#as long as you're not an asshole

[royalarchivist]

Bad: I don’t think people understand the effect QSMP had on some of the streamers in terms of like… The real raw mental impact, so I’m gonna set the stage for you. [...] Imagine that you were given a friend to play Minecraft with — like your best friend — BUT if this person dies, if they die in the game, you never get to talk to them again. Can you imagine what that’s like?

Bad: If you did not live through the QSMP, if you did not live through that, it almost sounds like, crazy. But I don’t think people realize how much of a joyous experience the Eggs were. They were SO awesome! They were literally so awesome to just hang out with and spend time with.

Bad: I’m not saying I regret it. To this day, I loved the experience. I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Even knowing how everything went, I would still do it all over again. [...] I would still do it all over again, because — even knowing like, all the trauma and suffering and stuff like that — because it was just… It was just that fun, it was just that fun.

Earlier today during his stream, Bad shared his experience and thoughts about the Eggs and the significant emotional (and traumatic) impact they had on him and his fellow QSMP members.

This clip a very edited-down version since his commentary was ~13 minutes long, so I highly recommend checking out Bad's VOD if you have the time. (Timestamp: 47:36 - 1:00:14)

[ Full Transcript ↓ ]

———

Bad: To be fair Chat, I really think the QSMP... I don't think anyone really can relate to it, Chat. It's something that's so... I've told people this before, like– but it's hard to understand. Right? Like...

Where was I? Sorry Chat, I'm losing my train of thought. Look, let me explain Chat– here's the dealio, ok? Here's the dealio, and this is what I mean when I say like, it's important to keep this in mind, Chat. Ok? It's important to keep this in mind:

I don’t think people understand the effect that the QSMP had on like, some of the streamers, in terms of like… The real raw mental impact, so I’m gonna set the stage for you. This is the analogy I’ve given to every person who I’ve like, shared this with. Imagine you meet somebody– [He hears a strange noise] What the fudge was that? Did you hear that?

Anyway– Chip! The story I was just relaying to Chat, Chip, was this: I was sharing this story with them, I said–  I was giving them an analogy. 

Imagine Chat, for example, imagine that you were… playing Minecraft, with like– you were given a friend to play Minecraft with, Chat, like your best friend, and [unintelligible] were like, “Hey, you get to play Minecraft with this person, right? BUT if this person dies – they’re currently your best friend, Chip – but if they die in the game, you never get to talk to them again. Ever again.” Can you imagine what that’s like, Chip?

I don’t think a lot of people understand like, what that does, right? I’m not gonna say that like, it creates this situation, Chip, that like, messes with your head, but it– Chip – but it totally, totally does, Chip. It messes with your head! It literally puts you in a position where you’re second-guessing and thinking about everything, Chip! You’re thinking about EVERYTHING Chip! Ok? And that’s the problem, Chip– is you turn into a paranoid monster because of it, Chip! Like, you don’t understand Chip– I was- I was so afraid of every dirt block, I used to carry a shovel with me Chip, and I would specifically right-click dirt blocks that looked suspicious because mines, Chip– mines could not be shoveled! Like, I was crazy, Chip! But here’s the problem, Chip: that craziness is still there. I’m genuinely like–

I remember thinking Chip, that I would one day– I was like, “I’m going to move past–” here, let’s go up here, Chip. I remember thinking one day Chip, I was like, “I’m gonna move past the underground base, one of these days. You know, one of these days, I feel like I’ll be able to grow and achieve the desire to build a base that doesn’t have to be underground.” But I don’t think it’s possible now Chip, because I think… I just don’t know. I feel like the paranoia– there’s still like, residual leftover trauma from that situation, Chip.

But here’s the problem Chip: I don’t think I don’t think– I don’t think people understand it. Like, I just really don’t. But I also don’t blame them Chip, ‘cuz I don’t think it’s possible to fully understand it if you haven’t lived through it. Like, if you did not live through the QSMP… I’m talking about the QSMP, I don’t- I don’t know if that was obvious– if you did not live through that, it almost sounds like, crazy. But I don’t think people realize how much of a joyous experience like, the Eggs were. Right? I don’t think people realize it. Like, they were SO awesome! They were literally so awesome to just hang out with and spend time with, Chip. So, it’s just one of those things that–

[He’s interrupted by a loud rumble of thunder above them]

Did lightning just strike here? Is it thunderstorming out…? But anyway, Chip. That’s the food for thought.

But that’s the problem– Like, every time it rains in Minecraft, I have to like, look at the sky, and I get this weird, like, second--hand vibe because of the trauma. The trauma, Chip! The trauma is real! But that’s the point– I’m not saying I regret it. I, to this day Chip, I loved the experience. I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Even knowing how everything went, I would still do it all over again. 

[He falls down] Dangit, don’t come over here Chip, ‘cuz I’m coming back up! Ok.

I would still do it all over again, because — even knowing like, all the trauma and suffering  and stuff like that — because it was just… It was just that fun, Chip, it was just that fun. I really wi– I don’t think it’s ever gonna be possible, Chip, to give people that same energy, like that same experience. You know what I mean, Chip? I don’t think it’s ever gonna be possible again. Like, EVER.

Because… because like, one: I will say on one level Chip, I will say on one level, like– it’s sort of emotionally like… It’s emotionally devastating, and I think to actually go through that– and this is where like, if I ever do end up going to a– see a therapist, if I ever do end up going to see a therapist at any point, I’ll talk it over with them and be like, “Hey, what do you think about this?” Because I genuinely think on one level, like– it’s created this fear of forming attachments because of like, how things can go. You know what I mean? Like, the fear of getting attached to something and then potentially losing it. Like, it’s- it’s a genuine thing. I think people forget about that.

Like, at the end of the day, everything was RP, right? On the server. You know what I mean? Like, everything was RP, Chip. BUT at the same point, even though it was RP Chip, it was still like– there the reality of you were still playing like, with another person, and you were still getting that experience, and it felt like you were genuinely attached to someone and you didn’t want anything bad to happen to them. It was GENUINELY stressful, Chip.

But at the same point, I don’t regret it, and I don’t think it was a bad experience. I’m– 

Sometimes in life Chip, you go through stuff, and maybe you have a certain amount of like, things that like, can happen, that you’re like, “You know what, maybe this wasn’t a good thing that this happened,” but at the same point, you still aren’t necessarily upset about it, because… it’s like growing as a person, right? Here’s the thing Chip; even bad situations, Chip, can lead to an overall good outcome. Like–

Even if you’re going through something bad Chip, just because a bad thing happens doesn’t mean that only bad things have to come from that. That’s one of the things I tell people all the time, Chip, is that if you go through a bad situation, you can learn from it, and you can use your experience to help others. And you can be that– you can be, at the worst-case scenario, you can be someone for other people who are going through that same experience to lean on when they go through that.I think there’s a certain amount of comfort that comes from that; from knowing no matter how bad your situation is, you’re not the only person who’s experienced it. You know what I mean?

[nellasbookplanet]

I've been thinking about Mollymauk, as I'm periodically wont to do, and the fandom discussion about him as a moral compass. Because the interesting thing here is, Molly wasn’t a very moral character. He was an unrepentant scammer. He had no respect for interpersonal boundaries and would deliberately push and break them. Generally, he was an asshole. As far as actually having a strong moral stance I would say Fjord was the standout of early m9, and to some extent Beau.

But here’s the thing: almost all of early m9 thought of themselves as horrible people. Fjord had been bullied so bad growing up that he still dealt with self-hate from it, and now suffered from survivor's guilt to boot. Caleb had killed his own parents. Beau, while she hated her dad, also had internalized self-hate and on some level thought she’d been such a shitty daughter she deserved his treatment. Nott was stuck in a body she considered monstrous. Yasha had survivor's guilt and knew she’d done bad things in her blank spots. Even when they did good, they didn’t think of themselves as good. Most of them were suspicious and asocial and faced the world with the same kind of distrust they expected to be (and were experienced in being) met with. (Jester was an exception, an agent of neither good nor bad but of amoral chaos)

But Molly was different. He was outspoken about loving life and people. He wanted to spread joy, even to people he didnt know or had even met: he slipped coin into people's pockets, hid a silver in a tree just so some stranger would one day be happy to find it. He openly cared for the party early on; was one of the first to step in and help Caleb when he went catatonic in battle. Above all, Molly had rules: where everyone else would agonize over what was the right or wrong or smart thing to do, Molly loudly proclaimed we don't leave people behind, and we leave every place better than we found it.

But the thing about Molly’s rules was, they were largely a cover. While the rest of the m9 thought they were bad even as they did good, Molly thought of himself as good even as he did bad. He scammed people, but made it a good and memorable experience, therefore thinking he gave more than he took. He charmed Nott and Fjord without consent, and when confronted would claim it was to help them. Out of the group, Beau saw through this, not because she was a better person but because she was a cynic. She saw that he caused harm, just as she did, and was personally affronted that he still thought of himself as good and tried to leave people happy, whereas she deliberately left every place worse than she found it.

I see Molly as a moral compass of the group not because he was actually any more moral than them, but because they made him their template. He was joy and brightness and he died trying to save them because it was the right thing to do, and they all chose to honor him by emulating his rules more than Molly himself ever did, because to them it was more than just a cover, backed up by genuine moral thought and discussion rather than small gestures. He taught them that it was possible to be kind of a shit person and still be good, to still love yourself and others. The idealized Molly they created never existed, and finally died for good when they resurrected him in the end and were met with a stranger, who they welcomed with the same love and care they would've expected Molly to show them.

[spacedace]

Okay but the Justice League finds out their new baby hero teammate Phantom is the Ghost King by virtue of the Fright Night showing up while they're in the middle of a meeting, looking terrifying and such and scaring the shit out of everyone- even more so when Constantine starts freaking out over the fact that the sworn night of the King of the Infinite Realms is in the Watchtower what the fuck that's apocalyptically bad Pariah Dark is supposed to be locked the fuck up forever - but instead of trying to smite them all or yeet them into the nightmare dimension he just pulls out a space themed packed lunch??? And gives it to Phantom??

And the mildly eldritch giant murder ghost is talking about how "The Queen Mother commanded me to ensure you ate my Lord, she says you missed your morning meal."

And Phantom is just grumbling about over protective sisters and "there's a cafeteria i would have been fine" what the fuck is happening right now?

What do you mean "oops you forgot" Phantom I thought the ghost thing was just a theme!

[thankstothe]

One liners the sequel

[pa-pa-plasma]

hey i feel like we're really sleeping on that time Danny possessed Vlad & framed him for assaulting a minor

Editing with the clip because people don't believe me. Episode is 41: Eye for an Eye.

[haleigh-sloth]

Isagi has literally always been like this

[sleepanonymous]

I just want to put in my two cents on the whole band identity thing since stuff is going around atm: As far as I am aware, please feel free to correct me if I am wrong, Vessel and the rest of the band have never explicitly stated that the masks are supposed to hide their identities for safety purposes.

Vessel said in that Metal Hammer interview that music is pushed based on who or who isn’t in a band, and that their identities are unimportant. To me, this says that their masks are a form of commentary against the popularity contest/politics within the modern music industry.

Not doxxing/harassing/doing other harmful behaviors to the band members should be the bare minimum and common sense, but of course, people have shown us and the band otherwise and I understand that has made some within the fandom become even more protective/vigilant with information related to the identities in the band.

That being said, I personally don’t see any issue with knowing who they are if you want to know and it shouldn’t be looked down on within the fandom. I think there can be a respectful divide between those who know and those who don’t want to. I found out by accident, but knowing what I know has given me a much deeper appreciation for Sleep Token in all of its iterations in a way I don’t think I would have gotten to otherwise.

I think some fans feel as though they’re betraying the band by knowing their identities and I disagree with that level of stigma. I can’t imagine any of the guys being offended about their fans looking into past projects/bands they’ve been involved in, and having huge support from all of us if one or more members decided to do a solo feature for another band would be incredible!

In my opinion, I think we need to reframe how their identities are handled within the fandom at large: they’re not in witness protection, they just prefer for their audience to put the majority of their focus on the music instead of the people playing it. It’s obvious that Vessel takes great pride in his craft and, based on the MH interview, it seems like his main goal here is to have his music speak for itself instead of becoming another soulless corporate shill. Just something for all of us to consider and I’d love to know your thoughts as well.

Worship.

So sorry it took a few days to respond to this ask. I wanna be a little less subjective to give you a platform, Anon, but you are correct in the fact that Vessel and the band never said their anonymity was explicitly for safety (although there’s a valid argument that that is a given assumption, as you also stated).

If needed for context, the quote from the Amped Up Kerrang Article (idk if you meant this article, Anon, or if Ves said something in one of the Metal Hammer ones and I forgot; lmk in another ask or dm and i’ll add to this post):

“Art has become entangled with identity,” Him says of the band’s anonymity. “The aim is to provide something people can engage with without being obstructed by the identity of its creator. The true identities behind Sleep Token are irrelevant. Our identity is represented through the art and music itself.”

I do believe their anonymity is both a device for creating more powerful music as well as a clever way to market the band. Humans are naturally curious and we are drawn to mysteries. Its interesting to see how it has morphed into this beast of those who know and those who do not (and those who do know, pretend they do not, and then ostracize those who do know while also creeping in online spaces they should definitely not know about if not knowing identities mattered that much to them). The band’s anonymity has created a fanbase full of toxic interactions that I’m certain they never intended to cause.

I don’t fault any fan for their views, or if they choose to seek out identities or not. I only have a problem with it when views are forced onto others maliciously.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Lore: Deities #1

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. There's a lot of lore; I don't know everything. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest. etc]

What A God Is | Divine Ranks, Types and Further Abilities | Gods in Toril*

(*all 100+ of them...)

-

Deities in general, rather than a focus on specific ones and their followers.

So. What a god is, how they perceive the universe, how they function, 'how to utilise your god correctly,' their blanket abilities and limitations, etc etc. Because idk I felt like it and it might be useful for writing religious characters and/or those un/fortunate enough to have divine attention.

---

Nature and perception:

‘...gods’re more than just big mortals with lots of impressive tricks and mighty abilities. They’re concepts and symbols, too. They embody every aspect of their portfolios, the living representations of their spheres of control – and of mortals’ hopes and fears. The essence of the powers extends to a whole other kind of existence. ‘It’s crucial to remember that – the powers are incomprehensible, their motives and abilities unguessable.’ - On Hallowed Ground

A deity – sometimes called a god, or ‘power’ in Toril and most of the Outer Planes – embodies a concept, defined by mortals as ‘portfolios.’ Their nature also very literally determines how the universe appears to them. What embodies or aids their portfolio is good, what opposes and hinders it is evil, what exists outside of it is irrelevant. Tyr, for example, understands the world through the lens of a rigid code of right and wrong, aimed at bringing about justice. Bane has a similar desire for order, coloured with hate and fear; the Dark One quite literally cannot understand love and kindness except as lies, even if he’s experiencing the emotions himself. The portfolio likewise provides their drive and motivation, as they attempt to push the universe into the way it ‘should’ be. Gods always seek to spread their aims and gain power for that purpose, forming alliances with like-minded powers and plotting against rivals and enemies. Many squabble over portfolios – for example the oft shattered portfolio of death as a wider concept on Toril sees Jergal, Kelemvor, Myrkul, Bhaal and Velsharoon in uncomfortable proximity.

Gods all have a divine rank – admittedly a mortal classification system and one that comes in many forms, but good enough to work with – this groups gods together by their relative power levels, and the extent of their temporal power via mortal worshippers.

Weaker gods pledge themselves to stronger gods as servants, for fear that other gods will prey on them for their power, or to anchor themselves to another’s divine power if they’re at risk of fading and dying for whatever reason. Stronger powers take on these servants for reasons that in-universe theologians continue to debate, though one theory is that more powerful gods take weaker deities under their wing for the same reason that they have clerics – more hands to put to work. Others suggest that some gods are extorting these weaker gods for power, and routinely receive a small portion of their divine essence in exchange. It's believed that pantheons are the result of these kinds of alliances, when they're not family groupings.

Their personalities are not wholly one dimensional; like many outsiders they seem to enjoy the whole gamut of mortal pleasures, but they lack the flexibility and full free will of living mortals. They can learn and adapt slowly over time, particularly when mortal worship affects them. (They can also get drunk, apparently, though not necessarily on alcohol and some gods get drunk on weird and unspecified things.)

Their concept-based nature leads to the gods being locked in a permanent, cosmic political and ideological battle pushing back and forth: Shar wants the world returned to darkness and all that lives in it aware of the misery of the fact that they exist; Selûne would see life in all its diversity thrive and be happy. Chauntea seeks a world of flourishing life; Bhaal wants a world of death, populated by the (un)dead. Ilmater seeks to alleviate the pain of the world; Loviatar to increase it. Bane wants the cosmos – mortals and gods alike – enslaved in perfectly ordered hierarchy answering to him in fear; a lot of gods absolutely do not.

A god is more than themselves: aside from their being usually getting divided into multitude, existing in many forms acting independently and focused on different parts of a multiverse, a god contains the consciousnesses of hundreds to thousands of mortal souls who eventually merged with their divine essence over the course of their afterlives. Souls in the afterlife are called petitioners. Petitioners who have melded with their god retain their original independent identity and thoughts while also being intrinsically one and the same as the god, and some scholars of the planes theorise that a god is in fact a hive-mind of thousands of souls with the same value and goals acting in concert.

There’s a lot of theories about how and why gods exist. One is that gods were born from mortal desires – the outer planes are shaped from belief, and so from beliefs and creations (love, hate, fear, war, music… etc etc) beings embodying the fragments of mortal sapience and desire were born... Probably best not to ask the gods what they think of that theory.

Killing a god is, for all intents and purposes, basically impossible. A greater deity can only be slain by a greater deity. Deities of lower ranks are a bit more nebulous but still difficult. Only in exceptional conditions have mortals ever slain a god. The way you’re technically supposed to be able to kill a god is by killing them within their own domain – where they’re all full, reality-warping power, the entire environment is an extension of themselves and folds to their will, every artefact of power they’ve ever collected and an army of various semi-divine and fully divine allies will defend them. Assuming you can get anywhere near the god themselves, because they’ll generally make sure you don’t get that far.

Gods can also ‘die’ from loss of worship, which is also borderline impossible. So long as a single mortal worships them a god will not die. Such a death is very slow, and even once there are no mortals left worshipping them there will be enough ‘residual’ power linked to them, invested on the prime (‘their name, their sovereignty over the principles and ideals in their portfolio, and even the awe inspired by tales told about them as myths or parables.’) that they can still use to sustain themselves. During such time the god will do everything in their power to gain worshippers (and apparently praying to dead gods is a popular last ditch prayer of the desperate who hope that an equally desperate power will be eager enough for the attention to answer).

‘To effectively ensure the death of such a deity, in all likelihood it would have to be imprisoned on its home plane and rendered unable to communicate with any mortal being. Eventually, then, it would die.' - Faiths and Avatars

(And then it would end up on the Astral Plane, where it would be more comatose than dead and fully capable of coming back.)

Limitations:

‘The gods help those who help themselves.’ - A Faerûnian saying, Lords of Darkness (1e)

Gods are neither omnipotent nor all-powerful. They certainly are extremely powerful and basically impossible to fight or kill for the vast majority of the universe; but activities such as taking avatar form, rewriting reality, raising the dead and so forth are greatly taxing.

Their sensory and information processing capabilities far outstrips the comprehension of a mortal, but they're not perfect: A god – with their attention spaced out all across the continent and possibly multiple worlds – cannot feasibly see to every tiny detail. They keep their attention fixed on ‘the big picture,' and instead of running themselves ragged the gods delegate. They act through those who have been given their power and authority to move on their behalf: through their divine servitors (pit fiends, daeva, whatever) and through their clergy. ‘By allowing others to act for them in day-to-day matters, the powers can conserve their strength for the big battles – the times when they really need it.’

‘Every single action a power takes requires him to expend a portion of his might.’ Even simply answering prayers and empowering their priests and holy warriors ‘takes something out of [them].’ A god is not a limitless font of power; they expend their energies to further their goals and stymie that of their enemies (cosmic philosophical battle for the shape of the multiverse on a scale from the grand to the petty, yada yada), and as such they won’t weaken themselves for somebody or something that doesn’t give back to them. Somebody who prays for something on their own behalf will generally get no response. Something unrelated to the god’s aims will not have their prayer answered by that deity (that is to say; send your requests to the correct division. Don’t pray to Tyr for good crop weather, don’t pray to Umberlee for a good financial year, so on so forth). Somebody with no faith in the god who has never worshipped them will likely not be heard at all, both because the god has no reason to expend their efforts and because they likely cannot hear the prayer of the faithless at all:

While a god is aware of every usage of their power, investiture of their essence, every invocation of their name, and every prayer begging for their attention; even the divine cannot handle all of this emotion at once and gods must learn to compartmentalise, lest they end up like Cyric, completely overstimulated and unable to function:

The voices of Cyric's myriad selves shouted out their dismay, chorused their anger. The Prince of Lies stared, unseeing, at his shadow, trying to make some sense of the bizarre scene. He couldn't. There were too many things clawing at his thoughts, hoarding bits of his attention. In Yulash, an assassin offered up a half-hearted prayer to the God of Murder, her words as empty of devotion as her heart was of pity. A peddler, down on his luck and starving amidst the opulence of Waterdeep, bitterly cursed the God of Strife. His insults flew up like arrows into Cyric's mind. And then there were the Zhentish. Thousands of women and men shrieked Cyric's name, as if that act alone could earn his aid. Their pleas streamed across the death god's consciousness, scattering his thoughts in their wake. He was lost, his consciousness torn in a million directions at once. The blow caught Cyric in the face. He barely noticed the physical pain, but the surprise dragged his attention from the maelstrom of racing thoughts back to his realm in Hades. The Prince of Lies looked out on the ravaged throne room, but what he saw there only confused him more. The Burning Men, loosed from shattered chains, writhed across the floor in pain, unable to douse the fires consuming them. The explosion from the attack on Godsbane – no, Mask – had charred the walls and scorched a huge hole in the carpet. Cyric's throne had been shattered, the bones strewn about. All these things seemed right somehow, appropriate to the setting. Yet there were other objects, other people in the room as well, bits and pieces from all the vistas taken in by Cyric's incarnations. They all superimposed themselves over the reality of Bone Castle, creating a strange jumble of images. […] He attempted to focus his mind on teleporting away from Hades, but too many things were drawing his consciousness away from the enchantment. The voices in his head had become a chorus of discord offering five dozen opinions on even the slightest matter. And there were his faithful all across Faerun, of course, invoking the death god's name to resolve every petty conflict in their lives. - Prince of Lies

Gods literally can’t answer every prayer. What prayers they are ‘tuned into’ come from their clerics and faithful, and strong pulls from important events and mortals whose natures and actions align with the deity’s portfolio and nature (thus bringing them into the deity’s awareness). The rest is so much noise, and trivial prayers and prayers from those who have never offered worship unto the deity get lost.

They are also subject to other limitations:

By unanimous agreement gods do not manifest their true forms on the mortal worlds of Prime Material Plane, and they keep their conflict on the Prime within set boundaries. As soon as one god gets involved, it’s an opening for their enemies to involve themselves. Even assuming the battle does not turn into a war, even two deities using their full power is an extinction level threat. So the gods’ involvement is limited – lest divine fighting turn the worlds of the material planes into uninhabited wastelands. Shar and Selûne are a good example; if the Moonmaiden does literally anything her sister will immediately start trying to sabotage it. Selûne is extremely wary of manifesting on Toril because Shar takes obscene delight in murdering her sister in horrible and creative ways (as such most of Selûne’s personal actions against Shar occur on the Outer Planes).

It’s theorised in-universe that the gods have agreed to impose a limit on the number of souls they’re willing to resurrect: if every god could keep their servants going forever it’s simply turn into an endless bloodbath consuming the world, just with mortals instead of gods doing the burning.

Mortals are not privy to the abilities and limitations of the gods and often perceive them as more powerful than they are. It is common knowledge that the gods are neither omnipotent nor flawless, but gods have a vested interest in seeming more powerful and appealing than their competition, and more often than not the clergy are taught to believe their god’s propaganda and to preach it.

A deity’s power (and their divine rank) is tied to mortal worship; the more they are worshipped the more power they have. Apparently worship born of genuine love and zeal is more empowering more than fear (also the Dark Gods certainly do love being feared, regardless). The less power a god has, the more attentive they’re likely to be to their worshippers.

Apparently they cannot directly interfere with free will, though they can chose to emotionally manipulate you, seduce you, harass you, magically influence your emotions and memories, sabotage you, babble about destiny while making a grandiose light show, sometimes literally possess you, and otherwise manipulate you into doing what they want you to do with that free will.

----

Powers, regardless of rank*

*(Refers only to ‘true’/above-rank-1 deities. Other beings classified as deities such as half-gods and titans (mostly) not included).

They are immortal, with no biological needs. Their appearance is entirely dependant on what they chose to look like.

Deities, whichever and any aspect of them, can teleport to anywhere at will without error. There is nothing any being of lesser power can do to stop them. With the exception of most quasideities, gods can also teleport to other planes with equal ease.

A god can speak and understand any language in existence, in any form of communication. Ever really weird alien ones foreign to human physiology. They can speak directly into the mind – or minds – anyone, anywhere without being detected if they wish, and there’s nothing anybody (who isn’t a god of higher rank) can do to stop them. They can also speak out loud as a disembodied voice. The tongue of the gods is Supernal, which likewise can be understood flawlessly by any being capable of socialising. Evil gods also speak Dark Speech, which is concentrated evil so strong that mortals can’t bear it and even fiends don’t like hearing it. (Most gods prefer communicating via annoyingly vague omens though.)

Gods come with the ability to restructure reality to their whims, in what is essentially a built-in wish or miracle spell. The degree to which they can do so is limited by divine rank, however. According to Ed Greenwood, the spell itself functions on Toril by petitioning a deity to use their ability on your behalf.

They can freely cast any spell of any level whenever the hell they like instantly with no preparation or requirements (sometimes subject to the limits of their portfolio: Shar cannot use spells that generate light, for example). They can also invent any new spell on the spot or tweak recognised spells to make them work slightly differently.

They are immune to psionics, and glyphs and warding spells ‘do nothing to them except attract their attention.’ It’s borderline impossible to affect a god with magic, and literally impossible to affect a greater deity

A deity cannot be harmed with mundane force, for example stabbing them with a blade of metal won’t do anything, and magic is required to harm them (so enchanting the blade will make it effective).

A god can grant any ability or spell, regardless of any requirements, to their priests (as long as the mortal in question is capable of containing/wielding the power, so a druid who can cast 5th level spells may be granted any spell of 5th level or lower). This is how clerics, druids, rangers and paladins get all their spells anyway.

While gods have hard limits, as discussed, they are partially omniscient. A god knows when and where their name is spoken the moment it is invoked, and has awareness of the area surrounding that invocation for at least a mile. The most powerful deities are capable of extending their awareness over an entire plane of existence for at least a year when invoked. They are always aware of their worshippers, holy sites, artefacts and any activity that relates to their porfolio[s] and everything the world surrounding these things up to at least a mile (although they can’t sense those of other gods, unless that god wills it). They won’t be consciously tuned in 24/7 but if something happens they will be aware and shift their attention to whatever is happening.

They also have sharp mundane senses, possessing the same 5 mortal senses humans do, but they pick up sensory input from 1-10 miles immediately surrounding them (and they have the ability to process this and not go into sensory overload). They move faster and they’re stronger and more durable than a mortal can hope to match.

Every god emanates an aura that has a profound spiritual effect on mortals, unsettling or uplifting depending on the personal relationship between individual mortals and the deity and also the god’s mood at the time. Apparently this is regularly experienced, as while gods don’t fully manifest their aura can be felt – even by lay-worshippers – while praying, such as at mass (or whatever that should be called on Toril).

[utilitycaster]

You know what's interesting to me? For all people keep claiming at every juncture that perhaps Bells Hells will come around on the gods and see the harm they do (which, as discussed extensively, is, half the time, simply not intervening) not only have they never done so, but also they never quite cross the line into saying the party should join the Ruby Vanguard or aid them - and indeed, they defend against it - so what does this achieve? It feels like they're asking for a story in which the party stands idly by, which isn't much of a story nor, if I may connect this briefly to the real world, a political stance anyone should be proud of.

That's honestly the frustration with the gods and the "what if the Vanguard has a point" conversations in-game. What do we do then? Do we allow the organization that will murder anyone for pretty much any reason that loosely ties into their goals run rampant? The group that (perhaps unwittingly, but then again, Otohan's blades had that poison) disrupted magic world-wide, and caused people who had the misfortune to live at nexus points to be teleported (most, as commoners, without means of return). While also fomenting worldwide unrest?

Those were the arguments before the trip to Ruidus; with the reveal of the Vanguard's goals to invade Exandria, the situation becomes even more dire. Do you let the Imperium take over the planet?

And do the arguments against the gods even hold up? If Ludinus is so angry at them for the Calamity, what does it say that he destroyed Western Wildemount's first post-Calamity society for entirely selfish means? (What does it say about the validity of vengeance as a motivator?) What does it say that Laudna told Imogen she could always just live in a cottage quietly without issue before the solstice even happened? (Would this still be true if the Imperium controls the world?) What does it say that when faced with a furious, grieving party and the daughter she keeps telling herself was her reason for all of this, Liliana can't provide an answer to the question of what the gods have done other than that their followers will retaliate...for, you know, the Vanguard's endless list of murders. (That is how the Vanguard and Imperium tend to think, huh? "How dare your face get in the way of my boot; how dare you hit me back when I strike you.") She can't even provide a positive answer - why is Predathos better - other than "I feel it", even though Imogen and Fearne know firsthand that Predathos can provide artificial feelings of elation. Given all the harm Ludinus has done in pursuit, why isn't the conclusion "the gods should have crashed Aeor in such a way that the tech was unrecoverable?"

Even as early as the first real discussion on what the party should do, the fandom always stopped short of saying "no, Imogen's right, they should join up with the people who killed half the party," it was always "no, she didn't really mean it, she just was trying to connect with her mother." Well, she's connected with her mother, and at this point the party doesn't even care about the gods particularly (their only divinely-connected party member having died to prevent the Vanguard from killing all of them). So they will stop the Vanguard; as Ashton says, the means are unforgiveable. As Laudna says, it's not safe to bet on Predathos's apathy. As Imogen says, she's done running; the voice that she used to think of as a lifeline belongs to someone she doesn't trust. So I guess my question is: if they're stopping the people who are trying to kill the gods (and defense of the gods isn't remotely their personal motivation)...do you think the next phase of the campaign is Bells Hells personally killing the gods? Reconstructing the Aeor tech and hoping none of their allies notice? How does this end? Does your ideology ever get enacted? Or is this entirely moot and pointless and the story ends with Bells Hells saying "well, I'm really glad we stopped the people who [insert list of Vanguard atrocities from above]; none of us follow the gods or plan to, but honestly, the status quo we return to is preferable to whatever nightmare Ludinus had concocted in his violent quest for power and revenge"?

[zylphiacrowley]

Doomed from the start.

[rachelamberish]

i see we've reached the toxic positivity stage of the discourse

[armandposting]

marius does seem to have a lot of complicated feelings about what he did to armand and I really hope one of them is guilt for his thinking in buying armand originally. he talks in blood and gold about how when he heard armand's mind, the entire reason he wanted him was because he thought, here is a child who has been so hurt that it will be no loss to the world if I make him a vampire. and he wavers on this later and I hope it's because he saw this child make friends and learn things and love rings and watches and swordfighting and realize that actually there is never a child so damaged that taking them from humanity is no loss. I wonder if part of the reason he never tried to talk to armand after seeing him with the children of darkness is that he saw that boy changed into a lonely stoic cult leader with no more will or verve and was too consumed with guilt to even try. I hope that guilt started when he took armand to kiev rus and saw how much armand still loved the family he hadn't seen in years and for a while barely remembered from trauma. also I hope marius explodes into one thousand pieces but that's mostly irrelevant

[puppetmaster13u]

Thinkin about the Meat Marionette Au, specifically the batclan having two bodies. And I apologize if this is rambling lol

I feel like they still train and work out most days (look Bruce has gotten used to picking up his kids, he's not going to stop even if he's in his human body). It's just probably not to the same extent as in canon of a daily thing without giving their bodies a break. That probably actually means their human bodies are healthier than in canon, seeing as one actually needs to let their muscles rest between exercising them. Not to mention they- or at least their bodies- are getting rest. Hell it's almost like their bodies are in comas for a few hours each night what with how low their brain activity would register as.

Now I'm thinking this probably influences how they act and appear towards the public. They shy away from most interviews (they're trying not to hiss or growl) and are mostly quiet whenever they speak in public, so it'd be easier for the tabloids to spin a story about a shy or demure family doing their best to help Gotham. Which is... the complete opposite of what they are, but no one needs to know that.

Others might even go the mysterious hermit route when trying to write a story about the Waynes, seeing as they're not spotted outside often (what with uses of disguises and such) save for the times the patriarch of the family has gone on another adoption spree. Honestly most of the stories about them are either having to do with Wayne industries, the very rare gala that everyone is wanting into, or the several adoptions that have been reported on several times.

Online is another story probably, and there's definitely several memes about each Wayne family member's posts. They're somehow Gotham's darlings despite being social recluses.

That being said, being connected to the Tunnels definitely has an effect on them even in their original human bodies. Not just mentally but physically as well. Like there is some definite off vibes the longer one is in their presence, their movements just a hint too graceful and something almost... predatory about it.

Also slightly random but I feel like Bruce would grow his hair out, like not even purposely at first. He just got caught up in cases and trying to figure out the meat-marionettes (thank you Dick for the name, but did you really have to call them that) that he forgot to get it cut several times. And by then it's just easier to put it in a ponytail than stay still for however long it'd take to get it cut and well, actually look good even if he himself doesn't care about it. Then he also gets kids who want to learn how to do things like braiding hair, which means he learns too and... yeah...

This au is a combo of my cryptid batfam and @phoenixcatch7's possessed doll au, which you need to check out because it's great. A really fun concept and influences a lot of this Au concept too. Also mutual of mine do you have any ideas for their civilian IDs

[beloved-child-of-the-house]

i stand with you in the face of a defensive misunderstanding of what critique is.

i think understanding what a critique actually is is a skill that increasingly is not taught. i remember going through freshman art courses feeling the frustration that all negative, nasty, unhelpful, and missed-the-point-entirely feedback is so commonly conflated with critique, and then critique gets a bad name because everyone remembers the time someone said their painting looked like an asshole (true story, altho now i think i would take it as a compliment) instead of the time a teacher or friend or classmate helped them uncover a hurtful bias or think of new ways to explore the same idea or how to connect it to related ideas or how to look up and understand other people's ideas on the same topic.

anyway i think you're great.

ahhh you're so kind to me!! i appreciate your support, and i think you are great also.

i have experience with giving and receiving critique as a student myself, and i think it was the best part of my degree! i majored in creative writing in college, and critique was just a generally accepted part of learning to become a writer. i don't even remember people being especially worried about receiving critique on their work. we had guidance on what kind of feedback was useful, but we were still at liberty to give it as we saw fit as like messy 19 year olds. the standard was that we gave it both written on printed copies of the work AND aloud in front of the whole class, and the writer receiving it was not permitted to speak during the critique. understanding how people are perceiving your work is important!

i don't have any particularly negative recollections of the critique process, although once in a high school writing class, the boys in the class told me that my male characters touched each other too gently and real boys are more rough with each other. in particular, they took issue with me writing that one boy nudged another. nudging is too soft. nudging is for girls. that was more than 20 years ago, and i still think about it sometimes because it was such an interesting perspective! i did not take their advice, though.

i should dig up that piece and see if it reads queer in any other ways. i think that's what they were getting at. (actually i once had a non-fiction class tell me i was in love with my roommate after reading an essay i wrote about her)(i did not listen to that advice either, but having 12 acquaintances tell you that you're gay in 2006 before you realize it yourself is Truly Something!)

i think people have conflated criticism and critique and think that being more openly analytical is the same thing as being negative. but analysis is so fun to me! analysis is why i joined fandom in the first place, and it's why i write fic! can we trust each other to be respectful and to speak in good faith even when we're not singing each other's praises? for me fandom would be better if we could.

oh i also want to clarify that i don't think it's impossible to demonstrate that you've thought deeply about a piece of fanwork while remaining completely positive. people do it all the time and do it very well!

i know i sometimes have tunnel vision wrt my own perspective. in a lot of situations, i wish it were more acceptable to be more direct, and i know people sometimes find the way i express myself to be kind of shocking. i know a lot of people like to be spoken to more indirectly than comes natural to me, and i don't mean to imply that my perspective is the only correct one or that there's no good reason to err on the side of gentleness/politeness in our responses to amateur art and writing. i just think that at a certain level of circumspection, it feels like we're all holding each other at arm's length.

i think for people who can't bear to feel exposed, making and sharing art is always going to be painful and difficult, and maybe too painful and difficult to enjoy the process unless they're sure of a soft landing. but like. the rewards of being loved only come after the mortifying ordeal of being known, right?

[melanodis]

how did it come to this?

[inconclusionray]

new(ish) due South fic, anyone? In ascending order of spice, we have Strawberry Jelly, written as a gift fic for @cro-mignonette back when we were both on the tumblrs, on the stresses that can lead to alcohol abuse in remote areas, on Ray moving to the middle of nowhere and being undiagnosed ADHD starting to get bored out of his gourd, but mostly about... fruit preservation. As it were. Ahem. Rated T for teen because there are allusions to canon-typical violence between our beloved duo. Then there's Know I'll stay beside that telephone line, which wasn't directly responsible for the change in relationship status between me and @hereeatthiskitten but also wasn't not, so. Kept private because sometimes things are just too precious to be public for a while; she gave me permission to post it years ago, nonetheless, but did I? Look, it's there now, isn't it? Anyway, it's about longing, and repression, and how challenging it can be to change the shape of a relationship, even when you both know the other knows you want to. Talking is awkward, okay, sometimes it's easier in a chat box over the telephone. Rated M, because there is sex, but it's mostly alluded to, not described. Finally, we have the fully smut rated Book, Book, Duck, which if I recall correctly was just me trying to prove to @hereeatthiskitten that Fraser and Duck could so do the deed (ish), what that would look like, and what Ray's reaction would be. It's about... libraries? and alleys? okay it's about dopplegangers and public-ish sex and jealousy and desire. Explicit, no question, though once again, the point is the feelings. Please leave comments on this, it took me over seven years to finish, I crave the validation. That's it! Enjoy! Feel free to use this to promote your new-ish old fandom creations, too! Fic, art, gifs, meta, squees, literally any engagement with this cheesy buddy cop show that is way too good for being as absurd as it is!