#can you romance the emperor in origin runs???

[avibero]

I'm still not done with my first playthrough but the concept of origin runs is becoming more fascinating the further I get in. I desperately want to see what a Gale/Lae'zel romance looks like.

[tirsynni]

There's a popular mindset that I'm seeing within fandoms right now, and it's the type of mindset which destroys fandoms and makes enjoying any type of storytelling difficult.

"Well, I don't understand why the character just didn't do this."

"If I was in that person's shoes, I wouldn't have done that dumb action."

"OBVIOUSLY, the character just should have done this."

One, if the character did all of that stuff, there wouldn't be a story to tell. Two, if the character had such a godly, clear perspective of everything and the emotional detachment to complete all of the actions, it would be a boring story. Three, that's not how shit works. That's not how stories work, and that's not how real life works.

"Why did that character run up the stairs? That was stupid of them."

Do you think they knew what genre they were in? How many horror characters know they're in a horror story? Many of them think that if they're in any genre, it's romance or something.

In that specific moment, with the known options available and no information beyond what is immediately in front of them, what option will the character take? The viewer or reader is outside the action. They can pause the movie. They can put down the book. The character doesn't have that option.

Characters within a story are also bound by the laws within that story. If they have the time and ability to think on their options, that still doesn't give them complete freedom of choice. They are still bound by specific options, with each set of options having possible positive and negative consequences.

This character has concerns about his current military operation? What makes more sense? Dramatically going AWOL with all of its possible complications and consequences or staying in line? More often than not, the latter makes the most sense to the character at the time. They think that they have the time and ability to figure everything out. They don't have the information to know just how bad the situation is.

The tragedy within stories and what often makes them fascinating to us is all of the things which binds the characters to their negative choices. A story where a character realizes they're in a horror genre and are completely willing to get the hell out of there... except they can't. Because they can't leave their friends behind. Someone who knows their actions will probably lead to their own death but truly believes that it will benefit their loved ones. Someone who keeps making awful choice after awful choice for all the best reasons and can't back out now: they've gone too far and they're confident that the next choice will make everything better again.

The best characters are the ones whose positives are balanced by their negatives. Their strengths become their weaknesses. A character's confidence becomes arrogance which leads to their doom. Someone's love becomes obsession.

And sometimes, within the frame of the story, the character can make all the right decisions and still fail. As Captain Picard says, that's life, and that also makes for an intriguing story.

I love my fix-its. I love writing how something could have changed to make a happy ending. I rarely want the canon to change unless the writer made that awful ending for stupid reasons, though, like laziness or just going for stupid shock value. Even then, the best fix-its work with the tragedy inherent in the original story.

Darth Vader survives! Now what? It's never implied within the narrative that he thought the bad guys were wrong, after all: he just chose his son over the emperor, chose love and family over the Empire. Him surviving by a change in circumstances doesn't mean happily ever after. It opens a whole new can of worms.

And honestly? Sometimes the characters having two equal choices and choosing the bad, lethal choice is what makes the story that much more heart wrenching, because they were so close to that happy ending, and it was their lack of godly perspective and their mortal limitations which led to their tragic end. That's not a bad thing!

If every character made every proper choice and had no flaws which would impair their decision making, it would lead to a boring story. It would also be jarring within the context of the story and separate the characters from their own universe, elevate them above the narrative instead of allowing them to flourish or wilt within it. It's more fun to dissect what led to those choices than to just say, "Well I would have just done this!"

[tcfactory]

I have Other Projects that need writing first, but I have this mighty need for like. An SVSSS fic with Shen Jiu getting Tianlang-Jun out from under the mountain for whatever reason, consequently gaining just the worst kind of meddling gremlin matchmaker who is now dead set on fixing his life.

Shen Qingqiu is going to get therapy whether he wants it or not!! Tianlang-Jun can't go enacting vengeance on Huan Hua yet and has nothing better to do with his life right now! Zhuzhi-Lang, tell the prickly immortal master that this is for his own good! Attaboy.

Did I write almost 3k words of an outline for a fic I don't currently have the spoons to write and might never get around to? Yes. It was originally a twitter thread here, enjoy the very lightly edited details of this madness under the cut:

Maybe some business takes Shen Qingqiu near the mountain and curiosity bites him to see the sealed demon emperor - to see how good of a job stupid Qi-ge did because his shizun is singing praises about how Yue Qingyuan did the main seal and without him the whole thing would fall apart.

So he hides his presence - can't have the head disciple of Qing Jing Peak snooping around after all - and goes to take a look. It's soon enough that Tianlang-Jun is not completely out of it yet, he's humming and reciting and singing to himself in the dark to stay sane.

It gives Shen Qingqiu pause because he knows that song the demon is singing in a voice that would be surprisingly nice if his throat wasn't halfway crushed probably. One of the jiejies at the Pavilion sang it to him once when they were talking about composing, one music master to another. She composed it before she came to the city, for a likeable if spoiled young master, who then fell in love with an upstanding cultivator and kindly paid her ten times the original commission fee to please don't ever perform it in public because his beau is the jealous type.

So how does Tianlang-Jun know the song, Shen Qingqiu wonders. There's something very fishy about this. The songstress spoke only highly of the 'spoiled young master', but now that he thinks about it the timeline seems to check out... So he sneaks closer to investigate.

Tianlang-Jun hears him approaching and turns towards him. There are talismans over his eyes so he can't see Shen Qingqiu, but he quietly asks "the immortal master" to please don't be loud, his dear nephew have only just now fallen asleep. Poor Zhuzhi is running himself ragged trying to keep his uncle's spirit up and trying to find any crack in the talismans, but he already reverted to his original form and can't do much. He's curled up next to Tianlang-Jun so his uncle can just barely rest a hand on his head and is deep asleep.

Shen Qingqiu can't resist commenting on how hideous Zhuzhi-Lang is and Tianlang-Jun agrees but insists this is his nephew they are talking about so could the immortal master please not pick on his sweet hardworking Zhuzhi-Lang? Ah, master, did you know in some parts of the demon realm this counts as flirting? No?

They talk some more and Shen Qingqiu is mystified by how cordial the demon is - "What point is there in wasting my energy on raging against you, master Shen? You were not one of those who sealed me and my throat hurts so much afterwards you just wouldn't believe. 0/10 would not recommend."

Gets confirmation that yes this is indeed the 'spoiled young master', he does remember the girl he hired to write him a song, he now regrets terribly that he didn't just stick with it instead of running after romance. Was the money enough for the girl to buy her contract? Oh good. He was worried he didn't give enough.

And the more he hears about Tianlang-Jun's shenanigans in the human realm, the more Shen Jiu has Doubts about what went down. A man who fusses over his unfortunate, hideous thing of a nephew like Zhuzhi-Lang is the most precious good boy, who pretends to be drunk and 'accidentally' rents out a whole brothel for a week so a violent young master and his buddies can't hurt the girls while they are visiting the city is about as high up on Shen Qingqiu's 'good person' scale as a man can ever get, regardless of what else he is.

Shen Qingqiu has a good sense for Men That Are Better Avoided and Tianlang-Jun is tripping none of his badtouch feelers - very much unlike the Old Palace Master. Zhuzhi-Lang eventually wakes up and tries to scare Shen Qingqiu off, with mixed results. His unusual loyalty to Tianlang-Jun is noted, however.

So Shen Qingqiu goes back to the sect and hatches a Plan. It involves Mu Qingfang who knows all sorts of truth pollen, Shang Qinghua who can source basically anything they need and Yue Qingyue because stupid soft-hearted Qi-ge would not stand for being complacent in injustice. Plus they can count on his good nature to cover their asses if they are caught. Always good to have a backup plan in case they get in hot water, head disciples of a notable sect sneaking into another sect's territory to tamper with the sealed heavenly demon emperor.

It is fortunate that Tianlang-Jun currently can't see and Zhuzhi-Lang has no words to tell him Yue Qingyuan is there, because all Shen Qingqiu told him was that they are not with Huan Hua and that he wants to get to the bottom of this - preferably so he can dig a hole there and bury the Old Palace Master for good, the wording of which highly amuses the demon. So Tianlang-Jun is very cooperative, for the relief their company brings if nothing else. They hear all about his enthusiasm for the human realm (now a little bit dampened, he admits with a strained laugh) and figure out that he can't keep a serious lie up for more than 5 minutes. He probably could, Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua agree, finding common ground in their mutual bullshit/lie-radar, but it's not in his nature. Shang Qinghua mimes checking with his sources, goes for a good round of complaining to his ice prince, then returns having 'confirmed' Tianlang-Jun's recounting of the events.

So next point on the agenda: fixing this shit. Getting Tianlang-Jun out and finding out what happened to Su Xiyan. After that: finding a pit of demon ants they can shove the Old Palace Master into for a slow death, getting him to confess all his crimes in writing beforehand optional.

Getting Tianlang-Jun out is easier than anticipated because the sect leader was only exaggerating a little when he said the Yue Qingyuan's seal is the thing holding the whole binding together. With it willingly undone Yue Qingyuan can go wreck the other bindings with his cursed sword to weaken it further. Tianlang-Jun has only been under the mountain for a few years so he's not completely depowered, and after Mu Qingfang gives him some very rare demonic boosters ("Shang-shidi, stop shaking, nobody is going to ask where you got them!") he can break out no problem. It comes with a huge earthquake tho, so they must make a run for it. Huan Hua does find out that Tianlang-Jun got out as a result, but they are not suspected of freeing him for now.

They must hide the still recovering Tianlang-Jun and the now conveniently humanoid Zhuzhi-Lang and they need to track down what happened to Su Xiyan - which is probably the easiest, because Zhuzhi-Lang can remember her scent and her qi and he's a demon snake so he can use those to track her path, even years past. They find no Su Xiyan, but they do find baby Luo Binghe and that makes things uuuh. Not really better, honestly. The washerwoman is glad that the father came to track the child down, he looks like a very upstanding young master ("How?! He looks one bad step away from feral!"). Nobody listens to Shang Qinghua and Zhuzhi-Lang when they try to explain that maybe Tianlang-Jun as a single father is not a great idea, but they are kind of short on great or even passable ideas so they will take it.

Mu Qingfang however discovers the seal on Luo Binghe and declares that it shouldn't be carelessly undone. So they can't go and hide in the demon realm with effectively human baby Luo Binghe and while Tianlang-Jun can actually hide his demon nature very convincingly, they can't go around with Zhuzhi-Lang being so clearly recognizable.

Shang Qinghua and his plot devices to the rescue!

It's the flower of a very rare demonic plant with the ability to change half of a mixed-origin demon's nature - was originally meant for a wife plot with a demoness with similarly incompatible heritages who of course turned into a beauty afterwards...

Heavenly demon blood is very resistant to tampering, but nothing stops the flower from changing poor Zhuzhi's snake half - in this case to that of a human, for easier blending in purposes. Zhuzhi-Lang is not happy about this, but he can see the merits in it.

The drawbacks: the flower blooms once every three centuries (Shang Qinghua gets Mobei-Jun to steal a preserved bloom for him from the Northern treasure vault) so if he changes, he can't change again until then, quite a few decades from now. He will be stuck as half-human. He would lose all his snake traits, which he is not happy about.

The pros: easier hiding among humans, if something happens and Tianlang-Jun dies for real he won't turn back into that awkward half-snake form. He would remain humanoid.

The neutral: Mu Qingfang realizes that his mental health is depended on his snake familiars and sets Shang Qinghua to get a bunch of very rare ingredients for a potion of permanent speak-with-sneks. The family resemblance between Tianlang-Jun and Zhuzhi-Lang is more obvious so they can pass him off as Tianlang-Jun's son to make their made-up backstory more coherent. Mobei-Jun is a little suspicious about Shang Qinghua's sudden interest in rare demonic things, but mostly he's happy that his human is asking things of him, and he can start working off the life debt he owes Shang Qinghua. He might teleport into the middle of shenanigans and get drafted into the madness.

Zhuzhi-Lang never looked very old, but he looks maybe 13-14 now. So after overhearing Shang Qinghua's mumblings that they will have to get Luo Binghe into the sect to start cultivating before his seal is broken so he has the basics of cultivation down, Tianlang-Jun gets a wonderful idea. And unfortunately, the person in charge of babysitting 'runaway young master single dad' is Yue Qingyuan who feels too guilty about sealing him under a mountain to oppose him before it's too late. They end up similarly sealing Zhuzhi-Lang so he can 'scout ahead' and as 'the big brother' prepare a spot for Luo Binghe in the sect.

It's bit of a tossup who gets the newly renamed Luo Yuxi shidi, but Shen Qingqiu will probably call dibs, let's be honest. He can't trust Yue Qingyuan not to go along with more madness and Zhuzhi-Lang has no talent for medicine (and he is getting really fond of Mu Qingfang, nope, not under Shen Qingqiu's watch!). And he still doesn't trust Shang Qinghua, period. They are all in this together and yes, they are terribly entangled with demons and schemes now, but he's not letting Shang Qinghua off the hook for already being all that and strangely knowledgeable about things to boot.

Tianlang-Jun moves into the city with Luo Binghe, fully leaning into the whole 'rich widow who ran away from his responsibilities after tragic death of wife' angle, takes on the washerwoman to help with the child rearing and almost accidentally builds a spy network (he calls it 'gossip club'). And what better gossip than what Zhuzhi-Lang brings him from the sect! While Shen Qingqiu and the others work their way up to peak lords, Zhuzhi-Lang makes it to head disciple instead of Ming Fan (he's just barely categorized as next gen compared to the Qin lords, due to how long it takes him to get the hang of human cultivation as opposed to demonic power) and passes all the juicy bits to Tianlang-Jun. And what juicy bits they are! He could write a romantic tragedy about QiJiu from all the details Zhuzhi-Lang overheard and/or strongarmed Shang Qinghua into telling once Mobei-Jun accidentally let it slip that Shang Qinghua might be something of a seer.

Actually, not just could, he does. Names and identifying details are tastefully changed - and he does a somewhat better job of it than Mingyan, so it's not immediately traced back to Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan. Partially because unlike The Regret of Chunshan, Tianlang-Jun's chosen medium is prose, so it doesn't catch on that quickly.

He can't help himself tho, it is still a yellow book, so there is a lot of added spice to that tragedy that decidedly did not happen and Shen Qingqiu will hound him about when he finally hears about it - lucky thing that Shen Qingqiu doesn't find out until after Tianlang-Jun decides he wants a happy end and starts meddling to make them reconcile/get together. Zhuzhi-Lang is happy that his uncle is busy trying to set Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan up because it means Tianlang-Jun doesn't realize that Zhuzhi-Lang started dating Mu Qingfang somewhere along the way. Luo Binghe grows up happy and spoiled rotten by his father, his Zhuzhu gege and several uncles, including Mobei-Jun.

Linguang-Jun eventually notices that his nephew keeps disappearing to the human world (to babysit Luo Binghe, mostly, but he still often sleeps in Shang Qinghua's room) and comes to investigate, only to be fully drawn into all the matchmaking shenanigans and maybe get surprise wifebeamed by Tianlang-Jun. Tianlang-Jun might cause a ceasefire between Linguang-Jun and Mobei-Jun by accident because the relationship between Tianlang-Jun and Zhuzhi-Lang makes Linguang-Jun reconsider his hate towards Mobei-Jun. He still doesn't approve of Mobei-Jun marrying Shang Qinghua though! Seriously Mobei, at least pick a bride who notices when he's being courted!

Liu Qingge shows up at one point, probably, trying to investigate what's going on with those four suddenly becoming like peas in a pod. Idk what he would achieve other than get underfoot, but he tries his best. Tianlang-Jun might dupe him into becoming his sparring partner, by pretending to be "Luo Tianlu, absolutely legit rogue cultivator who retired into a secular life and settled down as a young master with his two sons". Shang Qinghua finds it funny, so he helps Tianlang-Jun forge evidence for his fake identity.

Binge's gay awakening is one day realizing that the annoying shishu who likes sparring shirtless with his dad is really hot actually. He still ends up on Qing Jing Peak because Tianlang-Jun would cry if his son didn't become at least somewhat aware of arts, and he doesn't want to disappoint his dad. But the Endless Abyss arc is basically just a big Training Montage of Luo Binghe trying to become a worthy challenger to court Liu Qingge. When he finds Xin Mo he leaves it the fuck alone because the adults have taught him not to touch obviously evil swords whispering questionable promises. Besides, he can ask Mobei-shushu to teleport him home - or airdrop a very protective and ridiculously overpowered Tianlang-Jun in - any time he's in actual danger. It's a little bit embarrassing, but Shang Qinghua taught him that surviving is worth a little embarrassment, and he should know, right?

Airplane gets to watch the disaster of a setting he wrote spin towards multiple happy endings instead of tragedy, to the tune of a song about a spoiled young lord, because it was Shen Qingqiu and the others who set things in motion and it fried his System.

He likes it better this way.

[autistichalsin]

Okay so I posted this a few weeks ago then deleted almost immediately because I got scared but now I feel brave enough to post again because there have been leaks. SO

Patch 7 spoilers under the cut

There are MANY variations on the evil endings. The most important distinction is between embrace (or disappointed Bhaal) Durge and everyone else.

Embrace Durge ending comes with three options. 1. You kill your companions right away to spare them what is to come next. 2. You tell them to run and that you'll come for them at the end of days. You teleport to the bottom of the brain, your companions look at you and then bolt. 3. You draw your romanced companion (as always, it doesn't acknowledge polyamory; your other partner is always prioritized over Halsin) in for one last kiss, stab them partway through, and then watch them die. Minthara expresses her betrayal that you were supposed to do this together, spawn Astarion (and possibly Ascended too) says he should have killed you when you had the chance, Gale laments that you made him want to live, and Halsin just whispers "Thaniel... goodbye..." Then you kill the other two in your party, teleport to the bottom of the brain, and (this happens in the other two as well) begin slaughtering everyone remaining before getting a vision of yourself as the last person alive- the only moment when Bhaal will be satisfied.

The Tav/generic option has four basic options: kill everyone at once, make everyone think they're living in a utopia you made for them, force everyone to conquer this world and others with you, or cause chaos to consume everyone, sending them all on a murder spree against each other, while leaving some terrified and un-thralled just to heighten the horror. (Ironically, I feel THIS ending would have suited an embrace Durge far better since it's very close to what they wanted to do!)

There are also additional options for if the Emperor was encouraged to rule instead (you can become his right-hand or try and fail to defy him) and if you romanced Minthara or Ascended Astarion (you can double-cross them at the last minute and make them kneel with everyone else). Ascended Astarion in particular is reduced to weakly pleading, near tears.

Lastly, in addition to the Tav options, each Origin gets their own unique ending. Lae'zel can take off on a dragon and go to kill Vlaakith, Wyll will be crowned the highest ruler by a group of thralls, etc.

ALSO, if you have used any tadpole powers before this point, you will be nearly forced to undergo ceremorphosis, and have to pass a high-difficulty (30 IIRC) roll in order not to transform. If you do, everything does still play out the same, but you are squidded out. I think this is true for both sets of endings but wasn't able to confirm.

Besides evil endings, Halsin and Minthara's spellcasting lines are fixed, but it seems Halsin still doesn't have his own tent, and still can't upcast his innate spells such as Healing Word or Call Lightning. Some other glitches are fixed. On the other hand, some have reported Durge no longer receives the Deathstalker Mantle until late in act 1; no word if this is intentional or a bug (please be a bug, please be a bug.) No added scenes/reactivity when resist Durge is killed then brought back to life, sadly. There IS yet another new scene for Minthara, this one of her asking why you spared her if you're in a good run. Many of the characters (but sadly not Halsin as far as I can tell) have new camp idle animations. Shadowheart not only has a new animation that plays every morning and night of her petting Scratch, but she has lines cooing to him, telling him to come cuddle because it's been a long day, or wondering if he's named Scratch because he likes to be scratched behind the ears, etc.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

The Immortals Quartet

Time to chat about another of Tamora Pierce's beloved heroines and one of her early quartets. This is also the quartet that--in my entirely subjective experience--catches a lot of guff for its romance subplot. But we'll get to that. These are some of my favorite books of Pierce's, and I'm pretty sure that I read these after the Alanna and Kel books, although they were her second published quartet, coming before Kel. Let's talk The Immortals Quartet.

Veralidaine Sarrasri, unlike Alanna and Kel, is not originally Tortallen. Our girl is Gallan, and when we first meet her in Wild Magic, she is recovering from bandits sacking her village, burning down her house, and killing her family and all their animals. She's also desperate to hide what she thinks is a form of madness from every human she runs across, which gets really complicated when Numair starts teaching her how to harness her wild magic. And for just a hot second, can I say how much I love Numair in this series? He has just as much character as Daine and I am never NOT here for phenonemally powerful mages who are also basically oversized puppies.

Getting to watch Daine develop relationships with Numair, Onua, Alanna and George, the royal family, and the Queen's Riders is such fun, and so well done that when Daine finally feels safe enough to explain why she sometimes seems recalcitrant about her magic lessons it feels immensely earned. These relationships also become immensely foundational to the rest of the series, as does Daine's b-plot but still really compelling arc about hating Stormwings.

The Stormwing arc really finds traction in Wolf Speaker. In my experience, most people say that In the Realms of the Gods is their least favorite Immortals book, but for me, Wolf Speaker takes that prize. Not at all because it's a bad book, but for me it's the most forgettable of the four. Daine and Numair are investigating sus nonsense in Fief Dunlath, and there are blood rain and shape shifting/mind riding shenanagins and Daine begins to have holes poked in her Stormwing prejudice courtesy of Rikash Moonsword. It's a fine book, and the subplots with the wolves and ogres are compelling, but for whatever reason this book does not stick in my head.

The book that does stick in my head and is unequivocally my favorite of this quartet is Emperor Mage. This book follows the Tortallen peace delegation to Carthak, and geopolitical and divine shenanagins ensue. Dain's relationships with Kaddar and Ozorne--and particularly how Numair and Ozorne's history colors both those relationships--are again central to the plot. The Graveyard Hag is also actively throwing broom handles between the spokes of Daine's wheels by giving Daine the power to bring skeletons to a seeming of life.

That gets absolutely amazing because the Graveyard Hag wants Daine to reanimate human skeletons, but Daine makes the PHENOMENAL point that humans forget literal walking nightmares really fast. What humans don't recover fast from is when you literally raze their centers of government to the ground, including food stores, records of all kinds, and the freaking treasury. So instead of making human skeletons dance through the streets, Daine reanimates DINOSAUR SKELETONS and wrecks absolute shop. It's amazing, I wouldn't change a thing.

The other thing I love about this book is Numair yo-yoing between being an experienced intelligence operative and black robe mage and a complete idiot. He is tangled up in plans to free slaves and overthrow Ozorne and yet he still somehow manages to forget all of that and swing at Ozorne when he suggests that Numair is banging Daine. Numair. Honey, sweetie, friend, you cannot be THAT much of an idiot. And the best part is, at least three other characters call him on that idiocy. This book is fantastic.

In the Realms of the Gods is the book that, in my experience, gets the most flak from fans. My experience has been that people object to the student/teacher dynamic between Daine and Numair deveoping into a romance and the significant age gap between the two characters as the romance develops. People also seem to feel that this book is too long and drags in places. I don't tend to find that the book is draggy and long, but that tends to be a very "your mileage may vary" thing for readers.

In terms of the age gap and student teacher dynamics, I want to start off very clear: In real life, student-teacher relationships are never ok, are always predatory, and I do not support. However, to paraphrase Red from OSP, not every book that shows things that aren't unequivocally morally good do not need a "Do Not Try This At Home" sticker on the cover. Books don't have to be morally instructive, they don't have to show the best possible healthy relationships, they just have to be interesting. And honestly? I find Daine and Numair interesting. On top of that, Tamora Pierce is aware enough as an author that Daine and Numair actually do (however briefly) discuss the potential pitfalls of the age gap between them. They don't address the student/teacher thing, but then I wouldn't expect them to because that's not the relationship they have in this book. They are more partners than student/teacher. All this to say, I can understand why people dislike this romance, but I'm not here to throw shade, because honestly I enjoyed it.

I also enjoyed meeting and learning about Daine's parents, exploring the literal Realm of the Gods and all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey chaos shenanagins, and the conclusion of Daine's Stormwing arc. (And how dare Pierce make me cry that hard over Rikash. That was uncalled for.)

Overall, I deeply loved this quartet, and Daine is a welcome change from the very martial Alanna and Kel. She also represents an evolution of the magic systems in Tortall, which was really compelling and refreshing.

[fiddlehead-soup]

Ok but like the thing about the Emperor that I feel like a lot of people don't get is that u can't just cross reference general mind flayer lore with them like.

U don't understand.

The Emperor is the main character of their own game.

Balduran was the hero that evaded assumed death hinted at in BG1 and BG2 and yet again in BG3. He continually survived despite all odds because he was the player character. He was us. U. Me.

Getting a lil controversial here, let's look @ the Ansur situation. Imagine u r playing BG3 and u romanced one of the origin characters. They are ur best friend and u feel so strongly for them and have already gone on so many adventures together thru the game.

Then u get urself in a sticky situation and get turned into a creature that's known to be one of the most dangerous in existence. But ur still u. Ur still playing the game, controlling the character.

So u go back to ur s/o and all they want to do is fix u. Cure u. And u try but there's nothing that can be done until ur like. Bro its fine I don't need a cure let's just keep adventuring. But instead they try to kill you. A battle initiates. U cannot run bc if u do, theyll find u and initiate it again and again.

In order to proceed w/ the game, u have to kill them.

So many actual players of bg3, and video games in general, do this kinda thing without even thinking abt it! Nettie is a mirror of the situation (tho obv u didnt rly grow attached to her); youre being killed by her for the greater good. To protect others and yourself.

How many of yall killed Nettie?? IK I did in my very first newb playthrough cuz I thought. That's just what video games are like.

Emps personifies the video game player character archetype. General lore simply doesn't apply to them, just like it never seems to with the main character in video games. They are a walking contradiction! They defy everything the lore knows! They are not just "any" mind flayer who can't feel emotions, can't remember their past, can't change.

They can be anything!!! They are the super special anime protag!!!!!! That's THEM!!! The Balduran!

[camp-sky-heaven-on-earth]

Welcome to Camp Sky

Camp Sky is Camp Half-Bloods brother camp for the Chinese Demigods.

We are located at Flower Fruit Mountain.

To get to Flower Fruit Mountain, you gotta travel to Luoyang City in China and Ring the shrine bell that is labeled "Heavens Gate" or "天门" and Sun Wukong will come pick you up. If all gods are busy a spirit will open a portal for you to enter the camp that way.

DO NOT RING IF YOU ARE NOT A DEMIGOD THE SPIRITS THAT GUARD THE SHRINE WILL DEVOUR YOU RIGHT ON THE SPOT.

Greek, Norse, or Japanese demigods has to ring the visitor bell (the tiny one next to the main 天门 bell)

We usually do not have quests -our brother camp usually takes care of those- But if so we send the oldest/strongest to accompany the chosen one for the quest.

This blog is run by @yue-the-moons-child/@koiyan-hades-kid-with-a-system

Now let us introduce the camp councelers! (if any photos changed from the last time you saw it, it was because the artist doesn't like reposts of their art)

Sun Wukong

arts in order by: @ shadow_painter and @ T0ffeeC0w on Twitter/X

Yoyoyo! I'm Sun Wukong, the monkey god of trickery, the activities director of Camp Sky, and the main rallyer of Chinese Demogods My partner in crime is Macaque, and my own children. Call on me for any help if I ain't busy

Why I'm here? I may have pissed off the Jade Emperor again and the Gold Star of Venus had to save my ass again and for my punishment, I had to help with Nezhas Camp. Bullshit if you ask me so I dragged my partner in crime with me.

Nezah

arts in order by: @ FedoraGato on Twitter/X and @ SweetDrxmz on Newgrounds

I am Nezha, God of victory, courage, success, and power, patron god of children and filial piety, and creator of Camp Sky. I oversee the camp and its residents. I ensure all are taken care of, claimed promptly, and safe from harm. If you need my assistance, you may find me in my temple or at the pond.

Why did I make this camp? I was tired of seeing Demigod kids being deserted and left by my fellow immortals, so I created this camp as their heaven on earth.

Macaque

arts in order by: @ StariiKat and @ shadow_painting on Twitter/X

I am Macaque, the nearly omniscient being that can hear all. I can hear the past and future do not play with me here. I am Sun Wukongs partner in crime that he dragged along to help with HIS punishment. Should honestly get him back for that. I am in the shadows too so eyes and ears are everywhere. I am the monitor and punisher of the camp, but for the little kids, I do shadow puppetry for them.

Why am I here? Sun Wukong did something stupid. Aren't I dead? Readers of the original Journey To The West books may remember that Sun killed me for impersonating him, but he dragged me out of the underworld to help him in his consequnce. Honestly, before then he popped by in hell to talk after he chilled the fuck out about that incident and we've been buddies ever since.

If you wanna be part of Yue's adventures you can submit your OCs to @yue-the-moons-child or straight to this blog!

Before you do, we have ground rules and a template

No opness, unless it's Sun Wukong kid you can put a smidge of opness but not too much-

No romance with any of the gods please they will remain platonic-

demon ocs are accepted :D

just have fun :D

Name: Height: Godly parent: Claimed or unclaimed: Powers: Preferred weapon Personality: Physical description: (Optional) Background lore and plans for lore: (Optional) Picture of your oc:

This blog is a product of My fanfic/Expansion of the Riordanverse: Yues' Legends of the Stars

This camp and Most of its characters are my product and any impersonation of me, any planarization or modification of my work or characters are strictly prohibited.

Some OCs in the works are submitted to me to use or I have been given permission to use them in my work.

[andrewknightley]

OK SO I FINISHED BG3 thoughts and stuff under the cut (spoilers obvs) . Pals and mutuals that played feel free to comment it with me, and also wyll enjoyers pls do interact fkfkdk

SPOILER about the ending

-Ok so i was playing a good tav dwarf paladin romancing wyll, got my team of wyll/lae'zel/karlach, but lae'zel felt like the real main character of this story and honestly its what she deserves.

-got orpheus and turned him into a mind flayer sorry bro. and then the emperor gets angry and fights with the baddies. like gosh this guy sucks

-saved the day yadda yadda and lae'zel went away to guide her kind and LOOK SHE IS MY BEST FRIEND FOREVER i was so sad but i knew it was what she wanted but IT PAINS ME

-then gale leaves me to become a god, and then astarion gets attacked by the sun and runs away and im like wow this ending is such a downer everyone is leaving me

-AND THEN. KARLACH.......

-Ok so i cried like a baby like. i fucked up i dont know what i did wrogn i cant believe karlach is gonna die im SOBBING

-But wyll is like "WE CAN LIVE ALL FIGHTING DEMONS IN HELL" and got the coolest shit ever of these 3 going on adventures like you dont know HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS ENDING!!! im so happy aaah TOT

-then there is the epilogue and it's the cutest thing i can hug shadow heart and halsin and karlach :_) tried with astarion but i dont know if its impossible or i had him too low (every companion loves me but he finds me acceptable fgoihdgfjiodgio) anyways i wanted to hug all my friends

-gale is a god and like good for him but im like ??? damn we dont see his mission or anything he does this all off screen?? i wanted to see his struggles and stuff idk i wanted to see the FEELINGS

-anyways idk if i got a bug or something but when i get to talk with people about what i am doing is just me and karlach and 0 mention of wyll idk why TOT let me talk about my romantic companion pls

-also i had like 2 options to talk with romanced wyll and way more conver with astarion wich again i didnt even have very high on his love for me (i do love him and my chara frienenemy status tho) but why only 2 options for wyll i wanna talk with him moreeee at the end

-he did blow me a kiss it was the cutest thing tho

-Again idk if i got a bug but i never get anyone commenting on my relationship with wyll and i know the companions gossip about karlach and probs other charas >-<

-i heard a friend who had to kill karlach to get to see her gale ending so i tried in another save to see what happened (it was awful btw) and that was the only way to get an extra scene of wyll telling me to go for mizora and having other people aknowledge him in the epilogue (just with jaheira it lets me say wyll, with astarion and shadow heart they gave me answer like "oh im with my lover" and such instead of by name)

-i am a big fan of wyll but not so much of wyll missions, like they are fun to play but gosh i wanted the cool FEELINGS moments like lae'zel, shadow heart, astarion and karlach had, i feel he is straight up a classic hero tale and i want to see this man overwhelming with feelings of all the stuff he suffered. also more stuff with the dad idk i couldnt even tell him im with his son that could had been cool

-gale also feels like ???? he didnt have a proper mission and was like off screen wich is a bit weird to me ??

-my fav chara is wyll and then second lae'zel who is perfect 0 notes on her 100% increible. Then Do Not Make Me Choose for the other origin companions i cant. I love them so much. I didn't like astarion at first and i was like "really this is the man all my friends and everyone is obsessed about??" but then act 3 arrived and i was like Ah. I Get It Now. I would say my less fav is gale but because i didnt bring him anywhere so next game im def paying him more attention.

-anyways i could have some notes but in general i fucking loved this game so much TOT

[ryttu3k]

Current masterlist of BG3 runs

Spoilers for most game ends and outcomes.

Summary

Complete: Custom Tav 1 (Tae, pastel drow druid/cleric, romanced Karlach)

In Process: Dark Urge 1 (Tavias, resist!Durge half-elf sorcerer, romancing Astarion)

Pending: Dark Urge 2 (Sativa; Sativa 1.1, Sativa 1.2, Sativa 2.1, Sativa 2.2), Custom Tav 2 (Sascha), Custom Tav 3 (Etavia), Astarion 1, Astarion 2, Astarion 3, Astarion 4, Karlach 1, Karlach 2, Gale, Wyll, Shadowheart, Lae'zel, unknown respec run

[current spreadsheet]

Complete

Custom Tav 1: Ta'varin 'Tae' Arkenval (see also: here). Chaotic good pastel fluffball. Surface drow, level 11 Circle of the Land Druid, level 1 Cleric of Eilistraee. Romanced Karlach, went to Avernus with her and Wyll.

In Process

Dark Urge 1: Tavias, resisting the Urge. Soft boi, trying his best. Wood half-elf, Draconic Ancestry Sorcerer (Gold/Fire). Romancing Astarion and Halsin.

Pending

Dark Urge 2: Sativa, gives in to the Urge. The first murder will be her softer side. High half-elf, Bard/Storm Sorcerer. Will have Ascended Astarion, Dark Justiciar Shadowheart, Vlaakith-sworn Lae'zel, Would-Be God Gale, Minthara. Jaheira gets sacrificed to Sarevok. Karlach, Wyll, Halsin, and Minsc absent.

Branches twice - both start with hooking up with Minthara then starting a romance with Astarion. Sativa 1.0 stays with Astarion, Sativa 2.0 offers Astarion to Araj, sleeps with him, and they break up, before romancing Minthara. Sativa 1.1 and Sativa 2.1 reject Bhaal and destroy the Brain, Sativa 1.2 and Sativa 2.2 become Chosen of Bhaal and claim the Brain in his name, with all characters ending up thralls.

Custom Tav 2: Sascha Vykos, aasimar and unintended enabler of chaos. Romancing Gale, God end. That's God end, not good end. This is... definitely not a good end.

Custom Tav 3: Etavia. Tiefling Cleric of Selûne, full Enemies to Lovers romance with Shadowheart. Probably a fairly standard 'good' run.

Astarion 1: Romances Gale. Respeccing from Thief to Arcane Trickster after 'channelling the Weave' scene. Soft 'they can fix each other' run.

Astarion 2: Defying devils and diabolists to fall in love instead (Karlach and Wyll). Will end in tragedy because Karlach always dies in a spawn Astarion run, and also Gale is going to sacrifice himself ;_;

Astarion 3: T A D P O L E T I M E . The gods never saved you - the mind flayers did. Siding with (and romancing) the Emperor, using illithid powers and the astral-touched tadpole, and Ascending. Taking over the Netherbrain alongside the Emperor, all others ending up thralls.

Astarion 4: Romances Halsin. Multiclassing into Druid for wildshape shenanigans. Become d i r t w i z a r d.

Karlach 1: Romancing Wyll and Astarion. This time, she lives! Finishes in Avernus with her lovers.

Karlach 2: Romancing Shadowheart and Lae'zel. Chooses to become illithid and ends up staying with her lovers in Faerûn.

Gale: Romancing Astarion. The one where they make each other better instead of making each other worse. Respeccing to Storm Sorcerer (but keep a level in Wizard for scroll learning).

Wyll: Romancing Karlach and Astarion. Finishes in Avernus with his lovers (hopefully). Multiclassing as Bardlock, because fancy dancer.

Shadowheart: Romances Karlach and Lae'zel. Chooses to keep her parents alive, but then has to choose to stay with Karlach, since she also encouraged Wyll to stay with Mizora to save his father...

Lae'zel: Romances Shadowheart and Karlach. Chooses to become illithid to save Orpheus from having to do so, then opts to kill herself rather than live as a mind flayer.

Unknown!: Everyone gets respecced! Origin run or Tav/Durge? If Tav/Durge, play Rogue or someone who learns Knock. Currently thinking: resist!Durge whose Dream Visitor looks like Alfira in an attempt to guilt trip them into doing what the Emperor wants. Arcane Trickster Rogue. Definitely more 'trickster' than straight-out evil, enjoyed causing a bit of chaos, which is very moderated by the brain surgery into the more harmless realm. Gnome? Gnome would be kind of fun. Romance or nah?

[randomalistic]

🎬 MY 2023 MOVIE LIST

THIS YEAR I WATCHED:

44 DIFFERENT MOVIES

30 NEW MOVIES 17 REWATCHES

28 ANIMATED MOVIES 16 LIVE ACTION MOVIES

I’ve also linked a few posts with my initial reactions/discussions

MUST-WATCH LIST: at least imo. teehee.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Labyrinth (1986)

ParaNorman (2012)

The Last Unicorn (1982)

Nimona (2023)

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

Wreck-it Ralph (2012)

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Megamind (2010)

Coraline (2009)

Kung-Fu Panda (2008)

The Book of Life (2014)

Corpse Bride (2005)

Isle of Dogs (2018)

Tangled (2010)

I hope I keep this up !!! Maybe I can watch more TV shows or play more games next year :)

+ SOMETHING COOL TO TRY: Watch 2 similar movies back to back more often. You’ll be able to make interesting connections between them and it's fun!

-- Extended list below --

———————

ABSOLUTE FAVORITE

Watch it!!

Good but had some problems

———————

1-12-23: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) ACTUALLY PEAK FILM. AMAZING VISUALS, EPIC FIGHT SEQUENCES AND VERY HEARTFELT . I love piss in boots. MUST WATCH.

3-9-23: The Steven Universe Movie (2018) (rewatch) Spinel is in this. The songs are amazing. Fun to revisit !!!

3-24-23: Labyrinth (1986) DAVID BOWIE AND INTRICATE PUPPET CREATURES 80s FANTASY MOVIE I AM IN LOVE. Must watch

4-8-23: ParaNorman (2012) hit me harder than I was expecting, really subverts your expectations. AMAZING. MUST WATCH.

4-28-23: The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) I watched this on my birthday :) It made the child in me so happy

5-8-23: Tinker Bell (2008) (old rewatch) Pixie hollow is a legitimately communist society. Fun to revisit !!

6-18-23: The Little Mermaid (2023) ew live action remake lol. But it’s one of the better ones. ok honestly i'm mad that i sorta liked it upon initial viewing. maybe its just cuz i havent seen the original (WHAT ARE YOU DOING!????? oh mygod please watch the original one OK FINE I WILL........)

7-17-23: The Last Unicorn (1982) really a product of its time. So beautiful and unique in its own way. Must watch

7-28-23 Run Lola Run (1998) Indie german crime/thriller film that was fun and experimental, I loved the late 90s trance soundtrack and had a good time, it went by quick!

8-3-23 Barbie (2023) ITS BARBIE !

8-19-23 (Most of) Aladdin (1992) (old rewatch) gGenie………. The animation is GODLY. the early CG is a bit rough but hey it was 1992

8-25-23 Nimona (2023) MOST QUEEREST COOLIEST MOVIE I SEEN HITS VERY HARD AND ITS SUPER GOOD OHHHH…. PLEASE MUST WATCH!!!

9-8-23 Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022) finally got around to this one, what a special experience. MUST WATCH

9-15-23 The Road to El Dorado (2000) White savior movie but otherwise fun characters. Tulio and Miguel are the gayest straight guys I’ve ever seen

9-15-23 The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) GENUINELY HILARIOUS AND SO GOOFY. It was fun seeing this right after el dorado.

9-21-23 Wreck-it Ralph (2012) (old rewatch) brooooo this moviie sucs I hate it so much i. please watch

9-22-23 How to Train Your Dragon (2010) very powerful music and showcases a very touching relationship between humans and nature/the unknown, must see !!!!!

9-29-23 Little Miss Sunshine (2006) dysfunctional family road trip with chaotic/dark humor. ITS FUNNY I LIKED IT

10-1-23 Elemental (2023) REALLY didn’t deserve the hate, it’s a sweet romance/immigration story. A little cheesy but it’s charming. The visuals are a feat to behold

10-4-23 Napoleon Dynamite (2004) some outdated language/humor but otherwise a Very specific brand of silly/charming

10-5-23 Marcel The Shell (2021) unexpectedly touching and unique movie presentation style - I may have cried

10-7-23 Megamind (2010) (old rewatch) ICONIC and hilarious supervillain film and aged very well. MUST WATCH!!??

10-21-23 Coraline (2009) (rewatch) this movie has such a distinct, creepy identity and it’s enthralling each time. MUST WATCH

10-27-23 Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) has tonal problems and it wasn’t confident enough to go all out all the way through, which is so unfortunate… But AMAZING otherwise. The architecture ??! And Frollo. Evil priest characters you are so cool

10-27-23 Kung-Fu Panda (2008) (old rewatch) Legitimately amazing animated martial arts movie and embraces self love. we all know this. It’s even better on rewatch. MUST WATCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10-27-23 Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) (old rewatch) SURPRISINGLY POWERFUL AND A REALLY GOOD SEQUEL. Hi shen blushes

11-4-23 The Book of Life (2014) this film is such an UNDERRATED TREAT. Absolutely gorgeous celebration of Mexican culture. Incredible world and characters and the style is so distinct. Must WATCH !!!???

11-5-23 Five Nights At Freddy’s (2023) :) I’ve been waiting for this ever since I was 13 and I had so much fun watching it. This was a highlight of my year!

11-12-23 Corpse Bride (2005) Really really good Tim Burton Halloween movie with so much stylization. So much fun to watch!!!! And so ethereal at times. MUST WATCH

11-12-23 Frankenweenie (2012) Very cute but disappointing ending, too safe. It could have been more impactful if they pushed it further. Watched this after corpse bride and the parallels were FUNNY.

11-18-23 The Wizard Of Oz (1939) (old rewatch). The real life abusive filming process makes this movie Hard to Enjoy with peace of mind- but the finished product is truly groundbreaking and whimsical

11-20-23 The Bourne Identity (2002) AWESOME THRILLER ACTION MOVIE EHEHE

11-21-23 Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) unpopular opinion - the movie suffers when you don’t see it in its original intended form (in a movie theater . In 1977.) I SWEAR. I STILL ENJOYED IT THOUGH. ….

11-22-23 Austin Powers: The Spy who Shagged Me (1998) SO SILLY but mean spirited/offensive humor at times. ITS AUSTIN POWERS…

11-23-23 Monsters University (2013) (rewatch) MOST UNDERRATED DISNEY SEQUEL/PREQUEL. FUN AND IMPACTFUL COLLEGE FRIENDSHIP MOVIE

11-25-23 Wreck-it Ralph (2012) (rewatch AGAIN.) haha

12-1–23 Isle of Dogs (2018) Incredibly unique/distinct presentation style. My friend who’s a Japanese major loves this movie. MUST WATCH

12-1-23 Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) another silly goofy little dysfunctional family unit, a bit yikes at some parts but overall pretty lighthearted. It was cool seeing this immediately after isle of dogs cuz you could see the inspiration in the visuals between the two

12-8-23 The Mitchell’s vs. The Machines (2021) silly robot apocalypse family road trip movie with AMAZING visuals (everyone in the family is autistic)

12-17-23 Prancer (1989) Unexpectedly heartwarming movie about a little girl helping an injured reindeer. VERY SWEET and great message about the impact of kindness and the wonders of being a child. MADE ME CRY.

12-18-23 Wreck-it Ralph (2012) (3rd REWATCH) get a hold of yourself oh my god ‼️

12-19-23 The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) (rewatch) classic muppet Christmas movie :)

12-22-23 The Muppets (2011) (old rewatch) SURPRISINGLY CATCHY SONGS and a silly muppet movie. Fun to revisit. Tex Richman my beloved

12-23-23 Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964) Mediocre writing and mean spirited at times <3 BUT ITS A CLASSIC. so ofc i liked it

12-24-23 Tangled (2010) (old rewatch) I forgot how good this movie was. ACTUALLY PEAK and so fun to revisit. Such a fresh take on a fairytale story, great songs, amazing romance, and also empowering about overcoming an abusive parent … MUST WATCH!!!

12-26-23 Klaus (2019) (rewatch) it’s so great to see a new 2D animated movie come out, and such a great story too. Cute origin story of Christmas and POSTAL WORKER APPRECIATION!!!!!

12-31-23 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) (rewatch) started off the year with this movie and then ended with it! What a treat!! I even wrote a short essay about it 1 semester ago :)

———————

In conclusion, I love movies !!! But my favorite movies are those that are confident in their identities and don’t hold back. Like share your message to the fullest !!!!

I watched a lot of stop-motion movies this year. I wanna watch more studio ghibli movies next year

And maybe I should purposefully try watching bad movies… it might make me appreciate good ones more and easier see what they do right. But also. I really dont wanna watch ralph breaks the internet.

[guessimate]

I've been building the ancient houses, mostly trying to replicate what I did before in my old hood. I might have gone a bit overboard with the bathhouse. It has a mini clothing store (because as per the rules of the challenge you need a clothing store and I couldn't be bothered to have it on a separate lot), a sauna, hot springs, swimming pools, hot tubs, and a massage table. The plebeian houses should really be apartments but it's more convenient for me to make them into regular lots.

Here is the ranking of the original families I revisited just to double check their standing. Below there is a short summary of each:

Bruni - 122.000$ - no surprises here, the most kids mean you are going to become emperors in this challenge. This family's firstborn son is already dead but he has 2 children. He also has a brother. So it will be interesting to see who will become the emperor of the next generation, because for now it's the patriarch, one of the founders. #bruni

Tia - 113.000$ - patricians - this family consists of the patriarch, his son and 3 grandchildren. The heir's sister is deceased by now, but she was married to the heir to the throne so she'd be the queen mother of the next emperor. Lovi is running away to get married abroad as soon as she can, but that's fine because she has a younger sister and a brother. This family definitely already has connections to the ruling household, and they also have some connections to the occult. #tia

Imago - 105.000$ - patricians - this family consists of a patriarch and his son's family - wife and one child [for now]. Sadly the heir's twin sister is already deceased (she married into the Tia family and had 3 children). #imago

Orange - 60.000$ - plebeians - a family of a father, his son, and grandson (sadly moms died in childbirth due to unfortunate rolls). They have one puppy they acquired from the Wolfens. Because the heir of this family got married in the previous era, they have a connection to the royal family. Damu Orange married Tefnut Bruni (one of the to-be-princesses). The patriarch of this family is a bit of a Casanova. He's been romancing hobby instructors after his wife's passing. #orange

Wolfen - 44.000$ - plebeians - this is the family of the father and son who have got a ton of wolf puppies. The heir wants to get married rich, but I don't know how rich of a spouse he can get. I would have to check if any of the Asian sims count as rich. #wolfen

So who is going to be the servants? I think I'll do what I've done before and if I need to, I'll make them in CAS. I know you are supposed to have servants in the wealthier households, but I didn't always do this, because these households are so big... I also have a 'bonehilda' (spectral assistant - I use a default replacement and a summoner object - careful with this one, I think it creates an NPC but I'm fine with that).

[quenthel]

On the other hand stuff that makes BG3 stand out is just IG the dark urge pt and the stuff you can do with it, the emperor's presence n romance (bc it's earnest!!) Raphael singing his own doing in house of hope, the game being almost perfectly focused on a handful of themes so it feels like it's saying something, general departure from the alignment system and a more nuanced take on morality by DND standards. Also generally the romances are well done and do the thing I like (explore different facets of the character). I also love general companion writing and the origin system is very unique to Larian and I love it a lot (doing an origin run offers a lot of insight and I think it's neat). I also like how if you do fucked up shit you face dire consequences. Like being randomly cruel nets you realistic reactions from companions and npcs. I also feel like they landed on a nice balance w the seriousness and whackyness IG.

[dirthara-dalen]

Time for some updated lore for Ligastar! It's going to be under a read more as it got way longer than i had originally intended lol. my thoughts are also under the cut.

I really enjoyed the patch but i have to say I'm not super surprised in regards to what Shae did. I do wish the quests on Hutta with the rebelling slaves had been done differently considering its not a dailies zone. The Ri'kan boss fight also kinda...glitched on me which resulted in me running around after he jumped into the machines shield trying to figure out wtf i was supposed to be doing.

All in all it was a good patch btw broadsword? Maybe warn us ahead of time when you decided to change a va -.-

Now for Ligastar's updated lore

He and my agent Vilkas are in a poly romance that begins in between act 1 & 2

He was under the emperor's mind control for like a minute before breaking free but ultimately chose to submit.

He was trained by the station's sith overseer for a few months then went to Korriban to complete the trials. Upon completing the trials he is named a sith lord and goes by Lord Frey Xeno.

He takes an apprentice, a cathar inquisitor named Raz’lim

Upon returning to Tython he does not rejoin the order. He only returns to ensure nothing happens to Cain who impersonated him in order to warn the jedi

After the end of act 3 Ligastar decides to follow his own path in life. Due to Darth Marr covering up his involvement in the emperor's murder he can still traverse sith space freely.

Also at the end of act 3 he locates the Ebon Hawke in a ship junkyard. He buys it and ends up spending years restoring it by using the knowledge granted to him by jeeta.

He does not take part in the attacks against Korriban and Tython during SOR. However, he is brought in by Vilkas and Theron to assist with Manaan and Rakatta prime.

During the whole Ziost storyline Ligastar is actively working to save Cain from being possessed.

in Kofte he is the one who ends up in carbonite with Valkorion in his head. Cain helps found the alliance on the condition that Ligastar be his co-commander once he is found and freed.

Post kofte/kotet he originally agrees to ally with the republic but overtime he begins to pull the alliance away. 

He only helps Shae for the sake of his son Levi who became part of clan ordo during the five years he was imprisoned. The whole heta thing starts to annoy him greatly.

The events on Ruhnuk cause his relationship with Shae to become further strained. 

Realizing just how obsessed Shae is with Heta results in him leaving her out of official meeting despite being allies as he believes heta is her problem not his.

The events of 7.4 make him realize just how incompetent Shae really is. As a result he denies her any access to his spies, to his networks and Malgus.

When shae goes missing and forces her mess onto Ligastar he is enraged. He flat out tells Jekiah that if she does anything to threaten the alliance or the ones he loves then their little alliance is over.

After successfully retrieving Nul’s holocron he makes it damn clear to the Jedi they will never touch it and that the alliance is no longer part of the republic. The holocron stayed in the Starwing family for centuries. The only other person to study it being Ligastar’s descendant, Lee Starwing.

After learning what Shae had done, he breaks off the alliance he once had with the mando’s citing that any who are still loyal to Shae need to gtfo or be killed. Those loyal to jekiah can remain. He also swears to kill Shae the next time he sees her.

Ligastar lays the ground work for an order of the grey based on the force enclave but never puts his plans into practice. Roughly 3,000yr later his descendant Lee starwing puts his original plans to use although slightly modified in 19 bby following order 66.

[meaningofaeons]

Hi! I'm super excited about the majesty au! Maybe I'm running ahead but what manhwa archetypes are you planning to use for each character? Like the Duke of the North, the villainess etc

I'm super curious 😭

hi anon!! good question!! :o I haven't actually thought too far into this yet in terms of specific characters and what their archetypes would be, but here's some things I'm thinking of off the top of my head after getting this ask:

the "villainess" (or villain, reader will be gn!) archetype will likely go to reader. my main basis for the idea was on the front of a series like "the villainess turns the hourglass" or similar, where reader is in a villain-esque role originally but soon becomes beloved by many. this isn't 100% set in stone, though! what IS 100% set in stone is reader being nobility of some sort from the get-go, so no cinderella rags-to-riches storyline!

if I had to give a "Duke of the North" type archetype to anyone, it would probably have to go to either blade or dan heng!

another archetype I particularly enjoy is the "manipulative/sleazy/sneaky (usually) secondary ML" type. this will probably be sampo (but that doesn't necessarily mean he's going to be the secondary ML!)

jing yuan will most likely be given some sort of high standing position. possibly the emperor of another nation, or similar? depends on what the reader's rank ends up being!

kafka will most likely be the reader's nation's empress or a similarly high-ranked, manipulative young lady

as of right now, it's difficult to give any ideas for gepard or stelle without knowing 100% what I'll be doing for reader. I'll keep you guys updated!

and as always, all of this is subject to change before majesty comes out! romantic interests may be added and removed, so don't get too attached to the current lineup! I can at least guarantee that sampo and jing yuan will 110% be romantic interests in some capacity or another, or at the very least, the story may take a turn towards a "choose your own adventure" route and they will both have romanceable paths

thanks for the ask! (₌♥ᆽ♥₌)

[covenscribe]

thoughts on the Larian IGN interview posted today (Dec.15.2023)

Interview is here

my thoughts under read more cut

-Personally think they shouldn't have added Karlach before they figured out her main story, hearing that there was never 'more' planned sucks because shes a great character and really should have been given more in game time to flourish

-Lae'zel is literally a child soldier I don't see toning her down in any sense as good

-I agree that Astarion's main motivating factor is fear I don't know why people are upset about this assessment tbh

-Okay the big issue is that the Evil Playthrough's lack of content is 'A consequence of your actions' . It is a video game, if you let people make a choice that you feel you need to punish them for then thats not fun. That's bad dming in dnd. I feel like Im being lectured for reading horror novels, some times I want evil storylines.

Instead of leaving it empty it should have been that more evil things fill in the void left by good being killed. Such as filling the city with more cultists, more missions seeing how the world is negatively affected by your choices other than just emptiness. Don't stop at having to kill kids at the grove for the evil run, keep the horror of evil snowballing until the world is burning.

If you're going to have an evil option go all out with the same effort you give the good options or it feels like half a game.

-I'm annoyed they didn't plan more for Halsin in act 3 other than to be there to be kidnapped and annoyed with the city. You have a whole character full of potential! And being the sole third option for poly romance being treated as a tacked on after thought feels bad.

-Shadowheart's original character pitch being a sharran jason bourne was a choice lol. I like how she is in game.

-I think its interesting that they noticed how it was unfair that some characters weren't getting as much love because of where they were placed on the map for recruitment. Like, y'all built that map...

I think it would have been better if the nautiloid section was a lot bigger and you end up recruiting all main companions on the ship, you can still have rescuing gale from a portal, astarion threatening you, wyll and karlach being about to fight when you have to get to the helm.

saying the potential to miss karlach added replay value i disagree with as it just adds frustration imo

-"Wyll: 'We Lost a Little Bit of Narrative Room"

You Sure Did, I love Wyll's story line but he gets so little screen time compared to other characters that it drives me up the wall. Also seeing how we went from the one black companion potentially being replaced by a white woman ( mizora ) in his original story line to being the only companion that can kill another companion doesn't feel good imo.

Tying character story lines together to make the world feel more connected is good but that was a miss

-The Emperor, like Astarion, being motivated by fear makes sense, but the emperor is more of a level headed manipulator and that's why he had a full underground empire of business deals.

-I love the irony that he devil is one who tells you the honest truth about the emperor.

-Saying "One of the basic questions of the game was whether you would become a monster if it would save the world." is interesting because with the companions it often feels like 'would you make yourself a monster to protect yourself' instead.

The ending is full of self sacrifice for multiple characters so I don't think its about becoming a monster, I think it's more about how people who are forced into awful situations will always come out changed.

-Raphael absolutely is a theater kid with too much power lol

-i disagree with the interviewer saying there was no real reward for not taking in more tadpoles the reward is less worms in your brain matter lmao

-imo they wouldnt have had to make minthara recruitable in a good playthrough for people to experience her storyline if they just put content in for the evil playthroughs so its just as fun and people will play it

I think that given unlimited time and resources, I'd want to make a new game at this point. I'm happy with Baldur's Gate 3.

"Baldur's Gate 4 confirmed. SV: What did I miss? AS: Apparently I just confirmed... No, I didn't."

dont tease me lol

-jaheria romance was planned and im sad we didnt get the gilf romance now

-apparently there is or was a special event that happens if you have stolen from a ton of people

Okay that was the full interview my main thought is

Stop pulling a bioware where you re-write a bunch of stuff that has already been worked on and you will have time for more of what you had planned and with less crunch.

That said I also know I'm an outsider and can't know everything they struggled with to make this game happen and genuinely wish them the best. I wouldn't bother critiquing the game if I didn't love it.

[thoughtsbyharu]

Webtoon Review: Who Made Me A Princess

Synopsis:

The beautiful Athanasia was killed at the hands of her own biological father, Claude de Alger Obelia, the cold-blooded emperor! It’s just a silly bedtime story… until one woman wakes up to suddenly find she’s become that unfortunate princess! She needs a plan to survive her doomed fate, and time is running out. Will she go with Plan A, live as quietly as possible without being noticed by the infamous emperor? Plan B, collect enough money to escape the palace? Or will she be stuck with Plan C, sweet-talking her way into her father’s good graces?!

Status: Completed

Genre: Isekai, Fantasy, Comedy, Romance

Author: Plutos

Artist: Spoon

REVIEW:

Re-read this again because it is finally completed and I can binge read it without cliffhangers!

This is my first isekai webtoon and also my favorite so it holds a very special place in my heart!

Reading this again is pretty nostalgic! I remember those times where I am so excited when a new chapter comes out every few to several months. The wait is sometimes long but it is very worth it although sometimes it leaves you hanging.

It is completed now so I am able to enjoy this manhwa in its full glory! I will be reviewing the story, art, and give some opinions about the characters~

A little bit of recap:

The story starts with our main character being self aware that she had been isekai'd/reincarnated to a novel she read back in her previous life.

baby Athy is so adorable

Her main dillema was that apparently, she has been reincarnated as the tragic Princess Athanasia in a novel called "Lovely Princess".

In the original novel, Athanasia or Athy is the daughter of an Emperor named Claude de Alger Obelia. Although she was his only child and daughter, he never acknowledged nor cared for her since her birth, making her seem like a forgotten princess.

At the age of 9, she met her father accidentally while wandering around the palace grounds. Being a neglected child who craved for love and affection from a parent, she decided to win her father's favor by doing her best to be a great princess. However, her efforts were always fruitless since she was shunned and ignored by her father everytime.

When she was 14 and attending her debutante ball, a girl named Jeanette, who also happens to be the main protagonist of the novel, was introduced to the emperor as his daughter. Jeanette was accepted as a princess and as the story progress, Jeanette slowly gained their father's affection and approval due to her bright, gentle, and cheerful personality. Athy on the other hand was still neglected (poor bby..)

Then Jeanette has this aunt who wanted her to be the next heir to the throne. Since Athy is Jeanette's competition, she devised a plan to get rid of her for good by poisoning Jeanette and framing Athy for it.

The plan of Jeanette's aunt was successful since Claude believed the accusations that Athy poisoned Jeanette. Despite being innocent, Athy was then sentenced to death and executed.

Now in order to avoid the same tragic fate as the original Athanasia, our main character made a plan to collect as much trinkets and jewelry as much as she can gather so that she can have money and run away from the palace when she comes of age. She also planned to avoid the emperor as much as possible for her survival since it seems like the emperor has some sort of Vendetta towards her.

she loves gold so she can take it with her when she runs a way lol

However! Her plans were utterly destroyed when she met the emperor 4 years earlier than the original Athy. This made her come up with a new plan to try and charm the emperor like Jeanette did by being cute and charming in order not to be killed.

------

Thoughts! (contains spoilers!)

This manhwa is my favorite for a reason! It is a complete package and something that I will recommend!

It is a cute and heart warming coming of age story with many twists and turns. The story telling is great and compelling. It keeps you interested and makes you want to read more because you just HAVE to know what will happen next.

The characters are also very well-written! I like mostly everyone in the story. I wish some characters have side stories or spin offs because they are so lovable and likeable. The chemistry between the characters are so great that I was kinda sad when I learned that the series already ended. I wanted more character interactions!

The relationship between Athy and her father is very cute and sweet. It's very amusing to see a very stoic Claude be full of emotions when it comes to his daughter. I wanted more stories or scenes about a doting Claude especially now that Athy has suitors!

Source: Pinterest

On the romance aspect, the love triangle between Athy, Ezekiel and Lucas makes my heart flutter so much. Ezekiel is nice and a textbook example of a prince/gentleman buuut I just ship Athy and Lucas so soooo much!

A little bit of spoiler but that scene where Athy kissed Lucas on the cheek will be forever etched in my memory!

Source: Pinterest

They are so cute and lovely together! I can't express how much I adore them so much. I like how Athy can be herself around Lucas and I love how chill and supportive Lucas is around Athy. Even though he is a very powerful magician and can take away Athy's problems in a snap, he still respects her decisions and trusts her judgement to solve the difficulties she face. He is also protective of Athy (in a healthy way) which is a major plus point!

I also love the scenes where the two male leads clash! The way they try win Athy's affection is amusing and funny cuz they are both competitive.

I just wished to have more side stories about Felix and Lily, Jeanette and Anastacius, and also Claude and Diana's past! Not sure if the actual novel has stories about them but if there are, I hope they get illustrated too because the art is excellent!

The artsyle is just chef's kiss! I really love how the characters are drawn cuz all of them are drop dead gorgeous! I think what stands out the most with the artsyle are the eyes, hair, and detailed clothing. As a shoujo fan, I am in love with the way the eyes and hair are drawn since it is sparkly and full of life and character.

The costume design is superb and can I just say the people behind the manhwa have great taste in fashion? All characters are stylish but I love Athy's dresses the most.

The Alice themed dress, confrontation dress, and debutante ball dress are very iconic to me.

Overall, you can tell I really love this manhwa! Maybe the things I kind of see as lacking is the way Aeternitas' story was told and also, major spoiler alert, neither Ezekiel nor Lucas ends up with Athy. I really wanted that Lucas end game!

The ending was ok and a great ending for an arc. I heard there are more post-Aeternitas events that happened on the novel so I guess it is up to the creators of the manhwa to decide if they'll illustrate that in the future or not.

I just have a lot to say about this manhwa but this post is getting long! Maybe I'll make a part 2 for my character opinions but lets see~

------

Overall Rating: 4.5/5 (minus 0.5 cuz no Lucas x Athy endgame lol)

Reading Status: Completed