#the problem is im already running a campaign

[eelslippers]

I so desperately want to run a fall out inspired oceanfaring campaign set in a world based on 1950's scandinavia with some eldritch horrors inspired from terraria

[utilitycaster]

can you explain what you mesn by monkey ladder in reference to the CR fandom? as someone from C1 i would probably be able to give you the insight you asked for in your tags but im unsure of the angle you are coming from.

Oh yeah, it describes a phenomenon I've repeatedly seen in all aspects of my life but I wasn't aware there was an idiom for it. Basically, it describes how communities/institutions continue following patterns of behavior even when said behaviors are in response to a no-longer relevant problem and even when the people who originated said behaviors and remember the original reason are gone.

So: imagine an experiment with five monkeys, a ladder, and bananas on top of the ladder. Whenever a monkey goes for the ladder to reach the bananas, a researcher sprays all the monkeys with ice water. After enough attempts, the monkeys, understandably, begin attacking any one of them that reaches for the ladder in order to avoid this punishment.

The researchers then swap out one of the monkeys for a new monkey. When the new monkey reaches for the ladder, the other monkeys attack them and prevent them from reaching it.

They then swap out another monkey, and when the second new monkey reaches for the ladder, not only do the other monkeys attack them - the first "new" monkey joins in. And so on. Eventually, you can reach a point where all five monkeys in the room have never even been sprayed with ice water. They don't know why they are attacking people who reach for the ladder other than that they were attacked for reaching for the ladder. And here's the kicker: the researchers haven't sprayed anyone in ages, and actually, they've turned off the water, and if someone reached for the ladder, they'd be fine. But they won't.

So it's about groups enforcing behaviors that arose in response to something specific that is no longer present, even after the group no longer recalls, necessarily, why it was present.

Anyway: as someone with the specific experience of watching campaign 1 and early campaign 2 concurrently, having started with Campaign 2, ie, joined the fandom in Campaign 2 and have been here ever since, the following viewpoints are all imo "monkey-ladder" problems: people carrying forward stereotypes/fandom behaviors that I think originated in Campaign 1 but which many new fans never actually experienced:

specifically the one I mentioned in my previous post - the idea that Sam and Travis make stupid joke characters and aren't taking this seriously. (This sometimes splits into Sam Makes Dumb Joke Characters And Travis Is Himself A Stupid Person. The latter has fortunately abated but it was still alive and kicking as late as early C3)

The idea that Marisha and Laura; or Taliesin and Liam, make characters with exceptional romantic chemistry with each other. (They didn't have this in C1 either; while chemistry is obviously a subjective metric I find these specifically two of the weakest cases of cast romantic chemistry and definitely the two weakest of same gender cast romantic chemistry but they were held up as the only viable PC/PC queer romances given that Ashley was often absent, Grog wasn't interested, and people wrote off Scanlan as a dumb joke and Tary came around after Percy and Vex were already together)

Any criticism of Marisha is Forbidden Forever due to the harassment she received in C1 (we got monkeys who joined the fandom mid-C3 beating up people who were like I'm Not Vibing With Laudna who had been staunch Keyleth defenders during the actual run of C1, for example)

I'm sure there's others that aren't coming to mind but this is a good starting point: basically, it's people who weren't in the fandom in C1 and might not even have seen Campaign 1 carrying over opinions that really only made sense in Campaign 1 and honestly weren't even good then.

For a fun interrogation of this (carryover of an opinion/behavior with no other reason than This Is What I Was Told When I Joined) within the context of an actual play, see Iga Lisowski in The Unsleeping City 2.

[writing-whenever-whatever]

We’ll be ok sweetheart- this can’t be real 

Eddie Munson x reader 

Part 1 part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6 part 7 part 8

Summary: after Eddie brings back chrissy to the trailer the event end up traumatising you for life escaping the blame for her death you both run only to sucked into a bigger problem 

Warning : mdni, death , graphic imagery, use of y/n, pet names (sweet heart, darling), Eddie is referred to as sir, vomiting, comfort, drugs, violence, no smut in this part, not proof read

———————————————————————

It’s late in the evening when Eddie is busy with his final hell fire campaign and I’m sat at in the trailer, dressed comfortably in my pjs a blue raspberry lollipop pressed between my lips, waiting from him to come home. We’ve been dating for a few months now it’s been a hit since the start, it’s gotten to the point I’m already practically living with him and his uncle Wayne  as it’s known my home life isn’t the best. 

Im settled on the couch watching some late night horror film a blanket wrapped around me as I hear his van pull up blaring music, I get up a smile landing on my face as I open the door shocked to see Eddie getting out the car with him no other than my old best friend blond bimbo cheerleader Chrissy Cunningham ,our friendship fell apart the moment she started to date Jason, my face turns to a grimace as he walks to me “ sorry I’m late sweetheart “ he looks at me running his hand over my cheek “ had a client to pick up on the way back” he tilts his head towards chrissy. I nod still in slight shock as I move to let them in. Her voice bakes me out of this daze “ thank you ” she mutters perching on the edge of the couch watching me as I stare at her. the screams from the small tv speakers blaring as Eddie russels through the trailer in search for something “ can you turn it down “ she fidgets nervously her eyes never really meeting mine as I turn the tv off “ that better for you” i scoff rolling my eyes as she nods. 

“ what are you even here for aren’t you a bit to Prissy and perfect for this shit” I raise my eyebrow looking down at her taking in the fact she’s still dressed in her cheerleading uniform “ I-i” she stutters looking up at me “ we do not judge darling, remember that” Eddie yells from the other room “ yes sir” I sigh looking back at Chrissy a smug look on my face “  I’m sorry I didn’t want to intrude but Eddie said I could come get some stuff by the end of the day” she sniffles feeling intimidated “ of course he did” I look over my shoulder to see Eddie emptying out the contents of a cookie jar “ what are you even looking for Eds” I sigh looking back at him as he stands up straight  looking at me “ anything, I can’t find anything in this place” he groans impatient throwing the jar back down on the side making me giggle.

 I turn to chrissy giggling “ don’t be nervous, Eddie is a great supplier when he can find his shit ” he walks up behind me a grunt escaping him as he rests his head on my shoulder “ you haven’t taken  it all have you” his voice is low vibrating against my neck “ no sir “ I look back at him “ I haven’t smoked or snorted anything today” i kiss his cheek before I move away from him making him nearly fall forward his hair landing in front of his face as I move into his bedroom looking around for him “ just make yourself comfortable “ he notes to Chrissy as he notices her fidgety nature. 

I continue to look around eddie and Chrissy nattering in the back ground as I finally find a small bag of the stronger stuff “ found it” I call out to him holding it in my hand shaking it slightly a smirk on my face “ this the stuff for you princess “ I look down at Chrissy, my smirk drops noticing her eyes flickering like she’s having some sort of fit “ what’s wrong with her” I ask moving in front of her tap her cheek trying to snap her out of it as Eddie stares in horror “ I don’t know one second she was fine talking but then she went quiet” he looks at me as I check her pulse “ fuck” I mutter trying to lay her down into the recovery position 

“ Chrissy wake up “ Eddie says his voice becoming panicked as the lights start to flicker in the trailer I look around “ what the fuck “ I gasp as she starts to float upwards I fall back onto the floor hitting my head on the coffee table behind me making my brain fog over, as she flys up hitting the ceiling causing both me and Eddie to scream my hands shaking as I reach out for him as he falls backwards watching her bones snap and contort till she’s completely disfigured then she falls back to the floor her eyes bleeding, body completely lifeless causing me to let out a broken sob

“ I’m gonna be sick” I stutter rushing to the bathroom to puke tears streaming down my face when I pull myself together slightly I pick up the phone calling 911 “ hello 911 what’s your emergency “ the operator asks from the other side of the phone “ h-hello we need help at Forest Hill’s trailer park our friend had some sort of fit I think she’s dead” I gag against the words making vomit rise to my throat “ can you explain what happened “ they ask my hands shaking as fresh tears “ she started s-shaking her eye-eyes flickering then her bo-bones all broke and she’s bleeding from the eyes “ I sob more “ please just send help” eddies hand clutches my shoulder his face as pale as a ghost eyes filled with horror “ an ambulance is on the way you just need to stay calm “ they explain “ is anyone with you “ I look at Eddie “ my boyfriend Eddie Munson we tried to help her, but we don’t know what the hell happened one sec she was fine the next she’s dead“ I pass the phone to Eddie running back to the bathroom to throw up again. 

Hours pass and an ambulance arrives the paramedics are shocked by the situation staring at Chrissy’s body on the floor as I clutch onto Eddie to keep my balance we explained what happened to Chrissy ,leaving out the fact she levitated to make it sound less like a bunch of doped up junkies gone wrong, my hands shake as I talk to the paramedics seeing them bring out the body in a body bag my face turning paler than before “ can we stop talking about this now it’s messing her up” Eddie says looking at the paramedics “ of course but we may inform you that police may be in contact “ I shake my head tears dripping down my face as I rest my head into Eddies chest his arms wrap around me holding me his hair tickling my face as cry into him. 

As the ambulance drives away I sob into Eddie as he holds me close we get into the van not wanting to go back into the trailer after what just happened “ they’re gonna find away to blame us” Eddie mutters to me under his breath thinking to himself in the rear view mirror his face twisting with emotion as he tries to burry it deep inside of him.  I rest my hand on his gently “ where are we gonna go” I look at him my eyes red from crying “ into hiding, where no one will find us” I nod sniffling as he places his hand on my cheek “ hey, we’ll be ok sweetheart. go in grab some stuff then we’ll go” I instantly get up rushing back into the trailer getting some clothes drugs and food anything we deem essential but the least amount of stuff to make it the least noticeable. As I go back into the living room I stare at chrissy’s blood on the carpet my hands shaking as the events happen again and again I’m quickly brought out of it by Eddie grabbing my shoulder making me jump “ you ready to go” he asks quickly he sound slightly out of breath as I nod. 

I get into the car as Eddie starts the engine the music jittering to a start as he starts moving as we turn towards the exit I see max mayfield one of his neighbours staring at us through the window I give her a brief timid wave as we leave the trailer park not knowing when or if we’ll ever come back. 

———————————————————————

We’ve been driving for hours the sun is rising as we pull up in a sheltered woodland area the car barely visible to the road side “ where are we” I look at him my eyes hooded with exhaustion “ we’re gonna have to walk a little while “ he rests his hand on my thigh “ can you do that for me sweetheart “ his eyes full of nerves as I nod opening the car door picking up our bags of stuff, I step out my legs wobbling slightly as we begin to walk. Eddie keeps me close to him as we walk towards a boat house in silence listening to any signs of trouble “ this is ricks house you remember him don’t you sweetheart “ I nod looking up at him “ this is where we’ll stay for now” he fumbles in his pockets looking for something when he pulls out a key “ found it” he smiles slightly bring me a sense of relief as he focuses on opening the door. 

As the door opens the smell of old weed and musk wafts over us as we walk in “ home sweet home” he sighs as I instantly rush round the house closing all the curtains “ Eds are you sure it’s a good idea us staying here” I put our stuff down slumping down on the couch “ this is the safest place for now “ he rests his hand on my cheek “ no matter what we stick together “ he pulls me into his lap cuddling me close “ I don’t know what the hell we saw back their but all I know is that’s it’s not good news” I nod as he runs his hand through my long hair “ Chrissy didn’t deserve that” I mumble burying myself into his lap “ i know “ he strokes my head more “ you should rest” he looks at me taking the bag grabbing a bottle of sleeping pills taking one out putting it into my mouth “ swallow “ I nod following his order doing as I’m told snuggling more into his lap letting the drowsiness take over I lay in his arms his gentle hand running up and down my back till I’m asleep.

———————————————————————

When I wake up Eddie is sat with the radio on listening to the broadcast announcing Chrissy’s death under strange circumstances and that further investigation is to happen, sit up rubbing my eyes feeling groggy as Eddie looks at me “ good you’re awake” he sighs a slight relieved look coming over me “ what’s going on” my voice is deep with sleep as Eddie moves next to me “ they’re looking more into her death, they’re looking for us” I sigh looking at him “ but we didn’t do anything “ I tear up slightly taking a deep breath “ i know “ he looks at me “ you need to calm down “ I make eye contact with him standing up abruptly “ calm down, calm down!? How the hell can I calm down I saw a girl levitate and die last night Eddie” I snap pacing the room “ so did I y/n you’re not the only one who saw it” he stands up grabbing my hand pulling me to a halt as we hear muffled voices from outside startling up we quickly move to the boat house. 

Eddie pulls me with him holding up the tarp across the boat, “ get in” he whispers his voice hushed as I climb in my breath shaking he quickly climbs in behind me cuddling me, holding me as close to him as possible I can feel his breath on my neck causing goose bumps to form as I look back at him holding his hand gently in mine as the voices get closer “ stay close, still and quiet “ he whispers in my ear his voice barely audible as the door to the boat house opens I close my eyes shut holding my breath as foot steps get closer. 

The voices get louder “ hello is any one home” they get closer “ what a dump” mote noises happen there are so many people both female and male as they shuffle around the boat house I can’t help but notice eddies hand move to my back pocket where I keep my switch blade suddenly the tarp starts getting jabbed at by something hitting all around us causing me to panic more. 

“ what are you doing “ one of them ask his voice rushed “ they might be in here” the other response still jabbing at did tarp they start arguing back and forth interrupted by the female “ hey look over here” she says her voice oddly familiar also “ some one was here” they say sounding certain looking through the trash scattered along the side “ maybe they ran” another suggests “ don’t worry Steve will get them with his ore” the male jokes suddenly eddie glances at me counting to three on his fingers then gestures to get up I nod watching as he counts down finally hitting one as we both jump up Eddie attacking the man with the ore holding my blade to his throat as I stand there holding a lit lighter and a bottle spray paint that was left in the bottom of the boat pointing it at the first person I see. 

Both of us appearing on edge and aggressive our actions shaky and unplanned as the voice of Dustin Henderson breaks through to Eddie “ Eddie stop it’s me Dustin” he shouts voice shocked “ Eddie it’s me this is Steve he’s not gonna hurt you” he insists stepping slowly towards Eddie as I point the lighter towards him “ y/n” max steps towards me her voice calming as I look at her my eyes frantic as my hands shake “ everything is gonna be ok just drop the lighter “ she steps towards me taking to out of my hand. 

I fall to the floor in tears Eddie instantly puts the knife down rushing to my side holding me into his arms “ what are you doing here” he asks his voice shaky “ to help you” Dustin answers looking directly at us “ you know us, that’s robin from band and my friend Max she’s always refusing to play d n d “ he adds “ who’s that” Dustin gestures towards me “ y/n” Eddie stutters keeping a tight hold on me as my body trembles “ my girlfriend “ Dustin nods coming down to my level “ we’re on your side, there’s no need to worry” 

I stand back up not wanting to meet anyone’s eyes as“ you bastards really shook me up not that fucking needed to be any more shook up” I start ranting talking really fast starting to pace “ y/n sweetheart “ Eddie looks at me I pause looking at him with watery eyes “ breathe” I take a deep breath hesitating for a second “ fuck i need a smoke” I search my pockets for the stash I usually keep on me but finding my search unsuccessful 

“ fuck” I grumble looking towards Eddie to ask him but as he’s busy talking to Dustin I  don’t wanting to interrupt them, I go into my inside pocket finding my lollipop from the other day wrapped up and placed in there I resort to sucking on that trying to sooth my nerves, watching as everyone turns to look at me “ what” I look confused turning to them then back to Eddie “ they want to hear what happened “ his voice sounds gruff as I move back to him sitting down against the wall “ you won’t believe us” my voice quivers slightly as I look at them pulling the lolly from my lips and passing it to Eddie who gladly takes it into his mouth “ try us” max response causing me to feel slightly confused. 

“ one minute she was fine, the next she wasn’t, I was helping Eddie look for some special k cause he couldn’t find it, when I came back in the room she was having some sort of fit. her e-eyes were flickering, body twitching. i-I tried to help her by putting her in the recovery position. B-but that’s when she started levitating her b-bones brea-breaking and sn-snapping “ I gulp for a second trying to compose myself as bile rises up my throat “ that’s when she hit the ceiling her eyes looked like they were being sucked out her head or something blood dripping everywhere ” Eddie adds resting his hand on my thigh grounding both of us as tears fall down my cheeks “ she didn’t deserve it, what ever the fuck it was yeah she was a bitch for dating that prick and ditching me as a friend but no one deserves that” I look down zoning out slightly not anything but  Eddie hushing me as I close my eyes the images repeating over and over in my head “ we really tried to wake her man” Eddie looks at Dustin “ it’s like she could move it’s like she was in a trance or something “ I nod agreeing with him taking my lolly back from him and sucking on it again “ under a spell “ Dustin looks a realisation coming to both him and Eddie “ a curse” 

“ vecna’s curse” Dustin says eying up Eddie with a shocked expression on his face 

I get back up walking back towards the house “ where are you going “ Steve asks me looking over his shoulder his voice stern but understanding as I push past him. “ this can’t be real” I mumble looking at them my face paler than usual “ how am I expected to believe in all these monsters and curses, like what the actual fuck is going on” i look at Eddie as he sighs “ be open minded, think of what we saw last night” he insists looking at me as I shake my head “ no I don’t want to, I can’t Eds” he walks towards me and rests his hand on my shoulder “ it’s hard to believe I know “ Dustin looks at me with sympathy walking towards me, his expression as if I’m a confused child his voice melting like butter “ but it’s true” he takes his time to explain everything to both me and Eddie trying to keep things simple dumbing everything down. 

After hearing everything I’m sat on the floor again resting my head on my knees “ so what can we do” my voice sounding like a faint whisper as it comes out  I hear Steve turn away talking to Robin “ poor girl must feel like she’s taken a bad batch of something with all this strange shit going on” she nods giggling slightly my head snapping towards them “ I’m more than just a junky asshole” I snap at them my eyes holding coldness “ i actually want to help people I wanted to help Chrissy” they look down at me as Eddie nods “ I know baby and you will” he rests his hand on my knees gently stroking up and down my leg.

Steve turns to us his “ listen you two need to stay low for now the police are looking for you they think Chrissy’s death was suspicious “ i nod “ ok what should we do “ i look up at him my hair messily moving into my face “ stay here keep in touch with us and if anything happens let us know “ Dustin insists passing a walkie talkie to Eddie before turning to the door “ we’ll get you supplies and what ever you need just stay safe both of you” i look at him watching as he walks out, leaving me and Eddie alone together for the rest of the night. 

[dangopango00]

COLLEGE AU TIGHNARI ROOMMATE HCS

Tighnari x gn reader

A/N: AUGGGHHHHH IM INSANE AGAIENEBWFWFWWGQ Missing tighnari hours oue so I will write out all the roomie hcs I have to share; per usual its self indulgent as hell

If im being fr this is probably gonna have a part 2 soon i always forget something 😭😭 also my art of him is down there somewhere!!!!

Cw: long af oh my god

more utc

First Meeting:

- You’re a biology major or something similar and just visiting the college you’ll be attending

- You were definitely going to move into the dorms but you heard about and later witnessed some student running around like a maniac looking for a roommate

- You even got emails about it, found flyers on some of the pinboards around the school and even saw ads online (whether that be in some college gc app like zeemee or whatever)

- Eventually you did a bit of basic research on this guy by asking some of your friends or people who know him and you found out his name is Tighnari and he’s double majored in biology and botany

- You let him go on for a few days-a week before you realized he really wasn’t going to find a roommate this late in the game; feeling both pity and admiration for his dedication, you approached him with one of the flyers in your hand as the poor guy took a break from his ad campaign

- “Um… about this flyer…..”

- Tighnari’s ears immediately perked up oh you just made his week, no his month— maybe even his year

- “Yes? Are you interested in moving in? My previous roommate has begun living elsewhere” he explained.

- You’re hesitant, hoping you aren’t making a mistake but eventually steel yourself and figure you only live once right? Plus he could always help with your work! You give him a firm nod.

- Tighnari got a bit overexcited, asking way too many questions at once, “When can you move in? How will you be paying rent? Are you alright with plants? Right, by the way I’m Tighnari. I am a biology and botany major”

- “It’s nice to meet you! I’m (Y/n). I can move in soon and plants are fine! Uh …About rent! I’ll have to find a job but I do have some savings!” you confessed nervously.

- To tell the truth you weren’t planning on getting a job this early on, planning to get the hang of the new workload first but desperate times call for desperate measures (Cute guy in trouble 😤)

- Tighnari however, was unamused. His face completely dropped as if you’d just told him his entire family dropped dead, “You don’t have a source of income already…? Then why would you…. Sigh Nevermind. Its fine. This is fine. I’ll even help you job search”

- “Greeeaaatttt there goes my credit” he thought. And it showed on his face too.

- You just shoot him a silly smile and over the course of the days it took to move you into his apartment you establish some ground rules

Rules:

- He will do the cooking and he’ll cook for you if he’s cooking for himself (if he’s not cooking then you’re on your own)

- In return you do a majority of the cleaning although it’s still pretty split kinda like a 60/40 or 55/45 kind of deal

- You pay the water bill while he pays electricity (you take long showers and his plants and such sometimes require lamps + he just uses a lot of electricity I feel like it’s not usually for him but his plants and work)

- Visitors are pretty much always welcome but you have to let the other know beforehand

- Although the previous rule is true none of those kind of visitors are allowed. Tighnari has sensitive ears he don’t wanna hear that 😭😭

- Be cool and communicate if you have a problem

Apartment:

- SO MANY PLANTS. LIKE THEY ARE TAKING OVER THE APARTMENT . This is a big part of why Tighnari didn’t want to live in the dorms since he wouldn’t be able to have as many plants as he wanted

- It’s a little funny Cyno has really bad allergies so he never lived with him and Collei lived with him for a long time but moved out to move in with Amber (oue shes leaving the nest) (she’s in the apartment right below yours)

- You, as a biology major, on the other hand LOVE the amount of plants in the apartment and Tighnari is ecstatic because he was sooo worried you’d try to make him get rid of them or something; is even more glad that you like them as much as he does

- Also has a big tank of worms where he dumps all the leftovers neither of you eat. He then uses the compost as plant fertilizer

- Despite the amount of things in the apartment its very neat and organized; there are little notebooks next to every living thing to keep track of when and how to feed them

You and Him:

- He has a very old ass car but only uses it for emergencies because he’s not a fan of carbon emissions (usually goes places by public transport, walking or hitching rides) (its the little things that make a big difference ok)

- He works two jobs: One at a plant/flower shop and the other at the school library

- He sometimes brings home new plants because all the plants no one will buy are always given to him by management

- You work one or two jobs likely on campus maybe in the newspaper or the school cafe etc

- Either way whenever you get home tired or after just having a bad day he’d comfort you so much no matter how many days in a row you do the same thing, flopping on the couch and groaning

- When you first did it you two weren’t close but he still stroked your hair and offered you some words of praise but when you two became more comfortable he’d straight up hold you to his chest or let you lay on his lap while stroking your hair if you don’t mind

- “I really need to stop coddling you” he’d say this all the time but never follow through on it and you’d be in his arms as we speak 😅

- He never did stop coddling you. Whenever you watch a show or anime he’s right beside you on the couch reading his book as he glances up every now and again; sometimes gives his two cents on what’s going on in the show (my personal fave is him getting mad at the usopp going merry arc in water 7 bye)

- He has little black rectangular reading glasses idc idgaf he dresses like an old man too with cardigans and sweater vests, maybe overalls if he’s going out to do garden work (he has no sense of fashion we know this)

- If you’re willing to listen he will yap so much about his plants and about wildlife; his heart melts in his chest if you seem genuinely interested and are paying close attention

- You have a snail named Saniel/Saniela. You almost stepped on him and brought him inside, putting him in a little terrarium thing.

- Tighnari hates that thing (he doesn’t; he’s like a grumpy father with a new dog) if it gets out it will eat his plants, so watch it. 😤

- Posts it on his little conservation account (shoutout to the person who wrote that post where he had a conservation insta acc i cant find it) and it overtakes the page gn its his worst nightmare. First it steals his unofficial lover now his followers

- Yall would’ve been burned at the stake in the 1800s you’re always doing your “projects” in the house unless its dangerous (but you’ll still do it outside) like you seeing a girl on Tiktok grow mushrooms on a book so you try it at home…

- He always helps you with anyyyyything. You need help studying for this biology test? So does he, come on in. You need a shoulder to cry on? He has two!! You want a snack but you don’t want to ask too much of him? Don’t be ridiculous he’s making you something as we speak

- He’s actually such a sweetheart he worries about your diet so much; honestly he’s content knowing that you’re under his care bc then he knows you’re eating right

- He wakes up and starts his day INSANELY early and honestly if you manage to wake up before him he’d probably flinch seeing you up LOL he’s so not used to anyone being awake when he is let alone earlier

- Absolute hypocrite too, he won’t let you sleep too late no matter what day it is or whether you have class or not but when he does it he’s just busy smh

- Wouldn’t mind if you treated him the same although if it’s time sensitive he fears he cannot give in to your demands sigh

- He’s a worrywart and a leeeetle nagging but you can tell he cares and you care about him just the same

- You’re always doing whatever you can to take stress off of his shoulders like running errands for him, cooking for him/ordering takeout when he can’t cook, Taking care of his plants for him when he’s busy, etc

- If you work out in the house after moving in then it’s so over for him

- He’s insane. If you’re in the living room he will go “read” his book on the couch but he’s been on the same page the whole time, is he ever gonna flip?

- Not even like explicit workouts like squats or something; just seeing you push yourself to your limit and sweaty and grunting and— where was he again? Ah right page 52.

- It’s so much worse if you ask him to help in some way, he can’t focus at all especially if you ask him to sit on your back while you do pushups

- Also a fan of you being taller than him no matter the method. (Which isn’t hard to achieve bc I hc him like 5’1-5’3) Naturally tall? Great! Wearing platforms? Amazing! Standing on a stool? As long as he doesn’t look down then it’s hot

Funny Bonus from the ari:

Tighnari: do you know anyone who still needs housing arrangements?? pls I’m desperate 😭

Alhaitham: you could take Kaveh

Kaveh: WOWWWW…

[tiktaaliker]

tbh im a big fan of the ohio worms. big big fan of Guys who Are Not Doing Well

oh MAN let me tell you about how much the ohio worms suck (i say this with so much love in my heart btw)

first of all, i actually managed to dig up the worm event history doc i had made back during blaseball beta that lists almost every single good or bad or cool thing that happened to the ohio worms spanning from season 13 (our first season in active play) up to season 23, along with relevant links to reblase! tbh i need to update it to include before sibr links and add stuff that happened after s23 lol. but here's a link to it if youre interested in that.

as a tldr, here's some of the really funny things that happened to the ohio worms contributed to my conviction that the sim hated us in particular:

we had a team mod that gave the team a small stat boost whenever we ended the season as last in our division. it was only proc'ed 3 times because we weren't good enough at being bad. it WOULD have activated a 4th time in season 19, except the turntables rule made every win negative so we were at the top instead of the bottom. so we got NOTHING

we had the lowest average percent chance of passed wills in elections out of every team. so the sim kept picking the things that very few worms fans actually voted for which often ended in REALLY unfortunate situations, like boosting a player that got traded away in the same election, or moving a player to a spot they were already at, or boosting defense. we kept infusing defense on pitchers (which is entirely useless since pitchers didnt even contribute to defense) it was a real problem. we also kept getting things in the elections that were either completely useless or actively detrimental

speaking of defense, one thing that the worms was REALLY good at was defense! we had one of the strongest defenses in the league, which in theory is great. except that defense wasn't actually all that useful in a meta where the best players just hit home runs all the time

one of our only good pitchers at the time, rivers rosa, got bit by sharks so many times that we had to pull her off the roster into the shadows. it was devastating.

because of the configuration we chose for our stadium, we didn't get an option to clean our stadium for a reallllyyyy long time. this was a problem because filth added to eDensity, something we already had problems with considering we had extra championship wins adding to our weight (none of which were actually won in normal gameplay btw, it's just that all of the breach teams started out with at least 3 championship titles because the conceit is that they were already ascended). we were extremely heavy which was part of why our players kept getting attacked by consumers so often. well it WAS going to work in our benefit after a while, because we eventually had enough items on our players to prevent attacks (shout out to xandra pancakes and her steel chairs) and scratch deleuze got the cluttered mod, making her UNSTOPPABLE while on our home field. but then we finally got the option to clean our stadium in the renovations and all of our filth........ GONE..........

we actually once sunk ourselves on semi-purpose. we had this whole campaign to get 4 gifts from the gift shop from other teams because people had started dumping coins into us receiving a chorby soul replica with a chorby's soul item, presumably as a joke initially because chorby's soul is a one way ticket to having your entire team eaten alive by sharks. but we thought that if we could use a different gift to give our players items to protect themselves then we could actually progress the plot a bit in the process (we had a mod that made items contribute more to our eDensity, so we were the only team who could actually use the chorby's soul item to break the gates to blaseball2 (long story)). the other two gifts were because our 3rd place option was for one of the dynamic duo, and we wanted to have BOTH liquid friend and uncle plasma replicas because we knew that Something Would Happen if a team had both on the team and we wanted to find out what it was. Well it turns out that having both of the dynamic duo meant that they would punch the shit out of any consumers so we were effectively immune while also FINALLY breaking the blaseball2 gate. and this would be the end of it except one of the players from the boston flowers stole our chorby's soul and THEY got eaten alive by sharks because they did not in fact get both liquid friend and uncle plasma replicas. whoops!

we fought tooth and claw to improve our team. it was a real struggle, but we very slowly and very surely managed to get our players and lineup good enough that we were FINALLY able to make it to the championship in season 23. we didn't win, but surely we'd be able to get it next time! except we didn't get to, because during the next season the sun collapsed into a black hole and ate the league. and when the main seasons started again at season 1 all the players were reset and reshuffled into the teams so the worms were back to sucking again

during one of the short circuts, the worms won a blessing in the election that transformed the team into THE OHIO PEANUTS. the fans (myself included) were EXTREMELY hype about this because we got honey roasted as a team mod, which was exciting! um. nothing came from this and we got kicked out of the postseason by the spies (as always).

speaking of that the houston spies were like... the ultimate enemy of the ohio worms in that i think they knocked us out of the post season over half of the times that we qualified

when blaseball started back again for real, the worms proceeded to suck real bad, do nothing significant, and won no blessings. in the final election, a different team won a blessing that incinerated one of our players, Johnnyboy Aster. on the official blaseball twitter, the commissioner did a standard "in memorium" tweet except that the commissioner referred to Johnnyboy using he/him pronouns. this is VERY significant because this is the first time a player has EVER been referred to using any pronouns other than they/them by anything official or official-adjacent. and then the next tweet was the announcement that blaseball is over forever lol. i like to think that both johnnyboy aster and the entire splort of blaseball was killed by a gender reveal party

[drdemonprince]

Look I understand that at the federal level we're cooked because we don't have a good third option but voting on a state and local level will help out peoples lives. We can see this with how abortion rights were enshrined in blue states and how places like Minnesota got children free lunch. We can't just decolonize the system overnight so I think it's the most practical thing to do is vote for the best change possible on levels where you're the most effected while working for more.

It's not that we lack a good or viable third option, the problem runs far deeper and more systemically than that. The system is set up such that no alternative option that is actually challenging to the status quo can exist -- the way election financing works and the structure of majority/minority leadership in houses and senates makes having a meaningful third party presence impossible.

As for the possible influence at the local election level, in some ways I am with you. I voted for an increase to funding for the forest reserve. I felt good when that passed. I voted for increased funding for homeless people -- it never materialized. Even when welfare packages pass, they rarely do materialize as promised because there is no way to hold the government accountable for carrying out the people's will.

I voted for the mayor that was less pro-cop. It hasn't kept police from brutalizing protestors all over this city all year long. He put in a few more bike lanes which I guess some people find an adequate enough reason to continue to be complicit within the present system. But my feeling is that every goddamned time that I convince myself that I should participate to try and move the needle, that I should lower my standards and accept even a modicum of improved treatment by the state, I wind up being bait-and-switched even further and having to accept even smaller table scraps than the crumbs I'd already been offered. And I see so many dedicated, passionate leftist people pouring hundreds of hours every year into campaigning for Democratic politicians who pull shit like this, and helping them raise copious amounts of funds that exist only to help them keep getting elected and doing fuck all.

if you wanna walk up to the polls on election day and pay attention to whats happening down ballot that's your business. im glad my alderwoman is the less pro-gentrification one than the other guy that used to be in office. she's still pro gentrification and building $1400 a month high rises all over the neighborhood. none of this is acceptable and the forward creep of economic displacement is still happening, it just has a happier face on it. and it always will because that's what the system is and does.

the deeper problem is that once people invest any hope in a system that is hopelessly oppressive, they tend to also funnel a lot of attention toward electoral politics and campaigning when that money and time would be a lot better spend like, just giving food to homeless people on your block or babysitting a neighbors kids or planting some vegetables or like anything else thats actually community minded.

[ludinusdaleth]

i'm not interested in finishing watching c2 (first 10 episodes bored me to death) and i only know c3, so what's the deal with essek? did he have a bad redemption arc? did he have a good one? do people just not like him for some reason? because i keep seeing his fans say the only reason c3 fans are saying his redemption arc sucked is to defend imogen and her mom and that seems too shallow to be the real reason.

first of all thank you for trusting in me to give a nuanced answer. ill do my best. essek is one of my favorite characters, but also so historically loved by fandom it has led to altercations and the drowning out of pretty much any other character in fandom spaces. ill try to explain. im sorry for how long this will be.

he was already deeply beloved as an npc for a long while before campaign 2 episode 97 dropped the fact that he was working with ludinus. he had taken luxon beacons (the object ludinus used to power the malleus key, what made opal & ted, what's in ashtons head) from his people in the dynasty - these objects were considered completely sacred to them, and the realization the empire had them, and the dynasty retaliating to get them, led to the war of ash and light which permeates much of c2's plot. so, functionally, essek's action led to war. essek was also at times in charge of or allowed to run interrogations on dynasty prisoners including nott/veth's husband yeza. to keep suspicion off of him, essek shifted blame onto a man in the dynasty who he had a petty grudge against, changed his memory, and set the dynasty onto him - this man was later given to the empire in a peace negotiation, so ludinus then had all control over knowledge on essek's involvement (bar the m9).

his remorse began with the m9, and how their lives had been effected by war and what the empire had done, and there is some implication that essek realized he was perhaps groomed by ludinus (and to a lesser degree made uncomfortable by his cohort trent) - though i should note essek was a (young) adult in government when he gave his people's artifacts away. essek hated the fact that his people were religious in regards to the luxon and did not wish to research it, and thought the cerberus assembly would be able to learn more about it.

essek's arc has been long praised as a very good one, and i think it mostly is. while i cant say we really see his kindness & newly brimming empathy fully extended, he does learn to see others as more than tools. he is still smug over his peoples religion vs his knowledge of the luxon, but learns to respect his culture enough that ludinus probably would not be able to sway him from it by insulting it now. he fights at the m9's side during the last arc, defends caleb from trent & the vollstreckers, helps fix caduceus's home. he is loyal to them forever and not just a traitor any longer. i definitely see some holes in it as he doesnt show much care to anyone but the m9, it is relatively quick how he descends into self hate about his actions that hes generally comforted for, and i worry at times he sinks too much into the soft hot boy flanderization due to everyone even the cast pushing it onto him (yes, softness & being too harsh exist in his characterization and are disliked at once, i know they are opposite traits). but i think it's good when a character is still an ass after redemption and matt clearly wants to avoid him being a soft boi in c3 whilst also maintaining that he has learned humanity & love.

you can see how that would be compelling, along with his general personality and good looks. this made him so compelling that his fans got, uh.... interesting. and that is probably the base problem that sets this discourse. (be aware my experience of his fans is primarily on twitter and in chats.)

folk would get mad and call the show unwatchable without his presence as if every other character was disgusting & boring to them (as if calebs character arc is not. literally. a parralel to esseks). they only cared about shadowgast (but only cared about essek within it, not caleb) and would be furious these two deeply aloof traumatized men didnt fuck on screen after 6 episodes knowing each other, called caleb abusive for not messaging him after a few episodes, called liam (who is iirc bi) homo/biphobic and abusive to matt for not kissing essek at one point or another. when caleb & essek did bond at the end of c2 and it was said they got together for a time that was not enough for fans, who claimed it homophobic (this magically mostly disappeared when folk saw other mlm stories did and do continue to play out in cr, which they only realized when orym existed and was a gold star gay - i, as a gay man, do not care on the scale they do lol). astrid was completely slammed into the mud by essek fans for being his mirror but a woman (they magically did not hate wulf, the last mirror in this scenario, a man, as much). people were furious essek did not have merch at the point where not even many pcs did yet and said it was homophobic (this magically stopped when he eventually got a portrait and chibi). a few learned he was ace/demi and called it a cop out, or otherwise ignored any nuance of it because they were horny about wizard yaoi (im aware ace/demi folks do have sex, but sometimes folk use that as a justification for ignoring the ace spectrum part of an identity). from personal experience, essek fans can be..... very disturbing, predatory individuals with no regard for who they are deeply sexual around, but that is just who i met and i do not want to go into that experience. in short, a lot of c2 era fandom has BEEF with them. i cannot say it is unjustified.

so with all that context, where does that leave the character and why do people compare him to liliana & imogen?

it is my genuine opinion from observation a lot of fandom on here & twitter that essek/shadowgast/caleb fans can be.... sexist. it does not go unnoticed to me that imogen has an extremely similar moral arc to caleb and yet is called evil when caleb is called traumatized & struggling with demons but a good man. caleb was part of the vollstrecker (assassins for the empire) as a youth but broke, and ran, after killing his parents, and had to learn he was more than dirt, and learn to love again. imogen began easily jealous & in turmoil about herself and her mother, but has grown to be one of the most empathetic people who is constantly struggling between sacrifice and her simple wish to live with laudna, that it seems the universe wants to fight. both are aware they could be or are seen as living shit for their youth or conception and accept it. both dont really know how to find a way out of that. i think both are incredible characters. i notice when fans only acknowledge the hero's journey of one.

as for liliana & essek..... look, essek has a very defined character arc that we have seen come to fruition and end in redemption. liliana (and by extension bor'dor and other ruby vanguard folk) have not yet. essek was framed as neutral at first and liliana was framed as ludinus's ally. i get it. but it is impossible to me to not see liliana in the steps of essek at the beginning of his own arc. if anything i think her intentions (if not actions) are infinitely less selfish than esseks, as she wished to do this to save her daughter. ludinus has caught so many in his web, and essek got out, and liliana just realized she's in the webbing. whats interesting is how we see clear as day every conversation they have that liliana has been brainwashed into cult mentality & justification, and yet only had one or two conversations vaguely indicating this about essek, and yet essek is always praised as a survivor where liliana is not. bor'dor is very clearly like essek in being an oppressed young man who sees a calling made by a powerful older man, but entire breakdowns of how men of color are recruited into the far right have been written about essek where bor'dor (actual man of color) is despised by the same people. the tldr on this is i do think some folk can be so drunk on Hating Essek juice they swing too far in their assumptions, but the pattern of his fans misinterpreting everyone else to elevate him is based on precendent thats happened for years, and i think it is deeply.... disappointing? to watch such a nuanced story play out in c3 and refuse to engage with it whilst claiming anyone who wishes to analyze the way a cult breaks your brain is misandrist.

im so sorry this is so long, but i really do not know how else to describe all this without its nuance. i hope i wrote something that made sense.

[jwithsusdoingstuff]

So, i had plans to make Mod for Rain World about this slugcat named Psycho. Of course not by my self because i'm such a pepega at coding and stuff, so i got my nice friend for me to help with this.

Idea of the mod (and slugcat) is to make absolutely nuts freaking slugcat that would be fun to play as just to kill everyone (and i mean everyone). Slugcat has his own Campaign that will start just like his nature, and he would need to make his path to the Five Pebbles. Obviously FP cannot give Psycho 10th Karma level, for reason that already explained in Artificer campaign. But, FP is wondering if this little creature could get rid of some problems that he has, talking about Rot. Right after that, Five Pebbles will not kill Player that comes back to his chamber and player's challenge would be to KILL every single Long Legs enemy inside Five Pebbles, of course its hard, but i really love that idea to make ACTUALL one slugcat army campaign for someone to play, so far, of all the others, only one/two can be called like that. After Psycho's genocide of Rot, FP wanted to make sure that Psycho is actually made good progress, so he start's to filling his Structure with even more water while giving Psycho a "day limit" of 5, which is means that player would need to sleep wherever at least 5 cycles and after that will be done, Psycho can return to FP for reward. At that point I'd like to make Psycho OP, so i write something about "Five Pebbles have no other plans for Psycho, but making him as good, as he could become at what he always being best one. Five Pebbles decided to make yet another mistake, and make Psycho even more powerful, as if all his strength was not enough... Oh and he tell's him where to find Void See". So yeah, Psycho CAN now goes down into the Depths (before that, he could only fall back and forth forever on the platform from which he jumped) and while he's going down deeper and deeper he encounter Guardian that will not let Psycho anywhere far this point, but since Psycho is now stronger, faster, and so on, this is where player would need to get sweaty, because it is time to kill Guardians. And only after that, the Psycho can descend to Void Sea and begin to swim deeper, but the Void Sea will try to erase Psycho, but since its now FaNtAsY inside Rain World, Void See cannot get Psycho erased, instead Psycho become, again, faster, stronger, better...

Next episodes of his story needed to be made in other Slugcats campaigns, because Psycho's campaing happening between Monk and Rivulet, and that means, you could run in to Psycho him self while playing on Rivulet, and Saint. But i think im already said enough. Me and my friend abandoned this mod after encounter problems with Iterator's, they just doesn't want to say things that we wanted them to say, and while desperately trying to find or ask for a solution we are burning out of the idea. That's how it ends even tho i was really exited to make it.

Art you see of Psycho Sleeping was ment to be that one illustration of Slugcats in hibernation, and it's drawn by me.

[kotoneshiomiofficial]

this may sound controversial, but as a dm and player, i fully believe that if you're playing at a table for any game (but im mostly talking about dnd, particularly online culture's idea of dnd and how it should be played) for longer than like 2 weeks, you should have read the core book front to back and should own a copy of it (digital pdfs "acquired" online very much included). i do not think it is the responsibility of the GM to fill in the holes left by the designers, nor is it my duty to explain like 300 pages worth of rules to someone who wants to play this game with me but wont commit to a few nights of reading. the difference is, one of those problems is fixable. i know nobody likes homework, but its not fair to me to spend hours writing and designing a cool dungeon or boss encounter only for the session to stall because i have to explain how initiative works for the 3rd time tonight because im the only one who actually read the rules.

in the same vein, i also think that anyone who can figure out how to play a character in an rpg can figure out how to run a game. the solution to GM burnout and a "lack of GMs" is to run a game for your GM. every week or so, switch campaigns, so your GM doesnt get stuck in the Forever GM role and never get to be a player. its not actually hard to get a campaign started, you just need a couple villages, a larger town, a big city further away, and a villain who's threatening it. you dont need 400 pages of worldbuilding behind the scenes, you dont need to know the 1000 year history of your world. start small, with an interesting conflict, and take it from there.

and i really need to stress, im making this post because i know people love making player characters. im right there with you, what i want you to do is realize that your GM very probably also likes that and wants to play as a PC too. you do not have to live up to critical role worldbuilding to make a world to play in. hell, you dont even have to do that. there are plenty of beloved settings already written for you to make your own story in. grayhawk, ebberon, or even dark sun if your table is down for it. i want to encourage more people to GM because its very frustrating wanting to play but not being able to because everyone else says "oh i could never DM". 99% odds say you *can* do it, just start small and dont be judgemental to yourself or others. i want to tell your character's story in my world, but i also want to tell my character's story in your world.

[mariacallous]

On Monday, the Venezuela Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant for Edmundo González Urrutia, the overwhelming victor of the country’s July 28 presidential election. It was the latest escalation in Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s campaign to shut down the country’s political opposition and assert victory in a contest he patently lost. But this latest move is poised to usher the ongoing political crisis into a more dangerous phase—possibly its endgame.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was barred from running in the election, has skillfully held together a broad coalition of support for González both within the country and abroad. On Aug. 29, European Union foreign ministers made a point of speaking with González and reaffirmed that they would not recognize Maduro’s claims of victory. Support for the opposition from the Organization of American States and the European Council, as well as the diplomatic spotlight on Maduro’s increasingly violent tactics and lack of electoral transparency, has helped keep the country’s democratic space more open than it otherwise would have been. The United States also appears to have been in back-channel talks to bring about a transition. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call and Vice President Kamala Harris’s personal letter to Machado and González were important high-level demonstrations of support. On Monday, the United States sent a more direct message and seized Maduro’s presidential airplane. Colombia and Brazil, seen as more sympathetic to Maduro, have called for the release of the electoral results and for dialogue with the opposition.

These efforts, however, have done little to persuade Maduro to change course and accept a democratic transition. As I have previously suggested, this struggle is in part because outsiders have consistently underestimated the resilience, ruthlessness, and adaptability of Maduro’s regime.

Given the other crises on the international stage, it may be tempting for international actors to regretfully move on from Venezuela and its problems. But that would be a mistake.

The situation in Venezuela remains extremely fluid. More than a month after González’s victory, thousands of Venezuelans continue to peacefully protest and defy their government—notwithstanding increasing repression by the security forces that has led to dozens of deaths, thousands of arrests, and driven opposition leaders into hiding. The Venezuelan people and opposition continue to deliver a consistent message to the world: This is the moment for change.

There is little appetite for returning to the Trump administration’s unsuccessful policy of so-called maximum pressure. Maduro not only withstood the pressure, but he also took it as a chance to further consolidate his power within the country. However, the calibrated approach to the current crisis taken by the international community also seems to have run its course. Last year’s Barbados Agreement, which was supposed to produce democratic elections in return for the lifting of sanctions, failed to stop Maduro from manipulating the electoral process and instead gave his regime a lifeline of renewed access to global oil markets.

Now, Maduro is playing the long game. Most foreign governments are unlikely to cut diplomatic ties with his regime, and he is narrowing the political space available for the opposition and using Venezuela’s institutions to legitimize his claims of victory. As the prospect of González being detained continues to grow, the question is what more the United States and others can do as Maduro pads his government with hard-line loyalists and prepares to inaugurate himself as president on Jan. 10.

The following are measures that may already be under consideration in Washington but should become reality as soon as possible if they are going to have any impact on a rapidly deteriorating situation:

First, Blinken and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan should personally and unequivocally warn that there will be serious consequences should Machado or González be detained or harmed. That has not happened to date, although Blinken has called for “the safety and security of the democratic opposition leaders and members” to be protected, and one of his assistant secretaries condemned Monday’s arrest warrant. But more personalized statements, like the message sent by Harris, carry extra weight at a moment of grave threat.

Second, the United States, with the European Union and other Latin American governments, should call for a United Nations General Assembly session on Venezuela with the goal of producing a resolution in support of a democratic transition and highlighting Venezuela’s plight on the global stage.

Third, while the Department of Treasury will imminently announce new sanctions on senior officials in the Venezuelan electoral council, as well as intelligence and security services, the fact is that the United States could accelerate the pace of individualized sanctions on a broader array of people responsible for repression and electoral fraud. Doing so would maximize impact at a time of considerable uncertainty. History shows that sanctions are more likely to be effective at times of high tension and in the short term, becoming less impactful over time.

Fourth, if González is arrested, it may also be time to revoke U.S. licenses for multinational oil corporations doing business with Venezuela. Global oil markets have adjusted to the energy shock of 2022—prices are actually falling—making Venezuela less of a linchpin. For Venezuela, the easing of sanctions has been a boon, with production rising from about 735,000 barrels per day in September 2023 to 908,000 in June 2024. There is no reason for the United States to help Maduro cushion his economy at this moment, and there is little evidence that the lifting of sanctions appreciably lessened out-migration from Venezuela as intended by the Barbados Agreement.

Fifth, the U.S. Department of Justice appears to be currently withholding sensitive information from the public that led it in 2020 to issue a $15 million reward for the arrest of Maduro—information that could severely damage Maduro’s legitimacy domestically and internationally if it were to expose ties to issues such as drug trafficking, corruption, and terrorism. Already in January, U.S. senators called for the release of the evidence on Maduro’s alleged money launderer, Alex Saab, who was released in a December 2023 prisoner exchange.

Sixth, and most consequential, the United States, in unison with other governments, could immediately recognize González as the president-elect of Venezuela, not just as the person who won the election. On Aug. 1, Blinken acknowledged the latter, saying, “It is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election.” Washington appears hesitant to formally recognize González as president-elect: The State Department’s statement marking one month following the election, for instance, called more generally for electoral transparency and for the democratic will of the Venezuelan people to be respected. The European Union is also divided on how far to go. This shell game must end, especially if González is detained. The opposition has released copies of around 80 percent of the “actas” from more than 23,000 voting stations, and it’s abundantly clear that González won fair and square.

Some may argue that recognizing González would be a rerun of what happened in 2019 when Venezuela’s National Assembly supported Juan Guaidó as interim president in a short-lived challenge to Maduro’s unconstitutional election the previous year. The current juncture, however, is profoundly different. What happened in 2019 was about constitutional violations by the Maduro government; this time around, it’s about a blatant attempt to steal an election won by an opposition candidate.

Recognizing González as president-elect would radically shift the dynamic currently in play, energizing the opposition and Venezuelan public at a time when there is a danger that internal momentum may be lost because of increasing repression.

Beyond democratic aspirations, helping the opposition succeed is crucial for reasons that transcend Venezuela’s borders. Mass migration from Venezuela and its status as a hub of international criminality and terrorism have upset regional stability, and, with the largest oil reserves in the world, the country remains an important part of geoeconomic calculations on energy security for the United States—and for China, Russia, Cuba, and Iran.

We are at a unique juncture in modern Venezuelan history, with a democratic transition on the line that will affect us all if it fails. Venezuelans will need more, not less, support in the coming weeks if they are to have a chance of success.

[antirepurp]

from a compassionate stranger: i think talking about the Sonic movies and the games in the same space is a mistake: as you know, they're not the same setting, and not even really the same demographic! The games are still for kids too of course, but SxS Gens, for whatever faults it has, is a game trying to speak to the history of the characters, right? and Shadow's history being revisited is clearly against his will here, so in an era where bland remasters are the norm, why not let this additive experience actually release before getting too mad about it?

i fully admit im coming from a biased angle with the shadow gens posts, i've never been a fan of generations and seeing it get the redo treatment does peeve me more than a bit if im real. i wouldn't say im entirely against the premise of the shadow campaign of the whole thing either, especially if it does come that sort of angle where shadow actively fights his past, but beyond the whole "they already did that in shadow the hedgehog 2005" thing the problem i have with it is that's it's tied to sonic generations, a game that exists on steam right now and barely costs anything, should run on most modern laptops just fine double so if you install a low-end mod, and is a game about sonic's history as much as a game that short with no real story to speak of can be. and knowing that sega pulled all classic games from the steam store after origins release i wouldn't be surprised if they pulled OG generations from steam when this one drops, effectively nuking the best modding platform for a sonic game you can have so they can raise its price back to 60€ because now there's 5 new levels where you can play as shadow, while the fans have ported the entirety of unleashed and much more into OG gens. the movies are of course their own different beast and i hope they stay that way because they might not be for me, and that's ok, im just bummed that instead of us getting a whole new standalone shadow game that this campaign could've been, it's instead tied to a sonic game that's already easily available and playable on most modern computers that may become unavailable as soon as the rerelease drops, all so there can be a little more hype for this "year of shadow" and the movie of course

of course im not saying you or anyone else can't be excited about the game or enjoy it, hell im the last person to scrutinize anyone for enjoying any given game with my track record of loving the most dogwater games known to man, and i try not to shit on people's parade most of the time. but i also think that talking about this sort of stuff is beneficial sometimes and helps with observing the bigger picture of the games industry as a whole. that, and as i said there's something so ironic about a game about nostalgia being rereleased in the era of nostalgia bait

[anemonet]

*looks at your reverse iterator’s au*

do tell :)

*looks at you, quickly ripping off and hiding the nerd alert sign on my wall*

ahem hi :DD reverse iterator au! Wellcome to the bit where i talk about some background info, for a more general answer go (here)

but a quick rundown is that its a mild role reversal not a personality swap or anything, everyones still basicly the same but with the difference being moon is still up and running (more or less) while pebbles got screwed over by accident and is now haning up above the clouds waiting to crumble down!

The point of this post is to answer question how did moon accidentaly kill pebbles? Seeing as moon really isnt intrested in the whole sliverist thing (yellow pearl, shoreline) like pebbles she wouldnt be trying to rewrite her genome to win at death, leading to the watersupply issue, so we need a different reason and we need to get a bit creative:D

Im actully gonna blame it on moons standing on the sucky crumbeling "large canyon" that is mentioned whos waterbed is lowering because of iterators and how that led semi directly to pebbles being built (purple pearl, waterfront facility) which in this au instead of not being much of an issue leads to her structure being unstable and needing fixes, because of the dry waterbed - worth mentioning i dont belive she has the modern living blocks that fixes themself, and instead older "traditional" building materials (orange pearl, metropolis) so she needs to find a way to fix herself - which i turns, and here im just using canon for my own gain and saying this known danger activates her gotta live hardware, the whole iterators cant off themself because of 1. being built so and 2. the " self destruction taboo" (gold pearl, chimney canopy), im gonna go on a limb and say that knowingly letting yourself break down counts as self destruction and would mean moon would try to fix herself.

Which gets us kinda to where moon and pebbles ends up actual game, one having to do intense (and water draining) calculations that isnt gonna end well.

But there is also a shift in how to stop this, as moon used her "seniority privligies" to try to stop pebbles (sky islands 4), seeing as pebbles wouldnt have this, he would need to stop moon whos totally focused on finding the solution for her water problem in some other way. And because i think pebbles is a bastard (affectionalty) i think he after messages and pleading dosent work, would just send her a shit ton of viruses to disturb her focus and get her to stop draining the water, this of course leads to the same as canon with moon getting a mold problem, but also being to late like moon and partly collapsing, im saying partly, because i dont wanna do the shaded citadel murder map, i would rather have it collapse on the chimney sky bridge and then be an upwards climb, but im gonna talk map and mechanics changes in this ask

ok so thats basicly the set up, moon needs to fix her stucture from crumebling, uses lots of water, pebbles is like hey wait a minute!, moons like lalalal and then pebbles sends 3 trillion viruses

sidenote is of course that with pebbles going down, he wouldnt be using as much if any water anymore, water which would then go to moon instead, so she did kinda fix her problem and will continue running for along time, similar to canon pebbles ^-^

Moon being the one alive would also have some other effects! one being that i asume that contact between iterators would still be up and running afterwards, as there is no mad pebbles who cuts of communication access for the other ierators after getting mad at suns, which of course would mean more iterator overseers just haning around, which would later be seen by the slugcats, how the different slugcat campaigns would be effected im not gonna get into because this is already getting long so uh yes!!!

there would also be different achivements and such!!

wooosh ok done with words! you got the backstory part of the whole story so i hope you dont mind that, in general i think its a very silly au as pebbles and moon can still communicate, and my own interpetation of them is very silly, but meh, anyhow! thank you so much for asking i did not except as many people to do that as was done :D

[elftwink]

so this is from someone who also actively plays in and dms campaigns with other systems but personally i love dnd partly because i like the number of arcane rules. i think part of what it is, is my table experiences have been so combat-lite that for me the system has just become tools for solving puzzles and situations. encounters are so few and far between with my usual dm that they become very intense and scary when they do happen, and you can maybe say well that's dnd guy cope to say that this combat sim is better without the combat, and that probably is true. the best version of dnd for me like if i were writing 6e would be to shift the game's mechanical focus away from combat, increase the prominence of utility/ roleplay oriented spells and skills, and encourage DMs not to rely on combat to fill space in the game

yes!! ik im being a hater in my posts rn but i also love dnd, and especially the magic and spell system. it's not perfect obviously, but i have yet to find a ttrpg whose magic system is as engaging to me personally as dnd is. idk it's like exactly the right amount of rules to feel very bound by them while still leaving wiggle room for creative magic choices (either by way of flavour which is whatever you make of it, or by way of doing something that is Technically covered by the spell but probably not intended, which almost always fucks extremely hard).

& also i agree that dnd is kind of too combat focused, and i actually do think it would be better with less (although i suspect that given theres a pretty large contingent of dnd players who play mostly or solely combat, i dont think this is a universal opinion lol), or at the very least if it didn't feel like it dominated the meta decisions you have to make. like when i take new spells i often have to deliberate between the cool utility spell i actually want to take that has no damage component, and the damage based spell that will keep me viable in combat. i wish often these choices were less at odds with each other, or at least if you had a character who needed to be carried through combat that they would have more utility in non-combat scenarios instead of just kind of feeling like dead weight (now i sound like someone who should try another system, lol. but its more varied spells in the existing dnd system that i want!)

also i kind of think dnd has a problem esp at the mid level with keeping combat high stakes and genuinely scary, which is a whole other post where i could ramble lol, but honestly in terms of per table solutions "do combat a lot less" sounds like actually an extremely good way to deal with it. the worst thing in dnd is when combat starts to feel repetitive and like a slog. if it happens rarely it just so so so much easier to avoid that. i could say much more about this but ive already been typing this ask for a gazillion years but the point is i'm stealing your dms tactics for next time i run a game

also to contextualize my baseless haterism posts, i just want to clarify that i don't care in any way if someone plays only 5e/dnd and refuses to play other systems. this is whatever. what annoys me is when such people insist this is because every other game on earth is worse than dnd at everything, somehow, even though they do not know the full rules of dnd and are not super interested in learning. there's a lot to be found there in dnd but you have to like, engage with it. your dm cant read it for you. & its always more fun to be at a table where everyone knows wtf is going on than with players who barely know enough to scrape by and treat the DM like a rules dispensing machine

anyway. your 6e ideas sound awesome, especially more utility spells pleaseeee wotc. life could be so beautiful

[cassyapper]

OC! TIME!!

<3 thank u to everyone who has encouraged me now u get oc lore tonight rather than tomorrow

so, here's a collection of notes re characters and worldbuilding. some of this is stuff i already had in my head but im ready to share publicly now, and some of this is stuff that is genuinely as new to me as it'll be for yall but im set on it so. here we go

character updates

so i've mentioned arha is a solider*. the truth is arha is originally a soldier for the opposing country to ai/william/adalia's. in fact she and ai et al meet because arha is captured after a battle. arha is snapping at people and fully prepared to be either tortured or killed or sent to an absolutely abysmal prison and she is not looking forward to it so she's hoping for the best of the options (dying) by provoking them. shes honestly exhausting to deal with so she gets relegated to a tent as a makeshift jail for a while LOL. eventually ai comes in as part of her duties and is like "are you ready to be a normal person and go get dinner" and arha is like "what" and ai is like "it's dinner time. i was sent to fetch you. or did you want to see the doctor first." "arent you going to kill me" "why the fuck would we kill you when you surrendered already" oh arha mad af about that line she doesnt like being reminded of surrendering she's so prideful but she's also confused af. she grew up being told that if the enemy caught her she was for sure going to fucking die and be miserable while she did but here therye offering medical attention?? arha does not like being left in the dark so she just complies. to a point. basically she jsut follows ai around and makes her explain things and ai is like so fucking annoyed but arha wont leave her alone no matter how snippy she is or how much she ignores her so she figures answering her questions will get her to leave her alone (at least until they finish this campaign and return to the capital and arha in theory goes to actual jail. of course arha grows on her and vice versa. cause . im weak. theyre gonna be endgame whatever that means)

adalia kills a man revealed: the man is her country's fucking general. th set up: upon return to the capital after aforementioned campaign, another drafting occurs, and since this is common place seeing as they have been at war for 100 years now, no one is really surprised and it doesnt raise super big alarms however the rules have changed while ai adalia and william's troop were out; age of enlistment has been lowered. zoinks! so context for it: when they make it back to the capital, ai and arha return to ai's mother's house. ai's mom is really uspet over arha being there and she and ai get into a big argument about it. ai's mom is like "i just dont understand why you care, her country killed your father and brother" and ai is like "no YOU did when you refused to LOOK FOR THEM" and she storms out. arha of course follows but before she does ai's mom asks her to please look out for ai cause "she obviously chose you. you need to choose her too. you need to. i will never forgive you if you don't." arha is troubled by this but agrees and ai's mom lets them go. they go to adalia's house to spend the night but uh oh Adalia Has Killed A Man. while arha and ai clean her up as her family is gathering supplies for travel packs, adalia manages to shakily explain: when adalia came home, she found the general there and he was drafting her two siblings (twins, aged 12). adalia could not let that happen so in her panic, and in line with her training, she jsut swung a sword at her problems. this kills the man. uh oh! and now adalia has to flee cause like. she can't stay she has committed utmost treason. and the general is Going to be found and if her family tries to hide it they are going to Die and adalia is not gonna let that happen. so she will run. arha and ai go with her of course. and on their way out of the city william finds them cause already, when the general never appeared at the next house he was supposed to draft from, military personnel had been deployed over the city to investigate. william decides to go with them too cause he's just too soft and frankly he doesnt wanna participate in a military that engages use of child soldiers it's not what he signed up for. wow it's almost like both countries have their skeletons and both were employing fucked up tactics against their citizens...anyway. the silver lining is that adalia killing the general did in fact save her siblings form being drafted (for now) cause the houses were chosen at complete random it's kinda like a fucked up lottery thing. since adalia wont let her family cover up her crime and in fact makes them turn her in (just yknow once she's out of the house; theyre gonna be all "oh we woke up in the night and found the general dead and adalia gone") so that officials wont punish them by sending in the twins anyway cause like, as far as the law is concerned they had nothing to do with adalia turning rogue. but this wont keep them from being named in other drafts...but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

ther's gonna be an underwater arc and ai is . well. ai. (: m'beware the light. n'lol

qiu, due to being raised by dragons ie some of the most blunt species on the planet, just fucking sucks at human social etiquette. he is very forthcoming and his speaking tone is very flat and he does not Do minor facial expressions his face shifts from its resting state only to full-on smile or full-on frown etc. he is very honest in this way but he reads as very blunt and honestly? kinda mean. but he's literally not trying to be he's just standing there. if you know anything about deaf culture he's very similar to that. just no filter or what human hearing etiquette calls a filter. he also gestures in weird ways cause dragons do most of their gestures with wings cause theyre tetrapods and qiu obviously is bipedal. he's got constantly chicken wings going on also t-rex hands

im going to be candid btw arha and ai are based on my read on noritaro. so sorry. it's the only way i could get myself to think about these guys again after three years forgive me

william is 44. when ai's village was raided when he had just officially become a soldier, so he was called in to help reclaim the town and drive off the enemy soldiers. he and ai never actually meet during this because ai and her mom were long gone by the time reinforcements arrived, but he saw firsthand how fucking ravanged the village was and how indescriminate the killing was so when he finds out ai is from there and was a child during that, he just can't help but feel bad honestly. like he's nice in general but that's the reason he gives ai so much leeway. he kinda pities her. she hates him for it a little but eventually it evolves past pity and as such she stops hating him

worldbuilding:

the reason ai at el and arha's countries are at war is cause, okay. country a (ai et al's country) and country b (arha's country) are both world superpowers. there are others beside them but theyre big players in the game so to speak. both are very influential etc. however they're very different: country a is a xenophobic ethnostate that hates magic for religious reasons, and country b is based on a huge metropolis of many intersecting races and such, such as orcs, humans, dwarves, elves, etc. im still adding stuff. and theyre very big on magic. one day 100 years ago kingdom b accuses kingdom a of stealing a very important magical artifact in order to get an edge on them in terms of world superpowerism. kingdom a is very offended that they've been accused of wanting fucking anything to do with magic let alone dealing with kingdom b or lands that have people not of the same ethnicity and they accuse kingdom b right back of making shit up, esp cause kingdom b won't actually describe the artifact or what it does, just so they can use it as a bartering tool for their land (there has been a few land disputes over resources lately). so war breaks out cause neither side is happy and there's already a lot of judgement and irritation going in. so. yikes

magic! speaking of! let's discuss. it's something anyone can learn in this world but some people are more naturally inclined to it. it's a lot like being ambidextrous: some people just know intuitively how to do it and others have to be taught but either way both can do it and both can be very good at it. witches are magic users that had to be taught and wizards are magic users that had a natural affinity for it. witches tend to use wands/staffs as conduits for magic; helps to get from point a to point b. wizards tend to use staffs/wands as well but just to make their spells more powerful. everyone has a sort of magical energy just by being alive in this world. however the amount of magical energy you have in you is finite like ur body isn't just gonna keep making more on its own just like normal energy, and if you drain yourself of your own juice by using too much magical energy you will die! so to replenish the supply (think of it like a health bar) you can do various things that all amount to just, using other lifeforms' magical energy. like, you know how energy from the sun is traced along the food chain. it's like that here. you can like take something's magical energy by eating it, by rubbing it on yourself like sunscreen and absorbing things that way, or inhaling things, etc. just any way you can think of how you get a vitamin, it's similar for how you can take magical energy from things. what your magic is and what it does depends on what you take magical energy from

um yes i believe that's all. i didnt proofread this so sorry. if you actually read all of this i think youre a fuckin saint

[bibaybe]

Hello, this is @auradon-bore-a-don and I'm sorry this is late but you are on my OC Creator Bingo card!

1. What's the first "regular lid" thing Faith does after breaking out of the lab?

2. Why was Miyako living away from the Airbender temples?

3. How long did it take Jordan to learn D&D?

4. Why did Raya come to Hawkins?

5. Who was the first person Ginny met when in search of Eddie? (Of the main ST characters)

no worries! i'm behind on my own bingo card lol so i can't complain

1. What's the first "regular kid" thing Faith does after breaking out of the lab?

goes to a playground!

2. Why was Miyako living away from the Airbender temples?

miyako's ancestor actually left the airbender temples and married a firebender during the midst of the war, keeping her bending a secret. but because of that, her ancestor wasn't at the temples when everyone was murdered, and throughout the generations, her family has been raised in the fire nation, keeping their bending a secret.

3. How long did it take Jordan to learn D&D?

so technically, jordan doesn't actually play D&D and tends to just watch the guys play because he gets bored. but he learns the basics over watching a few sessions and eventually plays a short campaign with the guys to make will happy, but they don't make him after that because he's not a quick thinker and tends to get too distracted to be of much help.

4. Why did Raya come to Hawkins?

raya came to hawkins after being caught kissing the local preacher's daughter, who then accused her of [converting??? i can't think of the word im losing my mind but hopefully you know what i mean ahhhh]. obviously the entire town heard about the scandal and her very catholic dad decided to send her to conversion therapy, forcing raya to run away to hawkins in the hopes that her aunt louise would take her in. luckily she did and proceeded to fight her parents for raya to live with her and managed to talk them into it under the condition that raya was her problem now and that she didn't come back. ever.

5. Who was the first person Ginny met when in search of Eddie?

lucas! she runs into the basketball team and makes an impression, given she thinks there's not nearly enough evidence to prove that eddie did anything and makes it clear that she thinks they're being irrational. lucas manages to sneak away from the team and tells her that if she wants to find eddie before them, she'll need help. then he tells her to find his walkie at his house and get in contact with his friends, who can help. course, they don't realize that the others are already looking for him, but it does end up helping in the end

thank you for the questions!!

[thespacelizard]

Un-anoning myself re: the dnd rambles because WHAT. I needed to take a few days for the osha story to sink in. I’m both fascinated and kind of horrified. what do you MEAN they crushed the marpenoth like oceangate. what do you MEAN they duelled a half-naked pirate on a flaming ship and didn't think this was the coolest thing imaginable. what do you MEAN they fucking disintegrated JARLAXLE BAENRE. incredibly valid that you brought him back after bc i wouldn’t have let him die either but still. what. huh. what. 

I’m gonna run Dragon Heist for my weekly group once the other DM finishes Call to the Netherdeep, so I was really curious to hear about your experiences with it. Was Jarlaxle your villain or did he show up in a supporting role cause he’s a favourite? I’m running my campaign with one of the other primary antagonists, but Jax and his lieutenants are still gonna feature because we have two half-drow in the party (neither of whom know their father, so, I’m prepared for Jarlaxle to be interrogated ruthlessly once they Realise)

I do feel really bad for Fel though, gosh. Poor guy. Were you shipping Fel and Kreb together or was it Fel and Soluun, outta curiosity? Also, if you want to drop more info about his sister, please do, but fair enough if this is already too much asdfg

exe! hi!!

also welcome to OSHA dnd where three entire players caused so many problems up and down the entire sword coast, the underdark, and half of the nine hells <3

so the wizard who crushed the sub was mostly trying to stop it getting away, but I was like ‘you made the sub half it’s normal size, you killed everyone on the vessel my dude’ and he just had to sort of watch in horror as it sank with blood drifting out of the hatch.

im pretty sure they found the fight cool but during they were panicking too much about not getting caught and escaping the flaming ships asklasdj. they were only there to try and recover Zelifarn’s mothers crystal, and things had gone extremely tits up.

also to make matters worse they didn’t know it was Jarlaxle at that point, they hadn’t unmasked him, they just knew my weird Southern pirate man was doing Crimes. then they found a bunch of letters i’d added to his room that gave away he was the son of THEEE House of Menzoberranzan, and afterwards they had to have Blackstaff chewing them out for causing a diplomatic incident because canon is but a whisper in the wind for me when the alternative is having my players boss yell at them :p

In both my DH games, I was running all the villains at once, as per the Alexandrian Remix, but in both he was more of a side-villain tbh. largely because he doesn’t have that much other in-city stuff going on, he’s literally just there to spy on people and try to get a bunch of gold to Do Politics in Luskan.

(i rez’d him because in the course of running the game I started getting really into drizzt and he had become my most special blorbo and i was like well. i am simply not Done with him. also my Pcs were such that Annoyingly Secretive Manipulator Men rankled them and it was such a funny dynamic. first time they met him after the death, he handed them a bill for all the magic items they destroyed. they never paid it)

second campaign, one of the Pcs was a changeling who worked for bregan d’aerthe, but had that a secret from the rest of the party for ages, so they just thought she worked for the carnival. it was super fun to play with, especially when the party were intel gathering on the Gralhunds and ran into BD doing the same. Lily and Fel pointing weapons at each other then being like ‘oh wait it’s just my co-worker. awkward’

(also half-drow Jax kids??? HELL fucking yeah. one of my second DH Pcs gave me carte blanche for his backstory as an orphan, and i made Manshoon his dad. that was a hell of a reveal)

I was (and am. and do) shipping Fel and Kreb, just cause reading their lil dynamic in the campaign book i was like ‘man, they’re cute’. in the second game though i had it as a gossip point for Lily that they weren’t together, but everyone knew Kreb had a ginormous crush and that Fel was totally oblivious. just a fun bit of flavour.

as for Shi’neari - she was a wizard who got assigned to the outpost variant of Hosue Auvryndar (one of whom is one of the drow that are prisoners in Xanathar’s hideout), who had stepped into the power vacuum of OG Xanathar’s death. She was helping them create the illusion of Xanathar still being alive via magic, whilst House Auvryndar and allied drow took over the guild. the PC’s put a stop to that, and half of the drow got arrested, but she got out bc of BD thanks to Fel.

end of the campaign she and most of the surviving drow from that whole operation were stil doing hard labour in Waterdeep

(never apologise for long asks especially dnd ones. any excuse to ramble about the campaign that was most of my life for like half a decade. god i fucking miss dnd)