#allowed to get married in the Church too for those of us who want to.

[rimarkka]

DT17 x Encanto AU

I already see some Ducktales x Encanto AUs and they were really good

But I want to present my version of this AU

I want to bring dt17 characters into the Encanto’s world. It’s still a family concept with magical gifts in a magical house.

Could Duckworth move into the house and revive it?

Speaking of assigning roles

♪ Wait, who’s a sister and who’s a cousin? There’s so many people How do you keep them all straight? ♪

Scrooge as Abuela 

Have you noticed that the Miracle Candle and the Number One Dime play a similar role in the plot?

♪ We swear to always Help those around us And earn the miracle That somehow found us The town keeps growing The world keeps turning But work and dedication will keep the miracle burning And each new generation must keep the miracle burning ♪

I think he’s more concerned with the Number One Dime the Miracle Candle by helping the townspeople through deeds and adventures than by helping people itself

Donald as Pepa

Pepa is emotional and with her mood changes nature. Donald is no less emotional

♪ My tía Pepa My tío Donald

Her mood affects the weather When she’s unhappy Well, the temperature gets weird ♪

Daisy as Félix

She has no gift, she became part of the family by marrying Donald

♪ She fell in love with Family Madrigal McDuck And now she’s part of the Family Madrigal McDuck ♪

June and May as Dolores and Antonio

The biological daughters of Daisy and Donald

♪ Cousin Dolores can hear a pin drop <…> Antonio gets his gift today ♪

Huey as Luisa

They both take greater responsibility for the well-being of their family

♪ I’m the strong one, I’m not nervous I’m as tough as the crust of the Earth is I move mountains, I move churches And I glow ’cause I know what my worth is ♪

But for both of them, this responsibility is a cause for concern. Their gift weighs heavily on them. Luisa has it as a nervous tick and a song

♪ Give it to your sister, your sister’s older Give her all the heavy things we can’t shoulder Who am I if I can’t run with the ball? If I fold to ♪

And Huey has the Duke of Making a Mess

Dewey as Isabela

They both focus more on image than on gift.

♪ My older sisters brothers <…> one graceful Perfect in every way ♪

He acts like he’s good at everything, but he’s really worried that his gift isn’t enough

♪ I’ve been stuck being perfect my whole life ♪

Louie as Camilo

Louis in the series is shown as a skilled manipulator, actually (not in a bad way). He knows what to say when to smile and so on

♪ Camilo shapeshifts ♪

I believe it’s his gift

Della as Bruno

♪ We don’t talk about Bruno Della! ♪

I want to see this song in the context of «don’t talk about her so as not to piss off Scrooge», and not «don’t talk about her so as not to cause trouble from her»

♪ They say she saw the future, one day she disappeared ♪

It’s all canon. Della is gone. They don’t talk about her. The end.

Just kidding, I’ll tell you about her fate later

Beakley as Julieta or Agustín

Beakley is not bound to this family by blood, she entered it like Agustín, but not by marriage, but as an approximation.

I couldn’t choose one character, as I found it interesting that even without the gift Beakley would have the skills of cooking and «magic» to even be able to prepare healing food

Webby as Mirabel

Mirabel has no gift, and Webby is not tied to the McDuck family in blood, so she has no gift either. In fact, nobody even allowed such a thought, so they even didn’t try. I’d like to end the story with Webby’s becoming the new the Number One Dime the Miracle Candle’s keeper. 

As far as their family ties are concerned, everything here remains like the cartoon, and does not change under the state of affairs in Encanto. Beakley is still Webby’s grandmother. Scrooge has just become the father of Della and Donald. Donald and Daisy are the parents of May and June. Dell is the mother of triplets.

It’s not that the relationship between Webby and Scrooge is that important. I love this storyline twist in dt17 and it can be in this au too, but I can’t say that it is absolutely necessary, it seems to be superfluous

The main character will be Webby. On the day of receiving gifts, May and June, born on the same day, were afraid to go alone and refused to do it without Webby.

Ugh, going all the way up to two doors knowing that she would never be a part of the family and get any gift... it must hurt

It was Webby who noticed how the house began to collapse, because there was discord in the family. With their quarrels, the gifts weaken. So she intended to help everyone.

Their main conflict was Della, or rather her disappearance. So the Webby began to reveal this secret.

She found a prophecy by which Della flew away and suffered a plane crash. Unlike Bruno, whose poor predictions were not believed, Della herself did not believe her predictions. She believed she had the right to change her fate with her gift.

I don’t really want to take a flight into space because a rocket crash is too much

Why did Scrooge cover it up and get angry at every mention of his daughter? Because he kept Della’s faith in the ability to change her destiny. But after the crash, he changed his mind. For this reason, he ignored Webby’s words about the destruction of the house because he had seen the prophecy about it, and he was convinced that fate cannot be changed.

Scrooge broke it. But Webby collected it and saw herself in the end against the background of the destruction of the house.

Webby loved her family so much, so she decided to go out on emotion to prevent it. But during the escape, Della caught her. She was quite alive, ha

Della had indeed crashed the plane, but she had survived with the loss of her leg. She lived inside the walls of the house, unwilling to return.

She gave an answer to Webby’s questions. It was not only Scrooge who looked at the prediction incomplete. Della dropped the memory first, splintered from it a small piece that did not allow one to look beyond the image of Webby. There was Della too. And just like Webby, she loves her family too, but she thought it’s better without her

Kinda similar, right?

It’s only then Webby realized how stupid and wrong they both are when they run away

They rerun Della’s gift and watch the entire memory to learn how to prevent it.

Della looked at the girl condescendingly, seeing herself in her, but allowed her to. Because if the outcome is predetermined, her efforts will not make it worse.

Webby really saw how she helped her family, in particular, the triplets who first quarrelled when they began to slowly discover the secret of Della.

At this time, Gosalyn as Mariano came to court with Dewey.

I don’t mind them as a couple, but I just want them to feel like friends in that au

Later, Webby extorted the confession that Dewey did not want to marry, he did not know if he loves Gosalyn in that way

So… Webby was trying to make up with everyone and she’s even doing it well until Scrooge told her that he didn’t see the good in her actions

How do those words of Abuela resemble those of Scrooge "you are not part of the family!"

And the house collapsed…

Webby escaped. Scrooge talked to her heart-in-heart. They found an understanding. Della jumped on the donkey, said it’s her fault, she had predicted it. Tearful reunion of father and daughter. Repair of the house. Webby is a new keeper.

The end :з

SORRY IS IT TOO MUCH, HUH?

#dt17 x encanto au #ducktales 2017 #dt17 #ducktales #ducktales reboot #duckverse #della duck #webby vanderquack #encanto #au #i just can’t stop talking

[short-skirt-longjackett]

Renewal Isn't A Lie Anymore pt. 10

(okay so we're officially back and I'm ready to start hurting feelings again. And yayy double digits :) )

-Edward Nashton x gn! reader/ Bruce Wayne x gn! reader

-warnings: none that i can think of, but let me know if there are any!!

Hurt.

That's all you could feel right now. Emotionally and physically.

But even with all this pain, you're still standing.

You groaned as you woke up, opening your eyes to see your shared room with Bruce. The dark room, the black, silk sheets you convinced Bruce to get, and the strong scent of his cologne clung to the room around you.

You felt dead, your entire body hurt but mostly your neck. It felt like you were dragging ten sacks of potatoes just trying to sit up. But when you eventually do, you look at the ground below you. You were no longer in your funeral attire, but your old pajamas. The soft ones Bruce got for you from Dubai which you told him not to get you since they were expensive. You knew he still cared about you.

It was a surreal moment. Being back in your home after not being here for a while, but everything looked the same, just as you left it. You knew he liked certain things to look a certain way, but he also liked those certain things to look how you wanted them. When you two got serious, you took over creative control of his manor, which he had no problem with. It may sound stupid to others, but he liked whatever you liked.

Slowly standing up, you walked to the bathroom at a snail's pace, legs feeling like jello as you walked. Turning on the night felt like hell as your eyes adjusted to the brightness. Looking into the mirror, you saw your figure. In shorter words, you looked like shit. You neck was marked with red lines from that metal death trap that was around your neck. As you ran your fingertips over the red marks, you heard a familiar voice.

"It's a pleasure seeing you again, Y/n.." Alfred said.

It was uncommon for him to be informal, but you liked that he was talking to you like a regular person. You couldn't help but smile, "It's good to see you too, Alfred," you said, your voice small and hoarse. before he could say anything, you hugged him. You knew he wasn't one for affection but given the past events and what happened at the church, he allowed you to wrap his arms around him. He knew you had a warm a heart, different than other depressed souls in Gotham. Alfred knew what you’ve gone through, so would allow it this once.

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

As you laid in bed, flipping through television channels to quench your boredom, the door opens. You though it was Alfred bringing you your dinner, but it was Batman...not Bruce.

You felt nervous under his gaze, like you almost shouldn’t be in that bed. He stood there before finally coming to your side of the bed and sitting down. He looked at your face, “Are you alright..?” he asked, already knowing the answer wouldn’t be yes. You just shrugged, too nervous to speak, too nervous to talk to the man you’re married to. Well the man that was underneath the mask.

“I don’t know…” was all you could say. You looked down at your hands, twirling your fingers together. “Listen…I know you’re mad at me because I was unfaithful, you have every right…But I can’t live if I know you’re with someone else,” he said, taking your hands into his gloved ones.

You wanted to roll your eyes, “You’re only saying this cause you were caught,” you mumbled, not making eye contact with him. “Please listen…She knew who I was under this mask, she could’ve outed me and out us in danger,”

“Oh so that means risking your marriage?”

“It’s not like that! Please, sweetheart, you know I only love you. You’re the only way that I let see the me inside of me. I have never opened up to anyone else, not even Alfred who raised me…”

God, he rarely called you sweet names, so hearing him say sweetheart made your stomach flip with butterflies even with your brain still mad at him. He caressed your hand, his free hand caress your face with small strokes of his thumb.

“I messed up. I let myself so whatever she wanted just so I could protect you, but also my image. I’m selfish. I know I’m distant and emotionally unintelligent…but one thing I do know is I love you,” he said, looking you in the eyes as he spoke.

Though he wouldn’t admit it, there were tears in his eyes. You felt bad. You knew he was a cold person but he would give up the world for you, and only for you. The only time he ever cried like this was your wedding and when he finally opened up about his childhood and his experiences.

Your eyes stung as tears welled up, seeing him cry made you want to cry. He immediately takes notice and wipes your tears, kissing your face where the tears would’ve fallen. “I know you know that I received a video of you…having sex with him..” he said, almost sounding nervous.

You felt like sweating bullets. You had sex with Gotham’s most wanted man after all. “I’m not going to yell at you for cheating since we were split…and I’ve done the same. But what i’m concerned about is how he found you. I’m scared that he will end up doing worse than that…and today proved that…” he said.

And he was right.

You didn’t know what the masked villian had in store for you. Yes, it was Edward, but that mask made him a completely different human being. A monster.

Yet, you couldn’t bring yourself to tell him the truth. You would never kiss and tell. And Bruce did the same.

“I know we both…had sex outside of our marriage. And it hurts me knowing that he did that..but I know it hurts you that I did it first…Can we just…call it even and somehow works this out?” he said, sounding unsure of how to express his wants. Bruce never knew how to express his feelings properly, but you knew what he was talking about.

Edward betrayed you. He used your kindness and vulnerability just to turn his back on you and make you a pawn his his game. What loyalty did you have to him now?

You couldn’t tell if it was pity for yourself or your love for Bruce, but you leaned in and kissed him. Wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him close. He couldn’t possibly deny you, so he held you by your lower back and kissed back.

Your kiss felt hungry yet passionate. The way you both needed each other physically and emotionally. Kissing him felt like you were back home.

The kiss was slowly getting sloppy. Bruce now leaning you back against the bed to continue kissing you. He groaned into the kiss, like he was dying to have a taste of you after how long. And you felt the same way, you did marry him after all.

His hands wanted to roam, wanted to explore his partner like he did before this mess. But damn that bat signal in the sky.

He looked out to see it shining bright in the dead night sky. He sighed, feeling terrible and just wanting you for the night. But your patted his shoulders in reassurance.

“Don’t worry, go and see what’s happening. I’m not leaving.” you said, wanting to stay with Bruce and be by his side again. He smiled, before giving you a few more sloppy, needy kisses before pulling away, “Please don’t stay up too late, I don’t want you to be tired in the morning…” he said, giving one final kiss before pulling away to go do his nightly duties

——————————————————————————————

While you enjoyed your husbands company, Edward was freaking the fuck out. He kept trying to call you, text you, hell even email you.

He felt sick knowing what he did. Maybe if he explained to you what would happen you could’ve been home with him now, instead leaving him to drive himself crazy.

Maybe if he let you know this one plan, you could be laying in bed with him now. Maybe if you knew, you would either agree to do it or just not go to that damned chruch at all.

But who would say “Of course Edward, i’ll let you strap a bomb to me to make batman shiver in his suit! That’s a great idea!”

As he laid in bed, he could only scroll through news articles. Seeing footage of you from that small police cam…seeing your terrified expressions made him sick. He even felt himself cry, seeing how scared and frightened you looked.

He knew he fucked up.

And now, there’s no possibility of you coming back.

#danonation #paul dano #edward nashton x reader #edward nashton #the riddler #the riddler x reader #edward nashton x gn reader #edward nashton x gn!reader #bruce wayne #batman 2022 #bruce wayne x y/n

[intermundia]

As a queer person living in conservative, rural America, and as a Star Wars fan who posts about the Jedi Order, my thoughts are frequently turned to the concept of family, and what it means in different cultures. I’ve written a longish (1k words) post about this lmao, so I will put it beneath the cut, but it unpacks a lot of assumptions that are frequently made in discussion of the Jedi.

The ideology of the family where I live is closely related to patriarchy, individualism, and property rights. The narrative of the ideal family life is this: a man falls in love with a woman and courts her until she agrees to marriage. When they marry, they become one person, or rather the man acquires a helpmeet, and the woman legally loses her personhood, becoming Mr and Mrs X. She is now a larger part of the man’s personhood, and any children they have are also inside that umbrella. They are his property, not individuals in themselves. This is why conservatives resent public school and free access to information, as they are interfering with his right to maintain his property the way he wants them. Once the children are grown, the cycle continues, the son finding a wife, etc. That is a certain kind of ideal of society. The idea of sending a child to the church to be raised, is kind of like sending a valuable, heirloom cup to be used by the community, it’s hypothetically a meritorious sacrifice to god, but the cup still really belongs to the family. It belongs at home. If the child grows up to join the church, it’s something that happens later, during the transition from being property to being an individual.

This is not a universal or necessary mode of life.

In a different culture, where a child is born and is understood already to be a member of the wider community that is being raised by their parents, the idea of allowing an institution to adopt and take over raising the child is not a violation of some man’s property rights. In a culture where there is a temple that is an honorable place, where being a monk is a livelihood that is respected and important, something that parents would wish for their child to experience, it is more of a privilege to get your child into that place where they can become an important figure in the community. The parents would miss the child, that is universal, but there would also be a sense of relief for them, to know that they’ve gotten access to a stable future that they can be proud of, especially if they were in a situation where they couldn’t guarantee that child an equally stable and important future. With the force-gifted Jedi this is even more stark; their powers should be trained and directed for their own good too. Growing up communally at a temple is a different kind of family, where there is a sense of brother and sisterhood, with teachers and elders making up a dense web of social relationships. It is a different life, but not a worse one.

The conservative American ideology is something that I have felt my entire life to be very closed and full of the potential for abuse behind closed doors. A child is not a person and is not treated like one, and a wife is not a person either. The only individuals are the men who own these families. It’s a system that I yearn for relief and escape from, and so of course I am drawn to the Jedi, an imaginary culture that is based on real values held by real cultures outside of my own. I know there are places in the world where sending a child to the temple is an honorable and good thing. I know that the Jedi think of each other as family, it’s well attested in canon and legends content. It’s not abusive or wrong for those children to be raised in that communal culture, just because it’s different from the norms of individualistic, patriarchal values. Just because it’s different, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Just like being a queer person, who doesn’t fit into the system of romantic pairing and nuclear families, being different doesn’t mean being wrong.

People raised with the conservative ideology think the absence of romantic love is inherently abusive, but if you were raised to prioritize other things, would you miss it as much as if you were raised to chase it? Is it not a worthy effort to dedicate your life to serving other people? It may be difficult, but it’s not a life without love. Jedi have romantic feelings, they’re not forbidden, but they are deprioritzed. It’s not the ultimate goal of life, but rather more of a distraction from a very noble duty. Many, many people in the world choose that path. The Jedi aren’t jailers, we have examples of people leaving when they couldn’t walk that path, but most stay, because they have an important role to play in the wider galaxy and a great use of their potential. Anakin wanted to stay so that he could have the status and power of a ranking member of the Jedi Order, but he also wanted to have private property, possessing other people and controlling their destiny. You can’t have both. I think the story of the prequels and the path of the Jedi are both fascinating because they push against the cultural norm toward romance and patriarchal individualism. It’s just nice to have something that says you can find home with friends and mentors, and meaning with duty and service. It’s important to me on a very personal level.

#jedi order #many thoughts #there are a lot of assumptions made in criticism of the order #which are based on cultural norms that i do not share #and sometimes find offensive #this goes into why

[evita-shelby]

Objection

Gif by @retromafia

I've been dying to write a scene where someone objects at a wedding and I've been really bored lately so have one on me

Tw: mentions of roofing someone and sexual assault

You couldn’t let him do this.

Not after you discovered how Grace had schemed to tear the two of you apart.

There had never been a baby nor tragic miscarriage like she’d said to him and the worst part is, John and Esme only had discovered that this morning.

She wanted Tommy and she didn’t care what it took to get him. She had told you that herself when she called you from Ada’s house to tell you how she had fucked your fiancé after spiking his drink and making him believe he had slept with her out of his own volition.

You’d told him so when he came to you on his knees because duty demanded that he marry her.

You burst into the packed church wearing a dress as white as the snow falling outside.

People stare at you, some glare and some like, his family, look at you like you’re their last hope.

In truth this was your last hope. The world is not kind to single mothers, least of all a secretary who’s had a baby out of wedlock.

You had planned this; you had used up the last of your money to buy a white dress, a train ticket here and warm clothes for your two-year-old son.

Because this was your last chance, yours and Henry’s.

You knew this was going to be the event of the month thanks to Grace and her family, you knew the widow was to wear purple for her second wedding and worst of all, you knew that little Henry needed a father more than Grace needs her dignity.

After all, it wasn’t like a woman who sexually assaults a man needs any dignity.

“I object.” You shout at the top of your lungs, as if you hadn’t already drawn enough attention as it is.

“On what grounds do you object, Miss. (L/N)?” Jeremiah ignores Grace and her family and allows you to speak.

“She was never pregnant, her doctor claims t is impossible for a barren woman to have miscarried a baby that never existed.” You speak, your eyes never leaving Tommy’s as he comes to the realization he’d been lied to.

No one lies to Tommy Shelby and lives to tell the tale.

God knows what sort of retribution Grace would receive for so many lies.

“How would you know? I gave him the test results; you saw it was positive.” The blonde lies even further.

“Y/N, I love you, but I gave my word.” Tommy says making people gasp and even shout in surprise.

You’d think these high society types would be used to those types of admissions.

“Because the test results she showed you were mine. We have a son, Tommy, his name is Henry.” Your mother had counseled you against bringing Henry to the Church, but she’d gotten Esme Lee to sneak you into the church and your baby boy hidden amongst her kin.

If you had come in too late, you would have been forced to abandon Harry in a basinet with a letter in Tommy’s office and hope his father would take care of him. You hadn’t been able to get a job to feed him and now that your father was gone and your mother too sick to help you, you were given two choices.

How glad you were that plan A had worked so far.

“She’s not lying, Tommy,” John stood up and seconded you. “We talked to her doctor this morning, he said Grace is barren and that she’d stolen another woman’s results. The results were Y/N’s , but that’s not all, Tom. Tell him what you told me, Esme.”

Esme stood up with your Henry in her arms. She had said she’d help you, you didn’t know she’d smuggle your boy into the church and gives him to you when he cries out for his mama. “Grace threatened Y/N that if she didn’t disappear, she’d have her killed like she killed her husband. I heard her say it at the Derby when you were missing, Tommy. You can’t marry her, she’s got a rotten soul and will rot yours if you let her.”

Esme had never told you that when she helped you disappear, just said Tommy’s enemies would want to hurt you and your boy.

“You could’ve said something, Y/N, I’d never let anything happen to you. Why didn’t you tell me we were having a baby?” Tommy asks so genuinely it moves you to tears. And he leaves his bride there at the altar and walks towards you, but Grace follows pretending she isn’t as horrible as she truly is.

“I was just so scared, Tom, she said she’d make sure no one would ever recognize the body when she was done and I could never let her hurt our son.” You answer him, reaching out to him like he does to you, but you stand there frozen, terrified that she might want to hurt Henry.

“We can take him, if you can’t raise him, Y/N.” Grace says thinking that somehow, she could still take the man you love and take your only child too.

“Like hell we’d let you near the boy.” John stands protectively between you and your baby and the blonde woman who’d sooner smother your baby with a pillow than let Tommy raise him.

“We can talk about this after the ceremony, and we’ll be a family, the three of us.” The blonde tells Tommy who moves away when her hand tries to touch his elbow.

“I’m sorry, Grace, but I’m not going to marry you. Not now, not ever. I won’t be with a woman who so casually killed a man amd threatened to kill the woman I love.” Tommy says as he leaves Grace behind.

The tabloids were going to love this, you think as cameras flash as the bride becomes hysterical and the bridal party begins to lunge at Tommy’s family. So much for expecting the upper class to behave in a church.

Its is pure unadulterated chaos all around you.

You aren’t sure what’s going to happen next, you’d never planned to get this far.

“Tell me it’s not too late for us, Y/N, tell me we can still have our happy ending.” He takes his hands and brings your face close to his and kissed you like he’d never stopped loving you.

“It’s not, Thomas, I love you, I always have and always will.” You kiss him again and let him dry your tears.

“Let’s leave, the three of us. We can go anywhere you like; we’ll go to Paris and get married there. Just you, me and the baby, if that’s what you want, Y/N.” he tells you, never letting go of you, as if you’d disappear again if he let go of you and Henry.

“I’d marry you there or at the parish back home if it means we can be like we were.” You can’t help ,but smile at the turn of events as the three of you leave.

Part 2

#tommy shelby x fem!reader #tommy shelby x reader #thomas shelby x fem!reader #thomas shelby x reader

[anewnewcrest]

What mods do you use for this save, if you don’t mind me asking? I’m assuming MCCC to override the household member limit, but anything else?

And how much autonomy do you allow these nincompoops? For example: did David Johnson autonomously start flirting with Henrietta, or did you script that? I’d be very impressed if you have entire storylines written out in advance, but managing to turn sim AI into a coherent plot also takes mad skills.

Just for my own amusement: do you have a favorite family/sim atm?

Thank you for asking, please feel free to ignore my incoming ramble, I am constitutionally incapable of keeping things short (but you read the blog, so you probably already know that).

I use MCCC to override the household limit and increase the limit of sims allowed on a lot up the wazoo so I can get everyone assembled at church or the Johnsons' house. I also double the bills and half skill gains and career performance gains (and in some cases just stop career progression entirely if it doesn't suit the story), because the game makes it too easy to accumulate wealth, and them all being rich and not struggling with finances would really take the fun out of the Fundies (and really, with their education, they're not supposed to get promoted anyway).

For the religion content, I use Rambunctious Religions.

For screenshot purposes, I also have pose player and teleport any Sim (obviously), in addition to that Control Any Sim (invaluable if you have people from other households who just won't do what you want them to), Less Musical Chairs and No Stand Up to Greet from LittleMsSam, and a few mods that remove effects such as food sparkles and floor sparkles and sparkles around heads and other cosmetic things similar to that, as well as a few to turn off fade on trees and columns.

As for things peculiar to Fundie gameplay, with as often as everyone is pregnant, LittleMsSam's Pregnancy Overhaul is also a must, because if those ladies can't exercise during their pregnancies, they'll never exercise. I also got the Unlimited Jobs mod from Turbodriver because if you've got eleventy kids, one job really doesn't cut it, and you need a side job for your side job. Also a mod for them to keep their instruments in their inventory because these kids are always practicing the violin and keeping their instruments in any semblance of order is a chore. And Adults can Cry which is obviously critical for them to express their misery with their choices.

There's also a lot of modest clothing CC (even though I try to keep it rather minimal - I rarely succeed). And I recently installed Healthcare Redux to spice up the whole thing a bit, because I was getting a bit bored with gameplay lately.

As for how much autonomy they have... very little, I'm afraid! I'm a bit (more than a bit) of a control freak, and I have a large SPREADSHEET where everything is accounted for. I usually have a Sims' general life direction planned out before they're even born (so I can start giving them the personality they need for their plot starting as young as toddlers, and also so I can start dropping story hints), though sometimes they do surprise me (Chelsea leaving was not planned that way, she was set to get married and have a lot of Fundie kids, but then she rebelled so hard and I liked her so much that I just couldn't do that to her, and Sharon Graham was supposed to be a Fundie lawyer lady in a politically influential Fundie power couple... but then I couldn't do that to her parents).

Stories shift around as they develop and I get to know them (honestly, I thought Baker and Lily would be a boring standard-issue Fundie couple together and then I wrote them and I realized all the issues they have from the way they grew up and I couldn't just not add that to their relationship dynamic!) and see how much I like them or not, and whether I'm having fun with them, whether they get along, or if it would be weird for them to end up together, and I also have a long, long list of ideas to draw from if I totally draw a blank with a kid (which does happen). As for Henrietta, she was made for having an affair with David, quite literally, the poor woman.

As for my current favorites... I really like Mark and Kathryn Graham a lot, because they're some of the very few decent folks I currently have in the game, and Mark's just living his best life right now. And on the other end of the spectrum, I'm absolutely, ridiculously excited about Priscilla Sawyer (née Johnson) starting her arc, because while she's not a good person, she will be so much fun, and rebelling hardcore against the Fundie wife mold. Max Sr. and Jr. have no idea what's going to hit them.

#behind the scenes

[merv606]

Puritianverse!

On their honeymoon in Italy, pious little Daniel is horrified when he misses Church one Sunday…all because Terry fucked him so good until early Sunday morning, that he slept until afternoon, and missed all the Services!!! Terry was much amused at his adorable, sad dismay—even when his little Omega started to sob that all he wanted to be was a good Omega, but now he was a sinner, and was afraid that he wasn’t going to go to heaven when he died.

“And I w-wanted us t-to be together f-forever,” Daniel cried pitifully in Terry’s arms while his Alpha tried not to laugh, and instead dropped soothing kisses on his soft hair. He looked up at Terry with tear filled brown eyes and red cheeks. As lovely as always. Terry felt his dick twitch. His arms tightened around Daniel’s tiny body. 

“J-j…just wanted to be…be with you f-forever n’ e-ever even when we d-die. And now I’ve ruined it!” And then Daniel cried even harder. 

Terry sighed, rubbing circles on his narrow back. His darling Omega had brought him much joy (and cuteness) in the short time they had been married, and was everything he’d ever wanted, especially in terms of love and well, sex…but Daniel’s adoration of religious life and Church sometimes tried his patience. Dreadfully. Why, his sweet boy had even devoted time on their honeymoon, every damn day,for prayers, and reading his worn, leather-bound Bible, and other nonsense. Time that could be better spent in Terry’s company, in his waiting arms, or on his cock. (And sightseeing this beautiful country too, so he could show off what a little beauty of an Omega he had.) Heh. 

Terry had known full well that Daniel would be too fucked out for any Mass on Sunday—he’d made sure of it, giving his sweet boy quite the fucking over and over (and over)—until he’d quite literally been fucked unconscious…but he hadn’t been expecting this reaction!

“Tell you what, little one,” Terry said, brushing some tears away and tilting Danny’s chin up. He looked just like a sad, gorgeous little doll. “I’ll allow you to go to Confession tomorrow, so you can get this off your chest, and feel better. Would you like that, my baby?”

“R-really?” Daniel said, face brightening already. 

Terry smiled. “Would your Alpha ever lie to you?” He did, all the time, but only for Danny’s benefit!

Daniel let out a happy squeak, and cuddled in tightly against Terry, dropping the sweetest little kisses on his nose and lips and cheeks. God, what an angel. “O-oh, no Sir, no! Of course not! You really are the best Alpha ever!” Daniel smiled happily. “Thank you, Sir! God will be so pleased now!”

Terry really didn’t give a shit about whether the Lord was pleased or not, but he thought, as he carried his beautiful, innocent Omega off to be not so innocently ravished, Terry was sure to be.  

…

…But when Daniel came out of Confession the next day, Terry was concerned when he saw how desperately sad his little Omega looked. 

“Sweetheart—“ Terry began, gathering Daniel into his arms. Daniel’s mouth wobbled.

“I-I’m sorry l, Sir,”’he began, sounding frightened. “B-but the Priest s-said…”

“What did he say?” Terry would kill the man for making his angel feel like this! Eternal damnation be…well, damned!

Daniel swallowed tilting his head far back so he could look him in the eye. “…He, he said, Terry, that m-my penance was no…” his voice trembled. “…N-no r-relations with my Alpha f-for a week. F-for missing Mass, Sir.” His eyes filled with tears. “T-this is all my fault, Sir, p-please don’t be angry with me!” 

Terry forces a smile - not wanting to upset the little omega further.

It’s not Daniel’s fault - he’s the one who fucked him all morning so that he would miss mass, and he’s the one who suggested coming to confession, forgetting that he and Father O’Brien have reached an agreement when dealing with Daniel.

Already, in their short marriage, the priest has been most helpful to Terry - further educating Daniel in things he should pay attention to and those that he doesn’t need to pay much kind to, in terms of the church and his role in his new marriage.

But - there is NO WAY in heaven or hell that Terry is going an entire week without access to his little omega- not since he’s gotten a taste - and especially not while on their honeymoon.

Only mildly NSFW but a bit lengthy.

Sniffling, Terry reassures his omega that he isn’t cross with him, and he smiles at the alpha, waiting for Terry to take his hand and lead him out thorough the crowded church.

Although the alpha swiftly places his hand on the omega’s back - he normally likes to be touching Daniel when they’re out in public - he’s looking to the confession booth.

“I think I should confess.”

“Really?!” Daniel exclaims excitedly, eyes lighting up. He has his suspicions that his husband is only humouring him when he accompanies him to church events and services. This though, is good news. He wants to spend a lifetime with Terry - and beyond.

Terry leads his mate to a deserted pew, telling him to stay there.

Daniel sits, ready to wait however long it takes - he’s not expecting this to be a short confession. His husband never attends confession so he must have a lot on chest, especially if he’s choosing now of all times to suddenly partake.

But, to his surprise, his husband isn’t in there very long.

Daniel stands, his Alpha’s hand on the small of his back turning them, as if to leave when he hears the priest call out.

“My child.” The man steps out of the confessional booth. “May I speak to you a moment.”

“Father, of course .. I mean …” he glances to his alpha, horrified he made the assumption that was okay as Terry seems to be ready to leave.

“Of course,” he smiles down. “I’ll just be right here - come right back to me when he’s done.”

Daniel approaches, slightly hesitant. He hopes the priest hasn’t decided the penance given isn’t enough. A week without his alpha is going to be a strain on both of them.

To his surprise though, it’s the exact opposite.

“I believe my penance from earlier may have been too harsh. Given the situation you are in.”

“Situation?” He questions. He had left out the part where he missed mass because he was too busy spreading his legs for his alpha - begging for his seed - desperate for that seed to take - for his husband to bless new life into him.

“I had a communication from …” he glances to Terry “….. the Holy Spirit.”

Daniel cliches his Rosary, eyes wide.

“I was not aware you are recently married and this is your honeymoon, or that, as such, you and your alpha are trying for a blessing.”

“The holy spirit told you that?”

The father nods.

“You are trying for a blessing, correct?”

“Oh yes - of course father - to honour our union as god intended,” he agrees, parroting what Terry and Father O’Brien have been telling him, before he pauses, thinking.

If God knows this that means he’s watching when …..

“What does he says about …… what we do?” He clutches his rosary beads even tighter - feeling their impression in his skin.

“All he cares is that you are performing your marital duties as you have promised.”

Relief washes over him. That’s exactly what Terry told him too - when Daniel expressed some reservations about whether what he was allowing Terry to do was considered proper omega behaviour in the marital bed. Like when his husband had put his cock into Daniel’s mouth for the first time. Although technically, they hadn’t actually been in the marital bed for that ….

It was the morning following their wedding night and consummation of their sacred union. Daniel had been eager for his husband to fill him again in a similar manner but he winced slightly when Terry slide his finger in, his recently used omega hole sore from the deflowering the night before and the subsequent many couplings later and throughout that night. Terry hadn’t taken him, rather explained that he would give Daniel a couple days reprieve from performing those particular duties as it was normal for an omega to be a bit uncomfortable after a marriage consummation - it being not only his first time but, well, his, husband was quite well endowed. Daniel knew it would be easier to take his husband the more he became used to Terry’s cock inside him, and that the pleasure in the act would increase, which, worried Daniel as he already liked it plenty enough already. But, when Terry showed him the other ways he could please him well, he liked those too.

“Well, it was your alpha who is responsible for you missing mass,” the priest continues in his explanation.

Daniel bites his lip - he does not want to blame his alpha …. He was the one, after all, who made his husband so hard and desperate that he needed release - release that could only be obtained by putting himself inside Daniel.

“It is alright my child,” he assures. “Next to god - your alpha is the most important voice for you to listen to. If he had other plans for you this morning well, that was all you could do. You must always listen and obey him - like a good omega.”

“I do father. I obey him and …. Allow him his liberties whenever and however he deems fit.”

He nods at Daniel before glancing to Terry again.

“So my former penance is no longer needed,” The priest explains.

“Father?” Question evident in his tone while he thinks, Can you do that.

“It is not your pace to question my child as my power comes from the almighty

“Of course father, I mean no disrespect.”

“I know my child - The most important thing is for you to settle into your new role and that you yield to your alpha - your union is holy - it was sealed under god and it now needs to bless the almighty with a child

“Yes father - I am doing my best - I receive my husband whenever he comes seeking his …. Husbandly rights,” he says.

“That’s good, my child - that is your most important task ahead for you now - to become heavy with your alpha’s child.”

“So… what is my penance then father?”

“Say the Hail Mary ten times asking the Holy Spirit to put a blessing inside you after each one and you will be absolved.”

He gives his thanks eager to get back to his alpha and tell him the good news.

“What else did he say?” Terry questions.

“He said my most important task was to become with child.”

“That it is, my love.”

“Do you think …. I will be blessed soon?!” His husband has been doing his part - diligently giving Daniel his seed every day - usually multiple times a day - but he is desperate to feel life inside him - life put their by his husband and mate.

Terry rests a hand on his stomach - he knows his little omegas already is, but he’s waiting for him to figure it out. “Of course we will, and it will be one of many, sweetheart.” Terry has big plans for his little mate and their family. He may not be a practising Catholic anymore, but his cock sure is - with the amount of children it’s going to put inside his womb.

“Let’s go see some sights,” Terry says - and Daniel starts listing out the places he wishes his alpha to take him to, Terry having bought him a book in the airport of the best places to visit while in Italy.

#ask #I got an ask 🤩 #cobra kai #daniel larusso #karate kid #terry silver #silverusso #silverrusso #I need a puritan verse

[iphnh]

The Pendulum Effect

In the church I was raised in, we were taught that anger was a bad emotion. We had to treat everyone with unconditional love, as Jesus did. And anger we felt had to be reserved for sin.

In this worldview, it becomes very difficult to articulate why something bothers or annoys you. because nothing is supposed to bother or annoy you. You're not supposed to feel anger--unless you're directing your anger at something sinful.

This worldview creates a pendulum effect. On one end of the pendulum, people become doormats and ultimately never form expectations or boundaries for others. because unconditional love means having no conditions, which means having no expectations or boundaries.

On the other end of the pendulum, people begin to see sin in everything that bothers or annoys them. because that was the only (church-approved) reason something could bother or annoy them.

While these two behaviors seem like opposites, with one side acting as a doormat and the other side acting as god, the two behaviors are intimately linked. Like a pendulum, the more force applied on one side, the more force created on the other side.

I think a lot more can be said about christian theology in theory. but this is what I observed about christian theology in practice: telling people to suppress their anger (unless it's directed at sin) can create an environment where honest communication does not exist. Where it is impossible to casually talk through something that is bothering or annoying you.

In some liberal/leftist circles, a similar practice is preached. In these circles, sin oppression is the only valid reason to be angry.

Whatever you think about that teaching in theory, let's talk about what it looks like in practice. In practice, the same pendulum effect occurs. On one end of the pendulum, people make up all sorts of "sins" "oppressions" to explain any discomfort or annoyance they feel. On the other end of the pendulum, people lose their expectations and boundaries for (those they believe are) the oppressed.

In radfem circles, we easily identify this trend among libfems. We point out how trans identified men will make up an oppression in order to justify their anger toward cis women. We point out how women in libfem circles lose their expectations and boundaries for these trans identified men, believing them to be oppressed.

But I want to talk about the pendulum effect in radblr itself. What I notice in radblr is an inability for us women to express our grievances with each other.

On one hand, we have people saying (or implying) that our grievances with each other are not worth discussing and that we should only ever express our grievances with men.

On the other hand, we have people saying (or implying) that their grievance with X behavior is actually worth discussing because it is a form of oppression.

For example, I see opposite-sex attracted (OSA) women attempting to talk about how hurtful it can be to see women mock OSA women. Radical feminism is ultimately a critique of marriage/motherhood, so jokes about marriage/motherhood are going to be everywhere on radblr--but some people can be extremely mean and nasty about OSA women who are married and/or mothers.

When OSA women attempt to bring up the meanness and the nastiness, some of them end up framing critiques of marriage/motherhood as a form of oppression. I think they do this because they know framing something as an oppression is the only way they're allowed to bring up a grievance. But their analysis often stretches too far (and implies that lesbians oppress straight women), and so gets mocked. And so OSA women's grievance about the nasty comments never gets properly addressed.

To give another example, I've also seen people say that OSA women who put their man above everything, even their own children, should not be judged because these women were ultimately being abused and any judgement of these women is ultimately victim blaming. And so grievances about OSA women who put their man above everything never gets properly addressed either.

We should be able to talk through what bothers or annoys us without having to frame our annoyance as a form of oppression. And we should be able to talk about our grievances with other women without being told to ignore it and direct all grievances toward men. Otherwise, we'll be stuck in the same pendulum effect that exists in churches and libfem circles.

#radfems please touch #radfems welcome #radfems please interact #also 'the pendulum effect' is a term I made up so if there's a better term to describe what I mean here please let me know

[justforbooks]

It rained. Of course it did. It wouldn’t have been a proper coronation if it hadn’t. Brits wouldn’t have had it any other way. We were born to suffer. Keep calm and carry on.

The first guests had started arriving at Westminster Abbey from early in the morning. Among them the lucky MPs who had received an invitation. Though many Tories had been complaining it was all a stitch-up by Number 10. That Rishi Sunak had hand-picked favourites and those he wanted to get on side. Whatever. Let’s hope they had strong bladders. It was going to be a long morning.

As the cameras panned round the congregation, the BBC’s Huw Edwards desperately tried to pick out a few people he recognised. There was Ant and Dec. He didn’t know which was which but few do. Nick Cave. You can’t miss the jet-black hair. Stephen Fry behind a pillar somewhere. Jill Biden and her daughter near the back. The US president never attends these kinds of dos. President Macron wandering in, totally at home. He’s almost an honorary royal these days. In his own mind, at any rate.

Others started arriving. The lord speaker processing behind what looked like a large Toblerone. The seven former prime ministers. Boris Johnson and Liz Truss bringing up the rear. Johnson looking a right state as ever. There was no way he was going to make an effort even for this. Truss with the widest smile. She can’t believe her luck. Just 49 days in which she wrecked the country and she’s guaranteed a spot on every guest list for life. Living the dream.

Near the end, Prince Andrew and Harry. Andy was allowed a cape from the dressing-up box, Harry was in civvies. The message was clear: you can be accused of being a sexual predator. But don’t dare marry a black woman and spill the beans in your autobiography. Huw could barely bring himself to mention either of them.

Out in the Mall, Clare Balding was watching a horse walk sideways while the royal coach carrying King Charles and Camilla made its way to the Abbey. Balding pointed out all the flags of the Commonwealth countries, forgetting that many of them wanted to have their own heads of state. Then the cameras also forgot to broadcast the procession going through Trafalgar Square, where republican protesters were gathered. Nor did we get to hear Andrew being booed. This was too much lese-majesty for the occasion. Huw couldn’t have stood it.

Once the king and Camilla reached the abbey, a new procession made its way to the altar. Led by Sebastian Coe. What on earth was he doing here? He gets everywhere you don’t want him and even the royals haven’t found a way of keeping him out. Prince William, Kate and their children all looked as if they were extras from a remake of Cinderella. Then so did a lot of people. Brits like to think no other country does these occasions quite as well. Other countries may have a bit more self-worth. Still, the music was wonderful.

We’d been told that the king had wanted this to be a celebration of all faiths, but in reality this was a full-on Protestant extravaganza. Other faiths were restricted to either a one-line cameo or just a walk-on part. This was in all but name a sacred ritual, honouring Charles as the one true king and the Church of England as the one true religion.

And in truth, it quickly all began to drag a little. Justin Welby’s sermon was borderline unintelligible. Meaningless to most people. The two-hour service could have done with some editing down to 75 minutes. Still, at least it was an hour shorter than the late queen’s in 1953. Prince Louis went missing for large chunks. Lucky him. Perhaps he couldn’t be separated from his PlayStation.

“I am here to serve. Not to be served,” said Charles. Really? It didn’t look that way. The whole thing was being done for his benefit, after all. Though he did look strangely detached throughout. As if he didn’t really want to be there. As if it was all a bit much for him. He could take the trinkets but the obligations of kingship were too heavy a burden. Luckily, for once the pen with which he had to sign his name worked perfectly. Otherwise he might have snapped. The only time he looked vaguely cheerful was when the gospel choir sang.

Then we got to the real ceremony. First the anointing with holy oil that took place behind a screen because it was too sacred to be broadcast. A ritual we were told that went back to Solomon. Hmm. But Zadok the Priest always adds a touch of class. Then the Orb of Excellence, the Mace of Magnificence, the Spurs of the Surreal, the Gauntlet of Devotion, the Goblet of Fire. Or something.

Still, Penny Mordaunt was the breakout star with the Sword of Sincerity. Thank God, Truss got ousted. Otherwise we might have had Jacob Rees-Mogg doing it. The archbishop struggled to get the crown on, but eventually the king was crowned. Prince William swore allegiance and kissed his father. The one tender, personal moment of the entire ceremony. Even so, it was hard to escape the sense of the absurd. A modern 21st-century democracy reliving a medieval fantasy. It was like the royalty as scripted by Disney. Hard to take seriously. Maybe it would have made more sense in black and white.

At least Camilla looked as if she was enjoying herself. She smiled and struggled not to burst out into giggles as she was asked to hold a sceptre. She clearly thought the whole thing was ridiculous. Meanwhile the king carried on suffering in this piece of dadaist performance theatre. After more interminable faffing, the king and queen nipped round the back of the altar. Presumably Camilla needed a cigarette and a quick laugh to release the tension. Most of the rest of us were by now bored. Couldn’t wait for the thing to be over. Enough was enough.

Eventually they reappeared and headed for the exit while the audience sang God save the King. Charles stopped to thank the ministers from other faiths for being ignored throughout the service. Then into the golden carriage. Princess Anne, looking like Napoleon, leapt on to a horse. “She’s now the Gold Stick in Waiting,” Balding said excitedly. Only in Britain.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS #King Charles III

[slocumjoe]

hey uhhh i went thru ur oc post history and u said gus set himself on fire?? pls context

I love this character because whenever someone asks about him I always have to take a deep breath and get comfortable and suck a breath in through my teeth. I treat him so poorly

More Gus lore, because that specific event is actually tied to the very first event that would fuck him up forever, so I can't really talk about it without going in depth.

This is explaining the core tenent of Augustijn's story, which is guilt and its dangers. Basically, where that constant guilt came from, and how it...turned out for him...

It turns out okay. Just...takes 200+ years, an apocalypse, a divorce, and his son dying! 🥳Yay🥳

Tw; Religious trauma, child abuse, suicide, drug use, cannibalism, mental illnesses, and yet another suicide attempt.

So, some background, Gus's mom, Emma, was a fanatic catholic and generally Bat Shit about religion. As you might imagine, this is the Direct Source of both Gus' questionable worldviews, traumas, and his biological inclination to uuuhhh bad Head Times.

Emma was raised mildly religious, but she...took to it too hard? Her family was not the cause of her obsession, Gus's grandparents and uncles/aunts over there actually cut her off at one point, because she was starting to worry them but reaching out led to her lashing out. So, they just...backed off. Emma herself was a simple, homebody woman, who wanted to be at home raising her kids, and tending her garden. She would have been this way even without the religious thing.

But Emma and her side of the family were prone to addiction, see? And religion became her point of fixation and obsession. This could have still been okay, if not for the church she went into. A catholic church in the Hague that was known by all for being kind of fucking out there, even by other hardcore Catholics. This was one she went into, and even her grandchild 240+ years later would feel the ripple of this decision.

Emma goes into church and gets gnarly ideas about how life works. Its a woman's duty to have kids and raise them, to be good to her husband and her house, to listen and obey her men. Sin is inevitable and everyone does it, only those that admit and accept punishment can get another chance at Paradise. God knows every action you take and he does not care for the context, he only cares about the action. There is no "well, but" under the Lord.

Emma has mental illness, some kind of depression and anxiety, so this Big Brother Watching And Judging fucked her up. Especially since her church, in particular, was physically abusive if you did not confess to anything during confession. They thought if you had nothing to confess, you were lying.

At this point, she's met and engaged to Theodore Reinier, a rich heir to a European manufacturing company. He's pretty, a gentleman, and best of all, rich, so she can have as big and luxurious a garden as she wants. She likes him. She does not love him. She's in her twenties and unmarried with no kids, and her poor family needs to be taken care of. So she marries him. Theodore is smart enough to see this for what it is, and kind enough to allow it. He lets his wife do her own thing and treats her as a friend, rather than a lover. She hates this, she wants to be a wife (she doesnt). She wants kids, he gives her one. Augustijn. This birth goes rough, and she's told no more children.

Theodore makes one rule; August goes to a different church, or he does not go at all. Theo really didn't like Emma's church and he certainly wasn't exposing his kid to that shit.

Emma pretends to agree and takes Gus to That Church. Theo doesn't attend, so he doesn't know this is happening until much later. Gus gets all the same nasty shit Emma does. Theo learns of this when he sees Gus covered in bruises from confession beatings. This puts a huge rift between him and Emma, and he pulls all the strings he can to have her church shut down.

Emma grows to resent and hate Theo and Augustijn for not being the perfect husband and child she deserves as a good, God fearing house wife. Augustijn is left to his nannies, Emma hides away in her private garden, fuming. Theodore tries to bond with his son, but Emma's poisoned that well.

Emma tells Augustijn about demons, to fear them. She specifically tells him about church grims, demons that hunt around churches in the form of a dog to drag sinners to hell. She says this as she's admiring her new obsidian dog statues for her garden.

Eventually, Emma goes yellow wallpaper and loses her mind, and is sent to therapy and put on medications. Augustijn loathes his father for his mother's state. Theodore just wants his friend and son okay. But Emma, as she's out in town, coming back from therapy, she stops at a friend's house while the friend isn't there, and hooks up with the woman's husband. Friend's husband was stern, strict with his wife, God fearing, and generally an obnoxious 50s ideal shithead husband. Everything Emma wanted. This wasn't out of nowhere, it was brewing in the background. She knew both of them from her old church.

Emma goes home, and finally having a reason for the guilt that's always plagued her, elects to acknowledge her sin. She drowns herself in the pond of her garden, stared down by three dark, ruby-eyed dogs, overseeing her passage into the afterlife. Her young son comes into the garden to meet his mother, after she's been gone all day, only to find her in a red pool. He looks up into the eyes of the dogs. He remembers nothing of this incident, blocking it out and having been too young to understand.

Years pass, and Augustijn turns to drugs as well, though his come from the darkest parts of the Hague, rather than a doctor. He turns to sex, to crime, to anything he thinks will either corrupt him so much he doesn't care, or will finally make his guilt feel justified. He wears his mother's cross necklace through it all, and sees her beloved dog with every sin.

Augustijn goes to America for college, to Harvard, studying to become a pastor himself. (This is maybe the most terrifying part of him, the fact that he almost got it). But he doesn't feel satisfied with it, has a moment of clarity and realizes he isn't fit to preach anything. The grim certainly doesn't think so. He instead follows his only friend, Isadora, into the military. The US government allowing their soldiers to do chems means his failed drug tests don't matter.

Augustijn becomes a sniper. He has always hurt people, excelled in it, but taking life frightens him, because he knows he has no right to decide who lives or dies, not like this. But he's in China, and he's told to kill. He does, and he's very good at it. His teammates marvel at just how scrappy and determined he is, like a weed, a mold.

The Biandukou Pass Incident occurs. He eats his entire team, trapped in a Chinese mountain range during a blizzard.

Delirious from almost two months of surviving on nothing but psycho and human flesh, Augustijn is let loose back into Boston, honorably discharged. His lingering hallucinations from his Daytripper addiction, mixed with psycho withdrawal, trauma, guilt, shame, the fear of God—everything culminates. He looks up and sees the figure that has haunted him since that one, awful day; the church grim, staring expectantly.

His mother drowned herself, so he thought it fitting if he set himself ablaze.

#ss; alter #I hate to put a word to his specific illness because you always get people like 'this isnt what i think this is like so pls die' #but i imagine he'd be diagnosed with hppd #hallucinogen persisting perception disorder. basically lingering effects of hallucinogenics after use #the point of emma is that she did not ever see past the shit #Augustijn gradually learns how to reject his guilt and view himself objectively #and comes to see how he was hurt and how he hurt others. and accepts that he has a right to feel hurt but an obligation to be better #emma doesnt. she never would have even if she survived her attempt #its like. you only feel guilt because its a concept put into you #and emma taught him guilt. always feel dirty and shameful. #but. she didnt feel guilty. not really. she was confident in all of her actions and never once hesistated #she thought it was guilt just because she knew how it would look to other people. thats not guilt thats awareness. #she wasnt guilty she feared repercussions. #meanwhile her son grew up always ashamed and horrified at himself and was desperate for any kind of comeuppance #not to make it okay because he knew it wouldn't. but because he deserved it #accountability and justice are also big concepts in gus' character. the idea that someone becoming better and earnestly doing it #is better and more worthwhile than them suffering for their actions. this comes up with the Institute and Isadora #anyway if any of you come at me bitching about portaying a woman as abusive im biting #'joe no one does fhat' they literally do. its happened to me before. yall say you support womens wrongs until theyre abusive moms #anyway. fun fact; being beaten during confessions is why gus cant admit when hes done wrong for like 30 years. its a trauma/trigger #gus really is just. 'how do i process what happened to me without losing my mind' #and he lost his mind. but he does everything he can to find it again. because he doesnt want to feel this way anymore

[autumnalwalker]

Find the word tag

Thank you for the tag, @oh-no-another-idea.

My words to find are much, music, make, &most

Passing the tag to @druidx, @the-real-lyra-vale, @toribookworm22, @writernopal, and the usual open tag for anyone else reading this.

Your words shall be duck, connection, recommendation, & wake.

Much: A Dream About Ducks

I don’t actually even like ducks all that much.  But she did, so I kept buying them.  It was worth it just to see the look on her face every time and to hear her voice as she gushed over them. 

So now I live in a house filled with ducks.  Figurines, paintings, photos, plushes, lamps.  One of the bathrooms is even wallpapered with a duck pattern.  In retrospect, I suppose it’s odd that I kept them all for myself instead of giving them as gifts to her.  Maybe I just wanted an excuse to keep inviting her back over.  Not that she ever needed an excuse to get me to visit her. 

I’m not sure why we just kept living as next door neighbors instead of ever moving in together. Heaven knows that we spent enough time and nights in one another’s homes that we might as well have.  Maybe it’s for the same reason we never got married?  By the time it was legal for us to, we were so old and set in our ways that it didn’t seem worth the trouble.  We knew who we were and what we meant to each other long before we had the state’s approval, so what did we need it for now?

I wish we had.

Too late now.

Did she even like ducks?

Or did she just like me trying to show off for her?

Did she think I was the duck-obsessed weirdo in the relationship and found that cute?

I should have asked her.

Music: A Dream About Connection

I’m at a club/bar with dim green lighting.  

The music is chill and smooth.  Somewhere between lo-fi and jazz.  

There’s a section roped off for fight tournaments.  All the contestants have cyborg prosthetics of some manner.  It’s a requirement for entry.  Everyone’s chill about it all, even while fighting.  

I’m sitting in a chair waiting for my bout to come up.  I’m a woman with a white shirt and black hair pulled back in a ponytail.  

My legs walk off without me while I’m not paying attention.  That happens sometimes.  It’s annoying.  

Right after I realize my legs are missing I’m called for my bout.  No time to go looking for them.  Screw it, I’ll fight without them.  

Make: A Dream About Book Recommendations

I am walking through a sprawling mansion in the early 1800s.  I’m an old friend of the family that lives here and a welcome guest, albeit one with a penchant for going unnoticed.  Well “old friend” is perhaps not entirely accurate given my physical age, but time travel makes things complicated. 

It’s a large extended family that lives here. Siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins.  There’s some gossip going on about one particular branch of the family being unfit to handle the family business and finances anymore. Some of the family members are time travelers like myself; able to spontaneously will themselves into different eras, although the particular date, or even year is not exact. Those that are keep it a secret from the family members who are not. Or at least they all keep up the pretense. 

I wander into the mansion’s library and find a young woman going through different books, trying to decide what to read next.  I fancy her somewhat and am about to make small talk with her by way of suggesting Frankenstein - a contemporary work that seems to be something she’d be interested in - but stop myself because I realize I might be a year or two early for that. 

Most: A Dream About Waking And Sleeping

I awake in a stone coffin.  Or would “sarcophagus” be more accurate?

I slide the lid aside and find myself in a crypt with other such vessels of entombment.  None of them stir. 

I do not recognize this place. 

In a daze, I explore, soon finding stairs going up. The crypt is beneath a church, or at least something resembling one. The roof has fallen in in most places, allowing snow to cover the floor.  

It’s beautiful. 

#tag game #writeblr #my writing #writers on tumblr #writing tag games #dreams #find the word tag #manuscript search tag

[bowiebond]

“Adeve”

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41488308

Relationship: Munver aka Eddie Munson/Jason Carver

Summary: If a creature like Eddie Munson could walk through their church doors so brazenly, perhaps Jason was set upon this earth to be the abomination he tainted and devoured in place of another, better, soul.

CW: Intersex!Jason, Vampire!Eddie, Past Chrissy/Jason, fem language used, implied genderqueer!Jason, church sex, blood drinking, oral sex, implied P in V sex, catholic guilt, religious symbolism/metaphors used sexually :)

Words: 1.8k

No one was ever supposed to know. No one but his parents and Chrissy were supposed to know, sweet sweet Chrissy who just understood and never loved him less for it.

And now he had the town freaks head between his legs, making his toes curl as he sucked at his fat clit and lapped at his slit like he hadn’t just shoved his tongue into him moment before like he intended to fuck him with it instead of his cock. Not that he’d let him fuck him, God no, he had gone too far just allowing him to kneel between his thighs in the backroom of his church.

It was supposed to be a fight when Eddie dared to walk through those doors after seven, after everyone had long since left. Yet they were both upset and childish and it was more of a wrestle and grapple at clothing and hair than fists and blood. And of course Eddie was the kind of asshole to pants a guy and laugh about him having his dick out except Jason didn’t have one of those.

A girl, the doctors had called him at first. Had insisted on it. Until tests were run and things started to look strange. Infertile from deformity; from a lack of Fallopian tubes and eggs, a uterus that was damn near useless. Higher levels of testosterone as he got older, bigger, breast tissue that was so small it couldn’t barely be called a breast to begin with.

He was a boy, at least he seemed to grow into one in an unnaturally peculiar way. By the time he was five, his parents decided to call him their son instead. They always wanted a boy after all. So they sent away their ‘daughter’ to distant family due to health reasons and implanted the idea that they had adopted a young boy after her tragic passing. Good Samaritans they were.

They only had one rule. No one could know about Jason’s abnormal puberty. He didn’t get a period, thankfully, but he didn’t get nearly as hairy as his peers. Couldn’t shower with them or fuck girls like they did.

Chrissy had been a gift. The girl he intended to marry. Sweet, kind and uncaring of his deformity when he told her in a soft voice a year into their relationship. He expected her to be disgusted, to say she had no interest in him after the reveal, but she just smiled and sweetly touched his face.

“I’m so happy you told me. I don’t care, Jason. In fact, I think I’m in love.” He really had wanted to marry her. To live his life with her. Yet now she was dead, had been for months now, and he had graduated without her. He had planned to propose on that stage, had held his grandmothers ring to his chest and sobbed for hours after all the self righteous ire had seeped out of him.

Now he had her once suspected murderer eating him out like it his holy mission and fuck, could Jason stoop any lower? He had failed to find Patrick and Chrissy’s murderer. Eddie was in the clear after Jason had admitted on the stand that Eddie didn’t lay a hand on Patrick at the time of his death and wasn’t possessed even after the priest ‘exorcised’ him. Eddie came back from his hiding a week after that night in the creepy abandoned house, and by then, Jason was willing to listen. Lucas had made a desperate request because it was Jason’s fault his girlfriend was in hospital. He didn’t understand much of the situation after the earth cracked open, but he understood that. If Jason could regret anything, it was taking someone’s lover away. He knew how much that hurt now.

He sunk his teeth into his lower lip and suppressed a moan, almost rolling into Eddie’s mouth but holding himself back. There was a difference between taking it and participating. Even if it felt amazing.

And really, was there much choice in Eddie’s tight grip on his thigh? The way he pulled him forward until he was almost hanging off the edge of the desk? In the strong hand shoving him down onto his back? A punched out moan escaped his lips and he stifled it halfway with a hand. There wasn’t much choice at all, but maybe that was for the best. It gave him blissful ignorance to his own eagerness to be touched.

Chrissy and him had decided on waiting for marriage. The most Jason had ever gotten was a few sneaky fingers into the fine blond hairs below his waistband while making out, even if he had fingered her clumsily once on the couch while they were alone during movie night. Jason hadn’t had a chance to be with anyone else, been too scared to, and he was nineteen in just a few months. Temptation was a lot harder to ignore when it was thrusting a finger into his hole, wet with spit and dribbles of slick, a curious tongue swirling around his thick clit.

He didn’t want to think about the way his own legs curled around his neck, keeping him close as he groaned into his palm, mind melting away as Eddie slipped a second digit in, wrapping his lips around him and sucking. It was obscene, the way Eddie licked and sucked at his pussy, messy but hot and dirty in a way Jason had never felt before.

It made his face burn, his heart pound, his sex ache for more even as it was fed thick fingers and worshiped by a filthy mouth that took the Lords name more often than not. The pleasure was hot and tight in his gut the longer Eddie touched him, the dark haired mans insistent mouth driving him insane. He whimpered, flexing his thighs as Eddie sucked harder, thrusting faster, deeper, trying to draw more reluctant sounds out into the quiet of the church’s dusty interior.

Jason flinched as the pleasure turned to pain, grabbing Eddie’s hair and shivering as his breath caressed over his cunt.

“Don’t stop me.” His voice sounded hoarse, had since he entered the doors, and Jason gritted his teeth as Eddie ignored his grip and brought himself back down to his pussy, dragging his tongue from his fingers buried in his cunt to flick over the tip of his clit. It felt good. Still felt good when he put his mouth back on him, Jason clenching around his fingers.

But then it hurt, intense and mixed with a strange sense of pleasure as he squeezed his thighs as tightly Eddie was forced away from his throbbing bud. The dark haired man gave a low growl, barely recognizable as human as he gripped his thigh and pinned it to the desk, uncaring of Jason’s sound of discomfort before he was viciously focusing on Jason’s clit.

“Fu-!” He pursed his lips to hold back the curse, tugging on Eddie’s hair as he swirled his tongue and sucked, ignoring Jason’s whimper of pain until it turned into overwhelming pleasure. His heel dug into his back as Eddie wrangled an orgasm from him, convulsing around his fingers and gushing messily onto his lips, his chin.

Like a dog, he lapped it up, and it should have been worth degrading him over, but Jason’s head was blank. Legs shaking, chest heaving and strangely tired, he was the most at ease he had been in months. Probably years, honestly.

Jason choked on a gasp as something sharp pierced the fat of his inner thigh, two pinpricks of searing hot pain, so close to his weakly pulsing cunt that it rippled through, making him clench. He fisted Eddie’s hair tighter and tugged, but there was no budge. It was clear now that any power Jason had had was simply Eddie letting him think he had it. It was almost humiliating to realize it himself.

He looked down, brows pinched in a grimace as Eddie sucked and licked at the broken skin. The sensation was strangely soothing and pleasant even as prickles of pain from the saliva against the wound shot through his sensitive inner thigh.

As if sensing his gaze, Eddie pulled away just an inch to flick his eyes up to meet his. Jason couldn’t meet those blown brown eyes or the stained crimson lips, focused instead on the soft stream of blood that slipped down his thigh, catching the curve of his sex and slipping down like rain droplets on a car window.

They say the first bleed was a sign of sin in Eve. The sin of intercourse, which left her with the curse of blood. But Jason was not a woman, he was a man laying with another man, yet also not. He was also a woman laying with a man unwed and truly, Jason could never escape sin because he was the embodiment of it. A man and a woman, the original Adam and Eve one within him, and his love of any flesh would stir chatter for however long he may live.

He might not live long if Eddie kept looking up at him as if he was a delicacy he wished to consume, licking the drying drops of blood from his pussy lips before dragging it up to guzzle at the fresh flow. Jason knew he would consume him, truthfully, if nothing else.

If a creature like Eddie Munson could walk through their church doors so brazenly, perhaps Jason was set upon this earth to be the abomination he tainted and devoured in place of another, better, soul.

It was easier to think about it that way when Eddie slithered up his body like the snake in the garden of Eden, and if Jason was to be both Adam and Eve, he would be burdened with the knowledge he should never have possessed.

Like how Eddie’s lips felt against his, how his own blood and essence tasted intertwined with Eddie’s saliva. How his body shuddered at the dark intention of his pale blue rosary being ripped from his neck, beads scattering and falling to the floor. How it felt to be breached, fucked slow like water lapping at a ship body as his skin was punctured and sucked and kissed.

Maybe in another life he had married Chrissy, and he would have given her a half-life as a half-man. In this life though, he was two halves intertwined beneath Eddie and every inch of his skin was buzzing. He was alive for the first time since she died, but when the morning came, he too would be dead or repenting at the altar, but for now, he was alive and whole.

Perhaps, Eddie felt a similar sense of euphoria in that church backroom they shared for one night, and hopefully, for one night only.

(But predators always came back to an easy meal. Jason had made himself too easy).

#munver #tigerfreak #carson #eddie munson #jason carver #smut #lemon #vampire eddie munson #jason carver x eddie munson #jason x eddie

[rosalesbeausderholle]

Marriage is a misogynistic institution, it was and it is in many places still, but in some western countries it has morphed as it being just the legal binding of two people and a ritual of love and eternal commitment. Like, that part can't be ignored. Doesn't mean the misogynistic roots aren't still there, but in western countries most people marry willingly and for love. And the element of misogyny and a power imbalance in marriage never existed for gay couples in the first place. There were no gay arranged marriages or gay dowry and the concept of virginity and purity has never mattered for us either... You could even say gay marriage is a completely different concept!

People who make these posts like "excusing" "assimilationist gays" are always like: "Well, some people need to marry for immigration status, some people need to marry to be able to be the next of kin to their partner, etc" when the reality is that, while of course those things are useful, most gay people who marry (or want to marry) do so because we see it as a romantic commitment, we want the ceremony, we want the legal acknowledgement that we are wives/husbands, we want the cake and the dance and the honeymoon and the party and the rings... and gays that were pioneering marriage rights ALSO wanted that! They wanted the legal rights that came with marriage of course, because that's useful, but they wanted those rights both because they were useful and also because we deserve to have the same rights as straight people.

If it was only about the legal rights and not the institution itself, the push would have been to make civil unions have the same right as married couples (which also has happened in some countries due to gay activism, might I add) but we weren't happy with just that. We wanted to be able to get married, both because it makes no sense that we shouldn't be able to do the same as straight people (we still can't even in countries where marriage is legal, most churches don't allow them still) but also because we wanted the ceremony of marriage and all that comes with it, the vows, the rituals and the commitment and everything else.

Like, stop pretending that gay people only ever wanted marriage out of necessity just because you're embarrassed by "monogamous assimilationist gays" (aka people that want to live normal lives, which is threatening to you because your queerness is more made up of aesthetics than experiences) you don't need to make excuses for why you think we think marriage is necessary. It's not just a legal matter, it's everything else that comes with it too. And there's nothing wrong with that!

Also, even if we were to abolish marriage, there'd still be other legal unions for couples and people would end up creating romantic rituals for those couples as well, because we create romantic rituals for everything so we'd just end up with a new form of marriage, and there'd be still gay people who'd marry even if there were no more legal benefits tied to it.

[herbirdglitter]

All right buckle up. I’ve got some hot gossip from a person you don’t know about people you also don’t know. I will do my best to provide context but I am just bursting to tell my siblings about this but my brother is borrowing my phone so I can’t. So I’m telling you instead. My godmother came up for a visit and she brought the tea.

Here’s what’s up. Our old church, which had been turned into a cult by a man we’ll call Father Pervert, has recently turned over a new leaf. Father Pervert had been caught exchanging spicy emails, pics, videos, etc. with a married woman in the congregation. Caught, that is by her husband. Now, this is an Eastern Orthodox church, so priests are allowed to marry if they marry before becoming a priest, so he was also cheating on his wife, whom he married when she was 17 and he was 25. Yup. 

Anyway, a full investigation was launched, the police were informed (because no one needs a repeat of the catholic pedophile thing), and there was a letter sent out with an email address to encourage other people to come forward with information about him. GUYS. 

It turns out, there was not one incident, but three over a course of about twenty to thirty years. He has a disturbingly high salary for a priest, he pretends not to have a phone so that people can’t reach him at home, and he also covered up the fact that there was a convicted pedophile living right next to the church school. I could go on. 

So there’s a hearing, he’s suspended from duty, and most people don’t really know what’s going on. Until recently, everyone thought he was the bees knees. They’d go to him about everything, finances, medical problems, whether to use birth control, you name it. People are still intentionally not finding out what it is he did wrong because they don’t want to. The whole situation was very unhealthy, and he didn’t like people who asked too many questions, or authority figures the people liked a lot. He was scared of losing power, so slowly he began driving people out. 

People were mysteriously leaving after confrontations with him, but never because of that, no. It was always a job offer that they just couldn’t turn down, or moving to be with family, or the “haha i’m so pious but really i’m trying to escape” move to live near a monastery tactic. See, people still had connections, family, friends, back in that church that they wanted to be able to come back to. If you spoke out against Father Pervert in any way, you were labeled as a troublemaker, a fallen sinner, etc. You get the picture. 

Well, and this is where it get’s good, one of those authority figures that Father Pervert had managed get removed was a delightful man that we shall call Father Cool Guy. Yes, Father. He was a priest, and it was he who was chosen to replace Father Pervert as the primary priest of the church. 

I cannot stress how much of a delight this man is. He’s kind, he’s funny, he is  generous with his time, he is so loving, he is everything that a priest should be, and that is coming from a queer atheist. 

All this we already knew, as this was a whole thing that had played out over the course of this last year, and here’s where we get to the tea my godmother brought. She’d stopped going to this church quite a while ago as she was “troublemaker” (read authority figure with differing opinions) but she came back a couple of times recently to see the new priest. 

APPARENTLY, Father Cool Guy delivered the least subtle, most fantastically pointed sermon in human history, with thinly veiled lessons about humility, and not putting people up on pedestals and then proceeded to ask her afterwards if she thought anyone got it. 

THEN the other time she went, the poor wife of Father Pervert, the one who’d married him when she was seventeen, got up and delivered a speech about how thankful she was for the time they’d had in the community etc.. A speech which was long, and at times clearly showed that she still had some hope of working things out. Which is so sad because she’s married to a narcissist with horrible power issues and it’s tragic and I hope she gets help. I realize that doesn’t sound like much after the wild ride of the premise but we’re getting the info in little increments instead of all at once so it’s big to us.  

So that was that tea, but the other thing was that my godmother is in her 60s with a long dead husband and has just had her “oh crap I’m asexual” moment, which is iconic, because she {intentionally} lives in a tent on huge property with all her kids and her grand kids and hasn’t tried to date or anything once since her husband died. So, I, her 19-year-old asexual godchild, ended up explaining a bunch of things to her and I think I got her sold on the idea of labels. Then I accidentally outed her trans godson to her (I REALLY THOUGHT SHE KNEW) which turned out fine because she was perfectly supportive, but now I have to break that to him and I feel like shit but I think it’ll be fine. Help.  

So that was my day

#tea #asexual #how does one tag this

[ryttu3k]

BG3 progress! Last couple of sessions - getting a new addition for the camp library in a herbalist's cellar, and having a nice explore of some perfectly benign Sunlit Wetlands!

Had an interesting moment when they were in the apothecary, about to head into the cellar. Gale got hit by the Arcane Hunger bane, doubled over, and immediately ran outside (followed by Lae'zel). Still grouped up, it was just Gale specifically who removed himself from the rest of the group??

I mean if he was going to like... blow up, just going outside wouldn't do it, but it's like. He didn't want the others to see. And that growing relationship between Gale and Lae'zel came into play, too.

Went on down, fought the zombies. Made the discovery that the armour I gave Wyll didn't allow for spellcasting because it was too heavy, so... well...

Hey, needs must!

Got the book. It's kind of interesting how suitable it is that Astarion is the one to pick it up, given that he'd usually be the one disarming the trap on it. I actually did try having Tae pick it up instead, and Astarion immediately offered to take it instead, then got pissed off when they tried to destroy it (I reloaded the save), so yeah, I think it's his now. Plus he was the one doing the sneaking to get the amethyst, so I may just have to do a lot of save scumming to pass those checks XD;;

Relatedly:

Down south and into the swamps. Honestly I think this is the first time Astarion looks genuinely, truly scared, and I think the others notice too, and I think he notices that they notice. Yeah, it's not the hunter himself, but Cazador? That shit is haunting him. It's only been days away from him, compared to two hundred years.

Yeah, he throws in a joke. He's still genuinely afraid ;_;

A mild diversion for some attempted murder! Always fun to spice up camp life. And, later:

I love them.

Baa'd at Redcap. Got approval from Astarion and Karlach <3 Aside from feeding the baby owlbear, are there any other points where they both approve of something?

Please don't.

You know what, I bet.

Mirror conversation my beloved <3 Amused that Tae 2.0 got options for every companion - Tae 1.0 only got Karlach and Shadowheart. Don't think it was linked to approval, either, since their highest relationships were still with Gale and Wyll, and Karlach was in the single digits? Either way, did exactly the same this run, picking Karlach, getting approval and all.

Anyway. Already dumped all my thoughts/feelings/general yelling on the mirror scene in the link above, so in conclusion, centuries-old vampire said 🥺

The baby has returned <3

Just to cap it off, returned to the Selunite Outpost marker, venturing out just long enough to grab Phalar Aluve. Gotta respec Tae to give them proficiency in longswords, I think, the sword is literally dedicated to Eilistraee. Do druids generally use longswords? No not really. Does my Eilistraee-worshipping drow druid use a longsword? Well shit they do now. How different can it be to a big stick, right? :D;;

(Slowly been researching all I can about Drow and the like. Idea I have so far is 3/4 of Tae's grandparents were part of a group of Eilistraee followers who made it up to the surface. One ended up marrying and starting a family with a Wood Elf, which is where Tae got their eye colour from. Was raised Church of Eilistraee, also started following the Church of Silvanus when they started studying as a druid. Anyway. Point is. I want Tae to have that sword.)

Current approvals: Lae'zel 32, Astarion 35, Shadowheart 53, Karlach 70, Wyll 92, Gale 94. Next up: exploring the Underdark, and Tae being So Uncomfy because this is their people doing Deeply Shitty Things even if they're surface and have never been involved personally!

#ry plays bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 spoilers

[nerdygaymormon]

Hello! I bought and read Living on the Inside of the Edge that you posted about being a part of and I just want to say I adore it. It obviously hasn't (and can't really) heal all my concerns, and I'll likely always have a complex relationship with the Church, but for the first time in the past several years, I feel hope. I feel understood. I feel seen.

Thank you for writing your perspective as well. As a young adult with no support from my parents for being aroace, being told I'm loved by my Heavenly Parents and that I can and should have joy in my identity made me cry in the best way. Thank you for the love and wise words you share brother.

I also really appreciated those perspectives from other women, especially on sexism. It was a shock to my system, I won't lie! Even though it'd been staring me in the face for my entire life, sometimes it just takes one person to point it out. It kinda made me reflect on some of my own experiences. For example, when I was a Young Woman, it was an open secret in my ward that 2/3 - 3/4 of the youth budget went to the boys. Girls weren't allowed to do activities too "masculine" or "dangerous" (many of us were interested in learning gun safety/self-defense/shooting BB's for an evening). When I was preparing to go to college, all anyone asked me was if I was going to get a boyfriend/when I was going to get married + have children. To this day it still irritates me that they were more interested in a girl settling down into a righteous marriage and popping out babies than my own interests or goals. I'm sure I'm not the only woman who feels this way!

Thank you for everything you do and being an exemplar of Christ-like love.

This is such a nice note!😊

Knowing you're not the only one, that's a big deal. I'm so glad you could see others get it, others understand.

You are loved! 💓

I was very pleased to be asked to contribute, but I worried would what I write be good enough because those chapters written by the other contributors are 🔥🔥🔥

My favorite is the one by the mom on raising feminist boys in a sexist church

I'm sorry that your parents aren't supportive in regards to you being aroace, I'm sure that can be rough. I certainly can empathize with your experience, my parents still struggle with the idea they have a gay son. Consequently, they miss out on parts of my life. I wish I could've celebrated with them that I had a chapter published in this book!

#living on the inside of the edge

[theawkwardvirgin]

An interesting Gospel today, on marriage. Now I know most of this Gospel well (“male and female he created them”, “what God has put together man must not separate”) but I hadn’t heard what happens after the teaching on divorce.

Jesus’s disciples respond in a very modern way, which is kind of funny in a depressing way: “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

Yeah, who wants the burden of a covenant with God being actually, you know, binding? Shock and horror!

(Side note, but when Jesus says that Moses allowed divorce because of the hardness of people’s hearts, He’s referring to the fact that men would have their wives killed to get around the “‘til death do us part” thing. Yeah.)

And Jesus looks at them and says this: “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”

This is a fascinating statement, and one I haven’t heard before! Jesus acknowledges that marriage isn’t for everyone, that not everyone is capable of that sort of commitment. But here’s the crucial part: this doesn’t excuse them from the binding nature of marriage. His phrasing makes that clear, from “some are incapable of marriage” to “renounced marriage”.

So what do you do if you’re not cut out for that kind of commitment? Simple really: you don’t get married. People who are incapable of upholding a covenant with God shouldn’t and can’t make such a covenant. Which is obvious when you think about it.

Despite common misconception, the Catholic Church doesn’t just throw young people together and push them to get married for the funzies. Before you get married, you have to pass a class called Pre-Cana (yes, named after the Wedding at Cana), where you and your fiancé go through counseling and training to make sure you understand the commitment you’re making , that you and your fiancé are a good match, and that you’re ready to make that commitment and live together. You’re usually required to be married by your parish priest, who hopefully knows you well, probably did your Pre-Cana, and can be confident in witnessing and presiding over your covenant.

There’s a lot that goes into preparing for marriage in the Catholic Church, and it’s precisely because we understand that a valid marriage is indissoluble. Once you’re validly married, there is nothing anyone on earth can do to change that.

Now, an important note: This does not mean people have to stay in abusive situations, even if their marriage is valid. Separation in the Church is allowed in serious situations like abuse, and in fact you can get legally divorced in that situation, since a piece of paper doesn’t affect your binding covenant in any way. However, in this case, you’re still married to that person and this can’t get remarried. (There are caveats and technicalities that could deem an abusive marriage invalid and thus dissolvable, but this post is too long already. I recommend this website by a canon lawyer for anyone who’s curious about the details and requirements of a valid Catholic marriage.)

#Catholic law on marriage is *incredibly* complex #Precisely because it’s such a big commitment #And a marriage is made valid by the consent of the SPOUSES #who confer the sacrament on each other by their consent #So anything that violates that consent invalidates the marriage #catholicism #catholic #marriage #catholic nerdstuff #theology #I’m unable to get married (at least at this point in my life) because I’m ace and sex repulsed and thus can’t give proper consent #That would fall under the “because they were born so” I imagine #However if my sex repulsion were to go away and I WAS willing to have sex THEN I could get married