#like he's my court jester rn. keeps me in place when I get too happy at times but also gives great advice when our problems are mutual

[blue-jos10]

love that for the current neil, nathaniel wesninski hasn't entirely ceased to exist. he's simply been demoted to one of those tiny cartoony hovering devils whispering weird shit in his ear at times.

occasionally neil listens to him and does stuff like ordering hits on rapists and the people who know neil can tell that that was just him nathanieling a moment to get things done

[revswanson]

i don't really know how to talk about why the ~lumbago~ thing being such a meme bothers me so much and why... but i really want to try and please, disclaimer or whatever, i KNOW that it's "just a joke", i'm not mad at any of you because i genuinely don't think anybody is trying to be malicious or anything

i get that it comes off as an excuse, especially with the joking tone and the general way that uncle is, and especially if you googled what lumbago is and saw that it's 'just back pain'... i get that uncle comes across as lazy and careless and like he doesn't want to work etc i've already made a post about that part

but the thing is that lumbago- lower back pain- is still caused by an injury or an illness. whether it be arthritis that is affecting him otherwise (as is incredibly common amongst older people, and as many of us know) or an injury sustained during his time with the gang/prior to. if he does have lumbago- and i don't really have much reason not to believe him, uncle is a lot of things but he isn't much of a liar- then it probably does actually hurt him. whatever is causing it or did cause it probably still causes him pain in other ways as well. growing old isn't easy or pain-free either, especially during that time when our seniors didn't have as many resources or such access to good healthcare as many do now.

and if it does hurt, i don't blame him for not wanting to work.. and he DOES work, we've talked about this ahem anyways. no, i don't blame him at all for wanting to rest his back. from the little we know about uncle we can tell that he had a pretty hard life and however it is that he ended up with lumbago, he deserves to rest. all of them do- this isn't me saying that i don't wish arthur and john and everybody else could rest because i do

everybody deserves to be able to feel safe and as painfree and rested and cared for and loved as possible, this shouldn't really be an argument in my eyes and i think that's why it all bothers me so much anyways

and at the end of the day it's kind of annoying that i can't post photos or about uncle in any way without people making lumbago jokes (not really on this site tho!!! you guys don't do it that much) and it's annoying that i can't look for like, uncle content lol, without just seeing lumbago lumbago uncle is lazy uncle sucks lumbago uncle hehe like PLEASE... he is so much more than his back pain lmfao what the heck

people want to minimize his pain and minimize his experiences while still maximizing on the humor of it all and making him out to be some court jester when he is, you know, a person albeit a fake one in a video game (gasp, i know) and he has thoughts and feelings (physical and emotional) and has had an entire life before what we see and a multitude of experiences that we will likely never know more about so we are simply left to wonder and one might think of some of the worst possibilities

uncle isn't just some court jester putting on a show for everybody.. "put me out of your majesty, your misery" he sees through anybodys shit and he expects anybody to see through his, he doesn't underestimate people, he doesn't lie and fake stuff because frankly i do think he's too lazy to do THAT.. also because he knows just how harmful putting on a charade is- he's real and if you don't like it or him and think he's just someone to laugh at that's fine but maybe i'm one of the only people who genuinely loves him as a character and wishes to know so much more about him

and i think that it's sad because in real life people minimize other people's experiences and traumas and pains especially those that we don't understand or know a lot about and man we should be working on changing that in our own lives, not furthering it all by placing these negatives on our favorite characters in our favorite medias

i think that's all i have to say about it for rn and again please keep making the jokes if they make you happy, please don't think i'm mad or calling any of you in specific out, i'm just a sensitive person and i get attached to characters like this

[multimask]

First Session of A New Campaign!

Oh man last night’s session was amazing and fun and we probably went a bit later than we should bc we were getting a bit loopy towards the end. Long post of ramblings talking about the first session under the cut

Our characters found ourselves starting in a tavern, the first time in a good long while that I as a player have started a game that way, The party consists of a neon harlequin/clown-esque shifter (tbh I picture the character like the Trickster!kids from Homestuck they were described as such a neon court jester eyesore), a wood elf empath (homebrew class that deals with all of the emotions), a gunslinger human (he’s so chill compared to that player’s previous character it’s kinda throwing us bc it’s so different lol), a kalashtar spiritualist who is royalty/nobility (? he looks like he’s got money and maybe some very pickable pockets), and my changeling rogue (who is for all intents and purposes a tabaxi to the party).

Before the session, most of us were chilling in the study room that we’d claimed that afternoon and were just generally hanging out and talking about stuff. All of the characters have their own secrets and backstory things that were still somewhat being worked out, which was amusing bc of keeping info hidden from other players. At one point, the DM was asking me questions about a significant event and NPC in my character’s backstory bc she was trying to suss out some details regarding that, but there were other players in the room and we were trying to somewhat speak in code to not give away too much but also make sure we understood each other. It was really funny and then not too long later it was just me and the DM in the room so we could speak frankly, and the DM gave me the reason for my character to be in the starting town and not the big city they were from.

Once we started, we all were able to get rolling and have fun. My character (Candle) doesn’t trust easily (they’re only with this group for the coin, they’re telling themself rn) and try to keep to themself, so it was amusing watching the rest of the party interact and get together and then one of the players was like ‘I don’t want to move on wo the last player character...’ bc Candle had been off in a corner not interacting with people. A bounty list had been put up on the tavern wall, and the other four in the party had quickly gathered around. Not one for people, Candle waited until they had all moved away enough that they could get a look at the lists.

Cue the court jester scaring the shit out of Candle. And me instantly and immediately finding a voice for Candle that hadn’t existed until I opened my mouth. Poor anxious and nervous cat. In the jester’s defense, all she did was great Candle, but Candle was busy reading the bounty list and not expecting anyone to talk to them, especially not so loudly and cheerfully.

There were some discussions and talks with the NPCs in the tavern and we were then directed to talk to the blacksmith to get some more information on the potential gnoll problem. Turns out there were gnoll attacks on the town 10 years ago and the blacksmith’s daughter was taken or killed? He wasn’t too sure, but also wasn’t too hopeful that she was alive. After we talked to him, we continued out into the rain and on to the farm where gnolls had reportedly burned crops. A couple characters were not happy bc it was dark and miserable out, but all went out.

We checked out the barn, not much there but a horse and some cows and chickens. Checked out the burnt field by the forest edge and ended up fighting some gnolls. We managed to make it out alive, but very wounded bc we’re squishy level 1′s. Headed back to town and collapsed in the tavern, where some nightly rituals were discussed (journalling everything that happened - not in Common, triple checking the locks and windows, etc.)

Next morning the drunk dude who first informed us about the gnoll problem was very hung over and we agreed to meet up at his place in a few hours after he sobered up. We went to his place in the mean time to check out the farm in the dry and sunny morning. Turns out the barn animals had been slaughtered after we left! Great. Made a wonderful trail of blood and guts and viscera to follow out into the woods to try and find the gnolls... We travelled for two hours and two hours back to give the drunk guy time to sober up.

We made it back and found the guy at his house. He was not happy about the state of his barn, and he looked absolutely awful. Like sick awful. Paladin lay-on-hands didn’t clear up whatever he had, and he ended up dying basically in his doorstep. We check out his house in case anything could give us a clue into what happened, but didn’t really find anything. Once we left his house, we spotted a gnoll peaking out of the bushes and then disappearing back into the forest. After some quick discussion, Candle goes after the gnoll, the gunslinger stays at the farmstead, and the other three go back to town.

The gunslinger goes up to the top of the barn and finds a window/opening to survey the forest and keep watch for Candle’s return. Candle is a sneaky grey cat in dark colors, and they sneaky-sneaked after the gnoll until it met up with some other gnolls - and a young human woman. The gnolls appeared to be reporting to her, and she was the right age to be the blacksmith’s daughter... Candle watched the odd group meet up and then continue back on deeper into the forest, waiting a good five/ten minutes after they left to then turn back to the farm. When Candle got close, the gunslinger came down from the barn loft and met them at the edge of the forest.

The other three members of the party returned to town to inform someone about what happened at the barn and what happened to the drunk dude, and I think a little more general info? The players were getting loopy and tired by that point, so I don’t remember much except dying of cuteness from adorable puppers on the internet

Fun session, and I’m not the only one taking notes, which is wonderful. There was one point when the party was discussing staking out the gnoll encampment in which we all stopped for a few minutes to discuss our inability as players to actually tactfully and strategically pull off a plan and reminisce over rescuing Glynwen’s brother (it started with a decent plan... and then the benny hill song started mentally playing about halfway through the execution). Will we be able to pull off a strategic and tactical plan that we make in advance, I wonder. New characters, new plots, so there’s a possibility down the road.