#(plus augury)

[blujayonthewing]

I don't know that I'm ever gonna actually pull the trigger on it but I do love contemplating giving Aubree a little divine magic without her realizing it

#just a lil bit. as a treat #we're coming up on level 8 so I'm looking at feats and there's a new one that gives you a cleric cantrip and a level one cleric spell #(plus augury) #aubree was returned from the edge of death BY a GOD of death after having been killed by a lich #whose experimentations and transformation into lichdom have caused a ripple effect of undeath to spread across the land #so like. aubree my rough and tumble frontline fighter with spare the dying #aubree whose destiny it seems to be to fight undeath-- who is alive by the grace of an enemy of undeath-- with protection from evil/ good #aubree clutching her holy symbol and praying the way she's always always done-- #praying that someone gravely wounded can just hang on-- praying for protection against the forces of darkness-- #and something real reaches back #I am rotating it in my mind #she is ALSO the flavor of person in general that I've considered the possibility of a paladin multiclass for her #since before the campaign even BEGAN-- but actually she lacks the charisma for it and idk if it's worth dumping points towards #about me #my OCs #aubree

[utilitycaster]

Level Up post: The Mighty Nein!?

🎶It's been a while🎶but our heroes are level 17, which means they've leveled up once in the past six months, and Kingsley has presumably been level grinding by fighting ghosts or dinosaurs or stuff.

Everyone's proficiency bonus is now +6, and the two standard spell casters present, Jester and Caleb (everyone hope that Caduceus is having a great time not being killed by the ocean) have access to 9th level spells.

Obligatory reminder that corrections are welcome, speculation is fine as long as you understand it's speculative which is why I didn't include it, and if you want to list every possible spell Caleb could take, do so on your own blog because I too own many D&D books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.

Beau: Beau's punches now deal 1d10 damage, she has 17 ki points, and she gets Debilitating Barrage: if she hits a creature, she can spend three ki points to make a creature vulnerable to one type of damage for one minute, or until they take damage of that type. This can only be done on the same creature once a day. Fun fact: this is actually very similar to Caduceus's Path of the Grave Channel Divinity feature!

Caleb: Caleb gets a ninth level spell slot, can prepare another spell, and learns two spells automatically; he may have also copied some spells in his downtime. We haven't seen what those spells are yet, so place your bets! Most of the 9th level wizard spell list rules, but time stop, shapechange, true polymorph, mass polymorph, and foresight all seem to be the most likely. I suppose meteor swarm is also within his wheelhouse. My hot take is that despite the name, Time Ravage isn't totally Caleb's vibe, but like, I wouldn't be mad about high level dunamancy.

Fjord: Fjord took a fifth level in paladin, giving him access to 2nd level paladin spells, plus he gains one first level spell slot and two second levels. He also gets an extra attack, and if Matt was feeling generous he may have let Travis finagle this so that Thirsting Blade, which is an invocation that achieves the same thing, can be swapped for a different invocation, but I wouldn't guarantee it. He also gains the oath spells Augury (which we saw) and Misty Step.

Jester: Jester gets a ninth level spell slot and can prepare one more spell per day. She can destroy undead of challenge level 4 now, and she now can have FOUR duplicates and move any number of those four as a bonus action. The cleric 9th level spell list is pretty short and Mass Heal seems to be the most useful option.

Kingsley: Kingsley leveled up considerably in blood hunter and took levels in Swashbuckler Rogue. I don't know for sure what level he is, but his access to Grim Psychometry and his speed is 35 feet/second indicates he's taken up to at least 10th level. He's also taken at least three levels in rogue because we know he's a swashbuckler (sneak attack when fighting without any allies in melee with the creature, which is why swashbucklers rule). So: three blood curses at least and possibly four if he's level 14 blood hunter; hemocraft die of either 1d6 or 1d8 depending if he's level 10 or higher in blood hunter; at least 2 and possibly 3 crimson rites (if he's level 14) in addition to his Order-specific Rite of the Dawn; and Aether walk (phasing between things on the ethereal plane, which Taliesin had expressed interest in upon Molly's death.) He's also got the typical rogue features of a cunning action, expertise, sneak attack and thieves' cant (please talk with Veth in thieves' cant, it's all I want). Personally, because this group is not hurting for expertise between Veth, Beau, and Caleb, and blood hunter is a tank-y class and Kingsley's got Molly's tough feat and bonuses to dex saves as a blood hunter such that uncanny dodge/evasion aren't too crucial, I would go with the 14 blood hunter levels - levels 11-14 are some good shit. However, we don't know for sure how those remaining four levels are distributed between blood hunter and rogue.

Veth: Veth took her 17th level in rogue, bringing her to Rogue 16/Wizard 1. She took an ASI to strength and constitution. She has learned, in addition to the mostly unrevealed wizard spells (Tenser's Floating Disk my beloved though), another Arcane Trickster spell (wizard spell, either enchantment or illusion, can be up to 3rd level) and has another third level spell slot.

Yasha: Yasha gets a 6th rage per day and her brutal critical goes up to three additional dice.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #mighty nein

[elsewhereuniversity]

We’re trying to find our flatmate, Augury.

They fell through a funhouse mirror at that travelling carnival that passed through town last week. Neither of us have seen them since, although we’ve found their palm print on the inverse side of the mirror in our apartment once or twice.

It’s nothing too serious, but their final project for their Graphics class is due soon and we’re worried they won’t get back in time to submit it. Plus, they still haven’t paid their share of this month’s rent.

- Hearse and Juniper.

#augury #hearse #juniper #vignettes #mirrors

[chronically-ghosted]

Congrats on 1k, love. You deserve a million!!

I’m picking augury because i simply can’t get enough of your writing, and i’d love to see what’s coming up.

Hi Gin! 🥰 thank you for permission to chatter endlessly about my fics!

In the pipeline:

the return of Daddy Dieter - love of my life @burntheedges sent in a request for Dieter and i should have calculated but this whole celebration fell on the tail end of when i am at Maximum Horny, so of course Dieter being the absolute best father and husband is coming back around.

part two of LSYR - I knew going into this that this would be monumental(ly a huge pain in my ass), but not to fear, i am trudging along. promise it will be worth it because part 2 is where we get the 'sharing the bed' trope and praise kink in action 😉

riders of the purple sapir - i think after i finish lsyr, i'm going to focus on my beloved din djarin. i've had this fic as a wip for almost (maybe more than) a year now and i love it dearly. it'll be a four parter, but much shorter than lsyr. i'm so proud of it and i can't wait to share it with you all!

transition of Recovery Road - i wrote and posted Recovery Road (my first multichapter ppcu fic) on my main account when i first started writing. since making this blog, and the positive reception i've received (don't cry, don't cry, don't cry), i want to house all of my ppcu fics in one place. plus, that might give new followers an opportunity to check out my older work!

thank you SO MUCH for this ask! I'm really excited to share all of this with you!

#1k celebration #1k followers #follower celebration #dieter bravo #joel miller #din djarin

[dicebound]

Stolas 5e Build

The Barnaby post did so well that I decided to go ahead and make a Stolas build as well. 1. Lineage - Winged Tiefling Owlin again for obvious reasons. Alternatively, you could go for the winged tiefling option and reflavor your appearance as an owl. 2. Class - Wizard/Scribes So Stolas powers as far as we have seen them are demonic, celestial and tied to a grimoire. That gives us a few solid options for classes the obvious being Wizard, Warlock, and Cleric with honorable mention to a single subclass of Druid. Wizard and Warlock both can use spellbooks and have access to a lot of the starry/spacey spells as well as creepy/demonic spells. I'll admit, Warlock and Wizard also hedge out the others a bit in my mind for their access to the Flesh to Stone spell. For Wizard Subclasses I would recommend Order of Scribes or Divination School. Order of Scribes really is just Wizard+ allowing to squeeze everything you can out of your spellbook and really helps shine how important the Grimoire is. Divination school fits the scrying we've seen Stolas do in the past, but doesn't give a lot of star flavor otherwise. For Warlock, Pact of the Tome is a given with Fiend Patron being an obvious choice to represent getting his position and power from the Ars Goetia. The Great Old Patron also stands out for it's expanded spell list and the ability to make thralls, befitting the possession Stolas did while in the human world. For Cleric we've got solid choices in Knowledge Domain and Twilight Domain with his god assumedly being Asmodeus (in D&D/Forgotten Realms terms). Knowledge domain fits gleaming supernatural knowledge from the stars, but Twilight Domain has really strong flavor for night and shadow thats difficult to discount plus the subclass is among the game's most powerful. Finally for Druid, Circle of Stars has the strongest starry flavor in the game but the spell list, lack of demonic flavor, and ties to nature just don't scream Stolas to me.

For the purposes of this build I'm going with Order of Scribes Wizard, but any of these options fit the character and have different pros and cons behind them.

3. Background - Noble The Noble background is stand-out choice for Stolas, not much to be said here. 4. Skills For his Wizard Skills I think Arcana and History are the best choices. With the Noble background he gets Persuasion automatically and for it's pure utility I would grab Perception. 5. Stats With +2 Intelligence and +1 Dexterity from Variant Tiefling (Origins) and using point buy I would distribute his stats as follows: Str - 8 Dex - 14 Con - 12 Int - 16 Wis - 12 Cha - 16 Stolas is described as a "scrawny twig ass" by Stella, leading me to believe that most of physical stats are rather poor. Str as our dump stat and only okay Con, we pump Dex for AC and move on. Int is our casting stat so we prioritize it over all others, with finally a middling Cha and a low Wis. You could swap Wis and Cha around tho, and I'd believe you as he has both been a poor read of people and not very personable. 6. Spells Assuming spells for a 3rd level character, here are my recommendations. You want spells that are spooky or starry in flavor, plus just general utility. For Cantrips I'd grab options like Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion, Dancing Lights. For damage, I'd grab at least one attack roll cantrip such as Ray of Frost or Firebolt and out thematic one such as Toll the Dead or Mind Sliver. If you take Magic Initiate at 1st level you can focus on Wizard's utility cantrips and pick up your damaging options from the feat. As Wizard, Stolas could know any number of spells through spell scrolls and the like. As always choices like Detect Magic, Identify, Magic Missile, Mirror Image, Mage Armor and Shield are just plain useful. For thematic options you want spooky and starry so things like Augury, Shadow Blade, Tasha's Mind Whip, Hold Person, etc. For things we've seen Stolas actually do, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Misty Step, Disguise Self, Darkness and Cause Fear stand out me. 7. Feats (Optional) If your GM allows Feats at First Level, then you have some solid options here. For plain utility Tough and War Caster are solid options. If you went with Variant Tiefling for your lineage, Infernal Constitution is also great as it gives you a lot of resistances for a squishy wizard. For build/fun stuff, Magic Initiate (Wizard/Warlock) are a solid choice to get even more spell options. If you take Warlock in particular, grab Eldritch Blast as the best damage dealing cantrip in the game and one of the options I mentioned in the Spell section. For the 1st level spell, Hex, Hellish Rebuke, Cause Fear and Arms of Hadar stand out to me as good flavor or just useful. Finally, Telekinetic, Telepathic, Shadow Touched, Metamagic Adept and Eldritch Adept can also be fun choices to get more ways of manipulating your spells/options.

for Eldritch Adept in particular, Eldritch Mind, Devil's Sight and Armor of Shadows stand out as very solid options for Stolas. Eyes of the Rune Keeper is flavorful and on theme even if it is more situational.

#hazbin hotel #helluva boss #dnd 5e #dungeons and dragons #5e build #character build #stolas #ars goetia

[thecreaturecodex]

Nyalmo

“Ulvenwald Bear” © Wizards of the Coast, by Jason Engle. Accessed at the artist’s deviantArt here

[Commissioned by @abominationimperatrix​. The nyalmo is a type of yeti, which goes to show how far the cryptozoological yeti has moved from its folkloric roots. A twenty foot sapient bear is not an eight foot ape-man, no matter how hard you try. The information here comes from Ghosts, Monsters and Demons of India. Mechanically, this is built around the chassis of a dire bear with the giant template for the ability scores, and I tied them to the similar sapient bipedal bears the urskans through their language.]

Nyalmo CR 10 N Magical Beast This creature resembles an enormous bear, except that it seems more comfortable walking on its hind legs. Its arms are long and end in great claws.

The nyalmo are enormous sapient bears that live in the high mountains. They often descend to lower elevations in search of food; although a nyalmo can persist on moss, lichens and insects, they much prefer fresh meat, particularly brains and other fatty tissue. They have little concept of private property, so do not understand that the livestock owned by ranchers belongs to someone else; to a nyalmo, it is merely a convenient depot of food. This raiding may bring nyalmo into conflict with humanoids, a fight that the nyalmo’s great size and strength typically makes an uneven contest. Nyalmo rarely have complicated strategies—tear prey apart with claws and teeth, grab them and break their bones. They flee from enemies that are able to keep their distance, and rarely attack a fortified position.

Nyalmo live in small matriarchal groups, led by the oldest female. Nyalmo have little material culture, but do have culture nonetheless. They are in tune with their surroundings, and read portents in the position of the stars, the movement of birds, and the spilling of entrails. The latter of these portents have supernatural significance, and many nyalmo have had their life saved by some augury they saw in this ritual. During celestial configurations such as the first appearance of a constellation or a solstice, nyalmo gather under the open sky to drum and sing. A few nyalmo have even been known to abduct a humanoid and keep them as something between a pet and a tutor, trying to learn from them the secrets of human language, fire, or ironworking. They care quite a bit for these captives, but will eat their captives if they cross the nyalmo one too many times.

A nyalmo stands between fifteen and twenty feet tall—nyalmo women are taller than the men. They have a garlicky odor, and their dens are typically quite pungent.

Nyalmo                  CR 10 XP 9,600 N Huge magical beast Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +10, scent Defense AC 24, touch 8, flat-footed 24 (-2 size, +16 natural) hp 126 (10d10+70) Fort +14, Ref +7, Will +8 Resist cold 10 Defensive Abilities haruspicy Offense Speed 40 ft. Melee 2 claws +17 (2d6+9/19-20 plus grab), bite +17 (1d8+9) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks neck breaker Statistics Str 29, Dex 11, Con 25, Int 6, Wis 16, Cha 10 Base Atk +10; CMB +21 (+25 grab); CMD 31 Feats Blind-fight, Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Skill Focus (Survival) Skills Climb +14, Perception +10, Survival +17; Racial Modifiers +4 Survival Languages Urskan SQ pungency, snow walker Ecology Environment cold hills and mountains Organization solitary, pair or clan (3-8) Treasure incidental Special Abilities Haruspicy (Su) A nyalmo can gain insights into the future by spending one minute consulting the entrails of a freshly killed animal. For the next 24 hours after it performs this ritual, it may treat a saving throw as if it rolled a 20. It may use this ability a number of times per day equal to its Wisdom modifier. Neck Breaker (Su) If a nyalmo succeeds at maintaining a pin, the pinned creature must succeed a DC 24 Fortitude save or take 2d6 points of Dexterity damage. Any damage dealt beyond reducing the creature’s Dexterity to 0 is applied to its Constitution instead. The save DC is Strength based. Pungency (Ex) A nyalmo can be detected at twice the normal distance by scent. Snow Walker (Ex) A nyalmo ignores all difficult terrain created by natural snow or icy conditions.

#nyalmo #yeti #himalaya #indian folklore #pathfinder 1e #magic the gathering #mtg art

[thatnerdyqueer]

Has anyone else noticed the Alexander Hamilton and Hamlet parallels???? Cuz I have, and I'm loving them.

People talk about Hamilton's story being a bit macbeth-y but I haven't really heard people talk about how close it is to Hamlet. Proof:

I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory - literally everything that Hamlet says

I couldn't seem to die - oh, that this too, too solid flesh would melt

There is no beat, no melody - The rest is silence

Who lives who dies who tells your story - in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain to tell my story

Rise up, I'm not throwing away my shot, etc - We defy augury

It's quiet uptown - literally all of Hamlets grief throughout the whole thing, it's so similar

Hamilton debating whether or not to kill burr - Hamlet debating whether or not to kill Claudius

Wait for it, nonstop, my shot - aLL of his speeches about death

Also, A.Ham????? it's almost as if he's trYing to draw attention to similarities here

not to mention John Laurens basically being Horatio, plus Lafayette, Hercules, Jefferson, and maddison being rosencrantz and guildenstern, barnardo, Marcellus, laertes, etc. and Washington being a pollonius-ish figure and Eliza is Ophelia and horatio at the same time????

There's so much if you go through them all, and listing them would take ages. Part of this is just because they are such raw, human stories that you could apply most of the characters and themes to any story of similar caliber and material, and the thing that makes them similar is that they are the themes of the common or garden joe put to well-thought-out poetry (which basically means that no matter who you are, it slaps) but. Yeah.

#Hamilton #alexander hamilton #hamlet #horatio #rosencrantz and guildenstern #lafayette #hercules mulligan #maddison #jefferson #washington #hamratio #laurens x hamilton

[sabinerondissime]

Cadeau d'anniversaire

Cette année, mon plus beau cadeau c'est un message qu'il m'a envoyé. Pas pour le Tanti Auguri auquel je m'attendais plus ou moins, mais pour le Amore Mio qu'il n'avait plus dit depuis très, très longtemps. Bien entendu, cela n'a rien à voir avec l'amour, il y a bien longtemps que lui et moi nous avons pris un chemin différent. Mais ce qu'il en reste, cette tendresse, cette affection, elle me touche encore. Rien qu'en reconnaissant la sonnerie que je lui ai attribuée pour reconnaitre ses messages, j'ai le cœur qui bat plus vite. Alors lire ses mots, surtout ceux-là, et me voilà avec un sourire idiot pour la journée.

Puis, chacun retourne à sa vie, en faisant de temps en temps un petit coucou sous une publication, sous la forme d'un smiley cœur ou autres. Finalement, nous ne sommes jamais vraiment totalement absent dans la vie l'un de l'autre

#journalintime

[thesherrinfordfacility]

LWA here: I don't take the lockdown video as canon, as it's just too obviously a PSA. I do think there's more to be said about Crowley refusing to hear Chekhov's gun going off in the aftermath of S1, although that may be because I've now back-buttoned out of far too many supposed "fix-fics" in which Aziraphale has to abase himself before his much-abused demon. (Folks, they are equally to blame to the miscommunication pileup at the end! The yin/yang, single-character-split-in-half thing always manifests itself by them simultaneously botching things in their relationship! We are shown and told this explicitly! WTH?!) This is my own sequel to endlessly back-buttoning out of fics for S1.

I guess I'm one of the three or so people on the planet who got to the end of S1 and said, wait, there were two unambiguous betrayals during the course of this season, both related to trust issues, and unless they're discussed and resolved you cannot extrapolate a successful relationship out of this ending. Aziraphale betrays Crowley's faith that their friendship is different by not telling him about the Antichrist; Crowley betrays Aziraphale by manipulating him like /everyone else manipulates him/ by tempting him to kill first Warlock, then Adam. And there was a start to acknowledging the first during the bar scene, but there is no sign in the script that Crowley apologizes, mentions what he did, or even feels badly about it.* Fan attempts to excuse the manipulation usually repeat Crowley's own justification for the act at the park bench, but the script, via Madame Tracy, insists that "you can't kill kids" is a moral absolute. Crowley, and Aziraphale for going along with him, are in the wrong, end-stop. That was just such a massive stickle-burr for me in terms of conceptualizing how Crowley actually sees his own power in relation to Aziraphale's, and this season concretized that they are both suffering from trauma-related superiority complexes that they act out in ways that deny each other agency (Crowley by concealing information from Aziraphale about Heaven & Gabriel, then attempting to demon-handle him back into damsel-in-distress mode; Aziraphale by still being stuck in binary thinking patterns and offering Crowley a redemption plot he doesn't want).

*--I've seen exactly one analysis-in-fic-form that refuses to let Crowley off the hook, "Auguries of Innocence" (https://rainjoyswriting.dreamwidth.org/241857.html#cutid1), written by someone with experience teaching ethics. I think the author makes Crowley much too self-aware about what he did, but her conclusions about why he might be unable to bring himself to apologize are pretty plausible.

sliding this under a cut:

awesome, that's what i was kind of hoping someone would agree with me on (re: lockdown), mainly because from the feeling of the plot in s2 (plus the contextual characterisation already discussed about aziraphale's ability, vs surrender of his will, to protect himself/crowley's compulsion to overprotect), it felt rather extraneous of the canon narrative in retrospect. it felt like a fun, quirky PSA in isolation, but i didnt want to automatically discount it as not having its place in the story either if it indeed had one! so, im glad someone else was thinking what my gut was saying - that it is likely to be the former.

i get that many people are hungry for some kind of comfort following s2's ending (completely understandable), but i can't currently bring myself to read any fanfiction that follows the events of s2 because of this exact reason you've mentioned. frankly, i personally find it a little too uncomfortable that the resolution seen so far - in general terms, there are well-written exceptions - is for aziraphale to metaphorically prostrate and punish himself for the whole breakup, especially when i personally felt pretty much since ten minutes after finishing ep6 that there was more to it than aziraphale seemingly wanting to change crowley "into the angel he wants him to be", and rejecting him when he wouldn't. it's way more nuanced and complex than that. and every time i rewatch that scene, it feels so obvious that they are speaking words that on the surface fit together in terms of dialogue, but they are saying completely different things.

i love a misunderstanding-leads-to-angst trope, it's one of my favourites, and the way the dialogue was written in this scene to have so many interweaving and contradicting layers and meanings was a profound and immersive depiction of this. ultimately my end impression (until a point we get an actual Conversation in s3 that discusses these exact points) of the scene is that:

- aziraphale will always think he should and could do better and be better, even at the risk of sacrificing everything including crowley, and do so with only the greater good in mind... no matter if the greater good doesn't truly exist in the way he hopes or expects it to (and therefore is completely immaterial), and:

- crowley will always continue to keep and bury aziraphale in his own rage and pain, drawing him back in whenever aziraphale shifts to step outside of it, and do so because it's a constancy that has thus far worked in giving him purpose and a sense of being wanted.

there's way more to it than that, but those were the immediate first impressions i got. they may love each other endlessly, beyond understanding, and that's wonderful; but love alone is not enough to sustain a relationship of any kind. there has to be trust, yes, but also mutual respect, support for each others' true wants and needs, and a sense of wholly knowing yourself (even the things you wish you could change, or you dislike) so you know what you are giving to the other person. my perspective on being in a partnership is that your heart is no longer just your own, it becomes the other person's too - if not more - and you have to be someone that can be entrusted with it. neither of the characters give me the impression of having really learnt this yet, and have demonstrated on multiple occasions, including the ones you mentioned, that they haven't.

having a read of what you linked, this is exactly along the lines of why i think crowley doesn't want to recognise, or cant recognise, what he did in tempting aziraphale and manipulating him on the occasions that he did... because what would happen if he did accept it? and opened up the pandora's box that is bringing aziraphale's attention to it? how would aziraphale ever see crowley the same way again? id love to say it was the same lines along which i was thinking when i wrote the below re: saviour complex, but is far more insightful and eloquently put:

and also here, when talking in response to another ask of yours about I Forgive You:

essentially: that if aziraphale were to know why crowley does what he does, did what he did, if aziraphale received an explanation and a genuine apology for it, would crowley only be met with benevolence? or would he be genuinely forgiven in a way that is actually meaningful to him because it comes from aziraphale the person, not the angel? the latter would be too much to bear, i think. the irony however is that in not giving his shortcomings air, taking them out of the locked box he's crafted to hide them, he's occasioning further opportunity for misunderstanding between them.

trauma in whatever form is not a valid excuse to project that trauma onto someone else. it can be empathised with, but not excused. again, as always, at the risk of human-ifying two supernatural beings, it is entirely human to fuck up and do so, it's going to happen - that you hurt someone you love by keeping them in your pain. but it can't keep happening in a never-ending cycle, and has to have a breaking point that all parties actively learn from. this ground, them acknowledging having any feelings for each other, is brand new for them to tread on, but when it comes hand-in-hand with having millennia full of trauma, shame and pain, they also need to tread very carefully.

#i truly would give my life for LWA✨ but their asks do give me migraines and a sense that im not as intelligent as i think i am #good omens #ask #flashback meta #crowley meta #aziraphale meta #s1 meta #s2 meta

[yellowocaballero]

how do you come up with your ideas?

Augury, mostly!

Haha, but no. Everybody has their own story ideas in their own ways. Mine would be no good to anybody else. I can only recommend the same thing that would generate any stronger story - consume a lot of highly diverse books, shows, movies, news, etc. Watch Hellraiser and the Seventh Seal back to back and have the weirdest dreams of all time. A lot of my stuff is built off a place of "this is a retro Kid's WB cartoon!" or "this is a Disney Channel Original movie!" or "this is a satirical war novel!" or "this is an issue of a vintage comic book run!". I have a PBS kid's programming Zoboomafoo-type idea in my head that would only work in a webcomic form that I can't write and it makes me SO ANGRY that I can never realize this vision.

In terms of me, personally, and how things end up working for me. Jokes with friends, overwhelmingly. Very often one idea will spring another - for example, I think I got the idea for New Wave when I was writing the prophetic spring and I ended up constructing a Steph & Bruce relationship that was a) really interesting and fun to write, and b) made me think about how Steph would have been fucking perfect as the first Robin for a million reasons. Covid puppy story was really as simple as a "What if...?" about a Batman arc in the 90s, plus a lot of jokes. Mostly jokes. TBH, most of the time, reading/watching something and going "this is funny, but it would be much funnier if...". Most of my fic is from consuming something I find vaguely mediocre yet enjoyable and riffing on it relentlessly until an actual full concept emerges. So often my brain is just "I want to write Spider-Man 2099 fic but I don't know WHAT to write" and I just have to. Wait til I find a good idea. Shit just happens.

But also I can't explain much. I read a volume of the origin story of Green Lantern Kyle Rayner and then my younger sibling woke up to 80 Discord messages about my perfect complete redo of Kyle Rayner and how I would write the best Green Lantern four season TV show of all time.

It would fuck. By the way. It would fuck hard.

#my asks #my writing #trust me i have the most perfect modern au for The Prisoner in my head #that i'm never writing #because that's fucking stupid. #but it's there! #this really is one of those things where if you want advice #I do have to shrug and say 'eat weird media'' #and if you want what i personally do it's kind of an 'idk it just happens' #big ol shrug emoji #but trust me sometimes shit's in there marinating until I find a good idea #miguel i will write you the minute I have a good fucking story for you

[minnesotadruids]

what do you do for beltane?

In regard to my personal practice, I took the opportunity today to get out of the house and into nature. Bears have been sighted in a nearby nature preserve, and the Nature Center staff are asking for anyone who sees the bears to maintain a safe distance, but to inform the staff where the bears were sighted, as they are very curious about knowing where the bears are going. I'm guessing that means none of them have DNR tracking collars at this time. The day started off sunny but was blustery, chilly, and sprinkling off and on once I was off work. I did not see the bear(s) today though.

I'm much more of a group practitioner when it comes to the Wheel of the Year high days, and this coming weekend is the 60th anniversary gathering of the Reformed Druids of North America at Carleton College. Members of eight druid Groves, plus solo druids and anyone who is curious will be in attendance. There are already a handful of initiations planned for those who wish to become members, and other rites of passage among some who have been preparing for certain levels of the RDNA priesthood. This is a very special occasion.

In the group rituals, my Grove uses a hybridized script of the original Reformed Druids and a "universalized" version of a more neopagan rendition that is more elaborate. The later neopagan scripts were a lot more Wiccan flavored and required a lot of memorization on the attendee's part or a lot more group chanting by everyone. Personally when I've been to other rituals with group chanting, everyone sounds either bored, or like the Borg, and it all harkens back to Catholics reciting the Apostles' Creed at mass. So in my rituals I chuck out the group chants, and individual Grove members are willing to recite the parts.

The RDNA rituals are very well balanced. It starts with four blasts from my carnyx, a ceremonial horn (which was used as a Celtic war horn two millennia ago), an opening statement followed by a meditation of humility before the divine. Following that are any bardic offerings: poetry, song, performing arts (if applicable), followed by plant based offerings to the ritual fire, or to the Earth in the absence of fire. The priest seeks an omen on the element of air (augury or aeromancy) and then the Waters-of-Life are consecrated and shared with those present. We used to share from a common chalice, but since the pandemic we ask attendees to bring their own ceremonial cup, and they are served from a consecrated pitcher.

Any applicable rites of passage follow the partaking of the Waters, and a libation is returned to the Earth-Mother. Final meditations are shared, ending with a moment of silent meditation to take in Nature through all our senses (perhaps not so much tasting nature though). The rite concludes, and a casual discussion begins while we clean up the site. I have this solo ritual video from Beltane of 2020, when I didn't want my Grove members meeting together or risking getting sick for the sake of druidry.

#beltane #reformed #druids #RDNA #Druidry #pagan #paganism #ritual #practice

[hangingslothcentral]

It's crowdfunding time, babey!!

As an indie show, Spirit Box Radio relies on folks like you to help us make sure our incredible Voice Actors are properly compensated for their work.

You can donate here: https://igg.me/at/sbr-season3

Here's a quick run down of what's on offer for supporters:

Everyone: you get to help make the final season of Spirit Box Radio and make sure our incredible cast and creatives are paid what they deserve!

£2: An Opening Aphorism - get the one of first lines of an episode of SBR S3 in your inbox!

£5: Credits Shout Out, your name will be read out at the end of an episode of Spirit Box Radio Season Three, plus you'll get an Opening Aphorism in your inbox.

£10: Augury Forecast, get an forecast of the coming whims and woes in your inbox.

£15: Official Soundtrack! Get a digital copy of the full SBR S3 OST.

£20: Episode One Table-Read, where you'll get access to a recording of the full-cast table-read of SBR S3 Episode One, full of giggles, misread lines and cast shenanigans.

£35: Digital Bundle! Get an Opening Aphorism, Credits Shout-Out, Augury Forecast, SBR S3 OST, AND the Episode One Table-Read.

£50: Digital Bundle, PLUS Art Card & Pin! You get all the trimminngs of the Digital Bundle, plus one of three custom art cards and custom pin badge sent to you in the post!

£75: Faithful Listener Bundle! Get all three art cards and pins, Digital Bundle, plus a handwritten Augury Forecast with a custom note from Sam Enfield explaining where the note was found and a musing on its possible meaning.

£100: Annotated Script! Get everything included in the Faithful Listeners' bundle, PLUS a hand annotated copy of the script for Spirit Box Radio S3 Episode 1.

£150: Goodie Bag! You'll get an exclusive bag with artwork from this campaign which comes filled with goodies, including a handmade art print created by artist and friend of the show Jess Beauchamp (kahahuna). You'll also get a hand-annotated script, handwritten augury forecast, a collection of badges and A5 art cards. You'll get the Digital Bundle too, and some secret extras!

£250: Commission a Bonus Mini-sode, plan & organise a bonus episode of show which Pippin will write and produce! You'll also get all the other rewards we have on offer, and your name in the credits of the show.

By supporting the show you'll be helping an incredible majority LGBTQ+ cast bring the show's third and final season to life, and supporting the work of a queer creator from a working class background.

In addition to the tier rewards listed above, for every £250 in the funding pot, we’ll be releasing an audio created by the cast of Spirit Box Radio on TikTok. Audios will be chosen by and voted for by you, our faithful listeners, so keep your eyes peeled for posts on social media and in the show discord server.

If you can't support us financially but still want to help us out, share this post or the link to the campaign to help us spread the word! Just talking about the campaign is a massive help and any small amount donated means the world and goes a long way.

Here's the whole campaign: https://igg.me/at/sbr-season3

Have a good one, folks, and remember: stay spooky!!

--- Pippin xxx

#spirit box radio #horror audio drama #audio drama #horror podcast #podcast #sbr #horror #ghost story #spirit box radio podcast

[liviusofpella]

Nik was so hot on this scene you wrote: 👀😭

... "Nik's gloved hand flipped Niamh’s long hair onto her back, revealing a string of golden runes on the side of her neck, old-nymetic runes that every supernatural creature knew about and was taught to respect. The runes said as follows: a high-ranking Crystaval royal, under royal guard's protection, powerful magic wielder, dragon protector. Child of the storm. And an augury rune, mysterious and portentous. "...

Plus, it gave me these Barbie movie vibes: 😂

oh my god, i think the barbie movie really stuck in my mind and now i'm unknowingly putting these tropes in my writing hahaha

#ask #ladylamrian✨ #nik ryder

[coolyo294]

Rapier battery plus the crews. The dude with the augury scanner is the one who moves and fires the rapier, the dude with the nuncio vox calls in coordinates and spots targets

#warhammer #30k

[heart-star]

Happy Epiphany! 6th january, originally the date of the 3 kings meeting Jesus but later in time italy introduced the christmas witch/Befana as new version to celebrate that's why I draw her in here (guess which witch she may be in my reference 😉) plus me being pull on a slide by 3.dogs: Happy the beagle and her "cousins" Jack the border collie & Black the Belga sheperd. #epiphany #epifania #befana #befana2023 #witch #witchbroom #owl #avatar #oc #ocavatar #night #mountains #italy #beagle #bordercollie #belgiumshepherd #6thjanuary #moon #fullmoon #thetriplets #augury #tradition #wave #snow #starsky #slide https://www.instagram.com/p/CnDd1HYoxLd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#epiphany #epifania #befana #befana2023 #witch #witchbroom #owl #avatar #oc #ocavatar #night #mountains #italy #beagle #bordercollie #belgiumshepherd #6thjanuary #moon #fullmoon #thetriplets #augury #tradition #wave #snow #starsky #slide

[thecreaturecodex]

Orocoran

Image © Paizo Publishing

[I’ve placed some of my previous D&D conversions on Aucturn, the Pathfinder/Starfinder planet that serves the Planet X/Nibiru/Yuggoth role of evil mystery planet in both games. So I might as well also cover some of their canonical life forms.]

Orocoran CR 6 CE Aberration This scuttling creature has four long limbs that seem capable of functioning as either arms or legs. Its head has a crown of beady green eyes circling it in all directions, and its jaws open laterally to reveal a sharp proboscis.

Orocorans are one of the most populous intelligent species on the mysterious world of Aucturn. They are parasites on the living planet, crawling along its mass in search of veins of black ichor, which they pierce and drink from until swollen. This fluid acts as a narcotic as well as nutrition, and allows the orocorans to enter a state of euphoric hallucination they refer to as the “womb mind”. An orocoran’s mental powers are believed to be bestowed by this fluid as well. When not vegetating in a trance, orocorans are irritable and unpredictable creatures, searching for their next fix.

An orocoran will often lash out at other living creatures nearby, but rarely seek out violence with any particular goal in mind. Their proboscises inflict bleeding wounds, and their stomach acid churns with traces of the hallucinogenic fluids of their home planet. Although not addictive, this does cause temporary hallucinations and confusion.

Orocorans are nearly six feet tall when standing on their back legs, but only do so if forced to wield weapons by a superior entity. They are sexless and genderless, reproducing when two orocorans pierce each other’s torsos with their proboscises and exchanging genetic material.  Eggs are abandoned in a pit gouged out of the planet’s surface, and the young are precocial.

Orocoran Ichor Lords On rare occasions, an orocoran may have its intellect enhanced by the ichor it drinks, granting it both occult power and greater ambition. These ichor lords use their abilities to force other orocorans to do their bidding, and may be regional powers, vassals of foulspawn, or envoys to the Elder Mythos. An orocoran ichor lord is an advanced orocoran with at least two levels in psychic, and usually more. Ichor lord psychics usually take the abomination, pain or psychedelia disciplines, and frequently take the mutation mind archetype as well.

Orocoran             CR 6 XP 2,400 CE Medium aberration Init +9; Senses all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft., Perception +8, see invisibility Defense AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+5 Dex, +5 natural) hp 67 (9d8+27) Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +7 (+2 vs. mind-influencing effects) Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee sting +11 (1d8+1 plus bleed) Ranged vomit +11 (2d10 acid plus confusion) Special Abilities bleed (1d8) Spell-like Abilities CL 6th, concentration +8 Constant—see invisibility 1/day—augury Statistics Str 13, Dex 21, Con 17, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 14 Base Atk +6; CMB +7; CMD 22 (26 vs. trip) Feats Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Point Blank Shot, Stealthy, Weapon Finesse Skills Acrobatics +11, Climb +8, Escape Artist +14, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Perception +8, Stealth +14, Survival +8 Languages Aklo (cannot speak), limited telepathy 60 ft. Ecology Environment any land Organization solitary, brood (2-9) or congregation (10-20 plus 1 ichor lord) Treasure incidental Special Abilities Limited Telepathy (Su) An orocoran can only telepathically communicate with a creature if the two creatures share a language. Vomit (Ex) As a standard action, an orocoran can vomit acid. Treat this as a ranged touch attack with a range of 30 feet and no range increment. A creature struck must succeed a DC 16 Will save or be confused (as the spell) for 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Charisma based.

#orocoran #pathfinder 1e #starfinder #aberration