#it was an entire campaign about not spoiling it for other people because the characters had been dusted and if you already knew who it was

[laurasbailey]

hey, sorry to come out of nowhere with this, feel free to ignore! just wanted to get a bit of perspective on the c3 negativity i've been seeing for so long, which i've tried and failed to avoid and has been bumming me out more than i would like. this is my first campaign, it has brought me so much joy and company, but every time i end up reading a deeply negative take i can't really shake off the feeling that they're actually right, cause some of it makes sense to me and i can't unsee that. i know i'm being paranoid about it and truly setting myself up to be miserable and ruin the whole thing, which at this point i might've already done, but i just get sad wishing i could've had experienced the things everyone raves about (like different pacing and a lot of RP) for this campaign, which i'm so close to. do you think c3 is actually, objectively, worse or shallower than the previous ones? is there truth to the criticism (about it being too plot-driven, about the characters making each other worse and not being a good fit for this story, about the cast not being as into it and so on) or is the internet being the internet, and i should basically touch grass? it's not like i would drop it, honestly, i'm just sad thinking about how this story and these characters could've worked out if the "quality" was the one i keep seeing everyone talk about in regards to c1/c2. i know it's not that deep and it shouldn't matter in the long run, i'm just struggling a bit to not give in to the negativity and wanted to get your take on it, as someone's who's navigated this fandom longer! and again, truly sorry for the unprompted rant and thanks in general for being cool and taking the time to make gifs and recaps :)

you said it's brought you joy and company and it's seeing the negativity that's starting to ruin it, which is, honestly and sadly, a common thing that happens in online fandoms. negativity will bring the mood down regardless, because it just spirals into further misery. personally i stopped looking at fandom opinions and i've been a lot happier ever since! half the stuff you've said in here i've never heard before, that's how off the grid i am now lmao.

to answer your question, no, i don't think c3 is necessarily "worse" because, while people are entitled to their opinion, i think that's such a lazy, basic ass way of looking at it. also i just don't think a dnd game with people who are storytellers for a living can be shallow unless that's their goal, quite frankly. are there aspects of c3 i dislike? of course! but the same is true for all campaigns. there were parts of c2 i thought were very weak, despite the entire internet praising it like the second coming of jesus. there are things i think c3 does better than c2, even. and there are things c1 does better than both c2 and c3, and so on.

do i like that most of the campaign has been bells hells vs. a ticking clock? not really, it does mean certain sacrifices are made. do certain characters get on my last nerve? absolutely (but that's not exclusive to c3 lmao). at the same time though, i get the three women front and centre of the main plot, which has never happened before. i get a laura/marisha character romance after watching them have great chemistry for years. i get c1-level stakes and fantastic female npcs/villains, which c2 was mostly lacking. i get ashley full time (!!!) coming out of her shell and being her best and most chaotic self. and i get SO MUCH of the c1 characters? i'm fucking spoiled if you ask me.

maybe some of the criticism is very real and warranted (again, haven't seen it and don't plan to) but at the end of the day, this isn't my game of dnd or yours or any of the viewers'. we are literally watching other people play an improv game where they're crying one minute and making dick jokes the next, you just have to be along for the ride. going into the campaign with certain expectations is really silly and critiquing it the way you would a tv show just doesn't work. also unless these people are friends with the cast and speaking to them irl, how could they possibly know they aren't enjoying it as much like be serious 💀

i'm gonna be so honest here: idk if the people who are constantly spouting negativity are just miserable, but they sure look it! also stupid! why? because normal people who hate something simply ✨ stop watching and move on ✨. sure, hatewatching can be fun if you and your friends are in someone's living room or discord call shooting the shit, but doing it online day after day after day? honestly i just feel sorry for those people. happy people do not spend their time throwing essays worth of negativity up for the big wide world to see! how do i know this? because i was that person in my teens and i was severely unlikeable!

if you've enjoyed something without the bias of someone else's opinion, then you've enjoyed it! but your opinion can also change as the campaign goes, that can also be true! i would be interested to hear the reasons you loved it initially, because i think you'll find that most of that core stuff is present in all three campaigns.

the recent plot of c3 has been more stressful than any plot in previous campaigns, so understandably people have big feelings. my advice: the block button is your friend but so is the follow button! criticism is healthy, find people who deliver it in a way that's not some whiny entitled baby. letting someone else's opinion influence yours will never make you happy.

#anonymous #ask #sorry for the long response! #and some may say 'but you're unlikeable now!' #and to that i say... but now it's a choice 😉 #honestly i'm jealous of you - you still have c1/c2 to experience! #each campaign is so different and that's the beauty of it imo

[dailyadventureprompts]

Evening, Dapper. I'm a big fan of your work; I'm actually using a few of your NPCs in a campaign I'm running! As you've made a few 're-imagined' entries for demon lords already- how would you play Zuggtmoy in a way that's not just 'evil, but also brain-destroying and fungal'? What would she need to be like to motivate people to actually sign a pact with or worship her?

Monsters Reimagined: Zuggtmoy, Demon Queen of Rot and Regret

D&D has a problem with one note villains, blank slates that dungeonmaters are SUPPOSED to fill with their own ideas but end up coming off as pathetically shallow after their Captain Planet level concepts become increasingly rigid over successive generations. Occasionaly a great writer comes along and fills these concepts with interesting context, but they're few in far between.

Zuggtmoy is a great example of this, existing as what I like to call a "Fill in the blank baddie", as they adhere to a very simple formula that looks a little like this: X is an evil ____ who cares about ____, they want the whole world to be nothing but ____, they use ____ as minions and have a personality and ethos that one could describe as ____ like. For Zuggtmoy you could fill that blank in with "fungus" and you'd get her ENTIRE concept, indistinguishable from Jubilex the slime demon, Nerull the death god, and just about 90% of a high level party's rogue's gallery.

Below the cut I'm going to go into a complete lore revision for the dame of decay along with a bunch of adventure hooks, but for the TLDR: Default Zuggtmoy is weird because d&d assumes that fungus and decay are evil because they are gross, an odd stance to take because not only is rot a vitally necessary part of life, but fungus has brought us wonderful things like penicillin and mushroom risotto. My version of the demon queen is one that revolves around the idea of things “spoiling” when held on past their time, be they feelings, memories, relationships, or empires. Zuggtmoy herself is the mouldered and hollowed out remnants of a once queenly dryad, who’s influence appears in others unable to let go as a creeping blight that spreads through their mind, bodies, and surroundings.

When it comes to concepts Zuggtmoy is as about as “fill in the blank” as it gets, with her single notable character design concept and personality both being “She’s a lady made out of fungus”. This would be fine I suppose but she’s also specifically a demon lord, and that doesn’t tack at all for a whole bunch of reasons:

Do mushrooms have souls? Can they commit sin? Most of the creatures Zuggtmoy is described as being worshipped by don’t have traditional consciousness, if they have an intelligence score at all. Yeah, it sucks to be covered in slime and/or rotted from the inside out but those creatures aren't EVIL, so why is she a demon other than the fact that gross/ugly = evil in d&d world? She’d be perfectly fine if she was just the goddess of fungus, but she needs a reason to be considered one of the Pit’s big bads.

One could theoretically talk about how the grossness of Zuggtmoy is meant as a torment to those people who fear filth/corruption who might be damned to her realm, but d&d cosmology increasingly does not work like that. If Zuggtmoy is queen of a layer of hell, there needs to be a specificly demonic reason that her domain is one of rot and fungus.

Why is Zuggtmoy a lady? A giant mushroom or that happened to use feminine pronouns would have served but she is very specifically described as a humanoid made out of fungus, frequently depicted with signifies of being an attractive and elegant. The answer is obviousuly that sex sells, even when you’re trying to sell a list of demon gods, so while the male coded demons get to be grotesque blobs of muscle and bestial features the female ones need to be coded as traditionally attractive even if they have a few monsterbits stapled on. When redesigning her I could have gone with a purely fungal angle, but I wanted to play with the “lady made out of fungus” iconography

Taking all this into account, here’s my pitch for Zuggtomy:  There was once an archfey, a queen among dryads who found herself undone by heartbreak. None can say what tragedy or manipulation of the great courts laid her low, only that she knew a sorrow so profound that she simply could not be anymore, leaving her body as nothing more than a grief-hollowed statue of wood. Left exposed to the elements, the echo of that grief took root, and eventually bloomed into a being that knew only regret, only loss, only Zuggtmoy.

If sorrow is left to fester it can sour any happy memory, and thus is the case for the Dame of Decay, unable and unwilling to let go of the things that gave her joy and now cause her pain, even if her continued grief eats away at them until there is nothing left. So little is known about the story of the original dryad queen because Zuggtmoy’s influence ate away at anyone and anything involved in the events, leaving behind nothing but a spore choked barrens and hollowed out husks who mine out the events again and again without detail or reason.

When rot and regret had exhausted the dryad’s story it began to spread out across the multiverse looking for new places to take root, more tales of woe, more souls stagnant in their nostalga or sorrow where the queen’s essence might bloom anew.

Within a grand estate the revels of an indolent count are said to never end, as psychedelic indulgence rages every day and night while the lands around them decay. Folk say that the count had tried for years to drown the sorrows of his long dead brother, but he now appears to have succeeded with wild abandon. Rumors spread of the count’s riders gallivanting about the countryside decked in worn parade motley, snatching up performers and carrying them back to the estate. The party comes face to face with one of these agents looking to pressgang their local minstrel into service, only to lay the rider out flat in a brawl and have his body burst open with fungal rot for all to see.

The kingdom’s wilds contain the remnants of an ancient realm, once goverend by a queen who suffered a rotting sickness that the peasants still tell folk tales of to this day. Many of the fey of these reaches are sick, and seem intent on inflicting stories of this queen on any who pass by. Only after multiple ruins with these bestricken faeries do the party realize the truth: the story is the sickness and the sickness is the queen and all three are a curse that now spreads through the land with them as a vector.

After an encounter with a particularly fungal villain does the party realize that they’ve only defeated one bud of a deeply rooted threat, with multiple copies of their foe having sprouted off from some deeply rooted evil. More than simply bashing in mushroom caps, the party must exorcise the essence of Zuggtmoy’s influence, an act that will require them to call up the spirit infected by the demon queen and work through its particular issues to resolve its grief and deny the dame of decay her seedbed.

Art

#demon #fiend #dm tip #writing advice #rescue mission #random encounter #bard #Curse #Cultists #villain #Village #dungeon #mid level #high level #Cursebreaking #zuggtmoy #monsters reimagined

[coccolithophore]

10, 11, 12, and 13 for the oc ask thingy!! 💖

hehe thanks friend!! ill just answer for a bunch of ocs cuz im bored! 10. if they wear jewelry, what kind? do they prefer silver or gold? do they have a favorite gem? i just realized that every single one of my ocs wears gold jewelry except lucy hajdgs what can i say i have an aesthetic preference hmm lets see for gems ill kin assign them some lucy: pearl, opal lasha and solvin: sapphire atlas: black diamond, moonstone avarice: classic diamond, ruby billy: garnet him: amber, agate 11. what do they have in common with you? how are they different? would you get along with them? allll of my characters (except billy and avarice who are kinda singular because theyre from a vegas criminal campaign) have a nature theme, as well as backstories with social isolation and complex familial and/or romantic relationships. i think id get along best with him and lucy since theyre the mellowest lmao. lucy in particular is a very self indulgent character in terms of being a dreamy autistic fish girl so we would nerd out together <3 12. how long have they been around? do you know their birthday? is their birthday the day you made them or another day? what do they think of celebrating birthdays? im gonna give them zodiac signs since idk wtf calendars theyve got going on in various fantasy worlds but astrology is obviouslyyy universal billy: gemini, would go all out spoiling others on their birthdays, keeps his own under wraps and would be a little grumpy about attention if someone found out when it was avarice: aries, she is the birthday queen her entire birth month is her birthday shower her in gifts immediately atlas: gemini, has no idea wtf a birthday is but imo the fey have gemini energy him: virgo, best home-made gift giver, enjoys being god's specialist boy on his birthday and cherishes the gifts and attention, basically the one day a year where he can be a liiiittle selfish as a treat lucy: pisces, brings people pretty stones on their birthdays, would shyly enjoy being celebrated lasha: scorpio, another attention-loving birthday queen, dries flowers and plants throughout the year that remind her of her friends and gifts them on their birthdays solvin: cancer, how did you find out his birthday? that is privileged information! lightning zap x1000 13. what languages do they speak? how fluently?

in terms of fun fantasy languages him speaks druidic and lasha speaks elemental. also i realized the other day that common is definitely not atlas's first language and they would speak other ones more fluently 🤔 like sylvan and celestial. and Tree.

#thank you friend!!! #kiwis dnd adventures #asks #i didnt really answer some of these exactly how the question asked but w/e #sick brain

[utilitycaster]

re: your actual play post, apart from critrole are there other actual plays that are doing the whole "bad guys/neutral but not up to the mark" that you mentioned?

for cr, it's interesting and i guess kind of inevitable that we've gone from traditional heros -> reluctant heros -> neutral heros(?) caught up in the storm

i don't watch a lot of actual plays other than the popular ones, but it is very interesting to see the general trajectory the actual play space is moving in

I feel like the Mighty Nein are not really part of this trend - they're not as publicly acknowledged as Vox Machina, and they do take an unorthodox "not up to the task" (or more accurately "too traumatized right now for the task, we need to work through some shit first") route for a while, but they are pretty unambiguously working towards a heroic cause by the midlevels (and VM started off pretty scrappy too; we just didn't see them until they got respectable). Bells Hells do feel a little closer to this, though still leaning heavily towards the heroic. I think it's possible for them to decide to pull the ripcord, as they said, after their current mission; but I doubt they will, so they flirt with the theme but I don't think will go all the way. Which to be clear is the norm.

I mentioned a few things in my tags, so:

Candela Obscura chapters 2 and 3 flirt with this. In 2 the circle other than Sean is imo heroic, but also working a little outside the lines. Sean does make a turn that I don't think makes him the bad guy - it's pretty clear it's an act of misery and desperation - but does position him in a place that a lot of TTRPGs won't go. Chapter 3 is complicated because to be honest we don't really see the logic of Candela's actions in the final episode and some don't entirely follow for me, but Rajan and Elsie's discussions do cover this territory: as monsters, what side are they on? I think Candela Obscura is a game that really supports this should someone wish to push it there.

Trinyvale (side campaign for NADDPod) explores this in that the characters eventually develop into absolutely toxic assholes while still saving the world; however, this is a very very silly campaign in general so it's played for the humor.

Similarly, in Burnt Cookbook Party (spoilers - I'm not totally caught up but this spoils a pretty major aspect of the show that comes up pretty early), two of the characters go fully evil and the party fractures. HOWEVER, this campaign is set in a time loop, and so the consequences are lessened since we know the results aren't permanent (and indeed the big PvP moment is when the time loop restarts).

I feel this is something that Burrow's End (D20) sort of wanted to explore, but Last Bast was so obviously a police state that it was pretty clear the characters' desire to disrupt an existing stable society was in fact good.

This is all really speculative on my part - I watch/listen to a lot of actual play but there are plenty of major shows and infinite minor ones I don't follow at all or even know about. Obviously Critical Role or D20 are going to have more a footprint here than, say, BCBP. But I think people are trying to tell stories that interrogate whether, just because you met in a tavern or whatever, you should be tasked with saving the world, either because you're not actually that great of people or because you're not sufficiently competent in this particular situation, and that's really interesting to me. I think the reason I don't have any terribly clear answers is because it's really hard to do this and then find what that party should do instead.

#answered #Anonymous

[zeico]

Long post request: how do you feel about BG3?

I didn't realize a new patch came out on final fantasy for about a week because Baldur Gate o Baldur Gate

currently in act 3 and trying to stock up on shit since I recently cleared out the bank. I'm TRYING to hold myself to not starting a new character until I finish this one but I see so many monk items and i want themmmmm (I have a half elf monk open in character creator right now)

Since I played a lotttt of dragon age origins, parts of the structure of bg3 felt very familiar to me like the camp itself and like how u interact with the companions. Like coming home in a way.

I'm also playing 5e a lot so that part of the structure of it was very easy to adapt to. I do still have trouble with like certain interface things like oh man gotta select the version of the spells BEFORE TARGETTING NO GALE WHY ARE YOU RUNNING TO THEM GET BACK HERE WHY ARE YOU HITTING THEM WITH YOUR 8 STRENGTH BACKED STICK

But its great and I do like the changes made to better facilitate it being a VIDEO GAME. Like I'm a Divination Wizard. My main Thing is portent dice. (There's also detect thoughtsing my way through all social encounters which is SO GREAT honestly scratches an itch I've always wanted to do but it would be such a pain in the ass for tabletop. Like first first ever dnd character I cooked up was an illiterate mind reading sorcerer that like got by through just that. But that would be so annoying to do with like.... PEOPLE AT THE TABLE of like 'so im just constantly getting ur surface thoughts...... i can't entirely control this... i'm sorry....' )

ANYWAY portent dice!!!!! in bg3 they have it at level 6 you fulfill little prophecies to get ur dice back to make the big boss miss their BIG attack or make SURE you hit (or my favorite, make the rogue crit on a sneak attack) instead of having it that when u cast a divination spell u get a spell slot back. since theres so few divination spells especially like using IN COMBAT so I understand the change.

I also like the variety of shit you can do. like my partner is one to summon 9 creatures btw the whole party so theres a small army of creatures following their main party. (also several buffed with mage armor and everyone has a higher level aid cast on them so they also have a decent amount of health its really funni to watch) I like wrote off the summon guys moves because I just dont like to have extra guys usually.

Something I wish I did on my first playthrough tho was simply long resting more I think I fucked myself out of a lot of social link scenes in act 1 bc I straight up didn't rest enough. The game is like 'oh no time is ticking' but things aren't REALLY like that (cept for like... 2 instances I can think of) bc its a videogame and thats fine.

It WANTS you to use all your abilities and not be dum like me and just cantrip my way through most the first act 'just in case i need my slots later' why am i like this. both short and lone rest more and just use all your moves its FINE

speaking of social links and companions theyre all great. I love them all. I DO wish some things weren't like... romance locked it feels??? well more like you HAVE to reject them???? idk I had a scene with gale when he's like 'but we're not THAT close tho' and i felt bad bc like... I want to be wizard friends with you. I'm SORRY I'm so weak to both vampires and elves.

heard some shit about astarion having like so much content compared to all the other companions and man imma feel so spoiled on my playthroughs where i dont smooch the vampire. I do wish everyone else had more scenes too its a shame.

something about bg3 thats HILARIOUS to me personally is that its all like 'recruit allies against the cult' and in another irl campaign im in thats been in hiatus for years but I still hope to come back its REALLY similiar. Oh no a huge looming death cult threat to the city. oh no the city has its own fuckmess of bullshit to deal with. OH NO a shapeshifting killer. Anytime theres strong parallels to that campaign it sparks joy.

A few technical problems I've had tho were around switching characters in and out of the party. like in a building and I wanna run back to camp to tag in someone. Wait why are they on the roof????

Or I tag in someone and WHY ARE YOU CLIPPING THROUGH THE FLOOR? Tbh the game is so enjoyable I just sigh and say "Video. Game." out loud and load a save. Like the last time that was REALLY frustrating is when it just would NOT let me out of a restricted area like please I persuaded u 3 times let me go I was on my way OUT.

Also why do all these 8 strength men have abs. This is Wrong. I'm bad with figuring out the technical shit of modding but holy shit I need them to not have abs.

Anyway I had this and the character creator open for like 2 hours now so Imma start that now.

#answers #mtgfan

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I’m genuinely shocked that Emma Stone won for Best Actress.

For political diversity reasons and the fact that she won Best Actor for drama at the Golden Globes – the best pointer for Oscar glory – I thought Lily Gladstone had this sewn up.

All other winners were as predicted and for the reasons I posted afew weeks ago. 

************

I was 70/30 on Emma/Lily winning. I wanted Lily to win but I was sure Emma was going to take it. Weird and quirky will usually win out.

I didn’t think Emma deserved Best Actress for La La Land. (2015 was poor year for film for me because most of those films weren’t very remarkable. Or memorable.) But Best Actress for Poor Things is very well deserved so I’m happy for her. Pretty sure she didn’t expect it, though. Emma looked truly shocked to win, so I think she was expecting Lily to take it.

My Monday armchair quarterback opinion is that I think it was the marketing campaign that did Lily in. Flowers of the Killer Moon had been promoted as Leo and De Niro’s movie, with Lily as a supporting actress/character - which, if you look at the story in the film and the perspective of the story, makes sense. This was a Leo/Bob vehicle and a story of the white man, and they really lucked out with the spectacular casting of Lily for Mollie. If all of that had been reversed - if the story was told predominantly in Mollie’s perspective as a Lily vehicle, she would’ve walked away with the Oscar last night. 

But they didn’t start promoting or marketing or “for your consideration”-ing Lily until after all the reviews came in and everyone was already talking about Lily’s performance. And it’s also because of the strikes - Killers couldn’t be promoted because of the ongoing strikes, so of course the studio is going to lean more heavily on Leo and De Niro, because people know them. They’re bankable. 

The other thing to keep in mind (this isn’t to you, anon, but to others who may be reading) is how the Academy votes. The specific guilds individually vote on who the Oscar nominees are - actors decide the acting nominees, sound decides the sound nominees, editors decide editing nominees, etc. (the best picture/documentary/animated/shorts categories are different) - but the entire Academy at large votes on who wins. So the whole Academy is voting for Best Actress, the whole Academy is voting for Best Sound Design, etc. And usually when the whole Academy votes, weird and quirky usually wins.

It’s why I suspect the Screen Actors Guild awards are the most meaningful for the actors - because it’s peer-to-peer recognition. Golden Globes is who schmoozes the best (or it used to be, before the cultural reckoning it had a few years ago) and the Academy is often who arts the best (or who’s toiled the longest and needs career validation the best). But the Screen Actors Guild, and all the guild awards, is who’s the best at our craft. So I hope Lily isn’t too upset - she got that peer-to-peer recognition - and I hope she gets more roles. It looks like it; she has a new streaming series coming soon and it looks phenomenal.

Well, if you made it this far, a few more observations from Oscar Night:

I loved Ryan Gosling and the Kens. I love it when the Oscars get cheesy and nostalgic like that.

The John Cena bit was awkward.

Loved seeing previous winners come back to recognize the nominees but the Academy spoiled themselves. I knew how the acting categories were going to be presented beforehand and I knew they were keeping the tributes a secret for the broadcast, but seeing people on the red carpet and in the audience that we don’t usually see at these events (Nicholas Cage, Ben Kingsley, and Charlize Theron for example and for me, specifically) gave the plot away.

I know it’s tired and overdone, but I love the Jimmy Kimmel/Matt Damon fight. I wish they’d have done something in the broadcast. I honestly thought the critic Jimmy was reading at the end was going to be the Matt Damon bit and for the writing categories, I thought they were going to announce Matt and Ben Affleck as the presenters (since they won their first Oscars for writing Good Will Hunting)...ah, oh well.

The red carpet was absolutely lackluster and very disappointing.

Meghan didn’t show up as Misan’s plus one and Misan didn’t win his category. I mean, the guy was up against Wes Anderson. It’s a no-brainer.

The dancing during the In Memorium segment was...A Choice.

I loved the 7pm start time. More, please!, shouted everyone on the East Coast.

I really can’t wait to see what Oscar bait movie Bradley Cooper does next, and what movie he does that the Academy finally decides “let’s put him out of his misery.” Will it be for a film worthy of the recognition or will it be a lifetime achievement award for a meh performance/film? 

I’ve got my bets on lifetime achievement.

#submission

[all-thestories-aretrue]

Just read your post about the stunning lack of Caleb/Nott/Yeza content out there and I get you friend!!! I am so wild about the whole dynamic going on between them. I'm on ep 62 right now and I am losing my mind over Beau asking Caleb if he's in love with Nott... Caleb standing quietly outside Nott's bedroom door... The longing, the complex feelings between the three of them... Idk where this was going I just!!! Am so glad I'm not alone with these feelings.

One of us! One of us! Yessss!!! I wish I had something eloquent to say about them but most of it is just incoherant screaming.

I went FERAL over that scene between Beau and Caleb. I think if she had asked if Caleb loved Nott it would have been an entirely different story. I still think he was just denying it though just a little bit. He loves her in all the ways its hard to be just in love with her, you know?

And Caleb standing outside her door. It still hurts my heart. I think about that at least 10 times a day. What was going through his mind? How exactly is he feeling? There are so many moments around all of that I would LOVE to talk to you about!!!

I still cannot believe that the entire fandom slept on them??? And Caleb and Nott in general??? It is mind boggling to me. They are individually and together some of the most interesting characters and dynamic in the nein imo. Im biased but hey. But there is so much POTENTIAL. The longing. The changing relationships and displacement. The healing and trauma. The co-dependency. Nott needing Caleb to change her back. Caleb relying on Nott early on.

And Yeza. Oh Yeza. The sweet halfling who is head over heels for Nott no matter form or her name. I can't with him!!! And I so wish we would get to see a conversation between him and Nott about Caleb and how everything is different. I don't think Nott would ever do that but it's nice to dream. But he has to know how close they are. And how does he feel about it? Is he jealous of Caleb? Does he feel bad for him? Is he understanding? I have questions!!!! In the end, I think he would do anything to make her happy, including inviting Caleb into their lives in whatever capacity she wanted.

Also ngl, I will sort of die on the hill that Nott's feelings toward Caleb are definitely changing, leaning more toward romance and the like than they were at the beginning of the campaign. I definitely won't spoil you. But like c'mon. And i have no idea how much what people said in the replies to that post actually happened, etc. But I hope Sam and Liam didn't drastically change anything about the story they wanted to tell because of people's reactions.

I also don't think its a coincidence that Nott's feelings are evolving as she rescues Yeza and reunites with him and Luc. I think Caleb and Yeza are beginning to represent much more to her than just her loves. They represent different ways of life, different values, different personalities. They have facets of her in both of them, and I think she's putting pressure on herself to choose. Neither Yeza nor Caleb seem too concerned about that or maybe aware of it? I just think there's meaning behind her shifting feelings and the fact she is being faced with this choice (as she sees it) now. Whether intentional on the part of Sam, no idea, and frankly, i don't really care lol.

But please always feel free to come scream at me about these two!! I'm always willing to listen!!! And I love hearing others thoughts about them!!!!

To sort of maybe hopefully quell this void in the fandom, I highly recommend you read this fic my lovely friend @gelatinouscute wrote for me. (If the link doesn't work, I can definitely message it to you). But it's very good!!!!

#critical role #cr2 #widobrave #mighty nein #the brenattos #caleb widogast #nott the brave #still dont have a tag for asks #but i meant what i said #im always interested in hearing others takes on them and whatnot #theres not enough nott and caleb and yeza content in this world #and it was not addressed in game enough #my first rare pair or ship or obsession or whatever #i have so much empathy for you who have rare pairs on the regular #this is NOT fun #also you didnt ask for an essay but you got one sorry

[c3stlav1e]

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥   basics 

♡ .  stage name: anya

♡ .  birth name: na eunhye

♡ .  birthday: july 28, 1996

♡ .  zodiac: leo

♡ .  birthplace: seoul, south korea

♡ .  ethnicity: korean

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥   personal

♡ . personality

anya genuinely has good intentions 90% of the time, her biggest problem is getting them across correctly after leading such a spoiled life. she is exceptionally generous, never knowing to want for anything herself, she never allows those closest to her to want for anything either. however, this can sometimes get under people's skin when they view it as pity or think that she sees them as a charity case (which, honestly, she does sometimes). she is very straightforward, saying what she means and meaning what she says. she is also the first to defend her own character or that of her friends should anyone try and start something with her or someone she cares about. she is never afraid to ask for something she wants and will absolutely advocate for others should they need her confidence. simultaneously, she is never one to accept a “no” easily, and is exceptionally good at using charms or logic to negotiate out of any rejection. she makes a great hype woman because she tends to be incredibly objective, but if she doesn’t think something is working, she will try her best to offer solutions for improvement. she can be a bit of a try hard sometimes, but she really just takes her passions seriously, whether it be her career, talents, or relationships.

♡ . family

. sim sunyoung “ shannon “ ; mother

. na junghoon “ gordon “ ; father

. na eunsung “ sebastian “ ; brother

. hong soonhee ; grandmother

♡ . physical

. height: 163 cm ( 5’4” )

. faceclaim: im nayeon

. body mods: single lobe piercings, a tiny tattoo of a butterfly on her hip

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥   professional

♡ . label: rainbow entertainment

♡ . training period: 9 months

♡ . group position: lead vocalist

♡ . idol persona

anya is the princess of kpop, truly. she is rich, beautiful, talented, and charming, someone who is hard to outmatch in the public arena. she is the most popular member of the group, never failing to make waves with a simple instagram post. she is constantly in some deal or campaign with luxury brands, however her ambassadorship with yves saint laurent is currently her longest running and arguably most iconic. she is also widely known for having several high profile dating scandals, from exo’s kai to jean arnault. her princess role is consistent within the group, however it is more of a lighthearted joke with her members and fans than how seriously the press and the public tend to take it. she attended private school in england for her entire education, so her english speaking voice has a very posh british accent that most fans adore, however it adds to the whole princess bit. her members love to poke fun at her by copying her accent or certain words she uses, but it is always in good fun. she is not one to get her hands dirty if she can help it, and she often catches teasing for that as well. in games and challenges they do on variety shows, she will go all in for puzzles or mental battles but as soon as it’s something physical, the rest of her members do not want her on their team.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥   history

na eunhye is the eldest daughter to the youngest son of a powerful chaebol family. she was never very close to her immediate family, her father largely absent, her mother far too overbearing, and her little brother off in his own world, especially during the school year she spent off in england at school. but the one person in her family she worshipped more than anything was always her grandmother. her father’s mother, hong soonhee, was the matriarch of the family and lived in a huge mansion in the mountains outside seoul, where anya spent her summers more often than not. being the youngest girl of the family, she was always soonhee’s favorite. when she had her grandmother in her corner, anya never even need ask for anything she wanted.

her mother, who honestly married into the family for he connection to the money, was almost jealous of the relationship she had with soonhee. anya’s grandmother never liked her mother and had a knack for disagreeing with her on most things. when anya announced that she decided she wanted to pursue singing, her mother was absolutely against it. although she had taken ballet and piano lessons all her life, and had a rather beautiful voice, her mother believed it to be a very improper profession and entirely useless in life. but her grandmother loved to hear her sing, constantly asking her to give her little concerts every time she visited her house. although she wouldn’t normally agree with the idol life as a career, she simply wanted her favorite granddaughter to be happy and if performing did that, then she would back it 100%. especially if her mother was particularly against it.

she was accepted into both sm and yg entertainment, and was struggling to pick between the two when the small, newly rebuilt rainbow entertainment offered her a spot in their newest lineup that was set to debut in less than a year. her grandmother was hesitant, knowing that sm and yg would both provide the best shot at fame for her granddaughter, but anya knew she could train for years and years at those companies and never debut. she wanted her shot at fame as quick as possible, and took the leap with rbe. it was hard getting along with the other girls at first, some trainees treating her as if she had bought her way into the lineup, but going through the trials and tribulations of debut together brought them all that much closer.

#c’est la vie ! ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ profile ♡ . #c’est la vie ! ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ anya ♡ . #fictional kpop community #fictional kpop group #fictional kpop idol #oc kpop idol #oc kpop group #fake kpop group #fake kpop idol #kpop oc #oc idol #idol oc #fictional idol oc #fictional idol community #fictional idol group #oc kpop gg #fake kpop oc

[allnighter8]

i bring you today another player character starring in the pathfinder 2e campaign im gonna dm soon: Ioma, the holy spider of Iomedae!

so why is it a spider? because the guy who will be controlling her watched that one isekai anime years ago (kumo desu ga, nani ka?) and hasnt shut up about it ever since. roleplaying a literal spider was his dream, so i caved in. then again, he worked really hard to come up with a way to make me accept the concept and i wanted to reward that. he wants his personality to be like power from chainsaw man, so this was really fun to write!! rly different mood from my other player (faraam)

BEHOLD HER MANY MIRACLES

You are awoken by pleasant sunlight coming through the window and into your chambers, the biggest in the entire Iomedaean monastery, where you have all the room you could ever ask for to stretch all eight of your magnificent legs. It has been a smooth ride ever since you saved the monks from an infestation of assorted vermin which were threatening to overrun their holy site, and boy, did those monks know how to reward you handsomely! Minutes after you awake, a novice shows up with a tray of different delicacies for you alone. Iomedae blesses you one more day! You eat them greedily, making sure to leave no scrap on the silverware, it will be a while until you can enjoy these pleasures again. Today your holy quest begins: you part in search for a capable doctor to save Andor, the abbot of the monastery, your loyal friend, and, why not, occasional teacher. Only when you feel like it, of course, everyone should be listening to you! The wisdom of The Inheritor guides your way and your deeds!

You have seen his health deteriorate slowly but steadily and, albeit lesser doctors are telling you his end is near and inevitable, you know better, as per usual. Iomedae works in mysterious ways, it’s not the fault of those poor doctors, they did their best, with their decades of study, practice and research. It’s endearing, really, how those not blessed by a higher power struggle fruitlessly to become enlightened. But alas, that’s why Iomedae herself sent you, to aid those in need, and thus, it is your responsibility to handle this. You imagine with great pleasure how Andor will one day get up from his bed, smiling at you with the candor and warmth you adore, and how he will proceed to praise you and scratch you in that lovely way that makes you fall over in bliss.

You peek one last time into his bedchambers to say goodbye with a little smooch as he sleeps. Well, it is similar to a kiss, as spiders don’t have lips, but you tried to mimic the action once and Andor laughed so hard he teared up. When he feels better you might give him another one, if the mood strikes.

And so, after a warm goodbye by the rest of the monks, you part ways, determined to complete your quest and, while you are at it, to do some sightseeing and allow others to sightsee you. Blessed be those who will gaze upon you! Such is the reason why first you get annoyed, then angry, then infuriated by the fact that most people throw rocks at you from a safe distance. Uncultured swine, ignorants, philistines! Have they not heard of the great Ioma?! Have they not been regaled by tales of your many miracles?! Do they not know the wisest of men pilgrimage to your beloved monastery to contemplate and spoil you?! You learn, begrudgingly, that only a minority recognize you, while most either run away or attempt to protect themselves as if you were some common beast. Or they scream. Or they cry. Especially children.

Fortunately, the route to Kenabres is short and straight, so you don’t need to put up with this disgrace for long. What is even better is that the last inn on the way is run by a family who recognizes you almost instantly, offering you the best of the place for free, as it should be. Maybe, once Andor is healed, you go on another adventure so that your holy exploits become greater, and thus, reach those unfortunate souls still ignorant of you.

#pathfinder #pathfinder 2e #oc #player character #spider #fucking... #kumo desu ga nani ka #monk #probably blessed one archetype #he sounds like an asshole maybe but he is chaotic good #just very stupid ok #its a spider after all #my writing #rpg #ttrpg

[moogle-mafia]

not me worrying whether my new dnd character actually gets to have some character development in this campaign or i'll have to drop the entire act before the party loses their patience 💀

i had a disagreement with two people over two slightly varying issues in one session already and i don't know what to do, because their characters' behaviour just seems a bit hypocritical to my character.

tl;dr: 2 clerics, a wizard, and a paladin. the paladin is neutral, the wizard is pretty chill about things, but the clerics tend to prioritise protecting the corpses from being eaten over helping the living (at least these are her first assumptions).

she is not the best, i admit. i made a petty, grumpy assassin with trust issues and a weird weak spot for outcasts. basically someone who says 'i will steal from people that annoy me with their illogical (to me) self-righteousness, but i will try to lessen other people's burdens if no one else wants to help'. aaand we got to that one basement scene in the curse of strahd. and my character did something really stupid out of pity. and antagonised a cleric or two in the process, because she got into an argument about it and said a few things to a party member that sounded like a threat.

now, i am on the fence. i can either decide i won't budge (but i already heard a comment that my character is not really likeable right now and it got me a little worried), or just drop everything i planned for this character just because i don't want the party to leave her. and i'm not entirely sure that the party will take time to shake some sense into her, or will just assume she's not worth the effort. i could just do a 180 and be like 'yeah sorry i am starting to learn please give me a chance' instantly, but i would rather go balls to the wall... and after the fight have a dramatic scene of learning that it's okay to ask for help and to rely on others. and maybe a promise that she will learn and work on herself a bit.

but! i am worried that the party won't take the hint to simply force my character to sit down and explain what is wrong with her. i've never played a morally complicated character before, so i don't know if the hints i am dropping are actually doing something. i assume that they are not, since me having a stupid idea on session 2 was interpreted as 'yeah she just wants to see what happens, that's not pity' at least once. i guess they assume things based on the fact that my character stole some stuff from an npc's house, but she didn't tell them about it. also, she haven't really had a chance to use these spoils yet. i was thinking about her splurging all that on the gear the party might need, but i we haven't found a shop yet.

i might be overthinking all of this, this might be also my longest post i ever made on this website, but i guess i needed a space to write this all down.

i know i made this character to challenge myself, because i usually play as neutral/chaotic good pranksters, but this is a party that seems to be mostly lawful and i don't know if i didn't cause problems too early in the game. to be honest, i am enjoying the roleplay a lot, it's different from what i used to do in dnd, but i'm still worried that all of this will estrange me from the group... so... yeah hey hi anne of xiety it's been a while now we're worried even about dnd. it's been literally 2 sessions, why am i so worried about this

#i will still talk to our dm in private about it tho #he seems to be enjoying the conflict but i don't know if the rest of the party actually is #i talked to the cleric player and i said it's nothing personal and it's just my character but... i don't know abt the rest of the party #sorry about a very long post I've never ranted for so long on this webbed site #I'll probably delete it later but i need to send the strahd thoughts somewhere that is not a google doc or messenger

[theladysherlock]

BYE Story Time

One of my favorite Ethan moments is when he tried to filibuster the end of the world.

You have to understand, I did not expect this campaign to last so long. I made Ethan as an improv bro, frat boy adjacent bard, thinking that the campaign would fizzle out four sessions in. He was a joke character. I made him cringe on purpose. He was a super-senior who was captain of a failing improv comedy group, and he knew he was painfully un-cool. He was a deeply un-cool person in a party of awesome, powerful people and that was part of his charm.

The other important thing to understand is that throughout the entire campaign I rolled like shit. I've never had consistently dogshit rolls with any other character, just Ethan. On top of that, he had an extremely mid build-- even as a level eleven bard, his charisma score was only 16. He failed often. So often that it ended up being a running joke. As the campaign went on, I played a bit with his Insecurity about being the weakest link on the team. He had failed his senior year of college (though he was always quick to say he failed on purpose), he had no future plans or job prospects, and everything he tried to do combat-wise tended to fizzle out. Surely the others saw him as an annoying, stupid, stubborn fuck-up, and they only put up with him because he was good for a cure wounds in a pinch.

Anyway. The world was going to end.

The party had had a week to convince some demigods to vote to save the world, and we failed. 4-3, they voted to create the world anew, going far enough back in time until they had a blank enough slate to remake the world in their image. Everyone in the party was trapped, unable to use their magic or their weapons to stop whatever was about to happen.

And then, as a last-ditch effort, Ethan raised his hand and started asking questions about policy. "How far back in time would the world go? Fifty years? Would fifty years enough time to undo the damage? If not, won't you all just end up here again, voting on whether or not to start over? Shouldn't there be a solid plan in place before wiping away history all willy-nilly? Is this plan in phases? How long is the rebuilding process going to take? What happens to the other planes when you wipe this one out?"

He couldn't get out of his restraints; he's not strong enough (of course he's not, he's the weakest party member, remember?) But maybe, if he distracted the main villain long enough, one of his friends could break free. The kid whose favorite thing to do is "yes, and-" people was going to buy his friends time by coming up with as many stupid questions as possible. And maybe, if he poked enough holes, the other demigods would start to think that the plan was more trouble than it was worth.

Obviously, this didn't work. The DM had a huge, climactic fight we had to get to, and it would spoil the fun if the session devolved into me poking holes in proposed infrastructure for three hours. But the futility of his attempt makes me love it more. The only thing that Ethan can do in this moment is one of the things he's self conscious about: being a fucking nuisance. There's no "oh it turns out I'm not actually annoying" moment where he realizes at the last second that his friends loved him all along. He's weaponizing the flaws that he's insecure about! Yes, he's annoying! Yes, he's stubborn! And he's going to make that the main villain's problem for as long as possible! Fuck you!

#long post #my ocs #big yarr energy #there's also probably another story here about how he always tried to talk his way through conflict instead of killing people #and how at the end of the world his first reaction is still to use his words #anyway. torn between ''thank you for indulging me in my ramblings'' and ''it's MY blog and I post whatever I want'' #so uh. thank you for reading all this. if you didn't I don't care. thank you. #I might do more of these if I am so compelled to ramble

[robotgirldisc]

I posted 17,420 times in 2022

That's 7,534 more posts than 2021!

45 posts created (0%)

17,375 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@catgirlyawgmoth

@baritonebutch

@doubleca5t

@droamiin

@transmechanicus

I tagged 1,075 of my posts in 2022

#me - 20 posts

#gender envy - 8 posts

#worm - 8 posts

#unprepared casters - 8 posts

#nike - 7 posts

#😭😭😭 - 7 posts

#<- prev tags - 5 posts

#parahumans - 5 posts

#ingo posting - 5 posts

#pla train boys - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#and not just in a ''spent hours hyperfixating on this 1 thing because of my own dysphoria. so now i instantly spot it in other people'' way

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

🦀 time for crab 🦀

today i summoned 101 crabs and then caught all of them! what a harvest

💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰

7 notes - Posted April 2, 2022

#4

Can you recommend any good egg stories?

Gonna drop a few egg fic recs, CW for internalized transphobia on most of them, other cws will be listed with the specific fic

I’m Currently reading To Own The Libs, by OfficiallyZoe: A conservative college student decides to go undercover as a trans woman to prove that self-id is a bad idea. The story is ongoing, updating every Friday, and contains content warnings at the start of every chapter. The prologue hit very close to home with me and my struggles accepting myself as a gay trans woman

Getting Into Character by Lotus17: A group of friends play D&D on stream, their newest campaign requires them to all play as female characters, and one by one they start to realize some stuff about themselves. CW for transphobic bullying. Still updating, at a kind of erratic pace. I really like the relationship dynamics in this one

Can’t Make an Omelette: a Chick Before the Egg Story by SapphicSounds is a comedy about two roommates who decide to magically transform into girls to “prank” their other roommates. contains smut, but it’s not the focus. I was laughing all throughout this fic, the main characters are too oblivious

Curse You, Magical Girls! A Flower Blooms in the Heart of a Villain!? by rooibos_chai: Follows the villain of a magical girl anime and her most trusted minion. I can’t really say much without spoiling the entire plot, but it’s <9000 words, so if you enjoy the Evil Queen x Trusted Servant dynamic and would like a somewhat comedic take on it, it’s highly recommended. This was the first egg fic I read, and the thing that got me into the genre

Plot Twist: It’s Gay by Elamimax: A college student is really uncomfortable when his lesbian roommate brings home girls all the time and suspects that he might be harboring some homophobia he wasn’t aware of. Turns out she was just jealous. I really like how the main character’s jealousy continues even after she figures herself out, and that it’s a vehicle for driving the remainder of the story

Trolls and Tribulations by rooibos_chai: An edgy wannabe-hacker hacks into a trans girl’s computer, and figures that the best prank would be to support her through her transition. CW for transphobic parents. I once described this fic as “Miraculous Ladybug for trans people” and I stand by that

Let The Devil Take The Rest by DerbyGhost:A guy searches for his former roommate who went missing, after finding her, she invites him to join her demonic commune. Content warnings at the start of each chapter, kinda horny.

Performative Masculinity by OfficiallyZoe: A closeted trans girl troublemaker runs into another troublemaker from her school on her way home from the gender clinic, who later comes out to her as a stealth trans guy, they form a truce/friendship and help each other stay out of the way of the superintendent’s son, a bully who faces no consequences. CW homophobic bullying, and bullying in general. I really like the relationships in this story, both the familial ones and the main romantic relationship are really good

25 notes - Posted March 18, 2022

#3

47 notes - Posted January 2, 2022

#2

girl who's only ever played disco elysium going to Brazil and seeing the money: getting some real disco elysium vibes from this

47 notes - Posted July 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

A mousegirl will walk out of the shower and be like "I'm squeaky clean"

867 notes - Posted June 16, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #I'm so proud of the egg story post #I should make more of those #kinda sad that the mousegirl post was so much more popular than the DIsco Elysium post #but I guess the pun in that one is a little more subtle

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

#ACLA24 #ACLA24HighSchoolStudents #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental education #environmental justice #environmental protection #environmental health #high school students #high school #youth #youth of america #school

[booksandabeer]

Thoughts on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

I saw the movie on Friday and I was going to write this up all pretty but I feel like shit today (Covid test as of yet still negative, fingers crossed), so for now at least, I simply decided to write down all my scattered thoughts before I forget everything entirely.

I’ve spoiler-tagged this and I don’t really think that there is much in this movie that can be spoiled apart from the one big reveal that everybody knew was coming anyway, but just to be safe, I’ll put it behind a keep reading thingy. So if you don't want to know anything that happens in this movie, scroll on!

Ok. Overall, I enjoyed this movie. It was the best movie of Phase 4 by far, which, yes is not a very high bar to clear, but still.

It’s a beautiful, heartfelt tribute and farewell to both Chadwick Boseman and the character of T’Challa. It’s at its best when it allows itself and the characters room to grieve and process their loss. The opening montage is really quite something and I don’t think I’ve ever been in a movie theater that was as dead silent as it was after that sequence.

Is it a good movie? I don’t know. There’s certainly a lot of heart in it and you can tell that everybody is sincerely invested in making this into the best possible thing it could be, given the circumstances (and thank god, for once it’s not a never-ending quippy-quip parade). But. It still suffers from the same problems that have plagued the MCU for some time now. It’s too much and not enough at the same time. It feels simultaneously frantically paced and overlong.

There are about 500 characters in this movie and only 2 or 3 get something resembling a cohesive arc.  By the time Lupita Nyong’o finally showed up more than an hour into the movie, I had forgotten that Nakia was even supposed to be in it because there were simply so many other characters. Even if we only keep to the Wakandan side of things and disregard everybody from Talokan and Langley, we still have Shuri, Ramonda, M’Baku, Ayo, Aneka, Okoye, Riri, Nakia, and—surprise!—Killmonger to deal with. And while it’s obvious that they tried very hard to give each of these characters at least one moment to shine, it’s just too much. I was so excited when it was announced that Aneka was going to be in this sequel, and even more so when Michaela Coel was cast because certainly, you don’t hire an actress of that caliber unless she’s going to play a substantial role. But honestly, I have no idea why she was even in this movie. She did nothing that couldn’t have been done by, say, Ayo or Okoye. What a disappointment. Similarly, why was Riri Williams in this movie (other than the obvious explanation of setting up her tv show)? The actress did her best with what she was given and I found her quite charming, but the character just felt like she was beamed in from an entirely different movie. She seemed completely out of place, in the regular dialogue scenes but even more so in the action sequences. I can’t even honestly tell you whether or not I liked the design of the Ironheart suit because I was so distracted by how out of place it looked in the final battle between the Wakandans and the Talokanil.

Speaking of that final battle, the CGI is…a problem. There are parts of the movie that look beautiful (I honestly teared up when we first returned to Wakanda and got to see it again in all its glory) but other parts look…janky, if not outright laughably bad. There are some shots in the movie that looked so atrocious that people in my screening started laughing. I’ve seen better animation in PS3(!) video games. Marvel, fix your shit, give your VFX artists enough time and PAY THEM, ffs.

Ok, this getting really long, so just a few more stray thoughts.

Angela Bassett is magnificent in this movie. If they play it right and plan a good campaign for her, I can’t see how she’s not getting an Oscar nomination for this.

Letitia Wright! While I’m not a big fan of her as a person, it has to be said that she really stepped up here. She was unexpectedly (or at least way earlier than originally planned) “promoted” to the main character of the BP franchise and she really did turn in a wonderful, moving and inspiring performance. And she looked impossibly cool while doing it. I was so full of tracksuit envy!

Which leads me to the costume design, which is once again absolutely fantastic. Ruth E. Carter did it again—everybody here looks cool, interesting, fabulous and very grounded in their respective cultures.

Finally, just a quick word on where do we go from here? I can see a rough outline on where this is going with regards to the Thunderbolts movie, but honestly, we don’t know shit and this movie didn’t really tell us anything. So really, everything is up in the air and it’s all just speculation at this point. And oh, because I’ve seen posts float around about how Killmonger mentions Bucky to Shuri and that this could set up a possible revenge plot…that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. First of all, because Killmonger doesn’t actually mention Bucky at all. He says that T’Challa was weak ruler because “he let the man who killed his father live”. Well. That man was Zemo, not Bucky and Shuri knows that. Second, seeing that Shuri’s entire arc in this movie is about letting go of blind rage and the thirst for revenge, and instead granting herself the time and grace to let herself grieve for all that she’s lost—why would she then go on some nonsensical revenge spree? She’s certainly going to go up against Val & Co in the future, but I think (and I fervently hope) that it would make much more sense if she enlisted Bucky as a double agent who infiltrates the Thunderbolts (he does kinda owe the Wakandans a pretty big favor after all). But then again, it wouldn’t be the first time the MCU moves in a direction that is completely illogical. And really, what do I know?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ok. I have to go lie down now.

#black panther #black panther: wakanda forever #black panther wakanda forever #black panther spoilers #wakanda forever spoilers #black panther: wakanda forever spoilers #wakanda forever #mcu #movie ramblings

[thechekhov]

Hey so I want to get started on Critical Role but I'm not really sure where the best jumping on point is. Where did you start?

That's a good question! It GREATLY depends on what sort of watcher/listener you are.

Currently, the entire Critical Role content machine has 3 main campaigns. 

The first one was started before they were a full on company, and is therefore rough around the edges. The second campaign was much more well rounded, and is well beloved - and it is finished! The third is just getting started, and there aren't a lot of episodes for it yet.

I'll try to outline some of the things for you.

Campaign 1 - Vox Machina (115 episodes)

(YouTube link to the full playlist)

Reasons to start at campaign 1:

If you are a thorough lore-consuming vacuum that NEEDS to know things and doesn't mind throwing yourself headfirst into OVER 800 HOURS OF CONTENT you can start with Campaign 1.

It begins in the middle of the journey (because the campaign started BEFORE they began to stream it) and is therefore fast to get into the action. The characters are already established and get along, and there are tons of interesting dynamics.

Reasons to NOT start at campaign 1:

- It's fucking long

- It's rough around the edges - the audio quality sucks for a couple of episodes, the video quality ain't great right away, and their setup isn't the most conducive to the game.

- The actors themselves are also rough - they're not used to the streaming setup and do their best to maintain the feel of the home game, which means lots of inside jokes that may read as too crude or too-sexual for the audience. The characters are also basic archetypes, and although there IS depth to them, until you get to later episodes you may need to wait.

Compromise:

If you want to start Campaign 1 but are afraid of the rough edges, start at episode 24 (YouTube link) - it is the beginning of the Briarwood arc, a really good and engaging part of the early campaign that is much easier to roll with that early episodes.

...Or wait until Legends of Vox Machina (link) comes out and watch it as an animated series!

Campaign 2 - Mighty Nein (141 episodes)

(Link to YouTube Playlist)

Reasons to start at campaign 2:

The players are much more comfortable this time around! Their setup is great, and this is the story they’re probably the most well known for at this point. 

The nuance of the characters comes through almost immediately, and the storyline is more intricate and wrought with morally grey choices! It’s a fucking banger.

Reasons to NOT start at campaign 2:

- It's fucking long

- The characters don’t all get along right away! They’re a ragtag team that comes together out of necessity, and it takes a while for them to gel, which means lots of drama within the party. It’s all in good fun, of course, and it’s an excellent show of sportsmanship amongst a group of friends who trust each other to act out entire arguments... but it can get a bit intense! If you’re really sensitive to this, it might bother you.

- If you want to stay in-the-know on current stuff without getting spoiled... it might be rough going (spoilers are unavoidable for this one, people cannot contain themselves in any form.)

Compromise:

Not sure what the compromise would be. I cannot really think of any part of this campaign that you want to miss. 

Maybe others who are not quite as obsessed as I am with consuming all the content can recommend a good jump-in point. The idea of missing any of their beginnings gives me hives, though. I’ll abstain.

Campaign 3 - The current campaign, now airing

(YouTube Link to playlist)

I will admit, I don’t know about this campaign yet. I haven’t even started it myself! However, if you like to keep up to date and follow weekly installments, this is for you! It’ll continue to release 3 times a month, dice willing, and you can easily follow along with all the fanart and hype! 

If you do not have the attention span nor the energy to slog through literally YEARS of story (and really, who would...?).... this may be your best bet!

Things to note:

- All the campaigns are set on the same WORLD but they are stand-alone stories. Although careful viewers will obviously pick up on hints and name-drops from previous campaigns, you don’t need to know anything about Campaign 1 to jump into Campaign 2, and vice versa! 

The important thing is to follow your heart and have fun! As long as you’re not watching the episodes completely out of order... you’re probably not doing it wrong.

#critical role #critical role campaign 1 #critical role campaign 2 #cr1 #cr2 #cr3 #chekhov answers #critrole

[sreegs]

I’ve been GMing Cyberpunk games for about 4 years now with a regular group of people with others cycling in and out. My first campaign took 3 years to complete (lol) with about 50 sessions at about 3 hours each, though there were a number of side quests I made up along the way. That started off as a Cyberpunk 2020 + Homebrew rules, but 2/3rd of the way through we switched over to RED and converted everything since it was much faster session play.

That campaign was a slog, but it was a lot of fun. It started out very local (PCs were a group of friends in Northside who foiled a robbery on their favorite hangout) and blew up into an adventure that crossed state lines into Nevada, and eventually ended up in orbit with a climactic battle against the big baddie. It was worth it for the experience of just completing a grand campaign from start to finish. I started out with lots and lots of prep and by the end, I got my system down.

Though I short-circuited the plot a bit to save on time, I ended up being able to tell the full arc. It was a satisfyingly cyberpunk story: shadowy org of rich people using drugs to disperse nanites into people to control their behavior. This, of course, was unraveled bit by bit by the players. Started with “hey what’s this weird new street drug” and ended up in space. Bog standard, right?

Anyhow, I’m excited about my new campaign. Start from scratch, Cyberpunk RED, year 2045. We’re only two sessions in, but I’m trying something very different. I found that what I enjoyed most about Cyberpunk was the character arcs, rather than some big plot. This campaign is very different. I have no grand story to tell. Instead, it takes place almost entirely within a high-rise, all-in-one megabuilding in Night City. A place called “The Sydney” that promises to cater to your every need without having step out of the building. Apartments, retail, restaurants, etc. All under one very, very tall roof. Like V’s apartment in the Cyberpunk 2077 game.

Of course, the promise of luxury living in a cyberpunk dystopia is never going to be fulfilled. The building is a microcosm for the city at large: class divide amongst the lower and upper floors. Gangs fighting for turf from one floor to the other. Schemers and schemes abound.

I’m a heavy map maker. I think I really enjoy mapping more than anything, because I often find myself unable to start writing a story until I see the space in which it takes place. So what’s great about such a large recurring setting is that, I can re-use existing maps multiple times, the players become familiar with the map, and I can have empty floor plan templates to take out the groundwork of every new map. I’m using Foundry VTT hosted on the Forge. I used to do Roll20, but I found Foundry to be a much better virtual tabletop.

Here’s a screenshot of (some) of the players’ floor. My players are on Tumblr so I can’t spoil much in my posts. Here, three PCs (the tokens without names, top right) are standing outside their elevator in the central shaft that runs up the whole building. Some residents are hanging out near the edge of the terrace. There are apartments along the left and top edge of the screenshot.

I write every session as a one-off, with the goal of letting my players fill out their characters story the way they want. They’re usually simple stories. My first session was about the players’ floor experiencing power outages, it turned into an investigation to figure out who kept tripping the breaker, and it was a crypto scheme that they decided to break up with the help of a cyberpsycho.

The next session is soon, and the inspiration for the story struck me from just regular, daily life I experience living in my own apartment building IRL. It’s an interesting setting and I’m excited to see where it goes.

#cyberpunk red #cyberpunk 2020 #tabletop #rpg

[theregoesmylurkerstatus]

So... I have a lot of thoughts on the finale. I've deliberately kept my mouth shut, more or less, on the campaign overall because I'm a firm believer that you can't pass judgement -- at least not complete judgement -- on stories until they're over and done with.

Well, it's done! Kind of crazy. I've been watching Critical Role with almost insane consistency, viewing almost every single episode live, with maybe five-ish exceptions, since episode 19, and I've been blogging it for, what, two and a half years?

It's a weird feeling. It's been such a constant thing for me that I'm always gonna have love for it and remember with a lot of fondness.

...Which is in spite of the fact that I can now comfortably say I'm pretty eh on the ending. I know not being positive about something most of us have loved a lot for a very long time can sting a bit, but I personally think it also stings when people relentlessly crow over how good they think it is or want it to be, to the point where you feel you can't voice your absolutely valid upsets or dissatisfactions. So, here goes, if anyone's interested! I'd be curious to see other opinions, too!

I actually drafted a post talking about my overall frustrations with the campaign a whole two weeks ago, and then scrapped most of it when 140 blew me out of the water. I was really touched, and really happy. I hadn't expected it, but it shockingly felt right, you know?

Unfortunately 141 robbed me of most of that satisfaction and brought me right back to neutral.

The blanket statement you have to make, of course, is that you can’t criticise this as a DnD game, and you can’t be mad at the cast for playing it in a way they think is best for them. They’re the players, Matt’s the DM, and in the end it makes no sense for them to try to make themselves act how they think the audience wants them to, and I’m sure most of the audience wouldn’t like the result anyway.

That said, there is an audience. And that’s where I see this clash coming in. As a DnD game, as long as the players and DM have all enjoyed it and been satisfied, it’s a successful game! But for us, it’s not a DnD game. For us, we’re watching a story be written in real time through the medium of an RPG. And while as a DnD game you can’t fault it, as a piece of media, I completely get why the way things have gone has sat weirdly for a lot of people.

It's not satisfying to see so many character hooks dealt with so quickly or left as an offscreen "and then you do it." If they don't want to keep playing to dive into it, absolutely, but for us who have been watching this as a story with all these character elements get so built up, it's a huge anti-climax.

Which is a lot of what this campaign has been, really.

Oh, Nott’s cursed! But through a really cool character moment that problem is completely taken care of with no consequences we see. Yay, I want her to be Veth and that was an iconic move from Jester! Still, it kind of feels like this was built up to be a big problem and at the first success it was let go... Caleb's got a really intense frightening past he tries to hide, I wonder how the Mighty Nein will respond? Oh, they found out, but it's not a difficult revelation for anyone. Looks like it's easy for them to move past it and forgive. Yeah, that's healthiest for the characters, but huh, kinda undercuts it as a storyline or point of interest. Oooh, Avantika’s back! Ah, they’ve killed her and grabbed the eye again. I mean I don’t want them to die or for Uk’otoa to be free, but I’m starting to feel like that’s not much of a threat anyway. The Traveler’s been kidnapped! Nah he hasn’t, he tried to save Jester so he was let go with no further issue, and also he wasn’t actually in any danger anyway. Oh... Cool. So... Why should I care or be worried?

And these are just the biggest ones I remember being kind of let down by. I wanted to see them STRUGGLE for the successes to have meaning. To my view, threats of failure -- real failure -- really decreased the more the campaign went on, with a few exceptions.

Because don't get me wrong, we've definitely had struggles, and those have made for some of the best moments! Molly’s death, Yasha’s kidnapping, Yeza’s imprisonment. When failures that were threatened are allowed to occur, it’s far more gratifying when it’s followed by success, because you understand that that success was actually necessary. It shows us that what they do really means something.

Honestly, that's why the final battle really shut me up, because nothing makes you quite feel stakes and failure like having two PCs die, and having a resurrection ritual fail -- AND knowing that failure would be delivered on, had it not been for a seemingly miraculous roll of the dice to turn it around. One of the greatest failure's -- Molly's death -- made the success of his resurrection put a lot of my other issues to rest immediately, because to be honest? Molly's resurrection was the biggest success of the campaign, exactly because it was originally the biggest failure.

But this episode, we got to see the other side of making threats and successes feel disappointing -- when you get the impression that success was robbed from you. Again, their characters, their choices, but to have them roll an intervention to get Molly's soul, to convince Molly to come back with his own possessions they've so loved, after so long and so many struggles... only to apparently not get Molly at all?

Changed, of course. Memories, maybe he'd never get them back, though that seems inconsistent to how the initial resurrection was played and Matt's hints. It even makes sense that not having his memories and being a bit different, he might forge a new identity, but insisting Molly was a different person entirely after such a supposed hard won success to get Molly back, especially after what his death meant to the audience and potentially healing that old wound? It robs the narrative of a LOT of catharsis, at least for me and I know many others.

Trent, too, I'm very up and down on. He was so built up -- and what fun that build up had -- and I very much disagreed with the idea that the best story would be dealing with him offscreen.

It's true that you don’t need to explicitly address, confront, or explore every big aspect of character's story hooks and background ties for PCs to move past them and grow healthily. But that does not make it a satisfying viewing experience. People quietly healing in real life is healthy. People quietly healing in an explosive fantasy setting is frustrating for the audience.

What on earth is the point of a story if you don’t get to SEE THE ESTABLISHED CONFLICTS go anywhere? A lot of the characters got distant, quiet resolutions, if that, to everything we wanted to see.

Except, we did get to see Trent. It was a really fun, inventive battle, from opening to conclusion, but much like Travelercon, much like Nott's/Veth's problem with the hag, these were things that the audience in general wanted to see be really dug into and explored, and every single one of them got, in my opinion, quickly tidied up instead. Trent got beaten in the first and only proper battle they had with him, which, after all his build up, is pretty disappointing for a villain many of us wanted to see be a big deal. It really just felt like they were trying to tidy up to get on with the epilogue, which is not what a lot of us were looking for with Trent especially.

And that's how most of their endings felt to me. It didn't feel like any of them had reached a comfortable conclusion. Literally all of them, bar Veth and Caduceus, continued on their character journey threads, without each other and very quickly. Meeting Yasha's tribe and Vandran, Caleb finally openly debating changing time for his parents, Trent and Zeenoth's trials and the changing of the guard at the Assembly... All were things it would have been so fun to have all the PCs react to and explore together, and instead they were fleeting encounters in the latter half of a seven hour finale.

Is all this, from Molly not really coming back to Trent being a finale side plot to the Nein continuing on their individual journeys, potentially realistic to how these fantastical things might go down in real life? Sure! But that's not necessarily a good thing.

Stories THRIVE on conflict and resolution. That’s what makes them FUN! Conflict isn’t nearly so fun in real life and resolutions are often frustrating question marks, so no, past a certain point I don’t WANT stories to be realistic. I want stories to be SATISFYING.

And campaign 2 has fallen far short of the mark.

I haven’t spoken... Basically a word of this for most of the campaign, because as I said I’m a firm believer that you can’t necessarily judge something until it’s over, and because I ALSO firmly believe that being negative WHILE trying to enjoy something is counterproductive. I have had no interest in spoiling or naysaying the fun of the campaign for anyone, least of all myself.

But it's done now, and all I can say is... I really have had fun. I love the characters. I love their relationships. I’m pretty okay with where they’ve ended up. I’m not mad, really, and I’m still going to think of this campaign with a lot of affection. But it hasn’t been a satisfying story, even though for a week following episode 140 I thought, despite all the brushed over story threads, it might be.

So... to try and reclaim some of that satisfaction for myself, I might ignore some aspects of the finale proper. Namely Kingsley specifically. Taliesin's choice -- but to me, it's pretty clear that who we saw at the end of 140 was Molly, and the tags on my posts will reflect that, just as my 141 tags will be for both Kingsley and Molly, for clarity's sake. I personally want to believe Molly did come back, however others might want to interpret it. The victory in 140 that meant so much to me is hollow otherwise, and it just kind of hurts that we would lose Molly after everything. I was okay with him being dead -- I'm not so okay with his resurrection being stolen.

Kingsley will always be canon, but Molly is what I choose to acknowledge. I get if you don't like that take, and that's okay! I didn't care for canon's in the end. That's the good thing about storytelling, is that no one can stop you from making your own versions.

For the people who are hopefully hyped for campaign 3, heck yeah have fun! I’m on the fence. My investment, which... I think I can objectively say was pretty substantive as this blog will attest, doesn't feel rewarded, so I’m not convinced I can faithfully keep up for over three years all over again with a strong possibility that I will once again be left disappointed. It's been a huge chunk of my life, and... yeah!

I’ll take a break, probably, view (and liveblog, if people want!) campaign 1 when I’ve had a mental stretch and vacation, and then... I might start campaign 3. I definitely won’t be able to put the same time in it I did campaign 2 (my first love no matter what), knowing that it’s likely to not be so vindicated, in the end.

I swear I’m actually writing this in fairly good humour, but I totally get its always disappointing when the people you come to for fandom enjoyment just aren't sharing your fun. Honestly I’m half tempted to write all those frigging AUs I have sitting around! But I wanted to say my piece, and try and logically outline why this ending has been lacklustre for so many people, ultimately myself included.

Episode 140 felt right because it felt like a natural conclusion -- these disparate people coming together and finally being whole, finally soothing the hurt that MADE them so long ago. Episode 141 spat on that sentiment -- they all scattered to the winds, not as happy people to live out their dreams, but as confused people chasing up loose threads towards an unknown future, with the friend they thought returned still lost to them, ultimately.

It doesn't feel like the ending we should have gotten for the Mighty Nine, who were finally, finally all together. Until they weren't. So to me? I choose to acknowledge that they were, even if I have to force it to happen post-epilogue in my head.

#critical role #cr spoilers #c2e141 #c2e140 #ramblings #long post #first time i've used that tag but i figure people should be able to block this if they want to! #molly #kingsley #trent ikithon #the mighty nein

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

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#ACLA24 #ACLA24Leaders #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental justice #environment protection #environmental health #Youtube