#that which faith demands | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

doorplays · 1 year

Text

2022 Roundup of Games

Hello! This is Doors. I haven't written here in a while and now I am going to fix that by writing a bunch about the games I played this year!

By my best count, I played about 28 games this year, with 7 of those being games I didn't finish. I’ve enjoyed them to varying respects though, and now I’m here to talk about 17 of them with as little spoilers as possible!

This roundup of games is not ranked, I just listed them haphazardly. I put up a short review for each game so you have an idea of what you’re getting into, and have a rating for each! Most of these are games I very much enjoyed, and if you find yourself playing them, go ahead and message me! I’d love to hear peoples’ thoughts on these games.

This is also something I want to start doing every year, and the best time to start anything you want to start is, well, now! And thus:

Let’s get to it!

UMURANGI GENERATION

I'd describe this game as "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater except Tony Hawk was a photographer". You are dropped into various levels and environments and, within a time limit, you have to achieve the objectives set out by the game. This usually consists of you taking pictures depicting specific things and taking a picture at a certain vantage point.

What I like about this game is its environmental storytelling. And well, really, that's the only way this game tells its story. It's all around the levels just waiting for you to see and take pictures of them. You find memorials, posters, people, all instrumental in telling the grim story that the game has.

I enjoyed experimenting with lenses that I unlock as I progress through the game, and experimenting with various filters! I feel like the game captured my imagination enough for me to enjoy it.

Door Rates Umurangi Generation: 4/5

PYRE

Supergiant never misses. From Bastion with its gripping story, and Transistor with its lovely aesthetic, to Hades with its frenetic roguelike gameplay, they always know their stuff. They know their style and they flourish in it, unafraid of experimentation.

With Pyre, I'd say that they experimented too much. The gameplay felt a bit clunky for me, though that may be because I stubbornly played on mouse and keyboard instead of controller. The gameplay loop revolves around you undergoing rituals, which are more accurately described as sports games. You play fantasy soccer, essentially!

Despite my gripes with the gameplay, I was so enamored by the story, the art, and the worldbuilding. I've grown to love and care for most, if not all of the characters, and I was really rooting for their success. I even found some antagonists charming and hoped that they find success as well.

In the end, I enjoyed it a lot. Supergiant are really good at making games, and with Hades 2 looming, I'm hoping they produce another knockout game.

Though despite my issue with them experimenting too hard here, I do hope they experiment more with their next games. But that's a subject for another post...

Door Rates Pyre: 4/5

THAT WHICH FAITH DEMANDS

This game is a sort of choose-your-adventure type game. At the start you get to describe your character's background, their competency, etc. Then when you're shipped out to do the job, you discover that there's more to the job than you expect.

I am always enamored by sci-fi, and am even more enamored by fiction that has something to say about the divine, so when this game mixes the two of them I completely and utterly fucked with it. This shit? Absolutely up my alley.

You can also interact with your workmates here and discover more about them, but I find that the divine part of the game is what really pleases me. I only wish that there was more story to see and read!

Door Rates That Which Faith Demands: 4.5/5

ENTER THE GUNGEON

I started this game very early in 2022, and let me tell you I did NOT expect it to shoot up to my most played game on Steam. There’s just something about this game that just drags you in easily with its wacky randomness and fun mixups and somewhat cute aesthetic.

You start out choosing one of four possible characters, then in typical roguelike fashion you do run after run as you unlock more guns, more accessories, more characters, and even more areas to explore! It is a very fun game where you can just go pew pew pew at everything.

Door Rates Enter the Gungeon: 4/5

SKATEBIRD

You are a bird. And you have an urge... to skate. It’s a cute little game with cute little birds! You can change up their feathers, their fashion, and do some neat skateboard tricks. My biggest issue with this game though is that the controls are very clunky. But from the short time I played it I found it very amusing.

Door Rates Skatebird: 3/5

HOLLOW KNIGHT

A friend of mine gifted this to me years ago, and it only took me like... half a decade or so to finally finish it! Heck yeah progress.

Anyway, this game is a nice Metroidvania. I found the aesthetic very nice, dark yet welcoming. I couldn’t have imagined making a world full of bugs work out to be cute! The music is also wonderful and the worldbuilding is great.There’s much to discover and a variety of areas. The story is also great (though I imagine my enjoyment was a bit diminished after I spoiled myself a bit lol). I enjoyed it a lot.

Door Rates Hollow Knight: 4/5

HEAVEN’S VAULT

Another friend recommended this to me, and I instantly fell in love with a concept. Sci-fi archaeology! Learning about dead languages! Good worldbuilding! All of these tick so many boxes for me it’s amazing really

I liked the artstyle too, a mix of 2d and 3d, 3d for the environments and 2d for the character sprites. I adore it, something similar was done too for Paradise Killer, another fave of mine.

I really enjoyed the story of this game and its vibes. I replayed it some more trying to unlock more of the language since language knowledge persists between playthroughs, but my save got deleted at one point and I didn’t continue. Nonetheless, I wholeheartedly recommend this game!

Door Rates Heaven’s Vault: 5/5

VAMPIRE SURVIVORS

A simple survival game/roguelike/bullet hell of sorts, and yet it’s so addicting. A friend gifted me this game and it got me in a vicegrip instantly. In this game you go and kill enemies, get experience, and level up to get various weapons and items so that you can kill more enemies. You accomplish achievements so you can unlock more characters. You get more gold so you can upgrade your stats. It’s basically a distillation of “number go up” and how much we enjoy it! Big damage big effects. It��s like rolling up a snowball and watching it get bigger and bigger and eventually it becomes an avalanche and massacres an entire village of ghosts. Sure you crash and burn sometimes but it’s still fun building it up!

The game is very cheap and has recently released an expansion, and is even free on iPhone/Android! Go try ittttt

Door Rates Vampire Survivors: 4/5

HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST

I played Zero Dawn years ago and enjoyed it very much, and I’m glad to report that now that I’ve played the sequel, I still enjoy it a lot! The gameplay feels the same for me, and the graphics are still very breathtaking, though I didn’t have as much opportunity to take pictures here as opposed to in Zero Dawn. I enjoyed the story a lot too. I have nothing much to say about it other than it being a solid sequel, and I look forward to more entries to this series!

Door Rates Horizon Forbidden West: 4.5/5

2064: READ ONLY MEMORIES

This game is by the same people who made VA-11 Hall-A, and is set in the same world and a few years before it. It’s a visual novel with a lot to say about technology, consciousness, and people. I loved the pixel art and I loved the writing! I grew to care for the characters, which was something I did not expect. I recommend this game!

Door Rates 2064: Read Only Memories: 4/5

PAPERS PLEASE

I played Return of the Obra Dinn and enjoyed it so much that I thought I should check this game out as well. Both were made by Lucas Pope. And both are pretty cool in their own way! Return of the Obra Dinn had a focused story and a straightforward objective, but Papers Please had you living life as a simple border control officer and it really shows. Day by day the difficulty ramps up as you have to look out for more potential mistakes in peoples’ requirements. And in the meantime you still have to provide for your family.

While all of this is going on, life continues, and there will be world events that surprise you. I love how this game weaves its simple gameplay into a good narrative. It is a very solid game.

Door Rates Papers Please: 4/5

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE

I started this in 2021 but only finished it early 2022. I haven’t played the original so I’m glad to play this with updated graphics! In fact it’s a huge overhaul even.

It’s lovely to see these characters in high definition. Barrett is fuckin STACKED and it’s lovely to see Jessie and Aerith. Tifa looked lovely in a dress! And it’s nice to see Biggs and Wedge having actual personalities here.

Gameplay was snappy enough and I have no complaints about it. And I enjoyed enough how the story was told. I’m looking forward to part two!

Door Rates Final Fantasy VII Remake: 4/5

CITIZEN SLEEPER

I like this game.

It’s a sci-fi RPG. You arrive at the space station named Erlin’s Eye, where many people have made a home of. You learn of its history, its people, and most importantly, how to survive in this place. While it presents itself as sci-fi, it tells a familiar tale of trying to survive in a new frontier.

The way it plays is that every in-game day, you get a certain number of dice, already pre-rolled. You have to manage these dice in order that you get to use them succeed in the tasks you need to succeed in. In a sense, it’s a mix of RPG and resource management, which is very interesting to me.

I enjoyed the story and the characters. It is a surprisingly familiar story that resonates, and the gameplay is chill enough, along with the music. It has my Seal of Approval

Door Rates Citizen Sleeper: 4.5/5

PENTIMENT

The same friend who recommended me Heaven’s Vault told me of this game. I got it on the Xbox Game Pass and fell in love with the aesthetic. Each frame looks like an art piece you can hang in a museum!! It reminds me of like. The Bayeaux Tapestry. Idk why that specifically came to mind but. Yes.

In this game you play as journeyman artist Andreas Maler. You are contracted by the Kiersau Abbey in the village of Tassing to make art. Through Andreas’s eyes you get to know the village’s history, mingling with the village folk, breaking bread with them even!

This game... this game is not just about history, not just about choices, this game is also about you living with your choices. Andreas’s regrets, successes, and the butterfly effect of his presence on the people of Tassing are told with great import. If you play this game, I urge you not to savescum or make a new save when things don’t go your way.

It’s one of my top games of 2022. Go play it!

Door Rates Pentiment: 5/5

NO MAN’S SKY

I’ve been playing this game ever since it came out, and it continues to be a treat. It was only in 2022 though that I actually played the Expeditions. And it is very nice to see how fellow explorers just help people along through them by making bases, planting markers, and just putting up some messages! I’ve enjoyed this game for years because of its variety and beauty, but it’s only now that I felt how rich its community is. I look forward to exploring it more in the coming years!

Door Rates No Man’s Sky: 4.5/5

FINAL FANTASY XIV

2022 was the year I wrangled together a static, which is essentially an 8-person group dedicated to clearing certain content in FFXIV. We were out here trying to clear the new Savage Raids, Pandaemonium Tiers 1 to 4. It was my first time being a sort of raid leader, and it was honestly an interesting experience! It was rough at times, but I nonetheless formed lasting friendships and strengthened some current ones. And it was very enjoyable suffering playing together with friends :)

As time went on though, I had to drop my subscription because of IRL responsibilities. But this game will always be important to me because of the friendships I have made and continue to make.

Door Rates Final Fantasy XIV: 5/5

MTG ARENA

Okay.

I have a love/hate relationship with this game.

On one hand, the game itself. Magic: the Gathering. It’s honestly enjoyable! My favorite format is Historic Brawl and I enjoy brewing decks for different commanders and just playing out matches conveniently!

On the other hand the economy SUCKS and it does a lot of things to make you feel that FOMO feeling.

I’m honestly waffling between uninstalling it and not uninstalling it and I probably should uninstall it? But I have to admit I do still enjoy the game...

Either way: Magic the Gathering is a great game. MTG Arena? It’s a good way to play the game, but it’d take you a while to collect the cards you want, so jury’s out on that one.

Door Rates MTG Arena: 2.5/5

SUMMARY

That’s a lot of games!!! I played some others but I didn’t have the time to include them here, but I enjoyed most of them all the same.

I enjoy the unique experience of playing games because you are not just... reading the story, you aren’t just watching an event or anything. You are an active participant in these experiences! May it be a story-rich game, a game with fun mechanics, or even a game as simple as Wordle, you are more in charge of your experience. And I find that cool!

I’m gonna try and continue to write more reviews as I play games! I’ll make this my New Year’s Resolution sure let’s go with that. Take care dear readers!

12 notes · View notes

hussyknee · 6 months

Note

the reason that the US treats the holocaust the way it does is so it can congratulate itself on "saving" jews from it and ending the holocaust. never mind that a huge reason so many jews died is bc the US basically wouldn't let us in after 2023 and we weren't able to escape Europe (many, many tried). Anyway the response to this isn't "stop thinking the holocaust is important" or "antisemitism isn't pervasive/non-Jews don't harbor subconscious antisemitism." Honestly your post is pretty gross and I've unfollowed. Sorry my intergenerational trauma no longer serves whatever political affiliation you have, and so now you have to minimize it as a reaction. Maybe Jews shouldn't be rhetorical tools at all. The Holocaust was a massive disaster to Jewish culture and soul and identity that will take centuries to heal from, and we never fully will. And none of that is what the US cares about. Be careful when you critique philosemitism you don't just veer into antisemitism instead. Because that's all philosemitism ever really was.

...why are you repeating everything I said back to me?

Me: ''The US governments

used philosemitism to weaponize the Holocaust by pushing a revionist narrative about their role in it

and making themselves look like the champion of Jews

to push their own military propaganda and deflect from their own ongoing war crimes and genocides

and turned antisemitism into a cudgel to attack anyone criticising Israel or the political establishment

(mostly BIPOC‚ so it looked like racism and anti-blackness mattered less)

all the while ignoring actual antisemitism or protecting their own Jewish citizens in any material way

as though the state had no role in empowering white Christian nationalism

because it served their purpose for Jews to migrate to Israel."

Some weirdo who can't read: ''you think antisemitism doesn't exist and the Holocaust doesn't matter??? Antisemite??"

I have better things to do than endlessly refute shit I never said nor implied and deal with your piss on the poor reading comprehension. This commitment to misunderstanding everything a PoC says and whitesplaining stuff we already said comes from your own racist suspicion and condescension. Dont let the door hit you on your way out.

#I'm exhausted #ntm you lot have cheapened the word ''antisemitism'' so much that being accused of it means little to me any more #everything from asking for liberation to acknowledging the racism that shapes the West's conceptualization of ''genocide''#to criticising Zionism is called antisemitic #and pointing out the racism of some so-called ''pro-Palestinian Jews'" demanding allyship and exoneration #and being centered in the Palestinian struggle #while threatening to join the white establishment and Zionists if we don't #is called antisemitic #at some point you start to give up #which doesn't mean antisemitism doesn't exist or isn't a real issue #it means we are exhausted of having it repeatedly weaponized against us by bad faith actors #and consistently going out of our way to reassure people brown people and Muslims with no systemic power over them #don't mean them harm #anti Zionism #racism #anti-blackness #Islamphobia #philosemitism #free Palestine #asks #anon #knee of huss

13 notes · View notes

cakemoney · 1 month

Text

i don't want to put my uninformed foot in my mouth or get involved with the Discourse but i've been seeing the two extremes of reactions to the korean low birth rates issue (on tumblr and twitter both) and i'm just kind of like. look. i feel like "low birth rates (in many countries but especially japan and korea as part of this conversation) are more broadly the result of capitalism/a culture of overwhelming overwork that makes social relationships and having families incredibly inaccessible to young people" and "low birth rates are very much a part of the current conversation about misogyny and social expectations for women in korea especially in the context of reproduction as 'unpaid labor' for women" are statements that can both be true

#laughs awkwardly #gender #especially considering the ways patriarchal expectations and capitalism very much intersect in terms of quality of life for women #ex. women being expected to have kids / raise kids / do all the housework and cooking in a relationship #while ALSO existing in a society where women (even married women) have to work demanding jobs to deal with the high cost of living #AND women are systemically discriminated against in terms of pay / job availability / work environment and harassment #all of these things add up. these conversations are not opposing points of view. you know?#and also like. not super comfortable with how TERFs are discussed in terms of non-white cultures #TERFism / radfems as a MOVEMENT (and a cult) is very much rooted in white supremacy / ideals of womanhood #again. multiple things can be true at the same time. yes i do see (from my perspective involved in taiwanese social media)#some east asian feminists engage in transphobia in ways that approach radfem rhetoric ('women are victims of men' 'men are predators'#type generalized sentiments which you can imagine gains a lot of traction among women traumatized by patriarchy)#but movement-wise i don't think it's fair (or just in good faith) to generalize radical feminists from non-white countries #to straight up TERFs. which again. rooted in white supremacy. keep feeling like i have to remind people it doesn't make sense #for asians to be white supremacists and that not all oppression on earth stems directly from white people. you weirdos #'what are you talking about' in east asia the type of feminist statements called 'radical' are stuff like.#women shouldn't have to wear make up every time they go outside. women shouldn't be expected to do all housework.#should men pay for women on dates. debates that i think in the states we kind of take for granted as stuff settled years ago #even if some feminists might be transphobic it's not necessarily Transphobia As Core Tenets Of The Movement. does anyone get the difference #basically what i'm saying is. wow these tags got long. maybe let's not apply uniform standards of 'correct language and values'#to non-white people and attack them when as all movements they are fluid and influenced by the people living in it #TERF-style transphobia is not the predestined course for them. maybe it's more productive to have open discussions about transphobia #to work towards inclusivity and solidarity in these movements than to prescribe White Internet Morality to them #and declare that they're evil when they are still very much having conversations that need to be had. thanks i think that's all #essentially. i find that 'how dare a non-american movement not have morally pristine vocabulary priorities and membership #as determined by white leftists' to be in itself kinda a racist attitude

4 notes · View notes

loveoaths · 1 year

Text

my toxic trait is getting irrationally angry when someone implies din’s religion and the covert are inherently abusive/backwards, based solely on bo-katan’s comment and the popular belief that orthodoxy = evil.

#choosing to follow The Way is not depicted as abusive. If anything din and the COFTW are shown as being honorable in an honorless galaxy #and while din’s journey now includes his re-evaluation of what it means to be a Mandalorian in relation to his faith #the fan assumption that the resolution MUST be him walking away from it is frustrating #are watching the same show. are we perceiving things the same way.#he may choose to walk away from TCOTW once/if he learns the true history of Death Watch #but even then TCOTW wouldn’t be wrong to follow. the tenets of it that we’ve seen in the show are true and have guided him well this entire #time. idk man i’m annoyed that ppl are making the same argument that a faith with rules and guidelines (which all of them have) is bad by #default because it’s the same argument people make with the Jedi. because romantic love and attachment are earned away from #people jump straight to ‘this is evil!’ when there are many real world religions that do this #and real world people who accept and agree with those rules as parts of their faith #a rule is not the same as a demand or being forced to do something.#at any point din could walk away from TCOTW same as a jedi could leave the order #Same as a nun can leave a convent and a monk can leave a monastery #the entire point is that those places try not to force you to be there #you have to want to give something up to GAIN something. a connection to something bigger.#that’s literally what faith is and lmfaooo I’m done ranting but good lord the prevalence of these takes gives me a rash #walkie talkie.#reference: din.

20 notes · View notes

transwolvie · 1 year

Text

Thinking again abt that post that was like "Judaism so good how did Christianity wind up so bad" and like. Idk man I think of you uncritically call any religion good just based off their main tenets rather than acknowledging the ppl who twist things for their own gain, I think you're not only missing the point, but you're also purposefully stacking the deck. If you look at the core tenets of Christianity none of the shit they were talking abt (like sex being seen as shameful) are actually an intrinsic part of the religion. It's weird to me to both ignore that Christianity's actual canon does NOT involve a lot of the harmful things the religion is known for, and to ignore that Judaism also has sects that have purposefully ignored or willfully misinterpreted the Torah in order to push for things like imperialism, misogyny, etc.

Like..... it just comes off to me as someone who read a couple Tumblr posts abt progressive Judaism and just either doesn't know or doesn't care that conservative sects exist, or that, yknow, fuckin Israel exists. The way ppl have started approaching Judaism as some flawless baseline that can be contrasted against Christianity makes me uncomfortable, especially since it's so obvious that the ppl writing those kinds of posts are uh. Not Jewish.

#tomi talks #like i know I'm just someone who wants to conver5 #but as someone also generally interested in religion from a sociological standpoint #fucking BONKRRS to me that ppl act like Judaism is only its texts and yet simultaneously deride Christianity for Christians that act #in a counterintuitive way to the religion's actual textual demands.#like the Bible does not say you need to be ashamed of sex. the Bible does not say to do all the puritan shit that fundies do #but when those ppl act out those bad behaviors that becomes Christianity as a whole #yet these outsiders to the faith will ignore when Jewish sects make the same moves to preserve conservatism #like idk it grinds my gears a little #especially cuz the overall feeling i get is that it's never actually abt Judaism or understanding Judaism #it's just abt wanting to shit on Christianity #which like i get it man Christians ruined the world and tons of us have trauma from Christianity specifically #but you can't just use another religion as a bludgeon #especially if you're going to just fucking pretend that there aren't bad actors within LITERALLY EVERY RELIGION

19 notes · View notes

metacove · 5 months

Text

Jacehawk is something that can be so personal. You have the world's most boring self-righteous rigid wanna-be supersoldier paired up with the most evil fucked up pathetic crybaby irredeemable anti-hero

And you find out through the eyes of one another the former is the strongest, most respectable formidable hero who is literally made of light and love and the latter is the sweetest most understanding (poor little meow meow) of a powerful wizard who was brought up in unfortunate circumstances

#and you think wow these two are literally made for each other #BAD FAITH POST #^^ 😬#and then they kiss #jacehawk is actually about overcoming your circumstances like no matter where you thought you came from the past is wiped clean and all that #is left is to heal what is most painful for you and become the version of you that was always inside #okay so you think you're the most ordinary person ever helpless of changing anything around you. so you fight and you train for years #to become a weapon for your cause which betrays you. well it turns out your real superpower was love and bringing people together #(and becoming a GLOWING BEAST‐) and through this you can save everything. and everyone dear to you. and you'll never give up and you'll #never be truly defeated and your imprint will last and last and last and be defended by everyone you loved #now on the other hand #you think every move you make has to be perfect and love is never available to you because you always fall short. you're not only not-#powerless but in fact the decisions you make so often end up in tragedy and despair that you become a living cautionary tale #and maybe all the mothers DO warn their children about you. and maybe you ARE a monster. and whatever you do you can't seem to claw yourself #out. you can only hurt the people you care about. and so demanding yourself is the only way you can create peace.#and the only thing you can't do.#only to find out that love is all around you and yes even if you were literally a monster you would have love. and you would be saved #and the world is always saving you and transpiring for you to be loved and nothing that's happened defines you #and you look back and the ways you responded were always from the heart. even if they seemed to end badly. it wasn't the end!#it wasn't the end and you did everything you can and someday #you both get to choose who you want to be. and maybe you can't create your circumstances the way you'd like. but the way you respond to them #is everything you are. and everything you've become. and really even if you can't see the good in it yet-#someone will.#and they'll love you and cherish you and someday. you will too #(blows my nose)#hello jacehawks

2 notes · View notes

seoafin · 1 year

Text

when it comes to reception on my fics i'm not even asking you guys to comment on them (although i am extremely very grateful for every tag comment and ask) it's the barest of bare minimums which is to respect me as a person and to not come into my askbox to demand a fic that probably won't even break 200 notes

#do you guys think i am joking when i say i write for the 5 people that constantly give me feedback #bc i am not!#which makes it kinda even more difficult to stomach when ppl start demanding fics and updates #like if you're going to ask me to write the least you could do is comment literally anything else #yeah i get that anon could've been having fun/joking but it does leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth #you are an anon! we are not friends! i don't know you well enough to be able to take your tone in anything but bad faith!#especially since ive stated on this blog multiple times i don't like getting asks like this #mt

8 notes · View notes

maryam0revna · 2 years

Text

okay people talk about “religious trauma”, but only recently did I find out that, as a child, one of my best friends used to wake up before anyone else in the house and panic because she was so convinced that everyone she loved had been raptured.

that she still sometimes feels irrationally afraid, almost thirty years later, and has to remind herself that surely a mass disappearance would make the news.

that this isn’t remotely uncommon.

that my boyfriend, who was raised in a very different denomination, used to have the same fears, as well as at least one of my coworkers.

people talk about religious trauma in a lot of ways, and I always associated it with purity culture, bigotry, and oppression. but these raw, granular little moments, where a 6 year-old version of my friend is gripped with terror because the house is too quiet, everyone she loves must have been taken away, and she must have been the only one that was Unworthy...it’s just so much more fucked up than I ever realized.

#actual blog post on this webbed site? insane #but it's just NUTS #the number of conversations we've had about her old denomination where i've just said 'people really believe that? like for real?' on a loop #and I say this as a Person Of Faith or whatever #i mean I'm episcopalian which is like if you mixed catholicism and unitarian universalism into one very liberal and contradictory thing #where the aesthetics are Traditional and the priests are Lesbians #(and all other flavors of LGBTQ+)#so obviously it's different #it's just insane that this is a real thing that happens in so so so many faith communities and people just. literally scar their children #with these batshit apocalyptic theological wanks that are nothing but Bad Theology tbh #don't get me started on the 'End Times Theology just absolves people of being good christians' rant #(and also fetishizes the Victorious Christ image over the Victim Christ (which is infinitely more relevant and demanding of empathy))#(which is why it makes Americans uncomfy-- we don't like losers after all)#(and empathy? don't know her)#okay i'm Getting Started so I won't but !!!!!!!!!!!!!#i'm just glad my friend is happy after converting to catholicism and my boyfriend and coworker are happily atheist/agnostic #my hot take is that I think God would rather they be happy and doing good stuff in the world instead of miserable on-paper christians idk #okay im done now but YIKES

23 notes · View notes

suzannahnatters · 1 year

Text

all RIGHT:

Why You're Writing Medieval (and Medieval-Coded) Women Wrong: A RANT

(Or, For the Love of God, People, Stop Pretending Victorian Style Gender Roles Applied to All of History)

This is a problem I see alllll over the place - I'll be reading a medieval-coded book and the women will be told they aren't allowed to fight or learn or work, that they are only supposed to get married, keep house and have babies, &c &c.

If I point this out ppl will be like "yes but there was misogyny back then! women were treated terribly!" and OK. Stop right there.

By & large, what we as a culture think of as misogyny & patriarchy is the expression prevalent in Victorian times - not medieval. (And NO, this is not me blaming Victorians for their theme park version of "medieval history". This is me blaming 21st century people for being ignorant & refusing to do their homework).

Yes, there was misogyny in medieval times, but 1) in many ways it was actually markedly less severe than Victorian misogyny, tyvm - and 2) it was of a quite different type. (Disclaimer: I am speaking specifically of Frankish, Western European medieval women rather than those in other parts of the world. This applies to a lesser extent in Byzantium and I am still learning about women in the medieval Islamic world.)

So, here are the 2 vital things to remember about women when writing medieval or medieval-coded societies

FIRST. Where in Victorian times the primary axes of prejudice were gender and race - so that a male labourer had more rights than a female of the higher classes, and a middle class white man would be treated with more respect than an African or Indian dignitary - In medieval times, the primary axis of prejudice was, overwhelmingly, class. Thus, Frankish crusader knights arguably felt more solidarity with their Muslim opponents of knightly status, than they did their own peasants. Faith and age were also medieval axes of prejudice - children and young people were exploited ruthlessly, sent into war or marriage at 15 (boys) or 12 (girls). Gender was less important.

What this meant was that a medieval woman could expect - indeed demand - to be treated more or less the same way the men of her class were. Where no ancient legal obstacle existed, such as Salic law, a king's daughter could and did expect to rule, even after marriage.

Women of the knightly class could & did arm & fight - something that required a MASSIVE outlay of money, which was obviously at their discretion & disposal. See: Sichelgaita, Isabel de Conches, the unnamed women fighting in armour as knights during the Third Crusade, as recorded by Muslim chroniclers.

Tolkien's Eowyn is a great example of this medieval attitude to class trumping race: complaining that she's being told not to fight, she stresses her class: "I am of the house of Eorl & not a serving woman". She claims her rights, not as a woman, but as a member of the warrior class and the ruling family. Similarly in Renaissance Venice a doge protested the practice which saw 80% of noble women locked into convents for life: if these had been men they would have been "born to command & govern the world". Their class ought to have exempted them from discrimination on the basis of sex.

So, tip #1 for writing medieval women: remember that their class always outweighed their gender. They might be subordinate to the men within their own class, but not to those below.

SECOND. Whereas Victorians saw women's highest calling as marriage & children - the "angel in the house" ennobling & improving their men on a spiritual but rarely practical level - Medievals by contrast prized virginity/celibacy above marriage, seeing it as a way for women to transcend their sex. Often as nuns, saints, mystics; sometimes as warriors, queens, & ladies; always as businesswomen & merchants, women could & did forge their own paths in life

When Elizabeth I claimed to have "the heart & stomach of a king" & adopted the persona of the virgin queen, this was the norm she appealed to. Women could do things; they just had to prove they were Not Like Other Girls. By Elizabeth's time things were already changing: it was the Reformation that switched the ideal to marriage, & the Enlightenment that divorced femininity from reason, aggression & public life.

For more on this topic, read Katherine Hager's article "Endowed With Manly Courage: Medieval Perceptions of Women in Combat" on women who transcended gender to occupy a liminal space as warrior/virgin/saint.

So, tip #2: remember that for medieval women, wife and mother wasn't the ideal, virgin saint was the ideal. By proving yourself "not like other girls" you could gain significant autonomy & freedom.

Finally a bonus tip: if writing about medieval women, be sure to read writing on women's issues from the time so as to understand the terms in which these women spoke about & defended their ambitions. Start with Christine de Pisan.

I learned all this doing the reading for WATCHERS OF OUTREMER, my series of historical fantasy novels set in the medieval crusader states, which were dominated by strong medieval women! Book 5, THE HOUSE OF MOURNING (forthcoming 2023) will focus, to a greater extent than any other novel I've ever yet read or written, on the experience of women during the crusades - as warriors, captives, and political leaders. I can't wait to share it with you all!

#watchers of outremer #medieval history #the lady of kingdoms #the house of mourning #writing #writing fantasy #female characters #medieval women #eowyn #the lord of the rings #lotr #history #historical fiction #fantasy #writing tip #writing advice

29K notes · View notes

yandere-sins · 2 months

Text

Do you know which concept I‘m going feral over again at the moment?

Yandere!Priests

[Warning: Yandere + Violent & Lewd content]

It‘s really just about the absolute depravity of these priests.

A priest who‘s knuckles turn white as they grip the altar so hard to not just jump his darling on the spot while they are in the middle of a sermon. But their darling is sitting in the front row and they can smell their perfume and it‘s driving them absolutely insane and their cock so hard that they can‘t concentrate on their speech to the point they have to cut the service short. Everyone is so concerned about them but when their darling steps up to ask if they are okay or need something, they almost orgasm in front of everyone. (They‘ll make sure that their darling is the only person to take care of them, that‘s for sure. And while the priest is at it, they can invade their darling‘s home and life to the point of no return.)

Or confessional boothes where their darling is spilling all their worries and heartache, which is not only ideal for the priest to know to manipulate them later, but also because they can't help jerking off pitifully to their darling's voice. Imagining them on their knees sucking them off like the little devil his darling must be to turn the priest away from god. Yet the priest will be panting and gasping for air by the time they absolve their darling from the 'sins' they comitted, the priest hoping they'll be back soon with more.

A cult priestess who notices one of the followers turning away from the cult and it happens to very their darling. So they start sacrificing all their darling‘s friend and family, making them the outcast. Making sure they feel so threatened and scared that the moment the priest opens their arm for them, they run and confess all their sins. They are an outcast that the priest can take back under their wing, reform back to their faith and at the same time manipulate and gaslight them to the point that they won‘t want to leave the priests side anymore, which gives room for them to demand the ultimate sacrifice of the darling—their whole being.

A very beloved priest and their caretaker!darling. Priest is the chosen of god but they‘ll refuse to do anything they are supposed to if their darling isn‘t in reach for them at all times. Darling who was forced into this role but is now pressured into doing everything for the priest so the latter may provide the village with divine guidance. Darling that wants to escape but is dragged back and beaten into compliance. And a priest who basks in the glory of getting away with all the lewd and terrible things he does to them with no one to help the darling.

But it goes to other religious figures as well!

Angels that begin to fall from grace without realizing it because they start to simp for their darling and they really shouldn‘t. But the darling looks so cute and the angel loves it when you laugh. They're really trying not to favor them with divine intervention whenever their darling is having a bad day, but seeing their frown turn into a smile when they see a rainbow or pet a stray cat that thee angel led to them, they just can't help themselves from making their darling's life a little easier. That is, until the darling starts to truly commit sins (like fall in love with someone that is not the angel), and they have to do worse things (like watch over them as the darling undresses or masturbates) and they don't even realize just how much they are losing their angelic-ness, because the angel suddenly longs to be more than just a silent observer.

Nuns/Monks that are taking care of a lost sheep on their priests demands and start to forget about all their vows and duties, wanting to only be with them and stalking them around the grounds. Sneaking into their rooms to frolick in their darling's sheets and lick their spoon after dinner, their nethers tingling with lust as more and more depraved thoughts come into mind. Them sitting next to their darling at the sermon, their knees touching and the yan unable to keep themselves from panting and salivating over their darling, developing a desire to deprave them in the same way as the darling has the yan.

Anyway, I'm super normal about it but,

#yandere priestess #yandere angels #yandere priests #yandere nuns #yandere monks #yandere-talk #yandere #yandere imagines #yandere headcanons #yandere scenarios #yandere fanfiction #yandere writing #yandere stories #yandere oneshots #yandere oneshot #yandere drabble #yandere x reader #yandere x darling #Yandere TW

1K notes · View notes

allthecanadianpolitics · 1 year

Text

"I always thought legalizing euthanasia was a no-brainer.

It always seemed to me like an individual choice people ought to have, akin to legalizing abortion or same-sex marriage.

If someone is in such pain that they decide to end their life, I thought, who are we as a society to tell them they can’t?

There’s also a harm reduction component. If someone is dead set on ending their lives, shouldn’t we give them a relatively safe, effective option under medical supervision? It would be cruel not to.

This was the rationale behind the 2015 Supreme Court of Canada decision in Carter v. Canada, which determined prohibition of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) was unconstitutional.

But the legalization of MAiD has brought to the fore some disturbing moral calculations, particularly with its expansion in 2019 to include individuals whose deaths aren’t “reasonably foreseeable,” which opened the floodgates for people with disabilities to apply to die rather than survive on meagre benefits.

I’ve come to realize euthanasia in Canada has become the ultimate neoliberal policy — we’ll starve you of the funding you need to live a dignified life, demand you pay back pandemic aid you applied for in good faith, and if you don’t like it, well, why don’t you just kill yourself?

The problem with my previous perspective was it held individual choices as sacrosanct. But people don’t make individual decisions in a vacuum. They’re the product of social circumstances, ones often out of their control.

Tim Stainton, director of the Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship at the University of British Columbia, told the Associated Press that Canada’s MAiD policy is “probably the biggest existential threat to disabled people since the Nazis’ program in Germany in the 1930s.”

This sounds hyperbolic, but there are endless examples of people with disabilities who were offered euthanasia rather than live a life of pain and exclusion. And with the impending expansion of MAiD to include people with mental illnesses, the problem is only going to get worse."

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #canada #canadian politics #canadian news #canadian #medical assistance in dying #medically assisted death

7K notes · View notes

multific · 6 months

Text

Injury

Astarion x Reader

Summary: Astarion has a strong affection towards you, so when you get badly hurt during a mission, he is mad.

You woke to his yelling.

He was angry, perhaps beyond angry.

You heard him yelling and even stomping his feet. The others were dead silent. You assumed no one dared to speak up to the very annoyed vampire.

You were hurt, you went out with the team, assuring your Lover that you would be okay, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, you were hurt rather badly.

He was on his way back to your camp when he smelled the blood. Too much blood for his liking.

And he knew that sweet tint, a signature if you will, to confirm that indeed, the blood was yours.

And he saw red.

He stormed in and demanded an explanation.

You were badly cut during a surprise attack from a goblin. A cut deep and painful.

They tried to heal you with any potion, or magic they had but all failed. It was believed the sword which cut you was of a special material.

So, you were bound to bed.

And not long after you fell asleep, you heard the yells of your Love. He was angry and rightfully so.

You wanted to call out to him, tell him to come to you and hug you, help you sleep, but you couldn't, you were too weak.

Soon, you heard the entrance of the tent being moved and a warm presence filled your room.

You felt already a lot better.

And when your eyes met Astarion's beautiful ones, you moved your hand for him to hold. He sat down next to you on the floor and held your hand gently.

"My Darling, I am so sorry. How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts." you replied weakly.

"I smelled the blood... I was so scared, Love."

"I'm so sorry for making you worry."

"Then never leave my side ever again." you wanted to laugh but your side hurt too bad, so you only smiled.

"It will leave a scar." you let out a sigh.

"A scar is the last thing I worry about. Your well-being is much more important." he leaned over and placed a kiss on your forehead. "I'll let you sleep now."

"Don't leave." you said as you grabbed his sleeve.

"I'm not going to. I'll stay here with you, I just think you should sleep." you watched as he got into more comfortable clothing, which for him means only a pair of pants and he soon laid down beside you.

You slowly moved closer to him as your back met with his front and his arms moved to hold you even closer.

"I promise, I will never go out without you. It was stupid and I nearly died. I don't want to die." you felt his hand shake a little upon your confession.

"I don't want you to die either, My Sweet." there was a moment of silence, during which you felt as if he wanted to say something more. "I told you I would be able to turn you."

"I don't have enough blood in me to have this conversation, Astarion. And we talked about this before."

"I know. I'm just scared to lose you."

"I'm too stubborn to die, you know that." you felt him smile into your neck.

"Sleep now." he said and you had no objections.

Maybe one day, you will become a vampire. Maybe one day, you can make the promise of forever to each other and truly mean forever.

But you weren't ready just yet.

And until the day comes, you are going to enjoy every second with him. Because even if you are injured due to your own fault, he still held onto you so sweetly, he still kissed your hair with such admiration and love.

You were going to enjoy every second for now, before your forever with him starts.

Taglist: @fleursirvart @greenarrowhead @thisismysecrethappyplace @sincerelyfan @theoneanna @aestheticsandmarvel @rororo06 @castellandiangelo @destynelseclipsa @spilledinkindumpster @capsiclesdoll @puknow @alwayshave-faith @alex12948 @lxdyred @imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl @anonymoussherlockandmarvelgeek @praline357 @trshngyn @avengers-r-us @violet-19999 @top1bbgloak @manduse @jacalineiscomingforyou @mandoloriancookie @noname2246

In case you want to help out a dreamer: patreon.com/multific

~Masterlist~

ˇAO3ˇ

DO NOT STEAL, REPOST OR TRANSLATE ANY OF MY WORKS

1K notes · View notes

headspace-hotel · 5 months

Text

College is good for several things. In the USA, it's good for learning facts about history and the rest of the world that high school either didn't tell you or flat-out lied about. Without college, most people would never encounter the academic resources necessary to unlearn lies and biases instilled by the overwhelmingly USA-centric, whitewashed viewpoint taught in most school systems, or the vocabulary needed to ask after those resources.

If (and only if) you are already extroverted and gregarious, college is good for making friends. It's probably good for some other things too.

But college is not very good for many of the things it supposedly does for people. College appears to be good for personal growth, but any environment with unfamiliar people, new experiences, and a large library would do. In fact, the academic rigors of college are probably mostly incidental to personal growth that occurs there. You learn about yourself in college in spite of, not because of, the rigid and demanding academic expectations, which serve to cement you further in what you think you already know about yourself because that is safer than discovering you might be something totally different.

It also doesn't prepare you very well for any other environment, because it is so different from any other environment you might encounter. At least in the USA, there are hardly any communities that are similar to college. College has an environment of communal living among mostly same-aged people, numerous public spaces, an endless hemorrhage of community-run events, and constant mother-henning by the institution as they encourage you to take advantage of all the services they fail to do a good job at providing. Authority figures are clearly delineated from peers and you have a clear hierarchical relationship with people that are not also students. It is an opportunity to practice adulthood, but one that supports you in the wrong ways and fails to support you in the right ones, both stifling and neglectful.

Colleges are brutally insistent on this peculiar style of community structure that you probably won't ever encounter again in your life, all the while being incredibly unforgiving if you fail to adapt to it. There are lots of rules, some of which are plain-attired descriptions of consequences as real as a granite wall, most of which reflect nothing except the fact that someone in authority would like to prevent a specific type of bad-faith exploitation of a more forgiving policy. The pure-hearted student is supposed to be able to ignore these rules and be judged according to the unspoken, more forgiving policy that is invoked when an authority likes your vibes.

This means part of surviving college is cultivating the right vibes, and part of cultivating the right vibes is being abled and not experiencing any extenuating circumstances ever. If you are having a mental health crisis that is stopping you from succeeding, the truth is as good as a lie; of course everyone struggles with mental health in college in these specific pre-cut ways, have you tried breathing exercises? If you are stressed and terrified all the time and whenever you sit still it feels like the universe is screaming through you, you will be abandoned because crisis is rare and interrupts otherwise normal life, and everyone claims to be having a crisis right now. "This system works!" and if we just repeat it hard enough the system will start to work.

If the truth is as good as a lie, then a lie is as good as the truth, and the ability to receive help when you need it is determined not by actually needing help but by being a better liar.

What if people lie to get accommodations they don't really need? I don't know the answer to this, because I find a different question more compelling: What if people lie to get accommodations they do really need?

Institutions are terrified of the possibility of a person that pretends to be disabled, and often they impress that terror into disabled people, who become terrified that THEY are pretending to be disabled, when probably almost all disabled people must pretend to be disabled because the raw Reality of what they experience as a person would be a brain-melting arcane and eldritch encounter for an Institution. Institutions don't see us. They see broad human tropes, masks worn by any number of actors. Some people are diligent students and some are lazy; some hone their potential and talent and others refuse, for whatever reason, to unlock it. This belief is so fundamental to our entire philosophy of shaping and educating students that if it directly encountered the Truth (whatever that may be), the truth would not survive.

If you want to be a good student (and I wanted to be and I was) the mask will become welded to your face and you will forget it's a mask partly because you will like how much better you were treated with the mask on. I sit in a therapy session, thinking, "Why am I framing my pain in a way that makes it seem less complicated and more solvable but doesn't cut to the truth of the matter? Which one of us benefits from that?"

The world is slowly, woundedly crawling into being a performance where everyone competes to pretend that they aren't dying. I have a version of me that struggles with school because I am autistic, but secretly I suspect successful, well-adjusted college students that manage their mental health and friendships and work do not exist in the way we think they must. After all, what of the numerous college students that cheat, that plagiarize, that make ChatGPT write their essays? My professors can all give examples of students that did, and their poor and shoddy attempts, but all this suggests is that the clever and cunning ones seldom get caught. In dealing with institutions, anything an honest person can do through their honesty, a good enough liar can do better with their lies.

#college #actually autistic #autism

1K notes · View notes

bluelinen · 1 month

Text

My Camboy

Pairing: Cam boy!Choso x AFAB!Reader Content/Warnings: smut, masturbation, no penetration, female anatomy, no use of y/n, porn no plot, well.. very little plot at the end

MDNI

Ting~*

You've always had this guilty pleasure for as long as you could remember. Since your very first time stumbling across that incredibly risqué audio.

You loved noises. Loved hearing the hoarse animalistic groans of pleasure as one grasped desperately for a release, strings of uncouth words and phrases dripping from a yearning mouth.

The carnal coarseness of such a voice, uncontrolled, unrestrained. It's what's led you down a path such as this, where that ting that notifies you of when his stream begins is the one thing you look forward to almost every week.

You don't see his face on stream, if you did you wouldn’t know what you’d do. It’d probably scare you shitless.

Not that he’s an ugly guy or anything. Quite the opposite really, you found the view of his face quite pleasant to look at every morning you saw him in your shared apartment.

See that was the thing. He’s your roommate.

Which meant that if you were brave enough or, you suppose, just plain crazy you could open the door from across your own and fully witness the complete uncensored revelry of Choso’s bare chest as his fingers brush across the button which makes your screen as well as your eyes light up.

A flurry of messages roll through the side bar proclaiming their greetings. A bunch of ‘hey's’, ‘hi’s’, ‘omg you’re so fine’s’. Even a few small gifts.

Yours was the largest of them, you made sure of that.

The bottom half of his face quirks up in a small smile as he whispers into the camera, his voice deep and airy. “It’s so nice to see all of you here..”

He reaches a hand up into his hair, out of sight from the camera, and a set of snaps from elastic releases his raven locks from the signature spiky style they usually were in, strands languishing comfortably along his shoulders. “I really hope that all of you have had a nice day today..”

He starts trailing a hand from his neck slowly down his broad chest. “Cause it’s been such a long.. long day for me y’know.”

“My muscles feel so tense..” His voice is a hypnotizing lull. “Tired too. I've been needing to find a way, a good way, to sooth this dulling ache.”

You yourself smile knowingly towards your screen.

He smiles back. “I’m sure you could help me with that though, couldn’t you?”

“Tell me you’ve had such a long tiring day too.. “ His sultry voice murmurs as his fingers inch down further towards his waist, his touch achingly slow, seamless as silk.

A spry fleet of comments surge in answer.

“The day is so hard isn’t it? So demanding..” He palms a growing bulge covered by the thin fabric of the shorts he’s wearing.

“We deserve a good release, don’t we?”

He fingers the edge of his waistband.

The chime of several gifts being given causes him to smile.

“Mm.. that’s what i like to hear.”

A low hum leaves his throat as he continues his faithful touch along his crotch and you watch with anticipation, waiting for the very moment he's decided, as you have already, that enough is enough.

It only takes a few minutes before he reaches his waning limit, a soft moan and quick snap of the waistband reveals the honest erection. Large and familiar it stands from it’s restraints proudly, clear substance already glistening from the sore crimson tip.

Choso smears the clear liquid along the head of his cock like a lubricant and you wonder how there's already so much, a small somewhat delusional part of you desperately wants to think that it's from the thought of you.

He begins moving his long fingers along his length, gentle smooth strokes coaxing a light train of moans to leave his lips. Each lithe sound causing an increasing tension to form between your legs.

“Ah.. i really wish you were here to help me with this..” He says to the camera, his voice light as he steadily increases his pace. “Fuck.”

He slides his fist from base to tip to base— and back again, low strained little whimpers following every stroke of his hardened cock sending a burning feeling of arousal to your core, little sparks of lightning dancing along the surface of your sodden clit. It’s only a matter of seconds before your hand reaches down to sooth your own aches, the onslaught of sounds desperately attracting one to the other like some burning magnet.

Sliding the pad of your finger along the soaking slit, building up your pace slowly, softly as you try to match the increasing intensity of his touch with your fingers upon your own wet cunt.

“Can you.. Mm.. Can you see how hard I am for you?” He groans as he suddenly stops to display the veiny painfully hard erection. He sits back lounging in his desk chair and it throbs and jerks impressively, engorged at the tip, almost pleading for release. Each involuntary jerk sends a flutter through your core and with a finger on your clit you pause, desperately wishing for him to continue so that you could also.

“I need.. ugh.. I need you- fuck.” He whimpers gingerly, smiling into the camera.

A dastardly scheme of course, but one you fall for every time. A click of the button with your free hand sends the swift notification across the screen notifying him of your donation as well as the donations of many many others, giving up your hard earned coins just for the man to continue stroking his hardon. It’s an awful cycle. But it's one you seemingly can’t stop. Audios, videos, they just didn’t cut it anymore, not in the same way.

Maybe it was the interactiveness, the control.

It was something magical about the way his cock twitches and how his veiny painted hands do something sinful about it while he whines and moans into the mic. You felt like you’d honestly sell your very soul just to see to it that the red rosy tip on your screen chases its unrelenting release every single time.

It allowed for you to do the same. And it felt so good, so damn good every single time.

Barely a minute and the flow of gifts had his fingers find firm fit around his shaft again, continuing the erotic train of degenerate touch. “Aah you always come through..” A chain of hitched sighs. “I Mm.. always know I can count on you.”

His pace only becomes faster and so does yours, his lovely voice, groans and ruts pulling you closer and closer to your peak as he chases his.

“Fuck i’m close.." He moans. "so so close.”

You can tell. The way his sweet lips part and quiver, wisping breath letting out those saccharine sounds.

The sticky head of his twitching cock ready to spill rich fluid.

It made your tongue swipe across your bottom lip in anticipation.

“Mm yeah.. I know you love this, you love.. ah.. you love watching this.” He releases a sequence of pitiful little haggard breaths. “You close? You about to c-cum? fuck.”

You sync every last stroke along your clit with his on his dick. Sharing every lewd moan and sigh, it’s just you and him in this dark little room.

A string of ineligible words fall from his sweet lips as he continues.

“Let’s cum together, ‘k-kay?”

You were getting there, a sheen of sweat forming across your damp forehead. You wanted to release, to come undone but not without him. You wanted.. no needed to hear him before you finished, it made the end all the more divine.

“Come on..” Your lips mutter softly under your breath. “Come on..”

“Oh God- oh fuck-”

He exclaims with a jerk of his hips before he comes undone with a final forceful tug, a delicious cry, thick milky spurts of cum wastefully flowing from the tip and pooling onto his thigh.

A dear part of you wishes you were actually there to put it to some good use.

Your brows pinch, nose scrunching as you let out a final moan. The good shivers running through you in great waves through your orgasm. You smile towards your screen, rush of honey swelling in your chest.

As you look down at your own mess, clear pearly liquid languishly dripping from the tips of your fingers you think.

Oh..

'this is becoming a bit of a problem, isn't it?’

*-*-*

Your teeth clink against cool glass as you promptly gulp down cold liquid, the crisp clear swill of the water that slips down your throat revitalises your body, clearing your mind.

A clear mind, god you needed that.

The glass is soon emptied and you rush to the sink for another one, you’re twisting the tap open when you hear the familiar footsteps of your roommate walk into the kitchen with a mumble.

You turn your head to find the man approaching you and you blank, panicking a little. It wasn't usually you found yourself face to face with the man you had just fucked yourself to a few minutes ago. It wasn't exactly the best scenario to find yourself in.

Fuck.

It was only a moment ago that Choso sent his goodbyes to the chat and it looks it with the light pink hue roaming the warm skin of his cheeks, the relaxed haze over his lazily lidded eyes. He looks so dazed.

Despite your dismay at his sudden appearance you can't help but appreciate the expression so honest on his face. The one thing about his streams was that you'd never witness the aftermath of those escapades, truly it was a shame.

He looks so fine after being fucked out.

Choso strolls into the kitchen with the cover of his usual cool look of indifference but you were very well aware of the many other expressions he was capable of making. From the nose down anyway. The sounds he was capable of making. It makes you have to stop from audibly swallowing as you hurriedly look away. You were going crazy.

Your breath catches when he comes ever closer, leaning towards you, dishevelled black mane of hair brushing forward as he does. You swallow. Do you look suspicious? Does he suspect anything?

You feel a rush of water overflowing from the forgotten glass, drip dropping along your fingers and into the kitchen sink, almost jumping as his arm reaches out— and passes you to reach the empty glass on the countertop behind you.

He narrows his eyes slightly at your flinching. “Something wrong?”

"No!" You exclaim immediately before realising you've overreacted a little.

You gave a false little cough before repeating the word. "No. I'm good." A little suave this time.

"Good?" He raises a brow.

"Yeah-yeah." You insist as you hurriedly turn off the tap. Taking your glass and swigging a sequence of urgent gulps. "Just a little jumpy today."

"Right.." Choso looks a little unsure but chooses not to press further as you cleared way for him to get to the sink.

As the water pours into his glass he suddenly remembers something and is about to say whatever that something is to you before you make like a magic trick and disappear into thin air, retreating immediately to your room before you can make a further fool of yourself.

Curling up into a ball upon your many blankets and hugging your favourite pillow underneath your chin you thrash around in your shame for a while before sighing and burying your head into the pillow.

God one day.

One day you really were gonna get caught.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: First post here rawr👹 genuinely think i'm tweaking, hope y'all enjoyed it though ^^

Art drawn by @//Umbra3terna on tumblr & edited by me :33

744 notes · View notes

sorceresssundries · 21 days

Text

Downpour

Pairing: Gale x Fem Reader

Summary: After so long trapped in the shadow-cursed lands, Tav basks in the delight of feeling the rain on her skin. One-shot.

Warnings: Oral Sex, Vaginal Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Smut.

Word Count: 3.2k

A/N: Ok, so I wanted to have a go a a romantic, Austen-esque, fluffy, soggy, sexy love-scene. I am a Pride and Prejudice girlie, and this was definitely inspired by the artwork i've seen floating around of Gale as Mr.Darcy. I STILL BLUSH WHEN I POST SMUT.

In the forest, away from camp, the rain fell heavy, warm, and welcome. After enduring the stagnant shadows of the curse for so long, Tav reveled in the sensation of the heavy droplets drenching her. She longed to feel the rain soak all the way to her bones, washing away the blood and shadow clinging to her skin. She craved cleanliness, yearning to return to the warm embrace of nature before being pulled back onto the road to Baldur’s Gate, where fresh burdens would undoubtedly litter the streets of her city.

Baldur’s Gate... The Upper City... Her home. Where her expectant fiancé no-doubt awaited her return, eager for her to forsake her studies of magic and join him as agreed in their betrothal. It was a future that demanded sacrifice—her independence, her magic, her heart—all in exchange for providing for her family. This was the destiny that loomed if they completed their quest, and time was slipping away like sand through an hourglass.

So, she lingered in the rain a while longer, relishing the freedom of being a fearless adventurer, a woman unbound, her soul still wild and untamed. She would postpone the inevitable, if only for a few rain-soaked hours.

Her thoughts drifted, as they often did, to Gale. His anger still lingered like a storm cloud after their battle against Ketheric. She had urged him to resist the call of his Goddess, to spare himself from becoming the sacrificial weapon to slay the absolute. In doing so, he had shed his mantle of martyrdom, stepping away from the edge of his perceived heroism. And in the aftermath, when the adrenaline faded and victory cries hushed, she sensed his resentment.

At the height of his struggle, she had hoped he wouldn't need convincing. She had hoped his own worth would shine brightly enough to dispel the dark intent of Mystra's decree, and that he would have enough faith in their companions, in her, to find another path. She had believed their bond ran deep enough for him to steadfastly choose to remain by her side, but she had been mistaken. He required persuasion, and it had nearly shattered her.

She understood he owed her nothing, that no formal declarations had been made. There were moments heavy with unspoken desire, where the air crackled with anticipation. She had savoured each lingering glance and flirtatious exchange. Yet now, she wondered if it had all been a fanciful illusion. How could he desire her when his heart yearned for a Goddess? When the sigil of his devotion was literally branded over his heart? She resigned herself to accepting that he would stay by her side a while longer, and would bask in his warmth for as long as she could.

“Tav!” A distant voice called through the trees, barely audible over the rain storm's fury.

She turned to see him striding purposefully towards her, embers of anger flickering in his deep eyes. Both of them were drenched, the rain pouring down so relentlessly that it only took moments to become completely soaked. His white camp shirt clung to his chest and abdomen, accentuating the contours of his muscles. The emblem of the orb was unmistakable through the fabric, as was the dark hair which spattered his chest, trailing down into the snug, rain-soaked leather trousers tucked into his boots. Heavy droplets cascaded down his nose and fell from his long lashes like tears, and he had pushed his hair back away from his face, so now only a couple of tendrils stuck to his forehead and his cheek. The shimmer of the water cast him in ethereal beauty, and his silver earring gleamed like a lone star in the night sky. He might as well have been naked, and Tav felt a rush of heat at the sight of him. He was divine, and he was furious.

“What are you doing?” His voice was coloured with fresh anger. “You will catch your death!”

“Death has tried to catch me once today, wizard,” she said in defiance, turning her face upwards to the burst sky and running her hands through her hair. “I would like to see him try again.”

“You are stubborn and infuriating to your core! You would not allow me to sacrifice myself, and yet here you stand in the middle of a storm, taunting death as though he is a pawn in your game of heroics.”

She had never seen him this inflamed; the cool bindings of his tightly-wrapped feelings had come loose to reveal a man smouldering with desperate intent. The fact he still saw himself as a sacrifice shot fury through Tav’s veins equal to that of the Wizard before her.

“Do not blame me for what happened today! Your derision is wasted on me. I regret nothing. You were not weak; you were courageous. Vilify me if you will; resent me and cast me aside. It is a price I will pay to know your light still shines in the world. But I take no credit for your act of bravery. That was all you.”

She felt tears spill their way out of her eyes, and she belligerently let them fall alongside the welcome rain, now angry that she was letting herself fall apart in front of him. She could see him subside; he had calmed from raging ocean to a still pond. He said nothing, just waited.

“Baldur’s Gate lies ahead, and so does the end of our journey. Soon I will be home. I will marry a man I do not love, to support a family who does not care for my happiness, and I will take my courage from you, from what you did today. Please grant me the blessing of knowing it was because you wanted to stay here, with me. Just let me have that, even for a moment, even if it isn't real.”

He stepped towards her, and she stepped back, as though it was the first move in a practiced dance. She knew he meant to comfort her; she was unsure how, but it did not matter. She could not bear it.

“No, please,” she pleaded, needing to be alone. Completely soaked by the rain, despite the warmth in the air, her skin was speckled with gooseflesh, her clothing clinging to her in soaked desperation. She felt ashamed and exposed in front of him. He was everything she wanted but could never have. Jealousy, anger, and longing burned within her. If he touched her, she feared she would flame to ash in his arms. “Please, leave.”

He gazed at her face, her damp skin flushed, her dark eyes deeper than he had ever seen them, the usual mischievous sparkle replaced with swirling fear and helplessness. He longed to comfort her, to hold her.

“You should not marry him,” he said, his voice nearly drowned out by the rain. The silence that followed was heavy with tension. She held his gaze, her tears halting along with her breath.

“I am acutely aware of the shackles that will bind you upon your return. The thought of it has seared my soul. I have seen people marry for all the wrong reasons—wealth, security, anything but love. Some found it suited them, others were torn apart. That fate is for the faint-hearted, and you are not one of them.”

This time when he stepped forward, she did not move.

“They are early spring, and you are blazing summer. They are dappled moonlight, and you are blinding sun. They are house cats and cart horses, and you are a wild thing. You should not marry him,” he continued, his sadness palpable in his eyes and voice. “You will wither.” The space between them felt heavy and charged, the air warm and heady in the humid rain shower. “You talked me down from my precipice; let me help you down from yours.”

She could bear it no longer. Meeting his eyes, she began to move with purpose. That was all he needed. Rushing forward, he pushed her back against the nearest tree. She mewled in surprise before his lips captured hers, soft yet determined.

“Gale..” His name fell like dropped silk from her parted lips. As soon as he heard it exhaled in breathlessness, all soft intent was washed away with the rain. His hands were everywhere, grasping at her soaked clothing, tangling themselves in her dripping hair, pulling her hips against him. The kiss was wet - rain heavy and so so desperate. His tongue danced with hers, in ways he had fantasised about alone in his tent. He had brought himself to ecstasy thinking about the touch of her tongue against his, about all the lust induced pleasure she could summon with it. He was desperately hard, unashamedly and wantonly pressed against her. He wanted her to feel the effect she had on him, how much he desired her in all her vexing, complicated, exquisite glory.

He had been angry, yes. He had been ashamed and guilt-ridden - but for reasons he did not expect. He did not feel as though he had let down Mystra, but that he had let down Tav. He had the opportunity to rid her of her burden, to strike down the threat which loomed over her head. She would be safe from the absolute, he could have given that to her, and she had talked him out of it. He felt like a coward, a meek ember undeserving of the vivid bonfire of a woman who had blazed her way into his heart.

He realised now, entangled with her in the wild rain, that he loved her. The simplicity of it was overwhelming. She was exceptional, and he loved her.

She had thought his feelings for her were wistful imaginings, but the truth was - he burned for her, he always had. Over the course of their journey, he had caught each glance with gentle hope and clutched them to him in times of darkness. He had saved every kind word and pressed them together into the pages of a book, to be taken out and skimmed through when he needed comfort. Her name was carved into his heart, and each beat belonged to her.

They broke apart, both panting and breathless from the force of their embrace and she laughed. The most beautiful, clear chime of a laugh which stirred his blood and flooded his veins with joy. He smiled at the sight of her, and with a wave of his hand created an invisible shelter above them to shield them from the rain.

“You couldn’t have done that before?” her pupils were so lust-blown the rich brown of her eyes were thin bands around black pools of desire, and her voice sparkled and danced through him.

He peppered light kisses along her jaw and down her neck, “And spoil your fun? I wouldn’t dare.” Her hands tangled in his hair in response, and she moaned as he licked away the rainwater which had gathered in the hollow of her throat.

“Lay down for me.” The grass beneath them was dry from his magic, and a soft purple blanket had been conjured out of nowhere.

She did as he was told, and the ease of her submission did something to him. She was wild, unpredictable and stubborn, and the way in which she melted and bowed at his touch, at his command, stirred him in a way he had not felt before. He was a man undone.

He spent time slowly undressing her, lifting the hem of her soaking wet shirt and kissing the plane of her stomach, working his mouth along the sensitive ridges of her ribcage, pushing her arms upwards so he could pull the sopping wet clothing over her head. As he lifted her arms he licked the curve of her breast, her collarbone, even her armpit. He wanted all of her, and she arched her back so beautifully under his touch that he could not bear to remove his mouth for even an instant.

“Gale, please.” He had never heard her voice so low before, so wanton and dripping with unfiltered lust.

“It is unlike you to be so well-mannered.” He teased between tonguing her damp skin “Where is the wild creature who has enraptured me so?”

Her response came in a moan so primal it could have been mistaken for a growl. She was an altar he couldn’t decide whether to worship at, or desecrate. He decided there would be time for both.

He peeled the rest of her clothes from her like the rind from a sweet fruit. Putting his mouth to every inch of flesh he uncovered. The rain mixed with the salt-sweet taste of her skin was fresh and heady, and he thought that no ambrosia could taste sweeter.

He proved himself wrong when he eventually pressed his tongue where she wanted it most, where her desire gathered like a fresh-filled rockpool. She was heavenly. Every moan he pulled from her was a claimed bounty, a treasure he would hoard till the end of his days. He dipped his tongue inside her, savouring her, coating his tongue with her and then swiping upwards to run over the small bundle of nerves which could undo her completely. Her hips bucked in response.

“Exquisite.” He said in between heated kisses.

“I want all of you inside me, please.” Her cry was more breath than words. Her fingers raked through his hair and the shocks of her touch ran all the way down his spine. “You shall have me, my love. Body and soul, heart and mind. All of me, eternally.”

“Enough poetry.” She whined “Gale..”

“I want you to come against my tongue first, sweet girl. I want to taste your undoing.” He re-focused his attention back between her legs, completely devoted in his worship, intent on receiving the holy blessing of her exalted cries as she lost herself beneath him. It did not take long. His tongue was firm, his dexterous fingers stroked into her and curled to find the hidden place of her rapture. His face was lust-soaked, head spun with desire, he was drunk on her pleasure and he ground himself into the earth beneath him as she unravelled with a reckless cry. He did not stop, he coaxed her through it, tongue softening and fingers slowing their pace as her wave broke and the relentless tide retreated. Even when she was spent, he continued to kiss her intimately, revelling in the soft pulse of her muscles.

She drew him close, kissing him slowly and wantonly, savouring the taste of her own salt on his tongue. Pulling back, she gazed into his eyes, tracing the rough shadow of his beard with the pads of her fingers, fulfilling every longing touch she had yearned for. Returning the favour, she undressed him, their laughter mingling as they wrestled with his soaked leather trousers, finally leaving him as bare as she. With him above her, their bodies pressed together, anticipation sweetening the air between them.

“You are a marvel.” She whispered, tracing the vein-like mark that swirled under his eye, “I will spend each second proving to you that you made the right choice today. That the world is a brighter place for having you in it.”

“I am completely in love with you.” was his simple response, and the smile it earned him rivalled the night sky with its radiance.

“The feeling is entirely mutual.” was her teasing reply. He offered her a single soft, chaste kiss, before running his hands once again up her arms. This time to pin her hands above her head. She gasped at the sudden change in pace, and his eyes gleamed wickedly. He kept her small hands grasped in one of his, and slowly stroked the other down her body. Tracing a path to where she was still wet from desire and the focus of his tongue. Her eyelashes fluttered beautifully as his finger lightly brushed over her, and her sharp intake of breath told him she was still desperately needy. “I’m going to need to hear you say it properly, Tav.” Briefly, his strokes became firmer, purposeful, stacking a pleasurable build back from the ruins of her last orgasm. And then, he withdrew his touch from her completely, leaving her bucking and helpless.

He kissed her throat and moaned against her skin, as he shifted his position to meet her heat. The tip of him pressed against her, and he had to dredge up every drop of restraint to stop himself pushing into her in one, hard stroke.

“Be a good girl, and say it.” Between the two of them, it was unclear who was more desperate, who was winning their little game. It didn’t matter in the end, the result was always going to be the same.

“I love you.” She met his eyes and poured every ounce of love-drenched sincerity she could into her words. She meant it. She would always mean it. And with her confession, Gale finally pushed himself into her, not breaking contact with the sparkle of her eyes as he moved himself inside her.

"Let me touch you, let me show you, please," she begged, her voice aching with desire. At her plea, he released her hands, and immediately her fingers roamed his body. Her pleasure soared as she finally explored him in ways she had only dreamed of, tracing faded scars and kissing each sun-browned freckle.

His pace remained deliberate, slow at first, savouring every moment as he pulled almost completely out of her before burying himself deep inside, revelling in her tight warmth. The pouring rain and distant rumble of thunder drowned out most of their passion's noise, but Tav seemed to take it as a challenge.

She matched his intensity, moving with abandon, grinding her hips against each dedicated thrust, enticing him to unravel, daring him to let go. And he did. His kisses turned into soft bites, caresses into bruising grips on her waist, her hips, the soft flesh of her backside.

Lovemaking turned to fucking, to pure desperation and relief. He rutted into her, primal and hot - the ability to speak a distant memory as all he could do was moan into her mouth as he approached his crescendo. He flipped her over, and placed one of his arms under her leg to move it upwards, and he fucked her into the ground. They were still soaked, and they didn’t know if it was from the rain, their sweat or their pleasure, neither of them cared.

He had angled her hips so he could move more deeply into her, and still wrap his arm around her to stroke her where she needed. It was exquisite. It did not last long. Tav threw her head back against his shoulder, and gasped out a choked cry as she clenched around him - wild and lost. The sensation of her was too perfect, and Gale followed her breathlessly and completely. All rhythm lost in the chaos of her unravelling orgasm.

As they descended from their high together, he gently turned her to face him, and kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, her nose, the pads of each fingertip.

“I love you” her voice was soft hope, he gaze a bright future. They would keep each other safe, and face each challenge with hearts and hands entwined.

“The feeling is entirely mutual.” He replied breathlessly, and her laugh mingled with the sound of rain and thunder to create the most beautiful music he had ever heard.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 smut #gale x tav #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #gale smut

536 notes · View notes