#my goblin is my second most thought of and played character and all that

[mbat]

apparently the draenei heritage armor was finally added to the game, and it was EVERYTHING.

like, i saw a random box on the ground and clicked on it and it was like 'hey, go to the exodar right now!!' so of course i did. and anyway big fun quest full of stuff i love loved as a fan of the draenei

but mostly what got to me was that. aughhh i feel like i can never say it right, but stuff about the draenei feel so jewish to me. and the heritage questline focused on an ancient draenei holiday, tishamaat, and dude that literally even sounds jewish but im not an expert on what does or doesnt LOL

but especially what actually happens during this holiday, it sounded so much like what i know about jewish holidays

and most of all, getting to play it on my draenei, who ive spent a lot, a LOT of time thinking about, and sortve projecting onto about this specific thing...

a big part of my draenei, koralei, is that she was born on azeroth, and didnt get to know much about her peoples culture because it just wasnt prioritized with everything going on, and what little of it was still present was barely crumbs of what it once was

and yet, she still yearned to know it, to partake in it. she takes pride in being a draenei, even though she feels like shes missing so much of it

and anyway cough cough thats TOTALLY not me projecting my jewishness onto her and my disconnection from my jewishness. but it also totally is.

so her getting to partake in the ceremony where they finally celebrate this holiday for the first time in thousands of years, and her getting to play such an important role in making it happen

ill admit it made me cry. that would be like, one of the best nights of her life tbh. i was emotional for her, but also kinda for myself, just cause like. projection and all that

great questline. the quality of the heritage questlines vary greatly in my opinion between the races, and im incredibly glad that that one wasnt one of the painful ones.

[lagomoz]

playing baldur's gate 3 while rejecting all romance paths is actually hilarious because you get a harem all gunning for the least eligible bachelorette in all the lands

-caught off guard by Gale's magic lesson turning into yearning eye contact. I just wanted to learn about magic. I would give him a fist bump if I could

-Shadowheart asks to share a drink at the party in her tent. I go hell yeah pour up!, excited to party with my buddy, and my (real life, who's watching me play) brother has to tell me she was hitting on me

-Lae'zel asks to smash right in the middle of slaughtering a bunch of goblins. we're both covered in blood. there's several dead bodies right there. the rest of the party can 100% hear and see this. I tell her no thanks and continue killing goblins. nobody brings it up again

-wasn’t entirely sure if she meant “taste me” in a sex way or a cannibalism way at first. I would’ve been more likely to say yes to the cannibalism

-I ignore the weird S&M whipping guy until my brother suggests there might be a mechanical benefit to doing it. I hadn't thought of that, I just thought the game had a random weirdo for no reason. the rest of the party watches me turn down the clearly insane sadomasochist lurking in a shady dungeon until I remember stat boosts and run off to get whipped for combat advantage

-after knocking Minthara out, I accidentally steal her underwear. I apologize and sheepishly put it back in her inventory. everything else is still stolen without remorse

-Withers tells me not to get distracted by my bosom buddy. I have to inform him that not only do I have no goddamn clue who he's referring to but that he should be far more worried about me getting distracted by literally anything else

-Gale talks about the suspension bridge effect in the shadow lands. I excitedly agree that yes, I do know about that, isn't it interesting? psychology is so cool! the fact he might be trying to imply something by bringing that up is irrelevant in the face of fun trivia. this probably makes me more attractive to him honestly

-every time Astarion casually flirts in his dialogue I ask if he means it in a bro way. I suspect he wants to kill me

-Halsin asks to hit. I stare at him, go nope! and walk off. neither of us bring it up again

-world’s most awkward brothel scene. I’m most excited about the cat

-Orin replaces the circus dryad and tries to get information from a love test. I go oh well I have nobody to do this with and carry on to gleefully enjoy the circus without ever realizing it was her

-I make Gale lick the dead spider laced with aphrodisiacs because I'm scared of spiders. he agrees to lick the dead spider. Shadowheart judges him heavily

-after refusing Mizora I continue my hobby of trying new ways to harming her. explosions, magic, whacking her over the head, biting, etc. it doesn't stick but it's about the message

-I tell off creepy blood lady for trying to pressure Astarion and then cheerfully accept her creepy offer because someone experimenting on my blood sounds perfectly fine to me. her fetish is none of my business

-Astarion’s character arc around being only valued for his sex appeal derailed by the weirdo who’s second most prevalent thought after seeing him shirtless after the rune scars is wondering what kind of undead have nipples

-Withers. Withers do you have nipples. it’s for science Withers. hey wait where are you going-

-I meet an incubus. I politely ask him to put some pants on and then if he has any tips on murdering the guy I'm here to rob

-emperor asks to smash. I bluescreen for a good minute and tell it no thanks. neither of us bring it up again

-completely missed the implication Ansur and the Emperor were a thing. I would have nuked that squid idiot so much harder if I'd known. how'd you fumble an actual dragon that bad? I'd treat Ansur right

-I’m like 90% I’ve missed some other romantic implications because I’m focused on trying to loot every single tin cup

I haven’t bathed in a month. I collect body parts. I’m dense as fuck. I never have any idea what’s going on. I forget names, directions and what we were supposed to be doing constantly. I enjoy blowing people up. everyone wants me carnally

[formulaorange]

2023 Fall Anime

This is honestly a loaded season full of new shows based on relatively new manga. Lots to look forward to

Spy x Family - Season 2 One of the most fun SJ series that have come out in a while. Season 1 was killer, high hopes for season 2.

Goblin Slayer 2 I didn't realize they were even making a second season. This was such a killer series. I'm really hoping they don't fall into the many mid-tier fantasy tropes out there in anime right now. I thought the appeal of the show was really Goblin Slayer himself and less about the lackeys along the way. So we'll see how it goes.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End This is definitely one of my highly anticipated series. It's about an elf who was part of the Hero's party and her life after he dies. (Since elves live longer) Definitely a darker take on fantasy but has some really solid fantasy and adventure vibes.

Rising of the Shield Hero - Season 3 Season 2 was pretty disappointing and slow. While this looks like it'll be more fast paced, it does look like a tournament arc of sorts. I know some aren't a fan of that kind of arc, but honestly I think it's exactly what this series needs to pick things up again. We'll see.

The Faraway Paladin - Season 2 This was legitimately one of my favourite fantasy series. I thought it was really well written and didn't rush things like other series. I'm looking forward to this season.

Sequels/Continuations: Eminence in Shadow - Season 2 killer series with an anti-hero main character. Definitely worth checking out. After-School Hanako-Kun Hanako-kun spin off Dr. Stone Season 3 - Part 2 One of the best novel concept series with nothing else in it's genre to compare to. Definitely didn't drop the ball on the recent seasons and still worth watching. Dead Mount Death Play - Part 2 One that I didn't particularly enjoy, but has a decent sized manga following. Tokyo Revengers - Tenjiku Arc The continuation of the series. Might be just me but it feels like the series fell off after the first season. The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent - Season 2 A more mature take on fantasy isekai that just started to get into romance at the end of last season. A solid combo of shoujo genres. The Ancient Magus' Bride - Season 2 Part 2 One that I haven't had a change to check out yet but have only heard good things about. Hypnosismic - Season 2 a weirdly addictive musical/rap series. Unique characters and honestly solid rap battles. One I'll be enjoying. -- Related - Paradox Live - Music battle with what looks to be the same style of animation and solid character design. Definitely worth looking at if you're a fan of Hypmic. The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse A sequel of SDS. Looks like it could be a fun watch for the fans of the series. New:

Shangri La Frontier A new manga fantasy series. This may be a horrible way to describe but it is what it is - a new age SAO- full dive fantasy game. A gamer who only plays shit games, gets into a new massively popular MMORPG and is op. One that I'm excited for because it ticks all the fantasy game boxes I like.

Undead Unluck A relatively new manga series that gained a lot of traction in the last year or two. A gory action comedy that's super chaotic and a lot of fun.

Shy Brand new hero manga series about a shy girl and her anxieties and struggles going into the hero world who grows and gains confidence as she becomes a better hero.

Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden Deductions This is a manga series that I have kept forgetting the name of so never got a chance to read but all the covers for the manga look phenomenal. Likely the anime doesn't do him justice but it is what it is. Essentially sherlock in anime form. A PI with issues and the wholesome police detective work together to solve crime. Other New Series: Green - Fantasy Pink - Romance Red - Action Purple - Drama The Kingdoms of Ruins A world where witches were hunted down by humans as science surpassed magic. A kid who was raised by a witch swears revenge on mankind. This honestly looks solid. The animations are very cool looking and the mc seems to be an anti-hero. Will be looking at this one. Under Ninja A well known manga series about modern ninjas. Definitely a unique series for this season. The Apothecary Diaries A historical medical mystery show. I've heard the name before and I've also only heard good things. Will be worth a watch. A Girl & Her Guard Dog The granddaughter of a crime syndicate goes to highschool out of town and the current young boss lies his way into the same school. Would be cute romance if it weren't for the fact she's 15 and he's 26.. Butareba - The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig What the title says. A girl finds him and the story goes from there. I'm Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness The usual light novel title. Honestly, doesn't seem as yikes as I initially thought, might just be harmless breaking the rules kinda thing. Could be fun, also a Capybara that strikes fear into people's hearts. My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer Looks like a wholesome series where an adventurer finds a baby, raises it and she becomes so strong she's busy working all the time. Just a cute father daughter relationship in a fantasy setting about her wanting to come take time to see him but being caught up in OP fantasy battles. Ragna Crimson Dragons vs Humanity - a human and a dragon team up to destroy all the dragons. Action fantasy series. Berserk of Gluttony I honestly added this because I thought it was hilarious. Looks like a combo of knock offs - the Gluttony skill from Tensura (reincarnated as a slime) and the mc being called Fate with the main girl who looks exactly like Sabre. I'll be skipping but its' here so you know.

[trashmoutth]

When I see you again (Fred Weasley x Reader)

PARTS 1. 2. female!reader, Gryffindor!reader Summary: It takes place during the Second Wizarding War, months after Bill and Fleur’s wedding. Reader is on the run after her family has been caught by the Snatchers. Loosely following cannon. Pairing: Fred Weasley x reader (mentioned) Characters: Dean Thomas, Fred Weasley (mentioned),George Weasley (mentioned), Ted Tonks (mentioned), Dirk Cresswell (mentioned) Warnings: war, mentions of death, angst, swearing, english is not my first language so there might be grammatical mistakes, capital letters, etc.

—

During the next couple of days there was a strange feeling of excitement in the air. For the first time in a while, you felt like there was something to hope for, like you had a goal. The sudden burst of adrenaline in your veins had you wandering around this old house of yours all day and all night. It was driving Dean crazy, but you didn’t care. He showed you how to replay old PotterWatch recordings, so you had them playing in the background through the day while searching through your grandma’s old books in hopes of finding something helpful.

Dean was being as supportive as he could’ve been, considering he was also aching to get in touch with his parents and sisters, however, he was reluctant to get his hopes up. You didn’t have the same problem. It wasn’t a choice for you.

“I’d tell her that her family is alive and well and desperate for news of her whereabouts. As are quite frankly, all of us here at the PotterWatch”.

When you weren’t replaying the recording, you were replaying those words in your head.

You had to find a way.

There was another resident in the house who didn’t seem to be too keen on contacting the wizarding world. A goblin named Ricbert. He was badly injured and spent most of the time resting. You couldn’t blame him for not wanting to risk exposure, not after Dean has told you everything they had to go through to get to a safe house. They were travelling with Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell and another goblin named Gornuk. They crossed miles and miles being actively hunted by the Snatchers and Death Eaters. Gornuk has split himself while apparating in a hurry and got captured. Dirk went after him while urging the others to run away, but Ted Tonks would not leave anyone behind. Unfortunately, that resulted in Dean and Ricbert having to fend for themselves.

Listening to that story made you shiver. But if anything, it made you even more determined to stop running and hiding. It wasn’t even just about seeing your family and friends again. It wasn’t just about Fred either. People were fighting for their lives! You couldn’t stay put! You had to do something!

When you weren’t practicing defensive spells, you spent your time obsessively collecting herbs and brewing healing remedies for Ricbert. It made you feel a bit better, being useful to someone. You were trying out all kinds of recipes you thought might come in handy.

You made a batch of Polyjuice Potion, Cure for boils, Antidote to Common Poisons, Antidote to Uncommon Poisons. You even tried to make Felix Felicis, but the ingredients for it were way too hard to find even in regular circumstances.

You were brewing so much that Dean eventually had to take you by the hand and force you to sit down and take a break.

“If Snape could see me now!”, you said with a tired smile.

Dean chuckled.

“He’d probably put you in detention for working too hard”.

“Ah, yes! Did you know he actually did do that to me once?”

“What, really?”

“Yeah… I wrote an essay in my third year that was accidentally a little too good. He accused me of using a magical quill and put me in detention”, you rolled your eyes.

“Blimey, what a git!”

“Well, I’ll tell you what, I’ve never tried to work too hard on my homework again!”, you laughed.

It was nice talking to Dean, the two of you became fast friends during your stay in the house. You gave each other space through the day, but in the evenings, you would sit down and enjoy each other’s company. Just like you were back in the Gryffindor common room, chatting about muggle films and sports. You found your grandparents’ stash of Firewhiskey and Nettlewine, so you’d light the fireplace and open a bottle. Ricbert also joined you on occasion.

You tried not to talk too much about PotterWatch, even though that was all you wanted to talk about, and tried avoiding mentioning Fred and George’s name completely. At least until you’ve figured out the way to find them. On the first night, you and Dean went through all the options of how to get in touch with someone from your world. Floo powder was out of question. So was sending and owl, obviously. Most importantly, even if you did find a way to send anyone a message, you wouldn’t know where to send it. Apparating to any location was an unnecessary risk, especially now that you seemed to be perfectly safe and sound for the first time in months. Not to mention the fact that you didn’t want to put Ricbert in danger just because, as he so delicately put one evening,

“You heard your boyfriend mention your name on a radio two weeks ago”.

The word “boyfriend” stupidly made your heart flutter. It wasn’t, strictly speaking, true, but you didn’t correct him. Dean didn’t question it either at the time. However, that evening, after a few glasses of Nettlewine, his curiosity got the best of him.

“So…”, he started, “You and Weasley, eh?”

“Huh?”

“You and Fred Weasley? You’re like… an item, right?”

“What makes you say that?”, you feigned surprise.

He raised his eyebrows and smirked at you.

“Oh, please!”

“No! We are just friends”, you tried to protest, but a small smile escaped your lips and betrayed you.

“Sure you are!”, Dean chuckled, “I also fall asleep every night while listening to recordings of my friend’s voices on the radio”.

“Well maybe you should, it’s very calming”, you teased.

“Besides”, you continued, “How do you know it’s not Georgie I’m listening for?”

“Oh”, he laughed, “You’re right, my apologies”.

“Why do you think they call him Tentacula?”.

He snorted and threw a pillow at you.

“Don’t put images in my head!”

“Well, you’re the one who started this conversation!”, you threw the pillow back at him.

He groaned.

“I was just being nosy, I didn’t want the details!”

“Curiosity killed the hippogriff!”

“Also…”, Dean continued, “Ginny mentioned something to me back when we were dating…”

Your heart jumped in your chest.

“About what?”, you asked as calmly as possible.

“You know… about you and Weasley… Fred, I mean”.

“What did she say?”

Dean looked at you sternly as if what he was about to say is very serious indeed, but then his face stretched into a wide grin, and he burst out laughing.

“Nothing! I just wanted to see your reaction!”

You groaned.

“Oi, Thomas, that was really low!”

“Sorry, better work on your poker face Y/LN!”, he teased you.

You rolled your eyes.

“Well, it’s not like it matters anyway. I mean… who knows if I’ll ever see him again”, your voice suddenly turned sad.

Dean’s expression softened.

“You’ll see him”, he said.

You looked at him with teary eyes and gently smiled with gratitude.

“You think so?”, you asked quietly, before you could stop yourself.

“Yes”, he replied, “We’ll find a way. But then you have to do it”.

“Do what?”

“Shoot your shot”, he said and threw a pillow at you again.

...

You’ve spent the next couple of days trying to figure out how to bring up your newest plan of sending a message to Fred and George. It seemed like a good plan; the only problem was the fact that you had no idea how to execute it.

“Dean…”, you started one afternoon.

“Yes?”, he asked.

“I’ve figured it out”, you said slowly.

“You have?”, he jumped in excitement.

“Yes… sort of”.

“What does that mean?”

“Well…”, you started, “There might be a way to send someone a message without having to know exactly where they are, I think… but it requires a really powerful witch or wizard to do so”.

“I’m not worried about that part!”, he winked at you.

You laughed bitterly.

“I don’t know, mate. I’ve never been able to do it before… that’s why I didn’t bring it up until now”.

“What is it?”, his voice suddenly got a bit more serious.

You took a deep breath.

“The thing is… you can send someone a message using the Patronus charm”.

“You can?”, he asked in a surprise.

“Yes”, you replied, “I’ve seen it”.

The image of a silver, gleaming lynx with a voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt suddenly entered your mind.

“Well, that’s… good news, right?”, Dean asked.

You sighed.

“Yes… and no”.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… I’ve never been able to produce a corporal Patronus before… and even if I did it, I have no idea how to get it to send someone a message!”, you said, with slight frustration in your voice.

“Oh…”, Dean said.

“Can you produce it?”

He shook his head.

“No… never been able to”.

“Well… that’s why I didn’t say anything until now… but it seems like it might be the only option we have left”.

He looked at you in disbelief.

“What kind of option is that? We’d have to become able to produce a corporal Patronus, and then we’d also have to somehow figure out a way to make it reach someone else for us… it would take us weeks, months, maybe even years!”

“You have somewhere to be?”, you asked sarcastically.

He sighed.

“No…”

“Well, then… unless you can come up with a better plan, I suggest you roll up your sleeves and start practicing the charm!”, you said in a tone of voice that reminded you a bit of Professor McGonagall.

A similar thought has clearly crossed Dean’s mind, because he smirked at you and said,

“Yes, professor!”

You softened your expression and smiled at him.

The following couple of days were spent by your useless attempts to preform the Patronus charm. When you weren’t whispering, mumbling, or screaming:

“Expecto Patronum!”

you were cooped up in your room, reading your grandmas old books, trying to find anything at all about the Patronus charm. It was hopeless.

To be fair, you managed to produce a glowing, silver shield that danced around the room, but there was no sign of fur, tail, claws, hooves, or anything like that. It was driving you mad, which, obviously, wasn’t helpful while trying to focus on your happiest memories.

One evening, as you were lying in your bed and rewinding old recordings of PotterWatch, a shocking realisation suddenly hit you.

Of course you would not be able to create a Patronus, you didn’t have a memory that was strong enough! All your happiest thoughts were somehow tainted by the fact that you were here, locked inside a safe house, completely isolated from the people that you loved the most. But if you could do it… If you could be strong enough to perform the spell…

You didn’t have a happiest memory because all of them were set in the future! And you held the power to make them into reality!

It was a paradoxical thought, but the realisation made your heart fill up with hope, and perhaps, that could be enough to summon a Patronus!

You jumped out of the bed, in a sudden rush of adrenaline, and raised your wand.

You closed your eyes.

What would make you happy? What is the happiest thing you can think of at this very moment?

An image of your parents glimmered in your mind. They were smiling at you while embracing you into a tight hug.

Then another image appeared. Your friends! George Weasley gifting you one of his infectious smiles and congratulating you on a spell well-done! Lee Jordan, shaking your hand and kissing your cheeks.

A small grin appeared on your lips.

It was working!

Then, you saw his face. Fred.

His flaming red locks and glistening eyes. He reached his hands towards you and pulled you in his arms. You knew his scent all too well. He smelled of cinnamon and fireworks. He didn’t say anything to you, and you didn’t say anything to him. You just stood there, embracing. No words were needed.

You felt your heart swell up as happy tears started to fill your eyes. You took a deep breath.

You were almost there!

You raised your wand higher and pictured yourself as exactly the person you wanted to be in this very moment. You were strong enough to summon a Patronus. You were clever enough to reach your friends. You were brave enough to protect Ricbert and Dean. You could do it! You just had to believe in it!

“Excpecto Patronum”, you whispered.

A beam of silver light shot out of your wand. It seemed to be forming into a shape.

Was that a claw? Or maybe antlers?

The beautiful silver light blazing from your wand gave you more confidence, so you repeated, this time more loudly and more clearly,

“Excpecto Patronum!”

This time the light started to form into a shape a lot more distinctively. You watched in an awe as you tried to figure out what animal in reminded you of, still focusing hard on your happy thoughts.

The silver light fell apart once again, but you didn’t get discouraged. You were certain this time you’d do it. You took a deep breath and pictured Fred’s smiling face. His eyes. His voice. His laughter… You’ll see him again! You will! You were so close…

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!”, you yelled out.

The light shooting out of your wand was almost blinding this time. You squinted as you watched it prance around the room, forming into a shape of a beautiful, silvery creature. After it made a circle around the room it stopped right in front of you, looking at you with its intelligent, glowing eyes. You gasped in awe and reached for it to touch it. You recognized it instantly.

It was a (your Patronus).

You did it!

The realisation made a surge of euphoric sensation shoot through your body.

You fucking did it!

You started laughing. You wanted to call for Dean, but you were worried the animal would disappear if you did that. So, instead, you just stood there, trying to get your brain to start working again. As soon as it did, another thought has crossed your mind.

What now?

That’s right! Summoning a Patronus was only a part of the problem. As happy as you were to have succeeded, you still didn’t know how to fulfil the other part.

What if I just… ask?

it was a silly thought. And yet…

It couldn’t hurt!

You struggled for a moment to find your voice. Your Patronus was still looking at you. It seemed like it already knew what you were about to do.

“Can you… help me?”, you heard yourself say stupidly.

The Patronus blinked.

“I need to send a message… to Fred Weasley. He’s… my best friend. Perhaps you already know that…?”

The animal didn’t move or react in any way that would make it seem like it understood you. You groaned in frustration.

“Well, it was worth a shot”, you mumbled.

The frustration in your voice made the Patronus start to slowly fade out. It made you panic for a moment, but then you let it go.

If you could summon it once, you can do it again!

However, the Patronus didn’t disappear, you realized a second later. Instead, it turned itself into a tiny, floating ball of light that began slowly approaching you. Just when you thought it was about to stop, it went straight inside your neck and nested itself at the bottom of your throat.

“What the…”, you spoke in a surprise.

And then you froze in shock. You could hear your own voice, just like it was magically enhanced by Sonorous. However, you had a strange feeling that if anyone else was around you, they would only see you open your mouth and silently move it like a fish.

“Did I… do it?”, you asked.

You were still hearing your own voice inside your head. That must be it! It must be working!

“Fred…”, you started, “If you can hear me… if this reaches you somehow… I’m safe. I’m in a safe location. I can’t tell you exactly where it is, it’s heavily protected…”.

You thought for a moment about what you should and shouldn’t say. You didn’t want to compromise anyone’s safety if this message was heard by someone else.

“If you can reach my parents, would you tell them I’m okay?”, you asked.

There were so many things that you dreamt about saying to him if you got the chance, and now… it felt like there was nothing on your mind.

“Oh, I’m with Dean Thomas!”, you remembered suddenly, “He’s safe too… we’re with a goblin named Ricbert… Fred…”.

You took a deep breath.

“If you can… try to find me… please”.

Just when you started thinking about how silly that sounded, the ball of light nested in your throat flew out. It reached the middle of the room and slowly transformed back into its corporal form. The beautiful, shimmering animal stood before you once again, only this time there was a little ball of light flickering in its neck. You realised, in amazement, that that was your voice.

“Find Fred Weasley… please”, you said pleadingly.

The Patronus blinked at you once again, like it perfectly understood the assignment you just gave it, and slowly began to fade out.

For a second or two you did not move. You were still a bit unsure that what you just saw really happened. You wanted to call Dean and tell him all about it, but before you could do that, you felt yourself slowly sinking into bed. You were exhausted.

You didn’t know for sure how long you slept. Was it five hours or five minutes. You only knew that in one moment your eyes were shut and you were sleeping, and in another something in the room has made you groan out in frustration.

Did somebody turn on the light?

“Turn… it… off…”, you mumbled as you tried to cover your closed eyes with a pillow.

But it felt like the light was burning through the pillowcase. You threw the pillow away and sat up straight, like someone had just pinched you.

Your eyes widened in shock. Something was in the room with you. Through the haze of sleepiness, it looked like another glowing ball of light, only this ball was a lot larger than the one you had summoned. It made a few circles around the room before it finally settled and landed at the top of the pillow you just threw away. It was a bird. A magpie. A glowing, silvery magpie! It was spreading its shimmering wings and looking at you like it wanted your undivided attention.

Another Patronus, you realised.

Your mouth had gone dry from suspense. Then, the bird opened its silver beak and spoke in the voice of Fred Weasley,

“Y/N? Is that really you?”

Your heart stopped.

—

[meeravandaseera]

Recently, I had sketched a fan-depiction of the Forever Blue or Endless Ocean crew, including the fellows of the first Endless Ocean, the second Endless Ocean 2 (Blue World) and the third Endless Ocean Luminous that came out in this year, allowing the sea-ries to surface from the depths of acknowledgments once more. The initial sea-ries was made by Arika on the Wii during the late 2000s and some even describe it as being part of the Frutiger Aero aesthetic.

This videogame sea-ries is one of my most beloved I ever got to witness. I had found it in the first tide in my local library and borrowed it to play on my Wii. My first experience was the second game. At first, I did not think too much of it, but then I was stunned by the fascinating aspect to free roam across the oceans and the sublime scenery, including the awe-inspiring music. The music is shrimply splendid and sparked my adoration for the Celtic Woman music group. For unknowing fellows, it comprises of very mysterious or glorious tunes. The game is as ambiguous as the ocean itself. Many situations are mysterious, scary or outright beautiful and triumphant. It really allows one to directly immerse into the story, especially with the amazing music. My first real encounter with this charm was in the Gatama Atoll upon encountering the Blue Cliff. It sent my mind to such a state in which I was both petrified and admiring it because of the music as if I really was seeing in it before my eyes in life. It was a rather surreal experience. Now, the story itself is deep and down-to-earth in many aspects, but I still wonder how they got to travel in one day across the planet to the other side in just one day with no troubles, dude. The well-made, magical cutscenes that are played often "out of the blue" contribute to the immersion and charm a lot like upon discovering some certain sea creature. All the story's fellows have their own amazing personality, enabling the story to become something utterly fin-tastic. I based the sketch of mine on the personalities of the crew, including how Gaston Gray is depicted by the side of Hayako since he would supposedly "jokingly" flirt with her ingame, which is not a direct reference here but only a note in order to allude to that. Nancy would perhaps not be part of the crew directly, yet I featured her since she provides them with essential equipment and helps out. Here she is holding a treasure which she analyzed from the player, perhaps a bar or small treasure box. Do not get me started on the whimsical comfort that it brings. Little details like the fellows saying something upon looking at a sea creature or just being able to play the guitar after finishing the quest enraptures me. The game surfaced my deep-found finterest in the oceans' life. While I had already adored nautical topics, this game ascended my expectations. It lit my liking for goblin sharks and siphonophores, for example. It was so educational and allowed curiousity to flourish. When my borrowed copy of the game had to be returned back then, I panicked because I did not know that the save file is not stored on the CD, but on the console. Mind ye, I once had borrowed an Ariel mermaid game for the Nintendo DS whose saves were stored on the chip and not on the console. I was also scared that my progress would be lost because initially I had lost some because I did not know that I had to manually save in Endless Ocean itself. While I explored and found the diving logbook, I originally did not think that it was meant for saving the game. In the first tide, I thought I would be able to write down notes for myself in that book. However, when I got a copy once more as a gift, I continued to swim through the waters of the game with optimism, relieved that the progress was not lost to the waves.

Depiction of Silvia the goblin shark from 2023, a friend of one of my original characters named Sirena/Serena/Searena who is a waterperson. Earlier Silvia was not a goblin shark, yet later versions were inspired by the goblin sharks in EO.

Anyhow, I would play this for days on end. My favorite aspect was to customize my diver to my liking and create stories in my mind. Their name was Lilija, a name I used to admire and would have liked to be called. At first, my standard diving suit would be pink and purple, my favorite colors at the time. Later into the story, I would select the diving suit with the purple and pink scaly pattern and imagine they would be a legged mermaid that could dive in the oceans and transform back into a human form. They would have a fish-tailed mermaid sibling visiting them on the Nineball island to communicate or deliver news. One of their other friends would be one of the dolphins or whales, living with them among the waves of the "endless" oceans. Lilija would ride on one of them. However, when I got the shark suit after I befriended the dolphins, I would imagine them to be an anthropomorphic shark who could shapeshift into a human ashore, similar to the Fijian Dakuwaqa or the dogfish-people from Haida mythology. The latest form of her would be the brown greenish scaled monster diving suit, reminiscent of the first one, but with the dorsal fin and gills of the shark. In all of these forms, my character would help out the diving service mostly, but other tides I imagined they would get caught by some divers and put into the aquarium.

"Human Shark" depictions from 2020, the latter used as a thumbnail for one of my videos on playing EO despite the design not being used. They used to be called Lilija and in ca. 2020 they were renamed to Shona, the human shark because I saw the prior name as not very suitable anymore.

I also loved all of the quests. It was flooded to the brim with finteresting ones that I sought after to complete. One aspect that bothers me would be the titles. Most of them are way too tedious and almost impossible to master without a guide!

After the second game, I got the first. That one's music was, if not, just as great. I loved that one almost as the second, but it felt more lonely and not as lively, especially because of the difficult-to-find sea creatures, areas and artifacts. It felt like an eternity to lurk around and find them, but this may also add to its stark mystery. The map is beautiful, but not as diverse as the ones from the second game. However, there is much hidden lore within the game. It's not as up-beat as the second game, but still as deep and finteresting. I adored the ruins, mermaid palace cave and the ship that one could get to steer around, including the ghost ship that would spook. That one was so mysterious.

Now, I never got to play Luminous and I do not really think I will. I had solely seen gameplay. It does not seem like a sequel to the prior ones, more like an finspired game, despite me having anticipated a third game for years. While it does account for the "endless" ocean unlike the preceding games with its maps that can be newly generated every tide, it is more just of a diving simulator with not too much of an immersive story to follow. Unlike the first games, it lacks the personality of the immersive feeling that the preceding ones portrayed. What the prior games lured me with was their magic and mystery in regards to their story. It felt like an established narrative waiting to be uncovered, but the third game feels a bit overwhelming, perhaps hollow since it only goes on endlessly. This third game in the sea-ries feels a little out of the tide, especially because it seems like those in charge may have not perceived what made the prior games what they were. Still and all, the newest installation feels somewhat commercial and made for profit instead. Its graphics seem more artificial and "cheap" in some aspects. The maps' generation can be quite random, while it depends on what kind of map one gets since some may be good, in general it feels more chaotic and less polished. While prior games may be more pixelated and early-made, they were more charming than the smooth and plastic graphics of the third installation for some reason, those being not as immersive and the lighting is a bit selcouth. No people can be directly seen, only behind diving masks and even the guide is an artificial intelligence. The diver cannot be customized as diversely, but the oceans can be explored more. Many new creatures can be discovered too that were not featured in prior games, but in my opinion, some of the mythical ones seem a bit overdone, but I still adore the sea creatures of extinct tides for example. Many creatures also spawn randomly outside of natural habitats from what I have heard. I am not very fond of icy waters existing directly beside warmer ones. Anyhow, I still like that the game goes into a different, more mystical tide. One element I really like would be the emotes. However, the animations seem a bit awkward and artificial. There is also some sort of lag. When the diver stops, the transitions are stopping abruptly, the diver being pushed back a little and it feels robotic unlike in the first games. All the turns of the diver look often weird and the idle looks a bit helpless contrary to the first divers who would look more grounded and stern, the third game makes the diver more cartoonish and playful. It reminds me of cheaply-made diving simulators on mobile that I would play and get disappointed from, unfortunately. Actually, the animation of the third game really resembles those mobile ones very much. The more global multiplayer aspect seems amazing unlike in the first games where only few got to encounter each other, if one knew someone with a capability of the wii wifi feature in the first tide. What I like story-based is the ancient tablet story as it seems finteresting to an extent, but one has to grind a lot just to unlock parts of it. One of my notes alongside would be the reference to the ancient civilization being named "Oannes", the merman of Mesopotamian mythology who brought civilization much knowledge. In the second game, the "Okeanides" civilization is based on the oceanids, the ocean nymphs of Greek mythology, female humanoid sea spirits. In spite of my view being more negative, the game is still good in its own tide. It can be enjoyed in its own tide absent of the classic games. Of course I do not have much of an acclaimed saying because I never played it yet, but this is just what I observed so far. Shorely I am more accustomed to the classic games and my personal expectations were just not met, residing in the past rather than the present.

In all games I adore the educational, mythology and folklore aspects.

Every game in the sea-ries is still great in its own tide and many should be enjoyed on their own! I am very grateful for the developers who made the sea-ries. Thank you for the Endless Ocean Wiki crew for having made the knowledge of the sea-ries accessible in order to help fellows find all knowledge of the sea-ries. Without it, it would not be very sea-sy.

May the new tide of life guide one well

[night-unfurls-its-splendour]

Hi! I was just wondering who's your favorite phantom actor?

Can be from any Poto play, or movie, or anything really.

I'm really curious!

This and similar questions have been popping up so much for me in the last week lol

I like to be extremely specific so I will give you a few of my favourites

I have been meaning to re-examine my favourites for a while now

So my favourite overall, my number one, my blorbo, the phantom closest to my heart is always going to be Gerard Butler. Say what you want about his singing, but ain't no other phantom ever done Pleading Eyes (tm) like that man.

For stage Phantoms the one who has a hold on my mind that just will not let go is Tim Martin Gleason. I love a tall phantom. I love that in the title song he does not order Christine to sing for him, he asks her. He conveys, with his intonation, that he asks for the honour of having her sing for him. I love how expressive he is. This man made so many choices.

Vocally I think the best singer that has ever played the phantom is John Owen Jones. But I think my favourite phantom Vocally is Tomas Ambt Kofod, because he--more than ANY other Phantom I have heard, sounds like Erik. His voice is remarkable in its smoothness and delicacy, but also very powerful.

He's also so sensual and gentle. He loves to administer loving touches and caresses to his Christine.

His final lair is also devastating

The Phantom actor I think I respect most is Ethan Freeman. This man has such a dedication to this character and to the book specifically. He refused to read Phantom by Susan Kay because he didn't want an apocryphal version of the character to influence his interpretation, which he specified modeled off of Leroux's Erik, adding touches pulled directly from the novel such as kissing (or almost kissing) the hem of Christine's robe during "Stranger Than You Dreamt It", as Erik kisses the hem of her dress in the book.

Seen here in the West End in 1995 with Jill Washington:

And here, in Essen, 11 years later with Anne Görner:

It seems that over time he evolved this moment to the point that he appears to abandon the thought before he brings it close to his lips--probably thinking he's not even worthy of touching her vestments.

He's got an almost faerie-goblin quality to his interpretation. Like he's just scuttled out of the Black Forest. He also leans into the idea of Erik-as-Magician

He's not afraid to be sensual either, though.

I think the most emotional phantom is Earl Carpenter. One of the first full boots I ever watched was Earl Carpenter with Rachel Barrel. His Music of the Night changed my brain chemistry forever. The gentleness! The vulnerability! The vacillation between confidence and fragility!!

The way he would jostle Christine a little when he caught her, his face a picture of panicked concern!

Though I think his interpretation of Erik as (for want of a better word) asexual is a little wacky (considering the text), it strangely works in favour of Erik's particular brand of sensuality, and it paired particularly well with Rachel's timid and apprehensive interpretation of Christine (which I generally dislike--here, though). And his singing has only improved with maturity. The raw emotion of his All I Ask of You (Rooftop Reprise) in his 2023 run is shattering. Absolutely shattering.

My favourite feral Phantom is without a doubt Scott Davies. If you ever want to see the most unhinged "Let these freaks be together" e/c show you've ever seen you have GOT to watch Scott Davies with Meredith Braun. Ethan Freeman's got the Goblin King energy and Anthony Crivello has the Sewer Gremlin vibe, but if you ever want a Phantom with a real primal streak, you can do no better than long-standing West End understudy Scott Davies:

This guy tackled the role with a ferocity and an audacity that you don't generally find outside of Russian productions.

His Phantom hands? Oh Lordy!

And the best part is that Meredith's Christine was picking up EVERYTHING he was laying down. Her Christine is just as mad, just as feral, just as unhinged. And especially paired with such a hearty goodfellow Raoul as Matthew Cammelle--Raoul would have done well to gtfo of there. He was NOT prepared to handle this lmao.

And then there's Ted Keegan. Who for me will always be the Phantom that got away. If I had just done a little more research before--just three months into my poto obsession--booking my tickets to see phantom before it closed on Broadway, I might have had the transcendent experience of seeing Ted Keegan live. As it was, I had no idea he was even still playing the phantom, and wound up with Ben Crawford instead.

And I would be remiss if I finished this list without naming Thomas James O'Leary. Like Ethan Freeman, O'Leary leans into Erik's ghostly persona, with a magician's touch. I think he took a lot of inspiration from Lon Chaney's Phantom (note the position of his hands here).

His "Sing for me~" is one of my all time favourite line readings and got a very embarrassing reaction out of me when I first heard it.

And then, as if that wasn't enough, there was the moan.

[trappedinafantasy37]

Let me tell you about my first time meeting Minthara and locking myself into the grove raid

I was having a chat with someone in the comments of my fanfic where I had told them I locked myself into the grove raid on my first run. They got really curious as to how I managed that. But, my response got a bit too long, so I figured I’d kinda do a bit of a writeup and reminisce about my first time playing Baldurs Gate 3 all the way back on Christmas Day and how I raided the grove with Minthara.

And oooo boi, where do I begin! Just a massive string of first time player who doesn’t know how to look, how to listen, or how to read. To start, never found Wyll in the grove (and when I eventually did he was big mad). I have no idea how I missed him. For some reason, my dumb ass also didn’t explore north of Blighted Village. So, I never found Karlach (and when I eventually did she was big mad). I went down to the swamp and Ethel just humiliated me, so I decided to go back until I was level 5 cause she was level 5. I never found Wood Woad so I never learned of the Shadow Druid stuff. I also never found the Underdark or Grymforge until exploring the goblin camp AFTER the raid so the only thing left for me to do was the grove.

Kagha wouldn’t talk to me cause she wanted me to go to Zevlor. I don’t know how I did it, but Zevlor wanted me to kill Kagha and just refused to talk to me when I said I wasn’t gonna kill Kagha. I also never found Mol so never got the quest to steal the idol.

So, all that was left was the goblin camp. Went downstairs to find the bear in the cage, I kinda figured it was Halsin. But, I think I picked the wrong dialogue options with the goblin kids and pissed off the bear. Long story short, bear got dead. All that was left was talking with Minthara and man she scared the absolute fucking shit outta me! When she told me to tell her where the grove was, I was literally too scared to tell her no and gave her the location. Don’t know bout you, but powerful and scary women can convince me to do just about anything! I felt awful, but it felt like it was the only way to progress the grove conflict.

Then I started the raid and saw that I still had the option to turn against her. I was so excited and thought “Yay! I can still save them AND I’ll have an army of tiefling and druids.” WRONG! I had 3 tieflings and only 1 was actually worth a damn and the druids slept through their big day. Minthara swept the floor with my ass, again, and again, and again. I tried that fight for 3 hours and Minthara won the fight every time. Mind you, I was severely under leveled and was doing the raid at level 3.

I may have found Withers, but didn’t know about respecing so Shadowheart was still in her default class of Trickery Domain (WHICH IS GARBAGE), Astarion who was an Arcane Trickster (WHICH IS GARBAGE), and Bae’zel who carried our asses as best as she could. And then there was me, a Rogue Assassin who loses her biggest advantage after round 1.

In typical drow fashion, she quite literally beat me into submission and I just said, “fuck it, I’mma join her.” Easiest fight in the game, didn’t break a sweat. When I talked to her in the inner sanctum, I genuinely felt nauseous to my stomach, but I decided I wasn’t gonna reload and was live with my choices, even if they’re stupid. I told Minthara that what we did was murder and we deserve to hang for it. Then she said “Look at me” and I was hooked. She has had me in her clutches ever since.

I did the goblin party and her and I went to the chapel. I figured I was gonna get a fade to black kinda sex scene. WRONG! It has got to be the most graphic and explicit sex scene I’ve seen in a game second to Cyberpunk. I was literally in shock the whole time. And then, afterwards, I cuddled with her and she wanted to talk about my feelings and I'm all "O.o, you're supposed to be evil?" The game may have been painting her as an evil character, but that moment showed that there was so much depth to her than just being an evil character. A moment most players will never see cause most don't raid the grove. I truly wasn’t expecting to see her again in Moonrise. And when I did, I knew I had to get her outta there no matter what.

Looking back on it now, it’s interesting for me to see how many things had to go wrong in order for me to end up raiding the grove. If I had found Karlach first, it wouldn’t have happened. If I found the Underdark/Grymforge first and leveled up a bit, wouldn’t have happened. If I freed Halsin, I probably would have killed the goblin leaders (including Minthara cause I did not know about the knock out method on my first play through) and the raid wouldn’t have happened. Hell, if I had thought to lower the difficulty to Explorer it wouldn’t have happened! But I didn’t get that big brain idea until the fight with Nere, well after the grove raid.

Minthara left such a massive impression on me because I did raid the grove. It really does make me think of her line “I would have just been another casualty in your crusade against the Absolute and no one would remember me.” If I did things right, that’s exactly who she would have been and probably would have been dead in most of my playthroughs. But, instead, I fucked everything up and she most certainly wasn’t a casualty and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget her. When meeting her in the goblin camp, never could I have imagined relating so much to a character. Out of all the companions, I relate to Minthara the most and Karlach comes a close second.

I don’t always raid the grove, but I will never kill her under any circumstance. Her and Shadowheart are the only two companions who have survived every playthough I’ve done and will survive every future runs cause I just cannot play this game without them. And it’s all because I was a chronic dumbass and raided the grove.

[my-castles-crumbling]

Cas, thoughts anon here.

I hate Christmas. So much. The family outing, the stuffiness, the irascible kid, the fakeness, the laughs in the car when my future marriage was suggested, the freaking PICTURES.

I hate pictures more than I hate Christmas.

Anyway. No need to think about that.

My grandma has two parrots. One parrot (male and about 20 years old) is as jittery and easily frightened as a mouse. The other (female and about 26 years old) is the love pet of Hitler and Maximilian Robespierre (the ruler of France's Reign of terror) and the main character of this story. She is a frightening creature, Satan's most special soldier. Yes she does bite. Yes she hates you. Yes she screams when you turn the lights on for even a second. Yes she is everyone's worst nightmare.

But this is all common knowledge. (My entire family loves her, ESPECIALLY my mom). (She and I have but a mutual understanding).

Also, this is important to the end of this story, her cage sits downstairs, and the whole family sleeps in the first floor.

Now, she has this astonishing habit of screeching rather dreadfully in the middle of the night when she must be aware that EVERYONE else is asleep, including the cockroaches and the clock spider. It doesn't happen every night, but it happens a few times every week.

Now, on the night before Christmas, she begins her routine of screeching in her own peculiar way, which is, interestingly enough, entirely different from the way she shouts to signify her hunger or anger or 'hanger', or when she simply wishes to call out to her brother from another mother.

This song is a Christmas special, so obviously the parrot goes on for longer than she usually does (in my opinion, she is merely feeling the Christmas spirit in her own satanic way). My uncle, who is fed up at this point, emerges from his room in all his tank top and shorts glory and screeches louder to assert dominance. He mimics her in a withering fashion, possibly meaning to demean her. But it's the way he does it that is most intriguing. "Hee hee hee," He says, his tone of voice akin to that of an evil laugh only a goblin would possibly be able to make, and the mimicry was. Startlingly accurate.

In conclusion the bitch parrot was getting a kick out of our sleep deprivation.

*she's laughing up at us from hell by Taylor Swift starts playing in the background*

I just need to say that if you don't write, you absolutely should. Your description is amazing, and I can't decide if i want to meet or murder that parrot.

Also I completely agree about Christmas and I really hope things feel a bit better for you now that it's over <3

[kiawren]

Does anyone want to ask me anything about my spidersona lion spider PLEASE. I am cursed with constant thoughts of him and his world but I Cannot draw it. Okay you don't have to ask but if you want you can read this becuz my brain is full of him.

AOUGH okay I ended up typing some info I thought of the past few days. I still haven't settled on his name becuz he's a self insert and I want to name him Wren but I also want to name him something that has more of the character's essence...

Pre spider bite:

He introduces that (though he's Chinese,) he sucks at studying, he can't play instruments and he's not even athletic. He's introverted, likes animals and he likes to draw (Becuz he's basically me) and tries to find and draw them around the city. He tried to join a lion troupe/the club in his school but got rejected cuz he's essentially talentless for them 😭

On the way home he spots a poster at a shophouse for those who are interested in making lion heads to go upstairs. He ends up learning from the old man there, and enjoying it a lot as it's a way to give life to the art form without participating in the performances itself.

His city & some characters

It's modern and urban and has lots of Chinese and other Southeast Asian architecture. It's sorta based on Singapore too which is where the building in the second drawing above is from anyway. Imagine a spiderverse world with lots of shophouses, pagodas, temples, mosques.. They're the heights of skyscrapers. There are only fragmented and rare plots of nature within such a city.

Animals are rare, more common are mythologised ones such as the Chinese guardian lions, and the Naga and Garuda in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, which is what he mentions in his introduction without knowing some of the villians he'll face later are based off these figures. The lions can shift forms between sand and stone, the Naga figure is doc ock and the Garuda green goblin. Yes in mythology they're not evil and that's why they're probably working for alchemax and kingpin before becoming allies later (at least the lions becuz... Kitty...) but I haven't figured it all out yet...

His friend organises shadow puppetry performances twice weekly at a community theatre. This friend later becomes black cat but lion spider doesn't know that at first.

The shows are very popular and of their shows the most popular is the one of Spider-man, a hero who is bitten by a spider. ...... He always joked it was silly but when it happened to him... 😐

Lion spider

The lion dance head shophouse was next to alchemax I suppose. Their spider escaped and made webs in the heads and alchemax sent a bad guy to find it. Except it already bitten lion spider days before. So uh I think the mentor guy got killed (uncle Ben moment) and lion spider fought back by wearing the lion dance head and beat him with his newfound strength. It felt nice to take the form of lion dance and he gained a confidence in doing so. So he decided to incorporate it into the spider-man figure from then on.

It's also good that he didnr officially join any troupe becuz I think lion dance is kind of a big thing in their city and many troupes compete annually in some lion dance competition. And everyone was like ooook whichever troupe member is absent is lion spider. And then all the members were there. while a villian showed up during the crowded competition and lion spider was also there.

He took one of the heads among the chaos and gave a performance defeating the villian yay! The sad thing is he never really got to dance with a partner. Although he knows the steps he only ever practiced on his own.

the ATSV friends + kiawren

This universe has no Kiawe but he eventually makes friends with the Spiderverse characters (not Miguel he also doesn't like him) and hangs out with them. I guess he's a part of spider society but pretends not to know about the seriousness of the canon stuff (Hobie told him about it) and just isnt there in the drama like how Pavitr wasn't.

There's a Kiawe spider-man!! I did draw a bit of his vague design I had in mind before. (which is inspired by polynesian face tattoos and his role as a fire dancer like his original character)

They have a milesgwen romance except not the narrative angst. They bond over their traditional dances and being trans guys. THERE'S A LOT. OF PINING. The yearning to visit each other, the wondering how they're doing in their daily lives in their respective worlds, wanting to show them something in theirs, THE FIRST TIME THEY SAW EACH OTHER'S FACE.

Kiawe isn't really in the friend group, he just spends time with lion spider. So when the latter is with the atsv friend group they keep teasing him and trying to match them on spider society missions.

Also, Kiawe's world has a lot of natural wonders (Volcanoes, oceans, forests) and lion spider loves it so much he sorta tears up seeing it the first time he visits becuz his world doesn't have these things.

[rainbow-filmnerd]

Reimagining the Shapeshifter from Season 2

WARNING! MAJOR SPOILERS FROM SEASON 2 OF THE MONSTER HIGH G3 SERIES AHEAD!!!

So, if you guys have seen the second season of the G3 Monster High cartoon, the main antagonist in that was a shapeshifter (first we were led to believe it was Foxford, but we found out that wasn't really him at all). In the finale, we get to see their true form and a backstory, and I was... less than thrilled with it. Lemme break that down real quick.

First, the shapeshifter was said to be a "were-creature" because they can shift their appearance like the others. I find it hard to really believe, because we've only seen the werewolves do that; Clawdeen, Clawd, Howleen, and Barkimedes. Given, I don't know if werecats, were-mice, etc. have a human form to change to, but it's still likely they do have one. We've seen other types of monsters/creatures shapeshift in the series, so I don't really understand why it had to be a were-creature.

Second, the shapeshifter's real form... is a fucking whale. I'm not joking. Sure, the toy whale might've been a hint, but come on... I found it to be so bizarre and honestly kind of dumb. Why a whale? And I did feel with his backstory, but literally ANY OTHER CREATURE would do. When I say that the S2 finale was bittersweet, that reveal made up for most of the bitter.

So in short, I really hated that the shapeshifter was a whale-. Sorry, "were-whale". Everything about this shapeshifter's character arc was really strong, but the reveal/ending just soured it for me. So I've been brainstorming a reimagining of Hemming the Shapeshifter that I feel was more appealing and made more sense to me (that does include changing the sad and lonely backstory, but it's one too many).

So for my reimagining, the shapeshifter is actually... a goblin. I haven't decided yet if I'm gonna change his name, but for now, it's still Hemming. He's a bit of a troublemaker and likes to play pranks on other monsters. One day, he got the bright idea of trying out shapeshifting, so he turned to a witch for some aid. While he enjoyed changing his form to mess with other monsters, he could never change back and he kept changing/glitching between forms. Turns out the witch's spell was more of a curse and he grew desperate to find a way to stop changing. The motive is still the same, with changing into Foxford's form to access the Were-Ruler's library to find a solution and realizing that taking a form where he feels most accepted will be the way.

How everything went down is the exact same, and after being turned back to their true form, our goblin shapeshifter felt a bit self conscious about how he looked. He was so used to seeing himself in different forms as different people, being a goblin felt weird to him. The curse itself isn't entirely broken, so he's gonna avoid any attempts to shapeshift. I also thought of maybe having Draculaura offer to help him out with controlling this ability before it gets out of hand again.

I plan on creating a sketch of this reimagined shapeshifter someday, but in the end, he stays a goblin and begins to clean up his act (still a bit mischievous but he's learned his lesson). Oh, and he still has the whale toy, because I thought it was silly.

[oscarsasylum]

(breaks chains) I CAN BE AUTISTIC ABOUT TAKARAZUKA PHANTOM

@partymeow since it’s going to be undoubtedly long I had to make a post instead of a reply so here it is! im gunna start talking about erik on each one because hes special like that.

its gunna be a bit long:( guess how many times ive said the word love in this thread

Bonus sketch for how I differentiate each adaptation via my style :3

Takarazuka Phantom 2004

Wao Youka’s Erik is, to me, remarkably one of the more serious ones compared to the rest of the takarazuka adaptations of phantom. He reminds me a lot of the 1990 phantom film with Charles Dance! How both of them appear so serious but has probably laid out billions of traps around the opera to prank people and can be quite witty. Wao Youka’s Erik is my favorite just because I’m a sucker for that dynamic wherein person A is cold towards everything else except for when it comes to everything about person B. He looks like he’d buy (or steal) a ton of what Christine just off-handedly mentioned she wanted to get once. I absolutely love how there’s a lot of moments wherein Erik just looks lovingly and proudly at Christine and that’s why 2004 has such a special place in my heart.

Out of bias I think that the best Erik and Christine chemistry still goes to 2004. There’s something about the way Hanafusa Mari and Wao Youka acted out on stage that just sits so perfectly with me. Before the climax, the way they’ve interacted on stage just made it seem as though Erik and Christine actually had some mutual feelings towards each other.

While probably unintentional there were several times wherein the characters actually shed a few tears on some really important scenes and I thought that made the performances all the more immersive because you can actually see the deep emotion that they’re feeling on that moment.. like Christine during My True Love :3

Also! For me, it also has the best Alain Cholet! Suzuka Teru gave him so much life, he’s so full of expression and just overall funny.

Takarazuka Phantom 2006

My second favorite Takarazuka Erik is one acted out by Haruno Sumire. To me, her portrayal of Erik makes him twice as angry as Wao Youka’s Erik. I saw him as a ticking bomb, a loser sewer goblin with anger issues. I absolutely LOVED when he shouted at Gerard to leave his lair in anger, because instead of him demanding him in a firm tone to leave, he quite literally SHOUTS at him and that was just (chefs kiss). Instead of full on appearing like a sopping wet dog after his owner left, he just stands there like a pouting little child and that was just hilarious to me. She’s got a bit of that ALW Erik in her.

I decided to put it here since she played both in 2004 and 2006, but I absolutely adore Izumo Aya as Carlotta! When I first watched the 2006 adaptation I didn’t expect to see her there (since it’s a different troupe) but I’ve always loved how she acted out Carlotta with the perfect amount of snarkiness and comedy so its a pleasant surprise!

Takarazuka Phantom 2011

The most hilarious transition from the angriest Erik to the youngest looking and emotional Erik. Ranju Tomu’s Erik looks like the direct descendant of Wao Youka’s Erik but instead of being serious and cold he is just up there on the sog factor. I absolutely love the carmen sabotage in 2011 because it really set the standard to make that moment as chaotic and silly as humanly possible and I’m so in for it; like Erik literally came out of the FLOOR. Ranju Tomu has such a fantastic voice too, not to say every actress who played Erik didn’t (they’re all so amazing), but I felt it to my core whenever she sings. 

His entire character plus the more stoic and cold Gerard of Sou Kazuho makes for such an interesting dynamic. I’ve never seen an adaptation portray him so serious, and I mean that positively:3

Takarazuka Phantom 2018

THE soggiest Erik out of all the takarazuka adaptations. Nozomi Fuuto’s Erik is by far the funniest and most pathetic one yet because of how emotional he is. Everytime something happens to him he just looks like the last panel from that ‘is that your fursona? thats cringe’ meme format. I just absolutely LOVE how miserable he is whenever he’s on stage. He’s always on the verge of crying and that just makes him all the more loveable. The mommy issues on this one is CRAZY! The way Nozomi Fuuto put so much expression into Erik is so cool, it was so clear what emotions he was going through.. even the really complicated ones like confusion and conflict (and most importantly, smitten).

Absolutely love Maaya Kiho as Christine! I just thought that the way she played her was so cute! She was so pretty and she really rocked that feeling that Christine really was just an honest and kind gal with no bad intentions whatsoever.

There’s also the beautiful improvements in costumes and stage effects and it was such a treat to see. Absolutely loved the special rendered intro of the show.

But that’s the end of my little autistic rambling! Thank you for asking, it was such a pleasure! I really can’t rate which is the best because each of the takarazuka adaptations are special in their own way. each adaptation is like the same size of cake on the table for me and im wearing a little bib and holding up my fork and knife

[hawkogurl]

What do you think about Norman's pre death line ("Peter don't tell Harry")?

Alright once again reiterating that the tag Norman slander exists simply to allow people who don’t wanna see this to block it. I get it. Negativity is just gonna come with the territory of who this character is, but I also understand if you simply don’t want to see it. That’s why that’s there.

I really don’t think this is as well intentioned as people make it out to be. Frankly I think it’s arguable that it’s mainly just a plot device that’s probably easier to try and retrofit into any interpretation than it’s actually meant to align with anything but that’s beside the point.

I have gone into a perhaps frightening amount of depth onto why the like, main Norman defense scene in the Raimi trilogy doesn’t actually make him look that good. I won’t rehash that all here, if anyone is interested in reading it’s linked.

That being said, considering the selfish and malicious undertones to how he interacts with Harry in pretty much every scene, I don’t know if I’m really meant to read it as a benevolent or well intentioned move. I can’t even say if many of my points here that I would have would even be conscious for Norman or really just be more of a subconscious desire to preserve his power and his image. At the end of the day, because this line is primarily a narrative device, I don’t really care about the intention of that line. It’s secondary to what it represents later on for Harry, Peter, Norman’s flaws, and Norman’s lingering presence.

Norman functions both as a character and a narrative device, because at the end of the day all characters are narrative devices. The perceived humanity of any character is, unless it breaks the suspension of disbelief, often less important than what they accomplish as a narrative device. Often times, Norman analysis can end up falling flat to me because there’s a prioritization of the perceived humanity of a character over what they’re accomplishing for the narrative. At the end of the day, whatever interpretation of him makes the rest of the narrative the most compelling and the strongest is the most important. I say that Norman is a narrative device because at the end of the day, the influence I read from this line that might not be logical as his thought process or as a non cartoonishly evil intention are more important to me than trying to figure out a way where that thought process makes any damn sense. This is Doylist vs Watsonian, when it comes to this line I personally think it’s going to be easier if Watsonian interpretation that contributes to my hesitance because of how hard it would be to make the following make any damn sense as Norman’s conscious intentions plays second fiddle to the personally far more interesting ideas of what this accomplishes from a Doylist perspective. Overly long explanation accomplished, let’s move on.

Norman as a narrative device is primarily a foil for Peter. Give a man a mask and you see who he really is. Peter chooses to do good with little reward while Norman is effectively using anonymity as a tool to get what he wants, which is primarily control. Every scene with the Goblin is preceded by a scene where Norman experiences something, usually negative, that gives him a reason to want to do something drastic. He is using anonymity and his physical power with the Goblin to effectively try and eliminate anything that threatens the power he already has as an influential and wealthy person. It’s easy to interpret it’s about control for him from that; he is doing whatever he can to control every factor to prevent anything from threatening that he has what he wants and wants to continue to have it, regardless of what extremes he needs to go to or who his need for control harms in the process, because at the end of the day his need for control is entirely selfish. This contrasts well with Peter, who makes the conscious choice to help others regardless of the cost to himself because he believes it’s the right thing to do and those people deserve that protection and the ability to live safely. Norman/the Goblin quite literally states that he views the masses as a tool to elevate himself, a mentality that Peter’s actions do everything they can do prove that he doesn’t buy into as a character beat for him. Peter is choosing to take on a massive, selfless burden to himself and use the power he has, power he could use to exert control over people like Norman does, to instead help others and elevate them, rather than using them to elevate himself. This is the primary point of the movie, hence why it’s reiterated and expanded upon so much: the most important part of the movie is showing that Peter is a benevolent person who is learning that his power is best used to protect and elevate others, instead of using them to elevate himself. Norman being his foil, what aspects of his character strengthen that arc are more important.

Therefore, it’s easy to read that in Norman’s purpose as a character, that’s about control. It’s also an easy plot device just from that—he is exerting control over how his son sees him, a fun and cool plot device that will allow Harry to experience the horrors later on. He only demands Peter don’t tell Harry, but he effectively eliminates anyone else from knowing in the same move. If Harry can’t know, Peter can’t create any way for the public to know. That preserves Norman’s name in regards to many of the things he’s shown to care about. It’s also a sort of double bind for Peter if he ever even wanted to tell someone: he’d have to explain that he’s Spider-Man and the reasoning behind why preserving the last wish of a terrorist is more important than letting that be public and letting Harry make his own decisions. He’s never stated to tell MJ, because MJ would probably question these things and I think Peter knows that! At a certain point, Peter probably felt he was in too deep and that being his last words became more of an easy excuse for Peter to not have to do the main thing he struggles with: have difficult conversations. From every angle, letting Harry continue to suffer without all the details is a bad move… but after not telling Harry for months, is it too late to explain himself or for letting him hurt to be inexcusable? After a year? After the two years that we are shown in the time between the first two movies? It’s no longer if it’s more important to help the very alive Harry than respect the very dead Norman, it’s now that Peter is in an impossible situation where both options feel wrong. Anyone would be angry he hid that for that long, but the more time that goes by, the reaction becomes even more likely to be explosive, especially as Harry sinks into quite literal clinical delusion. And that’s not even really digging into the fact Peter just avoids those sort of difficult interactions in any way he can.

The idea this line is more of a narrative device is more clear when it comes to Harry. At the end of the day, this line exists to rationalize and make more believable Peter’s refusal to talk about it as Harry slowly experiences a pretty harsh psychological decline. I half resent this because I wish Peter’s avoidance was allowed to exist as its own flaw, but I also understand the line preserves suspension of disbelief. Harry is near constantly lied to by the people in his life, something that creates the distrust that makes him so much more dependent on his largely selfishly or maliciously acting father, even in death. Harry’s an odd specimen as a fictional character who’s a child of abuse, considering he’s shown to idolize his abuser instead of hate him—and yes, I am going to insist on the idea Norman was emotionally abusive at best. It’s in the text.—so having this sort of control via this line and his hallucinations is another narrative element to contribute to the idea that Harry stepping away from his father, existing independently from his attachment to Norman and Norman’s influence on him and towards the people who love him for himself and the creation of his own identity is the best thing for him. I understand liking Norman, especially in a post-NWH world, but there’s a reason he is the quite literal face of all of Harry’s worst traits, worst decisions, and the things that allow him to continue causing himself pain.

My primary opinion on this line is that it allows Norman, even after death, to keep exerting a deep control over almost every major character in this trilogy. That is its purpose, because that control makes the rest of the narrative more solid and more interesting. You can’t just remove this element without consequences. His intentions are very secondary for me, because I just don’t think they’re that important, though I doubt it was good intentioned on any more than a conscious level because it doesn’t align with the tone of every single other interaction with Harry and the idea that a line that has this sort of influence was meant to be helpful just has incredibly strange implications on so many levels.

[lazulisocinfodump]

Favorite oc of all time? And why?

Of mine? hmmmmm. Ya see, I actually have a lot of ocs, just most of them don't have much "content" made of them. And I tend to hyperfixate on one or two then change. so my favorites change. That being said, current favorite is Arlee Secco. AKA Goblin, Firecracker, or that complete and utter troll, or 'please just shut up!' (speaking of which, text dump incoming) Shes probabily gonna be a favorite for a while because its basically through her I got into roleplaying. Playing Arlee as goblin was pretty much the first time I had done extensive RP. And I was playing as an antagonist, which was not the sort of thing I'd usually do. But oh my gosh, it was so much fun. Its the sass. the snark. The chance to explore what it is like to act in a way I would rarely do. And I admit it is fun to be mean to other characters, lol 😅 But, she didn't end up a one dimensional annoyance, like I initially planned her to be. She grew quickly to be a character with hidden depths to her. And her relationship with her sister Sec (Aria) helped make my other oc have or depth too. And, it is fun to play as someone so self-assured, strong willed and high energy. Helps me feel a bit like that myself. But also, Arlee is special because shes the spark that started all this for me. Arlee made other characters React. But something that surprised me was that she made the Players react as well. And people, seemed to like her as a character? Wild! And her reception was what gave me motivation to keep rp-ing even when usually I would run out of spoons and motivation to keep doing the thing (adhd and depression is not a great combo for Getting Stuff Done, even if it is fun stuff)." I never realized that all the daydreaming I did about my characters all the time was something that anyone other than me would be genuinely interested in, and interested in the long term. And that gave me mojo to start drawing more again. and actually writing more of my ideas and thoughts rather than just keeping it all in my head. But also, through Arlee opening the door to me doing rp, I made friends. btw, my second fave right now is Sec. Because of all the angst XD.

[loveofdetail]

@sigilmint oh friend this comment made me so 😍

Short version: As far as in-game actions, really all you need to do is initiate his romance, betray the grove, roll to convince him to stay in the party, then continue his romance, roleplaying the situation however you want from there.

Long Version beneath the cut—this has a lot more to do with how my own out-of-game decisionmaking got me here, and how I interpret the macro-arc of my party/character.

My first bg3 campaign is a co-op game where we are mostly trying to do Good Route Things. Gale has been stuck in camp permanently because I was dead set on playing a wizard myself.

So I started my solo campaign with the vague notion of doing a Full On Evil Run. My character, Vuei, is a disillusioned and broken oathbreaker paladin. I was planning to romance Minthara because if she's only available in the evil route, might as well go all the way.

But I recruited Gale and immediately had a category 5 "Ohhh I can't not fuck him" moment.

Now, at the time I thought that betraying the grove would straight-up lock you out of his romance. Tbh I'm not sure why I thought this? But somehow that was the impression I'd gotten, so, I promptly jettisoned all my Evil Plans in favor under Get Under Gale's Robe ASAP.

I got all the way into Act 2 like this. Defeated and looted the whole goblin camp, made it to Last Light, all that.

Then one night I wanted to play but I was feeling too mentally wiped to make real progress and real decisions, so instead I loaded a save from right before saving the grove. I figured I would see what it was like, get to hear some Minthara dialogue, that would be that.

Instead I got one of the most immersive emotional rollercoasters a video game has ever given me.

I failed some rolls to deceive Minthara and started spinning a narrative where Vuei, who has recently lost everything and everyone they thought they valued, just... panics. Doesn't see a way out other than bending to Minthara's demands. Goes reflexively numb and nihilistic because apparently this is just the way the world works.

From there, the entire sequence from the combat itself, to Karlach (who was in my party) leaving me, to the reactions of various people at the party... it was just Moment after Heartwrenching Moment. I'm leaving some details out here because they really deserve to be experienced first-hand but at the end I was like. Staring at my ceiling processing all the implications for the characters.

Gale specifically delivers one of the Verbal Smackdowns of All Time to you afterward. You have to persuade him to stay.

But he does stay.

This was the point when I started getting the feeling that maybe his romance flag was still active? And the implications of THAT... my mind just ran wild with them. Who was this guy who would bitterly, righteously tell you that you're making him worse, then give you a second chance, secretly thinking maybe he's Not Actually So Different, then fall in love—ACTUAL love, not just 'I don't deserve better' resignation—with you despite it all?

I never reloaded my original save.

The game doesn't actually let you have any additional decompress-and-discuss dialogue after persuading him to stay, but in my imagination what I filled in was: a really painful heart to heart where Gale and Vuei agree Never Again. Where they are both at a loss as to how they can even go on from this. But they have to. So they will. At least they know the other feels just as guilty and ashamed as themself, and that counts for something.

It also made me think, why the pure black and white Evil Run/Good Run dichotomy? I really, REALLY latched on to the story structure of a party that makes One Huge Ruinous Fuckup at the very beginning that colors all their further attempts to Do Better, and that's how I RP'd going into act 2.

For instance: we couldn't rescue the tieflings but maybe we can extend the same grace to Minthara that we hope might be extended to ourselves.

In terms of game mechanics I actually took quite a hit here. Karlach took a bunch of great gear with her when she left (this may not happen in the current patch? unsure) and I decided my characters would not have it in them to go back to the goblin camp just to completionistly gobble up loot.

It felt like penance. The very beginning of the tangible consequences of the thing my character will regret most, for the rest of her life.

I felt closer to my remaining companions. Bound by atrocity. The last ones standing. By the gods it shouldn't have happened this way but after that we will NEVER doubt that we have each other's backs. I put Astarion in my party for the first time ever and this is when I began warming up to him as a character. Eventually when Shadowheart killed the Nightsong, it was like Vuei (and Gale) deeply disapproved but couldn't bear to cast judgement. The only thing to do is be there for her and hope she does better next time. We are all just hoping we'll do better next time.

The morning after our lowest point, we trudged resignedly to Rosymorn monastery. The stark, sublime grandeur of the landscape was a slap in the face. It was wrong that such beauty could still exist as though the world was indifferent to what we'd just done. It was wrong that we could literally climb above the ruins we made and in the distance they're just... another part of a breathtaking view. But here we are, standing on this cliff, somehow still able to feel wonder.

The new dawn imagery was both a lash and balm.

We carry on. We find a way.

OH ALSO I gave Gale Volo's eye and continued making Alterations to him as things progressed. Being vague because that's quite a bit further in but yeah, Gale Undergoing Changes is another big part of my vision here. It's All Connected.

[tinyjordan]

so I actually finally finished my first playthrough of bg3 last night (except it was actually this morning because I beat the final boss at like 3 am) and I just wanted to share my experience. obviously there will be spoilers

so yes. it did take me like 2 months to finish the game, a lot longer than the average player. this was mostly because I was just really busy with school and shit and I've been playing on my parents tv, so I obviously didn't get too much time to myself to binge the game. but honestly, when I did get time to play through the game, I was honestly so overjoyed to just explore the world and do quests with my silly little guys.

imo my favorite act in the game is the first act, which from what I read, many people agree with me on this sentiment. that doesn't mean that I think that the other two acts weren't great, but I just think that act 1 had something special going on there. i loved how huge the first act was and just how much I could do in this act. i thought I finished this act having completed every quest (except those in the mountain pass because I didn't know that I could just go through both paths, which I don't know how I came to that conclusion in hindsight) but when reading and watching videos about bg3, I learned that there was a ton of stuff that I missed. I can't wait for my second playthrough (which will probably be my durge run) to experience more that I missed.

i don't know where to put this point in this essay thing, but the party after defeating the goblin camp. love it! this is where fanfictions are born. although you don't really get much when romancing gale in this party except the fact that he proclaims that he likes your stank in the most socially awkward but well meaning way. i thought this was funny.

oh yeah! also Lae'zel tried to have sex with me. we didn't, but I thought I might as well share that.

speaking of Lae'zel: the most underrated character in the game. i don't care. she is extremely wholesome despite our first introduction to her. in my playthrough, she was the one that got kidnapped by orin in act three. when I rescued her from orin, she was extremely sweet and thankful about it. she said something about the githyanki language not having a word for "thank you", and she tells the player the closest thing to it in her language. but even then she thought that wasn't a good enough way to express gratitude, so she said "thank you, sincerely." she's not my favorite companion, but my heart did swell in this moment

speaking of favorite companions-

astarion

ASTARION

yes I know that everyone reading this probably heard this a million times, but Astarion is such an amazing and well written character. this man is blorbo himself. i want to be his best friend. during my playthrough, my tav and Astarion had a sort of sibling like relationship: being on near opposite sides of the character archetype spectrum and disagreeing on a lot of things, but also being super protective over each other (we dislike Araj in this house). his whole story arc made me want to cry several times. i wish this game had a hug option for every companion so that I could hug everyone, ESPECIALLY Astarion. omg. OMG. when we defeated Cazador and Astarion stabbed him repeatedly, i cheered. i got him to not ascend and I cheered. like Karlach (who i also love and got me the closest to actually crying), i was so fucking proud of Astarion. i could talk about him all day but I think I would just stop there and resort to reblogging post about him for my own sanity.

when thinking of my opinion on Shadowheart, I remember that I didn't like her at all at first. it didn't help that she was racist against the githyanki. but after act 2 and pretty much always having her in my party as the main healer, she REALLY grew on me as a character. imo, I think she has one of the best character arcs and she really meshes well with the other companions. she's not a comic relief character at all, but every joke and sarcastic comment she makes is always a banger. she's my Tav's official best friend. also her act three glow up. that is all

oh also during Shadowheart's quest in act three, I met Viconia DeVir (who i killed) and I laughed my ass off because I ended up naming my Tav Viconia who when playing as her, she was like the EXACT opposite of the evil cult leader. there was definitely a "there can only be one" moment when killing her

I also feel that Wyll is pretty underrated character, which is disappointing since he is actually super interesting as a character. I mean he made a deal with a devil. like. c'mon. now I did sometimes get annoyed with his whole being a hero schtick, but also he's like the most sane character companion imo. i felt bad about him sulking alone at the after goblin killing party and I was tempted to ask him to dance to maybe cheer him up, but I also knew that this would probably lead to a romance with him, which I didn't really want. so I just let him be. i remember the impossible choice we had to make in act three (save Wyll's dad and sacrifice his freedom, or break the contract Wyll made with Mizora and let his dad die). This was actually a really difficult decision to make because like. it's either your dad or your freedom. it's literally an impossible choice to make. i decided to have Wyll be free of his contract with Mizora because I had hope that we could maybe find a loophole to this whole deal. WHICH THERE WAS. I had to undo a 5 whole hours of progress because of a bug with Duke Ravengard not spawning in the iron throne if you progress too much in the lower city before watching Gortash's coronation (which is entirely my fault for being awful at directions and not understanding very obvious instructions), BUT I DID IT. I saved Wyll's dad and had him free from Mizora's servitude! his friendship with Karlach is also extremely sweet. I love just how nice Wyll is. I think he's neat.

KARLACH! My favorite female companion! I was so excited when I was finally able to give her a hug. she's just so sweet and fun and as i said before she got me the closest to crying while playing the game. she almost made me cry not once, not twice, but THREE whole times. first time was of course when she was finally able to touch people. second was when we killed Gortash and she had a crisis about dying soon. third was when I thought she was actually going to die before Wyll offered that she come with him back avernus to kill all the devils (bless Wyll). she's also the number one funniest character in the game which juxtaposes the fact that she almost made ms cry the most amount of times.

speaking of crying, this game made me want to cry three separate times in one day. i made the mistake of playing through Shadowheart's and Astarion's quest on the same day then proceeding to kill Gortash, which you already know what happens after that.

After playing through the game, I agree that camp dad(dy) is the official term to describe Halsin. I'm not attracted to him in any since, so to me he is just dad, but I do agree with this sentiment. also goddamn he tall

Jaheira is the fun aunt of the group and I love her for that. she's a queen.

Minsc is himbo. I also realized that he always has something to say about everything we do, and I didn't realize that until when I talked to him one time and he was speaking of something we did like three quests ago and I had to keep talking to him until he was finally caught up with the current events. it was super hilarious

Also I love Boo! when Minsc introduced me to this space hamster I immediately feel in love with his tiny wittle paw awnd hwis wittle whiskews- also Boo had so much personality and I love him for that.

now. it is time to be down bad. Gale. my beloved. if you have seen the amount of posts and art that I reblog about him, you could probably tell that I am absolutely down bad for this man. I don't know when it started, but holy shit. this man got me kicking my legs and squealing like a little school girl. every romance scene with him got me down bad. he says just the sweetest things and I am on the floor dead from a heart attack. he proposed to me at the end of the game. i was happy :)

other points about Gale: he is super funny. every joke with him is hilarious. Mystra is a bitch. he gives dedicated history professor vibes. his camp outfit looks so comfy. he hates sneaking because his knees hate sneaking. he is best friends with his tressym named Tara, who he summoned NOT because of tressyms being known for being a great familiar, but because he wanted a friend. pleasure domes lol

i guess this is all to say that I love every companion in bg3

i believe I got the best ending (in terms of good or bad endings) in the game, and my hot take is that I actually love the ending of the game! i don't know what other people were talking about when they said it wasn't satisfying. the only critique I can give about the ending is that if you don't romance either Shadowheart or Astarion, you don't really know what happens to them after the events of the game other than they probably have a happy ending. other than that, great ending!

i will say that I do agree with most other people when they say that act 3 is maybe the weakest act in the game. not that it isn't a bad act. i just think it's unnecessary difficult even in explorer difficulty, which I did had to set it to because balanced wasn't cutting it for my smooth brain. i also had difficulty with trying to figure out what to do or where to go for a huge chunk of the act. and if it wasn't for a few helpful guides, I might have accidentally skipped a huge chunk of the quests and gotten a worse ending for a lot of my companions. also yeah. act 3 is extremely buggy. not unplayable buggy, but it did cause a lot of problems with my playthrough including me having to redo 5 hours of progress because of a bug

also fighting the githyanki at any point in the game starting from the end of act 2 is an absolute nightmare. how are a group of githyanki monks a more difficult fight than the literal god of death?

speaking of death, i love the dead three. i think they are amazing antagonists. my favorite with being Thorm. he is just so intimidating and he gave an amazing first impression. it helps that he is voiced by J.K. Simmons.

OH AND RAPHAEL! he is so theatre kid evil and that is amazing! best fight theme in the game. i saved the song on my Spotify before I even got to his fight because I heard it for the first time when I was kind of watching my brother play and I fell in love with the song.

i wish there was more to do in act 2, but in terms of story, it is extremely strong and the act is extremely spooky, which I love. i got scarred for life in the house of healing. though I think the biggest strength with act 2 is Shadowheart. she stole the show in act 2.

also Gale's act 2 romance scene hehe <3

Scratch best boy

Owl bear cub so adorable

oh! also when exploring the szarr palace, I found an owl bear plush and I immediately wanted it to be real. i immediately stole it because it is the best thing ever

i love this game so much! there is so much more I want to speak about, but then this would turn into a novel if I mentioned everything. I might make a post about my Tav later on, but that's for later. i already made a google doc about her profile, but there is so much more that I want to discuss about her outside that doc, so...maybe I can share the doc whenever and maybe let people send asks about the character and I can discuss more in detail stuff that wasn't mentioned

I'm probably gonna take a short break from playing bg3 since I still just want to think about the finale and I spent maybe 80 hours of gameplay on this one run (i say this one run because I have been playing a bit with my brother and friend)

afterwards I want to do a redeemed dark urge run. i might romance Astarion not because I see him in a romantic light, but because I really ship him with the durge thanks to all of the art I have seen

tldr; bg3 is amazing

[somefanchick]

We have met, but I'm not who I was...

This is a platonic fic between Astarion and the Traveler (Tav) that I’m going to use on one of my next runs. Tav is of noble background and met Astarion decades ago at a party. I am totally down to give more info on this character if asked, but that’s all that you really need to know prior to reading this fic. (Short and sweet) (Minor spoilers for act 1)

He recognized me. That wasn’t something I was used to, and something I wished hadn’t been true. I could see that when I found him in the woods after the crash, he reacted to my presence for a split second. I could see recognition in his eyes, right before he tried to distract and attack me. Spoiler, it didn’t really work.

Once I remembered him, I didn’t initially know how to approach the situation so I did what I did best. I played dumb. I acted as if I believed him and didn’t recognize the vampire before me. He believed my ignorance, as most tend to, and I was able to recruit him to my camp.

A few days later, I had a camp of six other individuals and was about to invade a goblin camp full of cultists. I had my favorites of course; A strong barbarian tiefling with a heart of figurative gold and literal infernal iron, a beautifully mysterious cleric who I could tell was hiding things from both me and herself, and of course the vampire spawn. He was useful for stealth and I got a small thrill out of fooling him. Though that thrill had faded quickly. 

Now that night had fallen and the others had fallen asleep, I got up to visit Astarion.

 “Hello Tav,” His teeth glistened in the moonlight, the bottom of his fangs hiding just behind his bottom lip, “Has anyone ever told you that you look astonishing in the starlight? And just when I thought you couldn’t get more ravishing.”

“Aw Astarion!” I put on my best smile, placing my hands on my cheeks, “That’s so sweet of you to say. Now I hate to be a bother, but could you do me a favor?”

I noticed a slight fear in his eyes, but his smile didn’t break, “Of course dear. What is it?”

I put on my best doe eyes, “Could you cut the bullshit?”

That knocked off his metaphorical mask, “Excuse me?”

“Look,” my eyes sharpened and I dropped my own mask for the first time in years, “I know you know we met at one of Casador’s little parties. He introduced you as his assistant, which is true to an extent I suppose, and then he secretly instructed you to lure me in so he could feast on noble blood,” I put my finger on my lip, slowly gliding back into my innocent and ignorant persona, “I was the best target. The youngest of 13. Not exceptionally beautiful like many of my sisters, not as accomplished as my brothers, not the topic of much controversy like my sibling. Completely overshadowed. Wouldn’t even get an article in the Baldur's Mouth Gazette, just a few condolences to my parents behind closed doors. The only caveat was that it was me,” a smirk graced my lips, “Someone who could see through people like you and Casador and had enough charisma and intelligence to escape without even letting you know that I was on to you. But now I have the power to defend myself properly, so I’m willing to call you out.”

“I-”

I placed my hands in the center of my chest, “I just wanted to let you know that I’m not as gullible as you think. Don’t fuck with me. Follow my lead and not only will I cure everyone of this illithid shit, but I will help you kill that bastard. Listen to my command, and you will be free of him forever. Don’t betray me and you may become more powerful than you ever could imagine. I will even let you feed on me if you ask politely and only take what is necessary. As long as you use that power to help my cause. I might seem like an imbecile, but I’m a reasonable person. I make deals with gods and nobles. I’m great at compromise.”

I could see tension leave Astarion’s shoulders, “And here I thought we wouldn’t get along. You’re more cunning than I thought.”

“Normally I wouldn’t be this blunt about knowing so much of your personal business,” I smiled innocently, “But I needed you to know I wasn’t the gulabile little noble you believed me to be back then, or the harmless angel I was. That way our professional relationship could be built on a little respect.”

“Maybe more than just a ‘professional’ relationship,” Astarion smirked, “I am honest in my flattery you know.”

I let out a giggle, “We both know you’re not,” I turned away, “Goodnight ‘Little star’.”

I could feel his gaze on me. It was cold and harsh. I hadn’t earned his trust, but I had told him that we would play nice. Part of me was looking forward to him asking to sink in his fangs, if only to make him owe me.