leo--len

[leo--len]

After 8 years of doing this, i finally took the first step and wrote a chapter.

It’s fine because I’m actually using a secret technique called writing it in my head and nowhere else.

#writing #oc #thank you ao3 authors #i now understand your struggle #relatable

[leo--len]

I have a test today, and they won't leave!!!

did you guys know about this oc stuff. you can just make a guy. big if true

#they aint paying rent >:( #i need to study #i have way too many ocs

[leo--len]

Hi guys!

After reading a large amount of fanfic, and realizing I have an unhealthy amount of ideas in my brain that can't all be expressed through DnD, i've decided I want to try my hand at writing Fanfic. I'm posting it here just so I can get some feedback from real humans while I'm waiting on an Ao3 invitation.

This fanfic takes place in a Minecraft Origins inspired world. This is my first time, so if you have any criticisms or ways I could improve, PLEASE tell me.

Bright Stars in the black void

By: leolen

All was quiet in the town of Bracken Hearth. The children were already asleep, most of the adults were silent and ready to follow them into darkness. Even the sounds of the surrounding forests and valley seemed muted, like even the valley itself had fallen into a deep slumber. And with the moon having been darkened, the only light provided came from the stars, twinking away with their dim light. With not a cloud in sight, it was perfect conditions for a bit of star gazing.

But in the end, that night only two had their eyes on the stars.

CRACK! Gratin winced as a branch snapped under the weight of body, weighed down as it was from the heavy equipment slung around his back. It must have weighed at least sixty pounds, and they had been hiking for well over an hour up the side of the valley. At the sound, Milo jumped, startled until he realized what it was.

“Stars above Gratin!” Milo exclaimed, “Can you at least try to be a little quieter, you scared the crap out of me!”

Gratin gave him a baleful look and shot back, “I’m only here because you needed help carrying this thing up the trail. Next time, I won’t come, and you can do it yourself.”

At that Milo gave a little huff and continued climbing up the trail. Gratin hoped they were almost there, he was running on an empty stomach, and the nap he took this afternoon wasn’t enough to fully dissuade his exhaustion.

At last, the trees around the two cleared, to reveal a large grassy area. A few minutes of walking later and…

“Whoa…” Gratin whispers. No matter how many times he comes up here, the view from this bluff never fails to impress. This was surprising, as he had been to places much more expansive, and seen the world from angles few ever had. But even still, this bluff managed to take his breath away each and every time he stepped up to that ridge.

“Let's set up over there,” Milo said, pointing to a patch of grass a good distance away from the ledge, “The ground looks stable enough to set up the scope.”

“On it,” Gratin replied. And after a few minutes of Milo and Gratin fiddling around with the heavy equipment, a large brass telescope finally stood in place. With the telescope fully assembled, Milo began his work, mapping the stars and the constellations they formed onto large scrolls of paper. This was Gratin’s favorite part of the routine. Gratin carefully settled himself down into the grass—careful not to pinch his cloak in the wrong way—and looked back up at the sky and the stars that danced across it. As Milo hummed to themself while copying down the patterns he saw in the sky, Gratin felt himself drifting off into a deep, and restful sleep.

— • —

Milo loved the stars.

He loved how they painted the sky with light, even in the darkest part of the day. He loved how they wove together stories through the constellations they formed. And he loved how even though they would shift and change throughout the year, he loved how they would always come back together. And so, for the past year and a half, he'd been coming up to Cedarhead Bluff each week to see how they've shifted across the sky. To witness their beauty up close, and personal.

Hours after Gratin fell asleep, Milo noticed something unusual in the sky. It started as looking like a brand new star in the sky, appearing right between Glatoris and Minos Ursa. But the longer Milo looked at it, the brighter it seemed to get. This continued until the other stars seemed to pale in comparison to its sheer luminosity, and by the time Milo had shaken Gratin out of his slumber, it was brighter than the full moon.

“Gratin! LOOK!” Milo shouted, shaking Gratin back and forth. The light grew brighter and brighter, now revealing the sun in its intensity. Birds began to chirp, the forest startled into wakefulness by the violet light spilling across the entire valley. Even the inhabitants of Brakenhearth, still slumbering away in their beds, began to stir, their bodies still knowing its night, but confused by the seeming presence of the sun. It grew brighter, and brighter until,

It vanished, and the night was dark once more.

“What was that,” Gratin grumbled, still a bit annoyed from being woken up so suddenly, “It almost looked like a shooting star.”

“Not even meteorites are that bright,” Milo excitedly replied, shooting a glance back at a now awake Gratin, “This is something new! Something previously unknown! Something…” He trailed off, now looking in the telescope pointed towards the source of the unknown light. A look of confusion was painted across his face.

“Gratin,” Milo said, with a note of apprehension and fear audible in his voice, “Could you tell me where Dywyll is. I've seen to have misplaced it.

Dywyll? What was Milo talking about? Being in the Ursa cluster, it was one of the easier stars to find, even with Dywyll being one of the dimmer stars of the night. First find Sylaphus, then one down and two to the right…

No

Wait

That's not

Again, first find Alarch, then three up, and one the the left…

No!

Again! Find Rhewlif! Then two down, and one to the right…

Nothing

Gratin stared, a look of utter disbelief on his face, as he finally understood the look of almost terror that was now present on Milo’s face. No matter how many times he looked, no matter how many times he searched the sky using maps that had been long since ingrained into his brain, he would always come to the same conclusion. That in the sky, one of the dancers have misstepped in a way that shouldn’t be possible. Because Dywyll, well…

Dywyll was missing.

And once again, all was quiet in the forest.

#fanfic #first fic #minecraft origins #minecraft fanfiction #world building #original characters #looking for advice #i'm kinda excited #and terrified #hope you all enjoy #this is just my first draft

[leo--len]

noooooooooooooo

We're looking into issues causing site slowness and error pages. Very sorry, will let you know as soon as we know more!

(17:48 UTC March 28, 2024)

We had to restart a database, so the site will continue to be slow or non-responsive as it recovers. Please be gentle with the Archive, and stand by for further updates.

(17:58 UTC March 28, 2024)

Doing the gentlest possible thing to help out our database server: taking the Archive down for a bit. No need to panic, we'll be back as soon as we can!

(18:03 UTC March 28, 2024)

#ao3 #archive of our own #downtime #sadness #just at the good part #what am i supposed to do

[leo--len]

Looks like a group of Tods made the mistake of trying to eat the exchange Phrog student from the Amazons.

[leo--len]

Yes, this happened. Yes it was an accident on the players part. No I don't know how to fix it

#please help #dnd campaign #dnd5e #weak wizards #5th level players #time loop #carmae arca #stupid mimic #dnd #dnd memes

[leo--len]

Was reading the reblogs, and I couldn't help myself.

The players are TECHNICALLY immortal, but in a really really REALLY messed up way, it's so bad that the goal of the campaign is to figure out a way to end it so they can get on with completing their personal goals.

I'll give you a hint, this campaign is a lovechild born from Doctor Who, Outer Wilds, Ground Hog Day, Undertale, and it revolves around a mysterious music box that's missing a handle, tinkering a slightly sinister tune....

on worldbuilding, and what people think is going on

there is one facet of fantasy worldbuilding that is, to me, the most interesting and essential but i don't see it come up in worldbuilding guides or writing prompts or anything, and that is the question of:

what do the inhabitants of your world believe about how the world works, and how are they wrong? a lot of fantasy media will set up their cosmology, gods, magic systems, planar systems, concepts of the afterlife, &c., and proceed as though the inhabitants of the world know and understand them.

from someone whose entire academic career is focused on studying human culture in various regions and time periods, with a focus on belief systems (religion, occultism, mythology, folklore): that sort of worldbuilding is unrealistic and missing out on so much fun.

people are always seeking new understanding about how the world works, and they are mostly wrong. how many models of the solar system were proposed before we reached our current one? look at the long, turbulent history of medicine and our various bizarre models for understanding the human body and how to fix it. so many religions and occult/magical traditions arise from people disagreeing with or adapting various models of the world based on new ideas, methods, technologies. many of them are wrong, but all of them are interesting and reflect a lot about the culture, beliefs, values, and fears of the people creating/practising them.

there is so much more to the story of what people believe about the world than just what is true.

to be clear: i think it's fine and important for the author to have a coherent explanation for where magic comes from or who the gods are, so they can maintain consistency in their story. but they should also be asking what people in the world (especially different people, in different regions/nations and different times) think is happening when they do magic, or say a prayer, or practise medicine, or grieve their dead. it is a rich vein for conflict between individuals and nations alike when two models of the world disagree. it is fascinating how different magic systems might develop according to different underlying beliefs.

personally, i think it is the most fun to spawn many diverse models of the world, but give none of them the 'right' answer.

(bonus points if you also have a thriving academic system in the world with its own theory, research, and discourse between factions! as an academic, it is very fun to imagine fictional academic debate over the topics i'm worldbuilding. sometimes i will be working out details for some underlying mechanic of the world and start imagining the papers being written by scholars researching it)

#fantasy worldbuilding #writing #dnd campaign #ooooooo #spooky #couldn't leave this in the reblogs #how did you guess with such little info #yes i said doctor who AND undertale

[leo--len]

Honestly, in my current homebrew dnd campaign, the citizens don't really question why their king looks the exact same as his dad, or his dad, or his dad. And it's just really bad luck that every queen the monarchy has had for the past 3 generations has been deathly shy. Or the fact that no one seems to remember who built that massive clock tower attached to the castle, or why that mansion has been abandoned for as long as anyone can remember,

But all the lights are on, and the candles are lit.

It's all just a strange set of circumstances.

What's that melody faintly tinkling in the breeze?

Just the wind ;)

on worldbuilding, and what people think is going on

there is one facet of fantasy worldbuilding that is, to me, the most interesting and essential but i don't see it come up in worldbuilding guides or writing prompts or anything, and that is the question of:

what do the inhabitants of your world believe about how the world works, and how are they wrong? a lot of fantasy media will set up their cosmology, gods, magic systems, planar systems, concepts of the afterlife, &c., and proceed as though the inhabitants of the world know and understand them.

from someone whose entire academic career is focused on studying human culture in various regions and time periods, with a focus on belief systems (religion, occultism, mythology, folklore): that sort of worldbuilding is unrealistic and missing out on so much fun.

people are always seeking new understanding about how the world works, and they are mostly wrong. how many models of the solar system were proposed before we reached our current one? look at the long, turbulent history of medicine and our various bizarre models for understanding the human body and how to fix it. so many religions and occult/magical traditions arise from people disagreeing with or adapting various models of the world based on new ideas, methods, technologies. many of them are wrong, but all of them are interesting and reflect a lot about the culture, beliefs, values, and fears of the people creating/practising them.

there is so much more to the story of what people believe about the world than just what is true.

to be clear: i think it's fine and important for the author to have a coherent explanation for where magic comes from or who the gods are, so they can maintain consistency in their story. but they should also be asking what people in the world (especially different people, in different regions/nations and different times) think is happening when they do magic, or say a prayer, or practise medicine, or grieve their dead. it is a rich vein for conflict between individuals and nations alike when two models of the world disagree. it is fascinating how different magic systems might develop according to different underlying beliefs.

personally, i think it is the most fun to spawn many diverse models of the world, but give none of them the 'right' answer.

(bonus points if you also have a thriving academic system in the world with its own theory, research, and discourse between factions! as an academic, it is very fun to imagine fictional academic debate over the topics i'm worldbuilding. sometimes i will be working out details for some underlying mechanic of the world and start imagining the papers being written by scholars researching it)

#nothing suspicious here #world building #dnd campaign

[leo--len]

Don't you just hate it when a member of your household goes and changes the gait of their footsteps so now you can't tell who's walking up and down the stairs?

No?

No-one?

Just me then...

Edit: Turns out, this happens to other people! I'm not alone in this universe!

#humans are weird #so annoying #weird stuff #do y'all do this too? #superhuman

[leo--len]

This is so freakin adorable and I love it

Technically true.

[leo--len]

Well, start rioting.

If I get put in a pm Seymour or Bettina levy video you guys will tell me, right?

You aren't gonna just never let me know, letting the knowledge drift through human consciousness but never once crossing the threshold of my mind, right?

As a funky silly little clown I deserve to know, right?

#congratulations you did it

[leo--len]

I may have just found the bluest rock.

Found it while wading in a river and it is SO BLUE!

#blue #rocks #i love it #sodalite #blue blue blue #vibrant

[leo--len]

This, this is everything I have ever wanted and more.

i really wish you could give him a flower :(

he’s been through a lot, he deserves it

#Give this more views #hollow knight #quirrel #art #beautiful

[leo--len]

I just had a revelation about humans ingesting caffeine. We don't really think of caffeine as posion, but it is, and i've just experienced it first hand. This morning, I was in class when I decided to chug my bottle of now cold coffee. Like, 16 ounces of light coffee. And I think that because my stomach was completely empty, it absorbed into my body almost immediately.

Suddenly, I began to shake, my mouth began to water, and I almost threw up in the middle of my teacher's lecture.

I left and went to the restroom to THEN dry heave for the next several minutes, half an hour later i'm still super shaky and wired.

I just find it so odd that people hundreds and hundreds of years ago probably had a reaction similar to this, and instead of just avoiding the seemly poisonous plant, they decided to cultivate it to make the effect stronger and integrate it to their culture.

Kinda just shows how unbelievable humans are that our first instinct when encountering a new plant or berry is to stick in our mouths and see how it tastes.

#humans are space orcs #caffeine #caffeine overdose #introspective #humans are weird

[leo--len]

Computers are incredible examples of human engineering and ingenuity. We took a bunch of rock and metal, mixed in some electrical currents, and created machines that can do incredibly complex tasks.

We took it a step further, and connected hundreds of these computers together with wire and light.

Then we started shrinking all the components down to make them smaller and faster.

This went on until they were so small that QUANTUM PHYSICS ITSELF went no, that's illegal.

We then said, "No u". and began exploiting quantum physics to make even faster and more complex computers.

At the same time though, we're using our knowledge of biochemistry to make computer OUT OF LIVING BRAINS.

All of this, hundreds of years of trial and error and success, all of this to answer the age old question...

"But can it run Doom?"

#computers are cool #Check out the thought emporium on youtube #But can it run doom #science #think about that

[leo--len]

I was reading the #HumansAreSpaceOrcs tag and I thought of something to comment on, humans are incredibly sensitive to our environment, even if we don't realize it. We can feel minute differences in temperature, humidity, sunlight, acceleration, and much more. Our brain then analyzes all of this completely unconscious and then makes minute adjustments to keep us running as efficiently as possible. Take for example how our the skin on our hands shrivel up when wet for too long, or how our pupils shrink and grow depending on the light level, or even how you can tell exactly where your limbs are without looking at them! This makes us extremely adaptable to many, many different environments and situations.

#humans are space orcs #humans are weird #biology #shower thoughts

[leo--len]

TLDR: Player doesn't pay attention to the game, and pays the price.

One of my PC's in my D&D 5e campaign just died in the stupidest way possible. After a grueling fight against a bunch of mineral snakes, the players walk through a cave and find a large gold and silver door with runes inscribed onto it. Early on in the session, they had been given a rune translation book. My assumption was that they would spend a will decoding the runes, solve the riddle, and open the door.

What a fool I was.

Instead, the dragon-born sorcerer instantly thought, "Blood Sacrifice", so he cut his hand with his dagger and smeared the blood across the door.

I then described how the door began to glow, and then to heat up to such an intensity that the blood turns to ash and crumbles away.

The dragon-born sorcerer was stumped for a moment, then said, "Ohhhhh, what was I thinking? We need WHOLE PERSON sacrifice".

That's the moment when the half-elf rouge started paying attention again after previously been watching something on her phone (we could hear it on the call). She apparently missed the whole thing about the blood getting incinerated by the doors, and her brain only processed the words "Doors", and "Human Sacrifice".

Take a wild guess what she did next? She walked up to the door, turned around, made a dramatic face, laid against it and pretended she was getting stabbed. Then, as the party watched in horror, she rolled a 4 on her DEX save and got hit with around 121 points of heat damage. Instant death, no need for any death saves.

The moral of the story?

PAY ATTENTION TO THE FREAKIN GAME!

#dnd character #dnd campaign #dnd5e #dnd #dnd stuff #ineffable idiots #facepalm