#i love erlin so much!!!!!

[cosmiado]

dear god y'all im SO fucking close to catching up on c3. im absolutely sprinting my way through it at this point because i will be DAMNED if im not listening and reacting live with everyone else when we finally get an Erlin Reveal. it WILL happen and i WILL be there for it

[dizzybevvie]

IMPORTANT INFO WHEN I QENT TO ADD YOUR ASK TAG TO THE ASK YOU SENT ME THE FIRST THIBG THAT CAME UP WAS YOR TAG BUT THE SECOND ONE WAS BEVERLIN. MWAH

AHHHHHH DJSDJSBDJSBSJSHHDBDWWKJFVEHRVF HEAD IN HANDS HEAD IN HANDS!!!!!

[chompe-diem]

i thought i was almost done losing my mind over my bahumia faves but JUST KIDDING i started the tomb of horrors stream and remembered Fully just exactly how they exist again and hcdhdgzhwjfuehfhsbfhyd

[emiko-matsui]

I don't think you understand how much Beverly kissing the fae boy means to me. It's one of the most human character flaws Caldwell gave Beverly and I am kissing him on the mouth about it (no pun intended). The fact that he was in a relationship with Erlin and knew it was wrong, but still caved and kissed him... it's so good. When I was 15 years old in my first queer relationship that was something real, that was my best friend, and I valued nothing more than her and I would've also kissed that boy. I would've also known it was wrong and felt so much guilt and couldn't have stopped myself. I never got that opportunity and I am very grateful for that because I could never have imagined hurting her in that way, but when you're 15 (and maybe when you're queer, when you're seen by someone who's also not the ideal of society) all you want is to be loved. If somebody liked me like that, if somebody had shown me that interest, if somebody who was just like me had tried to kiss me. Yeah, I would've caved. I would've felt shit about it. I wouldn't have forgiven myself. I would've done it.

Today I would never cheat on a partner of mine given neither opportunity or wish. In no circumstance. But today I'm not 15 anymore. Today I just thank Caldwell for Beverly who showed something I didn't know I had been feeling at that time and showed that it did not make you a bad person. It made you 15.

[stone-stars]

actually it's. interesting to me the way clerics and paladins exist in naddpod. because divine magic isn't really ever about the divinity of it. it's about the devotion.

i'm going to loop back to beverly bc he's the most classic paladin naddpod has. but like. alright. you have erlin, who becomes a cleric not to serve pelor but to help people. he's so dedicated to bev, he wants to help the people he loves, and that's the way to do it. because he's not strong in the traditional sense, but he can be strong this way.

you have fia, who's a cleric because of her religious upbringing but mostly calls upon the trickster for her magic and if you really think about it the thing she is most devoted to isn't the trickster at all but irina. you have tarragon who becomes a cleric in repentance for her days as a soldier, but all of her cleric stuff manifests in dedication to her friends, to the bond they share.

and you have callie, who-- once she's freed from her tie to mothership-- has a paladin oath that is about her dedication to the wild and the serpents and her promise to help bring them home. her belief in and love and hope for them. and the idea that if she does she might redeem the memory of her mother.

and like. bev. who is very tied to pelor and the light. his oath morphs and changes with his worldview, and the way his powers manifest reflects what he cares about. in the end, when pelor is dead, he doesn't swear himself to another god. he swears himself to bahumia. the thing he's devoted to, the thing he's trying to protect.

it's like... divine casters aren't magical because some god chose them. it's because they chose to care. it's because they chose to look at something and say i am going to care about this so much that it becomes a source of strength.

[payattentiontothescreen]

Some of My Favorite Queer Relationship Arcs

This is not a comprehensive list by any means. These are just a few stand-outs for me.

Fig Faeth and Ayda Aguefort

There are two major things I love about Fig and Ayda. The first one is that Fig wasn’t into the idea of a real relationship before Ayda came along. Beyond her rendezvous with adult men (which were disturbing at best), Fig never sought a relationship. As someone with a lot of experience as a teenage disaster, I see a lot of myself in Fig. Her meeting Ayda completely changed her view of relationships and herself. The second thing is that Ayda was originally supposed to be a fetch quest side character. Emily became attached to her, so she became a major NPC. Not only does that represent one of my favorite parts of playing D&D (ask me about the time I bumped an NPC’s status by flirting with him), but Ayda’s story on its own is just so powerful. A Black, autistic lesbian being loved and accepted, not just by Fig, but all the Bad Kids. I just love them so much.

Dana and Rachel

They never break up. Dana and Rachel have so many hurdles, so many obstacles they have to overcome. It looks like they’re about to break up a couple of times, but they never do. It is amazing to see a queer couple go through so much bullshit that never breaks their relationship. It is an amazing, mature relationship between two admittedly immature women. Also, Ashly Burch, my beloved.

Beverly Toegold V and Erlin Kindleaf (I couldn't find a gif of them)

Another teen actual-play couple, I couldn’t help myself. Honestly, they’re just so sweet. I think part of the reason I love them so much is because I wasn’t expecting queer relationships when I started listening to NADDPod. Shortsighted, I know. Their relationship is so adorable. The thing that really drives it home for me is Bev’s whole thing with Terran. Hear me out. They mention this in the episode, but Bev and Erlin aren’t actually in a relationship when Terran shows up. They’re dating, but dating without having a label when you’re a teenager is basically just being friends and knowing you like each other. I don’t blame Bev for kissing Terran. Like I said with Fig, I have a lot of experience as a teenage disaster. The fact that Bev was so shaken up by his momentary lapse in judgment that he insisted on sleeping in separate beds from Moonshine and Hardwon says a lot to me.

TK Strand and Carlos Reyes

These boys cannot catch a break. They are so messy and insane and I love them for it. One of my absolute favorite relationship dynamics is “they will always find their way back to each other.” TK and Carlos embody this perfectly. Whether it’s emotionally, mentally, or physically, they will always find their way home. To each other. The drama did get a bit tedious, especially with their break-up between seasons 2 and 3. But they love each other so much and that love is beautiful to watch.

There are obviously more queer relationships that I love. This list is in no way complete. These are the ones that I have been thinking about a lot recently. Hope y'all are having a good pride month. I'll see you soon!

[cookies-over-yonder]

after-effects

During the ten-mile hike through the forest to the Crick, Beverly's legs won't stop hurting.

ao3

p.s. i'm only on tales of the crick so no spoilies please

Beverly lays flat on his back, staring at where he knows Erlin's picture is on the wall.

It's been an hour. Or maybe two.

And he can't fall asleep.

The unbearable pain in his legs is keeping him awake.

But he was healed, and his legs are fine, so they shouldn't hurt so bad. It doesn't make any sense.

Maybe it's a growth spurt?

A really painful one at that.

Bev cringes, and then sighs, letting a few tears fall.

He misses his home.

And his mom. And his dad. And Erlin.

At least there's finally a chance to rest, and tomorrow they'll be at the Crick.

So he just hums a song to himself until he finally falls asleep.

-

"Ten miles!?" Beverly asks Ol' Cobb.

"Yep, just a short ten miles then we'll be at the Crick," he answers.

"Ooh, this is the perfect time for me to tell y'all the story of the Crick!" Moonshine chimes in as they start to walk.

Beverly's legs hurt less than last night, but it's still a constant ache. And he doesn't feel any taller.

Moonshine starts to tell the story, something about two cousins falling in love...? And Pawpaw interrupts her to start whining at Bev.

"Pawpaw, I'm tryna tell a story here, where are your manners?" Beverly hears, his eyes fixed on the ground as he fights to catch his breath. They just started the hike, why is he so tired?

Moonshine continues her story, though Beverly isn't really listening as much as he'd like to, with the majority of his mind focused on the pain in his legs. It's a throbbing pain, not as sharp as when he fell, but still, it's severe enough to be distracting.

"Beverly?" he hears, distant.

Bev looks up and sees the others a little ways ahead of him.

"Sorry, didn't... didn't mean to... to fall behind," he says between breaths, jogging to catch up to them.

... Jogging was a bad idea. It's evident when the pain starts to get even worse with each step, making him feel nauseous, and probably look it too, considering the hand on his shoulder.

"Young Bev, you okay?" Moonshine asks.

"Yeah, just—the fish probably just didn't sit right, I'm okay, Moonshine. Let's, let's keep going."

And they do keep going, and Beverly tries his best to ignore the sets of worried eyes on him, and he tries to ignore the way he feels like his legs might give in any second. 

After what feels like five hours, but what was most likely just one, everyone decides to take a break.

Beverly sits down with his back against a tree and shuts his eyes, fighting to catch his breath.

"You sure you're okay?" Hardwon asks, and Beverly knows it's not meant to be patronizing, it really does make him feel like a little kid.

"I'm fine, just a little tired," Beverly says, trying and failing to not scrunch his face up at the throbbing pain in both his legs.

"Alright," Hardwon says, and Beverly feels him still sitting there beside him, so he lets his head fall against Hardwon's arm, and his breathing slow.

-

Beverly wakes up from Pawpaw licking his face, and he finds himself laying in Hardwon's lap.

"Mm, is break time over?" Beverly asks, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes.

"Yeah," Hardwon says. "You were out for like ten minutes."

Beverly stands up, and Hardwon immediately catches him when his legs give in, causing him to yelp.

"Are you okay to walk?"

"Yeah," Beverly says, cringing at his leg pain, "you can put me down now."

Hardwon does, and they all continue to walk, Moonshine with a hand on Beverly's back.

The fastest Beverly tries to walk is still slower than average despite his best efforts, and every few minutes, he doubles over, balancing with his hands on his knees in an effort to catch his breath.

"I can carry you, Bev," Hardwon says at the second hour when Bev's been standing still on trembling, excruciatingly aching legs and panting for about ten minutes.

Bev tries to speak, but the pain is so bad, all that comes out is a squeak, so he shakes his head instead.

He takes in a deep breath in, and out, and stands up straight, shooting Hardwon a forced smile.

"I'm okay. The... the exercise is good for me."

Hardwon exchanges a look with Moonshine and Ol' Cobb. Beverly tries to ignore it, but he can tell they're talking about him via rapport spores.

"I'm fine, guys! We're not even halfway there yet, let's go!"

Beverly starts to jog through the forest, and immediately regrets it when his body continues telling him to stop, before forcefully stopping him, causing him to collapse onto the ground, getting a mouthful of dirt and a face scratched up with twigs.

He lifts himself up with his arms and spits out the dirt, and when he tries to shift into a kneeling position before standing, he can't.

...he can't.

Beverly can't move his legs.

It doesn't make sense. They're not broken, he got a full night of sleep, he's been healed, he should be fine.

But they hurt so fucking bad, and he can't move.

He fights to catch his breath, and he can't, and his eyes blur with tears, and there's chatter around him but he can't quite parse the words of it, and fuck, this is just like when he fell from the tower.

And he's being moved, and propped up against a tree, and his pant legs are being rolled up, and he can't breathe, and he can't stop sobbing.

"I can't see any injuries," he hears.

"I—I'm... I'm... no—not injured," Beverly says between gasps and sobs.

Though with the way he can't move the lower half of his body from how badly it hurts, he isn't too sure.

There's more chatter that Bev can't quite parse, and he puts his hand in his mouth and bites hard. 

It hurts so bad.

It hurts so bad, and he can't stop sobbing, and he can't breathe.

There's hands on his face. 

"Young Bev, hey, we need you to take some deep breaths for us," Moonshine says.

Beverly tries to speak, but it comes out muffled.

He takes his hand out of his mouth.

"Sorry. My legs hurt so bad. Sorry, I'm sorry, fuck."

Beverly hears the words "broken legs" and "panic attack" and before he can try to connect the dots Moonshine is talking to him again.

"Beverly, can you hear me, hon?"

Bev nods, and he feels big hands grasping his own. Hardwon.

"I—I can't, I—I—I, ah, I, I—"

Beverly realizes that the only words he can get out are "I" and "can't," so he decides to stop talking altogether. Hardwon squeezes his hands, and Moonshine tells him to breathe with her. She breathes in, and with eyes shut, he tries to follow along, sucking in a quick breath, and letting it out in a sigh.

They do it again, this time Hardwon joining in with an exaggerated breath and a squeeze of Bev's hands to the rhythm of it.

Beverly opens his eyes, and he's greeted with the concerned gazes of Moonshine and Hardwon right in front of him, still breathing deeply for him to follow along.

"I," Beverly starts, breathing in, and out, "I'm not injured," he says, his voice raspy and weak. "Suh—sorry, I—don't know what just happened."

"You've been acting off all day, young Beverly," Moonshine says, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm just... I'm just a little sore. That's all."

"I don't know, man, you fell and then immediately started crying and hyperventilating," Hardwon says.

"I thought I broke my legs again," Beverly finds himself saying, quiet and shy. "Sorry, it's—that's stupid, we—we should keep going."

"It ain't stupid to feel scared," Ol' Cobb chimes in.

"That's right," Moonshine says. "Young Bev, we can get your legs checked out at the Crick if you'd like."

"That's okay, Moonshine, I—I'm—I think I'm fine."

"Can I at least carry you the rest of the way?" Hardwon asks, and Beverly nods.

Hardwon scoops him up bridal-style, and Beverly bites his lower lip in an effort to distract from the pain in his legs.

"Here, drink up," Moonshine says, and Beverly opens his eyes expecting to be met with a mouthful of Crick water, but she's holding up a healing potion.

Beverly downs it, waits a moment, and feels no effect.

"You feeling any better?" she asks.

"Uh... yeah. Thanks, Moonshine."

Beverly curls in on himself a little, and buries his face in Hardwon's torso, and passes out immediately.

When he wakes up, they're only a few minutes away from the Crick, and Bev's legs feel the slightest bit better, though still incredibly weak.

"How are you feeling?" Hardwon asks.

Beverly whines in response despite himself. He tries to move his legs, and he manages to wiggle them a little. "Yeah," he croaks out.

"Yeah?"

"I mean—I—I'm okay," Beverly corrects himself, "You can put me down."

Hardwon sets Beverly down slowly, keeping a hand on his shoulder. As they hike the final stretch, Beverly keeps his gaze fixed on his feet, one step after the other, and ignoring the concern floating around the adults accompanying him.

But the greater restoration fixed his legs, good as new, so there's really nothing to be concerned about.

The constant ache in them is something entirely unimportant, and Beverly is perfectly fine.

[operationslipperypuppet]

read the words "Bev and Erlin's wedding" in your Jaina hc post and now i simply cannot stop thinking about them. have any more hcs about our favorite beverlin boys??

Oh god I love them so much

They adventure together for a while, during the rebuilding period in the aftermath of Thiala’s cataclysm. But never alone. It’s them and Hardwon and Moonshine, occasionally them and Egwene and Cobb. They know that their strength comes from other people but are insufferable on the battlefield when together in the best possible way.

They kind of forget to have their first actual date until about 4 months after the final battle. They’re in Irondeep helping rebuild and realize there are actual restaurants that are open. Hardwon cheekily offers to chaperone, but he and Moonshine end up clubbing instead. Bev and Erlin are both actually nervous for the date but let that all fall away seconds after arriving. They close down the restaurant, completely unintentionally. Moonshine paid for them ahead of time.

Consciously, they choose to not really discuss marriage until they’re in their 20s. They are both on the same page about it, and for a while it’s more about who will ask than if they will ask and what the answer will be.

Beverly frets because he knows Erlin will want something subtle. Erlin frets because he knows Beverly will want something slightly over the top.

In the end, Erlin asks, because he was able to get his plan together faster. Because he enlisted help from Moonshine and Hardwon. They plan an entire small adventure for Bev, a true Boobs adventure, where Erlin doesn’t come along. But he’s waiting there at the end. With a question and a ring. There was swashbuckling and they accidentally uncovered an actual bullywug plot while trying to follow the plan, but Erlin almost losing it because they were late aside, it was perfect. He got down on one knee in the Moonstone swamp, and everyone cried. Moonshine and Hardwon attempted to get out of earshot but they didn’t make it. It didn’t matter.

Their wedding was at the Crick. There were a lot of conflicting ideas there, about where it should be, but they landed on the Crick almost the second it was suggested. Jolene officiated, because that’s what felt right (and it was the only way to make sure Denny didn’t). Both Hardwon and Moonshine stood up with Bev, Egwene and Cobb with Erlin. Their vows took out everyone in attendance, and the speeches weren’t much better. Moonshine convinced some gods to look the other way for a day so Bev IV could attend. Mavrus swears up and down he saw Balnor and old Alanis. (It was also a breeding ground for insane hookups. But it was mostly sweet as hell).

They settled in Hill Home after they got married, and enjoyed a quieter life for a while. Maybe they adopted some kids, maybe they didn’t. But it was happy.

Adventure called, again, as it often does. They were happy to answer it. Because this time there was no question about whether or not they would do it together.

After all this time, and an extended lifespan, killing more gods than they care to count, and being on the front lines of saving humanity, they still call each other “dude”. It brings a smile to Moonshine and Hardwon’s faces whenever they hear it.

[queencaramilflinda]

I listened to the Thiala fight while watching Frozen 2: a research study

Idea curtesy of Alli @operationslipperypuppet

Spoilers for Frozen 2 and the Bahumia finale beneath the cut!

I am more than aware no one asked me to do this. But I have nothing better to do with my time, so, to quote the wise words of a gameshow host: without further ado let’s begin.

Research Question and Methods:

I’m not a science person by any means, but I feel it best to approach this in an academic manor. My research question was “How well do Frozen 2 and the Thiala fight line up?” and my methods for finding this answer was to play them both at the same time. I started the podcast at the time stamp 58:48, (thank you Alli for providing that) which is when Murph calls for the rolling of initiative, and I skipped past the opening credits of Frozen 2, pressing play on the movie on the 47 second mark.

My findings:

Here is a brief list describing the moments that lined up best between Frozen 2 and the Thiala fight.

Hardwon deals 297 points of damage while in Frozen 2 the land of the Northuldra is covered in a fog that traps everyone inside.

Galad shows up at the same time that the title for Frozen 2 appears on screen.

There is a comment made about how Galad needs to blow his nose, and simultaneously Anna touches Olafs nose on screen.

The Old Cobb flashback is very stressful but makes for a much better listening experience than what the movie wants you to be listening to at this time, which is Olafs “When I’m Older”song. Old Cobb is being hurt while Olaf is being… not hurt per se but put in situations for sure

The Galad attack that drops Hardwon in the same way Galad killed his father happens at the same time as Olaf talks about Elsa and Anna’s parents dying

Galad dies before Olaf, during the lost in the woods song in Frozen 2

Murph explains how Thiala lost humanity and gained control of full god powers as Elsa tames the water ice horse

I was hoping Thiala second form would happen with Elsa’s outfit change but unfortunately that’s not what happened

Spirit shroud happens as Olaf dies

There is a swing and a crit on Hardwon as the dam in Frozen 2 breaks

Erlin comes back at the same time as Elsa

Conclusion:

How well do Frozen 2 and the Thiala fight line up? Well… not great. This may be due in part to the way I synchronized the pieces, I wonder if I should have watched the opening credits of Frozen 2 instead of skipping them, or instead of starting from the call for initiative worked backwards from the time stamp the Thiala fight ends so I could make sure the two pieces of media were exactly the same length. As it stands Frozen 2 is about 10-15 minutes shorter than the Thiala fight, depending on whether or not you count the credits of Frozen 2.

I had a very fun time doing this experiment though! I genuinely love both Frozen 2 and NADDPod so this was great. If anyone wants to run this same study and see if they get the same results, or change the method a bit to see if it lines up better please do so and let me know how it goes!

[kindleaf]

most of my naddpod listening has been during a car ride w no reception so no liveblogging 😔 but i will say that you were nawt kidding about erlin and beverly oh my god they care about each other SO much RIGHT off the bat they are not beating around the bush with that shit

( <- someone who has been listening to jrwi since 2020 and has had to suffer through all the drawn out chemistry that ends up with 0 results. minus bitb we love bitb here)

ITS SO. THEY CARE . SO MUCH. AND IT ONLY GETS MORE.. who's your favorite pc so far. sits on the story time rug in front of you.

[naddpod-encounter-tourney]

Reborn:

Truly what can one say about Reborn?

It begins, beautifully, with Hardwon getting a real chance to meet Lydia and explain to her what she means to him as a person, even without her direct influence on his life.

We then get the reincarnation. Almost rolling a gnome. Seeing melora again, getting tattooed. "I've been a half elf ever since I met you." The hammer taking hardwon back. The wrestling match. The fact that the audio was nearly lost to the ages, but Emily was able to recover it with a years-old forum post.

Entering Hill Home. Bev stopping to buy a comic about a cleric (Emily's cleric) to give to Erlin. Finding out that Erllin and Egwene have been off on their own adventures with Red and Gunther.

Bev’s devastating truth. Erlin’s natural, yet painful, reaction. Egwene reassuring Bev. Balnor’s reaction, making sure Bev knew this happens to people, and that things can still work out.

Moonshine meeting Lucanus. “Hey mom and dad!” Hardwon tackling Denny. Denny getting polymorphed into a boot because he’s just that weak. The conversation with Meemaw. The actual introduction to Lucanus. “A man who never thought he’d have a child, holding his child.”

Talking to Martha Toegold. The fact that she knows already what happened to Bev IV. Telling Bev about the tree in the back. “A Bestiary of Devils and Archdevils by the paladin Beverly Toegold I”. “Your father has given you an instruction manual on how to beat him”.

Every single goddamn thing in between. Goddamn.

Heart of the World:

The Boobs take the Stormborn to the Court of Gods. They write letters to their loved ones and put them in the contingency cubby.

After a bit of a difficult trek, they happen upon a wall where they can hear the wishes and prayers of the citizens of Bahumia. They offer a “We are here for you” in return, and are rejuvenated by the reaction to their presence.

Once they get close, they call their berserkers. Moonshine turns them into elephants, then summons pixies to make the elephants fly. The Titans of Bahumia fly into battle Thiala on elephants. (Murph is given the chance to leave Emily over any of that bullshit if he so pleases).

The battle with Thiala begins. She brings back Galad. Hardwon does 297 freaking damage in the first turn. 1,082 total by the end of the fight. Moonshine uses cantrips where they count. Bev takes on his own fungal form, and eventually casts a bonus action revivify on Hardwon. Balnor dukes it out with some angels.

They see what the mind of Thiala wants them to experience. I cannot do the flashbacks as much justice as @misslevel , so here are those comments on them from a previous round.

Thiala takes a second form. Uses Alanis and Ulfgar to harness their energy and make things worse. Tries to actually destroy Melora’s heart, holding the world together. Moonshine uses Handy Andy to steal Erlin, he’s freed from the gem, and able to help heal everyone. Bev, Balnor, and Hardwon keep swinging.

Nearing the end and fearing things will get so much worse (Balnor and Hardwon keep going down), Moonshine casts Shapechange and turns into a Gold Dragon. She eats Thiala.

The Titans of Bahumia return their divine heart fragments to Melora, as they were just borrowing it. They give Pelor his heart back, resurrecting him. They save the last one for the Dusk Mother, and give her rule over the one hells, renaming it The Ruby Dawn.

Old Alanis, the traveler, returns, and asks Balnor if he’s ready. He says tearful goodbyes and returns to his timeline, ready to destroy the hounds and save his village. “It’s okay, Balnor. I knew like all the most powerful things in this world, I was only borrowing you.”

We move forward in time. They start finishing off Akarot. Set up the ritual to destroy the Hellfire Crown. Hardwon visits his father in Kord’s Great Hall. Bev and Erlin get to be kids.

A year later, they return to Moonstone for the Jamboreen.

Moonshine reacquaints herself with the dragon she hatched and invites him to live with her at the Crick. Hardwon asks for the same offer, and it is given quickly. They read Balnor’s letter by the fire. Our story then ends where it began, in The Hungry Trout Tavern.

[auteurdefeu]

Ba2mia Spoilers

I’m so mad that I’m doing math during my summer break for something so fucking heartbreaking but here we are.

Ever since Murph established that Beverly’s Oath of the Ancients “Undying Sentinel” thing, where he would no longer suffer the effects of old age, meant that Bev was theoretically immortal, I’ve had this terribly depressing thought.

We’ve been reminded on several occasions, since Moonshine’s talk with Jolene in c1 and Hardwon returning to the material plane in c3, that both Bev and Moonshine were going to outlive him. Moonshine’s first time bringing it up, about not wanting to know a world without Hardwon Surefoot, sprouted a lot of Hardshine angst fanworks… but one thing I haven’t seen people mention is, what about Erlin? Halflings generally only live to 150-ish. We can hope that Erlin joined them in going to the Astral Plane, but when was that?

Hardwon was 26 in c1, reportedly 226 now but having physically aged to about 80-90 since the passage of time is wonky in the Astral Plane and they don’t really age there. For the sake of this, I’ll be saying he’s closer to 80. We know he’s spent about 3 years back on the mortal plane. This leaves about 51 years unaccounted for, where they were all still likely on the Material plane. So that makes Erlin, what? 67? Almost half way through his life?

Erlin and Beverly have always been outgoing, and they wanted to have their own adventures, that’s what they set off to do at the end of c1 to fill the journal together. It seems unlikely they’d stay within the astral plane forever. It seems almost cruel to. Erlin’s bound to grow old, and Beverly will have to watch another person he loves die and be unable to do anything.

I suppose the “easy” answer to that is that it was young love that wasn’t meant to last. A love that survived the apocalypse, sure, but love seems so much easier in comparison to the end of the world. Ive seen the fallouts y’all write on ao3, it’s heartbreaking- but is that better than the alternative? Worse than trying? Is there a good outcome???

Anyway it’s 5am and I haven’t slept, so yes I am crying about “Beverlin Foreverlin” not being forever. Sue me.

[dizzybevvie]

(Dan Avidan voice) They're so in love.

[paging-possum]

hai ik u didn't ask but another big erlin song by ewao #to #me is sleepwalking. "i thought god was supposed to protect me... whatever happened to that." "i think i'm ready to go... they'll find another son to love when the morning comes" like am i making sense does this make sense. "she used us... she killed pelor" "it's the end of the world and i'm glad you're here" "i wish i wasn't" like. does this. do you feel me on this. - @kindleaf

OMG HIIII!!! first of all it is always okay to send me songs about characters, listening to songs about characters is my number one hobby EVER. anyways YOU'RE SO RIGHT ABOUT ALL OF THIS!!! obviously "I thought god was supposed to protect me," but also like. "It's setting now and I hope I've done enough" it is SOOOO important to me that Erlin has the Worlds Worst Inferiority Complex. For the obvious reason of 'being surrounded by people who are so much better at everything he's ever been told is important than he is.' Something about him hoping he's managed to do right by his family and friends before he dies, but also in that self-deprecating way of saying that you've done enough harm. Erlin being used as a pawn to kill Pelor and not wanting to do even more damage. Does this make sense does any of it make sense. ANYWAYS. "And all my friends follow me onto the balcony" does not have a big deep meaning to me but it is also literally him and Bev. In the mental animatic that's when it switches from the moment of the two of them together on the balcony during the Galaderon arc to Erlin alone on the airship after reuniting with Bev in episode 70.

I don't even know what to say about this one. It's making me lose a little and I don't fully know why. He should call his mom. He barely remembers his mom. The only way he could see his mom is if he was dead. Which he is, for a little bit. Maybe the mom is Red or maybe it's Gunther but it's not like either of them is there either. He should call his mom but he doesn't have a mom to worry about him in the first place :( everyone's worried about him and maybe they should be!! but maybe he wants to protect them first!! maybe he thinks this is all his fault and he doesn't deserve that worry!! i don't even know I think I need to relisten to every single kindleaf moment in naddpod. I'm going to go think about egwene and let this stew in my mind a little bit more.

[white-weasel]

hello my dear mutual i cannot add it to the tournament now but what was the straightbait couple you would've submitted

Hello beloved mutual! It was Hardwon Surefoot and Moonshine Cybin aka HardShine from Not Another DND Podcast. They are some of the biggest straight bait I have ever seen. I technically haven’t finished the podcast yet (have 5 eps left) but, I know they don’t get together. However!!! There is SO much joking flirting between them and the chemistry is THERE. There are three things that stick out for me though. Two require a bit of context (so please pardon the rambling below lmao)

First, the one that doesn’t need much context, is just how the party’s relationship is structured. It’s Hardwon, Moonshine, and Beverly. Beverly is a 15/16 year old boyscout and pretty early on Moonshine and Hardwon step into parental roles for him as they travel. Not like full on mom and dad, but it’s *enough* and I’m not trying to enforce like a nuclear family view of found family at all (because that’s what they are) but idk just how they act as a tag team in keeping Bev’s goofs and antics under wraps really gets me

Next, there’s a part in the campaign where (due to dnd plane shifting and time dilation stuff) the party reunites with some old friends who have aged, like, 40 years since they last say them. These two have gotten married and have two kids. One is named Beverlin which is putting together the names of Beverly and his canonical boyfriend Erlin. The other is Moonwon, aka smashing together Hardwon and Moonshine (I fully believe this kid’s name would have been Hardshine aka their ship name if Beverly hadn’t already named his sword Hardshine after the two of them). Just, there’s something there with naming the kids after these two ships that makes me go a little crazy

Finally, the characters these guys parallel also have a romantic connection, probably reciprocal but at least canonically one sided. The conceit for this campaign is that the world was already saved by legendary heroes years ago. And as you go on you get to see how each character of our party members parallels one of these heroes. For Hardwon, his counterpart is Ulfgar and Moonshine’s is Alanis. Ulfgar is very clearly in love with Alanis when we see them interact and idk if anything comes of this for them (once again haven’t finished the podcast) but it’s just very reminiscent of Hardwon and Moonshine could be.

This is utter word vomit rn and probably makes NO sense but yeah basically….. HardShine is my non-canon straight ship of choice now lol. Thanks for letting me share, I have been rotating them in my mind with incoherent thoughts for a little bit now

[stone-stars]

reverse unpopular opinion onnnnn.. hrm. either erlin or albin OR irina. dealers choice.

i am going to wave at erlin and albin i like them both a lot and they are more special to me bc they are your guys. i love a cleric. i love a tired wizard. but. IRINA.

murph and emily don't understand what they did for me. with those two. the way irina is woven into the story makes me so. stupidly. insane. she's so......... inflicted with immense responsibility. i always love a magic user. and she's so PERFECTLY like. fia's childhood friend. you meet her and it's like yeah this girl grew up with fia. of course she did. and it's. i feel ill whenever i think abt her in the last few episodes/postcanon too much. if they ever do an eldermourne 2 i hope she's there at least somewhat. augh. IRINA.

like. even just. irina being chased by so many people who wished her ill. for years. and the only one who helped her, really, the biggest kindness anyone ever gave her, was fia. fia protecting her. and in that one dream interaction when she shows fia that she spared the kid on the scales. i go...... i go crazy for it man. she's like. even when she's out of control and ruled by her magic, she protects the person who was in fia's spot. hell.

send me topics to say nice things abt