#essential npcs

[dndcreaturesinfo]

Essential NPCs: Dark Priest

[gauntletqueen]

[rosurie]

what to do when you keep imagining one of your toys any time you try to sleep with anyone else?

Avis: @kingdomofpink

[wispstalk]

Just so the results don't get too skewed, assume you are an essential NPC and won't die in combat. You have some means of defending yourself even if that is "stay out of the way until the fighting is over."

[inkedberries]

pathologic au where burakhovsky meet-cute on the first train on their way going to gorkhon from the capital.

[crobones]

[kicks open the door I just closed] AND ANOTHER THING

when a ghoul is turning feral, they say their name. they repeat it, over and over. "Roger. My name is Roger." like a chant. to remind themselves who they are. to hold onto the last bit of humanity they have left, because maybe if they hold tight enough, they can beat it. or maybe they can just hold on until help comes.

Cooper wasn't just distracting Roger so he could get a clean shot. He was reminding Roger of something good. BlamCo Mac & Cheese. His mom's apple pie.

When someone can't be saved, you don't want them to just focus on the fact that it's over. It's done. Waiting in that anxious fear for their every breath, because they don't know if it will be their last. Or, in Roger's case - and the case for any Ghouls out there still surviving - their last moments of control.

The sad fact of the matter is that, feral ghouls are still alive. They're not zombies. They hunger, they drool, they eat, but they can hide, too. They can gather. Being feral isn't dying, it's worse. They've not even just gone to base instincts - they've lost any and all sense of self preservation. They can sprint and throw themselves at prey because the body has simply become a vehicle for that hunger.

They don't hide or gather to stay safe. They do it because it's easier to take down someone if they're surprised and outnumbered. So yes, a feral ghoul can think. But only insofar that they can find a way to feed that hunger.

But even animals have some sense of self-preservation. (Unless, of course, they're rabid.)

To be feral is to experience such complete ego death that a person has no sense of identity outside of hunger and fear. So they try to hold onto control by reminding themselves who they are. "I am Roger." And so, it's not too far of a stretch to say that a person's humanity lies within their memories.

Cooper asked Roger if he remembered what food tasted like, back when he could taste. Before the radiation and necrosis. As most people know, certain senses like taste and smell can trigger a stronger memory than any words or chants.

What Cooper did to Roger was a mercy. It was simple. It wasn't a countdown or closing his eyes, just so that the last thing Roger could feel is fear. He reminded Roger of something good, like the taste of apple pie. Of his mom. Of being a kid again. Ghouls are people, but for those last few seconds, Roger was the most human he'd probably been in twenty-eight years.

And so what's going to happen when the Ghoul runs out of vials? Not Cooper, but the Ghoul. The character. The facade Cooper Howard has been wearing like a second skin. It's wrinkled, irradiated, and necrotic, but it's tight. It's safe. It's kept him alive. To survive, he willfully distanced himself from his humanity and became a monster. Cooper Howard didn't die. He's been buried alive in a coffin for centuries, feeding off of scraps. But he put himself in there.

So when the Ghoul runs out of vials, he'll do what they all do when they're trying to hold on. They'll hold on to their humanity by tooth and nail. "I am Cooper."

It'll be the first time anyone who didn't know him before the bombs ever hears his name. The first time Lucy connects who the Ghoul is to who Cooper Howard was, back when he was human.

It clicks in her head, subtler than a light switch. She should be happy. She should be ecstatic! She's meeting her favourite hero from her childhood! But all she can feel is sadness. She saw what her mother became, and she quickly proved to the Ghoul that she can put him down when the time comes. If she can do that for her mother, she can do that for him.

But how will she give Cooper those last seconds of humanity? Does she think he deserves it? Fuck deserving it, she'll decide to do it just because it's the kindest thing to do. But she didn't know him before. Didn't know his favourite tastes and smells. But she can probably guess.

Maybe it's the scent of his wife's perfume. Maybe it's the taste of hot coco. Or maybe it's Janey. Just Janey. In any form, any memory. So Lucy does that for him. And after two centuries, Cooper Howard finally remembers how it felt to be human. If only for a few moments.

[record scratch]

I don't want to end it on that. It's too much, even for me. Cooper Howard remembers his humanity and holds on long enough. He's saved. (Hey, Maximus carries RadAway, maybe he can carry other drugs.)

Now Cooper has to sit and deal with the tidal wave that is his humanity fully resurfacing so strongly after several lifetimes. The Ghoul has done a lot of things Cooper would disapprove of. More bad things than any good things he ever did when he was human. But they were all choices he made. Cooper's always been there. Just below the surface. He buried himself in that coffin. And what's more monstrous - to kill and be cruel to survive, or to hide from the responsibility and act like it was someone else all those times? Who is the monster, the Ghoul or Cooper Howard?

Inner turmoil. GIVE ME INNER TURMOIL.

meanwhile, Lucy can lose sleep over the idea that you should never meet your heroes. That maybe she likes the monster, better - but she doesn't know which is which either. They find themselves. They find each other. They find themselves inside of each other. Cannibalism, vore, allegory, etc, etc. they find his dick inside her. Happy ending. fuck you. fuck me!

[triangle-strategy-notes]

Giovanna Concept Art

Giovanna's concept art! Translation notes and image ids below the cut.

Translation Notes:

"Mineral Maniac" could also have been "Mineral Mania".

"Pre-game, fatigued" was a little ambiguous because the kanji at the end wasn't really a word, but the character had a potential meaning of "to become fatigued", so I just went with that.

"100% bedhead" was literally "all bedhead" or "complete bedhead."

All the sound effects were swapped out for more English-sounding ones. The "YAAAWN" was "Fwahh", the "SHING" was "PAAA", and the "Mnn" was "Naa".

"For the sake of research, the chosen dyes were applied..." was a little hard to parse and I feel like I might have missed some of the meaning. Literally it seemed something more like "for the good of research, the right/right-hand dyes were used on..."

"Boots from school for ease of mining" was also kind of weird, might have been saying something more like "cheap school mining boots [to be used for mining]"

The "Gal Who Studies the Playing Field" heading was literally something like "Game-Board Studying Guy [gender neutral]".

The "Gal Who Studies the Playing Field" heading and the same heading but with "Alternate" attached seem to kind of be swapped, but that was how it was on the original page, so I left it.

Image Id:

[id: Two pages of concept art from the Triangle Strategy artbook centered around Giovanna. The first page has a colored and uncolored version of her canon portrait, as well as a designer's note that reads, "The contrast between Giovanna's soft, fluffy design and the sharpness of the rock is really an appealing point of contrast, isn't it? (Rina Yoshiura)".

The second page has several drawings of Giovanna, most of which highlight her sleepiness or her messy outfit. She's labeled "Mineral Maniac", and her necklace has a note that reads, "The stone around her neck is the first one she ever found." She holds a shining gem with a "SHING…" sound effect. One sleepy drawing is labeled "Pre-game, fatigued". By her hair on another drawing is a note that says, "True color is blonde, messy parts are dyed sections." A note pointing to her lab coat reads, "For the sake of research, the chosen dyes are applied to the clothes and hair". She is noted to have large gloves and large boots as well as a pair of magnifying glasses with lenses that can be lifted and lowered. Another note explains that she "wears a lab coat over her underclothes". Next to a sleepy and disgruntled drawing there is some dialogue that reads, "Mnn… What a hassle… I'll just put off whatever I don't want to do". Another drawing of her yawning has the caption "Always sleeping" and "100% bedhead".

The second half of the page is labeled "Gal Who Studies the Playing Field (Geologist?)" and "Gal Who Studies the Playing Field (Geologist) Alternate". There is a drawing of a much more severe version of Giovanna with dark hair and a scholar's outfit. Some details are pointed out, including some suspenders on the back of the outfit and a small ice axe and case of mining accessories that she wears on her hip. There is also a caption that reads, "Uses the first gemstone she found on her own as a brooch." Another note points to her boots and reads, "Boots from school for ease of mining". An illustrator's note at the bottom of the page reads, "Using the uptight-looking young woman on the lower half as a springboard, she eventually became an eccentric character who's completely absorbed in researching stones and wears a lab coat over her underthings. The colorful paints on her clothes are pigments extracted from the stones. (Urushihara Tatsuaki) /end id]

[commanderthalys]

*cocks gun* I’m going to kill Thalys

[blipblorpsnork]

Referring to your nonbinary partner as your essential NPC

[mandiminimojo]

Thinkin about my boy! Worried about my boy! My boy’s in trouble! I miss my boy!!

[hollownekomata]

//Never been less excited for the start of a DND campaign in my life

[dndcreaturesinfo]

Essential NPCs: Assassins

[chempack]

i’m still no closer to naming this character LMFAO

[apostate-in-an-alcove]

People are lazy, talentless, brainless slobs that are more focused on being good, obedient consumers than actually stopping to think about their purchases and if they actually need the garbage they insist on stockpiling in their homes.

[theindefinitearticle]

Turn off essential NPC status for a sec I just want to talk

[bachelorsees]

ngl need someone russian who is as obsessed with the marble nest as i am so we can go through and compare the original and the english translation. then maybe the same for pathologic 2. i am absolutely obsessed with the small differences i cannot express how interested i am in them