#so she will just completely give up her oath and all magic

[antiparticular]

my wonderful beautiful tain who is so bad at being a paladin (not even at baldurs gate and she's already broken her oath)

here is the before :)

[stars-in-a-jam-jar]

I don't think Buddy asks Helio any questions.

Kristen asked 'Why do bad things happen to good people?' because she believed in all the good things she was taught, but noticed the strange disconnect between the world as it was and the world as it was taught to her. So she thought, surely, if I can't come up with the answer, Helio will have it. And she hates him for dodging her question.

Buddy is far more deluded than Kristen ever was. And he is far, far angrier inside as a result, even if he deliberately conceals this fact from himself to protect himself from the inevitable mental breakdown this would cause. Buddy is not as altruistic and giving and caring as Kristen is. He wouldn't question why he was betrayed or dig into a question like 'Why do bad things happen to good people?' Those aren't the answers he needs, because of course he'd be betrayed by someone outside the church, that makes perfect sense. Of course bad things happen to good people, we simply live in a fallen world.

Or, well. He used to live in a fallen world. Now he's dead here. In Helio's divine domain.

I think Buddy, as he wanders through fields of corn to the big farmhouse where Helio is chilling out, privately thinks about the fact that Kristen Applebees' horrified expression was the last thing he ever saw before a sharp pain in his throat. I think Buddy assumes Helio knows he's thinking this and apologizes for bringing thoughts like that into paradise. I think he thanks Helio for recognizing his devotion and bringing him here once he died and dutifully deceives himself about his own rising emotions at contending with the fact that he's dead now.

After all, he was raised to die. He was raised to want to die.

To want to be here with his god whenever it was he called Buddy to him. So he doesn't feel upset, no, of course not. He's just a little surprised at how sudden it was. (How completely random. How unceremonious and unfair.) He's a little bit worried how his grandparents would react to the news is all. (He cracks a joke that maybe he'll see them here shortly after they do get the news. He doesn't laugh at it.) He had his own plans for how he'd spread the good word in life, but of course, Helio had other plans. (Nothing Buddy ever wanted really mattered. He knew that, he knew the will of Helio was the real thing that mattered, and everything else was just a small list of preapproved extracurriculars in the syllabus of his life.)

He can't be upset about this.

He shouldn't be upset about this.

This is his reward.

This place and these people and this god are his reward for a life of service and devotion and walking in the light.

It's not his place to be upset about his own reward. Kristen got upset when she went to heaven, when she met Helio, and look where that got her.

Look... look where that got her.

He thinks he hates her. For looking at him like that. All the ways she looked at him. Like he was something pitiful and contemptible. Someone she needed to threaten away from her little brother. Someone she has to double and triple check if he's going to revive her when he's under magical oath to do just that or lose his connection to a divinity she threw away after being chosen.

And then. In that last moment, she looked at him and he saw grief and horror and caring. Like his death was awful and unfair and tragic.

And he thinks maybe he hates her for that. For challenging him every conversation they had and looking at him like she knew something he didn't. Like she was above him. Like killing your own god twice in life is a preferable fate to living for the promise of eternal sunlight and cornbread in death. A promise which was kept to him.

Kristen was promised to Helio, too.

And he can't unsee her face. He can't move along and focus on what truly matters (Helio, the church, spreading the word, doling out divine punishment when needed) because he's reached the end. There is nothing left. Only this bright sunny cornfield and a god who... is nice. And who cares about him, personally. He got Buddy's name wrong the first and only time they held audience.

He thinks he hates Kristen, and he hates that that hatred isn't immediately squashed out of his soul just by being here. In paradise. Where he belongs. Where every follower of Helio belongs. Where he never has to have anyone look at him the way Kristen did ever again.

I don't think Buddy Dawn asks Helio any questions. Because how do you ask the god you devoted every waking minute of your life to, 'Why do I hate it here? Why does this feel like hell?'

(There's a part 2 now that the next ep is out >:3)

[poppitron360]

Hot take but the whole “who is the most powerful demigod” debate is stupid.

Percy is not the most powerful demigod. Nico is not the most powerful demigod. Leo- despite vaporising a primordial goddess with his bare hands- is NOT the most powerful demigod.

The whole POINT of the Seven is that they’re all meant to be EQUALS in power. Or at least that’s what they are in theory, but in a desperate attempt to keep Percy as the main character they nerfed everyone else.

They each have unique abilities, which complement and contradict each other- working together as a team. They all have their own specific set of skills that they bring to the table. Neither should be more important than the other.

Yes Percy almost killed the goddess of misery with her own poison. Yes Nico can kill a person with a touch. But Hazel prevented Gaia from rising another seventy years. Piper can charmspeak literal gods. Jason defeated Krios single-handedly (we never see it but we’re told about it). Frank had to be given a physical handicap from the UNIVERSE ITSELF for being too powerful. Reyna has two ferocious robot lie-detector dogs, lived on Circe’s island so knows some magic and shit, lived with Pirates for a while, single-handedly ran CJ for eight months while trying to keep Octavian off her back AND led the legion into battle when the time came- not to mention the fact that she can basically amplify anyone’s strength/lend them hers. We don’t even have TIME to dive into all the times Annabeth has been seriously OP. Plus, Leo has a 60-tonne fire-breathing dragon, is the first fire user in nearly four centuries AND defeated Gaia.

I would’ve loved it if they’d all played equal part in the final battle against Gaia instead of Leo doing all the work. While I’m not complaining that Rick made my favourite character the most important in the end, I kinda think that if you’ve got a concept of Seven demigods each with their own role to play you should actually make their roles all equal- not just wait ‘til you find out who the fan favourite is and then give him the most significant job.

GIVE EACH MEMBER OF THE SEVEN EQUAL NUMBER OF POV CHAPTERS IN THE BOOKS PLEASE.

Perhaps it’s my neuros diverging, but I HATE it when things aren’t mathematically equal or don’t line up correctly. Fold a piece of paper in half all wonky-like in front of me I dare you.

The Lost Hero? Flawless! Each character gets two chapters, and it all rotates in the same cycle until we end up back with who we started. Admittedly Jason gets two extra chapters at the end but that just means we can give Piper and Leo more chapters in the other books. Son Of Neptune? Great! Percy gets a few more chapters in ratio to Frank and Hazel, though. Mark Of Athena?… All the Greek demigods get a POV! That’s fine! But where’s our book dedicated to just the Roman characters? House Of Hades? FANTASTIC! Everyone in the Prophecy gets a POV.

But wait! There’s more! Now there’s two new characters who need POVs, making the fandom have to write out a whole “the seven plus Nico and Reyna” thing even though the series is literally called Heroes of Olympus and so you could just call them that but that’s besides the point. Controversial, but I don’t mind the lack of Percabeth POVs in Blood of Olympus. We kinda already know a lot about them already and I wanna give my other pookies a time to shine. But the fact that Frank and Hazel only get TWO books with POVs meanwhile Leo and Piper get FOUR-

As much as I love them all, I just think that nine characters in five books might’ve been Rick biting off more than he can chew. We know this because of how hastily they had to wrap up Leo’s arc and the “oath to keep with a final breath” line in the Prophecy in the last chapter, and how Frank, Hazel and Reyna don’t get completed arcs until TOA.

But anyway, I think that “Percy is the most powerful”- while I know it’s an opinion most of the fandom share- is actually erasing the whole concept of HOO. Seven characters, equally powerful, for different reasons. And if Rick had just stuck to that concept, it would’ve been much more stylistically pleasing (with an equal number of chapters for each character) and be able to shine a light on characters like Frank and Hazel who are kinda pushed to the sides in the books. It made the final battle kinda anticlimactic just to have the Lost Trio and mostly Leo defeat Gaia, and just kinda made the ending underwhelming imo.

[silverheartlugia2000]

DCXDP prompt

Ok, so there's plenty of Danny laying low or freaking out about the no meta rule, but I have this CRAVING of someone for once just explaining it to him? Like whoever bird or birds he's talking to just leans in and whispers "Wanna know a secret? That's mostly just a mind control precaution. I mean would you want to see Supes jacked up on fear gas? If the league do come over he prefers to be called first so he's close if something happens."   

Danny- "Oh... yeah that makes sense actually, that shit isn't fun to be under.."

"Wait is THAT why you have that string of robberies on your record?!"

"That and the time my whole town got possessed in order to make me look bad and get arrested.."

The bird then drags Danny into the cave to open Bruce's file on him, and they both sit down and fill in the gaps on the shadier spots of his record. Heck Danny eventually gives Bats a few thermoses and other less harmful but still disabling device blueprints to add to the contingency file cause even if Dan is in therapy and on probation he knows his shit luck will probably make it needed sooner rather than later and he knows how fast it will go bad.

It comes in very handy at the next gala when Vlad attempts to have a duplicate overshadow Bruce who refuses to take his business propositions. Vlad gets nosey before Danny pulls up his king rights and makes vlad take an Oath (the magic binding kind) to not mess with Bruce or his family or reveal any of their super identities to anyone at all. Constantine is there beforehand to read over the contract and outthink any loopholes before vlad can take advantage of them.

Danny gives them samples of ecto-dejecto for medical emergencies, the Bat's keep them refreshed and in stock especally after they meet Ellie and hear about her stability problems. With help from Frostbite and Danny's ok they start working on a more reliable formula just for Ellie's sake.

Yes Jason is calmer around the halfas and he is slowly stabilizing enough form a proper core from it, (not an instant fix this time!) whether hes becoming a true halfa, more towards a remnant, or both they arent sure. But one night when the phantoms arent around Jason is having a bad time, reacting from something he was hit with during a fight. Tim just grabs one of the ecto-pens on a whim and it just flushes out the toxin so fast Jay passes out. When he wakes up his core has had a good growth spurt, its still not complete yet but he's beginning to get some minor abilities, the Phantom sibs start coaching him before it gets strong enough for Jason to turn completely intangible and if Jay starts complaining? Clockwork whisks them ALL up to the tower for a home movie night of Danny's greatest fails. Grampa has a collection, good and bad XD. Yes Danny is cringing in shame while eating Clockwork's ecto cookies but Jason is slowly starting to understand the importance of getting the basics right cause he does NOT want to accidentally sink completely under the ground without being able to get back out no thank you!!

What core type would he get anyway? Shadow's like Johnny because of the stealth perks? Earth to prevent being buried again? Would he have literature as a secondary obsession cause obviously he's gonna follow Danny into the family/protection category but since Danny also has a space obsession why not?

He puts Jazz's name in the list of superhero safe therapists, the fact she's already making waves at Arkam is only boosting her reputation. Especially once they read her paper on ghost obsessions and how sometimes they are comparable to hyper-fixations in autistics in the way they both satisfy and promote healthy growth for a ghosts physical and mental state but also how being deprived of them or forced to go against them can be severely harmful to their literal health.

And that was one thing the birds kept tripping on to understand whenever they needed to bench one of the halfas but they would end up just hovering around NEEDING to be helpful no mater how much they are told to go back to bed. They also get a whole new understanding on what happened to Dan cause yeah his whole timeline is based on loosing his family and retaliating out of grief.

So from then on the halfas are allowed to help with little tasks as long as they do not strain their recovery at all. Whenever Danny gets sickly and depressed they take him up to the watch tower, Ellie gets lessons in different languages so she can interact more when they let her join them on international trips, Jason gets set loose in a newly discovered bookstore when the manor's or Bab's library isn't enough, and Dan.. they're still figuring him out but he seems to enjoy wrecking little play city set ups and games where you play as the monster like Godzilla or Rampage along with general ghost sibling rough housing. (Lilo and Stitch is his favorite movie but you'd be hard pressed to get him to admit it,)

As for ships, definitely anger management. Jason becomes an unofficial fourth Phantom sib. Platonic everlasting trio cause Danny loves his friends and they will pet him like a cat for hours while his tail coils around them possessively like a giant snake and still make memes of it when he's grumpy. Brain dead is fun also, especially if Danny or the others are capable of Little Baby Man form and Tim has to fight Damian for cuddle rights! Bats has his usual girls but hey superman isn't that bad to hang around either.

[tonybicyclestark]

you said something about Stephen & Natasha friendship?

In this world, Steph & Tony were engaged already when IM2 happened and Nat came to SI undercover. Stephen disliked her at first because she was shady and rubbed Stephen the wrong way. When she was revealed to be SHIELD, Stephen hated her because of how manipulative they were and also because of the whole 'Iron Man yes, Tony Stark not recommended'. (He ripped into Fury for that, didn't even LET Tony see the report). BUT well. Stephen and Nat became friends slowly after Battle of New York first due to need and then because they came to an understanding. “I need a favour.”  Natasha stated simply, not hesitating even a little as she stared at Stephen.

“You don’t ask for favours."

"I need you to give Agent Barton a checkup. Especially his mind." Natasha replied, completely sidestepping Stephen's accusations.

“As if I’ll help you after what you pulled with Tony?” Stephen scoffed at her. He was tired, emotional, drained and so exhausted, and all he wanted at that moment was to be rid of this conversation and see Tony.

“SHIELD has doctors. You don’t need me.” 

“They’re SHIELD agents first, doctors second. You’re a doctor first.” The reply was quick, as if the thought had been in her head a long time.

“You think they’d hurt him.” Stephen finally realized.

Natasha didn’t flinch even though Stephen could tell it was taking everything that she had, to not walk away. She really was desperate if she was here talking to him of all people. She hated him. Or well, at the very least really disliked him when she’d been parading around undercover at SI.

“Barely twenty-four hours ago Barton led an attack on SHIELD and managed to incapacitate the entire organization and almost killed everyone.” 

“It wasn’t his fault.” 

“Not everyone will see it that way. And he was compromised by something no one's been exposed to yet. Before." The "they'd want to do tests on him" was unsaid but both of them knew it was true.  

Stephen had already decided he would help. Of course he would. Even though he was barely standing up as it is on his feet and his heart still ached at the memory of that damn call cutting off, Stephen would do his job. He took his oath seriously.

But that didn’t mean that he won’t try to use every chance he could to his advantage. Especially when it meant that he had two of SHIELD’s top agents’ goodwill afterwards.

"Who's to say that I'll even be able to help. I know brains Romanoff, not magic or alien tech."

"You're the best neurosurgeon there is, aren't you? I'm sure you can figure it out." He waited a beat, seeing if Romanoff would actually beg - or what counts as begging for someone like her. 

“I’d owe you.” 

Stephen knew he just got handed a leverage over Fury that he’d be stupid not to take.

[almdragonrend]

I have somthing I really need to say, I don't get how FL could be popular, I mean if you think for a moment about it even OG Katarina is morally superior to the Heroine in Maria and all The Capture Targets in the story, I mean nothing against an Evil protagonist or a good antagonist, but than don't portray Katarina as a Villain and Maria as a hero ! That's wrong! Katarina leaves Maria completely alone in both the Nicole and Alan route, meaning she only opposed Maria when she's trying to seduce HER fiancée or mess with her family or do both in the Harem route!

Than the fact that she's accused of bullying those bellow her station is bulls* she only bullied Maria who I just said why she did it and Keith whose arrival at HER HOME turned HER PARENTS against eachother when she was a Child! That doesn't make it right but she couldn't know that this wasn't his fault, and his own original family wanted to kill him! Luigi saved his life and that's how he thanked him ?

than Geordo she gave almost half her life up to that point in complete support and devotion to that mother fu* and he swore an Oath to marry her! I don't think many people get how bad a possible future king breaking an Oath is especially considering Geordo's Grandpa's actions,

further more Katarina actually don't mistreated dose below her status, first her Maid Anne who despite being related to Nobility is herself a Commoner just like Maria and Katarina even in FL verse treats her like a Sister more than a servant!

Next there's Sianna, she's the bottom of the barrel of Nobility and still Katarina cherished her more than anyone else! This makes the claim of her bullying people for their status down right nonsensicaly!

Especially when she's the only one who never partake in bullying everyone's favorite Target Sophia Ascart, since we see in VOD is never once mentioned that she did so when Sophia joined her book club, that would have had to be brought up than ! Meaning is the only Noble Girl who didn't bully Sophia! (Except Marry) and it's even implied she discouraged others from bullying Sophia!

When Bakarina in verge of doom just assumed OG Katarina bullied more people and wanted to apologize during VoD judgment event no one spoke up! And that Is most likely because she never bullied anyone other than the Girl who tried to steal her fiancée and/or shame her family!

Also, it's said that Katarina's bullying was only on the very edge of Criminal, meaning she never really committed a crime, the one attacking Maria with fire was Noelia, who acted on her own accord!

Keith and/or Geordo basically rigged the Trial to get Katarina stripped of her status and exiled which is a way to hard punishment anyway! When she comes back with dark magic she didn't even kill someone for it! She just had it !

And that idiots in the development team must have believe that this made her appear more evil since she's just born with the "bad magic" but instead it just means she didn't kill anybody for it ! Right OG Katarina is not a murderer and the idiots of the FL development believed Katarina being NOT a murderer makes her more evil than people who literally commit murder to get the same magic! what does that say about their Character ?

I heard a lot about people saying something for a Original Katarina redemption arc and I really hope she gets an happy ending, she deserves it but what people need to understand is Original Katarina dosen't need an redemption arc because she has not done anything so bad that she deserved getting to that point anyway, instead she deserved a pretty enormous apology from Geordo, Keith and Maria

To give her a redemption arc basically means recognizing Maria, Geordo and Keith, Cheating, betraying,Oath breaking and manipulate a Chords to commit prejudice as a good thing, Original Katarina shouldn't have to apologize to them! They should have to apologize to her! Even when something like that calls for ways more than an apology! And first of all her entire sentence should be revoked !!!! + there has to be compensation for everything she had to go trough!!!

[atopvisenyashill]

can you rank the great houses? 😊

obviously this is just my opinion on them, etc etc also thank you for this ask i love lists alskjdfj

9. House Arryn

Constantly dying off but they had a lesbian and a milf as rulers once so they have that going for them. House Royce is cooler, GIVE ME MORE BRONZE YOHN I'M READY FOR HIM!!!!

8. House Lannister

I’m sorry but They Are Just Fine. When I’m reading their chapters I feel something and then I mostly forget about them after I'm done. I wish we had a real Dance era book mostly for Joanna and Tyland tho.

7. House Tyrell

I think it’s really funny that they are upjumped stewards and the whole Reach has been pissy about it for generations. Mostly exist for other characters to project onto but by god do they reflect back in fun ways. I want to meet Willas so bad but I’m positive if we meet him he’ll die soon after so rip me!!

6. House Targaryen

Interesting villain house that George gets too distracted by too often. Lots of fun historical characters, the cyclical doom is amazing to read but Dany’s chapters drag so bad to me at some points and F&B just pissed me AWF. The best ones are usually tied to her magic (prophecy chapters, fever/vision dream chapters) or her dragons in some way and the dragon bond is also what I tend to find most interesting in her ancestors as well.

5. House Greyjoy

I haven't reread Victarian in years but damn Aeron, Asha, and Theon are all as great as I remember so I'm making the decision to put them this high on memory alone. But this family is just a group of the most delusional people ever, struggling in a culture that doesn't allow room for struggle, and the way Euron acts as this black hole of terror for all of them, until finally, finally, there is Asha, not only knowing and understanding that the way she's lived is wrong but going home and dragging everyone else through the dark and into the light with her. Also, their culture is just really fun and cool.

4. House Baratheon

Started by my number two enemy, Orys Baratheon, but damn do I love basically everyone else in this stupid ass House. The House as a whole really plays with masculinity; what it is, the damage you do when you measure up to your role, the lengths they will go to in order to pretend the fault lies elsewhere, craving the pleasures but refusing to deal with the consequences, and all of that fallout landing on their innocent children, dooming them for the next generation as well. I need more Baratheon women tho jfc.

3. House Tully

I literally love that the Tully’s are in canon known as being huge bitter bitches. The most fucked up idea of what family is in the world but by god do these people try, they all try so hard to live up to those words but the price of duty and honor is always the sacrifice of their children for The Family, and not actual protection of their family, and while Hoster recognizes this far too late, his children become determined to do Every Single Thing Wrong in order to be loyal to both The Family and their family. Unpleasant people, I love them so much.

2. House Stark

Taught me what family is!!!! The whole series for them is an examination of the family unit under pressure and how their attempts to stick to their assigned roles (The Mother, The Father, The Heir, The Dutiful Daughter, etc) just makes them completely break under the stress so they discover what's under that - AND IT'S LOVE BITCH. I HATE the analysis that their stories are about rejecting love or overcoming emotion because it all comes back to that moment with Ned in the dungeons, remembering how he chose Lyanna, Jon, and love over honor, the way he chooses Sansa over honor, THAT is the point, for all of them, trying to keep these impossible oaths of honor and ignore love but in the end, the father they venerate chose love because it is not just okay to yearn for love, it is human and natural and good to love others.

1. House Nymeros Martell

LISTEN. WHO ELSE COULD IT BE.

If the Starks are a family desperately trying to find each other again, than the Martells have long been lost. A House defined in its modern day by the violating loss of one of its daughters in a society that doesn't put much worth in losing daughters. It's the themes of justice and vengeance, waiting on the system that is not meant to help you to bring you peace, on the people who are at the outskirts of society finding the line between the overthrow of power and keeping the cycle going, it's STANDING AS AN ACT OF LOVE. For Doran to his Arianne, for Oberyn to Elia in the face of Tywin, for Elia to her children in the face of the Mountain, for Meria and Nymor and Maron and Loreza and Nymeria and Mors, the point is not just to stand up and fight but to stand up and fight for something, to fight for the people who depend on you because there is no one else to do it. A responsibility, a calling, an honor, a horror.

[kimrinzleycreations]

In a generic fantasy setting, a veteran human paladin (let's name him Nico) sets out on one last adventure before his retirement, promising his relatives he'd make it home to them. This promise is very quickly challenged when he's killed immediately by a stray kobold arrow.

In a desperate bid to save him, Nico's party members manage to scrape together for some powerful resurrection magic - albeit one known to have certain side effects. These aren't obvious at first, but as they have to repeat the spell after various falling rocks, boot-dwelling scorpions, and wagon accidents lead to subsequent deaths, the results grow more and more obvious. The once stoic paladin was growing bigger, brasher, and bawdier, gaining not only a newfound youth but a particularly feminine and orcish aspect.

These strange effects come from the fact that the shoddy spell's reincarnating not only the paladin but it also brings out his soul's past life - in this case an orcish female barbarian named Leena. This synergizing of old and new continues as Nico's doom-prone luck gives way to Leena's reckless abandon (there's a reason she died significantly younger than Nico).

Over time, Nico's preferences and behavior changes in subtle ways. As a paladin, Nico had once sworn an oath to respect the sanctity and life of all living things, but now their taste for meat is too much to ignore. As is their hunger for carnal fun, which grows rapidly. Despite the changes, which even Nico feels are surprising, they insist that they're still regular old Nico. It's just as if they've learned new things about themselves that they thoroughly enjoy.

By the time the adventure is completed, Nico still has her old memories and several of her beliefs. But as a whole, Nico sees herself differently now. She understands that much of her new tastes comes from her past life, but she does not see herself less as "Leena, the Orc." Instead, she sees herself like Nico, but a Nico that changed organically no different than how you change as you grow older.

With this knowledge safely assured, Nicolina returns to her family as an Orc Warrioress, proud of the person she's grown into and eager to help her older relatives more on the family farm so that they won't miss her as much when she's out adventuring.

[Human male Paladin to female Orc warrioress]

------

I genuinely could not think up a better title than this x)

I suck at titles. But I hope I'm pretty good at drawing Orcs tho? <3

As always, if you enjoy what I make and want to see it early, you can do so on my Patreon, where membership also grants some extra perks. Perks such as voting on the next minicomic, or suggesting ideas for one. And it all happens right here:

www.patreon.com/KimRinzley

[wild-magic-oops]

For the dark urge asks: 1, 19, and 24!

from left to right: Lucas, The Dark Urge, Damien

1. What circumstances led to your Dark Urge becoming their Class/Subclass?

Lucas - I initially played him as a life domain cleric of Tyr because I thought it'd be hilarious and it was! Tho in my latest playthrough I made a hireling out of him as a multi-class gloomstalker rogue which is fitting imo so I might change his class for some fics/ideas etc. But back to the cleric - Lucas woke up with a very acute feeling that he served a god before so he drew the conclusion that he must've been a cleric. And his violent urges felt imposed on him, so he thought that must be a curse of some sort and therefore he must've gotten it because he served a good-aligned god.

My guy was deep in the delulu, but yet partially correct. Still, he didn't know which god he served so he did the good old tested method of guessing, and started with Tyr who looked at this poor confused bhaalspawn who wanted to do good and decided "yeah sure why not". Another option is for Withers to have always been Lucas's deity and for Lucas to just not have realized it and thought it was Tyr instead.

The Dark Urge - he's the default sorcerer class so there was no choosing there. He realized he could do magic and stuck with that. It was a bonus that he could fry people on the spot with said magic. No need to improve upon perfection lmao

Damien - I still haven't 100% decided but since he's a paladin and it's canon that paladin!Durge has broken their oath before, I'm thinking that upon waking up from the pod, even through his amnesia he still could feel the remnants of an oath and that he was wronged in some way. And because of his violent and terrible urges that he very much doesn't like, he decided to go the complete opposite route. So he swore another oath - this time of vengeance.

19. Has your Dark Urge become particularly close to anyone romantically and/or platonically in their journey? If so, who, and what is the relationship like? If no, why not?

All my Durges are Galemancers so Gale's their closest companion by far. Aside from him:

Lucas - tried the most to get to know others and give them a chance. He really likes Wyll bc he's a hero and has the whole "do the right thing" going on. But Wyll's also a bit too morally uncompromising which in itself is fine, but Lucas with his urges (and sometimes hubris) felt like he would fuck up at some point and Wyll would not take it well, so their relationship is not as strong as it could've been. He gets along with selunite!Shadowheart as well.

The Dark Urge - He's not super close to anyone aside from Gale tbh. But he does like the good-aligned companions more. And he has the most developed relationship with Jaheira out of all my Durges. He's the only one to admit he's scared of Bhaal to her. I guess from the original companions he gets along the best with Wyll and Lae'zel.

Damien - gets along with Wyll the best. I didn't recruit Karlach this time even tho I like her bc I want to see how something plays out, but for narrative reasons I imagine I did and Damien gets along great with her as well. And since this is the first time I recruited Minthara, he has a funny relationship with her bc they're both vengeance paladins and sometimes he agrees with her and then she says something out of pocket and he's like "no...!" He also respects Lae'zel once she's seen through her indoctrination and wants to fix the system for her people.

24. Does your Dark Urge have a treasured item with them? If yes, what is it and why is it special? If no, how do they feel about item sentimentality in general?

That would be a no for all my Durges. In terms of sentimentality - Lucas is the most santimental when it comes to objects, followed by The Dark Urge. Damien is the least by far.

[iaus]

🌻

okay fun fact. i have a very accommodating and patient DM and for our one (1) campaign i have played 4 different characters AND they all have some sort of ran away from a previous relationship drama in their backstory.

i think there's a theme. because i can't help my self, little blurbs about them.

felicitous: dragonborn fiend warlock. switched from him because our party got TPK'd and my DM was like... you could just change classes and i was like. no no it's okay i have another character. but funny thing about feli is that he's my character that 1) faked his own death to get out of marrying his childhood sweetheart 2) not only faked his death but made a pact with some sort of demon 3) the faked death was literally an explosion at his family home. dramatic.

tazskan celdes: dragonborn paladin, oath of ancients. worshiper of milil, lover of poetry. he's the childhood sweetheart feli faked his death to get away from. he ended up having a brief fling with the tabaxi in our party (who's player i uh. kind of? dated? for a little bit). so taz got axed when i broke up with them because it was just too fucking awkward.

light where briars bloom (briar): tabaxi twilight cleric of ilmater. my wonderful he/him lesbian who's name was stolen from a character in warrior cats that i adored (briarlight). i originally had him as like a 30 yr old weirdo but as i played him i was like. guys. what age does briar seem. and everyone answered way too quickly. 18. 19. 20. and i was like. okay. lemme. rework that. anyway. briar started out as a cleric/fighter but then he got like. 5 near death experiences in a row and i was like. eli can i reclass him to full cleric because he thinks he's like the second coming of christ. and eli was like. okay yea. then shortly after i had briar have a crisis of faith over hurting people and he went home to his dads in waterdeep.

and finally salem vulfrik my beloved. scourge aasimar path of the beast barbarian. he transforms into a werehyena when he rages. he has zhentarim connections. his family was killed while he was out finding himself when he was about 18/19 and he has such intense survivor's guilt over that 30-ish yrs later that he has never processed or looked at. he had a four siblings. one of them a twin.

he had a complete spiral in his late 20s and knocked someone up and then fled neverwinter when they tried to baby trap him. his introduction to the current party was him getting attacked by a magical tree. he died and had a dream his family was calling to him and forgot his twin's name.

he watched the guy he has a crush on (frederick) get eaten by an aboleth and literally went inside the aboleth to get his body because he's train of thought was. the party can fix him. he then paid a planetar to resurrect frederick. he has not told frederick this. he asked frederick to scry on his ex because he's afraid cultists might be trying to hurt his kid (that he knows nothing about). he's the worst kind of mess.

he's trying to be better but it doesn't come natural.

he bought our party wizard/warlock, maeve, a new hat because it got destroyed in a fight and it was his way of coping and being like. she's not actually dead she can't be i have to give her this hat. he sees the druid, yera, as a surrogate sister but would die before admitting that.

he's 43 years old.

he's my babygirl.

[adaines-furious-feast]

I have a Fantasy High OC that I think about a lot. Not as much as my Crown of Candy one, but a lot, and I thought I would share, undercut. 

Tiffany Rosestride, of the Rosestrides, the halfling bard family. If there is a halfling backing dancer, singer, musician, actor, they are part of Tiffany’s very large family. 

She has two older sisters and a younger brother and they are all in the arts. If there was a TLC channel in Elmville, this family would be on it. Tiffany’s mother is a dance mom and deeply, deeply disappointed that Tiff has precisely zero artistic talent. It’s embarrassing really.  

Her mother has kind of moved on from this disappointment. She’s really quite busy taking her other children to auditions and rehearsals ect. Tiffany spends a year at Mumple, doing Mumple stuff. Her mother kind of hopes it will give her some business sense so she can at least be a manager. 

But shortly before the summer of her freshman year, she develops magic. Tiffany is now a sorcerer and has no idea what to do about that. She’s enrolled at Augefort for the following year, so she has to retake freshman year but oh boy is it so different than her year at Mumple. She kind of hopes she can figure out why she has magic now, or at the very least how to control her magic. 

She gets detention on the first day by accidentally using grease to cause Goldenhoard to fall while he’s chasing after Riz.  

After the corn cuties fight, when the parents come to pick her up, her mother is the last to arrive because her brother had a call-back for some commercial and she didn’t want to leave him alone. They spend most of the ride home talking about that audition. 

Mrs Rosestride – her husband is on tour, so she’s kind of single-parenting this – is very excited to learn that Tiff is in a party with a bard, and she hopes it will rub off on her. The bard-ness doesn’t. The rebellion does. 

The Rosestrides must always look like stereotypical halflings. That’s the niche that has made their family famous and Tiff cannot let the family down. It’s all long curly hair, green and yellow dresses. The only thing not stereotypical are the heavy boots she wears because there are some *weird* fans that are obsessed with halfling feet and that’s something the family does not want getting out. If it’s not part of a performance, the boots need to be on. 

Tiff cuts her hair short and swaps the heavy boots for a pair of sneakers. She’s not ready to go complete barefoot just yet but wants something more comfortable. When her mother freaks out at the reveal at Solstice, the Thistlesprings step in (they are neighbours after all, and have been giving Tiff rides home from school).  

We see Tiffany’s mother actually realize what she’s done and try to turn things around/be there for her more.  

After the Sisterly Showdown, we find out she had a letter *the whole time* that her mother had put away and just forgotten about. The whole campaign there had been hints of shadowy figures watching the Bad Kids, and they assumed it was part of the Harvestmen, but they continue after the cult is busted. They’re actually members of the Order of Hospitaller, a group of spell casters committed to being a voice for the inn keepers and Mumple-People of the world, to hold adventurers somewhat accountable and stop them just going and looting a poor guy’s shop because they want to. And they’ve been waiting for her response about whether she will take up her oath this whole time. Tiffany immediately accepts. She’s been trying to be like “hey, why don’t we stop making fun of Mumple people” this whole time and is fully onboard with this. 

When they’re in prison, her mom contacts a lawyer but he’s an entertainment lawyer and really not very useful. Tiff does go and help her family though, and her little brother decides he doesn’t want to go to the special elite bard high school that their other two sisters go to, but wants to help people.  

Anyway, Prom goes down. And they all live happily ever after for nine months until spring break. 

[tozettastone]

i would like the lore review :3c

Sure. Note to readers: the following contains some spoilers for the 2021 YA novel by Alexandra Bracken, "Lore." It's also pretty critical (because as I mentioned in my previous comment: my review of Lore is that you should read Tithe instead), so if you're not feeling like reading a moderately negative review, give this one a miss.

--

"Lore," is a young adult mythologically-inspired fantasy novel set in modern New York City. It has an interesting central idea. In short, a bunch of major gods of the Greek pantheon offended against their leader and were cast down to be mortal for a week out of every 7 years, during which time killing them could pass their god-powers on to whichever mortal struck the killing blow. The gods are hunted by families who descend from ancient heroes, like Perseus or Heracles. This week long time of hunting is called the "Agon." It's a little convoluted but it's pretty fun, right?

The story centres on a young woman named Lore who fled this hidden magical underworld. Her god-hunting family, experiencing reduced circumstances due to internecine politics, were all murdered during the Agon, and then she lived with her mother's extended family who treated her poorly. At the beginning of the next Agon, she is drawn back into the fray via a message from her childhood friend, Castor.

Lore receives this message when Castor finds her and fights her at an illegal fight club, which somehow genuinely has nothing to do with the events of the plot, and is never spoken of again. This will set the tone for the whole story.

So, the good stuff: the central concept is fun. The writing is technically proficient. The characters are pretty consistent. The central plot (although not the sub plots) takes some twists and turns and arrives at a completely coherent conclusion. The entire central idea of the Agon is resolved in a thematically coherent way.

My major criticism of this book — and it is a really major, structural thing — is that the novel attempts to tackle an enormous array of ideas, and does so poorly. It races around trying to take on all of them in a half-assed way, instead of committing to two or three central concepts with its whole buttocks. This book will pick up a thought or idea, run with it for a bit, and then forget it even occurred while it careens off towards another, equally ill-explored idea. This has its most profound and regrettable effect on characterisation, where we get incidents like:

illegal fight club irrelevant to the plot is never again mentioned by any character, or

entire story propped up by the trembling buttress of convenient amnesia that disappears in the epilogue, or

character learns that her whole family was murdered by a totally different person than she thought, which impacts the events of the plot, but appears to have minimal effect on her thoughts or feelings

These are not the only examples, they're just the ones that stand out to me at 1:22 AM on Saturday.

In general, my conclusion is that this book has a convoluted but fun central idea and the actual writing reads well, but it is shallow and confused by trying to do too much all at once. "Lore," would have read better to me if it had been a simpler (and shorter, bloody oath) story which cut half the subplots and weird character threads and instead focused on developing strong characters and a nuanced central thesis.

I'm going to end this with a speech from Athena, made on a topic that she never again mentions:

"No. That is she men have portrayed her [Medusa] as, through art, through tales," Athena said. "They imagined her hideous because they feared to meet the true gaze of a woman, to witness the powerful storm that lives inside, waiting. She was not defeated by my uncle's assault. She was merely reborn as a being who could gaze back at the world, unafraid."

Cheers, Athena.

[xxemxlxserxx]

Hades is one of the best dads in Percy Jackson. (From the point of view of someone who has read up to The Lost Oracle)(Basically just an Underworld kid timeline)---(Go to the end for a TL;DR)---

(I don't have a great memory so some of this could be fanon or just completely false information. Be aware! This is a super long post. I am also less aware of Hazels story so feel free to add on/disagree!)

Aside from his actual parenting, he is the only of the big three to keep the oath. He has three children in the series so far which is more than the rest of the big three. All of those children were born before the oath was made. Nico and Bianca Di Angelo and Hazel Levesque. The timeline of Nico, Bianca, and Hazel is hazy at best. What we do know is that they were all born sometime between 1924-1938.

When Nico was 8 and Bianca was 12 Zeus killed their mother with a bolt of lightning. Many of the gods would have let the children fend for themselves but Hades put the children into a magic casino where time was altered and no one could find the kids.

He was admittedly not as good to Hazel when she was young. Hazel's mother was a fortune teller in 1920's-1940's New Orleans. She summoned Pluto, the roman equivalent of Hades, and they had Hazel. After, he did almost nothing for her. She died when she was a preteen. She was given a chance at Elysium but refused for the sake of her mother. She was sent to the Fields of Asphodel but granted memory of her previous life.

Year's later there more kids of the big three. There is a prophesy foretelling that one of the big three children will save or destroy the world when they turn 16. Hades finally retrieves the Di Angelo's from the casino and sends them to boarding school to be found by Camp Half-Blood. He intends for one of them to be the child of the prophesy.

Bianca joined the immortal hunters of Artemis and then dies on a quest. Hades is upset but does not cast aside Nico and give up on him. He says that it would have been easier with Bianca but he will just have to train Nico more. When Bianca dies Nico leaves CHB and travels the country. It is assumed that he spends time with his father in the Underworld. He also has a connection with Persephone, Hades' godly wife and her mother Demeter. Most demi-gods do not spend time with their godly parent, let alone there godly step-parent.

Nico has a personal room in his father's palace. He is able to freely talk to his father, even negatively. When they fight Hades sends Nico to his room, like a regular parent. Him wanting Nico to have a "normal life" becomes important later.

When the Doors of Death are opened Nico looks for Bianca in the Fields of Asphodel. Instead, he finds his other sister, Hazel. He brings her to Hades and Hades tells him to take her to Camp Jupiter. Nico becomes the first "modern" demigod to know of both camps. Nico is told to say he is the Ambassador of Pluto. He then joins in on important matters within Camp Jupiter.

Sometime during this Hades gives Nico a personal zombie-driver. He does this after finding out that mortal parents drive their children around. As established, Nico has no mortal parent.

Ok so I'm going a bit off-format for this but I swear some time in Hero's of Olympus Pluto appears to Hazel but I forgot when and could not find it on the wiki. So this part is kinda an unfinished thought. Hazel assumes Pluto does not talk to her because if he acknowledged her life, he would have to send her back to the Underworld.

So to recap my points. (TL;DR)

-Followed the no-kids oath

-Protected his children from the other gods

-Didn't underestimate his kids

-Gave Hazel special death-privileges

-Took Nico into the palace and truly made him part of his family

-Treated him like a mostly normal kid

-Gave him his own space in the palace where he was always welcome

-Entrusted him with the knowledge of both camps

-Gave Nico a zombie-driver because Hades couldn't always be there and he wanted Nico to be able to live a normal life

Now, what about other godly parents? I will admit that it is easier for Hades because he has so little kids. Despite this, Zeus is still able to be a bad parent. Poseidon is also a good example of a good godly parent. Apollo gets a bit better in trails of Apollo I think but I'm not done with the series yet.

Once again feel free to disagree or discuss. If your mean I'll probably cry tbh but do what you wanna do man.

[justbrainrot]

Okay, my Legendborn Cycle deep nerds— I have an idea for writing the story of Faye & Natasia’s relationship rattling around in my brain and I need to chat some stuff out, you with me?

(This will clearly contain Legendborn & Bloodmarked spoilers— it’s also a long one, y’all)

Item the first:

How exactly are we explaining the difference between how Bree’s root affects Sel in BM ch40-41 vs BM ch58? Because getting mega drunk & literally losing one’s humanity are… really different outcomes lol.

I personally think that consent is the key here (big ol’ hat tip to @jenosavel for this reasoning, it has been exploding my brain for a few weeks haha) & that Bree actively pouring root into the shared casting they created (for completeness I’ll also point out that she believes the construct/bomb they created was entirely Sel’s work, but he says it’s both of them) created the drunk-but-better feeling Sel has afterwards— plus his eyes go back to gold! They aren’t bright bloodred anymore nor are they the burnt sienna that they were once his mesmer was removed by Valec at the bar. Contrasting this with the changes he experiences after consuming her root by force in the last bloodwalk— it’s night and day. His eyes are “molten red,” his fangs are black, he has claws ffs! The only difference I can see between these two situations is Bree’s consent regarding use of her root (well the bloodwalk does take place on its own plane & not on earth but everything that happens in all the bloodwalks holds true on earth as well so.)

Anyway I obviously think this is a super compelling theory BUT it also means that Natasia can’t help him. She is probably in her own descent, since at this point we are six months after Faye’s death, & if the thing that has been keeping her balanced since she broke out of the Shadowhold years ago has been shared castings with Faye, then she’s pretty screwed unless she has access to the kind of edible (drinkable?) aether Valec sells or is friends with another rootcrafter. I don’t see why or how she could do that though, since it’s not like she can hide being a Merlin to anyone in the know.

Definitely interested in hearing other theories about this!

Item the second:

When I first read LB I was convinced that the accepted fact that Merlins would descend into demonia without their Oaths had to be a straight lie & just another way that the Order manipulated Merlins into giving their lives over to the cause. Are we to believe that all unbalanced cambions on the planet are bound to the Order? Like every single one? Nahhhh. Valec doesn’t have any children (that we know of) but he’s also very unlikely to be the only cambion on earth who isn’t descended from Merlin, & who knows what kind of shenanigans the others get up to? Plus one of the fun things Ms. Deonn has peppered these books with is the arrogance of the Order thinking their way is The Only Way— both how wrong that is & how that hubris blinds them from seeing the magical world as it truly is. I was mega surprised by the fact that Sel’s descent was a major part of the plot of BM. So that’s my previous headcannon bias which likely affects the following, I guess.

I just can’t wrap my mind around how the descent even works in a way? Like maybe this is just the Sel heart eyes talking, but though I understand how he explains it to Bree, I also wonder how reliable a narrator of his own destruction he is, because our boy doesn’t have the best self esteem. Like yes he for sure tries to kill Bree, & that’s capital letters BAD, no arguments there, but he’s not operating with all the information at the time! And as soon as he has the relevant info he’s the first to kneel to her in the ogof y ddraig, even though he must be as confused as anyone as to why she pulled Excalibur from the stone.

Let’s just take a look at the text, shall we?

"Oaths are sealed through personal belief and intention. Belief is why Lord Davis could do all the evil he did and not be burned by his own Oaths; he believed what he did was right. I believed I was doing my job well when you first arrived on campus. That going after you was the right thing to do."

“I'm not excusing you," I say. "But back then, you were doing your duty. What you thought was right based on what you knew. I didn't know what I was either."

Okay— so theoretically no ill effects should have come out of him being wrong about Bree being a goruchel, because he believed she was a threat, just as Davis believed he was serving the greater good. Cool cool.

I frown. "When did you worry?"

He shifts on the log to face me, eyes darting across my face so quickly, I almost don't feel the sparks.

"When I saw your bravery. Your fury. Your heart. When I started to see…” He swallows, brows knitting together. "When I started to see what I believe Nicholas sees when he looks at you. Only a monster could look at you and want to destroy you, Bree."

The knot loosens in my chest a fraction. "But you were still serving your Oath to Nick, then. So even though you were worried, you couldn't have succumbed that night, not technically . . . right?"

"Perhaps. But my behavior then affected how I behaved later, after Nicholas was taken." He inhales. "By the time the Regents arrived, I had been feeling the effects of not fulfilling my Oath for several days."

So by his estimation he begins his descent the night of the second trial. Which (tragically!) is the same night he begins to fall for Bree. (<— this part is my opinion but anyway) it leads me to my other point: his demon side is drawn to all the negative human emotions, yeah? Fear, suffering, anger, pain, etc. How can he be in descent when he’s feeling the beginnings of what is arguably the most human emotion of all? One which continues to grow throughout the whole of BM, during the time he’s away from Nicholas, yes, but protecting Bree with all he has?

Plus I just have to say it’s bullshit that there’s no stopping the descent once it starts. Like obviously no (Natasia) but also come on. It has to be a foregone conclusion? There’s no other option? That just seems like an obvious lie to scare baby Merlins into acting right. (Again— this is where my previous headcannon bias rears its head, so I question myself on this one.)

I’m not even sure what I’m saying here anymore 🤪 these books have got me all kinds of fucked up. How is Sel in descent at all? Is he just confusing it with his actions serving the spirit of his Oaths but not the letter? Or does it not have to do with any of this stuff & is simply about being away from Nicholas? Sel says himself that the Kingsmage Oath runs deeper than either of them has ever acknowledged, likely because it’s been part of them since they were really young kids, & it’s one of the most powerful Oaths in the Order.

Anyhoodle this is what my brain is record scratching on these days. Plssssss gimme what you’ve got in the comments because what else are we gonna do while we wait for her to write book 3?? Also please let me know if you are at all interested in my Natasia/Faye fic idea. I think it’s pretty funny that I’m over here writing a story about characters that don’t even appear in the books so far except for short flashbacks. 😆 What if I were a normal person writing fluffy selbree smut? Lmao anyway that’s not me I guess. (Everyone else continue to write that though lol because I like reading it.)

Just tagging folks who I have been in the comments with a few times, no pressure y’all: @you-are-my-king-now-cariad @thoughtfulbearpanda @blackdragonflies88 @ofstarsandmoonlightt @ashaligtwood @poisonousflora

[optiwashere]

This is a big one for the Asheera replay.

Context if you've missed things so far: I'm replaying the game as Asheera again for a combination of inspiration, reminders of characterization, and also to solidify how Asheera feels about a lot of the major companion moments in-game. I'm also way farther than this now so I'm probably going to speed up what content the replay posts cover...

Before we get to the main event, I wanted to go over some of Asheera's high level thoughts on the companions so far!

Karlach - Fast becoming good friends. Lots of silly banter shared in camp, on the road, basically wherever. Asheera enjoys hearing Karlach's stories about Avernus whenever she's willing to share them; it gives her better perspective on her oath. To see what some would call a monster, a woman that was on the frontlines of the Blood War, and call her friend?

Lae'zel - Still tense, but Lae'zel is coming around on Asheera. Asheera respects her in combat, the crèche is still a possible cure, and she still knows more than anyone else in the party about illithids. Side note, but Lae'zel thinks the situation between Shadowheart and Asheera is pointless given their condition. It's not even physical? Why bother?

Shadowheart - Growing closer, and the rest of this post kinda goes into why. Asheera is starting to hear her faith as zealotry and that's concerning, but it's also... sad? Asheera hears in her words something that triggers the redeemer's instinct to search for more than what's on the surface. She doesn't respect Sharrans (who would?) and she wonders what lies behind the fanaticism.

Wyll - He's everything he ever said he was and more. Asheera thinks he's just a good guy, and that's honestly something she needs on her side. He's quite flirtatious too, which is a fun break from fighting. She doesn't swing that way, but it's fun watching him fumble with literally everyone in camp.

Gale - Asheera is glad that she was wrong about Gale. He really is just eccentric. Maybe a bit egotistical and prone to overexplaining himself, but he's been a decent man so far and he did explain the entire magical item eating problem pretty quickly. Being able to trust a wizard is always good!

Astarion - He's just fascinating. He's an asshole and a blowhard, but he's at least open about it. That at least gives her something to work with. The whole "pretending not to be a vampire" schtick was getting old anyways. Plus, imagine the look on her fellow paladins' faces when she tells them she actually had a chance at redeeming a vampire spawn? That's worth the effort alone.

Now. Time for Shadowheart and her "oh btw, I worship Shar" reveal. Which, you know... wasn't obvious by the armor she wears to begin with or the gigantic purple tent with Sharran iconography stitched into it. It's always good to have confirmation!

But seriously, this is a really major moment for the Asheera/Shadowheart relationship.

After Asheera hears this confession, I have to just headcanon that Shadowheart's tent doesn't have the iconography on it. Otherwise this being a "reveal" is completely lost for me. When she first mentions it, Asheera is definitely surprised. Yeah, Shadowheart can be annoyed when Asheera acts altruistically, but it's never been something that comes between them really.

She said 2 in this dialogue by the way. It's a moment where she wants to put all their cards on the table. After a somewhat long discussion, Shadowheart then says something that completely changes the tone of the conversation:

At this point, Asheera sees Shadowheart. Really, finally sees her. Not the "shield of secrecy" that she preaches blindly, mindlessly regurgitating things she's been told about Shar. Right here, she sees pain in every word that Shadowheart says about her Dark Lady. There is a purpose to it all, that's what she wants to believe.

Not the pain. None of what Shadowheart says here is actually about loss, pain, or suffering. What Shadowheart yearns for is purpose and meaning. That's all Asheera hears, and her heart breaks for this woman that she just thought was going to be a distraction during their adventure.

It's also so massive for Shadowheart's characterization for the same reason. She's so deluded that she then starts spouting propaganda that's completely and totally false...

Like, Shadowheart?

Baby?

Shar advocates for literally none of that lmao. Sharrans destroy things that aren't Sharran and call that idolatry, they worm their way into organizations with assassination and manipulation to control them, and heretics are anyone that will not accept Shar. The level of brainwashed this girl is operating on with this dialogue is wild and it remains one of my favorite convos in the game even on replay.

For Asheera, she hears the absurd self-justification in Shadowheart's words. She is almost melancholic throughout this conversation except when she's talking about Sharran ideals. Suddenly, she becomes angry. Like it's a learned response from decades of abuse to force her into the mold she's been randomly chosen to fit.

Asheera's heard zealots before. At this point, even if their situationship never becomes anything more, Asheera is convinced that she needs to know more about this woman's pain. Maybe there is a way to help her?

Side-note: Shadowheart's defensiveness towards her own abuser is so fitting that it's kinda hard to watch on replay, knowing what we know about her entire arc. "So long as it has meaning..." what if there is no meaning, Shadowheart? What if it was entirely arbitrary?

That's what Asheera's thinking during this.

Furthermore, when Asheera learns that she's had her memory deliberately suppressed — and combined with the pains from the wound on her hand — it's basically red flags galore. She's not used to dealing with someone so thoroughly... unaware of her own situation. Asheera is very much a "charge headlong into the situation" type person for the most part, even if charging means a discussion rather than a fight.

Yet Shadowheart thinks that she can have everything she ever wanted if she appeases her own abuser. Horrifying.

I find this single approval tag so fucking telling. The approval tags can sometimes be broken and multiple in one branch can be directly contradictory depending on the sort of "route" you're trying to bring a companion down, but there's no alternative approval/disapproval in these choices. Everything else is neutral, but this one touches her.

Like, at this point we all know that Shadowheart is a deeply wounded person that wants to believe in something so that she four decades of suffering was for something, but the fact that she approves of you offering to help her with her wound is so... there's an entire essay to be written there.

It's unreal. She goes on and on and on about how Sharrans must remain free of all but their love of Shar. Her (perverse, abusive) love of Shar is literally physically symbolized in the stigmata she carries.

And she approves of Asheera trying to ease that pain? I think Shadowheart rationalizes this as Asheera trying to help her be a "true" Sharran and avoid the pain altogether, but that's not what the dialogue says. Nor is it Asheera's intent. Her intent is to help her ease the pain.

Now, there's lots of ways to read Shadowheart's wound as a depiction of chronic pain, and I don't want to take that away from folks. Love that for y'all, but in "my canon" and with Asheera specifically this is a moment where Shadowheart reaches out, hand held open hoping for anything or anyone to reach back, and Asheera is the first person that doesn't swat her away in fear or call her a failure for not adhering to her religion.

She takes Shadowheart's hand willingly, ignoring all the traps and knives Shadowheart's set up to protect herself. Why was sharing everything so easy? Secrecy is supposed to be what Sharrans need, after all. Why was it so easy for someone to listen to the way she speaks and for them to say, "I'd be lying if I said [Sharran faith] didn't sound convincing."

So long as it has meaning, right?

Also, I keep forgetting to take screenshots of Asheera's Dream Visitor and since they were brought up in one of the Companion!Tav asks...

Here she is in the character creator because I think the next time I see this character they will look quite a bit different lmao. Seeing this person in her dreams doesn't startle Asheera, it's not uncommon for her to dream about this person but then this dream version of that person begins speaking strangely. It makes Asheera immediately distrustful of this thing, whatever it is, once it starts speaking freely and saying things that this person would never have said.

[daughter-of-melpomene]

TELL ME ALLLL ABOUT YOUR BG3 OCS!

AHHHHH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING!! Okay, so as I said, I don’t have actual appearances for my babies since I don’t have the game, but I will happy give you some info about them.

I have five OCs currently planned:

Raven Waters (they/them), Wyll ship. Human bard, College of Lore subclass, with an urchin past. Grew up on the streets of Baldur’s Gate after being orphaned at a young age and became a decently well-known entertainer when they got older, performing at festivals and every tavern and inn in the area. Very cunning, sarcastic, and good at reading people, and is very unhappy about being snatched off the street only to have a worm stuck in their brain. Cares about people sort of in the way Astarion does - reluctantly and with no small amount of complaining but very deeply - and even though they don’t think much of Wyll at first because they don’t trust nobility or anyone wealthy, it doesn’t take long for them to become endeared by him. Also becomes absolute besties with Astarion because they literally laugh in his face when he tries to seduce them and once he gets over that they have fun judging people together. (There is also definitely an AU where Raven is dating both Wyll and Astarion, but they’re officially a Wyll ship.)

Amalal Quavein (he/they), Astarion ship. Seldarine drow and cleric of the Light Domain for the goddess Eilistrae with a sage past (he’s a huge bookworm when they can get his hands on some), and has been travelling around Faerun since they were just young, trying to find allies to assist in the Seldarine drows’ fight against Lolth and helping everyone he can along the way, before they get snatched up and taken to the nautiloid ship. He’s a total sweetheart who loves caring for people and fighting against tyrants and darker forces, but they’re also a bit socially stunted from being alone on the road for a lot of his life, which can lead people to think he’s naïve even when they aren’t. Astarion definitely thinks this at first, and thinks seducing Amalal will be easy, but really he’s just one of those people who always chooses kindness and doing the right thing because they want to make the world a better place and that’s the best way he knows how to do it. (They’re also asexual, which is very funny given Astarion’s whole seduction thing because not only is Amalal unfamiliar with seduction as a concept but he genuinely Does Not Feel Sexual Things, so they’re painfully oblivious to Astarion’s attempts the whole time.)

Nifara Reedwood (she/her), Gale ship. Strongheart halfling ranger, of the hunter subclass, with an outlander past who was raised in the wilderness and therefore has a very strong connection with nature. Travels all around Faerun hunting and tracking creatures from other realms, making it her personal mission to keep any kinds of invaders from attacking her realm and harming its nature. Also has a very strong bond with animals and is resistant to poison due to all the she’s spent in Faerun’s swamps. A complete and total badass, but is also kind of socially stunted due to all the time she’s spent alone on the road with only animals and the creatures she hunts. Brutally honest and has a quick temper, but also one that’s quick to calm back down if there’s no need for an actual fight, and although she’s slow to trust people would gladly kill and die for those she cares about and absolutely will not let them talk bad about themselves. (Very nearly smacks Gale for not believing he’s worth more than his magic and service to Mystra and calls him an idiot for it more than once, and then somehow that wanting him to think more of himself turns to catching feelings and she’s just like, “Ah, shit”. It’s fine, though, because Gale comes to love her too.)

Nisa Mournspire (they/she), Halsin ship. Mephistopheles tiefling paladin of the Oath of Devotion subclass, with a folk hero background. Adopted when they were a baby by a human couple, but never felt truly loved by them since she wasn’t their blood child, even if they’d given her their last name. Devoted themself to prayer from an early age as a way to feel some kind of belonging and purpose, and took her Oath and set out from their village to travel around and help people when she was only twenty years old. Gained a bit of a reputation around all of Faerun for their heroics, and eventually came to be known as The Horned Warrior. Taken from Baldur’s Gate by the Mindflayer’s goons when she stopped in for the night, and doesn’t hesitate to recruit Karlach and Lae’zel when they’re all on the beach, seeing defeating the Mindflayer and removing the parasites as yet another mission they’re committing to. Very warm and compassionate, able to make friends almost everywhere she goes, and fears almost nothing if it means helping others. A bit of a hopeless romantic who wants to find true love, but also isn’t against brief flings. Does sleep with Astarion once or twice (but they’re incredibly good about it and makes sure he feels good too, because she can tell he’s not used to that), but definitely takes a liking to Halsin very quickly after meeting him and spends a good amount of time staring at his biceps (which annoys Lae’zel incredibly because that should not be the focus right now).

Ellora Keyvaris (she/her), Karlach ship. High Elf half-elf wizard of the Conjuration School subclass with a noble background. Grew up in a wealthy family that was very devoted to maintaining appearances and always trotted her out to social events, but she was much more interested in magic and the study of it, more than happy to spend her time in her home’s library or at the local magical college learning conjuring spells from the professors she’d paid for private lessons. When she learned her family was planning to betroth her to an elf nobleman, she ran away to Baldur’s Gate, where she intended to live a quiet life and continue studying magic before she was kidnapped and infected with the parasite. Ellora is a very quiet and bookish person, but that doesn’t mean she’s timid; she has a sharp tongue and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself or others and say what she thinks. She struggles to connect to her companions at first, with the exception of Wyll since they were both raised among nobility, but she eventually makes genuine friends out of all of them, which means a lot to her because she’s never really had friends before. (She’s also a hopeless lesbian who falls in love at first sight with Karlach and thus is very sad when she can’t touch her, because she very much wants this large muscled lady to be able to pick her up.)

Anyways, yeah, those are my BG3 babies!! Thanks so much for asking about them, and if you have any more questions about any of them feel free to ask!!

Again tagging some of my other BG3 moots: @hiddenqveendom, @endless-oc-creations, @astarionbae.