thecollectorofawesomethings

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

i have yet to ever really sit down and read through the rules, but i like Traveller5 if only b/c you get this chart out of it

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

Happy. Unbothered. Thriving.

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

Heart and Soul Nebulae

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

The Fairy of Eagle Nebula

Credits: The Hubble Heritage Team, STScI, AURA, ESA, NASA

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

Zelenka - plus friends! ☺️

Beautiful Radek Zelenka artwork commission by @dxcstrange-stuff - posted with their permission.

Please do not repost - we're on the reblog website!

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

I can't stop watching this- it's been stuck on loop for 4 hours. Somebody- help me.

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

Mushroom / Pumpkin Glassware

Steklo Craft on Etsy

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

Art by xiaoyu huang

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

BLACK PHYREXIAN HIGH PRIESTS 

by Robbie Trevino

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

Yawgmoth's Vile Offering by Chase Stone

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

“Eventually, one day, somebody will pray for a miracle, pray for something to save them, to whatever gods are nearby…And that prayer will be answered because you’ll show up. That’s how it works, that’s what a champion is.”

— Caduceus Clay to Fjord, aka- damn Taliesin, how do you come up with such majestic wisdom like that?

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

[thecollectorofawesomethings]

I never expected such a resonating argument to come to me through Critical Role. This very insight applies to how I feel about my own faith lately. It's been a struggle to justify genuine praise for my deity when there is so much evil in the world that is allowed to happen in Their name, and so much hate and narrow-minded, regressive philosophy applied in misguided zeal by so many. It's hard to look at the people alone and not also blame God for not being better, more present and clear.

Faith is hard, especially when you want the world to be a better place and people use their faith as a weapon.

I've been stewing over what Caduceus said to Braius, and I think it really hit me:

"Maybe it isn't the Platinum Dragon that failed you. Maybe it was people, and that's, I think, much harder to get comfortable with."

A lot of people, myself included, have been hurt by religion. Incredibly hurt. And it's hard to parse your feelings toward that religion after years of abuse (whatever that may look like), because it's invariably caught up in your feelings toward faith in general, toward the god(s) you were taught to worship, and toward the people you were around as it happened.

It's even harder when that religion comes with indoctrination techniques that are legitimate cult behaviors, because you spend every second that you're thinking about faith second-guessing yourself. Is my faith actually my own or was it just beaten into me? If I leave and come back, is that even my choice? How can I even feel about the god(s) when the things that were done to me were in their name? Who takes responsibility for this hurt?

These questions don't have a cookie-cutter answer, unfortunately. So few therapists actually espouse the confidence in working specifically with the topic because of the sensitivity of it and the delicacy it requires.

So I find Caduceus' words particularly interesting, and, for me, comforting. Religious abuse is so insidious because of its effect on the mind, heart, and soul. It prompts existential questions that we may never get to answer. But in this moment, hearing those words, I felt something shift. Maybe sometimes you remove the god(s) from the equation and just look at the people who failed you. It sucks because you have to take a hard look at the actions themselves without motive and re-couple them with the people who actually did them. Sometimes the answer hurts more. Sometimes that's okay.