#it will be almost entirely dnd related

[penguineatscarrots]

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Hey y'all

I post almost all of my art regularly on my Instagram @ penguineatscarrots buuut

I'm also trying to post art back onto my artblog @penguuthegentoo so I'd love it if you guys checked it out :')

[bylertruther]

me when season five airs and The Big Reveals are mike's sexuality and will's love for mike bc mike has always known he's loved will but he hasn't always been comfortable with his sexuality and will has always known what he is but he didn't always know that what he felt for mike was that kind of love until it was already too late and thus the source of his pain has been jealousy + unrequited love

[leidensygdom]

Okay, I will try to explain this topic as well as I can. I will preface this with the fact this comes from personal experiences, and that they may not apply for everyone who has ties to this culture, but let's get to it:

What's the issue with Fortune tellers / "Exotic" circus performers, sexualized belly dancers and other forms of orientalism/Romani depictions?

So, as someone in the TTRPG world (specifically, the DnD community), this sort of trope is seen quite a lot. From the portrayal of Vistani (which has been tried to be fixed, but not... too well), to player characters in home games, as well as popular canon characters and podcasts, it's got quite normalized. Most of these tropes are based on Romani, which is a widespread ethnicity present all across the globe. Now, it feels almost strange to call it orientalism, given how Romani have been in Europe since the Middle Ages, even though they do have roots outside of Europe.

Romani face one of the biggest diaspora in the world: You will find Roma people under many names in very different countries, with cultures and traditions that can clash heavily. Their numbers can range from few hundred in some countries, to over a million in those they have a biggest presence. My own experience is tied to Spanish Roma, known as Gitanos, which is where my mother's side family comes from.

Gitanos are a widespread group, although they're most numerous in the southern part of Spain, Andalusia, where their presence has shaped the culture. Flamenco is thought to have been born from Gitano culture, and it has been adopted as a staple of the Andalusian identity, and the whole of Spain. Gitanos are hard to understand as their own ethnicity in Spain: There's been centuries of Gitanos and Spanish people mixing, and the average Andalusian is quite tan to start with (given Muslim presence there has also been pretty firm). It means it can be hard to "clock" a Spanish Romani person from a non-Romani one. It means you can find Romani people most would consider white, at least by Spanish standards. Most of the discrimination Gitanos face is cultural (and the whole ordeal can be a bit harder to explain from a more US-centric view).

Now, even when Gitanos have influenced Spanish culture a lot, they still face plenty of discrimination. They are one of the most marginalized groups out there. Laws have discriminated against them for centuries, on and off, which have put them in poverty. And poverty often develops into criminality, which has only seeded the idea that Gitanos are criminals, "lowlies", the bottom of society, "uncivilized", etc. Now, here comes a bit of my own experience with this.

My entire family is Andalusian, but both sides moved from there (the south) to Catalonia (north-east) in order to find a job during the Francoist (fascist) dictatorship. I won't get much into the specifics of the Catalan vs Andalusian beef because that's a bit of a massive topic too, but the important thing here is: My mother's side is Romani. My grandma faced some horrifying forms of discrimination, including the theft of her first child during the fascist dictatorship, which was taken from her by nuns (who ran hospitals at the time) to be placed into a "proper" family. (This is something that happened repeatedly at some hospitals during these times).

Now, she had two other children: My mother and my aunt. My aunt remained closely knit to Romani culture, and took part in it, which included marrying a Romani guy. She always did her best efforts to be part of it. I know she was into some culturally-related dances, which included some forms of bellydancing (which is also partially tied to Roma culture). But my mother decided she'd rather cut ties with her culture and become "civilised", by abandoning said culture.

This isn't too uncommon for Gitanos, to be honest. I've met a few people who come from similar backgrounds through my life. One of them was in university, where a fellow classmate gave an oral exposition about how his family had done a great job at "becoming civilised" by cutting ties with their own Roma roots. My university was a fairly progressive space, but no one batted an eye at that: The sheer hatred of Roma culture runs so deep even people who normally abhor racism and xenophobia consider Gitanos to be worth the hate.

There's a social pressure to do that, too. Everyone "knows" Gitano are criminals. I can't really even begin to explain how deeply does this sort of discrimination run. Roma are amongst the most hated minority groups in all of Europe (as well as most of the world). You will find that even in very leftist circles. People will try to erase the fact Roma have their own culture, and just make the world equal to "criminal", call them gy***** (which is a slur, btw), and detach them from being an actual culturally (and often racially) distinct group.

Now, this is only empowered by how media has taken our culture (it is almost hard for me to call it "our", given how much my mother ensured to take that away) and made it into a bad trope. Growing up, I was told my aunt was a sexual deviant who partook in indecent dances. Bellydancing is often seen as something very sexual (Wasn't, in origin), very unfitting. In media, bellydancers veer on the side of being a f*tish, and the common trope is the "bellydancer who seduces people in power for their own benefit". There's also the whole idea of shady fortune tellers and other magical tropes, that sort of weird mysticism that falls rapidly into orientalism. The idea that Roma will hex you, curse you, place an "Evil Eye" on you. And also the idea of travelling circus, people who perform in them being again full of that alluring exoticism, but beware! For they will enchant you, steal from you and run some massive criminal schemes on the way.

Now, when every tie a culture has on media is portrayed in a negative light, it's much harder for that culture to recover any sort of respect from the general populace. And that includes even people who are part of said culture, or people who have been removed from it. It has taken me so many years to unlearn a lot of these biases and realize where it has come from, and now I'm far too distant and far away from my grandmother to actually ever significantly connect to my heritage.

I've had the opportunity to witness what Romani culture is actually about, as I used to live with my grandmother during summers. A lot of the "mysticism" she took part of was actually about wards and protection. A lot of them were actually medicinal in nature, even if others were more superstitious. Red thread in the forehead for sickness and protection to curses, parfums (which contained alcohol or other antiseptics) on wounds, that stuff. My aunt was never a "sexual" deviant, she was keen on recovering and partaking on traditions from a culture that is slowly disappearing. The entire "promiscuous" idea is bullshit, Gitanos place a massive amount of power to marriage and loyalty. I had the luck to witness my cousin's marriage, which was a festivity like none other I had seen in my life, a colorful spectacle full of the most delightful attires, and my mother was whining the entire time over about how it was all an "uncivilised circus".

Now, this is why representation in media is key. Roma culture is broken into a thousand pieces and lost with every passing day. When someone decides to write an ambulant circus performer/fortune teller clad in exotic clothes full of golden jewellery, writes them as a criminal and makes the entire thing extremely sexual, they are feeding into the negative stereotypes about Roma.

Now, there's a lot of people who aren't even aware what culture does that trope even actually come from. I've seen people draw characters clad in Romani attires (often in, uh, rather pin-up or sexual contexts) and claim they're inspired by "x piece of media", where the trope is portrayed in the first place. I literally saw someone make a drawing in that way and call it "inspired by x (non-Roma) artist" instead of acknowledging where does all that come from.

I'm not asking people to not portray Roma people in media. Far from that. I just wish representation was better. Good representation is key towards making a culture seen in a more positive light, and teaching other peoples about it, and making people from said culture resonate with it. The very few times I've seen positive representations of Roma I've felt a bit of that connection with something that was taken from me. I want people to do a bit of research before giving a try to a Roma-coded character. Make an effort to not make Roma always the morally dubious fortune teller, the exotic alluring circus traveller, the bellydancer seductress. It's hard for Romani to produce widespread mainstream media because of how impoverished most communities are (because of the systematic discrimination Roma face all around the world), so the least non-Roma people can do is to be kind when they use their voice to talk or represent us.

I know this is a massive post, and I'm tagging it as "long post" for that reason, but I hope it is helpful for people. Feel free to ask or add your own experience if this is something that resonates with you too. Ask away if you want. I've been wanting to tell a bit my own personal experience, as this has always been a hard spot for me, and even if just a handful of people read this and understand what is this all about, I think it will have been worth it.

[ambrosialdesire]

hedonic

18+ DARK CONTENT BELOW, MINORS + BLANK BLOGS DNI

pairing: laois touden x fem!monster reader word count: 5k warnings + tags: general yandere and/or dark themes, kinda gory descriptions, cannibalistic ideas/thoughts/temptations, probably ooc laois, delusional ideas, monster reader w/ large breasts (i mean, it comes with the kind of monster she is tbh but this is the only physical descriptor of the reader), brief bodily mutilation + removal mention, breast milk consumption, accidental peeping (?), breast fixation, blood kink kinda, biting mention synopsis: he's always been the type with an insatiable appetite when it comes to any monsters, but he promised to never ever eat any demi-humans when it comes down to it. the temptation when it comes to you has became irresistible to try and ignore. a/n: in request of 🌷 anon and my fueled want for laois, i have made my first dungeon meshi/delicious in dungeon yan fic! i decided to do it in laois pov cause i feel it'll make for an interesting perspective. not really nsfw this time around lol since i'm still new and keeping up with the anime and learning about the characters SO IM ONLY CAUGHT UP ANIME-WISE OK LOL AND THE MONSTER I'M USING FOR THE READER ARE CONSCIOUS BEASTS THAT CAN COMMUNICATE AND SHIT LIKE THAT CAUSE IT'S SO VAGUE ON THE WIKI 😭😭 also i'm making shit up as i go okay so anything food related is like entirely made-up 💀 AND YEAH I MADE IT ABOUT BREAST MILK OKAY LMFAOOO tbh i've always wanted to try a dnd-related game but literally have no where to start (ik there's baldur's gate but i am a broke full-time student lol) hope y'all enjoy and hope i can make some more of laois cause he's so 🏃‍♀️💨💨 note: please keep in mind of the tags above and do not proceed if triggering or uncomfortable, especially if you are a minor!! do not read my or any other writers' dark content if you are underaged. this is a fictional work and does not reflect irl morals, do not believe this is how a real romance works or functions.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ.───

Laois made a promise to never consume a demi-human, no matter the circumstances. It made sense, they were on the cusp of something that was human but not. They could have similar features like the races they respectively belonged to, could bleed red and have had a beating heart, yet in the end, they were still a monster inside and out. Morally or ethically — whichever which belonged to which — according to Chilchuck, it was still wrong to try and consume them.

He understood that completely once it got explained and stuck into his head, but then you came into question.

When you came into Laois's party during the search for his sister, you were almost attacked from how you meekly approached the small group in one of the dungeon’s levels. They were right to be cautious of course, many human-like monsters had previously attacked them when their guard was down, but once they realized you genuinely meant no harm, they let you join in. Marcille was overjoyed that another girl had joined the party, though both Laois and Chilchuck had their valid doubts about you. Senshi didn't really mind, long as you could pull your own weight and never tried to attack them.

Were you trying to play the long game? Did it make them taste better when you waited to strike? Were you eyeing your pick in the group? Senshi and him both have a lot of meat on their person, Chilchuck was definitely the least desirable since he was so small and had less meat on his body; to be honest, Marcille was in a similar boat as him too.

Food-wise, you ate whatever Senshi made with a happy smile, not even being deterred once from having to eat something that was considered to be closely related to you. He wondered if it was something you were used to, something that you had to be doing in order to survive down here. Then, if it came to other parties that came before them and being forced to defend yourself, did you ever had to... consume them?

Laois hoped it never had to occur, but he couldn't blame you if you had no other choice. He could imagine you being trapped for days before your kind could get to you, maybe one or two bodies from an adventuring party were with you from a previous scuffle and the pangs of hunger were getting to you. The thought of the remaining party members finding the torn apart limbs and strewn, chewed on bones surrounding a bloody starving monster made his stomach flip and a shiver go down his spine. Maybe it's because that's how he last remembered Falin right before she teleported them out of the dungeon, her midst of her body trapped in the toothy maw of that Red Dragon.

Because of this now since your alliance with them combined with the many questions in his head about your diet, there was one that he can't quite get rid of, no matter how much he tried.

What did a human taste like to a monster?

It's been a few weeks since they've ventured in the dungeon and Laois still had some doubts with your intentions for joining. A monster is a monster and cannot be trusted no matter what, but you didn't cause trouble or held them back from their search so he let you be... for now at least. He'd be a hypocrite for not letting you stay since he's been keeping Kensuke around, but it's only temporary and it can't really harm him without the other parts of the Living Armor. You're a moving... person? Half of one. Actually more a third-fourth of one? He doesn't quite know but still rather fascinated by your existence.

You were similar to them in conscious thought and speech, as well as appearance-wise. Well, appearance-wise, you definitely weren't human. Small, bilateral curved horns made their home on the sides of your head, floppy brown ears swung around with every step you took, a long bovine tail whipped around the bottom of your legs, and finally, your legs were curved into two thick cow-like stumps with hooves at the end as a replacement of feet. Minotaur, or that's what you said what you were, though you were smaller than those massive farm animal adjacent beasts, about a few inches taller than Marcille.

And not to sound like a perv or anything remotely similar to that, but you didn't really have udders either, unless your more than well-endowed breasts compensated for the lack thereof.

"Ow! Laois!" He snapped out of his thoughts, looking down at his metal shoe and seeing the fluffy end of your tail on the bottom of it.

"Oh, sorry." Slowly, he lifted his foot off of it, the appendage whipping around and twitching. It wrapped around your waist, almost completely hidden as a fuzzy brown and white belt.

"It's bad to get distracted here, are you hungry? Thirsty? I have some bread and milk in the pack if you want to snack on it." As you walked on forwards, you pulled the bag off of your shoulders and began to rummage through it with one hand. You finally found what you were looking for, handing it over to him without hesitation, slinging your bag back where it belonged. He stared at the milk as he chewed on the bread, the texture soft and light with each bite.

Did... did this come from you? You mentioned to them before in the beginning stages of joining that they can drink your milk if they needed to, but the horrified looks of both the elven mage and the Half-foot locksmith prevented you from trying any further. Both him and Senshi was of course curious, Minotaur milk was both difficult to come across and retrieve, but the two told the dwarf that they absolutely refused to eat anything that he cooked if it came from your body.

"Gross, don't tell me that came from you Y/N." Chilchuck grimaced as he walked on by and you shook your head.

"No! Of course not. I know you people humans are a little weird but I wouldn't give something that came from me without telling you. It's just cow milk, er... not from me." Laois felt a little disappointed as he opened the top of the bottle, wondering if it tasted different from normal cow's milk. According to the Dungeon Gourmet Guide, Minotaur milk was thicker and sweeter compared to the average cattle's; then again, this precious book of his wasn't really that accurate unfortunately.

What about your flesh?

He came to a sudden standstill, almost causing Marcille to bump into him.

"If you're gonna stop out of nowhere, at least move to the side Laois!" She grumbled, moving past him as he stood there in confusion. What was he thinking? Why would he even go so far as to think that? He started moving again, carefully watching you click on forwards. His mind began to wander at the thought again, which parts of you would be edible?

Your legs definitely, there's so much muscle built upon you there. He'd seen you strike down stone pillars and enemies in a single blow without even flinching. Maybe even your thin tail, could be tough and stringy though. Your ears would take a while to feast upon, cartilaginous but still a good source of protein. Horns are a no-go, too small and were most likely hollower than meaty. Cow hooves are a delicacy in some parts of the world, so it was possible that yours were consumable too.

Would the "human" parts of you count? You hadn't revealed if you were full or half-monster, maybe even if you were cursed, so it was hard to truly determine what you were. If you were a full monster, that meant that every bit and piece of you was edible meat.

Meat.

Meat.

Meat.

"Laois, you’re drooling! I can hear your stomach rumbling too," Your giggling voice rang clearly in his mind, his gaze snapping downwards as he wiped his mouth quickly. "I have more bread if you want."

"No, no. It's better if we stop now and make something more nutritionally beneficial to continue forwards," Senshi stopped with the two of you, turning his head around to find a suitable room for cooking. "Think I still have some of those Harpy eggs and Kelpie flesh, would you two be so kind to try and find some more ingredients on this floor? Any vegetation would do this meal some good."

And here the two of you were, walking around the floor's grounds to spot for anything of use. It was almost completely quiet minus the shifting of his armor and the clicks of your hooves echoing throughout the stone hallway, reducing that awkward silence just a little. Your weapon, a sharpened scythe, swung around on your back as if you were a cow grim reaper; the thought of a cow dressed up in a black robe with a menacing skull mask made him chuckle in his head a little.

"Oh! Up ahead, I see something leafy." The hoof-clicking went faster as you picked up your pace, ducking your head from the fallen wooden structures that were in the way. Compared to the average Minotaur, you moved and reacted quicker, most likely because of your smaller stature and having a little less muscle in your body to heave around. That could make you vulnerable on the other hand, having less muscle everywhere else minus your legs meant diminished strength and being unable to defeat enemies in a more timely manner. Interesting.

"Laois, do you think this enough for all five of us?" You shuffled out of the crevice in a huff with bundles of thick purple, triangular leaves in your arms and he took a pinch from one of the leaves, inspecting it before placing it in his mouth. He winced, his face contorting to a pucker as you laughed at his expression. Dungeon oxalis, edible but strongly tasted similarly to citrus.

"We could work with it, could make up for lemons since they're pretty sour. Here, place it in your bag and we can search for other things." You nodded after wiping your eyes from your boisterous laughter, following his instructions and getting back up from the ground.

You dusted yourself off before picking the bag back up, smiling at him as the two of you began to move deeper into the dungeon. "I hope we find some Night Lucernes but I think since we're already so low underground, it's getting more unlikely they can grow here."

"Oh we can't eat those, they make us sluggish and gives us stomach cramps for weeks."

Blinking at him, you tilted your head in confusion. He never noticed how long your eyelashes were, is that common in your kind? "Really? They're like vitamins for me or was it something about the blood—"

"Why are you not like the other Minotaurs?"

"Huh?" The question was out of the blue, interrupting her talking as the two of you had stopped in the middle of the hallway, eyes locked with one another.

"Why are you not like the other Minotaurs?" Laois repeated, not skipping a beat and leaning down closer to you. "You're not massively built, you don't have a cow's head, you don't have large horns. You don't strictly eat vegetation, is it even good for you to eat monster meat so often? There's so very few things that are Minotaur-like on you, are you really one of their kind?"

Your eyelids fluttered in shock, each question wrapping around your brain before you leaned away from him, scratching the back of your neck. "Well... I-I don't really know why myself."

"...What?"

"Uh yeah. One day, when I was still young, I woke up in this dungeon alone without a single memory in my mind. I don't even remember who named me either, but I vaguely remember being told that I'm a Minotaur. Maybe it's the Mad Mage's fault but I'm sorry Laois, I really can't explain why I'm not more like them."

Did that even satisfy his question on whether you were edible as a Minotaur or not?

"I do know is that I am a monster," You put a hand over where your heart is, clenching it tightly into a fist. "I ain't like you people humans and I'm sure not like those other animal humans you coexist with, so I am nothing but a monster. I may look a little different from my kind but inside and out, I have the Minotaur’s blood in me. And the strictly herbivore thing isn't really true, I can eat meat if I have no other choice to, it's not all that bad though. Doesn't really freak me out and I'm always grateful to have the opportunity to eat a good meal."

"So have you eaten other adventurers before meeting us? I won't judge, I'm genuinely curious and I won't tell the others if you have."

You froze, eyes casting downwards suddenly as your fists gripped onto the coat you wore. "I... I don't really want to talk about it Laois, sorry. I'll answer your other questions but some things are better left off unsaid, okay? Please respect that."

His lips were pulled into a thin line, the nagging voice in his head still ever curious on whether you've eaten human before, but you really did seem uncomfortable talking about the topic. "Sorry."

He then put a hand under his chin, thinking about what you've said previously slowly. Inside and out... Does that mean you are edible? I mean, you basically said it yourself, despite you being more on the human-appearance spectrum of monsters. Then again, they met more human-like monsters like the Harpies and the Dryads, and they've eaten them before! (Well... sorta.) The mermen were edible too (despite Chilchuck stopping him from taking more of the parts), so that means—

"Can I drink your milk then?"

"Wha— H-huh?!" The apples of your cheeks glowed a dark shade of red, but his gaze remained determined, sparkling in excitement even.

"You offered it before, didn't you? Chilchuck and Marcille aren't here so they won't judge us and I've been curious since my book said that it's different from normal cow's milk." You looked around, even peeking behind him, before sighing and bashfully pouting.

"I did! I know I did! But, I have to make it fresh since I threw out the ones I had on hand a week ago and I don't have any on my person right now so..."

"It's okay, I can wait." He bluntly replied, oblivious to your wording. Laois just wanted a little taste, nothing more and nothing less.

You mumbled something under your breath, his ears catching a few words of him being 'too eager' and 'quick to answer'. Was he? He was just answering your question honestly, and he’s been ever so curious about it ever since you’ve offered it before.

"Let me find a room, just wait outside for a bit."

You were flushed, clicking away to find a place to hide out so you could produce what he wanted. Of course he followed shortly after you left, staying outside just like you told him to and it would serve as extra security. If Minotaur milk tasted as good as they say, he might just keep asking you for it when some certain party members aren't nearby. Hell, he might even be able to sneak some to Senshi since he's been curious about it too! It's only right to share a magnificent discovery to the best monster chef. Actually, he might be the only monster chef he knew but he was still the best by default.

He waited.

And waited.

And waited…

Laois started to sit down next to the door due to how long you were taking to produce a small bottle. Was it difficult to get milk out of the body by yourself? He had to ask about that too since he’s only seen male Minotaurs depicted in his book; there was nothing but a small and vague paragraph that explained about the female Minotaurs, but it was mostly about their milk.

He closed his eyes, leaning his head against the stone wall. You really were a strange individual, someone that he can’t quite understand. Your very being makes his mouth salivate whenever he thinks about you as a next meal, even if it shouldn’t. Was it because all they’ve been eating has been monster-related? His strange fixation on trying them was slowly being satiated with every step down the dungeon, so he chalked it up to just being morbidly curious.

It has to be that reason, it must be, because what kind of sick individual constantly thinks about consuming his friend?

Opening back his eyes, he took another quick glance at the wooden door. Laois was extremely curious on how the whole process worked, if you really had extra udders or if the hidden parts of your body were furry or skin. Plus, you really were taking a long time, one of the three were bound to come over soon and he wouldn't be able to try the milk! Actually... you know what? What if you had gotten attacked in there by a whole group of Mimics?! Or any other monster group, like the ghosts! You were strong but you can’t take all of them at once, and monsters aren't able to revive here. Wait...

Monsters don’t revive here.

He scrambled up on his feet at the realization, quickly knocking on the door, the sound of stumbling and thuds causing him to immediately panic and start pushing it open.

"Are you oka—" Laois froze, his eyes widening.

Your eyes were wide open as well, mouth partially parted open in dumbfounded shock. At least you looked okay and it seemed there wasn't any harmful enemies around, just some old furniture that had fallen over. It's weird though. There you sat on the ground in the midst of the mess, one arm covering your bare chest while the other was holding a partially filled glass. He stood there in puzzlement as your face grew redder by the second, placing the glass down slowly before reaching for your weapon that was right next to you.

Oh.

Oh...

OH!

"LAOIS!!!"

"I'M SO SORRY!!!" He slammed the door back shut as the scythe made its way towards his head, the sharp blade slicing through the old wood, the tip just barely missing his nose. His heart pounded against the metal chest plate like a beating drum, his lungs completely drained of all air. He began to kneel on the ground for some support since his legs started to give out from the revelation. His body was burning up, like he just got lit on fire from the Red Dragon or was a little too close to one of Marcille's explosion spells.

He just saw you naked. Not completely, but still, he just saw your breasts. He was used to and never cared about seeing others nude or topless, whether they be male or female — monster or not — it's just parts but seeing you?

Despite being here for most of your life, the skin from what he saw was quite smooth and rather mostly unblemished. It's like scars weren't able to attach onto the surface, as if they weren't allowed to. And the curvature of your heavy breasts, the noticeable suppleness of both when you moved and inadvertently squeezed them with your arm. They weren't udders at all either like he thought they were, they were undeniably humanlike, no fur included. He imagined biting into them, wondering if it'll be easy to sink his teeth into the squishy fat while he sucked on both the spilling blood and milk, thinking about the mix of sweetness and tangy that'll occur if he did. He'd be especially lucky to leave any mark on your pristine skin during the process, his body tingling at the idea of being the only one — the only human — to permanently leave something behind.

Laois couldn't stop salivating, a hand over his mouth to prevent him from drooling all over himself. He's shaking, why was he shaking? Was it from the fear of these unstoppable thoughts of his? Because of the leaf he ate not a moment ago? No. It's because of these recent developments and the answers he was getting from them, he was becoming... excited.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

‘•.¸♡ ♡¸.•’'•.¸♡ ♡¸.•’'•.¸♡ ♡¸.•’

The door finally creaked open, a small glass bottle being pushed towards him from the barely ajar entrance. He looked up to where your head would be, your eyes nervously staring down to the side. You started to apologize in a soft mumble as you slowly revealed yourself, now completely dressed.

"Sorry for throwing my weapon at you earlier, but this is all I can give right now. If I had eaten Night Lucernes prior, it would've been better quality. Um... enjoy I guess?"

"Thank you for the drink." Laois smiled and took the bottle in his hands, staring at the liquid. It was warm, which was expected since it just came out of your body, and it wasn't fully white like he thought it would be, the color just had the faintest tinge of yellow that could be missed if he wasn't looking close enough. He took the glass's edge to his lips and finally, he took a small swig of it.

Sweet, precisely as he thought it would be, but not as overtly strong to make him sick or give him an immediate cavity. The book was right to say that it was thick, almost similar to a honey-like consistency but still light enough to not choke at the heavy feeling of it go down his throat. He didn't realize that he quickly drank all of it at once, his tongue running across his lips to catch any remaining liquid left. You said that this wasn't the best quality, but he couldn't imagine it being any better than what he just drank.

"That was..." Laois paused, smacking his lips to try and remember the taste once more. Your face slightly fell, eyebrows worriedly scrunching together. "Amazing!"

"R-really?" The slightly-afraid look melted off in relief, your eyes glowing in happiness. "No one ever said that it tasted amazing before... Actually, no one actually tried it before except you Laois."

He... he was the first one that tried your milk? The fleeting thoughts he had prior ran through his mind again, his cheeks flushing a slight pink. If he really was the first one that drank something of yours... then it's only right that it would be specially reserved for him right? It's really selfish of him to keep this amazing beverage from his dear party, but something like this should be cherished by the one that adores you the most.

He quickly grabbed your hands, holding them up as he squeezed them tightly in excitement. "Can I have more later? I won't tell our party, it'll be our little secret exchange between the two of us."

Laois watched your expression turned from complete shock to shy awe, your tail twitching around and thumping against your legs. You were silent for a bit before looking up at him, a determined glint in your eyes. "W-what's in it for me? I can't just be the only one giving you something.

Shit. That was fair of you to bring up but him as a normal Tall-man, there was very little he could give you in return for your breast milk. "What would you want from me anyway?"

His mind immediately went into the gutter: you wanted to eat something off of him. It could be considered a fair exchange, consumable body part for consumable bodily fluid. Maybe you were getting tired of eating monsters, needing your actual nutrition from people. He started to get nervous, what would he be able to give you from his body? Would a finger satiate you or would you need something larger? Laois can't really give up his arms or legs, he'd need them in order to get through the dungeon and save Falin. Tongue was completely out of the question, he can't imagine not being able to taste food in both normal and monster dishes.

The idea of giving you his dick to consume suddenly popped up in his mind, the thought of trying to cut it off caused him to pale. He didn't use it much compared to his other body parts, only needing it to use to take a leak; he wasn't really the sexually active type either, being able to count the partners he previously had on only one hand. Technically and hesitantly, that would be the only large body part that he can give up for you.

Briefly, he imagined how'd you eat it. You weren't an messy eater when it came to Senshi's food — despite having to learn how to use utensils but still preferring to make use of your hands — so you'd probably be as neat as possible with it. You'd eat it raw, as soon as he managed to slice it off his person, warm crimson slipping down your fingers as you bite down through the layers of skin and muscle.

Or there was the possibility that you wanted to take it off yourself, kneeling right down in-between his legs, hands slowly sliding up his thighs to his hips as you approached his lower half. He'd be forced to watch you take his soft cock into your mouth, probably struggling if he accidentally got hard during the process. The last thing that Laois would feel would be your mouth's warmth wrapping around it before chomping down.

A shiver went down his spine, though it didn't feel as horrid as it was supposed to be.

With your big lashed eyes, you slowly blinked once more as a small smile grew on your lips. "Knowledge. I want to learn about the outside world. I've never left the dungeon before, all the adventurers that came before your party prevented me from ever trying."

Oh... That's actually not a bad exchange request, simple in nature. At least he gets to keep his junk, despite his heart still pounding from what his fucked-up mind just mustered up.

"Okay deal. I'll teach you about my world in exchange for milk." He put out his hand, letting you reach out and shake it. Your eyes relaxed as you smiled warmly up at him, finally letting him go. Laois then went over and patted your head, rubbing the top gently. You stiffened lightly at the gesture, his fingers brushing over the horns. They were smooth with faint ring-like indentations, almost an ivory-creamy color. Truly a fascinating feeling.

"There you guys are! You've been gone for so long that we were starting to get worried." Marcille. You batted his hand off of your head quickly, turned around with a tautly-pulled grin towards the elven girl.

"Must've lost track of time finding what Senshi wanted, sorry about the wait. You guys must be starving by now." The two of you started to chat walking back to the temporary camp, Laois watching and following from behind. You pulled out the oxalis in your bag to show her, a proud expression beaming off your face as you brought up his face when he first tried it. His stomach twisted, his hand resting on the top of his armor-covered abdomen.

There were very few monsters he found cute, most being out-of-this-world frightening to gaze upon, but you truly were one of the cuter ones around. He felt hungry again as your hips swayed from side to side, tail flicking around. He brushed the fingers that he touched your horns with against his lips, reminiscing on the texture. How sensitive were they? You did go rigid when he brushed against them, but it could be just from the shock.

Saliva was building up in his mouth again, and he could only harshly swallow back the feeling.

Deplorable he was with this appetite, the desire to consume you piece by piece. Would you accept that as one of your final fates? Rather than being killed and left behind with little to no chance of being revived, he'd pick up every raw part of you and eat it, savoring each bite in respect for what you've sacrificed to help him find his sister. Laois would try to bring the inedible bits of you with him — bones, teeth, horns, nails, hooves, hair — for the rest of this dungeon's journey and back into his world. Your wish would be granted, despite not being able to fully witness it yourself; you might even thank him for that bit of kindness too.

This thing the two of you had was special, unbeknownst to the others. A friendship that couldn't be understood by the other members of the party, but was completely comprehensible to only you and him. Symbiotic, just almost mutualistic. A love of one's flesh in exchange for the love of another's world.

Love.

Though Laois has expressed his heavy interest and passion in monsters, he never had said he loved them. Most were mindlessly dangerous, no matter how small or large they were, acting on base instinct. Yet, you were different. In fact, he could say that you were the opposite of him. Instead of being grouped together with your fellow monster-kind, you were more interested in being around outsiders. Different sides of the same golden coin.

A realization hit him, his eyes widening. The strange feelings in his body, the perverse, obsessive fantasies he's been having about you... It could only mean that he—

"Jeez Laois, you've been spacing out all day. Are you okay?"

He snapped out of it, staring at the concerned looks of both you and Marcille. Laois only smiled, his golden eyes focused completely on your form. Both your ear and tail tip was twitching, flicking in the air as if a fly was nearby.

"I'm just hungry, that's all."

[spacelazarwolf]

Also wrt the “transition for trans women is so much harder” like…we could do that too you know! There are absolutely aspects of transition that are easier one way, but that doesn’t make the entire process of transitioning easier in one direction than any other. It is no more helpful to say trans women have it harder because they have facial hair and other permanent effects of androgens that aren’t solved by HRT than it is for me to say “oh trans women have it so much easier because they can take estrogen to grow tits and just wear breastforms to pass in the meantime, whereas I have to get major surgery before people will stop misgendering me cuz my tits are so big that even binding isn’t enough.”

Everything i said there may be factually true, but that doesn’t make it helpful or reasonable to say. Breastforms are expensive, and not every trans girl on HRT will have an easy time growing breasts. Everyone has a different experience transitioning. Not every trans guy has an easy time growing facial hair, or binding, or with voice cracks. Some transfemmes have almost no facial or body hair, naturally softer facial features.

(Some transfemmes even naturally have tits! Lookin at you people with gynecomastia and other related intersex conditions!)

Like, especially with that person who said you couldn’t transition because transfems envy your body. Like, i just genuinely cannot imagine what gets in someone’s head to make them say things like “it’s transphobic to…*checks notes* be a trans man.” I hate to be the one to break this to them, but lots of trans men feel the same way about transfemmes! I sure did! Especially before i came out to myself I was so envious of my transfemme friends flat chests and deeper voices. I couldn’t understand why anyone would give up what I saw as clearly the better deal in favor of what I had. Does that mean it was somehow bigoted of them to transition? No! That’s literally the weirdest thing anyone has ever said!

seriously like. transition isn't easy for any of us! even in a perfect world it would still be stressful bc ur body is changing a ton!! instead of arguing abt who has it worse, we should be trading clothes and playing dnd.

[willbyersabyss]

This shot has been discussed extensively about how it hints at byler and El eventually figuring it out, but I want to talk about the drawing just before this one. And maybe even consider a different context for this drawing too...

The drawings are completely different. This one has a wider head and the thought bubble is skinny. These two drawings symbolize different things.

So what does this version of the drawing mean? Well just listen to what El is saying. She says that Vecna is going to be in someone's mind, but the thought bubble that represents the mindscape is above Will. This means that Vecna is already in Will's mind. But Will doesn't feel him until he gets back to Hawkins... why? And why would Vecna be in Will's mind during the finale, but we never see? Well... we did.

The Upside Down is Will's mindscape. This is hinting at that. Vecna has been residing in the UD the entire season, and we do in fact see this in the finale.

If that didn't convince you then the next thing El says will. El mentions Terry and Billy who both have a shit ton of parallels to Will. Terry's mind loop sequence relates to Will (see here). Billy's name is literally William, he had an abusive father, and he was possessed, all things that relate to Will. Interesting thing to bring up while the mindscape bubble is above Will.

Terry's mind is in a loop/stuck in time and so is the Upside Down. Billy's mind was stuck in the memory with his mom on the beach. The Upside Down is stuck because of a memory. Will's memory.

Let's bring El's drawing back into it's original context for a second. The girl in the middle represents Max. The two figures in the mindscape are Vecna and El. But they're above Will. So Max's mindscape somehow also collided with Will's. When did this happen?

When she travelled to the Snow Ball. Vecna and El are both in her mind at the same time during the Snow Ball. This is when El's drawing comes true! And this is when it connects back to Will!

This is the only time we see the California crew once El reaches the Snow Ball memory. Will is almost entirely out of shot! We don't see his reaction at all here. Very convenient that we don't see even a snippet of how Will is feeling during the Snow Ball sequence. We only see him again once they go into Vecna's mindscape...

OK! But how do we know the Snow Ball memory connected to the UD at all? When Vecna showed up, so did the spores. It started rotting and turned dark just like the UD. The only thing that's missing is the vines which we see in Vecna's mindscape later.

(I already have another post explaining how Max's Snow Ball memory links to the UD being stuck in time here!)

Robin says that Nancy's house is frozen in time, not the entire UD. We honestly don't even know if the entire UD is stuck on the same day. It's entirely possible that the Wheeler house is stuck on November 6th, but other parts of the UD are stuck on other days. Why? Because Will travelled into a memory.

When Will got kidnapped, he was probably trying to think of happy memories because he was scared and accidentally ended up in a memory. This transformed a once rocky smoke land into Hawkins.

What memory? This is where the other byler drawing shot comes in. El's drawing lines up with Mike and Will here to represent how Will chose a happy memory with Mike (and others) to hide in when he got kidnapped. Not just a memory Mike is in, but MIKE'S HOUSE! We only saw evidence of the Wheeler house being stuck. So I think Will thought back to the most recent happy memory of the party playing DnD just before he got kidnapped. This would place Will at the Wheeler house and explain why it's stuck on that day.

If the rest of the UD is on different days, it's possible that Will mastered this trick and continued memory hopping until the entire UD transformed to replicate Hawkins. But if the entire UD is in fact stuck on the same day, maybe Will wandered too far out of the Wheeler house memory and this triggered the rest of the UD to look like Hawkins.

BUT I’ve also been recently pondering another theory. The UD isn't just Will's mindscape, but multiple, or a meeting place for mindscapes. Perhaps Vecna's collection of minds completed the Hawkins puzzle being pieced together in the UD. Will contributed first, but so did other victims. Evidence? Max's Snow Ball memory was already seen in the UD at the end of s2.

The Snow Ball decorations are there. This along with Robin's comment proves that the UD might not be entirely stuck on the same day. The Snow Ball decor shouldn't have been there if that were the case because the dance wasn't until December, not November. As I said in the other post I linked, Max travelling into her Snow Ball memory influenced the UD version to replicate it. There's some time paradox stuff happening here.

So basically: El's drawing hovering above Will was not only to hint at byler, but also to link him to the concept of memory travel, implying that he has done this before, despite us never seeing this occur… or did we?

[reinahwanggg]

Let's Go to Paris • Jaeyun Sim

•a/n tell a friend to tell a friend; reinahwanggg's baaaaaaaack! and i'm more "delusional" than ever. here's a "scenario" i was thinking of all day. i'm just a girl in love, sue me. ALSO, CREDIT TO ALL OF THE OWNERS OF THE GIFS I WILL NOW USE.

•synopsis it's the holidays, you and your husband never went on your honeymoon, and if another parent calls your phone one more time you just might SCREAM! so, to get away from the hustle and bustle of in-laws and work calls, you book a flight for you two to go to paris.

•pairing non-idol!jake sim x fem!reader

•warnings this is basically a self insert. heavily self indulgent even, mentions of food/cooking that’s all the warnings i shall give.

•genre established relationship, husband!jake, teacher!reader, holiday!au, fluff, idk some scenes are funny in my head

•word count 2.1K words

“A-alright Ms. Thompson. Yes ma’am. Yes ma’am. I will. Yes ma’am. You do the same. Okay ma’am. Bye.” You hang up the phone and sit inside the extra room you and your husband created into a studio, letting out a huge and heavy sigh.

You rest your phone down, bring your hands to your hair, and rest it on your work desk with a thunk that reverberates through the entire apartment. Your husband turns off the stove that was currently cooking you guys dinner, and walks over to the studio room with worry on his face.

He pats his hands on his apron, and adjusts his towel on his shoulder once he reaches to the door. Then he pushes it open to see you sitting there with your head down; leg bouncing up and down subconsciously. He smiles sadly at your state, and clears his throat to let you know he’s by the door.

“Another parent?” Jake, your husband of almost two years, asks inquisitively.

“The fifth one today. I’m just about ready to put my phone on, do not disturb and call it a day, but I’m waiting on a call from mom.” You reply, lifting your head to look at him from behind you.

You do a once over, then you turn your chair around to soak in his appearance. Ivory colored dress shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. Forest green apron over his work clothes. Hands folded in front of him in a way that emphasizes his biceps. You slowly drag your eyes back up to his, and you blink in surprise to see him blushing under your strong gaze.

“It’s best if you don’t put it on DND my love. If she can’t get to you, then she’ll be calling me. We both know I’m the worst person to call after 6pm, because my phone is on silent since the most important person to me is already where I can see her.” Jake replies, and you look away to hide your growing smile.

“Besides, I don’t see why you’re so against the parents calling you. You’ve been keeping in contact with them all semester.” He continues, pushing himself off of the doorframe to walk behind you and massage your shoulders.

You melt in his touch, mind slowly losing the words you had on the tip of your tongue, and you just relax at his ministrations. Once he stops for a few seconds to let you talk, you do.

“I kept in contact with them because they trusted me with their kids every single weekday for the past three or so months. I’m glad they’re happy with their child’s performance this semester, but for me to be getting calls left and right since yesterday is just absurd. Like, come on man. We’re on break for crying out loud.” You start to rant, slouching in the chair as he continues to massage your shoulders.

He lets you talk about how you feel, and you gladly take up his offer as you spill it all out to him. As much as you loved your students, you also wanted a break from anything work related. All this school and grades talk from the parents aren’t helping you in that area.

Jake lets you blow off some steam, and when he knows you’re done, he leans over you to open up your laptop for you. He then plants a kiss on your forehead, then your cheeks, then your nose. You turn back to look at him as you giggle in joy. Then he pecks your lips. Once, twice, three times. Again and again he dives in and claims your lips. Once you’re smiling so wide that you can’t peck his lips any longer (for now), he smiles brightly back at you, resting your foreheads together for a few seconds.

“Now that you’ve talked it all out, how about you shop for some stuff, and I’ll call you to let you know when dinner’s ready. Does that sound good?” He asks, looking down at you once he moves his forehead away from yours and stands up to look at the love of his life.

“That sounds great. We’ll talk a bit more once the food’s done?”

“Of course. I’ll always listen to you.”

“As will I, Jake. As will I.”

“Babe?!” is what pulls Jake out of his cooking induced headspace, and he turns off the stove once more to go to his wife.

“Yes my love?” He replies once he reaches the door, and he shakes his head with a smile on his face once he notices that you’re very immersed in whatever you’re doing on the laptop.

“Yes or no?” you ask, and the question causes him to stiffen for a few moments, before he opens his mouth and just answers,

“Yes.” a small smile on his face once he sees you nod your head at his confirmation.

“Alright, cool. Thank you my darling.” You say in gratitude.

“Anything for you my love.” He replies.

Jake walks back to the kitchen to continue with his dinner, mind going back into his cooking headspace, and the short interaction is forgotten by the time he finishes the meal and calls you to the table.

The food is graced, the table is plated and the steam from the food dances around the air once you two sit down, and before you can pick up your utensils to eat, your phone rings off. You apologize to your husband for the disturbance and answer the phone at the table, listening to your mom and whatever it was that she needed to tell you so desperately.

You hang up the phone with a promise to check in more often, and you finally put your phone on DND, resting it down on the table and picking up your utensils to eat. Jake tells you about his day at work, and you listen to him speak without making any noise, just like he did to you earlier. He then tells you how his boss reminded him of his untouched vacation time, and like a light bulb being turned on, he remembers the conversation from earlier.

He lets you talk after he gets his day out of the way, and when you're done (and the food’s been devoured) he asks you about it.

“You’re gonna tell me what I agreed to, or am I gonna be kept out of the dark until it happens?” He asks as he’s drying the dishes you hand to him.

“Oh yeah! While I was shopping, I got an email from the airline we usually use that told me I had enough points to get a select few flights for really cheap. I mean, obviously I had to grab it. We both need a little break, and it’s been a while since we went away; just the two of us.” You rambled on, completely missing the way Jake’s eyes bulged out of his head in shock once he realizes he basically agreed to you two going on a little vacation with little to no planning.

“You what?” is all he could force himself to ask.

“I booked us a flight! Jake, let’s go to Paris!” You reply enthusiastically, eyes shining as you turn to him with a bright smile on your face that makes it hard to say no to.

“We’re not going to Paris.” He sternly implies, flinching once he sees you deflate.

“Why not? You need a break from your job. Everyone knows if I get another call from a parent I’m gonna get off of this piece of land one way or the other.” You inquire.

“It’s three days before the holidays for one. Quite frankly the busiest time of the year for the traveling business. Getting a cheap ticket from our regular airline right around their busiest time seems a bit suspicious. We also have to plan where to sleep, what we’re gonna see when we get there, how long we’re staying there. All of this has to be taken into consideration, love.”

“It’s something we can discuss together. And besides, I may be a bit drifty, but I sure as heck ain’t ditzy. I checked the prices, and the travel time. I even emailed them to make sure it wasn’t a scam before I asked you earlier. The prices were so low even I couldn’t believe it, and I was the one shopping. And besides, it’s after the holidays. We’ll be gone and back before you know it. So, please? Can we go?” You lay out to him, and you can see that he’s genuinely contemplating it once he rests his towel down and gives you his undivided attention.

He stands there for a couple moments, looking at you as you look at him. Then he sighs heavily. You totally have this trip in the bag! Time to pack your bags.

“We’re not going to Paris, and that’s final.”

“I can’t believe we’re going to PARIS!” You giddily exclaim once Jake parks the car to the airport.

“Neither can I.” Jake deadpans, and puts his hands up in surrender when you glare at him.

“Hey! Think of it this way, we’re finally going on the honeymoon we deserve.” You try to reason, but that seems to upset him further.

“We both know that we’d rather mop the bottom of the ocean than to go anywhere other than our predetermined spot for our honeymoon. I will much rather refer to it as our alone time.” Jake snarkily follows up.

“Okay fine. I’m sorry for booking a trip for the both of us, and not properly consulting you about it. I should’ve asked, not only because we’re husband and wife, but because it was your money in the first place, and your opinion on the matter weighs just as much as mine.” You place your hand in his, and lean on his arm as you blink your pretty lashes at him.

Jake rolls his eyes with a smile on his face and places a soft kiss on your lips, a reply to your apology. He pulls the suitcase from you and accepts your apology verbally. Then, both of you head into the airport; ready to get away from it all. Even if it’s only for a short while.

You lay skin to skin with your lover as you drift to and from dreamland. Your chest rises and falls in time with Jake’s as you caress his face gently. Your heart is filled once you feel the grip on your waist tighten, and you look away from your hand to his eyes to see a huge smile already on Jake’s face.

“The love I have for you pumps with every beat of my heart. And I will continue to love you as long as my heart continues to beat within my chest.” Jake says after a few moments, hand around your waist skimming up your body to wipe the tears from your eyes.

“The sun that rises on the horizon can help paint a million portraits of the sky to come. The clouds that scatter in the air can assist in creating a hundred masterpieces once the sun ends its shift. None of that can even step a foot to the beauty you bring along with you everywhere you go.” He continues, kissing the crown of your head at the end of the last sentence.

“The love you give me reminds me of cafes on a spring day; a warmth so rare, yet so inviting that when you stray too far from it, you long for more. I long to stay by your side forevermore. As the sun paints the sky orange, then red, then yellow, then pink, I want to be beside you to see it all.” Jake finishes.

You rub his cheek one more time before your lips crash into his. Your hands rub his nape in a gentleness that contrasts greatly from the passion and fervor. Your lips move back and his lips chase, capturing it again and again. Loving you again and again. You continue to tangle yourselves up within each other, lost within each other once more.

BONUS

“I can’t believe they were out of croissants. This is like … the third cafe to tell us this. Should I just give up on my dreams of eating a croissant on a winter day in Paris?” You ask Jake, who’s taking a video of you because he saw how joyful you looked in the snow earlier.

“Let’s try two more cafes before you give up, my love.” Jake advises, and snaps a picture of you unconsciously pouting in dismal.

“You have to buy me three croissants if we find some.” You bargain.

“Anything for you, my love.” Jake accepts easily.

[hypnostouched]

i forever have dnd brainrot so,,, aftg dnd vibes

Neil is, of course, a rogue. lock picking, quick, lying sneaky lil bastard. In particular I would make him a Mastermind rogue as it comes with disguise profienecy , boosts so lying and vibes of a manipulator. I'd also build him into a wood elf - for the mechanical speed and hide buffs; but id flavour him as a half elf. The Hatford family would be elven and Mary is the one who trained Neil to hide and run. Other than some small things, he would look almost identical to his human father.

Now the Ravens in dnd, to me, are a Paladin order that is a lot more of a defined cult. They'd be a mix of Oath of Glory Paladins (one of their channel divinities is literally called Peerless Athlete) and Oath of Conquest Paladins (Kevin was Glory, Riko is Conquest) Paladins are physical builds with good Charisma and you can think whatever you like about the Ravens, they are charismatic (also to note, intimidation is a charisma skill in dnd)

now Oathbreaker has a very specific vibe but what I will focus on is the feeling of emptiness and darkness that come with it. Kevin is an oathbreaker when he leaves the Ravens, but he won't remain as one indefinitely. He would retake his Oath of Glory when it could mean something different to him (which would align with canon Kevin gtting his new tattoo). For him, being an Oathbreaker is connected to his fear and depression rather than any form of evil (High CHA Kevin is so funny to me bc its canon and i love a CHA build who generally doesnt seem charismatic until they turn it on) Kevin is a high elf seemingly in every way. He took after his mother almost entirely.

As said, Riko is a Conquest Paladin - I would also consider giving him a few levels in Shadow Sorcerer; as something he just is inherently rather than something he's trained to be like Paladin. Riko is also a half elf; most of the Moriyama family are High Elves but his mother was human. Riko can't claim that his family doesnt like him because of this, because Ichirou is also a half elf.

Returning to the foxes--

Andrew is a fighter. Human fighter, a v basic build lmao. he is a champion fighter; he's just a fucking threat.

Nicky is absolutely a bard (glamour). I would love to pitch Nicky as a Satyr because of their interest in freedom, revelry and enjoyment.

(can i just say its so hard to do dnd thoughts when so many characters are related and youre autistic so you have to factor all of that in)

Renee is a Barbarian/Cleric multiclass in the way that she used to be a barbarian and now mostly ignores those abilities to focus on her cleric shit. Light domain cleric. Also she is an air genasi and the colours in her hair are natural and look like the colours of sunset or sunrise on clouds

Dan is also a human fighter but she's a banneret fighter; which has a focus on inspiring allies. Still a threat, just also an inspirational one.

Aaron is a ranger; gloomstalker as he lurks around a lot. Mechanically he wouldn't be as high a level as Andrew. Neil is his favoured enemy.

Matt is a sun soul monk, taught to him by his mother. Bright and also quite scary when he's trying to kill you.

Allison is a bard/fighter multiclass. Similar to Renee, her Bard levels come from before her life with the foxes but she doesn't ignore them like Renee does. Eloquence Bard, champion fighter

[deliciouswastelandgoddess]

The Dark Horse of Acting - Build's Pete

A case study of acting techniques

Also read:

Mile's Kinn

Apo's Porsche

Bible's Vegas

When the series started I had absolutely no idea what journey Pete will have in the narrative - I somehow avoided a fair bit of novel related posts and did not until Episode 7 that Pete and Vegas are the secondary couple. Even when I did realize it I did not give it much thought because well, Pete was such an understated character compared to the rest of them. I honestly can't even recall what I thought about him beyond "ahaha lol what a funny guy he makes funny faces hahaha" and "lol lol he's so done with Tankhun he's so relatable lol lol".

I know that everyone likes to think of every character as morally grey in the show but in my opinion, within the context of the world the showrunners have created, Kinn and Porsche are relatively morally upright, Vegas is relatively morally uhh...bad, and Pete is the one that is truly genuinely morally grey. In DnD terms - he would be what I would call a true neutral (compared to Kinn's lawful good, Porsche's chaotic good and Vegas' lawful evil) (just to add here lawful here doesn't mean legal - not gonna explain the whole DnD thing here, please google it if this doesn't make sense to you in any way).

Pete's unique combination of high empathy and high cynicism has led to creation of this increasingly interesting character, brought to life by Build's flawless execution - understated in the initial episodes, unexpectedly intense in the later episodes.

Apo, Mile and Bible are overwhelmingly charismatic - I don't think they could do a scene where you would look away from them. Wardrobe and makeup also plays a huge role in that but I don't think you could ever cast these three actors as side characters because they would simply take over a scene. Build on the other hand blended seamlessly into the background in the first few episodes.

In this scene even when Pete is talking it's hard to take your eyes off of Porsche. It's partially because how the camera is placing Porsche in the frame (1/3rd of the way in and he is also very tall and in front) and partially because Build seems to...almost have a dial where he can switch off his charisma.

This scene on the other hand, the camera actually focuses on Pete but you can see how even blurred Apo's Porsche is dominating the scene. If you didn't have context clues from reading other people's post about Pete on socials you would never clock him as anything more than a boy-next-door in the wrong business. This boy does not belong in the mafia.

His scenes with Kinn and Vegas are also in the same vein, he strictly feels like a side character until-

8 episodes later we have this scene and it's really hard to believe this is the same guy from the gifs above. You cannot take your eyes away from him. Think we can all agree he looks unhinged here and finally looking like an actual gangster. I never would have guessed that I would see this side of Pete considering how Build was playing Pete until this point - it was such a surprise for me.

This is another interesting one: Bible has incredibly sharp and defined bone structure while Build has a very soft face. Usually a face like Bible dominates the screen and it usually does but here Build is able to match Bible's energy. Nobody is overpowering anybody and he looks nothing like the soft boy of the first few episodes - he looks calculating, assured, almost at peace and juuuust a little bit dangerous. Comic relief side character has walked out the door, she is charisma incarnate, she is the moment.

My favorite scenes with Pete are the ones where he is giving people advices. He has done it for Porsche, for Kinn and finally for Vegas here. Build really does the detached cynicism™ with perfection. Notice how dead his eyes look here, how slack his face is. He is understanding but also tired. He is resigned.

Now compare that to his eyes here- they look so alive - again it's almost like it's two entirely different actors and I know that's the whole point of acting but!!! I am in awe!! I have no option but to stan!!

And finally my absolute favorite frame featuring Pete. The direction was so good and Pete looks - well he looks like a lot of things - but he mostly looks evil here! Like he has just succeeded in tricking somebody. Like a cat who has just cornered a rat - it's such an unsettling smile, that paired with the unsettling music and Vegas' smile fading when he sees Pete smile - I had my jaws on the floor - Build was the showstopper, he was so real for this I can't even.

I think the showrunners could not have casted a better person for this role. Build's Pete is a truly remarkable work of subtle acting, absolutely unexpected, the dark horse of the cast.

[aikoiya]

LoZ: BotW - Why I Think Zelda Couldn't Unlock Her Magic

I'm gonna try & explain this in DnD terms if I can.

1 problem, I think, is that she was approaching unlocking her magic in a similar manner to that of a Cleric, when really, it's possible that she's more of a Divine Soul Sorcerer.

Clerics, their Divine Magic is more so on loan from their patron as that magic isn't really their own to begin with. Because of this, their magic is directly connected to their faith in & devotion to their patron.

Divine Soul Sorcerers are different in that some are the result of a, possibly distant, familial relation to a Divine being, while others have a sort of holy, prophetic destiny that marks them as vessels of Divine Magic.

Zelda is both of these things. Not only is she a direct ancestor to Hylia's mortal vessel (& depending on your hc all Zeldas could possibly be Hylia's reincarnation, this one included), but she is also one of the 2-3 central players in a cyclical destiny that repeats itself over & over again even when the main opposition in the prophecy isn't the one currently causing issues (ie. Ganondorf/Demise's bastard hate-child).

In this way, Zelda's Divine Magic is hers by blood & possibly even soul. It isn't something that was bestowed upon her for being a good little worshiper. It's hers based on genetics & possibly also her soul. As such, her magic is more likely to unlock in a different way. Possibly on a more natural level or even with a sort of emotional catalyst, which Link became for her canonically.

In this way, I think that she had all the necessary tools to unlock her powers on her own & that Hylia wasn't necessarily keeping anything from her. And, in fact, Hylia's aid likely was never needed to begin with.

Hell, if all Zeldas are actually Hylia's reincarnation, then the actual Hylia likely isn't even there in the way that Hyruleans likely think she is. The Goddess Statues more than likely being inhabited by Hylia's bunshin. Which is a sort of ability that Japanese deities have to split themselves up into regional rulers of sort & act on the source god's behalf.

Ergo, if Hylia is being reincarnated in the same way that Link is, then the "Hylias" possessing the statues are not actually her & most likely don't have her full power. Merely acting as guardians of Hyrule & guides for the Hero.

At the same time, a lot of people seem to be under the impression that if gods are real, then they should just make everything better, but all that would do is make people reliant on them to an unhealthy degree. Like, it's one thing to ask for help when you need it, it's another to just not be able to do things on your own. We also don't really know the rules involving interference in mortal lives. There could easily be a very strict protocol in place with dire consequences if it's breached.

Anyway, more than anything, I think 1 issue is that Zelda, & in fact everyone else, expected Hylia to just give Zelda her powers when she already had them. Like, yes, Zelda was working hard to unlock her powers. Breaking her back & probably getting herself sick doing so, but that doesn't negate the fact that said work seemed to almost entirely rely on praying & asking for help from the goddess.

In a lot of ways, I think she would've unlocked her magic more easily if she'd gone about it as if it were any other form of magic. Specifically, the way a Sorcerer would.

—

However, it's also possible that if her magic is also based partially on faith, then while it may be in a similar way to that of a Cleric, I don't believe it to be altogether the same. Which could, in itself, be the reason she was having so much trouble. What I mean is that she, just as a person, is much more cerebral, secular, & scientifically-minded than any of the other princesses that we've seen so far.

That isn't to say that these are bad things as they make her who she is. A very bright, intelligent, inquisitive, compassionate person.

More so, this issue is likely a result of one possible side-effect of these qualities. In much a similar way to how being hardworking & determined can result in someone being stubborn or hard-headed. Or how honesty, having both feet on the ground, & having a firm grasp on reality can result in bluntness, sometimes to the point of seeming insensitive of other's feelings & perspectives. Or any number of things.

Zelda, just as an individual, needs to know & understand things as most with a scientific mind do (I tend to be very logic & rule-oriented, personally). And the thing is that, a really big part of faith is being able to let go of that need to know why or how, which I think that this particular Zelda would have difficulties with.

At the same time, I don't think that the faith she needs has much to do with faith in Hylia per se, nor even in her own destiny, as like I said before, Zelda's magic isn't on loan the way a Cleric's generally is. Yes, it originally came from Hylia, but that's because she is Hylia's descendant. More so, it's possible that what she needed, at least in part, was faith in herself.

I see Zelda as having lost a lot of confidence in herself due to her own perceived repeated failures. Which ends up resulting in her, essentially, getting in her own way.

In my mind, when Link was about to die, she suddenly didn't have time to doubt herself anymore, so when adding this fact to him acting as a sort of emotional catalyst for her, it caused a bit of an explosion of Divine Magic.

As for why she didn't do this in reaction to her father? To put it frankly, she simply wasn't there to see it & thus didn't experience the same immediate urgency that she did with Link as she was literally right there for that. In fact, I can almost guarantee that had she been there when her father was about to be killed, then she absolutely would've activated her magic in order to save him just like she did canonically with Link.

---

It's also possible that motivation could've played a role.

---

Edit: Something I came across a while ago that might also have contributed to her problems.

@skyloftian-nutcase - "This Zelda wants for the pieces to just fit but she can't figure it out, and instead of doing some introspection she just continues to look for alternatives. When she does do introspection, it's just to ask why she's defective. Things just need to make sense. I feel like an attitude like this implies that 1, Zelda has no instructor and therefore never learned how to learn, and 2, that implies that everything else she's good at has come naturally to her, such as technology. This girl is a scientist! Who has not learned the scientific method! Though she does try experiments, as poor Link can attest. "

She brings up a very good point! It's very possible that this may well be the case!

I recommend reading the whole post. There's def some good insights.

Zelda's Personality

LoZ Wild Masterlist

[jester-creates]

Full list of most of my ocs

ill just list important stuff about them (and maybe some bits on au versions of them.) Under read more cause this is going to be long. maybe a two parter. Feel free to ask about any of them

Oliver (known as Shifting Baker in the oc title ask game

I Have a few consistent traits for him. He is always on the range of Hard of Hearing to Deaf. He is always a shapeshifter(cause of which changes depending on the version). He is almost always transmasc, Biromantic and ace. He also always has naturally white hair. He loves baking

some versions of him (plus nicknames):

Playdo (Tma version of oliver)

he's almost fully a Stranger avatar after he got erased from memory after a very dumb wish. uses a hearing aid. has a boyfriend. Gets regular scam calls from the circus. (There's another au version of him where he got taken by the Circus)

Expo (Experiment au Oliver)

ditto hybrid after experimentation stuff. (au is partly inspired by Chained Wings by Vampirebadger) Fully Deaf, uses notepad or phone to mainly communicate, eventually learns sign. (i ended up shipping him with Nemona). Also loves to battle.

Change-o (pla pirate au version)

He's a Changeling here. with one level in rogue. shows up for at least one arc.

---

Juliana (she was originally the sv female mc but i changed enough about her that she is an oc now. i never got a better name)(aka Chaotic One in the title ask game)

consistent traits for her:

Oliver's sister (whether biological or self appointed). also typically has white hair. She's a lesbian.

some versions of her(no nicknames yet):

Tma version

biological twin to Oliver. randomly noticed a person in old family photos that she swore was never there before and goes down a rabbit hole of finding more and more evidence of an entire sibling she forgot about

Experiment au version

Miraidon hybrid after unethical science in area zero. twin to Oliver as well but they don't find that out for a while. (ended up shipping her with penny)

pla pirate au version

She's a Goblin here and runs a scam with Oliver. Shows up in at least one arc in this au.

---

Cassandra Achroma (aka the Victorian Biologist)

She is a Colress ancestor oc that I solely use in Experiment au. She does a lot in that au though. She's also Aroace (but very invested in her coworkers love life. It's free entertainment). She's also technically the cause of her own time loop.

---

Brittle (aka The Ghost)

And then there's Brittle... She's dead.

She is also transfem and French. Her full name is Peanut Brittle. She named herself.

Experiment au version

She's a rotom after she dies due to science gone wrong. ends up haunting two of the scientists after that. ends up being caught by Juliana somehow

Pirate au version

Reborn (undead) human. lives with Scarlet. (may also be part of the scam Oliver and juliana are doing)

---

Scarlet (Aka Feral Flower)

Became an oc after i made a joke character who is a floette that knows Bite and got attached to her. No matter what amount of class or refinery it eventually puts on, she is always itching for a fight and it's clear that it wants one. She's always heavily related to plants.

Experiment au version

Just a flabebe/floette/Florges that knows Bite. She gets better at not biting things as it gets older. It was caught by Juliana in a dark tera raid.

Pirate au version

A summer Eladrin (Feywild elf). She has levels in Barbarian and Druid. Always ready to fight. Lives with Brittle.

---

Tees (aka The Singing Soldier)(originally my dnd pc)

It's a robot with sentience forced upon it. As well as a moustache. It likes the moustache though. It was not built for war or fighting, even though it ended up doing a lot of that, but instead to be a performance (like one of those guys who advertise war) and for moral support (its preprogrammed stuff was not that good at it, very superficial.) It speaks with a British accent. It is compulsed to follow any order given to it.

Tma version

This version of Tees was one of the automatons at that one version of the Unknowing in the 1700's. It gained sentience after the ritual collapsed, likely due to a bit of Slaughter shrapnel finding it's way into it. It starts wandering trying to fill the void of its purpose. All the while the Slaughter shrapnel begins to corrupt its alignment to the Stranger until so little of it is left that Tees begins to have an identity. It ends up fighting in a couple wars before being kidnapped by the Circus (cause it was part of that older Stranger ritual). Makes friends with an au version of Playdo who also got kidnapped for being a Stranger avatar in the wrong place and wrong time.

Original dnd character

Definitely not haunted and given sentience and magic due from its dead friends (who are definitely not an off-brand version of the Mechanisms). Made for moral support forced to babysit the rest of the party. Once scared off a Death God.

---

Marcus Quillia (aka the Burned Detective)

One of my oldest ocs. A Private detective who was in a fire directly related to the death of his cousin/best friend. He then wants revenge against what took his cousin from him. He also got fire powers from that fire. He has black and white peppered hair after it.

Marked (ocverse) version

A private detective who tends to be hired by the police. He has a personal vendetta against the international thief known as Jester after an insane Rube Goldberg series of coincidences made it look like they were the ones who killed his cousin. (Actually due to a different oc I'm still formulating so not on this list yet) way too complicated to get into here. He gets a therapy dog after the fire.

he has the Mark of The Burned

Tma version

he was marked and attacked by a Desolation creature which sparked a hatred of Monsters (Fear creatures and avatars specifically). 1 step away from becoming full Hunt/desolation avatar, 1 or two especially cruel kills to throw away his humanity.

he is really good at his job though (thanks to that hunt alignment). he manages to find a person erased from memory years ago even after they changed their gender. (Juliana hired him to find Oliver). (he also later tries to kill oliver because he accidentally did a Stranger avatar thing in front of him.) (in the version where Oliver gets kidnapped, he does manage to help (by getting his killing monsters fix from other circus members)

---

Jester (aka masked Jesters)(not my sona)

surprisingly i only use these guys in my ocverse.

They are a pretty famous thief, loving to rob things and maybe return things if they feel like it. Accidentally managed to get framed for murder during.

they have DID even if it's a bit magically different from standard. they have 4 personalities.

they have the Mark of The Masked. they have three masks that they can switch between for specific powers. this comes with a few drawbacks. each mask is only tied to one of the personalities and only functions when they put it fully on and its assigned personality is fronting and the only remotely responsible one is not tied to any of these masks.

I'll probably explain more in a different post.

---

Arthur (Aka King Of Stories)

He's an amnesiac with a texan accent who woke up in a fantasy land (modded minecraft) and eventually finds a kid, whom he adopts(Sigyn <3). He ends up getting mainly involved with fire magic. he names most of the things he tames/adopts after the myths he remembers

he was a ex-soldier who later went into museum curation before he got isekai'd. he's wearing his uniform still but it's been through a lot and he's repaired it with magical thread.

He may or may not have committed necromancy and he may or may not be covering up the permanent scar with a mask he found while exploring. A father's love can bring them to some dark places.

he's also taken up sewing recently

Tma au version

He's still an ex-soldier turned museum curator here, but that changes when the Eyepocalyse comes around. He was one of those who didn't exactly feel Fear after an encounter so he can roam the domains, but of course the Eyepocalyse had to change that and gave him someone to Fear for. (Sigyn <3) She joins him as he roams the domains but now the creatures/domain people will notice them as they move. When they attack, they don't go for Arthur, they go for Sigyn instead.

He's a bit Desolation aligned so he can have fire powers. His main weapon he uses to attack is a axe/Labrys he stole from the museum he worked at when the eyepocalypse started.

He does end up fighting some avatars as he goes through domains

---

Sigyn (<3) (aka young Witch)

She's an adaptation of a modded minecraft npc I got attached to.

She's a young witch/wixie (not human though) approximately a 7 year old, but still very knowledgeable about potions.

Arthur found her after he got a request from a paranoid cleric to see if someone was breaking into their church thing while they slept. Sigyn was actually doing so, to try to teach herself to read and to use the potion stand in the church.

She can fly using her broom.

TMA au version

Arthur finds her in a domain dedicated to the Corruption. She was the avatar in charge of it, a child giving adults poisonous potions they cant refuse, too young to really understand what she's doing to them or what's happening with the apocalypse. She ends up going with Arthur as he roams, looking for any safe haven in this apocalypse.

---

Wilhelm von Wolfgang

He's a rich bastard (/affectionate). He is his country's greatest violator of labor laws but keeps getting out of it cause he's rich. I hate him. He's one of my favorite characters to write/play as. He cannot stand still without the aid of a cane. He's basically like if a werewolf was a capitalist in both forms. His view of people poorer than him oscillates between 'I can use them' and 'I never want to see them again'. He's neutral evil. He will skip any corner to make more money. I love him.

---

Acheron Atropos

he's a goth king literally. I made him for a friend's (@/shattered-hue) ocverse where we made characters based based off of bugs and plants and Acheron was made from the Death's Head Moth, whose scientific name is where i pulled his name from.

(still working a bit on him)

---

Sylvan (aka Traveling Librarian)

Sylvan becomes a Head Librarian of a Branch of an Infinite Library after they manage to survive to basically the end of his universe after one of the worst outcomes of 2020, which was all the Stars decided to poof due to multiverse reasons.

he occasionally visits other universes to just get Stories. As an Infinite Library always has room for more books.

---

Virginia Berry(aka the Captain)

From my ocverse: Marked. She has a tattoo of a ship on her back that she can turn into an actual ship that she can control. She has the Mark of the Captain.

I got her name by putting together two of the more famous female pirates.

---

[somehow unnamed as of yet](Aka Truth's artist)

from my ocverse. they have the ability to see a person's greatest secret drawn onto them. (as a general example, a person whose greatest secret is that they killed someone would would have blood drawn onto them). it can be very visually overstimulating for them at times. They ended up getting a (rather bad) job for the government, cause despite how old these "Marks" are they're still rather unknown.

[ranger-tater]

Quivers! (but jumbled because I’m writing this at work before the thought leaves)

Probably one of my favourite things to talk about next to the bows and arrows themselves. It’s a topic that’s been beaten to death by just about every archer on the internet and I’m no exception. Just instead how it relates to my beloved silly guys instead of historical accuracy or trying to gatekeep ‘real archery’ (cough Lars Anderson cough. He’s problematic as it is anyways.)

All quivers have issues, there’s pros and cons to all of them, and just plain personal preference. As well as what the task at hand is. (Shooting from a relatively fixed position, horseback archery, hunting, skirmishing, etc.) Also the quality of the quiver, but that isn’t as much as a point at the moment. We’ll assume that our beloved fantasy archers are capable of making a quiver properly. (Not too stiff, holds the arrows nicely - like collapsing in on itself, having clips/slits for the shafts - Being made to fit the body, and can move with it - especially important for back quivers)

Also extra points for pouches! Love me a quiver with a nice pouch on it. Even more points for a lil knife on the quiver strap!

I believe back quivers are more or less perfect for rangers. Regardless of if it’s Flanagan or Tolkien’s. I’m sure there’s other media that has a bit of emphasis on rangers, but I am yet to digest it in any meaningful capacity, and I can purple prose the hell out of my archery in DnD. (Also there’s not enough I can judge in most top down crpgs that I’ve played.)

By side quiver I am referring to quivers attached at the belt or close to the waist, suspended vertically and . Quivers slung over the shoulder that sit more or less horizontally by the waist are a separate matter, but similar criticisms can be applied.

I might be slightly biased, or at least come off as biased. I almost solely use a back quiver when I’m going out. If I’m just target shooting then I usually have my arrows in a tube on the ground, in my bow hand, or laying on the ground. Sometimes in my belt. The woods that I frequent are extremely thick, and I imagine thicker than the average wood that we find in Flanagan or Tolkien’s worlds. Especially the former. I have had issues of my arrows snagging on branches and such, but that’s more a problem of being 6ft and not bending down low enough when I passed them, rather than entirely the quiver’s fault. But with a side quiver, I’d likely be getting more snagged on things, as there’s plenty of saplings, plants, and bushes, as well as deadfalls to try and avoid. Especially if the quiver, and thus arrows, are held at more of an angle. If the quiver is straight up and down then there is less issue in that regard, but there’s still some problems.

Ultimately Using a quiver, regardless of style, in any thick, overgrown area is going to be a pain in the ass. (We’re excluding bow quivers here, because they’re relatively modern and also wouldn’t be ideal for any fighting.) Just going through it with anything but the bare minimum of attire would be a problem, add a strung or even unstrung bow, quiver, sword belt, and a cloak, and you’re in a world of hurt. In Halt’s Peril this is a rather important part of the story, where a cloak and all of the gear with it causes trouble in an egregiously dead and thick forest.

I personally enjoy how free my hands are when using a back quiver, I might have to tuck it under my armpit when crouching through brush, and pay extra mind when I’m passing lower hanging branches (which I have to do anyways) but I think it’s worth it. Also I can comfortably run without having to worry about being tripped by my quiver, and I don’t have to hold it to my side in case arrows want to try and spill, or back in this case. I usually do hold the strap when running, but that’s a matter of personal comfort. I also think that back quivers are simply much more comfortable for travelling, and period photos/artwork of native Americans seem to have the same conclusion.. and most people. Bags are usually worn on the back or at least slung over a shoulder. We generally seem to agree that weight is best supported on the shoulders and out of the way. Even at a walk, having a quiver at my side is extremely uncomfortable past a few yards/a short walk, and I’m constantly fussing about it.

Though most of my own issues are personal preference, and things I’ve noticed that can be problematic in my time in the woods. This is only about my take on rangers/general hunters and woodsmen. There’s a lot of things that side quivers are perfect for! There’s nothing wrong with liking them or other styles of carrying arrows as long as they aren’t dangerous to you, your bow, or others.

Finally, onto the rangers, Ashitaka, Ötzi (guh he’s so sexy), and some miscellaneous things.

Flanagan’s rangers mostly use back quivers throughout Ranger’s Apprentice, in connection with a cloak. Which wear their quivers beneath cloaks, and probably have a flap on the cloak that opens to reveal the arrows or a slit (or both.) I am not entirely certain, as I haven’t read the books in a bit. Just going off of my own personal preferences, and usage. It seems pretty functional for them, but tbh I don’t think it really matters much about their quiver orientation, they’re written to be overpowered and close to superhuman lmfao. I think it’s safe to say though, that their quivers are probably in a Howard Hill or Bryon Ferguson style, if not as wide and a bit more compact, just going off of the capacity and such since we know they don’t use arrow bags. In The Royal Ranger it seems everyone’s pulled a Will Treaty and transitioned.. just to side quivers instead of something hot. Bleh. Of course for shooting off horseback it would make sense, but alternatively. Put arrows in the bow hand, or put the quiver on your saddle (I think that happens in TEY 1? But I might be misremembering. I for some reason remember Halt placing his quiver on the saddle pommel when driving off that Scotti raid.)

Aragorn! I’ll be going off of the movies here. Since Viggo is handsome. From my understanding, rangers like Aragorn are more or less wandering law bringers? They defend/patrol a significant portion of the lands, travelling light and on foot, and mostly providing their own food in place of rations. Aragorn himself wears a back quiver, which also stores his bow, he might have a separate sleeve for it but I don’t think so. It makes sense, travelling light, and as a swordsman mostly, he doesn’t need either getting in his way. Though his quiver is definitely a bit low, and he’d probably have to pull on the strap to get it all the way to comfortably draw an arrow, but that makes sense! There’s some longsword guards that you wouldn’t be able to perform with arrows in the way.

Ötzi the Iceman! My beloved discovery. His quiver was likely worn on the back, with an interesting design of a flap that covers the upper portion of the shafts, and can be easily enough flipped away to access them. Aside from looking so hot, the arrows are protected entirely, rain, mud, snow, and other muck can’t get in there and cause problems, or dampen feathers until the time to shoot. Ever a good feature to have. Imo a design that would be perfect for rangers/hunters/woodsmen/ or men herding sheep/goats like Ötzi might have done. (The man in the Ice, by Konrad Spindler mentions this as a possible occupation for the iceman.)

Ashitaka is a ranger and I won’t hear otherwise. He is practically perfect for it. His quiver design is much like Ötzi’s but without the flap or extra bits of storage. I also think the strap is much longer and of varying lengths he can tie. Seeing as he wears it slung across his shoulder in a sort of side quiver configuration when he’s mounted during the first fight with the samurai. All the same it’s functional and I love it and Ashitaka.

Indigenous cultures have a good amount of diversity in quivers. There’s everything! Back, side, over the shoulder, in a sort of belt across the waist in all manner of ways, Bow cases and bow sleeves in the quiver itself! There’s a lot of amazing stuff there. There’s a good few different styles of asiatic quivers as well, but I’m not so well versed in those! They’re just as cool and I would again recommend looking into them! Please ask me questions. Please.

Edit!!! I forgot to mention noise! If your quiver is made well, and holds arrows correctly, and you’re not running at a full sprint or jumping around. Then the fletchings aren’t likely to rub together too much, and even when they do, it won’t be terrible. There’s enough noise out there it might not be heard as long as the fletchings aren’t constantly brushing one another.

[unsurebisexualcore]

Can i just say theres just something so genuinely beautiful and relatable about Will and the show helping Noah realize his sexual identity and coming to terms with being gay? Like as someone who essentially grew up alongside the show, i think its less the characters and more the effect they have on you that just makes them inherently relatable, you know? Like not all of us are up and coming journalists, single moms and police chiefs, best friends with our teachers, part of a dnd club, on the basketball team etc, and I highly doubt any of us are fighting off supernatural creatures controlled by a burned blond man (if you are call me up i want in), but there's almost like a companionship between the viewer and the show where the characters are so fleshed out and well-developed they feel like real people entirely separate from you, yet at the same time every single one of them has a mirror reflecting parts of yourself back onto you. I know personality-wise Will and I have absolutely nothing in common, we're nearly polar opposites, but theres a reason I cried so hard my eyes burned and my chest hurt during his monologue, because being in the closet to everyone you know and love is hard. For Mike, feeling unwanted and unimportant is something a lot of people can relate to, and its hard. Even for characters like Barb, Bob and Alexei, all supposedly secondary characters, theres still something that's fundamentally human about them, something that makes us develop such a strong attachment to their characters despite them only existing for a couple episodes. Like theres something about the show that makes people find themselves inside the screen, whether its something they knew or something they're discovering for the first time. And I think Shawn Levy put it best: "that may be one of the most beautiful outcome of 'Stranger Things' that I've ever heard"

[crossdressingdeath]

Astarion: Nearly two hundred years and I never came back. Not since the night I woke up down there. Astarion: I had to punch a hole in the coffin and claw my way through six feet of dirt. Astarion: Then when I finally broke the surface, retching up dirt and congealed blood, Cazador was waiting. Astarion: From that day on I was his. Until today. Kyvir: You were never his. Whatever he had, he took by force. Astarion: Maybe, but he did take it. There's almost nothing left of the person I was. Just a name on a rock. Astarion: For nearly two centuries I stalked the streets like a ghost while the person I was lay here, dead and buried. Astarion: Now I need to figure out who I am. What I want. Kyvir: You're the person I love. The person I want. Astarion: I feel the same. Astarion: You were by my side through all of this. Through bloodlust and pain and misery. You were patient. You cared. You trusted me when that was an objectively stupid thing to do. Astarion: I feel safe with you. Seen. And whatever the future holds for me, I don't want to lose that. Kyvir: You won't. Whatever comes next, I've got you. Astarion: Thank you. Astarion: Well, I should probably fix this. ... Kyvir: Pick up a flower and lay it on the grave. Astarion: Cute. Astarion: I've been dead in the ground for long enough. It's time to try living again.

The imagery of Astarion having to claw his way out of his own grave... Once again, Cazador seems to have been being cruel for the sake of cruelty. Unless there's something in DnD lore that I'm not familiar with there was no reason for him to leave Astarion down there and not even clear some of the dirt away! Presumably the graveyard had emptied out by the time Astarion dug himself out, Cazador could've at least tried to help, but he chose not to.

The way Astarion glances back over at you as he's carving the new dates onto his tombstone is fantastic, I love it. The way he's having to come to terms with the fact that the person he was back then is gone and he needs to move forward is sad but also very satisfying! And it's great how having avoided his grave for almost two hundred years Astarion wants you at his side when he finally does go back. The way you can support Astarion and be there for him throughout his quest is so good. I also love how in the middle of all this serious emotional stuff there's that brief moment where Astarion just straight up says that trusting him was incredibly stupid. He's not wrong, either; you meet him when he tries to kill you, you learn he's a vampire when he tries to drink your blood in your sleep, he's constantly pushing for you to make Evil Choices, there's really very little reason to trust him! But if you do trust him and put faith in him ultimately being a good person he proves himself completely worthy of that trust. Like so many things in DnD and related media, it was very stupid but worked out perfectly. We love to see it! And him feeling safe with you when his desire for safety was a huge driving force in him wanting to go through with the ritual to begin with... hhhhhh it's so good I love it. He might not entirely know who he is right now, but he knows he is the person you love and whatever else he may end up becoming he has that for the foreseeable future!

Also, Astarion finding you putting a flower on his grave cute is fantastic. It is cute, I love that you can do that! Just a silly little gesture, but it matters.

[ivy-cat-700]

stupid shit that happened in my dnd campaigns so far

SO IVE BEEN PLAYING DND SINCE????? like either late last year or early this year. i'd wanted to for a while and when a classmate asked us all if we wanted to join her campaign. what was i supposed to do? say no??

and because every person i've played with over two campaigns is an absolutely ridiculous human being, we have Many silly happenings from both.

campaign 1:

Stromboli Ironfist: one of our players, a dwarf barbarian chef who started the campaign with the goal of being the best chef in the land but i think he kinda lost that over time. when he showed the name on his character sheet to the dm. she was in tears laughing.

Stromboli Jr.: the adopted goblin son of Stromboli, who adopted him immediately after killing his entire guild(? dont exactly recall). the matching names are, canonically, a complete coincidence.

housekeeping?: we were going through a dilapidated castle and every time someone asked us "what are you doing here?" in a new room, stromboli said ".......housekeeping?" and it. it never worked. except for ONE TIME. when a guard rolled SO LOW that they were just like "oh yeah we've been waiting on you guys!" So then we cleaned some cobwebs off the walls to keep up the act :')

throwing wolves in the fire: one of our players just kept throwing wolves in fires. that is all.

tormenting wren with milk: (wren is the character's name, not the player cause i didnt wanna put their name out there.) dm kept giving wren milk-related items and just would not stop. we were IN TEARS every time and. we ended up giving them a mcguffin of "The Strawberry Nesquik" at the end of the game. i believe that strawberry nesquik ended up being empty. the world is truly unfair to Wren Serpent. (also, wren was the one who threw wolves in fires)

Badger Milking Farm: THIS ONE HAS CONTINUED TO THE PRESENT DAY. during one of the times at which wren received a Milk Item, namely Badger Milk, he was extremely confused about the existence of such a thing. my character, zora, said, "what, you don't know about badger milk? some of my most formative memories are with badger milk!" this led to the canonization of the idea that Zora Grew Up On A Badger Milking Farm.

Campaign 2:

least productive session ever: first session of the new campaign! .....we spent the entire time beating each other up and failing to go through a waterfall that was Literally Right The Fuck There. before we had a single encounter, two of us almost died.

THE APPLESAUCE: dm gave us the name of a VERY IMPORTANT AND PLOT RELEVANT ITEM, we decided to butcher the name as "The Applesauce." no matter what she renames it. we will always call it the applesauce.

not-a-puzzle: this hellish nightmare was created by stromboli's player. we spent the back half of one session and part of another trying to figure out what the hell we were supposed to do for a """"puzzle."""" i said out loud at some point, "is there something obvious we're missing here??" to which the dm and stromboli had to try very hard not to laugh. one player then decided to ask, "can i just go??" she tried the door. and. IT WASNT FUCKING LOCKED. i have a grudge i will hold for all eternity from that

zora's glasses: so the new campaign is centered around a new band of heroes trying to mend the things that our old characters royally fucked up. so we're getting to meet our old characters! and when we met zora (on the badger milking farm, mind you) she asked us to find her glasses. i told the dm that i wanted the glasses to be a pair of new year's eve novelty glasses for a year that has not happened yet. and so, that is what they became.

that is all i can think of but if i remember more. i will put them

[eldritchamy]

I’m like 77% sure that Ash is the protagonist of Uneiverse so I’m here to ask — why her? What makes her a good protagonist? Like why does the story follow her instead of someone else?

This is an EXCELLENT question. Thank you so much for asking it.

One of these days I'm gonna have to think of a working title for the first book set IN the Uneiverse so it's easier to talk about. I've had a few working titles but one of them might actually get used so I can't really drop those. For now let's call it Story Mode.

Story Mode, in the strictest sense, has a bit of an ensemble cast. There are four characters in sort of a Major Protagonist role, and around 3-4 other Supporting Protagonists, depending on how you define them based on the amount of influence they have on wherever the finalized version of the plot ends up. I have strong ideas in terms of narrative structure and general Major Events, but there's a lot of connecting tissue yet to be decided.

You're not wrong to think of Ash as the most central protagonist, though. The narrative does basically frame her as such.

There are several ways I could answer why.

She's based on my first (and by far favorite and most heavily emotionally invested) DND character. The entire concept of the story sprawled out from basically alternate versions of her story as I imagined it without the limitations of tabletop rules. The story exists because Ash is the character I imagined the story for.

Ash has some ... complicated connections to the plot that are hard to explain without saying more than I want to. The tl;dr is that there are things happening in the Uneiverse, and Ash has the most reason of all of the characters to be drawn into those events, based on both her personality and her personal connections to the world around her.

If the story WASN'T following her, it wouldn't be the same story.

Whether she's a "good" protagonist is really more up to reader interpretation. I think she is, and I want her to be, but there's whatever work I put into the story, and there's how any potential readers will respond to it.

I think she's got potential because of how deep the brainworms have been digging for the last two plus years. I think about her CONSTANTLY. Different situations she could find herself in, how she might react to them based on changing circumstances, different ways SPECIFIC CONVERSATIONS could go based on how she relates to other characters and information, etc.

I've never had a more complete sense of who a character is than I have with Ash. I know her whole brain. How she sees and interacts with the world is just innate to me at this point.

That helps a lot with figuring out how a character moves through a story. She's easy to write because I know exactly how she'll behave.

Additionally, she's COMPLICATED. She has two things she wants very much, and those things are contradictory, which is good for driving character growth and conflict.

about 15 years ago, her mother (an extraordinarily powerful angel who was a very devoted and loving parent that Ash had a good relationship with) just didn't come home one day. And Ash is desperate to know both HOW and WHY. Her mother wouldn't have just left. And the thought of what could have KEPT her from coming home is a point of both intense curiosity, and fear.

Ash wants, more than ALMOST anything else, to just have a quiet and peaceful life with her wife. And other partners.

That ALMOST does a lot of heavy lifting. But there is a straw for this camel's back, and that straw is curiosity. She can be drawn OUT of her safe zone if you dangle the right thread in front of her. And that is critical to ... basically everything that happens.

Why does Ash have such an intense need to feel safe and stay out of danger? She spent her whole life with people she thinks are more capable and powerful than her (honestly, she's not wrong). First with her mother, then with Aria, an enormously powerful witch (specifically nature-based magic, so functionally similar to a high level druid) who became her girlfriend and eventually wife. Her most significant partner OTHER than her wife is their mutual girlfriend Cass, who is a very powerful vampire assassin that used to be in a bit of an adventuring party with Aria a few years ago. Lailah, Aria, and Cass are three people that NOBODY fucks with.

And therein lies the problem.

Ash has always felt PROTECTED. And that had the consequence of making her feel exposed without it. She feels like she NEEDS protection, because she never learned how to be the strong one. She has a lot more going on with her magic than she really acknowledges, but she's never felt like she was capable of protecting herself. There's always been someone there for her. One of her most important traumas/personality flaws wasn't formed by BAD relationships, it was formed because of GOOD ones. She does have some pretty rare and potent magical abilities, but because her social circle consists of ridiculously overpowered women, she doesn't really notice as much how she compares to the average person, especially given how she uses those talents.

She has this weird, almost paradoxical thing where she definitely feels like she's cleverer than most people (she is), so trying to call her out for being more capable than she thinks (she is) doesn't really WORK because she partly DOES feel that way, but she has a blind spot that's really hard to point out to her, and she just insists that she's not as powerful as other people she knows (which is hard to correct her on because she's not really WRONG, she's just comparing herself to the wrong people, because her wife is Superpowers Georg and her girlfriend is the most powerful vampire in the world, and her mom was a LOT more powerful than any angels she's ever heard of or been able to find books about).

There are reasons Aria is that powerful. Secret reasons.

(It's trauma.)

Cass is another DEEP point of interest for me (and may get her own book that's a much lower stakes young adult vampire romance novel, set in her backstory, nearly 130 years ago).

Her tl;dr is that she got super duper murdered by noble/mob family drama (basically, her dad sucked), and someone close to her who found out about the plot not-soon-enough had a naughty naughty ancestor who dabbled in some naughty naughty magic, and that person used a spell she didn't fully understand to "not let Cassandra die". What was meant to be a protection spell ended up being a LOT more powerful than she knew (for several reasons), and it created a kind of loophole in the universe that protected Cass from death, and raised her as an unusually powerful vampire.

Basic elevator pitch lore? She died. Her body no longer has life energy of its own, but she can survive by feeding off the energy of others. That energy is best transferred to her through blood, which is basically a magical substance that binds a soul to a body. The spell used to save Cass basically FUSED her soul to her body, (trapping that body in a state of immortality) and separating the two would be EXTRAORDINARILY difficult. The spell requires energy to maintain the link, which is why she needs blood. If she takes in more energy than she needs, she can basically store a reserve of magic energy that will be used as needed to fuel various powers she has. If she keeps well ahead of her needs (she does), hunger isn't an issue unless she REALLY pushes herself and spends a ton of energy.

Her body is more or less unchanged from the day she turned, including the basic needs of a human body. She still eats and sleeps and breathes like everyone else. If she forces herself to go without those things, she can do it, but that causes her to burn through energy a lot faster, which would make her need to feed a lot more. There are limits to how much she can feed AT ONCE, because there's only so much blood you can put in a human stomach before you're gonna throw up, so burning through way too much energy too fast is not a good idea. In practice all it means is she can hold her breath for a really long time if someone tries to, like, use a gas grenade on her.

There are other things about the kind of magic used that influence the exact mechanics of it, but that's the basics. She also doesn't burn in the sun, there's no holy water or crucifixes in this world but if there were they'd have no effect, a stake to the heart is just a stab wound that itches a bit longer (and only because of splinters), etc. If there's a hard limit to what her body can't survive, she hasn't found it yet. Decapitation would probably do it, but she hasn't been eager to try that. The biggest threat to her so far has been starvation, and she only got close once, under very unusual circumstances.

After 5 paragraphs of Cass you'd probably assume she was one of the Major Protagonists, but she's actually one of the minor ones.

Central cast:

Ash

Aria

"Maze" [pending finalization]

"Nat" [pending finalization]

Ash is really the first to get pulled into the Main Quest. Aria gets involved by association, then gets pulled into the Main Quest a lot harder around what you'd probably think of as Act 2. Maze and Nat get a similar invitation to the Intro Quest Sequence soon after Ash (Ash and Aria are probably chapters 1 & 2, chapter 3 & 4 are most likely Nat and Maze).

Cass is kind of a recurring support character who shows up to help at a few critical moments.

Ally, same thing.

Ella, a character tied to Cass' backstory, will likely make the fewest appearances as a supporting character.

There's more going on that I cannot be specific about.

Structurally, I expect chapter 1 should be an introduction to Ash as a person and her place in the world, as well as some insight into what kind of story this might be. Chapter 2 connects her to the world and establishes her conflicting interests (comfortable home life vs. curiosity and pulling threads). Chapter 3 introduces Nat and some interesting bits about the setting, which hopefully drives reader curiosity. Chapter 4 should be an introduction to Maze and the relationship between these two characters. I expect chapter 5 will probably be the four coming together for the first time and getting the plot moving more significantly. Cass might be introduced around chapter 6 or 7, and then some real interesting shit is gonna start happening, and everyone is gonna realize how much Bigger the Main Quest really is. The introduction to the first "god" character (a vast understatement) is likely what really kicks off act 2, and suddenly the stakes are a LOT crazier.

You will NOT be hearing much, if anything, about Act 3. The last quarter of the story lives in my head rent free. I'm very excited about the central ANtagonists.

Thank you so much for this question!

Please ask me more.