor but scoff when I want to donate to a trans charity? Or when my church tells me that God is kind, and then turn and tell a rape victim she must forgive her rapist? God is patient until you are in the wrong, then you demand forgiveness.

Why is being kind the rule and the homosexuals, and the poor, and the different, the exception? There shouldn't be an exception. Why am I drawing lines between me and them? What kind of belief system has the right to make me wonder, had my parents known I was queer, if they would love me less? If I am a child of god, and so are my parents, and my friends, then so are all those they condemn to hell.

In summary, sorry for the little rant haha, I am christian. I think, just not in the way my parents planned

#wolfy tedtalks #anon #religion #rape tw #mention? #tagging just to be safe

[lgbtqtext]

#god loves his gay children #tw religion #tw religion mention #tw christianity #lgbtqtext #lgbtq text #animated text #word art #rainbow #white #gay christian #lgbtq christian #queer christian #lgbtq #lgbtq+ #lgbtqia #lgbtqia+ #queer #gay #gay pride #lesbian #lesbian pride #lgbtq pride #queer pride #lgbtq+ pride #lgbtqia pride

[alvindraperzzz]

I want to point out a scene I really love from Young Justice #43. Not only is it a really good scene, I think it shows how much Cassie grew up over the course of Young Justice.

Ellen, a classmate of Cissie’s, just lost her parents in a bombing. She left the school, and everyone is worried she might attempt suicide. In the middle of telling Cassie about Ellen, Cissie and Traya are jumped by their racist classmates.

Superboy breaks the sound barrier going to protect them, but unexpectedly, Cassie is not right on his heels. Her best friend and the girl who is basically a younger sister to the entire team are in trouble, but she doesn’t go barging in as redundant backup. Cassie trusts Superboy to handle it. While he saves Cissie and Traya, Cassie handles an equally pressing matter.

She doesn’t crowd Ellen, or yank her off the ledge to “get her to safety”. She approaches carefully, calling out to Ellen so she doesn’t startle her. She talks to her, giving standard reassurances at first but quickly realizing the situation is not what she thought and adjusting accordingly.

Cassie is quiet. She patiently listens as Ellen pours her heart out, offering only quiet acknowledgement of Ellen’s feelings, until Ellen directly addresses her.

I could never picture Cassie from the first arc of YJ doing this, let alone the Cassie from her first appearances in Wonder Woman. Early Cassie is brash and loud, constantly rushing into things fists first. She is absolutely sincere, but she lacks the finesse to handle delicate situations. I wouldn’t even expect her to go find Ellen — she would have been right on Kon’s heels to go save Cissie and Traya. Instead she splits duties, trusting Kon to handle things while handling a potentially delicate matter herself with empathy and grace. It demonstrates trust, teamwork, and emotional maturity. We also get a really touching conversation out of it.

Idk, I just really like this scene.

(Come to think of it, this is exactly how Cassie approaches Tim in Red Robin shut up I’m not crying you’re crying)

#cassie sandsmark #tw suicide mention #young justice 1998 #young justice comics #there’s more to say on Peter David’s approach to religion and prejudice in this YJ issue but I like this particular scene #I really enjoy this whole issue but I wanted to talk about this scene #lobbing my half baked posts into the tag bc dammit someone needs to do it #talking about cassie

[hermesserpent-stuff]

something im working on

hes baby. 

(forgot to post this earlier) 

#tssm #tw: religion mention #tssm shocker #tssm montana #hermes art #animation #rough sketches

[barely-a-person]

there are times like these where i wish i was raised with a god to believe in

#tw: religion mention

[dead-rabbit-boy]

I wanna be positive for once on this blog.

Shout out to schizospecs who:

-can't go off their meds for even a day

-are dangerous when psychotic

-carry around weapons to feel safe

- get intrusive thoughts

- don't have a support system

-aren't on meds

- are religious, but their religion impacts them negatively

-are paranoid 24/7

- haven't slept in a while

- are physically disabled

-get violent thoughts

- are easily triggered

- have a hard time masking

-can't mask at all

-are constantly dissociated

- age regress (in this case I'm talking involuntarily)

#schizoaffective #actually schizospec #actually schizophrenic #schizospec #schizophrenia #tw violent thought mention #tw religion mention #schizospec positivity #schizophrenia positivity #positivity #actually schizoaffective #half this shit applies to me #blargy talk

[danipedrosas-boatest]

Hi, this is very random but please do not make jokes about Fabio’s religion.

This is slightly biased because I’m also Catholic, but please do not make jokes about his faith to support your opinions about the sport. It’s one thing to not know that he’s religious, but it’s a whole other thing to make jokes about it. It’s very offensive.

Fabio has talked about being Catholic before, as well as having tattoos with the cross, a cathedral, and a nun. This clearly means a lot to him and they are not just for aesthetic purposes.

#tw religion #tw religious imagery #tw religious mention #tw catholicism #motogp #moto gp #fabio quartararo #fq20 #yamaha #text #txt

[justbreakonme]

Hi! I don’t know if you’re taking asks right now, but if you are, could you maybe write some whumpee deconditioning?

Oh this is right up my alley…

Caretaker sat outside on the porch, looking out over the dry grass and gravel drive. There was no one around for miles, well, no one but Whumpee.

He still didn’t know much about where he had come from, mostly that it was not a place he ever wanted to visit. He’d found him curled up in the barn, wedged in between hay bales as tightly as he could managed, like that was gonna do much against the below freezing temperatures. Caretaker was glad he’d thought to double check on the cats, otherwise, who knows if the kid would have made it through the night.

He’d yanked him inside and ripped into him, saying his parents were probably worried sick, and only when he’d ran out of breath did he see the hand shaped bruises, the burns…the belt marks. All through everything, whumpee hadn’t managed a word, merely stared blankly into the middle distance, trembling like a leaf.

That was almost three months ago now, and snow had given way to dead grass and the beginnings of spring, and Whumpee had stayed with Caretaker.

He slept in a real bed, not in a barn, and they ate meals together at a proper kitchen table, and he helped out around the property like he’d lived there all his life. And that was where the normalcy ended.

It was like he couldn’t remember, not in his mind at least. But the things he did were a different story. As horrible as it was, he had expected the flinching. The skittishness, the way he avoided fireplace pokers and belts like the plague. But there were other things that he just hadn’t puzzled out yet.

The biggest problem was that there was something about books that set him on edge. Caretaker was an avid reader, and there was not much he liked better than cracking open a book and sitting back on the porch, but whenever he did, whumpee acted…odd.

He’d watch from the kitchen window, then duck away when he’d look back, and if, after he looked back, he got up and came inside, it would trigger a panic attack like nothing else.

Usually, when whumpee got scared, they went still, and silent, aside from quick, short breaths, his head ducked and his hands clasped in front of him. Those were…easier, in some ways, to deal with. He had worked out that whumpee was needing forgiveness, or reassurance that he hadn’t done anything wrong, or that no one was mad at him. Once that “sunk in”, he would be able to calm down, slowly, but better the others.

The “book scares” as he had started to refer to them in his own mind, would have whumpee scrambling for cover, his hands up in a defensive position, and he would beg and cry that he was sorry, that he would be better, that he didn’t mean to, but he would never say what he was sorry for, and no amount of questions, in the moment or after it, would help caretaker figure it out. It was like even whumpee wouldn’t know.

He didn’t even know how to really calm whumpee down, all he was ever able to do was help him crash safely. He’d tell him to go sit in bed and calm down, and that he wasn’t in trouble, but he would still hear him crying for hours, and would find him passed out, exhausted, on top of the covers in his bed, tear tracks still drying on his cheeks.

He just…couldn’t figure it out.

Caretaker could feel whumpees eyes on the back of his head through the open window. He fought the urge to turn around, and instead, had an idea. He faked a yawn, and a satisfied sigh, and closed his book. He stretched, and snuck a sideways glance over his shoulder to see him watching.

He looked…hopeful, but still ducked away Was that a good sign? He took a deep breath, and decided to try something else. Very gently, he called. “Hey, Whumpee? Could you bring me a pen?”

He didn’t know what to ask for, but Whumpee hadn’t had any reactions to pens or the like, and it was something he could find easily.

“Y-Yes sir!”

Caretaker winced at the eager panic in his voice, and the way he practically ran for the cup of pens by the phone. He was out the door, presenting the pen, in seconds, his hands shaking but still lucid and not lost to panic yet.

“Thank you,” he takes the pen, and gives whumpee a smile, “would you feel like joining me?”

He gestured to the other rocking chair, and Whumpees breath hitched as he darted a glance up for just a second, searching Caretakers face.

He seemed to determine it was the right answer, and nodded, quickly. “Thank you sir.” It was like watching someone held at gunpoint, the way he sat so carefully, the white knuckle grip he held on the armrests.

“It’s nice weather out here, huh? Finally starting to warm up…” he didn’t know what else to say, hell, they’d probably had less than ten conversations that weren’t about what they were going to do or how to do something.

“Yes sir, it is…” He moved his hands to his lap, still not relaxing even the slightest, but his tone seemed less…stiff.

He wished he’d thought this out a little further, thought of more to talk about than the weather. In a way, he hadn’t planned because he didn’t really expect to get this far.

He took another deep breath, figuring he might as well not beat around the bush. “When I come and sit out here and read, I can tell it makes you worried…” Whumpee flinched, hard.

“Look, you aren’t in trouble, you didn’t do anything wrong, I just want to understand why…” caretaker added quickly, shifting to turn his full attention towards Whumpee.

That proved to be a bad idea. Whumpee shrank back in the chair, eyes wide and blank like a deer in the headlights, his mouth open but no words escaping.

“Hey, hey, I didn’t bring it up because I was annoyed or anything… you’re a good kid whumpee, and I don’t want you to always feel like you’re in trouble cause you’re not. Alright?”

It didn’t seem like Whumpee could even hear him. He still just stared forward, his back pressed painfully hard up against the back of the chair.

“Hey, whumpee, you’re okay, you’re good. Can you hear me?”

The question at least seemed to trigger something, and he nodded quickly, tears starting to pool in his eyes. “Good, good, you’re doing great, kid. Look, I just want you to know that you’re okay, right?”

Whumpee nodded again, and Caretaker could tell he was holding his breath.

“It’s okay if you feel like crying, you can, you won’t be in trouble… I just was hoping to find a way to…I dunno, not scare you so much.”

There’s a moment of silence, whumpee still not breathing, then, it was like it all flooded out at once. A sob seemed to rip out of him, and he sank to his knees in front of caretaker, clasping his hands together as if in prayer.

“P-please… I don’t know what- what to do. What do you want me to d-do? I will, I will, I promise- Please, ju-just tell me, please!”

He was shaking so badly that it was making his teeth chatter, and though Caretaker couldn’t see his face from this angle, he knew it would be screwed up in fear and grief like it always was in moments like these.

Shoving his own chair back, Caretaker sank down to meet whumpee on his knees, putting a hand over his clasped ones. “I want you to be able to relax, okay? I want you to trust me. Trust that I’m not going to hurt you, that you’re safe here with me, okay?”

“I can’t!”

Whumpee immediately clapped his hands over his own mouth in horror. “I’m sorry- I didn’t- I- I-“

Caretaker could hear the way he was winding himself up, the reedy, wheezing breathing that was starting to take over, and he couldn’t let him keep going.

“Okay. Thank you for telling me.”

The tone of his voice was calm, matter of fact, but it seemed to stop Whumpee dead in surprise. He was still struggling to breathe, little hitches interrupting every breath, but at least he was still breathing.

“I’m glad that you were able to be honest, and so that we can work together, okay? That was really, really good kid.”

“R-really?” The look in his eyes was both awestruck and disbelieving, but Caretaker would prefer that over terror any day.

“Yeah. Really. Now, when you said you can’t, did you mean you couldn’t relax, or that you couldn’t trust me, or both?” Caretaker cut himself off, raising a hand gently, “It is okay, whatever answer it is. I just want to know.”

Whumpee was starting to panic again, his eyes darting from the ground then to Caretakers face and down again.

“Both.”

“Okay! Now, we can start off on the same page,” Caretaker gently squeezed his hand around both of Whumpees, “Is there anything that I can do that would make you feel more safe?”

Whumpee just cried harder for a moment, and he wondered if he had pushed too far, when he finally managed a weak “I don’t know…”

Caretaker opened his mouth to speak, but Whumpee kept going. “I want to, I want to, you’ve been nothing but good to me and I want to obey- I don’t know how- I’m so sorry…”

“Hey- Hey, kid, the last thing on my mind is obedience, I just don’t want you be afraid all the time… You’re a good kid, you shouldn’t have to feel afraid.”

To caretakers surprise, whumpee laughed, a quick short burst before seeming to get himself under control. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to- I just, I doubt I’ve ever been ‘not afraid’ my whole life.” He sneaks a glance at Caretakers face, the drops his eyes to the ground again.

Caretaker sighed, feeling his heart pinch. “That’s okay… I’ve never had anyone else on this farm. We’ll just have to learn together.”

Whumpee nodded quickly, seemingly trying to get himself back under his own tight fisted control. “Whumpee, how about you sit out here with me for a bit?”

Whumpee nods, and caretaker relaxes a bit. But, he still wants to know why reading set him on such a narrow edge.

They both ease back into their seats, and caretaker looks around for a change of subject. To his delight, just at that moment, a bird flew into view and perched on one of the trees nearby.

“Hey, look at that! That’s a robin, it’s really starting to warm up. They start to show up in the spring, and that’s the first one I’ve seen this season.”

Whumpee squinted, then nodded, but, caretaker could tell he hadn’t actually seen it, only pretended to. Could he see it? The way he squinted made caretaker wonder if he could need glasses…

“Here, it’s far away, I’ve got a better picture,” slowly, he reaches for his book, and flips it open to the right page, “See?”

Whumpee still tensed up, but, didn’t panic. He looked, genuine interest showing on his face for the first time he’d ever seen.

“It’s a beautiful bird sir…” Whumpee managed, looking up again before letting his eyes fall back to the book.

“Yeah… and there’ll be more, soon.”

He nods, the slightest grace of a smile on his face.

“Is this the book you thought I would be reading? A book about birds?”

Whumpee tensed further, but still didn’t panic, thankfully. “No sir.”

“Is that…good?”

Whumpees breathing stopped, and Caretaker backpedaled. “That’s a bit to open ended, huh? Could you tell me what you thought I might be reading?”

That was better. Whumpee took a deep breath. “The Bible, sir.”

Caretaker felt his heart sink, but also relief. That explained…a lot.

He forced himself to keep the conversation light, knowing the next few questions he was going to need to ask would be hard. “No, just the bird bible I suppose…” he laughs, setting it back down, and though whumpee didn’t laugh, he did relax slightly further.

“Where you were before, after they read the bible, would you be in danger? Is that why it scares you?”

“Yes,” he takes another deep breath, then another, winding himself up once more, “We’d- We would have a sermon, after, and then… sins would be- would be forgiven.”

“Oh…” So that’s why caretaker could never figure out what Whumpee had thought he’d done wrong. He hadn’t been told yet what sins he’d committed.

“I sh-should not be afraid. Sparing the rod spoils the child, I understand, but-“ Whumpee sniffed, and tears dotted the knees of his jeans, “Sometimes I thought I was going to die…”

“Whumpee…” was all Caretaker could manage, horror taking over everything else.

“I d-didn’t want to die with- with sins unforgiven.”

“Kid… that’s- you don’t- that’s not forgiveness, that’s not fair at all…”

Whumpee just shook their head, wiping their eyes.

“Do you- do you still feel like you need to hurt to be forgiven?”

“I do. That’s- that’s what it takes.”

The uncharacteristic steadiness of that sentence made Caretaker very, very worried. “No, no that’s not right. Whumpee, have you been- when I tell you to go to your room, what do you do?”

“I-“ Whumpee had picked quickly on the shift in his tone, the underlying accusation, and seemed to brace himself for the answer he had to give, “I deal with them myself.”

“How?”

Whumpee just shakes his head again, pulling back further, and he wraps his arms around himself like a hug.

“Whumpee, you have to tell me, what have you been doing?” He needed to know, needed to stop this, stop it now.

He shook his head harder, and now Caretaker was caught with an impossible decision. He doubted he could force the answer out of whumpee, but he also couldn’t just let this go, not something like this.

“Whumpee, please, please just tell me. Please don’t make me have to ask again…” He wracked his brain for what was in his room, how any of it could be used in the wrong way, but he was drawing a blank…

“Are- are you going to make me stop?”

“Yes, I have to. You can’t- it’s not- I’ll forgive you, okay? I’ll do it, if you need to be forgiven, I’ll do it. Okay?”

Whumpee looked up, not just a quick glance but held his eyes for a moment. Fear, relief, sadness, all flashed by, but the one that held steady through it all was this bone deep, haunting sense of exhaustion… Whumpee looked defeated.

“I unscrew the top of the bed post… the screw in the bottom is sharp, but, it’s not enough. Please…” Whumpee reached forward with both hands, grabbing one of Caretakers, “please forgive me, please!”

“You have to tell me what you did wrong…” he’s stalling, trying to avoid having to deny Whumpee the “forgiveness” that he wanted so badly.

“I don’t know- I don’t know but I know I have done wrong, but I always do- I know it!”

“Whumpee-“

“You said, you said you’d do it-“

“But I have to know what you did, because I don’t think you did anything wrong.”

Whumpee let go, hitting his forehead with the heels of his hands as he sobbed. “You said! I n-need- I need to be forgiven- I need to be punished!”

“No you don’t!” Without realizing, he had reached over and grabbed Whumpee by the wrists, shaking him, “You don’t need to be hurt, you don’t have to!”

Whumpee shook his head over and over, practically howling as he struggled to free his wrists.

“Please, whumpee, please stop, stop! Listen to me kid, you don’t have to do this!”

“I do, I do, I do I do I do!”

“No, you DON’T!”

Caretaker hasn’t meant to yell, and he instantly regretted it. Whumpee stopped, his chest heaving as he tried to stop crying.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he loosens his grip on whumpees wrists, “Forgiveness doesn’t mean you need to be hurt. I need you to trust me on this. I need you to try.”

Whumpee drew his hands away, hugging himself again, and nodded. Caretaker didn’t know if he nodded because he agreed, or because he was afraid not to. At the moment, Caretaker would take either, as long as whumpee would be unharmed.

“Whumpee… Just sit out here with me. I’ll get us some tea, and we’ll watch the birds. You won’t have anything to be forgiven for.”

He shakes his head again.

“What is wrong about that?”

“There should be…no joy except through God.”

“So, you think you need to be forgiven, for being happy?”

He nods quickly. “You- you’ve been so good to me, and- It means I need more forgiveness.”

Guilt settled in a heavy layer over him, even though there was no way he could have known.

“But-“ he wracked his brain for half-forgotten Sunday school lessons, “God created everything, right?”

“Every leaf, on every tree.”

Caretaker had never believed in God, but, now he knew he had to speak for him.

“Every bird? Every breeze? Every sunset?”

Whumpee nodded, eyes on his knees.

“He made every leaf of tea and every grain of sugar?”

He nodded again, eyes still down.

“Then, how could it be wrong to sit outside, and admire his creation?”

Whumpee looked up, stunned, and then out to the dry grass, the gravel drive…

“So, how about that tea?”

“Okay..”

“Great,” Caretaker felt like he could breath again, “I’ll be right back then.”

When Caretaker came back, Whumpee accepted the glass of tea carefully, and, when his eyes met Caretakers, some of the exhaustion had melted away.

They sat, and watched the birds, until the tea glasses held nothing but ice and they had looked through every picture of every bird in his book.

It would take time, and it would take work, and trust, and lots and lots of questions, but, things would get better.

#I’m trying to get to all my asks #this was written in a 4 am burst so please forgive its failings #religion mention #religious trauma #self harm #tw self harm #deconditioning #whumpee #conditioned whumpee #religious whump #whump scenario #whump prompt #whump writing #rescue

[leaslichoma]

I've been fascinated with the Aztec god Xolotl recently.

Xolotl (pronunced Sho-lo-t followed by an L like sound that doesn't exist in the English language) was a Mesoamerican god associated with many things, including fire, lightning, disease, deformity, twins, the Mesoamerican ball game, death, dogs, the planet Venus as the evening star, twilight, shapeshifting, and monsters. Xolotl was the twin and sometimes companion of his more famous brother Quetzalcoatl. Xolotl was thought to guide the dead in their journey through the underworld, and to guide the sun through the underworld each night. Xolotl is usually depicted as either a dog anthro, a man with a dog head, or a dwarf skeletal jester. Xolotl is usually depicted missing eyes. Xolotl seems to have been feared by the Aztecs and especially hated by the Spanish, but I have a more favorable view.

Some of the most prominent myths about Xolotl involve the story of the fifth sun, or how the current world was made from the previous, destroyed one.

The first myth involves the recreation of humanity. The tales differ as to whether Quetzalcoatl was responsible, Xolotl was responsible, or if it was a collaborative effort. The humans of the fourth world were destroyed, and humanity had to be brought back. To this end Xolotl and/or Quetzalcoatl traveled to the Aztec underworld, Mictlan and met with its king, Mictlantecutli. The god(s) asked to gather the bones of the previous humans so they could be created anew. Mictlantecutli. Mictlantecutli gives them tests but later decides against letting them gather the bones. Xolotl and/or Quetzalcoatl fall into pit, breaking the bones in the process which is why people have different heights. The bones are later resurrected. The versions of this tale differ as to which god went to Mictlan and whether they did tests for Mictlantecutli or simply stole the bones.

In the second myth, the gods are sacrificing themselves in a fire to create a fifth sun for humanity because the previous one went out. They choose Nanahuatzin, a poor and humble god with syphilis and some relation to Xolotl to become the moon; and Tecciztecatl to become the sun because he is wealthy and strong. However, Tecciztecatl is unable to throw himself in the fire when the time comes, so Nanahuatzin becomes the sun instead. Tecciztecatl is sacrificed after and becomes the moon (and also the man on the moon), but has a rabbit thrown at his face which is one explanation for the rabbit people sometimes see.

Later, Xolotl is the last to be sacrificed to the new sun. In some versions this is because he was the executioner for the previous gods. However, in some tales he refuses to sacrifice himself. Xolotl begs and cries until his eyes literally fall out but this does nothing. Xolotl transforms to escape Ehecatl who has been executing other gods to make the sun move. Xolotl at first transforms into a corn plant with two stalks, then an Agave americana, and finally an Axolotl amphibian. But he was still caught in the end.

What I find most interesting about Xolotl is his relation to disability. Since deformities are among Xolotl's best known domains, he could be considered a god of disabilities as well. Xolotl is also a god of monsters, and it's worth mentioning that the Nahua word "Xolo" which his name is derived from and means monster, is used for both mythological monsters and those with physical abnormalities, much like the Latin word "Monstrum". (I think in literature analysis the themes of monsters as outcasts could be explored more) In many, perhaps even most historical (and unfortunately even modern) societies the attitude towards those with disabilities has been very negative. In the Aztec world twins were considered unnatural, and sometimes one of them would be murdered shortly after birth. Wikipedia mentions an speculation by Eduard Seler that resonates with me: that Xolotl represents the murdered twin who dwells in the underworld while Quetzalcoatl is the living one who is cherished in the world of light.

Another connection with Xolotl and disability is that he was sometimes depicted as a jester with dwarfism. It's relevant the jesters around the world were often disabled. European court jesters were known for having the freedom to criticize and mock royalty, and were sometimes selected from the intellectually disabled because they could not be held responsible for what they said. Additionally, the Spanish during the colonization of the Aztecs sent some Aztec jesters to Spain, who were described as humpbacks.

This is what I find most interesting about Xolotl, that he is a reflection or shadow of society. Historically Xolotl was often considered a sinister god, but when society is itself sinister who is to be believed? My view of Xolotl is more favorable. The god of the disabled is feared because the disabled are hated. Xolotl is the outcast, who is hated and feared yet has done no wrong. Xolotl is the murdered twin, who looks upon the world of light and life, from a place of darkness, the world he was not given, never had the right to enjoy. He is the god who is looked upon with disgust due to his role in hardship, yet is the only one who stays with you through that hardship the entire time. Xolotl is the disabled child, who is called a child of shame and hidden away in some institution to be forgotten by their more privileged relatives. Xolotl is viewed with contempt, but his domains are just as necessary to the universe's function as any of the more handsome gods. The janitor, who is viewed with contempt and disgust yet whose works are vital for society.

The "evil twin" Xolotl, misunderstood twin and hound of Quetzalcoatl who lives in the world's shadow, watching the world of life and guarding the light of the sun through the underworld.

#LONG POST #xolotl #aztecs #aztec mythology #aztec religion #aztec gods #mexica mythology #mesoamerica #ableism cw #cw ableism #ableism tw #ableism mention #infanticide mention #filicide mention #mesoamerican mythology #infodump #infodumping