#or is she...?

[fateroulette]

Tachie

happy 20th anniversary to fate stay night

here's to the girl who not only didn't get a route, she didn't even get to exist

1x:

[mediterraneanmenace]

Pairing: Raphael x Raksha (OC, not Tav/Durge) I consider Tav a separate character with their specific story elements - Raksha never gets abducted by the Mind Flayers, nor she ever gets a tadpole. Her home is also not Baldur's Gate but the city of Helgabal, in the kingdom of Damara! :)

Warnings: 18+ for sexual themes (in later chapters), age gap (Raphael is like... *several* centuries older, if not millennia), slow burn.

Summary: Eleven years before the events of Baldur's Gate 3, Raphael's attentions for a young, ambitious tiefling turn into something deep enough for him to want her as his bride. There's only one problem - Raksha slays infernal beings for a living. (This is pretty much an experiment feat. a Raphael more in touch with his human feelings)

"Perfume lingers about your flesh Like incense about a censer; You charm like the evening, Tenebrous, passionate nymph

Ah! the most potent philtres Are weaker than your languor, And you know the caresses That make the dead live again!

You tear me open, dark beauty, With derisive laughter, And then look at my heart With eyes as soft as moonlight"

[Les Fleurs du Mal — Charles Baudelaire]

[24 Ches, 1481 DR]

Raphael's mind was so inconveniently clouded by that mortal; a tiefling whose veins bore Archdevil Baalzebul's blood - his father's greatest and most hated rival.

Four long years he'd been watching, stalking her since she started her rise to Paladin Captain at nineteen until now, at twenty-three. At first, the Cambion didn't give much weight to her androgynous visage appearing in his dreams; not until he found himself fantasizing more and more about his hand lost in the sea of her inky black hair, with her muscular arms around his neck...

If Mephistopheles' ambition to oust Asmodeus mirrored his own, Raksha's rapid promotion wasn't too different from Baalzebul's rise as the Master of the Nine Hells' favorite - but unlike his father, Raphael saw that as something worthy of praise rather than enmity.

Fate was not without irony for the man who adopted and raised Raksha was the head of an extremist sect of the cult of Ilmater, the "Martyred Father" - the young tiefling's zealotry was one of the main reasons she managed to climb the ranks so fast: her dedication to purge the world from vice and sin brought her to the deepest pits of Avernus to fight against evil in its home.

But that didn't deter Raphael from wanting Raksha for himself, even if he was everything she fought against: she was the forbidden fruit, the sweetest he would ever taste.

He would stay in the mirror room at the House of Hope for hours, scrying the tiefling go about her life, without knowing he even existed if not for some fleeting glances whenever he visited the court of the Lord she served, the cathedral she lived at or the training grounds his beloved Paladin would train at along with her companions.

Raksha would look at him and ignore his presence as yet another curious, random person wanting to see the famous Holy Vengeance, whose sword slayed countless fiends from the Hells. Korrilla, sick of seeing the pathetic state of longing her boss was in, decided to prod him into doing something.

"Just go talk to her. You had a thousand mistresses" - the Warlock thought for a split second to her sister - "This... Raksha can't be too different from all the others, no?" "You are right, many were the lovers to entertain me in my boudoir"

Raphael's thoughtful eyes fixated on Raksha's reflection in the Scrying Eye and an almost paternal smile appeared on his lips: she was practicing the speech for her nomination as Holy Inquisitor that would have taken place that very night. He knew she wouldn't have stopped until it was perfect. A formal, high society event that would culminate in a ball was the crowning moment of a lifetime of sacrifices for her.

"But she's... Something I rarely met in all these centuries. A kindred spirit"

Korrilla didn't have a hard time figuring out why: personality wise, Raksha was incredibly similar to her master's younger self with her pompous, brash attitude - a pride not unwarranted, given her accomplishments.

"I guess it makes sense" the Warlock thought, shrugging. After all, that was the same man who would fuck an Incubus glamoured to look exactly like him so falling in love for someone who had a brain similar to his wasn't too far off.

"I'll have to ask you to keep an eye on the House for me tonight, Korrilla" - Raphael ran his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture - "I have a ball to attend to"

[goldenlandfiascos]

// (suggestive art under the cut) , evanatsu

survival au has a whole new plane of meta you all don't even know about yet

[szczekaczz]

Henriëtte Ronner-Knip, A dog and her puppies

[the-forest-library]

kill the imposter syndrome in your head because not only is there someone out there doing it worse than you, they’re also using chat gpt to do it

[busket]

I feel lucky that my pet became a meme that was not adopted and used by nazis. everyone that has told me they adore this meme is a cool person and not a scumbag loser. if she became the face of a crypto scam or the name of an illegal government entity id have a crisis

[nookisms]

Person in my gas station talking to someone on the phone: ...We're in Ohio...

Me, knowing we're in Utah: ????

[zeezeepearl]

ok im going to #seriouspost for a second here. I don't think Harry Potter is a manifesto. I think it was a flawed passion project that millennials latched onto because of the fantasy of sticking it to their mean teachers and arbitrarily categorizing themselves (hogwarts houses; it's the thinking millennial's astrology). I think the fact that the series got popular when and how it did was very much a product of its time.

I don't think Harry Potter is the biggest symbol of JKR's bigotry. I think the most flagrant sign of that was how she responded to critics. I watched her become radicalized in real time. I watched how she doubled down on her racism when she was called out for the ways she promoted her tragically mid fantastic beasts movies. I watched her chase marginalized teenagers with a double digit follower count off of twitter for daring to criticize her thought process, and no one with any kind of power standing against her because she was the one who was paying them. This isn't to say Harry Potter is without flaws. This is to say she really didn't give a shit about that. Getting rich and powerful is a hell of a drug, and she had enough sycophants that she had no reason to care about what her critics were saying.

She was convinced that she was a martyr; a voice for the unheard; a leader for the ages, so of course her detractors were the bad guys. And I think we should take this to heart. We should see this as an example of how easy it is to get radicalized; if you think of yourself as a paragon of virtue, you are going to think that whatever you see as good and right is an objective fact. Most people don't know this, but the majority of terfs start out as trans allies. You are not immune to propaganda! You are not immune to falling into dangerous ideologies!!!

This is why the most important thing you can do as an activist is to listen. Do NOT think you're above being wrong; do NOT develop a god complex; do NOT form an identity out of being right all the time. Involve yourselves in the groups you claim to speak for. Listen to trans women; share resources that help trans women; familiarize yourself with the diversity of experiences that trans people have and the struggles they face.

No, none of you are as bad as JKR because you don't have her money or her power. You will likely never have the capacity for harm she does. But check yourselves. Do not affirm yourselves into thinking you always have the moral high ground. Watch yourselves; humble yourselves; check yourselves for signs of cult behavior and internalized prejudice. You are always learning. You will always be learning. Do not allow yourselves to get a power trip from brushing off marginalized voices.

[androgynealienfemme]

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday told hospitals that they would be violating state law if they stop offering gender-affirming care for people under age 19 in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at curtailing federal funding for such treatments.

In a letter, James, a Democrat, told health care facilities that refusing to provide the treatments would violate New York’s anti-discrimination laws.

“Regardless of the availability of federal funding, we write to further remind you of your obligations to comply with New York State laws,” her letter reads.

Everyone say thank you to NY Attorney General Letitia James!!!

[sticksandsharks]

grey wagtail

character from The Wildercourt, the graphic novel I'm very slowly but very persistently working on

[wishfulsketching]

Girl dad Silco is a source of endless entertainment for me

Extra doodles:

Someone save Sevika, she is in hell

[mintaii]

a wandering knight, drawn to the quiet of the forest. her touch may be a blessing or a curse.

[andisupreme]

At the company retreat, one extremely drunk girl asked what my pronouns were. (Eventually, it took her a while to word the question.) After the whole conversation was done, she goes- "YEAHHH GURL, Get on with--with THY bad self! See what I did?? They/them/thy."

I was almost holding back tears from trying not to laugh as I told her yes that's great you nailed it honey. Thank you very much I am feeling the love.

Anyway I've been assigned Thee/Thine at Supportive Drunk Girl

[pocketss]

a sluge 😔

[stillgotscars]

this part of stevie nicks’ interview with rolling stone is taking me out