#but we even have one player who has DMed

[thenhlteaissuperhot]

nykki (martin necas' girlfriend) just posted some sort of q&a on her youtube channel and from the translation of the title, she should be talking about the nhl too, could you perhaps watch it and translate the interesting bits for us since its in czech?

This video was actually really interesting.

I have said it in the past already, but Nykki is genuinely one of the most sensible, down-to-earth, and level-headed WAGs I have seen on social media, so her answers were impressive and definitely worth hearing:

She answered the question about how she and Martin met:

Said that it is the most-asked question she gets - "My theory is that some of the people, who are asking me that, probably want to date a hockey player and they don't know how to do that. Personally, I wouldn't go for a hockey player." (she is so real laughing her ass off during that last part)

She would really want to have some sort of romantic story, but they literally started dating because he was constantly liking her photos, then DMed her on Instagram, they started texting and FaceTiming for several months before they actually saw each other in real life and started dating like two months after.

Talked about what it is like living as a (European) WAG, who moved to the US because of her boyfriend:

The players are away for half of the month during the season, so they don't see each other as often as people may think.

It was really hard for her to make friends among the other WAGs in the first year.

Overall, she expressed that she really struggled the first year and even thought that she wouldn't be able to live like that, wanting to go back home.

She also found it really hard to understand the "NHL lifestyle" (said that the term alone seems silly to her to this day) - "It is an extremely particular group of people. Even among the girls, in the room where we meet during the games, there are so many unspoken rules. I am an open book, I like to share my thoughts, and I hate small shallow talks, but I understood quite quickly that it doesn't work like that here and you can't trust everyone. It is everywhere like that - when you come to a room where there are twenty-five girls, at the end of the day, you only get along with a few of them, and I didn't understand that in the beginning. I kinda burned myself."

She can't have a work permit in the US and neither can all the European WAGs because their visas are officially under their partners - said that it is extremely hard for everyone to get a work permit in the US, but for them, it is practically impossible. A lot of other WAGs have tried, they poured a lot of money into the lawyers, and no one, she knows, has so far succeeded.

Where it is possible for the WAGs to obtain work permits, is in Canada - during this part, she also joked that Martin doesn't have a contract for the next year, so maybe they could move there.

Because of this whole work permit issue, she started doing social media, producing music, and writing scripts for some sort of company (the last two I understood are jobs in the Czech Republic, which she does online), making her own money.

She also said that life in Raleigh, North Carolina is quite uneventful compared to Prague, where she is from - however, she is also aware of the fact, that Raleigh is a quite safe place to live and that she can be glad for it because it's not like that everywhere in the States (as she knows from the experiences of other WAGs).

She also answered money-related questions as many people think that her boyfriend pays for everything in her life:

It is crazy for her that some people think that she is dating him only for the money - said that she didn't move across the Atlantic, away from her family and friends, and the established life she had in the Czech Republic, because of designer bags.

Said that all the WAGs (not just hockey ones) always showcase their life on social media to people who follow them in a manner that makes it seem better than it actually is - posting how they go to the games, how they all have their hair done, designer handbags...

She emphasized that they do have it really easy in a lot of things, and that it actually bothers her (personally she wouldn't be able to bear being financially dependent on her boyfriend - at least that's what I think she meant), but that there are also a lot of disadvantages, for example, if she is going to have kids one day in the States, their grandparents aren't going to see them because they are on the other side of the Atlantic.

At the end of the NHL-related segment, she brought up the question "what would you do if you broke up?"

She emphasized that she is one of the lucky ones because she has managed to find a way how to make a living on her own so this question doesn't really worry her because her life would simply continue, just back in Prague, not in the USA, but that many of the girls are studying in the States or just living there with their boyfriends and solely because of their boyfriends, and that once they break up, it is extremely difficult for them.

#nhl gossip #nhl wags

[noyoucannotpushthevoid]

Six of Crows Characters as DnD Characters: now complete with backgrounds!

Tired, on my sleep meds me better fucking appreciate that I can remember the idea I had

We'll go from easiest to hardest to parse (as if any of them were hard to figure out. They're fantasy characters, they were all but made to be categorized this way lol /hj)*

Kaz Brekker: A Mastermind Rogue with the Urchin Background Do I really need to elaborate? He is the large rat that makes all of the rules... He makes the plans; he's hard to get a jump on; he can sleight of hand like nobody's business. When his allies are near and acting as distractions, he can deal epic sneak attack damage. He's quiet on his feet. CRIME

Jesper Fahey**: Gunsliger Fighter with the Gambler Background Again, fairly self-explanatory. He has guns, but he's not really a crafter of guns***. There is an argument for a different background****; I am not going to entertain it here. Gambler, though his background is still a vital part of his character*****; It's more so than any education or criminal activity he's done.

Matthais Helver+: Beast Master Ranger that multiclasses into an Oathbreaker Paladin with the Zealot Background Arguably the worst class for my (second) least favorite character (of the ones covered in this post, though I'll happily do one of these for the villians/antagonists)++. Starts as a Beast Master Ranger, because of his wolf. Though he very quickly multiclasses into Paladin, but by the time he gets a subclass in that class he has to take Oathbreaker+++. Zealot is self-explainitory, the only other Background I would entertain is if there was an Occultist one (which there probably is, but Zealot is still the more apt option).

Inej Ghafa++++: Soulknife Rogue with the Entertainer Background (her routine specifically being Acrobat, which I don't see as an option, but I'm making an option right now) I can see the argument for Monk or Paladin+++++, but it's the stealth that really cements her as a Rogue. And it's the same deal as Kaz when it comes to canon sneak attacks. While Scout or Assassin could work well as her subclass, maybe even be more on track that Soulknife, I have to go with Soulknife. Like Jesper's gambling that just makes the Gambling Background more fitting than any other, Inej's knives are an integral part of her character. They are the only weapons she uses. So why don't we give her infinite knives? As well as, the fact they are psychic can be flavored to fit into the fact that she is a very religious character who links her knives to her religion by naming each one after one of her saints. Finally, the Entertainer Background. Criminal is a cop-out. Outlanders tend to be solo. Pirate can't count because that's the future.

Wylan Van Sunshine /s^: Bard that multiclasses into an Artillerist Artficier^^ with the Noble Background He doesn't take enough levels in Bard to get a subclass. He probably took 2, decided he disliked it, but his DM wouldn't let him just reflavor the whole character so he multiclassed as fast as he fucking could. Artificer, need I say more? Artillerist because, "An Artillerist specializes in using magic to hurl energy, projectiles, and explosions on a battlefield". Bomb. I rest my case. He was a "noble" like 3 months ago or so, though it should definitely be flavored as like a disgraced noble or something. Homebrew I guess. It took me a while to get here, but once the ball got rolling there was no stopping it. His character just fell into perfect place.

Kuwei Yul-Bo: Pyromancy Sorcerer with the Inheritor Background Again, a class I dislike for a character I dislike. He was very boring to me, very useless despite being at the heart of both books' plots. I literally forgot about him for the majority of Crooked Kingdom. He reminds me of a pc from the last campaign I dmed for a specific group. The player was barely there, and when he was, refused to do anything. I'm not a fan of magic classes if you can tell, but the only thing I truly remember about Kuwei is some inherent link to fire. Thus the idea for Kuwei the Pyromancy Sorcerer was born. He's a Sorcerer and has the Inheritor background for the same reason: his father. He became valuable when he inherited his father's work.

Last but not least, Nina Zenik: A Way of Mercy Monk who multiclasses into an Order of the Ghostslayer Blood Hunter with the Cloistered Scholar Background Originally she was only going to be a Blood Hunter, but then I remembered a character of mine who's a Way of Mercy Monk and how they get this dual ability to both heal and harm. This felt very apt for Nina as a Heartrender, and how she uses her abilities throughout, particularly book one. She multiclasses at the end of that book specifically lol. While I am a diehard fan of the Order of the Lycan and just the absolute range of horror that can come from it, Order of the Ghostslayer is much much more accurate to Nina's abilities. Her abilities after parem are still her old ones, just mutated and screwy. Which, what is a Blood Hunter if not someone whose abilities have become warped and fucked up? Blood Hunters in general are very akin to Heartrenders in my opinion as both can take a physical toll on the user. As well as both deal heavily with the body and utilizing/fucking with its various parts. Ghostslayers are the oldest, historically, order of Blood Hunters, which in combination with the previous sentence makes it perfect for Nina as she has her roots in a very old type of magic. Ghostslayers also focus on fighting the undead, which is another link to her new abilities as Blood Hunters are deeply connected to that which they hunt, so her being able to utilize the dead but them also being her sworn enemy is fitting. Finally, she gets her background from the fact that she was raised, secluded away, in the Little Palace, effectively just studying her craft.

I'm glad to see I got more in-depth, therefore unhinged, as this went on.

*It's been a while since I read the books, pardon any inaccuracies **He was the first one to come to mind lol ***This will come back when we discuss Wylan and how their skills complement each other ****One of the ones that has to do with being a student. Or like criminal, but that's a fucking cop-out, ALL of these motherfuckers (besides Wylan and Kuwei, whom I will be including solely because I did have an idea for him) could have the criminal background *****If this were Hunter the Vigil it'd be his Vice +Surprisingly easy ++I've heard the arguments in his favor, everyone else is just naturally better than him in terms of me liking them +++These guys aren't that old lol ++++She surprisingly took some thinking when it came to a subclass +++++If you know more about Paladins and would like to make an argument, I'd love to hear it, the only Paladin I've played is a pathetic and useless excuse for one (on purpose) ^My beloved little bastard. Everyone infantilizing him or disregarding his sarcasm and willingness to make literal bombs can fight me in a game of Zombie Dice (I am not strong, me and Wylan are premium members of the Scrawny Club) ^^This is what I meant about his and Jesper's abilities complementing each other. Unlike Kaz and Inej who are cut from the same cloth, or-as you'll learn-Nina and Matthais who are effectively 2 sides of the same coin, they really build on each other

#dnd #six of crows #kaz brekker #jesper fahey #nina zenik #inej ghafa #wylan van eck #matthais helvar #I cannot spell Mr. Helver's name. #I should specify #the books #i've never watched the TV show #This became mostly asides...I'm a bit disappointed in myself smh /hj

[britcision]

Hey by the way if you ever said even one bitchy fucking word about Griffin “railroading” in the Balance arc where he could see it I want to feed you a thesaurus

It is your fucking fault we have not had an arc as good as Balance since, that so many of the new ones feel like they end out of nowhere with only the vaguest interconnecting threads, because you couldn’t tell the fucking difference between a home game and an actual play

They’ve still done good arcs since! They’ve had some great moments! But THEY HAVE NOT HAD A FUCKING THROUGH LINE, because you chucklefucks couldn’t stop whinging when Griffin gave them a structured adventure with a set number of beats, and an overarching story

Storytelling in a home game, in an open world, is reactive; the DM doesn’t know which quests the players will pick, or stumble across, or in what order, so they have to have contingencies or plan on the fly to fit things together

THIS IS FUCKING HARD. It is not easy, or basic, and if you have not DMed but say this I’m also feeding you the entire WOTC book list from all of the editions

Storytelling in an actual play show, that you expect an audience to watch for the story, NEEDS a degree of railroading

There NEEDS to be a flow of cause and effect between the quests, and the players NEED to work cooperatively, plan ahead, and follow the path that they think makes a good story, even if the DM has strung the path with fairy lights

Balance was as magical as it was because even when he didn’t know what he was doing, Griffin knew exactly where the end was, and approximately when they’d get there, and how long he had to work shit out

It was reactive, it changed based on what they players did, and yeah, they followed where Griffin led them without protest; it was their first damn game

And because Griffin knew basically what each of the six quests would be like, he could include meaningful foreshadowing! Even if he didn’t know what it’d become yet! The red robes! The umbrella! He set this shit up in the first adventure!

And the boys ALSO knew the basic outline, and how far they were! And when to start fucking around with rising action, and Travis “teasing” Magnus joining the red robes in the second or third quest!

Having tracks makes a good fucking story, it means you all know where you’re going without the players needing to know the plot and can trust the DM to get them to the next beat

The McElroys have done a fucking heroic job of telling good stories for all the other seasons when people flipped shit over the story having a fucking outline

We EXPLICITLY missed half the fucking story of Ethersea because each of the quests the boys didn’t choose went on to actively affect the world and the story, which is exactly how home games should go! And is fucking frustrating as an audience because actually no I would have loved to see and see the characters have some fucking impact on that weird swarm of metallic scrap that instead had massive consequences offscreen and went to the rando B-team

And people STILL hounded and bitched at Travis for Graduation like you learned fucking NOTHING about the art of storytelling

I hope y’all realize you, personally, are the reason we haven’t had an arc like Balance since

All of the arcs have been good, and fun, and the metamals gave me life, but Balance was absolute magic and some fucking asshats who can’t tell the difference between a home game and a show harassed the people who made it out of capturing that magic again

I hope everyone who harasses actual players never has a coffee that doesn’t taste of nail polish remover or a sunrise without a bird shitting on their head again

May your only internet connection for the rest of your life be dial up

#rant #cranky posting #also i will kick the shit out of anyone i find who did this shit #get behind the goddamn denny’s you fucking parasites

[dungeonsandblorbos]

Welcome and Tag Masterlist

hello and welcome! i love playing TTRPGs, and as it says in the bio, i have Too Many Thoughts about my PCs from my various campaigns to keep them to myself anymore. so i made this sideblog to infodump about my beloved PC blorbos!

as a general note, this is not a family-friendly blog. there's a lot of adult language, adult themes, and written descriptions of TTRPG violence that can at times get pretty gorey. i do tag potential triggers by the specific post and try hide more triggering parts of posts under cuts, but i am only one human. please feel free to let me know (either publicly or privately) if i missed a trigger tag or if there is something you would like me to tag for!

also please feel free to send me asks about any of the characters or campaigns, or even just TTRPG things in general. i love these topics and will gladly take any opportunity to chat about them!

finally. there's a lot of blorbos on this blog, and a lot of NPCs, and a lot of campaigns, and a lot of tags, so under the cut here is a handy little guide to help keep them all straight!*

*disclaimer: nothing and no one here is straight. i am incapable of making characters and stories that aren't queer and so are most of the people i play with.

without further ado, the campaigns! i will probably be redoing my campaign intros and character intros at some point, and will add the links for those once completed. these are listed as Campaign Title, System Used, in reverse chronological order.

Curse of Strahd, DnD 5e my current obsession. this is a heavily homebrewed version of Curse of Strahd (like, we're talking a good 80% or more homebrew) DMed by my husband, @somethingclevermahogony. it's all of your dark queer gothic horror dreams come true! this campaign is just absolutely chalk full of dead doves like body horror, child abuse and death (almost entirely off-screen), animal cruelty, body horror, gallows humor, cannibalism, oh my god so much gore, and body horror. but don't let that get you down; there's also a lot of very funny and very heartwarming moments in this campaign and the worldbuilding our DM does is so fucking cool. this is also technically two campaigns, as we have both a present day game with two PCs, based on the Curse of Strahd book, and a prequel campaign with just me as a player, which delves into some of the history around when Barovia was first closed off from the rest of Faerun, roughly 400 years before the main campaign. in the present day, i play a human tempest cleric named Cerris Dalca Tempescu, who is just so very very tired. our other PC is Shalden Broadfist, a purple half-orc paladin who serves a desert worm cult. our party is rounded out with a couple of NPCs; Vasillica, a flesh golem made out of pieces of the bodies and souls of at least a dozen different people by an insane angel, and Milo, an adorable little klepto halfling boy who used to be the Bagman and still has Bagman powers. in the prequel, i play Kire Dalca, a human eldritch knight fighter who came to Barovia as part of the original war effort against Strahd and then got trapped in Barovia. coincidentally, she's Cerris's many many greats aunt and she's also so very very tired (and maybe pregnant shhh). the tag for the present day campaign is #curse of strahd homebrew, and the prequel is #curse of strahd prequel, and you can find them both or general CoS things under #curse of strahd. recurring character tags include #cerris tempescu for my cleric, #shalden broadfist for my companion PC, #ireena my beloved for (of course) the brilliant NPC Ireena Kolyana, #meow meow milo and #the bagman for Milo, and #kire dalca for my fighter. pretty soon there will also probably be tags for the secondary PCs we made as backup characters in case our first PCs die, as they have actually both been introduced in canon now.

Hot Gay Pirates in Your Area! Avatar Legends: The RPG my other current campaign, with my college TTRPG group (which includes my husband as a player). it's set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, during the era of Kyoshi. specifically, it's late summer in 250BG (Before Genocide). there are some promised darker elements, as well as a lot of enemy deaths, due to the nature of this campaign, but overall it's a very fun, chaotic, and queer story! we play as a party of pirates/smugglers on a small ship called The Confusion, working for the Ruike clan, a coastal Fire Nation crime family. our total ship crew currently numbers 10, with four PCs, but it might very well get bigger given that we started with a crew of 9. i play Aila Ruike, granddaughter of the head of the clan and heir apparent after her father. she serves as The Confusion's sort of second in command, and is a talented firebender and swordswoman, though she's much better at environmental control and defense than offense. she's stoic and stern and kind of mean in a hot way, and has two priorities in life: upholding her family honor and taking care of her team. my husband plays Bo of the Foggy Swamp Tribe, a waterbender who ran away from home to avoid the pressures and responsibility of leadership. he's flirty and silly and a little bit vicious in battle (his bending style is based on the US "boxing" style rough-and-tumble), and pretends to be a lot dumber than he actually is. we also have Onartok of the Southern Water Tribe, a sweet but naïve waterbender prince who, like Bo, ran away from home to avoid the pressures of leadership. before joining the crew, he was "roommates" with Aila's cousin Jai. and finally, the enigmatic Lì, a former EK child soldier who ran away from the army and is now a fabulous genderfluid pirate who goes off on violent side-quests with Aila while the waterbenders are doing nice people side-quests. tags for this campaign include #hot gay pirates in your area!, #our ship is called the confusion for a reason, #atla, and #aila ruike.

Acquisitions, Incorporated: Cauldron & Kettle Questing Company, DnD 5e this was our second campaign with our college TTRPG group, and was a fun romp set in the world of Acquisitions, Inc., an actual play podcast by Penny Arcade based around the idea of "classic adventuring parties but make it capitalism." it was primarily played out of the official Acquisitions, Inc., playbook, with some additional homebrew expansions and a nice little extra homebrew arc on the end that introduced us to the incredible chaos of the D10,000 wild magic table. we played as the Cauldron & Kettle Questing Co., a subsidiary branch of the larger Acq Inc. corporation, based in Phandalin. at our branch, we also owned a tea shop named the Cauldron & Kettle Cafe, and we had a steam-powered teapot-shaped vehicle dubbed the Tea Trolley. this campaign accidentally ended up going very hard on the found family vibes. i played Jun Vyardes, a half-elf light cleric/bard, travelling priestess of the fire and revelry goddess Vestia. she's very devoted to her found family, and after a life of wandering, is finally starting to learn how to settle down and grow roots. my husband played Tim Cobbletoss, a half-orc barbarian primarily raised by a blind halfling woman, so in personality he's basically a british grandma with occasional anger issues. he and Jun share a human father we affectionately referred to as Daddy Bard, who is such a terrible father that complaining about him is actually part of how these two started bonding. we also had Briny (played by the same person as Onartok), a goblinoid blood hunter who likes shells and the ocean and gambling even though they don't actually know anything about gambling; and Taku (played by the same person as Lì), a whooping crane aarakocra monk who is very smart and powerful and unfortunately also fragile, and whom Jun regarded as a little brother and became very protective of. tags for this campaign include #acquisitions incorporated, #Cauldron & Kettle Questing Co., #bard is only one letter away from bad (for Daddy Bard nonsense), #jun vyardes, and #tim and jun.

The Orphic Uprising and The Amazonomachy, Cypher these were two continuous arcs that together formed the first campaign with our college TTRPG group. they were set in the world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, so we sometimes refer to them collectively as the PJO campaign. we played as a group of Camp Half-Blood kids, all in their late teens by the end of the story. in The Orphic Uprising, it was a group of four of us sent on a prophecy quest to the Underworld to rescue Dionysus and prevent the children of Nyx's attempted takeover of Olympus. in the Amazonomachy, it was a group of five sent out to prevent the Amazons' attempted takeover of Olympus, because apparently Olympus just cannot catch a break! i played Nina Grayson, daughter of Nike, a talented gymnast, dancer, and rock-climber lowkey obsessed with victory and willing to fight a little dirty if that's what it took to win. i had a lot of fun with her mechanically, as she was basically an unkillable damage- and debuff-dealing machine--she just, ya know, also didn't really have any social skills and was very much a himbo. iconic himbo acts of hers include solving a puzzle by punching a horse statue in the face, getting set on fire and then putting it out by drenching herself in monster blood, solving a locked door problem by punching the lock open, splitting the party to go undercover with the Amazons without telling her friends she was only fake-betraying them, and punching a bitchy goddess so hard it temporarily killed her. i love her. at some point she acquired the nickname Larry. my husband played Chuck Hickey, an Italian-American son of Dionysus who lived on his grandparents' vineyard who really embraced the chaotic side of his godly heritage. silly and goofy but also a talented battle strategist, highly charismatic, and capable of turning into a fire-breathing leopard. cause, ya know, Dionysus. the other character present for both arcs was Beatrice Starveling, a NY-based daughter of Apollo raised by her two gay dads. she was an incredible performer, a true bardic legend, and alongside Chuck, played a key part in helping Nina come out of her shell. for The Orphic Uprising, our final party member was . . . i gotta be honest i don't remember his name, just that he was kind of an obnoxious Mary Sue type son of Aphrodite, who the rest of us all had a grand time poking fun at and complaining about when the player did not return for the second arc. for The Amazonomachy, we welcomed two new players and their PCs, Bryce (played by the same person as Onartok and Briny) and Murph (played by the same person as Lì and Taku). Bryce was a dumbass (affectionate) son of Eros who was sweet and well-meaning but generally clueless, and somehow had really good game with the ladies. Murph was a son of Epimetheus (hindsight), a surfer bro and himbo extraordinaire with amazing luck and an incredible knack for having just the right tool for the job, somehow. tags for this campaign include #confusion crew, #the orphic uprising, #the amazonomachy, and #nina grayson.

North Pines Camp, Monster of the Week, and Grovington College, Demon Hunters: A Comedy of Terrors these two campaigns were my first dives into TTRPGs, both with the same GM and both with slightly altered versions of the same PC for me, so the GM and i had a few fun inside jokes and callbacks during the second one. these were played before i met my husband and before i got good at note-taking, so my memory of them is very hazy. tbh any content posted about these two will be undetailed, completely out of context, and full of holes, but the basic shenanigans are still very fun to look back on. North Pines Camp was a kids' summer camp in ?????, built on top of what used to be monster-hunter training grounds. our PCs were all camp employees, and our main goal was typically to keep the kids safe (or rescue them) from whatever ~monster of the week~ showed up to wreak havoc. there was a deeper mystery element running through it, about what happened to the old monster-hunter camp here, but we never got far enough into the story to really get anywhere with it. Grovington College was a decently sized college with greek life located in Grovington, ?????, USA; it housed a chapter of the Brotherhood, a demon/monster-slaying organization. our PCs were all members of this chapter, tasked with taking care of various demon and monster problems around campus and the town as a whole, in between doing college student/professor things. in these campaigns, i played Indigo Sullivan, a queer psychic with both a caffeine and an attitude problem. technically they were two separate characters for the two campaigns, but like, the version of him that continues to roll around in my head is an amalgam of both PCs plus all the additional things i've tacked onto him as time has gone on. most of those additions can be summed up as "he's now even more queer and has even more problems." tags for these campaigns are #north pines camp, #grovington college, and #indigo sullivan.

and that is all of them, phew! that's a lot thank you for reading this all and please enjoy my blog!

#introduction post

[samiraheaven93]

I can now proudly say that I DMed my first session of DnD on Saturday … and it was really nice! Obviously I still need some practice, but the players had fun and I had fun!

And fun is the most important thing!

I’m not out to kill my players characters… even though I downed one of them because I rolled almost max damage … whoopsy^^’

They had to fight a mimic, because one of the players had never encountered one and I had to fix that! Mimics are just so iconic!

It’s all homebrew as well… which is fun! But also needs more time to prep…

Thankfully almost everyone of us now has a campaign to run so we take turns! Which is pretty rare?

We play a few modules and a few homebrew campaigns … sometimes oneshots as well!

It’s amazing! I love and appreciate every one of my friends I play with! Meeting them (well I knew some before playing even if just loosely) was one of the best things that happened to me in the last years… them and DnD helped me a lot!

I had some hard time last year, but they supported me and DnD was always a welcome distraction!

I’m healing… from old and newer wounds… through the power if friendship

This sounds so cheesy … but it’s true!

(I had other friends supporting me and caring as well! And I love them just as much! You know who you are! Love you!)

A few years ago I would have never thought that a silly little game and the friends I made through it would mean so much to me… but it does!

[theswampghost]

rant beneath the read more cuz we had our first session last night

we played daggerheart last night and this is the campaign that i never intended to be a campaign. i always intended for this to be a oneshot and then when we had our session 0 last week it morphed into something much bigger. which, i love ttrpgs and of course i would be happy to play one longterm, but i also am the GM and have so much anxiety about whether or not my stories are good for the game / players and if i'm doing enough to be a good gm. we picked up another player last week as well, as we got dinner beforehand and ran into a mutual friend who one of my players (!!!!!!!) offered to let him join the party. okay. cool cool cool cool cool i now have a 5 person party. we go to make characters and he makes like.... a joke character? he seemed excited about it but idk. he keeps making weird jokes like "hey dm what if i named my character this unpronounceable string of consonants. wouldn't that be funny" AND THEN we get around to actually playing and he's so.... not into it? he was on his phone at the table for a while, even when i was specifically asking him what his character is doing, and he only spoke up when he was able to make a joke about his character. i'm just a little frustrated because why would you even venture to join the fucking campaign if you don't want to speak up and you don't want to play and you're not even going to answer me when i try to engage with you? AAAGGHHHH i don't know, maybe he's just uncomfortable or maybe he's just not invested, which is fine, but why even join the party in the first place then? he also has a tendency to just. cut me off when i'm talking and ignore whatever i was saying so. idk. i just want this game to go well and i'm also deeply nervous about my dming capabilities because i've never dmed for longer than a few sessions in a row before and even that hasn't been very high-stakes because none of those people had ever played before so i felt a little more confident in my abilities as a beginning dm. aaaaghgghhhh. i also was unable to stop thinking about the campaign all night and got a terrible night's sleep so there's that as well hahahahahha i need to not think about this for just like. a few hours. please

#lu.txt #personal

[professional-loser]

Some DnD related rambling/ranting ⬇️

Thinking back to the time when I DMed a few DnD games (including trying to create my own campaign) and I think I figured out what went wrong

It's just all too much

Both for me and for most of the players

I was overachieving, trying to make a whole big narrative and world, when I should've focused on just making one mission, forcing my players into it and then building onto that between the sessions

But also I felt like I had to rush it so badly (mostly bc my ex was one of my players and he got super invested and was spending all of his time reading abt dnd mechanics and classes and items and seeing this made me feel like I'm not doing enough)

I started feeling like I didn't even understand what I was doing WHILE the game is going

Insane stress

But I think some of my friends felt that too, bc we decided to not have session 0 with character creation, just bring your character sheet ready (guess who pushed for this idea) and I think this influenced how ppl played and how they felt about the game. I know for sure my brother didn't understand the rules of the game while playing

And idk I feel like in general DnD has so many rules and mechanics it's just

Overwhelming to just jump into it like that, and yet we still did

I think a better alternative is something similar to Magic the Noah games

I've played one with my friends recently and it was a lot of fun. Right now I'm even trying to make my own and tbh it's going pretty smoothly and I'm enjoying the process

Mostly because I don't have to learn a milion rules first and I don't have anybody rushing me to make it faster and I'm letting myself be more silly with it

What is the moral of this? Don't play DnD with a tryhard? Dunno, maybe

I kinda just wanted to rant a bit about the whole thing, maybe someday I'll get back to DMing dnd who knows

#rambling #don't really wanna tag this as dnd lmao i don't think ppl into it would be pleased to hear it #ok maybe it's not that bad but still

[tiny-tigers]

Okay so Frederico is golfing with Charlie but I have no idea where 😂👀🙈

Also closed stories aren't that tricky! (so many of my mates use them) - love seeing a green circle! 😂👌🏻They probably just have close friends/family/school mates on there and post random/drunk things that they wouldn't want on the internet for everyone else to see 😂🙈

And no not Dolly sorry, Ellis' partner is Megan right? She's welsh and they've been together since they were teenagers I think! (partly explains his move back to Bristol as its so close to Wales also! - her family etc.)

Yeh you're right, the video will be special as its just for you! But it is kind of crazy to promise something that they didn't have previously organised no? 👀

P.S just re-read your message - are we thinking then that DK and JVP aren't actually that close?? 👀😅 I mean it would kind of make sense because DK and Fred will be bonded in a way that only happens when you've lived with someone for years, I wonder if Jack gets a bit jealous??? omg why have I never thought of this beforeeee

Also you're right, this summer has been GREAT for content. (still feel awful about sending you that 'don't hate me message' though from the Marbella incident 😳😳😢☹️ ugh I would be sickkkk

Also final point: no, I am not looking forward to constant Frederico content, nor is my phone storage 😭😭😭😂🥴

I wish I had more to show you but Charlie is lazy, just the info Fred is a golf loser.

Looks like norwich when they are together it is usually the case.

Probably Fred but Jack nah ? I have +- all his close mates and some family members and even when they show stuffs it is only repost the only drunk ones I got were from girls not his mates but I usually know where he is when he is not chilling because everyone loves to take him in picture 😂🤣 but I really don't see him being bothered with taking pictures and stories he usually doesn't do that Well when it is the mandatory ones so private ones ??? Nah... He also never had sponsors so far 😂🤣 poor bebou. Not a single tshirt to show on his bed. Unlikely to me but perhaps he does and I am totally wrong but he doesn't even show his dogs 😭.

Also do I really want to see more tractors ???? I don't think so.

Now that I think about it if one day I meet you I Will still have stuffs I cannot say over here, Sorry 🤐, to tell you 😏😏😏 and yes it is about both. The only thing I want to keep to myself, but my friend heard it when he answered so we are more than one to know, is what J was writting on his wrist before match but he doesn't anymore and in my sense it is an indicator something is bad :-( because it was part of his training with Wiggy and Ben and one acronym is what they were telling him when he was a tiny tiger so seperate from that.... is it good sign ????

I totally thought it was Nic doing the big moove haha 😂 oh I cannot wait for Cam and Molly tho... imagine the band in kilts ???

Ellis was so great for us :( I was little by little appreciating the character. Sad.

It is a disaster in organisation I almost thought it was a scam.... Also sorry but not trying to get Bondi on board is sketchy or to by pass it by talking to another player instead of reaching Jack directly makes me think he isn't the cause of the delay even with what she said about chasing him. Who does that ??? I would have better results just genuinely asking him by DM. He randomly dmed me last year so I still have our messages and could start there 🙃.

Mmmh good question ! I think they were very good mates and like ride or die at one point 2021-2022 but then Chess looks like his second best mates after Fred to me ??? Also what makes me think Jack is very caring is how well he took care of Cam and Nic dolly that they both publicly thanked him same for Taylor Gough so I think he doesn't really need a lot to get attached to people and is surrounded by bubbly people matching his energy and DK has that. I think nobody could detach him from Fredda that even when they don't need to be with each other they choose to be : on holidays or crossing Norfolk to be together... I think they have all plenty of friends but it is the only 2 that have so much crossing circles of common friends. He really might be the brother he never had and wished for to my opinion so yes I think he might be at time and must have felt rejected when they were both in England without him. I think also DK missing out so much with his injury might have affected a bit their relation and ultimately R because Fred and J doesn't have same rhythm, as someone in a relationship. They could have taken J and Fred on holidays in Greece they didn't ? Also J always bonding with Fred against Dk starts a good but little rivalry ? Football-wise they wanted to let Dk outside of their house so... Golf... :D etc. ... He never teams up with DK but against him :))) I think they are close but some stuffs might have generated some distance. Surprisingly Jack looks close from the Pollard ? 10-9 bond but still ? He followed all Marisa friends or family and I'm like ?????

oh no don't blame yourself I was more sad when you announced you will not come back rather than to see that video wich was gonna happen sooner or later so :/ but I was sick for a long moment before the other pics

I also get that because the more the content the more people crazy about them and omg I have seen some rather craycray fan of Fred around..... To another level that we are like ...

some children (sorry but minors of age are still children to me) sexualizing him when he is 22 makes me cringe a little. We could say same for me as I'm older than them but I assume it.

[toothpickwriter]

Session 1: November 9, 2020

Introduction

This wasn't my first time DMing a game. I first DMed my Hombrew campaign called Peaceful Sanctuary. Then I tried to DM a hardcore campaign for Dungeon and Dragons veterans called Out of the Abyss because I thought it would be fun to have a serious game. It wasn't surprising that I was overwhelmed by how much shit was in that one campaign; it immediately broke me down in the first session. I am not a great DM, but I try at least. So after a six-month-long break from DMing the last campaign, sometime in October 2020, I wanted to DM a smaller campaign– the starter campaign for Dungeons and Dragons called Lost Mines of Phandelver.

This specific campaign has been a curse for the boys and me. We have played this campaign seven times and never finished it. And not once have we ever completed it to full completion. I am the furthest in the campaign than the other attempts because the other attempts were crushed as soon as we reached the Red Brands Manor. Hopefully, I will be the first to complete this awful and long campaign, even if it takes me another year to do it.

How I started it

For this campaign, I didn't start with session 0. I was so confident in my abilities (even though it was short-lived) in making sure the game flowed nicely with the characters trying to figure each other out in the first session. This was my first mistake, and because I didn't have a session 0, the characters were not grounded in the world and story. I was also too excited to play, so I started it without being fully prepared for what to do. After this moment, the characters were frequently changing, and soon the players were just being themselves and not investing in the characters they created. But I'll leave it at that until we reach the other sessions.

The players didn't even meet Gundren because I was too scared to act him out as a character. I have nervous issues with acting out characters and describing scenes, even with friends. I know I shouldn't be trying to be like Matt Mercer's level of good (because he is a trained professional, and I will never, even in my dreams, touch his pedestal), but even when I want to have fun, I get choked up by social cues. I think the game took so long because I wasn't confident in making sure the story flowed well with the characters, setting, and plot hooks.

The Journey Begins…

In the city of Neverwinter, there was a man named Gundren who needed escorts to protect and travel to a small mining town called Phandalin to deliver mining supplies. A group of people from different walks of life comes to his aid. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vulthuryol

He is a Dragonborn paladin that loves to enslave anything that walks in his path.

Galloway

He is a rare creature in this world, but one with a familiar ability to shapeshift. Their race is primarily hunters and nomads, and travel in small groups. Most of them are in a clan, but Galloway was abandoned. Now he travels on his own, with a bow in his hand and the sun guiding him, he can begin his true hunt.

Shatter Peen

Peen is part of a unique and odd family called the Shatter Family. They all possess some powerful magic that is very specific and stupid. Shatter Peen can steal anything, and I mean anything, he wants. However, the limitation is that he can only cast it once daily and must get permission to steal that object from the entity in possession. Peen is not a good thief, nor does he want to be one. But never the less, he is, in fact, a Rouge because he has no money and no job.

Shmalon Hobiddy

An old hermit who is scarred by a trauma he can not remember. His only memories are him waking up in a shack that has been lived in by some madmen. There was an odd room in the shack with dried animal blood; it marked the walls, "DON'T OPEN THE GATE." Shmalon and his deranged owl familiar named Stolas traveled the Neverwinter woods for some time until they reached the city of Neverwinter. He looked for a job to start fresh and new and hopefully live a good life. Hopefully...

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These four adventurers were humbly accepted by Gundren, even though Sildar (his other bodyguard/a soldier that is supposed to establish connections with the little town of Phandalin) does not like the group. Gundren, on the other hand, does not care; his only interest is to get to the small town safely without getting eaten alive by some monster on the way. He does not even slightly care about the adventurers. Well, maybe, except for Shatter Peen; he really likes Peen. Anyways, the group was ready, and the party left the city of Neverwinter for the town of Phandalin. The group is on the road towards the small town. What would you like to do?

During this session…

The party had no clue what they were doing.

The party tried to talk to one another, but it was awkward.

They traveled near the shores of the Sword Coast and met a man face-first on the sand.

The man was a Dark Elf who went by Captain Skelly Bones.

It was getting late at night, so they decided to sleep before they hit the road again.

Galloway made soup, but it wasn't good, and Skelly Bones got sick.

They went on a trail and noticed an abandoned carriage.

They checked it out and found that It might have been Gundrens carriage (but they forgot about this detail).

Then, they were ambushed by Goblins.

It was a bloody battle that had Shatter Peen killed and the rest hiding behind their carriage while the last Goblin was sniping them.

Shatter Peen stole his soul back by using his Shatter powers from a ferryman that he presumed was Death.

The Goblin was winning the battle single-handedly. 

Then, he soon took the chance to run into the forest away from the party (for some reason).

The party was poorly defeated and was left in a bloody pit of Goblins.

#d&d campaign #session recap #session notes #lost mine of phandelver #Our First Campaign #pt. 2

[aliveahahafuck]

Allow me to bitch about tonight's dnd session for a second, if at all possible.

So after last week's shit show where the campaign had to end, because it broke, this week we started a new campaign

This time Dmed by someone who was a player last campaign, and its his first time being a Dm. (Were running Beyond the Witchlight)

What this means is our former Dm is now a player

Which is exactly what I wanted to bitch about

Because he's being a backseat Dm. The rules literally dont apply to him, and he gets to donwhat he wants but we can't :)

Beyond the witchlight makes you start with 8gp per character but the background that my friend and I chose for our identical twins gave us 30 gold each so I was like aight bet, I'll add a pan flute and say they spent the rest of what they had to buy it (which is still double what a pan flutes worth) and the former Dm flipped out saying I wasn't allowed to do that

it's up to dm discretion, but I still wasn't allowed to do that and he wouldn't let me if he was dm

So obviously the first time dm who was suddenly put on the spot about it told me I couldn't

Come to find out that the former Dm has the keen mind feat.

We're level 3

Nothing that I can 100% confirm that he has should give him a bonus feat when nobody else has one.

I literally went and checked his race, class, and homebrew subclass for if it gave him one and it doesn't

Could it be his background? Maybe, but no RAW backgrounds give feats and I can't confirm if he has a homebrew one or not

And ngl, the only reason that pissed me off is that he's allowed an extra feat for no apparent reason and I'm not allowed a panflute that my character (a fucking bard) could have reasonably bought before campaign?

Annoying but fuck it, whatever.

Then he's causing chaos and blaming it on us because I'm the one who likes to embody fuck around and find out

The most chaotic thing I did all session was jokingly ask the person playing my characters twin hoe much trouble wed get in if something broke

Most chaotic thing they did was attempt and fail to bitch slap me for a snarky comment

The most chaotic thing he did was literally start a friendly fire initiative between us because oh hoho, yall can't understand fuck all what I'm saying to (4th member of the party), so no meta

And even better was him deciding that his character is the equivalent of a toddler.

First of all: this fucker has the keen mid feat, on top of a negative int

Second his character is 3

His character is an arakocra

Ya wanna know when arakocra are considered adults? Age 3

So he's allowed to be like nah, I'm basically a child, but my friend and I are "technically completely mature, you're not children" when we're playing 75y/o elves

We never said they were children, even if they technically are by elf standards

We said they look like theyre children because they look 14 and that they act like children because its literally written into their backstory that they're emotionally stunted from nearly a century of emotional abuse and general neglect.

But no, we're not allowed to act young because our characters are fully matured adults, but hes allowed to make his fully matured adult character act like a toddler

Like wtf dude????

And honestly the part that pisses me off the most?

Well it can be summed up as:

"Yeah, so I want to-"

"'SQUAK, SQUAAAAA SQUAK' I'm going to fly 50 feet in the air"

"... to go and check-"

"Im going to land beside (4th player) 'SQUAAAAK, SQUAK, SQUAAAAAAAAK'"

"..........check if there's any-"

"SQUAAAAK"

"................................"

"I'm going to just look at (4th player) and say 'why are they weird?'"

Like bruh.

Share the spotlight? Maybe? And maybe just let us get a word in sometimes????

[dilophosaurusatenewman]

Rant ahead, fair warning.

So I'm currently DMing a group. I'm the only woman in the group, and I honestly feel like that plays a role in how they treat me. I don't think it's intentional, but I do think it's internalized.

They've all DMed before, which is fine, but it also means they all have opinions about how things should go and they have no problems spitting that out, even if they're talking over me, the actual DM, to make their opinion heard.

The reason I think this is impacted by my being a woman is because I've also been in a party with every other member as a DM, and none of them got talked over as much as I do (even my boyfriend when it was his first time DMing commanded more respect as a DM than me).

I recently spoke with my boyfriend about it and he said he'll try to subtly help me and defer to me more during games. And he did, for the most part. I could tell he was trying.

Until I gave him an answer he didn't like. Then he said "let's check Google."

It was slightly irrelevant, two of the players like to spar after every level up and the question came up during that time, so it wasn't a huge, campaign impacting decision, but it still happened and annoyed the fuck outta me.

As I was reading, trying to figure out my answer to his question, all the other players were, as is now tradition, talking over me and giving their own opinions.

I gave my answer then left the room to wash my face and just let them handle it cause I was frustrated.

After we all disconnected from discord, I called my boyfriend on it. I asked him if he wanted me to explain my reasoning for my call. He said "no, I get it, it's cause" and then proceeded to give reasons the other players had offered instead of what I said. Like he didn't even hear me when I was explaining it to him before.

So I called him out on that too. Told him I never even mentioned that, that that was the players, and see, this is what I was trying to explain before.

He looked ashamed and apologized but God dammit I'm frustrated. So I'm coming here to rant. I love D&D. I want to keep loving it. But it's so damn hard when it's almost not even fun anymore.

#personal #rant #d&d #dnd #misogyny #i guess #kind of #I know people are gonna think im dumb for blaming it on that #but we even have one player who has DMed #and he's just really bad at it #like he refuses to read any guidebooks #or learn any rules #and basically just likes to be a tyrant #and even he gets questioned less than i do #so what do they expect me to think #ahhhhh

[dmsden]

A History Lesson - Looking back at D&D’s history

Hullo, Gentle Readers. Well, this is the 5th Monday in March, and that means I get to write about anything I want! It’s also my birth month, which means it’s my anniversary of getting into D&D (42 years!), and that has me feeling nostalgic. Coupled with a discussion I had recently with some friends, I thought it would be fun to look back at the various editions of D&D and give you all a bit of history. I’m not going to get into Gygax vs Arneson or any of that. I’m only talking about the published game itself, not its creators or its storied origins.

The original D&D (or OD&D as it’s sometimes called) came in a small box. It had three booklets inside - Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, and The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures - along with reference sheets and dice. Each was softcover and roughly the same dimensions as a DVD/BluRay case. The game was pretty rudimentary - for one thing, it assumed you already had a copy of Chainmail, D&D’s direct wargame predecessor. It also recommended you have a game called Outdoor Survival for purposes of traveling through the wilderness. It had only three classes - fighting man, magic-user, and cleric - and nothing about playing other races. It did have the insane charts that 1st edition would ultimately known for, and it was possible to play a pretty fun game of D&D with it, as its popularity would come to show.

The game expanded through similar chapbooks - Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldritch Wizardry, Gods Demigods & Heroes, Swords & Spells. With the exception of the last one, each brought new facets to the game - new classes like Thief and Monk, new spells, new threats. It was clear the game was going to need an overhaul, and it got one.

I consider this overhaul to yield the real “1st Edition”, as so much of the game didn’t exist in those original games. The game split into a “Basic” game, just called Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

The basic game was a boxed set that included a rulebook, a full adventure module, and dice...or, well, it was supposed to contain dice. The game was so popular and new in those days that demand for dice outstripped production. My copy of D&D came with a coupon for dice when they became available and a sheet of “chits” - laminated numbers meant to be put into cups (we used Dixie Cups with the name of the die written on it), shaken, and a random number pulled out without looking. It was meant to introduce new players to the game, so it was a trimmed down version. Races were human, elf, dwarf, and halfling, and classes were fighter, cleric, magic-user, and thief. The box only included rules for going up to 3rd level, with the intention that players would then graduate into AD&D. This is where I joined, with the old blue cover box set and In Search of the Unknown, before Keep on the Borderlands even existed.

AD&D was the game in its full glory. Along with the races I mention above, we got half-elves, half-orcs, and gnomes. The four basic classes also had sub-classes, like paladin and ranger for the fighter, druid for the cleric, illusionist for the wizard, and assassin for the thief. There were rules for multi-classing, as well as “Dual-classing”, a sort of multi-class variation for humans only, which, when done in the correct combination, could yield the infamous bard...which didn’t actually yield any bard abilities until around level 13 or so.

This edition had 5 different saving throws for things like “Death Magic”, “Petrification & Polymorph”, “Spells”, and so on. It had the infamous Armor Class system that started at 10 and went down, so that having a -3 AC was very good!  It also had specific attack matricies for each class; you would literally look on a table to determine the number you needed to roll on a D20 based on your class, your level, and your opponent’s armor class. It was fun, but it was very complicated.

It also had some, frankly, shitty rules. There was gender disparity in terms of attributes, which my group totally ignored. Because the game designers wanted humans to be a competitive the game, and because non-humans had so many abilities and could multiclass, non-humans were severely limited in the levels they could achieve in most classes. In fact, some classes, such as monk and paladin, were restricted only to humans.

As the years went on, things got a bit muddled. It probably didn’t help that the rules in Basic D&D and AD&D didn’t perfectly line up. In D&D, the worst armor class was a 9. In AD&D, the worst armor class was a 10. All of this led to an overhaul, but not one considered a separate edition. AD&D mostly got new covers and new books, like the Wilderness Survival Guide and Dungeon Survival Guide, Monster Manual 2, and the Manual of the Planes. It got a number of new settings, too. In addition to the default Greyhawk setting, we got the Forgotten Realms setting for the first time, details of which had been appearing in Dragon Magazine for years, thanks to the prolific Ed Greenwood. We also, eventually, got the whole Dragonlance saga, which yielded the setting of Krynn.

In this new version, Basic D&D broke off into its own game system to some degree. Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling started being treated like classes rather than races, with specific abilities at different levels. Higher level characters could be created using progressive boxes - Expert, Companion, Master, and Immortal, each with its own boxed set and supported by Mystara, a completely different setting that got its own updates over the years. It was odd, because D&D essentially was competing for players with AD&D, and I remember arguments with friends over which version was better (I was firmly in the AD&D camp.)

In 1989, when I was in college, they finally brought forth 2nd edition D&D. This streamlined things a little. Armor Class still went down, but now attack rolls boiled into a single number called To Hit Armor Class 0, or THAC0. It made the whole process of figuring out what you needed to roll a bit less cumbersome, but it was still a bit awkward. The classes got a lot of overhaul, including making Bard its own core class. But what I remember best about 2nd edition was the boom in settings. This was the age of settings, and many beloved ones got started, including Dark Sun, Planescape, Ravenloft, and Spelljammer.

It was also the age of the “Complete Handbooks”. They brought out splatbooks about every class and race in the game, as well as books expanding several concepts for the DM, such as the Arms & Equipment Guide, the Castle Guide, and the Complete Book of Villains. There were also splatbooks about running D&D in historic periods, such as Ancient Rome, among the ancient Celts, or during the time of the Musketeers. The game got new covers for the rule books again, and a bunch of books about options started coming out. It was a boom time for books, but many people complained there was too much.

Without going too deep, TSR ended up in severe financial troubles. They declared bankruptcy, and there was real fear of the game going away. And then Wizards of the Coast (WotC) stepped in. They helped TSR get back onto its feet, and they helped produce some modules specifically engineered to help DM’s bring an end to their campaign...possibly even their whole campaign world...because something big was coming.

That something big was, of course, 3rd edition D&D. The game got majorly streamlined, and many sacred cows ended up as hamburger. AC finally started going up instead of down. Everything was refined to the “D20″ system we’ve been playing ever since. Races could be any class. There were no level or stat limits for anyone. After years of the game being forced into tight little boxes, it really felt like we could breathe. I had stopped playing D&D, but 3rd edition brought me back into the fold. I often say that 3E was made for the players who’d felt constricted and wanted more flexibility.

The trouble with 3E, and its successor 3.5, is that it was still a dense and difficult game for newcomers to get into. It’s been acknowledged that D&D essentially created many of the systems we see and know in other games - experience points, leveling up, hit points, etc. But trying to break into the experience for the first time was difficult. The look of 3E was gorgeous, but I understood that it must seem awfully daunting to someone who’d never played.

4E and its follow-up, Essentials, was an attempt to course correct that. They tried to make this edition incredibly friendly to new DMs, and, frankly, they succeeded. By creating player classes and monsters and magic-items that were all very plug and play, they did a great job of creating a game that someone who had never DMed before could dive into with no experience or mentor and start a game pretty easily. Encounter design was given a lot of ease, and there were promises of a robust online tool system that would help out with many of the more tedious aspects of playing.

There was also a lot of shake up in terms of choices. Suddenly, new classes and races were proliferating like crazy. We got the dragonborn, the tiefling, and the eladrin right in the core book, but we said good-bye to the gnome and half-orc at first. Suddenly the warlock was the new class everyone wanted to try. We got paragon paths and epic destinies that would really shape a character as time went on. The game went very tactical, as well, which some of us loved. The concept of rituals came into the game. Later books like the Player’s Handbook 2 and 3 gave us back gnomes and half-orcs, and also gave us minotaurs, wilden, shardminds, and githzerai. We got new psionic classes, brand new class concepts like the Runeknight and the Seeker...

But there was a tremendous backlash. People felt that, in making the game so very plug and play, they’d taken a ton of choice away from the players. Without the tools (which were never that robust, frankly), it was almost impossible to navigate the massive panoply of options. And, worse, it was harder and harder to develop encounters without those tools. People complained that the game had gone more tactical in order to sell miniatures and battlemats. Given that I have never played the game without miniatures and battlemats (since I started in the days when D&D was still half-wargame), I found this odd, but I also understand my style of play isn’t everyone’s.

The one argument I will never understand is that it didn’t “feel” like D&D, or it was somehow ONLY a tactical game and not a role-playing game any more. Again, given that the original game didn’t even call itself a role-playing game, this felt odd. Personally, I roleplay no matter what game I’m playing. If I’m playing Monopoly, I’m roleplaying, doing voices, and pretending to be something I’m not. I honestly enjoyed 4E, and I know a lot of folks who did, too. A lot of it may simply come down to style of play. But I also enjoyed all the games that came before, including Pathfinder. To paraphrase the YouTube content creator The Dungeon Bastard, “Does your game have dungeons? Does it have dragons? Great. I wanna play.”

As a sidenote, in the months leading up to 4E’s release, a lot of internet videos were released by WotC emphasizing the nature of change and talking about differences in the rules. They also released some preview books showing the direction they were heading. WotC must have anticipated that people were going to find this edition very different indeed. They also cleverly brought in some very funny folks - Scott Kurtz from PVPOnline and Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik from Penny Arcade - and got them to play D&D for podcasting purposes. Looking back, this must’ve brought in a lot of listeners who might never have played D&D and given them a reason to try it out.

After its release, WotC clearly noted that missteps had been made, as this edition of the game was losing them players. They began work on what they referred to as D&D Next, and, this time, they did massive amounts of playtesting, some of which I participated in.

I don’t feel like I have to describe 5E to any of you, Dear Readers, as you could go to virtually any store and pick it up. I am a big fan of 5E’s simplicity and elegance, and I suspect this is the edition of D&D we’re going to have for some time to come, especially given its popularity. Given the effect of podcasts like Critical Role (and I might save an article on Critical Role’s importance to D&D until my next Freestyle article), D&D is likely more popular now than it’s ever been, with a much wider and more diverse audience than ever before.

I know I’m painting with broad strokes here, but I hope this was, at least, entertaining, and maybe you learned something, Gentle Readers. Until we next meet, may all your 20s be natural.

[iamsho]

part 28 - highlight

prev: part 27

Masterlist

The ball that was spiked by Hinata was supposed to be the last point for the Black Jackals to win the match, but it was later blocked by Kageyama, and there was no way it could be saved. Everything went fast although Hinata, the player who’s known for his speed, agility, and skills, saved it with his foot and it went back to the setter perfectly. The audience are on the edge watching the whole match, cheers from both teams went louder, supporting each of them like their life depended on the outcome of the game.

Hinata didn’t hesitated to run on the other side of the court to try and spike the ball again, blockers are already on the spot and ready to block him, sadly, Hinata played them and used himself as a decoy. Ball was set to Bokuto and he hit it with too much force that Ushijima didn’t got a chance to save the ball.

The match ended with Black Jackals as the winner with a score of 3-1, all players were exhausted and at the same time felt happy with the outcome. As they were stretching, you and your group went up to the side of the court to congratulate the team, mostly Bokuto. Your group prepared banners and shirts printed with a “Bokuto, OUR greatest ace”, to cheer him while playing. You were amazed by how good and interesting the matches were, and both teams have their own style of plays.

You admit that you did went to the gym to cheer your friend, but you couldn’t leave your eyes from wandering at their #15, Mr. Sakusa Kiyoomi. You saw his plays, the service aces, receives that he pulled off nicely, you saw why he’s considered as one of the greatest players in Japan. You wanted to talk to him, congratulate him, and just go back to normal like how the two of you were months ago. Even though you’re expecting something more with him, it seems impossible. Not wanting him to feel uncomfortable, you stayed and kept your distance from him.

Sakusa was reaching for the small black box that Atsumu gave him yesterday, saying that it’s the perfect ring for the Goddess Y/n. He didn’t check it, because he knew if he saw it and was not contented with the ring, he’ll return it and buy another one. And the thing is, it was already late and he still has a match tomorrow that time.

Seeing you busy conversing with his teammate, he took the chance to approach and surprise you, since he knew if you look at him, he’ll hesitate and won’t do it.

“Y/n?” you let out a sharp breath and looked at the owner of the voice and saw them kneeling in front of you holding a box. You widen your eyes as cameras are now focused to the two of you.

“You are the most annoying person that I’ve ever meet, well you and Kuroo. But you, you annoyed me the most. The time that you hoarded those masks, but only used five frustrates me. Also, the alcohol. and when I got my revenge, you accused me of being immature when in fact you were the one who sent me a Chicken Kuroo meme when I first dmed you. ” Laughter can be heard from the background which made him stop from his speech and sighed; he can feel thousands of eyes staring at him, and ears listening.

Atsumu was a mess, he wanted to stop the proposal, he didn’t expect his friend to listen to his advice. He didn’t think that Sakusa has the balls to actually do it after after the match. But what concerns him the most is the idea of Sakusa being humiliated because of him. He never ran so fast than Hinata just to snatch Sakusa from the scene, and hide him, but Hinata and Bokuto tackled him.

“And when we had our first conversation, I can’t stop thinking about how beautiful and mesmerizing you are just like how the three doofuses there describe you. You have always been the woman of my heart ever before this beautiful and disaster relationship with you. I have always seen you in my dreams several times even before I met you; you are the only one I have loved so much. You make everything beautiful when you are around, every moment I spent with you is like I’m in paradise on earth, I want to live closer to your heart for the rest of our life, I want you to be my wife and the lovely mother of our smart, beautiful, and funny children to be, and maybe a sporty person just like their daddy, my love, will you marry me?”

Sakusa then opened the box and revealed the ring.

The awws transitioned to haha’s, and Sakusa is already sweating twice because of the idea of rejection, he looked at you and saw you staring at the ring with a blank face. He's about to accept your silence and stand-up but you immediately took the ring and placed it on your fourth finger on the left hand and pulled Sakusa.

“Omi, I am this close on crying because of your speech, I like the ring, it’s unique and SWEET but what the fuck is this ring?” the boy was confused by your question, so he then looked at your hand and went pale. It was a ring pop. He proposed to you in front of the world with a RING POP. He looked at Atsumu and was ready to charge at him, however, you stopped him and kissed his cheek.

“Look guys, I’m officially engaged with SAKUSA KIYOOMI” you proudly showed them your ring and hugged Sakusa, the boy was still embarrassed and flustered with what happened. He hid his face on your neck and asked you on a date. Which was Atsumu’s second step.

After 3 years

an: i guess this is the end of the series😗, i didn't want to make the story longer and seem like it was rushed. but here is the end of the series. i do hope you enjoyed reading it and i wanna thank you all for supporting it

taglist: @heavenini @elianetsantana @weebshit-swag @imtheseventhchicken @toaster-stick @birdiewolf @euphorihan @kathasblog @ssuna @sirachano0dles @kellesvt @lcsbianist @mellowknightcolorfarm @tintina365 @unhappyraspberry @cowward @d0llpie @mindofess @just-snog-already @yespurplevoid @sakusas-number1-stan @tchalameme @that-chick212 @hai-q-haikyuu @yamayoomi   @goldthread-galdyherud @moonlightkawa @skiyoomii @paintedstarres @mint-mai @m--a-r-y @byun-nies @semi-orangeapple @6sakusa @ggukiefrappe @bigchaosenergy @louire @dwcljh @akkaso @ptv-hades @doublekrecs @babytsum @trifliz @reina-de-tay @finding-serenity

#sold out smau #haikyuu!! #haikyuu smau #hq smau #hq #sakusa smau #sakusa x y/n #sakusa fic #sakusa kiyoomi #kiyoomi sakusa x reader #sakusa kiyoomi smau #sakusa scenarios #sakusa headcanons #sakusa x you #haikyuu sakusa #sakusa kiyoomi x reader #haikyuu kiyoomi #kiyoomi imagines #kiyoomi x reader

[venusskies-writing]

Love in Japan

Miya Osamu x GN! Reader

Warnings: none, fluff, soft Osamu, oh wait there may be one, the mention of the Better twin joke is thrown in once, but it is an actual joke and not an insult

Synopsis: finding love over an online site is scary. Especially when they live in another country, but with Osamu, you feel your love is endless, so you have everything up to love him

Or,

You move to Japan to live with your online boyfriend whose brother is a famous Volleyball player and he owns a resteraunt(?)

You never quite saw yourself as someone who would give in to love so easily, but here you are, on a trip to Japan to meet your boyfriend for the first time. 

The two of you had met online after you had spammed his account with likes as you stalked his Instagram page. 

He had DMed you asking who you are and why you were stalking him. At the time it was a little embarrassing being called out like that, but eventually just the thought of it made you laugh. 

Receiving a text from Osamu, you smiled gently. 

'I'm at the airport waiting, see you in 30 ;).'

Read 5:34 PM

Butterflies raced through your stomach as nerves grabbed onto your arms and locked you down. 

You stood up from your seat and made your way to the bathroom to freshen up. 

-

Letting out a sigh, you walked through the terminal with your carry on in hand. You shuffled through it to make sure you had everything but stopped hearing your name being called. 

Your head shot up instantly, almost causing you to have whiplash. 

The breath in your throat hitched slightly as you felt tears swell up in your eyes. 

There he stood, not even 5 feet away from you with a sign in his hands saying your name. Around it was cute little hearts and stars with glitter on them. 

You giggled and quickly ran over and watched as he dropped the sign to pick you up. 

He spun you in circles as he laughed and smothered your face in kisses. It felt wonderful. 

You leant down and captured his lips in yours with a sweet smile. He kissed back and you noticed his lips were slightly chapped from the cold, but tasted like cheap chapstick. 

Pulling away, he sat you down and grabbed your bag for you. 

A roar of cheering sounded from behind you and you saw his twin and teammate's holding up their phones to take photos. 

You blushed and waved at them. "Hello. It's good to meet you Atsumu. I'm assuming you're still a pain in the ass towards your brother?" You teased slightly. 

He showed and walked over quickly to hug you. "Oh shut it! We both know damn well that I'm the better twin!" A light screech left your mouth as he nestled you between his arms and messed up your hair. 

A grunt followed Atsumu's attack and he fell over slightly. "'Samu! Why do you gotta hit me so hard? Also what the hell are you carrying in that bag?"

The MSBY team laughed slightly seeing their setter in pain. 

Osamu came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist. "It's good to finally meet you in person. No more late night phone calls or facetimes. Just you and I under the same roof."

His lips were soft against your ears as he spoke. You nuzzled into his grasp and let out a slight yawn. "But I thought you like staying up talking to me?"

He laughed lowly and kissed your cheek. "Yeah, well I don't like waking up being tired." That's fair, you thought to yourself. 

The boys helped you pick up your bags from luggage support and you all left joking. 

After quickly stopping by Osamu's apartment, you headed to his restaurant.

It was cute and had an outdoor area to it as well. On the inside strobe lights hung from the ceiling and multiple booths sat around the entrance. 

There was a small bar area with a grill stationed behind it so the customers could see the cooks cook. 

The cooking station in the back was separated by a sliding door, something that looked like it was out of a Western saloon. 

Over all, the shop had a very guy-ish tint to it, but was also quaint and homey. 

Glancing over from your booth with the guys, you saw Osamu working hard to make you guys some food. 

Taking one last drink of your water, you stood up. "I'm gonna go help him. It's not fair he has to cook all that food by himself."

They all smirked and made sly comments, all except Sakusa of course who only gave a small smile behind his mask. 

You sauntered over and came up beside your boyfriend. You playfully bumped his hip with yours and smiled. 

"Can I help you with anything? I'm a good chef."

A hearty chuckle left him and he smirked at you. "And why should I ma'am? I thought it was supposed to be were the host made the food and the guest stood by and looked pretty?"

A smirk fell onto your lips and you leaned into his ear, "But I thought I was gonna be living with you? I'd have to learn sometime how to cook." Osamu's brown eyes looked at you with a twinkle. 

"I guess so then." A small cheer left your lips as you kissed his cheek. "Thank you baby!" 

He passed you a apron and slid over a recipe book for you to start working on the other half of your groups orders. 

The rest of your night was spent conversing with people who already seemed like family, and in the arms of your adoring boyfriend until you feel asleep. 

#osamu miya #miya twins #MSBY team #atsumu miya #miya onigiri #sakusa #anime #sports anime #reader insert #haikyuu!! #haikyuu #osamu x reader #gender neutral #haikyuu fluff #osamu fluff #soft osamu #osamu x reader fluff #miya osamu x reader #haikyuu reader insert

[captainreecejames]

here is the first part to Win a Date with an English Premier League Player! - Winners are Released. 

author’s note: this is gonna be a short series, i’m not really sure how many parts its gonna be but I’m going to guess around five or six. as i’ve said before, this is a trope from win a date with tad hamilton, but it’s still my story. i’ve tried to make the reader (which is a female) as neutral as possible, with no physical description so that it fits everyone. If I haven’t done that and you spot something, please tell me and I’ll fix it!

warnings: definitely some language in here and the reader’s first relationship is unhealthy, so be wary of that

word count: 1.6k

part two

“What the hell is this?” Troy asked Y/N, shoving her phone in her face as she tried to get ready for their date.

“What the hell is what?” she asked back, not even trying to read the screen that was two inches from her face. 

“This voicemail!” Her blank look only irritated him more. “You’ve won a date with Christian Pulisic! When the fuck did you sign up for a date with that sad footballer?”

“I didn’t,” she answered plainly, going back to applying the mascara on her eyelashes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

As Y/N finished speaking, the flat door slammed closed and Erin, her best friend, announced her presence. “Babe! Where are you?”

“Bathroom!” Y/N called back, ignoring the look sent by her boyfriend.

“So I did something,” she started as she walked towards the couple. Y/N could tell her friend was guilty by the way her tone and she looked towards the door, waiting for her to appear. 

“Does it have anything to do with this voicemail that Y/N just received?” Troy looked down at her, a stern look in his eyes that Erin didn’t back away from.

“Hello Troy,” a drawl in her voice which Y/N recognized. Erin’s dislike for Troy began when Y/N started dating him and it only grew with every break up the two went through. “Didn’t know you’d be here.”

“It’s date night,” Y/N answered, a pointed look at her best friend. She mouthed an oops as Troy rolled his eyes, picking up his phone to answer a call. 

“Go for Troy,” he said walking away, Erin mocking him to Y/N’s face. She stifled a laugh, turning back to the mirror to inspect the makeup on her face, making sure there were no smudges. 

“So, does whatever you did happen to be related to this voicemail I have yet to listen to that claims I won a date with Christian Pulisic?”

“Maybe.”

“When did you even do that?” She walked towards her bedroom, grabbing her purse and coat laying on the bed.

“Like a month ago, you and Troy were on a ‘break’ that I definitely thought was going to last longer than it did.” She put air quotes around break, making Y/N roll her eyes again. “Wonder where I got that idea from.”

She was about to respond when Troy came in, tapping his foot expectantly. “Erin, I don’t really care why you did it, can you just cancel on them for me?”

“No!” she yelled, shocking the other two. “It doesn’t have to be a romantic date or anything, but you are going out with Christian Pulisic! How else am I ever going to get to meet Tammy Abraham?” Y?N rolled her eyes again, ushering Erin out of her flat with Troy behind her. 

“I don’t know, maybe you should have signed yourself up for that date thing and said Tammy?” she suggested as she locked the front door. 

“He wasn’t an option, and how many times have you said that Pulisic was beyond fit?” Erin gulped as she saw Troy tense, regretting her words as she looked between the two. 

“I’ll see you later, Erin.” With a terse smile, Y/N sent her best friend one more pointed look before ushering Troy down the stairs so they could start their date. 

><

“Ay, Christian!” Tammy called as he opened the door to his hotel room. “Who’s the lucky girl?” he asked with a teasing smirk on his face. 

“What girl?” Callum asked, sitting up on his bed to look at the American boy who laid upside down on his own bed. 

Christian groaned, sitting up so he could show the boys his new email. Fikayo smirked as he sat down, grabbing the phone in Christian’s outstretched hand to read the news. 

“Christian lost a bet two months ago on who could get the most crossbar hits, and he had to agree to be one of the premier league players that joined the ‘Win a date’ contest,” Tammy explained, smiling wide as Christian just shook his head. “Put a reminder in my phone for when the winners would be announced so I could come tease him about it.”

“Check her Instagram yet?” Mason asked from his spot on the desk. It seemed everyone was enjoying this but Christian. 

“I’m pulling it up right now,” Fikayo answered, copying the Instagram handle that was provided into the search bar, resulting in one page: y/ninstagram. Fikayo clicked on it, nodding as the pictures loaded. “She’s fit.”

Tammy grabbed the phone next, scrolling through with his own smirk. “Definitely your type, Captain America.”

Christian groaned at the nickname, watching as his phone was passed around his friends. “I don’t have a type.”

All four looked at him with a pointed look, making him blush from their stares. “Looks like she has a boyfriend though,” Callum added, brows furrowed as he looked at the pictures himself. 

Christian, also confused, grabbed his phone back. He couldn’t deny that she was very attractive, and if he had a type, which he didn’t, then she fit it really well. 

“Why’d she sign up if she had a boyfriend?” Mason asked, though no one had an answer from him. 

“Wait,” Christian interupted, “she dmed me.”

y/ninstagram : hey, idk if you’re even gonna see this cause you have like 3 million followers but i’m the girl who like “won a date” with you. My friend signed me up cause she thought it’d make me get over my ex but we actually got back together. I just don’t think i should be going on a date with a man im not in a relationship with. Anyway, i’m gonna contact the people in charge and tell them to pick a different person.

y/ninstagram : also, hope you get better soon so you can be back in blue!

><

Y/N had just reached the top of the steps when Erin opened her door, a sheepish look on her face. “How was your date?” Y/N sent her a scathing look, fiddling with the keys as she walked to her own door. “Are you ignoring me now?”

Still not answering, Y/N opened the door to her flat, though she wasn’t mad enough to lock Erin out. She held the door open for Erin to follow her in. “It was a nightmare,” she answered while shrugging her jacket off. “Thanks for that.”

Erin followed Y/N to the kitchen, sighing at her friend as she pulled open her fridge for the wine sitting in the door. “I’m sorry, I knew better than to say those things about Pulisic.”

“With Troy here!” Y/N cut her off, turning around with the wine in hand and a sad look in her eyes. 

Erin’s heart dropped, feeling even worse as tears welled in Y/N’s eyes. “What happened?” Erin walked to her, pulling her in for a hug.

“I messaged Christian, told him I couldn’t do the date and Troy stopped talking to me. It was so awkward. I feel like I’m being dramatic by crying right now, but I’m just tired of everything with him. Why can’t it be easy anymore?” Erin just hugged Y/N tighter, wishing that she could know how much better she deserved. 

y/ninstagram : hi christian pulisic!!! This is erin, Y/N’s best friend. I just wanted to let you know that even though she said she’s backing out of the date, she won’t actually be doing that. I will make her go on that date with you even if I have to drag her out of her apartment and to the restaurant myself. Anyway, i also hope you get better soon and tell tammy abraham that he is fine

><

“Have you messaged her back?” Mason asked the next morning, looking at Christian expectantly. The American boy only looked down at his phone. “It’s been a night, Christian, and I think that she can see that you read her message.”

“I don’t even know how to answer her,” he defended. “Besides, her friend messaged me too, and she said that Y/N was going to go on a date with me even if she dragged her to it.”

“Mate, sounds like this girl doesn’t even like you,” Mason teased.

Tammy came to Christian’s rescue. “That’s not true,” he interrupted, placing his tray on the table next to Chris. “I did some research, and she’s a definite Blue.” Tammy’s smile grew wider, turning into a teasing smirk directed at his friend. “And she’s a Pulisic fan as well.”

“How do you know this?”

“She’s got a saved Story from the Burnley game. Properly drunk during the game and bought a Pulisic jersey. Friends tease her about it in the comments still.” Christian only blushed at his friends comments, looking down at his phone to see another message. She had dmed him again.

y/ninstagram : i am so sorry about erin, she’s very overzealous and can be a lot to handle. Don’t feel pressured to do this date. And don’t feel pressured to tell tammy he’s fine, she’s just obsessed with him lol. Hope to see you out against arsenal.

y/ninstagram : also i can see that you have read those other messages just a fyi

“Ayyo,” Tammy exclaimed, pulling up from peering over Christian’s shoulder. “Her friend thinks I’m fine.” The two others rolled their eyes at him. “What was that friend's name?” He leaned back down, squinting to read the screen.

“What, you gonna stalk her too?” Mason asked, but seeing Tammy buried in his phone gave him the answer he needed.

#chelsea fc #christian pulisic #read #christian pulisic fanfic #christian pulisic imagine #christian pulisic x reader #chelsea fc imagine #dani writes #football fanfiction

[sociallyawkwardfoxwriter]

(I dont know if you're doing prompts due to Halloween but here's one!) Youtube!Au. Caleb runs a very successful education channel, while adding the odd game with Beau and Jester. Well, they link him to a video by Fjord one day. Insert massive bi-panic. A few months later Fjord finally does one of those face reveals. Second massive bi-panic (maybe on stream?). Finally get to meet up, and Caleb blue screens. Which is caught on video. And shared. But now they're dating! So go them!

This was such a super cute prompt! I had so much fun coming up with ideas for it. 

Hope you enjoy!

The ping of a message on Discord broke through the cloud of focus he fell into over the course of hours editing. Despite the red notification at the bottom of his screen, he ignored it in favor of staying focused on his editing. A few more pings went by before his phone started ringing a familiar tune that he knew there was no point ignoring. With a sigh of frustration, he answered the phone and tucked it between his ear and shoulder.

"I'm working, Beauregard."

"Take a break to look at the video we sent you."

"It'll be there later."

"Just do it. It won't take long."

"Why are you like this?"

"If you don't watch it now, you know I'll come over there and force you to." Another sigh fell from his lips as he switched to Discord to find several messages from Beau and Jester, including a YouTube video. "Are you doing it?"

"Ja, be patient for once in your life."

"Make sure you have your headphones on."

"I have one in. Would you be quiet? You wanted me to watch this."

"Fine."

Caleb clicked on the link to a horror let's play of Alien Isolation. As soon as the creator started speaking, Caleb almost dropped his phone out of shock at the pleasant lightly British accent. The voice washed over him like a heavy blanket, until a startled scream burst from his headphone. A garbled mess of broken phrases followed the scream of horror.

While the video continued playing in the background, Caleb returned to his conversation with Beau. "What have you done?"

"What? I thought you like horror."

"His voice is amazing."

"It's not bad."

"Fuck you, Beauregard Lionett."

"He has lots of playlists. Have fun."

"I hate you."

---------

"Are you sure you're qualified to be doing this? Did you even read the rulebook?"

"Do not question me. I am your DM."

Caleb rolled his eyes at Beau, then glanced over at the chat flying by on his other screen. "I was the one that had to drag you kicking and screaming to the table when I DMed our first campaign. You told me it was nerd shit, and you're not into nerd shit, which is a gigantic lie."

"Nobody asked you."

"Why did I agree to help you with this?"

"All you're doing is throwing off the schedule by dragging this out."

"I'm sending back your Christmas gift." Rather than acknowledge the bird being flipped at him, Caleb readjusted his setup to make sure everything he needed was easily accessible. "How about you get all your super secret guest players on the call?"

"Someone's still mad because I wouldn't tell them who I invited."

"I already know four of them, so that is completely incorrect."

"Two of them are still a secret."

"Let them join the call Beauregard."

"You take the fun out of everything."

Caleb made a show of rolling his eyes at the camera, then slipped off his headphones to pick up the cat nudging at his feet. After taking a moment to give Frumpkin several long strokes, he settled his cat comfortably in his lap. The sound of several voices greeted him as he slipped his headphones back on and turned his focus to the screen.

"Are you ready to play now?"

"I have been waiting on you, Beauregard."

"Since you're back with us, I can now do introductions." Beau's attention moved to her second screen. "For those of you just joining us, welcome to the Mighty Nein charity livestream event. We'll be here all day raising money for a really great cause, so please consider donating if you can and keep spreading the word. Next up, I'm going to DM for the first time a game of Dungeons and Dragons. It's going to be a fun oneshot with some very special guests. Caleb Widogast has been here all day, so no special intro for him."

"Are you at least going to let me introduce my character?"

"We all know it's an angsty disaster bi like you. What else is there to introduce?"

"My character is a half-elf rouge named Vax'ildan."

"And he's an angsty disaster bi."

"And his favorite people in the world are his sister and her pet, unlike in real life. My sister," His air quotes drew a glare from Beau that he learned to ignore long ago. "is the worst."

"That's enough out of you. Don't make me mute you."

"You can certainly try."

"Moving on because we have more important people to get to. The amazing Jester is joining us today."

While the rest made their introduction, Caleb let his eyes wander to his chat and only half paid attention to the conversation. He glanced over at the sound of a calm voice he didn't recognize and gave a little wave to him in greeting. When the next introduction came, his heart stop in his chest at the sight of a handsome half-orc whose voice he immediately recognized. If his reaction hadn't been obvious before, Caleb's jaw practically dropped when he switched to a deep character voice.

His eyes instinctively flicked to Beau to find a knowing smile curled upon her face. He quickly switched to their private chat to send an all caps message that she completely ignored. Instead, she sent him a quick wink before moving to the introduction of their session for the day. The entire time she spoke all his focus went to not obviously staring at the bottom right camera. It was going to be a long three hours.

------------

A buzzing in his pocket distracted Caleb from paying attention to the crowd around him, which naturally led to him bumping into another person. "Sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Caleb?"

His eyes went wide when he looked up to find Fjord standing before him with a charming smile on his face. The shock of seeing someone so unexpected caused his brain to stop properly functioning. While he tried to get his thoughts together, he did his best to keep his face from giving too much away. An attempt at a smile in place of a verbal greeting probably came out more like an uncomfortable grimace, but Fjord made no sign of finding it uncomfortable.

"Beau told me you would be here, but I didn't expect to literally run into you."

"My fault."

"Well, then thank you for running into me. I was hoping we would meet."

"You were?"

"Of course. I know we haven't talked much. Honestly, I've been a little intimidated by you. Your videos are amazing and inspirational. Magic has always been interesting to me, but it felt completely out of my reach until I watched one of your videos."

"Oh, thank you. I..." Knowing Fjord would be able to see the bright blush staining his cheeks, Caleb quickly ducked his head down to look at his shoes. "Your videos are really great."

"Thanks. I was about to grab lunch. If you're not busy right now, I'd appreciate the company. My treat."

"That's not necessary."

"I'm inviting you to lunch. It's on me."

"I, um, I can do lunch."

---------

"Fjord," Caleb knocked on his office door, then poked his head in when he cracked it open. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were busy."

"It's fine. I'm taking a little break right now. Did you want to come say hello?"

Despite a momentary hesitation, Caleb moved to lean against the back of Fjord's chair to peek at the screens. "What are you playing?"

"Bioshock."

"Ah, what number is this?"

"I haven't played it that many times."

"If you say so."

"Did you stop by to mock me or was there another reason?"

"I am not mocking you." He wrapped his arms around Fjord's shoulders and placed a kiss on his temple. "I was going to order something for dinner. What would you like?"

"Whatever you want is fine with me, Cay."

"Okay. How much longer do you plan to stream?"

"An hour or two, but don't worry about me. I can warm it back up."

"I will wait an hour before I order."

"You really don't need to wait for me."

With a roll of his eyes, Caleb pressed a quick kiss to Fjord's lips. "It is not a problem. I'll let you get back to your stream now."

"You know that's going to get clipped and make the rounds like that video of us meeting did."

"At least this time we won't be bombarded with questions about whether we're dating."

"There are plenty of other questions they'll ask."

"This is your stream. It's your responsibility to handle it."

"Thanks for the support."

"You're welcome, liebling."

#anon #critical role #widofjord #empire siblings #caleb widogast #fjord #beauregard lionett #youtube/twitch au #getting together #bi panic #prompt fill #fanfic