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strangestcase · 1 year

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For the people that are going to do Dracula Daily this year:

One of the subplots that Dracula covers, and arguably the most important subplot, is one centered around a psychiatric patient confined to an asylum- it touches upon the way he sees the world, his relationship with his doctor, and how he relates to and perceives the villain VS the heroes, since for most of the plot he believes the villain to be good and strives to serve him.

Both the patient and the doctor characters (who are part of the main cast and very important to moving the plot foward in their own ways!) are portrayed as sympathetic victims to the main villain and mostly on the side of good, but in different ways, and, of course, the way they are written is informed by the beliefs of the time.

I won't spoil anything too important about it, just warn you that this subplot depicts Victorian Era ableism, which is... pretty extreme, and forms of medical abuse (specifically, psychiatric abuse) that still exist today!

This plotline involves:

-depictions of hallucinations, delusions, and irrational thinking

-medical malpractice: delusions being encouraged, patients being dehumanized, prolonged use of dangerous restraints

-unsanitary behavior (eating live animals)

-ableist attitudes from most of the hero characters

(other Dracula fans pls tell me if I've missed something)

What do I make of this? you ask. Well...

Do not excuse medical abuse, even if it's fictional. The doctor character is, for all his medical malpractice, depicted as a complex person that has some likeable traits and he undergoes a pretty sad arc relating to loss and trauma, like most of the heroes of this novel. This doesn't make him any less of an abuser, nor makes his patient any less of a victim!

Refrain from using ableist language or rethoric. The patient character, being written for a very old horror book, is often depicted as "unsettling" and his strange behavior is sometimes played for horror. This 1) doesn't make his situation any less deplorable 2) doesn't make him any less sympethetic and most importantly 3) doesnt give you a free pass to treat him as a scary horror monster. He's a victim of both the real monster of this story and the system he lives in.

Listen to psychotic fans. Research the history of Victorian asylums. Understand the historical context. Look at this subplot from a holistic perspective instead of treating it as a horror story within a horror story (although, it is a horror story, but not for the reasons some think it is!). Just don't be a dick to disabled people.

If any part of this subplot triggers or squicks you, you are not obligated to read it, just be aware that it exists and that it is important to avoid perpetuating ableist stereotypes, be they present in the original text or not. (Hell, you are not obligated to read any part of the book if you don't want to do so. Dracula Daily is supposed to be fun. Analyzing literature is supposed to be fun. Enjoying literature is supposed to be fun!)

For the love of God, don't get angry if some fans dislike the doctor character for what he's done and take the patients' side. This was an issue during the last Dracula Daily run. He's literally the victim in this relationship. I'm not saying you can't like or dislike either character but I have to reiterate: do not erase either character's contribution to the plot, do not demonize the patient character for being mentally ill in an "ugly" way and beliveing the villain is good, and don't woobiefy the doctor character because he said a funny thing once. Both are complex adult human beings so don't expect them to be caricatures.

Do not be afraid to call out ableist behavior from other fans, but also be careful to not overstep or talk over disabled fans, especially psychotic fans.

During the Dracula Daily run, some blogs will warn about the entries in which this subplot takes place, and what triggers apply for each one of them. If you need those warnings, don't be afraid to reach out for them!

Happy reading!

#dracula daily #dracula #dracula daily 2023

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gallusrostromegalus · 8 months

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Something that you might have discussed that I just missed for AEIWAM - if Hell is basically Soul Rehab for souls that aren't Contributing Properly, then why does having high spiritual energy mean that you're more likely to go to Hell? Are they basically bleeding off excess energy from those souls, or?

Yes and no?

1. Hell is rehab for Souls that would damage the cycle of reincarnation*specifically*. People only go to hell for two* reasons: they do a lot of harm to others (aka Bad Karma), or when reincarnating them would throw the balance between worlds off (High power)

Basically, there needs to be... Approximately the same amount of spiritual energy in the living world, spirit world and Hell. So when an exceptionally powerful spirit like say, a Captain, dies and moves onto the next plane, there sort of needs to be 'room' for the incoming powerful soul. There usually isn't, and also the Life Machine that generates reality needs to eat, so Hell solves both problems by having really powerful souls come to hell and vent power for a while until they are only about as strong as a regular soul, and then send them back to the living world.

2. So, yes, the more powerful a soul, the more likely they are to go to Hell, no matter how they behave in the living or spirit world.

For people on the level of Gotei-13 captains, it's pretty much guaranteed, unless they manage to do something bizarre like drain all of their spiritual energy into a magical barrier or leave it stored in the Family Cursed Artifact (looking at you, Tsunyashiro clan). Lieutenants stand an estimated 50/50 chance (unless they learn Bankai in which case, again, guaranteed), and all seated officers are at some increased risk.

3. How they behave while alive still makes a difference though.

See, Hell in AEIWAM isn't *necessarily" The Bad Place. Souls cause harm to other souls for TONS of reasons that aren't evil: mental illness, getting caught in terrible circumstances, genuinely trying to make the world a better place and severely fucking up, and sometimes it's just bad luck. Hell isn't there to punish, it's there to figure out what went wrong that this soul hurt so many people, and try to fix it.

Sometimes that's things like "magically removing the ego and putting a different sized one in", sometimes it's "cognitive behavioral therapy" sometimes it's "you're not a bad person but you did fuck up so you gotta do a really boring and gross task that helps restore the ambient vibes of the universe for 400 years to balance out the damage" sometimes it's "actually, we can trust you to do good deeds, here's a visa to the living world to dole out minor miracles to anyone who needs it".

In AEIWAM, the only difference between a devil and an angel is that the angel does field work and the devil does back office.

So sure, all the captains are going to Hell at some point. But if they did their best while alive, they more or less get to skip rehab and have Free Time until they're weak enough to leave. It fun, actually! Captains and the like get assigned a Demonic Personal Assistant and told to go have fun, don't break anything, and are turned lose to go adventuring, get married, take up farming and/or stamp collecting or whatever they desire.

*note from above: there is a third "legitimate" way to enter Hell: Superlative Karma.

It's RARE, but once in a while a soul so vastly improves life for everyone else they end up with such extremely good karma that they run the risk of unbalancing the planes just by sheer vibes clash. Superlatives are plucked out of the cycle of reincarnation by Hell to help the spend some of that karma having a very literal HELL OF A GOOD TIME.

4. And so, all the planes of the wheel lived in harmony, UNTIL THE BOURGEOISIE ATTACKED.

Problem is, about... 1500ish years ago, a bunch of the noble houses got together, tricked The Monk Who Speaks The Name into letting them into the house of the guy that maintains The Life Machine, they very literally butchered The Divine Tech Support, and used parts of his body to jam up the wheel of life, because they thought they could be God better than God.

Dumbasses.

One of the things they jammed was the Exit from Hell, so now only a few people can leave at a time and the backup is threatening to unbalance the entire wheel now, so Hell is also being VERY VERY CAREFUL to not let any of the Captains die until they've gotten enough souls out that there is effectively 'room' for the Captain.

So yes. Higher spiritual power means a soul is guaranteed to go to Hell, at least for a while-but it also means they won't be going there for a long, LONG time.

#aeiwam #an elephant is warm and mushy #bleach #bleach fanfiction #hell mention #world-building

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aronarchy · 3 months

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broke: i can armchair anyone with cluster b pds just because they’re abusive/manipulative/unpleasant/i don’t like them, lol.

woke: only professionals should diagnose, if you’re a layperson you’re uneducated on the topic and don’t have sufficient understanding to be accurate and unbiased. disorders are a very serious thing you should take very seriously, not just throw around randomly whenever.

bespoke: the psychiatric field is institutionally corrupt as a result of its historical and ongoing construction as an apparatus of oppression. this leads to major blind spots in their ability to understand the experience of marginalized people, including mentally ill and neurodivergent people. much of psychiatric research, not to mention practice, is politically motivated and systematically incentivized to serve the interests of power. thus, many people are wrongly or inaccurately diagnosed with cluster b pds to demonize them or reinforce ideas about criminality, fundamental pathology contributing to their problematicness, justifying oppression, claiming struggles which are results of oppression are actually inherent and biological, etc. on the other hand, many people are underdiagnosed, unidentified, denied help when they’re struggling with a certain illness because psychiatrists are often incompetent and wrong, and with cluster b’s this may apply along a gendered line. this applies for any diagnostic practice, and even for other doctors who are part of the medical-industrial complex. psychiatrists are also disproportionately abusive, and some of this is baked into the cultural norms, intended purposes, and rules and regulations and privileges regarding psychiatric practice. you cannot trust an oppressor class to have the last and most accurate say on the oppressed’s subjectivities and interiorities. furthermore, part of the structure of the institution of academia itself ensures an elitist and hierarchical epistemology. dismantling this and other intersecting oppressions means reaffirming the right of the individual themself to either self-diagnose or self-(non/un)diagnose. existing information or medical professionals should be helpful for doing this better and to improve individual being, and acknowledging the significance or accuracy of their or others’ information accurately is obviously important, but professionals should not be treated as authorities who have the right to wholesale override self-understandings instead of supporting, or to control patients. this is in no way contradictory to opposing armchair diagnoses by underinformed or malicious laypeople who trivialize or misunderstand disorders. however, the problem with such behavior must be located correctly. the inaccuracy is a problem, but that means inaccuracy from actual psychiatrists is also a problem (and it certainly does exist). additionally it might perhaps be helpful to identify saneist armchair-diagnosing laypeople as engaging in behavior similar to that of psychiatrists and both wrong, rather than trying to position them as opposed. the same kind of epistemic overriding and even absurdity is often done by many psychs (and in fact the practice and framework has in large part originated or at least been spread starting from the psychiatric institution itself).

#OP #saneism #cluster B #antipsych

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archivehornets · 11 days

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This blog gives 2013-2017 MH fandom times. Things have really changed since then, Jesus 😔

Very true! But the past is the past, and some change is to be expected. The climate/level of activity in the fanbase has certainly mellowed out, but, in a lot of ways, I think that's for the best. New people will always find their way here and contribute their own creations. Along with that change has also come a radical shift in the fandom's attitude towards things which were previously pretty mildly unpopular (EX; queer headcanons, radical acceptance of mentally ill characters without demonization). Overall, I would say the progress within the MH fandom has been pretty overwhelmingly positive. Of course, though, I miss certain parts of the old days.

#mod jay #asks #2024

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totally-not-here-for-the-smut · 8 months

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☆~Masterlist~☆

Requests: Open

Bc requests make me happy :)

Here's what I do

Key, in increasing lemon level:

◇ This is plain random stuff

♡ Relationships, Affection & Teasing

♧ Fluff, Light Smut

♤ HERE BE THE BIG DONGS BEWARE

Arcana Fanfictions

Loved & Lost

A gritty, angst prequel about the plague times. Tells the story of MC becoming Julian's medicine apprentice, and the ups and downs of their relationship with Asra during those hard times. It's kinda intense, but I changed the color of the triggering parts so you can enjoy it anyway.

NSFW alphabets ♤

Lucio

Julian

Late night headcanons ♧♡

Handling Trauma (healing intimacy) -Muriel ♧♡

Handling Trauma -Asra ♤♧♡

What "innocent" detail of the M6 will make your blood boil? ♧

Sexy Lingerie ♧

Asra angst - Julian smut♧

MurielxNadia

So it begins ◇

The proposal ◇

Compassion ◇♡

Daring conditions◇

The revelation incident◇

The Arcana Files (my theories on this universe) ◇

Vesuvia Geopolitics

The mariner republics

Why is Lucio count of Vesuvia?

Long Live the goatman - why I think Lucio's route is great (tw: mental illness)

Asra is great, but also grey

About demons - theories about nabestetics post

ADHD in Vesuvia

Quick Headcanons

M6's Children ◇1, 2, 3, 4, 5

M6 favourite places to winkwink ♧♡

First date places♡◇

Relax for the m6◇

The M6 during a boring lecture◇

Winter Masquerade outfits ◇

New year party ◇

Zombie apocalypse ◇

Sci-fi Movie◇

Vampire AU◇

Fairytale AU♡◇

Asra Angst

Ask prompts

What would make the M6 happy◇♡

The M6 with an hypersomniac apprentice ♡◇♧♤ imho this dongs are great

Baby Fever♢♧♡♤

The M6 reacts to a bold MC flirting with them ♧♡

Overstimulation & Edging ♤♧

Overstimulation & Edging vol.2 ♤♧

The m6 with an MC who has an hard time coming ♤♡♧

Squirting headcanons ♤♧

Infertility issues ♡

Flinching MC ♡♧

M6 with Blind MC ◇♡

M6 reacts to naked-in-bed♧

Currently working on:

If you requested something and I'm writing it, it will appear here. No srsly, I forget things if I don't keep a neat project tracker

The Midsummer's Masquerade ♤♧

More prompts

The M6 kinks and why they have it

Ask: smut scene with Asra ♤♧

Ask: M6 react to blind MC

Vesuvia geopolitics chapt.3◇

Handling Trauma - Nadia, Lucio and Julian//♡♤♧ I was super scared to upset people with this, but apparently it does work! I love it, gonna post more.

NSFW alphabet ♤

Apprentice's portait ◇

Nadia x Muriel ♡◇ //feel like it's not working, it's now on the backburner

This prompts ♤♧

Some very angsty shit about the beginning of MC x Julian & the real reason behin Asra's guilt ♤♡♧ (Loved & Lost chapt. 3)

Smth about jealousy and cheating, idk

Feel free to pressure me and ask for new chapters of stuff you're liking because I tend to forget it and I apprecieate your requests!

Contributes are ☆Open☆

If you got good stuff, feel free to send good stuff

I love you smut & angst dealers

There's nothing wrong with writer's propaganda

I love tiny fanfic gnomes too

Reading list

#masterlist #the arcana #the arcana game #arcana smut #the arcana smut

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pinkysberg · 1 year

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trying to have any form of convo about dutch's mental wellbeing is very annoying sometimes because you have camp "demonize NPD or other cluster B personality disorders" or there's the group "because dutch was clearly not in his right mind he cannot be held responsible for his actions"

dutch obviously has a mental decline and we can speculate about what caused that, or what disorders, conditions or mental illnesses he may or may not have. it can definitely humanize him and give his decisions nuance. but i wish people would be more careful they aren't attributing the idea that to have a cluster B personality disorder makes you an inherently bad or dangerous person.

dutch is a bad person because of the decisions he makes as an individual, separate of whatever condition he may or may not have. having NPD, BPD, or other conditions like bipolar disorder, etc. does not make someone inherently a bad person. please be careful about how you discuss these conditions in general, but im talking specifically about fandom spaces as we can contribute to harmful stigmas with our headcanons. its important to be careful in discussing conditions that are already so heavily stigmatized.

#i wanna be able to talk about dutch and his abusive behaviour without having to combat anti-NPD rhetoric #it's just frustrating #dutch van der linde #thinky #also for the record i personally would hc with bipolar 1 and NPD #but that's not the point here #AND NEURODIVERGENT PPL DESERVE TO FEEL INCLUDED IN FANDOM WITHOUT BEING DEMONIZED #bc yes ppl w cluster b personality disorders or other conditions with stigmas are neurodivergent too

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antenna-cykes · 2 months

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100% biased opinion but if youre a young person thinking of going pursuing a psychiatry career don't fucking do it i swear psychiatrist are like cops to me you can have the best intentions you can dream about fixing the system from the inside and all ypu want is to help people but listen to me. for every person with generalized anxiety disorder you "cure" theres a handful of stigmatized demonized mentally ill people Dying behind your back and youre contributing to that every time you give up on someone with homicidal and aggressive tendencies and send them to a hell institute every time you refer a disordered teenager to residential treatment and they're a victim of medical malpractice and abuse every time you force someone into treatment they don't want every time you take away an adult's rights to choose for themselves every time you lie and makw shit up thats someone's very likely death youre responsible for and i hope every single psychiatrist that has been responsible for someone becoming even more horrificqlly traumatized by this awful broken system suffers forever and ever. i hope you never find peace i hope you think about all the people whose life you ended. every day. if youre going into psychiatry i hppe you feel responsible for all the human beings youre about to ruin. children and adults alike. i hope it hurts you deeply until the very last day of your life

#anti psych

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klapollo · 1 month

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also i think it's a little hmmmmm when people insinuate amanda bynes has struggled the way she has "because dan scheider obviously did x y and z to her." it feels trivializing. yes it's entirely possible, even likely, amanda was abused as a child star, and it's possible that schneider was one of the perpetrators, and that trauma contributed to her mental health problems. but also...... i think that just wraps a very complex issue in a tight bow. people have always struggled to acknowledge that amanda bynes will probably be fighting her demons to some extent for the rest of her life, and that this is a thing with chronic mental illness people rarely want to accept. it's easier to say "well someone did this to her" than to admit some people -- while trauma exacerbates them -- just have problems like this.

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sophieinwonderland · 8 months

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New to your blog and I saw in one of your posts you mentioned the demonization of DID within media and horror especially. I'm used to knowing this as things like the movies split etc but you mentioned werewolves aswell. As an avid dnd player I never really connected the dots but it makes a lot of sense how things like werewolves could be an allegory for people with DID and perhaps other horror related media and stuff also do that (perhaps jekyll and hyde).

I'm not well versed on the topic and was wondering if there's other creatures through mythology or stuff like that that are possibly rooted an abilism and stuff like that that you could point out for me? Sorry if any of that came across as offensive or anything

-Ben (only asking in anon because my main blog is a fan blog)

Hi there!

And there's a ton of it.

Before going further, it's important to note that pluralphobia can be broken into roughly two categories. The first is the fear of BEING plural. Of sharing your own body with someone else.

The second is a fear of someone else being plural, or otherwise not being the same person they used to be.

Stories of demon and spirit possession will touch upon both forms of pluralphobia and I've talked about them a lot.

But something that's not brought up often that contributed to this is body snatchers.

Many mythological creatures throughout history have fallen into this category. Despite not technically being plural, these stories stigmatize and demonize people for acting differently than they did in the past. For being different people.

Take, for instance, a story of a girl who goes into the woods collecting mushrooms and goes missing. She's found days later by her father who is overjoyed to have her returned.

Afterwards, strange things start happening around the farm. Animals start dying. And the girls' brothers are sent to watch the lifestock at night. One by one, the brothers tell the father what they saw, and he doesn't believe them.

One of the brothers is banished by his father while the others don't speak of it further. He goes to live at a temple for a year when one of his brothers comes to get him, telling him he needed to return.

The brothers return home to find their estate in disrepair, and their livestock and the rest of their family dead. Only the sister is alive, when she's revealed to be a Kumiho: A 9-tailed fox demon who replaced their real sister.

(Note: I'm summarizing the version from the Myth & Legends podcast we heard well over a year ago from memory, so some of the details may not be totally accurate. Also, that's a really great episode and you should check it out even if I did spoil the ending.)

This story isn't intentionally pluralphobic. It's intentionally sexist, with the moral being to believe your sons over your daughters. But the pluralphobia isn't intentional.

However, stories like this and many others created environments where systems couldn't exist.

These stories weren't JUST stories. They were superstitions that shaped cultures.

I don't know if people believed this specific story as an accurate historical account of something that really happened. But they believed in the Kumiho and creatures like them. Just like people believed in similar creatures that could replace your loved ones.

Luckily, I don't know of anyone killed because their relatives believed them a Kumiho. (But we likely wouldn't know. These were peasant beliefs most popular in times when lower classes were illiterate and much of this history wouldn't be recorded. Let alone survive to be translated into English.)

But when it comes to superstitions of Fae body snatchers, Bridget Cleary wasn't nearly so lucky.

Murdered by her husband with several others who accused her of being a Fae.

For other ableism, some have also linked changelings to Autism and other mental illnesses, being used to justify child abuse and torture.

What would it have been like to be plural before the modern era?

With this in mind, I think it's important to consider why we don't hear much of psychological plurality until recently. The body snatching trope may not be a direct allegory for plurality in the same way as demon possession. But it contributed to an environment of superstition and fear.

Today, being out as plural, headmates wanting to go by our chosen names instead of the body's, means that we may be disowned by family, abandoned by friends, harassed on the internet or lose our jobs.

But historically, it's likely that plurals who came out would have feared treatment like that of Bridget Cleary unless they lived in a society with culturally accepted plurality, where spiritual possession might be welcomed.

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asongofstarkandtargaryen · 4 months

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Not to demonize Cat but the woman literally said Arya was a trial and she wanted her to be like Sansa; she admired Edmure’s efforts to look after his people but at the same time she saw them as useless mouths to feed; she wanted 14 year old Jon out of his own home in Winterfell. How is that supposed to be similar to him? Same with Sansa being Ned 2.0 just because she’s in the Vale. She doesn’t recall any of his lessons like his other kids do. He is a man who lived and died for his family and was overall well liked by his people. He carried Lyanna’s secret to his grave. Sansa snitched on her family (bitterly regretting it) because she was in love with the little psycho who tried to murder her sister and she barely had any contact with the smallfolk. The math doesn’t add up. Just reads like a Jon/sa fetich of NedCat 2.0, same people who insist Jon longs for Cat’s love and approval since he has oedipus complex or whatever. But one can not erase canon and none of the women Jon felt attracted to had anything to do with Cat. They need milk of the copey.

Yes, I agree with you.

Comparing Catelyn saying that Arya was "a trial" while the latter was missing to Jon gifting Arya the Needle, it's clear that those two characters view Arya's behavior differently.

Arya herself was doubting that her mother would want her ( which mind you wasn't true, Catelyn wanted both her daughters back. But it says a lot about the impression she had given to her child through her behavior). Meanwhile, she was certain that Jon would want her even if no one else would. Jon's acceptance is wholeheartedly, he doesn't criticize Arya's parts their society considers unwomanly ( and in fact, all the girls he finds attractive share those traits of hers).

Here is the thoughts of Catelyn when her brother gives shelter to innocent people in Riverlands war zone:

Only my sweet brother would crowd all these useless mouths into a castle that might soon be under siege.

ACOK - Catelyn I

Jon Snow in ADWD is doing exactly what Catelyn is criticizing her brother for, he gives shelter to "useless mouths" ( aka all the Wildings that can't contribute to the fight against the Others).

Jon's worldview, beliefs and behavior is so different from Catelyn's that it's laughable to claim that "he's Catelyn with Ned/Lyanna's characteristics". Do they have a couple of things/ traits in common? Surely, but so does almost any pair of pov characters. That doesn't mean all of them are copies of each other.

Moving to Sansa, I disagree with the fandom's notion that she's Ned 2.0. As you said, she doesn't recall his lessons like his other children do. That's not to condemn her because Ned taught mainly the boys and Catelyn was responsible for the girls ' education ( Arya is the exception here because we know that she liked to follow her father and see him performing his duties as the Castle's Lord).

And then there is the scene where Sansa tells Cersei her father's plan. Again, I'm not gonna codemn a 11 years old for making a silly decision but considering that a major theme in Ned's story is that he never revealed his sister's secret, preferring to soil his honor in order to protect it I fail to see the similarities between father and daughter in terms of personal values and priorities.

As I often say, Sansa was way closer to her mother than she ever was to her father and she shares some core beliefs with her ( plus her narrative comparison to Cat is important due to the Littlefinger obsession with both of them). So if the fans want to link Sansa to any of her parents, Catelyn the correct choice imo.

On a side note, I'm sure that you probably meant no harm but I don't like the word "psycho" to describe awful characters. Joffrey was a little shit but that was because he was spoiled by his mother and neglected by his father. He didn't have any psychosis. Mental illnesses affect real people and that's why I don't like seeing them being used as slurs.

#asoiaf ask #laren-dorrs

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torque-witch · 6 months

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Getting Back into Witchcraft - 10/30/23 - Who Can Use Witchcraft?

Literally anyone can use witchcraft. Simple as that.

But, for the sake of (me) delving back into witchcraft, let's talk about the historical and relevant point of this idea - that witchcraft has primarily been used as a tool of the oppressed, undermined, marginalized, chronically ill, mentally ill, poor, othered, etc. This includes various cultures and indigenous practice (where referred to by these groups as such).

While it is somewhat difficult as just someone on the internet to find specific examples of this, it shouldn't be a surprise that the constant onslaught of government control, societal conservatism, religious colonialism & imperialism, the wiping out of various cultures, the entirety of the feminist and lgbtqia+ movement around the world - provokes ordinary people to disconnect from the norm in order to find peace, power and to fight back in ways that money and class can't afford them, because it often isn't accessible.

One example of course is the spell that was cast by Gerald Gardner and his group of witches in an attempt to keep Adolf Hitler at bay in the 40's. Whether you believe that it actually made a difference or not, it represents a time when people were so incensed about injustice and protecting their land, that they chose to conjure a defense mechanism built out of pure will and theory.

(Barring of course the very real criticism of Gardner, this is just an example we can use)

*And important note though in regards to this story, is that Gardner also volunteered as an air raid warden and provided some weapons as a part of tangible defense. In the same way, I think it's important to recognize that -

a) Being a witch implies that you are at odds with society, and you need to participate in activism in real life, and

b) doing so only increases the likelihood of your spells to work because you've already put energy into tangible actions

We will definitely talk about that idea more under the topic of spellcrafting, but I think it's important to recognize that being a witch is inherently political and socially at odds with the mainstream. It seems like as witchcraft becomes more acceptable and watered down, people do and will tend to ignore this for the sake of false positivity, love and light etc. But if we are using witchcraft as a tool to better ourselves or to protect ourselves from negativity, we should also be using it to do that for those around us that are disadvantaged or targeted.

Another point is that especially in the 00's, as we've learned about how dangerous covens can be, especially for women, that connection within the witchcraft community is becoming harder and harder to cultivate. People are wary, weary and there is always the looming risk of white supremacy leaking into our circles. So it is even more important to be knowledgeable about politics, dog whistles, scams, cults and about what sexual abuse can entail. At the end of the day, it is more dangerous for you to be uninformed and avoiding all negativity. Knowlege is what gives you protection and power.

On a related note - although there is still a big social implication that witches can only be women and a lot of the violence has been targeted at women, it is historically incorrect and factually incorrect that only biological females (ew) can practice witchcraft. That's not even considering that most of the original texts on witchcraft were written by men because women were either not allowed to be authors or had a very hard time accessing education or support in that sense. This contributed historically to afab people having to practice in seclusion or private and being demonized while men had an easier time sharing their own ideas. *Some people tend to think that this further justifies men being barred from being welcome in witchy spaces - and there are valid concerns - but at the end of the day that's enough proof that men, women and anyone in between can participate in occult practice and study it. I think it's also fair to say that while gender isn't a true factor in being able to cast spells, it can certainly shape your practice in an individual sense, and there are lessons to be learned from anyone who practices regardless of gender, or because of it!

Then comes the great debate -

Is "witch" a gender neutral term?

And yes, I think in 2023 we have come to the conclusion that it is - that witchcraft transcends gender - but there are always alternatives for those that may not feel comfortable with the social implications of gender that come with that term, or similarly Wizard or Warlock.

For that we can use practitioner, magician, mage, sorcerer, enchanter, occultist, (insert sect here)-mancer, etc.

I'm not sure if it's still used widely, but at one time "Wix" was also introduced as a non-binary version of Witch and is totally acceptable.

So, let's end this off with another Tarot reading!

Who can practice withcraft - The Hermit, Reversed

Personally I feel like the connection here is the idea that isolating and gatekeeping the practice of witchcraft in regards to gender is limiting and harmful to the overall potential of knowledge available to us. Becoming so bent on a single idea or belief can be harmful and limits us as a community and a resource of power, and putting yourself (or your gender) above others when it comes to access doesn't gain you any favors or special privilege. We can all walk individual paths within witchcraft, but closing off the experience as a whole is harmful.

Is being a witch inherently political - 10 of Pentacles

This makes me think about the dynamic that the oppressed and underserved are constantly at odds with - the desire and fight to have the same resources as those with generational wealth, access to healthcare, access to education, even having access to community in general. A critical point of witchcraft is to put control back into our hands where society or global power has taken away that luxury. The 10 of pentacles represents all of that, and how that wealth of knowledge and even tangible wealth spreads out to our communities when we actually foster that kind of environment. To me, witchcraft is a path for a lot of people to build safe spaces and thriving communities while under a much larger pretense of control.

What gives a witch power - The Wheel of Fortune, Reversed

The Reversed Wheel represents confusion and the inability to predict the future; it is a feeling of being out of control. So consequently, what gives a witch power is the ability to flip the card and produce clarity, bold decisions and wrangling all of the ways that the world throws you off. This could be through personal inner work, breaking generational curses. This could be through building up your own confidence and trusting your intuition. This could be through calling on various other powers and taking problems head on in unconventional ways. Just because the world is spinning in a different direction doesn't mean that you cannot find and cultivate a personal balance by tapping into your own power. Witches are path makers. Where there is none, a witch's power is to make one.

It's not a competition.

There it is. There is no point in trying to put yourself higher than others when it comes to witchcraft. It is a personal tool and experience, and people unlike you practicing it doesn't make you any less able to reach your goals. It is for everyone.

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#torquetalks #deaths head divination #tarot community #witchcraft community #witchblr #beginner witch #baby witch #witchcraft for beginners

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stellae-de-baphometis · 1 year

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🖤 ~ About Me ~ 🖤

+ Introduction +

Hey there! My name is Korvella Starlight, but you can also call me Kody or Korv. I'm in my 20's and I use both he/him and they/them pronouns interchangeably (I'm a non-binary trans guy).

This is a blog dedicated to Progressive Daemonolatry, Theistic Satanism / Luciferianism, Daemonism, and Paganism. I first got into Paganism when I was 14 years old. Throughout the years, I further expanded my beliefs and eventually got into Theistic Satanism. From there, I later got into Daemonolatry. Nowadays, I consider myself a Progressive Daemonolatrist/Daemonist (a form of Daemonolatry that respects closed practices and doesn't engage in cultural appropriation), Daemonologist, Polytheist, Panentheist, and Eclectic Pagan.

Please keep in mind that I am neurodivergent and mentally ill, and this severely affects my ability to function. I may take frequent breaks in between posts and I won't exactly be consistently active here all the time. I try to post as much as I can though!

+ Why I Made This Blog +

I made this blog so I could provide a safe space for people seeking resources and information on the Infernal/Daemonic Divine. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

There's a lot of appropriation and antisemitism in some "demonolatry" spaces nowadays, and I had the unfortunate displeasure of being brainwashed and indoctrinated into thinking that cultural appropriation was completely fine at the beginning of my Daemonolatry path in 2022, because of an echo-chamber subreddit I was a part of. When a friend of mine explained to me how harmful it was, I vowed to change my perspective and I educated myself, changing for the better.

I wanted to try and counteract some of the appropriation and make up for my past mistakes, as well as help prevent others from falling down the same pipeline I did, by blogging about my personal experiences and providing info and resources that don't appropriate closed practises.

+ DO NOT INTERACT +

✧ Exclusionists of any kind. ✧ T3RFs, SW3RFs, m1s0gyn1sts, s3x1sts/ tr4nsm3ds, etc. ✧ Anything anti-LGBTQIA+. I'm a non-binary trans guy and a demi-grey-pansexual. As a queer person, I won't tolerate any bigotry or hate directed towards my community. ✧ Anything involving H3lluva B0ss and H4zb1n H0tel. I highly dislike the series as it portrays daemons (beings I have a lot of respect for) in a very poor light. No disrespect or anything, I just personally don't want anything to do with it. ✧ Appropriators of any kind. This especially goes for gentiles who appropriate Lilith from Judaism. She's not a "Mesopotamian Pagan Goddess" and she's not the same as Lamashtu. Stop making excuses for stealing shit from closed practices. ✧ Racists, antisemites, islamophobes, n4z1s and neo-n4z1s, xenophobes, anti-BLM, anti-ACAB, white supremacists, etc. ✧ M4Ps, p3d0ph1l3s, z00ph1l3s, b3ast1al1ty, etc. ✧ Right-Wingers, Conservatives, etc. ✧ P0rn0gr4ph1c and/or NSFW content that fetishises or objectifies Satanism, Luciferianism, Daemonolatry, and the Infernal/Daemonic Divine. ✧ Religious extremists/radicalists. If you're a regular old religious person and progressive, that's completely fine and I have no problem with you. It's just the extremists that I want absolutely nothing to do with; For example, those Christian radicalists that try to shove their beliefs down everyone's throats, or the ones who try to justify bigotry in the name of God. ✧ Ableism of any kind. This includes ableism towards mental illness, neurodiversity, and all personality disorders. ✧ New Agers. That shit contributed to my Schizotypal psychotic-like experiences and mental illness when it leaked into my spiritual practices as a teenager. Plus it's just highly problematic in general. I want nothing to do with it whatsoever.

+ IMPORTANT NOTICE +

If you see any old posts of mine (specifically posts made prior to November/December of 2022) spouting antisemitic rhetoric regarding demons and/or the occult, please understand that it's not who I am anymore and that I have changed and educated myself since then. I sincerely and deeply apologise to the Jewish community for my blatant ignorance and antisemitic takes.

I used to be part of an antisemitic "Demonolatry" group back then (r/DemonolatryPractices, a terribly cultish space that I advise everyone avoid), and was brainwashed and severely misinformed on the amount of cultural appropriation and antisemitism that exists within the occult community. However, it is no excuse, and I am deeply sorry for the things I said and did in the past.

If you feel uncomfortable interacting with me and my content because of my past, that is 100% valid and completely okay. You are in no way obligated to forgive me if you are Jewish and/or were negatively affected by my previous content.

I have deleted my old posts, however some of them may still exist in the form of reblogs and reposts across Tumblr, hence why I've written this disclaimer to set things straight. I just want it to be abundantly clear that I am not like that anymore and I have changed. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and once again, I am sincerely sorry. 💙

Hope you like what I post here! I wish you well on your spiritual path, and may whoever you honour/venerate bless your soul. 🖤

❀༻ Ave Satanas ༺❀

+ Decor Credit + . . . Bat Divider . . . Blood Moon Divider V1 . . . Blood Moon Divider V2 . . . Ram Skull & Horns Divider . . . Baphomet Image . . .

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sepublic · 2 years

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Labyrinth Runners

…Okay, so there wasn’t a literal labyrinth involving weird stairs, but it was a SYMBOLIC one of Gus’ psyche! Seriously, this kid literally has the ability to manifest his own Silent Hill if under significant distress… That sounds like a freaking nightmare and it sounds like Gus is canonically mentally ill? Like… His own illusions messing with his sense of reality seems like a metaphor for an actual mental illness, schizophrenia perhaps? I’m no expert but that is some NEAT rep if that’s the case!

Seriously, I love how this episode just tied together and culminated Gus’ arc so succinctly! And not only do I appreciate the continuity of him being Augustus in the flashback (Gus as a name came from Luz!), but also Abomination Willow and their meeting! Just… this episode is all about belief and appearances and trust, tying so thematically well into the theme of illusions! I love it SO MUCH… How Gus just has that duality of being an illusionist with impostor syndrome, feeling like HE’s the one who keeps getting tricked; Thinking of himself as a fool, he made up with Mattholomule sure, but he and the Glandus kids and even Hunter left their scars on him!

And it just plays into this lack of belief in Gus about himself, because this episode is all about reality and how doubt, in oneself and/or others, can mess with your sense of reality… Which uh, HITS CLOSE TO ME. Like Amity doubting Willow’s ability and that messing with their ability to coordinate, Gus doubting his own abilities, Hunter being terrified of what’s the truth; I EVEN GOT TRICKED MYSELF! By Adrien Grey… Adrian Gray? Adrien Gray? Adrien Gray? The end credits list him as Graye Vensworth as something like that, but I assume that’s a holdover from concepts… The end credits have been wrong before; Either way, is this dude a reference to Dorian Gray???

Who, y’know, had a painting that sort of hid and absorbed his true hideous appearance as a reflection of his true nature, until it was destroyed and all that ugliness went back to him! So maybe that’s what Grey/Gray was horrified by… I’m still wondering/thinking if he’s got a concealmeant stone or something similar to hide a true demonic appearance that he’s ashamed of, dude gives me movie director and Hollywood vibes, so it makes sense for him to be insecure, as a darker take on the twins and their concealment stones! And also I just… LOVE that sort of characterization of Gray as a director! I was hoping for a matador/minotaur and there’s still room for that reveal, but this was fun as well!

Seriously, I love how Gus and Hunter BOTH give each other speeches and contribute to each other’s development… I love his trend in Hunter episodes it’s so compelling and builds off of past development to further additional development for our protagonists but a new character as well! Amazing… Also, I love how Willow really helped GUS, it goes to show how she’s always been helping and uplifting others in her own way, even when she was the meek half-a-witch, and how people always underestimated that part of her! Which then extends to her plot with Amity…

YES YES YES I love the show exploring how Amity and Willow aren’t quite there yet! And Willow wanting to be seen for who she REALLY is, which ties to Any Sport in a Storm AND this episode’s themes! And I ADORE how the show acknowledges and gets into Amity’s mistake back in their childhood; Making that decision for Willow without consulting her, assuming her as too weak and needing to be protected without considering her friend’s agency and choice! And Willow finally getting to flex that by pointing out that Amity has always seen herself as someone PROTECTING Willow because admittedly, she sees Willow as weak… And THAT underestimation led to their split!

God I freaking love that. That’s so compelling. It kinda reminds me of how Raine is making a similar choice for Eda and her kids, though it’s a bit more understandable since the kids are involved and Eda ALSO doesn’t want them to be hurt… But still, Lumity and Raeda parallels? Speaking of which, I guess Lilith and Eda managed to escape… I think that’s the implication. Again, I love the show discussing how Amity loved Willow but never quite respected her due to Willow being a late bloomer, and how that’s at the root (heh heh pun) of their conflict.

Also WOW… That was SUCH a dick move by Grey. Gray? Whatever. Like… Not only pretending to remove sigils but actually applying them, which I SAW… Love how we speculated him as a potential ally and Grey used that against us, it’s so meta! Because at this point the audience is inclined to believe there are other coven heads in on the rebellion… But no this is too good to be true! The way he presents himself as disheveled like he barely escaped to garner trust, similar to Hunter’s own appearance…

I YELLED WHEN EDRIC WAS BROUGHT UP! That fucker! Ed my boy you’re safe… AND HIM AND VINEY AND SKARA AND MATTHOLOMULE AND JERBO AND BARCUS!!! I was so resigned to no Matt content BUT THEN HE WAS THERE. With a birthday photo with Gus??? He’s a dual-track ILLUSIONIST, GUSTHOLOMULE REAL! He was a riot, just immediately accepting the worst but also insisting he could take on Hunter. This may also be a coincidence but Emira also called out Hunter as sickly, which given how she’s a healer now, makes sense!

TWINS AND DETENTION KIDS!!! It was subtle but made SENSE, they’re multi-track now; Edric is beastkeeping and potions too, Emira just healing! Edric and Barcus together… Viney and Emira share a track, HERE’S HOW VINIRA CAN STILL WIN!!! And Skara my baby girl… No Boscha, guess she skipped school? BUT STILL I LOVE THIS! I love the show introducing more dual-track kids it makes SENSE, and Mattholomule among them too! And he actually did decent against some covenscouts!

That all-out battle of kids VS covenscouts was AMAZING… The culmination of mixed magic like Jerbo’s plant-abomination or Amity and Willow’s… I like that we got to see the covenscouts flex magical spells and really put up a fight! And Amity and Willow taking down an Abomaton together, a symbol of the Blight parents’ control and influence… Her deciding she has to talk to her parents later on; I LOVE IT! We finally get to see an Abomaton properly taken down in a straight fight, Amity and Willow, especially Willow, really are powerhouses; Keep in mind Amity and Luz lost, partially because of the deal with Odalia, but still!

Also love the detail of Gray’s little mirror helping him see through illusions, and seeing a Coven Head take interest in one of our protagonists with a matching track… Grey seems fairly straightforward in that there doesn’t seem to be any particular irony to him, but we’ll see. Terra’s irony didn’t become too apparent until her second appearance (technically third, but her bit in Any Sport in a Storm barely counts). I love how Gus being a prodigy comes into play, how his self-doubt makes him unsure if he can believe in even his own CHOICE of magic track… This episode really is SUCH a character study for Gus that informs where he came from in each plot beforehand! It ties it all together from a root source… My favorite.

AND HUNTER! God Grey really went for THAT against Hunter, using Belos against him and even stepping on the kid… Guys I think we have a new Coven Head to match Terra in how much the fandom hates him! And Severine(?), she sounds like she was voiced by Dana and I love her; She’s like the female Steve, their names are even kinda similar… Will we see her AND Steve next episode at the Knee, with King? I love that this demon covenscout with notable ears, actually horns it turns out, gets to reveal herself and make a stand! I love her so much. We gotta ship her with Steve now, especially since Lilith is aro and Belos is 100% racist against witches.

Love how the episode really set us up to be suspicious of everyone who saved Hunter… Like this theme of illusions and trust and belief, doubt; It also applied to him in whether he could trust anyone else after his own uncle betrayed him! And I’m glad he wasn’t fooled by Belos’ lie of ‘being worried’ about Hunter, he knew from the start that Belos didn’t suddenly change his mind, nor did Hunter lie to himself. The idea of truth, false appearances, trust, belief, doubt… The themes were IMPECCABLE this episode, as befitting an episode all about illusions, and tying to characters who all struggle with this thing!

Seriously though, Gus’ whole thing… It’s like Willow’s, so I guess that’s another thing for them to bond over! Guess those mentally ill kids got the glowing eyes and powerful, instinctual magic they can’t control… Gus might start to be able to, though! And I love his little glowing eyes or just eye, I love the idea of one eye that sees one thing, while the other eye sees another, I have an OC like that and it’s SSSOOO much fun! And I love how Gus not recognizing a fake Willow while Hunter does actually affects him like it should, makes him feel like an idiot; Which, Hunter def knows and thinks about Willow’s feelings towards him, more than Gus thinks about how Willow feels about Hunter. So there’s that understandable reason for the discrepancy!

Also that Illusionist teacher… I’ve liked her a lot since her first appearance and this episode confirms she’s chill! I want a name for her too, like the Demon Hunters. I love the random side and background characters who still have actual stories and lives going on that will occasionally surface to the focus of the plot! Maybe I should ship her and Bump… Just kidding, maybe? And Bump with Frewin. Remarkable. Spectacular. This episode was EVERYTHING and it had a bit of angst but in the good way where it’s followed and resolved by comfort, which is a RELIEF after Hollow Mind and Edge of the World ended without a clearcut answer nor resolution for those traumatized kids… And as some correctly guessed, this episode takes place in another POV entirely, for the dramatic tension of wondering how the Owl gang is doing! Guess we’ll find out soon enough…

Also, it couldn’t have been THAT long since Hunter showered, right? Labyrinth Runners takes place the same day as Edge of the World, or the day AFTER, if the covenscouts raiding the Owl House was near the end of the day, since Willow had to have seen this before her school day began today; So it’s only been… A full day and a half since we last saw Hunter. But then again he’s a desperate teen in the woods, I can fully believe he got that filthy that quickly. And I love Luz messaging Amity again!!!

Grey also acknowledge the Galdorstones... Seems Gus may have bared his soul a bit there, embarrassingly; But I wouldn’t be surprised if this was buildup to a Season 3 rematch where Gray assaults the Looking Glass Ruins, and Gus and Mattholomule and anyone else have to stop him! Alas... ALAS...!

#the owl house #gus porter #augustus porter #adrian graye #willow park #amity blight #the owl house hunter #analysis #meta

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