#you know? the extremely powerful D&D wizard

[kirain]

Wall of the faithless isn't canon in bg3. They changed alot of things actually. So no Gale isn't "scared" he's just an obsessed asshole who doesn't learn from his mistakes.

Oof...

There's really nothing I can say except: you're wrong. The City of Judgement and the Wall of the Faithless are canon to BG3. If you don't like Gale, that's fine, but you don't have to make things up or completely disregard the lore to do it. Larian Studios literally hired people from Wizards of the Coast—the company responsible for all the canon lore, characters, and campaigns in D&D—to help them with the story. It took them five years, I believe, to fully study and understand the lore. They constantly conferred with the team to double, triple, and quadruple check every slice of content they added to the game, and parts of the game are now considered canon to D&D 5E.

As for Gale "not learning" from his mistakes ... when you first meet him, he literally admits he made a mistake with Mystra. Though personally I don't see it as the "power-hungry" move people seem to think it is. Gale simply wanted to be considered an equal to his partner (really his groomer), which is a perfectly healthy and normal desire for anyone in a relationship. Your partner should treat you like an equal, but Mystra very clearly saw Gale as a pet. A trophy. A worshipper. Subservient. Beneath her. A silly mortal with delusions of grandeur (which she cultivated), which is really rich when you learn she was once mortal herself. Mystra is a hypocrite.

Gale tried to prove himself worthy of equality by trying to bring Mystra what he thought was a piece of her missing Weave. For anyone who doesn't know, the current Mystra was torn to pieces by Cyric and Shar, then put back together by her Chosen. Though back to full power by the events of BG3, she's still technically missing pieces of herself, and Gale mistook the Karsite Weave for one of those pieces. Instead of simply telling Gale it was corrupted Weave, she let him go on believing it was hers. Personally I think that's because she was tired of him (maybe he got too old for her 😒) and was hoping he would do something that, in her mind, would justify abandoning him—but I admit that's full conjecture on my part. What is true is that she knew the orb wasn't hers, but for some reason she let Gale think it was. Even after she abandoned him and left him to die, she never told him. Not until she realised she could use him.

In Act 3, while the argument can certainty be made that he's thirsty for power, Gale ultimately becomes fed up with the gods because, as he knows better than anyone, they treat people like commodities. While I have no intention of ever ascending him myself, it looks like he actually makes good on his word. He doesn't threaten or toy with his followers, he inspires people to walk their own path, he only asks for prayers as payment (as without some form of devotion, gods in D&D cease to be), and if you romance him ... he ascends you into godhood as his equal. Mystra could have done this for him, she just didn't want to. And if you don't want him to ascend, it's genuinely so easy. I don't understand what people are complaining about. It takes one conversation with zero checks to convince him to completely abandon his ambitions. One. If he was truly "power hungry", it wouldn't be that easy.

Again, I would argue that Gale's true goal isn't really power, it's freedom, and divinity gives him that freedom. He has many conversations where he makes it clear he doesn't want to live under the gods' thumbs anymore; which, in a world like Faerûn, is extremely understandable. As I said in my Wall of the Faithless post, he's scared. Eternal torment for a simple mistake, one of which could've been avoided if Mystra told him the truth or treated him like an equal? When your partner is a goddess, how can you not feel inadequate? And if you convince him to give up the crown, he's perfectly content with Mystra's forgiveness. Even in the Early Access, that's all he really wanted.

Gale's far from perfect. He's arrogant and overconfident and insecure and he can be prone to emotional outbursts (most of which he apologises for, however), but he's nowhere near the heartless, power-hungry monster the haters seem to think he is. He is, in fact, one of the most compassionate companions in the entire camp, to the point that he accepts everyone, including Minthara. He votes for Astarion to stay when you find out he's a vampire. He gets mad at you if you surrender him to the Gur. He's one of the only companions who will openly marry/stay with you if you become a mindflayer. He's willing to sacrifice himself to save the world, and willing to damn himself to be with you. He loves every act of kindness, while hating every act of cruelty. I understand that the bugs from launch ruined a lot of people's perception of him ... and unfortunately some of those glitches are still present even now, but he is a good man.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #karlach #karlach cliffgate #wall of the faithless #city of Judgement #wizards of the coast #dnd #d&d #dungeons and dragons #astarion #minthara

[melonsap]

Archwizard Gale lore???

Okay, SO! My personal headcanons for Gale's powers, both as archwizard and Chosen of Mystra, are based upon the following:

D&D makes a distinction between "archmage" and "archwizard," with the former being a spellcaster dedicated to the arcane arts and either: the counsel of royalty, a lich tyrant, or a reclusive hermit, all with multiple apprentices, and the latter being "an arcane spellcaster of extremely high power who successfully claimed a floating enclave," that specification coming from the time of Netheril.

Gale is NOT royal counsel, NOT pursuing lichdom, NOT a hermit (willingly), does NOT have apprentices when he first makes the claim, and does NOT have a floating enclave.

Despite these, he still claims "archwizard" as a title. This is significant, especially from Waterdeep, where the most powerful wizards in the world gather, including Laeral Silverhand (another of Mystra's Chosen, immortal to a degree, and Open Lord of Waterdeep) and Vajra Safahr (current Blackstaff and Archmage of Waterdeep).

Bonus points for his significance, he is Gale of Waterdeep. His personally chosen moniker marks him as outstanding among Waterdhavians. There might be a handful of people named Gale in Waterdeep, but there is only one Gale of Waterdeep. This is further backed up by Lorroakan recognizing him, with his only reason for Gale being lesser than someone who supposedly figured out immortality being that Gale was Mystra's discarded lapdog.

Gale is skilled in all manner of magic. This is confirmed directly in his epilogue, where you can question him about his choice teaching the School of Illusion, and he says that he wanted to teach ALL the classes there, but the staff told him no. That includes schools you wouldn't normally associate with him, like Divination and Necromancy.

Based on all of that, I've decided that "archwizard," as Gale means it, is a term referring to a wizard who's multiclassed into all their subclasses.

Does this make him overpowered? Yes. But he's an archwizard, prodigy, and Chosen, he's MEANT to be within the bounds of his own lore.

In addition, I also believe him to be an untrained Storm Sorcerer, based upon the following:

Sorcerers and wizards differ in that sorcerers know magic intrinsically, while wizards study it to use it.

When talking to Halsin as Origin Gale, you can tell him that as a baby, you summoned a whole pack of rabbits. Presumably, baby Gale was NOT reading and comprehending arcane textbooks.

Gale has an intrinsic understanding of the Weave, by his own admission, saying he could compose it rather than just control it. He was also casting third level spells like Fireball at eight years old.

Gale's theme is all about storms: his name is Gale, he occasionally says "A rough tempest I will raise" in combat, almost all his official art has him controlling lightning, and his robe is thunder purple. This continues into God!Gale's design, where he has literal glowing lightning bolts framing his eyes, and his outfit is lightning blue.

K'ha'ssji'trach'ash: On his own, the mephit is pretty self-contained; it's a magma mephit capable of revealing the true form of a True Ressurection scroll. However, the key to getting him to do this is to respond to the question "what is my name" in Ignan with the correct answer. After which, K'ha'ssji'trach'ash says "T'i n'uthrantha m'ahthra Gale." We don't know what this means, but it's clear that he's talking to us, about Gale, possibly thanking us or asking us to pass a message along. This implies that he doesn't speak Common, or else he would, because we answered correctly. Why do I bring this up? Storm Sorcerers have an innate ability called Wind Speaker, which allows them to speak Primordial (including Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran). Thus, Gale can speak to/understand K'ha'ssji'trach'ash, despite his known/studied languages being Common, Celestial, Giant, and Draconic.

Because he's untrained, and rather than Storm Sorcery being just a Lv1 flavor bit that does little, I've decided that Gale has access to the class features of Storm Sorcery without access to its spell slots or Metamagic, that way it's reflective of his power without training.

With both of these conclusions, both archwizard and sorcerer, I've decided to pick and choose which class features are from which iteration of both classes, because BG3 and official D&D have a few key differences that were mostly changed for gameplay reasons. I've then taken those and added more flavor to them, based on the already-given flavor of D&D and effects of BG3, doing away with the mechanical side of things for storytelling reasons.

On top of this, because the maximum level you can reach in BG3 is Lv12, and we know that the Orb consumes "the greatest of [his] talents," I've decided that the Orb consumes any ability beyond Lv12 until its removal.

That being said, beyond whatever spells and slots you care to give him, the powers I think Gale has pre-tadpole are:

Abjuration

Arcane Ward: When Gale casts Abjuration spells, residual magic shields him from the worst of incoming hits

Projected Ward: Gale can extend Arcane Ward to someone nearby instead of himself

Improved Abjuration: On short rest, Gale can strengthen Arcane Ward to sustain itself beyond a single hit

Evocation

Sculpt Spells: Gale can control his Evocation spells and keep them from harming allies

Potent Cantrip: Gale can force enemies that resist his cantrips to take half damage from them anyways

Empowered Evocation: Gale's Evocation spells are particularly deadly (based on +INT modifier to damage rolls)

Necromancy

Grim Harvest: Gale can harness the power released when a spell kills a creature to heal himself, UNLESS it's undead or a construct

Undead Thralls: Animate Dead: Gale can reanimate a corpse

UT: Additional Undead: Gale can efficiently harness the power it would take to reanimate one corpse to reanimate two corpses with Animate Dead

UT: Better Summons: Gale's reanimated dead can take more of a beating than others' dead

Inured to Undeath: Gale's been exposed to necromancy enough that he's resistant to necrotic damage, and his life force capacity can't be reduced (this one in particular helps with the "Netherese bile" flowing through his veins)

Conjuration

Create Water: Gale can call forth rain at will (BG3's feature over D&D's to align more with storm sorcery)

Benign Transposition: Teleport: Gale can teleport up to 30ft, and can use that to swap places with an ally

Focused Conjuration: Gale's concentration on conjuration spells can't break due to pain

Enchantment

Hypnotic Gaze: So long as Gale holds eye contact with someone, he can charm them into stopping everything they're doing and staring at him in a daze

Instinctive Charm: Reflexively, Gale can make a split-second charm attempt to redirect an attack at someone directly nearby

Split Enchantment: Gale can efficiently harness the power it would take to enchant one person and instead enchant two targets at once

Divination

Portent: Gale can focus and gain split-second glimpses into the immediate future (such as the next blow about to be thrown in a fight)

Expert Divination: Casting divination comes naturally enough to Gale that he can cast divination spells using a lower spell slot

Third Eye: Gale can increase his powers of perception and gain a very limited Darkvision/Ethereal vision at will, as well as read any language

Illusion

Improved Minor Illusion: Gale can cast illusory effects with incredible ease

See Invisibility: Gale's experience with illusions lets him detect invisibility spells at work, focus on them, and see through them

Illusory Self: Gale can create an identical double of himself reflexively to confuse opponents

Transmutation

Experimental Alchemy: Using transmutation magic, Gale can more efficiently refine potion ingredients, occasionally enough to create a second potion

Transmuter's Stone: Gale can lock some of his transmutation magic into a stone, granting whoever holds it an effect of his choice from the following: Constitution proficiency, Darkvision, extra speed, resistance to acid/cold/fire/lightning/thunder damage

Shapechanger: Gale can polymorph himself once a day without consuming a spell slot (only into beasts with a CR of 1 or less)

Storm Sorcery

Wind Speaker: Gale can speak, read, and write Primordial (Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran)

Tempestuous Magic: Gale can summon gusts of wind around him immediately after casting a spell greater than a cantrip. These winds are strong enough to propel him in flight for ten feet

Heart of the Storm: Gale has resistance to lightning and thunder damage. In addition, whenever he casts a spell that deals lightning or thunder damage, the magic that erupts is stormy and more powerful than other kinds of magic at equal level

Storm Guide: Gale can subtly control the weather around him, causing rain to stop falling in a 20 foot sphere centered on him, or wind to blow in a different direction in a 100 foot sphere centered on him

Feats

These are based on what I, personally, think make the most sense for him pre-tadpole:

Ability Increase: +2 to INT score

Elemental Adept: Thunder: Spells/attacks ignore resistance to thunder, and when a spell he casts causes thunder damage, it can't critically fail

Elemental Adept: Lightning: Spells/attacks ignore resistance to lightning, and when a spell he casts causes lightning damage, it can't critically fail

Okay, so Gale's crazy powerful, right? What could he have possibly lost that's greater than all this?

Well...

Abjuration: Spell Resistance: Gale was in tune enough with the Weave that he could resist spells (as well as gaining advantage on saving throws against them)

Evocation: Overchannel: Gale could deal maximum damage on a 1-5 level spell without ill effect on first cast, but suffered unresisted necrotic damage when using it again

Necromancy: Command Undead: Gale could bring undead made by other wizards under his control

Conjuration: Durable Summons: Gale could give anything he summoned a temporary shield against damage (30 temp HP)

Enchantment: Alter Memories: Gale could make someone unaware they were charmed by him, as well as make them forget something that happened during that charmed period

Divination: Greater Portent: Gale used to be able to predict more split second decisions ahead with ease

Illusion: Illusory Reality: Gale used to be able to pull shadow magic together into illusions and make them, temporarily, real. He can still do a limited version of this, but only via concentration to keep the threads together (hence the "anatomically correct" illusory wizard in the Drow twins scene; shadow magic is NOT the same as the Shadow Weave)

Transmutation: Master Transmuter: Gale could consume magic stored in his transmuter's stone in one go, using it to transmute one object into another, remove curses, diseases, and poisons, raise the dead, or reduce a creature's apparent age by up to 30 years

Storm Sorcery: Storm's Fury: Gale could react with lightning damage when struck physically Wind Soul: Gale was immune to lightning and thunder damage, could fly at a speed of 60 feet, and could reduce his flying speed to 30 feet for 1 hour to make four additional people fly

Yeah. Ouch. And that's not even including his former Chosen abilities.

Gale's Chosen abilities

Silver Fire: Gale could command pure energy of the Weave in the form of silver-white flame, which, at his command, could destroy anything in its path, banish dead magic areas, restore torn Weave, purge external magic and psionic effects from his own body, teleport without error to the last location he used the ability at, or cast spells without verbal, somatic, or material components

Mantle: Gale could cast the dangerous Mantle spell without suffering any ill effects, while other wizards casting the spell would suffer a drain of life force as long as it persisted

Weave Detection: Gale could detect magic's presence without the use of a spell

Weave Tapping: Gale could cast high level spells repeatedly without losing a spell slot, although this was discouraged by Mystra

On the page for Mystra's Chosen abilities, it says that sometimes her Chosen gained an immunity to magic, as well as disease and poison. I don't think Gale was so lucky, however; in the House of Healing, he mentions that he once turned himself in to a hospice in Waterdeep for a "bout of ruddy pox." Him having turned himself in implies he was an adult at the time, and should, therefore, already be Mystra's Chosen.

All that to say: behold, Gale of Waterdeep, in his original splendor. How the mighty have fallen.

#bg3 #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #long post #ask bee #the neat thing about the storm sorcery stuff is that it's JUST close enough in proximity to what gale's already capable of #that he probably didn't even give it a second thought #he can fly at lv18? he could fly at 8yo. doesn't matter #lightning and thunder immunity? well mystra's chosen get magical immunity sometimes. must be that! #his lightning/thunder spells are stronger? they're his specialties! he studied those! #i love it

[sweet-s0rr0w]

Vintage Drarry Fics

Thought I'd put together a list of some of the old Drarry 'classics' of my teenage years, for anyone interested. All posted between 2001-2006, compiled using my (bad) memory, a lot of googling, fanlore.org and numerous different LJ rec accounts (including the incredible @capiturecs). I checked as best I could, but if anyone knows of any fics that their author doesn't want to be shared, please let me know and I will of course remove.

Please also note that these fics are of their era, when attitudes may have been different, and they may not all be grammatically perfect. I haven't reread all, as my own tastes have changed, but most importantly do note that they may not be tagged - don't blame me when, for example, Harry dies tragically on a rooftop at sunrise...

Hogwarts Era (mostly 5th-7th year)

A Thousand Beautiful Things by Duinn Fionn/geoviki (M, 105k)

Draco Malfoy struggles with changed fortunes, shifted alliances, an ugly war, and an unusual spell, with the help of a concerned professor, an insightful house-elf, and an unexpected Gryffindor friend.

All Bets Are Off by Allegra (R, 53k)

I am SICK of Good-little-innocent!Harry...Enter Playboy!Harry and his Overinflated Ego, a challenge, a bet, a couple of Really Cunning Plans - and there you have it, "Forty days and forty nights", Hogwarts style. Mayhem ensues! 

Angels and Devils by beren (E, 52k)

Harry defeated Voldemort and his act of heroism is famous throughout the wizarding world. He's trying to finish his final year at Hogwarts in peace, but, thanks to the method he chose to destroy The Dark Lord, something peculiar is happening to him, something he never would have expected. It's all rather embarrassing and making his life very complicated.

Artful Facade by Sky Sorceress (T, 66k)

Sometimes you fly too close to the sun and lose your wings. With sixth year approaching, the danger Harry seeks can be found only in the form of Draco Malfoy. What follows is a twist in the line between hatred, love, and need.

Beautiful World by Cinnamon/Lissadiane (M, 70k)

Harry finds out he's going to die on his 16th birthday. He embarks on a journey of self-destructive behaviour and drags Draco along for the ride. 

Beneath You by Cinnamon/Lissadiane (M, 113k)

Draco had no idea that the repercussions of stealing Potter's journal and shoving it down the back of his trousers would be so extreme.

Bond by AnnaFugazzi (M, 173k)

It seems 95% of H/D writers feel compelled to write a "Harry And Draco Are Forced To Be Together By Something Beyond Their Control And Then Unlikely Stuff Happens That Leads To Twoo Wuv" story. Count me among the 95% ;)

Checkmate by Naadi Moonfeather (T, 245k)

Draco has the perfect plan to get Harry Potter and challenges him to a game of Dare Chess. But is it love, or betrayal, he has in mind?

The Cicatrix Cycle by Ivy Blossom (NC-17, long!)

Three parts: Origins, Haven, Belong

Draco In Darkness by Plumeria (T, 41k)

Following an accident in his seventh year, Draco loses his eyesight. After Harry elbows his way into Draco's dark world, both boys find themselves in a strange new friendship, and they each learn new ways to see each other … and themselves.

Eclipse by PhoenixSong/Mijan (T, 287k)

"You're dead, Potter... I'm going to make you pay..." Draco swore his revenge on Harry for Lucius's imprisonment, and Harry all but laughed at him. But Draco is planning more than schoolyard pranks this time. The old rivalry turns deadly when Draco abducts Harry for Voldemort. It's the perfect plan, guaranteeing revenge, power, and prestige, all in one blow. But, when Draco's world turns upside down, the fight to save himself and Harry begins, and the battle will take them both through hell and back. If they come back. 

Friend Like Me by Lady Vader (M, 11k)

Draco's rendition of the love story that never was.

How Harry Potter Got His Groove Back by Durendal/Eleveninches (R, 12k)

Snape tries to hang himself, Draco enters an alternate reality, and Harry Gets a Clue. Humor, SLASH, naughty language, and other Evil Things. Harry/Draco, Snape/James/Lucius.

Irresistible Poison by Rhysenn (PG-13, 124k)

Under the influence of a love potion, Draco learns that poison doesn't always bring death -- there are other ways to suffer and live. Chemical emotion runs feverish as Harry and Draco discover the intoxication of love.

Lettered by pir8fancier (M, 7.8k)

Harry has a secret penpal, whose identity is as plain as the nose on his face. Except he's not wearing his glasses.

Love Under Will by Aja (R, 116k)

In their 5th year, Harry and Draco choose to be with one another; but the story--and the battle-- is just beginning...

playing the game, living the lie by Abaddon (R, 159k)

Set in Sixth Year, both the wizarding and Muggle worlds are threatened as Voldemort plans a final revenge. Past, present and future collide as all must consider where their loyalties lie; who they are, and who they want to be. Amidst it all, Harry and Draco begin a dangerous journey of understanding. Is it possible to leave everything you thought you were behind?

Resolution by Frances Potter (R, 322k)

When you've spent six years fighting evil, all you really want is a quiet time. But when your name is Harry Potter the chances of that are very slim. A series of vignettes chronicling Harry's final six months at Hogwarts. Exams, friends, lovers, Quidditch, the war and Draco all conspire to make the year end seem a very long way away.

Seamus is Seamus and You are Yourself by Ari Munami (PG-13, 31k)

Harry goes through some er... changes in his Sixth Year and everyone, including Draco Malfoy, sits up and takes notice.

Snakes and Lions by GatewayGirl (M, 139k)

When Ron and Hermione get together, they notice only each other. A nightmare prompts Harry to return alone to the empty Chamber of Secrets, and leads to a new look at an old enemy. Harry enjoys the company, but with Bellatrix Lestrange actively hunting him, how far can he trust a Death Eater's son?

Something Impossible by epicylical/Cassandra Claire (PG, 6.4k)

As punishment for an act of vandalism, Draco is forced to perform three tasks to win Harry's forgiveness - only they don't turn out to be exactly the kind of tasks he'd been expecting. With wet shirtless Draco, paint-covered Harry, and Proust-reading Goyle.

Transformation by amalin (E, 98k)

In Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, he must face the consequences of the attack on the Department of Mysteries and the effects of Voldemort's return. And in doing so, he finds that even your enemies can teach you valuable lessons—about the world, and about yourself.

Walking the Line by SilentAuror (E, 179k)

Sixth year is over and Draco Malfoy is on the run. The war is on and an unwanted assignment is forced upon him by the only people he trusts - and a one-time arch-enemy just may be out to kill him.

Post-Hogwarts

Adagio in G Minor by furiosity (NC-17, 18k)

Seven years after Hogwarts and the war, life continues in the wizarding world. Draco Malfoy is rich, bored, and slightly jaded. Harry Potter is famous, busy, and somewhat disillusioned. They've not seen each other since school ended. What would happen if they were to cross paths again? What if it involved music?

Big Dick, Come Quick [PDF] by Calanthe (NC-17, 204k)

Draco’s got a theory. About sex. And after much searching for the right candidate, it appears that only Harry Potter, his life long enemy, can help him test it out.

Draco's Escort Service by Cheryl Dyson/dysonrules (15, 12k)

Draco's job is to escort travelers through the dangerous, war-torn countryside. Harry Potter is forced to hire him, but his destination isn't quite what Draco expected.

Left My Heart by Emma Grant (E, 85k)

Auror Draco Malfoy has disappeared, and Harry Potter has been sent to San Francisco to find him. 

Malfoy, P.I. by Nancy (R, 60k)

"I'm Draco Malfoy, private investigator. I've seen a lot--I mean a lot, and I'm like sweet seventeen a lot. I thought I'd seen it all, until a pair of green eyes stepped into my office." A noir AU set in L.A. where passion and magic collide. Slashy and sexy.

Queen of Hearts by scoradh (E, 65k)

A spectre is haunting Harry - the responsibility of his destiny. It looms over his future and, more importantly, over the future of his friends. Harry is determined to exorcise this spectre for the greater good, but on the way, he enters into a few unholy alliances.

Tissue of Silver by fearlessdiva (R, 76k)

A love story concerning possessed furniture, black silk pyjamas, courtroom drama, premonitions of doom, assassination attempts, Death Eater yoga, absinthe, bare feet and a sensible werewolf.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by November Snowflake (M, 58k)

When the long-missing Draco Malfoy turns up at a Ministry field hospital with amnesia, bitter Auror Harry Potter must confront the shadows of their shared past to shed light on a potentially deadly mystery.

Transfigurations by Resonant (E, 71k)

Five years after Voldemort's defeat, Harry returns to England to help re-open Hogwarts.

#drarry #fic recs #vintage drarry fics #loved putting this together #blast from the past

[utilitycaster]

So you're playing a D&D class

(had these thoughts while thinking about CR character builds, but relevant to D&D in general).

Here's just a brief list of three questions per class that are intended to be helpful if you're playing that class and are working on fleshing out that aspect of your character. Note that I'm only covering officially published classes for 5e. If you're a blood hunter I am just going to assume you know what you're about, and if you're a mystic then you are beyond help or hope. Also, obviously, there's way more to a character than their class! But understanding why the character is that class is pretty crucial to overall character build.

Artificer:

Did the magic come first or did the tinkering come first?

Did you apprentice or were you self-taught?

What do you dream of creating - or if you don't, what outside goal drives your creations?

Barbarian:

Is rage a cultural or family trait, or is this unique to you?

What do you feel like when you rage?

What do you feel your purpose is, outside of combat? Do you have one or are you not sure? (note - feel free to ask this about other martially focused classes, but barbarians skew especially hard towards combat skills above all others)

Bard:

What led you to be able to tap into the echoes of creation (not guaranteed for all artists!)

What is your medium, and how did you come to it/learn it?

You have a ton of skills - how did you acquire them?

Cleric:

What is your relationship with the deity/entity/concept that grants you your powers?

Since many sources have multiple domains, why this domain specifically?

What does your worship look like?

Druid:

Is your relationship to nature cultural, or personal?

What drew you to your circle?

How do you feel about wildshape? Is it a tool available to you, or an enjoyable experience?

Fighter:

Who trained you or how did you pick up your skills?

What led you to focus on fighting? Is there something you wished to attack or to protect?

Fighter is REALLY modular/subclass dependent, so dig into your subclass; if you're a champion, the 'what is your purpose outside combat' from Barbarian may apply, but if you're say, an eldritch knight or rune knight, you may have had two teachers and should dig into that.

Monk:

Who trained you?

What does Ki feel like for you?

Not a question, but: with the caveat that I know very little about martial arts, I do think that having a concept of the martial art style your monk uses is a huge help in bringing the character to life.

Paladin:

What drew you to this oath?

What continues to motivate you?

You're in a very versatile role; which part speaks to you the most- do you see yourself more as a protector? a healer? is the versatility itself what matters?

Ranger:

How did you learn your nature skills?

What is your relationship to your magic?

Why are your favored terrain and enemy what they are?

Rogue:

How did you learn to pick locks?

Did your thievery/stealth come as a necessity for survival, or was it a choice?

As with bard - what specifically led you to develop the skills you have?

Sorcerer:

When did your powers first manifest? If it was not when you were very young, what were you doing beforehand?

Are you interested in where your powers came from? How far would you go to learn about them? Or do you already know?

What would you do if your powers disappeared?

Warlock:

What led you to make the pact - even if it was accidental or a trick?

How do you feel about your patron generally?

Because warlock is truly very modular - that is, extremely reliant on the boon and evocations for flavor, analyze the choice of evocations and boon. If you picked agonizing blast, why specifically did your warlock want to make eldritch blast stronger? What drew your character to the blade vs. chain vs. tome?

Wizard:

What role do wizards play in your society?

How were you trained?

What do you most desire to learn or achieve?

#d&d

[prismatic-bell]

So @hejeksbs saw that post about fandom olds freaking out about IWTV stuff being posted on the AO3, and said they’re new to fandom and fandom culture and don’t understand. So congrats, Hejek, you’re one of today’s lucky 10,000. This is going to be a basic primer, but I encourage others to chime in with details. (Also, thanks for reminding me I need an Interview exhibit in the museum. I had that written down somewhere.)

So if you go back to the 1990s and early 2000s—the pre-AO3 digital years—you’re going to see an official disclaimer on just about every fic. These basically said “I don’t own anything here, please don’t sue me.” Some were quoted elaborate.

These started because of Anne Rice.

See, Anne Rice was, how can I say this nicely…an asshole? The day she died there were literally people posting crab rave and “Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead” from The Wizard of Oz on Tumblr. Because before Harry Potter fanfiction was pretty frowned upon and you might get a C&D if you didn’t keep your head down properly, but Anne Rice.

ANNE RICE.

Anne Rice literally recruited her “loyal fans” to harass people who made fanworks. At least one person was doxxed to her workplace by rabid Ricers, and at the time fanfiction was taboo enough you could absolutely get fired for that. I was eleven and friends with someone who was 13 who’d just read Interview and drew this wonky I-am-a-kid-who-can’t-really-draw-yet-but-I-loved-this-SO-MUCH piece of fanart of Louis and Lestat, and she literally dipped off the internet because she got an extremely nasty “I’m suing you” threat from Rice. (Are you out there, Mercury000? It’s me, sailorsharon0722.)

Anne Rice did everything in her power to ensure there was no IWTV fandom at all. I’ve heard from people older than me that she used to host a “vampire’s ball” every year in New Orleans for her “loyal fans” but if you showed up and she felt your costume outshone her own, she’d make you leave. People didn’t dare so much as put “Lestat” and “fanfiction” in the same sentence.

And then, irony of ironies, when her reputation got so bad she was struggling to sell books, she…became a Christian and started writing Bible fanfiction to sell.

Yeah.

Over the years there were claims she’d changed her mind about fanfiction, but nobody ever had evidence to back this up. I even saw a dude on Quora claiming to be a close friend of hers saying we were all lying, and he got absolutely ratioed by fans going “I still have my C&D letter, you wanna fucking try again?”

Incidentally, I would like to point out that her attitude wasn’t uniform. It’s easy to say “that’s just how it was,” but Neil Gaiman has been around since the 1980s and has always appreciated fanfiction. Stephen King’s approach is “please tell me, to my face, that me explicitly writing about Cthulhu isn’t fanfiction” and otherwise pretty lassez-faire (he has no interest in knowing you’re writing fanfiction of his stuff, he just genuinely doesn’t care), and his first book was published in the early 1970s. Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, actually accepted submissions of fanfiction scripts DURING THE SHOW’S ORIGINAL RUN, at least according to popular lore. (@dduane, can you check me on this?) Mercedes Lackey—who’s 1980s-and-1990s fantasy royalty—has been asked on Quora about why she “changed her mind about fanfiction” and her response was “I never changed my mind, I just had to talk my publisher into accepting it. I’ve always been okay with it but I had to say no because of my contract.” Sure, Diana Galbaldon was out there comparing fanfiction to rape(????), but even among those who disapproved of fanfiction, Rice’s attitude and actions were extreme. And they persisted into the 2000s, too, with her egging on fans who harassed and sent death threats to a YouTube reviewer who didn’t like one of her books.

AO3 changed ALL of that.

AO3 said “here is our well-researched legal claim that fanfiction is legal, and if someone gives you shit about works you have posted on our website, our lawyers will represent you. You can post safely here. It’s okay. We got your back.”

Even so, the fear about Anne Rice continued. And can you blame people? This woman’s name held the same power in fannish conversations as “Voldemort.” (A moniker by which I’ve actually heard her called.) She all but destroyed the old guard, on purpose.

….and then a new generation of fans happened. A new generation that didn’t remember life before AO3, had never known anyone who literally had to move house to get away from Rice’s minions’ threats and harassment. I know we use “nature is healing” as a joke on this website, but really truly, that’s what happened here. She left charred tree trunks and bushes that were old-school fans and from their ashes tiny little 2010s-fans seedlings began to grow.

The thousand-odd fics you saw in those screenshots (which I feel I should clarify are from before the new show came out—a show that must have her turning in her grave, because she was absolutely adamant that all her vampires were STRAIGHT and if you thought otherwise you were DISGUSTING, and I hope she spins so hard her corpse combusts) are absolutely shocking to us older fans because it’s like staggering out of a nuclear wasteland and spotting a little garden with signs saying “free nuclear-illness medical services” and realizing it’s real. What the fuck, what the fuck, but also, holy shit y’all we’re so proud of you. YES. Keep going. Don’t let the witch get you down.

EDIT: I’ve been informed by someone in the notes that IT ACTUALLY GETS WORSE:

I’m not going to transcribe the whole thing because I’m on mobile and most of it is just bog-standard post notes, but what’s relevant is @theoriginalvelocipastor saying “OP forgot the part where she [Anne Rice] would take ideas from fanfiction.”

Like holy motherFUCKER this woman’s hypocrisy.

[canyourfavesurvivecastledracula]

Vaarsuvius, from the Order of the Stick webcomic

Pros: - VERY powerful spellcaster (D&D 3.5 style), could talk to dracula about that - constantly flies everywhere with an Overland Flight spell, so climbing isn't an issue - knows vampires very well, they're not exactly like dracula but still - As a wizard, has a high Will save, so might be protected from the trance - Doesn't sleep (elf) - Genre-aware, but the genre is fantasy action-comedy Cons - ABSOLUTELY would not accept the crucifix. Christianity doesn't exist in their world, and even if they're genre-aware enough to know about it, they are - super egotistical

Oooooh, Vaarsuvius!

I think the dangers Dracula poses to Vaarsuvius are not physical. As you say, vampires are in the monster manual alongside the rest of us. Vaarsuvius is powerful enough to wipe out Black Dragons as a species (at least occasionally) - and is not Dracula the Son of the Dragon? Who would win in a fight is not the interesting side of this question. Nor is ability to escape - as you say, V can fly. But then, so can Dracula.

Being an Elf, V doesn't shave any more than they sleep, and as you say, can probably make their will saves against direct hypnosis. However -

Okay I was gonna go into fatal flaws but I thought of something extremely funny hang on.

May 28th

Dracula: *holding letters* My servants have given me these, of which, though I know not whence they come, I shall, of course, take care.

Dracula: See! One is from you, and to my friend Durkon; the other -

Dracula: *peers*

Dracula: *reading* I prepared explosive runes this morning!?

*KABOOM*

Ehehehehe okay I'm done. As I was saying, the danger to Vaarsuvius is not physical but psychological or possibly spiritual. V's fatal flaw is ambition and hubris, especially about the arcane - and of course denying their own complicity in their corruption arc. The temptation to gain arcane power through Dracula's knowledge of Scholomancy will be too great for them. They will engage in lots of Wizard to Wizard communication. And on the flipside, I think Dracula will be able to swallow his dissatisfaction with V's attitude to pursue the temptation of corrupting himself a new apprentice. Enter freely, and of your own will.

So anyway, I think technically Vaarsuvius of the Order of the Stick can survive Castle Dracula, but their alignment can not. And there's a nonzero chance that if V ever leaves, it will be as a vampire

#vaarsuvius #order of the stick #wizards and spellcasters #elves #webcomics #I am not up to date on OOTS so V may have had some character development I am unaware of #but we can always set this earlier than that

[reijixia13]

Who Made Me A Princess x Reader Scenerio

“First Meeting” p1

Characters include Ijiekiel Alpheus, Claude De Alger Obelia, And Lucas.

Extra characters: Athanasia, Lily, Felix, Maids, Random parents.

Next part will include other boys hihi

Ijiekiel Alpheus

Let's just say you know Athanasia from the past, You both work together at anything and everywhere just to pay up taxes. Unlike her, You Still had the chance to grow up with a Guardian but as you reach adulthood, they died from a sickness.

As time past by, You were growing weak and had to check it out on the doctor, Finding out something's tryna kill you (ok this is trash, i absolutely don't know any sickness that can kill you).

So to summarize, Yes it did kill you.

Now for some random reason, You wake up to a new world with Athanasia by yourside.

You both are looking at one another like (๑ŐдŐ)b d(ŐдŐ๑) <-------

“WHAT HAPPEND TO YOU?!” by telepathy

Yours and Athanasia's nanny Lilian York has explain everything about this one shit history book

Now that we summarize that, Lets get how you knew a white puppy

Now Don't get me wrong- You and Athy we're 7 at the time, Extremely new to the Palace environment of the person Athanasia said that's gonna kill her in her 18 year old teenage life

Athanasia didn't agree to have a Playmate when Duke Alpheus asked if the two of you we're lonely but she was reasing she has Claude a killing Tryant, Felix her favorite and ofcourse You♡

But you, Damn you are hellaa ✨diffrent✨

I mean for 7 years Athy was trying to explain to you how to survive but you- You love ✨trouble✨ so Despite Claude disagreeing and Athy chocking on cakes after you announced you wanna play with Duke Alpheus Son and Niece, Being a Daddy's girl such like claude can get you a way better playmate than a barking dog

Anyways

You met a walking puppy at the Alpheus manor while being lost- You we're so close to telling this to Claude, cause who the hell leaves you? Absolutely no one should. Your ✨Important✨

When you met the puppy, You called out “Puppy!” with actual beams around you, a halo even

He was quite confused so he came to aid you, Only to be shock on how you acted

“Puppy, Paw” with a hand for a shake, He can only embarrassly obey before he heard his father.

“Ha, Your Highness you shouldn't run off-”

“Please stop barking, Im talking to a puppy so shoo”

Yeah you slay💅

Lucas

This is my second attempt, the other one wasn't saved and it was gone lol im crying-

Anyways

Im gonna summarize everything cause im lazy now

Your Anathancius Daughter from his made, Your mother is the Daughter of the Marquise, Anathancius was killed without him knowing your existance, Your mother begging Claude to take care of you in the future and not to kill you, Claude fell inlove when you were birthed and when your mother died he took you in as his own.

You were 2 at the time when a love between Dianna and Claude occured

You guys look like family ngl so im jealous

When things gone hill, after Athy was born you had to beg Claude not to kill Athy with Lily

At some point he was gonna point a sword at you but you had something in you so you took a larger sword

Yeah ngl you were ready to fight him so Felix has to stop you

Time skip you were 7 when you met a 5 year old Athy and became actual besties💅

So when she went into coma, You were the one who keep everything in place from the place to her manas

Then this guy showed up saying his a powerful wizard and saying he knows how to cure Athy

He was almost killed by Claude because he disturb your tea time together to have peace from worrying

He told claude something and Claude went to kill out Athy's pet which you know she'll be upset if she heard it died lol

When Athy woke up, She keep ranting to you about this random dud and you can't help but agree

The next day Lucas showed up and was declared to be their playmate

Ofcourse Athy has to irritate him saying Ijiekiel is better than him making him send her right where Athy wants to be (Athy didn't want to)

You smacked his head

“OW WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!”

“FOR BEING AN IDIOT, HOW COULD YOU SENT ATHY THERE- YOU KNOW WHAT IM OUT TO HAVE A MEETING WITH ALPHEUS ANYWAYS BYE”

It was love at ✨first smack✨ from ✨stupidity✨

Claude De Alger Obelia

Ngl his hot af

Anyways

Let's just say you were falling off the sky because i wanna isekai you

He was having one peaceful afternoon in his gold palace while you were in the sky praying for life

He just happend to see a shadow at the ground so alert, He look up before down, I feel like he saw something- But still he tried to catch you which he did

You had a stare with him

‘OMFG A GOD JSJDKEJJEORHDJWI IS THIS HEAVEN OR HELL? CAUSE IM SURE ILL BE SLIDING FROM UP TO DOWN’

His just looking at you and your weird clothes

You are containing yourself from having a nosebleed

In the end you just did

For some unknown reason Claude is a gentleman for you hihi

He asked the maids to prepare a room, Ask a physician to heal you

And that's all for now lol

Hope u guys like it, i know its short I have longer thoughts but lazy to even write it. And beside on Lucas part it was supposed to be longer and funnier but i keep forgetting this aint wattpad this is some new app im new on and i almost cry for lucas part ngl next part for other character btw

#manhwa x reader #manhwa #x reader #who made me a princess #wmmap claude #wmmap athanasia #wmmap lucas #wmmap ijekiel #wmmap #reijixia13 #scenario

[sorcerous-caress]

That are some dnd race quirks you like to add for flavor?

I like to add that Gith flick their ears forward like Frilled-neck lizards to signal a non-verbal warning and chirp like tree frogs when very happy. ( they will try to kill others to hide it.)

Elves can purr but Drow can't, kinda like how some big cats can't roar but can meow.

Drow blink slowly to show affection and their eyes reflect how stimulated they currently are. ( they will also try to kill others to hide it.)

-githzerai anon

I really like your concept about gith, honestly it's very wholesome.

The frog symbolism works especially great with the mindflayers octopus thing since frogs start their lifecycle as aquatic tadpoles and are able to go on land.

Hmm for me.

I like the idea that elves are inherently just plants/fungus. Cannibalism has no consequences for them because of it but the modren elf doesn't bring it up much. Like while it would take a life or death situation for a human to eat the flesh of someone else, it would take much less for an elf to do it.

Humans start with an xp multiplier because how can you justify having a human wizard and an elf wizard be at the same level? So humans just tend to learn or absorb things faster

Gnomes have the most complex and intertwined political structures between all the other races, they're just veru secretive about it.

Dwarves treat your birthstone like how humans treat your zodiac signs.

Dragonborns and Gith bond over being born from eggs. Drows take care of gaint spider eggs for Lolth a lot so they can relate a bit.

Dragonborns and Draconic bloodline people do take some personality traits from the dragon they're based on, gold ones tend to be chatty and social while red ones tend to be arrogant. It's not a very prominent thing, your own personality traits will shine more but sometimes the dragon's traits slip through.

Oh and they can eat gems, both of them. It does nothing.

The feeling of shame, self loathing and jealously are inherently human traits. Other races feel them but at a much more watered down version

Likewise elves can feel so many other types of love that most races can't comprehend, but also much more types of hate.

Passion for dwarves shapes the meaning of their lives.

Tieflings are allergic to holy water, not deathly but more of a sneezing and itching allergy.

Half-orcs have very advanced and affordable dental care.

Dragonborns do shed their scales like snakes, their scales are extremely sensitive after so they do it alone.

Curly hair is exclusive to humans, Haflings, and tieflings. If you have it, there is a big chance one of your ancestors mingled with one of those races to add it to the gene pool.

Same with brown eyes, it's very common in humans but very rare in other races. A lot of them are really fascinated by it.

It's mostly why Dwarves think humans were carved out of great rocks deep in the earth. They see them as an excellent work of art and their creator should be praised.

But well, humans don't have a creator in dnd, no god and no origin.

I like that a lot, because when a god exists and is omnipotent, it technically erases free will for that race. If the god knows everything you're going to do before you do it, then you're predetermined.

But with humans, there is no god, so they are the most free and unpredictable of the races. Even when they try to sort them into boxes, the idea of humanity is that there is no ideal shape for a human to be moulded into.

Another flavour text i like to add, is that maybe humans were made in the image of the said gods but without any of the godly powers. So they have extremely short lives where they feel like they're missing something greatly and are never satisfied with all the powers or knowledge they collect. They always want more, to go further or deeper or faster.

Maybe try to weave the whole forbidden apple into it, humans were cursed by it to be the thing they are today. They are born with inherited sins. It explains why they are so squishy and defenceless, they were meant to stay in a safe bubble in heaven the gods created for them and not roam the dangerous lands.

But they got too curious for their own and paid the price.

Still i do prefer the no-known creator origin for humans, i a world so well documented it is funny to think human origin was the biggest mystery all along.

#♡human kink #♡githzerai anon

[level2janitor]

whenever someone complaints abt a ttrpg being 'gamey' the standard response is "well what did you expect?? you're playing a game, dipshit". but i think by 'gamey' the actual criticism being made is that it feels artificial

5e's always felt gamey to me because of the annoying obligation to balance encounters and an adventuring day. you need to have enough encounters to drain the wizard's resources, they need to walk a tightrope between challenging the PCs and not TPK-ing them, etc etc.

and everyone talks about how hard this is on the GM with the limited tools 5e gives you (which it is) but it also has the unrelated effect of feeling extremely forced from a player-side. the illusion of a consistent world starts to slip because what the PCs encounter has to revolve around the PCs for the game to work.

also i've been seeing a lot of 4e defending on my dash lately and like, yes it's a good game that's very good at the thing it chooses to do. but the criticism that 4e feels gamey (read: artificial) is extremely valid; the strict separation between combat and non-combat results in all flavor basically being only flavor

there's a 4e paragon path you can take called the Entrancing Mystic, whose powers have flavor text describing how you bewitch and ensnare the minds of your enemies. what do the powers actually do? some forced movement in the combat boardgame. what happens if you use them out of combat? who knows! they certainly weren't designed to be used that way, because their actual effect is measured only in terms of the combat boardgame

obviously there's a lot of aspects of non-4e D&D and similar games that are unrealistic. hit points are not how being stabbed works. but certain gamisms bother me more bc they create a clear disconnect between the fiction and the mechanics in a more tangible way.

like, 13th age's resting system (great game but i wanna pick on it here) has you fully heal every 3 or 4 encounters. only had one encounter? no full heal-up, even if you're resting. you have had four encounters? you get a full heal-up. there's a halfhearted sidebar about how the GM should contrive a reason for the heal-up to happen.

as a game balance mechanic, it's great! but i despise it because it's so disconnected from the reality of the game world. HP and fully healing on a rest isn't realistic, but it's an abstract representation of something that happens in the fiction. take a rest -> fully heal is unrealistic but internally consistent with the game world. 13th age healing is not - the in-universe characters can never acknowledge it as it makes no in-world sense.

anyway the reason i'm grumpy abt this lately is the MCDM game has a taunt mechanic that's just straight-up called taunting and it irks me so so bad. again, great game, super fun, but taunting leads to so many situations where an NPC does stuff they wouldn't do

y'know, like a videogame! where the dialogue and personality is just a skin over a set of game mechanics. and when NPCs start behaving out of character with no in-world justification (cause taunts aren't mind control ofc, it's just a guy... taunting you) they feel gamey. artificial.

i like all of the games i brought up (except probably 5e) but i had to get that out of my system thanks for coming to my ted talk

#ttrpg #d&d #5e #d&d 5e #d&d 4e #mcdm game #13th age #game design

[sleepingdeath-light]

meeting stardust cookie’s s/o hcs ; moonlight cookie

requested by ; anonymous (26/07/23)

fandom(s) ; cookie run

fandom masterlist(s) ; hub | specific

character(s) ; moonlight cookie, stardust cookie

outline ; “being introduced to moonlight cookie as stardust s/o / spouse hcs :D”

warning(s) ; none, just fluff!

despite her large reaching reputation as a creation of the wizards themselves and an extremely powerful person in her own right, moonlight cookie is nothing but cordial and almost motherly to you throughout your first meeting

she has this warm smile on her face as she listens to you speak, nodding along thoughtfully to your words and making you feel equal parts embarrassed and seen in the process — especially when she gives your partner the sort of knowing look that only elder sisters can offer, which itself seems to fluster him into silence

she asks you about yourself but seems to know everything you say beforehand — at least that’s the impression you got from the look in her eyes — and she doesn’t just stop at the surface level small talk, but you didn’t expect anything else from a woman with a reputation and aura like hers

you two talk about your histories, your interests, and before long your discomfort and unfamiliarity has completely melted away and you’re chatting like old friends — body half curled into your partner’s as she lounges across from you in a way that somehow manages to encapsulate both grace and casualness in equal measure

stardust cookie doesn’t speak much through the whole thing, only whispering to you a single reassurance when his sister steps away to fetch some fresh tea for you all

‘i told you that she’d like you’

and how right he was and you have to bite your tongue to stop yourself from joking back about having a new favourite of the two siblings — you manage to restrain yourself, if only because she’s already back in the room by the time you go to speak, but only barely

the rest of the evening practically flows by and eventually even stardust cookie starts to partake in the chatter as much as he typically would — and as you and your love are just getting ready to leave, moonlight cookie pulls you aside for a moment with an unplaceable twinkle in her eye and says something that makes your heart swell

‘he talks about you all of the time, you know… it’s nice to finally get to meet you.’

#sleepingdeath #gender neutral reader #fluff #fluff hcs #platonic moonlight cookie x reader #crk x reader #crk fluff #cookie run x reader #cookie run fluff #moonlight cookie fluff #stardust cookie fluff #stardust cookie x reader

[intermundia]

heyy i was wondering if you have an opinion on the role the jedi order plays in the republic? on a political level I mean :D

so, my thoughts on the jedi order are largely shaped by george lucas, and that means my answer to this question may not be as politically nuanced as you may hope (aka the political things i write about in my fanfics are genre-bent reinterpretations of the core lore of the saga). the nature of the jedi's participation in politics is pretty simple, in the way that myths are simple.

it would probably be easier for me to share and explain some of my notes i took while reading the sw prequels archives and comment of them. i transcribed a lot of the book in the process of trying to understand it, so the following are quotes from george unless otherwise noted. this is the book i mean:

oh sw archives my beloved. anyway.

first, and most importantly, the jedi are not a real political organization that exists in the world, but rather their design is to further george's narrative. he is not writing a political thriller, but rather an emotional and philosophical one. they're more like symbols for moral quandaries than a real organization.

the jedi are space wizards, and also the most moral agents possible. this is not realism, but rather they are agents in a spiritual morality play, where they are an explicitly defined white-hat good guys, who are in combat with black-hat selfish bad guys. he's telling a mythic story, so you have to reframe the jedi out of history and into myth.

he wants to tell a story about how it is not enough to rule by fear. fear is not a sufficient mechanism to keep society civil. you need something else, something 'supernatural' in his words in order to encourage mutual flourishing, some way to overcome our tribal limitations and fears and live in a unified and diverse world.

the jedi are his idea of how to show that force of compassion in a narrative, the idea of people with power motivated by the right reasons, working for the good of everyone. the jedi are the embodiment of the archetype of the true public servant, the ones we want to have ruling over us. this is not a class of people that actually exist in reality, but also nobody here has space magic either.

so his design is that the jedi order are warrior-monks who keep the peace, ambassadors more than cops, the most moral people in the galaxy, because they are monks.

they've chosen to serve, and been given both duty and oversight from the galactic senate. they do not create the world order, but they do their best to encourage peace and civilization whenever and wherever they can. there aren't that many of them, but they are extremely powerful people, who are by narrative design the most moral people in the galaxy (just.. not anakin at the end there).

ultimately, they exist to be trapped into a bind, the morality of always doing the right thing vs the morality of always seeking the best outcome. there is no clean answer to that, it's a perennial tension in the history of philosophy, so the jedi are emblematic of that, you know? in the end, they're literary figures more than real world political ones, and exist so that we can interrogate our own values.

i realize this is a take that might be unpopular with segments of the fanbase who really enjoy analyzing star wars through the lens of realpolitik and making it gritty and adult and complex. my answer is that star wars is heartbreakingly simple. they're an embodiment of our better natures, locked in a fight against our worst. the politics stuff is all pretty superficial storytelling on top of that.

#could i play historian and try to pretend there's enough there to #write about it like history? #absolutely. i do that in fanfic #but i think it's really important to keep in mind #the genre and the message of the stories #which is moral and emotional. they're heroes in a bind #sw #long post

[horseshoemybeloved]

wait i am really intrigued with your versions of the suitehearts i love the designs and seeing your take on them so please infodump about them to me about this obscure fob au that i’ve been insane about for years

It is now time for my long ass ( my version of the ) suitehearts masterpost * wiggles fingers *

Keep in mind!!!

So basically first things first, my versions of ‘em are Completely different characters. Some draw/view the suitehearts as fob in silly costumes ( which is super chill ) but my versions are very different. So when I say “ Benzedrine is a repressed gay wizard obsessed with abba“ I am in no ways implying that Patrick is a repressed gay wizard obsessed with abba. There are some similarities between people but it is never intentional. ( also I’m constantly changing stuff nothings set in stone lol )

Da world!

The world is kinda like a purgatory, everyone there has died but could move to another plane. Thusly there are people from all different decades. Magic is very common here, a lot of people can do small basic spells. But it takes years of practice to become a wizard, and decades to become a good one. There are 5 main,,, species? Races? I’m not quite sure how to label em. But we have:

your average human, nothing really of note here

elemental benders ( they are born with a cavity in their chest relating to what “ element “ they control. Some control water some Disco music! )

Pixies/sprites, they usually have abnormal colored skin, pointy ears, and the ability to float around. They naturally have good connection with spirits and can summon them when needed ( if they’re good at it )

Angels, they’re naturally fun colors, have magical hair, and vaguely cow like ears?. Angles can use their magic to make themselves look like normal humans tho. They usually live together and provide comfort for people. But there has been a rebellion happening and now a lot of angels try and live life not for the sole service of others but now for themselves ( is allegory 4 womanhood moment )

And then of course furries xoxo

Now the reason you even started reading this, info about the suitehearts!

Dr. benzedrine is vaguely narcissistic and full of himself, but in an oddly charming way. Personality wise hes a mixture of howl ( hmc ) without Any of the swauve, mostly just the dramatics, and aziraphale ( good omens ). Hes a middle aged man who Will Not admit hes gay, he is Incredibly repressed. He was apart of the huge royal academy of wizards, best one they’d ever had. But had a falling out with the leader in charge and now just has his own little wizard store. He befriended Donnie at a little diner because he made a reference to a Kate bush or Fiona apple song, or something or other. Him and sandman do Not get along, sandman often visits the store just to annoy him. But they have more similarities than they know, they just need to stop bitching at eachother!

( also he was born like 5’ something but the spirits in charge of transferring people to this plane were like “ I’d be mad funny if we made him really short he’d be so mad “ )

He is my autistic little meow meow 😔🙏

Horseshoe has a regal flowyness to him, semi-oblivious to his own charm, and loves to dance the night away. When everyone around him is disheveled and falling apart, he still manages to look fantastic. He appears to be the dumb blonde of the group, which he definitely doesn't mind and loves to indulged in the trope. ( he may not know where or even what Sweden is but at least hes pretty ) But he is a deeply creative person, and that in its own special way shows an intelligence. He works at a small local craft store ( bcus then he gets first dibs on all the cool new art supplies :D ) he is an angel, but chooses to focus his little magical power on constantly disguising himself cus he doesn’t wanna be bothered lol.

Donnie is very nurturing and kind, yet extremely energetic and bubbly, think kinda like,,, super sweet valleygirl. He’s slightly based off YouTuber Garret watts. He is very big solid guy. He has a bit of a problem with feeling like he Needs to take care of everyone, like it’s job ( he’s workin through it in therapy ) Like I mentioned there are people who are like elemental benders, Donnie is one of them. He has a little terrarium with either a mushroom or a daisy, and can make vines grow from his hands and legs. Donnie is also autistic ( heavily based on my experiences with it, he’s also just kinda heavily based off of me ) He's from da 60s, during the whole hippy thing.

Sandman is your typical bitchy mallgoth, who goes around calling everyone a " poser" and everything " poser shit " they put up a bitchy angry front but deep down theyre an insecure sensitive little guy. Sandman is a Pixie so that means they can summon these ( usless ) spirit guys ( they’re not very good at it ) shes also kinda Super into typical """ cringey """ stuff from 2015 ( ie undertale, fnaf, the lving tombstone, mlp ) Sandman is semi kinda not really it’s complicated openly non-binary, but still seems to repress quite a bit and just push away all deeper feelings. I thought it would be interesting to experiment with a character who is a trans femme gay guy, kinda like a reverse trans masc lesbian I guess. Idk lol don’t get mad at me

Anything else kiddo?

The format id choose to express this story would def be a movie. Uhhh… I can’t really think of much else right now, but feel free to ask questions I luv talking about em :3

#this is so cringe but at least I am free #so uhhh yeah 🧍‍♂️ #my art #americas suitehearts #dr benzedrine #horseshoe #Donnie #sandman #ocs #oc story #or as I like to call em ‘ step ocs ‘ #cus maybe I didn’t birth them but I sure as hell raised em #gotta draw me with a ‘ I’m the dad who stepped up’ shirt

[calciumsoda]

OK OK OK OK OK I KNOW I WAS SUPPOSED TO WRITE THIS UP DAYS AGO BUT SHUT UP IM DOING IT NOW

So

As is hopefully obvious from my blog and just the way that i am

I am insane and also a massive D&D, Cosmere, and Wheel of Time nerd.

So of COURSE when you put me in a D&D west marches server I'm going to get way way way too into dming massive absurd plotlines that require 10-15 people to sort out.

This one is currently in the works and I'm so so so excited to run it SO you all get to hear about it because splattering my brain patterns on this hellsite is going to help me organize the plotline as it exists thus far.

Anyone from a discord west marches server with a red and black icon and a setting full of oceans and islands, stop reading now. Spoilers below cut. Also, extremely sorry for long post nobody cares about.

IT ALL BEGINS in a port city full of pirates. The world is mainly oceans, with countless small to medium to small continent sized islands in it, largely disconnected from each other. This is only relevant because the main city the game takes place in is a port city whose trade routes are 100% by ocean and nothing else.

In this lawless pirate city, there are a few noble families, one of which is named the Bearingtons. Several of them happen to be Werebears, and there are differing opinions on whether this happened before or after the name came about.

The Bearingtons have always been... power-hungry. Of course, noble families are rarely particularly well-off in pirate cities of all places, but they've managed inexplicably to maintain some sort of hold on their riches and power (mostly because the majority of the family lives in an isolated manor far away from the actual city). This is, aside from Count Bearington, an estranged cousin to the rest of the family who was cast out over some scandal or another years ago and lived alone (with servants, of course) for years in a slowly-deteriorating manor in the city. The Count was bitter about his disownment from the family, and wished to make things "right" by whatever means possible, beginning to research the means to summon and control devils to bring literal hell upon his family.

Elsewhere, a Triton wizard, having by various less-than-ethical means lived far past the 200 year limit on most tritons' lives by now, is busy making horrific amalgamations of elementals and fiends, creating fiends with the powers of lightning and frost out of those which had before been mere imps. They are also, out of desperation to extend their life a little longer to see their work complete, investigating means to become a Lich using elemental souls rather than human ones. However, for the time being, they have made the phylactery... and are unsure how to activate it, as they are too busy trying to stop their monstrosities from killing more travellers on the roads past their tower. Eventually, the city proper catches wind of these murders and foul experiments, and a party is dispatched to kill the wizard and their experiments.

The Wizard is killed, their body rapidly aging upon their death as the magic that had kept body and soul youthful drains... into the phylactery, inescapably dragging their soul into the trap they made themself. After several weeks, they manage to gain some small measure of control over the base elements surrounding their corpse, and successfully create a rudimentary, part-elemental part-undead body to make their way to the city and find a cleric to end their existence. The hells themselves would be better than this...

In the city, they hear tell of another who works to summon devils. The Lich goes to the place rumours speak of, and finds Count Bearington's manor, entering and desperately trying to convince him not to do this. The Lich does not realize that, by now, the Count has already met with several fiends and promised them his family's estate, hells, even the whole *city* if they will help him to get his revenge on his kin.

The Count convinces the Lich that, should they help with a ritual to summon a stronger devil, and bind it to his bidding, then he will aid the Lich in finding some way to destroy the phylactery. The Lich agrees, desperate to be free of this prison before their mind rots entirely, and pours immense magic into a circle in the basement of the Count's manor, succeeding in summoning stronger fiends than before. The Lich, however, does not realize just how much they've put into it, nor the effects that will have... and, shortly after the Lich is given directions to a cleric who owes the Count a favour and leaves, the circle begins to expand, transforming from a mere summoning circle to a planar gateway to the Hells, beginning to corrupt the earth around it and blur the line between the Material and the Hells...

Days later, the Count is found dead, disemboweled and impaled on the steel gates bordering his manor. Investigation inside the manor finds powerful fiends within, tearing the place apart and eating his few remaining servants, but does not locate the hidden trapdoor that hides the true measure of the disaster about to unfold. Devils are not mindless brutes, however... they have waited millenia for the opportunity to wage war through such a portal, but one small entryway in the middle of a city would be impossible to maintain a full scale assault through.

The devils, however, have other tricks in mind. The seas all around the city are home to thousands - tens, hundreds of thousands - of evil sea-dwelling lifeforms, largely Sahuagin and Merrow, who are eager for a chance to slaugher the pirates of the city who so often deny them the treasures carried on their ships. The devils approach these sahuagin, making deals with them - promising great power, the power to wipe this city from the surface and drag its treasures and residents below the waves for themselves. The sahuagin are more than happy to oblige to the devils' demands, and begin amassing an army...

The devils do not rely on sea creatures alone, of course. Others are sent to meet with humanoids both within the city and without; deals are struck between powerful fiends and the leaders of several of the most powerful bandit groups in the city and its surrounding isles, promising each that they would be granted their wildest desires, if they only carried out a few important missions... destroy a temple here, burn a small sacred clearing there, weaken the influence of the gods such that the fiends might meet no resistance when they arrive in force to raze the island in flames and turn it into a tenth Hell, as they were promised by the Count.

Other fiends - a shape-shifting Succubus, mainly - return to terrorize the Bearington estate, attempting to kill the Emperor of the nearby sea elves to weaken any support that might come from other ocean races against the Sahuagin. Word slips out that the other Bearingtons may be in trouble, however, and a group of adventurers manages to save the Emperor, if not the Lady Bearington who was killed and replaced by the succubus to get close enough to him.

Another party is summoned by the frantic messages of a minor deity of nature, pleading for their aid in preventing the destruction of her ancient, forgotten temple, and they find an "archaeological" group (read: bandits in disguise) preparing to destroy the religious symbols within and claim the building as their own, an operation which only their leaders know is ordered by a devil in exchange for magical weapons and control over any who come too close to this temple. The first group of bandits is cleared out by these adventurers, but more are quite possibly on the way, as the deity of the temple personally thanks them for their aid and asks that they call on her whenever they require hers in return. One party member begins worshipping this deity, becoming her one and only priest (in a setting where having temples + priests dedicated to you is how you become and remain a god, this is wildly important to the deity, who would have outright died if the temple were destroyed).

Elsewhere, dragons are stirred from the homes they have held for centuries, and begin claiming new territory, forcing younger, weaker dragons to migrate towards this island due to its lack of major draconic presence. A pair of injured Sapphire dragons are driven from home after home, eventually finding refuge with the deity in the woods, but they are nearly overrun by further bandits, not even able to spare the energy to send a message to those who had helped previously with clearing them out...

And this is where the quest begins. Sahuagin and worse are assaulting the ports and any ships that try to enter or leave the city; multiple instances of intelligent and dangerous fiends have been spotted in various parts of the city, and a portal to the hells themselves discovered in the manor's lower floors; and bandits swarm the roads and holy places outside of the city, defacing and destroying important locations, all while a lone, desperate Lich-thing tries to right the wrongs they caused by recruiting any aid they can, disguising however they can to avoid this body being killed and their soul abandoned to the Phylactery once more.

There will be 1 party of adventurers sent to handle each of these major issues, the final total of players being between 10 and 15, with all 3 storylines converging into one at the end, as the players must either convince each side being manipulated by the devils to turn against them, or face an army of unimaginable proportions with the aid of whatever pirates the city can provide.

Anyway im fucking vibrating in excitement for when i get to run this quest i wanna run it so so so so so bad but i have more encounters to do before it starts. And i need to nail down more details. But. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

#soda ramblings #very long post #d&d #d&d story

[utilitycaster]

To elaborate on this post specifically with regards to Worlds Beyond Number, well, Suvi says it all, really:

They love being on my tab, they love having fun, they love being protected by me, but they never listen to me and they don't care.

Because here is the thing. Suvi is of the Citadel, which is part of the Empire. We do not have a full understanding of the geopolitical system but as a rule an empire is participating in conquest; sometimes two empires both exist and attack each other and so the exact scenario gets very gray and complicated but I think we do all agree the Empire is not great.

Suvi is of the Citadel. She holds a position of great privilege within the Citadel. This is in part because her parents were, as far as we know, betrayed and murdered by an enemy of the Citadel (having themselves been, again, based on what we know, reformers and rule-breakers as well as extremely capable spies) and she was adopted by one of their closest friends, who became the Sword of the Citadel.

She is not the Citadel. She is a 20-year old who was primarily raised within it, with all of the above complications of her parents. She is not single-handedly responsible for every action the citadel takes. She is not personally trying to stop Ame or Eursulon, only saying that there will be consequences if they leave. Consequences that she has experienced after Ame ran into the kudzu and Eursulon went after Naram and they all attempted to break Ame's curse; consequences she knows will become more and more dire if she continues to disobey Steel, particularly a direct order; consequences that already resulted in Ame being in a coma for a month. (The court-martial, I will say, is entirely on Suvi; the rest is not).

And in all of those situations: Ame and Eursulon were, as Suvi says, happy to have Suvi's purse pay for room and board, and her wizard's staff open doors, and to be put up and fed at the Chantry, and take the skyships, and train at the Citadel and have a marvelous time there. It's been several days and they could have left sooner, and they didn't. It's very "no ethical consumption under capitalism, which means that I can do whatever I want" rather than like, attempting to make slightly less harmful choices from Ame and Eursulon. Their choices aren't coming from a principled stance against the Citadel and Empire; they are coming from a "well, thanks for all the fun and the safe place to stay and the resources for research but you told me not to do something I wanted to do and I won't wait an hour to try and see if we can come to a solution that works for everyone."

For that matter, they're making these choices in part because of what a wizard of the citadel is saying to them; and yet Suvi's presence was said by that very wizard to be crucial to Ame's survival, and they're still not waiting.

[stepping outside of all of the above and the below: I think all the actions being taken, as a listener, are fucking great because this is D&D and conflict is fun and also all of these characters are like, the equivalent of 20 years old and level 2; this is not me saying Suvi is right and Ame and Eursulon are wrong. Rather, Suvi is no less right or wrong than the others, and she is extremely justified in feeling hurt and angry and that her friends are willing to take and not give.]

Something I've found in a lot of sf stories but especially actual play is a pretty strong and frankly, weird bias within the fandom of exactly this nature, as the linked post said. Someone affiliated with an empire or a power is somehow, as an individual, responsible for every harmful action that power commits. They're brainwashed. They're evil. They don't get it. They just need to come around to the right mentality. And that right mentality is, of course, that of the good rural person with nature magic. They are a leader within their small community and hold an immense amount of power over them - and perhaps beyond - but don't worry, they use it correctly. They're wise and they're right about everything.

Except they're not. They are frequently either idealistic to the point of ignoring the realities of the situation, or very limited in their viewpoint, or do not realize the immense privilege of being in their position as both a person in nigh absolute benevolent power within a small domain and also the only person with that power. Those wise, provincial, nature-based characters rarely understand that to exist within a complex and yes, extremely flawed and even ill-intentioned system like the Citadel is to be, even as a person with privilege within that hierarchy, a cog.

Suvi cannot just leave. She exists within a vast system and she is not stupid or brainwashed for acknowledging the realities of it. I think that yes, a very possible path forward for her is one in which she grows to question the Citadel's practices. I also think that to treat her as the embodiment of this entire empire, or to expect that her only way to be a good person is via a sudden about-face at the cost of everything she has, when she is a level 2 apprentic, is not just overly simplistic but flat-out incorrect. And I think that to assume Ame is objectively correct for not waiting a very brief amount of time for Steel (when, in fact, one could argue she should have left immediately upon being contacted; she had been absent from her duties for months already) is similarly oversimplifying to the point where one's conclusions are no longer useful.

Recall that witches' familiars are said to embody the traits within them that, to be an effective steward of their position, they often must set aside. Ame has been letting hers lead her.

#ngl this fandom mentality sets off some admittedly hair-trigger Yikes tendencies tingling re adulation of the good rural people. #anyway. this post is also secretly about every cr campaign and also a little about midst and also a little bit the wheel of time #worlds beyond number #wbn spoilers #wbn

[aurorawest]

Reading update

The Restless Dark by Erica Waters - 4.25/5 stars

Genuinely good YA thriller.

The Stagsblood Prince by Gideon E Wood - 4.25/5 stars

This one ripped my heart out and I am going to be PISSED if there isn't a happy ending in the third book in the trilogy.

You First by JC Lillis - 4.25/5 stars

You'd think a book that is essentially an Incredibles AU would be lighthearted, right? You wouldn't think you'd practically be sobbing by the end? Haha! You thought wrong!

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton - 4.25/5 stars

I initially rated this 4.25 stars but honestly I might bump it up to 4.5. It's a zombie story but it was really well done, and I ordered the second book in the series the minute I finished this one.

The Falcon and the Foe by AJ Truman - 3.75/5 stars

Felix Silver, Teaspoons, & Witches by Harry Cook - DNF

This one was too Middle Grade for me.

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers - 3.5/5 stars

So I won my local indie bookstore's trivia in March and the first place prize was a bunch of books that I never would have picked up on my own, including this one. I bumped it to the front of my TBR pile because I thought it would make a good comp for the manuscript I'm editing - it's about a woman who meets and drunkenly marries a stranger in Vegas, then falls in love with her afterwards. The book is really not a romance though, and is actually about burnout. I might have rated it higher if it didn't sell itself as a romance.

All the Better Part of Me by Molly Ringle - 4.25/5 stars

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley - 5/5 stars

"What if France won the Napoleonic Wars because of time travelers" shouldn't have shattered me the way this book did, but of course it's a Natasha Pulley novel so it absolutely did. There isn't a single one of her books that don't live in my mind rent free for apparently the rest of time after I read them, but man. I'm not sure if this one hurt as much as The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, but it's pretty close. Missouri Kite is the most Gay Little Man™. And Joe, poor Joe. The PINING. The YEARNING. When the reveal happens, I had to go back and read prior sections of the book and good god do they hit different. Different and SADDER. AKDJF;AKDJFKDAFJ;D JUST PLEASE READ IT PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

A Destiny of Dragons by TJ Klune - DNF

Not only did I DNF this, I removed the rest of the series from my TBR pile and will be offloading them at my local indie bookstore's next book buy-back. I think the worst part of this one was that he dedicated it to his eighth grade English teacher, who apparently told him his stories would never amount to anything. And like. What an awful thing for a teacher to tell a kid (sidebar, my eighth grade English teacher is one of the reasons I started to really take writing seriously, she was amazingly supportive - thank you, Mrs. Brzezinski!). But reading this series is like...you know, she might have had a point. I KID I KID WE ALL KNOW KLUNE ACTUALLY CAN WRITE but holy shit again, this series is so bad. The writing was a little better than The Lightning-Struck Heart but the characters are so fucking annoying. The term Mary Sue gets thrown around a lot and I'm generally not a fan of its application (since usually it's used to tear down teenage girls) but Sam of Wilds is such a fucking Mary Sue (or Gary Stu, I guess, but down with the gender binary, let's just have one word). Everyone wants to have sex with him and while it may have been sort of funny at first (it wasn't), by book 2, the joke has worn extremely thin. Also there's a prophecy about him, because of course there is. And he's the most powerful wizard ever. And yeah, I've read a lot of books where there's a prophecy about the MC and they're the Most Powerful Magic Person Ever, but they're usually not this annoying.

Chainbreaker by Tara Sim - 5/5 stars

This is book 2 of a really interesting and original fantasy/steampunk series. I really enjoyed the first one but this one was even better. It takes place in a world where time running correctly is controlled by clock towers. The main character is a clock mechanic (obviously an important job) who falls in love with the clock spirit of the town of Enfield (delightful, since my wife is from Enfield and it's not a place you often see mentioned in fiction). This book raises the stakes of the first one and takes place largely in India. Highly recommend.

Stormhaven by Jordan L Hawk - 4.25/5 stars

Game Changer by Rachel Reid - 4/5 stars

Is this the OG m/m hockey book? There was something very quaint about it haha.

The Best Man's Problem by Sera Taíno - DNF

I'm beginning to realize that I don't really like books where the family is given equal importance to the romance.

Arctic Wild by Annabeth Albert - 4/5 stars

Hummingbird Heartbreak by Max Walker - 2.75/5 stars

I found Dusty's reaction to the reveal of Brandon's past to be over-the-top and unreasonable (like, unreasonable within the context of the story - obviously characters can react unreasonably to things, but it still needs to make sense for them!). I probably would have rated this 3 stars if not for that, because it's a sweet enough love story.

The World We Make by NJ Jemisin - 2.5/5 stars

NK Jemisin, please do not read this. Jemisin has been open about how difficult this book was to write, and about the fact that she couldn't handle the trilogy she'd planned and took it down to a duology, and…unfortunately, it shows. I loved the first book but this one was a disappointing finale. The pacing was uneven and the character development stalled. Plot threads were introduced and either vanished (Bronca's new girlfriend) or were resolved in a way that felt unearned (the mayoral race, Manny's true identity, honestly the whole big conflict). Aislyn was an interesting character who ultimately felt underutilized. I actually, physically cringed at a couple points during this book—the coda was really just one long cringe, and the other moment was when Brooklyn calls...Beyonce. Who is an old friend. But then Beyonce is never brought up again and I couldn't tell you what the purpose of her inclusion in the book was. I'm sure some people love that kind of stuff but I can't stand it.

I did really love the other cities though! If Jemisin ever returned to this universe, I'd read a book about Faiyum in a heartbeat. His snark and his gay little crocodile earring were chef's kiss.

Jemisin is a fabulous writer and all my issues with this book feel like the result of an author forcing herself to write something she wasn't feeling and just wanted to be done with. Disappointing all the same since I had really been looking forward to this one.

The Sugared Game by KJ Charles - 5/5 stars

It is not possible to go wrong with an AJ Charles book and this one is no exception. I love Kim and Will so much, and I really really hope the third book builds on the trust they established in this one.

Sixteen Souls by Rose Talbot - 3.75/5 stars

I liked this book but I did find myself, at the climax, wondering why on earth living people would sacrifice themselves to save ghosts from...being more dead? Like. They're...already dead.

#natasha pulley #the kingdoms #kj charles #the sugared game #the restless dark #erica waters #the stagsblood prince #gideon e wood #you first #jc lillis #wranglestone #darren charlton #honey girl #morgan rogers #a destiny of dragons #tj klune #chainbreaker #tara sim #hummingbird heartbreak #max walker #the world we make #nk jemisin #sixteen souls #rosie talbot #reading tag

[cherryxblossxms]

hopping on the wizard train! solomon with the letters d, i, k, m, r, and t ?

love ur stuff keep it up!!

Hehe that's fine, I'm happy to think about him <3 apologies that these took some time to get to

Solomon

D for Dirty (How do they dirty talk? What do they say?)

Solomon loves using pet names on his partner, whether they are sweet or mean is entirely up to your comfort level, but he's fine with either. So when he's asking you something or commenting on your reaction, he's always adding on your pet name to it to further enhance your reactions.

Solomon is cheesy and he'll use practically every pet name he can think of. For the most part they are romantic, such as angel, starlight, gorgeous/handsome, his lovely apprentice, etc. But if you or he are feeling a little mean (and its clear youre both in the mood for it), he's not afraid to use or be called a slut, whore, maybe even cocksleeve if it's extreme. He's very flexible with the names tbh.

I for Imagination (What do they fantasize about?)

Solomon often catches himself fantasizing about fucking you over his or your desk, especially if it's while you're both in the school uniform. Just shoving whatever clothing out of the way so he can be inside your heat, pounding so hard your hips get a little bruised.

He's also fantasized about using his magic during sex, such as summoning some tentacles/tendrils to act as extra hands, giving you both additional pleasure. He's also thought about even just using magic only to pleasure you, where he doesn't touch you and just watches you writhe in pleasure without him laying a hand on you.

K for Kink (What’s their secret kink?)

He has a bit of a sir or master kink tbh. If you wanna be a little silly, he'll also respond to sensei. But it sends a shiver up his spine and makes his cock throb when his partner refers to him as Master in bed. It also goes the other way around, if you're the one in charge; he'll happily call you whatever power title you like, he does enjoy giving the reins to you and being at your command.

M for Moan (What kind of noises do they make? What sounds do they like to hear from their partner?)

Solomon isn't loud, exactly, but he does moan and groan if he's really into things. He has ridiculously pretty moans, maybe baritone range? Once you get one, it's hard for him to hold them back, and you'll want to keep drawing them out. He'll be a little embarrassed at first, but if you tell him it turns you on or you at least accept it, he'll be more open about doing it during sex.

Similarly, Solomon loves trying to draw out your noises too. Really, if possible, he'd love to hear you scream his name at least once, but he won't force the issue. If you're really uncomfortable making noise, he'll drop it, but just know that hearing his partner's sounds of pleasure gets him hard as a rock.

R for Role Play (What is their role-playing fantasy?)

Following his little sir/master kink, he enjoys roleplay with teaching scenarios, especially if it involves magic. Just trying to teach you a spell, and getting very up close and personal to "help" you more when you have difficulty, for some "extra credit" or maybe to give you a reward for when you do well.

Solomon is up for most role play scenarios tbh, he's willing to try most things once so long as you discuss it beforehand.

T for Trust (How would they implement rough sex or kinks?)

Before implementing anything, even for something that's a well-known interest for you and/or him, he'll either bring it up to you before even foreplay begins or maybe after you two have warmed up with your usual antics. The excitement and desire is clear in his eyes, showing how eager he is to continue, but he won't make a move until you've given the OK.

He'll be thinking of safewords with you and whatever appropriate warning systems work with the kink you're implementing (stoplight/color system, tapping a certain # of times, safeword, etc) to make sure communication is clear the whole time.

#obey me solomon #obey me shall we date #obey me hcs #obey me smut #spicy minx 🔥