oxymore134

[oxymore134]

I agree. Bothering with questions and statements is cool. As long as you agree to have an honest answer or reaction

bring back tumblr ask culture let me. bother you with questions and statements

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I cannot agree more VERY WELL DONE. Be proud as you deserve !

𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 🔥

My first 3D render on Blender!

I first picked up Blender toward the end of April and have spent countless hours since then trying and failing to get to this point. It has been tricky for my smooth brain, but it was also entirely worth it. I literally cried when I rendered this out this afternoon 😭

I could not have done it without help! Special thanks to: @/aceforspinaltap, @/davenswitcher, @/byrdling & @/wildmagickatie on 🦋 Tthanks to my wonderful husband for both practical Blender help and all the times he cuddled me while I was crying over not being able to do it 🫶

And also thanks to @optimisticgrey for being the best & brightest cheerleader! ❤️ She supported me, believed in me, and sent me many, many emotional support gifs (again, usually while I was crying over not being able to do it 😂).

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i want a mysterious source of income

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Every unhinged fic writer needs an equally unhinged friend who "yes ands" their ideas and encourages them to write all their most far fetched and insane stories.

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My part for Halsin week 2025! Day 5: Protection. Unwise to poke a bear and mess with his grove!

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Deities and Powers

" ... I am old, I was here before the avatar crisis, I survived the spellplague and the two sunderings, I killed dragons, liches, and even the fucking Tarasque, I get the ass of a godess out of hell and did the first trip to Baldur's Gate with Jaheira so yes, it is "Flesh to Stone" for anyone who's not listening or pisses me off. And when I will run out of 5th levels spells, the will be "Desintegration" time. I negociated 15% acceptable loss with the high Harper, you are 134, I have no problem with emptying my quotas on the first day. So, ladies and gentlemen, do I have your attention now ?"

(Finrod Aerendil Dun'Zeiss, during a Masterclass at Harpers Academy, for the fifth Heroes Yearly Celebration in Baldur's Gate. Words recorded by Volo Guedamp, with the help of a "Quest" spell.)

[ I am an old, and by old I mean ancient, Dungeons and Dragons player and game master. I read more than a couple of posts from fanfic writers concerned by how much their work can be "lore friendly", "lore consistent", "canon", or even somewhat "ruleset consistent". This concern is very much to your credits, and very much appreciated by the veteran I am. I think that this concern shouldn't be a hindrance to creativity. So it is my humble contribution, with wider view than only Baldur's Gate 3 and 5e edition propose.]

Deities and Godhood. It is one of the central elements of BG3 and DnD at large. Vlaakith the wannabee godess, Gale the lover of Mystra and the unflinching yet coerced Shadowheart's devotion to Shar.

What deities are and how they behave as always been a fluctuating thing in DnD. The first edition of the sourcebook "Deities and Demi-Gods" included every imaginable pantheon, Greek, Aztec, Japanese, and even Cthulhu and Michael Moorcock's Elric the Necromancer one. The later two were not in later editions for copyright reasons. My first ever AD&D character was a cleric of Ishtar, godess of love and war in the sumerian pantheon. Custom pantheons and cosmology appeard later, with the forsaking of Oerth in the favor of Toril, Krynn, and the weird try of Athas. 

Most of the actual Deities in the Faerûn pantheon are still "masked copy" by the way. The tryptic Shar/Selune/Mystra is clearly based on the tri-folded aspect of Hecate, and Loviatar is an actual Norse mythological figure, just made oversexualised in the Forgotten Realms setting, and Tiamat is the Sumerian deity of chaos and destruction, chained in the bottom of hells by Madruk and his mate Ishtar. 

Deities are presented in BG3 with so much humans traits and flaws. The comparison with greek, Aztec or Egyptian mythology is very obvious. 

And it is very easy to forget that they are not human at all. 

Deities are concept, powers and energy. They are immortal, timeless, and do not have any physical form. They can take a physical shape, of course, imbued with the least diminutive sparkle of their power. But they are concepts and abstracts made conscious. Not made flesh, made sentient entities. 

Yes, mortals ascended to godhood might seem (falsly) common, but an ascended being will stop being what it was before. Right after the Times of Troubles, a human wizard, Midnight, was ascended to godhood to replace Mystra who was killed by Helm. Midnight cease to be a human wizard, she became magic. The abstract. 

Deities seem all powerful, but nothing is less true. They cannot truely act on the prime material plane, only send avatars that hold only a tiny part of their powers. Their power ends where another deity portfolio overlaps. Malar and Shar both have influence on evil lycanthropes (werewolves, wererats, werebats, weresharks namely), Umberlee, Talos and Auril all supposedly reign on tempest.

But more than everything else, deities heavily depends on their followers. Clerics are their only way to act on the material plane, and without worshipers, a deity will truely, definitely, die. 

So, they act as humans to be followed by non godlike beings. As parangons. Showing the traits they are supposed to impersonate on the most extreme way. They don't act by choice, but as they are supposed to do. Accordingly to their alignment and morality, and being what they are supposed to be. Not what they want, what they are supposed to be.

As much as deities will seem to intervene deeply and frequently in mortals life, and care for them (or some of them) and be all knowing, they are not. 

When it comes to the Mystra/Gale story. He his a choosen of Mystra ? Well done Mr Dekarios, Mystra is probably the deity with the most choosen clearly identified in the story line. During the events leading to the conclusion of the second sundering, there was around 10 choosen of Mystra roaming the land, and when their role in counterplotting Shar's scheme was over, their "choosen" status and powers was just taken back. And their mere number made each of them disposable. And there is the love affair. First, sorry to say, but as hard and genuinely Gale believes it, he never slept with a godess. He spent nights with a an insignificant part of Mystra's consciousness shaped into a form that matches his headcanon. And he will never know how many other mortals experimented exactly the same thing at the same time. I don't want to be mean with Gale, he is a wonderful character, but the best he had with Mystra  as the thinest slice of a shared big peace of bread. Did Mystra enjoy his company ? Likely, I enjoy when a ladybug or butterfly land on the back of my hand. They are lovely creatures and the light tickling on the my skin is somewhat fun. For 15 seconds. Does Mystra foresee a destiny in Gale ? More a potential. Because she is not the godess  fate, so she cannot know. 

Deities don't need to groom or even influence directly a mortal. They only make bets of some individuals, with lots of back ups in the second team. They are motivated by their fear of losing followers, and stripped of free will because they must act accordingly to their nature.

There is no love or compassion or friendship coming from deities. Only deities with love as their main sphere of influence will show love, but not the kind of love mortals can share and that we feel like being a miracle. Love as a concept. Not love for one other unique and wonderful being, just undifferentiated love for everybody. 

There is no love, no friendship, no compassion and no help to excpect. It is a bargain, a contract. Spells for devotion. And if it is not you, plenty are queing up in the hallway. 

And, of course, once in a while Ao suddenly get red with anger and send an apocalypse on Toril. Times of Troubles, spellplague, sundering.... Each time in a very convenient timing to match a new D&D ruleset edition. The ways of Ao are unscrutable of course. Such a surprising coincidence though.

When you write or create any form of art following your passion for BG3 and D&D fandom, you are the only true master, the one breathing life in a world. All D&D authors and DM did it over 40 years, your view is not less worthy. D&D lore is highly protean. I know the tentation of spending hours (Days ? Months ?) with over 99 tabs opened on your browser, frying your brain with an unfathomable amount of 40 years old accumulated lore and trying to catch back before writing a line is great. I know because I do and have 5-6 hardcover books on my desk on top of wiki tabs open. And we all know it is just an anxious writer defense response, don't we ?

In the very end, your story is what you want to tell. You don't need to stick to each peace of lore. Something bother you ? Ignore it. The lore have already changed uncountable times. Leave your mark. 

I am no more all knowing than Gond or Mystra, but still hope that this never-ending post might have been of some interest. 

If you have a question about lore or ruleset consistency, well, there is a very convenient button called "ask me anything" (or something like that, on my screen it displays "posez-moi vos questions" because I am french 😁).

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The whole point is that everything is canon. The real difference between fanfic writers and canon authors, like R.A. Salvatore or Margaret Weiss, is that they do it for a living, and their work is dubbed "canon" afterwards.

Dritzz Do'Urden is just a very well known OC.

How can something be canon about an oc. The whole point is theyre not canon

Because I am god and I said so.

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I barely believe that writing that kind of things is still accurate. But, sadly, it is. So thanks for writing.

I will never emphasise on that enough.

Friends can disagree, can have different tastes and opinions.

But people that will make you feel bad for being yourself are NOT friends. Run away, then live and let die.

Write, draw, sing, express yourself, show your true colors and be proud of who you are.

i've had so many conversations with people in fandom/creators' circles who are genuinely afraid to make the stories or art they want because they fear (often with good reason!) that their friends might kick them out of their circles, or worse, launch a public harassment campaign against them.

as someone recovering from this fear-based mindset, i want to affirm:

- friends who use implicit or explicit threats to maintain social control are not your friends

- communities that monitor your social media and ao3 to surveil you for perceived transgressive content are not safe communities

- the vast majority of people are NOT going to hate you if you make the art you want

- if you find yourself in a friend group that makes you feel afraid to speak your mind, it's in your interest to disentangle yourself from that group as quickly as possible

- real, honest disagreements between friends can be solved respectfully without the use of public shaming

- if you're feeling afraid in a community, it's likely that others are feeling afraid too. support your friends who may be struggling to leave an abusive fan or creative community, and let them know you're a safe person to voice doubts and disagreement to.

- if you're feeling like you'll never find a safer community of people, i promise there are others who feel that way too. it may take some time, but you'll find people who treat you and your ideas with respect. a good place to start is the people who make the type of art that you admire but that you're too afraid to make yourself.

ok that's all, take care of each other and be nice 💜

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[oxymore134]

Of course. Why only mutuals ? 🤟

reblog if it's okay for your mutuals to message you and create an actual friendship, not just interactions

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Let's add some more months, like, a very uncomfortable life.

'Cause it is just like for Valentine's day. If we think about it only once a year, it is just either a commercial event, a consciousnesswashing (more like greenwashing thing), or both.

Intolerance is the only thing that cannot be tolerated.

❤️🩷🧡💛Happy Pride!💚💙🩵💜

stolen from bluesky

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reblog if you don't mind being tagged in tag games even if you're not a mutual

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Galemancers I love you.

I am not an active,nor skilled, user of social medi in general and tumblr was not exception. I am ordinary the lazy reader who hit "like" and "reblog" once in a while. 

But habits exist to be broken, right ?

I have lurked in shadows long enough, and that is worthy of being said.

Galemancers I love you. You are brilliant. 

I have read so much posts taking about headcanons, writing process, or how much it is normal to fall for a fictional character.

So, no, you are not normal. You are unhinged, half crazy, and obsessed. But most of all you are creative, invested, imaginative, sensitive. And courageous enough to hit the "publish" button to treat us with your drawings and stories. 

And there is the most precious of gifts. So be thanked for that. Be thanked for giving the world colours and music. And be thanked for celebrating love on all is forms with each of your publication. 

There are two very important things that you might know.

First and foremost, as it seems that anxious writers are the common breed amongst you (us ?). I never wrote fanfic. But I play Dungeon and Dragons since four decades, mostly as a Dungeon Master, so I am not a total stranger to writing process. 

Your story, your words, your vision, your feelings. Each time you start a new story, you create a new world. Your style is good. Your headcanons are right. And your Gale is THE Gale. You are right, you are legitimate, and we readers are just guests, who you give the privilege to visit your story. And the only thing we are entitled to do is thank you.

So thank you. You are all wonderful. Please, don't be normal. Or rather don't care about what is considered normal, just be yourself, what you show is beautiful. 

Second. I was wondering recently about how the word Galemancer was created. And assumed that it is from Gale and Romance. Which was kindly confirmed by @optimisticgrey in her infinite wisdom and knowledge. 

I think it is pretty accurate, but not comprehensive. Please indulge. 

We are on Toril right ? So, unless I am misleaded since decades. Necromancers don't romance zombies (well, they can indeed, but....), Chronomancers don't romance hourglasses. And Chiromancers hopefully don't only romance hands (I hope some of you have mental pictures by now).

The -mancer sufix is related to magic, the first ancient greek meaning is tightly related to divination, but the modern common sense encompasses mastery and manipulation as well.

You are magic users. All of you. You use the raw material of Baldur's Gate and shape it into something new by a mere act of will, skills and knowledge. Te same way wizards do with the weave.

You are closer to fully understand Gale than you might suspect. 

You are miracle makers. Each of your post, each of your line, is a miracle. And a miracle is something we need.

(This post is dedicated to @optimisticgrey , my guide and mentor in the fanfic bubble, so, so, so much more.)

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As the wise philosoper Bllly Gibbons says

Clean shirt, new shoes

And I don't know where I am goin' to

Silk suit, black tie (black tie)

I don't need a reason why

They come runnin' just as fast as they can

'Cause every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man

Gale in Expedition 33 outfit.

I find it endearing that the expeditioners have such a cool looking aesthetic. It's like "We may die form Nevrons or get gommaged, but we will look fabulous doing it" 😆

Also as FF15 stan, they remind me of Kingsglaive uniform.

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Is it a kink ? I thought it was what à.y human being wants ?!?? Am I mistaken ?

hahaha- uh oh😳