#warlock dude posting

[basketobread]

i just realized i have so many warlock screenshots (kudos to eric for all of them we are a little crazy) that i havent shared lol isn’t warie just a sweeeeeetie ^_^ (he’s a man with a questionable moral compass DO NOT trust him)

[thefirstknife]

Getting real sick of a certain subset of Destiny players complaining that it’s a baby game and crying to Bungie to nerf exotics and abilities when their ENTIRE POINT IS TO BE STRONG in specific ways as if they are being locked into using them.

IF YOU WANT AN EXTRA CHALLENGE STOP BEING SUCH A DPS GOBLIN AND JUST EQUIP SOMETHING THATS NOT TOP TIER META AND STOP COMPLAINING JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

MOOD. Go off.

It's incredibly annoying to me. They always use the argument of "the game should FORCE me to do things, I should not SELF-IMPOSE challenges." And like. ? I'm sorry but what? It's a video game for a big audience, it's here to be playable and accessible to the widest possible playerbase. There are plenty of ways to make the game difficult for yourself, so knock yourself out if that's your thing, but don't force others into it.

Like, I enjoy hard content, I regularly at least attempt day 1 raids, I do master raids, GMs, solo and solo flawless content and all that. But only when I want to. Sometimes I don't and I don't want to suffer in a patrol zone or struggle in a seasonal activity I'm doing for the story. The majority of the players don't want that. Designing games for the professional gamers only has NEVER been a good idea and never will be. Fifty streamers can't sustain a video game. It needs casual players who will want to come back to the game instead of feeling defeated.

One of the reasons I really enjoy helping others is because I know that casual players tend to struggle in stuff that's basic activity for me. I've seen people unable to get through a strike. I've sat for 10 minutes rezing someone who couldn't do the jump in a seasonal activity. I want those people to be able to play basic content without feeling frustrated and I want them to know that there are people out there who will help them out.

And this doesn't apply just to basic content, although it should start with that. I think all dungeons and raids and everything should be things that all players can complete. Fine, doing a master raid with all challenges should be tough, but it should be achievable with time and practice, not impossible. What a lot of these "pros" want is just completely divorced from reality.

It takes days and days of practice every time a new master raid is out for me and my team (all with thousands of hours of playtime) to get comfortable to finally finish it. We're far from casual players and it still takes a lot of time to be able to finish hard content. Making it even harder is insane to me. Like, if something is so hard that my team full of people, each with 5000+ hours of playtime and a coordinated team that's been raiding together for years now can't finish it, that means it's absolutely impossible for probably 90% of the playerbase. That's wild to me. Raids and GMs should have more people playing them. If master raids are too easy for you, Mr. I-Play-Destiny-For-A-Living, that's on you buddy. Unequip the super god tier god roll meta guns and loadouts or play something else.

And ofc, another excuse they make is "if I don't use meta, I am not going to win a raid race!" Then don't. Idk. Let me play you the tiniest violin. This affects literally nobody except a grand total of 50 people. Run your meta in day 1, and play with random shit otherwise. Play raids with all white weapons. Play without mods. Play without a HUD. Do things solo only. I don't know, make up a way to spice things up for yourself. I'm not interested in that and neither are 99% of the players out there. The game is genuinely hard enough for the majority of the players. On top of that, I am here to feel like a powerful space fantasy superhero. I am NOT here to die to dregs in patrol zones. If there's ONE thing that I know for a fact that put people off from Lightfall (as in this year of Destiny), it's the difficulty changes. They're annoying, frustrating and for some a barrier to entry more than anything else.

[macbethz]

my name is linda and im turning every age at once today. apparently

[bookshelfpassageway]

i dont know what i expected

[milquetoad]

what do u guys think their fav class to play as is when they play dnd together i’ll go first ray = paladin/barbarian, gerard = bard/cleric, mikey = artificer/wizard, frank rogue/driuid

[serpenlupus]

About Wyll and his horns

Let's say I was writing a part of my Tav's story with Wyll directly connected to the dialogue he has during the tiefling party, and while struggling with this bit, I've realized there's quite a few misconceptions floating around. I felt compelled to add information to the table that might clear them, so here we go.

First, what exactly happens to Wyll when he disobeys Mizora in act one? Well, he doesn't get turned into a devil, he certainly doesn't get turned into a tiefling, he's not a half fiend, not a demon, none of that. Wyll stays human, but he has horns and red eyes (and other features we can't see on his model as of now).

(Everyone has their race listed, Wyll's remains "Human")

This is because when a warlock fails to uphold some part of their contract they can suffer a certain number of consequences, Wylls is “The character grows horns, a tail, or some other devilish features that can't be removed by any means short of divine intervention. As long as these marks persist the character detects as a fiend when subjected to Detect Evil and Good spells or similar magic.” ( from Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, page 214)

And I’ve come across some people that think it wasn’t so bad of a punishment, that he was being racist towards the tieflings, or just not being justified in being upset after having his body forcibly changed against his will. I think they are missunderstanding just how insidious Mizora’s actions were, and here I just want to give some context to maybe bring a better understanding to the situation. Your conclusions are up to you.

Gonna start by using a not exact analogy, but I think it’s going to make the explanation easier. Stick with me for a minute.

Remember Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean? He had a branded “P” on his arm that marked him as a pirate. A murderer, robber, criminal, etc. in the eyes of the society he was a part of. What did Jack do to earn the branding? (if you don’t know this I suggest you look up the “people aren’t cargo mate” scene) He refused to transport slaves and later freed them, and Beckett had him marked as punishment.

Then, in the first movie, he saves Elizabeth, a woman he didn’t know, from drowning. Right after however, when Norrington sees he has a branded “P”, he’s like “alright, off to jail with you, and then hanging”, no other option crosses his mind. Again, Jack doesn’t know Elizabeth, isn’t indicated to think he is going to be rewarded for helping her, he just sees a drowning person, sees that no one else is going to help, and chooses to save them. That is a pretty selfless/good aligned thing to do, for no other reason that he was the one able to do it, yet the branding in his arm overrides any good action he could ever do, marking him as a criminal for execution and no further thought.

In a way, that’s what Mizora did to Wyll; she forever visibly branded him as someone that has made deals with devils, and that in the world of DnD is a VERY BAD THING. Personally I really like the mod that gives him more devilish features, but at the same time I think there was something clever about choosing to leave him looking more human. He can’t be confused with a tiefling, he doesn’t have the ears, the claws, the tail, all those features that characterize them. He looks kind of uncanny, and that would be like a red flag for anyone in that world. (Beyond the already existing hate for tieflings that I’m not gonna tackle on here because it’s a complicated thing that deserves its own post). And Wyll wants to do good, he wants to help people, to be a positive force in the world so, so badly. This dude got abducted by a nautiloid, got tadpole’d, and the first thing he did right after that was come across the Tiefling refugees and be like “Oh you need help? No worries let me teach you self defense. Oh you being attacked by goblins? Let me blast them real quick”. His way of saying fuck you to all the awful things that have happened to him is being aggressively good and kind. Mizora knows this very well, wants to see him suffer for her amusement, wants to remind him he can't escape her claws, so her choice of punishment was to forever taint his future interactions with mistrust and suspicion. Some people can go real fast from “oh thank God they saved me” to “oh no, are they gonna rob me, are they trying to trick me, are they in cahoots with the ones that attacked me first?” just because of outward appearances. Especially in DnD world. And that deserves its own conversation, but we're focusing on Wyll here.

(Mizora, when I catch you Mizora)

“Well, maybe he shouldn’t have made a deal in the first plac- - “ He was seventeen, alone, preyed upon by Mizora and put in an impossible situation. Please PAY ATTENTION to the story you’re witnesing.

Anyway.

About the tieflings. I know it’s easy to think his words can be derisive towards them, but it’s less about the horns and more about his body being changed against his will. Imagine instead that he got half his face burned, or something that disfigured him. I think his feelings at the moment were closer to that, and yeah they are pretty insensitive words to say to someone with a similar condition (horns or disfiguration), but when feelings are fresh and raw like that it’s easy to say insensitive things. Not saying it was ok for him to say those things, but ther was no malice in his words. I’ve also seen some people share that they think Mizora wanted to change him more to make him unrecognizable to his original self, the Wyll Ravenguard kid, and I think there is some truth to that too. She wants to make sure that Wyll remembers that he belongs to her, there's no question to that.

(MIZORA, WHEN I CATCH YOU MIZORA)

Whether the Tieflings refugees would feel unsettled by Wyll or not? Yes. In a way, they would. From reasons aside from the ones I explained above, remember that these specific tieflings come from Elturel. If you didn’t pass the History check or don’t remember, Elturel is a city that was literally ripped from the land and dragged to Avernus, First layer of hell (it left a hole on the ground and everything) because their mayor made a deal with the Archdevil Zariel some decades back in the timeline. He sold the souls of all its citizens and the city itself.

This was probably one of the worst times of their lives. Some even got captured and forced to participate in the blood War, like Dammon as a mechanic. And after Elturel got returned to the surface, the tieflings lost their homes because they reminded the other citizens of the literal Hell they’d just gone through, and they kicked them out. And remember, they met and saw Wyll as a human, and then saw him with horns. It’s not unreasonable to think that by looking at him they would be reminded of all the events that led them to the awful situation they’re in. Because of someone that was making deals with devils, just like Wyll. Even if his situation is completely different. And Wyll knows that, that’s why he tells you the tieflings are unsettled by him and chooses to stay away during the party.

It was never just about the horns.

And I know Wyll calls himself a devil but I think it’s because it’s the closest thing he looks as; devils are a whole different race with their own intricacies, although humans can be turned into devils ONCE their souls go to Avernus and they start climbing the power hierarchy there (Mizora and Raphael are cambions/ half-devils btw, which is a different thing,  there are plenty of videos exploring those details more in depth).

Do I think Larian should have made some of this information clearer/easier to access? Maybe? but to be fair, it's a game focused and dedicated to a crowd that was already somewhat familiar with the source material, that blew up waay out of what they originally expected to reach. Hopefully they’ll add some clarifications like they did to other quests. 

Anyway these are my two cents to the conversation, have a nice day, and don't hesitate to add your two cents if you feel like it!

[foodsies4me]

End of the Year Fic Recs!!!

thank you @echo-bleu for tagging me! <3

I adore this as a game because I love reccing fics (and really should do it more often because So. Much. Good.Fic). This is going to be all shadowhunters I'm afraid though because I am still very much in the shadowhunters brainrot stage and haven't read much of anything else. (Also, sorry to those I haven't left a comment for yet, I WILL, spoons have just been low this year...) Also, I'll try to keep it to one rec per author because there are so many wonderful authors, but definitely go check the other fics of these people (if you haven't already) they're all excellent.

Recommend up to 5 series or multi-chapter fics from 2023 that everyone should read (multi-year WIPs count, if the last update was in 2023).

Running from the Night by @to-the-stars-writing. My forever fic spouse and the fic I reread themost this year goes to the fantastic, angsty Alec goes to live in a small village to get away from the Clave because the poor dude is traumatized fic from to-the-stars. This fic is my fics spouse (yes I got @to-the-stars-writing's permission to marry this fic) and I love, love, love it so much.

Flames to Embers by @notcrypticbutcoy: teenage!Alec is poofed into the timeline of his older self and it is lovely, sad, and heartwarming all at the same time. Also, teenage Alec is delightfully grumpy and Adult Alec is even more delightfully Done with teenage!Alec's grumpiness.

starshine and moonlight by she_who_reads (all_fandoms_reader) A three +1 fic where Alec isn't enough until he finally is. This fic is angsty and delves into Alec's (not all that great) self-worth issues and it hurts. Might or might not have cried reading it.

The Warlock's Cat by @dreaming-marchling. I hesitated a while which one I should pick from Marchling, but I ended up choosing this one (that said PLEASE go read Bleed for Me as well it is so goooood). The Warlock's Cat is a delightful "Alec gets turned into a cat and ends up in Magnus's care" fic. I adore it, and while it has its angsty or whumpy spots, it's mostly a nice, feel-good read.

Magnus Bane: Menace by AceOnIce To give some reprieve from all of the angst in this list, here is a fic of pure, unabashed fluff. Starring: Warlock Alec and Shadowhunter Magnus, the latter of which writes some truly ridiculous mission reports to HOTI Ragnor's grief.

Recommend up to 5 single chapter fics/one-shots (long or short) from 2023 that everyone should read.

The river cannot go back by @lawsofchaos1. Alec being Alec and completely in love with Magnus which leads to him committing treason like it's nothing. It is a short, brilliant fic that had me screeching like any @lawsofchaos1 fic does.

I'm finding it hard to breath by Honey_Hued_Hermes This one is pretty heave, but it does have a Hopeful Ending. Alec never promised he would tell Magnus if things ever got that bad...and sadly they do. Diving into Alec's Suicidal Thoughts and his Self-Harm tendencies.

A Most Fundamental Truth by autisticalec A missing scene from 2X10 when Alec tells Magnus that he's never been as terrified as when he feared Magnus had died from the Soul Sword. This one-shot dives into the "Alec was really very not okay emotionally" in this scene, so go read it!

The Difficult Task by @dani-dabbles: Another Alec is going through it emotionally fic (there are quite a lot of these on this list I just realized, oops). Thankfully, Magnus is there to offer support when Alec needs it because Magnus is still the best boyfriend. (also the repeated "not good enough"is evil and I am suing for emotion damages, please and thank you very much)

come to me (in the night hours) by @moonlight-breeze-44 Izzy is a supportive sister and is there emotionally for Alec right before his wedding to Lydia. This fic left me feeling all sad and weepy. This fic is technically part of a series, but as no other parts have been posted yet I am posting this in the one-shot part.

Recommend up to 5 fics NOT from 2023 that everyone should read (oldies but goodies).

I've Always Dreamed of Meeting Someone Like You by ColorfulWarlock A non-magical Alternate Universe this time around. Single-dad, fashion designer, and CEO Magnus needs someone to draw his designs for him after a hit-and-run leaves him unable to draw for himself. Insert Alec, the wonderful babysitter, and game designer who seems to understand what Magnus envisions and draw them into reality!

Angelus ex Machina by BlueA The series starts with the sudden disappearance of demon activity and the way that lack of activity impacts the local Shadow World. I love the way the parabatai bond is portrayed in this fic (especially in the third installment).

through the fire and pain by alxndrlightwoods is another parabatai-bond deep-dive that goes deep into how a parabatai bond can change shadowhunters. It also explains why, if parabatai are so powerful, there aren't that many of them. Love this fic!

i cannot touch because they are too near by @faejilly nobody manages to write poetry without writing poetry quite like @faejilly for me, seriously the words are always so beautiful I am in awe. This fic has to be my absolute favorite though because deep-dives into the parabatai bond are interesting to begin with but the way Jilly decides to do so in this fic makes it go from interesting to absolutely brilliant.

Greater Love Hath No Man by @lawsofchaos1 Okay, I lied, here is a second Laws fic, but considering this fic led to the demise of my laptop, I felt that it deserved to be on the list. (No, that wasn't a joke). Dad!Alec is forced to send baby!Max away to a warlock orphanage when his magic grows too strong for him and leaves him injured. The pain is real and it is excruciating, tissues are advised.

Recommend up to 5 of your own fics (completed or WIP) from 2023 that everyone should read.

As much as I adore reccing fics, doing self-recs is awkward, so I'm going to keep this to one rec before I combust into flames.

All Was Golden (everyone has probably read that one already because it's my most-read fic which makes this slightly less awkward than reccing any other of my fics.) Anyway, soulmate AU with a kind of ugly meet that has some angst.

Tagging, without any kind of pressure, the authors I tagged in the rec-list (if they haven't participated already) as well as @miss-mouse.

[cryptids-and-muses]

Post canon homestuck crew play Dungeons and Dragons

Karkat and terezi

Co dms

Unstoppable when actually working together

Terezi will get sidetracked messing with karkat

Karkat trying to write a deep and well fleshed out campaign that’s thematically resonant vs terezi’s desire for chaos and traps and trying to “trick” her players FIGHT

Terezi believes in karma and will make the world bend to this

Karkat is trying to set up romance arcs and argues about how it adds to the theming

Dave draws them fanart of their characters. Terezi loves it while karkat argues about accuracy before admitting yes he also appreciates it

Calliope also does fanart and karkat praises her skill and accuracy unlike some people

John

Arcane trickster rogue

Forest gnome

Just a goofy little guy!

Mostly just playing to have fun, starts off with a fun but simple character who develops over time

Ends up SUPER invested and taking this so so seriously

Karkat worked a dramatic reveal into the, in his words, “bare ass bones two paragraphs that a fucking wiggler could have written backstory” and John did not see it coming and loved it

Goes head to head with terezi a lot on her various traps she designs for them. She is getting more and more absurd with it. Karkat had to talk to her about breaking the world building with things she’s introducing. He is the only rogue. Send help.

Rose

Drow warlock

Tries to justify picking drow as anything other than she just thought it was cool

Nearly went old ones for patron but settled on archfey for story reasons

Has a 10 page lore document detailing her tragic past and her toxic relationship with her patron

It became 15 pages after going back and forth with karkat for a bit and adding even more

Only her and one other person are taking the romance arcs seriously and they become karkat’s favorite players

Tries playing morally ambiguous but terezi can be annoying about that and claims it’s just “the consequences of her actions”

Her and karkat both get very very into the scenes between her and her patron, the drama! The acting! Dave is uncomfortable and karkat brushes it off, it’s not like him role playing as his sister’s abusive girlfriend is weird. It’s in fact very important to the plot Dave

Has written fanfic of the campaign

Jade

Dragonborn barbarian

Path of the beast

Don’t ask me I just know

Her GLEE when she says “I’m gonna rage :D”

ANIMAL COMPANION! She nearly went ranger just for that but knew she wouldn’t have as much fun. Found a way to get one anyway.

It was harder naming her animal companion than her character

Having fun and likes the problem solving side of things, but likes breaking things with her massive strength just as much

Terezi likes to throw stuff at her, both traps and encounters, and finds it funny if she can just wreck her way through

“See John that’s how you deal with a pressure plate trap”

Takes the rp side of things very seriously

Once argued with Karkat over if her favorite npc would do that and cursed him out

Has read roses fanfic of the campaign

Dave

Plays a teifling with grey skin and orange horns

“What are you talking about karkat this is just my dude, don’t you like him?”

Hellus Jeffus

He’s a valor bard, eventually multiclasses paladin

Starts out just trying to mess with people but like John starts getting into it, though he tries to down play it

Have hellus more of himself than he realized and it’s making him face things about himself

Eventually hellus self sacrifices to save the party in this deeply intense moment. There were tears, Dave was wrecked, they went on a whole quest to revive him. It was touching and karkat is smug

Dave might have worked through some things

Jane

Halfling cleric

Her and John are small buddies!!!

Started out life but wasn’t having a lot of fun with it so with terezi’s permission switched to war or tempest with later s few levels in fighter

Her John and Jade are the biggest front liners, John’s character ends up really close with both of them as it’s easier for the rogue to bond with the person giving them sneak attack

Jade and jane’s character have an in game arm wrestling match

Took a bit to get into the rp side of things but eventually got the hang of it

Roxy

Tabaxi, easily, it’s so obvious

After much deliberation settles on glamour bard (though wizard and rogue were tempting for the joke, she wanted to branch out)

So many horny bard jokes but very little actual follow through, karkat gets frustrated by this as she’s all this talk but isn’t pursuing any of the romance options he’s giving her

She has SECRETS! She is HIDING THINGS!! Her cheery persona is a FASADE!!!

Cue complaining to karkat about how hard it is to wait to tell the others about her secrets and him threatening violence if she tells anyone before the in game reveal

She tells jake

Lots of egging on Dave and helping him with his fucking around

The BOND between her and Dave!!! They are the duo to end all duos. Team rocket type shit. There is nothing stronger than the bond between the bards of the party. My theory is it has to do with trading bardic inspiration.

Dirk

Half elf Druid circle of spores

Wildfire seemed fun to him but wasn’t as good

Wasn’t originally planning on being a Druid but after going over all the classes he liked all the customization and decisions that go into Druid like prepared spells and such

Didn’t really think about his backstory much, just improved something. He keeps improving new additions and it’s getting more and more elaborate and complicated. He has multiple hidden and long lost siblings by this point. Still doesn’t write any of this down. If he messes a detail up he justified it with more improv.

Yes his character has spiked up red hair and sunglasses. Don’t question how the Druid got sunglasses karkat.

Really likes the tactics side of things, he’s even pitched a few things to terezi she updated and later worked in

Sometimes works on plans and strategies out of game or making a million back up characters that play off the others in interesting mechanical ways

Is considering becoming a dm some time

Jake

Needed some help making his character, he just didn’t know where to start

Eventually after much discussion settles on a teifling bladesong wizard

Wanting to get away from his usual adventurer style Roxy helped with the backstory and they came up with this evil scientist raised in a cult who’s good hearted but was never taught right and wrong

He gets very into playing him and his moral struggle but can lean a little too good for his backstory, karkat points this out and Jake swears to get better at it

Dave pitched a lot of names for them and it was eventually settled on “Bernard Gunn” even though he has a sword. Jake just likes how it sounds

“Why is he blue jake?” “…..uhhh” “why is he blue?”

Calliope

SHE LOVES THIS SO MUCH

Teifling Druid with a focus on healing

Circle of shepards

Not a troll color pallet like Dave though, honestly it might get a bit trickster

Beautiful backstory that she coordinated with one of the others to make joint. The most obvious choice is Roxy but I think it was actually jade, Jane or John.

She gets so into it you guys, like so into it

Gives at least one dramatic speech completely on the fly

The other character who takes karkat’s romance arcs seriously and his other favorite player

Has also argued with terezi about world building and consistency. This may put her above rose in karkat’s eyes

Was also allowed to read rose’s fanfiction and offered full on reviews

Also considering going into doing but for the opposite reasons to Dirk

Vriska

Fairy artillerist artificer with a dip in war magic wizard

Min maxxed to hell and back

(Technically there was a better race, but fairy has its own advantages and she couldn’t resist)

An elaborate backstory too with some secrets of her own, I’m thinking full on lost princess

Yes she is That Player, you know the one

Has nearly been kicked multiple times and now won’t leave on principle

Not the best at sticking with the party and not just doing whatever she wants, but suprisingly Dirk has been able to talk her into it with his talk of tactics and playing smart

Second most effective is John who just looks at her like “vriska you’re not making this very fun :(“

Kanaya

Fire genasi ranger

Really tried to get into it but this just isn’t her thing so eventually decided to leave the group

Karkat came up with a fun story reason for her to leave and eventually brought her character back as an Npc

Did help rose make a cosplay of her character, after which John, Calliope, and Roxy wanted to make ones too

Vriska eventually tried to “manipulate” into helping her make one for her character

[achillesuwu]

Well, after many research on ao3 for very specific kind of fic I guess I will have to make my own food.

Hopefully I won’t forget and write the fic but : post canon AU where Arthur, Gwen (*insert awkwardness of Arthur finding out he was in love with Merlin in the last ep and Gwen trying to break the new that she and Leon got married + Lancelot in the background *) and the knights come back but like… 300ish years after their time and like. They get caught with a group of strangers by *insert guys who were ‘just’ doing ‘mildly’ illegal magic things but Arthur &Co walked into it so they caught them*

Anyway, Arthur Gwen and the knights are like stressed + trying to find out what is happening (while being in a cave and chained. What a way to come back to life—)

Meanwhile the others people who got cough a bit after and are now with them are like

Bad dude 1 : *feed up monologue about their mess up work*

Dude 1 : lol

Bad dude 1 : do you wish to die ?!?

Dude 2 : lmao you are such a moron

Arthur, internally : why am I stuck with suicidal people—

Bad dude 2 : how dare you—

Young boy with squire looking clothes but also not really looking like it’s a squire’s clothes : dude, just look *point at a boy* at who it’s

Bad dude 1 & 2 & the rest of the bad dude : ????

Older lady in the background : for goddess’ sake ! The prince, you moron !!!

Arthur & co : ???

Gwen & Leon : *confuse face*

Bad dude 1 :

Bad dude 2 :

Bad dude 3 : when you say the prince you mean —

Another boy : THE prince

The prince in question, last descendant of Gwen & Leon:

Bad dudes :

Dude 1 & 2 : you are so freaking death lol Lord Merlin is going to kick your ass

Gwaine : *mouthing confusingly ‘Merlin’ right behind Arthur*

*door flying open and getting smashed on the wall*

*Insert badass (unwilling) King Regent with eyes glowing who pull out a sword from his heart, blood everywhere, looking totally unbothered as he let the sword fall on the ground and says ‘I will ask one more time. Do you surrender ?’ *

I just think it would be very neat.

Also Merlin had been king regent for like… 130 years. My man want to retire but the 2 first heir just… fucked off to live their lives add the fact that after 60 years people are like ‘another king ??? Wtf that one is very good’ + very few actual heir + magical being not giving a fuck about mortal king and only listening to Ermys and you get an unwilling warlock doing State paperwork for a century

(Arthur new found queerness is making hard to fonction in these conditions)

*this was written at 4 am by a non-native speaker in the middle of his pre-exams session*

[topbanana-art]

Finally making an OC info post- by no means is this all of them, just ones that are most active and/or live in my head rent free.

First up- Rhys (DnD 5e - Rime of the Frostmaiden)

20 years Old, Half Orc, Half Elf (sweet baby angel) , He/Him

Fighter- Echo Knight

Absolute Ray of Sunshine; Rhys is from Icewind Dale; more specifically the Nomadic Reghed Tribe of the Elk.

He's unfamiliar with the outside world and even includes settlements in his own country

He's a Himbo basically a big dog.

This campaign lead him to leaving his tribe for the first time after an unfortunate accident which turned him into a small 'painted child' and searching for his missing sister. (both these are sorted now!)

*Rhys found an old oil painting of this child, blacked out and next thing he knew he was that small elf child. Her skin and clothing having the texture of painted canvas, and bleeds paint.

For a good chunk of the campaign he was just a totally normal elf- whose shadow didn't match with the body

---

Dhalas (DnD 5e Annalor)

36 Years Old, They/Him, Triton

Drunken Master Monk

Chill surfer dude vibes

Part of a travelling circus, They're a balancing act

Extremely laid back, Dhalas talks like they fight- dancing around, seemingly without rhyme or reason and occasionally clumsy.

---

Foxglove (BG3)

138 Years old (tweaked her age a lil), She/They, Drow

Arcane Trickster Rogue

Guild Artisan Background- Locksmith & Apprentice Finesmith

Chill and sassy, that Tav who talks their way out of shit.

Skews Towards Chaotic Good

Presents Androgynous most of the time

Must lockpick everything- she's not actually super interested what's inside, she just wants to see the workmanship of the locks and trashtalk how bad they are.

Yeah she's smooching the vampire. (and Halsin)

Naturally cares for others, even at the cost of her own wellbeing.

Has a Phobia of anything touching/going near her eyes- so the start of the game is A Time for Fox.

---

Arslan Dhoro (FFXIV)

21 Years Old (as of ARR), He/Them

Xaela AuRa

Dragoon - White Mage Main (All healer classes tbh)

Stoic, Resting Angry Face Himbo

He struggles to show emotion but he's just pretty shy and cautious about opening up to others.

From the Azim Steppe, he left in his early teens with his father after the death of his mother, to explore the world beyond the Steppe.

His Father Died in his late teens, attacked in Coerthas thinking he and Arslan were Dravanians.

He's extremely soft and protective for the Scions/his friends

---

Shiv (DnD 5e Saltmarsh- campaign completed)

Awful, terrible lesbian

68 years old, She/Her, Halfling

Celestial Warlock - Unicorn Patron w/ a Baby Phoenix familiar, Toby

A piece of shit. Is an absolute asshole and wont let you know she cares.

Lowkey magical girl

Ex-smuggler, who's patron is literally 'I can fix her', 'she can be a better person'. Part of the 'Beyond Skeletons' Pirate crew, she's the medic of the crew.

---

Pymmyr Tathnel (DnD 5e)

Pym

85 Years Old, He/They, Drow

Gloomstalker Ranger

Emotional Support Blink Dog, Princess Liquorice

This boy is scared all the time

Doesn't talk much, but speaks in a soft voice

Has disordered 'Sleeping' and Eating :)

His plague mask has tinted lenses to help ease the strain with how bright the surface is

I wont tell too much about them as a lot of their info is spoilers to other players. But this sad Drow just rocks up in my head on the regular.

---

Erebus (Anima Beyond Fantasy)

AKA- My first TTRPG character! circa 2011-2 I think???

Real name Sho Yoshimitsu

22 Years Old, He/Him

Duk'Zarist Nephilim

Assassin

Textbook 'strong silent and intimidating hot man'

But basically a big soft boy if you break past the mile thick ice

Tragic backstory™ , used to using his body for the job

He really enjoys cooking!

Also hopelessly in love with a small soft summoner, Caelum (the one hugging him), They're RedxBlue gays

---

I think I'll leave it there for now!

I may add more later, I hope it was interesting?? and I'm still pretty shy with yelling this much about my characters haha.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! 💜

[basketobread]

I have so much art planned for you, sir

[holyvirgilscriptures]

In light of finn posting that snl skit about a boy coming out as bi after being hypnotized by a warlock (not trying to speculate on dudes sexuality. it's not my business. but it is suspicious and i am not trying to cause any harm by being curious as to why he posted that though it could be his humor but idk......). BUT it reminded me of this joke someone made when Noah first came out along the lines of "imagine we are all telling foah's to stop being weird and shipping their actors and then finn/noah post some shit on insta of them kissing each others cheek and caption it 'byler real in real life' and were just like "Wh-"

Anyways I'm leaving this off with- I just think these hypothetical situations are funny. I'm not actively shipping irl ppl, i am shipping byler only but if it were to happen irl it would be weirdly ironic. Although idk how ppl would react if that did happen considering the noah hate train as of recently.

i don't think there's anything wrong with thinking a person may or not be queer. it's only wrong when you start being invasive about it. like how g*ylors and l*rries hyper-focus on every aspect on the celebs' lives in search for "clues" for their sexualities, and still continuing to speculate even when the celebrity themselves has said that they are uncomfortable with that (or when the celebrities are clearly dating other people). i'm sure if finn said he didn't like people speculating, we'd all drop it.

i remember those jokes when noah came out haha. it would be funny if that happened. but i think people would get mad not just because of the noah thing, but because the ones who have crushes on finn would probably have a meltdown. or idk millie stans will find another thing to be mad about. and also the st redditors would claim byler is only canon because of their actors irl (like jancy). i mean, half of them are already convinced finn is secretly in love with noah and that's why he has no chemistry with millie/eleven lol.

[aspideronmywall]

Be preped for this long post, kind of a wordy think I'm having at 10:48 pm about Top Gun Maverick...

"No wife, no kids. Nobody to mourn you when you burn-in."

No kids.

Pete definitely thinks of Bradley as a son, his godson. Bradley's cool, collected, brutal implication of that line that tells Pete that he doesn't think of Mav as a father figure absolutely crushed me when watching the first time.

I got to thinking, what if Mav died instead of Ice? Bradley at first would feel relief actually, that the one man standing in the way of his dreams is finally out of the picture, tha man who he thinks ruined the Bradshaw name and legacy. Does he show up at the funeral? Of course, not to mourn him, but to have his final say over the man who he thought tried to ruin his career out of spite. He's there ready to get his closure, but in fact it's the opposite of what he feels when he sees the amount of other people who showed up.

The ones who are left of the '86 class, Slider Hollywood, Sunny, Wolfman. I'd think there would be a missing Chipper due to is own health problems. You get Viper, Mavericks own surrogate father figure, Cougar and Merlin Bradley learns that Maverick didn't have a father figure either, learning how his dad's reputation prevented him from joining the academy initially.

Then the regret sets in. The regret of not letting Pete explain his actions. Of listening to the words Maverick would tell him time and time again.

"Bradley, it's not a bad thing to keep yourself conservative, but a lack of taking risks can get people killed too. Your father taught me that."

Other people are gathered the dagger squad, other Top Gun classes that he taught, even people from the experimental plane program that he was part of, Hondo, Cyclone, Warlock.

Iceman.

Admiral Kasansky was the top ranking officer at the funeral and as the procession moved on Ice began to shake. His dumbass of a captain was gone, no one to smile or wink to calm his nerves, not like Maverick could. He stepped up to the casket and placed his wings on the cool black wood, and as jets flew overhead he would slam. His fist down onto the pin to solidify them in their spot forever. Ice would have tears streaming down his face as he shook with grief.

Bradley would be there, standing shoulder to shoulder with his squadron, Hangman, Phoenix, Bob and the others looking on as they watch the legendary Admiral who's ice cold demeanor could never be melted, shattered and battered in an instant.

Bradly would then receive a letter stating his inheritance from Mav, the keys to the hangar and a small F-14 Keychain. When he makes it to the hangar, seeing the motorcycles the plane, and way in the back the assortment of pictures of his two fathers and some pictures of himself growing up. Bradley would find some old photo albums, the one with the name Bradshaw worn beyond repair. Bradley would flip through them delicately as to not make the damn thing fall apart and gasp as he saw an entire section dedicated to him. A lot of the younger photos he saw had been taken by his dad. But then he started to see ones from his flight school days, his top gun class, different squadron as he got assigned to different carriers. He would be baffled, calling some of his old crew, old WSO'S and other deck people, they would all tell him the same thing.

"Yeah this guy was interested in every picture we took of you man. He said it was for a gift for you, the dude practically drained my phone battery that day as we talked for ages, he loves you man, whoever he is."

Bradly would have a full breakdown then, hating himself so much for pushing Maverick away. When all he wanted to do was be the father he lost, not just because Maverick felt responsible for Goose's death, but because he loved Bradley like his own damn son. Bradley would eventually find Goose's helmet, not the one he died in, but the brand new shiny ones they were supposed to wear that day with the top gun insignia on the inside of the lining. Goose had only worn it once for a fitting and then kept it away as his old helmet had worked perfectly fine anyway. Bradly would put it on, clipping the mask over his face and lay in the small bed in the hangar for hours, staring at the ceiling before falling asleep.

[forestlingincorporated]

Underrated TimKon Scenes #15

Robin #141

Not because it’s, like, super shippy, but because I think a lot of people probably haven’t seen it. Conner doesn’t appear much in Tim’s run, most of their interactions are in their teen hero crossover comics, but this is one of the rare times Tim specifically asks Conner to come to Gotham. 

And yes, I can actually see how they talk to each other in this particular comic can actually be kinda off putting, but there’s a couple little gems among the rocks in there. 

For context, Tim’s father and Stephanie have both recently died, and his stepmom is still in a mental health clinic. He’s staying with “Uncle Eddie” at the moment, and he’s been pretty distant from the other bats. This is noted as taking place before Conner’s Luthor mind control incident at Titans Tower. 

Tim is in an awkward situation where Darla, a girl he knew from school that died in the gang war Stephanie “died” in, has been resurected by Johnny Warlock, a villain with a grudge against Tim. Darla comes to Tim to ask for help with a problem, said problem being she has to kill Robin to repay her debt to Johnny. She doesn’t know Tim IS Robin. 

Tim’s big plan to fix everything is to convince her the Robin Johnny is after is already dead. He is going to fake internet sleuth his way into showing her a bunch of pictures of the various Robins over the years and claim that the one Johnny wants - himself - is definately already dead because look! He was followed by a girl Robin, and then some other dude with a much different body type... 

Yup, Tim’s plan is to put Conner in the Robin suit and hope she buys it. 

And Conner AGREES to it. 

They may be snarky bitches to each other this whole comic, but I gotta give my man props for hearing this stupid ass plan and going with it anyway to protect his bro. 

And SIDEBAR... the fact that they had to have had some sort of photoshoot of Conner in the Robin costume ahead of time for Tim to leak onto the internet and “discover”, I.... 

So...... Tim has this stupid idea (I’m sorry Tim, you’re very smart, but you’re very dumb when you’re stressed and alone) to convince Darla he can set up a meeting with Robin by posting to this forum “the super hero are totally known for reading” and the two wait for Conner on some roof top, where Conner shows up to look all Not Tim Like in the Robin suit. 

(Don’t mind Tim calling Darla “Laura,” she changed her name when she was resurected because “Darla Aquista” is dead.) 

Tim, it’s okay, I understand, Conner’s muscles are very distracting in that costume. 

Yeah, this prectictably goes wrong. 

I appreciate how fast Tim goes from “haha, oops, I’m sorry, lucky you’re invulnerable, huh?” to “omg, are you okay?” when Conner’s like “dude, I’m weak to magic.” He’s not even bothered by Conner’s empty threats, he’s just “okay, buddy, you can kill me at home.” 

Even threatening bodily harm, Kon’s like “watch your step, I puked here.” 

And I’m weak for any time Conner’s frustrated with Tim’s secret identity, even after he’s let in on it. “You were playing Tim Drake. You ARE Tim Drake!” “Yes, but no.” 

“He got a little overexcited on his very first encounter with Robin, the greatest, manliest, most magnificent super hero of them all” - self-aggrandizing teasing, flirting, or both? You decide. 

You think Conner likes it when Tim calls him “big guy”? I think he likes it. 

And again... there... HAS TO BE an off-screen scene of Tim patching up Conner in the Robin Nest, and they ROBBED me of it. 

[lingkaranitubumi]

So BG3 is currently holding a chokehold on me and I can't help but think of hetasean dnd au. I'll try to limit this to PHB and 5e for simplicity reasons. also sorry I'm not a seasoned DND player at all i played one casual campaign but only actually understood the mechanics after playing bg3 LOL im a highly kinetic-visual person

Vietnam: Any tanky build will do as such I was thinking an atheist paladin would be funny lol. She is definitely the one with the most hands-on experience in battle. Proficient with polearms and shields. I see her more leaning towards martial classes, so like barbarian or fighter. probably fighter. Looks Lawful but actually Chaotic. Hmm... maybe Neutral Good?

Thailand: Monk for the muay thai coolness. Not sure about his subclass tho... most of them don't sound lethal and brutal enough. Definitely Lawful Evil.

Malaysia: At first I was thinking of a gunslinger build (just so I can give him a loooooong boy ala Malacca era) but the fighter subclass, because he doesn't come off as the artificer type to me. Either that or barbarian for the tiger rage. Now him being a druid would allow him to actually turn into a tiger, but honestly Mal as a character doesn't seem so druid-y to me--Oh wait. he skips meetings to catch sea creatures and talks about social harmony... maybe he could be a druid. Chaotic Good.

Singapore: Any class that relies on high INT, like wizard . Ok I said I'd limit to PHB but war magic is so him. The other schools just doesn't scream poisoned shrimp enough for me. Lawful Neutral.

Indonesia: At first I was thinking of cleric to match his worldflags counterpart but Indo as a warlock is a delicious thought. Besides, Pact of Talisman mechanic sounds like typical indo black magic shenanigans. Of course the talisman must be a haunted ornate keris. Then later another idea came: what if he's a multiclass bard-monk?? The mechanics match up with pesilat Betawi as it's tradition to roast your opp with pantun (type of Malay poem) before commencing the beating. So like, Vicious Mockery -> Flurry of Blows . but if Thai is already a monk, Indo will have to relinquish that role for diversity reasons. I'm on the fence between True Neutral and Chaotic Neutral.

Philippines: Him being a bard is a no-brainer because filipinos and singing!!11!!! also after playing a bard, there seem to be more of roasting a dude than singing But hear me out: deadly dex-based fighter. Or since he already has Pien, why not a beast master ranger? If we really need to play that Catholic Trauma™ then Piri could be a cleric. never paladin tho. Two-weapon proficiency, twin blades because he's a gemini. Same alignment as Indo awww twinning!!! but leaning more on chaotic

this is still a brainstorming post maaaaybe I'll draw their designs some day...... what do y'all think???? I'd like to hear some suggestions 🙌

[nyaagolor]

Werewolf AU

I'm just gonna allow myself to be fully cringe at this point. LFG. It's all under the cut :)

Nemona's family are the descendants of the Paldean emperor, who fell from grace and more or less disappeared after the Treasures Of Ruin + the catastrophe of the Great War with Kalos completely decked the economy and whatnot

The family inherited the king's wealth and political connections, which allowed them to maintain power / status / wealth until the point where they were able to secure themselves as a tech empire within the new capitalist system. Rich people stay rich and whatnot

But being descendants of the king came with extra baggage too-- the king was wildly unpopular and got cursed by basically every witch / mage / merchant / powerful artifact that existed in Paldea at the time. Dude just would not leave the cursed artifacts alone and managed to piss off every magical person and being on the continent so he has a litany of curses

The Treasures of Ruin were sealed and the king died, so a good 98% of the curses and hexes plaguing the king, his family, and Paldea as a whole disappeared. Over time, magic as a practice was mostly forgotten about as Pokemon filled the roles traditionally occupied by witches and warlocks, so everyone forgot about the curses. However, the family still has to deal with a few:

The king once angered a forest spirit by hunting within her woods and was cursed so that his and his bloodline's arrows never find their mark. Tragically this applies to pokeballs as well-- everyone in the family cannot successfully throw a pokeball no matter how hard they try

The king has lousy genetics which has managed to haunt them for centuries. That's not an actual magic thing unless you count being a rich European as a curse

There's also the whole werewolf thing, which is a little more complicated. It doesn't affect everyone in the family, for starters, and only ever affects the wives and daughters. I'm honestly still working on the specifics of the backstory for the whole thing, bc I want it to tie into the AU thematically and also give a reasoning behind who inherits and the curse and whatnot. I will keep yall posted on that one but also am taking ideas bc atm I got nothing

Anyway the curse is related to bloodline, so despite the circumstances for the curse and the mage who did it being ancient history, the curse still afflicts members of the family

It starts when young, and the shifting, because it's mostly driven by emotions, is completely involuntary. It's become family tradition to isolate any werewolf children from the outside world until they can control it / keep their emotions in check, which leads to most of the cursed children feeling lonely because they weren't able to go to school or play with other kids as a child. They do get to interact with anyone in the family though, as they know about the curse and can deal with it, as well as pokemon, who are strong enough to handle it. Don't want ur kid having a tantrum and biting someone with big ol fangs

Speaking of biting bc it's a curse it can't be passed to others by any means so dw about being bit. It'll hurt, sure, but you won't turn into a werewolf

Most cursed kids manage to control the shifting by the time they're around 10, and get to go to school and start playing with other kids around then. By this point they also know enough to not reveal the curse to anyone else

Shifting is dependent on the intensity of emotions like anger and fear so the family suspects it acts a bit like a stress / threat response. It also happens on a spectrum, so there's a pretty wide range of Wolfish-Ness that they can turn to depending on the circumstances. The only non-emotional shifting that can happen is on the full moon-- during the night they shift completely, having lost their minds and acting only on instinct. This is the "lock them in a room you can't reason with them" kinda thing

I see the full moon thing as the equivalent of sleepwalking or being heavily intoxicated. Occasionally there's a vague understanding of what's happening, but all their senses are off the charts and the cocktail of overstimulation, pain from the transformation, and insane bursts of adrenaline makes them unable to be reasoned with. During non-full moon shifting through they have far more control, provided they don't spiral and shift completely

The family does their best to keep anyone cursed out of the public eye and distance PR from them as much as possible, both for fear of their status and power being jeapordized and also because they fear what will happen to the cursed person if people find out

I'll add more later but these are my like. initial thoughts. I feel like the rest of the rival gang doesn't actually know about the curse yet, but roll with it when they do find out-- after realizing your friend's dad got mauled to death by your motorcycle lizard and watched his AI copy time travel I think "werewolves" are pretty low on the weirdness list