#3E-Hope

[take-ya-to-the-ghey-bar]

{it's been a hot minute since i've had merch to share, and honestly this isn't all of what i've gotten over the past couple weeks lol (tho to be fair, the Dear+ Anni merch was paid for ages ago, and just now sent) but-- for now i just wanted to highlight these~, plus this little trio of plushies u w u}

[drop-the-curtain-123]

random school uniform customisations that could've been done in the AC live-action movies (imo)

ok so the assassination classroom live action movies have flaws. But I can't stop thinking about how visually, some ideas could have helped the goal of differentiating the cast, and showing their personalities a bit more.

Two things the movies, due to their shortened runtime, struggled to do otherwise.

BUT.

(click on read more for my whole run-down on how I would've handled things!)

First of all, I understand keeping it all natural hair colors. That's a choice. Black haired Nagisa and Kayano, and maroon-haired Karma? I can live with that.

Why not take advantage of the fact some of the students DO have unnatural hair? As in, it's implied it's a dye that they consenciously do, notably as 'counter-culture', free spirits?

The blond hair on top of Terasakas' hair, along with Rio gyaru-bleach? Kurahashi's implied gradient hair, Maehara chapatsu orange-ish style, and Sugaya's grey bob?

It goes well with their characters too, and would've helped making them stand out!

Same with Ritsu! A norwegian AI moe girl is the perfect excuse for bright hair!

(while we're at it, if I could retcon another thing from the movie, it's making it so that an actual blasian actor is casted for Yoshida. But what can I do now...)

For the more broad uniform differences, I think it's a lost opportunity to not take advantage of the fact the actors have, well, a consistent costume on themselves.

Whearas in the manga format you'd need to keep track of everything by yourself and draw it over and over again.

Upper body customisations:

Okano could have had the tracksuit jacket we see her with in the extra episode, over her uniform. She would totally wear the matching sweatpants under her skirt.

It would've been fun to have Yada wear different scrunchies overtime, and wear the matching sweater! Maybe even a sleeveless one, could portray her sweet, preppy side well.

To tie in with her hair, Kurahashi too could have a nice, cute (tie-dye?) sweater! Maybe on the "fluffier" side?

Hazama could have had a simple black V neck sweater too. Maybe with a pocket on the chest that she pulls out small stuff from. IDK. Maybe a pen attached? A bookmark?

Kayano could wear tacky, pudding themed t-shirts under her blazer! For foreshadowing her link with someone, but also because it ties in with her persona...lity!

Okuda could've worn a lab-coat over her blazer, or even have it replace the blazer! Yeah, kind of on the nose, but it's a 2 hours movie set in a small set with 28 cast members.

Instead of the school-blaser, Kimura too could have worn a sports' hoodie?

There could have been a nod to various baseball stuff through Sugino wearing a specific jersey/jacket.

More! Baggy pockets cargo pants! As of canon, only Okajima, Chiba and Nagisa have them, but I believe it would fit Yoshida, maybe? Even others, I'm curious.

The state of the uniform and how it's worn could be telling too!

Someone like Takebayashi (who, apparently, is the only one to wear the vest, consisting the fullest uniform, along with Isogai!) and Kataoka have very ironed, proper uniforms, whilst Terasaka canonically wears his button-up days in a row.

Nagisa (who would have his pigtails!) also has a too-big uniform for his, showing his whole "isn't right in his skin" arc.

His canon design cuffs his pants, and he apparently had promised his mother he'd grow into it (the uniform) right?

True to her kogyaru/kogal style, Nakamura's skirt could be shorter. She did get sent to Class E partially because of breaking the dress code! (obviously, with the actress comfort taken into consideration)

I like Isogai and Maehara uniforms already, but I feel like for a live-action it needs to be exagerated a bit more.

Isogai's vest could be more visible with his blazer open, so that it differentiates him with Chiba, and also because it is a nod to his job as a waiter.

Maehara's sweater is a nice idea! I think he'd wear it a bit over-sized, and open, though. His tie is also not that tight. He also has trendy, but rather unpractical, shoes.

Maybe some hair stuff could be done too! Nothing drastic as to change totally the original character design, but maybe some headbands or hairpins?

Hara having matching looser socks (extrapolating from her design) and headbands (that could get her bangs out of the way when she does stuff) could be very cute.

Along with hair elastics on her wrist like Nagisa, ready to lend some to others!

Again, adding utility to a piece and building on its existence!

SOCKS!

Kurahashi could have cute legwarmers too.

There could be a diversity in color, length...

Kanzaki still has her iconic black tights, of course, but maybe she could have fancy shoes? Mary Janes? Something, both figuratively and literally, polished.

She could have one of those plastic black hairbands too, adding a little more visual interest to her otherwise pretty basic hair. It also is polished, and could represent the oppresive side of her family, literally weighting on top her. It also has a sort of shine and light to it, which also lines up with the whole "angel halo/madonna of the class" title.

While we're onto footwear...

Shoes! You can NOT tell me Muramatsu isn't a sneakers' fan (sneakerhead?)! (unintentionally inspired that headcanon list)

Terasaka and his middle aged dad-style slippers for the win! I love them. Pantoufles de daron, as we say in my corner of the world.

Mimura canonically has white shoes that kind of denote from others, that'd be a nice touch too. (he also could wear his "directors' style" sweater over his shoulders like in some extra content!)

He also can have his belt too! It can add visual interest, as always!

The bags could be a fun touch too. They're all the same, sure, but social butter flies or passionate souls could have a bunch of charms (or merch!) added to it.

Some could be frumpy, stained, doodled on, emboidered, or filled to the brim...

SPECIAL CASES:

An anticonformist (not that much by belief, but by absolutely not caring about living as anything less than their authentic self-expression) like Sugaya would definitely rock a skirt-over-pants style.

Or even just wear a painters' apron permanently! You don't know when you'll need to DIY some camouflage, or stain yourself any other way. The light grey would match the hair, too.

Now that I think about it, Fuwa might ditch the shoes for more average, comfy sneakers like Sugino, Kimura, and also do without the tie. It'd be a nice change to have a girl not wear it. Her socks could be easter eggs from other mangas, too?

I don't have everyone pinned down, mainly because I see them as rule-abiding students on that front (no blame on them).

Chiba, Hayami, etc. would wear their uniforms to a T, I believe, just like in canon.

Chiba is really, really glad he has the cargo pants though. His punk side could show in a couple adjustements, like ditching the blaze

Feel free to tell me your ideas! I'm just throwing my two cents here about a years-old movie. I'm always willing to learn more!

[dododrawsstuff]

Hi, ok so if i remember correctly its two requests per person? if im remembering right I'd like to request my second one :3 3E Elbert (ikevil) please and thank you!! have a lovely day :D!!

Hi Arson, thanks for requesting Elbie!! Sorry for the long wait and ai hope you like it! Hope you also have a lovely day!

I hope I was able to translate the haunted look of the original

Expression requests are closed

Ikevil taglist: @scummy-writes @natimiles @bicayaya @floydsteeth @lorei-writes @goustmilk @sh0jun (let me know if you want to be added pr removed from the taglist)

[thequietkid-moonie]

Happiest last days

[ ONE-SHOT ] [ Class 1-A ]

[ My hero academia / Boku no hero academia ]

⚠️ Hidden depression, implied suicide

This was dificult to write between the depresive episode and the write block... but is here! I thought of doing it with class 3E instead but I didn't at the end, maybe other time? Anyways hope you enjoy it!

Also I thought on mention as much characters I could but I the end I didn't do it much, sorry

Become a hero is almost every child's wish! In a world with superpowers the idea of becoming a hero is like a dream come true! And now that you are in the hero course you can't feel happier. Everything about the course seems like a dream, from your classmates to the teachers, the facilities, the dorms, the classes, it all show how close you truly are to become a hero

Everyday in Class 1A is like a new little adventure, with the training and all those exercises that simulate real situations as a profesional hero every day is quite exciting, learning new things and improving your own habilities gives you a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction like anything before, slowly boosting your self confidence

And not forget about you classmates, no matter how shy you have being at the start everyone is so welcoming and cheerful, everyone is kind in their own way that is so heartwarming

You have spend your days having little adventures with your friends, from playing video games non stop with Denki, Sero and Kirishima to not only learning to dance but do it randomly on the common room with Mina, having some time to just relax and talk with your new friends, enjoying some of the tea Momo kindly make for everyone and even the pastries Sato kindly have share with you

Ever when it comes to school, Momo is more than willing to take you in her little study group (and help you not fail on your grades) or training with your friends to learn new things, everyone is a good option to ask for help but Deku is the more analyltical and he is more than ready to give you some advices about what he can see on your quirk (as long as you don't mind the ranting, he just can't control it)

Even whenever you feel down they are always there to offer some help, like Aoyama who is more aware than he seems and would share you some comforting words in his own way and cheese or Kirishima who is always there to tell you how manly you have being!

Clearly, being in Class 1A, studying for in the future become a profesional hero is like a true dream! Or, well, thats what you constantly tell yourself

Everyday you wake up and remind yourself how amazing are the people around you, trying your best to put a smile before getting out of you room, sometimes a sincere one, other time one not so sincere and yet they always manage to sincerely make you smile

Its true that you have being feeling genuinely happy, having so much fun with your friends and even if school is quite hard sometimes it have made you truly happy, looking back you can easily say that this is the happiest you have being since a long time, or maybe in your entire life

And yet, is not enough to take away the sorrow of your heart, to take out those unspoke feelings that live inside of you, those that torture you in the darkness of your room, those feeling that make you feel like trash, that reminds you that not all in life is fun and you wont be good enough when the time comes to confront the real world, that feeling that makes you just want to finish everything

Even when this has being the happiest days of you life you have already made up your mind, you went through your days like always, having fun with your friends, smiling and laughing at their side, doing your best o what you are doing until the end of the week, without them noticing you prepare everything to put an end to your life, even writing a goodbye note to your dearest friends, hopefuly they won't get mad at you for nor saying it in person

When the day finally came you went through the day like always, enjoying your time with them at its fullest until the moment it came, saying a last bye with a smile and going back to your room, taking some small deep breaths to get ready, smiling to yourself for finally achiving what you wanted the most, ready to finally close your eyes and don't open them ever again, quietly thanking life for letting you met such amazing people before letting the heaviness and sorrow that torments your heart win and finally put an end to your life

[zinthefuture60111]

L3 was thinking Hate, Nightnare, and Ccino

I hope you know Hate sans. He’s a lil unpopular.

There is only one prompt left for request: 2H. This will be first-come first-serve, depending on if I'm comfortable with the request or not.

1A - Drinkberry/ Star Sans Poly

2A - Cherryberrymare

3A - Felldustkiller

1B - Errorkillmare

2B - CherryInkberry

3B - Bloodkustard

1C - Fluffynightkiller

2C - Spacetango

3C - Horrordustberry

1D - Freshdancemare (To be added)

2D - Candy/Ccino/Strawberry Nightmare

3D - ClassicHorrorDust

1E - RedTango

2E - Krosswap

3E - Drillerccino

1F - Creamberry

2F - ColorKillMare

3F - Frerrorberry

1G - Painted Insomnia

2G - Kremecoffee

3G - Creampic

1H - Ccinkmare

3H - Krosspic

1I - Crosswapmare

2I - OuterKross

3I - Genolorkiller

1J - ClassicCherryBerry

2J - Dustkustard

3J - HorrorFellDust

1K - Genscink (To be added)

2K - Frepicross

3K - Krossink

1L - LustSwapFell

2L - Krossmare

3L - Fluffyhatemare

1M - Scinkmare

2M - Lustdreamberry

3M - Murder Time Trio

[inaconstantstateofchange]

Hi!

I'm so glad i found your blog, your deep dives are making my brain tingle in the best of ways! It's so difficult to really find all the info your curious about with the many different editions and histories of everything so you are an absolute lifesaver for understanding all these intruiging lore aspects.

I've been very curious about Asmodeus for a while now but am kinda struggling finding out more about him, I know he's very strong and apparently a large snake?? But I was wondering if you at some point feel the motivation to if you could tell me some about him, he seems so interesting to me and I just wanna know more about who and what he is.

Again, you are so awesome and I vow to devour all your writing!

Asmodeus: An Origin

Thank you so much for the kind words - and for your patience as I worked on this one. If there's any question you had about him that feels like it's not wholly answered here, feel free to let me know! There's still a lot that I was not able to include.

As ever, these writeups will align with current 5e lore, and draw from 3.5e for additional supporting information. On rarer occasions – and always noted – I will reference 1e and 2e, but with the caveats that there is much more in those editions that is tonally dissonant with the modern conception of the Forgotten Realms, and thus generally less applicable.

You would be hard-pressed to find a more succinct introduction to Asmodeus himself than in the following passage, from 3e’s Book of Vile Darkness: 

Asmodeus the Archfiend, the overlord of all the dukes of hell, commands all devilkind and reigns as the undisputed master of the Nine Hells. Even the deities that call that plane home pay Asmodeus a great deal of respect.¹ 

As to his current position, 5e’s Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide features Asmodeus among the list of gods, naming him the “god of indulgence”, and crediting to him the domains of knowledge and trickery. His symbol is “three inverted triangles arranged in a long triangle”, as seen in the image below.² 

While his active circle of worshippers remains small, he is one of the gods habitually turned to by those in need, particularly those who have done something to earn them the displeasure of another god:

After transgressing against a god in some way, a person prays to Asmodeus for something to provide respite during the long wait. Asmodeus is known to grant people what they wish, and thus people pray for all the delights and distractions they desire most from life. Those who transgress in great ways often ask Asmodeus to hide their sins from the gods, and priests say that he will do so, but with a price after death.³

Asmodeus is particularly appealing to those who fear what awaits them after death, or have arrived to find the reality does not match their hopes. For these souls, even the hazards of Baator might be preferable to long centuries of solitary wandering on the Fugue Plane. 

All souls wait on the Fugue Plane for a deity's pleasure, which determines where a soul will spend the rest of eternity. Those who lived their lives most in keeping with a deity's outlook are taken first. Others, who have transgressed in the eyes of their favored god or have not followed any particular ethos, might wait centuries before Kelemvor judges where they go. People who fear such a fate can pray to Asmodeus, his priests say, and in return a devil will grant a waiting soul some comfort.³

The worship of Asmodeus attracts staunch individualists, who desire a future unaligned with the domain of any of the other gods, and are willing to choose self-determination in any form that might approach them.

The faithful of Asmodeus acknowledge that devils offer their worshipers a path that's not for everyone — just as eternally basking in the light of Lathander or endlessly swinging a hammer in the mines of Moradin might not be for everyone. Those who serve Asmodeus in life hope to be summoned out of the moaning masses of the Fugue Plane after death. They yearn for the chance to master their own fates, with all of eternity to achieve their goals.³

Asmodeus achieved his current official status of godhood during the Spellplague, which lasted from 1385 to 1395 DR. After this, for reasons he has unsurprisingly chosen not to reveal, he performed a ritual to alter the metaphysical categorization of all existing tieflings, giving them features that highlighted this connection.

Due to this shift, tieflings are often perceived with wariness by those who believe that Asmodeus is able to exert control over these newly-determined “descendants” of his. While this is an unwarranted suspicion, as tieflings are no more bound to his will than any other individual of another race, the mistrust remains unfortunately pervasive.⁴ 

The true origins of Asmodeus, particularly from 3rd Edition on, are kept rather ambiguous, seemingly quite by design. This is both for Watsonian reasons – that a supreme being of evil such as Asmodeus would not carelessly leave information about his origins (and, potentially, weaknesses) floating around – as well as Doylist: it is a more elegant solution than eternal retcons, and leaves it up to the individual scholar or DM which explanation they ascribe the most veracity to.⁵ 

On the charge of Asmodeus’s true form being a giant serpent, we have Chris Pramas to thank for that bit of lore, stated in 2e’s 1999 Guide to Hell, but rarely mentioned - and not in any definitive manner - from 3e onward.⁶ 3e’s Manual of the Planes, published in 2001, does reference this account, but as a whispered and shadowy theory about the Archdevil Supreme, rather than objective truth.

Brutally repressed rumors suggest that there is more to Asmodeus than he admits. The story goes that the true form of Asmodeus actually resides in the deepest rift of Nessus called the Serpent’s Coil. The shape seen by all the other devils of the Nine Hells in the fortress of Malsheem is actually a highly advanced use of the project image spell or an avatar of some sort. ... From where fell Asmodeus? Was he once a greater deity cast down from Elysium or Celestia, or is he older yet, as the rumor hints? Perhaps he represents some fundamental entity whose mere existence pulls the multiverse into its current configuration. Nobody who tells the story of Asmodeus’s “true” form lives more than 24 hours after repeating it aloud. But dusty scrolls in hard-to-reach libraries (such as Demogorgon’s citadel in the Abyss) yet record this knowledge. Unless it is pure fancy, of course.⁷ 

One can see from the framing of the above excerpt that there is no attempt made at certainty. Perhaps it is mere conjecture, or perhaps a secret, hidden truth that few may know. It is impossible to say for certain. 

Another story of Asmodeus’s possible origin is found in 3e’s Fiendish Codex II. This text, again, does not frame the information given as universal truth, but rather takes pains to emphasize its ambiguity. 

The best way to understand devils and their ways is to listen to the stories they tell about themselves. The most famous of these tales have propagated as myths throughout all the worlds of the Material Plane, becoming familiar to mortals of all sorts. But as is often the case with legends, contradictions abound. For example, the tale of the Pact Primeval is the accepted version of the multiverse’s creation. But an alternate story claims Asmodeus as the fallen creator of the universe.  Countless cultures have their own versions of the Pact Primeval legend. The names of the deities featured in it change depending on where it is told, but the names of the devils are always the same. Perhaps this fact is what inspired Philogestes, the accursed philosopher of evil, to pen his famous proverb: “The gods exist in multiplicity, but Asmodeus is unique.” As is the case with any myth worthy of the name, the following tale is true — whether or not it actually happened.⁸ 

In this account, Asmodeus began as a celestial embodiment of law, formed from the concept itself to fight against the embodiment of chaos — demons.⁹ Over time, as he and his followers became more akin to the enemies they were facing, those celestial beings not engaged in the fight grew leery of what they were becoming, and took him to trial, to account for himself. The god of valor spoke first, laying out the concerns of those gathered against Asmodeus. In response: 

Asmodeus smiled, and the smoke of a thousand battlefields rose from his lips. “As Lord of Battle,” he pointed out, “you should know better than any that war is a dirty business. We have blackened ourselves so that you can remain golden. We have upheld the laws, not broken them. Therefore, you may not cast us out.”⁸

Despite their efforts, the gods were able to find no laws that Asmodeus had broken. Unsurprisingly, as he himself had helped write them. This conflict between Asmodeus and his host and the remainder of the unsullied gods continued on, with the gods unable to get rid of him, and free themselves of the constant reminder of the Blood War.

With time, the concepts of “good” and “evil” entered the world alongside law and chaos, and Asmodeus was able to argue for dominion over those souls that chose evil. The gods loathed the reminders of this fact, however, and when Asmodeus volunteered to move to the empty plain of Baator, they enthusiastically agreed. It was only years later, when the number of souls arriving at their own planes after death began to sharply decrease, that they thought to travel to Baator themselves, where they found a robust operation based around encouraging mortal souls to take to the path of evil. 

“You have granted us the power to harvest souls,” replied Asmodeus. “To build our Hell and gird our might for the task set before us, we naturally had to find ways to improve our yield.” The war deity drew forth his longsword of crackling lightning. “It is your job to punish transgressions, not to encourage them!” he cried.  Asmodeus smiled, and a venomous moth flew out from between his sharpened teeth. “Read the fine print,” he replied.⁸ 

While the recorded story implies a simple act of one-upmanship, a later section of the Fiendish Codex tells us that Asmodeus’s split from the other celestial deities was not so amicable. 

Once he had committed himself to residing in Baator, the deities physically cast him out of the upper realms, and he fell — and fell, and fell. Upon reaching the plain of Baator, he plunged through the nascent layers he had begun to shape. (In some versions, his fall created the layers, breaking the formerly featureless plain into nine pieces, which then arranged themselves into floating tiers.) At last he hit solid ground but continued to fall, spiraling through rock and soil. The protesting earth of Baator tore at his flesh, opening scores of gaping wounds. Still he fell, until he could fall no farther. The point where he finally stopped was the deepest part of Baator — the Pit.  The wounds that Asmodeus suffered in his dramatic fall have never healed. Though he manages to appear blithely unperturbed by his injuries, they still weep blood every day, and he has been wracked by constant pain for millennia.¹⁰ 

This casting down and its associated injuries is corroborated in other texts as well, including 3e’s Manual of the Planes. 

5e’s Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes seemingly follows on from the Fiendish Codex’s account, sharing one conception of the fallout of Asmodeus’s stratagem, positioned as an in-universe account penned by the aasimar bard Anodius in a work titled “The Trial of Asmodeus”.

At some point after Asmodeus broke from Celestia to rule Baator, he was brought up on trial for unspecified crimes and trespasses. Asmodeus claimed the right to speak in his own defense, and a court was gathered, arbitrated by Primus, a being intrinsically aligned with Neutrality and Law. From Asmodeus’s recorded arguments in his own defense, we can surmise that those on Celestia had accused him of acting outside of the law in actively working to turn mortals to evil. 

The case stretched on, with neither side ceding ground, for weeks, until finally Primus declared his judgment. While Asmodeus could not be convicted of any true crime – for he had acted within the law in all things – he was to take an artifact, the Ruby Rod that is synonymous with his position, which would “guarantee his adherence to law”.¹¹ A quote from Anodius’s in-universe text is helpfully provided by Mordenkainen: 

“I literally sit beneath eight tiers of scheming, ambitious entities that represent primal law suffused with evil. The path from this realm leads to an infinite pit of chaos and evil. Now, tell me again how you and your ilk are the victims in this eternal struggle.” – Asmodeus addresses the celestial jury, from The Trial of Asmodeus¹¹

In a manner similar to his contested origin, Asmodeus’s appearance is described in several varying ways — a fact that seems in line for a principal schemer such as himself. This seeming discrepancy could also speak to varying uses of aspects or projection spells.

The Fiendish Codex II in one instance paints him as “a horned, red-skinned humanoid with a tall, lithe frame” who “dresses in splendid robes and understated but elegant accoutrements.”¹⁰ A later section in the Codex corresponds to this description given in the Book of Vile Darkness: 

Asmodeus stands just over 13 feet tall, with lustrous dark skin and dark hair. He is handsome in the same way that a thunderstorm is beautiful. His red eyes shine with the power of hell, and his head is crowned with a pair of small, dark red horns. He dresses in finery of red and black; a single garment of his might cost what an entire nation spends in a year. Of course, he is never without his Ruby Rod, an ornate piece of unparalleled jeweled finery and vast magical power.¹ 

Regarding his personality, he is most often described as “a soft-spoken, articulate, chillingly reasonable fellow who is confident in his status as one of the multiverse’s most powerful entities. Even when surprised, he reacts with supreme poise, as if he were already three steps ahead of his adversaries.”¹⁰ The Book of Vile Darkness notes correspondingly that: 

The actions of Asmodeus are often mysterious to outside observers, but that is due to the short-sighted and dim-witted view most beings have. Asmodeus’s manipulations are labyrinthine and insidious. They work on a grand scale, although when it suits his needs he is willing to focus his attention even on the status of a lowly mortal soul.¹

¹ Book of Vile Darkness. 2002. p. 165-6.

² Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. 2015. p. 21.

³ Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. 2015. p. 24.

⁴ Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. 2015. p. 118. 

⁵ “Watsonian vs. Doylist”. Fanlore.org. 

⁶ In general, I try to stay in-universe with these lore writeups, but in this case it did feel like some out-of-universe context was necessary. 

⁷ Manual of the Planes. 2001. p. 123.

⁸ Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells. 2006. p. 4-5.

⁹ While the description of these events found within the Fiendish Codex is too long to transcribe here in its entirety, I highly encourage you to read the full account for yourself. 

¹⁰ Fiendish Codex II. 2006. p. 73-4.

¹¹ Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. 2018. p. 9-10.

[kfkr1ze]

[18TRIP] Brand New Dawn - R1ze FULL VER.

Renga, Yukikaze, Kafka, Ten, Liguang

----

Good morning, hey my bro

Can you do this party yo?

Deep in my chest, I was sleeping

You don’t be blind

Kafka & Liguang : Let’s draw a picture to signal the start of a brand new sunrise

“Come on!”(Come on!) “Where shall we go?” [1] (Go!)

When gold burns at the edge of this blue sea

It’ll be a morning of thanks

Good morning! Morning!

Don’t worry! As you can see,

The night’s already over yay, yeah! (Yay, yeah!)

It’s hard to see what’s in front of you [2]. Yes, there was a light there all along

I feel like dancing, no matter what day it is

Good morning! It’s our celebration

Good morning! Can’t stop moving, let’s start the party

Good morning! It’s our celebration

Good morning! Can’t stop moving, let’s start the party

How about a day that’s less than a birthday or an anniversary?

Please give me a celebration that doesn’t belong to anyone!

A paradise of mutual support

Kafka & Liguang : where no one is left out

Come on! (Come on!) Let’s go get it back (Go!)

Whenever the night stretches on, my tears can’t seem to let up

Keep shining, and the morning will come

Welcome to brand new “Dawn”！！

Kafka & Yukikaze : By making the impossible possible, black ships start to sail [3a.]

Yukikaze & Renga : Divine wind blows away the remaining snow [3b.]

Yukikaze & Renga : And it melts, sending away another ship 

Renga & Liguang : I have no more regrets that I need to bite my fangs at [3c.][4]

Renga & Liguang : Whether that’s north, south, east, or west.

Liguang & Ten : Us 5 together, resounding our gratitude with a song and bow [3d.] [5]

Ten & Kafka : Hoping that the wind in the sky doesn’t come [3e.] [6]

Even so, I’ll be with you forever (Yeah!) Come on, let’s go (Yeah!)

The R1ze of the sun warms my heart

I thought there was no place for me, but it turns out that’s not the case

As I searched for the light, I kept running in the dark

Resistance, mistakes, embarrassment, words that don’t last forever

It’s not enough, it’s not enough, it’s still not enough

We never seem to learn from our mistakes, like idiots

But, I ended up where I’m at now, and it’s the best place to be

Right now is the night of apologies so that

It’ll be a morning of thanks tomorrow

Good morning! Morning!

Yukikaze & Liguang : Don’t worry! Look at the different colors

Kafka & Ten : Please choose the one you like Yay, yeah! (Yay, yeah!)

No matter what I do, there’s nothing strange about this party

But I’m just so happy I could start laughing! Uh Yeah

Good morning! Morning!

Don’t worry! As you can see,

The night’s already over yay, yeah! (Yay, yeah!)

It’s hard to see what’s in front of you. Yes, there was a light there all along

I feel like dancing, no matter what day it is

Good morning! It’s our celebration

Good morning! Can’t stop moving, let’s start the party

Good morning! It’s our celebration

Good morning! Can’t stop moving, let’s start the party

Notes — ✈︎

There are a LOT of references to Dawn in this one. For example, using their names in the song! I recommend reading the Dawn translation by gyaxa too !

1. The MV for Brand New Dawn translated these lines already, so I kept them as the MV has them

2. The literal translation for this part is “it’s dark under the lighthouse”, which is an idiom that basically means people can’t tell what’s happening right under them. I couldn’t think of a short way to word this so sorry if the line’s a bit long…

3. Okay so this whole rap part has a lot of references to names and stuff so I separated it based on which person they’re referencing

↳ 3a. Kafka’s name is 大黒 可不可 .「Making the impossible possible」 is 「不可能を可能にする」、 having the kanji for Kafka. 「Black ships start to sail」 is 「黒船いざ大出航」、having the kanji for Oguro

↳ 3b. Yukikaze’s name is 神名 雪風 . 「Divine wind blows away the remaining snow」 is 「名残り雪は神風に吹かれ」, the kanji for Yukikaze Kamina

↳ 3c. Renga’s name is 西園 練牙 . 「I have no more regrets that I need to bite my fangs at」 is 「牙噛むような未練はもうない」、 having the kanji for Renga. 「Whether that’s north, south, east, or west」 has a kanji for Nishizono 「東西南北なんのソノ」

↳ 3d. Liguang’s name is 鹿 礼光 . 「Us 5 together, resounding our gratitude with a song and bow」  has Lu and part of Liguang 「華麗に回礼して 響かせる５名の鹿鳴」

↳ 3e. Ten’s name is 叢雲 添. 「Hoping that the wind in the sky doesn’t come」is「月に叢雲花に風」 which has Murakumo, and 「Even so, I’ll be with you forever」 is 「されどいつまでも付き添う」 which has Ten.

4. [SPOILERS FOR THE R1ZE MAIN STORY !!!!] Renga’s name 練牙 has the word 牙 in it. It’s also pronounced “Kiba” which is what Liguang calls the original Renga.

5. Ok I had to research this one. So the part where they said ５名の鹿鳴 confused me, but apparently in the Book of Songs, the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, a deer’s cry (鹿鳴) is a song sung at banquets to entertain guests.

6. 「Hoping that the wind in the sky doesn’t come」 (月に叢雲花に風 , literal translation is “clouds in the moon, wind in the flowers”) is a phrase meaning that things are going well, so you’re hoping that nothing bad happens. Like “all good things must come to an end.”

[alpaca-clouds]

The thing that bugs me about Cazador

Allow me to ramble about a thing that really bugs me about Cazador and his character design.

Let me start out with the fact, that it is super iffy that Cazador is the one recognizable east asian character in the entire game. At least from what I came across. And, you know. It is iffy if you take a minority and make their only representation the "sadistic vampire who wants to sacrifice 7000 mostly white people to become a god". I hope I don't have to explain that.

And yes, technically speaking... yeah, Karlach is technically also East Asian. With just one problem: Her being red-skinned and having the make-up very much hides this fact. Like, I did not realize this until I saw the mod that removed the make-up from the companions.

But outside of the basic issue with the trope... Well, look. I do not think that the folks Larian were like: "Hehe, we will use this character to show how evil the Asians are!" or something like this. But the game very much shows that there was a lot of internalized biases. And be it just in the fact, that we barely come across non-white characters in the entire fucking game. All non-white characters are basically tokens.

And before someone comes in with: "Faerûn is based on medieval Europe!" First off: "Shut up." Second: Going by official DnD Lore Faerûn is a super diverse place, where you will find all sorts of Asian, Arab, and Black people. I mean, just look at the DnD movie, where they made an effort to have half of the cast be non-white. Like, the Faerûn that Larian depicts is basically the Faerûn of 3e, not 5e.

And then... Well, when it comes to Cazador, then there is the Early Access design.

Now, this is actually where WotC stepped in and was like: "Yeah, you cannot do this." Officially by explaining that elves do not have facial hair. But I do imagine that someone at WotC actually looked at this design and was like: "... Do they realize that this is Fu Manchu?"

Because yeah, this design is simply just Fu Manchu. And for those who are not aware: Fu Manchu is a character popular in pulp fiction of the early 20th century, that arose mostly from Yellow Peril stereotypes.

He was a Chinese magician, who was up to all sorts of evil schemes, which suspiciously often involved sacrificing white people (mostly white women) to evil gods or demons. He made appearances in all sorts of media back then, including movies (where he obviously was portrayed by white actors in yellowface) and some off-brand Sherlock Holmes novels that were not written by Doyle but other writers.

Fu Manchu was also what the original Mandarin in the Marvel Comics was based on.

This is one of the Renditions of Fu Manchu in one of those off-brand Sherlock Holmes stories.

And here is the earlier Mandarin design:

And, like, I am sorry. But that stuff leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Again, I do not really think that this stuff was done on purpose. My best guess is, that Cazador was either based on the Mandarin, or on some of the other "Chinese Magician" villains that some American Kung Fu movies put into their media in the 70s and 80s.

But I also think there was nobody at Larian who did any sort of sensitivity consulting when it came to the inclusion of non-white characters.

[ulanxxxs]

Lucien Lachance x Antoinetta Marie［ Fanfic ］

The Elixir of Death

This story is set in 3E 428, five years before the Oblivion Crisis, on the night before Antoinetta’s first contract. (For the background and prologue of this story, please see this post.)

I’m deeply moved to have finally turned something so dear to me into a story after holding onto it for so long 💖

Before you read, please note:

CW: Violence, Murder, Abuse, Imprisonment, Suicide

- I’m still learning English, so there may be some awkward expressions.

- I have a preference for dark themes, so this and future works may contain violent content.

Please read with that in mind🥺🙏✨

-----------------------------------------------

A month had passed since Antoinetta Marie was welcomed into the Sanctuary. She had begun her new life as a novice assassin. Her dedication to training brimmed with vitality, and her blue eyes shone with hope.

On this day, a small party was being held in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. It was a modest dinner gathering to celebrate Antoinetta’s birthday, but the family members were in high spirits, congratulating her on her new life and enjoying each other’s company in lively conversation. Even more special, her first contract awaited her the next day.

The candlelight gently illuminated the dining table, making the smiles of her brothers and sisters shine. Antoinetta had not received such blessings since her early childhood. The scene before her eyes brought back memories of days once filled with unconditional love. However, those recollections were fleeting, gradually dissolving into nothingness.

Yet, in this special gathering, the presence of someone Antoinetta dearly respected was missing. The one who had saved her life when she was on the brink of death, her life-saving benefactor who gave her a miraculous opportunity for a new lease on life. The one she wished to express her deepest gratitude to before her first contract, the one she had quietly fallen for.

The absence of Lucien Lachance, the Speaker who governed this Sanctuary, cast a shadow over her joy.

The silence of the midnight hour spread throughout the underground space. Antoinetta lay on the bed in her room, staring blankly at the light. Watching the flickering flame somewhat eased her tension about her first assignment, and her eyelids grew heavier. She wanted to extinguish the light before falling asleep, but she surrendered to the comforting blur of drowsiness.

Antoinetta was anxious. The fear of failing her mission and being killed was undoubtedly terrifying, but unknown fears were merely products of the imagination. However, it was the pounding heart, the stiffening body, the halting of all thoughts that were caused by the familiar fears.

She would rather choose death than be taken back to the Imperial Prison. That was Antoinetta’s fervent wish. The harrowing memories of her past continued to gnaw at her heart, casting a single dark shadow over her otherwise hopeful new life.

Antoinetta did not precisely remember how many people she had killed up to that point. Killing had been a means of survival on the harsh streets, but it was fear that drove her to murder. The countless abuses she suffered in prison had pushed a young girl to commit ruthless serial murders.

“I could do it again,” Antoinetta thought as her consciousness began to fade.

To overcome fear, one must kill—each time she plunged the rusty knife, each time she struck with a sack filled with stones, each time she sank her teeth into and tore at the filthy flesh, the voiceless whispers of Sithis echoed in her ears.

“You are guided because you followed that revelation,” said Death’s emissary who saved her. The hand the man extended to her was cold, yet somehow warm, and Antoinetta never forgot the thought that this might be what death felt like.

“My savior... ”

Whether it was a dream or reality, she murmured these words and then noticed unfamiliar footsteps coming from the hallway. Half of her consciousness had already drifted into sleep, but she could tell that the sound was gradually approaching her. It couldn’t be, she thought, opening her eyes. This was no dream.

Antoinetta’s heart began to beat a little faster. A small hope that had begun to sprout was desperately suppressed by the fear of disappointment. Despite her internal struggle, the footsteps came closer and finally stopped in front of her room. A sharp knock echoed through the room.

In a high-pitched voice, Antoinetta responded and jumped out of bed. Holding her racing heart, she hurried to the door, took a deep breath, and slowly opened it.

“Speaker—you’ve returned!”

He had likely returned to the Sanctuary and headed straight for her room. Lucien was still wearing his black robe, the hood not yet removed. Antoinetta tried to discern his expression hidden in the shadows, but as soon as she caught sight of his prominent nose and the area around it, she was overcome with embarrassment and hastily let her gaze wander downward.

As if to escape, she shifted her eyes to his hands and noticed a sleek red fabric. His black leather-gloved hands held it, and it had a slight thickness, indicating something was wrapped inside. While she stood frozen in surprise, Lucien slowly extended the bundle towards her with both hands.

“This vial has been filled with a most deadly poison. If ingested, it will likely cause death, probably instantly.”

He moved his hand closer, encouraging her to open the bundle. With a tense expression, Antoinetta reached out towards the bundle and gently pulled at the edge of the fabric. Revealed from the luxuriously glossy silk was a golden pendant. At the end of the softly shining chain, there was a small vial.

“If you seek salvation and drink this poison... death.”

As Antoinetta raised her face at these words, Lucien nodded gently. She carefully took the vial in her hand and stared intently at the liquid inside. It was clear and colorless, but it shimmered like a jewel. A strange liquid indeed. Without being told it was poison, no one would ever suspect it.

“Thank you very much. With this, I can...”

To overcome fear, one must kill—Sithis has no words, but her unconscious mind chose this. The leader of the Sanctuary knew that death would be an elixir more powerful than a hundred consolations or encouragements. That method would give her strength.

Antoinetta clasped the vial with both hands, bowing her head and closing her eyes as if in prayer. The story of the lonely girl who decided to kill her aunt, after what seemed like an eternity of darkness, was finally moving into a new chapter. Her intertwined emotions coalesced into a single tear, which fell down her cheek.

“I heard tomorrow is your first contract. Try not to get yourself killed... I wish you luck.”

Through her tear-filled eyes, Antoinetta saw Lucien’s smiling face. The faint light from the room flickered in his eyes. She remembered that this same gaze had enveloped her on the night he saved her from her fading life. Her eyes did not waver as they remained fixed on him, but time did not stand still.

Lucien gave a slight nod, then quietly turned and left the room.

His absence accentuated the silence within. It felt as though a spell had been broken, and Antoinetta stood there in a daze in front of the door.

Unspoken emotions swirled within her chest. It would likely be several weeks before she could see him again. She desperately wanted to see him one more time, to imprint his image on her memory, so Antoinetta impulsively dashed out of her room.

The lanterns mounted on the walls faintly illuminated the hallway. Looking ahead into the dim light, she caught sight of the black-robed figure.

She wanted to call out, “Speaker,” but no further words came. Antoinetta wordlessly watched his receding back.

The outline of his black robe gradually blurred, blending into the deeper shadows. Soon, his figure became a mere shadow and vanished into the darkness.

[superbfirnacho]

3E with Killer

Hope you like it!

[fumiko-matsubara]

If it’s not too much to ask, could you maybe make a list of the characters you draw that are your ocs vs side characters? I love seeing them but sometimes it’s a little hard to keep track of if they’re an actual character in the franchise or not 😅

At this point I might have to make a whole chart cuz I haven't drawn some of my ocs in a long while 😭

I hope you don't mind that I turn this ask into a mini oc masterlist, anon 😅

AssClass OCs Introduction

Chiba Kohaku & Chiba Sango

The Virtuoso Girls

Tsuchiya Kaho

Puey stays in 3E AU

Okamoto Akeboshi & Nagasawa Julia

Katsura Yurina & Hirasawa Kiyoko

Kaiga Hinatsu

Jessica

[feastingonfanfiction]

Waiting on the red string of fate

Alt ending 4 (chapter 3e)

Tanya Denali x fem!reader

Chapter 3e: Found you in Flowerbeds

Summary: You were drinking, but Tanya finds you else where in the night.

A/N: it's been a bit. Hope life's been treating you well, dear readers. I struggled a bit to write out this one 3e, but here it is. Consider reading the warnings for this one if you haven't already.

Bon Appétit, happy readings of another serving of angst.

Read the other parts on the materlist menu

Or start here at part 1

Warnings: This chapter I should warn that though I didn't write any scenes of what happened to MC, you can draw assumptions that it falls under non-con murder death aspects. And if the idea of implied stuff like that upsets you, please do not read.

There's also the usual warnings of ANGST(you should expect it at this point), hanahaki that has its own set of warnings(choking on flowers, blood, etc), and character death.

Her fated POV

You were in a bar or nightclub or whatever in a city too big and lively to care, sitting at the bar you nurse your drink, one of many you've had this night. You're not sure you're happy with the amount you've been drinking since your travels started, but you discovered for some reason it felt like the alcohol fought off the flowers if just for a bit, as it took your mind off the pain of your heart, clearing the airway, but once the intoxicated effects wore off the plants would be back.

You were currently tipsy, and you were free from the pain that your heart had of thinking of your blonde soulmate with someone else somewhere off in the world.

Occasionally you'd chat your heart aches away with the bartender, but today it seemed people came up to you to chat, some creepy but thank god that they eventually went away, you did end up chatting with a blonde stranger equally as intoxicated as you, she was wonderful company, you wish you could fall in love with someone else, to move on, but the flowers were a clear indication that it wasn't possible.

Eventually, you had to head back, calling it a night and heading towards the door. This bar was within an alleyway, and your hotel was near one direction. Too intoxicated and unaware of the eyes on you.

You shouldn't have walked alone.

Tanya's POV

Following the string to a massive city, Tanya felt she was close. Something didn't feel right earlier in the night when she still had a couple of miles until she reached the city limits, the sense of wrong growing, causing her to quicken her pace. Something deeply unsettling sent a chill through her bones, screaming at her senses.

Once in the city, she walked on following the string. Moving past towering skyscrapers and office buildings, moving past hotels and back alleys with few people who traverse the nights passing by without a second glance, until she notices your string trailing down a dark alley. Following after it, she sees it enter a bar. Perhaps you were still there? she fixes up her appearance before going in, hoping to make the best impression she can when she meets you. Eyes scanning the surroundings when she enters and then back to looking at the string that connects to you, she walks through, but to no avail as the string heads back out the door. Her heart falls a little bit at that. She missed you, who knows how long since you'd been here. She quickly leaves and runs after the string. Perhaps you were nearby.

Your string led out of the city. This didn't make sense to her. As she walked farther and farther where woods started to form around her as she followed your string down the highway road. Eventually, your string stopped and turned into the woods. She looks over seeing fresh tire tracks, having recently pulled over who knows how long ago. We're you left behind? Perhaps you called a cab? Why are you going into the woods at this time of night? Perhaps you were going camping or had a cabin along the way? More questions were raised as she walked through the forest. The air had some parts floral notes whilst there were hints of...a coppery scent? It was very faint. Perhaps a hunter caught something.

As she walked further in, the road to you felt endless at this point of night. She hoped you were okay, that you chose something warm for this cold night.

It had been a long while of walking, and she can't help but speed up just a bit, her impatience to finally meet you mixed along with the worry for why you were out here.

She eventually sees a head of her your string stopping around the bend of a tree, finally is all she can think, readjusting her outfit whilst she walks, you hadn't made any sounds of movement and she was too focused on the moment.

Rounding the bend as her eyes follow her soulmate string, she stops. If she needed to breathe, she would feel like all the air had been stolen from her. As she looks, all she can see is her string leading directly into the earth.

She stands in front of a plot of earth to where her string leads her. Freshly disturbed dirt having been dug up from what it looks to be very recently, and out from the dirt came flowers where the coppery scent she noted earlier permeated the air.

Why did her string lead her to this flower bed...

Her string led directly into the dirt...

Her soulmate string led directly into this...

Tanya quickly rushes forward after a second to process this

Dropping to her knees, she digs with her hands, trying to dig away the clumps of dirt where your string led to.

Her whispers of no on repeat like a broken record, this can't be, please don't let it be is all she can think, hoping to whatever divine being is out there that it's not what she thinks it is.

Digging and digging until eventually her hands hit something squishy and not softened loose dirt texture, quickly working to unearth what she find, she finds a face with closed eyes, where the flowers had come up from where your mouth was.

She works to dig away all the dirt, slowly uncovering you.

She eventually removes enough that she's able to pull your upper torso to her in a sitting position.

Your clothing was disheveled, dirt caked your clothes and face, and trails of blood lead down your head. Trails also came down your chin where the flowers grew from.

Your arms show remnants of bruise from some altercation as your body goes through rigor mortis. Your scent strong, but there's some other scent, another persons all around you, someone hurt you, someone killed you and left you here hoping to hide what they had done.

It's subtle hidden beneath the floral and copper tones of the hanahaki.....

You have hanahaki....had.....

Had hanahaki...

Her heart hurts at the thought of you in the past tense, no more you around, the chance slipping through her fingers as she never had the chance to know you...

She goes back to the hanahaki to try and focus something else other than the fact that you are no more. Who could you have loved? Who did you love who didn't return your affections? How could they not? Despite the circumstance of finding your corpse, she still thought you were beautiful...

The thought that you loved someone else felt like a stab in her heart. She'll never get to hear that story or know you...

who are you? truly? Your name unknown to her, you were unknown to her, yet her lifeless heart couldn't help but break as it felt like a void has opened within it. You were gone, no goodbyes, no nothing.

Was the wrongness that screamed at her earlier in the night, you? Was the bond or the fates trying to get her to rush to you to save you?

She gently cradles you in her arms,

She didn't expect it to end like this

She expected to hug you, feeling your warmth perhaps in the comfort of what you both could have called home.

But now she holds you half buried in dirt, your body long gone cold.

Pain rips through her as she lets out anguished cries. She holds you for the rest of the night, tearless cries of pain, the only sound that can be heard in the silence of the forest.

As the day comes around, she takes you home.

She never did learn your name, no missing posters for you in that city, no identification, no wallet, all she could really call you was her soulmate.

Written on a gravestone not far from where you could've shared a home had she been quick enough. Had she looked for you earlier, she might've found you and saved you from this fate. She might actually have a name to utter when thinking of you. She might've shown you love so that the fate of hanahaki wouldn't have taken you.

She visits you often, often staring at the flowers that grew from the hanahaki, never seeming to go, a garden above your grave.

She did hunt down those of which who took you from her. The raging inferno of anger and vengeance called to her first and foremost, they took her soulmate, they took her soulmate.

she tore them apart for what they did. No mercy was shown for those who created this hole in her being, for she was now a soulmate without her other half.

The fates had tried to intervene in warnings, but they could not step in to save you from other variables, leaving a lone soulmate behind.

[theoxvest]

Hi! For the oxventure palette ask game - Suzette, 3E in Cheers, please ^_^ hope you're having a great time!

Promise I didn't forget about this one! Been a busy week but this was my favorite color pallet to work with!

[good-grade-in-cleric]

A quick breakdown of the hierarchy of the Shaodw Thieves for my own benefit because Forgotten Realms lore loves more than anything else to contradict itself, especially when the CRPGs get involved. The main sources cited below will be Baldur's Gate II (2E, Sep 2000 CE, 1369 DR), Cloak & Dagger (2E, Jun 2000 CE, 1370 DR), and Lords of Darkness (3E, Oct 2001 CE, 1372 DR). For Baldur's Gate II, i am primarily cross-referencing the wiki with my own limited screenshots, so be prepared for some holes there. Hopefully, i can someday replay the game with a focus on getting more information out about these guys and reblog with that additional information, but let's not get ahead of ourselves

I may be a bit obnoxious in how frequently i point to my sources, but that's because my head is spinning looking at my notesheet for this. How did i let them get so disorganized? Oh dear

The general structure of the Shadow Thieves places the Shades at the top of the hierarchy followed by the Cloakmasters then the Guildmasters then the Silhouettes then the Rank and File and Raw Recruits

Bases of Operation

The Shadow Thieves are headquartered in Athkatla, the City of Coin. From 1303 DR to the time of Troubles, their headquarters was the Shadow House (C&D, p103 and 111). Although it no longer functions as the headquarters of the entire organization, it does still act as a decoy headquarters (LoD, p172). The Shadow House is the base of operations for "one part of the organization" (C&D, p104), or "just three of the guilds in Athkatla" (C&D, p111). The true headquarters is explicitly left up to the DM's discretion in Cloak & Dagger, but by 1372 DR, it is confirmed to be a large and well-protected underground complex underneath the Gilded Rose on the opposite side of town from the decoy (LoD, p172)

They also converted a building in Athkatla in 1303 DR into a training complex called Assassin's Run, and Gorion's Ward is able to visit two of their guildhalls in that city (C&D, p103; BGII)

Shades

In the highest tier of the Shadow Thief hierarchy exist the six Shades who have divided their territory amongst them (C&D, p104; LOD, p172). Together, they form the Shade Council (C&D, p104) or the Shadow Council (LoD, p172)

The current Grandmaster of Shadows, the leader of the Shades, is Rhinnom Dannihyr (C&D, p104-105; LoD, p172). Formerly a Guildmaster of Spies in Athkatla, he took over after Bhaal absorbed the life forces of his worshippers during the Time of Troubles and killed the entire Shade Council (C&D, p103). In addition to that, he was Iltarch of Amn's Council of Six which was the highest governing body in the country (C&D, p105). Rhinnom keeps his affiliation with both of these councils secret from the other (C&D, p105). Despite being human, he has lived for over a century but maintains the appearance of youth through magic (it is unclear whether the benefits of this de-aging magic extends past appearance) and is biding his time to push his way through the ranks of the Council of Six (C&D, p105)

As a note, it appears that the Council of Six has been replaced by the far less clandestine Council of Five sometime before 1479 DR, but House Dannihyr still holds a seat on the council (Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, p92)

Another Shade is Rheax Bormul. He rules over either the Alandor Sect (C&D, p105) or the operations in Amn (LoD, p172). This is likely just a matter of semantics between sources considering the Alandor Sect is described as including "Athkatla, Crimmor, Purskul, Keczulla, Amnwater, and northern Amn" (C&D, p105). He hopes to someday take Rhinnom's place as Grandmaster of Shadows (C&D, p105)

The wiki makes mention that Aran Linvail answers to Rheax Bormul, but it cites as its source "the Baldur's Gate novel". This is not something i would normally accept as a source, but i wanted to take a look anyway to see if i could make use of their wording. BG2 was not specified, but in the games, Aran only appears in Shadows of Amn, so i only checked that one. Admittedly, i did not read the entire book, but i did read Abdel receiving the mission to kill Aran Linvail, that fight scene, and when Abdel reports back to Bodhi after killing him as well as some smaller segments here and there. I could not find the source, but whatever. I should have known it would be a fruitless search from how it was cited on the wiki

Cloakmasters

Back to the sources i actually do intend to cross compare, it varies by source how many Cloakmasters answer to each member of the Shadow Council. One source claims that exactly two Cloakmasters serve each Shade for a total of twelve (LoD, p173). The other claims that each Shade has at least two Cloakmasters, with Athkatla alone having ten (C&D, p104 and 106). Every city with a population of 10,000 or more has at least one Cloakmaster as well as another Cloakmaster for the more rural areas around those cities, or a city where many foreigners trade may receive an Cloakmaster for the purpose of facilitating information from said foreigners (C&D, p104)

Due to their close proximity, the Cloakmasters of Athkatla are all careful to respect the authority of their Shade and the Council of Shades (C&D, p106). The Cloakmaster of Athkatla'd Bridge District, Dinnom Baraizal, is especially loyal to Rheax (C&D, p106)

Guildmasters

Every Cloakmaster is served in turn by 10 Guildmasters (C&D, p104; LoD, p173). Whereas the ranks above Guildmasters are defined by geography, the Guildmasters each control a number of smaller guilds within a single speciality (C&D, p104; LoD, p173). Lords of Darkness gives as examples: smuggling, extortion and blackmail, theft and burglary (LoD, p173). Cloak & Dagger presents what seems intended to be a more complete list: "assassins; beggars; bounty hunters; burglars; con artists and tricksters; cutpurses and pickpockets; enforcers and thugs; racketeers; scouts and spies; and fences, smugglers, and pirates" (C&D, p104). These are the middle managers of the guild

Silhouettes

The final noteworthy tier are the Silhouettes. There are dozens of Shadow Thieves who bear this title, but they are all decoys for the true powers within the guild (LoD, p173). They may hire out external groups, guilds, and individuals on a contractual or permanent basis (C&D, p104). They may pose as guildmasters, but in truth they report to and act to obscure the true Guildmasters (LoD, p173)

Sporting a name that makes you question his mother's love, Renal "the Bloodscalp" is a Silhouette of Burglars based in Athkatla who enjoys donning a disguise to join teams on their missions (C&D, p108). Additionally, he hides Aran Linvail in his base of operations, labelled on the map as simply Shadow Thief Guildhall (BGII). Him being as Silhouette also checks out as he is Gorion's Ward's main point of contact for the Shadow Thieves after properly entering the city and before they might conditionally receive an offer to join (BGII)

Oryal Forestal is a Silhouette of Spies based in Athkatla (C&D, p108). He joined at the same time as Renal Bloodscalp, and the two have long been close friends and partners (C&D, p108)

(Cloak & Dagger, p104)

Most information indicates Silhouettes and Guildmasters are two distinct ranks, but the above quote could not be completely ignored. An important piece of additional context for the above quote is that it comes immediately after describing the roles of Guildmasters, blurring the lines between the two. The segue is somewhat unclear as i'm sure the Shadow Thieves prefer, so there are a number of potential interpretations of this. The one that i think is most internally consistent is that, as part of their role as decoy Guildmasters, Silhouettes are only called by their proper title while in private or are even sometimes considered a subgroup of Guildmasters

After all, part of the role of the Silhouette is to be the fall guy for the real powers, and "[o]stensibly they are 'guildmasters,' but in actuality they control nothing and have no authority." (LoD, p173)

Any other interpretations i will leave to the floor as i've got enough going on here already and could make a whole post on that alone

The Rank and File

The average rank and file Shadow Thief is unaware that they are part of the guild structure at all and is largely irrelevant to the goals of this post

Shadowmasters

The Shadowmaster is a rank which i can only find evidence for in Baldur's Gate II. This is a problem. Aran Linvail, chiefly, is identified as a "Shadowmaster" (BGII). Although she is heavily implied to be lying about her rank to lure you into her ambush, the Shadow Thief Ama claims to be the Shadowmaster of eastern Esmeltaran (BGII). While the validity of the claim is highly dubious (if not outright stated to be false in a line i don't remember), we can still glean information from it. Firstly, Shadowmaster is an actual title within the context of BGII. There's no reason to make up a new rank if your goal is to have people believe you. Secondly, this Shadowmaster rank is tied to geography rather than specialization. This means the Shadowmaster is not meant to correlate to a Guildmaster or Silhouette but rather a Cloakmaster or possibly even a Shade. These greater titles are also more accurate to the scale and scope that Aran is implied to be operating at

The wiki states Aran Linvail dies in 1369 DR. This is likely to align with the events of the novelization, but it does technically allow for him to be replaced by Rheax Bormul by the time of Cloak & Dagger if we are to believe he was a Shade. However, the way Rheax is described in Cloak & Dagger lends itself to an image that he has been in the position for some time

I believe Shadowmaster is more likely meant to analogue to Cloakmaster. There are likely multiple Cloakmasters in the city. Additionally, Shadow Thieves generally only know the one superior they report to, those that report to them, and a small number of equals (C&D, p104). While Silhouettes such as Renal Bloodscalp are said to report to Guildmasters, it isn't unreasonable to assume that there is some wiggle room there, and some may report to Cloakmasters instead

Also, it counts for literally nothing, but i'm still holding onto that unsupported line on the wiki about Aran Linvail reporting to Rheax Bormul, which would make him a Cloakmaster

All in all, i will be considering him as a Cloakmaster moving forward

The Ward's Guildhall and What is Going on There?

If one is playing as a Thief in Baldur's Gate II, then they have the option of taking over a Shadow Thief guildhall for their stronghold, but as mentioned, the CRPGS can have a sometimes contentious relationship with the lore books. This leads to the question: if Gorion's Ward accepts the thief stronghold and takes over management of a guildhall, what exactly is their rank?

The obvious answer is that this would make them Guildmaster, but no one loves misdirection quite like a Shadow Thief, so i'm hesitant to accept that off the bat. Also, i would not be who i am today if i did not overthink every inconsequential detail

The key evidence (all sourced from BGII) is as follows:

The Ward's guildhall is labeled as a guildhall, and they are referred to as a guildmaster

This same was true for their predecessor, Mae'Var

Mae'var intended to work his way up the ladder by assassinating Renal Bloodscalp

You report to and pay your quotas to a Silhouette

Your immediate underlings operate a diverse range of specialities*

*(Specifically: house-breaking and safe-cracking; assassination and racketeering; pickpocketing; smuggling; and blackmails and possibly also racketeering again)

Now all of this can be waved aside as the game simplifying and altering the structure for the better gameplay experience for the player, but let's take this at face value

The Ward and Mae'Var are labeled as guildmaster(s) yet report to a Silhouette, the position that most traditionally hires outside aid, even up to permanently contracting entire guilds. They view him as their superior to the point that one of them intended to assassinate him to take his place, but if they are Guildmasters, then he should be reporting to them. Taking his place would be a definite downgrade in both power and security if Mae'Var were truly a Shadow Thief Guildmaster

Why replace Mae'var's guild with more contractors once he's been dealt with? Well simply put, there's power in numbers and money in that power

What of Aran Linvail then? Why would a Cloakmaster show his face to an outside contractor? Because i lied, and he's a Silhouette. The fake title that is not substantiated by any other source is to deploy an illusion of power. He and Renal are operating on multiple layers of nonsensical chicanery

But why would the Shadow Thieves go through all the work of hiring outside help only to disclose who they work for anyway. That's begging for problems. At that point, why not do what they say they're doing and make you an actual Guildmaster? This is all so bizarre and convoluted, even for the Shadow Thieves

Because the job of a Silhouette is to make you think they are a powerful figure in the Shadow Thieves and to take the attention from the actual powers that be

Because fuck you is why

[multidimensional-trashcan]

(particle) physics dashboard simulator

professional-ton follow reblogged 🔄 particl...

➕ professional-ton follow

big L when the top doesn't even last long enough to couple with a bottom

🪦 massivest-quark-deactivated51025

SCATTER YOU AND YOUR DECAYONISM!!! I HOPE YOU'LL NEVER FIND A STABLE NUCLEUS AND MAY THE β-DECAY GET YOU!

➕ professional-ton follow

'never start an argument you know you'll never be able to finish in your lifetime'

- Albert Einstein

#the comment section is full of these freaks #looks like a graveyard in there #at least there's no need for blocking with these types

(22,045 notes)

🏋️‍♂️ giga-chad-particle follow

pussy so good you tunnel right through that coulomb potential

(43 notes)

giga-chad-particle follow reblogged 🔄 neutr...

🟢 neutrinonionionio follow

for someone that can be stopped by a sheet of paper alpha particles are surprisingly full of themsleves

🏋️‍♂️ giga-chad-particle follow

at least im not some fucking WIMP

🟢 neutrinonionionio follow

you do realize that WIMP stands for Weakly Interacting Massive Particle? there isn't even proof they exist. And while im not very massive at all you are a massive buffoon

🏋️‍♂️ giga-chad-particle follow

yuor still fucking WEAK

(578 notes)

📶 scatter-couple-kill follow

They're the cryptids of the particle world and you loved them so much we're bringing them back in a new format! So let's radiate...

#poll #who'd you rather scatter on #scatter couple kill #we'll be back to our usual bullshit soon

(9,084 notes)

physics-strongest-soldier follow reblogged 🔄 e...

⚡ electron-shmelectron follow

i'm sick of this gluonormativity! electromagnetic, weak and gravitational interaction are just as important as strong interaction!!!

⚛️ atomatic-jesus follow

you are right and you should say it

➿ physics-strongest-soldier follow

colour me impressed! an electron all on it's own, how cute... but now go back to your sugardaddy @atomatic-jesus before you hurt yourself okay?

also, gravitational interaction? really? this would be hilarious if it wasn't so pathetic.

⚡ electron-shmelectron follow

gravitational interaction holds whole galaxies with planets and stars together! maybe you should inform yourself before you go around annoying people

➿ physics-strongest-soldier follow

omp you're one of those freaks. i cant believe theres still particles out there that believe in something bigger than us. bet you also believe that we all can work together to form some sort of "organism".

honey, you're view of reality is so cracked, maybe you should put some gluon

#thought i had all of those freaks blocked #but im kinda proud of that pun ngl #freaks dni

(129,506 notes)

❌ contron follow

so if proton = pro + ton and neutron = neutral + ton shouldn't the electron actually be called contron?

#polarising ideas by me #contron #electron #proton #neutron

(3 notes)

🌈 wollaston1802 follow

hello 👋 im a bound electron ⚡ looking for a radiant photon ☄️ to excite me 🤭. i prefer a length 📏 of 656.278 nm ♥️, 486.132 nm 🩵 or 434.045 nm 💙 (some of you in the violets and ultraviolets may also do it but please no less than 364.56 nm, last time my sugar daddy got ionized they almost didn't take me back). you can find me in the L-shell 🐚 of the 5,000,000,205th H-atom ⚛️ to your left.

#balmer series #very excitable #find me 😘

(113 notes)

⬇️ a-real-downer follow

some of you really need to reconsider your word choices. using 'positive' to describe good things and 'negative' to describe bad things is sooo plum pudding model times. as someone with negative charge of -1/3e myself i refuse to accept such every-day discrimination manifested in our speech pattern

#actually negative #down quark #negatively charged particles unite!

(73 notes)

photon-with-more-than-211-mev follow reblogged...

🪦 special-relativity-my-love-deactivated2024

thank physics that there are no anti-muons in my vicinity im not ready to meet my antiparticle yet

🪦ordinary-nonrelativity-my-hate-deactivated2024

hi :)

〰️ photon-with-more-than-211-mev (new) follow

*waves at you*

#gotta love pair annihilation

(1.6 Mio notes)

🌀 double-u-double-fun follow

🎶i'm a WEAK interaction FREAK🎶

#this song just rules #everybody should listen to it #bosonic vibrations #check them out #they're great

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Inza Magdova Kulchevich

Domain: Sithicus Domain Formation: 720 BC Power Level:💀💀💀⚫⚫ Sources: Secrets of the Dread Realms (3e), Gazetteer IV (3e), Heroes of Light (3e), Spectre of the Black Rose (novel)

Once the Dark Powers grew bored with Lord Soth collecting dust and kicked the overcooked Knight of the Rusty Rose out of Ravenloft, a new Darklord took on his mantle - Inza Magdova Kulchevich became the Darklord of Sithicus during what is now referred to as the “Night of Screaming Shadows”.

Seeing that Inza has always been a screaming child overshadowed by her famous mother, this is quite fitting. Inza was born to Magda Ilyanova Kulchevich in the Domain of Gundarak on the exact moment Duke Gundar, the Darklord of Gundarak, was assassinated. A little foreshadowing there, I suppose.

Since Magda is far more important to this tale, let’s discuss her first. Magda’s tale begins when Lord Soth slaughtered her entire family and tribe, then forced her to serve as his guide as he angrily swung his sword at everything in Barovia and Gundarak.

You can read about Soth’s tale here. For Magda’s part, she did act as Soth’s guide, for given the choice between him and Count Strahd, she choose the rusty bucket, which should give you an idea of how pleasant it is being around Strahd for more than a few minutes.

During her wary adventures with the Death Knight, Magda discovered the fabled Gard, an unbreakable cudgel that is said to belong a legendary ancestor of hers, Kulchek the Wanderer. It is said that Kluchek carved the cudgel with his fable dagger Novgor from a tree “on top of the world”. Utter nonsense, but there are grains of truth in these tales for both weapons are imbued with powerful magics.

As soon as she had the chance, Magda fled Soth and began gathering other Vistani who had lost their tribes and formed her own - The Wanderers. Despite her youth, Magda was the raunie of the Wanderers and viewed as a hero to her people. She hoped to find Novgor someday to add to her family’s legend.

Inza was an apple the fell very far from the tree. She caused problems for the Wanderers wherever they went, but her mother was blind to her selfish and brash attitude. The Wanderers would often complain about Inza but never to their raunie. I’ve heard the saying “love is blind”. Magda’s love for her daughter was akin to being blindfolded in a cave far below the Shadow Rift.

Inza is a master of manipulation and convinced others to teach her how to move as silently as a shadow, pick the toughest of locks, and break into the most well-guarded homes. Where she learned magic, however, is unknown. Some say she made a pact with an unknown entity to obtain it. I venture that it was our tormentors that granted her this gift, paving her way into her eternal prison.

The Wanderers knew to avoid the Domain of Sithicus, but sometimes the Mists have other ideas and they eventually wandered (pun intended) within. Lord Soth allowed them passage through is land and his protection for Magda’s past service, but he forbade them to ever leave and closed the borders whenever they made the attempt.

Once in Sithicus, Inza formed an alliance with Soth’s werebadger seneschal, Azrael. It was Azrael who obtained the Novgor dagger from Malocchio Aderre, the temporal leader of Invidia, and gave it to Inza.

Azrael agreed to assist Inza in eliminating her mother so she could become raunie of the Wanderers and in turn, Inza would assist him and Malocchio in overthrowing Lord Soth. Of course, Inza had far greater plans than being a mere raunie.

With Azrael’s ability to concrol the creatures known as 'salt shadows' and using Novgor to sabotage Gard, Magda was murdered. Inza also ended the life of her mother’s favored guard dog that night, for she has a deep fear of the creatures. Dogs, she believes, can smell the taint upon her soul.

After manipulating everyone from Soth to Malocchio, Inza saw all but three of her fellow Wanderers killed and herself safely behind the walls of Soth’s fortress, Nedragaard Keep. She then directed Soth’s attentions to Azrael’s ritual at the salt mines that would allow him to steal every shadow in Sithicus and use their power as his own.

While Soth was distracted, Inza placed protective wards around herself to ensure her shadow wouldn’t be stolen and Soth’s minions could not touch her as she opened the gates to allow Malocchio’s Invidian forces into the Keep. Soth, always one to deal with a woman that wronged him instead of an apocalypse, ran back to his Keep as soon as he learned of the treachery and left Azrael to his own devices.

Soth broke down Inza’s wards and his undead forces slaughtered the invaders as a do-gooder of the name of Ganelon interrupted Azrael’s ritual. These events lead to the Night of Screaming Shadows, in which the shadows ripped apart Soth’s Keep and the Death Knight disappeared.

Inza survived this ordeal, yet as she was attempting her escape she was accosted by the surviving Wanderers. To escape them, she jumped into the Great Rift. Not the best escape plan…but as she did the shadows embraced and transformed her and she became the new Darklord of Sithicus.

Inza is a mostly hidden Darklord with Azrael attempting to take on the mantle of leadership as she manipulates things to her pleasing from the shadows. Mostly Inza enjoys turning those pure of heart towards the darkness and cares little about actual ruling.

The shadows made her into a creature of formless, shifting darkness. Though, with concentration, she can appear as she was before. She rarely takes anything head on, preferring her minions to handle direct physical conflicts though she has some skill in the arcane and with her dagger, Novgor.

As one of the Wanderers, Inza cannot sleep in the same place twice and as a Darklord cannot ever leave her Domain, which may be trying for a lone Vistana. The presence of someone pure of heart is detrimental to her. Given how difficult it is to fine one so innocent in these lands, I hardly think it’s of much concern for her.

Her shadow form is akin to a vampires mist form, though much faster. She can use it to escape through the smallest cracks in the earth and reverts to this form if defeated so she may raise again another time.

If you make an enemy of Inza, you likely won’t realize it until it’s too late. Her expert manipulation, shadow form, and countless spies make her a difficult individual to counter. Though, I find her type easily dealt with by employing a bit of sunlight.