#good wizard lore drop

[good-wizard]

DUDE WHAT THE FUCKS HAPPENING WHOS THE GREEN GUY

Hi Faye!!! Allow me to explain *cut to me in front of a black board with a scholars hat and a piece of chalk*

So there are two green text guys One is the God Of Pottery and she made me out of clay and then released me into the world as an experiment to see whether or not I'd turn out good or evil based on the spell tome I chose (pinned post). She captured me by telling me how I was evil and so I've been trapped somewhere right now (that will come later). Ashen the tiefling somehow managed to sneak through the gods shadow and get into pottery studio where they then dealt with veiled threats and bargains until she grew bored of them and let them out. She is fighting a lot of people right now for good wizard who she simply refers to as "the project". She sees me as an object and a prize, I am her creation and she'll stop at nothing to get me back. She speaks in solid green text.

Now let's move on to her daughter!

The God of pottery has a daughter who is about 50 years older than me, (gw is 200) she is made of terracotta and is basically the prelude to Good Wizard. She destroyed my wizard tower and has been trying to hunt me down. Luckily Monsterfucker managed to capture her so I could escape the lab (this comes back up later) Ashen the tiefling basically beat the teenager into submission by literally breaking her face. This forced the daughter to make a pact with Ashen so that the daughter could make a spell to fix her face. She is now a warlock and Ashen is her patron because of this. Ashen also named her Terra (y'know like terracotta) because the daughter told them how she had never been named. Terra is having a redemption arc too! Drew the bard has been hanging out with her and basically letting her do all the things she was never allowed to do such as drinking soda and making art other than vases and pots. She is also starting to trust Monsterfucker but it's slow and she keeps threatening to break stuff. Her text is predominantly green but with white letters that spell out what her mom thinks of her actions. She also still really hates good wizard because she considers them the reason her mom stopped caring about her. I'm writing a comic about her rn and I'll be posting it sometime!

Now,, what's happening to me! Good wizard has been on the run for awhile now and has been struggling to deal with the fact their spell tome has actually been telling them the truth all along. It had always told them that they were destined to do great things on the island but now they know it means great evil. They were meant to destroy the island. Good wizard had always thought nothing of this because the assumed they had picked the book of lies (pinned post) but it turns out they received the true book and had been going against destiny all along! This made them feel terrible and when they ran into the pottery god they decided to go with her but just as they stepped through the portal they regretted the decision but it was too late! They're trapped somewhere right now.

Depending on the threads you look at different things are happening, for example in one of them I escaped the god thanks to mayhem moths help and in another evil apprentice wizard interrogated me and together were hunting god back! The whole thing has really gotten away from me but it's all super exciting and fun!!

Here are some pictures I've drawn

(mostly of Terra bc she's my new blorbo, but also of mayhem moth, good wizard, and drew the bard)

Idk if I should @ people in this so for now I'm not going to but I'll @ them later if I decide to do so!

Thankyou for the ask Faye!!

#wizard posting #good wizard lore drop #good wizard lore #wizart #long post

[prokopetz]

The tendency for indie RPGs to turn into massive worldbuilding tomes with perfunctory mechanics bolted to the side is often overstated; however, to the extent that this characterisation is accurate, I don't think it's a coincidence that many of the things that received wisdom within the indie RPG sphere regards as archaic D&D-isms which "real" RPGs can do without are also basic tools for communicating a game's implicit milieu without resorting to pages upon pages of explcit lore.

Like, equipment tables? Sure, maybe nobody "needs" to know how much a hundred feet of rope costs in your setting, but a well-constructed equipment table is a perfect opportunity to showcase a bunch of weird shit that exists in your setting without needing to contrive a specific lore-related excuse to bring it up. You can just drop your setting's equivalent of that table from early iterations of Dungeons & Dragons with stats for thirty different kinds of polearms and let that percolate in your reader's brain.

Or spell lists in fantasy settings. Freeform magic is well and good, but no amount of long-winded exposition about your setting's magic system will ever characterise it even 10% as effectively as a dozen pages of worked examples of specific things the people who live there actually do with it, ideally with flowery titles and entertainingly cryptic asides about the surprising fate of the wizard the spell is named after.

Hell, I'm half-convinced that the reason Powered By the Apocalpyse games took off the way they did is because after a decade-plus of indie RPG designers insisting that character classes are for losers, Apocalypse World reminded folks of what a well-conceived character templating system can do in terms of characterising a milieu!

What I mean to say is that several thousand words of florid microfic has its place, but if you really want to set the creative juices simmering, you don't set up a diorama – you hand out a box of toys.

#gaming #tabletop roleplaying #tabletop rpgs #game design #worldbuilding #swearing

[spyridonya]

How the Drow Became Problematic Faves - a Badly Written Meta History of D&D

Oh, hey. It feels like newcomers to D&D via BG3 fandom have discovered the Problematic Nature of Drow via Halsin vs Minthara conflict. 

Cut because of talk of racism and it being fucking long.

Let's talk about meta, first. So, the very first usage of 'drow' came from a dialetc of Scots as a term for troll, which was used to talk about all sorts of evil spirits. When Gary Gygax had to make a war game, he decided he'd make evil elves. They were based on 'black elves' in the Prose Edda and saw the word 'Drow' in a dictionary that claimed it was a term for underground elves who were skilled workers in metal. Being a white guy in the late 70s, he saw no issues in making evil elves actually black. For the next decade or so, they were canon fodder for modules and novels and always evil and repugnant. 

In the late 80s and early 90s, R. A. Salavotre and Ed Greenwood slapped on the concept of drow society being an evil dystopian society run by dominatrixes who emasculate men, in the Forgotten Realms setting. There were a few token dark elves, namely the super popular Drizzt Do'Urden, who were good but the majority were not. Like Gary, RA and Ed were white guys who did not see the problem of black elves and putting their kink into deep lore. Not all settings went by this, Dragonlance for example had drow just be ‘evil assholes elves who got kicked out of their society’ and look like just any other elves.  

(Quick note on Drizzt, he became iconic not because of his race but so much as being an outsider to two cultures while being a badass. I might not be a fan personally, but I know the appeal of the character.) 

The 90s came along and by the end of the decade, TSR was bought by Wizards of he Coast who proceeded to make the Drow even Grim Darker during 3rd edition  to go along with the times. Yet, too, didn’t stop to think about the problematic issues that were being brought up by more thoughtful fans - WotC hired another module company who wrote about  drow women being so fucking evil, they an orgasm like reaction when embryo killed each other in the womb. 

4th Edition came and went. No one talks about those times. Drow existed as evil. 

2014, 5e comes along and drow are so fucking popular, they’re included in the Player’s Handbook, rather in errata based books, as ‘humanoid’. In fact other evil races were introduced under the label of ‘humanoid’, indicating orcs and goblinkin. About a year later, Matt Mercer switched up his TTRPG to 5e because it was an easier system for his friends to understand, and they began to show their games online under Critical Role while a year after that Stranger Things came out and became a smash hit. 

Between these two, D&D explodes in popularity with an entirely new demographic group that began to outnumber the old guard. This larger and more diverse popular saw drow and other ‘evil races’ and went ‘wtf’. They didn’t exactly like the concept of ‘an always evil race’ and discovered the problematic issues that collected over the last several decades not with just drow, but with ‘monstrous’ races. 

WotC wanting money began to listen - just really slowly, and not so much in Forgotten Realms.They dropped the ‘always evil’ from the stat block but refused to change anything else to their older settings. 

(Incidentally, the company that made Grim Dark Drow really disliked 4e. They decided to make their own take of 3.5e with Hookers and Blackjack and made Pathfinder, which was supposed to be Edgier Game than D&D. However, a lot of people they hired were quick to notice the nature of the game and say, ‘nah, this shit is stupid’. As of now, Pazio is retconning drow from their lore. - That my friends, is called a character arc.)

During this 46 year span, drow have been fucking evil because their goddess made them do it as justification of their evilness - and not because they were black or born into it. In fact, Lloth, Gruumsh and Maglubiyet are the reasons why the Drow, Orc, and Goblinkin society is so evil and they’re also why they can function as a society when in truth, they all should have fallen apart. And no one has bothered to change this lore. In fact they avoid mentioning this lore rather than changing it to avoid conflict with older fans and newer fans. 

Then BG3 hits and hits harder than anyone expected. A lot of new fans come on aboard and really begin to like Drow, who are super sexy evil elves, not knowing the lore and kicking the problematic issues down the road. Larian was a bit quicker than TSR/WotC to realize ‘wow, this is fucking yikes’ and decided to make Seldarine drow. I’ve been playing since I was young teen, in the last years of 3.xe. I saw a lot of wanna-be Drizzt and Good Aligned Drow that were played variably, but there were a lot of people who loved the concept. While Seldarine aren’t a concept in TTRPG canon proper, the idea of Seldarine drow has existed for decades at tables, and Larian acknowledging that is something I love.

But they made Llothsworn Drow as the ‘lore compliant drow’ because WotC hasn’t changed drow in decades. 

The thing is, Drow being Problematic Faves isn’t because WotC is wildly racist on purpose, it’s just that during the majority of Drow being A Thing in D&D, they have been Sexy and Evil Villains and play the role of Misunderstood Outsider (though this recently has been taken over by tieflings).

In fact, I’m seeing a lot of new fans getting kicked in the teeth when characters react to a Llothsworn drow as flat out evil and not being judged by their actions, because they don’t know it’s been a thing in D&D for years with narrative excuses to justify in-universe racism. And then there are some players who make an evil Llothsworn drow and still get upset despite playing into in-universe reasons for the excuses of racism.

We’re seeing it as a reaction to datamined information with little context other than an abused white guy feels uncomfortable with an abused black woman - and it’s super hard to justify in-universe reasons for this because in the real world, a white guy is going to be listened to and believed regardless of it being true or not.

Essentially, the drow are a fucking mess due to D&D ignoring the racial implications of drow in the real world for nearly 50 years. The only way to fix it is making major lore changes, which is something they’re reluctant to do because they’re making their errata books so damn light on lore as to avoid conflict and the model sells.

Will this change with BG3? I don’t know. But I kinda hope so. 

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #halsin #minthara #drow

[strunmah-mah]

Touchstarved Characters as DnD Classes

Ais

Given the existence of Ocudeus and Ais's relationship with it, Ais is an easy choice for a warlock, a person who gets their powers from a patron entity. My choice would either be The Great Old One, or The Fathomless. The both have those eldritch vibes but with slightly different emphasis. The Fathomless buts a strong emphasis on the oceanic tentacle monster, while The Great Old One has some tentacle imagery but focuses far more on the effects Eldritch beings have on the mind. Which one you think suits him more comes down to personal preference I think.

Leander

Given that magic for humans seems to largely be a learned skill, and stuff devs have said about Leander coming from a more more formal background giving him access to a proper education, Leander would 100% be a wizard. With as little information as we have about him exactly which school might be harder to pin down, but for the purpose of this I'm going School of Illusion. I think it works both as a fun reference to the first spell we ever see him cast (the illucitory lily) and a sort of foreshadowing of him duplicitous nature.

Kuras

As an angel, Kuras's divine power is innate to him in a way that I think the Divine Soul Sorcerer would be best at replicating. Not really sure what else to add, this might be an even easier pick than Ais as a Warlock.

Vere

Vere is interesting. Given our first impression is that of a snarling shadow beast in the corner of out vision, part of me is inclined towards Shadow Magic Sorcerer. His power seems to be innate to him and I think the Hound of Ill Omen ability synergizes well with Vere's status as the Senobium's hunting dog. HOWEVER, the devs recently dropped the extra bit of lore implying that Vere used to be worshiped as a god, which does make an interesting argument for casting him as a cleric. I don't think most cleric abilities mesh as well with Vere's in game abilities, but thematically the Ambition Domain meshes well with his personality.

Mhin

Mhin is the one I'm least confident on. Their attempt to sneak into the Senobium speaks to them being a Rogue, The revelation that they're regular collecting bounties from soulless hunting points them to being a Ranger, and the Alchemist's observation that their a scientist suggests that when the full games drops they might be something of an Artificer, or depending on your tolerance for psuedo canon, maybe a Blood Hunter? IDK, I'm a little bit at a loss of what to do with this guy.

Bonus the Origins

Now given that all Origins more or less have the same skill set with some flavor difference All of them could easily be Aberrant Mind Sorcerers and be done with it. Their power is innate to them, and that power is power over the minds of others. It's a good solid choice, but if you wanted to give the Origins more influence over their skills sets below would be my choices

The Unnamed

Raised at a temple as an oracle? The Unnnamed is a Cleric. Given that it was thought their ability could create a groupmind the Solidarity or Zeal Domains could be an interesting choice, That the people under their influence are so violent could be an argument for the War Domain, or that everyone was so mislead as to what your ability is could be an argument for Trickery Domain. Ultimately as a self insert the Unnamed's background is fluid and any choice is valid, but thematically I think I think those four could all work really well. TBH I really wish there was a Madness Domain or something so you could channel that Dionysus Maenadic energy, I think that'd work really well, but homebrew is not my area.

The Alchemist

This Origin knows magic, magic is a learned skill for humans, The Alchemist is a Wizard, maybe an Artificer. Again, self insert, either choice is valid. If you go Wizard I think School of Enchantment could be a good choice, would tie into their powers a bit better then some of the other options. If you go Artificier there is an Alchemist subclass, it's a match made in heaven

The Hound

The Hound has a very specific archetype built into it and that is the Rogue: Thief. They're a street kid who survived by stealing. I don't know if there's another choice that could work for this Origin even half as well. works for this

#touchstarved game #touchstarved ais #touchstarved kuras #touchstarved mhin #touchstarved vere #touchstarved leander #touchstarved mc #long post #i've spent way too long thinking about this #especially since i don't even really play dnd #i did briefly #but my dm moved and online play doesn't really work for me #any way have some thoughts #i need to go to bed #mhin is the li i'm least interested in and it shows

[parallel-2-anywhere]

What I think is going on in the Jace Plot (SPOILERS FOR MTG THUNDER JUNCTION PLOT)

SO THE OUTLAWS OF THUNDER JUNCTION STORY SURE DID HAPPEN!??!?!?!

This is very heavily spoilered for the end of Outlaws of Thunder Junction's plot, and also the epilogue fics that are now dropping. I don't know how many more of these will be coming, but this is my theory and I want to get it out there before the fics confirm or de-confirm anything

Despite the fact that I have adopted Kellan unashamedly. I know that he is not everyone's favorite boy but I love him so much and his arc has been so good for me? But that is another post. Let's talk about the end of Thunder Junction and what I think is happening... ish

So Wizards has confirmed the vault on Thunder Junction is from the Fomori. Which are a species from old Magic lore, that could travel the multiverse without the need of a planeswalker spark. Many smarter people have shown the Fomori's presence in Lost Caverns of Ixalan and other places.

But then in Outlaws of Thunder Junction, there is what's clearly meant to be a Fomori child in the vault

(Lifted from Akemi Dawn Bowman's The Ballad of Thieves and Thunderslingers)

SO. My thoughts about the Fomori child, the obvious feeling is that the Fomori has something that at least Jace and Vraska believe can help fix the sparks of the desparked planeswalkers, or giving the desparked a way to travel with their sparks damaged.

I don't think Jace is doing this maliciously, but he is leaning on the feeling that made him want to ignite the sylex back on New Phyrexia. The feeling of the needs of the many. If the child is a last of the Fomori species, Jace could see that as a needed sacrifice, if the child even has to die for this process to work, to help the survivors of the war.

If I had to guess from there it's a "misguided but good hearted" attempt to make things better that has some unforseen consequence. Jace wouldn't be made a bad guy, but an antagonist, and we can see him using more aliases to try and get more things he needs for this process.

Admittedly I don't have a lot of things for this since it is such a new plotline, but that is what I am thinking could happen.

#magic the gathering #mtg lore #mtg story #jace bele #outlaws of thunder junction #mtg thunder #jace and vraska #phyrexia #phyrexian #p2a #parallel2anywhere

[grovyrosegirl]

a question from the fic writing ask prompt:

How did you come up with the idea for In Another Life?

Fic Writer Ask Game:

Great question! Well, after I finished my first playthrough of BG3 and got more into the fandom, I got really into reading fics.

Annnnd because I have a bit of a guilty pleasure for darker stuff, I tended to gravitate towards the Ascended Astarion fics. Hellish Rebuke by @bludazey and Mirror, mirror by @ellekhen are some examples of that good, tragic Vampire Ascendant content that I very much enjoy. (Though mind the trigger warnings! They're great fics, but both deal with topics of sexual abuse, so just be careful of that if you decide to read.)

"Mirror, mirror" especially was a major inspiration for In Another Life, as I loved the premise of "Bad Ending Character kidnaps Good Ending Character and emotional trauma ensues." And while I love our vampire boy, I am first and foremost a Gale girlie, so I wanted to show my favorite wizard some love. And then wouldn't ya know it, Larian came along and dropped the Patch 5 epilogues into our laps, which included God!Gale in all his assholery glory. After watching his dialogue, with both friend and romanced Tav, I knew I had to write something for him.

So my brain went, "Let's make a bad ending fic for God!Gale where he decides to kidnap his ex-lover instead of going to therapy and being normal about their break up" and thus, In Another Life (I Found You) was born.

Fun fact too! IAL was actually meant to be a WAY shorter fic, but as I worked on the first few chapters, not only did I really into the lore I made up about the Planes of Time and Chronos, but I also just loved writing for Dekarios. So I decided to expand it into a longer plot. And now, here we are!

#rose talks #bg3 fanfiction #asteria49 #bg3 spoilers #ask meme

[swoodthis]

😤 For the Zelda ask game!

Bruh you’re really gonna get me started on this—

The teasing that there might be something more than “light good dark bad no thinking allowed” and then basically taking almost every single shred of it back

Like any fandom, the OBSESSION with shipping. There are so many opportunities for lore exploration, friendship and found family and outside of the fandom for the Linked Universe comic SPECIFICALLY, people just… DON’T.

GHIRAHIM IS A SWORD. WE SEE HIM NAKED AND HE HAS NO GENITALIA. At the very least take these things into account, people! Let him be a cool android!

In basically any fanworks he is featured in, the Happy Mask Salesman is practically REQUIRED to be a Bad Guy.

Tingle. Fucking TINGLE gets the devs’ love. And the little mask wizard doesn’t. They put Tingle in the Hyrule Warriors Majora’s Mask DLC. OVER HIM. ANY MENTION OF HIM.

The insistence that Link is dead in Majora’s Mask when TWILIGHT PRINCESS LINK IS CANONICALLY HIS BLOOD DESCENDANT AND THEY CONFIRMED IT—

Honestly the whole fanbase thinking Majora’s Mask is “the Depressing One”. This game is THEMED around overcoming adversity, healing from trauma, and making the world a better place, and THEY STILL FUCKING—

Good!Ganondorf fanworks being stereotyped as having to be thirst-based. Like Skyward Sword dropped the bombshell that Ganondorf being The Villain is something that was set up before he was even born and WW Ganondorf might have even been RIGHT and we’re just supposed to forget about it because the devs seemed to?? We’re just not gonna talk about how absolutely fucked up those implications are??

This series exists in the context of the rest of fantasy media, where Lord of the Rings and its blatant Christianity are still seen as The Best Thing Ever.

Wind Waker’s fucked up ending themes.

Sidon is just a sex object when HE IS SO WHOLESOME

Lack of access to many older games (a problem with gaming in general tbh)

Twilight Princess’s final boss should have been Zant.

The noobs only caring about shipping BotW Link with either Zelda or Sidon

THE MAJORA’S MASK MANGA’S ENDING. The foreshadowing that the MASK ITSELF was the true villain were there from the beginning, AND they did my lil wizard SO DIRTY

Speaking of which, Ben Drowned being dragged into shit…

OKAY I SHOULD PROBABLY STOP NOW

#legend of zelda #loz #ask game #happy mask salesman #good ganondorf #ghirahim

[avaeeart]

well

that expansion sucked

salt and opinion incoming

i don't have a lot of thought because there was nothing to even think on about this flat expansion, but here are my thoughts - also quick apology because English is not my first langauge, plus this is my own personal opinion:

The Commander has no vital role in this. We were a mascot to the cause that we had no sentimental or important value in. Yes there are people who don't want the Commander to be the main focus, and that is a valid opinion, but we were very much just the audience to a running movie with no impacting opinion whatsoever.

A majority of the opinions I read here on Tumblr and reddit share the same view: The beginning and launch of SotO had strong foundations: A new mystery faction, a new cast of engaging cahracters of various, ancient races shrouded in mystery and an otherworldly threat. Except. Uncooked. Unseasoned, Underbaked. SotO moved on way too fast, with barely any time to get to know these people, reunion with Zojja (who, oof, gets completely forgotten despite her image being in the launcher), and of course, one of the interesting cast members gets killed.

Onto the Kryptis. ?????? They were reskinned orphans from Divinity's reach. Why were aliens from the Mist, dream demons, written like poor people who needed our help to ... get water and bandaid? Where is the worldbuilding? Where is the hostility and curiousity of demons meeting an entire different race walking into their homeland? Why is monarchy all the same in the demon realm? It is just a lazy and uncreative solution to introducing a new threat and race

Eparch, uh. What threat did he pose beside a fighting achievement under five minutes. Who was Labris again beside a fighting achievement too. Again. Major threats, major antagonists get a huge build up but once it is their time to shine in the spotlight. They get nothing but a reskinned model and five minutes of talking. As much as Labris' death had an impact on Eparch in his voice lines, there was not much ground for me to get invested in their connection.

Peitha is written incredibly flat. Her plans of ruling and usurping are as solid as soup. Yes she may throw out really cool lines, but in the whole fabric of planning a revolution, where is the consistency and foundation? The Wizards have to plan an assault and all the logistics, the other generals and Ramses doing the relocation of things, and Peitha is just. Saying things, while we protect her and do the job. She says she is caring for her people but where do we see that, beside her complementing her killing choices in 1-2 lines? Where do we see her passion for revolution, her hatred against the status quo? She quickly fell flat and cheaply written (beside her sexy baiting lines) once she got revealed. As much as the writing makes me dislike her, she deserved better.

the cannibal demons were not cannibalistic enough.

the wizards were not wizard enough.

In general, the story was nothing new, no exciting twists and the pacing is out of place (the months between those very short chapters did not help it either). it is a X formular marvel-esque movie.

from a gameplay perspective:

soto has nothing to offer.

theres the legendary armor (which i farmed for from the start), convergences, rifts - But for the casual player, who may never intend to farm for the Obsidian Armor, it brings nothing. The Rifts as fun as the gameplay may be, dont offer gold or good material (beside the essences). the Convergence has some good drops if you are lucky but again, only for essences. But hey, Skyscale fireball fun right?

What makes me frustrated is, SotO has potential, so much good foundation and build up. But such expectation of a whole new lore was never reached and the story rushed. May blame it on the new cash grabbing model. It is a bland mid expansion with too many boring moments and do X amount of events. Maps are great tho, missing Jumping puzzles though.

3/10 reused wyvern model

#soto spoilers

[lilacartsmadsion]

And finally, the last of the gods in my ‘That Time I adopted a god AU’

The Nameless One

Most Commonly Known: God of Light.

Other least common domains: Day, Dawn, Sun, Life, Healing, Virtues, Penance, Wonders, Peace, Resolution, Miracles, Beginnings, Life Powder, Soulstones, Adventure, Reincarnation, Rebirth, Enlightenment, Harmony, Reason, Courage/Bravery,Boundaries, Rescue, Care and Mercy.

‘Praise Thee the one chosen by the Witch of Light. Born from the Iron and Flames, Casted into Horror, the blinding might of He who bares No Name. For when the Witch Fortuna baked him, she made the grave mistake of gifting his dough with Life Powder. In her last dying breath, The Witch of Light gifted this brave Cookie, the power to slay even the might of gods. Through his power were the Witches Defeated and Casted away into the far lands beyond Earthbread.’

‘With the four gods by his side, The Nameless One spoke to Earthbread with the good news, freeing us from the lies which the Witches spoke. He gifted the Cookies so that the frail and mistreated may have a chance to nurture and grow’

‘The Power of the Soul Jam resonates with the Might of the gods and blessed by Chosen Heroes did they give. The Light of Passion, a imitation of the ever-Ethreal Goddess of Love, The Light of Truth, a reflection of the Apoditic God of Wisdom, The Light of Abundance, a mirror of the Glorious Goddess of Fun, The Light of Freedom, the dawning shadow of the Abysmal God of Night and The Light of Resolution, the Very essence of The Nameless One himself’

‘With these 5 he proclaimed the glory of Earthbread, now and Forevermore’

Popular Places of Worship: Vanilla Kingdom, Ginger Kingdom and Beast-Yeast.

Symbols of Worship: Candy Cane, Magic Candy + Candy Cane, Head Piece, Diamonds, Circles and Soulstones.

————————————-

Inspirations for his design:

Yep…I had to pull an Elder Faerie again. But to be fair I was running out of ways to make Gingerbrave’s clothes. The transparency of his sleeves however is mostly Affogato. Another cookie I forgot to add is that background priest Cookie in the Dark Cacao Kingdom Update.

So yeah- Gingerbrave Absorbed the Witch of Light. And yeah he created the Soul Jam in this AU.

Again the reason why I don’t correlate Gingerbrave with PV is because none of PV’s Soul Jam traits suit Gingerbrave. (Knowledge, Deceit and Truth are all variants of PV’s Soul Jam) PV’s Soul Jam more-or-less correlate to Wizard who in this AU is the God of Wisdom. Gingerbrave mostly correlates to DCA’s Soul Jam, which is Resolution (Hence why Dark Cacao’s the one adopting Gingerbrave)

For the Soul Jam, the explanation as to why DCA and PV’s aesthetics don’t match their own gods/their main gods (DCA’s Kingdom worships/respects Dozer whereas PV’s Kingdom worships/respects Gingerbrave) It’s because of the whole ‘Beast Cookie thing’ (Hence why the Ovenbreakers look similar/are correlated to the Original Beasts.)

Gingerbrave is also not called Gingerbrave in this AU, this is somewhat following Witch’s Castle Lore where Gingerbrave got his name after the gate/hallway thingy mentioned him being a brave Cookie. In this AU Gingerbrave doesn’t even name himself so Wizard and many others just kept calling him ‘Nameless’ hence why he has the ominous title ‘The Nameless One’

The explanation above, serves as an explanation as to why Dark Cacao didn’t recognize Gingerbrave at first. Because well- Gingerbrave used the name ‘Gingerbrave’ when he dropped down to Earthbread.

Now- I’ll just have to make like- a full-scale design of them… *Sigh*

#cookie run kingdom #gingerbrave #that time i adopted a god au

[bangtanloverboys]

life support // knj

summary - namjoon likes to think he’s the embodiment of the perfect example of a theurgists: positive and enthusiastic. however when his professor asks him to help tutor one of her secondary students, only then is that pushed to the limit

pairing - tutor!namjoon x neurodivergent!reader

genre - fluff; wizard 101 au

word count - 4.0k

warnings - dip’s made up lore, namjoon says one mean thing, thoughts of fraternization 

guide - theurgy = life magic, divination = storm magic; marlybonian = british dog people; pigswick = another wizarding academy; 

author’s note - last names for reasons. and this was a bit personal for me as i do have adhd and i struggled a lot with theoretical teachings. this is based off my own personal experience with school and having adhd, not everyone’s is the same

the seven schools of ravenwood

Best in class. That is how Namjoon has always been described ever since he was a novice theurgist. It came easy to him, with a glance at a textbook he could perform the spell in an instant. Life magic was simply in his blood. So when Professor Wu asked him to tutor some of her less than stellar students, he wasn’t surprised. It took a while for each of the other students to catch on, but one by one, he helped them understand the material and soon enough, they raised their grades. Namjoon’s track record was stunning, there wasn’t any student he couldn’t help.

That was until he met you.

Normally Professor Wu only offered tutoring for her novice primary school students; young theurgists that either did not grow up where magic was practiced or simply fell behind a few lessons and needed a bit of help to get back on their feet. Never before had he had to tutor a secondary school theurgist. But he was willing to step up to the challenge. 

Pushing open the heavy oak doors of the Life School, he was greeted with the familiar sight of Professor Wu standing at the top of the platform. Standing right at the bottom of the stairs before her, was you, dressed in purple and gold. A diviner, Namjoon thought to himself. Life magic sat in between Storm and Fire, so one normally would expect a student of those primary schools would easily understand and excel at theurgy. He wondered what could be the problem. 

“Ah, Namjoon!” She smiled as he approached you both. “Y/N, this will be your tutor; Namjoon Jadeshield. Namjoon, this is Y/N Raindreamer,” she introduced.

“Pleasure,” he greeted, holding out his hand for you to shake. You don’t shake his hand, only giving him a tight lipped smile. “Okay. . .” he dropped his hand. “What exactly are you struggling with so that I can help?”

You opened your mouth to speak, but Professor Wu cut you off. “Everything, really. They’re supposed to start their initiate program, but unfortunately they must repeat their apprenticeship.”

Namjoon tried to hold back his shock. Failing the apprenticeship class?  You’d have to repeat the whole two year process, probably never catch back up to your primary school level. “Okay. So how often shall we hold tutoring sessions?” He glanced between you and Professor Wu.

“Ideally every day after class,” the professor answered.

Your head snapped in the direction of her. “No!” Turning to Namjoon, you began to plead with him. “Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. I need Wednesday and Friday free. I have-“

“You know very well that any or all after school activities are suspended until your grades rise, Raindreamer,” Professor Wu tisked.

But you didn’t acknowledge her, only keeping your eyes trained on Namjoon. “I’m sorry, but Professor Wu is right. Until you have sufficient grades to prove it, no after school activities.”

As the words left his mouth, Namjoon watched in slow motion as your face fell. Like the world had crashed around you. Quickly, your face steeled and a frown was etched onto your features. “Fine.”

“Alright,” Namjoon nodded, wanting this meeting to be over and done with. “We’ll start tomorrow. Meet me outside the Commons Library? Sound good with you?”

“Yeah, fine. Whatever,” you huffed as you shouldered your book bag and left the school building, leaving Namjoon and Professor Wu alone. 

“I swear, with a name like Raindreamer, it’s no wonder they have grades like this,” she sighed. “But thank you again, Namjoon. I know you’ll be a great help.”

“I’ll do my best.” 

The following day, Namjoon waited for you just outside the Commons Library. He was there a full 10 minutes before you finally arrived. He opened his mouth to berate you for being late but words failed to come out at the sight of you; fresh scrapes and bandages covering any exposed skin. 

“What?” You raised a brow at him.

“Are you- what happened?”

You looked down at the bandages before shrugging. “Fell.”

Whilst that didn’t feel like the full reason, Namjoon didn’t push any further, simply wanting to get the tutoring session along. You trailed behind him as he climbed up the final steps to the library, pushing open the doors. Namjoon waved hello to Harold, the old Marleybonian that served as the librarian, as he scribbled away in his ledger. 

“This way,” Namjoon said to you as he walked down the theurgy wing. Other life students, dressed in robes of greens and browns, were seated at the tables that were strategically placed alongside the tall bookshelves. He made his way over to his usual table, it sat right between the initiate and journeyman textbooks. Granted those might be a bit out of your range, but perhaps it could serve as a bit of motivation to help you move forward. 

Placing his book bag down, he looked at you, straggling along still. A bit further than he would’ve liked, but you were soon catching up. Your eyes were trained on the books as they flew across the shelves, rearranging and reorganizing themselves. There was a small smile etched into your face as you watched the books and scrolls float about, reminding Namjoon of a child on Christmas. Clearing his throat to gain your attention, he watched as that smile faded away, back into a look of displeasure. You picked up the pace, taking the seat beside him.

“Professor Wu didn’t give me any specifics as to what you need help with. So are there any particular parts that you need help with?” Namjoon asked as you pulled out your scrolls and text books. 

“Everything, I guess. It just. . . doesn’t make sense. I can’t figure out how to get from Point A to Point B,” you explained. 

“So conceptualizing it?”

You blinked at him. “I- uh, I guess that is one way to put it.”

“Okay, that gives us a starting point then.” He smiled at you. “So let’s go to basics. See if that can help.” 

“Alright,” you muttered, learning forward as he began writing.

“So theurgy is a bit different than the other schools, when using magic we don’t summon or coerce the creatures into appearing. We breathe life into them through the Song of Creation. Are you familiar with that?” When he turned to look at you, you were staring blankly at the paper. He waited a few moments for you to respond, but you didn’t. Namjoon snapped his fingers twice, you jerked back to attention.

“Sorry, I- uh. . . what did you say?”

It was then when Namjoon realized how you were able to fail your apprenticeship so miserably and how you earned your last name. 

You could not focus at all.

Every time Namjoon was going over spell casting and or creation, he would turn to you to check to see if you were following, only for you to have a blank look on your face or your eyes to be trained on the floating books again. Every time he would have to snap his fingers to regain your attention. On some occasions, he saw you scribbling away into a notebook. At first he thought you were actually taking notes, but anytime he tried to take a look at it, you shut the book in his face.

By the end of the second hour, when your session was coming to a close, you had finally managed to understand one spell. It was just a shield spell, so it wasn’t too complicated, but not enough for Namjoon to be satisfied with your progress. 

As the two of you left the library, you were about to make a break for the right, no doubt returning to your dorm room in Ravenwood, but he quickly grabbed onto your wrist. 

“What?”

“I want you to read over the History of Life Magic, chapters one through four. Just the basics, that should help at least a tiny bit.”

“You’re giving me homework?” 

He blinked at you, caught off guard by the question. He’s always asked the students he tutored to reread certain materials, and they did so without question. “It’s not really homework, just helps to go over the material again,” he sputtered out in response. “I want to see you succeed and catch up in your secondary school. And reading helps.”

“Yeah, sure,” you huffed with a roll of your eyes, then walked down the pathway through the Commons.

Over the next two weeks, the two of you had fallen into a routine; every few days you’d be late by no more than 10 minutes to each session (how he had no idea, considering the initiate divination class would get out around your scheduled time) with fresh bandages, he’d try his damndest to help you understand the material, and then you’d part ways, heading off towards the right. And it was agonizing for Namjoon. You read at a snail's pace, mixing up the pixie and fairy spells, scrambling words and wand motions together. It wasn’t by lack of effort either, Namjoon could see you were trying, genuinely, but no matter how much reading he assigned you, nothing seemed to stick. You got one spell for every ten he went over with you. He simply could not believe how you managed to even get enrolled into Ravenwood in the first place.

When he expressed his frustrations towards Professor Wu when it was time for a follow up, she finally told him that you were a new student, only coming in within the past 6 months, after being kicked out of Pigswick for poor performance. He was shocked at the information, but it made sense. You were a troubled student and needed a firm hand. So he went to work, putting together another lesson plan that was more strict to try and see if that would help you at all.

It didn’t.

Barely a full session in, he watched as you failed to recite the proper incantations to summon a leprechaun, something you nearly had the day previous. 

“What isn’t clicking for you?” He found himself asking you at the end of the session.

“I’m sorry?”

“I mean, why can’t you do this? This is basic theurgy, and you’re a storm student! This should come easy to you, right? So why are you struggling so much?” He felt like he was at the end of his rope. If he couldn’t teach you, then what hopes could he ever have about being a professor?

“I mean, it just. . . doesn’t. It’s hard to explain. . .”

“Well if you don’t figure it out, you’re gonna get kicked out from another school,” Namjoon muttered under his breath.

“What?”

He froze. He cringed to himself as he turned around to look at you, regretting even thinking the words. Once he laid eyes on you, he saw that same broken look he saw when Professor Wu said you couldn’t continue with your afterschool activities, only worse. Your shoulders sagged, and Namjoon swore he could’ve heard your heart break, shattered by him. Then your face hardened as you tightened your grip on your bookbag.

“Then I guess there’s no reason for us to really continue these sessions, considering I’m just gonna get kicked out anyways.” Then you turned on your heel and stormed off.

“Y/N, wait- I’m sorry!”

He wanted to follow after you, but he couldn’t find it in him to. He watched as you disappeared into the crowded Commons area, wishing he never even opened his mouth. 

The following day after class, Namjoon made his way over towards the Storm School. You deserved an apology, Namjoon knew that. What he said was mean, and something he never should’ve said as your tutor. It was just his luck that his mastery class ended at the same time the Storm initiate class ended, giving him the perfect opportunity to find you and apologize. He eyed through the students as they made their way past him, on their own way towards their next class or any after school club. But he could not find out. He knew he had the right year, you were supposed to go into the initiate class this year, you were the proper age for it. Where were you?

Perhaps you stayed inside to talk to the professor, he thought to himself as he approached the heavy oak doors. Thunder boomed overhead from the gathering storm cloud that resided inside the classroom. It had been years since he’d ever stepped foot in the school of storm, the first and only time being from when he was trying to find a secondary school, all those years before he finally landed on balance. 

Namjoon glanced around the room, trying to catch a glimpse of you but you weren’t in the room. Only Professor Balestrom resided in the classroom, standing on top of his desk as he gathered papers.

Taking a deep breath, he entered the school, clearing his throat to gain the frog professor’s attention. He turned on his flipper as the sound of Namjoon and bounced up to his full height of three feet. 

“Ah! How can I be of service to you?”

“Hi, I’m tutoring one of your students. Y/N Raindreamer? They would be in your initiate class.”

A frown etched itself onto Professor Balestrom’s face. “Raindreamer is my student yes, but they’re not in my initiate class.”

“What?” 

“Raindreamer advanced into the adept class about 3 months ago! They’re a brilliant student, one of the best diviners I’ve seen in a while,” he explained.

The information shook Namjoon to his core. You were an advanced student? But how could that be, considering your grades in theurgy? It didn’t make any sense. “I-I didn’t know that.”

“First time in my class, they struggled though. Came in on a reading day, which is everyone’s least favorite part of the curriculum. But as soon as we got to spell casting, they nearly blew the roof off this place!” The professor continued, leaping up in the air for dramatic effect. “They weren’t even here a week before I took them to the headmaster and demanded they advance to the journeyman course, only that was also too easy! They’re getting a real challenge in adept, I’ll tell you that.”

Namjoon couldn’t believe his ears. Here he was, thinking you were a walking failure, doomed to be kicked out of a second school. Only to learn that you were nearly two years advanced in your studies! “Oh. . . well, do you know where they might be? I do need to talk to them.”

Professor Balestrom looked at the clock on the wall. “Should be in the arena by now.”

“The arena?”

“Yes. The arena! They’re a duelist, did you not know that?”

Only then did it dawn on him that he never did ask what you wanted to do so badly that you wanted to schedule your tutoring sessions around it. Then he remembered what days you were late on, the fresh bandages you always had on. . . You were still dueling. Under the school’s nose too.

“Thank you, Professor Balestrom. I appreciate it.”

“Of course, of course!” The frog man called out to Namjoon as he all but ran out the door. As fast as he could, he made his way through the tunnels to the Commons and then to Unicorn Way. He pushed open the doors of the arena, the snapping of puppets and growls of different summoned monsters filled his ears as he approached Diego, the dueling master.

“A newcomer? Are you interested in learning the art of the duel?” The unicorn asked, raising a brow at him.

Namjoon shook his head no. “Sorry, I’m actually looking for someone. Y/N Raindreamer?”

“Ah, yes! They’ve been short on their dueling practice lately, but they’re in the next dueling chamber over. Come, I shall show you.” Diego led Namjoon down a hall towards an empty arena, where sure enough you were, dueling against a puppet. 

He was blown away with the sight before him. You waved your wand with practiced ease and the creatures you summoned did your bidding with little to no struggle at all. It wasn’t at all how you were when he was tutoring you. How could you manage to do so good in one class that you advance two classes, but struggle to advance in your secondary?

“Pretty good, eh? Came in from Pigswick, good school and all but they don’t actually teach magic there. It’s all theoretical. But as soon as Raindreamer was enrolled here, and with a little help from your’s truly, they advanced in no time!” Diego explained as he and Namjoon watched you battle the puppet. “They come in here as often as they can, practicing all the spells they learn in class. See the scrolls?” He pointed off to the side of the dueling sigil where sure enough, were piles of spell books and scrolls, mainly of storm magic, judging from the purple lining. But Namjoon could see some greens in there. 

You weren’t just practicing.

You were studying.

Raising your wand again, this time the life symbol appeared. Up until the last wave of your wand, it was perfect. You had twisted your wrist in the wrong direction, causing the spell to fizzle completely. You let out a curse as you stepped away from the sigil, the puppet standing still. You pulled open the life scroll, reading over it again, no doubt trying to find your mistake.

“You’re supposed to twist your wrist towards the right, not the left!” Namjoon called out to you. Your head snapped up in his direction, mouth open to probably yell at him. But you didn’t say anything, your eyes focusing on Diego behind him. 

“He’s right, you were perfect up until that last move,” Diego confirmed as he trotted down the stairs towards you, Namjoon following after. “He was looking for you, I hope you do not mind I brought him here.”

“It’s alright, thank you, Diego.” You gave the unicorn a slight smile, who nodded before stepping away, giving the two of you some privacy. Once your attention was fully towards Namjoon, your lips pressed into a thin line. “What is it, Namjoon?”

“I wanted to apologize, what I said was out of line. As your tutor, it should’ve been my priority to build you up, not to tear you down.”

You regarded him cautiously. “Doesn’t change the fact that what you said really hurt. I did try, but studying like that just. . . it doesn’t work for me. Sitting there and telling me how to cast spells, I have to see and do it to fully understand. Do you get that?”

“Yes, I can see that now.” Namjoon stepped toward the pile of scrolls and books that you had at the side of the arena. Picking up the one that was open, he flipped through it. There were a bunch of notes and scribbles in the margins, he recognized the chicken scratch as yours but what you wrote were what he would go over and teach you in your tutoring sessions. “This is why you wanted those days off, so you could practice your spellwork and could try to actually grasp what you were learning?”

Slowly, you nodded. “I will admit, I did continue dueling, but without the proper amount of dedication to practice and study, it just. . . I couldn’t do it.”

“Then we’ll hold our tutoring sessions here.”

You looked at him in shock. “What?”

“If this is what helps you learn, then this is what we’ll do to help you,” Namjoon started, “I’ll tell Professor Wu about the change and reserve an arena with Diego. We can meet here instead of the library, does that sound good to you?”

“I- yeah! That’s- that’s perfect, thank you!” You said, beaming widely at him. It was the first time you actually smiled at him, and he was going to deny the little flutter he felt in his chest. 

“Okay, so I’ll see you here tomorrow?”

“Yeah, tomorrow!”

Just as he said, Namjoon talked with Moolinda about having you study via dueling.

“I don’t know, Jadeshield. . . they’re failing, and the rules are no extracurriculars unless a student is of a passing grade.”

“I know, but this is how they learn! I didn’t understand it at first, and that’s my fault. But they’re actually really smart! Did you know they’re two classes advanced in divination?” Namjoon countered. 

Professor Wu was taken back by that knowledge, judging by the way her eyes narrowed down and focused on him. 

“Please, just give them a chance.”

She was quiet, before placing her hooves together and nodding. “Very well. You may hold your tutoring lessons in the arena.”

Namjoon was so ecstatic, he would have jumped for joy. But there was one more thing that he had to ask. . .

 Due to his meeting with the professor, Namjoon was running late to meet you at the Arena. He saw you were sitting on the grass outside the building, looking down at that book you would scribble in during your tutoring sessions, flipping through the pages. 

“Hey!” He caught your attention as he approached you. “I have great news!”

Looking up from your book, you furrowed your brows together. “What?”

“I talked to Professor Wu and she gave the green light for us to do dueling tutoring sessions and she agreed!”

You jumped to your feet. “Really?!”

“Yes, and she agreed to something even better.” 

“Spit it out then! Don’t leave me here in all this suspense!”

“If you test well enough on the next exam that’s in a few weeks, you can join the initiate program!” It took a lot of convincing on his part, and staking his whole career as a tutor on the line, but he was wrong to ever doubt you in the first place. He knew you could do it.

“You-oh my stars! Thank you!” Dropping your book, you threw yourself onto Namjoon, wrapping your arms around his neck and squeezing him tightly.

He stilled at the sudden contact, feeling heat rush to his cheeks. “You’re- you’re welcome,” he said, patting your back gently. He’d never been thanked in such a way before, usually a quick handshake or a smile. Never a hug. 

As quick as you hugged him, you released your hold on him, smiling brightly at him. “Come on! Exam may be a few weeks away, but I wanna be sure I have everything right so I can ace this test!” You said, before racing inside the arena. 

Namjoon stood back for a second, still feeling the heat on his cheeks. He took a step forward to join you, only to accidentally step on your book that you’d dropped. Kneeling down, he picked it up. Curiosity gaining the best of him, he took a peek inside. It was doodles and drawings of different creatures and spells, with little notes dotted along the sides. Still flipping through the book, he began walking towards the arena, but he stopped as he turned to a page that took him by surprise. It was a drawing of him, incompleted, but was very obviously Namjoon. He felt the heat on his face return, crawling up his ears too. Reading along the sides of the page, were your own personal anecdotes about him. Calling him all sorts of names, but also things he had said; Stuff from his lessons. You had remembered, you were trying. He just couldn’t see it.

“Ahem.” 

Namjoon’s eyes broke away from the sketchbook, meeting Diego’s gaze. The unicorn said nothing, only winking at him as he tossed his head in the direction of the arena doors. 

Breaking eye contact, Namjoon pushed open the doors, hoping you wouldn’t see the embarrassment on his cheeks. He spotted you almost immediately, talking with some other students he could only presume were your friends. Taking notice of him, you smiled at him again, and he swore he could see a twinkle in your eye-

No. No. No.

You had an exam to study for and he was your tutor. He couldn’t fraternize with you like that. However, he wouldn’t be for long if you ace that exam. . . 

“Raindreamer, let’s go!” 

#btsghostie #namjoon x reader #kim namjoon x reader #bts x reader #namjoon x gender neutral reader #kim namjoon x gender neutral reader #bts x gender neutral reader #bts wizard au #wizard101 au #neurodivergent reader #namjoon x adhd reader #wizard namjoon

[chooseruin]

- Anjali!!! Love this for her -- she's such a class act and so good at matching every conceivable energy at the drop of a hat, which is going to be great for this setting. (full disclosure, I'm also a big fan of her commitment to the bit of making every single character she plays, like, super fucking hot, but regardless.)

class prediction: glamour, eloquence, or whispers bard, enchantment wizard at the outside.

- there is no WAY Aabria is walking into this game with that body language unless she's planning to walk out over a pile of corpses. Karna for this campaign's Liam until proven otherwise.

class prediction: inquisitive rogue.

- Brennan absolutely DETERMINED to bring back some of that Bulbian church lore Ally nuked for him last time, I see. Good for him, good for him.

class prediction: celestial warlock or order cleric, unless they've dug out the absolutely busted theurgy wizard UA.

- it's been a MINUTE since Lou went in the young brash dumbass direction he seems to be signaling, and I might be here for it. I'm definitely here for more Carn lore -- there was a lot of interesting potential there last time.

class prediction: you know what, this is a million to one against, but ancients pally.

- god, I love it when Zac goes sleazy. That's all.

class prediction: he's been on a lot of rogue shit lately, and if this isn't more of the same I'm feeling either cavalier fighter or a second attempt at warlocking.

- ngl, I was vaguely hoping to see Travis guest (mostly because I was hoping to see Travis's reaction to the sets), and for a hot second before the end of the trailer I was hoping to see Siobhan come in with General Rococoa, but I'm extremely happy with this cast and with the decision to stay relatively clear of a direct prequel. I'm getting the vibe that this one is going to be EVEN MORE heavy on the politics and on the consequences of player decisions, and this is such a great lineup for that.

#dimension 20 #d20 spoilers #d20 #dimension 20 spoilers #d20 the ravening war

[solemn-marauders]

Theadora Gravethorne Lore

"Theadora Gravethorne" was the name that was pinned to her dress when she was found on the orphanage's doorstep, with no memories, at the assumed age of 5. Most everyone calls her "Thea", a small few call her "Thee".

Basic Information

Birthdate: 30th of June.

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

She did not know her date of birth until Professor Fig informed her. I have written out this scene. This also coincides with the canonical event within the game where a strange magical disturbance happened on June 30th the school year before Thea arrives.

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor.

Patronus: Female Thestral.

Wand: Yew wood stained black, Thestral hair core (I have written a lore about how this is possible), 12 inches, Hard.

Animal Companion(s): A male raven named Montgomery, Monty for short, and a female black cat named Sarina.

Amortentia: The scent of an oncoming thunderstorm, the seaside, and a blend of earl grey, books, and singed pine.

Boggart: Undetermined.

Aminagus: Undetermined.

Quidditch Position: Chaser

Appearance

Eye Color: Blue-grey

Hair: Pre-5th year her hair is long, wavy, and dark golden blonde/light golden brown. After every Keeper Trail, and absorption of Ancient Magic, her hair gains streak of pure white. After absorbing the magic in the Repository, the entirety of her hair becomes stark white.

Height: 5'6" (167.64 cm), quite above average for the time period.

Distinguishing Marks: A scattering of moles across her face and body.

Personality

• Brave • Daring • Stubborn • Reckless • Inquisitive • Resilient •

Thea was quiet and kept to herself growing up. Since she didn’t have her previous memories, she had a really hard time with her identity. She didn't speak a word her entire first year at the orphanage.

After completely leaving her comfort zone once she learned of her abilities, those she met at Hogwarts helped to bring her out of her shell. She learns that the wizarding world isn't as stringent as muggle proper society is. She learns that she's actually quite bold (aka sassy) and enjoys a good sense of humor.

She's exceedingly loyal to those who earn her trust, which is difficult to do. For an example, she becomes Sebastian's ride-or-die when he takes the fall for sneaking into the Restricted Section. If you're in Thea's circle of trust, better get comfortable, because she can become quite possessive. She's never had friends before, so the ones she makes she wants to keep forever, as long as there's no betrayal.

She can have a nasty temper. She loathes being the last to know something and she's blown up at the Keepers more than once for their silly games and wasting her time. This temper goes hand-in-hand with her wicked competitive nature. She loves a good challenge; whether it be Gobstones, dueling, Summoner's Court, Quidditch, you name it.

Overall, she's an introvert who is touch-starved and wants to be loved and recognized for the person she is more than anything else.

Likes: Reading, researching (the world of magic is fascinating to her and she wants to know everything), the raspberry pastries with icing the Hogwarts elves make, raspberries in general, dark chocolate Peppermint Toads, flowers (honeysuckle particularly), graveyards, being cared about/for.

Dislikes: Being the last to know things, being made to feel small/stupid, licorice, jump scares.

Background

Was raised in a muggle boarding school for girls who are taught to become governesses or school teachers. It’s located in London, so she grew up in the city. 

Her time at the orphanage wasn’t bad. Given that it’s more of a boarding school where orphaned girls can learn skills that can earn them jobs/apprenticeships in the outside world, it’s actually constructive. Also, it has a lot of high society patrons that check in often and certainly want their school to appear the best. A status symbol for sure, but at least it’s benefiting the girls.

Dropped off at the school around the age of 5 with no memory. She was found with a piece of paper that only had a name written on it. We learn later that her memories were suppressed or erased either by potion or spell.

Some of the girls thought her strange, some understood her being withdrawn, and some were jealous. Things seemed to come easily to Thea, like luck was always on her side. When really this “luck” were miniscule demonstrations of her magical abilities. She wouldn’t know about this connection until it’s explained to her. She too, just thought she was lucky with small things.

Was later learned that she spoke proper English and was well-mannered, but she had remained mute for at least the first year at the school.

She already knew how to read and write.

All of the above hinted that she may have belonged to “proper society”. Some of the nuns at the school speculated that she may have been the result of an affair between a member of the peerage and a commoner, and that’s why she was well-educated but eventually abandoned. 

She looked well taken care of when they found her on the steps of the school.

Her parents are still alive but it’s MESSY and angsty.

Has two familiars/animal companions. A male raven named Monty and a female black cat named Sarina. Thea found Monty as an abandoned hatchling while at the orphanage and raised him. While at the orphanage, he mostly stays outside but always remains close by. He often brings Thea items; coins, herbs, flowers, etc. She later learns that throughout her life, he had been bringing her items that related to her dormant magical nature; i.e. things that are commonly used in potions or have magical properties.

Sarina just appeared one day and adopted Thea.

Thea will later learn that she is a descendant of the architect of Hogwarts, who in my HC was also an Ancient Magic vessel. (I'm not kidding when I say that I have a whole lore and historical timeline written about Ancient Magic).

Her birth name will be different than the one she knows.

Miriam Fig, in her search for answers about ancient magic, learns about an orphan who may have some sort of connection with/to it.

Miriam visits Thea at the orphanage. Possibly under the guise that she will have a job for her when her schooling is finished or will offer Thea an apprenticeship with her.

Miriam plans to “take on” Thea once she’s old enough. Miriam has deduced through Percival and Isidora that Thea’s powers will come to full manifestation at or around 15 years old. She wants to ease Thea into the Wizarding World and properly prepare her. Unfortunately, she is killed by Ranrok before that happens. Miriam tells Eleazar about Thea before her death. Once Ranrok became a real threat and her search became dangerous, she sends a letter to her husband telling him about Thea and that she’s special and will need him.

Masterlist of Writings and Fanart

#hogwarts legacy #hphl #hogwarts legacy mc #hphl mc #theadora gravethorne #thea #thea gravethorne

[dorianpavus]

I want to play the new Baldur's Gate 3 but I've never had an exposure to the franchise and barely any knowledge of D&D. Do I need to have that in order to properly understand the game, or...?

oooh!!! i'm very excited you're interested in bg3, it's SUCH a fun game. :')

the short answer is no, you don't need any knowledge of the previous games or dnd! the game takes place about 100 years after the events of the second game, and it functions as a stand-alone. and because it's a video game, the game comes with tutorials and explanations of mechanics! if you want to jump right into it, many other people have, that's totally an option! 😊

the longer version is this:

FRANCHISE LORE

although no knowledge is necessary, some would help.

there are many people out there who've done let's plays of the first two games, or have summarized the plots. you can find relatively short or very in depth versions of those on youtube! take your pick. or don't watch at all! :)

because this is dnd, and there are some creatures that can live for centuries -- through magic or natural lifespans -- there are some characters you'll come across that were in the first two games, even though that was 100 years prior!

you yourself are a new character, though, so it's not like you're expected to know who they are. it's more like it's exciting for people who have played the previous games, but they function as normal characters for everyone else! this is also true for familiar locations making a comeback. for a new player, they're just cool new places -- no previous knowledge necessary! DUNGEONS & DRAGONS LORE

what will help you most of all while playing the game, imo, is knowledge of dnd. both mechanically, how the game/combat works, and some knowledge of this setting.

people play dnd in all kinds of different settings. lots of people make up their own, but there are some "official" settings, that published content is made for.

one of these settings is called the "forgotten realms," and that's the one this game takes place in!

there's this great ongoing lore series on youtube that goes over a lot of the lore (specifically relevant to baldur's gate 3) that leads into the game. if you want to know about the big players in the world, religion, the fantasy-talk the characters drop, this is the playlist for you! each video is about 10-15 minutes long, so they're great to watch quickly while eating lunch.

(i would really argue watching those videos will get you more prepared for bg3 than just a recap of the first two games.) COMBAT

then there's combat.

the good news is, if you play other video games, lots of them were modeled after dnd! it probably won't be too different from other fantasy rpgs.

there's gotta be thousands of videos explaining how dnd combat works, but i'll break down the important bits here:

almost anything you do in dnd boils down to rolling some dice and adding some numbers. usually, for combat and skills, that means rolling a d20, and adding any relevant numbers afterwards (that come from your own stats). when you're making your character, it will be useful to know what ability score affects what!

example: most melee weapons use strength. that means if you're using a longsword and invested in strength when creating your character, you'll have a higher number you get to add to your roll when you're attacking (so more likely to hit your target), and a higher number to add to its damage.

there are some exceptions to this -- some melee weapons have the "finesse" property, that allows you to use your dexterity instead of strength. (daggers, rapiers, scimitars, shortswords, etc.) that's useful if you're playing a high dex character rather than high strength!

ranged weapons, like longbows and shortbows, use dexterity.

classes that use magic have a "spellcasting ability" that they use for magic. for wizards, that's intelligence; for bards, sorcerers, and warlocks, that's charisma; for clerics and druids, that's wisdom. investing in those abilities as that class will let you add a bigger bonus to you rolls, or to the number enemies have to roll against you.

combat is turn-based. at the start of combat, every character (enemies and allies) will "roll initiative," which comes from their dexterity. (higher dex = higher initiative). then everyone takes their turn in order of their initiative.

dexterity is also used with armor -- without any armor on (and lots of spellcasting classes cannot wear armor), your base AC, or "armor class" is 10 + your dexterity modifier. that's the number an enemy has to roll to hit you. the higher your AC, the better!

different armors will have a different base AC. some of them you can add your dexterity modifiers to, and some of the heavier armors you cannot. (realistically, it's saying you're not gonna be too nimble when you're clanking around everywhere).

for characters who cannot wear armor, there are spells and buffs in game to help raise their AC! if they're getting hurt too easily, you might want to invest in one of those -- for instance, the Shield of Faith cleric spell adds a +2 to AC, and the Mage Armor wizard/sorcerer spell makes your base AC 13 + Dex Modifier (instead of 10 + dex!) when not wearing armor. Very very useful!

"Concentration" is when a spell must be passively maintained by the caster. You can only concentrate on one spell at a time, but you can cast other non-concentration spells with no issue. If you attempt to cast a second concentration spell, however, the first one will drop, and you will lose its effects.

If this is all overwhelming, I know! I just threw a ton of information at you that's all probably meaningless until you're playing the game. Don't sweat it too much, and feel free to come back to this if/when you're making a character.

Regardless, the game will try to teach you everything that you don't know. At the top right corner of the screen, little tutorial icons will pop up as you play, explaining some new feature -- don't skip those!

And my inbox is always open. If you ever have any questions or are having any difficulty or confusion, hit me up! Tl;dr, NONE of that extra frou frou I just gave you is necessary. You could hop into the game right now and start playing. You'll figure things out as you go!! Most importantly, HAVE FUN!!!!! It's an incredibly rich game with very vibrant characters and so much to explore and delight. :')

I'm sorry if my wall of text was too much sldgkhslkgh 😭😭💖💖💖💖 I LOVE this game and I'm so excited anyone else wants to give it a go!!!

#baldur's gate #anonymous #asks #i love u anon this was probably 100x what you asked for lol #bg3 stuff

[tractorbeamofwoe]

Gabriel Michael headcanons

(AKA lore I just made up) Hi I’m a little bit obsessed with sorry!will actually and especially his character from We Saved a Kingdom and this is also the first thing I’ve written and posted for this fandom so enjoy I guess ok bye <33

***

Gabriel loves animals, literally spends hours outside in the castle gardens scattering seeds and nuts in the grass in the hopes it would attract birds and squirrels.

Sometimes animals will even come up and eat straight from his hand, which makes him lowkey emotional.

A bird once landed on his shoulder and it gave him such a confidence boost.

Rescues injured animals as well of course. He's nursed a number of rabbits, squirrels, foxes and deer back to health.

I like to imagine Helen reincarnated as a deer that came to eat nuts and berries from his hand once and kept nudging him for attention.

She sort of stuck around and became the resident deer in the castle.

No one really realised it was her until she was down by the river one day and she was sniffing at one specific spot. The exact spot where she left Gabriel as a toddler and the exact spot where he was found again by Thomas.

She even finds a basket in a patch of reeds and carries it in her mouth to her son before dropping it at his feet, as if amazed that the 6’6 prince in front of her was once the tiny 3 year old who fit in her arms.

And Gabriel’s so worried he's not the man she imagined he'd be or that he's not making her proud :((

But she quickly shuts down all those assumptions with various head nudges and face licks

He's so used to his father putting pressure on him to be a certain way that he'd never expect it of other people. In fact he'd actively encourage you to be yourself around him and let you know he's a safe space for you to talk about your passions and fears.

I mean you saw how he befriended Dark Dave with zero hesitation and, even knowing he killed his mother, he accepted him as his adoptive dad

Literally the biggest supporter of his gay dads that man is an ally

Helen HATES Thomas and as she should. When she gets let into the castle she recognises his stuff like his crown and she probably gags

Tries to play matchmaker for her son cause there's no way she's gonna be reunited with him after so long just to watch him be a sad loser.

Basically he just loves all creatures big and small

That being said though I feel like he doesn't want to end up with the richest princess in the land as his father encouraged, because that feels in-genuine and more like a business transaction. I can see him settling down with someone more magical like a witch or a shapeshifter instead (reminds him of Dark Dave)

He'd grab all the ingredients they need for their potions even if he has to go to the furthest swamp or forest to get them.

In return they use their powers or potions to heal any injured animals he brings in.

It's canon confirmed he became a dark wizard after the events of the episode as well so they're a perfect match.

I'd like to think he only uses his newly acquired powers for good, though a villain arc would be something interesting to explore at a later date.

He’s more of a healer than a fighter. The thought of battle terrifies him, no matter how much Thomas tries to beat it into him.

Anxious boy

And yeah Thomas was really rough on him growing up so it doesn’t surprise me he’d have a villain arc.

I don't think he'd be a very good villain though sorry.

Haha 'sorry'

Also goes through an angsty “it’s not a phase dad UGH!” phase

Lord knows where he got his love of theatre from but I think it would be silly if his American accent was the product of a curse placed on him as an infant by Dark Dave as a way to get back at Thomas (aside from, you know, killing his wife)

#Posting this and running #I hope this doesn’t flop because THAT would be embarrassing #sorry boys #wilbur soot headcanons

[hugemilkshake]

Okay so witches castle as just released and here are my thoughts on it

It’s great.

The puzzles are fun and sometimes challenging and the story is very good so far! I recommend playing it if you haven’t yet

Now I have completed the first chapter so under the cut are my thoughts on the characters so slight spoilers

So what baller has an entire castle to themselves???? (I would love to know the witches name)

Gremlin child. That’s literally them

Gingerbright is a very fun character but definitely has 0 sense of self preservation

Wizard, has been my favorite character since day one. And still remains to be my favorite.

Strawberry chill but definitely had some reasonable reactions to things

The sheriff ✨ he reminds me of meowth from Pokémon

DOZER MY BOY!!!!! 10/10 perfect character! I will die for him

But this is so cute my heart can’t take it

Look at this beautiful woman, I hope she doesn’t drop some deeply traumatic lore on us

#crk #cookie run #cookie run witch’s castle

[tumblhurgoyf]

Feeling super negative for a multitude of reasons, some not Magic related at all, but the recent talk on Blogatog about “microset” products just feels so out of touch. I don’t want to bring that negativity on one of Mark’s posts as I’m not sure I could be polite about it and I’ve mostly just dismissed the product as not for me already anyway. But I do want to vent.

First it’s like $1 a card for random cards? That’s nuts. Boosters are already overpriced with all the commons included. They worked some really good PR speak by explaining away cutting the commons to give you more rares and uncommons, but the reality is you’re just paying more for less. It’s not like those rare slots are actually going to ever reach an EV that makes it a good gamble.

Second let’s talk about product fatigue. Like not only is this an additional release (or four) a year, but you’re doing normal and collector’s boosters for this as well? Holy fuck.

The fact that Mark’s openly work shopping what variation of this product players might actually shell out money for tells me it’s not received well. I haven’t seen a positive video about it at all.

It’s a shame though that they can’t give their golden goose a bit of breathing room though. I shared that post the other day about... let me find it for the term... trust thermocline. The basic idea is that people who like your product will stick with you through some missteps and bad ideas. And you won’t even notice how bad all of them are because sales keep increasing and people keep paying higher prices and buying new stuff and all that.

But at some point you hit that trust thermocline. Something pushes a lot of people over the edge. You walk it back but it’s too late. Because the thing is that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. They didn’t leave because of one bad story, or because $5 a pack was too much but $4.50 wasn’t, or because two dozen products a year was ok but thirty went to far.

They left because of all of it. The last thing is just what made them finally say “enough.” And once they say enough and leave, you don’t get them back. It’s hard to see because things keep chugging along and all your numbers and metrics look fine. But I feel like Wizards has to be approaching this. I wonder about why they stopped including space at the end of surveys for additional comments. Too much negativity they don’t want to put any effort into handling?

On a different front, I’m also not enjoying the lore changes they’ve dropped with this same product. I am willing to admit that I’m somehow still too close to the story to really take a step back and appreciate this; that could change with time. But my reaction right now is that desparking a lot of planeswalkers while opening rifts so anyone and anything can now travel the multiverse is just stupid. You’ve just eviscerated the story conceit that made planeswalkers special.

idk, I wasn’t thrilled with how they handled the team up cards anyway, and to me this feels like the next step of that. We got to see unlikely allies on cards, now what if we got stories where Thalia was on Ravnica fighting the Obzedat? It feels (I keep intentionally using the word feels to describe this--it’s my emotional reaction detached from the idea that they’re going to be able to tell cool stories they couldn’t otherwise tell), anyway, it feels like they just tossed out a core story concept and don’t even realize it.

Like as much shit they get for the world of hats approach, I think that really works for what they do and is part of what I enjoy. I’m honestly in part concerned that the recent big events that effect the entire multiverse and set up this situation where planes can blend a lot more freely could impact the distinct feel of different worlds. And while I’m sure that’s something that’s on creative’s radar, they’ve also burned enough trust in recent years that I’m doubtful they will handle it well.

Though at the same time this feels kind of par for the course. There have been so many let downs in Magic story over the years that the amazing part is that I’m still invested at all. But the story’s a slave to corporate needs and is undoubtedly more story-by-committee than ever. A left-right punch to KO any creative work for sure.

But I shouldn’t be surprised. They are not and have never really tried to say they’re anything else. They make blockbuster sets and want blockbuster stories to go along with it. Anyone who wants a fantasy card game with DC/Marvel story sensibilities to produce artistic short fiction is a damned fool.

Anyway this is just me venting. Could all be wrong. Time will tell. If you want to vent here feel free.

#actually also kind of realizing #aside from not wanting to be mean and negative to mark #I recognize that my thoughts here are so far removed from what wizards is doing and has been doing #that I don't even think it would be useful to engage and offer these thoughts #like they stopped doing additional survey comments for a reason #they don't want to hear it #I think mark does #he is very genuine and real #but it feels like enough of the higher ups at hasbro are just there to milk the cash cow #that it's kind of pointless to do or say anything to them