#(do not upset the lore/tell me information i have known as The Rules of your setting are secret lies actually!

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

Playing Inquisition for the first time (past finding Skyhold) 9 years after it came out is so fucking wild.

I know, vaguely, what's going on due to the nature of Spoilers Don't Matter After A Few Years/seeking out spoilers bc they help me determine if something is worth my time/general (casual) fandom osmosis...but also it has been years since I looked into anything seriously/people discussed anything in a way that's not at all dissimilar to ASOIAF Fandom Decade Long Wait Brain Worms, so I am just being blindsided by half the information I feel like I already knew at some point (& probably had hidden deep in the recesses of my brain).

[ungrateful-cyborg-moved]

😡, ♫, ▲ (I'm a bit late but here ya go :P Mun memes thingie.)

😡 : Worse role play-related encounter and what advice you would give to others to avoid similar situations 

I’ve been thinking about this since I saw your question (don’t worry about lateness, I’m always happy to receive asks!) and I don’t actually have anything awful to talk about. I did find something though, and they’re forum-based because I haven’t had bad experiences in the FFXIV rpc.

A weird-but-not-terrible rp-related encounter I’ve had is a partner who was probably more invested in my character than me. We had had discussed shipping her muse and mine but I told her from the beginning that it’d take a long time in game before they’d get there. She somehow tried to literally cram several months of character development into our first thread. Ellipses in time included.

Another one happened years prior. I was running a forum and someone created a character that was supposed to be my muse’s daughter without even asking me first. I still have no idea who did that. And for context: my character was 18yo at the time and you couldn’t play a character under the age of 13. Not sure how they thought time worked but we clearly didn’t agree on that.

Now that I think about it, that’s also when I discovered after googling the very same muse’s name that somebody was rping him somewhere else. Or had been since that other forum was closed already. I didn’t even get upset because I was too busy marveling at the fact that people apparently liked my muse enough to be seriously weird about it.

That’s the worst I could think of that’s not community management related. I speak up my mind pretty fast, more or less always had even when terribly anxious, so I don’t really have traumas I could mention. At least not related to your question.

But if I only had one advice to give, that’s be it. If you’re upset and truly care about something, speak up your mind. If you find that you don’t really care, take a step back. Sometimes it’s just not worth getting angry over it. Sometimes it is. Nobody besides you can know how much it affects you on the spot but if you find that you need to get it off your chest, then say your piece. Better do it crying or trembling like a leaf than not at all.

♫ : Are there parts of your own personality that you reflect onto your character? How do they work? 

I don’t believe you can create a character without putting some of you in them, even when they’re absolute trash. It can be hard to connect to them sometimes, especially in the beginning, but you can’t write a character well without relating to them somehow imo. It doesn’t have to be a direct translation though.

As for how it works...

Sometimes it’s personality traits. Sometimes it’s common experience (or close enough). Sometimes it’s very specific feelings. Sometimes it’s common beliefs. To me all of this constitutes who you are but I never give them everything at once. Sometimes I don’t give them anything at all, I just discover along the way what we have in common.

The farthest away from me would be Hanae though. It took me some time to understand more than superficially how she feels about the outside world.

▲ : What sort of information do you like to see on someone’s role play page that helps you determine whether or not you would want to write with them?

tone

consistency

lore-compliance

rules and boundaries

My absolute preference would be two to three short paragraphs that tell me what’s (to be) known about the character and how they present themself. That’s it. I don’t care much about hooks, how many sisters they have or what they look like beyond the unusual. A list of generic traits tells me nothing about how their mun understands it. But written paragraphs? They set up a tone.

They also let me know how the writer conveys a message, give me an idea of how lore-strict they are and how many characters are put into one. If it goes all over the place, I know from the get-go that we’re not a good match. And I like a measure of realism or at least internal logic in muses and threads.

Also rules and boundaries for obvious reasons I think x) Though I’ll add that even if on paper we’re compatible, if the tone is condescending or aggressive, I’m gonna nope out so fast you’ll wonder if I was even there in the first place. And probably unfollow because passive-aggressive people are just disasters in waiting.

Thanks for the ask @bek-sc! I hope it still makes sense because I rewrote that wall of text so many times I’m sure a few sentences are chimeras at this point

[shadowthrone-ammanas]

Ghost Kid Chapter Fifteen: Books

Surprisingly all Hat Kid had to do to get Snatcher to take her to the library again was ask. And even more surprisingly, he barely even complained before teleporting them there.

It was again very cool and fascinating to look around at the large books in their giant bookcases, lit only by the occasional magic candle. And it was a secret! She never would’ve even guessed such a place existed if Snatcher hadn’t told her about it and brought her here. It had to be underground somewhere, right? But what part of the rather large forest was it under? She’d probably never know and didn’t need to.

“I want to read the books you mentioned the other day about the Moonjumper guy,” she said, titling her head up to look at Snatcher. Moonjumper hadn’t appeared to her since that time but it was probably only a matter of time before she saw him again. “And then I want to find a good fiction book. … Can I borrow multiple books at once? You know I’m super careful and responsible with them now, right?”

Snatcher sighed as he moved them to different part of the library. “Fine.” He pulled three books off the shelf and handed them to her, shrinking them while he was at it. “Here are the books that mention that asshole. They’re not super informative so don’t expect much. One of them is particularly bad for other reasons but it’s whatever, I’m sure you won’t care.”

One of the books was a book about folklore, presumably Moonjumper was one of them. The other two seemed to be about powerful beings in general. The folklore book looked almost new.

“Thank you,” Hat Kid said, looking back up at him. “And now a fun book too?” She didn’t want to push her luck but reading the history book revealed to her that while nonfiction was good and informative, fiction was more fun and therefore better to relax with.

“Yes, fine, go find one. If I didn’t need to get it down for you, I’d let you run off but ugh… whatever, make it fast.”

Hat Kid smiled at him before running off, leaving him to follow.

***

It was dumb but Snatcher was glad to see Hat Kid so excited about books and reading. He’d converted her into being a book nerd, just like him. Not as much but given enough time perhaps so. Now if he could get her interested in law too…

Nope, that wasn’t something he should care about because he certainly wasn’t going to teach her law or anything else. Hat Kid was a nuisance. One he had to put up with because she was a ghost and ghosts weren’t tolerated many places outside of Subcon Forest. So he was stuck with her. He shouldn’t care that he’d got her into books and most certainly shouldn’t be considering trying to get her into other things too. She was nothing to him… or least that’s how things were supposed to be.

Maybe the thing she’d said Moonjumper had said about his feelings for her was right? He did use to want a kid one day, specifically a daughter. … Nope! That was when he was alive. He was barely the same person anymore. The only desire of his that was the same as when he’d been alive was the desire to rule over and protect his people. That was a princely/ruler thing though, all his personal desires were different. These days all he wanted on a personal level was more souls to eat and to be left alone by everyone else.

“What’s your favourite book?” Hat Kid asked, pulling his gaze back down to her. “Fiction book,” she added as he opened his mouth to name his favourite law book – the one he wrote because he was biased and not ashamed to admit it.

Coming up with his favourite fiction book was a lot harder. … He could think of a lot of good ones, some of the not suitable for a child to read though both in level and content so… “Are you asking out of curiosity or for a recommendation?”

“Both.”

“Hmmm…” He listed off a string of book titles that undoubtedly meant nothing to her. He didn’t even bother trying to come up with books that would be suitable for her, just listed all the good ones that came to his mind.

“You can go on about this for a long time, can’t you?” Hat Kid eventually cut in.

“I’ve read a lot of books kid, asking me for a favourite or a recommendation probably isn’t a good idea.” Especially since he didn’t yet know what kind of books she actually liked. “I could lecture you about the law for hours on end too if you want.” Or a myriad other things, he’d been an avid scholar back in the day and still was in a way. He had a lot of knowledge about a lot of different things.

“Um, as interesting as sitting through long lectures about the law sounds, no thanks. Give me a book with aliens in it though. I want to know what you guys think beings from outer space might be like.”

Snatcher shrugged and teleported the first book he could think of that fit that criteria to hover in the air in front of her, shrinking it down to normal size in the process. Her face lit up.

“It’s got a pretty cover,” she said as she grabbed it and placed it on top of stack of books.

“Yeah, it’s a collector’s edition so don’t you dare damage it.” If she hadn’t already proven herself trustworthy with his books, he wouldn’t have ever dreamed of lending it to her.

“I won’t, I promise. Thank you for letting me borrow your books.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He’d brought her mostly as an excuse to visit his library. His ability to just teleport the books to himself meant he didn’t have cause to visit it often. He should try to make a point to do that more just for the sake of it.

“But um… you can change your size and stuff, will I be able to do that soon if I eat enough souls? And what about changing the size of other things? Like you do with your books. Because if I have enough magic to do that then I can take my own books off the shelf and all you have to do is take me here and get me out.”

“I don’t know if I’d trust you alone in my library.” It would make it easier on him though. “But yeah, in theory after you eat enough souls you should be able to do those things. I don’t know how many so don’t ask. You have your books now though and it should keep you occupied for a while so we’re done here.”

Before she could protest, he teleported them back to the surface and into his large reading hollow. “Now shoo.” He made a shooing gesture towards her as he settled into his chair and teleported a book to himself to read.

“Okay, see you later. And uh… you still need to teach me how to snatch souls sometimes so don’t forget. Bye!” She waved before turning to leave.

He scowled after her as she floated off towards her ship. He hadn’t promised though, he’d said maybe. Even if internally he’d known that meant ‘yes’, she shouldn’t know that so she shouldn’t presume it to be so. Maybe he wouldn’t teach her after all. … Though really, it depended on how he felt when a teaching opportunity came up.

***

Without fixing the ship to occupy her anymore, Hat Kid sat on her bed to read. She was starting to take after Snatcher, huh? Reading because she didn’t have anything else to do and enjoying it. Who knew books could be so much fun? She would have to try to get her TV and game system working again soon too though. Maybe she could even convince Snatcher to play videogames with her. She couldn’t really imagine him doing it but it’d be tons of fun if he did.

For now though, she placed her stack of books on the bedside table. She put the pretty alien book aside and put the other three on her bed in front of her. She’d read all of them but for now, she was going to read the parts about Moonjumper.

A couple hours later

Snatcher had been right, they weren’t exactly the most informative. The sections on Moonjumper in all three books weren’t long and were almost entirely speculative in nature. There were only two things all three books agreed on. The first was that Moonjumper liked to cause mischief, sometimes very harmful and bad, other times just harmless confusion and mild annoyance. The second was that he interacted with the physical world by stealing a body from a dying person and that his presence corrupted the body until it was no longer inhabitable at which point he got a new one.

What he was exactly, where he came from and even whether or not he was native to this planet were all unknowns. The books didn’t even speculate much, mostly just stating that no one knew nor was anyone likely to ever find out because Moonjumper apparently talked to very few people and had never revealed that information nor did he seem likely to. It was dumb.

Hat Kid could possibly ask him and maybe get some information. But… after that first time she’d talked to him she really didn’t want to because he might start telling her things for the sole purpose of being upsetting again. She didn’t trust him one bit. So with an annoyed sigh she picked up one of the books again. While looking through the table of contents, she’d seen a chapter about Snatcher that she wanted to read. The folklore book had such a chapter too. It was unlikely that she’d learn any new information but whatever, it shouldn’t take too long to read anyway.

An hour later

She slammed the folk lore book shut with a scowl. She couldn’t believe how inaccurate it’s chapter about Snatcher was. It claimed that he’d worked with Vanessa to freeze the forest, killing everything so he could take control of it all. It was a disgusting lie, how could they possibly suggest such a thing? The other book had at least had the decency to say no one knew where the Snatcher – called the Soul Snatcher at one point before it had gotten shortened in part due to the fact that he occasionally snatched other things too – had come from.

It did call to mind the question of why no one remembered the prince, aka Lukas, anymore but Vanessa’s name was still well known. Of course part of that had to do with the fact that Vanessa was still alive – effectively anyway, it was hard to tell for sure, though it was possible with magic. But… why had Snatcher been so persistent about erasing his past as the prince? So much so that no one even knew his name anymore and people confused him for having allied with Vanessa when she’d killed an entire kingdom’s worth of people?

Well, his past wasn’t a good one. Maybe he was just… burying it because he wanted to pretend it never happened. Hat Kid wasn’t an expert on such things but she was pretty sure that that wasn’t a healthy way to deal with that kind of stuff. … She’d give him a hug later, maybe help him feel a bit better.

Previous / Next

[pxxlympus]

( soft pink outfits , the smell of fresh cut flowers with ever move she makes , the stains of pomegranate juice on her fingers and lips ) – wait ! Is that ( abigail cowen ) ?? No , according to their file that’s ( persephone ) from ( lore olympus ). ( she ) ( is ) known for being ( loving ) , but also  ( overwhelmed ). if you ’re looking for ( her) you’d have a good chance looking in ( the town gardens ). it’s very clear that they are a ( aries ) since they have ( cry baby ) playing by ( melanie martines ) on repeat. Let’s hope they can navigate through the fates safely. ( ooc : duckie , 24 , she/her , est ) other information : housing preference ? ( dorms ) occupation: intern at the bank any triggers: N/A

Tw: sexual abuse

all her memories are whipped but i plan on having them come back as she meets people/ has things remind her of being a goddess. basically everything in her life is just a parallel 

GENERAL

Name: ‘persephone’

Age: 20; April, 4

Place of birth: Savannah, Georgia

Spoken languages: English

Sexual orientation: pansexual

Occupation: student, owner of persephone’s pizza shop

APPEARANCE

Eye color: blue

Hair color: red

Height: 5′2′’ (not based of abigail’s height)

Scars: no major scars

Tattoos: none

FAVOURITE

Color: pink

Entertainment: flowers, cutting her hair, Netflix, clothes, social media

Pastime: Gardening, learning how to be dependent

Drink: water, pomegranate juice, cola

BIOGRAPHY (from the memories she thinks she has)

- persephone grew up under the very watchful eye of her extremely protective mother. So protective that the girl never was really brought up in the real world. The girl was home schooled and this led her to be 100% dependent on her mother or the woman her mother would allow to teach persephone. This gave persephone a very adolescent personality and she had been living life in this perfect bubble away from what her mother considered human temptations.

- most of persephone time was spent gardening. Finding herself having a green thumb and able to bring life to anything and everything and eveRhone who got to glimpse at her elaborate garden they marveled. But after a few years it wasn’t persephone garden they were looking at but the extremely naive girl herself. She had grown to be one of the most beautiful things most had seen and this furiated her mother. To make sure persephone didn’t get anyour bad ideas her mother would punish persephone any time someone showed interest in her and soon the girl saw attention as something evil and bad. Making her afraid to even talk to someone in fear her mother would lock her in her room again.

- At the age of 19 persephone finally stood up to her mother and with the help of one of the girl’s to tutors she learned about a sorority she can join with very strict rules. persephone figured if she joined she could go to college with regular people and be watched by one of the sisters to make sure persephone stayed only concentrating on her schoolwork. Luckily and to a huge surprise her mother agreed and persephone went off to school.

- It wasn’t long before persephone learned how closed off her life had been and instantly was overwhelmed with college life and the temptations of parties, boys, and substances that her mother warned her about. It was hard for her of course but she wanted to prove she can live without being in a bubble. Only it got so difficult. People presented to be her friend, used her, and she just fell for it every time. She did manage to make some friends who swore to protect her but even that seemed impossible since the girl does just about anything you tell her.

- It took a lot for persephone to learn and to make sure she stayed to her word and didn’t let sin grab her she took on an internship for her professor, an older handsome man who had very quickly took an interest on persephone and even though he has been nothing but kind and offered a friendship with the girl…she can’t help but feel there is something more they are both fighting.

- then…the worst happened. One night the sister who took her under her wing had her older brother visit. And like most boys was instantly drawn to persephone and had tricked her to have sex with her when she was in a vulnerable state. She tried to say no several times and eventually just let the man have her; the night full of tears and regret. The asshole even filmed the experience. Even to this day only one person knows and they have been trying to get persephone to come forward and claim the brother raped her. She is too afraid nothing will come of it and instead of facing her problems she has kept it a secret.

HEADCANONS

- She loves pink and can usually be seen wearing the soft color

- If she feels like she has upset you she will bake you food, she fears being disliked so anything she can do to change your mind about her she will do.

- persephone cries sometimes when she is frightened.

-she opened the pizza shop as a passion project, after seeing the previous owner not doing well with the business she bought it telling her mother she needed money for donations toward her sorority; persephone’s pizza has award winning greek pizza and food and is completely themed like a Grecian garden, statues of gods, artists  

((will be posting more hc as time comes. You should plot with me through dms!))

[itsclydebitches]

Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Super. Which is your favorite?

Oh, anon. You poor soul. You’ve activated my current obsession. Okay. I preface this by saying that DBZ, imo, is the CLASSIC. Frieza, Cell, and Buu? Iconic. DBZ is what I think of as the core of the DB franchise and I adore it accordingly. That being said… I’m really, really loving Dragon Ball Super. 

(And I’m totally gonna tell you why because you made the mistake of starting this conversation in the first place :D)

I’m just? A sucker for lore filled with fallible gods?? This is my long-lived love of Greek mythology rearing its head. Even back in DBZ the Supreme Kai was instantly a favorite of mine. Yeah, yeah, the whole fandom rags on him for supposedly being “useless,” but that’s precisely why I love him? He starts out as this mysterious, incredibly powerful figure–powerful enough to scare the crap out of Piccolo–and then very quickly falls off that pedestal, making him relatable and humanized. Shin clearly has a shit ton of trauma from, you know, watching Buu kill and/or absorb his entire family. He’s been forced to take on a job meant for five and he definitely hasn’t been trained (or at least fully trained) for this particular position. He comes to Earth expecting to use mortals as a tool, as one would expect from a high-ranking god, and is just totally blindsided by how powerful they are. It’s an instant double-edged sword. On the one hand hell yeah defeating Buu just got a whole lot more likely. On the other hand, existential crisis much? Who am I–who are all the gods–if we’re not intrinsically more powerful, knowledgeable, or spiritually sturdier than the mortals we watch over? Goku, Vegeta, and especially Gohan upset the presumed hierarchy. It’s why we get such a good dichotomy between Shin and Kibito. Shin rolls with this new information and embraces it fully. Okay. Mortals are stronger than us in so many ways, how wonderful! We can learn from them and rely on them, forming equal partnerships to achieve our goals. Kibito is stuck in his assumptions. How dare you set foot on this world? How dare you think you can pull out the Z Sword? How dare you think yourself equal to a god? 

It’s a familiar theme for DB: humanizing the latest, all-powerful entity. And each new introduction becomes more extreme.

Kami was our original god… who got some awkward moments. Then King Kai is the top guy…who loves lame jokes and lets Goku tear up his sacred planet in the name of training. Then Shin, Supreme Kai of the whole damn universe… who is also an anxious bean Just Trying His Best. It’s a theme I love because it upholds humanity (or in this case Saiyans adopted by humanity) as beings of endless potential. DB is all about pushing past your limits, but that doesn’t just apply to physical power. It also ties into upending the status quo; showing those who think themselves arrogantly better–in this case the gods–that no, we all have worth here. When the chips fall it’s mortals who consistently manage what the gods cannot, reaching a point where, ki-wise at least, they’re indistinguishable from gods, raising the question of why they were ever above them in the first place. They’re not. We’re all on equal footing once those assumptions are acknowledged and done away with. Ancient Kais can like dirty magazines. Supreme Kais can have panic attacks. Destroyers can love pizza as much as the next, average anime watcher.

Indeed, we see in the Tournament of Power that these rules now apply to Goku in his god state. He might have reached incredible power that everyone else thought impossible… but that doesn’t make the rest of the cast “below” him. It’s only because of his friends–presumably “useless” friends like Krillin and Tien–that allow him to enter the tournament and get as far as he did. It’s his old mentors who he has far outpaced that remind him he still has much to learn and who help Goku tap into Ultra Instinct in the first place. It’s a simple android we haven’t seen in years who manages to win the whole damn thing. The story consistently applies that same message of equality and worth to everyone, including our original paragon who has now reached the status of the very beings he’s worked to outpace. Rather than turning Goku into the hypocrite, DB keeps reminding him that no amount of power is going to change his or anyone else’s worth. He’s still BFFs with Krillin. Still married to Chi-Chi. Still needs other “weak” people like Bulma to help him when things get tough. No time machine, money, or strategic smarts? Sorry, no win.

In short, Dragon Ball Super takes that fantastic message and dials it up to 11. Now suddenly we’ve got a scary Destroyer God… who is easily swayed by tasty Earth food and a good nap spot. Angels who are equally humanized in their humor and love of mortal creations. An omnipotent ruler who is recognizably child-like. It both makes Zeno lovable and downright terrifying. He’s human enough to form friendships and use his power inappropriately. Zeno has the capacity to fall in love with a simple handshake as well as destroy an entire universe with the same detachment that we might, say, walk through an ant hill. Why did I do it? Because I could and no one has taught me yet that this might be something I shouldn’t do. Everyone has the capacity for growth.

And it’s so goddamn funny? Literally this scene is everything to me because it slams godly assumptions together with simplistic, mortal friendships, then lets that contrast play out. The most powerful being ever, creator of it all, the god that makes every other god shake in their boots wants… a friend? Okay! Our equally intimidating Grand Priest cracking up at this development? Whis losing his shit in the background? Shin straight up fainting? Goku pressing his shiny new god button because who DOESN’T press a button when you’re suddenly presented with one? All of it slays me. Forget stories where you endlessly bow before your supposed betters, knowing that you will never be able to even fathom their power. I want more stories like this, where the hero introduces enough kindness and brazen communication that it upends everyones’ expectations and fun, crazy new relationships form. Goku moved from utter shock at learning the Supreme Kai even existed to hoisting him over his shoulder like a drunk friend who is still refusing to head home. I love this weird-ass family.

All of which of course introduces the opposite as well. What if we’re given Zamasu, a fallible god whose imperfections don’t result in him becoming another quirky family member, but lead him down a path that endangers the entire multiverse? Though Super hasn’t commented on it explicitly yet, we’re also starting to toy with the idea of exactly how “human” the top gods are and how much growth they are capable of. For example, I’m fascinated by the Grand Priest. The anime makes him out to be far darker than he is in the manga, and I know there’s a disconnect between the two, so I’m not currently inclined to think that he’s the end Big Bad. Rather, he seems to actually have a stronger moral sense than Zeno–he comments on how awful it is that mortals riot and kill one another after learning about the Tournament–but as Zeno’s subordinate, and being well aware of how easy it can be to displease him, he’s not in a good position to sway him. We see him introducing tiny bits of logic to the Zenos (like stopping the fight between Goku and Toppo in the anime), but that’s a far safer thing to suggest then, say, “How about we don’t erase a ton of universes at once, hmm?”

Like his angel children, the Grand Priest ultimately exists to serve his Lord… but Goku and his friends are in no such position. Not as overtly, anyway. Created through evolution and developing their own ideals, they have the freedom to challenge and ultimately teach all those high-level gods, including Zeno. He says it himself in that clip: “No one will try. You can do what no one else can do!” Goku, both as a mortal and a very straight forward one, has the capacity to charge past those expectations and hit on something grand.

However, we see with Whis that, wow… maybe angels really are so far removed from us that they don’t care in any meaningful way. Whis seems like a friend, but when push came to shove he wasn’t very upset about his entire universe–and a Destroyer he’s known for who knows how many thousands of years–getting destroyed. We can attribute this apathy to him assuming it will all turn out alright (if anyone would realize that whoever wins can just use their wish to revert everything back to normal, it’s Whis), but even if he actually doesn’t care much right now… he’s learning too. Whis went from shrugging about Beerus destroying the Earth (at least he has his leftovers!) to telling Trunks and Mai how to break more time rules–rules Whis originally thought were more important than anything else–just so they could get a happy ending. We’ve seen him form a legitimate friendship with Bulma. He does little things like waving a Universe 7 flag and having them hold hands that demonstrate care, outside of practicalities (like delivering Bulla so Vegeta can fight). He seems more invested in challenging the status quo than his brother and even his brother, notably, slips up and uses “Father” instead of “Grand Priest,” demonstrating a certain level of familial love that can sometimes override pure duty.

Vados copies Whis and sits with the Universe 7 team, shrugging off the other gods’ disgust. Whis then shows legit pride in Goku managing Ultra Instinct. It’s GREAT watching these beings move from seeing mortals as inconsequential specs in the multiverse to individuals worthy of their time, attention, and respect. We’re seeing that development with Whis most of all, slowly but surely.

And it helps that our protagonist is really worthy of that respect this arc. Beyond his innate capacity for kindness, Goku is wonderfully smart in Super. I myself have mentioned that being naive and battle obsessed to the point of endangering others is kind of his thing, but Super hits a wonderful middle ground. Goku is the one who thinks to use the future Zeno to destroy Zamasu. He figures out a good portion of Zamasu’s plan. He thought up the idea of using dead warriors in the Tournament of Power and instantly has a way of negating the danger Frieza would pose: let’s use Baba so he can only come back for 24 hours. The anime (strangely…) emphasizes how the Tournament is supposedly Goku’s fault, but Vados reminds everyone that Zeno planned to erase the universes regardless. Though he didn’t intend the outcome, Goku’s suggestion of a tournament gave all universes a fighting chance. Much more importantly, it introduced the reward that would ultimately save them all. Goku’s got a good head on his shoulders this time around and the story emphasizes that it’s his capacity to care that saves far more than his brute power. Sparing enemies leads to them turning over a new leaf. Cultivating a diverse family results in a team with the strength and strategy to win. The ability to look at anyone–even Zeno–and smile as you shake their hand results in allies who can save the day when your own strength fails. IT’S ABOUT LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP AND I’M A WEAK GOODY-GOODY.

I just… fucking love DBS. It takes all of the best underdog themes of the DB franchise–Can a low-class warrior become the best? Can a normal human woman gain the love of a prince? Can mortals ever stand side-by-side with gods?–and homes in on those questions, emphasizing them to an almost meta extent. I could give you another hundred reasons of exactly how much I’ve enjoyed these new stories… but I should stop now lol

Last note though Ultra Instinct is AWESOME

[clarke-griffin-did-nothing-wrong]

Netflix’s Death Note

About to beat this dead horse till it explodes.

First things first, so you know what you’re getting into: I loathed this movie. My very soul burned while watching it. It zipped past The Lightning Thief and The Last Airbender in terms of bad and now rests solely at the bottom with Riverdale. 

Next, I’ll start with what I liked about the movie. 

Ryuk’s design was phenomenal. I could understand why Light wanted to piss himself after seeing him. Top notch work.

Also, the first scene where Little Bit-- I mean, Light Turner tried to threaten a bully by claiming child abuse and gets punched in the face. Kenny was a dick but that made him my favorite character.

I’m going to judge the movie objectively though I will throw in references to the anime just as an example of how a thing could have been handled better.

The characters were all terrible. I don’ t care about the casting, that’s no excuse for how unlikeable I found everyone. Light was whiny and so SO annoying. He was also so SO stupid. He didn’t just leave breadcrumbs right to his doorstep, he left entire loaves! Mia was an obvious sociopath. I don’t think I was supposed to like her so that’s fine; just putting it out there. Also, can we agree how weird it was that they literally got off on using the notebook. Death Note and chill should not be a thing. 

L was... different. I wanted to like him but I didn’t understand how he was supposed to be the world’s greatest detective. He was an emotional wreck. He felt more like if Near was merged with Mello, smart, yes, but to on edge to be of any professional use. Watari had no real presence. He felt like a prop that was just lying around waiting for his cue with Light. I really did not buy L’ s breakdown over him. They didn’t feel as close as the movie wanted me to think they were. 

The movie had zero interest in keeping its rules consistent. I pretty much have all the anime rules memorized but I decided that the movie could make up its own, I didn't care. They did, but they failed to enforce them properly.

For example, it’s clear that when a name is written in the note, the person dies, no ifs, buts or what ifs. Light himself goes through great pains to avoid writing his own name when describing an action using words like “her boyfriend” and “the Kira suspect”. Fine. But then it pulls conditional deaths out of its butthole and just plops it in the finale. No one said anything about that being possible, how are you going to hinge your entire finale on new rules?

We also have the note’s ability to control people being really arbitrary. Light wrote that Watari would be obsessed with finding out L’s true name and tell Light everything he knew, but this somehow translates into Light being able to dictate his every move down to telling him not to sleep. 

Ryuk’s motivations, abilities and connection to the note are also really weird. At first you get the sense that he’s just a crazy sonuvabitch that wants to watch the world burn but you’re never really told why. The movie establishes him as an ancient being that’s been lurking around since ancient Japan but has no interest in explaining why he’s in America or why he suddenly has the need to watch humans mess with each other. The anime establishes him as a god that’s just bored so he drops his book and hopes for something fun. The movie purports that he has been passing the book around for a while. It also tries to have me believe that he is an agent of chaos (at one point he chides Light for worrying about rules) but then he was the one that wrote the rules in the book (he clearly states this when Light tries to use the rules against him: “. It just seems easier, to me, to control someone into using the book how you want to if they only know what you tell them. Seems stupid to write out all the rules in the book and then get upset when they read them.Who do you think wrote the rules”)

The book also seems to affect him... allegedly. It's never stated outright but when Light threatens to write his name, Ryuk threatens right back that no one has been able to write more than two letters of his name suggesting that he killed them before they could finish. This is weird on two fronts: 

1: Ryuk’s name is already in the book. The only reason Light knew his name was because someone wrote a warning about him.

2: If Ryuk can kill the owner of the book, then why is it that he spent 90% of the movie trying to get Light to give the book to Mia?

And it isn’t clear if Ryuk can use the note himself! He wrote the rules himself, that is stated but he also said to Light that he would influence the next person to receive the note to write Light’s name. Why not do it himself?

It felt like Ryuk was just the genie to this oddly shaped lamp.

The ending was the worst part. It’s clever if you don’t think about it at all.

The idea was that Light thought up a clever plot in which he would escape his death that was plotted by Mia. This involves creating a conditional death for her as a bargaining chip so that she would only die IF she took the notebook. They would both fall and he would land safely in the water (physics disagrees but okay) and she would land on the shoreline. She would rip out the page that his name was written in out of the book while falling and this page would float into an open fire (physics still disagrees but okay). Light would be rescued by a paramedic that was also a criminal and the Death Note would be rescued by a pedophilic mailman and kept for two days before giving it back to Light and committing suicide.

It’s the first instance we see of Light being anything like the anime Light; cold, calculating and meticulously planning every detail so that he always survives and the Death Note is always returned to him. In fact, this might have been an origin story on how the whiny little teen became the god known as Kira.

But.

Analyzing his entire plan, it hinges on coincidences and rules that he probably just made up. Number one, he lucked out big time that there was a criminal paramedic in the police database and a mailman that would be around that area at that time to be in his plan. This whole thing wasn’t planned over the course of two days (the movie explains that the Death Note can control someone’s actions up to two days before the death) it was done in the span of about ten minutes maximum and had MAYBE half an hour to be carried out. The anime made time a huge factor with the note and so we were always on edge that Light’s plan would be carried out in time or what would happen if something happened too soon and he was caught and we were almost always in on the joke so we knew what would happen in how long. The movie has no presence of time and so we are just there to be strung along. In fact, Mia wrote that Light’s heart would stop at midnight but we have no idea when midnight is! Back to the plot, Light planned something based on new information in ten minutes and had thirty to have in come true, fine, whatever. L caught up with Light and chased him for a good while. It was a huge coincidence that he managed to get away and get to where he needed to go in the right amount of time. If he had done something smart then I’d give him points, but the only reason he managed to get away from L was because, a guy that just so happened to be a Kira follower, wandered out back. It wasn’t preordained, it was plot armor. Light wrote that all the shit would go down in Mia took the Death Note but what if their weak ass love story was real and she didn’t take the Note? would they just get caught by the police? Would they still fall? And Light’s name is still in the book and the conditions were carried out a few minutes after so would ha have died anyway? Finally, the movie never explained that the Note was able to control physics. He could control people and put them in the right place at the right time if possible (that’s what the anime handled much better too. It really hit home Light’s moral gray area because he couldn’t just find criminals lying around in a shed somewhere ready to be used, he had to kill innocent people to get what he wanted sometimes) but the fact that he wrote that the page with his name would fall into a fire and burn... for context, he was at the top of a Ferris Wheel in a park filled with people with a few open flames, on of which was near him. He didn’t say Mia fell with the page and it fell out of her hand into a fire, he said she rips it out and it fell from the top of the Ferris Wheel all the way down into a fire... and it works! With that kind of power, I fail to see why he hadn’t already won.

This movie was miserable from start to finish. One thing I will say is that it TRIED to make it on its own. It didn’t intentionally leave out explanations that only fans of the anime would get, it rebuilt the lore... somewhat and used that instead. Seriously, what is Ryuk’s purpose. We don’t even know if there are more death gods!)

You know, it really could have quenched half the hate against itself by being a sequel and not an adaptation. There were more Shinigami that could drop notebooks in America and there were more orphans at Whammy House to replace L. They could have just made it a sequel and, it would still be bad, but no one would be complaining that they butchered Light. 

This movie was bullshit and I have more problems, particularly with L but I’ll put it in another post.

[dnd-inspiration]

Okay if you’ve sent me an ask in the past week, its here!

I'm currently working on a campaign for a group i'm currently playing with. At one point i'm going to be splitting the party. One player has to go alone while the others have to stay in a room watching the other through some kind of magic eye thing. The thing is I'm not sure what to do with the half of the group thats just stuck watching. Any suggestions? (also the villain of the arc is a crazed cult leader)

They both fight a pair of monsters. They’re life linked, when one has damage taken the other takes it too. If a player manages to move the monster, the other monster moves in the same direction.  2. The group is in a large room with puzzles and levers, and has to help the lone player by opening doors and such? 3. The players can find hidden lore to read that can help the lone player.

@propertyofthereaper said to dnd-inspiration:

So I'm thinking of pranking my party tomorrow, nothing permeant. What do you think would be a good way to do this?

Probably too late to answer, sorry. It sometimes takes me a few days to get to these so if you have anything time sensitive, send them more in advanced. If you still want an idea: You’re gearing up to fight a dragon. Its just a really big kobold.

Anonymous said to dnd-inspiration:

hey ! any ideas for writing a really detailed campaign with a mystery for the players to solve? im trying but everything i write is just too obvious

Try reading some mystery books, or modules, or even look up murder mystery party games. Look at how they set up the murder, the suspects, etc. and twist it to your own liking. If you can’t come up with your own detailed story, this is probably the best thing for you.

@tobmind said to dnd-inspiration:

I have a plan for the person my PC's are chasing to teleport them away. Im just not sure where to or what they might have to do to get back.

Teleport to under the water in a lake. Nearby is a village, along with a magic man who can teleport them back if they do him a favor.

A different plane that seems exactly the same with the players in the same spot. There are subtle differences, like words being backwards and doors opening by just falling over. They can get back by saying their plane’s name backwards?

Theres way too many possibilities that might or might not fit with the character/campaign. I’d be more help if you had more detail.

Anonymous said to dnd-inspiration:

Do you happen to know if there is a god/godess of Spite?

“- Cas (NE) (Heroes of Horror page 19): Also known as the Lord of Spite, the Red Grudge, and He who Balances the Scales. He is the demigod of vengeance and spite without end. He is the moose-headed god who nurses rage and fosters frustration. The scattered priesthood of Cas maintains that beneath the veneer of civilized folk lies the accumulated fire of all the injustices he or she has ever suffered, just waiting to be releases; that all secretly worship Cas, even if only in their deepest, truest subconscious.”  you can google these pretty easily, and you can make up your own or just change the name/gender/etc to make it fit better.

Anonymous said to dnd-inspiration:

So my gang wants to join a thieves' guild and I thought it would be fun for them to do challenges based on dexterity, stealth, and deception. Problem is I can't think of a decent challenge to test their deception.... Any suggestions?

Convince a villager of a strange, untrue fact.

Convince a guard you’re here to replace him for his shift.

Convince a villager to let you stay with them for the night, then rob them blind.

Anonymous said to dnd-inspiration:

A pair of magic scissors called The Fated Shears. What should they do?

If they come apart, one always goes back to the other one at 20 speed.

If you cut your hair, the ends weave a story of someone near you who is going to die. Death can be prevented.

If you cut at the air in front of you, a small portal opens. Just big enough for an arm to reach in.

Anonymous said to dnd-inspiration:

So my players are headed to a town that is considered a ghetto and the entire population is non-human. They're going to retrieve a package, but I don't want it to be so cut and dry and have them get the package immediately. What should I put in their way while they're in town, side quest wise???

Highway robbery. Guards trying to get bribes, harassing players, etc. Someone trying to steal the package, bribing characters for it, etc. Rioting and looting due to new laws, beggars, thieves trying to get sme coin.

@postseptimus said to dnd-inspiration:

I'm running a campaign where magic is pretty strictly prohibited and I'm having some trouble figuring out how to get cool items to my team of two. Can't think of what to give them or how to give it to them. For now, I'm thinking random dungeon loot, but I figure you've got to have to wicked ideas as well.

Non magic or magic items?

Non-magic: thanks from people they’ve done quests for.

Some bloke broke into a facility, stole items, and is selling them at a nice discounted price.

Magic: Someone ditched the items before being caught.

Black market was raided and shut down. In the commotion, no one noticed a bag hidden. Comes with sick items, but also a man looking for his things back.

Anonymous said to dnd-inspiration:

I'm trying to come up with some magic items (good and bad) that my players happen soon during a dream walk, but I am coming up short on ideas. Think you can help and maybe recommend something?

https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/5e_Magic_Items_by_Rarity

Anonymous said to dnd-inspiration:

Ok so I'm DMing a game for a few first time players. I'm gonna be the only one who has any firsthand experience with D&D but this will be my first time as DM and I'm not really sure how to balance the challenges for them. Like, I don't want to make it so easy that they lose interest but I'm a bit worried that if I throw anything too hard at them, they're not gonna know what they're doing and they'll be killed. early on. Any advice?

If they’re dying, fudge your rolls. Make your guys miss. If it's too easy, make your guys hit harder or have more come in.

Anonymous said to dnd-inspiration:

The dnd I'm running had my group returning a lot to a home base, which is a fairly large town. I have a lot of trouble thinking of npc events though, do you have any ideas?

Thieving street kids, a granny who gives you sedative laced cookies, a man who wants to buy your base for… shady reasons, a pair of halflings that want to worm their way into the house and steal/murder, a very VERY large dragonborn who says this was his old home and that he’d like to mourn his grandmother's passing by their old oak tree, a new set of guards who are strict and aggressive [they demand all weapons are kept at home, stop looking so shady, get out of here before we arrest you, etc.], a new vendor who pushes his products on everyone [everyone loves it a little too much… curious].

Anonymous said to dnd-inspiration:

Hi! My players are going to be rescuing their friend from a mob soon, and I intended them to disguise themselves as members to do so, but I don't want to railroad too hard. Any ideas on how to subtly convince them to kill as little as possible? Not sure if this'll help, but they have a NPC who grew up in the city alongside this mob.

NPC begs them not to, as a favor. Keep as many alive as you can in exchange for your friends life. Keep alive for information. Keep alive for bounties. Keep alive for less backlash from the mob boss [who will be very, very upset. And is very powerful.]

Anonymous said to dnd-inspiration:

I'm making a campaign where the heros eventually fight aliens (I made custom monsters already). How should I introduce the aliens without being obvious?

Describe them as any other creature you would. Don’t make them little green men with big black eyes. Or, if you do, describe them as “Strange with a short stature. Their skin has a twinge of green, and are humanoid. Their limbs are gangly, their bellies slightly round and their eyes seem to show intelligence.”

@onlyslightlytwisted said to dnd-inspiration:

I'm dm-ing a campaign where my players have been employed to essentially assasinate a king, who rules over a land where magic has been outlawed. And little do they know, they've actually been employed by the kings soon. It's a big mission, but they're up to the task. I wanted something to go wrong that's a little more creative than " they get caught" but I'm at a loss. I'd love a few ideas, thank you in advance!

The son betrays them, reveals your plan to everyone in the middle of the act and uses magic to save the king. He wanted to help magic users.

The son is a heavy magic user. He’s addicted. He doesn’t want to stop. The king is dead, but magic is still outlawed and he can’t change it. Instead, he’s decided to murder anyone who tries to stop him. Also you, so you won’t tell anyone about his plans.