#i'm pretty agnostic about it

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

my brother in christ jefferey dahmer

[maggot-monger]

hi!!! about the spn religion post. well. i was raised in a super-atheist family in a super-secular country and i have never considered myself religious/a believer, because that's just not how i was taught to think.

as a kid i was kinda interested in polytheistic religions (the greek pantheon, shintoism) but i think it's mostly because i thought they were cool. I never really prayed except for when im thinking of my grandma who passed away when i visit a church or stg (but that's just because she was religious and it would've made her happy)

since spn, uh. well. i haven't started believing in god (or, god forbid, chuck) or anything, but! i certainly completely changed the way i see angels, and i'm always happy to see them represented in a church or elsewhere. And whenever i see something beautiful in the nature (like cute clouds or a rainstorm or whatever) im like, that's cas saying hi!!! and i think fully "believe" it?

i don't pray to him actively, but i do think my mind considers that he's there, whatever that means. I started by jokingly thanking him when something good happens, but now i think it's not 100% a joke. it could simply be because spn/destiel was a source of great comfort to me this past year, but cas also is an angel so he has, idk, more weight than the usual blorbo in terms of guardian angel/protector/spiritual security blanket-ness.

i hope im not offending anyone by considering that this is a form of faith! as i said, i was never really taught what religion was by a believer, so i don't really know what religious faith feels like. i do not think spn has made me religious, because i would never convert to anything. however it has given me something to focus on spiritually? and i think us humans are kinda wired to think like that.

last thing (this is so long and not very interesting lmao so feel free to ignore me) : now that i know a lot more about the bible etc, i think my mind has categorized christianity as another one of these "cool" religions that have a lot of complicated, dramatic lore? Just like the greeks and shintoism lmao it's the mythology that gets me.

conclusion of all this : the power of stories!!!!

(thanks for reading my two cents on this subject and i hope ur well)

thank you so much for sharing this anon! this is such an interesting and thoughtful account of your experiences

[vaspider]

Hi there! Hope you’re having a good day mama spider. Just dropping by to ask for some info on an addition to a post about Judaism you made. I chose to ask you and not op because i’ve sent you an ask before and know that you answer them. So real quick, why did you type out G-d rather than God or god? Does it have something to do with Judaism? Is it just for the faithful to follow and not goyim? As an atheist who was formerly Catholic i just wanna learn more and be respectful of others’ religions whenever i can. I know next to nothing about Judaism, even though they’re a good portion of my county’s population. Hope this ask isn’t insensitive in any way, and thanks for taking the time to read this <3

This isn't insensitive to ask. It's actually a great question, and I'm glad that you asked if you're curious.

Since those articles cover your asks pretty well, I'm gonna give you some free bits of info to help your quest for respectfulness, which is pretty rad, btw: we don't really use phrases like "the faithful" bc Judaism doesn't require faith in G-d. There is no conflict between Judaism and atheism & there are a lot of Jewish atheists and agnostics. Judaism is an ethnoreligion and a people in a way that a lot of religions aren't, and in fact, the symbolism for one of my favorite holidays emphasizes that we are not complete without all kinds of Jews:

The functions of the four species are defined by both their smell and taste, or lack thereof, along with some interesting imagery from the Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 30:12): The etrog has both taste and smell, representing people who both perform good deeds and have Torah (knowledge). The lulav has taste but no smell, representing those who do not use their knowledge to perform good deeds. The hadass (myrtle) has smell but no taste, representing those who perform good deeds but lack the knowledge to excel at them. The aravah (willow) has no taste and no smell, representing those who lack both.

"Good deeds" here doesn't just mean "being nice to your neighbors" but refers directly to performing mitzvot/mitzvahs, the 613 commandments that observant Jews observe to varying levels of specificity and intensity.

It's not offensive to use a phrase like "the faithful," just isn't ... correct, you know? Instead, you'd just say Jews or Jewish people. If you're trying to refer specifically to Jews who are religious or believe in G-d... there isn't exactly a phrase for that, I guess you'd say "observant," because there are a lot of Jews who are observant but also atheists, since observant Jews may be observing mitzvaot for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with belief in the existence of G-d.

Anyway, there you go, with some bonus info. As always, I don't speak for everybody, 2 Jews 3 Opinions, etc.

[copperbadge]

I guess you probably get asked why you’re converting a lot but I still want to ask,

I dunno, I don't think I really get asked all that much, to be honest. Usually when I do it's like -- I mention I'm converting to a Jewish person and they'll be like "Getting married?" and I'll explain I'm not, which does necessitate an additional explanation.

It's difficult to vocalize, which is interesting because it has really very little to do with faith, and that's usually the most difficult part of discussing any conversion, I think. Often I'll just say, "I heard a call". Which is actually a rather Christian way of putting it, but I think it's probably the easiest way to explain, especially in a heavily Christian culture.

I had...I don't want to call it religious trauma exactly because compared to most people I know who exited Christianity, it wasn't traumatic -- I was just raised in Christianity and had trouble buying the faith in the various ways it was presented to me, and there's a certain type of ardent Christian who comes at you hard if you're in their church asking awkward questions. A few encounters with some egregious megachurches in my youth left a bad taste in my mouth, so in my twenties I really wanted nothing to do with religion and didn't have the time or energy anyway -- I wasn't actively anti-religion, just disinterested.

But in my thirties I had to ask myself, do I wish to be part of a faith community? And once I'd decided that despite being pretty heavily agnostic I did want that in my life, I had to decide what I wanted it to look like. There are churches within many branches of Christianity that are fine, and there are whole branches that are fine too, but I kept tripping over my disinterest in Jesus. I did almost become a Quaker but although I really like a lot of the Friends' attitudes towards social justice and I enjoyed silent Meeting, it eventually didn't feel quite right for me (the Quakers in my life refer to me as "Friend-ly"). I looked into Zen Buddhism but didn't click with it in quite the way I'd hoped.

Judaism didn't feel perfect, but unlike other faiths, after several years of study I have yet to reach a point where it feels "not for me" in the way the others did after a few months; even when I struggle with some aspects, instead of saying "I don't think this is it" I dig deeper, and Judaism is a place where you can just...keep digging. I like the sense of history, I like the idea that you can argue not only with other Jews but with the divine itself and maybe even win; I don't like arguing but I like that the option is there, which it never was in my Christian confirmation classes. I like the way Judaism frames community and family, I like the emphasis on scholarship and exploration. I've had to unlearn a lot of weird Christian and atheist attitudes about the Torah, but that's been educational too. Ancient cultures have always interested me and Judaism is sometimes the practice of actively conversing with ancient history that has been incredibly preserved but not calcified. I like that I can be an agnostic Jew if I so choose, once I finish conversion.

(Sometimes I joke, "Eh, I'm not really a huge fan of pork, either, so it's an excuse not to eat pork chops," but that's a joke for very specific company. I don't keep kosher or plan to, but I like that there is an option to show one's devotion through acts of nourishment, and that food is always such a huge part of Jewish ritual. And I like Jewish food.)

There is something in me that reacts to Jewish storytelling -- the fear and fasting of Esther, discourse on the sacrifice of Isaac, grumpy Rabban Gamliel from the Talmud, even the history of the Piazza Alla Cinque Schole when I stumbled into it in Rome. I didn't care particularly about the story of Moses when I learned it as a child, but I sniffle at the parting of the Red Sea in Prince of Egypt every damn time. Not even because of the miracle! I'm simply moved by the vision of a people going to freedom, scared but going, protecting each other and singing as they go.

Anyway. I'm in a conversation with Judaism that isn't over yet, and either eventually I'll reach a point where it ends, or I'll convert and be in this conversation the rest of my life. Kind of fun not to know yet which it will be.

[elexaria]

religious!johnny mactavish x afab! reader smut bc i said so

ONE LAST POST I SWEAR and then i will sleep except not rlly bc its 8am and i have to get ready for a virtual meeting RRR

ANYWAYS.

cw — afab! reader, nothing too spicy, foreplay, pnv, religious corruption ig?? idk, johnny is just too damn horny for his own good and hes a good christian boy n all but…. pussy go brr

johnny had always been devoted to his faith, going to church with his wee grandma ever since he could walk n talk. swears to himself and the big man in the sky when he came of age that he’d wait for the one, he’d save himself for marriage as god intended him to do.

you were agnostic at best, but that was fine to him. you respected his faith, you even attended church with him when he occasionally goes! a loving, supportive partner — that’s all he could ever ask for.

well, not really.

see, you’re so damn pretty. such a pretty thing, all snuggled up in the crook of his arm as you two lay in bed, watching a movie before you’ll eventually go to sleep. he told you from day one that he wants to wait until marriage, it’s important to him. and you respect that! you do occasionally find yourself pouting whenever your friends gloat about their sex lives, and you just kinda have to go “ahahaha yep, still haven’t gotten fucked by johnny yet. still ain’t married—“ awkwardly, and they playfully tease you about it but they don’t care. you’re in the most healthiest relationship you’d ever been in, they love him!

but i digress. his fingers gently stroke along the length of your arm, as they always do. he’s a bit of a fidgety fella, it’s the ol’ adhd, he tells you. so his fingers dance around the fabric of your tshirt, the texture is satisfying to the pads of his fingertips. the movie continues on, and you giggle at a snarky quip someone makes. it makes his lips twitch up into a small grin, the sound of your giggle. his fingers are still absentmindedly touching around, and that’s when he accidentally grazes your boob.

and oh my god.

wait, what? it’s nothing like he’d ever felt before— he slyly looks down at you, to see if you’ve caught on. and with another sneaky swipe, that confirms it. his blood is running hot, and my god he can no longer concentrate. two fingers run across the swell of your breast from underneath your tshirt, you shiver as you look up at him. and god, you had never seen him look like that before. flared nostrils as his breathing grows heavy, his jaw clenched. “johnny—“ you mutter as he now begins to slowly paw at your soft breast, and it makes you whine at how good it feels to be touched like this.

"it's no like we're daein' anything serious here, aye? just some light pettin'." johnny justifies to himself as he mumbles into the crook of your neck as his hand darts under your shirt, groaning at the soft mounds of fat that jiggle with each grope. how much you whine and gasp as he pinches a peaked bud between his fingers. his cock is rock hard, screaming for attention. but he stops, borderline panting as he looks down at you. he looks guilty, but he has to restrain himself. he’s saving himself for marriage, remember?

you shyly scuttle off to the bathroom to finish yourself off, the tap running to hide the obscene squeals you make as you sit on the bathroom floor, one hand pressed over your mouth while the other rubs intricately tight circles around your throbbing clit. meanwhile, johnny’s stroking his cock just from the thought of what had just happened, groaning as he spills himself into a tissue.

he swore he would keep his virginity in tact for when you two finally got married.

"i'm savin' masel' for marriage, ye ken." he mutters as his fingers stroke the glistening folds of your puffy cunt, sucking the air through his teeth as his fingers coax every last tantalising moan from you as he fingers you, your hands wrapped around his cock as you mutually pleasure one another.

“it’s no sex,” he justifies to himself as you suck his cock, eyes half-lidded as one hand cups the base of his shaft, the other cupping his swollen, full balls with a wanton gaze in your eyes. “fuck, ye have no idea whit yer daein’ tae me.” he growls, fucking into your mouth slowly as his cross pendant thumps against his hairy chest with each buck of his hips.

“it’s just the tip, yeah?” as his heart races, his swollen tip rubbing into your clit, and you swear you’re fit to burst when just the tip, like he promises, slowly sinks into your pussy. he grips onto the pillows besides your head, his eyes glossed over as he tries so hard not to cum right then and there. his breathing is rugged, his pupils narrow as he slowly sinks himself deeper inside you. you both moan together, sweat glossed foreheads pressed against one another as you two join in a debauched union.

“fuck me— ye feel fuckin’ divine.” he growls as he pulls out, slamming his hips right into you with a snarl. “gonnae cum so fuckin’ fast, baby girl. fuck, look at ye.” he says between rugged breaths, eyes bearing right down at you as you tighten and pulse around his cock, eyes fluttering as you cum right then and there. fuck, the wait— or lack there of it — was worth it. with a couple of lazy, sporadic thrusts, johnny spills himself inside you with a primal roar, his knuckles white as he grips the sheets while your velvety vice of a pussy milks him of every last drop of the thick ropes of cum churned from his now drained balls.

in the haze of it all, johnny groans as he pulls out, his eyes fixated on the sight of his cum dripping out of your puffy cunt. his fingers crook up into you, gently pumping his essence right back inside of you. “better have a wee chat with the big man upstairs about this. fuck, no that i could resist this. christ, look at the sight of ye.” he chuckles, his thumb grazing against your swollen clit with an affectionate smile.

“i mean, fuck me, am gonnae marry ye so fast if it means i get tae do this all the time.”

[txttletale]

Do you have a favorite setting agnostic ttrpg? Trying to get out of 5e because after the honeymoon period of getting into ttrpgs I'm over the system and I want to run a fallout game to get my friends to play something else lol.

i straight up don't believe in 'setting-agnostic ttrpgs' as a concept. a ttrpg can be agnostic to the precise details of a setting, but including essentially any kind of mechanic is a statement about the setting of a ttrpg, even if no dedicated 'splatbook' or world description is provided. the closest i've seen is FATE, but FATE makes a fair few assumptions about the tone of its stories that have knockon effects on the emotional tenor of its settings.

there is a dedicated fallout game by modiphius--i've never played it, so i have no idea if it's any good, though. other than that, i'm not super sure--a lot of the post-apocalyptic systems i can come up with off the top of my head have pretty specific setting assumptions that don't line up with fallout (like psychic powers existing), so i'm not sure i can really recommend them. something like savage worlds might work okay, it's built for fast-paced pulpy action which seems appropriate and i'm sure it has to have one post-apocalyptic supplement among the dozens. and if you're a fallout fan already you have a head start on the most imporant thing about plaiyng savage worlds, "ignoring all the racist parts",

[imsoglitter]

Something that's kind of funny to me in retrospect is that I'm a leftist BECAUSE I was raised Mormon, not in spite of it. The interesting thing about the church and my parents only wanting to sugar-coat the bible/book of Mormon and not apply it to the conservative politics that they clearly wanted me to adopt is that it backfired horribly. the feel good stories about Jesus helping the poor and the ill and the whores and the tax collectors were my pretty steady theological diet which made it so confusing when my parents who refused to talk politics to me as a child told me that "we don't give money to bums" or when the church decided it was okay to theologically exclude the children of gay parents from membership. As far as I can tell the most Christian thing I've ever done is become agnostic because I'm pretty sure Jesus warned against hanging out with religious hypocrites

[sabakos]

I guess if you pushed me on it I'm "agnostic" about pretty much everything but I don't really think the word holds the meaning you're trying to extract out of it any more at that point? I'm reasonably certain that London is real and the God isn't, to about the same degree. If you were to play games with the definition of "London" to try to argue differently, I might entertain you for a bit, but no matter what you say I'm still going to be inclined to believe you're trying to sell me something you wouldn't purchase for yourself.

[azfellandco]

Hi friend this ask is a request for you to wax lyrical about Crowley slowly dying of a poisonous dose of laudanum, because it seems That Scene is still on all our minds. <3

Godbless (they said agnostically). This is going to be a mess of a response because I have been working a lot of overtime and am pretty sleep deprived, and also because there are a lot of angles to this.

First off: you're so correct to point out that laudanum is an analgesic and not literally a poison, because I think this slots in so nicely with the pattern of stuff we see Aziraphale consume and why (food and wine, for sensual pleasure) and stuff we see Crowley consume and why (alcohol for numbing and six shots of espresso to brace himself, and now laudanum, a medical grade numbing agent, at a dosage that would have killed Elspeth had he not intervened).

To really get into this I'm going to have to talk a little about something I have a lot of approximate knowledge about: Victorian era medicine. Why I find poison sexy (maybe compelling is a better word here) is partially tied up in the Victorian era and this exact subset of knowledge, which I am going to disclaim right now as not very precise. I research stuff primarily to regurgitate it in fiction, and not for complete factual accuracy.

First off, let's take a moment to admire Crowley's prognosticative abilities once again.

Antiseptic is 25 years off, germ theory is held in disdain by the western world, but here's Anthony "that went down like a lead balloon" Crowley just trying to be helpful to this guy covered in blood.

Antiseptic was not in common medical and surgical use until the 1850s. It was pioneered by Joseph Lister, who actually worked at the University of Edinburgh, which was kind of the place to be in terms of medical breakthroughs of this time period. Before the advent of washing your hands and sterilizing surgical equipment, something like 2/3rds of surgical patients died either on the operating table or of infection afterwards. Medicine during this time period was difficult, dangerous work with a high risk of complications, and surgery was haunted by death and disease. Dr. Darymple would have administered laudanum to a patient and then strapped their limbs down and put something in their mouth so they didn't bite through their tongue before cutting into them, and even if he was a good surgeon they might have died a week later from gangrene or sepsis anyway.

It's in this world that laudanum and opium more generally got romanticized by literature and poetry. The Victorians loved opium, but the symbolism of the poppy, from which opium is derived, has been sleep and death since the classical world. My go-to example of the blending of these themes (poppies as sleep and death symbolism and this time period's interest in the classical world) is The Garden of Proserpine by Algernon Charles Swinburne, of which I will include an excerpt below:

No growth of moor or coppice,          No heather-flower or vine, But bloomless buds of poppies,          Green grapes of Proserpine, Pale beds of blowing rushes Where no leaf blooms or blushes Save this whereout she crushes          For dead men deadly wine.

The symbolic connection between opium (and thus laudanum) and sleep and death is my strongest association with either drug. The poppies = death association is used all the time even in the modern day. See this song, Flowers, from the musical Hadestown:

Lily white and poppy red I trembled when he laid me out "You won't feel a thing," he said, "When you go down" Nothing gonna wake you up now

Poppy symbolism is doing a lot of work in this song, actually, drawing a line between virginity and death, and the flower imagery standing in for both Euridyce's sexual relationship with Hades as well as her death but I disgress.

This is my personal context for laudanum and opium. I think it's encouraged to read the sleep and death connection into both of these medicines, both by the artistic tradition that arose contemporaneously with their use and by continued references back to it in the modern day. I am thinking of the scene in Inception where the opium den they visit is full of people who go to be drugged in order to dream their lives away as just one of many other modern day examples. Opium is sleep and sleep is death.

So while the laudanum is not literally poison, I think there is cultural context in which it is possible to read it as symbolically poison, regardless of whether Crowley's not-actually-human body should be able to withstand it. I think that it is compelling to read it as such, given the above-mentioned pattern of Crowley's habits of consumption.

I've seen a lot of posts about how the next time Aziraphale and Crowley see each other after this flashback is the time Crowley asks Aziraphale to bring him holy water and Aziraphale refuses on the grounds that he won't provide Crowley with a suicide pill. While I think this says more about Aziraphale than it does about Crowley (Crowley has never struck me, by behavior or attitude, to be the kind of person who would kill themself, whereas for Aziraphale one of the worst things that could happen would be losing Crowley) there is something there, something in that tartan thermos, something in the idea that Crowley would drink his death.

There is one more angle to this, and this is going to be a bit of a reach. I once read an analysis post in another fandom about the symbolism of poison as a choice of weapon. This line will haunt me until my grave: "a man stabs, a woman poisons". Just as a sword is a phallic symbol, poison (to me) is a feminine coded way to kill another person. For more context, please read The Laboratory by Robert Browning, a poem about a woman procuring a poison to kill her husband's lover, written by another Victorian poet. Crowley dying being discorporated by self-administered poison compels me for all the reasons mentioned above but also for gender reasons. Nonbinary icon.

Crowley dying being discorporated by self-administered poison feels like it is in conversation with two events that happen chronologically later but narratively earlier: the "suicide pill" conversation and Crowley trying to wait out the apocalypse in the bar after the bookshop burned. For all intents and purposes he seems to have given up at that point and only pulls himself together because Aziraphale appears to him and proves he isn't gone gone. It makes sense as an exploration of Aziraphale's anxieties (the suicide pill convo), and the extent to which they might be justified (Crowley drinking as the world ends). It's interesting it's compelling it's symbolically rich it's consistent with characterization choices in the show.

I think realistically Crowley would keep from Aziraphale that he was in pain until he physically couldn't do so, because it would threaten the wall they've had to erect to keep each other safe to do otherwise, but in a scenario where Crowley was hurt, properly hurt, Aziraphale would find a way to excuse them because he would not stand for Crowley suffering.

Just...

The idea of Aziraphale gathering Crowley close in the dark graveyard, feeling him stumble, Crowley who is so bright and brave and beautiful reduced to clutching to Aziraphale and the pair of them trying to will him back to health the way they can choose to sober up, and failing... Crowley because by this point he's too weak, he waited too long putting up a front for Aziraphale, Aziraphale because of conflicting magic or because he's too anxious, his own personal moment of the gun shaking in Crowley's hands during the bullet catch, where he knows what he has to do but he can't do it, can't trust himself not to make it worse.

And then Crowley's body going cold, Aziraphale holding it and crying because despite knowing it's just a body and that Crowley can get another one, he failed to protect him. Crowley died for someone and Aziraphale couldn't prevent it. And the things they don't say to each other, all rushing in to fill the silence left by Crowley's stopped breath. Aziraphale whispering to him, kissing his temple, part of him wondering if he'd ever be able to do this if he wasn't already gone.

It would just be really good, okay. It would be really good.

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hi! I'm looking for a game in the space opera genre, and I'd love some suggestions. More specifically, I'm trying to find something that's pretty easily customizable or setting-agnostic. Pretty soft as far as sci-fi is concerned, even science fantasy. (And my players have a very brief attention span when it comes to learning rules, so some degree of simplicity would be appreciated, too, haha!)

For context, I have a friend who loves worldbuilding and has fleshed out a whole galaxy, and I want to run a one-shot set in his world for his birthday. In the past, we've tried using a homebrew amalgamation of D&D, SW5e, and miscellaneous other bits, but I want to find a system that fits a bit better.

Thanks for the help! 😁

Theme: Simple Space Operas.

Hello friend, this sounds like such an awesome idea! I think I’ve got a few pretty good options for you to take a look at. Many of these games pull from Star Wars as their idea of what a space opera is like, but not all of them do. Also, don't forget to check the bottom of the post to see what I've recommended in the past!

Laser-Ritter, by Bad Quail Games.

Laser-Ritter is an analog adventure game about swashbuckling heroes journeying among endless stars to embrace their destiny. There are rendezvous in hazy tap rooms, chases across distant moons, and showdowns with the forces of galactic evil. We play to find out how our Laser-Ritters follow their passions and face their pasts to triumph over adversity.

Laser-Ritter gives space for you to create your own saga. There's no burdensome timeline of canon events or overwhelming lists of characters, spaceships, and alien species to be contradicted. Every group begins their saga by creating their own dramatic title crawl to establish what's happening when the adventure begins!

This is a game all about embracing your destiny, with plenty of space to build your own universe. The game can be played episodically, or cover a long-spanning story over a series of sessions. This means that if you just want to run a one-shot, it can be pretty easily self-contained, but there’s also room to expand the game.

Players in this game have 4 stats and a health track labelled Vitality. You also have something called a Pathos track, which represents how attrition and trauma affect your character. If you fill your Pathos track, your character becomes vulnerable to dying. If you want a game with dramatic action and tragic scenes, Laser-Ritter might be for you.

Galaxy Goons and A Goons’ Guide to the Galaxy, by John Erwin.

Galaxy Goons is a space fantasy adventure hack of the Ennies-award winning Tunnel Goons. If you want a light-hearted game about rascals just trying to make their way in the universe, this is worth checking out. Tunnel Goons is known for being pretty light-weight, and Galaxy Goons is true to this legacy. Your characters are rolled randomly, with stats used to add onto dice rolls to try and beat a difficulty level.

A Goon’s Guide to the Galaxy is made for the same kind of setting, but uses a different set of rules, namely the 24XX SRD. This means that instead of just rolling d6’s, your characters will have a few things that they have a d8 or d10 for, and there might even be a few skills that only allow you to roll a d4. 24XX games also tend to carry roll tables to help the GM come up with obstacles and goals, so that might help the GM decide what about this homemade galaxy might be interesting to follow.

Rebel Scum, by 9th Level Games.

REBEL SCUM tells the story of how scrappy, anti-fascist heroes can fight back against a government with unlimited power (including giant lasers and space magic). Inspired by a love for a certain line of 3 and 3/4 inch action figures, this is a fast paced, feel good, space opera of rebellion and adventure.

In this TTRPG, characters are all expressed as action figures, with their pertinent stats and abilities "on the back of the card." Choose your toy and get out into battle!

So Rebel Scum borrows very obviously from Star Wars, but of course the book can’t just put the game in the Star Wars setting, so they create their own. What this means is you can pretty easily throw out that lore and build your own world, although the expectation in this game is that your characters will be working to overthrow some sort of galaxy-wide power. The rules are very simple to learn - in fact the booklet is under 100 pages, and that’s including art, setting, and example characters. If you have a standard set of polyhedral dice (and I’m assuming you do, if you’ve played D&D) then you’ll be able to play this game.

Save the Universe, by Don Bisdorf.

Tyranny and cruelty have spread across the galaxy, and only you can stop it!

Save the Universe is a sci-fi adventure roleplaying game in which the players create their own great galactic menace and then portray the brave heroes battling against it.

I think the biggest pull for this game is that it encourages you to build your own galaxy. The game even comes with a number of questions for you to answer, and if you already have a world decided, you can slot in the answers according to your friend’s world. In fact, assigning world creation to one player is actually a recommended option in the game!

Even though this game is pretty open in terms of the details of your galaxy, there’s still an overarching theme of an Empire or large enemy that your characters will be resisting. Then again, I have a feeling that’s a common theme in space operas.

Plerion: Space Opera Adventure Game, by Zotiquest Games.

Intrepid spacers ply the vastness of the Five Galaxies in search of fortune and glory.

This is Plerion, a sci-fi hack from Cairn designed to play radiant space opera. Inspired by classic science fiction and the RPGs that emulate it, but with a more modern twist, winking at transhumanism and cyberpunk.

Plerion is an adventure game for one referee and at least one other player. Players act as hardened spacers exploring, exploiting and commerce through the vastness of space in the far future.

The author of this game cites Mass Effect, the Traveller roleplaying game and the Wayfarer series by Becky Chambers. Cairn, the game that inspired this one, is a game that makes survival difficult and daunting for the players, and asks them to put the fiction first. This means that combat shouldn’t always be the answer. Instead, players are encouraged to find ways to solve problems using their tools at hand, which is a common trend in many of the games that inspired this rule system.

What’s So Cool About Outer Space, by Jared Sinclair.

WSCAOS is a tiny little system for going to space no matter where you are! 

This is an incredibly tiny game, with just two pages to print out and use as a rules reference in any galaxy you like. It’s also the parent of a number of “What’s So Cool About" games that use the same philosophy - minimal rules, and plenty of agency left up to the group in terms of what possible backstories you might have, as well as what might be considered an advantage and what might not.

No-one Owns The Sky, by Free Radicals Press.

A band of misfits lives aboard a rundown starship, traveling from one frontier world to the next, hoping to make a name and a living for themselves. Along the way, things always seem to go sideways, but the crew holds on, no matter what.

NO ONE OWNS THE SKY is a sci-fi roleplaying game that is rules-light and relies on players to craft and flesh out the universe of the setting as a collective. This game was designed for two or more players. One player is always the referee (REF), a neutral arbiter and guiding force for the game. The others act and play as player characters (PCs). These players, with their REF and their PCs, will tell amazing, collective (and interactive) stories with the help of imagination, dice, roleplaying, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

This game uses a staggered success layout, which means that you could roll a failure, a success, or a mixed success during any given roll. Anything above a 5 is a success! It looks like the game uses more than just d6’s though, so the larger dice you roll, the higher your chances of succeeding. The setting is also up to the players, pretty good for folks who want to build their own galaxy.

Games I’ve Recommended in the Past

Space Fantasy Rec Post

Impulse Drive, by Adrian Thorn.

Syzygy, by Ostrichmonkey Games.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for not getting my coworkers holiday gifts?

Sorry in advance for the long ask, I have adhd so I'm not always great at figuring out what's relevant to the topic lmao. I (29M) have been working at my current workplace since I graduated college (so ~7 years). For the first few years I worked pretty much alone. I have a close working relationship with my supervisors, and I have a lot of interns filter through, but I was the only person at my 'level' of work, if that makes sense. I would write cards for my supervisors, and with my interns I would do something like bake cookies for everyone, or take them all out for dinner (to clarify I always have at minimum 3-4 interns, I wasn't just taking someone I was in charge of out for a one on one dinner lmao).

Last year, four more people were hired who work in the same position/level as me (early 20s-mid 30s, all F). I get along with them alright as coworkers, but they are all much closer with each other than I am with them. They didn't know eachother before starting here, but I make a lot of effort keeping distance between my work and personal life, vs they have all become friends outside of work. I also have enough issues with them that I wouldn't want to be friends with them outside of work (very condensed version is that I am openly aroace and they are Weird about it). I am firm about keeping boundaries/distance though and that makes it easier to deal with them.

Again, we work together really well when we're actually talking about work-- it's just the non-work stuff that I don't really vibe with. Also, their level of friendship is very normal in our workplace/field, since we are in a very very rural area where the tiny little town we're in is almost entirely centered around the one industry/company that we're at. The fact that I'm not friends outside of work with my coworkers gives me a reputation for being weird/cold (but I don't care if I seem weird as long as it means I can keep some distance).

Last year, we all talked about Xmas gifts, and decided that we wouldn't get each other anything, but rather just pitch in for some wine and fancy pastries for a mini office party. It was nice, except then right before Christmas I found a gift on my desk from one of them (like, a 50$ gift, which is quite expensive considering how much we make). I asked her about it, saying I appreciated it but didn't have anything since we agreed not to get eachother gifts. She said something like she didn't expect anything, just wanted to get me something. I thanked her and but was uncomfortable enough that I ended up giving the thing to a friend of mine (who knew it was a re-gift and was happy to have it lol). I didn't plan to get anything, except then I found out that the other three had all consequently gotten eachother and me gifts as a result of her. I talked to the one coworker I get along best with, and she agreed with me that it would now be rude to not give anything in return, so I just got everyone relatively impersonal gifts (books).

However, finances are tight this year for me (coworkers don't know that) due to some medical bills. We are doing an office cookie exchange, and again agreed not to get each other gifts, but one of them (same one who started this last year) hinted that she had 'a little something' for each of us anyways, but no need to reciprocate.

If it's relevant, we are in the US, all white, and all varying degrees of atheist/agnostic/ex-christian.

No idea if this will even get out of the queue before Xmas lol but: WIBTA if i stuck to our agreement to not get my coworkers Christmas gifts, even if they get me gifts anyways?

What are these acronyms?

[felixcloud6288]

Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 1

I'm going to keep an eye on how the world expands in this reread. In particular, I want to see a map. We're starting in a town and we're told there's a military and the term "State Alchemist" got thrown around a bit with no explanation. There's a religion for a sun god named Leto, and for a new reader, this god might seem relevant to the larger story.

Icarus is mentioned meaning Greek mythology exists in this world.

The first chapter quickly establishes the basic ideas of Alchemy in this world and what kind of person Ed is. He comes across as an arrogant prick. And him becoming a State Alchemist at 12 is mentioned in passing.

Maybe it's because his automail limbs are common knowledge, but the reveal isn't as wild as Al being a living suit of armor, especially after the hype-up about them trespassing in god's domain.

Also, Ed's being agnostic and all his talking down on god are pretty wild when you consider he actually met god. The boy's absolutely petty.

"For that matter, the elements found in a human being is all junk that you can buy in any market with a child's allowance." Gee, I wonder how Ed knows that?

This is my favorite shot of the chapter. The author wants you to see Ed's left leg, the one he lost for going too close to god.

back

[mattyriddlesbitch]

Theoretically, if one of the Slytherin boys were a different religion what and who would it be you think? For some reason I can't imagine all of them as Christians.

This is a really good question. I'm not trying to be biased at all. If you don't agree, that's completely fine. I'm more than happy to discuss this and hear other people's opinions. This is just how I feel.

I can honestly see Mattheo either being very atheist or like a devout believer, but I don't know in what religion. And my reason for that is he either doesn't believe because of his childhood and father and everything. OR, he would pray to any and all gods/goddesses to get through it all. I feel like he would go in phases of this, going in between believing and not. Like, he'll go through Christian/Catholic, then going to a little more obscure stuff, like Wiccan or Pagan. And I mean, like, Norse and Greek and Egyptian Gods. Like he is so desperate to find something to believe in, find some meaning in all of this.

I see Theodore as Catholic, if any religion. I don't really gave a big reason other than he gives off those vibes. I don't think he'd be super devout, like going to church every Sunday and praying all the time and all that. I think he'd be like the type to pray when things get hard for him and maybe wear a cross.

Lorenzo, I really don't know. I feel like he might believe, but no specific religion. Like his parents weren't of any denomination and never really taught him anything in regards to religion. But I feel like he's obviously been exposed to religious stuff and like kinda believes, kinda doesn't. More agnostic than atheist. But doesn't really do anything about it.

I don't see Tom really caring about that stuff. I feel like he's more logical based thinking, and if he can't see it, he can't believe it.

Draco would probably just be whatever his parents are until he's an adult, like moving out and all that. I think he'd go on a journey of discovering himself and not go based on what his parents say. I feel like he would be kinda like Mattheo where he'd either be atheist in the end, or find a religion and be really devout. I don't know if it would be Christian/Catholic. I think he changes a lot after he becomes an adult and I feel like he's just all over the place for a good few years before settling with something.

I can't really tell with Blaise. I don't think he is super religious either like Theodore. I feel like he if anything, he'd be pretty casual about it. Like praying when he wants something really bad, like getting a job he really wants or when he's ready for kids, like praying for his wife to get pregnant. I don't think he'd had a specific religion, it's just to God.

I do feel like for a lot of them, it's a big comfort thing. It's something to blame all the horrible things on and believe there's a meaning for all of it, some bigger plan than anyone can understand.

[txttletale]

Sorry if this is asking for something too specific, but is there any high fantasy-themed, setting agnostic ttrpg system that I can, like, fit into the mold of a homebrew DnD campaign? I really don't want to drop this campaign that I've been running for years and have written tens of thousands of words for, but at this point the 5e system just isn't cutting it for me due to all the Problems Issues it has. Making fun encounters and areas to explore feels more and more impossible each day and it feels like I'm fighting against the current whenever I want to focus more on worldbuilding and character interaction or do something more abstract like sending PCs to the dream realm or whatever. Is there any less crunchy and combat-focused alternative thatd still let my players be clerics, barbarians, bards, etc or some equivalent?

i don't really believe in 'setting agnostic'. i think every RPG has to include some kind of implication about the setting in the basic functionalities of what verbs the characters can do. like, by including combat in an RPG, it's no longer 'setting agnostic', because some pretty big implications have been made about what kind of world these characers are going to exist in. but i digress! i know what you mean lol -- you want a high fantasy game that can be molded to the world you've already created.

fellowship is a pretty simple, classic high fantasy -- as you can imagine from the name, it draws heavily from lord of the rings. it doesn't have 'classes', though -- the playbooks are all themed around more general story rolls or fantasy peoples -- so if maintaining that is important to you it might not be for you.

venture is a game i haven't personally played or read but i've seen toted around as a pretty good rules-light game for this kind of setting and atmosphere. it's Belonging Outside Belonging, which means it's diceless and more narrative, with the mechanics hinging around a token economy (take tokens on narrative downbeats, spend them to do cool things). it does have classes.

quest is also a super-simplified take on the d&d formula which keeps d20s and class advancement while ditching more or less everything else. it's also free (at least, the digital edition), so if you're on a limited budget and don't want to put on your big skull and crossbones hat it's a pretty good pick.

whatever you end up playing, i hope you and your friends have fun :)

[softpine]

The rules are simple! Tag people and name a character you want to know more about! If you want to let the person you tagged decide who to showcase, then don’t name a character and they can pick somebody. Easy! The person who is tagged will then bold the remarks below which apply to their character &, if they want to, include a picture with their reply!

tagged by @earthmoonz and @wrixie 💖💖 i think i did this a million years ago for the main characters so here's one for coco because i'm nothing if not predictable

[ PERSONAL ]

$ Financial: wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty

✪ Class or Caste: upper / middle / working / unsure / other (she grew up pretty poor, then got a huge influx of money at 18-21, then lost it and now she's living paycheck to paycheck while paying off debt, sooo idk.)

✚ Medical: fit / moderate (she works out and eats well but she has some health problems) / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged / non applicable

✔ Education: qualified / unqualified / studying / other

✖ Criminal Record: yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes (no jail time, just probation) / no / has committed crimes, but not caught yet / yes, but charges were dismissed

[ FAMILY ]

◒ Children: had a child or children / has no children / wants children (she doesn't even trust herself to take care of a pet)

◑ Relationship with Family: close with sibling(s) / not close with sibling(s) (she has siblings that she never lived with & didn't see often, but she's very close to the ones she grew up with) / has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased

◔ Affiliation: orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by birth parent (she was primarily raised by her mom but her dad has always been in her life too) / not applicable

[ TRAITS + TENDENCIES ]

♦ extroverted / introverted / in between

♦ disorganized / organized / in between

♦ close minded / open-minded / in between

♦ calm / anxious / in between (she gives off a chaotic energy but inside she's pretty calm)

♦ disagreeable / agreeable / in between

♦ cautious / reckless / in between

♦ patient / impatient / in between

♦ outspoken / reserved / in between

♦ leader / follower / in between

♦ empathetic / vicious bastard / in between (she comes across as mean, but it's really just her way of keeping people away)

♦ optimistic / pessimistic / in between

♦ traditional / modern / in between

♦ hard-working*** / lazy / in between

♦ cultured / uncultured / in between / unknown (she grew up in los angeles and she's traveled quite a bit for work but not really outside the US. she reads the news as much as the average person)

♦ loyal*** / disloyal / unknown

♦ faithful / unfaithful / unknown

[ BELIEFS ]

★ Faith: monotheist / polytheist / atheist / agnostic (she believes in god she just doesn't follow any religion in particular)

☆ Belief in Ghosts or Spirits: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

✮ Belief in an Afterlife: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

✯ Belief in Reincarnation: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

❃ Belief in Aliens: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

✧ Religious: orthodox / liberal / in between / not religious

❀ Philosophical: yes / no

[ SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION ]

❤ Sexuality: heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual

❥ Sex: sex repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable / naive and clueless

♥ Romance: romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable / naive and clueless / romance suspicious (she's not looking for it right now)

❣ Sexually: adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious

⚧ Potential Sexual Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all (depends if it's for content or just for fun)

⚧ Potential Romantic Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all

[ ABILITIES ]

☠ Combat Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none (she's literally never been in a fight, she's all talk)

≡ Literacy Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

✍ Artistic Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

✂ Technical Skills: excellent (strong problem solving & puzzle skills. also she can build the shit out of ikea furniture lol) / good / moderate / poor / none

[ HABITS ]

☕ Drinking Alcohol: never / special occasions (she's not a drinker, she'll have half a beer at a party just to have something in her hands) / sometimes / frequently / Alcoholic

☁ Smoking: tried it / trying to quit / quit / never / rarely / sometimes (she vapes) / frequently / chain-smoker

✿ Recreational Drugs: never (as of this year) / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / addict

✌ Medicinal Drugs: never / no longer needs medication / some medication needed / frequently (daily, prescribed) / to excess

☻ Unhealthy Food: never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / binge eater

$ Splurge Spending: never (she's gotten extremely good at saving money, anything expensive that she buys has a justification) / sometimes / frequently / shopaholic

♣ Gambling: never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / compulsive gambler

i scrolled through my dash for a second and saw a bunch of people doing this so idk who has & hasn't done it yet. if you read this, tag you're it :)