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thekimspoblog · 9 months

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I keep thinking about something my Crim-Law professor told me. "That the rate of victimization for sexual assault for women is roughly 1/4-1/5", and that he "wasn't optimistic any amount of legislation could change this number. Not that there aren't ANY ways to lower the rate, but legislation is the bare minimum compared to the social change which is actually necessary to reduce these rates."

The fact that we have RAPISTS making decisions about the legality of women's healthcare isn't even confined to being a legal issue. We are sending a message about who is worthy of respect, and what kind of behavior is condoned, and those messages in themselves affect the level of violence women are subjected to. Not to mention allowing women to be killed through medical malpractice is a suffrage issue. Dead men cast no votes and the republicans like it that way. The more women die, the less our voices will be heard moving forward.

This is what I keep coming back to. Of course I want McWexler to be happy. If they got out early on good behavior, and they found a cute 1 story house in Colorado, and they found a power dynamic between them that worked for them, that would be just fuckin adorable. Of course I want them to be happy and (and this is the important part) curb the impulse to lash out at the system in petty ways that tend to backfire. But nowhere is safe. The noose is tightening around every woman's neck right now. At bare minimum, Kim needs to confront the attacks on Roe for her own self-preservation because this affects everyone's healthcare. But also... yeah I guess I am crazy; I construed that scene from 6x13 as implying Kim gives a shit about the safety of other women. Yes, the duo have every reason in the world to want to lie low right now, but lying low is no guarantee of safety. In the long term, fighting for justice is always the safest bet. Otherwise, tyranny is going to continue to grow out of control, and eventually you're going to run out of hiding places, or run out of resources, whichever happens first.

#basically the same debate dolores and teddy were having most of season 2 #and sure teddy eventually dumps dolores because he doesn't have the stomach for the dark path she's on #but notice the narrative never actually confirms that dolores was wrong thinking it was revolution or death #westworld spoilers #i can accept BCS 's ending on paper but spiritually everything after 6x09 is going to need to be undone #saul going to prison is only a satisfying ending if we assume the status quo is fine and the justice system is in any way equipped to conde #not to drag MLK into this but you know that quote about peace vs justice #well that

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artsyhamster · 1 year

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Decided to start drawing tarot cards (Major Arcana) with Disco Elysium characters. I have almost all of them mapped out, but let’s see if I will finish them. Will link them together if I actually do end up drawing more.

Anyway, explanations for choices underneath the cut, because I feel the need to explain myself and I actually spent a lot of time on distributing the roles hahah

(1) THE FOOL / THE MAGICIAN / THE HIGH PRIESTESS | (2) THE EMPRESS / THE EMPEROR / THE HIEROPHANT | (3) THE LOVERS / THE CHARIOT / STRENGTH | (4) THE HERMIT / WHEEL OF FORTUNE / JUSTICE | (5) THE HANGED MAND / DEATH / TEMPERANCE | (6) THE DEVIL / THE TOWER / THE STAR | (7) THE MOON / THE SUN / JUDGMENT / THE WORLD

I am going to cite this homepage first, to showcase the whole journey, because this one helped me a loooot with figuring stuff out. Will also quote a lot from there. Anyway!

THE FOOL - The major arcana represents the stages of the Fool’s journey, and since Harry is both the protagonist and a fool, this choice was a no brainer. I specifically chose his Tequila Sunset moment, because at the beginning of his journey, the fool is still oblivious to everything that is about to happen, and Tequila Sunset has Al Guhl and drugs to thank for this obliviousness.

[In the Fool’s Story, the cards appear in chronological order as he meets them, but since Disco obviously follows its own story, I can’t follow that chronological order, but I’m hoping the characters make sense anyway. :D]

THE MAGICIAN - “The Magician is the force that allows us to impact the world through a concentration of individual will and power.“ I had a hard time picking another character for this role, because to me this felt like forces coming from within the protag himself. So i chose SHIVERS and INLAND EMPIRE as representatives of Harry’s skills instead.

THE HIGH PRIESTESS - “The High Priestess is the negative side. She is the mysterious unconscious.” I guess it goes without saying, that Dolores Dei has a negative impact on Harry’s subconscious. Like THE MAGICIAN, I also see her as part of Harry, because she... is not really a person. More like a fabrication, or echoes of memories, which might even be distorted memories.

Not to go off on a tangential rant, but I love the concept of Dora, because we don’t really know her. :D All we know is what Harry remembers in his subconscious, and this might just be Harry projecting his insecurities onto this literal goddess, who echoes his insecurities back at him.

I also wonder if Harry always had the skills or if they just appeared one day, as his mind shattered.

Anyway, see you at the next rambling.

#Disco elysium #disco elysium fanart #Harry du bois #dolores dei

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txttletale · 1 year

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socialism: elysian and scientific

[whispering to you in a movie theater in between mouthfuls of salted caramel popcorn--other moviegoers who just want to watch we bought a zoo (2011) are glaring at us but i don’t care]

so in 1880 friedrich engels wrote a snappy little number called ‘socialism: utopian & scientific’. it’s a foundational marxist text and one i’d recommend to everybody--and i think some of the ideas in it are incorporated and built on in disco elysium in really interesting ways.

socialism: utopian & scientific does a few things. first, it lays out the ideas of the 18th century utopian socialists and explains the societal context in which they developed their ideas--and the core idea of the dialectic development of ideas. engels harshly critiques the enlightenment's conception of the history of thought as a history of individual thinkers attempting to capture an eternal, immutable corpus of truth and justice--he describes this worldview thusly (emphasis mine):

What was wanted was the individual man of genius, who has now arisen and who understands the truth. That he has now arisen, that the truth has now been clearly understood, is not an inevitable event, following of necessity in the chains of historical development, but a mere happy accident. He might just as well have been born 500 years earlier, and might then have spared humanity 500 years of error, strife, and suffering.

and of course it jumped out to me playing disco elysium that this is exactly how human development works the world of elysium--innocences are singularly world-changing individuals who personally establish systems and ideologies within their lifetimes:

dolores dei in particular is a pretty clear synechdoche (both narratively and, because of how innocences work, diegetically) for the bourgeois revolutions of the enlightenment--her followers, the moralists, are clearly analogous to the real-world post-enlightenment liberal international system. the “kingdom of conscience”, is, i think, also a pretty heavy-handed reference to engels’ sardonic use of the “kingdom of reason” to describe the empty promises of the 18th century bourgeois revolutions:

Now, for the first time, appeared the light of day, the kingdom of reason; henceforth superstition, injustice, privilege, oppression, were to be superseded by eternal truth, eternal Right, equality based on Nature and the inalienable rights of man.

so--moralists are liberals, that’s not exactly groundbreaking. the innocentic system is a literalization of the metaphysical vision of the history of ideas--that’s interesting, but it doesn’t really say anything in and of itself. so let’s go a little deeper. if engels doesn’t think philosophers, are accessing a nebulous immaterial well of absolute truth, what does he think--well, he cites hegelian dialectics, a system he and marx develop into material dialectics and historical materialism. what the fuck are hegelian dialectics--well there’s a lot of really long fucking books that answer that, but let me just quote engels here:

In his system — and herein is its great merit — for the first time the whole world, natural, historical, intellectual, is represented as a process — i.e., as in constant motion, change, transformation, development; and the attempt is made to trace out the internal connection that makes a continuous whole of all this movement and developmen

hegel posits the history of mankind as the history of ideas evolving in concert with one another--the ideas of, say, the enlightenment weren’t just waiting in the aether during the age of feudalism, fully formed until some singular genius could grasp them--instead they are the product of the ideas before them interacting through the process of thesis-antithesis-synthesis. this is dialectics--the idea that progress broadly takes the form of contradicting forces generating a novel force through their interaction.

now, engels identifies one key flaw in hegel, which is that he’s still idealist--he is putting the ideas first in this historical model, positing them as drivers of history rather than products of it. engels then goes on to lay out the fundamentals of historical materialism, which is the application of dialectics to a material view of history--when engels says “all past history [...] was the history of class struggles”, this is what he means, that historical development is the process of the creation and resolution of contradictions between modes of production and exchange (how stuff gets made and who gets it and why).

[i take someone elses double gulp soda out of their hand and slurp it loudly, ignoring their obvious outrage]

okay that’s all cool but what does this have to do with beloved crpg disco elysium (2019)? well, for a start it takes a very distinctively historical materialist worldview when it comes to its own history--the history of revachol is very much the history of class struggle, from the revolution to the strike--and the idea that the elements from which future society will arise are already present with current society is a recurring theme:

the future is change--society is in motion, contradictions must resolve, the world is dialectic--and the moralists are in opposition to this, desperate to maintain the status quo, to maintain contradictions perfectly suspended forever. from the dialectic point of view, moralism in disco elysium is the quest for no future at all:

as engels explains, a dialectic view of history means that you need to understand the past if you want to understand the present, because the present is born from elements of the past:

From this point of view, the history of mankind no longer appeared as a wild whirl of senseless deeds of violence, all equally condemnable at the judgment seat of mature philosophic reason and which are best forgotten as quickly as possible, but as the process of evolution of man himself.

for the moralists, the past is something to be forgotten, cast aside for an eternal unchanging present. which is interesting because in disco elysium there happens to be a global world-threatening force which is forgetting the past: the god damn pale. the pale is the accumulation of all human history into something flat and meaningless, the detachment of history from its context--the pale is the future, past, and present not as dialectical continuum of cause and effect but as meaningless incoherent chatter. the pale is the moralist’s view of history made real global force--

--and it has the potential to destroy everything--

and this is what moralism is. engels says of metaphysical philosophy:

In the contemplation of individual things, it forgets the connection between them; in the contemplation of their existence, it forgets the beginning and end of that existence; of their repose, it forgets their motion. It cannot see the woods for the trees.

by understanding the world in repose, as a dead thing, moralism is killing it. by discarding the past it is creating a debt that can’t be repaid. and what brings this all together is this bit of information from the game’s concept art:

innocences create the fucking pale. what they’re doing, their immanentized personificaton of the kingdom-of-reason model of history, is destroying the future. very literally, the non-dialectic view of the status quo--the quest for the right ideas to ensure endless stagnant stillness--is killing the world. the man who killed dolores dei was right:

we were supposed to come up with this ourselves. so--all that done--what’s the point of this post? what do i think any of this proves, other than that i and the DE writers are fancy communists who read books? well, my read on it at least: the pale is the destruction of history for a purpose--because if we do not understand history, we will think we cannot change it. we will wait for the great people to do it for us--we will wait for them to invent a future to live in and we will wait until we die. we are supposed to come up with this ourselves. as engels says:

The possibility of securing for every member of society, by means of socialized production, an existence not only fully sufficient materially, and becoming day-by-day more full, but an existence guaranteeing to all the free development and exercise of their physical and mental faculties — this possibility is now, for the first time, here, but it is here.

liberalism tells us that the future is unknowable, untouchable, that all we can do is wait for it to arrive. socialism--and disco elysium--tell us that the future is here, now, that everything we need to build it ourselves is already in the world. the second hardest part of that is realizing it--the hardest part is doing it.

[i am dragged bodily out of the theater by my ankles, frantically snatching snacks out of other people’s hands as i go. for the road]

#disco elysium #marxism #this is NOT comprehensive or well structured i just had to get these thoughts out in writing or id explode

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haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll · 2 months

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Tracklist:

"The Tower" • Gunfight at the Dolorous Guard • "Strength" • Empty Trail • "Death" • The Hanged Man Rusts • "The Hierophant" • Hellfire • "The Lovers" • Blood and Whiskey • "The Fool" • Skin and Bone • "The Hermit" • Holder of the GRAIL • "Judgement" • Peacemaker • "Justice" • Once and Future King

Spotify ♪ Bandcamp ♪ YouTube

#hyltta-polls #polls #artist: the mechanisms #language: english #decade: 2010s #Western #Rock Opera #Spoken Word

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yellow-yarrow · 5 months

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I'm still very fascinated by "Girl Child Communism/Revolution"

Someone before the revolution writes something called "Mirova 82/ Mirova Cycle", where Girl Child Communism is "the ghostly apparition of..." .. of communism or the world spirit perhaps? possibly predicting the revolution, but also predicting that it's something that will be repeated. The Deserter is waiting for this, it's implied that some people think The Return could be a communist revolution. But then the text also says it's her return, and return of the light, and the pale is also called "her" in the novel, "her" sometimes also sounds like it's about Dora, the light symbolism means the pale (and sometimes love) and we know St Miro is going to get elected soon.. The collage mode update shows a gentrified Martinaise, and the novel a capitalist Mirova. And then there is that part about Målin reflecting the world, almost like an innocence, but the world is wrong and it is the light that is mistaken. Harry and Dora's unborn daughters and the pregnant Dolores Dei dream.

It feels like things are not going to happen the way they are supposed to happen.

And then there is Iosef Lilianovich Dros, waiting for girl child revolution, while not far from him Lillienne is living with her child, Little Lily, who you can ask "Anything that will help me dismantle Capitalism, so that you can inherit Communism, O' Girl Child Revolution?"

and failing the Feld mural check twice gets you this:

Shivers - GO TO THE CHILDREN OF THE BIG SEA. Rhetoric - The big sea... The Big C? That can only mean one thing: Communism. You - Yes, Comrade Zephyr. I shall find them. Girl Child Revolution and Girl Child Communism! Shivers - BOY CHILD FREEDOM. BOY CHILD JUSTICE.

which continues with you talking to Lilienne's twins, who have visited the island where the Deserter lives.

I'm not saying these children are the manifestations of communism or that Dros and Lillienne are related, but there could be some kind of symbolism or parallel here. I made this post a while ago, maybe it has something to do with Lyotard's book, I don't know

GCC is definitely not an innocence, but could be some kind of manifestation of the world spirit, maybe.

#disco elysium #harry says it like gc communism and gc revolution are two people. and then dora is like 'our unborn daughters'#the short version of a too long post i wrote yesterday

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blueberrydanish · 4 months

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okayyy so im definitely not the most well versed with everything surrounding jkr, and im kinda just yelling into the void with this one, but I think its kinda funny how she's a radfem that often focuses on the men in her stories, reducing even the female characters with potential to love interests, shames women for fighting for justice (the whole S.P.E.W. thing was not it), uses the bigotry a woman faced from her best friend as a point in his tragic backstory, leans into stereotypes of girls being catty, dumb, and worthy of ridicule if they express romantic desire (Fleur Delacor and Lavender Brown), and gives many of her male characters some form of backstory to at least semi justify their actions, while women like Bellatrix Lestrange and Dolores Umbridge are just crazy evil bitches. idk just makes it feel like some of the shit she spouts on twitter is less about womens rights and more about her total aversion to trans people.

#anti jkr #anti jk rowling #fuck jkr #trans rights #try not to take this too seriously #I haven't read the books in years I might be wrong about something #im kinda just rambling #im just a silly girl with a silly blog who fucking hates Joanne Kathleen Rowling <3

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miracles-and-butterflies · 2 months

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[Reincarnation AU]

Isabela, bending down to her height to hug her: I mean, Mirabel, getting your head chopped off? At fifteen? *le gasp* That’s got to be the most tragic death here, surely that means you’ll win the competition— oh, oh wait… never mind!

Isabela, sadly: And Dolores, dying of natural causes? …WHEN WILL JUSTICE BE SERVED!?

Isabela: And a snake bite

Luisa:

Isabela:

Luisa:

Isabela: But seriously, Luisa, all jokes aside, getting rejected for your looks legit sounds really rough *rubs her arm supportively*

Isabela: I wouldn’t know anything about that

Isabela: I mean, look at me! I’m really hot

#encanto #incorrect encanto quotes #encanto reincarnation au #isabela madrigal #mirabel madrigal #dolores madrigal #luisa madrigal

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galebrainrot2024 · 3 months

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Gale Seeking Godhood Part VII PATH 2

Wow. This took longer than I expected because it needed to be done justice so I couldn't rush it. This is choose your own adventure, Path 2 and conclusion. Path 3 will be coming soon!

Enjoy!

CW: Death

GALE'S POV

The letters blurred before his eyes, Gale brushing his fingers against his eyes and brought away wetness. Was he crying? What time was it? Gale blinked deliriously, realizing he must have fallen asleep at his desk, now waking from a horrific dream.

Gale could not shake the feeling that the nightmare left in his gut. It was a dream that was so evocative it gnawed at him - it felt real. One that ruins the rest of a day.

The dream started with you stood on the docks of Boulder’s Gate, the Chionthar just on the horizon. In the dream you stood between him and Raphael midbattle for the crown, and you - you stepped between them, desperate to help as Gale launched an attack. Gale’s heart lurched and he felt the bile rise in his stomach. The image was worse than he could endure.

Gale uttered, “Dolor” - the disintegrate spell intended for Raphael - but it missed. Before he woke from this nightmare, the image of you dissipating to nothing but dust was engraved into the darkest crevices of his brain. Gale heaved, the violent sob shaking him. What was he doing?

For six months Godhood was his focus. He was so close to achieving his goal - he should be elated, shouldn’t he?

The last three months spent in isolation took a massive toll on him. With not even Tara for company, Gale had never felt so alone. He hadn’t heard from her and ignored the constant communication from his mother. Although Godhood was within his grasp, the power of the celestial tempting, there was a deeper yearning.

The dream shook him to the core, the blind quest for power and its consequences rushing over him all at once. How he had nearly killed you, how poorly he treated you, how poorly he treated Tara. It made him feel sick, disgusted with himself - he was no better than the Gods. He had no excuse and he felt a new determination plant its seed.

***

YOUR POV

You are sitting on the docks when Tara finds you, something strapped to her collar. It is a warm night, a night that makes the sky blaze a brilliant pink and orange. The clouds look like puffy treats, as if you could pluck them from the air. A cool breeze off the water whispers through your hair.

“It took me long enough to find you,” Tara huffs mind-landing and brushes her ears with her paws as she settles. You start by the sound of her voice and yelp. “Oh, my apologies, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’ve been give quite the task - Gale -“

“Don’t,” you said, holding up your hand as your expression darkened. “I’m not interested in having my heart ripped out over and over, thank you. I cannot help you. I will not help him.”

“If you’d stop talking and listen a moment, perhaps you’d be inclined to hear what I have to say. If you insist on a closed mind, however, so be it. No wonder you an he got along so famously.”

You grit your teeth and close your eyes, inhaling. You know if she asks for assistance you will not help. The better part of you is silenced by your curiosity and you indulge, “Fine.” Tara let out a forceful puff, indicating her displeasure. Her tail swishes and you take the warning. “What is it Tara? You came all this way, the least I can offer is to listen.”

Tara seems assuaged and continues, “Gale wanted me to give this to you.” Tara looks at her neck and you raise a brow. “Yes, that.” You gingerly take the tightly rolled parchment, written on an impossibly small piece of paper.

“I owe you more than simple apologies… I have been a sorry excuse for both a man and lover, and my behavior has been beyond inexcusable. I know I am not worthy of your time, company, or forgiveness. And yet - I write to ask for it. However long it takes, I will be here, waiting for you. -Gale”

You feel the blood rush to your face, tears pricking at your eyes that begin to fall in large drops onto the parchment. You see your fingers trembling and Tara notes gently, preparing to take flight: “He forgot to note he surrendered the crown to Mystra.”

***

You wait, absorbing and processing what you learned. You’re not sure how much time has passed since you received his letter. Not only did Gale want to see you, speak to you, he had surrendered the crown to Mystra after all. You fight yourself, unsure of how to feel - as if two parts of your soul tugged at the opposite ends of a rope.

Your curiosity wanted to indulge this meeting, as did the part that desperately still loved Gale despite everything. Your logical mind, the one that wanted to protect you from further harm scolded, warned against the idea, warned against seeing him and indulging him when he hadn’t chosen you at the start.

Gale wrote he would wait as long as it took - did he mean that? You are about to test that theory.

When you arrive in Waterdeep, Tara informs you that Gale is out - teaching - and wouldn’t be back for a few hours. Although you insisted you should leave, Tara refused and warned if you did not that she you would force her hand. You have no intention of finding out what that means.

You sit for a while in the main hall, sunning yourself like Tara, not wanting to pry. As boredom and the nerves of seeing Gale ate at you, you decide to wander. You allow yourself to explore. You climb the iron stair to his study and the door opens with a click. It looks as it did the last time you were here and you inhale, a sharp pang coursing through you at the memory.

You walk around the large oak desk, your fingers trailing across the smooth finish and you furrow your brow. Across his desk are all images - drawings. Some are crude sketches, some self portraits and a few of Tara lazing in the sun or playfully chasing a conjuration. A majority, though, shared the same subject.

You.

The first you notice was of the moment you pulled him from the portal. You are startled by how life-like it appears, gazing back at what feels like a reflection. There are dozens more, all memories Gale had of you - and some of a future yet to happen. You trace your thumb over the images and feel weak, collapsing into his chair your resolve evaporating. On some of the sketches are brief poems, words of both lament and love. Of a yearning that was visceral and you feel it deep in the marrow of your bones.

“Oh,” your head shoots up and you and Gale lock eyes for the first time in months. “I didn’t - how are you?” He says breathlessly, although he hasn’t moved from the threshold in the door. He holds a pack, reading glasses a top his head and his gaze bears into you. You stumble as you stand and Gale lurches forward instinctively, “Are you alright?” Your breath catches as you realize the Gale you knew, the one you loved - the one you thought was a casualty of his ambition - he’s here before you now. His eyes are glazed with tenderness and something unconditional.

“Yes, thank you,” You murmur and he clears his throat and steps into the room awkwardly, as if this is yours and he interrupted you in your own space. He stays on the opposite side of the study from you, seemingly hesitant to approach. You step to the front of the desk, closing the gap between you marginally. “You wrote.”

“I did,” Gale breaths and begins to rub his chin, “I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you again. To be clear,” he said abruptly, “I am very glad to see you. I’m a bit shocked actually so please excuse my ineloqunece at present.” You see his face bloom crimson as he maintains eye contact with you and you feel your cheeks respond with a similar heat and you give a wry smile. You forgot how endearing this clumsiness was. It was so raw, so genuine - a part you hadn’t seen in some time. “I am so grateful you came.” Gale took a tentative step forward to test the waters. You allow it and he sighs, his eyes brightening and he takes another.

You hold up a hand, crossing one arm across your chest. “Why did you ask me here?”

Gale swallows and rubs the back of his neck. “How much did Tara tell you?”

“Hm...” You toy with how much to tell him, if any thing at all and decide on the truth. “Only that you surrendered the crown to Mystra.” You see Gale’s expression drop for a moment, his eyes swimming with shame. It makes your chest tighten and stomach clench, your hand reaching out subconsciously though Gale is too far to touch.

“Ah. Yes, okay. Shall we sit?” Gale gestures to his balcony and you follow, eager for the warmth of the sun and the sound of the waves lapping against the docks. You sit side by side, your knees brushing against each other and Gale combs a hand through his hair, looking out onto the horizon. “I…” he looks down and chuckles, “I wondered whether to share this bit with you - considering how much you sacrificed and did for me, it feels somehow… silly and unfair that this is was the final slap in the face I so clearly needed.” Your body quakes with adrenaline, your fight or flight in full gear and you bite the inside of your cheeks to ground yourself. “Do you want the long, sordid story or just the important bits?”

You purse your lips, and say, “How about you tell me the important bits first, and then we can decide if I indulge you in the rest.”

Gale gives a somber lopsided grin. “Very well. Raphael paid me a visit - a personal visit from a devil is not something to be encouraged, as we know. He told me that my having of the crown was for the best - that ambition was a delicious sin for an immortal to wield. At first I thought it was hyperbole, his usual dramatics -“ Gale pauses, looking at you, “I had a feeling that I could not shake, though. What if he was right? What if, despite my best intentions, I corrupted everything? More than just the Weave, more than the heavens - but all in this space and time. That what if ate at me.” You feel yourself smile. Gale is still incapable of telling a short story. Gale seems to realize this, noticing your look. It makes him blush and laugh, “Ah, you did say just the important bits. But this is all important, really if you think about it.” You smirk and gesture for him to continue, not wanting to influence his story telling. “It happened the night before I uncovered the final incantation. The dream, I mean. It felt so real…” Gale’s voice drops and he leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he holds his mouth with his hands for a moment.

You watch him and he sighs before sitting up again and turns to face you and takes your hands in his. Your breath hitches and you feel the rush of heat flood you. His hands are warm, familiar and it makes your soul ache for him. You allow him to take your hands, chasing the adrenaline of him.

Gale continues: “Raphael had paid me a visit at this point and I… well, as you might imagine wasn’t exactly in the best of health. I was exhausted. You… I…” Gale’s body shudders and he breaks eye contact with you for a moment before returning to yours. His brown irises are swallowed by black pupils and you feel your lips part. The world seems to slow. His gaze is overwhelming and his tone is one you’ve never heard from him.

“I killed you. I watched you evaporate before my eyes.” You tense and Gale quickly continues, sensing your discomfort, “The spell was meant for Raphael and you… you stepped between us because you were trying to help. You were trying to help me.” You feel a weight crash down upon you and all at once Gale’s hands are on your cheeks and you feel your hands raise to cover his. Gale’s eyes are misty and his touch ignites you. “It wasn’t real, but I felt it forcefully. I have put you in such danger, harmed you more than I can forgive myself for, and the idea of that nightmare ever becoming a reality was too much to bear. A world without you… at my own hand… that’s no world worth being part of. I am ashamed at what I was willing to give up in pursuit of vain hubris. I am so, so sorry. More than words can express. And I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness and still I ask for it. I will do everything in my power for the rest of this mortal life and beyond to be the man you saw in me from the beginning. I love you.”

You drink in his words and feel his hot breath against your lips, your vision blurred by how close your faces are. Your mind stills and you say, “I think we have work to do,” you see Gale’s shame for a moment, before you say, “but I’m willing to let you try.”

You take a breath and Gale grins, tilting your head as if wanting a kiss, “May I?” Your lips part and you nod. When Gale kisses you it’s as if it would be the last. As if he had never had the opportunity before. As if you had died and this was just a dream. Gale kisses you in such a way you cannot doubt the sincerity of his intentions and you allow yourself to melt into him.

#gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 brainrot #gale #god gale #bg3 gale #gale x tav #baldur's gate 3

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