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centaurianthropology · 11 months

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Ashton and Silence

One of the things that has fascinated me this campaign is how ready-built Ashton is to be a leader, but how Taliesin plays low charisma to constantly stop them from being one. Ashton has great ideas, and tends to be one of the two most grounded members of the group. He has excellent moral intelligence (far better than they’ll admit), and one-on-one Ashton excels at talking people down from their worst points.

But they also are in constant pain, and they’ve spent their entire life being told that they’re worthless as anything other than a slab of muscle. So they silence themselves. And the more unfamiliar the environment or the more people around them, the more they clam up.

Last episode was one of the best examples I’ve seen yet. Ashton was almost entirely silent this episode. He admitted to hating camping, likely to do with the chronic pain, but also to do with the unfamiliar environment. Ashton is a city barbarian through and through, and they thrive in cities. They are far more confident in cities, even when they don’t know them as well as Jrusar or Bassuras. But the wilderness? On an unknown continent? He’s already on the wrong foot.

And then they go to the village, and before they know it things are spiraling. It turns out this place was a powderkeg waiting to blow, with two factions that are, at least from appearance, both highly suspect. The Vasselheim faction are clearly outsiders come here to impose their culture on the locals, taking too much from their land, bleeding their farms dry for distant tribute, and recently sending more and more armed thugs and more religious oppression. Add to that the Flameguide being clearly an asshole who won’t listen to reason (very classic lawful stupid paladin, and I agree with Emily, likely a Conquest Paladin, some of the worst to deal with), and the Dawnfather folks are clearly assholes who aren’t wanted there.

But though the townsfolk in general seem sympathetic and just want to live free and worship as they will, their charismatic leader also seems to be full-on with Ruby Vanguard ideology. She wants to tear the gods down, mistaking gods who are behind a divine gate and can’t interact with humans without a great deal of faith, with the corrupt religious institutions that sprung up around them. But at the same time she gives a distinct feeling of hating those institutions because she’s not them. She flat-out said that she didn’t want to stop with the town. She wanted her own elemental worship to take over the world.

It’s a great set-up, because the townsfolk just want to be free, so they’re throwing in their lot with someone who has grand and terrible ambitions. It’s Ludinus writ small, and playing out on an intimate scale.

And the team wasn’t really given any choice. Once they were exploring the options, they were already sort of stuck with the elementalists. And they mostly just want to prevent casualties, but the people in charge of those potential casualties have no care for the people who could die. They see only glory and their own faith.

Orym spoke up, because that’s what Orym does. But Orym’s confidence has been shaken, and there was little to no way he was going to manage to sway two fanatics. Denise sort-of spoke up, as did Laudna, both trying but both also failing. Bor’Dor and Prism were both basically on the side of ‘let’s fuck up the gods, whoo!’ from the off, Bor’Dor because he doesn’t really know what’s going on, and Prism out of academic bitterness. In another life, she would have been hard-core Rube Vanguard fairly easily.

And then there’s Ashton, silent in the back, deeply uncomfortable, surrounded by an elementalist group that feels a lot like a cult with a charismatic leader. How much must he be associating this with the Hishari? Does it have any connection? Some remnant faction? Are they fighting on the side of his nightmares?

But they say nothing. They stay silent. They are barely noticed, despite being a big rock person in an elemental-worshipping town. People should be all over them in fascination, but they aren’t, because Ashton has practically vanished. They needed to speak up. They needed to stand with Orym to try to de-escalate things, but instead they are sneaking in the background. Why? Lack of confidence. Self-loathing. Fear. This is where Asthon’s low charisma springs from: they will never trust themselves to do the right thing, to say the right words, to really step up and be counted. So they hide, and things crumble.

#Critical Role #CR spoilers #thoughts on the most recent episode #Ashton Greymoore

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aguacerotropical · 10 months

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On Astolfo’s fugue, free will and salvation in VnC

The Astolfo arc is set around his own salvation and what it might look like - either forgiveness, represented by Roland, or a darker idea of “salvation” made up of perpetual genocidal violence, represented by Charles.

Now, Teacher’s fugue reference, which frames and structures the story, suggests that Astolfo has the power of choice, free will, over his own life, and his tragedy is precisely that he lets his rage and grief overpower him, and robs himself of that choice. I will now explain my reasoning.

What is a fugue?

Like Lady Archiviste (not her actual name) says, it is related to a canon, which is a composition that is an imitative counterpoint. In other words, it repeats melodies, but a canon has no space to develop, or even deviate from the original melody. It is a simple composition.

Fugues though are complex, and I’m no music student, but according to this video, they are made up of an exposition that has a central melody (a subject) and an answer (a near exact copy played in a different voice), and counterpoints, which are melodies that fit in with the subject. Sometimes there are counter subjects,which are repeated counterpoints that appear after exposition and with the subject. Bach’s Little in G minor appears to have 3 countersubjects.

(See this video to see the different voices and structure in Bach’s G Minor “Little”. This analysis is neat too.)

When comparing this definition to our plot, the easy answer is that the fugue’s subject is the hatred and animosity caused by mass killing and revenge, represented by the vampire killing Astolfo’s family for being associated with the paladins, and the (musical) answer is Astolfo murdering vampires and human allies.

But that would describe a more simple, canon type structure. A person is killed, then there's revenge, and so on. Instead, Teacher insists it is a fugue, and specifically states Astolfo’s story is not a mere imitation, because “it changes flexibly, developing freely” and that, because of it, “it is the most suitable accompaniment to the tragedy of Garnet”.

That description of flexible change introduces the idea of free will. And, if we abandon the usual definition of Greek tragedy as events that are fated to happen, we could arrive at the fact that this tragedy hinges on that there is a way out of the violence, yet it is not taken because the character (Astolfo) insists on being trapped.

Now, let’s look at this tragedy with some panels. First off, we have the theme of salvation woven into coexistence with vampires, shown via juxtaposition.

Roland prays to find a way to save Astolfo, and then it cuts to an explanation of the truce between vampires on Altus and humans.

In the next panel, Astolfo thinks of a plan to murder the Altus vampires, and Roland is immediately put off by it and tries to explain why genocide Is Not A Good Thing.

It’s important to remember that Olivier tells Roland to not take hatred away from Astolfo, but he doesn’t seem too keen on following through with that advice. He clearly believes there’s a third path, which is letting go of hatred and aiming for coexistence, even as he’s mocked by other chausseurs as a hypocrite, later in the issue.

Now, we can listen to our fugue. We have a subject (violence), an answer (more violence under the guise of revenge), and a countersubject (coexistence, letting of hatred and forgiveness as possible). Astolfo’s story can develop freely, like Teacher said.

Roland tries to guide Astolfo to that third option, but when Astolfo is confronted with a situation in which humans defend vampires against the Church, like he once did, he kills them. He doesn’t even give them the benefit of the doubt.

Immediately afterwards, Roland gives up on being able to save Astolfo, because he's so trapped by his trauma, he can’t forgive himself or anyone else. Instead he justifies murder by dehumanizing those who trust vampires as heretics. In a sense, he’s coping by killing what he sees as versions of his past self who could put an indeterminate someone (that doesn’t really exist) in danger.

Here we can insert Tumblr’s favorite cliché: “Why does tragedy exist? Because you are full of rage. Why are you full of rage? Because you are full of grief.”

On Astolfo’s psyche:

Now I want to dig a little deeper into Astolfo’s psyche. He tells himself that his hatred is for all vampires, but this is… imprecise. He actually hates the vampires responsible for the murder of his family, but they’re already dead. You can hate the dead, but you can’t do much with that emotion, since its object does not exist anymore.

Additionally, his punishment of himself is part of the denial + bargaining aspects that show up in grief. “If he hadn’t been kind! if he could stop others from the same actions! Then they would be alive.

All of that is a lie. Those vampires would probably have found another way to attack, because they were already set on killing his family due to their association with paladins. And that attack isn’t his fault. He didn’t make that choice, it was out of his control.

But, blaming himself and blaming vampires gives him an illusion of control.

Illusion, because it’s clear he has zero control over his grief and his actions. And it also leads him to commit the same evil as the vampires who killed his family.

He’s a fugue’s subject switching voices and ending up in a musical answer on a different, but repetitive, key of violence.

As a last resort, Roland tries to become the main object of Astolfo’s hatred, to control its effects. It does work by making Astolfo vulnerable, something which Noé and Vanitas later exploit in battle.

Anyways, for Astolfo to forgive himself, it would mean stepping into the realm of uncertainty and admitting that there was no sense to any of this violence. The world has no good and evil that is occupied by humans and vampires. It has no point. He would also be responsible for his actions, including his hand in murders.

At the end of this chapter, it is evident that these questions are weighing on Astolfo’s mind. Above, he gazes at the dagger he inherited from his father, who stated that he must kill vampires, and sees himself beheaded, asking for more blood to be shed.

And to resolve this existential angst, he would need to craft his own purpose, not have it handed down by chausseurs who want the worst for him and only see him as a symbol, a means to an end for the vampire eradication faction. Roland, on the other hand, sees him and loves him as who he is.

And as he enters Charles’ room, Roland comes out, and it’s almost like he is torn between both options of who he can be. He seems to choose Charles, as he walks past Roland, but will it stand?

Either way, his story is part of a repetition that has gone on since the world was cleaved by Babel and it was consumed in wars driven by revenge. It represents the current status quo in the larger story that makes up Vanitas no Carte’s plot. And it suggests that our characters have free will, and the fugue that has forgotten how to stop can remember how to end.

Coda: A final note on salvation and free will

I really want to get into this, but it’s a pretty complicated topic, so I just want to highlight that the idea of “free will” is woven into the idea of salvation in Christian faiths. It’s not explicitly mentioned in the manga, but the paradox of free will, in which an omniscient God clashes with the idea that humans have freedom of choice to save or doom themselves, is absolutely a central question that people have tried to answer since the start of Christianity. My favorite exploration of this is Steinbeck’s East of Eden.

As a superficial analysis, we could say that Roland and perhaps Noé + Vanitas represent a camp that is for free will, while Charles and his paladins stick closer to predestination, since humans are the only candidates for salvation. There is this panel in which Roland’s faith starts to crumble, since he starts to accept that God also created vampires. I think this will get much more explicit as we see more of the Church’s actions.

And Teacher, who started this whole analysis, I’m not too sure what his stance on free will is, but he’s certainly curious about its effects.

---

Sidenote: I take this opportunity to link my huge doc of Vanitas no Carte references. it is still a work in progress. If anyone wants to add anything, please let me know. I need info on the Matter of France / Song of Roland; Noé and Vanitas’ Vincent and Gilbert pseudonyms, and other stuff.

#vanitas no carte #the case study of vanitas #vanitas no shuki #astolfo granatum #vnc #heres my essay!#there will be a part 2 on astolfo and vanitas as each other's foils. but that will be later #vnc meta

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avelera · 1 year

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Random thoughts on the D&D movie in no particular order:

I loved the jokes. All of them. All the stupid jokes. I was their target audience and they succeeded at making me cackle at dumb shit while my partner's soul left his body

The landscape shots were breathtaking and honestly made me tear up at the beauty in places. In the theater, I remember thinking, "Yeah, FUCK yeah, these guys understood the assignment!" Nine out of ten times, I think fantasy should be animated, because if you don't pour millions into the budget, the action looks like crummy LARPers wearing silly costumes in the woods. This movie understood that if you're doing live action fantasy, you owe your audience some damn beautiful landscape shots and damn did they deliver on some beautiful landscape shots.

(cut for spoilers)

I sincerely appreciated Holga and her husband being divorced but still amicable. I'm so tired of the trope of exes being evil or awful. They just seemed like two adults who wanted to love each other but the circumstances of being together doomed them from the start. It was played for laughs but it was just a moment I genuinely enjoyed as divorcee. I also loved her ex's new wife looking exactly like her, both for the gag, and for what it said about both of them being each other's type even if it didn't work out.

I also cackled like a hyena at Holga's halfling fetish while also finding it rather sweet and enjoyed imagining all the reasons why she might have that preference lol

As a basic Drizzt Do'Urden loving bitch, I squeed when I saw Icewind Dale on the map. Then I had a moment between that and the Underdark of wondering, "Am I gonna see him? Even in the distance? Am I going to see my first love, Drizzt Do'Urden??"

And then I realized: the Paladin. The Paladin is Drizzt. Only good person who came out of a nation destroyed by evil. Too good for this world, too pure, to the point of being sanctimonious but is also a hottie. Xenk is Drizzt.

Oh, I also squeed when I saw the Underdark.

I appreciated how knowledge of D&D improved certain story beats (like the gelatinous cube or the displacer beast) but wasn't required to enjoy the plot. That's how references should be done.

The most agonizingly cringe moment for me was when Holga was dying. Just. I appreciated the beat. It couldn't go any other way. They delivered on their set up with the tablet, the only question was ever, "Who besides his wife is going to get saved with it?" And it made perfect sense who it was. I'm glad they didn't try to pull a fast one. But the scene was like... 10 seconds too long of her dying for me to not roll my eyes. We know you're going to use the tablet on her, dipshit, please keep this moving.

BUT I think the reason they did it was to land a sincere moment with the daughter, and I appreciated that. I think the scene could have been improved by Holga being like, "Don't you fucking dare use that tablet on me!" and then smacking him when he did it anyway and then he'd have to explain that he set out to save his daughter's mother, not his wife, who has passed on, etc etc. but I'm not sure that would have been much better so maybe the drawn-out opera death scene and the sincerity was better in the end idk.

I KINDA wanted to see the actors as the players playing D&D BUT I know why they didn't and it was a wise choice, it undermines the drama too much to say it doesn't matter because it's a game. Maybe if instead they'd should the characters playing D&D in universe as normal humans? Idk

I thought there'd be more Xenk? I thought he'd be in the arena with them? A little bummed but I also loved his GM NPC energy.

The combat and camera work was great! Genuinely enjoyable and well made, I appreciated the artistry that went into it.

Loved the bardic distraction scene for truly capturing the chaos of a D&D party's attempt at breaking and entering

Loved the portals bit for truly capturing the strategy and planning that can go into a functioning D&D campaign's clever heist, even if I'm sure it would have taken 5 sessions to plot out IRL

Honestly, it was just a fun, solid film! It's been a while since I've seen such a fun, solid film! I would buy it and put it on in the background to just enjoy and not angst over it! It was worth the price of admission, it was faithful to the spirit of D&D instead of sneering at it the way the early 2000s one did, and I had a good time! It wasn't the highest of art but it would have been weird if it had been! I liked it a lot!

#DND #honor among thieves

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sotwk · 5 days

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Hi Naneth! Do you know and/or play D&D? So...I've recently started playing it and got addicted to the game (surprisingly for someone who's always been a bookworm than a gamer hehe), and now I can't help but be curious what would the Thranduillions (maybe bonus Thranduil and his wife?) be like as D&D characters (or what kind of characters would they create and play as during D&D sessions)? Ooooh, now I wonder what a Thranduillion D&D session would look like XD!

Omg it's amazing that you asked me this question, because literally just this morning I was chatting with my sister about her starting to play tabletop D&D with her old college buddies! I said to her, "Man I'm jealous and I wish I could join in, but I would just be so lost and confused and annoying because I'll need everything explained to me multiple times." XD My sister is also trying to get me to play BG3, and although it's really, really tempting, I'm afraid even venturing into that would take up what little free time I have left!

Anyway, going into your question that I LOVE so much, about what the Thranduilions would be like if they had a D&D session. Using my limited knowledge of the actual gameplay, it would go something like this:

The Royal House of Greenwood Plays Dungeons & Dragons

Characters Chosen

Everyone in the family prefers to play Elves but sometimes may choose a Half-Elf, Human, Dwarf, or Halfling. Legolas may dare to try controversial classes (i.e. dragonborn, half-orc), but only when their parents aren't playing.

Mirion: Barbarian. Values Strength.

Turhir: Paladin. Values Constitution.

Arvellas: Wizard. Values Wisdom.

Gelir: Ranger. Values Dexterity.

Legolas: Druid. Values Wisdom.

Thranduil: Rogue. Values Dexterity.

Maereth: Bard. Values Charisma.

How They Would Play

The family likes to run the campaign as a group that quests together, rather than individuals, so they work together as a team.

Arvellas is the Dungeon Master mostly because he wrote the guide books and has by far the most organized brain among the brothers. He's also the calmest, most patient, and can keep his brothers in line in case things descend into chaos.

Legolas was the ringleader who initiated the idea to start/play this game in the first place. He begged and helped Arvellas to create the game books, with Arvellas wrangling Legolas's wild enthusiasm and all-over-the-place ideas into brilliant manuals. Legolas also crafted the dice, miniatures, and game boards himself, and he always has the most elaborately detailed character sheets.

Mirion is not much for this sort of game but is absolutely happy to humor Legolas and spend time with his family. Barely knows what is going on and essentially just follows what Legolas tells him he "has" to do. His character is often first to get injured or in trouble, but he laughs it off. Is eating an unholy amount of snacks the entire time.

Turhir is the tactical genius who thinks of creative ways to solve problems and defeat opponents. Mostly does his thing to keep the quest going and everyone alive, but also gives advice regarding combat tactics when asked. Is quietly the MVP of the campaign.

Gelir is just really annoyed by the concept of dice controlling his fate and blames lousy dice rolls a lot. Protests and argues against the "logic" of difficulty checks. Heckles any of his brothers who "mess up" (in his opinion). Chooses courses of action based on what's flashiest instead of what's wise. (He's much more strategic in real life, but this is a GAME. Plus he likes to mess with Legolas.)

Thranduil picks up on the game super quickly despite having the least experience. Frequently leaves the table to attend to crown business (or grab more wine). Assigns Turhir to play for him in his absence because they have the same mindset. Drinks a crazy amount of wine during the course of the game (it helps him relax) but still does not appear drunk, nor is his gameplay affected.

Maereth never gets into trouble (in the game) because literally everyone is half-focused on protecting her. Eventually she gently removes herself from the game so they can play for real without having to consider her. Helped Legolas make the dice, miniatures, and game boards.

I hope you (and all D&D/BG3 readers) enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you for this very fun Ask! <3

For more SotWK AU headcanons: SotWK HC Masterlist

Elves HC Tag List: @a-world-of-whimsy-5 @achromaticerebus @acornsandoaktrees @aduialel @asianbutnotjapanese @auttumnsayshi @blueberryrock @conversacomsmaug @elan-ho-detto-elan-15 @entishramblings @glassgulls @heilith @heranintomyknife23times @ladyweaslette @laneynoir @lathalea @quickslvxrr @spacecluster @stormchaser819 @talkdifferently6 @tamryniel @tamurilofrivendell @from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras

Special Moots who are BG3 fans and might be interested tag: @ass-deep-in-demons @kylobith @tolkien-fantasy @creativity-of-death @missiemoosie (I probably missed some.)

Other useful links:

Introduction to SotWK

Fanfiction Masterlist

Fanfiction Request Guidelines

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etoilehistoire · 7 months

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(My take on the reveal - Astarion's first [disastrous] attempt to drink Xia's blood. Borrowing from the actual dialogue in game, but then playing fast and loose with it to create what I think is a more interesting turn of events.)

He paced back and forth. Past the dying embers of the fire, past the scraggly tree at the edge of the campsite. Pause. Turn. Back again. Until he finally stopped, staring down at the pretty little paladin where she slept peacefully.

Pretty little paladin. She wasn’t either, not really. Xia was about the same height as him – not that Astarion was particularly tall, but he was hardly little. As for pretty… even before the scars that marred half her face, her features would have been plain at best. Still, there was something about the lively way she carried herself, the merry tone to her laughter on the rare occasion when it was startled out of her, that had suggested the moniker in his mind, and it had stuck.

Was he actually going to do this? In the daylight it had seemed like a good plan, well worth the risk. The boar had been a lucky fluke; he couldn’t live off vermin forever, not with the amount of exertion he was expected to put forth on a daily basis.

Besides. It felt… well, important, somehow. To break this taboo. To violate this most ironclad of Cazador’s laws.

Right now, though, he wondered if this was truly a wise choice. If Xia woke up, it could be disastrous; heroic do-gooder types rarely took a nuanced view of bloodthirsty undead monsters. She could strike him down with all her paladin-y righteousness, and it would hurt the whole time he was dying.

But hells below, her blood smelled good.

The longer he pondered, the more he began to rationalize. Assuming she didn’t immediately attack – assuming he had a chance to speak – he could probably win her over. The pretty paladin had a soft heart, didn’t she? A weakness for poor defenseless things that needed protection? He could play that role well enough. Let his eyes glisten, let just enough of the hunger and self-loathing show to tempt a tender heart to try and heal him. An unwilling vampire spawn made for quite a moving tale of woe, after all. He imagined her starry-eyed look of pity, the beatific smile she would give as she urged him to drink, of course he should drink, a poor abused thing like him. If he played his cards right he could have her eating out of his hands.

It made such a pretty picture, in fact, that he was almost disappointed to remember that it would almost certainly not happen. That was, after all, the real reason he chose her: the paladin always seemed to sleep deeply, and after today she must be especially exhausted. He would be careful, he would be gentle, and there would be no need for righteous slaughter or sob stories tonight.

So resolved, he bent beside her bedroll, bared his fangs, and moved in.

And froze.

Dark eyes, awake and open, held his, and at the moment they didn’t look particularly soft-hearted.

Shit.

“Shit,” he said aloud.

She flowed to her feet faster than he’d ever seen a human move, and her sword (where was she keeping the sword? Did she sleep with the damn thing? He could have sworn he hadn’t seen a sword a moment ago) unsheathed and came at him even as he stumbled back. She stopped with it resting against the side of his neck, close enough to shave him.

He waited for the accusations, but they didn’t come. She just watched him, steady and silent, waiting.

He’d had a script prepared, but the bare blade at his throat drove it clean out of his mind. “It’s not what it looks like,” he tried. “I-"

“Really.” Now she spoke, her voice utterly flat and utterly unlike the naïve-but-sympathetic savior he had imagined. “Because it looks like you’re a vampire and you were trying to drink my blood in my sleep.”

He deflated. “Ah. Yes. Well. Perhaps it is what it looks like after all.”

He waited, again, for the questions. As the initial alarm wore off, the answers returned instinctively. Yes, he’d joined them with only the very best of intentions. No, of course he would never have taken enough to hurt her, only what he needed! Yes, the blood would benefit everyone by making him a better fighter, so really, it’s a selfless gesture! No, he didn’t tell her earlier, but only because he’s so tired, you see, of people distrusting him on sight simply for what he is. But she’ll see past all that and trust him, won’t she? Please?

Again, the questions never came. Instead she merely watched him, frowning, the sword at his neck never wavering despite the fact that she must still be exhausted.

After a full minute of silence he cleared his throat. “Not that it’s not a thrill to see this exquisite sword and your excellent form up close, but might I ask – what are you doing?”

“I’m deciding whether or not to kill you,” she answered, and he wasn’t sure whether it was the words or the emotionless way she delivered them that made cold travel down his spine.

Mind blank, he opened his mouth, unsure what he was about to say, but she beat him to it. “It’s probably the smart thing to do,” she mused, as if to herself, and he swallowed hard. “Your loyalty is compromised. The fact that you tried to do this in my sleep, without my knowledge or permission, means you had no intention of being honest with us. Your bloodlust makes you a liability. You might make promises now, might even mean them, but if you were ever hungry enough you would break those promises without hesitation.”

All of this was, unfortunately, true. Oh, he could quibble over a detail here or there, but some small instinct of self-preservation whispered that it would not help his cause to do so. Carefully, he tried to take a step back; she stepped with him, so smoothly that the sword never even slid forward or back against his skin.

Summoning up the full force of his personality, he favored her with his most apologetic smile. “I do understand, truly I do. I overstepped, and it was beastly of me. If you no longer think you can trust me, I will be heartbroken but I’ll understand. I can take my leave tonight, and never trouble you again.”

“No good,” she said with a quiet sigh. “If I let you leave, you simply become someone else’s problem. Someone else will suffer at your hands, or have to carry the burden of killing you. If I truly think you can’t be trusted, if I believe we can’t keep traveling with you, I should have the integrity to take care of it myself. I should be willing to kill you with my own blade.”

He waits, unable to tear his eyes from hers. He should have chosen another person. He should have been content with vermin. He should never have tried to break this rule, should have known it would destroy him.

It might be his overactive imagination, but he could swear the sword at his neck thrummed with power, hungry for his death. He couldn’t possibly outrun her, he knew that. He braced for the cold bite of metal into his vulnerable throat, and wondered how much it would hurt.

Instead, a moment later, the blade dropped. “And I’m not.”

He sagged, his fingers immediately coming up to inspect his neck. Not even a scratch. “Beg pardon?”

“I’m not. Willing to kill you,” she clarified, turning to sheathe her sword with a small shrug as if this weren’t monumentally important to him. “I imagined it – imagined removing your head from your shoulders – and it just made me sad. I don’t want that.”

Well. That – that was gratifying, at least, if a little morbid. “Thank you?”

She fixed him with a steely glare. “I can. Just so we’re clear. I can do many things I don’t want to, if they’re necessary.” Then she softens. “But so far, I don’t know for sure that it’s necessary. I would rather trust you, and risk being wrong, than kill you and risk being wrong about that.”

“That might actually be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,” he said absently, still rubbing his neck. “Well. In that case, please let me tender my most heartfelt apologies for disturbing your rest, as well as my heartfelt thanks for sparing my poor life, and I will return to my own bedroll, all the way over here, and leave you to it, shall I?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped, and he turned back in surprise. “Get back over here.”

If she’d changed her mind so quickly, she’d say so… right? Slowly, dreading what fresh hell this might be, he took a step towards her.

To his utter surprise, she tilted her head to the side. Baring her neck. “Well? Come on.”

He hesitated. “I’m sorry?”

“I said I was choosing to trust you,” she said, her voice brusque. “You need to eat. And we’re all safer if you don’t get too hungry, so.” She made a little gesture with her head. “Come on.”

Oh. Oh. “Oh! Yes. Yes, of course.” He stepped to her then, his voice lowering, a smile spreading across his features. “And you can be assured I will be nothing if not gentle. Shall we, er, get comfortable?” he asked, gesturing back to the bedroll, a seductive gleam in his eyes.

She narrowed her eyes. “I’d rather not be too comfortable for this, no.”

He hesitated. “And if you… if the blood loss makes you… dizzy?”

“It won’t.” Her voice was serene, yet hard as stone. “You’ll stop before then.”

Well. Absolutely nothing tonight had gone as planned, and she didn’t seem to be eating out of his hand any time soon… but she was offering her blood of her own free will, and he’d be a fool to pass that up. He stepped closer. Hesitated just a moment, forcing himself past the limitations that had been drilled in for so long… and sank his teeth into her neck.

It was… oh, it was heaven. Like rich red meat after a lifetime of thin gruel. The smell and taste of it was intoxicating; he could feel strength and power flowing into him with every swallow. He was lost in it, waves of pleasure washing over him. He never wanted to stop.

He was barely aware of her hand on his shoulder, steadying them both, and another in his hair – a caress, he might have thought, if it came from anyone else. She trembled, and he drank more, greedy for it. He heard a voice saying “Stop,” distantly, and ignored it – he wasn’t sure he could if he wanted to, and he certainly didn’t want to.

Then the hand in his hair got a lot less gentle. It tightened in his curls, tight to the point of pain, and he felt his head being forcibly and inexorably pulled back. He blinked; without the fresh blood filling his mouth, a wash of shame and fear crashed over him at losing control, at failing the very first test she’d set.

But although she didn’t smile, her eyes were amused, not angry. “You’ve got some self-control issues, vampire.” Her free thumb came up to swipe away a stray drop of blood from his chin; a moment later she raised it to his lips, offering it to him in a gesture that was more businesslike than flirtatious. “Might want to work on that for next time.”

He was wrong-footed once again, taken aback by the lack of recriminations. “I wasn’t sure there would be a next time.”

She snorted. “You’re staying with us, aren’t you? You’ll need to eat again eventually.” Releasing her grip on his hair, she stepped back. “Ask next time. And don’t wait until you’re desperate.”

Good advice, certainly, even if the dismissive tone rankled. “Of course. A treat as scrumptious as you, why would I wait any longer than necessary?”

Only a flat stare answered him, as it had every time he’d tried to work his wiles. Giving up, he shrugged and turned away.

As he walked off, she called out softly, “Astarion.” When he turned, she was studying him. “How do you feel?”

He gave her his best smile. “I feel good. Strong. Happy!” All true. And if there were something else, some part of him disgusted by this reminder that he was, essentially, a dead thing that had to prey on the living to survive, well. She didn’t need to know that.

She studied him a moment longer, her face giving nothing away, then she nodded once. “Good.” One corner of her mouth quirked up, an almost-smile that could mean anything. “You should.”

Then the pretty little paladin turned her back on him and settled back down into her bedroll, leaving him, for once in his life, entirely unsure of where he stood.

#astarion x tav #baldurs gate astarion #astarion #baldur's gate 3 #ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE first feeding #congratulations lil buddy that's the worst anyone's ever done it #etoilewrites

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saika077 · 1 year

Text

[Book 6 Spoilers]

Night Raven Quest but make that TTRPG, baby (ft. The Overblots)

Riddle doesn't really understand the whole roleplaying thing at first but surprisingly enjoys the whole dungeon exploring and puzzle solving. He'd be a Human, pretty basic, I know. And a boy scout like him would be a Paladin with very strict moral code and is very stubborn about it. His stubbornness and temper sometimes causes conflict on the table but he'll work on that. Most of the time it's not even him starting the conflict, but rather some people (Azul) getting on his nerves and causing his anger to explode. This boy seriously needs to learn to cut himself and others some slack and have fun like a normal goddamn teenager.

Leona is the type of mf who makes a hard-boiled character with serious fucked up backstory but gave them a goofy ahh name no one can keep a straight face calling him that. His character would be a war veteran Dwarf Cleric named Angus Schmungus or something. And you know what? That's probably not even his real name. His character name, background, affiliation, etc. is between him and god (the DM). And if anyone asks him about his background and/or motivations he'd just give different outlandish story every time like that one ex-convict dude from Ratatouille, neither confirming or denying the credibility of the story.

Azul would try to cheat, so they'd need a dice tower. They'd also need to check his dice before every campaign (can't be too careful with this slimy mf). During his character creation process, he prioritize stats like Charisma, Intelligence, etc. He plays a Bard and a Tiefling for that extra +2 Charisma and +1 Intelligence. Though when I said a bard, he's more like a...conman of some sorts (though he wouldn't call himself that). He'd Mansplain, Manipulate and sometimes Manwhore (should the situation call for it) his way into and out of situations.

I genuinely feel like Jamil would be a Yuan-Ti Warlock. I know how obvious and on-the-nose this is but idk it just feels right. He'd make very calculated decisions even if Lady Luck isn't on his side all the time. He'd also be the one who always take one for the team whenever one of them need to make a skill check, even if his stats doesn't seem to be the highest. He doesn't seem to be fazed by any trials that come his way and generally keeps his cool, unlike some people in this table. That is, until the DM puts down a giant enemy spider mini figure on the table and Jamil falls off his goddamn chair.

Vil surprisingly takes roleplaying pretty seriously? Idk I just can't see Vil half-assing acting even if it's only for a table top roleplaying game. And who knows? Maybe he'll finally get to be the hero he always wanted to be. His only obstacle? Leona's goofy ahh character name. Anyways, his character is an High Elf who comes from a long line of powerful noble Wizards.

Idia wanted to go fully on a "stealth DPS" (whatever that means) build, so his character creation focused primarily on what stats benefits his class more, which in this case is a Rogue Artificer. He'd invest most of his stats in Dexterity and Intelligence. For the race, he'd probably be an Elf for that +2 Dexterity; or maybe a Lightfoot Halfling for the nimbleness trait, no darkvision tho; or he could be a gnome for darkvision, +2 Intelligence and +1 Dexterity. All depends on what kind of Rogue Artificer he wants to be, he'd either be a Arcane Trickster or a Phantom (oof too close to home?). Whatever he is, he's all about that "Meta".

Malleus is very unfamiliar with the whole rules, character creation, etc but he's just happy to be invited here :). His whole thought process while creating his character is probably like 'hm..a Dragonborn? Well, I am a dragon fae..". So yeah, his character is a Dragonborn Sorcerer. Kinda predictable tbh, but very... Malleus, also his solution for every problem is to cast Fireball. Yea, his character is pretty much just him but a dragon. But hey, my golden rule in DnD is that it's all about having fun, regardless of the characters.

Almost all of them would try to be the team leader, so there's gonna be a lot of fighting and arguing on the table.

This party is dysfunctional as hell idk what to tell you

Did I mention that this is also a group therapy?

Nothing says group therapy more than a whimsical adventure with your not-friends am I right?

Yea that's all I got for them, not much but yeah idk man

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liloinkoink · 9 months

Note

for lamplight treebark reqs perhaps a little bit of ren coping with and/or coming to terms with that the fact that his love for his paladin is not the expected sort of love that a god would feel for their follower. the differences between the love of a deity and a worshipper and the far more personal, mortal way he loves martyn, beyond his oath and devotion

ty for sending me a lamplight treebark req. this is quite short and only… sorta addresses what you said, but i present it to you nonetheless

The thing about Ren is he wasn’t meant to be a god.

Ren had been born mortal, and though he hadn’t died one, his heart hasn’t changed.

Back during Ren’s prime, Ren had only built a single temple, just so his people knew where to find him. He hadn’t bothered with titles, either—Dogwarts had called him Ren, and his followers had called on him to fix broken fences and enchant children’s toys.

Ren had been a neighbor long before he’d been a god, and he’d preferred it that way. Even as the people he grew up alongside grew old without him, even when the children he watched play became adults, even when those adults introduced him to children of their own.

The first person to call him My Lord is his paladin, and this is only because Ren can’t tell the man his real name.

Unlike most of Ren’s people, Martyn thinks of Ren first and foremost as a god.

He isn’t devout, not really, but Martyn is the first to try holy devotion. He promises offerings from his meals, as transparent as he is with holding back the best for himself. He offers conversation he calls prayer, and it means everything to a lonely flame. He offers an oath, and with it Ren has purpose in a world bereft of the thing he lived and died for.

Martyn believes himself to be paladin to the God of Dogwarts, the once-city’s protector and patron. There are plenty of reasons which Ren thinks him incorrect, but they boil down to a difference in domain.

Ren has not been God of Dogwarts since he lost it—For twenty years, Ren has not been anything at all. Not until a soon-to-be paladin found his tomb and dragged him back from his could-not-be death.

Ren has remade himself once, a god for a city abandoned. He remade himself again, flame without light. Martyn remakes him a third time—revives him, gives him purpose.

These days, Ren fancies himself God of Martyn.

And, well. Ren may be a god, but his heart is still the same as when it was mortal. The blood he bleeds is not ichor, and it runs red as anything that dies—or it used to, anyway, back when he had blood to shed.

Martyn may love Ren as a god, but Ren loves him the only way Ren’s ever known how—like a mortal. Ren has never wanted for offerings or temples or worship. What Ren’s human heart wants from Martyn is simply to stay at his side.

Still. Ren will be his god, as long as Ren can be his.

#lamplight au #i like this ask. i don’t know if Ren quite worries about these kinds of things so it was rlly fun to examine what he DID worry about in #in regards to his godhood and to how he feels about Martyn #anyway this is. so stupid dramatic. but sometimes you just gotta say dramatic shit. that’s what happens when you end up in Ren pov #for the record this took two days bc i kept writing lines and going. that’s too much actually.#and then saving the draft and going to do something else #oink asks #lew writes #lew library

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tragedy-peanut-gallery · 1 month

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Daeron ii’s family playing D&D cause I’m very bored and have too much time on my hands

(These are my silly hours so I wanted to write something a little whimsical that probably breaks canon. Idc ☺️💖)

Daeron: The Dm, uses all the old school dice and handbooks from when he and Elaena played as kids. All their preset character sheets got burned by Baelor so he spends way too much time helping everyone with their characters. Gets a little too railroad-y sometimes but makes up for it with a good story and funny voices

Myriah: Doesn’t play, but sometimes checks in to ask the kids if they “won” yet. Will occasionally do the voice of a patron or deity if she gets pestered enough

Baelor: Human oath of vengeance paladin 10000000%. Originally chose the class because he thought smite was cool but kept accidentally breaking his oath even if he was technically doing something good. He’s kinda bad at roleplaying but tries to steer everyone to make the right decisions

Aerys: High elf divination wizard. Probably spent two hours hogging all the source books in order to optimize his character to be the best spellcaster there ever was. Loves asking about every minute detail in any new room which annoys everyone- but! On the bright side, he is the best at solving every puzzle the party faces

Rhaegel: Dragonborn drakewarden ranger. Only made the character so he could be a dragon with a dragon friend, but doesn’t really roleplay or keep track of combat. Spends most of the games stacking everyone’s dice into towers, but starts paying attention when he’s finally allowed to fly his drake friend around

Maekar: Goliath beserker barbarian. When he was asked what sort of character he wanted to play he just said he “wanted to hit things really hard”. Doesn’t pay attention to roleplay at all but becomes an absolute beast in combat, the group’s master strategizer at age 6. Has probably accidentally killed a party member once (*cough* Baelor *cough*)

Daenerys: Half elf light domain cleric. Has a 10 page backstory written about her character and will take any opportunity to talk about it. Claims to prefer roleplaying and just being support but has probably dealt the most amount of damage in the party so far and has a consistent pattern of advocating for fights because it levels them up faster

+Bonus!

Shiera: Tiefling college of spirits bard. Originally wanted to play warlock but was mad about the limited spell slots so saves her evil backstory for another character. Most comitted roleplayer at the table, manages to talk the party’s way out of most of the fights Maekar and Daenerys gets them into, even though she’s like- 5, so most of her convincing ends up being “no, that’s mean >:(“

Brynden: Tiefling arcane trickster rogue. Unironically the edgiest character to be made, consistently brooding in the corner of every tavern they go into. Everyone thinks he might be a potential traitor but ends up being the biggest ride or die in the party and probably dramatically sacrifices himself to save them (Daeron writes him as actually escaping because he felt bad lol)

Daemon: Fallen aasimar oathbreaker paladin. Gives Daeron a minor aneurism when he asks if he can betray the party at some point. Otherwise a really well rounded character who only dabbles in the edginess, and puts up with everyone’s shenanigans enough to justify his ascension as the game’s bbeg

Aegor: Hates D&D. Banned from the table for calling everyone a bunch of nerds

#daeron ii targaryen #myriah martell #baelor breakspear #aerys i targaryen #rhaegel targaryen #maekar targaryen #daenerys of dorne #shiera seastar #brynden rivers #daemon blackfyre #aegor rivers #sorry aegor fans y’all are getting crumbs here 😭

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sincerely-sofie · 2 months

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What dnd classes would you say Twig and the others would have?

If we were to assign classes to their personalities, they would be the following:

Ark: Shadow magic sorcerer. This was the easiest choice out of the entire cast.

Celebi: Peace domain cleric, because Celebis in general are known to only appear in peaceful eras, and I think it’s funny for her to be a cleric who is her own divine sponsor

Dusknoir: School of abjuration wizard (but he has a significantly greater amount of levels as a celestial warlock from his time as Primal Dialga’s servant)

Grovyle: The most textbook thief rogue you’ve ever seen

Kip: He gave me a lot of trouble, but I think the best fit for him would be an armorer artificer

Twig: Banneret fighter— she’s an (ex) human fighter! Get it? Like the meme about bland D&D characters? Eh???

However, if they were to play a campaign in a human AU, they would choose classes like so:

Celebi: 100% would play a college of glamor bard. Hands down. She gives her character the most bizarre instrument she can think of that destroys the immersion of the sessions they run when she plays YouTube clips of people playing said instrument at critical moments in battles.

Grovyle: Echo knight fighter. Has a fun time asking way too many questions about the layouts of areas so he can put enemies in bad positions by swapping their places.

Kip: Eternally the Dungeon Master 😞 Except for the scattered oneshots Twig runs for him where she DMs for him as a solo player, he never gets to play. During those oneshots, he likes to play a wide variety of classes and subclasses, though he is very fond of ancestral guardian barbarians and monks in general!

Dusknoir: Oath of devotion paladin. Kip would create a moral dilemma for his character midway through the campaign and he’d elect to become an oathbreaker, though.

Twig: Beast master ranger. She’s really attached to her character’s animal companion, and Kip ignores the fact that said animal companion is able to die (unlike a wizard’s familiar) because he knows that if her pet elk was killed, she would go into a state of catatonic grief in real life.

Ark: Was extremely bewildered by all of the logistics that go into playing a campaign as well as building a character, so he’s just playing one of the pre-generated character sheets you can find online. He’s a very bland champion fighter who slowly evolves into a very elaborate character as Ark grows more comfortable with playing, and therefore is able to put all of his overthinking into piecing together his character’s past actions into an in-depth character arc with great implications for the future of his character.

#sofie answers asks #the present is a gift au #pmd2 #pmd eos #pmd #pmd explorers #pmd sky #pokémon mystery dungeon #pokemon mystery dungeon #dnd #d&d #dungeons and dragons #future trio #pmd future trio #pmd future crew #future crew

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bigfan-fanfic · 1 year

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Storytime (Male!Reader x Paladin Danse)

Requested by @iliumheightnights for Fic requests you say!? I got you friend! How about Paladin Danse cuddling with his boyfriend/husband who tells him about life before the war and what it was like?

A lot of being married to Danse involves, pun intended, general deprogramming.

Most of what Danse remembers is filled with Brotherhood of Steel propaganda and he needs those ideas broken.

With your settlements allowing ghouls and synths and not tolerating prejudices, Danse needs to work out his own trauma and fears.

And something helpful to him has been hearing of your stories.

Your life, so far in the past, before the world collapsed in nuclear fire, is something that can bring him something he realizes he's never really had before.

Truth.

There's an opportunity here for him to ask someone who was actually there for it, and dispel his brainwashing.

Because in ways, it was good. In more ways, it was bad. But it's different than what Danse has heard.

You tell him about your life before the war. Military service, having a son. You think about sanitizing it but then you know that's not what he needs.

You tell him about the prejudices in the war paranoia. The way people were exploited, the way costs would fluctuate, how Vault-Tec played on fears.

Danse does give the big questions at the start - how did the tech work back in the day, did it really affect people like the Brotherhood said?

And you're honest. In part, yes, but really, it was just people. Technology and information can help fuel the conflict, but really it's people who do this - the Brotherhood taking it away just blinds them from the knowledge that they're becoming the same.

Eventually he starts just asking about daily life. About you shopping for Shaun's crib and nursery. About your hopes for him.

He imagines white picket fences and crisp lawns. Bright paint and smiling neighbors, but that's not what intrigues him. Facade and metal is all well and good, but he likes the most hearing about your human experiences. Something that just shows that human or synth, old or new, all of us are the same.

You play with his hair, letting him rest his head in your lap, and you speak. His eyes always close, but you know he's listening. You barely register your own words, a story about just going to a school dance, but the smile that creeps across his face is just so beautiful.

Sure, things are different. Traditions and society that have changes so much over centuries, but there's that core of common experience that remains in it.

And soon, the positions reverse. Danse holds you, and when he thinks you've fallen asleep, he speaks.

Tells you of his thoughts. Of scenarios of meeting before the war's end, thoughts of meeting in the Brotherhood. A thousand different scenarios, little snippets of lives you could have lived in other universes, but always, he kisses your temple and whispers that he wouldn't change a thing.

That of all the innumerable possibilities, he's grateful that in this universe, he was able to meet you.

And that's how he knows he's real. Everything can be simulated, manufactured. But the love he feels for you? Nothing could imitate that.

Danse loves you. Not because you make him feel human, but because with you, he doesn't have to be anything other than himself.

#paladin danse x male reader #danse x male reader #fallout 4 x reader #fallout headcanons #headcanons #paladin danse x reader

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erithel · 1 year

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Klancers who hate canon lance are so weird and I don’t know why they’re even here. I feel like they just saw allurance, hated it, and projected all their hatred onto him. I saw a klancer say they hate him bc he’s canonly an unempathetic and self centered jerk. Unempathetic?? Lance who stuck up for the Blade of Mamora in canon, the one who everyone looked to give Keith the feelings talk, stuck by Pidge about her dad, and the only character to call out Lotor for not freeing the planets he colonized? That lacking empathy character? And self centered when he was willingly to give up Red and Blue to Allura and Keith? Ready to give up his desire to pilot black to encourage keith to take the role? That self centered selfish asshole?

Canon and fanon Lance gets treated badly by the very fandom who ships hims with keith sometimes and we need to talk about this.

Is...is that a thing? Why would someone like a ship that included a character they hated? I’m actually asking, here, because I’ve never come across someone who ships klance who dislikes either one of them. It’s always the opposite in my experience, where they really enjoy finding good and bad qualities in both characters to make them more relatable and human.

I know that people can ship whoever they want, for whatever reasons they want, but I just feel that if someone actively dislikes Lance then maaaaaybe they should find a ship that they actually enjoy?

But okay... if we wanna talk about how empathetic Lance is...he is.

The impression I got of him is that he is very aware and sensitive to how others are feeling around him (aka empathetic). Honestly the only character he is unwarrantedly, legitimately mean to is himself.

And okay, it’s been a while since I dug deep on a post, so here we go.

Lance was the youngest of his siblings (I believe that is actually canon in the paladin handbooks?). Being the youngest, he would have wanted to stand out, which is the most likely reason why he is loud and abrasive, and butts into conversations in an antagonistic way at times. This doesn’t make him self-centered, it just means he has learned that in order to be heard, he has to make himself heard.

The most relatable thing about Lance in my opinion, is how basically all of his behavior can be explained by how others have lead him to believe he is stupid. (This honestly hits on a very personal note for me so it’s something I noticed in Lance quickly.)

He notices everyone around him, and he wants to stand out from the bunch - but he believes he can’t do it with his own intelligence so he finds other ways to stand out. He makes sure others know he is there, even if it means he is the butt of the joke.

It’s easier for him to cope with feeling stupid if he is in control of the narrative.

This, again, doesn’t make him a self centered jerk, it just makes him desperate for a place among his peers, while battling the feeling that he doesn’t deserve that place.

Because emotions are complicated.

The instance where he stood up for the Blade of Marmora is possibly the best example of empathy and lack of self-centeredness.

Lance noticed the scene playing out. He noticed the disdainful looks the Galra were getting and he put himself in their shoes, because he knows what it feels like to be looked down on and he doesn’t want that for anyone else when they don’t deserve it. So the minute something even remotely negative was said toward the Blade, he jumped in and made sure everyone knew that he, a paladin of Voltron, was recognizing and acknowledging the Blade members for their assistance.

If he had been a self-centered person, he would have taken all the praise for himself and not thought twice about it. If he had been an unempathetic person, he wouldn’t have even noticed the way others were treating the Blade members.

In my opinion, Lance is the most selfless and empathetic character of all of them.

And one of my favorite tropes with klance is having Keith recognize this; having Keith understand how much Lance contributed to the team just by being himself and being there for others.

That’s the kind of potential that makes klance a good ship to me, and if people are ignoring those traits in Lance then what’s the point of shipping them?

#klance #lance mcclain #asks #VLD #erithel's hot takes

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soapskneebrace · 1 year

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Would they play D&D?

Most people would be surprised to find out that Captain Price is a forever DM if they didn’t know him. But he’s been playing since 3.5E, and while he doesn’t have much opportunity to play anymore, it wouldn’t be hard to convince him to sit down for a session if he had the time. He’d usually choose to play pre-written modules, but tweak them as he’d see fit. He misses it a lot. However, he will never—repeat for emphasis, NEVER—DM a game for the 141 ever again.

Laswell played with Price a couple times before the job took over both their lives. And actually, Laswell and her wife both played, mostly because the Mrs. batted her eyelashes and convinced Kate to try it out. Their minis, a half-elf ranger and a gnome druid, still sit on a shelf at home cuddling romantically. Laswell knows why Price won’t DM for the 141 from his own firsthand account, but was not there for the catastrophe.

The first time Alejandro played, it was because Rudy made a bet with him about something unrelated and won. Rudy used to play as a kid with some other children from his neighborhood, and he liked DMing partly for the power and partly because he’s always been a cinnamon roll who likes to make sure everyone has fun. Alejo meanwhile played a human fighter, because Rudy told him it was the easiest to play. Alejo fell in love instantly with the game, but none of Los Vaqueros ever have time.

Graves played a TON of D&D in high school but quit cold turkey right before enlisting. He is horribly embarrassed by it and will deny even knowing his old campaign buddies. Phil thinks that Real and True and Good soldiers don’t do cringe shit like that, because they’re doing the COOL shit in real life. He’s been meaning to throw away those dice for years, and keeps telling himself he could probably make ok money if he just sold them instead. He played a human paladin all the way up to level 20.

He likes D&D a lot, but Gaz actually prefers Blades in the Dark or Monster of the Week. He has a lot of opinions about the virtues of d6 gaming systems over what he thinks is an overly-complex ruleset that involves dice with so many goddamn sides, and really, D&D doesn’t support as large a variety of playing styles and—hey, where are you going?? Anyway, he likes to play tieflings, and vacillates between bard and sorcerer. (Also he secretly and desperately wants to play Honey Heist with the 141. Ever since That Fateful Night, he knows it will never happen. It continues to disappoint him.)

Ghost has played once. Only once. Soap convinced him, and by convinced I mean he annoyed Ghost about it into submission. And Ghost wants to play again, actually, but he will literally jump off a cliff before admitting it, because it was That Fateful Night when Price ran the session for 141 which would go down in history as the worst time Price has ever had including active combat. Ghost played a half-orc barbarian, and secretly read through the entire PHB the week leading up to the session.

And finally, and perhaps not surprisingly, Soap is the reason Price will never DM for the task force ever again. Soap is a rule of cool kind of man, plays dwarf and halfling barbarians almost exclusively, and is practically allergic to the PHB, which is ironic because he’s so FUCKING good at minmaxing. This clashes with Price’s very rules-lawyery DMing style, and Soap doesn’t know how to not pick a fight over dumb rules like having to roll survival checks when he wants to know what time it is in-game.

Soap was not, it should be said, actually trying to come to blows with Price—taking the piss out of people is a Scottish love language—but Price had been tired. Price had been on his last cigar. And Price already spent too much goddamn time with these men. The fourth time Soap declared that he wanted to do some especially dumb bullshit that he would absolutely need to make a cascade of d20 rolls for, Price just folded up his makeshift DM screen (a couple of manila folders) and hit the fucking bricks. No one brings up That Fateful Night, but no one will ever forget it.

Bonus: Valeria would shove any D&D player she ever met into a locker. And honestly, they should thank her for it.

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danseinthefallout · 1 year

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What To Do When You’re Booted Out of The Brotherhood: A Guide from a Former Paladin.

February 14th, 2288

Entry Written By: Danse, former Paladin.

Entry Edition: 1/?

Edited By: Piper Wright

When you get booted from The Brotherhood of Steel, it’s for a betrayal you never knew. You are hunted down by [Play Name] as it was an order by Elder Maxon, but [they] spare your life and make you feel a little less alone. A feeling you haven’t felt in years, ever since you met your best friend, Colter, ever since you joined the Brotherhood.

You hate Super Mutants and everything non-human for what they did to Colter, as that is what your Elder said when coming to The Commonwealth. Ghouls. Synths. Mutants. Even the day-to-day robotics you come across. It’s a sign of the world that use to be and what it resulted from. Death. You then believe that it’s not the ghouls and synths you hate, but what the result was. You don’t realize this until it’s too late. Now you grasp for anything good since you got booted from The Brotherhood, the only family that stuck around since you don’t have one. Because you too are a synth.

You are me. Paladin Danse. Danse. I don’t know what else to call myself. I’m strong, I always have been. But this one thing, I crumble on the floor. I am reminded of all the decisions, all the *things* I have killed, and all the paths I went down thinking it was the right one. And it was, I won’t second guess that, I just wish I was wiser.

That night that I came to this place, this place that I now call home, I was terrified, I was broken. That feeling only happened when Colter died. His face. How I screamed. I was… alone… again. That is what scared me the most. I knew I had and should push my biases of ghouls and synths aside, and it was hard to unlearn what was so deeply routed, but I always reminded myself that I am one of them and it’s okay. I *had* to be okay with it, what was I going to do about it anyways?

I knew of Nick Valentine. He seemed like a good guy, always helping people, putting his life on the line. He reminded me, weirdly, of Colter. I went to him one night when it got worse and couldn’t find [Player Name] to confide in. Honestly, I didn’t want [them] to know this. I felt like [they] wouldn’t understand. Nick knew. I just hoped he wouldn’t turn me away for who I was before. I know I would… Luckily he didn’t, he smiled at me and said: “Nice to see you Danse, what can I do you for?” I nearly cried, just of someone saying they were happy to see me. I guess all of that emotion bubbled up. I told him how I felt and asked how he felt about it. He said some stuff that I keep close to me.

I had a moment there where I was on a self-discovery world tour, that is what John Hancock named it. Speaking of, I made my way to Goodneighbor once I talked with Nick. Maybe see what these “degenerates“ have to say. They not, I came to discover. It was like a whole new world. Ghouls and synths and robots. It felt… nice like everyone cared about each other. I wasn’t sure what to do or where to go. Maybe I went for the Memory Den, but what memories would I be willing to relive? The good ones with Colter? Meeting [Player Name] again for the first time? Joining The Brotherhood? I have so few good memories.

Hancock could smell me from a mile away, he’d seen this type of activity before. He was like me at one point, they all were. “Can I Ofer you a drink inside former coy boy?” He titled his hat and chuckled, I was unsure if he was talking to me at first but he threw an arm around me. I’d shiver at a ghoul's touch, I’d probably want to spit on him. For a moment that thought roamed my mind, but I had to remind myself why I was here, and when I gave myself the reason: the reason for being lost, I had a drink with the mayor of Goodneighbor.

We talked. I told him what happened. I told him what Nick said. I told him about [Player Name], where I learn that [they] are friends with half of the Commonwealth. ([Player Name], I now know some things I wish I could unlearn, but I guess that makes you more interesting to me) And that night I was allowed to not worry. I didn’t do chems, although I could have as Hancock offered several times, and honestly, I thought about it. Maybe it would have let me see something I was blind before, but I am scared of what that is. I ended up laughing, a lot actually, with Hancock and a few others, it never occurred to me that I had that for so long. The closes were maybe running a mission or two with [Player Name] and [them] giving me a quip or two, but nothing like that night. We went down to The Third Rail and watched Magnolia sing. I was in there as me, as Danse. Not Paladin or Knight or even Squire. It was Danse. I was not better than anyone as we were all the same. The Elder would have killed me right there if he saw me, I didn’t act the part like he wanted me to. But who gives a *shit* what a punk 20-year-old has to say or think of me? Maybe it’s insecurity or loneliest, but I always cared. I still do, don’t get me wrong, but I cared about the wrong people caring. Author never cared about me. He saw me as a number, they always do… he saw me as someone that could make him win. I know that’s how it is regardless, but with Haylen and [Player Name], they made me feel like a person. That’s what it is.

God this is stupid… I’m a soldier, not a writer. I’m supposed not to have these strong feelings because they might be processed. But god damnit! I’m sick of that! I’m a person with this *thing* inside me. I’ll be okay, I think I will. I still have a lot to wrap my mind around, and I’m trying, so for now, I’ll leave you with this before I send this off to Piper:

When you get booted from the Brotherhood of Steel, you will feel like giving up because the Brotherhood was all you knew. They conditioned you to hate and frame it as good. This idea is rooted inside you. So when you are told you are the thing that they hate, and therefore must be killed; you want to be the one to do that deed yourself, but then you get convinced not to, by the person that was ordered to kill you. You believe them and you start a new life with them. You make friends with people you were conditioned to hate, but find out they are similar to you. You spiral, you lose it, but you get back up and you start a new life because that life is over. Accept it, get over it, and deal with it.

Then you realize that you are not hopeless. You are someone that can’t be conditioned any longer. You won’t be changed.

Note From The Author:

Thank you so much for the love on my last entry! I love writing and so writing terminal entries for characters is always a challenge. If something feels off and or something you feel like out of Danse’s character, let me know! I want to improve for future entries. The idea for this entry is that some time has passed for Danse after everything happened and how he came to be okay with what happened. This for him is talking with people he has previously “hated”.

I also want to address something that someone reblogged (I can’t remember the @ so if that is you, I thank you) about tags. My tags are not always the cleanest as I just choose the tags that are “most used” and I don’t often think twice. I’ll be more mindful about that in the future so thank you for bringing it to my attention. They also (I believe this was the same person) stated they wanted some Hancock/Nick/Deacon angst too so that is what inspired some of the parts in the entry (Deacon angst coming soon)

Anyways thank you again for the love and this was also written at 3 AM on my phone but this time I tried my best to clean some stuff off up. Any ideas please feel free to leave them, I always love getting inspired by the community

#improved tags #paladin danse #fallout 4 #fo4 #danse #brotherhood of steel #bos #elder maxon #maxon #john hancock #nick valentine #creative writing #piper wright #sole survivor #entry 1/?#danse’s terminal

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mercy-mercie-mercymorn · 2 months

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TAVS.

bg3 spoilers ahead!

aurora (gold dragonborn cleric of mielikki) grew up in the woods, far away from the city. she likes animals and once spent three days chasing a unicorn, just to see what it did. on a diplomatic trip to stop logging that was infringing on a grove once considered sacred to mielikki, she got abducted. pokey sticks and fire breath quickly proved to be the best way to make her way through her new life. on the way she fell head over heels for the two dumbasses who got fucked by the Hells. so they decided to start saving people, hunting things. and now it's wyll and wyll's wife aurora and aurora's wife karlach's family business. yay hell polycule!

(aurora is the reason i call wyll my wife. he's just. my wife <3)

kassandra (seladrine drow warlock) has never been to the underdark. she has a cousin there, on her mom's side, maybe? she grew up in baldur's gate and made a career for herself as a shrewd businesswoman (she makes jewelry; that's how she got warlockéd). using people's impressions of drow against them is like her primary skill and it works surprisingly often despite the fact that she is 5'3" on a good day and has the face of a disney princess. she also has the animal skills of one. aurora is steve irwin, kassandra is cinderella. karlach and kassandra were instant besties, which evolved in the sapphic tradition of "surely she doesn't mean it like that haha" until kassandra just straight up said she wanted to make out with karlach.

(i haven't finished her playthrough yet because i'm afraid teehee)

winter (avariel [mod, winged elf] bard) is your manic pixie dream girl. i stole her name and most of her appearance from Winter The Lunar Chronicles because i am a silly little criminal. winter has never met a problem she could not make marvel-esque quips at, much to shadowheart's eternal chagrin. desperately wants karlach to teach her that silly tiktok dance she's always doin So Bad. her adventure is a very strange change of pace for her because she was previously a tavern waitress/occasional entertainer when there was literally no other option. as such, she does not know how to use weapons really at all and makes everyone else protect her (insert pleading face emoji). anyways, she's the golden retriever gf to shart's black cat gf.

(her wings get in the way of every cutscene but i still love her)

marie (human durge paladin) is like if tinkaton was a person. she hates the murderhobo ps5 in her brain and loves weird little guys (gale). voted most likely to cry at dog food commercials. i really haven't played much of her, so i haven't decided on much backstory for her.

(i just think she's a little funny)

the one that only sort of counts.

cynthia (tiefling wild magic sorcerer) is literally just my OC who got isekaid to faerun. the only people who know this are the """dream guardian""", the gods, and the three dipshits and their lame goddess. she's there to cause problems and live up to her old nickname: Godkiller. her fake persona, Lady Cynthia Tav, is from a little town on the coast and enjoys the finer things in life. her most fervent desire is to have a spray bottle so she can get astarion to stop that (at any given moment, "that" ranges from mild horniness to wanting to violently murder people). she is beginning to understand what it was like for her brother to raise her.

(don't have many pics of her, but she's the most frequent subject of my drawings)

there's a bunch of more in my notebook that i doodle in while playing

#bg3 #bg3 spoilers #bg3 tav #oc content lol #long post

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scertifiedsavanaclawstan · 2 years

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The First Years Playing DnD

Sooo I’ve been on a dnd kick lately (like I’ve seriously been obsessed over it in every way) and I got some ideas about this sooo here’s a thing I wrote with all the first years including Ortho and Grim. Poor Yuu having to dm a 7 player game... but they’re the one who brought all the source books with them on their phone when coming to Twisted Wonderland so they brought this on themselves.

Grim

Originally suggested (read: pestered) that everyone try out this "role-playing thing”, since most of the other first years had at least heard of it. And it sounded fun to get to blow stuff up! Which he does... a lot. He’s your stereotypical, ever memed, Evocation Wizard. He’s never met a problem he couldn’t fireball, and if he does, he clearly hasn’t used enough fire. Also he flavors all his fire as blue... and he plays a tabaxi... and his character is filled with ambition and arrogance to be the world’s greatest mage... Yeah hes the guy who just plays himself. Everyone else is frequently annoyed by his antics, and keeps asking him to just try ONE utility spell they’re practically begging at this point. At least when they do get into combat he’s very effective, honestly he spends more time maximizing his damage output than he does focusing in class...

Ace

Jumped on board because he was pretty bored. REALLY jumped on board when he realized role playing wasn’t “Just talking to people about stuff that isn’t real” He’s still not actually very good at roleplay, but at least he makes up for it by being very enthusiastic about the human rogue he’s playing. Considering he picked the thief subclass... and begins every new npc meeting or room entry by stealing everything that isn’t nailed down (and some of that too. His starting equipment includes a crowbar and by damn he’s going to use it!) Even if he struggles to roleplay he still winds up more helpful to the party than Grim, at least since he stopped stealing from the party. After Epel nearly beat him up... out of character. That was a pretty heated session.

Deuce

Was also relatively interested because he didn’t have much else going on. Unlike Ace though he’s actually REALLY into roleplay. He’s one of the few who gave you an in depth backstory to work with. He’s a proud Oath of Redemption Paladin, a dwarf who left on an adventure in order to make his family proud! Because even in an RPG he can’t help but try to be the best boy he can be. He’s the one making sure Ace’s character doesn’t steal from anyone too important (when he rolls high enough on perception) and keeps the party on track. Of course that doesn’t mean he dislikes the other aspects of the game. It just means when he uses his divine smite every chance he gets, he’ll give an appropriate one liner with it.

Jack

He got roped into it. But he’s begrudgingly glad he did because he thinks it’s great. Jack’s definitely more into this because he gets to spend time with his friends classmates, but just like everything else that doesn’t mean he’s half assing it. He’s gone full in on the fantasy theme like Deuce and plays an elf, and he’s the only one other than Ortho who read ahead of level one to pick his class: A Circle of the Land Druid, the desert version. You’re not sure why he picked it, but the way his tail wags whenever he describes his plant spells making cacti pop out of the ground to impede his enemies might be a hint. You were half expecting him to use his wild shape on the dire wolf... but he said that wouldn’t make sense for a desert druid, so he usually picks either a lion... or hyena... Unless he really feels like going fast. He’s a decent role player, but doesn’t get nearly as into it as Deuce or Ortho.

Epel

He was in from the moment he realized he could make the character however he liked. AND role playing is sort of like acting right? So Vil couldn’t be upset with whatever Epel decided for his character (the fact that Epel was right about this however very much did upset Vil). It shouldn’t be a surprise then that his character is the most masculine, most smashy, most... tall? He’s a Goliath Berserker Barbarian. His roleplay might not be much more complex than the basics, along with some intimidation and Barbarian screaming, but he’s definitely having some of the most fun at the table. It wasn’t exactly surprising when he showed you his backup character... a rune knight fighter. He’d been playing the game for only a few weeks and he already found out how to max out player size.

Ortho

Ah Ortho, a dream and a nightmare all at once... You should have expected how he’d take to roleplay like a fish to water given his love of acting out movies and games alike... you ALSO should have known that Idia Shroud’s brother would make the most min-maxed character known to man, To both ends, he plays a scourge aasimar death cleric. He gave you more details on his character’s incredibly complex backstory than anyone else, complete with an angel civil war and his characters entire life history. Which he does keep in mind when he’s roleplaying to be fair. Of course, he also destroys all encounter balance since his character is so optimized: damage, healing, support, debuffs. He’s got it all. Why a death cleric though when technically any would do? Oh that’s just because he really likes the Lord of the Underworld, he is in Ignihyde after all!

Sebek

Sebek was not originally invited, he inserted himself when he heard Malleus mention that this “Dungeons and Dragons” you had mentioned sounded interesting. So of course he had to try it himself to test it for his lord. He plays a blue dragonborn, who actually has black scales because he begged really hard for the flavor change, who is also a blue draconic bloodline sorcerer for maximum lightning. His character is the heir to an ancient kingdom, who is mostly adventuring purely for his own amusement, and is named... Dralleus... Maconia... No one exactly knews what to say, but Sebek is at least having fun, and honestly he isn’t bad at either mechanics or roleplaying... so everyone just kinds of ignores it.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst yuu #twst headcanons #twst imagines #dtw #twst grim #ace trappola #deuce spade #jack howl #epel felmier #ortho shroud #sebek zigvolt #might do this for the other years if i feel inspired who knows #maybe this can be a whole au #dnd au #just putting that in case #first years

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