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blissfullyecho · 1 year

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my daily & weekly routine (2023)

self care | studying | health | working | etc.

figured i would write my daily routine that i’m going to adhere to for the next few months— at least until summer semester starts for me (in may) but that’s still TBA.

first, let’s start with my goals until summer semester.

get accepted back into school and pass my entrance exam

get hired to start the patient care technician program at the hospital i want to work at in march so that i can gain hospital experience and i can start working in healthcare (this is the hospital that i want to become a nurse at also)

lose 40 pounds + form a habit of daily exercise

work as much as possible (try to aim for at least 5x a week) until the patient care tech program starts (which is only a 5 week program but i’ll be unable to work those weeks) — my goal is to get caught up with some bills/debt and have $5,000 saved so i don’t have to worry about working during the patient care tech program

move into a new apartment either in downtown or on the beach

grow in my faith, self-love, and be more knowledgeable

so basically, my goals for the first part of 2023 is working on my career, going back to school, and getting my health and finances together.

i would like to start my business, but i want to first focus on getting accepted back into school and getting my career started; then starting my business.

moving on to my daily routine/ tasks, and my weekly and monthly routine

daily:

study for at least 3 hours a day for my school’s placement exam (math, reading, and writing) — an hour each day for each subject

exercise at least 30 minutes a day to start with, eventually graduating to an hour a day

until my phone interview next thursday for the patient care tech program, i’ll spend some time going over interview questions to get myself more prepared— spending at least 30-45 minutes going over that each day

daily bible reading and prayer

reading at least 1-2 chapters per day of a self-help book

listening to at least 1 podcast or educational video each day

follow my morning/evening beauty routines like skincare, showering, haircare, and eventually make it a habit to get ready every morning (this will have to wait until my grandmother gets better honestly— i don’t have the time)

adhere to a cleaning routine and clean as i go so i can spend less time cleaning and more time thriving in a well-maintained environment that’s beneficial to both my physical and mental health

weekly:

to track my weight loss progress, i will measure myself and weigh myself 1x per week (saturday)

go to work at least 5x each week or work at least 5 shifts (some days i might work doubles)

take a weekly practice test of each of those subjects (math, writing, and reading) (sunday)

attend church (in person or online) each week (sunday)

i should also mention that i lost 1.7 pounds this week.

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least-sexy-man-competition · 1 year

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INTRODUCING OUR CONTESTANTS...

Steve Carlsberg (Welcome to Night Vale)

Emperor Belos (The Owl House)

The Onceler (Lorax)

Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars)

Pikaman (Tumblr)

Warren the Eagle (Don't Hug Me I'm Scared)

Lord Hater (Wander over Yonder)

Harry Du Bois (Disco Elysium)

Bill Hawks (Professor Layton)

Springtrap (Five Nights at Freddy's)

Walter White (Breaking Bad)

Cronus Ampora (Homestuck)

Jerry (Undertale)

Reigen Arataka (Mob Psycho 100)

Dr. N. Brio (Crash Bandicoot)

Elias Bouchard (The Magnus Archives)

Doofenshmirtz (Phineas & Ferb)

Kavinsky (The Raven Cycle)

Dennis Reynolds (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia)

Lord Farquaad (Shrek)

Lemongrab (Adventure Time)

Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls)

Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture (Venture Brothers)

Shin Tsumiki (Your Turn to Die)

Zim (Invader Zim)

L Lawliet (Death Note)

Flint Paper (Sam & Max)

BoJack Horseman (BoJack Horseman)

Connecticut Clark (Connecticut)

Fassad (Mother 3)

Baldi (Baldi's Basics)

Tony Stark (MCU)

Wallace (Wallace & Gromit)

Spamton G. Spamton (Deltarune)

Logan Roy (Succession)

Grima Wormtongue (Lord of the Rings)

Crux (The Locked Tomb)

Jonathan Sims (The Magnus Archives)

Five Pebble (Rain World)

Tingle (Legend of Zelda)

The Grinch (The Grinch)

Benrey (Half-Life VR But The AI Is Self-Aware)

Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)

Neighbor (Hello Neighbor)

Tighten (Megamind)

Scout / Jeremy (Team Fortress 2)

Santa Claus (Christmas)

Sans (Undertale)

Ben Chang (Community)

Olaf (Frozen)

Jurgen Leitner (The Magnus Archives)

Pierre (Stardew Valley)

Jesus Christ (The Bible)

Randy Jade (Dialtown)

Count Olaf (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

Trip (Facade)

William Murderface (Metalocalypse)

Syndrome (The Incredibles)

Martin Kratt (The Wild Kratts/Zooboomafoo)

Oswald Mandus (Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs)

Naven Nuknuk (Epithet Erased)

Wario (Mario)

Mordecai (Regular Show)

Glenn Quagmire (Family Guy)

Voting will begin as soon as I have a proper image for the bracket :}

(im probably going to end up making my own at this point LOL)

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atticsandwich · 9 months

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Exploring how Obey Me!'s portrayal of the Celestial Realm mirrors that of the how the Christian heaven is used as propaganda, and how Simeon, Luke, and Raphael tie-in with real-life people's experiences of the Christian faith.

to preface: I was born Christian and was raised as such, but renounced my religion when I was around 18. Experiences vary in different parts of the world of course, however, I will also be tying in things I see from online conversations about Christianity. Admittedly a lot of my insight comes from my experience (and by extension, my family and friends) of Christianity in my area of the world (southeast asia).

Additionally, this post is purely for fun and speculation, and my fascination with subversive portrayals of religion, particularly of Christianity. Please note that I will use the word "religion" as a whole, but this post will specifically go into Christianity, and by proxy, its branches.

As this post is a spur-of-the-moment thing, it is not proofread, so I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors!

‼️This post will contain spoilers‼️

To start, let's lay out the things we know about the Celestial Realm from the story.

The Celestial Realm is home of the angels, and in contrast to the Devildom, it is a realm of permanent daylight.

Michael acts as its authority, however, we know that its most supreme being is the Father, who we can presume created the realm and its angels. Unlike the sleeping Demon Lord, we are at least aware that Father is still active, although presumably leaves the governing to Michael.

Similar to real-life angelology, the Celestial Realm also divides its angels by ranks. The current known ranks are Seraphim, Throne, Cherubim, Principality, Dominion, and Archangel.

Key observations:

Angels can either fall to become demons (demon brothers) or be stripped of their blessing and become human (Simeon).

Luke's current angel rank is unknown. We can assume this is from inexperience, as despite being implied to be at least a thousand years old, he acts and behaves like a typical ten year old.

Although "falling" can be a punishment by acting out of defiance against its virtues, we know that angels can still be morally grey, and in some cases, dubious, and still not be stripped of their blessing.

Now to the bulk of this analysis.

I. Christianity as a tool for propaganda and colonization

This is pretty basic history - western colonizers have used religion as a basis of conquering "new worlds" in the name of spreading their faith and belief systems. The effects of this still persist until today - racism, homophobia, etc. in general can be traced back to the colonial era. In more present-day scenarios, religion is also used as a leverage for morality and what people deem as "right or wrong". For some parts, it aligns with basic humanity, however, we know very well that it can also be used to spread bigotry and false moral high grounds as a justification for mistreatment of people.

In many countries, politics and religion go hand in hand. Many politicians will use their beliefs as a basis for bills and laws, and it trickles down to the justice system, where judges can display religous bias (whether consciously or not) in favor of their personal beliefs. As such, many politicians will use religion to forward their name and agenda, in the pretense of being a devout practicioner, in order to garner relatability and bias from people of the same faith. In Christianity, for example, many politicians will use the term "Lord's servant" as a subtext for people to latch onto.

In a societal context, we are very familiar with the phrase "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" as a rebuttal for homosexual relationships, and in general, relationships that bigoted Christians believe do not follow in their God's text. Cherry-picking bible verses and anecdotes to further their justification for acting the way they do is also a very common occurence, even though that very same Bible they read also emphasize the value of spreading love, with hate having no place in heaven.

II. How it ties to the Celestial Realm

Behind its perma-daylight nature, we learn that the Celestial Realm is a place of strict rule and order, and an angel can easily get demoted, as was the previous case for Simeon, who we know was originally a Seraphim, and in some cases, even falling to demonhood, like the brothers. This walking-on-eggshells type of ordinance is very tricky, as the reasoning for being casted out of the realm can get very blurry. In Lilith's case, it was her act of using Celestial Realm medicine in order to heal a human she loved; this then led to Lucifer questioning why her act was tantamount to falling, as he always believed love to be a precious thing. This doubt and questioning, however, then led to his own falling, which led to the rest of the brothers siding with him and Lilith, resulting in the Great Celestial War.

We can then paint a picture of the Celestial Realm as a false/disillusioned utopia - externally, it is very lavish, warm, and golden, but taking a closer look reveals its suffocating, anti-freedom, gray nature, where one wrong move could spell your last day. Simeon is very much aware of this, and has, on multiple occassions, openly expressed disdain on how the realm operates.

It is then a matter of Self vs. Governance; at what point does the Celestial Realm draw the line between individual autonomy and total subjugation of its angels? If Lucifer, once one of its most prominent, respected, and powerful angels, gets casted due to defiance for asking a very valid question regarding a value that is taught and propagated within the realm, as he believes Lilith's punishment directly goes against that value, then what of the lesser angels who wish to ask the same? If standing up for those you hold dear is tantamount to unholiness, then why teach the value of love and family in the first place?

I hope you can see where I'm going here - the teaching of these values in the Celestial Realm being the same ones that can get you ostracized VS. using these values to advance a real-world political agenda and cherry-picked beliefs is intrinsically linked.

People that use religion as a means to justify cruelty or feign moral superiority despite the main point of their religion being to "love everyone equally, as you do yourself" are setting a status quo that they built for themselves and their hivemind - if you don't follow these specific rules and beliefs, you are not a true devout. If you question or point out inaccuracies on the beliefs that we want you to follow, you are a deviant.

Sound familiar yet?

III. The three main angels

Excluding Michael and the demon brothers pre-fall, there are three other angels the story focuses on: Luke, Simeon, and Raphael. Despite all three being angels, they cannot be any more similar from each other. One is a brash, tempermental, and an overexcited youth with a sweet tooth; one freely lies and openly involves themselves in un-angelic deeds; and the other is a quiet, stoic, and blunt individual with a questionable taste in cuisine. These three angels encapsulate, almost perfectly, a religous pipeline.

IIIA. Luke

Luke represents the first entry to a religion (I'd use the word indoctrination, but I don't want to unknowingly portray it negatively as some people are born into a religion by default). He is young, inexperienced, idolizes a high-ranking angel who he follows with no question, and above all, naive. We know that he does not know the full reason of why the brothers fell, nor does he know of Lilith. Similarly, children and young people in religion often follow their parents/guardians blindly without question, their understanding of faith being minimal and surface level, something easily digestible for a young, developing mind.

IIIB. Raphael

Raphael is compliance. He knows and understand the ins-and-outs, the ifs-and-whys of the realm, yet continues to follow its order. Although he did not side with Lucifer, we eventually learn that he wishes he did (most recently in NB), yet unlike Simeon, does not actively wallow in his choice and continues to fulfill his duty as a Seraph. Whether we see a development with this in Nightbringer, time will tell. In a similar vein, many people will silently comply with their own faith, regardless of doubt. In my experience, this compliance, either out of familial pressure or feeling indebted to a religion, starts to happen during major developmental stages, either as a late teen or early adulthood, when you can freely do your own research and start to understand the deeper intricacies of a particular religion.

IIIC. Simeon

Simeon is representative of actively going against the status quo. He is an angel that has, on numerous occassions, displayed manipulative and wrathful tendencies, and has admitted to freely partake in lies and deceit. He has also stated that his biggest regret in life was not siding with Lucifer during the war, which is why he actively tries to help him and the brothers as much as he can, not caring if his action could be deemed as heresy. Although we see bits and pieces of it in the original game, Nightbringer Simeon fully procalims this, as asking him to ally with the brothers will result to him in saying that he always will be on their side. In real life, people have their own breaking point that leads them to this path, no matter how personal or educated the reasoning may be. Denouncing one's faith, especially one that was given to you by birth, can be considered an act of both defiance, and in the case of Christianity, becoming unholy, or impure.

IV. The Celestial Realm as a commentary of how religion, particularly Christianity, is used in real life as a tool to further a cherry-picked, propaganda-ridden agenda, despite it being a contradiction to its teachings.

It is no secret that a lot of societal problems nowadays regarding bigotry, refusal of understanding, and unacceptance of others outside your status quo can be traced back to religous conservatives. This is a walking contradiction, of course, as Christian teachings always puts love above all, yet bringing this up as a rebuttal will elicit anger, not reflection. The Celestial Realm is the same, as its blurry definition of defiance goes against its importance of love and familial relationships, so much so that in its eyes, an angel trying to elicit defiance by acting un-angel-like is ultimately a lot more angelic than one who dares question why its teachings are being used as a leverage of defiance.

Of course, a lot of this can be chalked up to mere coincidence, and some might even say that I'm stretching a lot here, but it's still very interesting that a portrayal of heaven is morally ambigous at best. In some ways, the Devildom, or what's supposed to be hell, feels like the better place to live in out of the two.

Anyways, if you made it this far, thank you for reading my random spat-out ramble that i started writing out of nowhere and I fixated on finishing 💀 Share your thoughts with me too, if you'd like. I'd love to hear what you guys think.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me nightbringer #obey me theory #obey me analysis #obey me simeon #obey me raphael #obey me luke #obey me lore

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aphroditelovesu · 9 months

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It's really fascinating to see just how deeply seeded the legend of Alexander the Great was and is culturally and mythologically. There are depictions of him from across different cultures and genres (ie Persian, Mongolian, Indian, Medieval manuscripts, renaissance painting etc). I've come across legends and depictions of him diving in a primitive submarine, being carried across the sky by griffins, jousting, and even finding the garden of Eden! When you think about it, its basically fan-fiction about him, so you're kind of carrying on the tradition with "The Lost Queen" 👀...

On that note, you know how Reader sees her name in the history book right before she goes back in time? I imagine Reader would become a sort of legend in her own right, by the oh so beloved wife and Queen of Alexander the Great, but also because no one can pin down her origins, creating an air of mystery and romance. Was this "Lost Queen" a princess from one of the many cities he conquered? A nymph? An angel? A peasant girl Alexander fell in love with on the spot? The jury's still out.

I'd also imagine that historians and artist would gloss over or forget the more... problematic aspects of the relationship and lean heavily into the "deeply in love with and devoted to" bit. The 'great romance' between Alexander and Reader will be depicted in the art of numerous cultures and become an especially popular motif in the renaissance. A love story for the ages! Come the 21st century, there will be numerous documentaries produced and youtube videos made trying to figure out the origins of this 'Lost Queen'. Some may even jokingly-but-not-jokingly suggest that maybe she was a time traveller!

Of course, when and if Reader, I imagine it will be a while before she can wrap her head around the fact of being a historical icon. This girl will have gone through a lot of shit.

Sorry if this was long. I'm just really intrigued by the whole thing 😁!

-- O-

👀👀👀

There are many legends about Alexander the Great, some even mentioned in the Bible, however subtly.

I just thought about that! Y/n will be like a legend, the owner of the stone, the Queen who disappeared and was so loved by the great conqueror. Of unknown and even mythological origin for some, little is known about it. The only official information was about how much Alexander loved her, loved her so much that he almost destroyed the city of Babylon - well, I can't say more, but here's something for you to think about.

I can see that there are statues of her throughout the conquered world, made by order of Alexander to leave her love eternal, her beauty eternal. These statues are the only clues as to what she looked like, although the features are not entirely true.

There is no doubt that their "romance" will be embellished and used as the basis for various forms of art. Nobody knew about the toxic part, the obsession and the terrors, but about how much Alexander loved his Queen and how much she must love him.

Imagine when Y/n goes back to his time and discovers all this? About how his suffering was written down in history as something so beautiful and romantic. The poor girl has been through so much shit and still has to deal with being billed as Alexander's "Beloved Queen"... And the historians and scholars trying to figure out how and why it disappeared...

I loved reading your thoughts on it and feel free to send more if you want! ❤️❤️

~ Lady L

#ask #yandere history #concept #yandere concept #o- anon

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hieronymus-botch · 1 year

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Alright, I’m just gonna come out and say it. Philip Wittebane is the definition of wasted potential. Ever since the Belos = Philip reveal, I had been waiting for them to make his motivations actually make sense, and then the show ended and they never did. He wanted to kill all witches because magic is evil, even though he uses way more and more obviously evil magic than any of them, and he thinks he’s better because he’s human, even though 17th century Puritans didn’t conceptualize witches as a separate species that were racially inferior, witches were just people who made pacts with the devil to do evil magic, which is closer to a description of him than anyone else on the Boiling Isles. And no, I am not a namby-pamby Steven Universe fan who thinks every fictional villain should just be a misunderstood outcast and get a redemption arc. Bill Cipher’s motivation wasn’t nuanced or complex at all, he literally just wanted to destroy the world for fun, but he was still a fucking fantastic villain because he was funny and charismatic. “But OP!” I hear you cry, “Philip isn’t supposed to be tragic and sympathetic OR funny and charming, because he’s a fascist!” Well, see, the thing about that is, if we’re meant to take him as a serious, non-sugarcoated depiction of fascism, he fails at that too! Witches and demons aren’t a marginalized population, they don’t even interact with humans at all under normal circumstances! Humans aren’t an oppressor class, they’re basically space aliens! In fact, I’d say that if we are to read the show as a serious depiction of fascism, it’s a Boy In The Striped Pajamas-level actively harmful one, given how the draining spell was something literally no one but Philip knew about until it was too late, which is a bullshit myth many people believe about the Holocaust! And you can say that just the stuff he was open about like the coven system and the conformatorium is enough to put him in fascist territory even without the attempted genocide, then why are half the coven heads, the whole Emperor’s Coven, and everyone else who knowingly and willingly enforced all of it treated as innocent victims who are immediately forgiven the second they change sides? If giving him any amount of sympathy or charisma or motivations that make sense would be giving good PR to fascists, then the way the show actually played out is basically saying that Himmler and Göring were probably perfectly fine people who simply weren’t aware Hitler was such a bad egg, which I feel like is a hell of a lot fucking worse! It feels like one faction of the crew wanted to make Philip a tragic, complex villain, and another faction wanted to make him a serious political allegory, and a third, larger faction didn’t care about him at all beyond the bare minimum of being a force for Luz and the gang to oppose, so what we got is a villain with a tragic backstory that’s only ever vaguely alluded to and indirectly glimpsed, and the aesthetics of fascism and conservative Christianity (except he can’t ever actually reference Jesus or God or Hell or the Bible because Disney) without any of the inconvenient ramifications.

#the owl house #toh #philip wittebane #emperor belos

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rakruined · 1 year

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The Religious Implications of GotG vol. 3

So, it's Easter, and while I've got a lot of stuff to work on and things to do, I wanted to take the time to discuss the utterly insane things Guardians of the Galaxy volume three has done to my brain chemistry. After seeing @adamwarlock's post here, I've been thinking about just how many religious themes there seem to be in James Gunn's magnum opus. From a villain with a god complex to Rocket Raccoon becoming my new favorite satanic archetype maybe, this is gonna be a deep dive into everything I've picked up from the trailers so far.

So, let's start with the implications of that post I linked: "some corners of the galaxy consider (The High Evolutionary) God".

Now, the High Evolutionary has always had a theme of 'playing god' in the comics, what with his whole deal being creating sentient life from animal experiments, but in the MCU, his connections to Christian notions of religion are a lot more fascinating. For starters, his goal is stated to be wanting to create a "perfect society", which you'll notice looks a lot like suburban Bible Belt America, albeit with a lot more hybrid animal-people.

Now, in the comics, he uses Earth animals as a basis for his new lifeforms because he was once a normal human named Herbert Wyndham. He eventually traveled into space to continue his experiments on his own world, later adopting Adam Warlock (this will come back later). Given his desire to make himself more powerful in the movie, this makes him an interesting counterpart to MCU!Peter Quill, who was born with Celestial (ie. godly) power and left Earth not by choice.

Now, there are a few things they changed from the comics, his connection to Rocket being the most significant in the context of this story. While Halfworld performed similar experiments on Rocket and the other uplifts, the H.E had nothing to do with the planet. And while I'll get back to why his connection to Rocket is significant, as well as what I said about Adam, I want to get into another major change: his design.

Here we have the comics design on the left and the movie design on the right. But isn't his movie look almost priestly? Almost... familiar...?

IT'S FUCKMOTHERING ENRICO PUCCI WITH THE STEEL CHAIR

Okay, JoJo references aside, the High Evolutionary's connections to Adam Warlock definitely add to the whole religious overtones. I mean, a guy who's considered God has a perfect creation literally named "Adam", trying to create a perfect world? This shit writes itself. But if you consider a few additional facts, this takes on a pretty wild meaning. For starters, Adam has been stated to be relatively naive and innocent, unknowledgeable of the universe.

But where this gets interesting is that, based on Rocket's absence from most group shots during what is clearly being billed as the midsection of the movie (spacesuits scene, that fight where they're all in orange, the team arriving on Halfworld) that he possibly is captured by Adam and brought back to his creator for additional experimentation. Shots of someone implied to be Rocket on the operating table and Gamora carrying him to the ship half-naked serve as further evidence of a rescue mission.

But if he's captured by Adam Warlock, that means he has the opportunity to tell Adam what his creator is really planning. He has the chance to tell him how he was made and what the High Evolutionary's "perfect society" is built upon: the blood of innocent creatures he'd deemed imperfect. This could be what changes Adam, what makes him turn against his god and his Garden of Eden.

The voice of the devil on his shoulder.

Edit: I forgot to mention this wild coincidence! Gunn once said Rocket was inspired by Frankenstein's monster. It makes sense on the basic level of a tragic science experiment abandoned by his creator, but it gets even more bizarre. In the novel, the monster identifies with Satan in the book Paradise Lost, making him the same sort of tragic figure as Lucifer. Rocket too was an imperfect creation cast out by the "god" who made him. In this light, it's undeniable that yes, Rocket Raccoon is as much a satan figure as Adam Warlock is space Jesus.

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rageprufrock · 1 year

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I basically had zero visibility into non-anime Asian fandoms until KinnPorsche, and truly my absolute favorite deranged reality divorced stan narrative is about how BOC is disrespecting Mile by not giving him solo events. My brothers in Christ: I know you are used to highly produced humans with skill sets limited to being physically attractive and singing along to auto tune or whatever, but sometimes people who have other skills have to sometimes use them in exchange for goods and money. This dude is probably one of the secret executives running this entire cluster fuck. He doesn’t have time for solo events. He is probably on the phone with like six angry sponsors. He is probably like ah feck looking at whether it still makes sense to make that dumb time loop show with Bible and ????. He is PROBABLY DRINKING IN THE TUB. He needs to be soliciting RFPs from PR agencies that know how to pause all of BOC’s social media while (waves hand) instead of burning good content like you’re heating up your dope spoon with a fucking $100 bill.

#mile phakphum #kinnporsche #be on cloud #BOC #go outside #at this point even dead grass is fine

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delicatuscii-wasbella102 · 1 year

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So,

Im watching the Coronation of Charles, Whether you agree or not, Its history in the making. What makes me laugh, in a none funny way, is that our country is on its knees from a right wing, greedy and self serving government only looking out for themselves and their very rich friends, Yet our so called Prime Minister spouting from the Bible about being kind and thoughtful, Also, Charles saying how he will look out for us and the country, Really? How about you, halve the 25million pound bill this has cost the British Tax payer and make your government give it to those in poverty, The millions that have to use food banks because they cant afford to buy basic shopping, which includes working families, Help children that are in poverty even if their parents are working. Help with home fuel poverty and so much more. Unfortunately I don't think it will cross his mind, it certainly doesn't cross our governments mind.

#Personal wb102

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oldshowbiz · 9 months

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The Woman's Club of Hollywood is located at 1749 La Brea directly south of Franklin Avenue. It is right in the dead center of Hollywood, California. The venue is sometimes rented out for weddings.

However, their website has completely scrubbed its sordid history.

The LA Conservancy doesn't mention it either.

This ancient building has always had a weird vibe. Well, no wonder.

For ten years, from 1958 through 1968, it was the home base of "Christian Identity" preacher Wesley A. Swift.

He was bankrolled by an anti-Semitic haberdasher from downtown Los Angeles named James Oviatt. The downtown Oviatt Building is also rented out for weddings and the LA Conservancy leads an architectural tour of the building in which they fail to mention its Klan history.

Oviatt gave money to Wesley Swift to help assemble militias in the Antelope Valley for the purpose of weapons training with the ultimate goal of doing violent battle with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. The organization became better known in the 1970s as the "Aryan Nations."

A sermon delivered by Wesley A. Swift in this venue in February 1965 was typical:

"I have here one of the most unique pieces of writing in a newspaper. This is Baldwin. Black Baldwin. The scum of Negroes today. Called a brilliant writer and a great author and a great intellectual. Well, his kind of intellect belongs in a pig pen. What he says in his writing, in a piece of literature, called literature, that goes into our schools as literature ... every time he sees a white girl - he wants to rape her! He wants to assault every white woman to bring her down to his level, which proves he knows he's not up on your level. And he can only think of depravity and immorality to bring the levels together, that means to bring you down ... He says we don't have any nation, we don't have any flag, but we're going to get one! We're going to get it by violence and bloodshed and revolution! The Negroes gonna rise and take over! And that was in the San Francisco Chronicle last week. You say: what caused all this? It's because we have not heeded divine law and we have permitted those that are not willing to follow the laws of God to gain ascendency in our nation."

During a sermon delivered here in July 1964 he railed against the Civil Rights Act:

"This tyrannical bill known as the Civil Rights legislation which passed the house this week … The house passed a bill ... which is so filled with state and federal tyranny that it denies you and any establishment, even a church, the right to criticize or to disagree with any law relative to desegregation and anti-discrimination! "Makes it all so mandatory that there be prosecution against anybody who violates this law by securing the facts. A church would not be permitted to advocate the gospel of Christ or preach the content of this bible without violating their law as it relates to discrimination against pagan religions and against other gods. "One could not tell the story of the advocacy of God selecting and electing your race to this responsibility of world leadership without a differentiation between races … and if you declare the thing that God is advocating you'd be subject to prosecution!

"Civil rights legislation, which is not civil rights, but wrongs to the great Christian majority intended on mongrelizing your race and destroying your faith and reducing your nation ... to ... an elite core of evil … I think it should be a basic Christian project of every Christian to do all that he can to see that the persons who would surrender the liberties of these United States into the hands of the dictatorial authorities [are not re-elected]."

From his La Brea Avenue pulpit, Swift ranted against the changing immigration laws of the mid-1960s:

"Why do they want to destroy our immigration laws? Because immigration laws are the result of the Church's recognition that if we permit a flood of immigration into America of pagans and Africans and Asiatics that can out vote and out maneuver Christians, that they'll take over America and our freedoms will go!

"If you don't think this is the strategy, then you turn very carefully and examine the texts … which these Swedish and Negro Communists wrote."

Swift frequently invoked terms like "freedom" and "liberty" in defense of his view point and characterized Civil Rights laws and anti-bigotry as "tyranny."

He delivered horrific, racist sermons right here in the heart of Hollywood every single Sunday for a decade - and I have yet to see anyone acknowledge it.

#hollywood extremism #labrea #franklin ave #civil rights era

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writingwithfolklore · 2 years

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Funny Film Terms

One of the funniest (and most annoying) things about the film world is that the industry has nicknamed everything. I’m talking from tennis balls to lights to stands, almost everything has its own film industry nickname, and some of them are kind of a lot of fun.

So I’ve put together a list of my favourite terms to help you develop your film language for writing (or even just impress some people at a party).

Apple Box – A small box used to raise stands, tripods, or other equipment up a few inches. There’s the apple (full size), half apple (half the size of the full), quarter apple (quarter the size of the full), and a pancake which is the smallest. Usually there’s a ton of these on set, because we use them for just about everything. I’ve been on a set that’s made a bed out of apple boxes and a few blankets.

Baby – There’s a baby light, which is the smallest Fresnel light at 1000 watts, or a baby stand which is a small stand, and lastly the baby plate which is a small plate that can be screwed into walls, floors, ceilings, to mount lights and other equipment. We saw small equipment and immediately went “a baby!!” I guess.

Back lot – Essentially a fake street or set, typically in a studio where scenes can be filmed that still look real but the crew has more control over what it looks like than if they filmed on location. Typically everything found on a back lot (from trees, to streetlamps, to storefronts, to doors) is all fake. Not joking. Even a cinderblock on the ground is made out of foam. The more you know!

Banana – This one is a funny thing to hear on set. It’s essentially an actor movement where they’re walking in a curved line (to hide how small a space is or get around a hidden piece of equipment) but to the camera it looks like they’re walking straight. It’s a good way to get them to where they need to be without revealing the truth of the set.

Bible – A document that includes basically everything you need to know about characters, story arcs, plots, and any other key elements in a show so the writers, producers, and directors can refer to it during shooting—especially important given most shows don’t keep the same directors/writers throughout, and there’s a new director per episode, so keeping everything consistent is made much easier using a bible.

Biz – I don’t know anyone who actually uses this term for the “movie business” but we learned it. Typically people just call it “the industry” which is appropriately ominous.

Bogie – Essentially something in the shot that’s not meant to be. Usually a pedestrian or a vehicle that’s accidentally wandered onto a set.

C-47 – Literally just a clothespin

Circus – The area where trucks, trailers, tents, etc. are set up during filming.

Dead Cat – The fuzzy/foam thing that goes over the mic is actually (and I’m not kidding) called a dead cat. I’m not sure why, but essentially it just lessens wind noise and improves sound quality when recording actors. Oh, and the small version? That’s called a dead kitten.

Horse Opera: Old term for a western movie.

Quacker Clamp – A type of clamp that looks a bit like a duck’s bill. Used for holding onto something thicker like a ledge/counter/pipe.

Smiley’s - Stands that hold light or other equipment often have long arms—when the arm sticks out at a level humans could walk into, we put tennis balls on the ends to protect eyes and skin and such. These tennis balls are called Smiley’s because they have a hole cut into them that looks like a smile.

Walla – Crowd background noise that’s quiet and you can’t really make out any words. Called ‘walla’ because that’s sort of what it sounds like, just a bunch of people quietly going, “walla walla walla walla…”

There’s so, so much more I wish I could share it all with you guys but this post would literally be like 5000+ words long so I have to call it here. Any terms surprise you, or do you know of any notable ones that I missed? Let me know!

#writing #writers #writing tips #writing inspiration #creative writing #writing community #books #film #filmmaking #screenwriting #novel writing #film terms #funny film terms #film language #the more you know

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capriciouslyvexed · 1 year

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I cannot stress enough how difficult the crystal healing scam has made it for people to get into the actual hobby of rock collecting. People who have bought into the scam have absolutely flooded the internet with it, as such it’s become practically impossible to find even the most basic information about Rocks/Minerals in a way that is palatable for beginners. Yeah, sure there’s mindat, but the site isn’t exactly user-friendly and the information is presented in a way that’s hard for somebody without a background in geology/mineralogy/chemistry to understand. The other day I was trying to find a locale for a mexican specimen that came into my possession. Instead of any useful information about where Mexican Chabazites come from, I got five google pages about the ‘healing properties’ of Chabazite. I still don’t fucking know where the Chabazite really came from, and I can’t resell it because without the specific locale it’s practically worthless. Crystal Healers don’t care about the basic information that makes a piece special. Locales don’t matter, because a Chabazite is a Chabazite and they all cure your ingrown toenails or whatever. Notwithstanding that some Chabazites are rare and can be worth a lot more to actual hobbyist collectors simply because of things like locale and history. This also creates a false sense of expertise. If I had a dollar for everytime someone came into my shop and asked me “What does (x) mineral do?” then treated me like a dumbass because I replied with “Nothing, it’s a rock” I wouldn’t have to run a fucking shop to pay my bills. I did not go to college to learn about chemistry and crystallography to have some middle-aged white lady who read the crystal bible fifty times put me down and condescend me because I didn’t know that hematite gets rid of ulcers or something. Part of the scam is teaching victims not to trust someone who actually knows what they’re talking about, because if you learn about minerals you learn that crystal healing is a scam. So we’ve got a ton of people who could’ve contributed to a really cool hobby with a nice community but instead they can’t tell fluorite from amethyst because googling it can’t help them at all, and knowledgeable people are both in short supply and not trusted. With all that being said if I have to see another fucking Steven Universe OC when I search for rare uranium minerals I’m going to go apeshit.

#tales from the rock shop #crystal healing #it's a scam

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self-loving-vampire · 6 months

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Even offline several conservative propagandists have been making a huge effort to get people to associate not just trans women but queer people as a whole with child sexual abuse.

this is of course slightly inaccurate. the attempted association is with pedophiles, and then pedophiles are conflated with people who commit child sexual abuse.

this is an important distinction since what you described is about specific actions, whereas what i described is about unprovable mind states. the latter is much more useful for instigating witch hunts against undesirables.

i was going to ignore this as overly nitpicky, but then amusingly your disavowal of callout posts caused another blog to bring something to my attention which made me seriously doubt your stance against callouts targeting trans women. being as generous as possible it seems that your standard of "truly solid evidence" is extremely different from my own. the point described above is a good candidate for the cause of such a difference. it is perhaps something worth thinking about.

at any rate, i still appreciate you giving a serious response. this was very useful in clarifying how i should think of you, and more importantly how i should think of people in proximity to me who are friendly with you. thanks, and i hope that the rest of your day goes well.

I think you may be behind the times on what anti-trans propaganda looks like in 2023.

Conservatives are not just talking about mind states. They think (or at least claim, for the purposes of stochastic terrorism) that providing trans minors with transition-related healthcare is child sexual abuse/sexual mutilation in itself and discuss it as such.

For example, Oklahoma's "millstone act" attempting to ban transition for people under age 26:

"The bill filed Wednesday is titled the “Millstone Act of 2023” – a reference to a Bible passage that a person would be better off tying a large boulder around their neck to “be drowned in the depths of the sea” than harm a child."

You are right in that unprovable mind states are a more effective tool for inciting violent mobs against a wider range of people since evidence is basically not a factor in those circumstances (I have seen conservatives use this tactic against refugees too), but their current methods also heavily involve redefining terms like "grooming" to also include "queer people existing near children" or "children learning things that contradict their parents' world view".

This is an unsurprising yet concerning escalation of the typical rhetoric, which was generally much more vague along the lines you suggested. By doing this they more easily expand the target list to include healthcare providers and trans-supportive parents. The claim is not just that these people are attracted to children but that they are already sexually abusing children just by not adopting the conservative worldview on how to support a trans child (which is to beat them, control them, and send them to a conversion camp).

I have even seen people raise panics over purely social transition and claim that parents must absolutely be informed of any hint it may be happening.

Either way, I think it's still possible that our standards for what counts as solid evidence for claims that someone abuses children differ (for what it's worth, I don't think thoughts alone hurt others and think that's a silly idea) but since I don't know you or anything I can't even tell what you're trying to say exactly.

#long post

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batboyblog · 1 year

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I think too many people have decided that media consumption (or refusal to consume some media) is not only a form of activism, but the highest form of activism.

So to be clear you can read a book, watch a movie etc without agreeing with the actions or the view points of the characters even the main character. Watching John Wick doesn't mean you believe in guns as the answer to problems. Watching Dirty Harry doesn't mean you endorse police violence. We can go on and on here, but basically watching or reading a piece of media doesn't mean you agree with the characters and their actions and often times media is made intentionally complex to make a character questionable or indeed outright bad while we still are made to understand them.

You also can read or watch a work and not agree with the author's politics. HP Lovecraft was a horrible racist, antisemite, hated women etc, but he's long long dead, hell Walt Disney hated Jews, hated them, loathed them, that doesn't mean you're a Nazi if you watch Snow White.

Of course life is complex so there are a few areas where you should boycott buying someone's work. One is when the author is objectively a horrible human being and is still alive so you buying their work will support them. This would be like Woody Allen, R. Kelly, Bill Cosby, and Roman Polanski to name a few off the top of my head, they're horrible sex criminals, your support allows Allen, Cosby and Polanski to support their life styles sadly out of jail.

a second group is when authors (or I guess copyright holders) have political views you disagree with and have made it clear they will spend the money you give them on their politics. This is JK Rowling of course, but also Orson Scott Card, author of Ender's Game, who is a devote Mormon and has given a lot of his money to the Church but also to anti-gay movements like Prop8 back in 2008, it was on the board of a national anti-gay marriage org, any ways buy Ender's Game used is what I'm saying.

Most books are just books, they may have themes or ideas in there that are political or cultural and you may feel some way about those but mostly they're stories first. However a small number of books are political manifesto dressed up as work of fiction. Most famously, Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged which pretend to be novels but really are odes to Rand's political philosophy that greed, and selfishness are really good things and helping the poor is evil. If you want to know what the worst people in government are talking about and want to suffer through some of the worst writing imaginable, pirate it. Rand didn't believe the government should help people so you know no copyright for you.

Finally there are a very small, tiny handful of books you really just shouldn't read. I'm thinking here of like The Turner Diaries. Like Atlas Shrugged, The Turner Diaries are political manifesto pretending to be a novel. It's basically the Bible of neo-Nazis so unless you're an academic studying the modern white supremacy after WWII, you have no reason to ever read it (same with Mein Kampf, but I've limited myself to works of fiction)

#rambles #media #just read something that challenges you #please?#watch something with characters who are bad

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bills-bible-basics · 5 months

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PARABLE OF THE SOWER: SALVATION AND SERVICE -- a Bill's Bible Basics Article This #BillsBibleBasics article by #BillKochman can be read online at the following URL: https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/parsowr1.html https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/parable-of-the-sower-salvation-and-service-a-bills-bible-basics-article/?feed_id=106880&_unique_id=6566975e040d4&PARABLE%20OF%20THE%20SOWER%3A%20SALVATION%20AND%20SERVICE%20--%20a%20Bill%27s%20Bible%20Basics%20Article

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duggardata · 1 year

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Jinger's New Book is About Her Journey Leaving The Cult (IBLP, etc.)

Today (November 7, 2022), Jinger (Duggar) Vuolo took to YouTube to officially announce her new book, "Becoming Free Indeed." She says the book is about "[her] journey disentangling faith from fear"—and it sounds pretty damn groundbreaking for a Duggar. (Yay, Jinger!)

Here's a full transcript, typed up by Duggar Data—

"This has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I think it's the most important. I've written a book. It is called "Becoming Free Indeed," and it is my story—my journey of disentangling faith from fear.

I first had the idea to write this book back in 2017. Jeremy and I had just attended a conference in Big Sandy, Texas for an organization called Institute In Basic Life Principles. While there, I saw dozens of people I'd grown up with—friends who, like me, had come to Big Sandy every year to sit under the teachings from a man named Bill Gothard. But, for every old friend that I saw that week, there was one or two that I expected to see that wouldn't show up. In the coming months and years, I'd start to hear stories of those friends, and I'd find out that some of them no longer wanted anything to do with Christ or Christianity. They had rejected everything they'd been taught about God, the Bible, and the Christian faith. And, while that's not my story—I'm a Christian that loves Jesus, and wants to follow him—I have, like those friends, rejected much of the teaching I heard for many years. My faith is still intact, but it has changed. Instead of leaving the faith entirely, I've been disentangling it.

My new book, "Becoming Free Indeed," is that journey—my journey of discovery, of disentangling, my journey of faith. In it, I share stories from my life. Stories that nobody saw while the TV cameras were rolling. Stories of fear and uncertainty, but also of discovery and hope. I share these stories became I want to be an encouragement to any of you, who may be struggling to work through what you've been taught while still loving Jesus. Really, I wrote this book for any of you who are wanting to honestly examine your beliefs without abandoning God. If you've been hurt by the teachings of Bill Gothard, or any religious leader who claimed to speak for God but didn't, I wrote this for you.

When you grow up in a tight–knit community, where everyone believes the same things about everything, it can be hard to even consider the possibility that what you were taught may have been wrong. But, we all need to, even if it's hard. I wish that the teachers you leaned on when you were younger pointed you to Jesus. But, I know that's not always the case, and so I'm hopeful that my story can encourage you not to give up on God, to not abandon Jesus.

I know that many of you do not believe the same things that I do about God and the Bible. But, this book is an invitation into my life, so that you can see through the highs and lows, through the good and the difficult, and through the changes in what I believe and how I live. Jesus is my strength. He is worthy. I pray this book will help you to see why I follow him.

While this is not the first book I've written, it has been, by far, the most challenging. The process has been more emotionally exhausting than I thought it would be, and it's been tough because it's so personal. And, at times, I've wondered if I should even write it. But, I know it's necessary, and I'm thankful God has given me the strength to finish it.

I want you to know at the start of this book that it is not a tell–all about my family. This is a book about me, and my spiritual journey. It is the story of my faith, and how I've had to figure out what I believe and why I believe it. This is my personal theological memoir. Thanks for joining me as I tell my story."

#jinger duggar vuolo #becoming free indeed

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