(IC ask bc boy oh boy my girl needs help) Can you spare some wisdom for a passerby? I’m an adventurer whose regular quests have turned into a rescue mission to rescue my companion’s mentor. Someone is willing to guide us underground, and he saved my companion when we were attacked, but he used fiendish magic to do so. I serve a god of survival and healing. His patron is of chaos and entropy. My instincts say not to trust him, but I also know what it's like to be judged by appearance, having faced prejudice of my own as an orc. My divine and mundane senses of right are at odds. What is the best course of action? Thank you. May the seas’ bounty sustain you.
Brother Andrew's sly smile grows as the cleric before him expresses her frustration. He nods in agreement with her until she finishes her stories, at which point he answers:
"You know, I really love gardening. Not just for the beauty of plants, but for their utility. I prefer a plant that gives me something I can use... aloe for healing, leaves for tea, fruit for eating... I appreciate what each plant produces. Now, if we found a plant with lacey white flowers and long white taproot that was purple at the top, you would be forgiven for thinking it was hemlock. That sounds and looks exactly like some varieties of hemlock, but it's also the same as some varieties of wild carrots, parsnips, and other yummy root vegetable that are great in stews.
"It is a really difficult place, to find ourselves in need of the skills, knowledge, or experience of others less... devoted than ourselves. Or at least, devoted to other things. But that doesn't mean they are poisonous or dangerous or evil. Sometimes it just takes a little extra care and discernment to tell the bad ones from the good ones, but it is absolutely worth the time. Evil is what makes people evil, not their appearance, or race, or culture, or background. It is what they do, the impact they have on the world, that makes them untrustworthy. But if they have not demonstrated themselves to be evil, let us not hastily jump forward to call them evil."
Brother Andrew prattles on...
(@hauntedpontmercy)
"You know, speaking of gardening, when I was still a young postulant there was an abbess who loved to say, 'Wearing white gloves while gardening does not make the garden cleaner, it only makes the gloves dirty.' She used it as an example of how those of us devoted to righteousness and honor were more likely to be sullied by the outside world than we were to have a redemptive effect on those we were around.
"I knew, even at that age, that it was a biased and inaccurate metaphor. I am not a pair of gloves, and those around me are not dirt. We are humans..."
He then stops and looks embarrassed, "Errr, welll, not human, but um, forgive me.... language is insufficient.... I mean... we are all people, we all have value as people, whether we have taken holy orders or not, whether we are human or orc or tiefling, or whatever. We all have value, and are capable of doing good or ill. But how will others know that they have a choice, unless they are shown people who make that choice? Unless they see an example of someone living a life of good and self-sacrifice and discipline and honor? We can show them a better way, but only if we let ourselves be around them, and try to have a positive impact on them.
"So I would like to challenge you, don't look at the world as that old abbess who immediately wrote off anyone outside of her cloister, or anyone no deemed as 'pure' or 'worthy' as those of her order. The world needs us to be in it, and we need to be around them. Otherwise, we cannot hope to better ourselves, nor can we inspire them to better themselves, either. And do not let your conscience be so quick to regret joining with others whose heart you cannot see. Take the time, and you will see the important things, not just the lacy flowers or taproot, but the actual result of their actions. If you have seen the results of this person’s actions, and they are not evil, then there is no reason to assume they are evil.
"After all, 'No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.' (Luke 6:43–45) "
Hi Allec! I'd love a TDoR reading if they're still open. I don't have a specific question, so what I need to know right now is perfect. <3 I am feeling disconnected from trans community spaces right now, and didn't have anywhere to go to observe today, so that was weird. :/
Hey friend! Yeah, I don’t know the local trans community very well, and I always worry about being turned away for not “appearing” trans... but anyways, here’s your reading!
For you, I drew “Boundaries” from Work Your Light Oracle and “Nine of Bells” from The Numinous Tarot.
The combination of these two cards seems to be telling me that you need to exert your boundaries in places that is causing you extreme anguish and misery. What boundaries could you place that would give you more peace of mind? What is currently stressing you out? How can that be negotiated so that you have less stress? Also evaluate what sort of negative emotions are telling you that you shouldn’t have boundaries you deserve.
So place boundaries to help support yourself, and to help lessen your burdens.
I hope this reading made sense! Thank you for allowing me to read for you. I wish you luck going forward <3
TDoR Free Readings are now closed, but feel free to check out my Etsy shop Allecadabra!
a possibility: you might have crossed into the otherworld On the bus and be there still? the breakfast thing is pretty fey sounding to me. 👀
That's what I'm thinking too! I'd forgotten about the bus incident by the time I was at work but Book's comment made me remember and start connecting the dots.
This reply has been an ordeal to write coherently so maybe I'm not allowed to talk about this. Anyway good news the Otherworld has WiFi!!
hauntedpontmercy replied to your post “I don’t think I have a solid opinion on this AO3 thing, to be...”
oh MOOD? i wrote a really long post about this once on my sideblog and how the concept of "you, as a creator, need to only create Good Unproblematic Things otherwise you're partially responsible for people being groomed/victimized" kept me from making and sharing art
