no

So Scientology has recently been purchasing ad spots on social media sites including Twitter and Facebook. Scientology has always worked hard to recruit young people it seems like they’re investing in social media as well now. I know most people think Scientology is a joke but it’s a seriously dangerous cult which uses fear, extortion, violence, vandalism and various other unethical actions against those who oppose them both inside and outside the church. Here is key information on the abuses committed by Scientology: 

•Scientology uses a form of pseudo-therapy called auditing which focuses largely on embarrassing and traumatic memories. Scientology collects the information you share and uses that information to threaten you if you oppose the church. They also charge huge amounts of money for auditing sessions (which is why they really are doing all this).

 •They are extremely anti-psychology and psychiatry and pressure you against taking any antidepressants, anti-anxiety medication or any other drugs for mental health.

 •They believe homosexuality can be “cured” and are blatantly homophobic. •Enemies of the church are labeled “suppressive persons” and it is forbidden to communicate with such people. This isn’t just to limit the negative press they receive but also is a manipulative tool. If you are in the cult and decide to leave or criticize the church you stand the risk of being completely cut off from your friends and family. “Suppressive Persons” are often also harassed, stalked, or threatened. 

•If you’re new to Scientology and your family or friends are worried about you being in a cult you’re instructed to cut them out of your life, increasing your reliance on the support system (though there’s nothing supportive about it) the church give to you. 

•Scientology’s doctrine includes the concept of “Fair Game”. This basically says that those who are judged a threat to the Church can be punished and harassed by any and all means possible.

 •Because of this, they have no moral qualms about having their members lie in court which they use to defend themselves from lawsuits or charges that they’ve broken the law and also to help win lawsuits against their enemies. •They essentially spied on and stole information from the IRS and tried to frame the mayor of Clearwater Florida for a hit and run. 

•Scientology filed 50 different lawsuits in one year against the Cult Awareness Network, an anti-cult organization. Using false testimony they won one of the suits and because the organization couldn’t pay the fine Scientology took the organizations name and logo so if you were calling to get out of Scientology you’d be unknowingly telling Scientology of your intentions. (For full transparency my mom was a member of the Cult Awareness Network before it was taken over and was sued individually by the Church of Scientology) 

•Scientology has an official branch known as the Sea Org, a mixture between a paramilitary group and slavery, comprised of their most dedicated members including many children/teens who’ve been raised in Scientology. This is where some of the most rampant and terrifying abuse in Scientology occurs. 

•Sea Org members often work over 100 hours a week for Scientology for around 2$ per hour.

 •Sea Org member’s living conditions are terrible; they live in overcrowded communal rooms with up to 12 other people, are not given healthcare unless there is a free clinic in the area, often are forced to miss meals or sleep in order to successfully completed their work. 

•Several former Sea Org members have accused the church of physical abuse. •Sea Org members may not have children and women who have become pregnant have reportedly been forced/coerced by their higher-ups to have abortions. 

it’s one of the scariest “religions” you’ll ever meet if not THE scariest because it was PURPOSELY created to make money. unlike most cults that do have some seed of genuine belief however twisted and off base the founders are, scientology was never a belief system - it was a get rich quick scheme for a terrible hack author who saw that there was more money to be made in manipulating people into a cult and then not letting them leave. higher and higher levels of scientology, which you have to take to be truly “clear” aka free of evil spirits, will cost you thousands and even millions of dollars. they will literally hook you into a billion year contract and then pursue you for any money you “owe” them, thousands of “back fees” for their religious training, if you try to leave.

oh and it has literally driven people to suicide as part of its goal to keep “suppressive persons” from spreading information. someone even made a fucking song about its abuses.

stay the fuck away from anything marked scientology or dianetics. narconon (NOT the same as narcotics anonymous, the 12 step program) is also their thing. never even step FOOT into one of their free dianetics “auditing sessions” because they will use it to manipulate you into joining. they are incredibly persistent and will use every trick in the book to get you on board.

Narconon

Dianetics

Associate of Better Living and Education (ABLE)

Criminon

Applied Scholastics

Delphi Schools

The Way to Happiness Foundation

Author Service Inc.

Bridge Publications Inc.

Golden Era Productions

New Era Publications

Citizens Commission on Human Rights

The National Commission on Law Enforcement and Social Justice

I would normally never make a post like this, but I’m increasingly desperate and running out of options.

If you’ve seen this hat, PLEASE CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY!

I can’t tell you how much I love this Luigi hat, I got it at Otakon like fifteen years ago from someone in the artist’s alley and I’ve had it ever since to the extent that it’s become something of my trademark. It’s incredibly valuable to me, it’s been with me through so much, and I pinned a lot of things to it that I never wanted to lose because I never thought I’d lose it! Especially that tiny handmade Samus hairclip I got in an art trade… and I also got the inside of it signed by Steve Purcell and Jeff Smith because I never thought in a million years I’d ever forget it somewhere…

But while I know I brought it with me on my last trip (since that last picture was taken while I was there), I can’t find any evidence that it made the trip back, and I’ve looked EVERYwhere. I’ve filed lost item reports with the airline, called each of the airports, gone to every place I can remember going to to ask if anyone’s seen it to no avail. I’ve tried so hard to take care of this hat over the years and I’m incredibly upset and mad at myself for losing something that means so much to me, it’s like I lost a part of myself or my identity in a way as ridiculous as that sounds. So I’m hoping against hope that one of you out there might have seen it and can help me.

The airports I stopped in on my way back home were the Albuquerque airport in New Mexico, and the San Jose airport in California. If you live in those areas, or were in either of those airports around the beginning of November or anything like that, PLEASE keep an eye out for my hat! It’s hard to miss, as you can tell from these pictures. I remember eating at a place in the San Jose airport during a layover, it was near Gate 26 and served a blue cheese burger, but I can’t remember the name of the restaurant itself. It’s possible I might have left it there, or somewhere around there, or someone picked it up, or something… I don’t know. I can’t remember anything more and I know how frustrating that is, believe me.

It doesn’t have any contact information in it or on it, but it DOES have two signatures on the inside in permanent marker, as mentioned above! They’re from Steve Purcell and Jeff Smith and are signed to Zar, so if you see the hat and all the pins are gone for some reason, you’ll know it’s my hat for sure by the signatures on the inside.

Marius: Call 911.

When journalists say there are two sides to a story, that shouldn’t be taken to mean the facts of the story are inaccurate. In the case of the Nazi Holocaust, there’s the perspective of those who were rounded up and murdered, and the perspective of those who participated in the rounding up and murdering. It’s not a question of whether the Nazis rounded up and murdered people. That’s a fact, and stating otherwise isn’t an alternate fact  or a difference of opinion; it’s a flat out lie over an uncomfortable and horrible truth.

The man was awake. After a week of feverish mumblings, bloody coughing fits, and uncontrollable nightmares, the man was lucid. And he was angry. 

“Where am I?” He demanded a second time, backed up in a corner so he could see the large room and all of its occupants. 

Cosette took a deep breath, but she was unable to keep out the edge in her voice. “Again, you are in the house of Gillenormand–”

“Who?”

“Gillenormand. You don’t know him, but you knew his grandson, M…” Cosette’s breath caught in her throat. How could it be that this young man was here, was alive, when it could have so easily been a different student in his place? Cosette did not wish death on anyone, but she did wish life upon the boy she’d fallen in love with. “Marius Pontmercy.”

That gave the man pause. He stood in the corner on shaky legs and sweat tarnished clothes. His blue eyes flashed dangerously around as if everyone, Cosette, the doctor, the maids, everyone that was staring at him, was an enemy. “Pontmercy?”

The doctor was standing behind Cosette, a couple of yards away from the man. “Son, you really should be lying down. Your wounds are–”  

“Is Pontmercy here? Are any of them?” The man was looking at Cosette as if she held the key to his understanding, to things suddenly not seeming so impossible anymore. 

Cosette felt tears burning her throat. “No. I’m sorry.”

The man’s back hit the wall softly. His legs were no longer sufficient to support him. He voiced the truth that would poison the air around them both for years to come. “They’re all dead.”

Cosette nodded slowly.

Tears caused the mans voice to tighten. “But I’m not.” 

Cosette spoke softly, “No. You were saved.” 

The man’s face broke into a distressed expression. “Why?”

“Because…” Cosette couldn’t hold her tears back anymore, “Because only one of you could be saved and you were chosen.”

“Why?!”

“I don’t know! Just thank God you have your life!” As she spoke, her voice high and broken, the man slid down to the floor, his chest heaving with sorrow. “Thank God that you were saved from sharing the fate of your friends! They are dead but you were given a second chance!” Cosette fell to her knees, her dark skirts gathering around her like Death’s storm clouds.

The man grasped at his blond curls, suddenly feeling the burn of every bullet wound in his chest like he was receiving them again. “I don’t want to be without them.” 

Grantaire was right. He was always right, and Enjolras had ignored him like the naïve fool he was.

The work never takes off, bleeding out of him until there is nothing left to Enjolras but a shell. Everyone is afraid after the June Rebellion, no one believes in the cause anymore. No one believes in anything.

Enjolras has no one, has nothing. Cosette and her father are kind enough, but they are nothing but reminders of what he once had and his role in destroying it all. He hasn’t spoken with his family in years, and he hardly sees the point in re-establishing the contact now.

So he drowns himself in vices, anything to help him forget: whatever alcohol is on tap–he hates the flavor, hates the burn, but it’s a means to an end; the opium dens, littered with people who have long-since forgotten who they are; he picks fights he has no stakes in, just to feel passion about something once more.

And one night, he is invited into a familiar place with a familiar energy. Young faces crowd around a charismatic leader, bright as the sun. They hold onto and cherish his every word like a lifeline, like the truth they so desperately need it to be.

Enjolras sits in the back. He watches, and he drinks. Occasionally, much to the chagrin of the followers, he’ll speak up–never about his experiences directly, and often in long, ambling, sideways retorts, but the point is always eventually made, only to be brushed aside by the hubris of the leader and his confidence in the people.

But in his heart, Enjolras sees that spark alive again–not in the people, but in the leader–and Enjolras desperately clings to that ember and the belief that were this leader ever in his place, he would have kept going, would have kept the faith, and would make the change he preaches.

“Enjolras, you are incapable of believing, of thinking, of willing, of living, and of dying.”

He replies in a grave tone:–

Quick portrait of Thief King Bakura, as requested by stealtharchaeologist Thanks for requesting! <3

Ok, time for bed now!