#(magically a.k.a. medicine)

[sobfultoast]

•~°◇ Just the Little Human Things ◇°~•

Prompt: Humans and demons are different, no duh. There are some things that we do naturally that shocked and freak out the brothers. Here are some random few (each linked to a specific brother, like 1 means Lucifer, etc).

Characters: Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Belphegor.

• ~ ° ◇ ° ~ •

1. Cracking bones.

You spent a long day dealing with your studies. Your fingers cramped. So you cracked them. Lucifer was appalled. He thought you just broke yourself. Lucifer goes straight to you and asks if you just broke your finger or something along those lines. After calming him down and just explaining that you were popping the air bubbles in your joints because they ached, he was more appalled.

Humans can get air bubbles in between their bones?! That's so weird. Demons can't crack their joints. If they make any cracking noise, they probably cracked their bones.

At least you're not hurt. That is all that matters to him.

2. Adrenaline.

Demons have instincts like humans, but they don't have adrenaline. They have the same amount of strength and power, no matter the situation. No amount of tension will give them a random boost in a fight. Humans do. It's called adrenaline (SHOCKING). Boosting our stamina, pain tolerance, reaction time, and strength. It's like a superpower! A superpower that Mamon was unaware of at the time.

You both were running from trouble, as normal. Even though your body was in its flight or fight, no amount of adrenaline will make you run as fast as the fastest demon in hell! So how was he supposed to know! It was until there was a dead end. The door was locked. Mammon was about to use some magic to open it because the angry demons were very close behind you guys. before he could, BAM! You ram right into it and smash it open

What. The. Hell??? Are you on steroids or something?!

Once you escape, Mammon has so many questions. He now thinks adrenaline is so cool.

3. Being social animals.

Demons aren't necessarily social creatures. Some will go millennias without talking to anything, and they don't go insane. It's just a lot of demons like socialising. Levi is not one of those demons, though. Levi will go some months without speaking to anyone, even some days without speaking to his brothers. He thought humans were the same. He didn't know that it could cause mental issues like insanity or depression.

Levi only found out because he was watching a horror anime, where a human character was isolated for months and went insane. He thought it was fiction, but then he asked you. As soon as yes leaves your mouth, he is in utter disbelief.

Now he feels bad whenever he has you holed up in his room. Don't you want to socialise? He wouldn't mind if you went to party with Asmo and Mammon... At least he'd try not to mind. Are you sure you're okay with just him? Yeah? ... He thinks he is okay with just you, too.

4. Humans on the moon?

When you came to devildom, even though Satan wasn't that close to you, he did research about humans out of curiosity. Satan learnt about human history, myths & legends, science (a.k.a human magic), medicine, and even decided to research human technology.

The only thing he didn't know was that humans went to the moon. When he was doing human history, he was doing ancient human history. Being a demon who was immortal, Satan classed anything from the last 100 years as morden to him. He was alive during it. He should know when it happens. But somehow, no one talked about the humans landing on the moon.

You wanted to know if demons had also gone to space, and he answered with, "No. Some of angels have... What do you mean also?" Humans, flightless and magicless fleshbags, have gone to the stars?!

5. Baby teeth falling out.

Asmodeus wanted to see childhood pictures of you! He was going on about how cute you were until he saw that in one of your photos that you were missing a tooth?! Asmo didn't know you were missing a tooth! He immediately tried to look in your mouth for that missing tooth, but there was a tooth there?! What?! Did you get some sort of tooth surgery?

Demons and angels don't have baby teeth. They are made not to naturally lose any of their teeth, and if they lose a tooth, they have to get a surjery to get it back. So, this concept is crazy to them.

Asmo was thankful it was natural. You made him panic!

6. Stretch marks.

Demons have rapid regeneration, so they don't get stretch marks. The scars just heal immediately as it isn't a deep wound to them.

Beelzebub had no idea humans could get them. He thought some demon attacked or tried to put a hex on you, but once you explained it to him, it blew his mind. Losing or gaining weight causes these marks? Humans are stretchy??? That's cute.

Beelzebub likes running his hand over the marks. It's fascinating to him.

7. Modern medicine.

Belphegor knew a lot about humans due to his human phase when he was an angel. There isn't anything that you do that surprises him. Belphie even knows humans went to the moon because he is an astrology girlie. But he is clueless about morden medicine.

Belphie lost interest in humans when he fell, obviously. He didn't want to interact with humans after his hatred for them developed. So he has no idea about morden human medicine.

Humans don't use frog eggs anymore? They were unsafe? Really? Belphie thought they worked. He did not know humans were just as unknowledgable as he was back then. Belphie learnt after you accidentally got a paper cut, and Belphie said he'd go get the plasters and leeches.

You had to tell him that the leaches were outdated by a few decades.

•~°◇ Have a kind day! ◇°~•

[terapsina]

Reasons to watch Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (永夜星河)

An 'Ordinary Girl from Our World' drop kicked into her least favorite novel with a stupid ending and needing to deal with tasks such as 'Switch the Medicine for Her Favorite Character Without Getting Murdered by Her Favorite Character's Mean Paranoid Brother' (task failed *rewind* task failed *rewind* task failed *rewind* task f-) because of COURSE she's dropped into the villainous side character.

As conveyed by 'Extremely Expressive Physical Comedy Acting'.

---

'Badass Demon Hunter' surrounded by a previously 'World's Most Introverted Brother' and 'Her New BFF a.k.a. Brother's New MorTaL EneMy' turning into LITERAL CHILDREN once a day and twice before breakfast.

---

'The Complicated Relationship between a Woman Whose Entire Family was massacred by a Demon and her Adoptive Brother Who She Doesn't Know is Half-Demon and Has So Unintentionally Given a Bajillion Self-Image Self-Worth issues to'.

---

Miss 'Winner of the Most Adorable' award and Mr. 'Grumpy Angsty Wet Cat' parenting the little 'Sunshine Bamboo Child'.

---

The Coolness Factor of the Magical Girl Transformation Scene.

---

Slowly building romance between 'Secretly a Demon' and the 'Only Person Who Did Not Fear The Real Him and Instead Saw and Valued and Protected Him'.

---

A Little Breaking and Entering, a Little Arson, a Little Prison Break and the Cinematography of BOOM!

---

The 'Bi-weekly Shenanigans Interrupted For the Obligatory Rip-Thy-Heart-to-Threads Hurt/Comfort Angst Storyline' as conveyed by 'The Most Expressive Micro-expressions Face Acting Around'.

---

'Incredibly Sweet and Soft Secondary Romance' a.k.a. 'Miao Miao's OTP'.

---

And finally... 'Eternal OTP Bait Galore'.

[thecaffeinatedwitch]

The Science Behind the Law of Assumption: Is It Backed by Psychology?

The Law of Assumption sounds almost magical, doesn’t it? Think it, assume it’s yours, and poof—your desires come to life. But let’s bring it down to earth for a moment: is there any real science behind this idea? Spoiler alert: yes, there is. While it’s not wrapped in cosmic glitter, psychology offers some solid evidence for how changing your assumptions can genuinely transform your reality.

So, let’s dive into the psychological nuts and bolts behind the Law of Assumption—and maybe crack a smile along the way.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): A Fancy Way of Saying “Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life”

CBT is a superstar in the psychology world. At its core, it’s based on the idea that your thoughts shape your feelings and actions. Sound familiar? It’s essentially the Law of Assumption in a lab coat.

Here’s how it works:

Negative Thought Loop: You think, “I’ll never be good at this,” which makes you feel anxious and unmotivated. Naturally, you avoid the task, and voilà—you prove your own assumption right.

Positive Thought Shift: In CBT, you challenge that belief: “What if I can do this?” That little mental shift changes your actions and eventually your results.

The Law of Assumption takes this principle a step further by saying, “Don’t just question your limiting beliefs—replace them entirely with assumptions of success.”

Example: Instead of “What if I could be confident?” assume, “I am confident.” Yes, it might feel awkward at first, but just like a new pair of shoes, it’ll feel natural the more you wear it.

The Placebo Effect: Proof That Belief Changes Reality

Doctors have known for ages that the placebo effect is real—and honestly, kind of mind-blowing. If you believe a sugar pill is medicine, your body can actually heal as if you’ve taken the real thing.

Think about that for a second. Your belief literally changes your body’s chemistry. Now apply that same concept to your life: if you assume success, love, or abundance is already yours, your brain and body start working in ways that align with that belief.

The Science-y Bit: Your brain releases neurotransmitters and hormones based on your thoughts. Assume positivity, and your brain produces feel-good chemicals like dopamine. That positivity influences your actions, which influences your outcomes. Boom—belief becomes reality.

Example: Assume you’re a charismatic speaker. Your confidence increases, and you speak with ease. People respond positively, reinforcing your assumption. Suddenly, you are that charismatic speaker.

Neuroplasticity: Your Brain, the Ultimate Shape-Shifter

Neuroplasticity is your brain’s ability to rewire itself based on repeated thoughts and experiences. It’s like Play-Doh—but, you know, way more sophisticated.

When you consistently affirm a new assumption, like “I am successful,” your brain builds neural pathways to support that belief. The more you repeat it, the stronger those pathways become, until it’s your brain’s default setting.

Think of it like this:

Repeating “I am successful” is like carving a trail in the woods.

At first, it’s slow-going, and you have to hack through some underbrush (a.k.a. your old limiting beliefs).

But the more you walk that path, the clearer and easier it gets. Eventually, it’s the brain equivalent of a six-lane highway.

Changing Beliefs = Changing Behavior = Changing Reality

Here’s where the science and the Law of Assumption truly align. When you change your internal beliefs, you naturally start to act differently. Those actions create new opportunities, relationships, and results in your life.

Example: If you assume, “I am deserving of love,” you’re more likely to set boundaries, seek healthy relationships, and radiate confidence. These behaviors attract the kind of love you’ve been looking for, and—voilà—you’ve manifested it.

But What About the Doubters?

Now, I hear you: “This sounds a bit too good to be true.” Fair enough. Change doesn’t happen overnight, and you can’t just sprinkle affirmations on your problems like fairy dust. The magic lies in consistency and persistence.

Think of it like working out: you don’t hit the gym once and wake up with six-pack abs. (If only, right?) You repeat the process until the results show. The same goes for your mindset.

So, The Law of Assumption isn’t just fluffy self-help jargon—it’s rooted in solid psychological principles like CBT, the placebo effect, and neuroplasticity. Sure, it might feel a little weird to assume you’re a millionaire when your bank account says otherwise. But science backs you up: your thoughts shape your reality, and with practice, your brain will believe what you tell it.

So, go ahead. Assume you’re living your best life. And if anyone raises an eyebrow, just smile and say, “It’s science.”

[jellymeduza]

1250 followers gift - take a peek at my medievalish fantasy game (part 5/?)

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

After a break, we move on to the Magic household, or actually both of them. Elders and their children live separatedly.

On this lot live two elderly couples: Baltazar and Salamandra, and Gargamel and Hogata.

I use @midgethetree's edit of aging controller, so witches live longer than regular Sims.

I also use hereditary supernaturalism, so children inherit powers when they age to teens.

Going left to right:

Gargamel is Hogata's husband and father of Janka, Barbara and Łucja (or Lucy, I can't make up my mind about translating this name). He is evil wizard. His personality is 6/5/3/9/2 and his aspiration is fortune.

Salamandra is Baltazar's wife and mother of Eugene Magic (the wizard at the court of the Dariuses). She is good witch and works in alchemy (a.k.a. science). Her personality is 5/8/6/3/3. Her aspiration is knowledge.

Hogata is Gargamel's wife and mother of anka, Barbara and Łucja/Lucy. She is neutral witch. Her personality is 5/8/6/3/3. Her aspiration is knowledge.

Baltazar is Salamandra's husband and father of Eugene Magic. He's evil wizard. His personality is 4/7/8/3/3 and his aspiration is fortune.

Turquoise (on Baltazar's shoulder) is their dragon pet.

The second Magic household is much more crowded. It is inhabited by three sisters and their children.

The sisters run a magic shop, where they sell potions, cures and magic artefacts.

Left to right:

Łucja (Lucy) is the youngest daughter of Gargamel and Hogata. Even though, she is Eugene's wife, they live apart. They have three kids: Alice, Merlin (red-head boy with short hair) and Magus (red-head boy with long hair). She is infallibly good witch with her magic skills maxed out. She's got great relationship with Janka but doesn't get along with Barbara. She's got 10 points in logic and 5 both in creativity and cleaning. Her personality is 4/10/4/4/3, socially awkward, family-oriented, workaholic, virtuoso. Her favourite colour is white. Her first personality is knowledge and secondary is family.

The boy sitting in front of Łucja is her nephew, Arthur. He is son of Janka and Caligula, and elder twin of Octavian. He's also a half-sibling of his cousin, Arcadius (weird family relationships, let's go!). His personality is 10/10/1/8/0, snob, loves to swim, hates the outdoors.

Alice is the eldest child of Łucja and Eugene. She is a teenager who only recently unlocked her powers. She's learning magic and once she's old enough she will study at the magic university - Artes Magicae. She reached her rebellious teen phase as she fears casting good spells. xD Her personality is 7/4/9/8/1, hates the outdoors, love to swim, family-oriented, absent-minded. Her favourite colour is blue. Her aspiration is knowledge.

Merlin is the younger twin of Magus (yes, there are two sets of twins in this family. No, it wasn't on purpose) and the youngest child of Łucja and Eugene. His personality is 4/10/10/2/9, night owl, family-oriented, loves the outdoors.

Next to Merlin, his elder twin Magus is playing with a cat, Fang. Magus' personality is 4/5/6/10/10, brave, artistic, heavy sleeper.

Janka is the eldest daughter of Gargamel and Hogata. She is a mother of Arthur and Octavian. She's a neutral witch. She had a brief affair with Caligula Claudius, which resulted in twin pregnancy. Of course at the same time her sister Barbara had an affair with Caligula as well, bruh. Anyway, Janka gets along with both of her sisters. She works in medicine and is a licenced physician. She's got 6 points of cooking skill, 7 points of both mechanical and cleaning, 10 points of body skill. Her personality is 2/8/2/6/7, adventurous, workaholic, bookworm, kleptomaniac, artistic. Her favourite colour is brown. Her aspiration is knowledge.

The boy hanging on the chandelier is Octavian, younger twin of Arthur. He is son of Janka and Caligula, and half-sibling of his cousin Arcadius. His personality is 5/7/4/8/10, artistic, ambitious, genius.

Then we've got Arcadius, son of Barbara and Caligula. He spent his infancy and early toddlerhood living with his maternal grandparents, only then Barbara took care of her son. Like his half-siblings, he doesn't know they are so closely related. His personality is 4/9/9/8/5, heavy sleeper, bookworm, good sense of humor.

Barbara is the middle daughter of Gargamel and Hogata. She is a mother of Arcadius. She's an atrociously evil witch and has a familar cat called Fang. She had a brief affair with Caligula Claudius. She works in entertainment. She's got 6 points of mechanical skill, 7 points of creativity, 8 points of cleaning and 10 points of body skill. Her personality is 7/5/9/3/1, over-emotional, loves the outdoors, heavy sleeper, supernatural fan, socially awkward. Her favourite colour is black. Her aspiration is knowledge.

Fang is mid between genius and doofus, mid between lazy and hyper, independent, cowardly and mid pigpen between finicky.

Next up, the Monks!

part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9

[zerm2v0hg]

TToaCMC Remnant Timeline - Part 1

(...a.k.a., "What if RWBY/J never returned?")

So, anyone who’s read my Volume 9 fic The Tale of a Cat Most Curious might remember I said at the end that I might write a spinoff describing what happens on a post-Fall of Atlas Remnant in the fic’s AU. So I’ve written a series of posts, starting with this one, loosely describing one possible timeline of how the war against Salem goes for the remaining characters and people, with some gaps for folks to draw their own conclusions about the details.

This’ll be coming in several parts over several days, with new posts being put up every three or four days.

-

PART 1 – THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS AFTER THE FALL:

(Vacuo)

Qrow, Robyn and the surviving Ace-Ops make their way to Vacuo, eventually rejoining Nora, Ren, Winter and Emerald at Shade Academy.

In the months after the Fall of Atlas and the forced mass exodus into Vacuo, things are dire. Shade Academy and its local oasis are initially used as a refugee centre, but it doesn’t have the room or resources to support all the evacuees plus its own student and tutor body, especially on account of how resource-scarce Vacuo is coupled with Vacuo’s semi-Darwinistic culture. The thought of the Atlas-Mantle refugees overconsuming the Shade oasis’ resources furthermore rubs many Vacuans the wrong way. Some of Vacuo’s population don’t even believe that Salem is real or that Ruby’s rogue broadcast to the world was truthful, leading Vacuan nationalistic organisations to gain power.

A large percentage of the refugees die from causes including: lack of basic resources like food, water and medicine; heat stress in the new climate; suicides, violent encounters with the locals, attacks by local Grimm, and desperate clashes between each-other. More refugees disappear due to traffickers, organ harvesters and the other criminal organisations in Vacuo’s anarchist climate preying on them, despite huntsmen and huntresses’ efforts to defend or rescue them from such. Other desperate evacuees take their chances trying to flee to other regions.

The Maidens present in Vacuo use their weather-manipulating magic to shield refugee-inhabited areas from the Vacuan heat and bring rain as much as possible, and they at one point try terraforming fertile lands and grow more food. This backfires by further enflaming tensions among the Vacuans, whom feel even more so like they’re being invaded by their former colonists again due to this, and point out that the Maidens are intervening on the refugees’ behalf rather than the Vacuans’ after centuries. (ADDENDUM: Why didn’t anyone ever use the Maidens’ weather powers for long-term terraforming before, particularly in Vacuo and Solitas’ extreme environments? My guess is that Ozpin forbade the Maidens under his thumb from doing it to maintain secrecy, and none of the generations of Maidens that WEREN’T under his thumb were the types of people who would care enough about others to bother. And maybe, Ozpin WANTED Vacuo and Solitas to remain barren as part of his politicking and long-game plan for saving Remnant. Maybe Shade Academy’s oasis was itself originally cultivated by a past Maiden on Ozpin’s orders.)

Within four months of the Fall, roughly 65% of the former Kingdom of Atlas’ displaced population including children and infirm are dead or missing. Willow Schnee is later among the confirmed casualties, leaving Whitley under Winter’s care – the Schnee family is a remnant of what it once was. In a desperate effort to lower the death toll, the huntsmen and huntresses resort to mass-unlocking civilian refugees’ auras and training them as much as can be afforded.

Hope diminishes further after news reaches Vacuo that Vale has been completely overrun by a massive spike in Grimm activity. Several of the heroes observe the oddity that Salem would have her Grimm attack the already-decimated Vale first, instead of going straight for the unorganised desert kingdom where they currently reside in a weakened state. It’s hypothesised that Salem is making a second attempt to locate the Crown of Choice’s hidden true vault in Vale, or that Salem might not have ordered the Grimm to finish destroying  Vale at all and the Grimm had simply been drawn in by the negativity spike after the Fall of Atlas.

The remaining heroes, while struggling to save what refugees they can, debate what to do next about countering Salem. They debate whether or not to use the Summer Maiden (*) to open the vault under Shade and take the Sword of Destruction out to be moved to somewhere else.

(The other kingdoms)

Slowly, the other kingdoms and settlements outside of Shade Academy withdraw into their own borders.

Mistral’s gates are initially open to refugees, partly in an effort by the kingdom to rearm itself after Leonardo Lionheart’s actions decimated the kingdom’s huntsman population. Salem openly contacts Mistral and offers them a “gift:” they have nothing she’s after anymore, so she and the Grimm will leave Mistral alone on the condition that they close their borders, don’t get in her way and don’t in any way aid her enemies. Mistral’s council take the bargain, closing up and cutting off all support to Vacuo.

After a delay, news of the Fall of Atlas and Ruby’s message reach Menagerie. Ghira and Kali Belladonna call for the reformed White Fang to mobilise to the continents. However, many of Menagerie’s population, having been untouched by Salem’s genocidal campaign since the White Fang’s reformation, are outraged at the prospect of sending their militia away from their homeland to the aid of foreign kingdoms, including kingdoms which Menagerie has very bad blood with, based on Ruby’s message, leading to mass protests and a delay in mobilisation.

(Salem and her faction)

Salem has instructed the Grimm to comb the ruins of Vale, looking for the hidden new Fall Maiden vault where the Crown of Choice was moved out of Beacon’s basement to. Contacting Tyrian and Mercury via a Seer, she orders them to be patient and bide their time: Salem wants to let her enemies in Vacuo have breathing room to tear themselves apart with squabbles and infighting like they and Ironwood previously did in Atlas before her minions move in. Cinder is frustrated and impatient to claim the Winter and Summer Maiden powers immediately, knowing that they’re both currently in Vacuo.

-

(*) - I’ll default to calling the Summer Maiden Omaira, as a placeholder name on this timeline. If you’ve read a certain Coeur Al’Aran fic, then you know. ;)

(Also, Ruby’s broadcast REALLY should have mentioned that the consequences of Salem winning are the physical destruction of Remnant and all life on it. If it had, maybe Mistral and Menagerie would’ve opposed Salem like she wanted.)

[darkurgetrash]

BG3 Backstory Bash by Kelandrin

Introducing Volyrr - a.k.a, my Dark Urge!

Thank you to @charmedcleric and @auspex-author for this tag!! I'm a bit late to it because I wanted to do it for my durge character Volyrr (he/they) but my computer deleted all my screenshots of him & his save file off my memory stick (laptop went for repairs) because it hates him. 😔 Now that I've healed from that annoyance and have restarted his save file... on with the tag! I tag @thisisagift-youknow, @savriea, and @thegoblinwitchqueen ~ no pressure!

AN: I have ideas to eventually write a prequel Durgetash fanfic using Volyrr. If you think that's something you might be interested in, (it won't be for a while) you might not want to read the following as there will be heavy spoilers!

Baby:

Birth/Parents:

Volyrr's father is Bhaal who, of course, poofed him into the world. He was created to be a Lolth-sworn drow to put fear into the heart of his enemies, however, before he could be found by Drow in the Underdark, he was discovered by a Myconid colony who took him in and raised him as their own.

First word / tantrum / walk / sickness:

He communicated with Myconid's through telepathy, so his technical first word wasn't actually until he was six, when he said 'thank you' in common to a travelling merchant who'd gifted him an apple from the surface.

Childhood:

Friends:

Volyrr had friendships within the Myconid colony and was wary of any outsiders. He never met another child throughout his whole childhood as Myconid's are created, not born, and children don't tend to explore the Underdark. Because of this, his main friendships outside of family came from animals of the Underdark - especially the rothe.

Siblings:

He did not have siblings in a typical manner - the whole Myconid colony were his caregivers without any distinctive roles.

Getting into trouble:

He rarely got into trouble as there wasn't much potential to; he was well disciplined by the colony and taught that peace was the ultimate way of life.

Birthday:

The concept of 'birthday' was foreign to him during his childhood. Later in life, he decided to just tell people it was the same day as Winter Solstice because it was easy to remember.

Games / Learning something new:

Because of his unique upbringing, he developed druidic powers (Circles of Spores, for obvious reasons) very early. His favourite game was to transform into a rothe and race against his animal friends. He was a very athletic kid.

Trauma:

He was a happy child, content living the Myconid way of life because he didn't know there was any other alternative. He, of course, experienced deaths within the colony - but was taught that death was a beautiful inevitability. He didn't fear it.

Teenager:

Rebellion / Running away:

I moved this label to the top of this section as it's important for clarifying the rest. When he started puberty (age 20) he also started developing the Dark Urges™ from papa Bhaal. It wasn't long until he was cast out of his colony as they revered peace even above family and could sense his urges through their telepathic bond. The urges became worse after leaving the colony and lead him to the surface, where he spent the majority of his time in wild form, hunting down prey to satisfy his urges.

Reckless behaviour:

Volyrr was reckless in murdering adventurers, not knowing the laws of the land. He was caught in the act many times but his druidic magic was powerful and witnesses didn't stand a chance. He only got seriously hurt a handful of times and was able to escape and heal himself with medicine proficiency.

First love:

After some decades of living mostly in wild form, Volyrr had learnt a lot about surface society by watching passing adventurers and had picked up a good amount of common - though was a selective-mute who rarely spoke. He travelled to Baldur's Gate and there met a fellow run-away - Enver Gortash, who was of the same proportional age (late-teen). Volyrr's quiet disposition and Enver's chatty, outgoing personality made for a compatible dynamic, and so they became fast friends. Volyrr quickly developed a crush on Enver; the first person to ever bother getting to know him as people were always put off by his drow birth and mutism.

Peer pressure:

Some years later, Gortash was recruited by the cult of Bane and pressured Volyrr into joining him. After doing so, Volyrr started receiving direct communication from his father in the form of Sceleritas Fel and decided to join the cult of Bhaal instead. This caused a rift in his and Enver's relationship and they fell out as a result.

Taking responsibility:

Volyrr was never forced to take responsibility for his crimes as there were never any surviving witnesses to them and he was encouraged by the cult of Bhaal to continue his murdering ways.

Adulthood:

Aging:

Again, I moved this to the top just for consistency's sake! Volyrr ages as a normal drow - reaching adolescence at age 20 and adulthood at 80. At the start of Baldur's Gate 3, he is in his mid-nineties.

Their "first time":

His first time was with Enver after they reunited over a decade after falling out, now both the chosen of their gods. It had happened spontaneously after they'd gotten drunk celebrating having stolen the Crown of Karsus.

Serious relationships:

After his first time with Enver, the two started acting more as a couple than just friends/partners in crime. The two never labelled their relationship and weren't exclusive, but Enver was his first love and first relationship.

After losing his memories during the events of Baldur's Gate 3, he entered into a serious relationship with Astarion and later Halsin as a polycule. When he re-met Enver in Baldur's Gate, he had no recollection of the relationship they once had and was convinced by Halsin to kill him rather than partner with him; ending the archduke's reign of terror.

Work:

Before BG3, he was the chosen of Bhaal and ran the cult of Bhaal. After the events of BG3, he returns to the Underdark with Astarion and the other vampire spawn, helping to source food for them.

Finding your place:

When Volyrr had woken up on the Nautiloid, the only memories he had were of his childhood before the urges began - this meant that he had advanced knowledge of the Underdark and still largely considered it his home. This is one of the reasons he chose to join Astarion in the Underdark rather than stay with Halsin on the surface - the other reason being that he knew Astarion would need him more. Halsin didn’t join the two, not able to leave nature behind, and so they departed amicably as friends.

Starting a family/ Found family:

Volyrr had travelled only with Astarion and Halsin, loving them both with his whole heart. After moving to the Underdark with Astarion, he considered the vampire spawn to be his new family, thinking it reminiscent of the Myconid colony he grew up in... also, he adopts a Bulette as his pet, names it Meatball, and uses it to ride around like a horse. 🫡

Thanks for reading this essay of a character background!😆 I hope it all makes sense and has minimal typos because I just proper smashed it out. I just love my guy so much and I hope that you do too now.����❤️ It'll be fun to eventually write fanfic for him. I might do another one of these posts for Tavlyn after finishing LMTTD, but I with hold off for now because spoilers. 😉 xo

[incorrect-sonic-the-hedgehog]

About

Obviously, there must be a million incorrect Sonic blogs on tumblr, but I wanted to make my own too.

My OC

I have one (1) Sonic OC and her name is Opal. She is a purple wolf.

I can't draw, so I'm gonna do my best with a description:

Her fur is purple, her eyes are light gold, she wears a purple yukata and sandals.

Okay, that's the best I can do.

As for her character, she's basically to Sonic as Blaze is to Silver and Rouge is to Shadow: his female chaperone.

She can see into the future at random, and she can conjure a magic aura. She's also a really good apothecary: she makes all sorts of solvents and medicines for everyone. She also makes potions that help out in combat. Her most utilized technique is conjuring thread and firing it at her enemies. This technique is like a cross between Spiderman and Yelan.

She is a wise, somewhat stern, and at times mischievous individual. There are times when she has to be the responsible one in a scenario, but sometimes her energy can match that of Sonic.

We'll get into her backstory some other time.

Also, she and Blaze are married and they adopted Silver. Fuck you.

Storyline

There's also a canon storyline involved and I will get to it when I'm not emptying out the contents of my absolute circus of a brain.

Characters

Obviously, we have:

Sonic

Opal

Tails

Knuckles

Amy Rose

Sticks

Shadow

Blaze

Silver

Rouge

Scourge

& plenty more

I'm also centering this universe around Sonic Boom because that series is art and you cannot change my mind.

Family

As I'm sure you gathered, Silver is the son of Blaze and Opal.

I know Aleena, Sonia, and Manic aren't canon, but they are here. And speaking of Sonic's family, Tails is the triplets adoptive little brother.

Plus, Amy and Knuckles are half-siblings, so I'll be referring to Amy as an "echidna-hog".

And Cosmo's alive because fuck you.

Romances

Amy and Sticks are girlfriends.

Sonic and Shadow are boyfriends.

Scourge simps for Silver.

Blaze and Opal are married.

Infinite (a.k.a. Zero) and Mephiles are gay hermits that live in the mountains.

Tails and Cosmo make long-distance work like it's nobody's business.

And that leaves Knuckles and Rouge being the token straight couple.

And this isn't one of those cringe AUs where Maria's alive and she's a hedgehog. Those are just weird.

Anyways, that's everything.

Enjoy~!

[bleeding-star-heart]

(Personally, for all we know all the tech we see in Tevinter could be a recent invention. Just saying.) But frankly I am quite partial to the idea that Chantry's oppression of mages ends up having the unintentional side effect of enforcing Medieval Stasis in Thedas. IRL, the development of technology is influenced by the resources, culture, and needs of the people inventing it. A.k.a. the obvious fact that people who don't have access to metal aren't going to invent a supercomputer. But the thing is, magic can bypass a lot of the resource-related issues that constrain technological and scientific development. One example: germ theory is probably not a thing in Thedas. But mages who are simply too lazy or neurodivergent to bother housecleaning would be very motivated to invent spells to do that for them.

And who's to say that those spells don't work a little too well-besides getting rid of dirt, dust, etc, the spells also annihilate every single germ on the affected surface, essentially creating levels of sterile that operating rooms could only dream of? And undoubtedly, these cleaning spells would save on housekeeping costs, so the templars would absolutely encourage their charges to learn and cast these spells as much as humanly possible. And if magic ends up being used to clean everything in the tower... Eventually some mages would put two and two and together and observe that healing outcomes in the unsanitary outside world are much worse than they are in the unintentionally sterilized Circle infirmaries. Even when factoring in the presence of healing magic/trained physicians. They might, therefore, conclude or hypothesize that cleanliness has something to do with that. However; since most Circle mages never see the outside world, and most normies never get to see the inside of a Circle, this connection a) could only ever be made by a small subset of mages, and b) thanks to how Circles function, is unlikely to spread into the wider world. Even if it did, cleaning spells helping medicine would not be enough to convince the Chantry to allow more freedom for mages. Thus, the Circle system ends up gatekeeping a possible path to southern Thedas learning about germ theory. And well, as much as I love the idea of modeling Tevinter off of Rome/Byzantium...magitek Tevinter certainly supports my little pet theory, doesn't it?

staring up at the minrathous panopticon floating security fortress and thinking hey maybe when fenris said he didn’t see oppression in the gallows he just had very different standards for what that kind of thing was supposed to look like

[kpgresham]

THE MAGIC OF SUMMER AND HERBS.

Francine Paino, a.k.a. F. Della Notte The long, dreamy days of summer are upon us – some places hotter than others, but summer all the same.  Along with daylight for twelve-plus hours to enjoy beaches, sand, and vacations from work and school, we are blessed with a profusion of herbs to flavor our food and our lives. In archeology, evidence indicates the use of medicinal plants dates back to…

[yuuniee]

“Oi, oi! Don’cha lookin’ at me like you’ve got somethin’ with-- Ah, I-I mean...”

Name: Elsie Laranetta

Japanese: エルシー・ララネッタ (erushii raranetta)

Dorm: Savanaclaw

Birthday: 19th May

Age: 17

Height: 149 cm

Dominant Hand: Right

Homeland: Harveston

Family: Unnamed mother, unnamed father, eight unnamed siblings

Voiced by: [TBA]

Nicknames/Aliases: Sea Bunny (Floyd), Dame Lapin (Rook), Little Hare (“Phantom”)

Grade: First

Class: 1-D (no. 18)

Club: Magift Club

Best Subject: Evocation

Hobby: Crocheting

Favorite Food: Carrot cake

Least Favorite Food: Black coffee

Pet Peeves: Dogs

Talent: Disguise

Appearence: Elsie is a young rabbit beastwoman with two long ears. Her long, white hair is usually in braids and she wears a pair of glasses. Her blue, doe eyes also bears long eyelashes. She also has a pair of moles on her left cheek. (°-°∶)

In her dorm uniform, she wears the Savanaclaw uniform with a long pair of pants and a pair of brown boots. Like Ruggie, she wears a scarf. (although hers is plain red)

Personality: She is seen as the timid and cute girl in school, some people even wonder why a girl like this is in Savanaclaw instead of Pomefiore. But the truth is.. she acts like that in first sight. She is actually very energetic, spirited and doesn’t know when to stop. Unfortunately, this gets her into a lot of trouble...

Unique Magic: “Call of the Forest”

It allows her to summon an animal spirit. If an animal (or beastman) is in her range, then she summons the spirit of that animal. (E.g; If Leona is near, she’ll end up summoning a lion spirit. If Jack is near, she’ll end up summoning a wolf spirit. etc.) If there isn’t, then she is able to summon any animal spirit (a.k.a there won’t be a limit)

[x]

Fun Facts:

She’s been childhood friends with Vivienne since they were around seven and eight respectively.

The said incident has caused her to get multiple scars around her body and caused permanent issues like being in a wheelchair at certain days. She might be taking medicines to lessen the pain, but she does have some days where she has to sit on a wheelchair.

Her parents unfortunately abandoned her.

She used to play clarinet, but she later stopped because she was bored.

Although she hates dressing up in what she calls as ‘fancy clothing’, like tutus, frilly dresses and jewelry, she wears them when the situation calls for it.

She is an actress in training like Vivienne, though her manager is pretty hard on her.

Although she can speak normally, there are moments where she slips into her country accent. (This is also one of the reasons why she gets on well with Epel!) She also translates what he says sometimes.

She was won multiple gymnastics competitions in first place, needless to say that she is quite flexible.

[More facts are yet to come, please be patient!]

[characterswithcolorsnamesfight]

Propaganda for General Prelim Poll 17 :

(Vote here)

Amber Gemstone (The Righteous Gemstones) :

"I love her so much she is such a Christian woman (I mean that in the derogatory way but also in the I love evil women way) and also she shot her husband in the ass love and light <3"

Gandalf the Grey (Lord of the Rings) :

No propaganda yet

Carrie White (Carrie) :

No propaganda yet

Elijah Greene (Open Heart) :

"The only wheelchair user in the social group of the main character, or rather the only one who's also training to become a doctor, because the main character is an intern in medicine so they do meet a lot of people with disabilities at the hospital."

Rainbow Fairies (Rainbow Magic) :

"ok so I'm about to submit all seven fairies from this series"

White Blood Cell a.k.a U-1146 (Cells at Work) :

No propaganda yet

Bomi "Rose" Han (No Rose Without Thorns) :

"Her idol name is Rose, and her hair is rose pink."

Great White (The Fourth Stall) :

No propaganda yet

Lilac Lane (Rainbow High) :

No propaganda yet

[brookston]

Holidays 1.23

Holidays

Archery Day

Asian Corpsetwt Day [Every 23rd]

Belly Laugh Day

Birthday of the Grand Duchess (Luxembourg)

Bounty Day (Pitcairn Island)

BPDCN (Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm) Awareness Day

Cold, Cold, Cold Day

Day of Hathor (Ancient Egypt; Everyday Wicca)

Django Day

Ed Roberts Day (California)

Fundación del Estado Plurinacional Holiday (Bolivia)

Grandmother's Day (Bulgaria)

International Integrative Health Day

Maternal Health Awareness Day (New Jersey)

Measure Your Feet Day

National Aiden Day

National Fay Day

National Freedom Day

National Handwriting Day

National King Day

National Musician Day (Día Nal. del Músico; Argentina)

National Pedro Day

National Reading Day

National Report Pharmaceutical Fraud Day

National School Nurse Day

National Security Technician Day

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's Jayanti (Parts of India)

One-Tooth Rhee Landing Day

Paul Pitcher Day (Cornwall)

Ranked Choice Voting Day

Snowdrop Day (French Republic)

Snowplow Mailbox Hockey Day

Tiananmen Square Day

Wakakusa Yamayaki (Grass Burning; Japan)

Women in Medicine Day

World Endangered Writing Day

World Freedom Day (South Korea, Taiwan)

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day

National Pie Day

National Rhubarb Day

Rhubarb Pie Day

4th Tuesday in January

National Speak Up and Succeed Day [4th Tuesday]

Independence & Related Days

Foundation Day (Lichtenstein)

Kingdom of Abrus (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

New Year’s Days

Gann-Hgal (Zeliangrong People’s New Year’s Festival; Parts of India)

Festivals Beginning January 23, 2024

Empire State Producers Expo (Syracuse, New York) [thru 1.24]

Key West Food and Wine Festival (Key West, Florida) [thru 1.28]

Küstendorf International Film and Music Festival (Drvengrad, Serbia) thru 1.27]

Mile O Fest (Key West, Florida) [thru 1.27]

Northern Green (St. Paul, Minnesota) [thru 1.25]

Unified Wine & Grape Symposium (Sacramento, California) [thru 1.25]

Wheat Industry Winter Conference (Washington, DC) [thru 1.26]

Feast Days

Abakuh (Egyptian Christian; Martyr)

Agathangelus (Christian; Martyr)

Asclas (Christian; Martyr)

Banba (a.k.a. Banbha; Matron Goddess of Ireland; Celtic Book of Days)

Bernard of Vienne (Christian; Saint)

Betrothal of Mary and Joseph (Christian)

Bruma VII (Pagan)

Clement of Ancyra (Christian; Martyr)

Cunning Linguine Day (a.k.a. Get Your Tongue Round Some Linguine Day; Pastafarian)

Day of Hathor (Egyptian Goddess of Drunkenness)

Édouard Manet (Artology)

Emerentiana (Christian; Virgin)

Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Christian)

Eusebius (Christian; Saint)

Georg Baselitz (Artology)

Ildefonsus of Toledo (Christian; Saint)

Jean-Michel Atlan (Artology)

John the Almsgiver (Christian; Saint)

Knot Magic Day (Cornwall; Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Leon Golub (Artology)

Lufthildis (Christian; Virgin)

Maimbod (Christian; Martyr)

Marianne of Molokai (Christian; Blessed)

The Peasants (Muppetism)

Phillips Brooks (Episcopal Church (USA))

Ragwort Dance (Pixies Only; Shamanism)

Raymond of Pennafort (a.k.a. Rayman;  Christian; Confessor) [Original Date]

Samuel (Positivist; Saint)

Sergei Eisenstein (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 23 [9 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

The A-Team (TV Series; 2003)

Barney Miller (TV Series; 1975)

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (WB Animated Film; 2018)

The Blair Witch Project (Film; 1999)

Boys For Pele, by Tori Amos (Album; 1996)

Bushfire Fairytales, by Jack Johnson (Album; 2001)

The Butterfly Effect (Film; 2004)

Casablanca (Film; 1943)

Dave the Barbarian (Animated TV Series; 2004)

Dragonwyck, by Anya Seton (Novel; 1944)

Fear on the Pier or What’s Up, Duck? (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 145; 1962)

Happy Circus Days (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1942)

The Herring Murder Mystery (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1944)

I Left My Heart in San Francisco, recorded by Tony Bennett (Song; 1962)

Inkheart (Film; 2008)

Jamaica Inn, by Daphne du Maurier (Novel; 1936)

Katherine, by Anya Seton (Historical Novel; 1954)

Lady in the Lake (Film; 1947)

Material Girl, by Madonna (Song; 1985)

Mythbusters (TV Series; 2003)

Neck ’n’ Neck (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1928)

The New Spirit (Disney Cartoon; 1942)

Our Friend the Atom (Animated DIsnet TV Cartoon; 1957)

Puppy Tale (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1954)

Roots (TV Mini-Series; 1977)

Skeleton Frolics (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1937)

Spice World (Film; 1998)

Star Trek: Picard (TV Series; 2020)

Station to Station, by David Bowie (Album; 1976)

Strange Magic (Animated Film; 2015)

Suspicious Minds, recorded by Elvis Presley (Song; 1969)

They’re Off (Disney Cartoon; 1948)

TNT For Two or Fright Cargo (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 146; 1962)

Trust, by Elvis Costello (Album; 1981)

The Way You Do the Things You Do, by The Temptations (Song; 1964)

West of the Pesos (WB LT Cartoon; 1960)

The Witch of Pickyoon, Parts 1 & 2 (Underdog Cartoon, S1, Eps. 33 & 34 1965)

Today’s Name Days

Hartmut, Heinrich, Nikolaus (Austria)

Ema, Emercijana, Vjera (Croatia)

Zdeněk (Czech Republic)

Emerentius (Denmark)

Räni, Reeno, Rene (Estonia)

Eine, Eini, Enna, Enni (Finland)

Banard (France)

Esmerentia, Guido, Hartmut (Germany)

Agathangelos, Dionisis (Greece)

Rajmund, Zelma (Hungary)

Armando, Emerenziana, Ramona (Italy)

Grieta, Ortrude, Rieta (Latvia)

Algimantas, Gailigedas, Gunda, Raimundas (Lithuania)

Emil, Emilie, Emma (Norway)

Emerencja, Ildefons, Jan, Klemens, Maria, Rajmund, Rajmunda, Wrócisława (Poland)

Clement, Paulin (Romania)

Miloš (Slovakia)

Ildefonso (Spain)

Frej, Freja (Sweden)

Clem, Clement, Clementine, Ksenia, Oksana (Ukraine)

Emerald, Esmeralda, Rachael, Rachel, Rachelle, Rae, Ramon, Ramona, Raquel, Ray, Raymond, Raymundo (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 23 of 2024; 343 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 4 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Luis (Rowan) [Day 3 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Yi-Chou), Day 13 (Bing-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 13 Shevat 5784

Islamic: 12 Rajab 1445

J Cal: 23 White; Twosday [23 of 30]

Julian: 10 January 2024

Moon: 96%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 23 Moses (1st Month) [Samuel]

Runic Half Month: Peorth (Womb, Dice Cup) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 34 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 2 of 28)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 1.23

Holidays

Archery Day

Asian Corpsetwt Day [Every 23rd]

Belly Laugh Day

Birthday of the Grand Duchess (Luxembourg)

Bounty Day (Pitcairn Island)

BPDCN (Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm) Awareness Day

Cold, Cold, Cold Day

Day of Hathor (Ancient Egypt; Everyday Wicca)

Django Day

Ed Roberts Day (California)

Fundación del Estado Plurinacional Holiday (Bolivia)

Grandmother's Day (Bulgaria)

International Integrative Health Day

Maternal Health Awareness Day (New Jersey)

Measure Your Feet Day

National Aiden Day

National Fay Day

National Freedom Day

National Handwriting Day

National King Day

National Musician Day (Día Nal. del Músico; Argentina)

National Pedro Day

National Reading Day

National Report Pharmaceutical Fraud Day

National School Nurse Day

National Security Technician Day

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's Jayanti (Parts of India)

One-Tooth Rhee Landing Day

Paul Pitcher Day (Cornwall)

Ranked Choice Voting Day

Snowdrop Day (French Republic)

Snowplow Mailbox Hockey Day

Tiananmen Square Day

Wakakusa Yamayaki (Grass Burning; Japan)

Women in Medicine Day

World Endangered Writing Day

World Freedom Day (South Korea, Taiwan)

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day

National Pie Day

National Rhubarb Day

Rhubarb Pie Day

4th Tuesday in January

National Speak Up and Succeed Day [4th Tuesday]

Independence & Related Days

Foundation Day (Lichtenstein)

Kingdom of Abrus (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

New Year’s Days

Gann-Hgal (Zeliangrong People’s New Year’s Festival; Parts of India)

Festivals Beginning January 23, 2024

Empire State Producers Expo (Syracuse, New York) [thru 1.24]

Key West Food and Wine Festival (Key West, Florida) [thru 1.28]

Küstendorf International Film and Music Festival (Drvengrad, Serbia) thru 1.27]

Mile O Fest (Key West, Florida) [thru 1.27]

Northern Green (St. Paul, Minnesota) [thru 1.25]

Unified Wine & Grape Symposium (Sacramento, California) [thru 1.25]

Wheat Industry Winter Conference (Washington, DC) [thru 1.26]

Feast Days

Abakuh (Egyptian Christian; Martyr)

Agathangelus (Christian; Martyr)

Asclas (Christian; Martyr)

Banba (a.k.a. Banbha; Matron Goddess of Ireland; Celtic Book of Days)

Bernard of Vienne (Christian; Saint)

Betrothal of Mary and Joseph (Christian)

Bruma VII (Pagan)

Clement of Ancyra (Christian; Martyr)

Cunning Linguine Day (a.k.a. Get Your Tongue Round Some Linguine Day; Pastafarian)

Day of Hathor (Egyptian Goddess of Drunkenness)

Édouard Manet (Artology)

Emerentiana (Christian; Virgin)

Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Christian)

Eusebius (Christian; Saint)

Georg Baselitz (Artology)

Ildefonsus of Toledo (Christian; Saint)

Jean-Michel Atlan (Artology)

John the Almsgiver (Christian; Saint)

Knot Magic Day (Cornwall; Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Leon Golub (Artology)

Lufthildis (Christian; Virgin)

Maimbod (Christian; Martyr)

Marianne of Molokai (Christian; Blessed)

The Peasants (Muppetism)

Phillips Brooks (Episcopal Church (USA))

Ragwort Dance (Pixies Only; Shamanism)

Raymond of Pennafort (a.k.a. Rayman;  Christian; Confessor) [Original Date]

Samuel (Positivist; Saint)

Sergei Eisenstein (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 23 [9 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

The A-Team (TV Series; 2003)

Barney Miller (TV Series; 1975)

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (WB Animated Film; 2018)

The Blair Witch Project (Film; 1999)

Boys For Pele, by Tori Amos (Album; 1996)

Bushfire Fairytales, by Jack Johnson (Album; 2001)

The Butterfly Effect (Film; 2004)

Casablanca (Film; 1943)

Dave the Barbarian (Animated TV Series; 2004)

Dragonwyck, by Anya Seton (Novel; 1944)

Fear on the Pier or What’s Up, Duck? (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 145; 1962)

Happy Circus Days (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1942)

The Herring Murder Mystery (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1944)

I Left My Heart in San Francisco, recorded by Tony Bennett (Song; 1962)

Inkheart (Film; 2008)

Jamaica Inn, by Daphne du Maurier (Novel; 1936)

Katherine, by Anya Seton (Historical Novel; 1954)

Lady in the Lake (Film; 1947)

Material Girl, by Madonna (Song; 1985)

Mythbusters (TV Series; 2003)

Neck ’n’ Neck (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1928)

The New Spirit (Disney Cartoon; 1942)

Our Friend the Atom (Animated DIsnet TV Cartoon; 1957)

Puppy Tale (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1954)

Roots (TV Mini-Series; 1977)

Skeleton Frolics (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1937)

Spice World (Film; 1998)

Star Trek: Picard (TV Series; 2020)

Station to Station, by David Bowie (Album; 1976)

Strange Magic (Animated Film; 2015)

Suspicious Minds, recorded by Elvis Presley (Song; 1969)

They’re Off (Disney Cartoon; 1948)

TNT For Two or Fright Cargo (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 146; 1962)

Trust, by Elvis Costello (Album; 1981)

The Way You Do the Things You Do, by The Temptations (Song; 1964)

West of the Pesos (WB LT Cartoon; 1960)

The Witch of Pickyoon, Parts 1 & 2 (Underdog Cartoon, S1, Eps. 33 & 34 1965)

Today’s Name Days

Hartmut, Heinrich, Nikolaus (Austria)

Ema, Emercijana, Vjera (Croatia)

Zdeněk (Czech Republic)

Emerentius (Denmark)

Räni, Reeno, Rene (Estonia)

Eine, Eini, Enna, Enni (Finland)

Banard (France)

Esmerentia, Guido, Hartmut (Germany)

Agathangelos, Dionisis (Greece)

Rajmund, Zelma (Hungary)

Armando, Emerenziana, Ramona (Italy)

Grieta, Ortrude, Rieta (Latvia)

Algimantas, Gailigedas, Gunda, Raimundas (Lithuania)

Emil, Emilie, Emma (Norway)

Emerencja, Ildefons, Jan, Klemens, Maria, Rajmund, Rajmunda, Wrócisława (Poland)

Clement, Paulin (Romania)

Miloš (Slovakia)

Ildefonso (Spain)

Frej, Freja (Sweden)

Clem, Clement, Clementine, Ksenia, Oksana (Ukraine)

Emerald, Esmeralda, Rachael, Rachel, Rachelle, Rae, Ramon, Ramona, Raquel, Ray, Raymond, Raymundo (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 23 of 2024; 343 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 4 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Luis (Rowan) [Day 3 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Yi-Chou), Day 13 (Bing-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 13 Shevat 5784

Islamic: 12 Rajab 1445

J Cal: 23 White; Twosday [23 of 30]

Julian: 10 January 2024

Moon: 96%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 23 Moses (1st Month) [Samuel]

Runic Half Month: Peorth (Womb, Dice Cup) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 34 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 2 of 28)

[bargainbinwizard]

Maybe it’s a little surprising to hear it come from me but I used to have an atheism phase. In my preteens, I watched youtube videos debunking Christianity and all the inconsistencies in the bible. It was back before I got into magic and I felt like some sort of genius for ‘’discovering the truth about Christianity while everyone else believed in lies.’’ and shit like that. I kind of believed in magic and spirits but I was a hypocrite when it came to Judeo Christian spirituality. 

Nowadays, I still believe that the bible has inaccuracies when it comes to history/science (especially the flood) but in general I believe that while religion is a mixture of social constructs and reality (If everything was a lie than why the fuck can we summon spirits like Archangel Michael?) the religions themselves are true thanks to multiverse theory. God may haven’t actually flooded the planet here but really did flood the Earth somewhere else. We can actually talk to the Gods if we wanted to. I have no idea why would other deities from other dimensions associate with us if they didn’t actually create this place but they still participate in our spirituality.

I’ve noticed that in religion debunking videos they always try to debunk Christianity. People might touch the subject of alternative medicine a.k.a ‘’We make fun of people who use crystals to heal themselves’’ but that’s just about it. People don’t attempt to debunk Pagan spiritualities. They don’t touch Egyptian spirituality ,Greek spirituality, Irish or Wiccan spirituality, Norse spirituality or even Buddhism. 

In other words, the religion debunking community isn’t diverse enough in their subject matter. I guess it may be indirectly leading to an idea that ‘’All religions are truer and better than the Abrahamic religions.’’ which isn’t true. I mean, some Pagans have gotten into Paganism because they’ve realized that Christianity doesn’t have all the answers and because of this, that belief has lead them into thinking that Paganism is ‘’truer’’ that Christianity because the church did weird shit to manipulate everyone into becoming Christian.  Everything and EVERY religion has its dogma that needs to be laid out on the table and addressed. 

Here I am talking about this on Witchblr of all places despite knowing that it has a huge pagan community but were else am I supposed to put this? I still am spiritual despite my ‘’Everything is true and we can interact with everything but they still exist somewhere else’’ beliefs.

[greensaplinggrace]

Castlevania Fanfiction Recommendations

Wellspring (Complete) Trephacard

Wellspring (n): Where something begins. 

Trevor’s been throwing rocks and coins and shit into wells for most of his life, without any expectation of getting wishes granted or anything stupid like that. All he really wants is to know there's something down there.

Baba (Complete) Trephacard

Deep in the wilds, mysterious things wander through the lands on mysterious trails. Dracula isn't the only legend that walks their earth.

In stumbling across an abandoned village that seems too good to be true, Trevor stumbles across himself, too. Lucky for him and the lives of the countrymen riding on his success, Alucard and Sypha are there to pick him up.

Every Horse Movie (Epilogue) (Complete) Trephacard

Trevor basks in his Horse Victory, then inadvertently gets caught up in another person's in-progress movie. 

Walpurgisnacht (Complete) Trephacard

Two cold and lonely travellers take refuge in a mysterious castle... a castle which contains AT LEAST 0.5 vampires. And then they get snowed in.

Flirtation ensues.

Moon River (Complete) Trephacard

Trevor falls into a river.

Which normally, you know, wouldn't be so bad for the monster hunter, except it's the middle of the night. In winter. And instead of falling he may have been pushed in by an enemy vampire

.......yeah, this might be bad

Ten Second Tidy (Incomplete - 12/13) Trephacard

After everything, there is the cleanup. 

Understandings (Complete) Trephacard

Trevor had thought he'd understood, what the three of them meant to each other, what they were becoming. Or he'd hoped. 

Whiter Fang (Incomplete - 9/10) Trevorcard

Trevor finds an injured wolf in the woods. He can’t just... leave it.

Or: The timeline in which Trevor and Sypha find an empty coffin under Gresit but wind up meeting Alucard anyway.

an evening’s rest (Complete) Trephacard

“Oh, Trevor,” says Alucard, as he settles into the armchair by the fire, “you’re awake. Good. Sypha and I were just talking about you.”

“You were?” says Trevor, not quite sure whether to be concerned or excited by the prospect. Alucard and Sypha being the way they are, it’s fifty-fifty as to whether this conversation is going to end in spectacularly inventive sex, or with the pair of them giving him the silent treatment until he agrees to actually cut his hair for once, or replace his boots just because half the sole is missing on one of them, or god knows what else. He lives in fear of the day they decide he needs to learn how to darn socks.

Adrian’s Amazing Adventure (Incomplete - 7/9) Trepha

In which Adrian is a brat and way too smart for anyone’s good, Trevor is confused but he’s also too well trained for his own good, Dracula may not be capable of getting a heart attack but that doesn’t stop him from trying, Sypha swears she is the only one with a functioning brain around here, and Lisa schemes like a proper Lady of the Night.

Or: Adrian activates his father’s transmission mirror, ends up in unfamilliar woods and adopts a hunter. Everyone else just has to deal with it.

Blind Date with a Belmont (Complete) Trevorcard

If there was one constant in Adrian's life, it was this: Belmonts could never be trusted.

It'd been twelve years since they'd abruptly stopped hunting Adrian's family. His parents had never explained why the pact was formed, but after more than a decade of peace, Adrian finally learned to stop looking over his shoulder. Life in a small town, working in his mother's bookstore, was quiet and simple, if sometimes a bit dull.

Then a new Belmont entered the picture: less threatening than he should be, with dark hair, piercing blue eyes, and a baffling interest in Adrian's newly proposed Blind Date with a Book display.

From birth, Adrian had been taught to fear the Belmonts. Somehow, this one was different.

We’ll Have Ourselves a Merry Christmas, One Way or Another (Complete) Trephacard

Adrian is feeling down about the holidays after having a fight with his father about his relationship with Trevor and Sypha. His partners are supportive in their own ways and Lisa Tepes talks some sense into her husband behind the scenes. 

dirty paws (Complete) Trevorcard

Trevor befriends a wolf. 

Honorary Family (Complete) Trevorcard

Trevor is only twelve when his family and home are burned and taken away from him, a month on his own in the wilderness is harder than it sounds when a kid is in that mindset. One desperate night he plans to steal some food and medicine from a home and ends up intervening when Lisa is being threatened by the church and saves her life but is taken in her place.

After almost being burned himself Trevor wakes up in the famous Dracula castle being taken care of, he bonds with Lisa quickly but has a harder time learning to trust Dracula and Adrian due to his upbringing. Or in which Trevor saves Lisa and ends up being semi-adopted by the Tepes family, he and Adrian have an odd relationship. They get at each other's throats but are also partners in crime a lot of the time. It might take Trevor a while to figure out what exactly this feeling is that isn't quite brothership but is definitely more than just friends.

Righting Wrongs (Complete) Trevorcard 

Trevor stumbles through the area of Târgoviște, right in time to witness Lisa being accused of witchcraft. He doesn't take kindly to that. And the Țepeș family does not forget their debts. 

A Parental Predicament (Complete) Trevorcard

Adrian is bringing home his boyfriend to meet his parents. There's just one tiny problem: his boyfriend is a descendant of a notorious monster-hunting family, and his father is Dracula.

It goes about as well as you would expect.

end of sanctuary (Complete) Trephacard

With the help of psychological magic, Trevor and Sypha enter into Alucard's dream world in order to help him confront his trauma, guilt, and other personal demons while also reevaluating their own relationship to him. 

The Threat of Explosion (Complete) Isaac/Hector

Isaac acts decisively to keep Hector from siding with Carmilla.

A.K.A. The seduction of Hector or Isaac thinks Hector deserves nice things.

Good Gloaming (Complete) Isaac/Hector

“Ah,” Isaac sighs when they first meet. “You’re the other Forgemaster.”

He says “other” the way most people say “pig shit,” but Hector’s tired from traveling and he doesn’t really think much about it until he’s gotten lost for the third time in an hour, in the same wing of the castle—following the directions that Isaac gave him.

In Memoriam (Complete) Gen & Trephacard

Trevor Belmont's family died when he was 12. He's spent quite a lot of time running from it since then. Lying to himself.

“But you know that the word Teloch means of death, right?”

Maybe, maybe it's time to stop.

Deliverance (Incomplete - 35/?) Trephacard

Adrian is beginning to think that Wallachia will be a smoking pile of ash long before he, Trevor, and Sypha can stop Dracula’s war on humanity. They’ve been chasing the castle for months, but each time they get close, it vanishes. Traveling with such genuine and trustworthy allies has been unexpectedly pleasant; Adrian doesn’t mind that Trevor and Sypha are involved with each other, but he is taken entirely by surprise when they open their relationship to him one evening.

Hopelessly in over his head, his heart keeps urging him forward, even when he’s forced to confront the darkest aspects of his nature. Adrian must learn to swallow his pride and let himself be vulnerable if he wants a chance at happiness. Unfortunately, there isn’t much time for looking within when the world is drenched in blood and magic, and the path to victory may destroy him completely. 

With Broken Words I’ve Tried To Say (Complete) Trevorcard

In which Alucard sends a letter to Sypha, but ends up corresponding with Trevor instead. 

The Shops On Morning Street (Complete) Trevorcard

Trevor Belmont, former monster hunter and current florist, is tasked with looking into the proprietor of the new tattoo parlor across the street, much to his annoyance.

What he finds is Adrian Ţepeş, current half-vampire, current tattoo artist, and a whole lot more than Trevor bargained for.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #199

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're making the Jotaro Kujo of FGO, Semiramis! (Seriously, how does that cape/hair... thing work? It's wild.) The queen of poisons is a Graviturgy Wizard to make building a floating castle slightly less difficult to make and cooler to live in, plus a Witherbloom Druid for some dove friends and extra poisons. If you've seen our builds for Waver and Edison, you might know already that building things with magic is costly and time-consuming, and for once that is 100% accurate to the character. Get ready, this is gonna be a weird one.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: I'm 40% appendicitis!

Race and Background

Semiramis is technically an aasimar, but she doesn't fly around or heal people, so we can just focus on her human side. .... Oooor we can focus on those ears, because we need to nick some stuff from being an Elf. Specifically, we're going with the Vahadar Elf from Plane Shift Kaladesh, since they've got the ears, the proficiencies we'll need later, and their backstory's still about living in general society, unlike wood elves and other Kaladeshian elves. Thanks to Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, this gives her +2 Intelligence and +1 Wisdom, as well as Darkvision, Fey Ancestry against being charmed, a Trance instead of sleep so she can't be put to sleep, Keen Senses for proficiency in Perception, the Mending cantrip to piece together the castle later, and most importantly Elf Weapon Training. Normally this would give her proficiency with four weapons, but thanks to Tasha's we can swap this out with four tools instead. Carpenter's, Glassblower's, Mason's, and Smith's Tools proficiency should give us everything we need to build a castle later- we'll go into the why when we get there.

Semiramis is also a Noble- grab History, but swap out Persuasion for Deception. Yeah, not even her background can escape how weird this build is.

Ability Scores

Poisoning skills come from Intelligence (I think. WotC are really nonspecific about how to actually fucking make poison), and it's also your main casting modifier: put that first. Second should be your Charisma, nobody drinks poison on purpose, so you'd better get good at lying. After that is Wisdom. If your poisons aren't made with Intelligence it'll definitely be wisdom. That means your Dexterity isn't great- yeah, you fight in a dress, but if you're fighting and not your lackeys, something's gone wrong. We're not dumping Constitution because we're not stupid, so dump Strength instead. You've got minions to carry rocks around for you.

Class Levels

Wizard 1: Starting as a wizard nets you the weakest hit die in the game, but it also gets you proficiency in Intelligence and Wisdom saves, plus the Arcana and Medicine skills. You're half caster, and if you want to ruin someone's bodily functions you have to know what those are first. Starting as a wizard also gets you Spells that you can cast and prepare using your Intelligence. You get six at first level and two each level after. That's a lot, so we're just going to over spells that are important for the build here, though there's a full list of what we'd get in the character sheet. For cantrips, grab Infestation and Poison Spray for poison damage. For once infestation is completely kosher as is, since Semiramis can summon any creature as long as its poisonous. Also, grab Message. Castle halls are big and echo-y, and it's probably not a good idea to shout at people to find out which glass they put the poison in. Aside from that, grab Mage Armor so you die less, Magic Missile for Assassin balls, and Tenser's Floating Disk to carry all the raw materials you'll be using later. Finally, you get an Arcane Recovery once per long rest, letting you recover a couple spell slots on a short rest. The total level you recover is equal to half your wizard level, rounded up.

Wizard 2: Going into second level of wizard gives you a school of magic, and it's hard to lift several tons of stone into the air if you're not into Graviturgy. When you take the subclass, you can Adjust Density as an action, doubling or halving a large or smaller creature/object's weight for up to a minute with concentration. If you reduce a creature's weight it'll increase their speed by 10', double their jump distance, and have disadvantage on strength saves and checks, and vice versa if you increase it. I checked, and stone is roughly 1,000 times denser than air, not 2, so we'll have to do some brewing later to make this work out. Make your strong minions stronger, your fast minions faster, or do the opposite for your enemies.

Wizard 3: Third level wizards get second level spells. You won't get any dragons in this build, sad to say, but you can use Dragon's Breath to turn just about anything into a dragon. They can even spit poison breath, which is really good with the poisoner's feat. Speaking of..

Wizard 4: First Ability Score Improvement of the build, so grab the Poisoner's Feat for more poisony goodness. All poison-based damage rolls you make ignore resistance, you can coat weapons as a bonus action, and you get proficiency in the poisoner's kit. You also learn a special poison that'll force a dc 14 constitution save on the creature you use it on, dealing 2d8 poison damage and poisoning them for a round.

Wizard 5: Fifth level wizards get third level spells. Animate Dead will help you make dragontooth warriors, a.k.a. skeletons. You can make one per casting right now, but you can recast the spell to retain control over up to three skeletons at once. Otherwise they'll be uncontrollable monsters, which is probably less of a goal.

Druid 1: Semiramis might be known for her poisons, but she's really a multifaceted person. Well, not really, but if you want poisons, you're going to get them from animals. If you want animals, you're going to get them from druids. First level druids learn Druidic- it's a language! They also get another set of Spellcasting using their Wisdom to cast and prepare spells. Check the multiclassing table to figure out your spell slots. Grab Guidance and Resistance to be a bit better than everyone else. For first level spells, look for Entangle and Snare to summon chains to slow down enemies, and Speak with Animals to make sure your dovey-woveys know their work is appreciated. We haven't gotten dovey-woveys yet? Don't worry, they're coming.

Druid 2: Second level druids join their circle, and you're so goddamn smart you just joined another school. At the college of Witherbloom, you'll learn how to turn the vitality of nature into deadly poisons. Right off the bat you get circle spells, which are always prepared for you and don't count against how many spells you can prepare. Right now you get the Spare the Dying cantrip as well as Cure and Inflict Wounds. Now you don't literally have to summon a whip every time you want to hit someone. You can also tap in creatures' essences with your Essence Tap. As a bonus action, you empower yourself for 1 minute, gaining one of two options. Overgrowth lets you heal yourself with a hit die each turn as a bonus action, adding your wisdom modifier to the amount healed. Withering Strike lets you change your damage to necrotic when you hit someone with any sort of damage, ignoring resistances to make your poisons even deadlier. You can use this proficiency times per long rest. Most importantly, you gain a Wild Shape / Wild Companion. Both features use the same two charges per short rest. You're limited to what you can turn into based on its CR and movement options, but those limits and how long you can transform/summon a creature for grows as you level up. Currently I'd stick with Wild Companion for dove familiars, but some versions of Semiramis' story include her turning into a dove herself at the end, so Wild Shape isn't out of the question. As long as we sink eight levels into druid, at least.

Druid 3: Third level druids get second level spells, like your freebies Lesser Restoration and Ray of Enfeeblement. Look, if you're going to make poisons it only makes sense that you'd have antidotes on hand. You can also grab spells like Animal Messenger to send your doves out for ingredients, and Locate Animals or Plants to find them yourself.

Wizard 6: Sixth level graviturgists can make a Gravity Well when you cast a spell, moving the target 5 feet in any direction if it is willing or you successfully hit it with the spell. Speaking of spells that push people, Pulse Wave does just that, stepping in for the big stompy dragon animation. Creatures in a 30' cone make a constitution save, and if they fail they'll take force damage and get pushed back 15', or 20' with Gravity Well. You can also pull them, but that's not really stompy at that point. You can also Summon Undead to create a stronger skeleton to lead the others.

Druid 4: At fourth level, druids can transform into swimming creatures, and you also get another ASI. Bump up your Intelligence for stronger spells. Also, grab the Control Fire cantrip, it'll be cold in your castle without it.

Druid 5: Fifth level druids get third level spells, like Revivify and Vampiric Touch. Neither of those are in character, but you can also Conjure Animals (as long as they're poisonous) and Dispel Magic to keep your throne room free of nonsense.

Wizard 7: Seventh level wizard get fourth level spells, including the one we've been working our way up to, Fabricate! As long as you have the raw materials, you can turn them into products of the same material. Since you're working with stone, you're limited to creating Medium objects this way. Just line the outside of the medium objects you make with halves of smaller objects, then mend them together, and eventually you'll have a castle. This will take a while. For a decent-sized castle of 300'x400', you'll be looking at roughly 480 medium-sized blocks per floor. At level 20 you'll have 12 spell slots of fourth level or higher, so you can knock out a floor in roughly 40 days, not including things like doors or other furniture. Also worth noting, you can't make fancy things like glass without proficiency in the tools required to make them normally, hence all the tool proficiencies from your racial bonuses.

Wizard 8: Use your next ASI to bump up your Wisdom for better healing and stronger druid spells. You also learn Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum, so you can prevent creatures from spying into your hanging gardens. Especially useful is the ability to block creatures from teleporting or plane shifting onto your grounds, as that's probably the only way to approach your gardens safely. Or at least it is after you learn Ice Storm, a long range spell that pelts enemies with ice and turns the area into difficult terrain. Of note, it doesn't say the ground, so the entire cylinder will be difficult to fly through. If you want to build giant arcane cannons instead for authenticity, I salute you. Just remember that'll have to come out of your budget.

Wizard 9: Ninth level wizards get fifth level spells, and Wall of Stone will help you speed up construction by making ten 10'x10' panels or ten 10'x20' panels. You can also use this spell to create bridges or the like, and if you hold concentration for 10 minutes the stone remains permanently. If you want to skimp on materials so you can just get this fucking thing in the air already, this'll help with that. You're also learning Geas. If you can't summon a dragon, forcibly controlling a dragon is the next best thing.

Druid 6: Did you think we were done with druid? I said we were stuck here for 8 levels, didn't I? Sixth level witherbloom druids can make a Witherbloom Brew thanks to their new proficiency with Herbalism kits. At the end of a long rest, you can use that kit to make Proficiency brews, which last for 24 hours. A Fortifying brew gives a creature resistance to a damage type chosen at brewing (cold, fire, necrotic, poison, or radiant) for an hour. A Quickening brew heals its drinker, and ends one disease or an effect of charming, frightening, paralyzation, poisoning, or stunning. Again, antidotes might be useful to have on hand, but the real reason we're here is for the Toxifying brew. You can apply the brew to a weapon, and the next time within an hour that weapon hits a creature, they take 2d6 poison damage and have to make a constituiton saving throw (DC 8 + your wisdom modifier + proficiency) or be poisoned for a minute. This is literally so much better than the poisoner feat what the hell.

Druid 7: Seventh level druids get fourth level spells, like Blight and Greater Restoration for stronger poisons and antidotes respectively. You can also Dominate Beast to hold any poisonous critters still while you milk them, or summon Giant Insects instead. They obey you and stay giant until they drop to 0 HP, dismiss the effect, the spell ends.

Druid 8: Our last level of druid finally lets you turn into a dove with a second Wild Shape Improvement. You also get another ASI, so bump up that Wisdom for stronger spells and poisons.

Wizard 10: Tenth level graviturgists can create a Violent Attraction between a creature's face and a weapon, causing a nearby weapon attack to deal an extra 1d10 damage. Alternatively, you can increase the attraction between a creature and the ground, adding 2d10. I doubt your hanging gardens need help making the fall more deadly, but now you can help out of need be. You can do this Intelligence modifier per long rest.

Wizard 11: Eleventh level wizards get sixth level spells, like Guards and Wards. This will make it so much harder for enemies to breach your castle it isn't even funny, if the "hanging out in the stratosphere" thing didn't tip them off already.

Wizard 12: By twentieth level you should have a castle set up, so grab the Lucky feat. Basically, everything that can go right for you does while you're in your castle, so now you get 3 luck points per long rest to make sure that happens, letting you re-roll your attacks, saves, and checks, as well as attacks aimed at you.

So how the fuck do I get a flying castle?

So, admittedly this is up to DM fiat, but let's be real, a flying castle sounds sick as hell and gathering resources is a great reason to go adventuring. If I was your DM, it'd go something like this; After x months of research, you find a way to prepare materials so Adjust Density is permanent on them if you concentrate for the duration. Then you make and fuse together castle chunks as described in level twelve, and eventually you lighten the load on the special rocks so much they're lighter than air. Boom, liftoff, you're fucking awesome now. If you want to go down, just make the float rocks heavier again.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Even if you don't build a giant floating castle in your adventure, that doesn't mean all this prepwork went to waste. You are a master at protecting areas from invasion, so no matter where you lay your head you know it's going to be safe. Not as safe as a floating castle, but still, safe.

By mixing together all your tool proficiencies with Fabricate, you can make pretty much whatever you need from raw materials. No more paying a smithy for fancier armor!

If you do get your castle in the air or you're near a cliff, you are incredibly deadly, with plenty of ways to shove opponents around or otherwise control movement. Slow them down, trip them up, or shove them off a cliff it's so good. Pulse people off the edge of your garden and laugh at them as they fall.

Cons:

There's literally no rules about building your own castles & poisons, so most of this build is entirely dependent on your DM. If you get a cool one, cool! If you don't, this build is pretty much a writeoff.

You need to hide away in your castle and send out minions because you're kind of pathetic in person. With only 14 AC and less than 100 HP, you'll go down faster than Medb if you don't use your Wild Shapes well.

A lot of that can be chalked up to mixing caster classes, meaning we have to spend more ASIs to make both spell modifiers good, and we miss out on higher level spells. Also, spending 8 levels in druid just to turn into a dove isn't that great unless you really want the flavor. I highly recommend skipping out after 6, the last graviturgy effect is great both to knock people out of the sky and make them bow if they get to your throne room.

But, getting to your throne room is 90% of the fight. This build is one that emphasizes patience, and that's what puts you above the common folk. Hang out in the stratosphere, attend social events in style, and let your poisons and skeleton warriors do the fighting for you. Just be glad there aren't any wacky knights riding hippogryphs around.