#because of course i made this paladin follow a god

[glacierruler]

alsdkjaklsdja, the amount of research that I'm doing for the background of 1 character, that's important to the character is amazing. hnnngh, it's interesting, but also, I want to write without researching things rn... but this is really important to this person's character, these fictional characters had better know how much I love them. I don't go trying to understand magical dates for just anyone you know.

[godsandvillains-if]

kind of a wholesome ask. let’s say mc wanted to surprise the ro’s by baking them something from scratch. however when it’s presented to them mc is really sad bc they didn’t turn out well (burnt, undercooked, etc.) how would they react? would they still eat it? push through to make mc happy?

Hahah that's so cute, it brings to memory that one scene in Mind Blind 🥺

Mars — Would probably say something along the lines, "Darling, I love you, but that is inedible. How about we take baking classes together with a professional chef?" Of course, they would not eat it hahah.

Archon — Archon would look at the MC and at the cake, shifting their eyes nervously between one and the other, but would eventually cave in and just eat. They can't get sick anyway, so it would only taste bad.

Zodiac — I think Zodiac would push through and eat the whole thing, making an inhuman effort to appear as if they were eating pure ambrosia, until they started coughing uncontrollably.

Ace — They would fold in half if the MC made puppy eyes at them, no way in hell would they be able to resist them, but they would eat a small portion of it and then plan a cooking date where they would teach the MC how to bake properly.

Stardom — Stardom would silently pray to all the deities they know to give them strength because they are not about to back down from making the MC feel proud of something they did. Thank God they are a good actor / actress.

Wildcat — They wouldn't eat it, no matter much they love the MC, and not even shifting between wildshapes would be enough to open their appetite. They would instead invite the MC out for a simple Brazilian takeout joint they recently discovered close to the tower.

Paladin — They would try their hardest to keep their expression as neutral as possible, even if the smell of burnt cake assaulted their nostrils. They would have the great idea to borrow one of Zodiac's cooking books and invite the MC to bake a cake together. They are great at following instructions.

Thank you for the question!! 🥰

[gnomishcunning]

Re: requests, literally any nsfw for Zevlor? I love one (1) sad old tiefling

i, too, love one sad ole' tiefling. he and karlach own my wholeass heart. some of my own headcanons/portrayals of him snuck into these, hope ya don't mind.

(please send me more asks about zevlor i love him so much)

nsfw below the cut! MDNI

in general-

zevlor's a hopeless romantic in the truest of sense. his entire life has been about devotion - he joined a group of soldiers that you can't quite, he's a paladin who lived by his oath for decades, and he followed the literal god of guardians. he believes in devotion, and that undoubtedly leaked into his concept of relationships

maybe back in his young soldiering days, zevlor had some one-night stands, maybe an occasional fling or two. but his devotion to his duty came first, and he sadly never found time to fall in love like he wanted, or start a family.

so, if you somehow managed to lure zevlor into your bed? you need to know it's because he loves you. even if he hasn't told you.

he's an old, broken paladin. he's not willing to risk heartbreak and further grind down his sense of self-worth, not with everything he's been through.

he's already lost everything that made him who he was. he can't loose you, too.

the first time around? it's all sweetness. he approaches your naked body with a sort of reverence, like he can't quite believe what he's seeing. that this is actually happening.

his attention to detail is paramount. he's trimmed all his talons to a dull sort of safety, he's got warming oil tucked into his belt-pouch, hell - he brings his own contraceptive herbs, if he's with the type partner where that's a concern. he'll eat em in front of you if that helps.

consent is the sexiest thing, and he unwraps you like a present, carefully asking with every piece of clothing removed, dipping his head to press kisses to every new bit of your beautiful self revealed to him.

His hands tremble as they travel over soft skin, careful on every curve he covers. he's constantly checking in, making sure you're okay- can he touch here? caress you?

it's admittedly a very vanilla affair, but it's probably the most tender, loving sex you'll ever have.

he's going to want to top, and gods, how can you say no to that face?

you'll come first. no matter what. he presses kisses down your body until he can attend your clit or cock with careful flicks of his tongue, he'll dribble oil onto his fingers in front of you so he can slowly work you open, taking one finger, then two-

and gods, you just know he'd have amazing hands, right? callused and dextrous after a lifetime of sword-wielding, but ever-so careful and exact.

he won't want to take you until you've made a mess of the bedsheets, and when he does? he wants to take you in missionary so he can reach you everywhere, kiss every bit, and watch - commit every bit of this to memory, just in case he never has the opportunity take you apart, ever again

he's going to do his gods-damned best to insure you both cum at the same time. he'll press careful kisses to your mouth as you fall apart, one hand cupping your chin, just so he can watch your face as you cum

he's not a very loud moaner, but he repeats your name on loop until he finishes.

he gets hella clingy afterwards, and if you two have the right kind of relationship where he feels safe enough to be vulnerable which of course you two do, he'll probably cry afterwards

thankfully, this becomes a regular occurrence for both of you

in terms of kinks? zevlor's a bit of a mixed bag. he's got a lot of things he's passingly thought would be very hot to try with a partner, but he may carry some weird guilt about it.

in kinky, bdsm terms-

i'm a firm believer he's a switch, and he's equally willing (and wanting, tbh) to take both roles on, depending on the night. while bdsm wouldn't be a lifestyle-like thing for him and the majority of y'all's sex is vanilla, there's definitely occasions where he wants to indulge. and they're usually like, specifically-planned and orchestrated occasions, set to consume a whole evening, for both the kinky sex and the aftercare.

safewords include the faerun equivalent to the stoplight system (which i'm still working on), or something simple and straightforward that both of you can easily remember.

'bridle' is what comes to mind off the bat

he's absolute delighted if his partner wanted to take care of him, and yield without a fight. if he verbally protests he should be taking care of you, just say you wanna show him how much you love him. he'll fall apart in moments.

as a submissive? his biggest kinks would be praise and body worship, especially contrasted with some light verbal degradation. he's got some guilt to work through, and it's nice to do that with someone he trusts implicitly. but focus more on rewarding good behavior, rather than punishing bad behavior. he's disappointed enough in himself.

it's worth mentioning, this man is the furthest thing from a brat (for the most part). he wants to be good and get praised, since nothing else gets his heart beating as fast - but if you're being a tease, he's not above squirming and cursing at you in infernal

bondage is a yes, but he prefers one particular facet: rope. shibari's equal parts art form and bondage, and he'd appreciate the care and attention to detail that goes into it.

ironically? you wouldn't need bondage to hold him still. he's pretty damn good at following orders, and he's definitely eager to please. i don't think he'd be into 'good boy', but call him a 'sweet lil soldier'??? hahahaha oh wow

sweet and reassuring aftercare is a necessity, there's like a 95% chance he'd cry in a weird, cathartic sorta way. he's definitely a candidate for subdrop, so watch for that.

regardless of how pretty he is when he falls apart, he'd additionally play dominant with just as much eagerness. just say you trust him implicitly, he's incredibly handsome and attractive when he's in-charge, and you want him to take control. he'll more than happily agree - he's enthusiastic about it, especially when he sees how excited you are about the concept

speaking of- titles. Master sits weird with him, but "Sir" and "Commander" are both on deck. he kinda a fun lil illicit thrill using his old title in the bedroom. it'd go a long way to restore that ole' Hellrider Commander confidence, ngl.

he's a very firm, but very kind dominant, if that makes sense? he issues his commands, wants and expects them to be followed. his rewards good behavior with praise and petting (hair, or elsewhere on your body)

he's got a very good understanding about the lengths and limits of subspace given how well he knows you, he's incredibly attentive about how far his submissive has sunk, mentally, and he'll take them as far as they're looking to go- whether that's just taking their mind off a situation with some sweet tending and an orgasm or three, or totally obliterating their brainpower in a positive way with the paladick(tm) treatment

very into getting his partner to the point all they remember his name, designation, and 'please'. equally as fond as leaving hickies/marks/love bites all across their body, especially where people might be able to see. leaving physical evidence of his effect on his lover is a big turn-on

as equally into bondage and rope as a dominant as he is a submissive. it's a hobby he occasionally indulges in, and he enjoys prettying you up in fancy hemp ropes he probably dyed himself

he's fan-fuckin-tastic with aftercare, it's kind of insane. he's soft and careful, getting you a glass of water, he draws you a warm bath and helps you clean up, and then lures you back into your body from the weird, floaty world of subspace with soft touches and sweet praises. he'll get you snacks afterwards if you need them, and do just about anything you'll ask - from reading a book out-loud so you can listen to his voice, to granting you another orgasm if needed.

for the record if y'all want deets about how he is with a brat or an obedient submissive, someone needs to bite the bullet and send the ask, otherwise this post is gonna extend into forever

[actuallyfallen]

Archetropy and Personal Choice

I had heard the word "archetrope" around the alterhuman community before the OtherCon (the biggest convention for alterhumans) 2023. Although in vague terms, I had heard of it. I sort of got the vibe from the word, so I never felt the need to look into it. A vague sort of, "Identifying with an archetype, or a trope from media," vibe. What came to mind for me was tropes like the knight, the prince, the rogue. Classic roles. The stuff you'd see on tarot cards or such. The alterhuman community is known to look down on "newer" sources of identity, after all (see the long-standing hesitancy to accept fictionkin).

So, when I joined the panel being hosted by someone named Vyt (who can be found on tumblr, as @thelightfluxtastic) all about archetropy, I thought I knew what to expect.

Vyt described their archetype as "the right-hand man".

Well, Vyt mostly talked about "the paladin" as their main tropetype. But that was the sort of archetype I expected. "The right-hand man" may not be considered a "modern" archetype, but the specific phrase of "right-hand man" for it feels rather new in comparison to how I viewed archetropy before.

My mom was a pastor.

She was in charge of a very large building, which acted as a place for church services on Sundays, and as a kindergarten during the day. I remember watching my mom being up on the church's stage. I didn't learn until I was an adult that she actually had stage fright. I remember stalling whenever I went to the principal's office, because, of course I went to my mom's school for kindergarten. And going to the principal's office when your mom is the principal is certainly… a time, of sorts.

I was a good little Christian kid, though. I was a trouble child due to my undiagnosed autism making me seem "rude" to everyone around me, but I followed what my parents taught me to believe. One could hardly say I was doing so on purpose, though. I didn't even know there was any other option, after all.

Vyt went on to define archetropy as looking at an archetype or trope or such, and saying either, "I am that," "That's want I want to be," or both. Though Vyt also makes a point to say that "archetropy", as a term, was coined specifically to be both linguistically flexible and very broad in definition. It can be involuntary, voluntary, intrinsic, extrinsic, 'identify-as', 'identify-with'…

Vyt also discussed connections to kintypes for archetropal reasons. For example, being dragonkin because one identifies with how the trope of dragons are shown in media.

I can trace multiple kintypes of mine straight down to the same root. This Christian upbringing of mine. Surrounded by it. Suffocated by it.

My mom would often work late, so, as she locked herself in her office, I would be left alone in this huge building. I often stayed in the auditorium during those times. I didn't like the big, open area, so I'd often hunker down in one of the two more closed-off areas. Those two areas were surrounded by walls, but were very small and had no doors, thus, considered a part of the auditorium. One was decorated in green and black. It had beanbags, a step to sit on, and a chalkboard that covered the entirety of one of the walls. The other was pink. It had two chairs and a whiteboard. Covered with sparkly materials, it was hard to leave without some of it sticking to you.

I hated the pink room. Specifically, I hated the texture of everything. Almost everything had this god-awful fuzzy texture that was almost feather-like. The chairs, the rug, the walls. Even the pens there had a grip made of this texture. I couldn't stand it.

But every time the church children my age were there, the boys would go to the green area, and the girls to the pink. The teachers and other officials would call them "the girl room" and "the boy room". The boys and girls would often have one person standing guard near, or in, the door, just to make sure nobody of the opposite gender even got close to their room.

Even when I was alone, in that huge auditorium, I couldn't bear to enter the boy's room. It was wrong. But the first time I did, and I layed down on the beanbag, I exclaimed to my little brother, "It's no fair that you guys get these!" I was so much more comfortable there.

But, still, I rarely came in, even after the barrier was breached. I stayed away on purpose. I made my brother promise to not tell anyone I was there.

I was supposed to be a good girl. Never mind my intersex condition – a good GIRL. One who likes pink, who likes my church dress, and who likes the fuzzy, feathery textures with a smile, for the sake of how others see her. For the sake of fulfilling my God-given role.

As Vyt talked more and more about archetropy, it became clearer to me that modern tropes and archetypes were absolutely included. "The mad scientist" was named as an example. TV Tropes was named as a place to find a list of tropes and archetypes in media.

The TV Tropes page for "The Pastor's Queer Kid", describes the trope like this: "[The pastor's] kids seem to be every bit as perfect as they are, and have the perfect relationship with them. Well, except for one. You see, this one has a secret they're not sure about admitting to their parent. The secret being… Well, this kid isn't heterosexual (and/or cisgender, etc., as the case may be)."

I remember finding the page for this trope and lighting up. Scrolling right down to the "media" section, to see if there were any pieces of media with this trope that I would be interested in. Seeing one of my already-present kintypes there and giggling a little bit to myself. Oh, I'm so predictable! Of course I'd already have a character like this as a kintype.

I realized I was queer very young. Too naive to think better of it, I came out to my parents too soon. Not even a teenager yet, I had to comfort my mother as she cried over me being queer. One of the biggest God-fearers around, I was struck silent when my mom expressed that she feared me going to Hell, and her going to Heaven.

She phrased it as, "What will I do without my child in Heaven? You have scared me so much. I have given you a role to fulfill, and you have failed. Now, I must watch the one I love be punished."

She told her child that they would go to Hell, and be separated from everyone they love for eternity. Poor her.

(Pay no attention to the child, parentified and afraid. Do not look at the way its breath hitches when she says this. The look of disbelief on its face. She really thinks I'm going to Hell…?)

(Look at her, now. She is the victim. This is her spotlight.)

It took me years of purposeful work to undo the toxic mentality that I was taught. About purity, about martyrdom, about the flames of Hell licking every queer's feet. And I still get nightmares sometimes, but I'm proud of how far I've come. When I feel a surge of queer joy, when I see a queer person's smile, when I experience gender euphoria, I know this is it. This is what I've been fighting for. And I know that it's worth it.

I searched TV Tropes for other tropes that fit me, halfheartedly picking up a few more. I wanted an excuse to list "my tropes" on my website's 'about' page, just to add "The Pastor's Queer Kid" on it. I didn't care about the other ones I listed – I just wanted them to be there so I could feel like I had a reason to put that one in particular.

When the archetrope panel was coming to a close, and taking questions, I typed into the chat, "If people are certain archetypes or tropes in real life, would someone like that be able to identify as an archetype? Even if they technically just are it?"

I am my mom's child. I am queer. I struggled against the religion I was suffocated by, and came out the other side damaged, but alive. I try to let people know the sort of harm this upbringing can cause. I am purposefully open about this aspect of myself.

Vyt answered my question. "My default answer is gonna be, ‘Sure.' Like… I think there's something powerful in embracing something, on purpose."

On purpose, I am The Pastor's Queer Kid.

[rowanyx]

So in the Adventuring Party, Brennan asked Beardsley whether there is a world in which Kristen gives up being a Cleric.

Mechanics-wise, I understand why the response was a no. That kind of big change would have a lot of restructuring to do, from the character sheet to minis to even plot changes, which would be difficult mid-season like this. (See Riz's sub-class change from Inquisitor to Arcane Trickster happening now, rather than when we actually met Pok)

Story-wise, though, I respectfully disagree. In fact, I posit there is many a world in which Kristen could change her class.

The big one, I think, would be Paladin. Especially either Redemption or Oathbreaker. After all, you could easily argue that this whole situation (i.e. Cassandra seeing Kristen not putting her priesthood first, dying, and the new mysterious voice that taunted the party with the rotting corpse of the god Kristen already failed) cumulates into exactly the type of description for an Oathbreaker (going back on their word and then joining up with some evil entity instead). And, well, after two gods dying, one you've very much stated to want to be good for but can't get yourself to do so, sounds very much like the type of person that would seek Redemption. If not for themselves, at least for others.

And this could also work to show sort of backslide into the Applebee's family drama. After all, we know Bucky just started as a Paladin himself. He's probably not high enough leveled to have a sub-class of his own, but doesn't Redemption fit? The kid who was forced into Kristen's old role, who is already going around trying to save his classmates from Hell? If Kristen did switch to Paladin, they would most likely share classes (something like Gorgug's Artificier track, school-wise). A perfect opportunity to flesh out the relationship there, either to save Bucky from Mac and Donna or have him 'save' Kristen.

Of course, these are just two of the easier paths to see.

Porter did want another Bad Kid in his classes, didn't he?

Maybe Kristen finds she desires a guide and becomes a Totem Warrior Barbarian.

Maybe Kristen decides that just because her parents suck, doesn't mean the whole bloodline did. This causes her to delve into old records and come out of it as a Path of the Ancestral Guardian Barbarian.

Another idea, given the Buff Kristen movement, is a Fighter. Especially the training and power describing a Champion or the fighting spirit of a Samurai, to lose so many gods and keep going.

Or maybe she finds the issue is the evangelizing. That she cannot dedicate herself to bringing others into her path, but still desiring a higher being to help her. There are many to make a Warlock Contract with. She's even living with one, technically, by way of Fig's Archdevil job.

You could even argue for an Eloquence Bard, with all the speeches and now the Presidency campaign.

Or hey, Cassandra was a moon goddess, wasn't she? Maybe even a Lunar Sorcerer.

Unlikely but theoretically possible, she's just desperate to fix something and takes up Artificing. After all, how different can a Battle Smith really be? It's still healing and protecting, right?

Or, let's revisit an old topic. At the top of the game, Kristen was called the Chosen One. We saw that title following her even after leaving Helio. Sol treated her kindly for it, she invented YES! and even reinvented it into YES?. An argument can even be made that that's part of why Cassandra was fixed so easily after clinging to her. But what is that? Where is that power from? Perhaps some new magic awakens in Kristen. That of a Divine Soul Sorcerer.

Just, Kristen, taking a hard look at religion and Clericdom and deciding maybe it wasn't right for her.

[trappedinafantasy37]

Act 2 of my Shadowheart origin has officially come to its conclusion and so it is time to update the ongoing story. In case you missed Act 1, read about it here.

WARNING: this gets pretty long. Again, it's a story. Also, some things are gonna be a little outta character and involve my own head canons as I try to fill in the gaps of what isn't directly said in the game.

MOONRISE

Rolling up to Moonrise, Shadow was ready to finally get some answers as it seemed to be the origin of the tadpole that is wriggling around in her skull. She may also have the opportunity to finally face the Absolute, which is seemingly a much greater threat than she initially realized. What she did not expect to see was Minthara being put on trial by a General Ketheric Thorm. Here, Shadow is a little conflicted.

Shadow still harbors immense guilt over what happened at the grove and Minthara is the one who led the charge. But, Minthara was merely a soldier following orders and she followed them faithfully, something Shadow can understand. But, it is also Shadow's fault Minthara is on trial. After all, Minthara's mission of securing the Prism was only a failure because Shadow purposefully hid it from her. The tieflings are all dead because of her actions, she's not about to let Minthara die too. She can't have more blood on her hands. That and she owes Minthara for giving her the mind shattering orgasms.

After the trial, dispelling of some Goblins, and getting an update to the main quest from Z'rell, Shadow makes her way into the dungeon so that she may rescue the paladin. And, of course, she helps Minthara with killing her tormentors. Shadow has to then do some excellent word smithing to convince the guards to just let her leave and walk out of Moonrise with a fugitive.

Seeing and understanding the Absolute for what it truly is, Minthara decides she wants nothing to do with the Absolute any longer and would like to join the woman that she prayed to and who saved her from certain death. Minthara is desperate for Shadow to let her join in on her crusade. If Shadow doesn't agree, Minthara would have her mind wiped and turned into a thrall. She would rather die! And, even if she did survive the Absolute, she has nowhere else to go and Shadow is, ironically, the only beacon of light in the dark for her. Thankfully, Shadow let's her join her on her crusade against the Absolute.

Promptly after joining, she makes a visit to Withers (who calls her maidenless haha) so she can get a respec and become a Rogue Paladin. By now, Minthara is an oathbreaker twice over. By joining the Absolute, she broke her oath to Lolth, even if it was against her will. By leaving the Absolute, she has broken that oath as well. Now, she takes up a new oath, but it will not be in any gods name, not after the gods have tormented her and abandoned her in her greatest time of need. No, she takes her new oath in Shadow's name instead and swears bloody vengeance against all those who loyally serve the Absolute. Now the cleric and her loyal paladin march outta camp to take on the Absolute together.

The two explore the Shadow Lands and fight many threats side by side. Some of their misadventures include:

Protecting that, eugh, cleric of Selune, Isobel, from Marcus' ambush

Talking Gerringothe Thorm into handing over all her money and quitting her job

Talking Thisobold Thorm into drinking himself to death

Talking Malus Thorm into being a proper mentor and allowing the nurses to stab him to death

Fighting off a shambling mound

Made this really weird guy with his pet bird stab himself

Killed the warden in Moonrise and cleared the prison, saving some Gnomes

Also went on a super secret stealth mission and cleared out most of Moonrise

THE GAUNTLET OF SHAR

Eventually they work their way to the Thorm Mausoleum and discover the Gauntlet of Shar. Shadow is ecstatic as she may be able to finally achieve her destiny, and Minthara is more than eager to help. After all, the power of a Dark Justiciar is legendary!

Once completing the trials, Shadow makes one final prayer to Shar. Of course, Minthara has her reservations about Shar. The Nightsinger is nothing but a poison and worship of her is self-indulgent. Clearly, it hasn't done Shadow any favors as Minthara can tell that her Sharran worship forces her to repress herself and fills her with self-pity. She also has a unique antipathy to Shar given the immense similarities to Lolth. However, Shar does have a few admirable qualities. One of them being the ability to grant Shadow the power of a Dark Justiciar.

They make their way to the heart of Shar's domain, the Shadowfell, and learn what the final test is that awaits Shadow. A woman trapped in a soul cage, the last Selunite. Now, Shadow doesn't know what to do. Surely, this woman, this Nightsong, doesn't deserve to be killed. But Shar is in Shadow's ear telling her to kill the caged woman. It also doesn't help that Minthara is on the side telling Shadow to kill the Selunite so that she may achieve her destiny.

Minthara may dislike Shar, but she will grant Shadow a power that they sorely need in their fight against the Absolute. And Minthara has no problems with gaining power. It is just a shame this power would attach Shadow to Shar forever, but so be it. Shadow completed the trials honorably and this is the final test! Shar is more than willing to embrace Shadow as her Dark Justiciar and grant her the power of one. Minthara does not want Shadow to back down now.

In an unexpected turn of events for everyone involved, Shadow throws the spear into the endless storm of the Shadowfell. The grove is dead because of her. What is the point of this "grand destiny" if it only leads to death? Look what it did to Ketheric. Look at the Shadow Curse! Shadow doesn't want to be responsible for any more pain and suffering in the world. After all, her guilt saved Minthara's life, someone who has been nothing but protective and loyal to her. Why stop here in front of the Nightsong? Minthara isn't happy with the loss of potential power, but she sees wisdom in Shadow's decision as it means she will finally be free of Shar's poison. That and, well, she's starting to grow a little fond of the half-elf and cares about her well being.

Unfortunately, disobeying Shar also means begging for her wrath. In response to Shadow's disobedience, the Nightsinger sends an indescribable pain throughout Shadow's body. There is no lesson to be taught here, it is just pain for the purpose of inflicting pain. Although Minthara feels that Shar is right to punish Shadow for her disobedience, even she feels that Shadow does not deserve this level of torment and Shar was too quick to discard her. She can sympathize with Shadow's situation given a similar thing happened to her with Lolth and the Absolute.

But there is an internal struggle happening within Shadow. She has been devoted to Shar her entire life, or so she thinks. Shar is the only thing that she has known. By turning against Shar, surely Shadow should have lost all of her clerical abilities. But, they are still there. A small part of her mind knows why she still has her clerical abilities and who is powering them, but she does not want to confront that reality. So, for the time being, she just ignores the fact that she has been embraced by the warm light of the moon.

RAID ON MOONRISE TOWER

Now time to take on Ketheric Thorm. The fight through the tower would have been a bitch, but Z'rell was the only one who showed up on the big day! Apparently, a pair of unknown and sneaky elves made their way through the tower and killed everyone a few days prior. How weird!

They finally rush to the top of the tower with Jaheira as a temporary ally to finally fight Ketheric. Since Shadow had done some snooping earlier, she was actually able to convince Ketheric to stand down and surrender. Minthara was in the back absolutely seething over the idea of showing Ketheric mercy. He doesn't deserve mercy! Not all that he has done to her! She is on the verge of having a fucking aneurysm cause Shadow is being merciful and at the worst possible time! But she will do what Shadow wants. But, Dame Aylin swoops in and starts a fight anyway, much to Minthara's delight! And of course, Minthara absolutely humiliates Ketheric and forces him to retreat back into his tower.

Shadow and Minthara finally explore the Mind Flayer colony where it is clear to Shadow that Minthara is not having a good time. But, Minthara is going to pretend like she's not having some serious flashbacks. She doesn't want Shadow to see that level of vulnerability in her. Not when they still need to find and kill Ketheric. Now just isn't the time for Shadow to think she's soft and weak. So, instead of talking about herself, she instead decides to provide some lore about the colony itself to redirect Shadow's attention away from herself.

Descending further into the colony, they finally reach the lower level where they eavesdrop on a conversation between Ketheric, some random dude who is neither young or handsome, and Orin, Minthara's tormentor. Of course, Minthara could say something, warn Shadow how dangerous Orin is. But she can't. Poor girl is having a silent panic attack over seeing her tormentor again.

Eventually Orin and the greasy guy leave with some weird throbbing brain and it's just Ketheric alone. Shadow goes up to confront Ketheric and gives him one last chance to surrender. Overwhelmed with his own guilt and fears that he can never repent, Ketheric falls back into a brine pool and functionally kills himself. And out pops Myrkul. It was a hard fight, but with the assistance of her fellow paladin, Dame Alyin, Minthara is able to land the killing blow on Myrkul and, by consequence, Ketheric.

Taking a victory lap, Minthara sits on Ketheric's throne and overlooks the rest of the tower. It may have been a few months and a little bit of blood, sweat, and torture. But she has finally eradicated the inhabitants of the tower and conquered Moonrise. Too bad she can't take the victory back home to her house. But, she can still enjoy this moment.

With the revelations of the new information they discovered about the Absolute, Minthara hatches the big brain idea with all 8 of her intelligence points of conquering it and taking it for themselves. With the power of the cult and the elder brain, they can reshape the world to their hearts desires. No more will they ever have to fear being tormented by the gods like Lolth or Shar. As Absolute, they would be gods in their own names and these other petty and vindictive gods can no longer hurt them or meddle with their fates. They would be the masters, the writers, of their own destinies and they will have the power to kill all those who dare interfere. Obviously Shadow is opposed to this as she'd rather destroy it and rid themselves of the worms in their heads. That and Shadow has never been one for power. Minthara is not happy with this response, but she is confident that she will change Shadow's mind about it soon enough.

Now that things have calmed down and Ketheric is finally dead, Shadow meets with Dame Aylin and Isobel back at camp. Aylin decides to show Shadow the truth of one of her oldest memories, and the truth that Shar did not want her to see. That she was kidnapped from her home. That she was fed lies her entire life. And, most importantly, that she has parents and that they were still alive!

There are still doubts swirling within Shadow's mind, but there is an inescapable truth. She has been embraced by Selune. But why? Shadow didn't ask. And a part of her still struggles to fight against the Sharran indoctrination that has been beaten into her. A part of her still sees Selune as the enemy. And yet, Selune embraces her, even if Shadow is not willing to embrace her back.

Even if she isn't ready to embrace Selune, Shadow still wants to put some distance between herself and the god who now only lives to torment her. As a symbolic gesture, she cuts and dyes her hair in the colors of the Moon with the sole intent of telling Shar to go fuck herself.

Minthara thinks about her journey thus far and everything she's done with Shadow. Since their first night after the grove raid, Minthara hasn't been able to get Shadow out of her mind. And out of pure desperation, she prayed to her, begging for Shadow to save her when she needed to be saved. The gods ignored her, tortured her, and left her to die. Shadow did not.

She has been the only person on the surface that has accepted her and appreciated her for who she is and does not hold any judgment against her, despite any disagreements they may have about the gods. And in her time of need, Shadow came and saved her. When she prayed to all the gods, begging for just one of them to help her, Shadow was the one who appeared before her. How can she do anything but worship her cleric?

But Minthara has been down this road before with another cleric in her old life. She does not want to make the same mistake again. So she asks to see into Shadow's mind and learns fully that Shadow will never hurt her, betray her, abuse her, use her, or abandon her. This is a new feeling for Minthara as any previous relationships in Menzoberranzan never had this kind of guarantee. For the first time, she has found someone she can put her full trust and faith in. She has found someone that she can truly be open and vulnerable to, confident that any vulnerability she may feel will never be turned against her.

From Shadow's perspective, Minthara is also someone who hasn't judged her for any of her misdeeds either and has always stood by her side. Even when Shadow was overwhelmed and drowned in her guilt for her actions at the grove, Minthara was right there to comfort her through it all. Even with their little disagreement in regards to rejecting Shar, Minthara was still right there. Even when they disagreed on how to handle Ketheric, Minthara was still right there. Even when they disagreed on what to do with the Absolute, Minthara was still right there. Minthara can disagree with any decision that Shadow can make, and Minthara will still stand proud right next to her, fighting in her name. Shadow has never seen this level of loyalty and devotion from anyone, at least not that she can recall. How else can she feel anything but adoration for her paladin?

Thanks for reading my story! Act 3 is underway and, oh boi, I'm already feeling the Act 3 dread. Not to mention, the Elden Ring DLC has finally arrived, so it may be some time before I get back to Baldur's Gate. But, once I wrap up Act 3, I'll get to writing the story and provide the final update as well as the epilogue. As per usual, I will still provide my mini progress updates.

<Act 1 | Act 3 >

[vivi-the-goblin]

Over halfway done with 5e. Not going to let WotC put a permanently unfinished series on my page, so this has turned more into a last walk to get my character ideas and design thoughts out before moving on. Btw I AM still making monsters, they're just going to be part of larger encounter videos like the last one. If you want to see a particular monster used or have some variant of it made, I'm open to suggestions!

Paladins are hard for me just because I HATE what they've done with oaths. What they did was remove alignment from the game, then basically give paladins thier own mini-alignment without any nuance. but with fewer and worse words. "You don't have to be lawful good we swear! you just have to follow this strict set of laws that're usually good or lose your power, and all flavor text will insist you're good!" Oddly enough, that is FAR more rigid than anything they were trying to replace, because you're bound to 3 specific rules instead of the tone of a god you chose. But whatever, WotC's solution to paladin alignment was just haphazardly ripping out random chunks of the problem, who would've guessed. My solution to this is to just make PERSONAL oaths. You make your character, and you make ironclad ideals that they strive for. ones that fit with whatever you've flavored the subclass as of course. and then have THOSE dictate your course. That little bit of nuance is a good compromise if we're going the self-made laws middleground.

Personally I think the paladin needs at least SOME law to follow. They literally get thier power by following a moral code, be it thier own or someone else's, so strongly that they manifest power. Or they operate like a warlock with a less binding contract. But I actually love adding narrative weight to mechanics. It gives the choices MEANING. Here's an example- Once we were stuck, an orcish army approaching but our concerns more focused on the lich nearby. As long as he and his necromancers lived, we lost no matter how the war went. Sadly I had spread bubonic plague through the black market slavers, and in doing so accidentally killed all the DM's info brokers and ways for us to find them. When he offered us someone who could speak to the gods, he mentioned that the closer the god was to this case the more info they'd have. We knew we had to butter him up though. but our group had a paladin, monk, druid, and cleric. this wasn't going to be easy. We made the decision to...ask the paladin to leave. Those of us remaining did something horrific in the eyes of the gods. We tricked people into cannabalism of a diseased corpse of someone they knew, while drunkenly cheering orcus's name. We got the info, but there was a cost. As a druid, I only had to argue partial neutrality. As this action was horrible but ultimately to prevent the collapse of the kingdom, I was able to argue I was not Chaotic Evil, merely neutral evil. The paladin escaped judgement. The monk had to go on a journey of self reflection to regain neutrality.

The cleric had to argue his case before the gods that this was the only way to prevent a greater evil. He eventually was bound in service to the king for repentance, but power restored. For all its faults, THAT is what alignment being bound to a class can do. That wouldn't have had the weight if it was just his standing amongst the local church. He was arguing for his soul and his class levels, narrative and mechanical stakes together. I see the oaths as a half-way point to that, but with far less narrative value and far too rigid in being 3 specific rules for the whole subclass. It's a worst of both worlds. but I think at least picking the rules you're sworn to is a nice patch to all that.

[i-like-anything-water]

Had a bit of a sorta funny fantasy AU for Chloenette: Essentially, Chloe, a Paladin looking to make a name for herself, hears about a legend of a chosen heroine destined to save the world from a swarm of dark insects, and sets out to make it come true... while dragging along a young Priestess named Marinette to chronicle her journey to greatness, with Marinette just going along with it because her conscience won't let her abandon someone who is clearly in over their heads. Also, neither of them are aware that Marinette is the chosen heroine. Also, this: Chloe: No one tells me what to do! Marinette: (Grabs Chloe's hand) Chloe: One person tells me what to do! (Blushes)

Chloe huffed as she read the very old signboard again. A chosen one that wasn't her? Preposterous! Perhaps she hasn't made her debut quite known yet. Surely, anyone with two functioning eyes could see her set of skills and praise worthy intellect.

If they haven't, she'll just stuff it in their eyes.

Determined and carrying spite that could rival her collection of weapons, she set out on her journey to save the kingdom from evil bugs. Bugs, strange and was maybe made by a lunatic who had too much to drink, were the enemy. Very well, she'll squash every last one.

"You there!" Of course, what good is saving the entire kingdom if it is not written by someone that wasn't her? Credibility was needed. "Follow me. I will pay you handsomely as long as you don't have any annoying questions."

"Asking someone to follow them without sparing any other details aside from no questioning?" The Priestess answered back, a brow raised. Chloe huffed as she crossed her arms, "What did I say about no questions?"

"That wasn't an annoying one."

"Yes, it was!"

"The one who asked mere moments was certainly annoying though, unfortunately," the woman smirked. Chloe scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Fine. If you don't want to take on my offer, I shall find a better companion. Someone..." blue eyes scanned her up and down, "competent enough."

This brat.

"The Gods surely have it after me for sending me these lunatics," she mumbled. Chloe was about to retort when she help up a hand, "I will accept your offer. Only if I have conditions as well."

"That wasn't in the deal."

"I never agreed to it in the first place, I'm only agreeing with changes."

"Ugh, fine. What do you want?"

"Tell me everything. I need to know what I'm going to go through," Chloe made a noise, but nodded nonetheless, "and expenses will be on you should we travel very far."

A scoff again, "Deal. Now shall we get going? I don't want to waste precious sunlight bickering with nonsense."

The woman sighed as she flicked her wrist and suddenly there was a bag in her hand. She already felt the beginning of a headache and they haven't even started yet. Unfortunately, she needed the money.

They were just across town when she spoke again, "So, what use do you require of me?"

"I want you to write down whatever happens in this journey and swore you spoke the truth and nothing but the truth." Oh. That seemed quite simple. She guessed this was a form of promotion to climb the ranks.

"Okay. Where are we off to?"

"To the third kingdom we pass. I am searching for a foe I wish to destroy before it kills us all."

She halted. "I'M SORRY?!"

Chloe sighed. This is why she hated questions, "There's a prophecy, there's a hero, prophecy didn't say who, I'm gonna be the hero, I save us from evil insects, you write everything, I pay, we part ways as strangers. There."

Dear heavens, she's accompanying an idiot! "Are you crazy? The prophecy did not say who the hero is and you're going to take the role yourself?"

"Yup."

Fuck. "And evil insects? You must be out of your mind."

Chloe smirked, "And so are you by extension, blueberry."

The woman glared, "My name is Marinette, you brat. And I wasn't aware the mission cost both my sanity and my life."

"And this, class, is why you ask about everything before you agree to a random Paladin's offer," the blonde replied sarcastically.

Marinette sighed, "I should have told my loved ones I loved them and goodbye."

"Stop being dramatic. We'll be fine."

"I can't and I will not."

Chloe sighed. They're both going to lose their sanity at the end of this.

Not accurately the ask....woops. This was a fun au though, can definitely see the 'but there was only one bed' and 'we will cuddle menacingly as to save warmth' scenes in this xD

[ben-guy]

Let me tell you a DM's story of how a level 4 druid killed 12 orcs and 2 ogres single handedly with nothing but a singular use of beast shape and a few high rolls. While I've been in the player character chair in a few D&D sessions, I'm a first time DM, and my party consists of 3 first time players. Today's session, our 6th thus far, is the focus of our story.

On a side path not featured on their map, the party found a dilapidated shrine, overtaken by a band of orcs and ogres. When they first arrived however, they didn't know this, just that they could see an orc in a watch tower. This, however, was enough to make them nervous. For context, the previous session had made my players very cautious about orcs. 9 of them arriving in waves plus a max damage crit bringing our paladin from full health to rolling saving throws will do that to a party. Thus, with all due caution, the players put together a plan to scout the location a bit to prevent everything going to hell again. This is where our party's druid, a tiefling named "Crime," comes into play. They have a hilarious history of almost always rolling low and saying unwise things, resulting in a variety of fun shenanigans. Note the word almost. This is what we in the business call foreshadowing. During the planning phase, the Druid asked a great question: what if I snuck in as an animal? I said it would require some stealth checks, as the orcs would probably try to eat them, to which the druid responded with another great question: is there anything that orcs don't eat? After some consideration and discussion, I remembered that the orcs in this area are followers of Talos, whose holy symbol is a boar. Thus, with a successful religion check, the plan was in order. What followed was perhaps my favorite series of events in any session I've played. First, a successful charisma check. The orcs, seeing their god's holy symbol wander into the camp of its own free will, rejoiced at the good omen, draping it in a fur cloak and feeding it well. This is when the players learned the extent of the foe's forces. 12 orcs and 3 ogres. This news left the players none too excited about the idea of assaulting this place, especially after 9 orcs and 0 ogres kicked their asses the previous session. They were considering putting it off until a higher level... but before they left, the druid explored the area quite thoroughly. During this exploration, they rolled decently again while examining an altar, uncovering a small stash of treasure. When the orcs saw this bounty, quite clearly a gift of conquest from their god over an opposing deity, the orcs' were downright rapturous. This is when the Druid had a great (albeit fucked up) idea: weaponizing the zeal of the orcs by growling at the unbelieving ogres. You see, during their little investigation, the druid also learned that the ogres had no reverence for orc religious symbols. I decided on some numbers, with various levels of success in mind, all dependant on their next roll. This, of course, is when the druid rolled a natural 20. Because of course they fucking did. Not wanting to do combat, I checked the CR of the two groups, thinking I'd just subtract them. 6 and 6. Okay, fine, I'll homebrew something. Ultimately, I decided to do a series of roll offs, with each result removing one CR worth of HP from the losing group. The Ogres got a good head start... but then the orcs got a couple wins, then the ogres got one, back and forth, whittling their numbers down until finally. FINALLY. the last remaining ogre killed the last remaining orcs. 12 orcs. 2 ogres. 1 beast shape. I could barely believe it myself. The last ogre, quite unhappy with the boar, gave chase. Unfortunately for the ogre, the boar had some friends nearby. Thus ends the tale of Crime and the best use of beast shape I've ever heard of. I left a few details out, like Crime licking the altar, thus resulting in a prophetic vision about the location of a dragon's lair. It wasn't even the first time they got something good out of licking an altar, though the first time did sort of have consequences. Idk maybe I'll share that story too some time.

[jaypea00101010]

How to make a capstone?

I've been thinking about this a lot since starting priest, and part of why I've been going through making it in the way I have, a few levels at a time, is because I've not been sure how to do later levels until I get there.

I think a good capstone for D&D should zero in on the thematic and mechanical cores of the class, and improve them someway: Barbarian's Primal Champion is great at this for example. What makes a barbarian a barbarian? How strong and tough they are. How can we improve that thematically? Improve those stats.

Monk's Perfect Self on the other hand (correctly) identifies sorcery points as the core of the class, but doesn't quite hit the narrative for me. ki point recovery on inititive rest isn't a bad idea, but what does it actually tell you about the class, what's the narrative for recovering ki when you fight?

For Priest, there's one main point I wanted to zone in on with the class: The Customization. Priest has so many different options for how to build them, from Diety's Domain to Divine Calling to Method of Worship, I wanted level 20 of priest to relate to these somehow.

Initially I was looking at paladins, how they get their capstone feature from their subclass, in this case I was going to make Divine Callings give creatures that capstone, but that wasn't enough. Next I was going to make the capstone something all priests got that interacted with the different Divine Domains priests can connect to, but that also didn't quite hit the mark.

Eventually it struck me when discussing Mage Hand Press' Necromancer class earlier today. Necromancer's Capstone lets characters gain Lichdom from the core class, which grants a few benefits, but then the subclasses expand on this too. I could use this for Priest, and so came up with:

Divinity Incarnate

20th-level priest feature

As an action, you can become your deity or pantheon’s incarnation on the material plane for one minute. While you are an incarnation, you gain the following benefits as well as those dictated by your Divine Calling and Method of Worship:

At the start of each of your turns, you regain miracle points equal to half your spellcasting ability modifier.

At the start of each of your turns, you can change which domain you are channeling.

You gain immunity to necrotic and radiant damage.

You can use this feature once, and regain the ability to use it when you complete a long rest.

This feature already interacts with Divine Calling and Miracle points from the core class and grants two thematic immunities for a priest, but that's not all, as the feature mentions, Method of Worship and Divine Calling both also add features. Take Cultist for example:

Cultist Incarnate

20th-level Cultist feature

While you are an incarnation, the damage dice from your Vital Drain feature become d12s instead of d6s.

This feature interacts with the choices you've made for your character, and improves them in a way that's perfectly thematic. You're channeling the power of a god (or gods), of course it's only something you can do once a day, any more would be too much, but channeling like that is giving a power boost to you, a power boost that's dictated by the options you chose to get to this point!

[blueeandyellowmakesgreen]

apocalypse byler part 9: 2/2 is here!! thank you for waiting!!

,, hmm okay. i said this was gonna end sweetly AND IT DOES but it ended up being a lot more angstier than i was planning wiajwjja

tag list: @ineffable-hubbiewubbies @loveqbrl @strangeswift

anyway hope you all enjoy this continuation!

''Why did you lie about the painting?''

Will’s heart drops at the question. He curses himself, goddamnit, he thought they dropped it already. The fist gripped on his blanket only grows tighter, his nails digging through the fabric and piercing his skin. He feels himself coil; his eyes misty. He has no idea why he had to feel like crying now out of all places. He was so confident up to this point that he would rather die than let Mike know; but at the same time he’s screaming; Please push me. Please continue to push me. Don’t forget about it.

Push me until I cry.

Will didn’t want to lie to himself anymore; he wants to talk about it with Mike so bad. He wants to be honest, like how Mike has been trying to be lately. When did it get so difficult to be truthful anyway? It was so easy before, and now he feels like he has to watch his words with Mike. And he can tell how hurt his friend is by that. But he doesn’t know. He has no clue how much it was killing him to keep him at a distance. He can only wish he was as strong as Mike.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a world where Will wins. So he puts on the most stoic voice he could muster, swallowing deeply. ‘’Is that what this was about? So you could corner me?’’ He spits out, his words coated with venom.

‘’I just wanted to continue our conversation from before.’’

‘’What’s there to continue? I remember it ending pretty clearly.’’

‘’Will… come on. Do you really wanna do this?’’

No. ‘’God, just…Please, forget it, Mike.’’ Will tries to shuffle more to his side, straying farther away from his best friend.

‘’Why should I?’’

‘’What does it matter to you anyway?!’’

To Will’s surprise, Mike doesn’t retort instantly like he expected. All he was greeted with was silence; though if he’s being honest it made him feel rather uneasy, not hearing Mike’s loud voice. He’s tempted to turn around to see what’s the deal, until the silence is broken once again that’s worth making Will’s chest feel heavy.

‘’What doe it matter..?’’ Mike’s voice cracks as he quotes him. He sounded like he was in disbelief. More importantly, he sounded hurt. Will hears Mike get up from where he was lying down, making Will turn around to finally face him.

‘’H-How…’’ Mike frantically walks around the room, with Will’s eyes anxiously following him. Mike runs his hands through his hair as he walks. He then looks at Will with an expression that was almost offended, then wore the most amused grin on his face; it’s as if Will suggested something completely ridiculous. He exhales out a laugh. ‘’..How…could you say that to me?’’

Will was at a loss for words.

‘’-No, you’re right. Of course it doesn’t matter.’’ Mike interrupts Will, his tone full of sarcasm as he waves his hands in the air dismissively. ‘’It doesn’t matter that my best friend lied to me.’’

‘’Hey, I didn’t lie!’’ Will retorted quickly.

‘’Hah, didn’t you?’’ Mike puts his hands on his hips. ‘’So El did ‘commission’ that painting? Which, okay, was on me to not doubt, because how the hell could she have known my class was a paladin when I never uttered a word about D&D to her, but hey! She could have learned that from you, right?’’ Mike worded it like a question, but it was in an accusatory tone, his hand leaning towards Will.

Will had no words to reply or rebut. All he could do was look down at his fingers and start fidgeting nervously.

‘’And, uh, if what I said that day wasn’t enough of a hint, then..heh,’’ Mike starts laughing again, tears starting to stream down his face, which Mike tries to wipe swiftly. It was too late though; Will already caught a glimpse at it. The fact he was the one who caused that was going to haunt him for years.

‘’..I hate how useless I am. I thought I made it pretty fucking clear I felt like I didn’t matter to the people I cared about the most. And maybe I should just go ahead and..’’

‘’Mike..’’ Will whimpers.

‘’Then you said..that speech.’’ Mike sniffs. ‘’That stupid..stupid speech about me being the heart. No, it wasn’t stupid. Far from it, actually. Ugh.’’ Mike rubs his eyes. ‘’It’s just what you said, of how I made ‘her’ not feel like a mistake. Of how she needed me.’’ Mike looks away from Will. Will looks intently, hoping he was communicating well enough to beg Mike to look back at him. Mike as if reading Will’s mind, does just that. Their eyes lock.

‘’I remembered everything, Will. It was when you helped me realize that…maybe I did have a use. That maybe for once, I wouldn’t let anyone down. That I wasn’t a useless piece of shit like I thought I was. Knowing I was important to someone was all that mattered.’’ Mike puts his hands on his pockets, leaning on the dining table.

Will opens his mouth to respond, until Mike sighs shakily. ‘’And now I find out it was all a fucking lie, so…’’ Mike inhales before speaking again, standing as upright as he could, but he slumps back to his original position. His shoulders shake, trying to withhold his tears.

‘’So yeah, Will. It matters a whole fucking lot to me.’’

‘’…I meant it.’’ Will says as he props himself up, breaking the deafening silence between them.

‘’Meant what?’’

‘’You being needed.’’

‘’…By El?’’

Will feels himself freeze. So Mike did have an inkling.

‘’No. Not by El.’’

Mike stares at him for a bit, until he walks back to Will, sitting next to him with his eyes fully focused. ‘’..That’s not enough.’’

‘’I…’’ Will felt himself hesitate, until Mike was close enough to invade his personal space and their faces inches away.

‘’Will. You’re okay.’’

He feels Mike’s fingers snake through his own, eyes still focused on him. Though his gaze was intense, it was also earnest. It’s as if Mike is not allowing him to run away this time, and Will couldn’t be more thankful for that. Mike made him feel brave. He could practically hear his determination, and it was saying; ‘This is the night we’re going to break this cycle between us.’’

Will squeezes Mike’s hand back.

‘’I meant it when I said you didn’t make me feel like a mistake,’’ Mike nods gently, his smile growing already. With that sight, Will could already feel his walls breaking free. ‘’I was pushing you away because I was scared of losing you. I felt like I already did.’’ Will’s tears flood his face, his voice growing shakier. Mike’s grip gets tighter, serving as Will’s anchor. It helped him immensely.

‘’When really, I don’t know what I’d do if I did. I can’t lose you, because I…’’

Mike stares, but Will notices he’s leaning forward with every word he says. Will continues, voice pitching higher as he cries.

‘’I need you, Mike. Because…’’

‘’Will.’’ Mike says quietly.

‘’Y-Yeah?’’ He whispers, leaning forward as well. Just a little more and…

‘’Truth or Truth?’’

Will stops where he is. He blinks. ‘’What?’’

‘’Simple question. Truth or Truth?’’

Will is stunned. ‘’I-Isn’t it your turn?’’ He manages to stutter out.

‘’Shut up, it’s my game.’’ Mike leans back, his normal demeanor back. The former feels himself utterly disappointed. Was Mike playing with him? Was this all just an elaborate prank?

‘’It was never your game.’’ Will says flatly, irritation creeping up in his skin.

Mike raises his eyebrow. ‘’Uh, yeah, it is. I can interchange turns, since it’s my game. the rules where both truths can be interchanged with dare, but you’re welcome I didn’t apply that rule here due to our situation. Ergo, it’s liberated from copyright and is still my game.’’ He smirks, satisfied at his explanation.

Will blinks again. ‘’..I’m surprised I understood all of that.’’ He has no idea why he was indulging his best friend after the asshole stunt he just pulled.

‘’Of course you can. You’re the smartest next to Dustin.’’

Will still finds himself glaring daggers at Mike, despite still bantering with him. ‘’So, like..just fuck Lucas, then?’’

Mike points a finger at him. ‘’Don’t change the subject, and most importantly don’t tell him I told you that. Truth or Truth?’’ He asks again, voice raising from impatience.

‘’I’m scared of what’s coming next.’’

Mike rolls his eyes and groans loudly. ‘’Will, Jesus Christ, just pick one.’’

Fine. Will didn’t need to see Mike to know he was grinning to himself. Little shit. ‘’Truth.’’

‘’Can I kiss you?’’

Will’s angry demeanor changes immediately. Of course. This is so Mike Wheeler to do, and he finds himself grinning ear to ear at it. ‘’That’s not a truth question.’’ He laughs lightly. Mike joins him in giggling, and they stare at each other once again.

‘’…So can I?’’

‘’Yeah.’’ Will says, a little too eagerly and fast. Mike chuckles and leans forward to close the remaining space between them, their lips smashing together. It was messy, and not exactly the most ideal situation for any normal person; but it was perfect. For them, it was nothing short of it.

Both can agree that despite the uncomfortable situation they find themselves in, it was the best game of Truth or Truth yet.

[is-jan-jan-is]

Best comics by publisher:

I am bored and autistic and gay and so I've compiled an objectively subjective list of the 'best' books from each publisher. You're welcome, America.

IDW-honestly the current Star Trek run is phenomenal and we all love TMNT but I gotta give it to Atomic Robo.

Scout-Metal Shark Bro is so good that it honestly skewed my expectations for the entire publisher. They truthfully have two solid lines and the rest is an odd marketing campaign. The Black Caravan stuff was fun, though.

Boom!-SIKTC is undeniably amazing and 'We Only Find Them When They're Dead' is objectively top tier but for me, it's all about Coda. The art, the writing, the straight dude getting dunked on by his orc paladin wife-perfection. The first issue of the continuation just dropped and reading it was like returning home.

Ahoy!-Penultiman is pretty good but I think 'The Wrong Earth' is clearly their best title.

Valiant-hear me out, hear me out. I've collected ALL of Valiant's reboot, 2012-present. Unfortunately I must report that peak Valiant is X-O Manowar: Retribution. 1993 was a good year for whacky sci-fi comics. There is a scene wherein Aric of Darcia proclaims:"he must be like those men who prefer other men. I do not understand these men; but damn, do they make the best wizards!" That's peak fiction.

Dark Horse-look Hellboy is great. It's so good that I almost gave it to Mike Mignolia just on merit and industry influence alone. Unfortunately, Jeff Lemire exists. Black Hammer is perfect in every way. MIND MGMT was a strong second.

Image-Astro City. The characters are deep, emotional beings. Their stories breathe in the most human way. Most other titles conflate grit with maturity while AC makes you feel without several arcs of trauma porn. Also, im happy to see creators who remember that comic books are the home of wackiness. Its a slice of life hero series-10/10. Also Alex Ross. This (image) was annoying to choose because-despite suffering the unforgivable scourge of Robert Kirkman- Image has so many other good titles. Bitch Planet, Savage Dragon and Spawn (obligatory, obvi), Rumble, Chew, Outer Darkness, Descender/Ascender, etc .. not to mention Radiant Black. I still want to give it to Saga. Due to all the confusion with inage/wildstorm/dc having some claim to Astro City I almost skipped it entirely which is a shame but, yeah-Astro City.

TKO Studios-honestly, I'm not sure that this company is still kickin'. They were a fun little experiment though, with several enjoyable titles. I can't say any of them really blew me away. But, if I had to pick a 'best' I'd give it to 'Sentient'. Jeff Lemire can do no wrong.

AWA-they're too new for a selection to have any real meaning but 'The Resistance' is pretty good. It's been a couple years and I hope they produce something else that's quality because E-Ratic was a pretty big let down.

D.C.-Crisis on Infinite Earths. It's a given. There is something to be said about the cultural impact of Crisis. Originally, 'crisis' stories were crossovers of varying stakes. The comic gods(Perez and Wolfman) changed the game with this one. Also,every Crisis story which follows was similarly silly and serious. The pseudo science wackiness and over the top theatrics gets me every time. No other comic company gets it right. D.C. has been getting progressively better and better these last couple years, especially now with the phenomenal 'Dawn of D.C.' stuff. But if I was stranded on an island and could only bring one D.C. title it would be Crisis. ('83 New Teen Titans is of course a strong second)

Oni Press- their Rick and Morty stuff was a guilty pleasure (because it's really quite good but that means I have to spend money on Rick and Morty) and 'The Sixth Gun' was well made. Regardless, their best title was clearly 'Pink Lemonade'. Its chaotic indie fun that doesn't make sense and doesn't have too.

Massive/Whatnot Inc: these guys are really new, started 2022 I think. Not really sold on them yet but one of their first titles, quested, was lots of fun. Pretty small selection so far but what they do have is quality. 'Best book' goes to Plot Holes. Not only did Sean Murphy give us the most tolerable Bruce Wayne, he also gave us this creative joyride. It's equal parts wacky and sincere and best of all, it's in the Murphy style. Even though its early on in the run it's one of those titles you look forward to. throughout the month.

Marvel-Marvel peaked in 1999 with Earth X. Don't get me wrong, I love a great deal of Marvel books. Al Ewing's Ultimates (NOT Bendis) was great. Personally, my favorite Avengers story was the Celestial Madonna saga of the sixties, but Waid's run was great(obvi) and Hickman's was too. Hickman's Xmen stuff...also happened. Cates and Jason aaron had good Thor runs. The first and last of Aaron's avenger arcs were great. Peter David's many 'Spider' runs were fun and Dan Slott sure does exist. The Sam Wilson cap runs were all phenomenal, especially the Symbol of Truth run-and Kelly Thompson's run on Carol was one of the best ever. Good Marvel books have been dwindling lately but Jed McKay's 'Avengers' is honestly one of the best books out there. Unfortunately, none of that good stuff comes close to Earth X. The prose, the thorough examination of human nature, the Alex Ross of it all. Earth X was an ode to Marvel lore which read better than most of Marvel history. 'Nuff said.

[heavenwontbethe-same]

Hey!! Long follower of yours but I've only recently been back on Tumblr and I just saw a post about Cordelia being the one who should have died in CoT. I was curious about it and read the tags and I'm already disappointed in Cordelia/CC. Because I really like Cordelia but I haven't read CoT yet, so if you're comfortable could you maybe elaborate a little? Just so I can understand if I should be prepared to be disappointed in Cordelia in CoT when I finally read it. (I don't care about spoilers so have at it). I'd really like to know your thoughts<3

hello! i would start off by saying that when you do read chot, to go in with an open mind because of course what i will be saying in this post is my own opinion and my perception of the books will obviously be different to how others see it. this post is going to be long and incoherent at points, i do apologise beforehand.

with that being said, i liked cordelia from the snippets we got before tlh even came out. i liked her in chog, even though there were certain moments that made me pause - her allowing her friends to make whatever assumptions or comments about her brother they liked without her ever blinking an eye, because she was too concerned with fitting in with them. but i still liked the book and still liked her.

choi is where i started to dislike her though, and it literally took me almost 2 years to finish choi because i found cordelia so insufferable.. in the very beginning of the book, alastair is looking out for her and wants her safe and out of trouble and says as much to matthew, but cordelia berates him in favour of her friend (page 17). at this point, cordelia knows the truth; if not in its entirety, then at least a considerable part of it. at the wedding reception, her friends are hostile to her brother despite all his attempts to be cordial. i believe at one point they even suggest that alastair made cordelia uncomfortable? the same alastair that sacrificed most of his life to protect her? and all before you're even a 100 pages into the book (page 96). she says, on page 297 to matthew, "perhaps you think i am terrible, still loving him." of course, she thinks it, she thinks alastair is kind and sweet and vulnerable, but god forbid she ever said any of this to her friends in her brother's defense. this post by @thepictureofsdr on cordelia and her continuous reluctance to defend alastair in any way shape or form is very well said.

and that was all just the sibling aspect of it. she continuously lies to lucie, her supposed best friend and future parabatai, about lilith and james and even matthew, while shunning lucie for keeping secrets of her own. lucie tries to talk to her, apologises for not telling her, but she can't move past it even though she literally did the same.

*chot spoilers*

in chot, during every battle or fight, she was reluctant to lift a weapon in order to not summon lilith. valid, but instead of seeking shelter, she would just stand there and wait for danger and have her friends babysit her while fighting off demons. there's a fight in chot where grace is inside because she can't fight. cordelia also won't fight but she's out there, not helping her friends fight them off, but also just standing there as a sitting duck waiting for them to attack??? and they eventually do attack because why wouldn't they, and three people are distracted from their own fights trying to save her. assuming you already know who dies, they die trying to save her here, all because she wouldn't lift a weapon but has to be in harms way anyway.

she hands off cortana to alastair, who not to mention lives with their heavily pregnant mother, knowing that demons now had a special interest in cortana after she became lilith's paladin. she eavesdropped on her brother and charles, when it was not her place to do so, she eavesdropped on james and grace and caused a whole other problem. she ran away with matthew to paris and led him on even when she knew she'd never get over james. she kissed matthew and ended up comparing him to james but still continued to kiss him anyways. she'd be in james' presence but think about grace even after james' continuous assurance that he felt nothing for her, and then she'd wish she was with matthew instead. every time she was in james' presence, she'd fixate on grace.

she did get more tolerable after she knew the truth, but that was such a small portion of the book and my opinion of her was already negative by then. she then goes on to rehash the lucie and lying thing even though it was resolved earlier in the book. the book ends with the epilogue stating that attitudes to her brother had changed because he had changed. and that was true, alastair wasn't closeted anymore and had changed, but cordelia follows it up with the line that he wouldn't have to worry about fitting in with her friends anymore, and that hit me the wrong way.

the overarching themes of her dynamic with most characters, whether intentionally or not, seemed to give off a holier than thou attitude. she never held herself accountable but was comfortable doing it to everyone else, even if her actions caused the problem in the first place. her relationship with alastair was particularly disappointing, given how much he sacrificed for her and how she was at times disappointed/ashamed to even be related to him. this just reminded me how this applies to edwina's character from the bridgerton show too, but i digress.

she never really had any character development throughout the entire series, so i would've preferred her dying instead of an actually interesting character.

[wetbloodworm]

i'm wanting to rework temerity's god a little bit, mostly because i just grabbed a lawful god from the forgotten realms wiki relatively quickly so that i didn't have to work on that myself. but now i. want to work on that myself lmao. i don't want to borrow forgotten realms lore i want to make my own.

so, just to summarize, this god's whole thing is Law Above Everything Else, and is particular about following the actual letter of the law vs any kind of interpretation or intended spirit etc. i'd categorize him as lawful neutral.

his full name is now Erolith Bor, though i don't know if that's how people refer to him? he might have a title. god my brain is just immediately jumping to judge language. followers praying to him addressing him as your honor.

okay i've made a lot of leaps in the last few minutes so i've actually made some decisions lmao we're not just working shit out now we've GOT it. details under the cut

okay so. people wouldn't know erolith's mortal name, they know him by the title The Honorable. you're meant to address him as 'your honor', but just calling him by his title is also acceptable. he will tune you out if you address him as anything else in prayer tbh.

all of his followers are expected to have a decent grasp of the law, though his paladins, clerics, and other higher ups in the church essentially have to pass the LSAT before they can take their respective positions*. it's very common for churches of the honorable to have a small semi-public library of local and federal law books/documents/etc to reference and study. if you can own your own law books, even better, but not everyone has the means to keep that shit up to date. followers of the honorable generally WANT people to know the law in order to follow it better so while they monitor anyone who uses their stuff, anyone is welcome to access the library.

* yes this does imply that temerity had the pass the LSAT against his will lmao

all followers are required to follow all laws, and paladins + clerics + higher ups are generally expected to uphold/enforce the law as much as they legally can. like if they're an actual cop/lawyer/judge/etc then yeah do your job, but those not in actual legal professions and such are still expected to get on people for breaking the law. citizen's arrest, reporting to the authorities, etc. if you've passed your fantasy-LSAT then you know how far you're legally allowed to go lol. followers of the honorable would like to have a pass to just do arrests and shit by virtue of being followers of the honorable but the law doesn't state that explicitly. not everywhere, at least. some local laws might give them more wiggle room.

in fallen-universe lore, erolith absolutely was a judge before the war and before ascending. he was definitely a hard-ass, no room for leniency or any real focus on morality, if you committed the crime you get whatever punishment goes along with that regardless of outside factors. of course if you didn't commit a crime according to what the law literally says, no yeah you go free. so an upside of his judge style is that everyone was technically treated the same, no favoritism or bias was shown, Law Above Everything Else. just, y'know. sometimes the law isn't fair.

i need to know more about how actual written laws worked in the time of the old gods but i'm thinking it wouldn't be a stretch to say there was some inconsistencies there, or maybe a difference between the law of the gods and the law of mortals? something like that?? idk i need to bug hale more but like. SOMETHING about how all of that worked didn't sit right with erolith. the morality of what the old gods were doing wasn't the problem, it was the legality. the technicalities. something was awry there.

that's the end of the post for now but we may expand on this. good start tho

[truetgirl]

Screw it, I feel like sharing, so here are some heroforge models I've made over the years and am actually still kinda satisfied with/proud of.

Basic backstories under the cut, if you're interested.

1 & 2: Winter Parrin. Feylock, multiclassed into bard, and my current D&D character. She's a creature of stories, this one. Fairy tales are a big part of the reason she's still drawing breath; both those she's read and those she's lived. She's also chaotic at heart, but cruel fate has cursed her to be team mom. The wings were part of a session of "our DM gives us sick abilities" after a major story beat, and I'm trying to lean into her becoming a bit less human, a little more fey as time goes on.

3: Lisseia Cole. A half-elf beast barbarian I never got to play, and more's the pity, because I wanted to find out what that DM had in mind for her backstory's gaps. It involved an archmage father, a terrible fire, years spent drifting as an orphan, and a mysterious shadow following her. That's what I handed the DM and told them "surprise me" with. Gods, the unfulfilled potential.

4: Cirania Starchaser. A high-elf redeemer from a long-defunct campaign (messy, messy drama with one of the other players). She was a noble scion of a people whose empire had fallen, but who still believed in their superiority. Being brought low and living in poverty in the lands of her people's former subjects gave her... new perspective. Taken in by a priestess of the twin gods of light and redemption and her family, Cira learned, tried to better herself, and set forth hoping to mend old wounds and show her people a way to better themselves.

5: Spite. Not the name her mother gave her, but the one she chose after her mother was killed before her eyes. She is an avenger, retribution in tiefling form, and she is coming for all those who seek to hurt her kind, and for the diabolic bastards that dealt them their lot in the first place. One day, I will find the right place to play her.

6: Mags, short for Magnificence, is a cad and a scoundrel. A glory paladin on one hand, seeking to make her mark, and a lore bard on the other, singing and reveling in the stories of the great heroes whose ranks she hopes to one day join. But, of course, there's still time for much drink and the company many beautiful women along the way.

7: Tana Duskglow. A straightforward glory paladin made for a one-shot, she was quite keen to get down to the fighting and the saving of damsels.

8 & 9: Maven Alesig. My Innistradi fanwalker, once a priestess of Avacyn, she sparked when her empathic magic failed her in the travails, and in so doing allowed the children under her protection to die. Her first planeswalk was to the Cathedral of Serra on Dominaria, and there she recovered and trained as a knight. A version of her has also been transplanted into SWTOR, and is the padawan of Thali, the main character of Millie over at @arvadthecursed.

[lewis-winters]

Day 16: Victory

Part of my OC-tober 2022 (that will get fucking finished in 2024 so help me god)! Another Baldur's Gate 3 one, folks!

This was just an excuse to write a Tadfools puppy pile and also a little dropped hint to whatever is going on between Halsin/my Tav. Again, some Bloodweave in there. Because I care them. And Shadowheart being clingy, because I like that, too. Team As Family, of course.

Also! A tiny depiction of a stray headcanon of mine: being a particularly stubborn and petty godless Paladin means breaking the habit of using gods’ names in vain so, Pasiphaë often incites the ‘Great fuck’ or ‘Holy shit’ when truly exasperated or in a situation that might have had her previously calling for Ilmater. She does this out of spite. I love her.

tw: allusions to Astarion’s whole backstory; they’re all traumatized and pretending so hard that they aren’t

As soon as the sun sets, they go and set Cazador’s Palace ablaze.

Between Gale’s fireball, Shadowheart’s conjured elemental, a gallon of gasoline Astarion had filched from an abandoned food stall, and their overall enthusiasm, they make quick work of the old place in little under two hours. With the amount of destruction that has been wrought upon the city already, nobody bats an eye at the raging flames, nor at the four lunatics that started it. The only ones who do are their Harper allies, who find them sitting together on the Lower City Wall a relatively safe distance away, surveying their handiwork from under some curtains they’d stolen from the ballroom and are now using as blankets to keep warm.

“We were wondering where you were,” Jaheira sighs, making herself comfortable on the ground with them as the rest of her team scouts ahead, checking to make sure the damage doesn’t spread anywhere else. “When we saw the brain fall, our first thought was to search for you in the Chionthar’s waters. Were you here the whole time?”

Nobody answers for a long moment. Nobody moves. They simply watch the flames, its blaze and its warmth enough to evoke the sun.

Finally, Pasiphaë blinks, slowly, like she’s just been awoken from a dream. “We hid by the docks until the sun set,” she tells Jaheira, flatly. “Slept some.”

What a sorry sight they must have been: huddled together behind some barrels and crates like a litter of abandoned kittens, licking their wounds and attempting to crawl into each other’s skin—the very antithesis to the image of victory.

They couldn’t help it, though; the overwhelming silence in their minds where six other presences had been was disconcerting, to say the least. After nearly a year of sharing their tadpole telepathic link, suddenly being unable to feel each other, mentally, incited a desire in all of them to feel each other tangibly, instead. Even Astarion, who in different circumstances would have turned his nose up at the mere idea of cuddling, did not protest when Shadowheart so much as crawled into his lap, and simply turned his face into the crook of Gale’s neck while Pasiphaë circled her arms around all of them best she could. It was difficult, too, to simply dismiss the absent pieces of their seven-way connection. Pasiphaë had wondered, aloud, if Wyll and Karlach also felt the loss. Or if Lae’zel missed it, now, with as much intensity as she had despised it, then. Nobody had wanted to follow that trail of thought.

It ached too much.

Instead, they’d made plans. Serious ones at first, with the Crown of Karsus still in pieces in the Chionthar and majority of the city reduced to rubble and ruin. But the more they talked of it, the more they went in circles. Those plans were for a future a bit farther from reach. Complicated. They wanted—needed something simple.

Shadowheart had been the one to suggest burning Cazador’s Palace to the ground; arson sounded much more invigorating than drinking themselves into a stupor at the nearest tavern. Once they’d unanimously agreed, they’d quickly fallen asleep, tucked tightly against each other. Waiting out the sun.

“I’m sorry,” Pasiphaë tells Jaheira. “We worried you, didn’t we?”

“No more than you usually do,” Jaheira says, waving a dismissive hand. To Astarion, she asks; “do you intend to see this blaze all the way through to its ashes?”

“Not if you promise something better, darling,” Astarion shrugs. He’s managed to slot himself sideways upon Gale’s lap, arms wrapped around his wizard’s neck, legs slung over thighs. Nuzzling into him, he recalls; “what was it? A night of hedonistic debauchery?”

Gale has his eyes closed, weary. “Hm. I think you have to count me out this time, ‘Star.”

“The short length of your sentences are starting to concern me, Gale,” Shadowheart says, from her spot against Pasiphaë, her arm intertwined with hers. Her head on her shoulder. “So long as this hedonistic debauchery involves a bed—”

Astarion snorts, an undignified sound. “How straight forward of you, Shadowheart.”

“Is the Elfsong still standing?” Pasiphaë asks Jaheira, ignoring the new wave of bickering that’s begun.

“Tall and proud, with barely a scratch,” Jaheira tells her. “I must warn you, though. A difficult conversation awaits you there.”

The bickering ceases and three pairs of curious ears perk up. Pasiphaë struggles not to roll her eyes. “For tomorrow,” she says, to both Jaheira and audience, before stretching her legs out with a groan. “For now: home. And rest.”

They get up with some struggle, sore and tired, pins and needles rushing through their stiff limbs as they pick their way through the smoking city toward camp. They cling to each other still, even when it makes walking through narrow alley ways tough. But it doesn’t slow them down at all. The moon has barely made it up into the sky before the Elfsong finally looms before them, a welcome sight.

Halsin is waiting for them at the entrance, whole, largely unharmed, and pacing. He hasn’t clocked them yet.

“You don’t have to engage him,” Gale reassures her with a whisper. “Halsin has always been a reasonable man; if we were to tell him that you wish to be left alone tonight, he would no doubt honor that request.”

“You don’t have to get between us,” Pasiphaë tells him. “But I appreciate it.”

Luckily, it doesn’t come to that—before she can even so much as make eye contact with the druid, the door of the Elfsong opens, and her children spill out.

“Mama,” Serafina gasps in Elvish, as she and her brother practically throw themselves at Pasiphaë. They’re not quite as small as they used to be, but Pasiphaë still catches them well enough and only stumbles a bit. “Phaë, oh thank the goddess, we thought you—I thought—”

“Oh, my baby,” Pasiphaë coos, holding her close as she begins to cry. “It’s alright. I’m alright. We’re alright.”

Everybody graciously gives them privacy—though from the corner of her eye she sees Halsin hesitate, just a moment, before Jaheira pulls him inside the building—leaving them to relocate to one of the tables still intact out front, waiting out the worst of the water works as Serafina blubbers and hiccups her way through words. By the time she’s calmed down, the world about them has quieted into a near hush, sans perhaps some lucky crickets. It’s still quite early into the evening, but even for a city as robust and bustling as Baldur’s Gate, being invaded by an army of cultists and mind-flayers would significantly damper the night life. On the bright side, there’s less vampire spawn and Bhaal followers in it, now. “This city is not so bad,” Pasiphaë snorts. “Now that we cleaned it up, some, I mean.”

“I’m sick of it,” Serafina sniffles, shaking her head. “I think. I think it’s about time I moved.”

Xenodius chuckles. “I was just jesting about that, you know?”

“No. I know you were. But I’m not so stubborn now as to dismiss the wisdom behind the jest. Besides,” Serafina smiles. “Phaë’s wizard has sold me on the idea of Waterdeep.”

“Well. It’s not Neverwinter.” But at least it isn’t the fucking Gate, goes unsaid.

“I want you to come with me, Phaë.”

Pasiphaë blinks. Then blinks some more. “You—”

“Please don’t say you want me to have a life of my own. I have that. I’d still like for you to be in it.”

“I… wasn’t going to say that,” Pasiphaë lies, grasping for other arguments she might have. “It’s just… Waterdeep is so awfully far, linnon dithen, and the house—who will take care of the house?”

“I will!” Xenodius protests. “I’ve inherited your propensity for bringing home strays, you know. Elias and I will need more space, soon.” He reaches out and takes Pasiphaë’s hand. “That house is too big for you, Phaë.”

He does have a point. But Pasiphaë isn’t going to give them both the satisfaction of being right without working for it, just a bit. “Have you two been talking about me behind my back?”

“Of course.”

Pasiphaë rolls her eyes. “Such brats.”

“We were just worried about you,” Serafina says, so, so patient. Since when has she become so patient? All at once, Pasiphaë’s throat tightens with emotion, and she has to blink rapidly to keep it all at bay. “That house… it has a lot of happy memories. But there are many bad ones, too. I lost Phaedra and Mel in that house. I thought I lost you in that house—” Pasiphaë winces. “—There’s been more bad than good that’s happened there, recently. I don’t like the idea of you wallowing in that for the rest of your life. Perhaps it’s time for some where new?”

“Sera—”

“Or you can go with Halsin, if that’s what you want!”

Pasiphaë feels like her heart’s been tossed into the air. “What.”

“I mean. I thought—” Serafina fidgets, her turn now to grasp for something to say. “You know I don’t mind, right? You aren’t… I don’t think you’re replacing Mel at all! Odi doesn’t, either.”

Xenodius nods, enthusiastically. “I think he’s nice, Mama.”

Oh, great fuck, deliver her. “I am not ready to have this conversation with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because Halsin and I are most definitely not like that.” She doesn’t try and specify what that means, afraid to lose the plausible deniability in lacking a proper label.

Despite her efforts, though, the siblings seem to understand it perfectly. Exchanging glances that are a bit too knowing for her comfort, they look to her, frowning. “Oh?” Sera says, an eyebrow raised. “I… Are you sure?”

Pasiphaë flounders for an answer. She can’t find one, so she just doesn’t answer at all.

They stay for a few more moments, before Pasiphaë’s growling stomach and growing anxiety prompts them to go inside. Everybody else is waiting around the fire pit for them, idly chatting between themselves. Shadowheart has the Owlbear sprawled across her lap while Astarion has Scratch in his. Tara has found Gale as well, kneading biscuits into his lap while meowing and mrrp-ing what Pasiphaë suspects to be admonishments and endearments.

Through all this, Halsin is cradling a slumbering Yenna, the child the only thing keeping him from getting up and… well. Pasiphaë isn’t sure what he wants to do. From the look on his face, she thinks he might want to kiss her. Or maybe tell her that he never wants to see her again. It would take more than a cursory look for Pasiphaë to determine which it really is, but she’s not ready to take more than a glance. Especially with everybody else discretely staring and wondering too loud without saying a word.

Pasiphaë looks at Jaheira, and sure enough, the druid is looking at her already, an eyebrow raised in question. Pasiphaë shakes her head. Jaheira rolls her eyes.

Dinner is a subdued affair. Nobody really wants to talk all that much. Or eat much, either. But Odi’s paternal instincts kick in, and he forces them to stomach a few bites, even when the tavern’s stew is a bit too bland for their tastes. Serafina gives up some of her own blood for Astarion’s meal, and Pasiphaë hugs her daughter extra tight to thank her for her generosity.

“It’s nothing,” Sera tells her, and Astarion, too. She smiles at him, and for a moment looks like she wants to say more, but thinks better of it. “You’re… uh. You’re welcome.” Astarion appears grateful for her intuition.

Sleep comes quick. They’re less huddled together about it, with Gale and Astarion retiring together to their own cot while Pasiphaë acquires both her children and Shadowheart in hers. Pasiphaë wants to grumble something about being made into an elf-sized teddy bear by two fully grown elves far too old to be sleeping in their mother’s bed, but decides to keep it to herself. Shadowheart is still grieving the loss of her parents after all, it’s no use accidentally prodding that wound for the sake of faux-surliness. If she could help curb that by holding her the way she did her own children after a particularly nasty nightmare, then Pasiphaë resolutely doesn’t mind being slowly crushed to death. They push together three cots to fit all of them together with Pasiphaë in the middle—and if it so happens to be within sight of Gale and Astarion’s cot and Halsin’s place by the fire, well. Nobody says anything.

They let exhaustion take them as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

--

Linnon dithen means ‘little singer’ in Tolkein's Sindarin. Forgotten Realms doesn’t actually have any official Elvish conlang (aside from the few official words in that one dictionary), so I substituted it with Sindarin instead.

Serafina also switches between calling her mother(s) Mama and their nicknames, while Odi prefers to just call them Mama. Pasiphaë and Melisandre had really tumultuous relationships with their own parents/guardians and I imagine weren’t so precious about parental monikers as a result. Odi prefers calling them Mama, though. I think that's just the kind of person he is. To their other children (Sera and Phaedra), they were Mama in times of heightened emotion while any other time they were Phaë and Mel.