#I don't like dungeon crawls

[vodika-vibes]

I'm thinking about 501st DND nights.

Ahsoka is the DM. The books originally belonged to Obi-Wan, but he and his friends no longer have time to play, plus they have digital copies of the books. (Obi-Wan used DND to help Anakin learn how to read Basic when he first arrived at the temple and it was startlingly effective.)

When Ahsoka first mentioned the game to Skyguy, he said that she could, but only one night a week, and then he begged out, claiming that he had other things to do.

Rex also begged out, citing how busy he was all the time. But he directed her to some of the vod'e who would like to play.

Fives and Echo are the first full-time players. They bicker over what characters they're going to make but eventually come to a consensus. They make a pair of identical twins, one a wizard (Echo) and the other a Warlock (Fives).

The next full-time player is Kix, who makes a gunslinger and only shows up to every other session.

Jesse shows up to the first couple of sessions and then has to pull out, but Hardcase is happy to take his place, with a sword and board Paladin.

Tup is invited to join the game when he joins the 501st, and he hems and haws over it, but ends up joining the game and making a bard who accidentally keeps encouraging NPCs to form unions and rebel against the government. (Ahsoka finds it hilarious and leans into it).

Dogma is the last person invited to join. He considers it for a day and then borrows the Player's Handbook and the DMG, and he reads both cover to cover. When he comes to his first session, he comes with his fully made character, a rogue.

Everyone thought that Dogma would be a rules lawyer, and in a way he is. The problem is Dogma learned the rules so well that he knows exactly what to do to go around the rules.

As a result, Ahsoka has to come up with a contingency for any possible solution that Dogma comes up with. She's the most prepared DM who's ever DMed.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Welcome to the Dungeons of Fear and Hunger.

[fallloverfic]

I am legitimately confused by repeated comments that ORV's opening is slow or boring or uninteresting, especially people who say you need to read [insert some very large number of pages/chapters] to get to the "good" parts. I've seen this on multiple socials at this point and I originally wrote this post months ago, but recent potential news has brought back people saying this again, particularly in recommending it to other people/trying to get other people into it.

I would personally argue that ORV has a good opening. A very good opening. And the early part of it is very good, too.

ORV opens with a literal train of angst, attempted friendship, workplace harassment (Sangah getting harassed by her boss), some neat Korean folklore (dokkaebis hello), graphic violence (remember when Bihyung just kills the president on TV?), a group of people in a subway attempting to beat an old woman to death, Dokja winning a pissing contest with a teenage edgelord, a bunch of people getting murdered, bonding in times in despair over a really unique form of problem solving, a man breaking open subway doors with his bare arms, young love, and magic, fleeing onto a bridge that gets exploded to bits by an evil gremlin, a horde of zombies appearing, the protagonist getting new magic powers, and then his getting held by the neck over said broken bridge in a complex back and forth with the "true" story protagonist before getting dropped into the mouth of a giant sea monster.

It covers topics like the limits of human compassion in times of strife, the complicated presence of the military (Dokja hated his time being drafted v Hyunsung's military leadership doesn't save anyone), international relations (Sangah is learning Spanish), trope subversion (I mean it is and isn't the entire book and Dokja's character, but he's constantly trying to be 5-10 steps ahead of what's going on, including literally fleeing Joonghyuk until Joonghyuk grabs him by the collar), workplace harassment, bullying, and it's all taking place during multiple apocalypse scenarios.

This is the like first 11 chapters of the book. And it never stops. There are "slower" moments, moments where characters take a breather (like it takes a while for Dokja to negotiate his contract with Bihyung, which is slow if you ignore the fact Dokja is arguing with an interdimensional being/alien for the limits of his own life and autonomy in the most dangerous streaming event imaginable, knowing he may still die if he gambles wrong on his personal wikipedia brain), but it's still frequently confrontational, whether that confrontation is about what characters mean to each other, what lives are at stake, finding your purpose in life, adaptability to complex circumstances, overcoming trauma and self-doubt...

And it's more intense in a way in the manhwa adaptation because you can clearly see most of it visualized (e.g., how visually wrecked the characters get, how young the kids are, how terrifying the monsters are, how scary the odds are, and how dangerous Dokja's gambles can really get with a fickle streaming audience), and Sleepy-C's art is gorgeous.

I just have to wonder (though this is more of a rhetorical question), what on earth do people consider fast? Because I am quite honestly terrified of what the answer is.

Like I get that ORV is long. It can be hard to recommend very long books to folks (and as the manhwa keeps going, long comics). To each their own, everyone is different, what appeals to me won't appeal to others. But there's a difference between "it's hard to recommend a very long work to someone" and "it's hard to recommend something that's long and takes a while to get into", and maybe folks are just writing the former a bit weirdly. I completely understand having trouble recommending long series to people. Also ORV has a very complex plot and I don't blame folks having trouble recommending that. I'm writing fic for later parts of orv and other manhwa and I dread explaining all the context for all that to someone who hasn't read them.

That being said, ORV has a very good introduction. Both chapter 1 of the novel and episode 1 of the manhwa are very good. They're not perfect, I can't say I was hooked from the immediate moment I started reading the page, but both of them have good introductions and it doesn't stop, and there's stuff to love in just about every chapter/episode, and I was definitely hooked enough by the time I finished to keep going to chapter/episode 2. Chapter 1 of the novel has great angst and character building, and it's funny and sweet and tragic. When I first read Dokja trying, earnestly, to recommend TWSA and getting harassed about it and worrying it will hurt this art and artist he cares about, but not being able to do much else to give thanks for this experience because of his circumstances, I cried. The first page/episode of the manhwa has them delicious boys love vibes and gorgeous art (and cute baby Dokja, I die for him), and the promise of a fascinating story ahead, and then the following page/episode has more gorgeous art and angst and great characters (combining them cause the first page feels sort of more like a teaser than a first page, though Episode 0 ends with a spread of Kimcom that makes me tear up). We'll unfortunately never know if I'd have loved ORV as much if I'd read the novel first, but I like to think I would cause ORV's opening is just that good.

I just truly, truly do not understand the sentiment that idk the opening and the first [insert large number of pages/chapters] aren't good or interesting or engaging enough. Maybe I'm out of touch. To each their own on what appeals, maybe I'm built different (doubt it though) but it just feels kind of dismissive of ORV's opening, in both the novel and the manhwa, which are both really good. Will it win over everyone? No. It's fine if you weren't grabbed by the opening or the first [insert however many pages/chapters/arcs]. It's fine if you took a while, even a long while to get into it, or never really did, and maybe don't like the manhwa, which is a great gateway into the story, or don't like the novel for whatever reason and prefer the manhwa. And at the end of the day it's just random opinions online, we all have different ones. Make the posts that appeal to you on your blog, complain on your socmed, whatever. But the opening is good, it keeps you very engaged with a lot of difficult scenarios, the characters are great and fun and funny, in those parts especially, and idk why I'm supposed to pretend that's not the case.

Anyway I don't like writing complaint posts. The opening and general start are excellent and Imma go back and cry over Dokja again ty singNsong for my tears.

[shopcat]

would LOVE to hear your thoughts on a ty lee x suki situation !!

HEHE ohhhh you. okay. WELL i think they would be really cute together to be honest. their dynamic has a lot of really interesting facets to it to me!!

to me, suki seems to be... not necessarily a Control Freak, but someone who knows pretty quickly exactly what she wants to do, how to do it and what is the efficient way to do so. she has a very analytical and tactical way of thinking, as well as being very team-oriented, which makes sense obviously, but gives the impression to me that she has a lot of pride and security IN knowing what to do, and doesn't like not having this control. she tends to do what she think is best in a situation and take the lead, like at the boiling rock for example. (this is also why i think she gets along with sokka so well imo as the Controller of all the control freaks that he is).

ty lee, at least at one point, represented a very literal manifestation of someone who could take away this control VERY easily. iirc suki even particularly notes/is aware of ty lee's specific threat and takes a lot of care in avoiding her, which beyond the normal like battle acumen of being aware of your enemy's strengths, indicates chi blocking in particular is something she's genuinely afraid of at least imo. this makes a lot of sense to me with what i've already established as a part of suki's character, and is also Very Interesting considering. suki has always been a very confident and resilient character, and something to shake that confidence in a believable way is always interesting to see, even if it's the very literal confidence-shaking of what having a crush is like.

i think it's a very funny thing where, for plot reasons alone, ty lee met the kyoshi warriors minus suki, and taught them chi blocking, purely because suki just wasn't there and didn't get the chance. additionally thinking of the dynamic at play at least initially of suki being separated from her group for this length of time time who have now since reunited with her after absorbing this other, new member, who was previously a threat that suki is WELL aware of the scope of, but one that is also trying to do her best and make amends (which is, we know, also a weakness of suki's in particular, even if sokka's situation was on a... less dramatic scale. lol), and the tensions of that may rise from there...

and like. well. c'mon. PRIVATE LESSONS involving touching the other person's body + the added tension of suki's potential insecurities regarding this... c'mon.

i also think it's really fun that they're pretty much always presented as a pair (which i know is just because ty lee is like, the only established and known other character in the group, but. gift horse, etc). plus, i have always enjoyed the dynamic of leader + second in command and the complexities of trust/duty/devotion that exist there... idet the kyoshi warriors have an established hierarchy like this but honestly being second-in-command in everything but name is even better. they're always front and centre!!

staying up on GUARD DUTY together... !!!

i think ty lee is one of the most interesting female characters from the fire nation full stop and it drives me CRAZY the way people almost... sand her down, i guess? they sort of tend to fall for the bubbly, perky loosey-goosey positive Ty Lee of it all and forget to incorporate how she's a master martial artist and seemingly the only person on fucking earth who knows how to chi block people, something she also, you can assume, taught herself, as well as being emotionally, politically and tactically brilliant and incredibly combat-able and competant otherwise. beyond the obviously ripe two-nonbenders-in-a-bending-world of it all, i think suki would of all people be able to admire these traits as something she can relate to and more than anything be able see ty lee as the complex and multifaceted individual she is, which is obviously something that would be super signficiant and touching for ty lee.

it's also kind of like, wild that people DO seem to forget this, as well, or they just don't think about it too deeply i guess, because to me while i don't think ty lee is in any way like, excessively inauthentic i do think the combination of being one of azula's only, trusted friends and the political landscape she grew up in as a child of a noble herself results in a character who very much so knows what she's fucking doing. i think she happily takes advantage of the way people perceive her as a pretty obvious bait-and-switch situation where they underestimate her and then she brutally and efficiently takes them down, something which those who do know her are both aware of but somehow fall for at the same time. while i don't think ty lee is MANIPULATIVE, or even malicious at all in that regard, i do think she's very keen in this way and i for one don't underestimate that.

(something that comes to mind is the whole bit where azula was trying to recruit her and the like, "the universe is giving me some pretty big signs [to join you]" thing. i think the perception that she says this because she truly believes a net being set on fire is some sort of mystical sign from the universe is... truthfully insane to just believe w/no second thought, personally, when it's pretty clear to me she's recognising that she needs to do this in order to keep herself and her newfound livelihood let's say... in line, and is able to fall back on that predisposed perception of her in a way that doesn't raise azula's (master manipulator that SHE IS) guard like, at all, which is very impressive imo. while i do think she is her very authentic, true to life self, i think she also uses this as a sort of mask between both her and the real world, and possibly her and her real feelings on things. i think this is why she's so offended when people regard her as airheaded, bc everything she does is planned out, even down to having a boy use his own body to block the sun from her eyes. and, like with when she chose mai, when she knows what she needs to do she just... does it!)

going off of that, i think the assumption that ty lee is just a naturally gifted acrobat is also incredibly insane to me. we already know that re: her sisters, ty lee herself choose acrobatics as a hobby to create a sense of individualism, also creating a unique nightmare where her acrobatics ability is tied up into her sense of self, her quote unquote usefulness to azula and in part the FN itself, and also at one point is her only way to protect herself. i think the skills she has are very obviously something she trained hard for for a long time, and the abilities she possesses seem to be an entirely unique to her way of fighting along with incorporating something that is, again, genuinely very scary to a lot of people, and the idea that it all is just something that comes naturally to her is like, kind of insulting...? we literally see her CONSTANTLY stretching, too.

i think suki OF ALL PEOPLE can definitely admire and relate to this, as someone who follows a strict traditional style of martial arts that she trains probably every day and has a lot of personal pride in. (as well as, pretty obviously, them both being proficient in nonbender combat that highlights unique abilities, i.e. fan VS chi blocking). who are they, both of them, beyond being a warrior? i also well highly doubt the environment ty lee grew up in both allowed mistakes or lack of dedication, and didn't exactly foster being something of a team player, which is something that could create some Potential Conflicts as she's settling (i think there's even a bit in the more recent comics where azula says ty lee's uniform is slowing her down, and i KNOW that would frustrate the hell out of her, really)... the strange loyalty of azula, mai and ty lee, who existed as a group but not, princess and her weapons, childhood friends who weren't allowed to actually be friends, three individuals together with their own distinct traits but not actually Together, until ty lee chose mai, are... not exactly the tight knit group and well-oiled machine that are the kyoshi warriors, despite appearances. what ultimately leads to azula's breakdown was the hollow facade of it all. :(

suki's distinctive position as the capital L leader of a class of highly trained warriors is also really interesting to me for a lot of reasons, specifically to do with how i think she views herself, as both part of the group and separate from it entirely, and the unique way that she seems to me at least to actually be a very self-reliant person despite of course loving her girls and relying heavily on them. it's just an compelling character juxtaposition is all... i think ty lee is also, in a way, like this, if only as someone who could never truly "rely" on azula, and, up until she knew she could, even mai. on a lighter and related note, ty lee definitely has been Known to crush on people who boss her around LMFAO, and i also think it's very funny that they both at one point had a crush on sokka 😭.

LASTLY, ty lee's reluctance to be part of a matched set and then... joining a group of people who are a matched set is something i think about all the time, esp bc i know in the comics she LEAVES the group and then later comes back (which suki is very happy about... heh...). i know a lot of people think it's like, lazy writing, but i think it's ultimately very sweet that ty lee seemingly is working towards overcoming her insecurities regarding falling into the crowd, especially because of the way the kyoshi warriors seem to rely ON their uniform and inability to tell them apart in the heat of battle to their advantage. much like the way ty lee would use the way others perceive her, may i add. i think her working through this could also add another layer to their relationship, as well as the old "i'd know you even if your identity WAS obscured" trope.

anyways. basically i think they could work really well together. for some more like dot point reasons, i like the bubbly exuberant x levelheaded analytical dynamic as well as the subverted expectation that suki is the quote unquote more dangerous one when ty lee is the actual guard dog, and how they both share those traits when necessary. also just on a lesser note i think it's fun that suki has the whole headcanon of earth-kingdom-but-blue-eyes, possibly water tribe descended thing + fire-nation-with-grey-eyes, ty lee being possibly air nomad descended. "i may be a warrior, but i'm also a girl" applying to them both.

i like how duty and pride plays a big part in both of their characters, and the potential of ty lee reworking and reframing what this truly means to her through training with suki... i like the idea them being devoted to each other the way a knight is devoted to a princess as a subversion of the clouded, duty-and-fear driven dynamic of ty lee and azula's childhood dynamic, the way a leader is devoted to her people and therefore how this love is returned by suki, how it equalised through their devotion to each other through simple friendship. if suki is perhaps doomed or maybe just destined to always be seperate and Other, how ty lee is now able to stand WITH her. i'd like to maybe see a situation where suki maybe steps DOWN as leader and what she would do other than being this role that is such a big part of her, how she'll never stop BEING a kyoshi warrior but how she's also just a teenage girl who needs time to heal TOO.... well. in conclusion. Yuri wins forever.

future edit: if anyone wants additional reading this as well >:)

[obessivedork]

Fallout 4's biggest crime is that I & 99% of the OCs I'm interested in creating and playing would never in a MILLION years agree to name a kid Shawn. I don't have anything against the name or people with it, but it is very much not one I would ever pick or say yes to when there are other names to pick from unless my partner had a REALLY strong sentimental reason. Even THEN I would negotiate and see if we can't have it as a middle name rather than a first name.

[alicenpai]

BABES WAKE UP. DUNGEON MESHI TRAILER DROPPED

come talk to me at anime north tomorrow about dungeon meshi im all caught up 🥹🫶

seeing this tankobon obi from a while back with the anime announcement on it feels so nostalgic now!!!

edit: Lines in Motion is so real for this one. love their video essays

[mementoasts]

jonathan sims head archivist of the magnus institute london

[junonreactor]

my pull luck in limbus has been almost impressively bad for this banner

[nexus-nebulae]

so like. in our current minecraft world. we spawned in a MASSIVE plains biome and its hard to farm trees so we barely have enough storage space. except we have the Graveyard mod. and spawned right next to a massive one. so uh. coffins are pretty good storage.

[translucio]

idk how they did it but cult of the lamb is just so hard to put down. i think it's the incredibly juicy feedback for literally everything (particles! cute funny sounds! filled up the meter now it's empty again! lizard brain go brrr) + how extremely short the gameplay loops are (5-15min runs, 8 min days, most minigames are like 10-30sec with the exception of knucklebones which is like 1-2mins) + how despite having limited content they really stretch the replayability and give you tons of unlockable stuff as rewards. it's TIGHT and very impressive

[moe-broey]

I am...... getting A Little nostalgic for Stardew Valley........ but I know it is SUCH a commitment like if I get back into that shit I'm blacking out for a month. I Cannot Allow It

[nilesmoon]

oh I haven't done a infinite wealth update here. I am at chapter 6 and let me tell you. I am doing everything but the main story (I am also 30+ hours in)

[multimask]

You know your next dnd session is gonna be a Fun one when the DM asks you if you want to run a mock convo ahead of time

[darkbluekies]

In the dungeon

yandere!king oc x fem!reader

Summary: after disrespecting him, you've found yourself in his dungeon. Edmund comes to visit you because he has heard that you haven't eaten in three days

Warnings: self starvation, punishment, toxic relationship,

Word count: 1.1k

He doesn't like it, but what choice does he have? If people found out that he doesn't punish his own wife, what would they think of him? That he's not a well respected leader because he can't even punish his own wife? No, he can't have that. He has to do it. But by doing it, he also feels pain, so it's a punishment for both of you. That's how he explained it.

You had disrespected him, belittled him and his masculinity. And now you're here. Easier said than done. Saying the words to him was easier than doing the time for them.

Your head hangs low as footsteps echo down the spiral stone stairs. You don't look up to see who it is, don't care who it is. Another guard to switch swift.

“Oh, my love …”

You look up. Edmund is standing on the other side of the metallic bars, wearing his clean, colorful clothes made out of the finest satin. He places a plate with a silver cloche on the bench beside him. You pull yourself up from the floor slowly, back sore from resting against the stone wall for eternity and stomach empty. Edmund's ice blue eyes follow your every step. It's not often that they contain any type of emotion, but seeing you like this brings out a deep worry that seems to make his eyes glow.

You drag yourself over to the door, which is nothing more than metallic bars. You hold onto one of the cold metal rods. Edmund places his hand over yours.

“The guards have told me that you haven't eaten in three days”, he says softly, as if you could break if he raised his voice even a decibel louder. “You can't do that, Y/N. You can't worry me like this.”

As if he would have eaten that stale bread and drink that moldy water, you think.

“Can I come up now?” you whisper. “I want to get out of here”, you cry weakly. “Edmund, please …”

Edmund shakes his head carefully.

“No, not yet”, he answers with a heavy sigh. “It's going to be okay, darling”, he reassures you softly, kissing the hand he's holding. “Soon, you'll be back with me, okay? Believe me, I want nothing more than to let you back upstairs and have you in my arms, but they would think I was incompetent in my role.”

He wipes one of your tears apologetically.

“Do you care more about your power than you do me?” you whisper.

He looks taken aback, unable to know what to answer.

“Don't be like that”, he says. “You know I love you more than anything else.”

But not enough, apparently, you think and sniffle.

He looks behind you, around the cell.

“I brought some food from the kitchen”, he says. “I want to see you eat it before I leave.”

He gestures for the guard to unlock the door as he bends down to pick up the plate. You back away from the door, finding your safe spot on the floor by the opposite wall. Edmund walks over, checking the floor before hesitantly sitting down.

“Do you have to sit on the dirty floor?” he mumbles dislikingly.

“I like it”, you reply.

“Alright, alright.”

Despite grimacing and dusting of his satin clothes, he makes himself comfortable on the hard, dirty floor and opens the cloche. The smell of boiled potatoes and marinated meat meets your nose, and the sight is even more exquisite. He takes out a silver fork from his pocket, stabs one of the potatoes and holds it to your lips. You open your mouth, letting him feed you. It tastes better than you remember it to. It has only been a week since you got locked down in the dungeon, but without anything to do, without necessities and comfort, the hours creep by. For all you could care, a month could have gone by. The only form of company you've had have been the rats crawling around on the floor, just big enough to squeeze through the metal bars. They bite.

“Tasty?” Edmund asks.

You nod. Anything that the kitchen prepares is delicious — or at least a thousand times better than the rock hard bread and dusty water.

“Good”, the young king says, pleased, feeding you another fork full of meat. “It makes me feel better to see you eat.”

Eating the food he has brought for you reminds you of how badly you want to vet out of here … and how much your comfort relies on Edmund.

Edmund wipes away a sauce smudge on the corner of your lips and sticks it between his lips to lick it off. You doubt he would do that to anyone else. Ever. He has certain liberties with you which he has with no one else. He can hug you, touch you, smile at you, joke with you. You give him life in a way no one can.

“You should see how restless my hours without you are”, he sighs and rolls his eyes. “I'm a walking bomb without you. I almost feel bad for my secretary.”

“Then let me back up …”, you whisper, a last attempt to try to plead with him. “Please.”

“I can't. Not yet. I've already given you special treatment and advantages no one else has gotten. If I let you back upstairs before an appropriate time my authority will be questioned.”

“I'm sorry, Edmund.”

Your voice is barely audible. His hand stops dead in its track on its way to your mouth. A drop of sauce falls down on the floor. You can see that it hit him right in his heart, shattering it.

“Oh, I know”, he reassures you and feeds you the piece of meat. “I know, darling. I believe you.”

You chew slowly, swallow slowly. The food seems to get stuck in your throat.

“Good girl”, Edmund praises. “You can hold out a little while longer, can't you? Just a few more days?”

You nod in defeat. What other choice do you have now that your pleading didn't work?

Edmund stands up. You follow him panicked, quickly reaching out and grabbing his hand.

“No!” you shriek. “Dont leave me. I don't want to be alone!”

“It's getting late”, Edmund answers. “I thought that I would let you get some rest.”

“No … not alone … please. Please stay. Just a little while longer.”

He thinks for a second. “Okay.”

You breathe out in relief. He sits down with his back against the wall, letting you fall asleep against him, wrapped in his warm, strong arms. Leaving him alone with his thoughts — his conflicting, torturing thoughts.

When you wake up the following morning by the sun shining through the little window pane you're alone, lying on the floor, covered by a colorful cape made out of the finest satin.

[thydungeongal]

I think people who play D&D despite its combat focus is, and correct me if I heard this wrong from them, but like... the idea is that they don't like combat, so having a big, chunky combat engine is good somehow??? because the rules don't interfere??? with The Roleplay TM.

Or as my GM said it: "I prefer D&D because I don't have to worry about rules when we're Roleplaying TM and it gets combat out of the way"

I don't get it. I don't. I tried asking why the hell you'd play a game with this much Combat Time and I can't get a straight answer. Like, not having combats is somehow impossible. It's required. But also bad, annoying, and must be codified so the GM can turn brain off BUT ALSO have so many rules you are Brain On, wait 15 minutes i gotta check the book heavy.

I think it's legitimately a toxic meme (in the academic sense of the word) being spread to make people think D&D is not about dungeons but "Whatever You Want uwu" or something.

Maybe you can help because I am on the verge of having an aneurysm here.

There's a lot of stuff that plays into this all too common sentiment.

First of all, there's this idea going around in D&D circles that Combat and Roleplay are two things that are not to touch. You see this expressed quite a lot by fans of D&D, the notion that once combat begins roleplaying stops. This is of course a silly notion, because combat is also roleplay, and it's even more silly coming from the players of the game whose rules are 80% combat.

But once you've established in your mind that roleplaying and combat are two, fundamentally incompatible modes of play and the game you're playing mostly has rules for combat and very little rules for stuff outside of combat (and the rules for combat aren't, at the end of the day, all that interesting) it's easy to draw the conclusion that roleplaying and rules are themselves at odds. @prokopetz has articulated this much better than me, and to paraphrase him: in the dichotomy of combat vs. role-playing, combat actually acts as a metonym for rules-mediated play as a whole. So it's your classic role-playing vs. roll-playing dichotomy, which not only smacks of elitism but is also, frankly, idiotic.

Anyway, once a person has drawn the conclusion that rules-mediated play and roleplaying are fundamentally at odds with each other it's easy to see where a person might draw the conclusion that having any rules that touch upon the "roleplaying" side of play would either needlessly restrict the roleplaying or somehow infringe upon the purity of roleplay. Within the dichotomy of role-playing vs. roll-playing role-playing is ultimately seen as basically free play where there are no rules and procedures in play, only to be broken off by the necessary evil of procedural scenes.

Where has this toxic meme come from? Well, sadly it's as old as the hobby itself. A lot of people who are fans of D&D still think they need to inject "real roleplaying" into the dungeon game to grant it legitimacy as a roleplaying game. This is, of course, bull-honkey. D&D, even played as purely a dungeon crawling challenge game with no pretensions of trying to tell a greater story beyond "the story of what happened during the events of the game" is still roleplaying, and ultimately it owes to a lot of D&D players themselves having bought into elitist notions about roleplaying games and not actually even liking the main supported mode of play of D&D.

Because if you take a look at what D&D as a game mostly supports, it's ultimately a challenge-based dungeon game, which is great and cool actually. But if one has a reductive notion of what counts as "real roleplaying," then, well, there's gotta be something wrong with this game. So actually the roleplaying isn't what the rules say and are actually a secret third thing and also it doesn't even matter what the rules say about the game, because system doesn't matter whatsoever.

You might see why, as a person who is passionate about game design and who loves the dungeon crawling challenge game playstyle, I might find this attitude grating.

And I definitely agree that it's a toxic meme, but D&D 5e play culture at this point is mostly a circlejerk about how the game actually is fine and how game design doesn't actually matter and how in those other games the rules actually get in the way of roleplay instead of doing what they actually do: act as a participant in the game on equal footing with the players and with an actual voice as to how the narrative should look like. Even D&D's rules are loudly opinionated about what the act of gameplay should look like, but these people have convinced themselves that the style of play D&D's rules are opinionated about is bad, actually, so in fact any type of rules that are opinionated about play are actually bad rules that get in the way of roleplaying.

Anyway, as a final note, while these ideas have been around for a very long time, there has been something of a resurgence of this idea, and Brennan Lee Mulligan is partly to blame. Brennan is a wonderful comedian and clearly a great entertainer, but he has also espoused the idea that D&D is good because it gets out of the way in the scenes which he is actually interested in (social, interactive scenes) and takes the reins in scenes which he's not interested in (combat scenes, procedural action scenes). I can sort of understand where he is coming from, and in fact the game taking the weight off the pedal during social scenes is great if your players are all extremely funny comedians like you. But it's also basically a playstyle where there are procedural, rules-mediated action scenes followed by essentially improvised, free play cutscenes where the rules themselves don't have anything to say. It doesn't play into the strengths of the medium, which is that the rules of the game are an active participant with an actual voice in the fiction and not just something to be sidelined. So like with all due respect to Brennan Lee Mulligan, but this is something where he simply is incurious and frankly fundamentally disconnected from what the purpose of rules in a tabletop roleplaying game is. The rules aren't there just to handle the boring stuff for you, because in a game you actually enjoy playing there shouldn't be any boring stuff! In a good game engaging with the rules shouldn't be boring! I play older editions of D&D because I like how the rules shape the act of dungeon-crawling and wilderness exploration! I play Monsterhearts because the rules are opinionated about the teen monster melodrama and they produce extremely cool and wildly volatile drama!

All of which is to say: the idea that the rules of a game are somehow diametrically opposed to the act of roleplay is a silly, toxic meme, and one that is often espoused by D&D players who have latched onto D&D because it was the first game they became aware of and who clearly want something more out of games but they have also convinced themselves that D&D is what all RPGs are and the idea that other RPGs might actually differ from D&D in terms of rules quality, how the act of play looks, and the type of play the rules actually incentivize is completely alien to them. A lot of D&D players have nothing but sneering contempt for the playstyle incentivized by D&D because they have convinced themselves that that playstyle is beneath them and not "real roleplaying," and I think those players should stop playing D&D and instead play games that actually support the playstyles they think are befitting real role-players. Also they should shut up and give me like a hundred dollars for being forced to read their posts.

[steviewashere]

I love you guys, so for WIP Wednesday, you get the first two and a half pages of my unnamed, but currently named "Steve Makes Eddie Apologize to Lucas for Not Postponing Hellfire for the Championship Game" fic. Uh, I don't think there's any warnings, but here we go.

You can read it here on Tumblr

Or you can read it here on AO3

——— “So, you and Eddie, huh?”

Steve startles at the sound of a voice, deep and hushed, from where he's been waiting in Hawkins High’s parking lot. Hellfire was supposed to be out by now—6:50pm if his watch is correct—it’s their first time back since March and it would be cordial. But it seems that only Lucas got that memo.

“Jesus Christ, Sinclair!” He yelps. Holds his right palm flat against his chest, trying his best to rescind the spike of panic that is crawling through him. “I thought I told you to quit doing that,” he harshly whispers, rubbing his palm against his shirt. The scratchy material of his polo a balm against his nerves.

“Sorry,” Lucas sheepishly murmurs. Speaking at a normal volume, he asks again, “So, you and Eddie?”

He rolls his eyes. “What about me and Eddie? Can’t I just hang out with the guy without being pestered?”

Lucas shrugs. “You can do whatever you want,” he states, but Steve can already tell there’s somehow more. “But I didn’t think you two would be…buddies. Considering how he feels about, y’know, sports and whatever.”

For a moment, Steve considers Lucas’s approach. His fidgeting hands and his slightly closed off eyes. The hunch to his shoulders and the general unease that accompanies talking about Eddie. Which, that’s particularly odd. Aren’t they buddies, Steve questions himself. Wrapped up in the Hellfire club, their mutual interest in Dungeons & Dragons, the ragtag group of nerds that they are—all of that is perfect for their oddball friendship, at least Steve thought so.

“What’s wrong with you and Eddie?” Steve asks, beating around the bush. He doesn’t do cryptic. And he especially doesn’t do it with somebody like Lucas, a kid already smarter than him by several margins.

There isn’t an answer right away. But Lucas’s shoulders drop. His eyes go from frustrated to…sad. “Remember my championship game?” He asks, though it seems a bit much of a topic change. What does this have to do with Eddie, Steve has to wonder.

“Well, yeah,” he answers instead, “I was there. Had a pathetic date with a girl I hardly enjoyed being around. Mocked Tammy Thompson with Robin. Watched you get that winning shot. It was a, genuinely, awesome championship game.” And that’s the truth. It’s the best one he’s ever witnessed. Which is saying something, considering he’d played several championship games. All of them, though, were major losses. He’ll take those to the grave with him, with how often his previous basketball teams teased him.

Lucas gives a harsh single nod, a small smile that whisks away as soon as it appears. “Right,” he mutters, “I remember.” He leans against the Beemer’s bumper, shoulder brushing with Steve’s. Looks forlorn towards the high school’s doors, where Eddie and the rest of the Hellfire bunch should be spilling out any moment now. Steve looks on with him. Listens as Lucas’s voice drops low, nearly angry, fully spiteful, “I begged Dustin and Mike to talk to Eddie about my game. To see if the Hellfire campaign—which would be happening the same night—could be moved. And I, look, I understand that D&D means a lot to all of them, it means something to me, too. But I was really hoping to see my friends there. If not my friends, then at least Erica.

“They didn’t move the campaign,” he states so bitter, Steve tastes the words on his own tongue, “apparently a game where you’re shooting ‘balls into laundry baskets’ is too…mainstream and norm-ie for Eddie. He refused to move his precious game. Then, get this, instead of getting some random kid to play, they egged Erica in.” Lucas drags his eyes away from the school, head turning slow to look at Steve. He follows suit, eyeing Lucas back. His stomach churns with the vitriol painting itself unsubtly across Lucas’s face. “Color me surprised, I guess, that he’s going out with a jock,” he states, voice carefully blank of anything.

Steve stares on at him. He didn’t know this was the case at all. Remembers getting the phone call about Dustin wanting him to play, but he figured that had something to do with him bugging Steve for the millionth time. Because that was something Dustin wanted. For Steve to play. And, granted, Steve refused because it was too nerdy—unimportant and embarrassing. Yet, now he’s looking into Lucas’s face. Where hurt etches itself like solid lines of chiseled marble. Being told, instead, that Eddie’s holding his own bias.

Maybe he hasn’t removed his biases towards high school nerds, not completely. But he’s coming undone from that mentality. Considering Nancy and Robin and Eddie—Dustin and Mike and Lucas—even Max, they’re all big nerds. They all have some sort of interest with Dungeons & Dragons or theater or video games and math. And he loves them all. Though, Steve’s never stopped to think about the opposite side of the coin. Tail-side, where balls in laundry baskets is considered taboo.

After a deep silence when Steve finally digests this information, his eyebrows furrow on their own accord. Mouth downturning into a harsh frown, one that he feels to the bottoms of his feet. He stops himself in time from balling his hands into fists, but the urge to do so snarls in him like a newly unmuzzled, wild dog. A dog, he thought, that he trained obedient away from his anger. But it seems like once the teeth are bared, they never truly hide away.

“That ass,” Steve snarks. “What—so I have to reconsider all my biases surrounding nerds, reconstruct how I view everybody around me, and realize how awesome it is. And—what—Eddie can just get away with that…bullshit? That’s…What the hell?” There’s a little bit more of a bite to his words than he had anticipated. But it really isn’t fair. The table turns and he’s better for it, sure, but Eddie just…That’s not fair. The dog growls louder, drool burbling in its chops, a bark forming in the back of its throat.

———