#But I didn't tell anyone I made that account because I wanted to live 0 follower life. It turns out 0 follower life is awkward though.

[loveletterworm]

i was suddenly reminded of that one time i saw someone find out that alt text on images can be used for training image recognition ai and then of course they started coming up with stupid schemes to """Poison""" the alt text and make it unusable for AI, which, of course, would also make the alt text unusable for blind people, defeating the purpose of adding alt text in the first place, but that's probably fine because *Extremely loud dial up modem noise* I'm still annoyed at whoever this was even though I will probably never see them again and wouldn't remember them if I did I can hold the most random grudges ever

[krestinshe]

things were so bad for a while pt 2

march to may 2024. why?

I first heard the call to reduce in March. I had been trying my best to get more integrated with the house church I had been going to since the fall, going to the recovery gym with people there, serving twice a week at the after-school program at the Chinese church, hanging out with friends and parents. Busyness, split-ness, tiredness were starting to encroach on my joy. Despite my efforts, I wasn't feeling like I was really walking with people at the house church, so I was also attending T's church small group meetings too. I knew I needed to address these things, but I ignored it for too long.

T became frustrated with me because trying to be in too many places at once led to me fail to be reliable to her, and I was not putting taking care of myself and my responsibilities (eating, cooking, taking care of the apartment, my job) first. In repsonse to her frustration, all I could do was feel overwhelmed with guilt. This made me weary of life.

Late April through May, this weariness gave birth to depression. I felt like a failure, I didn't want to live. I didn't want to try, because I knew I would already fail before I start. I wasn't even able to really think or pray because the thoughts in my head were too many, messy, and loud to come to any healthy conclusions. As a result, I also felt distant from God, even while I tried to soothe myself by remembering that I am approved and forgiven only by God, and that he did not give up on me so I should not give up--but those efforts always seemed to come up short.

T and I had a few more long conversations in those couple months. She kept bringing up things about the way I live my life and how they affected her. Not taking care of myself and responsibilities first, not getting community and accountability in my life. I pushed back a little bit, and she angrily said that I wasn't putting God as King over my life. I spiraled further into guilt and it took everything in me not to just shut down. In our conversations, I became more and more withdrawn and just would cry through the whole thing, trying my best not to fall apart.

Eventually, she told me that she couldn't "walk with me in that way" anymore. She had been trying for months to get me to be in community so that she wasn't the only one supporting me by the time she stepped out, but she just couldn't do it anymore. It came out in that conversation that she thought I was childish in the way I didn't tell people about my life or struggles, but hoped people would care about me anyway. And that she was stupid enough to fall for it.

In the aftermath, I felt like her judgment (or fear thereof) followed me everywhere. I couldn't say any of the things she pointed out were wrong. I felt like maybe I wasn't putting God as King over my life. Maybe I had just failed at everything life is about. At church, I could only think about how she was probably thinking about how what the pastor said was something I don't do and should. I felt like I couldn't say anything anymore in conversations with her because every promise I made would be empty if she didn't trust I could change, and I felt like I would fail to keep it anyway. I felt hurt that she did not think I was living with God as King over my life. And I didn't have the audacity to believe that she was wrong.

I felt like everything I said I was grateful for in this post last fall (this new living space, a safe refuge, a place where my identity is in christ and his love and grace, not in how small and good-for-nothing i am) was a lie. She never wanted me to share anything with her. She never wanted to "walk with me in that way." I should not have felt like that place was safe, like I was approved for my identity in Christ and not how small and good-for-nothing I am. It's like all of that that I had built on top of was being stripped and stripped away.

And then I was back to square 0... again without anyone to tell or rely on. Even after 9 months back in Boston, I had no one at either the community I was leaving or the one I was joining that I could talk to. I felt afraid that she would judge me if I turned to a guy friend. And I certainly couldn't talk to her.

And then she said God changed her heart and she decided to stop blaming and start cherishing me. I was like haha about time, but you're too late, I'm too gone to care.

things were so bad for a while

august 21 to august 31(ish). why?

i know the catalysts: (for context: i hadn't gotten my period for 7 months and my parents were concerned (i guess i was too) and i made an appointment with a gynecologist about it. my theory the whole time was that it was related to the undereating and low weight.)

august 21 was the appointment with gyno#1, and she said that since my tests all came out fine, the loss of period was probably due to (undereating and) psychological stress. in trying to probe for sources of this stress, she suggested that my mom was abusive. that sent my mind reeling, turning over old stresses and hurts, catapulting me into a ferocious confusion and a heavy depression. (praise God for his growing me enough that i was able to reach out to a friend to talk instead of being trapped in my head all night. too bad the next day things got even worse...)

august 22 i had my weekly nutrition counseling appointment, and before it, since my dad tracked my every move and my shotty efforts to avoid telling my parents where i was going every tuesday morning were thinning to their destined end, i finally just told my dad. he said he knew i was doing some (stupid) psychology thing, i know you, said that i didn't need it, that it was all in my head, i never didn't eat enough, you're making up all these problems because you have enough to eat and have nothing else to do. after that i couldn't stop feeling like he was gaslighting me -- denying my experienced reality, causing me to doubt that it was real, that i could trust my experience. it's not like me to use these psycho terms like gaslighting, trauma, abuse, depression, eating disorder... but gaslighting gave me a word to identify what i was experiencing, and i just hope i wasn't twisting reality to fit the word so that i could feel good about myself as a victim. (which was what my mom said to me after labor day weekend when i was driving her to south station... i just like to feel like mommy's wronged me.)

things were bad then. for a few days i was haunted, assaulted, day and night with thoughts of being hurt, hurting myself (not eating--and then trying to think of alternatives since i couldn't do that anymore--beating myself down in my head, not breathing, not talking to friends), dying. and the days i wasn't, it was lurking around the corner, still heavy on my consciousness. the issues were big. why? because i made up the problems? because gyno#1 made me repaint all my past and current experiences to make myself the victim? because i was so surrounded by the people who were the cause or the subject of my distress that i couldn't get out of it, see beyond it, and every little thing just magnified it? yeah. i think a little bit of all, from less to more.

next thursday august 31, the day before i moved out: had a conversation with gyno#2, a chinese doctor (who they wanted me to consult because they didn't like or trust gyno#1), and my parents. i was terrified, convinced my mom was going to explode. she didn't. she--and my dad--came with questions written down. she challenged the doctor with questions and "have you considered these facts" when she saw fit, but when the doctor came back with her own knowledge, she let it go and didn't let it ruin the course of the meeting or her respect for the doctor. i couldn't believe it. i had been believing that my mom didn't love me, that my dad didn't love me. i was proven wrong. that was all i needed. my parents do love me, they are just stubborn and see things differently, and have different ways of showing it, and their limitations. i could have intellectually assented with that or even said it to someone else, but i had stopped believing it--until then. that was my deliverance.

i was thankful beyond belief, in awe of God. his timing was perfect -- the day before i was to move out, right before my mom was to leave for china for a few weeks. my soul was so comforted, content, happy.

and things weren't perfect after that. the post-labor-day conversation with my mom on the car hurt me, dashed my hopes of greater openness and reconciliation with her, and i needed some time and support from a friend to overcome that. but that doesn't bother me. it just means that i'm alive, life is real, my parents are real, our relationship is real.

i'm grateful for so many things. i'm grateful for friends who rejoice when i am doing better -- eating better, getting my period, healing in and from my relationships with my parents -- and feel sad when i am sad, and angry at what my parents have said to me. i'm grateful that i can actually be free from the distress, the shame, the disapproval, the stress, and that is reality. that i have this new living space, a safe refuge, a place where my identity is in christ and his love and grace, not in how small and good-for-nothing i am.

i still struggle with shame. pray for me!

[rj019]

The characters don't belong to me. All credits to Marvel or Disney or Stan Lee idk.

So this is my first ever Tumblr Post (人*´∀｀)｡*ﾟ+

Hope you guys will like it.. I'm new to this & I might make some mistakes so I hope you guys can understand and help me throughout my journey (◍•ᴗ•◍)

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Title : Genius, YouTuber, Artist, Musician and Spider-Man

Fandom : MCU

Pairing : Starker(tony stark x peter parker)

Rating : Mature (NSFW, Sexual Content)

Prompt : Social Media

Summary :

Tony started crushing on a guy who is 5 years younger than him... And You all know who that is 😉 one and only Peter Parker.

And Peter has a very famous Youtube channel since he was 6. But he always wears mask in his videos to hide his face. He often mentions his crush on Tony Stark since he was 12 in his videos.

" CHAPTER - 0 "

The notes below are for the things that happened till Peter is 20 from when I'll actually start the story. I didn't wanted to get it all mixed up. So I wrote these so you guys can understand the AU better and how everything came to be and not get confused. It explains everything about Pete's social media, everyone's ages and which part of MCU is included and which is not, and the changes in the whole storyline. So these are must read it if you want to read the actual chapters. (☆▽☆)

Notes :

Tony is 25 year old in this and Pete is 20 and they're both certified geniuses. And they are both Bisexual.

Tony's perants are alive. Pete's uncle Ben is also alive.

Howard is a good parent and husband in this fic and he himself is a Bi so congrats!! No homophobia 🤗

Howard made Tony CEO of the company when he was 22 and only took semi retirement and only went to company once in a while to keep an eye on things. Tony graduated from MIT when he was 17 and then he started helping with company 😀

So Avengers and S. H. I. E. L. D. does exist in this AU but sheild isn't publicly known nor does anyone knows Avengers' real identity that includes Tony's😉 but that was just until New York battle.

Howard and Maria obviously knew about Tony being Iron Man. Tony told them after he came from Afghanistan and created the armor. There was no way to keep it hidden from them. Like all the parents they were reluctant to accept it as it will endanger his life but the accepted it at last.

Tony was kidnapped when he was 19 and when he went to Afganistan for his first ever deal without his father. And bla bla happened and he became Ironman and then he told his father about the Arc reactor tech and told him that there are many other things that can get their company to it's peak and asked him to stop the weapon business and Howard aslo thought about it cause after all he almost lost his one and only son (told ya he is good parent it this one) and then you know what happened 🙃

Howard is alive so no Obadiah Stane.. So no IM 1 events after he came from Afghanistan happened. They hid the fact that tony has arc reactor in his chest though. And world only knew that Iron Man is getting help from SI because of the arc reactor technology in the armor but they could never expect that it's Tony Stark himself. ( yeah yeah I know not very convincing but bear with it cause its a fiction right😅)

Papper, Rhodey and Tony are best friends from childhood cause their parents are friends. So he tell them about IM too. Papper works with him at SI as secretary for few years but when Tony turns 24, He suggest his father to make her CEO and he will be working and providing for Techs and important business deals. And Howard knows his son very well and that doing office stuff ain't getting to Tony plus his IM activities. And Papper was already doing more than half of his paper and meeting work so he makes Papper CEO. And yep Papper and Tony did try relationship but it just didn't clicked so they are still friends and no awkward feelings.

From IM 2, he did get palladium poisoning but he hid it from his family and friends. He did parties and drinking (but without the armor ofcourse) and Rhodey got really angry at his behaviour and recklessness and told him that he will beat him up with his own armour. And then Nat and Fury came and all that injection stuff.. after that he told his father about it and they worked together and made the new element and saved him. After that he apologized to everyone and told the truth and even made Rhodey War Machine suit and Rhodey helped him with it at Expo. Race incident doesn't happen. But Vanko still tried to get revenge by helping Hammer. So Stark expo incident still happened with drones only, not the War Machine armour.

I'll say IM 3 doesn't happen cause we don't have that much time you know fitting all IM parts and then 2 avangers part just within 6 years is impossible 😅

So after that NY invasion happened and Avangers got formed. People didn't know who they atually were just their alter egos and that also not everyone. People were really shocked and afraid after the battle so the government decided to make shield publicly known. Not all the information but just lil bit parts here and there to ensure everyone that there were people and organisation who were ready for something big like this. But it was still not enough to make people safe.

So then Avengers decided that they'll reveal their identities so people will know that there is a group of people who are there and capable enough to save them from something like this and it worked. They did got positive response. But it was uproar it the world. And they had to deal with media and fans. When the world got to know about Tony Stark being Iron Man, SI's PR department was in chaos.

All Avengers are around 24 to 30 except for Wanda and Pietro. They are 21. But they got into team after Ultron and yep Pietro survived.

Events of Captain America and CA : Winter Soldier did happen except for Bucky killing Tony's perants part. And they are both 30. Clint doesn't have secret wife and children (sorry Laura and kids) cause he is 25. Nat is 24. Papper and Rhodes are 27. Thor looks like 28 but is 1500 as we all know. Loki looks like he is 26 and yepp he was mind controlled by Chitauri but he was at Asgard during Age Of Ultron. Sam is 23. Scott is 25 and he is divorced and has a daughter. He is in relationship. Hope is 24. Bruce is 29. (These are their ages at the starting of the 1st chapter, from when I'll actually start writing the story.)

In NY invasion only original 6 were included in Avengers Initiative and after that they lived together too, at the Stark tower which was turned into Avengers Tower. Later Shield recruited others and they trained and did mission together but didn't live with the original 6.

Then Age Of Ultron happened and Vision Wanda and Pietro also joined. At that time they decided to move to the compound Tony built for them in upstate so everyone can live there.

And time period between these all events is smaller than in movies cause you now 6 years time period ain't that long to fit 'em all.

No CW or IW or Endgame happened.

Mary & Richard unfortunately had to die in plane crash 😅 when Pete was 5 so his uncle and aunt looked after him from then.

When Peter was struggling to recover from his parents death, May got an idea to help him *tada* a youtube channel to distract him because she knew Pete liked to watch things on YT. Pete was a genius and he was great at art too and he is an obvious cinnamon roll so she knew it will be a success and Pete will be distracted too. But she didn't want her nephew's face all over the internet if he gets popular and then can't have normal life so she helped him make his videos with him wearing a mask. So here's where Pete's YouTube journey started 🤭

Peter being an adorable and telented and a genius he is, he got famous on YT over the years and got millions of subscribers and views. He even made accounts on other social medias like Insta and Twitter stuff releted to his YT when he was 12 and it was success too he posted his art and photography their. ( His art and videos do contain his fanboying stuff and crushing on Tony Stark🤭)

And yes Pete is Spider-Man. He became SM when he was 13. Same radioactive spider at oscorp stuff but without Ben dying.

Ben has his own business which is good enough to have stable and cozy life with his wife and nephew. May is house wife and she likes to do volenteer work oftenly. They have two story house with a garden and a backyard. Nither too big nor too small.

Ben has always taught Pete about responsibility and righteousness. (With great powers comes great responsibilities.) So when Peter got his powers he decided to help people by being Spider-Man and looking out for little guy. After sometime he told Ben and May about it and they were at first hesitant but then they got over it and were proud of him and supported him.

After a year, it was getting too much at the same time... being at school, managing social media and YT channel, being Spider-Man and all.

Ben and May wanted him to have normal life so even if he was a genius and could graduate early, they still wanted him to complete high school and make friends. But let's be genuine nothing in life is gonna be normal so he told them about his plan to graduate early from both school and college. And he loved his YT and social media cause it helped him so he didn't wanted to stop that and to stop being SM is out of the picture. Ben and May understood him so they allowed him.

He took this opportunity to tell his only 2 and closest friends Ned and MJ about him being SM. He trusts them alot and they didn't disappoint him and even helped him with keeping his secret identity.

So he graduated from high school early, got full scholarship to MIT.

He was fifteen when he saw Iron Man first. He and Ned became fans but Tony was still his idol and his crush. He also started making fanarts about Iron Man on his account. He liked Dr.Banner's work too. He was only 20 when he wrote his thesis about gamma radiation and his books are awesome and he has 7 PhDs by the age of 25.

Peter earned a good amount from his YT channel and he still had money his perants left so he made one of the vacant room in the house his lab after he became SM and he makes videos in his lab after that about his inventions and experiments but ofcourse nothing regarding SM. He and Ned even made a cool SM suit with AI which they named Karen. (The one from the Homecoming) He got his AI inspiration from his Idol's AI called JARVIS. (Tony made JARVIS when he was at MIT and then used him for the company and his lab and he gave an interview about it. That's how Pete knows about it. Tony used Friday for his suits and IM releted activities after he became IM but then after AOU he used Friday for everything.)

Pete's YouTube videos are about everything and anything he loves to do since he was young. When he was young it was about his lil childish science experiments with help of Ben (ofcourse till he could it on his own) or his art or baking and cooking stuff with May and all but they all always wore the different different matching masks while making videos. When he became friends with Ned and MJ, he asked them to be there too. As he got older he started showing his genius brain cells in his experiments and invention. Same goes for his art, it started getting more and more detailed and he also got interested in composing music and songs and he eurned more followers. He even made his accounts unhackable so no one try to find out who he is after he became SM. He had so many happy moments with his family and friends while making his videos, that is why he kept his YT and accounts.

Shield doesn't know who the Spider-Man is. Pete found out about them cause he sensed someone (agents) following him during one of his patrols when he was 14. So he and Ned looked into it and his mind was blown when he found the organisation and all government behind it.

He wanted to know why they were after him cause he only helped people. So they hacked into Shield. He found out that they wanted to recruit him for something called Avangers Initiative and there he saw some other people's and superheroes' information too. (He didn't look into it because he knew that if he didn't anyone want to know his identity, they must not too and he had no right. ) But he knew it was not a good idea to join it cause then he will have to work for them do their missions and he didn't wanted to do that. He wanted to look out for little guy and help whoever, he can wherever he can. Plus he would have to reveal his identity and when they'll know he is so young, they'll try to stop him from being SM plus people close to him will get in danger. And they might even want to experiment on him so it was a big fat NO.

After that he took every cautious step to protect his identity and his aunt, uncle and his friends. He made a security system for their house and made a smart bracelet to communicate or send signal to each other if they were in danger. They all had one including himself. It looked simple and no one could tell it was actually for that.

When Newyork invasion happened, he was not there. He was at MIT for his PhD. He was so damn worried about Ben, May, Ned and MJ. The moment he heard the news he left for NY but by the time he got there the fight had been finished. So he directly went to check on May and Ben. He found them safe and was revealed. Then he called Ned and MJ to check on them and their families and found everyone was ok. After that he told May and Ben that he will go out and help people from the aftermath of the battle.

He stayed in NY for 2 weeks. In which he found out about the Avengers. He and Ned were shocked at the name and that it was the same Avengers Initiative stuff they read when they hacked into the sheild and Peter felt a pinch of guilt but it disappeared when he learnt that Avengers revealed their identities. He was in no condition to reveal his identity.

He was shocked when he learnt Avengers' identities especially Iron Man. He was like "how could I not understand that it had to be Tony.. there were all those connection like SI and no one is such a genius to make that kind of Tech except for his idol. He fell in love with Tony even more but he just thought it was some kind of superhero worship and teenage crush.

After that Ned and him being the 'nerds' as MJ calls them they are, they become fanboys and started to find out more thing about Avengers. Pete started to post more fanarts of them and he even made the reaction video of how he feels about Tony Stark being Iron Man and Bruce Banner being Hulk. Both his favourite scientists. He even made a song for Avengers. Which was total hit so he made more songs in the future.

Pete graduated from MIT even earlier than his Idol Tony Stark at the age of 16. He got his PHD in Biochemical Engineering at 17 and he wanted to get more Phds in Robotics, Nenotech Engeneering study and Astrophysics. (Which he did within next 2 years.) (Pete was 16 when NY invasion happened and 19 when Ultron happened)

And then Ultron happened, it was all over the news and all but Avangers once again saved the world. Pete was happy and revealed that there were Avengers to save them from world ending dangers but there gotta be someone down on the street too. Someone to help people from criminal and other dangers which may seem little in their or government's eye like Rhino, Doc Oct, Green Goblin, lizard, electro and many more with whom he fought. And he felt that his decision to not join Avengers Initiative was right. Though Shield was still eager to find out who he is like he will let them.

And then Homecoming happened except the part with Tony. ( But Peter doesn't go to homecoming because he graduated from high school )

As for the Ferry incident he saved everyone. He held the both part of ferry with his web and his strength ( Pete is very very strong in this fic ) till his latest Nenotech bot he invented arrived and held the ferry together and mend it. (Like Iron Man did. Just that it were bots who fixed the last part too. Where Tony flys around it and mend it.)

Peter had figured out the arc reactor technology a year and half ago but he didn't wanted any one to know cause it will attract the attention of many people and he didn't wanted that. That is also the reason he doesn't use his Nenotech suit he made. ( IW one ) But now that he has used his nenobots and his tech which was even better and cheaper, he knew for sure that it's going to fireback but he thought he'll take care of it later when he is not busy trying to capture a curtain alian tech loaded weapon selling Vulture.

Next day he had asked Karen to keep and eye over everything and at night Karen informed him about some movements at some abandoned warehouse. Then the whole warehouse dropping and plane crashing thing happened. He saved the Mr.stark's tech and averages stuff and weapons.

But now he will even have more attention but he then ask Karen to clear CCTV footage around the beach so no one knows about him leaving from the scene. He can only hope now. He'll have to lay low for now and even more careful.

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Hope you guys will like it. I have thought so much for this fic. It's going to be exciting writing this.

[savedbyholmes]

I posted 9,119 times in 2021

23 posts created (0%)

9096 posts reblogged (100%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 395.5 posts.

I added 19 tags in 2021

#black widow spoilers - 9 posts

#marvel - 2 posts

#wandavision - 1 posts

#manifestation - 1 posts

#wealth - 1 posts

#transformation - 1 posts

#healing - 1 posts

#i died laughing - 1 posts

#yellow paint - 1 posts

#avengers - 1 posts

Longest Tag: 58 characters

#she sleeps with me and likes to be by my side all the time

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I was originally just going to send this as an ask to @cavalryandrobin but I changed my mind and decided to type up a post for their anon. Mostly because I wanted to make a few things clear.

First up, I've known Caspian for a few years now. We talked everyday for months until my life got in the way so I know a thing or two about their life and yes, they absolutely deserve happiness all the happiness in the world. Whether you think so or not.

Second, you're coming as an Anon for any number of reasons, but you're not coming to have a dialogue, you're coming to call out as if that's going to make whatever situation this is better. Or at least it'll make you feel better by getting how you feel off your chest while not being accountable for your words. You're not trying to have a conversation, you're just trying to get a point across. That you think Caspian is a terrible person. Great. That's you're opinion and if you don't like them, then block them like everyone else has learned to do on this site.

5 notes • Posted 2021-06-19 10:45:47 GMT

#4

I hate to ask, but I am desperately behind on my bills. I'm already $-75 in my back account with two payments for utilities pending. My rent is due on Monday of $550 and I only have $100 towards it and every day it's late I will get charged a late fee. If anyone can help, even $1 it would be greatly appreciated. If not if you can reblog I would also appreciate it.

6 notes • Posted 2021-11-11 19:31:42 GMT

#3

I wish the MCU had better directors that Whedon and the Russo's their characterizations and how they didn't portray the Avengers as a team/family that lived together. How they had this animosity for one another, how they had Steve betray his Character or made Natasha's weakness that she couldn't have kids, "did she have family, she had us." Smart hulk who was apparently a celebrity, killing off Tony Stark and saying he got his happy ending, Killing off black widow to make the team feel something. Not telling the cast what's going on to keep it too secret so the acting isn't as good as it should be, the list goes on. It just irritates me because there is/was so much potential and they failed at getting it right

8 notes • Posted 2021-05-01 19:57:33 GMT

#2

I'm pretty sure Sharon is the power broker. I've had that idea since Ep. 3 when she got in the car and said they had a problem. And now, after Ep. 5 that certainty just grows.

17 notes • Posted 2021-04-19 06:46:59 GMT

#1

When you realize that Wandavision is not named that because it's a show about Wanda and Vision but because it's basically it's some weird reality that plays like a TV show that focuses on Wanda

40 notes • Posted 2021-01-23 20:49:40 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[thesummoningdark]

Okay so. It's kind of a long story (this is a seven-year level 1-20 campaign we're talking about) but the short version is: the main country the campaign had initially been set in had been essentially taken over by agents of Vecna, who had poisoned the king, convinced everyone that the nation across the sea to the south was responsible, and installed one of the princes (who was under their influence) as a puppet king. A lot of shit went down off the back of this, but it culminated in Main Country putting a fleet together to go invade Southern Nation.

The party had a plan to infiltrate the fleet and sabotage the invasion. Main Country headed a larger empire and they had drawn troops and ships from the other nations, some of whom were going along with this pretty grudgingly. So our plan was to turn as much of the fleet as we could to our side - or at least get them to stand off and be neutral - for when OUR fleet (headed by my character's pirate captain love interest) attacked.

Our plan met with mixed success, but the battle happened anyway and was going okay until the agents of Vecna deployed a magical superweapon we didn't know about which tipped the balance of the fight in a major way. We managed to disable the first weapon, but discovered that they had several more ready to deploy, and we had to find a way to get the fuck out. So one of the party used a macguffin we had in our possession which massively (but unpredictably) amplified any magic cast through it to attempt to teleport us and our allies out to safety.

In the end he successfully teleported everything including friendly ships all the way to the coast of Southern Nation. This would have been fine if not for the fact that one of the teleported ships had an agent of Vecna aboard it, who'd been sent there to keep the not-very-loyal captain in line. She was a big tanky high-damage dark paladin, and unlike the party, she had stayed out of the fighting in the fleet battle and so was still at full HP and had all her abilities. And when the party made it to shore she BEELINED for us to come fuck us up.

It was a hard fight, but we managed to just about get the upper hand over her eventually. In the course of the fight my character - a drow sorcerer named Bel - had gone down to 0hp and was basically bleeding out at her feet. So when she realised she was losing, she changed tacks and threatened to finish him off if the party didn't back down and let her go.

I should add at this point that my magic was fire based, and I had an ability which meant that anyone in melee range of me took fire damage every time I was hit, so she was also taking damage every time she hit me. Our bard was throwing me a healing word every round to take me briefly above 0 again and at least reset my death saves. It was a really weird standoff.

So this lead us to the scene of our lawful good goliath barbarian, the party moral compass, looking her in the eye and telling her she wasn't getting away.

Fortunately Bel got to live (albeit with some severe injuries), since she correctly identified that if she wasn't escaping anyway, randomly murdering one of the party would probably lead to the whole "being taken prisoner" thing being a lot more unpleasant for her.

But yeah, it was a really interesting turning point for the party dynamics, especially between Bel and the goliath barbarian (Ite). I'd decided when I made the character that I didn't want to do the whole Drizz't "rebel good aligned drow" thing: Bel was very much a product of the culture he came from, and was the token evil character in the group. We made it work in terms of party dynamics basically because Bel was very survival-driven, and when he found out the stakes of what the party was trying to do was literally Saving The Entire World, he was pretty on board on account of how he's one of the idiots who lives in the world. By this point in the story he also had a love interest, had been reunited with his family after a long period in exile, and accidentally started a revolution against the Temple of Lolth in his home city, so he was pretty invested in the people he considered "his" also making it through this.

I'd been doing a lot of character development work - we're talking about three years I'd been in the game at this point - to get him from being this purely survival-driven character at the time he was introduced, to being willing to die* if that was what it took for the mission to succeed. But there had been conflict with him getting frustrated at some of the good aligned characters (from his point of view anyway) letting their moral qualms get in the way of doing what needed to be done. So up until now he hadn't really trusted the rest of the party to prioritise the mission at the most critical points. It was a HUGE turning point in his integration with and trust for the rest of the party - and the respect he had for Ite specifically - that when something as big as capturing an enemy lieutenant was on the line, they showed that they were willing to sacrifice if that was what it took.

*culturally his relationship with the concept of death was kind of complicated, but that's a whole other post

always makes me vaguely sad that I can't make wall-of-text meta posts about my D&D campaign because no-one else is going to have a clue what the fuck I'm talking about

[dukereviewstv]

Duke Reviews Tv: Smallville 1x17 Reaper

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome Back To Duke Reviews Tv, Where We Are Continuing Our Look At Smallville. Sorry I've Been Gone For A While I Had To Take A Break From Writing Here And Focus Mainly On My Main Tumblr Page, Duke Reviews For A While Because It Got To Be Too Much For Me...

I Couldn't Focus On Both Pages And Not Live My Life Which Is What Running Both Sites Were Doing To Me And I Just Had To Stop For A While. If Any Of My Followers Feel Like I Betrayed Them Because I Left Them Hanging I Would Like To Say I'm Sorry But Anyway While I Was Gone, This Happened...

(Start At 2:33, End At 3:05)

And While My Thoughts On This Are More Mixed Than What Other Smallville Fans Think About This, I'm Just Going To Shut Up And Get To Today's Episode Which Is The 17th Episode Of Season 1, Reaper..,

This Is About A Guy Named Tyler Randall Who Is Resurrected After A Piece Of Meteor Rock Collides Into Him At His Time Of Death, Granting Tyler The Ability To Turn Anyone He Touches Into Ash. At First He Uses His Powers To Help The Terminally Ill By Putting Them Out Of Their Misery...

But "Absloute Power Corrupts Absolutely" And Soon Tyler Gains An Addiction To What He Does, Can Clark Stop Him Before He Kills Whitney's Ailing Father?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Reaper...

The Episode Starts In A Hospital As Tyler Randall Visits His Ailing Mother Who Has Asked Him To See Her Because He Wants Him To Help Her Kill Herself And That If He Loves Her He'll Do This For Her...

And So, Even Though What She's Doing Is Wrong In This Reviewer's Opinion, He Does Help Her Die, Only For A Nurse To Call Security Who Ends Up Knocking Tyler Out Of A Window...

To His Death...

With His Body Taken To The Morgue, The Coroner Finds A Metor Rock Shard Embedded In His Wrist (From The Bracelet He Had On) Which He Decides To Remove Only For The Energy From The Rock To Be Enough To Bring Tyler Back To Life...

Turning The Coroner To Ash With His New Powers, Tyler Gets Off Of The Table And Walks Away...

A Few Weeks Later In Smallville, Martha And Clark Are Delivering Produce And Flowers To The Home For The Sick And Elderly Where They Talk About Clark's Upcoming Fishing Trip With Jonathan Which Clark Is Not Looking Forward To...

(Start At 0:51, End At 1:08)

Going Inside, They Visit An Ill Woman Named Mrs. Sykes Who Has A Dog Named Pepper Who Clark Feeds While Martha And Tyler Deliver Her Produce And Flowers...

However, When Mrs. Sykes Goes Through A Bout Of Serious Pain, She Takes A Liking Of Tyler When He Gives Her Her Pills And Promises To Bring Her Some White Roses Tomorrow...

Meanwhile At The Luthor Mansion, Lex Gets Another Visit From Lionel's Assistant, Dominic Who Is There For An Internal Audit As There Has Been Some Accounting Irregularities In His Division And Lionel Wants To Know Where The Money Went...

Which Leads Lex To Tell Dominic To Tread Carefully As Though He Denies It, He Still Is Lionel Luthor's Son...

Visiting The Talon, Lex Runs Into Clark Who Is Reading A Fishing Magazine For His Fishing Trip With His Father Which Leads Lex To Tell Clark About The Time He Went Fishing With Lionel...

(Start At 1:48, End At 2:25)

Seeing Lana Cry, Clark Goes Up To Talk To Her Where She Tells Him That's Whitney's Dad Has Just Had Another Heart Attack...

But Despite That Bit Of Bad News, We Cut To The Kent Farm As Dominic's Investigation Leads Him There, Introducing Himself To Jonathan, Which Leads To Him Asking Questions About The Crash Involving Lex's Porsche Before Telling Jonathan That While Lex Was Researching The Crash He Ordered An In-Depth Profile Into The Kents...

Having No Clue About This, Dominic Leaves Despite Jonathan Asking Him About What Lex Found During His Research?...

Visiting Whitney's Dad In The Hospital, He Tells Clark And Lana That Whitney Hasn't Been By To See Him Yet Which Has Lana Wondering...

Andrew(Singing In The Style Of Rockapella) Where In Smallville Is...Whitney Fordman?

Returning To The Farm Afterward, Clark Tells His Dad About The Metropolis Sharks Tickets That Lex Gave Him For Them Only For Jonathan To Relay His News That Lex Was Doing A Profile On Them, But Clark Tells Him That He Knew But Lex Promised That He Moved On...

One Thing: How Did Clark Know This?

Only Thing I Can Remember Was One Argument When Lex Asked Clark Questions About The Crash But He Never Outright Told Clark That He Was Investigating Into His Family So How Did Clark Find This Out?

Mad That Clark Didn't Tell Him Or His Mom About This, It Leads To An Argument Between Father And Son Which Leads To Clark Telling His Father To Stop Treating Him Like A Kid And That He Doesn't Like Fishing And That The Only Reason He Does It Is Because It Makes Him Happy...

Clark Tries To Apologize, But Jonathan Just Walks Away. Meanwhile At The Old Folks Home, Tyler Pays Mrs. Sykes Another Visit...

(Start At 3:09)

The Next Day On The Farm, Clark Gets Breakfast With Martha, Who Has Decided To Not Play Referee On Jonathan And Clark's Fight But Suggests To Clark That They Work It Out As She Doesn't Want To See Them To Drift Apart Like Jonathan Did With His Father...

A Few Hours Later At School, Chloe Tells Clark About Mrs. Sykes, Telling Him That While The Official Story Is That There Was Some Sort Of Fire And All They Found Were Her Ashes, She Thinks That It Was Spontaneous Combustion Which Leaves Clark And Pete Skeptical...

Visiting The Kent Barn To Talk With Jonathan About The Sharks Game On Sunday But Jonathan Tells Lex That He's Still Going Fishing On Sunday With Or Without Clark.

(Start At 1:53)

Finding Whitney At School, Clark Talks With Whitney About Why He Hasn't Visited His Father At The Hospital (Despite Whitney Knowing That It's Really Lana Asking And Not Clark) And Whitney Tells Clark That It's Because It Hurts Him To See His Father So Weak In That Hospital Especially Since He's The Strongest Man He's Known In His Life Also He Doesn't Want His Last Memories Of His Dad To Be The Sick Man In The Hospital Now...

After Finishing Talking With Whitney, Chloe Finds Clark To Show Him A Story In The Daily Planet About Tyler Turning The Coroner Into Ash And Disappearing Which Leads Them To Investigate Mrs. Sykes Room, Where Chloe Takes Pics Of The Ashy Shadow On Mrs. Sykes Bed..

While Clark Wonders Where Sykes Dog, Pepper Is As He Doesn't Hear Her Barking And....

Yep, Turns Out Tyler Also Killed Pepper...

You Know, Joe Bob Briggs That Did TNT'S Monstervision And Is Now On Shudder Doing Stuff, Once Said That One Of The Main Rules Of Horror Films Is That You Can Kill As Many People As You Want To But You Never Kill A Pet Because It Makes People Upset And Boy, Was He Right...

Yeah, I Know We Didn't Actually See The Dog Killed On Screen But No Offense, I Just Don't Like It When People Kill Dogs In Movies And Tv Because 1. It's Not Needed And 2. It Just Pisses People Off, Hell, Look At All The Animal Organizations That Jump At The Drop Of A Hat...

Seeing The White Rose On Sykes Dresser, Clark Believes It May Have Been Combustion But It Wasn't Spontaneous...

Dropping Off Some Extra Produce That She Didn't Want To Go To Waste At The Old Folks Home, Martha Runs Into Tyler Who Turns The Food To Ash When He Forgets To Wear His Gloves...

Telling The Manager To Call The Cops, Tyler Turns Him To Ash Too And Intends On Doing The Same To Martha As He Follows The Oliver Queen Method Of "No One Can Know My Secret" But Luckily Tyler Is Stopped By Clark Who Scares Him Off...

Taking Martha Home, Jonathan Tells Clark That She'll Be Fine And The Police Are Looking For Tyler, However Clark Doesn't Think They'll Be Able To Find Him Because 1. He Had No Heartbeat And 2. He's Too Powerful With His Powers...

In Fact, If Anyone Should Be The Spectre Right Now It's Tyler...

A Few Hours Later, Clark Visits The Talon To Warn Lana About Tyler Only To Say Thank You For What He Did With Whitney As He Wants To Get Together With Her After Work To Talk...

As Lana Takes Off, Lex Enters To Tell Him That He's Rescinding The Offer On The Sharks Game So Clark Can Go Fishing With His Dad As It's Obvious That Jonathan Wants To Spend Time With Clark And It's Not Something He Wants To Come Between...

Too Little, Too Late, Lex...

(Start At 2:40)

Later At The Graveyard, Lana And Whitney Have A Meaningful Talk Which Ends With Whitney Deciding To Go To The Hospital To See His Father. But As Whitney Leaves, Lana Runs Into Tyler Who Tells Her That He's Not Going Hurt Her Or Anyone And He Wants To Do Is Give People Peace...

Overhearing Whitney's Conversation With Lana, Tyler Promises To Help Whitney And His Dad Move On Before He Disappears...

Meanwhile At The Luthor Mansion, Dominic Continues His Audit With Lex, Who Offers Him A Drink Before Telling Him That He's Getting Tired Of This Game Dominic Is Playing...

(Start At 2:45)

Getting The Toxicology Report From A Friend Who Works With The Medical Examiner, Chloe Reveals That It Was A Bunch Of Painkillers In His System And The Fragments Of A Meteor Rock In His Skin That Made Tyler Come Back From The Dead, She Also Discovers Some News That Might Get Tyler To Back Off Of His Crusade...

But There Are More Important Matters As Lana Enters To Tell Clark That Tyler Is On His Way To The Hospital To Turn Whitney's Father To Ash...

Entering His Father's Hospital Room, Whitney Is Confronted By Tyler Who Throws Whitney Into A Sink So He Can Get To Work But Before He Does, Clark Zooms In...

(Start At 2:22)

The Next Day In Metropolis, Lex Talks With Lionel At A Secret Location...

Later That Evening, Lex Arranges For Whitney's Dad To See His Son Playing With The Metropolis Sharks On The Smallville High Field As Jonathan Arrives To Tell Him What A Nice Thing He Did For The Fordmans...

(Start At 0:53, End At 1:20)

Talking With Clark, He Admits To Lana That He Got Lex To Get The Sharks For Whitney As Lionel Owns The Whole Team Which Leads To Lana Kissing Clark On The Cheek...

Talking With Jonathan After, Both Him And Clark Make Up As The Episode Ends...

And That's Reaper And It's A Good Episode...

The Story Was Interesting, The Characters Were Mostly Well Written, The Villain (If You Can Really Call Tyler A Villain, It Seemed Like He Wanted To Help People More Than Just Kill Them Willy Nilly) Was Good And I Didn't Have That Many Problems With The Episode So I Say See It...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...