#‘birthing parent uwu’ fuck that

[bibleofficial]

instead of creating whole new ‘gender neutral’ terms we should just. remove the gender from the words. or have them be inherently neutral. like how we’ve been phasing out ‘waitress’ & ‘actress’ to using ‘waiter’ & ‘actor’ for anyone

[randomnameless]

Yep!

That's why Sylvain's drama "women only want to fuck me because of my crest i wished i had none sad uwus" is completely stupid even in verse, because women would want to fuck him crest or no crest because 1/he's a member of one of the most prestigious houses in the kingdom 2/even if he didn't have a crest he can still pass it on -

which would also mean Miklan still had some "worth" even if he wasn't born with a Crest, he could have become a nobleman of House Gautier or someone like Ingrid's brothers, but he was too jealous so he decided to kill his younger brother instead and went on to do bandit things - abducting women? at least in FE16 - instead.

I'm pretty sure Baron Bartels had no Crest, that's why he wanted to secure one through Mama Martritz and ultimately got Emile with his Lamine Crest. IDK where it was said he tried to collect many crested children, but from what we know, it's heavily implied he tried to secure a match between Emile and Constance when they were still kids (maybe hoping to get a Noa crested grandkid?).

I can't buy the Essar family pushing Hanneman's sister to get a kid with a crest... given how Hanneman himself is a bachelor without any children (at least until he marries Doro lol). If the Essar fam wanted to have someone to "spread" crests in their House, why the fuck didn't they have their son marry/sire children right and left to get Indech crested scions?

It's something very common in a lot of Adrestian backstories, women are expected to bear children with crests to make their family/husband rise in the "nobility ladder", but nothing similar is ever asked of crested men!

Nopes's story about the Southern church is, imo, pretty telling about Adrestia, at least this one, being a very sexist place...

Take the wiki with a grain/mount of salt lol, it's periodically edited by some devoted fans and thus its accuracy is inversely proportional to the number of times Supreme Leader's name appears on the page.

Like, the paragraph you've screencaped starts with "in Fodlan", but we only see people desperate to get crests to marry in Nobility in Adrestia, arguablin Faerghus (with Ingrid's suitor?) but not in Leicester at all (Marianne's dad hid her crest, and Leonie isn't on the wedding market!).

Also, crestless siblings (older siblings because that line obviously referenced Miklan) aren't ignored by their families, they just don't inherit the title of Head - Rufus was still a regent and a Duke, Miklan was banned and thrown away of House Gautier because he tried to kill his younger sibling more than once (and idk if he started to capture woman before or after being kicked out of the house), and Ingrid's older siblings lack a crest but are knights in their own right. Heck, even for Gilbert - born as a second son, and crestless at that - when he was still Gustave, managed to become the captain of the King's guard.

We're still left with the question why did the Essar fam married their daughter to a nobody, if Crusts are supposed to be that awesome, and the answer is...

10k years of lore, lol

I think the writers didn't write set in stone rules for Crest so they could have a more varried experience for the cast and all but some of them just... makes me ask question. Like why is there so many in Empire people who have several crest, not only all of Mercedes and Jeritza's half siblings, but also Edelgard and Lysithea yet in other country they don't and it's not all people of the Empire because Caspar doesn't have one and Hanneman's sister doesn't have one...and then you learn that they experimented on Lysithea first when she is 2 years younger then Edelgard who was 14 when she was experimented upon by the Agarthans... just... what the heck is this game ?

Jugdral too apparently didn't have rules for Holy Blood inheritence!

But... the games aren't all gung-ho about blaming Holy Blood for everything wrong in this verse...

Granted, iirc, do we know if the Emile and Mercie's step siblings had crests? I thought their step father wanted to shag Mama Martitz to get crested more kids - bar Emile who was already a crested Bartels !

Also, Hanneman's sister had one, that's why she died when her hubby tried to re-roll many times to get a crested heir?

That's partly why I'm curious about Adrestia, because we know there are crested nobles/people who are either fit to be pawned off as wedding prizes, or they just... exist, and no one gaf about them.

There's a heavy dose of sexism in how the Empire deals with this issue, but tbh, I wouldn't say it's specifically a "crested" issue, but more one where... Adrestian's society sucks, because some people try to become "more powerful" by any means necessary, let it be alliances where they offer their daughters, getting "high valued" babies or just, getting rid of people because they can (house martitz, house nuvelle, etc etc).

Monica was adopted by Baron Ochs, but she wasn't offered to a potential husband who started to work on his legacy to get a trillion crested heirs.

Bergliez was retconned in Nopes to have a Cichol Crest, even if all of Caspar's supports in FE16 treated him as a "non important" member of the House not because he was crestless, but because he was a second son...

But in general, yep, at least in backstory, Adrestia has a lot of unnamed randoms with crests (which is represented in Nopes, some generics have crests!) and yet they're randoms and not the ones calling the shots, almost as if having a crest, or not having one, isn't as important as being born male to the right family.

(and I will die on this HC-hill, Adrestia must have a least 3 different branches of the Hresvelg House, meaning at least a dozen of legitimate randos with a Crest of Seiros, Supreme Leader must have had some cousins too, and we're not even talking about bastard children!)

[ghostofashina]

So I saw a video on the YouTube about a theory that Messmer is the son of the gloam eyed queen and Marika stole him and I, a Godwyn-Messmer twin truther, went "no, no way. Messmer and Godwyn are twins, one of them can't be the GEQ's son.... Unless...."

And then I thought. What if it's not Messmer that is GEQ's stolen son, but Godwyn.

I have three pieces of.... Not exactly evidence because these are all speculative and circumstantial, but I am having fun with it.

1) Godwyn's name. Every other Marika child has the initials of their parents in their name. Mohg and Morgott of Marika and Godfrey; Radahn, Rhykard, and Ranni of Radagan and Rennala; Messmer, Miquella, Malenia, and Melina of Marika and Radaghan (this is a translation thing; Japanese kana use the same symbols for both L and R, so in the original Japanese, the names of Marika and Radagan's children did have both Ms and R's). But. Godwyn. He only has Godfrey's G, no Marika M. Out of her 10 children, only her specialist, most important first born prince son ISNT named after her? Suspicious.

1A: Yes, I realize he does still have Godfrey's namesake. But if Marika stole a son, whos to say she didn't steal a husband as well. After all, the DLC claims that she "seduced" the previous god before her with her "wanton strumpet" ways. Maybe the GEQ had her eyes (eye?) on Godfrey.

1B: Why on Earth would Marika steal the son of an enemy Empyrean and make him her most specialist prince? Well, Godwyn went hard for the golden order. What better way to rub it in an old enemy's face than by stealing her son and making him the literal poster boy of your Golden Order.

2) Godwyn's body got all fucked up when he died. Yes, that was explained by his soul dying while his body lived on, but like. Those Who Live In Death don't have the same transformation, after all. They have something similar, but they can still ambulate. Also, they can be killed for real--Godwyn can't. And sure, maybe it's because he's a demigod.... Buuut if he was the son of the GEQ, the creator of the Rune of Death, perhaps that explains why he became so powerful within death. Before, he was a standard golden boy--he did great things for the golden order, of course, but he didn't seem to have any specific connection to a certain type of magic or outer god like any of the other demigods. But then he died and became the Prince of Death. Not the King of Death, but a Prince. An offspring of a Queen. Maybe Marika.... Or maybe the Queen who made the Rune of Death.

Or it's all baloney and whatever. I still like the idea of twin Messmer and Godwyn more, but it's fun to theory craft. Though, hey, Marika had kids with Rennala, after all. Who's to say she didn't have a kid with the Gloam Eyed Queen too? We stan a bisexual queen.

Hello, hello ~

I am myself a GodMes twins truther LAKSLKAS So yeah, I stand with you. I saw this one and was exactly like that "that can't be uwu i cut their umbilical cord myself"

But, as you said, Godwyn being the outsider is just a very funny scenario. And it fits, it truly did. Especially for what we love the most: angst

@whyyouacknsocraycray made a post once, talking about a possibility of Godwyn being Godfrey's son with someone else — which would explain the G and potentially the GEQ — and it rented a house inside my thoughts, because it's really good just to see this perfect, golden son, being disowned of his reality.

It could work wonders that sort of scenario, perhaps even more than Messmer being the stolen kid. Because we all know about the "seduction and betrayal".

Let's consider two fun scenarios: Marika sends Godfrey to seduce GEQ and, once she births a perfect son, he is stolen — I can even go far weirder here and say she wanted this perfect son to be made so she could use him as the blessing for Messmer's maledictions. Marika once made a blessing for Messmer, but never again.

Or Godfrey was already promised to the GEQ expecting his child and Marika took it all from her — with the help of Godfrey himself, seeing more potential in Marika.

Now: I know shit about the GEQ, I must admit. Never dug into that part of lore. So I have no idea if these scenarios could actually fit in the current timeline lol but, just like you said, it's fun to think of different stuff from usual.

And, it's where the fun begins. I think every scenario that disrupts the "perfect" order is hella interesting. So if we have this golden prince, who grew believing to be the heir (even though he ain't empyrean), the champion of this empire, his mother's most beloved and perfect son... taking it all from him is just tasty.

To see his struggle with reality, considering himself a bastard, suddenly feeling an outsider. I can even see him disappointed with Messmer, accusing him of knowing the truth and hiding it from him. Just delicious angst.

And yes, I agree with you. Even when I don't agree with some theories, I think it's quite cool to invest in different scenarios just to explore all the possibilities — even when they are insane. That's the fun bit. I think these sort of things are more fun when you are invested in making them interesting rather than just right or true.

[danmeiconfession]

This is for 'SJ stans,' the all-mighty ones who have to first point out, 'Oh, I love SJ, but...' Then start shitting him.

First of all, stop with that. You never loved SJ if you believe in hcs that SY made up in his mind about SJ and even created your own to show how SJ has always been a cruel man.

"Oh, he is petty because he abused LBH just because he is jealous of LBH having a mother!" Do you even know the pain of being a slave? Of an orphan who doesn't even know who their birth parents are? Before you get the audacity to comment on "LBH being an orphan himself," he had a mother who loved him. He knows who his birth parents are. Hell, one is even alive and kicking! He knows his mother died just to save him. He knows he is the product of a loving union. He was the unfilial brat who never acknowledged his father who, because of an old coot, wasn't there for him.

Even if he became an orphan again, he had several girls including NYY and later women who doted on him. Though it was all because he was a manipulating shit. The live example is your 'Holy mother of God SY,' who has been manipulated by your 'white lotus LBM.'

SJ doesn't even know who his birth parents are. He doesn't even know if he was a product of a loving union or a mistake/rape. He only had one person in his life but according to him, that person betrayed/abandoned him because that person refuses to speak the truth.

So if he was jealous of him, then I don't think it's wrong! He is a fucking human after all. Why single him out? Isn't your 'white lotus LBH' jealous that your 'Holy mother of God SY' treats everyone lovingly but not him? Didn't his jealousy lead him to merge the three realms? Why are you so hell-bent on shaming SJ for his jealousy and not LBH?

But then I guess 'white lotus LBH' being jealous of 'Holy mother of God SY' smiling at the stair sweepers and appreciating their efforts is normal? Some of y'all will even go "uwu he is a traumatized little baby! It's natural to act on his jealousy!" Then so did SJ!

But yeah, LBH as the protagonist risking thousands of innocents' lives out of jealousy is nothing compared to SJ's abuse towards the said protagonist out of jealousy.

This isn't over yet. I've more to say about other 'allegations' you all have. All of them would be in parts.

.

[straying-further-from-gods-grace]

New fic idea 💡👉👈🥺

So um

Human!AU Trans!Alastor raised by Husk and Rosie to be strong and independent

Gets pregnant.

Whether from consensual or non consensual sex idk yet.

I'm currently a trans author who's ovulating and I don't EVER in a million years plan to have children. But ummm. Alastor can!

The main plot will be Valentino stepping up.

Because I want this to be Valastor, cause I want it! *stomps foot*

The real question is why does he wanna step up 🤔ᴴᴹ

I have 3 options hwre

1) the baby is his and his parents would fucking kill him (in this case the sex is consensual) (OR the baby is Vox and Vox is like "Fuck that shit" and Valentino steps up attempting to make Vox jelly, and it works! But oops he's fallen in love!)

2) Alastor, a semi famous singer or dancer or something, being publicly shamed outside of a planned Parenthood after going there for a test. And Valentino whose mama did NOT raise him to stand back during an injustice, and is also famous but for his Casanova stage image in lots of sexy hot movies (both X rated and theatre approved. I'm making him an actor ;p), steps in and rescues him, maybe even punches a protestor or reporter or something. And um. They're all over the news about their apparent "affair" and how Alastor is another of Valentinos flings and Alastor is apparently such a whore now (even though this is his first scandal), and Valentino is like shit. I made it a looot worse than if I did nothing... So he vows to stay by Alastors side, at least until the birth, to try and make it smoother for him, like, shield the rumors (maybe the real baby daddy is some low level shit who took advantage of Al, and is tryna get popularity by being the one to get Al pregnant) and they ya know. Fall in love UwU

3) Alastor gets drugged, and left used in Valentinos bedroom at his college dorm/frat. And Valentino stumbles in drunk, gets in bed with him, and they wake up, naked, with hints of sex having happened. And so Valentino steps up when Alastor finds out he's pregnant- thinking it's his. UwU

SO

Any OTHER suggestions ARE SOOO WELCOMED!

And I'd just like to know which of these y'all would prefer to see!!!

Thank youuu

Other things involved but the main plot I'd also love ideas!!!!

In this I'm gonna keep my Rosie/Velvet and Husk/Angel ships where they're half their age and is their younger sugar babies but in this they're not seperate they're happily in an open marriage UwU

Ummm. That's non negotiable. UwU

[cherrysmokesaconha]

// rant

Being in a fandom where 90% of it sees 2004/2005 Tord as a uwu teenager just because of a fucking FANON SHITASS HEADCANON, while me being a person who hcs him as MATURE ADULT (and also with some fankids) makes me feel like a fucking ALIEN.

It makes me sick that u almost don't have good food on here. Everytime I look in the #2004 tord tag when there's new stuff, It's just shit depicting him as a teenager or adding uwu pimples to him like CMON LET MY MAN PAY TAXES AND KISS ON THE MOUTH PLEASE (edit: idm people who hc him as an adult and add pimples to him since I think adults can also have pimples, but I'm mostly talking abt the teen hc)

"oh but Tord was born in 1989-" BULLSHIT. DOGSHIT. GIRAFFESHIT. THE REAL PERSON BORNED IN 1989 THE CHARACTER DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A CANON AGE GODDAMNIT. Edit: The only thing that could prove that the character ACTUALLY was born in 1989 was his grave on Zombeh Attack 2, but that eddisode was made way before the characters got separated from the real people + nowadays they have a fictional canonical birthday dates where year of birth is not specified, which makes them have a canon vague age. (Confirmed by OblivionDowning in Twitter btw)

I specially really love 2004 Tord from the Christmas Special, where he doesn't have horns. And I almost never saw an art of this Tord which NOT depicted him as a teen. I NEVER saw it. Most of those arts (which depicts him as an adult) are made by ME and MOSTLY ME. GODDAMNIT </3 (ofc there's some arts that shows him as an adult but there are very few)

And the fact that people will pull out this shitass "hE's A TeEn!1!!1!1" card when they see an art MINIMALLY suggestive IS sooooooo stupid. This headcanon (alongside with the "Pau and Pat are Tord's parents" hc) literally BRAINWASHED THIS FANDOM AND NOBODY SAYS AN A ABOUT IT.

It's funny that people can draw 2005 Edd and 2005 Tom making out and no one says a thing, but when it comes to Tord, they automatically pulls the teenager card like, BRO FUCK YOU AND YOUR SHIT HEADCANON FUCK OFF/NEG

I'm so sorry for ranting, but I am TIRED. It's tiring to have a different hc and feel like a target because of a headcanon that people assume that it's canon. Please do a research for the love of God </3

(ps cuz I forgot this: I'm not saying that you can't have the teen hc for yourself or even feel uncomfy with ppl drawing him as an adult, that's totally fine! That's your opinion and ur boundaries and it should be respected. But you can't just appear out of nowhere on someone's account and force them into this headcanon. Saying like "isn't he a minor on that era?" or even "he's a teenager..." makes the artist feel bad, SPECIALLY WHEN THEY HC THE CHARACTER AS AN ADULT. You're literally accusing someone who has a different hc than you a p3dophile. That's awful, boring and demotivating. Please don't do that. Think before you speak.)

[thesilverlady]

Aegon and Daemon having this obsession with Viserys's approval is so annoying because why would Daemon want the approval of the man who caused his unborn child's death or why Aegon would be soo fucked up in the head because the man who never cared about him doesn't love him? I mean i could get it since Viserys is his father and his fixation of his father's love is not as bad as Daemon's since according to Ryan Daemon is "in love" with his brother lmaao

considering we're talking about show version since you mentioned Ryan's comment of daemon being "in love" with his brother (God i remember the day this dropped 😭), we gotta rethink some of the changes they made in the show.

for instance, daemon never loses his unborn child because it doesn't exist. They had mysaria not being pregnant ('cause heaven forbid if daemon dared to have a life outside of Rhaenyra and Viserys) so what was a big turning point of his relationship with his brother is... no longer there

they also really toned down the ambition daemon had in canon. I know lots of people love rolling with the idea that he's uwu family man. But in my opinion he just wanted both. I'm his early years he definitely wanted power aka the throne and that's okay. it's not the end of the world. He tried to go around to gain it in a way that wouldn't necessarily hurt anyone (for instance courting his niece who he already cared about), but in the show we don't have that. They tried to do something with the stepstones but that got lost. Show daemon comes across as very needy and desperate for his brother's love and it's even worse if you consider how much of a shitty brother show Viserys even is.

Daemon doesn't really have lots of things going on. He's been made to be this pathetic man child who can occasionally be an "agent of chaos" who thrived under attention and was desperate for his brother's attention

As for Aegon, his need for Viserys's attention is a bit less bad in comparison as you mentioned but it's still very... exaggerated. Like, whining about it when he's supposed to be a grown man is a bit late? Anger, and hate would make more sense and I think given how Ryan has mischaracterized Alicent already, he doesn't understand the role she also played in her children - in this case most especially to her sons.

in the book she had been fixated and antagonistic towards Rhaenyra since her stepdaughter was 9. All the children she births are used as a weapon against Rhaenyra. I imagine Aegon and Aemond would also have certain issues with her obsession.

In the show the antagonism doesn't really exist and Alicent character is all over the place 'cause in one episode she's like "in this world we defend our own" and at the same time she does nothing to easy up the animosity that seems to exist between her own two sons? And she continues to reject political advantages out of some childish pettiness against her "former bestie". idk she's still a bad parent that has detrimental affect on her own children.

[spyridonya]

I'm going to scream if I read one more damn 'cambions kill their mothers at birth uwu' pushed as current canon when it hasn't been that way in 23 years when cambions were a demon only in 2e.

And yet not one person is hopping on the 'devils absolutely love their cambion babies and smother them while their human parent is fucking horrified' lore of 4e.

[pregnant-javert]

Tell me an unpopular opinion you have about all the SP main characters if you have time

BESTIE YOU ASKED AND I WILL DELIVER i'm prolly gonna put this shit under a cut in case I ramble lol. I wasn't sure like,,,what you meant by main characters? So I just picked all the characters under "main" on the Wikipedia page.

Under the cut! Please don't shade me <3 no disrespect if you like the characters or disagree with what i say <3

Melanie: The show got better when she was away for most of it. That's when the writers had to make the train and the other characters stand on their own two feets and it made the show even better when she came back.

Layton: What can I say about this man that others have not said? I think neither of his canon love interests deserve him and why does Till love him so much?

Till: I feel like sometimes her soft uwu lesbianness crosses the line into infantilisation/immaturity and I don't like that. S2 was her best moments and then in S3 as soon as Audrey came back it was like she reverted to S1 in a bad way. I also don't think the writers know how they want to retroactively look back on Till either. If that makes sense.

Ruth: Her endless fucking cuddling up to Melanie got annoying when it was pretty apparent that Melanie didn't ever treat her that well. I dislike characters with little self-respect. Get a better mentor/friend, Ruth - and I say that with love! She's a great character but her constant going back to Melanie annoyed me. I was glad she put her foot down in S3.

Audrey: She should have died in S3. And I don't know why Till went back for her.

Bennett: Maybe if he banged Wilford five ways to Sunday they'd both calm down

Jinju: She would have been a great S2/S3 character. And I think it was right of her to lie to Till considering Till was just. A bit too idealistic in S1 lol.

Josie: If developed properly, her relo with Bennett could really take off. Both of them are similar in that they pine after people who just. categorically put other people/the train ahead of them. It could be a nice bonding moment.

Osweiller: I don't like the way the show tried to make him into this uwu boyfriend character.

Zarah: I take her side in the argument she had with Layton about giving the cold-resistance genes to Liana. Layton fucked off for six months, so he's not exactly an active parent, and what parent wouldn't want to protect their kid from the cold? The whole 'you stamped her with Wilford' was a low blow, man.

Javi: He's way too well-adjusted in S3. I needed to see him sobbing more.

Roche: I'm not sure why they made him so like...unsympathetic to his own daughter late S3? I didn't get the progression there.

LJ: The way she died was fucking hilarious. Perfect way for her to go.

Miles: He's way WAY too nice and buddy buddy with Melanie considering what she did to his birth family, to Layton, to Josie, to the Tail. Like. Come on.

Pike: He looked so much better clean shaven in S3.

Alex: She was kinda annoying at the beginning of S3.

Wilford: Literally anything I've ever said about him ever. He needs to faint and throw up next season. Ben needs to give him some dick too. <3

Sykes: She doesn't really stand out though I think her and Javi's relationship was a big missed opportunity to bridge the gap between the Big Alice and Snowpiercer ways of life.

Asha: Unnecessary! We didn't need her if she was just going to fall off the face of the earth in the way she did, and also they have those new people in S4 so like. WHY?

[omgkalyppso]

is it obnoxious to ask for all answers at once for étoile?

It isn't obnoxious for you to ask at all! But it's obnoxious for me to answer! Everyone's just going to have to cope! akjsdfjkahsdf Thank you for the ask!

1.Tell us about your Tav! Name, class and subclass, race, pronouns. Do you have a headcanon for where they're from? Their family? Are they a Dark Urge? Or did you choose an Origin Character? Was it an easy decision?

Étoile Ienith (they/he) was a Devotion Paladin for all of Act 1. In Act 2 at level 8 they became an Oathbreaker Paladin. They're a high elf who was adopted by a drow and a human werewolf in the Earthfast Mountains at 4 years old. If their birth parent(s) were from somewhere else before then, they don't remember, and it isn't really relevant to them. They aren't a Dark Urge at the moment, but when I play a Dark Urge oc next, then I might incorporate pieces or the whole thing into my headcanons for them.

It was an easy decision. I've had early access for almost the full three years and even before Paladin was an option (played as a Fighter) I knew that's what Étoile was going to be. I wondered for ages whether they'd be able to Lay On Hands heal Astarion or if they'd hurt him: in tabletop d&d healing magic like this deals damage to Undead which Vampires are considered.

Being the shield of people, especially in honor of / the same style as their mother (my sword and shield skyrim dragonborn oc Wylla), is baked into Étoile's personality. The mystery of the daedric prince Azura was part of the Neutral aspects of their personality. Étoile was meant to be Neutral Good, but by Act 3, they're not quite who they were at the beginning of their journey and I love that for them.

2. Was there something about the character creator that just couldn't capture your Character? Please tell us about their hair, facial hair, tattoos, piercings, disabilities, their trans or intersex body, or anything else you're comfortable sharing.

While I wanted Étoile to have the face and musculature that they do from the masc body options, I do picture them as having breasts / not having a lot of physical transitioning (?) going on. Their presentation should be mostly in attire. Scars from blades and arrows or armor bent into them would be cool too.

Also no one's called me out on it but I fucking forgot (tbh I couldn't find it in the cc when I was making Étoile in full release) to add their rose tattoo to their neck. It's still there imo. If it were there, it would be inaccurate in that I'd want it to be in "full color" with a red rose and green leaves.

4. Do you remember in which order you recruited your companions? Which companion introduction would have felt the most familiar / like home to your Tav / Character?

Shadowheart, Astarion, Gale, Wyll, Lae'zel, Karlach. I recruited Lae'zel before Wyll in all my early access playthroughs but I ... couldn't find her, lol.

I included this question because I wanted to hear about people's oc's who were used to a mugging (Astarion) vs those who were magical nerds (Gale) and so on. Étoile gets Wyll for this question. More accustomed to a battlefield and Aradin's betrayal in an adventure.

6. Were you able to save everyone when the goblins stormed the gates at the Grove?

No! I didn't care that one of Aradin's companions died though. Étoile would have felt bad for being unable to save them, but. Things happen.

7. Did you enter the Grove?

Yes. uwu

8. Do you have a favorite member of the Druid Circle? Is it the same as your Character's?

Are we counting Halsin? akjsdfhkadjs I know I didn't mean to.

Rath. A voice of reason that comes too late and too weak to have merit.

Étoile probably likes Nettie more, as she proved more competent.

10. Do you have a favorite member of the Goblin Camp? Is it the same as your Character's?

Maybe one day my favorite will be Minthara. For the moment, my favorite is a goblin who's name I can't even recall. The one with his new jeans / blue pants.

Étoile probably had the best experience with Grat the Trader.

11. Do you have a favorite member of the Act 1 Githyanki? Is it the same as your Character's?

My favorite is the one who has the most characterization: Kith'rak Voss. I thought he might end up being one of the Three: the armored elf, and that we wouldn't recognize a githyanki in a vision. He's still interesting to me.

At the end of Act 1, Étoile wouldn't really have been able to pick a githyanki ally outside of Lae'zel; nor a favored enemy, lol.

12. Do you have a favorite member of the Zhentarim? Is it the same as your Character's?

Rugan. He reminds me of the opening of 5e campaign The Storm King's Thunder.

I suppose Étoile would like him too, he was cordial.

13. Do you have a favorite character from the Underdark? Is it the same as your Character's?

I don't know that I can pick a favorite. I really liked both Sovereign Spaw and Sovereign Glut. They added depth (haha) and intrigue in an unexpected way.

Étoile had the most positive interactions with Blurg. They appreciated the way Blurg was trying to live, the allies he was entertaining, and took advantage of his sales.

14. Do you have another NPC you loved from a faction not mentioned above? What about your Character?

I wish we could have saved / allied with Dhourn! At least for a little while if he insisted on fighting at the Adamantine Forge. But it would have been cool to see him to his goal.

Étoile probably wouldn't have had very strong feelings about characters not from the factions listed above, but I'll mention that while Étoile would have felt a smidge of guilt overhearing the conversation between Lunkbug and Beldron but even before Lunkbug confirmed in conversation that they were married that their dynamic was just So sweet and loving that Étoile was endeared to them and would have presumed they were together.

15. How did the situation with the Grove, the Tieflings and the Goblins turn out for your Character?

Étoile felt that the grove should have removed Kagha as soon as the Shadow Druid plot was revealed, and they felt vindicated by Halsin's decision, to demote her to the role of apprentice, when the time came. They made their way into the Goblin Camp with lies of being hired for work, and then made their entrance from the crumbling wall at the top of the Shattered Sanctum, killing only a few goblins at the exterior, and only those between them and their goals inside: the ones torturing Liam, the ones outside of Halsin's cage, and those who defended the goblin leaders.

They felt allied to the Tieflings through association with Wyll and Karlach, and were generally fair in their dealings with them. They did allow Lae'zel to be mean / threatening, with the excuse of cultural differences and the presumption that she wasn't actually going to hurt anyone. The Tieflings seemed no worse for wear by the evening of their party.

16. Did you save Halsin?

Yes. In early access years ago I remember what a surprise and delight his appearance was. He's wonderful.

17. What does your Character think of Withers?

When they met Withers, they would have assumed him an overzealous man who sought immortality for the answers to life's most puzzling questions, hoping that some day they would be common knowledge. The more time they spend with him, Étoile is less certain of his origin.

18. How did your Character deal with Wyll, Karlach and Mizora?

Étoile convinced Wyll to stand down. They worried Mizora was going to kill Wyll as soon as she arrived, and felt sorrow about the tortures he went through in the blink of an eye, but felt worse when Karlach said no one had ever stood up for her like that before.

19. Did your Character spend a night with a companion either the night of the party or earlier? Is it someone they have a continued interest in?

Étoile spent the night with Astarion. They've been fond of him at least since he came around stumbling for blood. Yes, they have a continued interest in him.

20. How did you deal with The Artist - Oskar Fevras? Did you even encounter him?

Étoile both bought him out of slavery and gave him some gold to go on his way. I also took control of Astarion to ask about a portrait; not quite a mirror image, but hopefully appeasing. I am looking forward to finding Oskar in Baldur's Gate.

21. What are your Character's thoughts on the strange artifact that was in Shadowheart's possession? Did it jump to your pack because you changed her out of your party?

Étoile is a little unsettled by the artifact having emotions in Act 1. They wonder if they wouldn't have felt more secure if it had just been a cursed object and not, feeling. It did jump to their pack and they went and told Shadowheart almost instantly. Her understanding was unexpected.

22. How did your Character resolve the situation with Sovereign Glut, if you met them?

Étoile helped Sovereign Glut get their vengeance, but then wouldn't turn on Sovereign Spaw. If there could be only one Sovereign, then it would the Sovereign who believed there could be more than one Sovereign, and who Étoile hadn't interpret as weak or inept by their actions or how they defended their people.

23. What are your Character's thoughts on the dream visitor?

They're so conflicted in Act 1. I designed their Guardian to look like a version of their god, Auril. And Étoile would be entranced by such a person, would be driven to believe them, which only makes them more suspicious.

24. Was your illithid tadpole empowered by anything in Act 1? If so, how does your Character feel about that?

At the end of patch 4 early access, I had Étoile run around and do a bunch of things I didn't expect they'd do in full release, like take Ethel's deal, or allow Omeluum to mess with the tadpole; but I was so fascinated by what happened with Omeluum that I was tempted to do it in full release anyway, an unhappy accident. I was worried having no access to the tadpole's potential might hinder Étoile in late-game. However, in full release I accidentally used the mushrooms Omeluum needed while crafting, lol. So no, I stood by my initial plans and didn't empower Étoile's tadpole.

25. Did your Character take the mountain pass?

Étoile actually paced back and did the mountain pass in Act 2. They'd done nearly everything in Act 2, but when Lae'zel said she'd leave the party if we didn't go the the Githyanki Creche Right Now, I looked up some stuff online and found there was no consequence to doing so. So we went and did that then and then continued on with the Act 2 material.

26. What was your favorite enemy? Did your Character have any memorable fights or moments in combat that were ripe for headcanons and interpretation?

I love tactical rpg's. I love big fights that take an hour when I can beat them, lol. My favorite fights in Act 1 were True Soul Gut, the Githyanki on the Risen Road, the duergar of Grymforge, and Nere. I even considered reloading my save at the Windmill when I succeeded on an intimidation roll because I'd remembered really enjoying that fight in early access.

I guess my favorite enemy might still be Dror Ragzlin, but he wasn't as hard for my party to beat / he didn't have enough high healthbar mini-bosses around him to make him a favorite fight. But narratively? The lead up to him with the crash of the nautiloid, Volo's song, and at least three quest markers to defeat him, the way he called upon the unexpected illithid corpse, and his spectacular design, made him an excellent enemy.

I'm playing on the average difficulty for Étoile.

Étoile is a sword and shield based Paladin and I get so much use out of Protection. In Act 1 I either had Astarion around corners or both him and Wyll up under either side of Étoile to take advantage of it. Wyll has also had the gloves of missile snaring. I can't think of specific moments right now, but just the idea of them being able to look at my elf in all their defensive glory as they brace themself against an attack meant for them? I love it!!! Lae'zel is my usual other party member and while she can stand on her own, I think this ability to protect a collective is part of what endeared her to them.

27. Who ended up in your Character's most used party?

As mentioned, Étoile (devotion paladin), Astarion (assassin rogue), Lae'zel (battle master fighter), Wyll (pact of the bald warlock).

28. Did you recruit Scratch the dog? Did you encounter him at all?

I did!

29. Did you adopt an owlbear? Do you have a name for your child?

No. I didn't have Étoile fight the owlbear or do more.

30. Do you have other pets as a ranger or in headcanon?

I don't yet, but I kind of want Étoile to have one or many cats.

31. Does your Character have new or old phobias or superstitions that affect their story?

I am sure Étoile has a number of superstitions that make sense to no one, but none so far that would affect their story.

34. How did your Character resolve the situation with Nere and the gnomes?

Étoile found the gnomes and told them (truthfully) that they already had Smokepowder, so I understand I missed out on some content, but Étoile sent Astarion and Wyll up onto the ledge in the right of the map, and they and Lae'zel stayed on the floor as Astarion got the first blow on the guard on the ledge. They dealt with the duergar, and then blew out the rubble to free Nere to face him. Besides the gnome you cannot save in Nere's cutscene, they got everyone out that they meant to, I think.

36. Did your Character find the Adamantine Forge? Did they use it? What did they make?

Yes. I think I would have missed out on the second piece of mithral ore if I hadn't been told about it. I made each a suit of heavy and medium armor for Étoile and Lae'zel. The fight was sooo hard to do with the hammer. I was told I would have had a much easier time if I'd used bludgeoning weapons with the pair of them.

37. Did your Character find the Necromancy of Thay? How are they handling it / planning to handle it?

Yes. By Act 3 they've fully "handled it." But. When I was playing early access, Gale would only consume orange quality rare items. So I kept the book with the intention of feeding it to Gale. When I discovered that Gale could now consume blue and green quality items, I wanted to give the book to Astarion and eventually figured it out.

Étoile started to read it at camp, Karlach objected, and Étoile was given the option to give it to Astarion. I had the cutscene play out later in Act 1 where he's fighting against the book; and then in Act 2 I remembered to actually select Astarion and read the book and pass my checks.

Étoile could understand why a vampire spawm would want to know how to protect themselves against undead; like vampires.

39. What does your Character think of Raphael?

The answer to this question is so much more complicated by Act 3. But in Act 1 Étoile thought it was prudent to be polite with Raphael while rejecting him, thinking at the time that they would never make a deal with a devil — but for the reason Raphael described: self-preservation in the face of a pointless death.

40. Is your Character used to strange dreams from before the events of the adventure?

No. As a high elf Étoile had never had any dreams before the adventure.

41. Is your Character accustomed to being on the road from before the events of the adventure?

Yes. They undoubtedly camped with their werewolf mother as a child / youth, trained as a paladin, and have been an adventurer for 48 years.

43. Asker has a question not from the list.

oh and for the question not on the list—what's étoile's favorite animal?

I think that because of their mother that they feel a kinship with wolves, even knowing they're different than werewolves by a wide margin. Picturing them in a three wolf moon t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up or cut off Ma/risha R/ay style, lol.

44. Asker wants Blogger to choose a question from the list.

Okay so I've answered all my questions but I want to say two more things while we're here.

Étoile killed the brothers who were attacking Ethel. This was to be consistent with their actions in early access, though in full release sadly Astarion didn't call her a 'sly old crone,' for me. They then didn't come into conflict with her because they felt that people were doing business with her of their own free wills, and that Ethel had a right to live.

Étoile's deity, Auril, being Neutral Evil has affected how others have seen them and their actions and their customs, and Étoile can be very live and let live with the strange and unusual.

The other thing I want to say is I'm thinking of Étoile at maybe twenty years of age asking why their mother Wylla hadn't turned their mother Aranea to a werewolf. And Aranea saying she had no need to be a werewolf, and that the wolves with which Wylla associated were more convenient to her at a distance than being forced as that manner of family. And Étoile asking why they hadn't been turned to a werewolf and Wylla saying they would find strength enough from Auril that they would never need Malar's power.

And this memory being a plague upon them as they try to find the words to tell Aranea, with Wylla long dead, that they've lost Auril's favor through their broken Paladin oath.

[millesbianforce]

I know it's fucked up and frankly pretty self pitying of me but I really think that people who didn't grow up in conservative borderline cult christian churches are the luckiest fucking people in the world.

Every time someone ESPECIALLY a queer person tries to be like "I feel bad for people who were hurt by the church but I've never had a bad experience with it uwu" I get indescribably angry.

Like congrats your entire worth as a person wasn't manipulated out of you since birth! It's great that every time something bad happened to you it wasn't immediately blamed on you not being a good enough Christian! It truly is fantastic that you are not in a constant state of inexplicable guilt because no one who claimed to be speaking for god was dangling the threat of hellfire over your head for your "sins" your entire life! sure I imagine it's difficult hearing that the reason your rights are constantly being debated and trivialized in the government is because of Christians but until you've been trapped in a room full of people cheering for a man who said queer people are the spawn of Satan and the root of all evil I frankly can't feel bad for you if you at least had a home where you were supported and felt safe.

I cannot describe how incredibly arrogant it is of some queer Christians who were lucky enough to not have conservative Christian parents act like people who were directly harmed by Christianity are wrong or stupid for hating it. Like cool the Christians in your life actually did it right but that is an extremely fucking rare scenario lmao.

[anaalnathrakhs]

many things on my mind lately but if i can nitpick something from the past i really really hate how dismissive mental health professionals can be when you think or even KNOW that the solution they propose wouldn't work for you.

like i knowwwwwww eating disorders twist one's perception of reality. i know that. it still doesn't mean that you get to act like i'm a stupid ungrateful bitch for refusing your One treatement solution. you can tell me politely "sorry but that's all we can offer you", certainly not try to guilt me into doing something that would shoot dead my mental health bc i make my parents soooooo sad uwu and i'm soooooo completely unaware and unconscious of what i'm doing. like god. i have priorities of my own perhaps. i know why i'm the way i am better than a random nutritionist who saw me for fifteen minutes and maaaaaybe read the mess that is my medical file.

like really. how can you sit down a depressed eating-disordered person, and tell them "so, you have to get a feeding tube, and you won't go out or do any type of exercise for at least a month and live in the hospital" and start being rude and condescending the second they refuse. like what, so i just give up everything that helps me keep going? i say fuck school fuck having a social life, let's stay in a room 24/7, and that's supposed to help my depression & other problems currently manifesting as anorexia?

sorry kid i know you have serious food problems that prevent you from eating in canteens & the likes since birth, a guilt complex over how costly your daily life is and how burdensome you are to other people, intense longing for freedom and control of your own life, body image issues, self-worth issues, and anhedonia. so, i say, we remove any kind of pleasure from eating food, during a costly burdensome and time consuming treatement that will be entierly on our terms, at the end of which we'll measure how well you recovered from this recent problem by making you do something you've never been able to do in your entire life. and if you refuse clearly you're too mentally ill to know what's good for you.

he didn't look me in the eye and call me an ungrateful bitch but he strongly implied so, i assume with the goal of guilting me into abiding to his easy one-size-fits-all treatement.

[lil-gingerbread-queen]

I was afraid when our professor asked some of my classmates "what is a woman?", because I could have gone through the day without any transphobia.

First guy, great. Immediately said that being a woman is more a concept, and that it doesn't matter if you weren't born a girl, you can be a woman.

Other, awful. We got the "a woman has XX chromosomes and an uterus, should be able to give birth in her lifetime (the most beautiful gift), it's the contrary of being a man", which, just, shut the fuck up. Me being a demi-girl has nothing to do with the fact I can give birth. Pls, I hate my uterus with a burning passion. I have no use for this bs. Can we stop reducing women to their usefulness to other people??? Growing up to hearing that, as a girl, I HAVE to give birth 🤢 literally made me hate being afab

Also, we got the "women are being of tenderness" (said by a woman), which no. Don't fucking say some bs like that. My mother is the worst human being I have ever met, no tenderness whatsoever. Women being the prime caretakers of children also made them prime abusers (70% of parents who killed their children are women). Women are not some uwu perfect beautiful beings, they're humans with all the atrocities it implies.

And, my teacher calling her daughter's trans men friends "girls with boy's names" while being the director of the comity of equality... ucks

[kalashtars]

having trans emotions & feelings in this trans chili’s tonight

[kudzucataclysm]

tagging @writeintrees @andiwriteunderthemoon @afoolandathief cuz u all were interested UwU

a very messy but hopefully comprehensive brief guide to alien biology in SE :D there's 4 different Martian castes but since Workers are the most common/numerous, we'll use one as an example (his name is Poet v-v everyone say hi to Poet) :3 lets start from the top

Antlers

Operate as electromagnetic sensors/electroreception organs! also used by female Martians to communicate with unhatched Martian eggs. Antlers also help sterilized Martians with vision, since eyes as their sight organs also help with making eggs; sterilized Martians can't "see" so they rely more on their antlers.

Eyes

Martian eyes are weird- they're the indication of biological sex and are required for a Martian to lay eggs or assist in making eggs. So the Martian above has yellow sclera, and thus is a guy! I didn't draw it buuut they lay eggs from their heads vv' their heads split open when da birthing happens

Black sclera with white pupils/irises for females, yellow or orange sclera with red, orange or pink irises for males. Martian males tho are biologically considered hermaphrodites because they can also lay eggs v-v female martians can ONLY lay eggs, but the eggs are typically stronger and theres a higher chance of non-Worker caste Martians (Kings and Princes) to emerge from the nest, which is why....being a girl in Martian society/culture rn is a largely negative experience :(

Timers

The biological center of the Martian- the timer IS the Martian, it functions a lot like a human brain except that...it explodes!! Martian deaths are typically very violent depressing affairs cuz the alien tends to melt to death from the inside out; its very slow and drawn out. And yes, they make constant ticking sounds.

Unless the death occurs on Earth- in which, a Martian death results in a small nuclear level explosion that results in violent acid blood tornado storm systems that last for weeks. thats awesome

"Hearts" / Pillars

Basically what keep the timer stable and facilitate regeneration as well as shapeshifting abilities. There's typically 3 to 5 in any one alien. The hearts are also believed to hold aspects of the 'soul' of the Martian, and the separation of one heart from the body results in a ghost! Spooky~ but also not a good thing overall, since the Martian basically lost a huge part of their personality and memories :( sad!

Stomach

Ofc where all the food goes, and where all the body heat comes from. Martians are carnivorous; they can only eat raw meat, blood and other living beings. They're largely active hunters but weaker or younger Martians tend to use ambush tactics.

Blood

Its oil. Martian blood is the chemical and appearance equivalent to crude oil from Earth, and yes, can be used to power machinery which presents...very obvious biofuel energy uses, the ethics of which are ofc trickyyy. Also its extremely corrosive and toxic to the touch- ingestion causes humans/Earth life to get DEATHLY ILL and tends to kill them. Since it operates like oil its considered a pollutant and biohazardous. No touch

Its also HIGHLY. FUCKING. FLAMMABLE. Oxygen doesn't exist on Mars guys, these aliens do NOT have experience with fire; the pyrophobia they have is severe and can scare even the scariest of aliens. Flames or heat near open wounds can trigger small sparks/explosions and can result in the Martian getting set aflame too. SO if you encounter a hostile Martian, make use of matches :D or a flamethrower if you have one

Chimeras operate a bit differently from their alien parent! For instance they don't have hearts so their timers are WAAAAY more fragile and prone to exploding under serious mental/emotional stress. They can also hear their timers which adds onto that stress, since its basically the constant sound of the FUCKING BOMB that keeps them alive. They're walking talking suicide bombs who are full of love and unfortunately oppression and discrimination is a large factor in environmental stress for them. Also their eye colors are a liiitle bit different, much lighter, and they don't have antlers v-v

Chimeras also uh. dont poop. Their body heat is largely unregulated which means EVERYTHING in the stomach gets burnt up and used for energy. they still pee tho v-v ACIDIC flammable pee

i hope this all somewhat makes sense tho vv' and if anyone has more questions or needs/want me to explain something more in depth im always more than happy to answer :D

[seghs24]

It's honestly disturbing that whenever someone brings up the idea of curing or having medical treatment for certain mental illnesses or disabilities people immediately come out of the woodwork screaming "I DON'T WANT A CURE! I'M FINE HOW I AM! THIS IS JUST HOW MY BRAIN IS! THIS IS WHO I AM!"

Can you fucking IMAGINE being so attached to your illness that you make it your entire identity and center your entire being and personality around it?

I'm not talking about people being upset about literal eugenics or abusive treatments or forcing people to receive treatment, I'm talking about people getting upset when others are interested in researching issues to find a possible cure.

Like, I would literally do ANYTHING to be cured of my ADHD/OCD/Autism/Dyscalculia. Living like this is HELL. I don't know how to fucking socialize with other human beings properly, I have zero control of my emotions and burst into tears or fly into a blind rage at the smallest of things.

If I drop a spoon or get my shirt caught on a door handle my first reaction is to start hitting myself out of pure fucking rage. When I was a child and I got frustrated I would punch myself in the head (sometimes with hard, solid plastic toys) or bang my head on the nearest object.

I constantly have disgusting, horrible intrusive thoughts about my pets being killed or abused or intrusive thoughts about my parents hurting me or my pets!

Touching certain textures makes me want to take a cheese grater and grate my fucking skin off! I literally have to sleep on top of a blanket because touching my bed sheets makes me want to cry!

But yeah dude this is so fucking fun! I love living like this! Totally cool and unique! Heehee it's just the way my brain is wired there's nothing wrong with me! uwu

I literally cannot understand the thought of medication somehow equaling eugenics or abuse or whatever the fuck else. Can you imagine wheelchairs/canes/glasses/etc. being called eugenics??? Or people getting upset with others for getting surgery to fix birth defects or injuries???

If you don't want treatment for your issues good, get the fuck out of my way and let ME have it so I can lead a normal fucking life without having a breakdown every five seconds