#but i also love player's personality and she's such a pal

[silverselfshippingchaos]

i need to be one of them so bad.

[moth-basement]

𝗹𝗶𝗹' 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝘂𝗱𝗲 🧽

An ask meme with a bunch of lines from my favorite Spongebob episodes. This isn't meant to be too serious, I just really love spongebob and haven't seen an ask meme for it.

"I wumbo, you wumbo, he, she, wumbo."

"Wumbology! the study of wumbo!"

"AND THEN THERE'S A GIANT FIST!!"

"Remember, licking doorknobs is illegal on other planets."

"He was number one!"

"Well, it may be stupid, but it's also dumb."

"I know of a place where you never get harmed. A magical place with magical charms. Indoors! Indoors! Indoors!"

"Oh boy! Holographic meatloaf! My favorite!"

"And what's better than serving up smiles!?"

"Being dead, or anything else."

"See, no one says 'cool' anymore. That's such an old-person thing. Now we say 'coral', as in 'That nose job is so coral.'"

"Long, tan, *licks teeth* Handsome"

"Are they laughing at us? No, they are laughing next to us."

"Excuse me sir I hope my horrible ugliness doesn't distract you from the movie."

"I'm ugly and I'm proud!"

"Oh these aren't homemade. They were made in a factory.... a bomb factory."

"the boy made you a sweater of his own tears, and you kill him."

"goodbye everyone, I'll remember you all in therapy!"

"I order the food, you cook the food, the customer eats the food. We do that for forty years, and then we die."

"you're good, you're good, you're good, aaaaand stop."

"Don't worry captain we'll buff those scratches out."

"All those wrong notes you played made it sound more original."

"We're not cavemen! We have technology" *smashes the computer*

"Hey pal, you just blow in from stupid town?"

"You used me....for LAND DEVELOPMENT! That wasnt very nice!"

“This isn’t your average every day darkness. This is....ADVANCED darkness”

“Assertive, not insertive, ya twit!”

*sticks finger in pocket* "beep beep"

"He's just standing there..... MENACINGLY!"

"don't you have to be stupid somewhere else?"

"What is today but yesterday's tomorrow?"

“I will dismantle this oppressive establishment BOARD BY BOARD!”

"Well maybe we would sound better if some people didn't play with BIG MEATY CLAWS"

"Oh good luck out there. I hope the audience brings lots of ibuprofen."

"You won't catch me when I shift into maximum overdrive!!"

"It's not just a boulder! It's a rock!"

"shut your mouth you mediocre clarinet player."

 “You don’t pay me. We don’t even exist! We’re just a clever visual metaphor used to personify the abstract concept of thought.”

"I only know fine dining and breathing."

"oh you mean like a weenie? MaY I TaKe YoUr hAt Sir?"

"the best time to wear a striped sweater is all the time."

"Can I be excused for the rest of my life?"

"You mean you've never heard the story of the... hash-slinging slasher?"

"The sash wringing... the trash thinging... mash flinging... the flash springing, bringing the the crash thinging the..."

"And then the walls will ooze green slime!? Oh wait they always do that."

"You know, if I were to die right now in some sort of fiery explosion due to the carelessness of a friend well, that would just be okay."

“C’mon you lazy Mary, start rubbing me with that chocolate!”

"East? I thought you said weast?"

“We’ve been smeckledorfed!”

"Whatever doesn't kill you, usually succeeds in the second attempt."

[mumms-the-word]

Illithid Souls - Part 3

The Case Studies: Karlach and Gale

Welcome to the third and final part of this wild deep dive rabbit hole monstrosity that is the three-part series about illithid souls and whether mind flayers, or specifically you as a mind flayer, have a soul.

If you read Part 1 and Part 2, then you know that yes, illithids have souls, they're just different souls that the gods don't recognize as souls because they're non-apostolic, or incapable of divine worship (as opposed to being apostolic like most humanoid souls). You now also know that you turning into a mind flayer is a bit of a special case because of the Netherese magic in the tadpoles, and this might be why you retain more of your soul than normal mind flayers would.

Also, a quick reminder of the two theories we're working with here: Theory 1 is that when someone becomes a mind flayer they essentially just die and their (apostolic) soul moves on to the Fugue Plane and the mind flayer body just gets a new illithid soul from somewhere. Theory 2 is that when someone becomes a mind flayer their soul is transformed and altered into an illithid soul, which remains tethered to the mind flayer body. BG3 seems to operate more on the Theory 2 side of things, but as we'll see with Karlach and Gale, it's more complicated than you think.

So let's deep dive, shall we?

The Case of Karlach

I'm going to be candid here and say that the mind flayer ending for Karlach makes me really sad, even knowing that there's a very high chance that her soul is mostly intact and she is mostly still Karlach. But there's no denying she's at least a little different, though the game tries to comfort us otherwise after she transforms.

Narrator: *She is transformed. Her body is no longer hers, but her eyes, her heart - she is still Karlach, for now. Only - there's a hunger in her eyes that wasn't there before.*

That "for now" is rather ominous, isn't it? But we have enough evidence from Tav/Durge/other Origins and Orpheus to suggest that the likelihood of her retaining her memories and her personality is very high. In fact, when you talk to her during the epilogue, she does seem mostly the same, though her language has mellowed out to a more formal tone and she speaks less colloquially (and swears less and less).

If you talk to her immediately after she transforms, she marvels that she's still "herself" but also "more," which again reinforces that we all get to be special mind flayers who don't completely lose our souls. But I think there are some interesting lines in this dialogue:

Karlach: This is wild. I'm myself but... but more. Player: I don't like the sound of that. Karlach: Don't worry, soldier. It's still your old pal under all this purple. But suddenly 'I' am different than I ever knew. And my engine, it's... it's... silent. No heat. No gears. Still there, but no longer threatening to explode. Soldier... Player: I guess turning into an illithid has its perks. Karlach: Here I thought I was making a sacrifice. Thank the gods I'm a noble fuck! Shit. I'm gonna be all right. I get to be alive. I get to stay. As a hideous monster, sure. But one that can feel. Think. Live. But I'm still myself. And I know what our mission is. I'm glad I get to the do the honours.

Karlach reiterates over and over that she's still herself, but you can literally hear the change in her voice. Where normally her tone and volume would be boisterous, loud, and energetic, she's now calm and mellow, even when she's swearing. Her tone here is more one of wonder. It isn't just the internal and external fires that have calmed down, her overall demeanor seems "cooler" too.

Also, in her romance ending just before the epilogue, where you're both in the Elfsong Tavern room, you can mention that she does seem a little altered.

Player: I still love you, Karlach. I still want to be with you. Karlach: I love you too. Before, that love was an irrepressible inferno. Now it is a calm, cool object of beauty. Player: I can see you're still yourself, but there's something else in there too. An illithid calm. Karlach: Maybe you're right. I feel less... changeable. Less afraid. I feel ready for whatever is to come.

It doesn't tell us much, but it does reinforce that when we or any of our companions turn into a mind flayer, we likely retain a lot of our former personality, but in a much more calm, even-keeled kind of way. Again going back to the idea that our soul is still there, still mostly the same, but has been made a bit more illithid.

What is more interesting for Karlach, specifically, is her discussion of her diet as a mind flayer. Remember what souls are allegedly made up of? Intelligence, personality, and what else?

Memories.

Karlach: For example, my favourite food used to be mutton chops. Do you know what it is now? Brains, soldier. Brains. Player: Comes with the illithid territory, I suppose. Karlach: True. But I've found ways to maintain my values while respecting that which I am - that which made it possible for me to live. I've made arrangements with a healer in the city. When a patient is beyond saving, but still able to speak for themselves, they're offered a choice. They can go as nature intends to take them. Or, when they're ready - when their goodbyes have been said, their affairs settled, and all that awaits them is pain - I relieve them. When I consume their brains, I am nourished by much more than the physical nutrition. Their memories - from birth to death - become part of me. I've lived hundreds of childhoods, first loves, marriages, feuds and friendships. I remember them all. And in this way, we all live on. Together.

There's so much to unpack here. One, she still remembers her values, even six months later, but is trying to negotiate her former humanoid values (and personality, I imagine) with her needs as a mind flayer. That seems very Karlach, through and through.

But then, when she consumes these dying patients' brains, she absorbs and retains their memories. I imagine their souls still go on to the Fugue Plane, because I highly doubt that mind flayers also consume souls when they eat brains, but it still leaves me with questions. Karlach isn't part of a hivemind, which normally circulates memories between each other, but she's becoming a similar kind of receptacle for memories, and only she is the one that contains them, rather than an entire hivemind.

I have to wonder how much something like constantly consuming and remembering memories that are not your own affects you as a person/creature. Does that eventually lead to a loss of self, as you begin to "live" multiple different lives? Or does it all count as mere knowledge?

In some ways this would put her in competition with any elder brains still out there, but she's also not collecting knowledge for the sake of knowledge. She's collecting memories and living them out in her mind, which is a certain kind of tragedy. She's literally living vicariously through these people because her mind flayer body is too scary to go out and about in, and she's making up for a decade of life she didn't get to live. She's alive, but she's not...living if that makes sense. And again...how long before all these memories start to change who she is?

(An aside. I really don’t think her eating brains and collecting memories keeps someone’s soul from moving on. If you use the spell Speak with Dead, you don’t call back an entire soul, but the corpse still has access to its memories. I think in this case, even though memories make up part of a soul, Karlach consuming brains and collecting memories is more like her downloading a copy of the memories for herself. The dead person likely still takes their own memories with them to the Fugue Plane, where they will be judged by Kelemvor or collected by their favorite deity. She’s just copy/pasting data, not transferring everything from one hard drive to another, if that analogy makes sense.)

This arrangement where Karlach consumes the brains of dying patients is expanded or clarified a bit if you're romancing her during the epilogue, and also includes a reference to souls as well.

Karlach: I can’t wait to say hello, but to be honest, I’m keen to visit the doctor before it gets too late. He said there’s a potential in his infirmary. A very old woman recently diagnosed with a wasting sickness. She seemed interested in what I have to offer. I’ll want to have a good long talk with her before we make an arrangement. Though if I’m being very selfish, I hope she’ll say yes. I’m absolutely famished - and think of all those memories. Player: Glad to hear. I was worried you were getting hungry. Karlach: I don’t hide it well, do I? Some things don’t change, even when everything else does. It’s funny. I’m hungry in my body, but in my soul too. That woman has lived a long life - births, deaths, love, misfortune. And if she agrees, I’ll be able to give her a dignified end, and remember it all in her honour.

Or if you go with a different option:

Player: I'm still not sure how I feel about this arrangement. Are you sure it's ethical to feed on the dying? Karlach: I'm sure of very little these days. But at least this way, I can live. And those who offer themselves to me can live on too. Births, first loves, marriages, losses - I remember them all and always will. Each memory I've consumed is of value.

It's just so interesting to me. One, her remark that she's eager to say hello but slightly more interested in chatting to a doctor about her next meal suggests that some elements of becoming a mind flayer are much harder to ignore. I imagine if she's hungry, she feels less like Karlach. (And I have thoughts, for another post, about whether she becomes "too fixated" on living when she's a mind flayer, given the cost of what it means to stay alive as a mind flayer.)

But she also says she's hungry in her soul. Her soul seems deeply interested in these memories, and I wonder if that's because memories are (or could be) part of souls themselves. Maybe the remark isn't really that deep, but she specifically connects the hunger of her soul to all the memories a long-lived woman will have. It's almost as if these memories nurture her soul, but it's unclear whether that is because it's somehow healing to see and "experience" life in ways she can't now that she's a mind flayer, or if it's because the memories have some kind of tangible effect on her soul/souls in general.

I suppose we won't know for sure. What we do know from Karlach's case, however, is that a great deal of the original soul (personality, memories, etc) seems to stick around even six months later, though there are noticeable changes in personality, such as an overall calm demeanor. There are also hints that consuming brains could lead to further changes down the road, but there's nothing really concrete. Just hints.

In the end, Karlach is still Karlach, and her soul still has plenty of elements of the original Karlach, even six months later. This is a good sign, but we can't completely ignore that her new body/mind as a mind flayer will necessarily mean some things have permanently changed. Whether you judge those changes as good or bad is up to you.

With that said, let's move on to the final and most mind-boggling case.

The Case of Gale

If you play a companion as an Origin run, the mind flayer decision typically works out the same way as Tav...unless you're playing as Gale. Gale gets some extra options at the end of the game.

This is mostly because Gale has perhaps the most apostolic soul that hangs in the balance, second only to Shadowheart, and her soul pendulum swings between Selûne and Shar. Gale, however, seems to be walking on a knife's edge trying to retain or earn back entry into Elysium, Mystra's domain in the Outer Planes. He's allegedly already been there, though not as a dead soul, so he knows what's at stake if his soul suddenly becomes non-apostolic or disappears.

In other words, Gale has a formerly Faithful apostolic soul, but he spends much of the game probably worried his soul will be judged as False when he dies (since he lost Mystra's favor) until Mystra offers her brand of forgiveness, which is essentially "if you sacrifice your own life, I'll let you into Elyisum again." It's a guarantee that he ends up in the afterlife he wants to be in. That's what Mystra's forgiveness really boils down to.

Now, this is a man who does not want to sacrifice his soul, and also (Netherese orb aside) does not want to die if his soul is going to be judged as False by Kelemvor rather than welcomed into Elysium as a Faithful soul. We know that Gale finds the Fugue Plane exceedingly depressing, so I can't imagine he has any desire to wander around it for any stretch of time, even if Mystra does eventually deign to invite him into Elysium. I'm sure the thought of becoming part of the Wall of the Faithless might as well be hell to him.

Gale: It’s a relief to be back in beautiful Faerûn. The dreariness of the Fugue Plane oppresses one’s soul so very quickly.

[mumm's note: yes my man died in service of a Tactician battle against Grym, but he got better]

It's a little surprising to see how adamantly Gale would prefer to choose the Netherese orb over letting himself or anyone he cares for become illithid. Look at some of what he says when he tries to offer the orb as an option for the final battle:

Gale: An easy proposition for the Emperor to make - 'become a mind flayer' - it has no soul to sacrifice. If it did - perhaps it would understand the weight of what it's asking of us. And why we might seek an alternative.

I couldn't get this next dialogue to trigger in my game, but in the same conversation as above you might potentially get the option to remind him about Mystra's offer to cure his orb condition, and even then he reminds you of the stakes that come with becoming a mind flayer.

Player: Mystra will cure you if we bring her the Crown of Karsus. You don't need to do this. Gale: To cure me of the orb, yes. But what of the guilt of allowing one of my friends to sacrifice their very soul and become illithid?

Now keep in mind, up to this point no one has shown any evidence that turning into a mind flayer won't actually mean the total destruction of one's soul. Up until now, the only evidence anyone has of an original soul remaining intact inside a mind flayer body is the Emperor (we have no frame of reference for who Omeluum was before he was a mind flayer), and most of the companions do not trust the Emperor one bit. So Gale genuinely thinks that becoming a mind flayer means your soul is either destroyed or changed so much that it's no longer you.

I mean, think about it. He's half expecting you to take the tadpole the Emperor offers and literally cease to exist. He's expecting to fight alongside a mind flayer who has, at best, your name and a few scraps of your memory, and at worst, no shred of you at all. Because again, up until this point in the game, none of them realize that they could become a special mind flayer who does actually retain most (if not all) of their soul, including their personality and memories.

Gale literally thinks that blowing up and going to the Fugue Plane is better than you or any companion becoming a mind flayer.

But that's in a companion run. Obviously, if you play him as an Origin, you can have him turn into a mind flayer as a different kind of ultimate sacrifice. The decision plays out the same as a Tav/Durge run or any other Origin run. But after the game ends, Gale gets unique dialogue if he (1) sacrifices himself or (2) does not sacrifice himself and goes to meet Mystra with the Crown in hand.

Any run of his sacrifice (aka, using the orb, regardless of whether or not he is illithid) results in Withers finding him in the Fugue Plane for a brief conversation. This conversation isn't much different if Gale is a mind flayer when he uses the orb, since all it does is add an extra option to their conversation that references being illithid ("One illithid for the whole of Faerûn seems like a fair trade to me," which replaces the option "One wizard for the whole of Faerûn...etc").

(An aside, I don't have an Origin Gale run so I can't test this, but I think if he ends his life on the docks as a mind flayer, the way Tav/Durge can with a knife got the stomach, then he just gets the usual Tav/Durge conversation with Withers about how his form has "something of the spirit" about him. See Part 2 if you're curious about that conversation.)

What this conversation with Withers reveals is how much control Mystra seems to have over his soul, especially if/when he's a mind flayer. If Gale decides to sacrifice himself using the Netherese Orb, Withers remarks about how surprising it is that Mystra hasn’t picked him up yet.

Withers: Who flickers there ‘twixt the shadows? Gale, who didst surrender his very self for the salvation of Faerûn. I feared I might not find thee here - that Mystra would have already plucked thy thread from the tapestry of fate. But she may wait a while yet.

It’s a little unclear if Withers uses “plucked thy thread from the tapestry of fate” to mean Gale gets to go to Elysium or something else, and it’s equally unclear whether Mystra waiting is a sign of displeasure or a sign that she is interested in sending Gale back to the Material Plane. She is capable of doing that, after all, and has frequently resurrected her Chosens, like Elminster, if it suits her.

But I highlight this conversation to show that you can get it as a mind flayer, and (if you are a mind flayer during this scene) that Mystra waiting isn't because he's a mind flayer and she can't find his soul. She waits for a minute regardless of whether he's illithid or not. But Withers is certain Mystra will be able to find Gale's soul, because he was able to find Gale's soul and recognize it as Gale.

So, not to harp on this again and again, but it's proof that turning into a mind flayer didn't destroy Gale's soul. It's still Gale's soul, even in the Fugue Plane, even if he's mind-flayer-shaped, and that soul is still capable of journeying to Elysium, should Mystra bother to find it wandering the Fugue Plane (or wherever he is).

But things are a little different if Gale decides to become a mind flayer and then goes to visit Mystra with the Crown of Karsus in hand. Keep in mind, Origin!Gale always has the option to face off against Mystra after the defeat of the Netherbrain, and this face-off is where he decides to hand over the Crown, become the god of ambition, or straight up try to fight Mystra.

However! If Gale is a mind flayer, he gets a secret fourth option.

If Gale goes to meet Mystra as an illithid with the Crown of Karsus and then gives up the Crown to her, Mystra offers to take Gale to Elysium with her. More than that, she offers to literally restore his humanity and cure him of illithidness.

Sort of.

Mystra: So, Gale of Waterdeep, you have become the inheritor of Karsus’ powers at last. What do you intend to do with them? Gale: I came to surrender them. The Crown, the Karsite Weave - take it all. Mystra: This offering cost you greatly. There is no hope in life as an illithid, devoid of soul and conscience. It is within my power to restore your soul, and your humanity, if you are willing to leave the mortal realms behind. Return with me, to Elysium.

No one else is offering this kind of deal to an Origin-turned-mind-flayer. Selûne and Shar don’t care if Shadowheart turns illithid, and Withers isn’t exactly offering to restore souls and humanity (or…mortalness?) to everyone else. This is a signifier of the sheer amount of power Mystra has, yes, but this also hints at some other things.

One, despite evidence of the contrary, Mystra is adamant that Gale-as-illithid is or would be “devoid of soul and conscience,” even though we know that that likely isn’t true (just see Karlach, Tav/Durge, etc). Perhaps Mystra is unaware that Gale is a Special Mind Flayer (seems unlikely), or perhaps she’s simply trying to convince Gale to come with her. After all, what she’s offering is still a kind of reward.

Then again, maybe Gale and/or Mystra fear the long-term effects of illithidness. Maybe over time he would become less and less like Gale, perhaps due to consuming memories, or other factors that come with being a mind flayer. Still, though, saying that his life would be "devoid of soul and conscience" seems like a massive stretch on Mystra's part.

But anyway, the reward for him turning into a mind flayer and giving her the Crown is a restoration of his humanity...but only in death.

Mystra: Return with me, to Elysium. Devnote: respectful - Gale sacrificed his humanity to achieve what she asked. If he’s willing to die on the mortal planes, she will restore his soul and body but in the heavens.

Now before I get to what happens if Gale agrees to this reward, I want to point out that Mystra herself sort of acknowledges that Gale isn't exactly devoid of soul and conscience if he refuses her offer. Here are some of the ways Gale can turn her down, with her answer to each option being the same:

Gale: [Option 1] Thank you, but no. I have someone waiting for me. Gale: [Option 2] Perhaps one day, but for now there is more I need to accomplish. Gale: [Option 3] Being an illithid has its advantages. I'm content as I am. Mystra: Then you are free to go with both my thanks and my promise - henceforth, your prayers will always be answered.

The whole idea of an apostolic soul is that it means the person is capable of worshipping a divine being, and this worship ncludes prayers. She might have said that him being illithid would mean he would be devoid of soul and conscience, but in nearly the same breath she promises to answer all his prayers. So she recognizes something of a soul within him. So why say he would be devoid of soul?

Of course, things get weird if Gale accepts her offer to be restored and go to Elyisum. If Gale agrees, then she fulfills her promise and even restores his place as one of her Chosen.

Gale: I crave nothing more. Take me to Elysium. Mystra: So be it. Gale of Waterdeep, Chosen of Mystra. Cinematic Tag: Mystra transforms Mindflayer Gale back to his human form (hollow) and grabs Gale’s hand. They return to Elysium.

This is wild to me. You see, originally when I started this project I thought I was going to be writing posts about how interesting it is that when you become a mind flayer, your soul is probably hanging out in the Fugue Plane or something, and eventually I’d suggest that Mystra is able to restore Gale’s soul to him because it’s already gone to her domain or she knows how to find it because he used to be so faithful to her. But none of that works now.

Because now I’m convinced that the Netherese tadpole changes everyone into a Special Mind Flayer whose soul is still present in their mind flayer bodies, just altered or transformed. So what’s up with this stuff from Mystra? She recognizes Gale as Gale even when he's a mind flayer and promises to answer his prayers, so clearly there's some kind of apostolic soul thing going on here. So why does she offer to "restore his soul," and also, why only in death?

She does say that she will restore Gale’s humanity, so now I assume that somehow her powers allow her to un-alter Gale’s soul so that it isn’t so illithid anymore. My idea is that she’s essentially restoring his soul to its former state and not, as we might otherwise infer, literally giving him his soul back, as if it were separate from his body. Gale’s soul is still in his mind flayer body, if all the rest of the evidence holds any water, so Mystra must have merely changed it back to the way it was.

quick picture break, this is from Northalix's video, linked below

Which makes me wonder, can a completely original, apostolic-type soul exist in an illithid body? Or does the body dictate that the soul must be somewhat illithid in order to be compatible?

Because the thing is, this deal comes with an ultimatum. She’s not going to let him go back to the mortal realms after she’s restored his soul. She probably could—she’s probably capable of doing that, if only by giving him a completely new body (she's done that before with Elminster). But she doesn’t. The cure comes with a cost. He only gets to be human again if he agrees to die completely and join her in Elysium. There is no undoing the illithid sacrifice, which seems more like a game limitation than a Mystra limitation (although we can certainly brainstorm reasons why Mystra would be so petty as to basically say "I can make you human again but only if you die completely.")

I want to point out that Mystra doesn't offer to let Gale come back to Elysium as a dead guy if he's not a mind flayer. Like, we don't get the sparkly ascension scene if he blows up with the Netherese orb, we get the Withers visit in the Fugue Plane. This Elysium offer is an illithid-only option. If he's not a mind flayer and he returns the Crown, she cures him of the Netherese Orb and sends him back. There's no option to join her in Elysium. Why is this an illithid-only option?

Also, just...I need you to watch the scene.

There's a lot that bothers me about this. One, the gestures she makes are the exact gestures God!Gale makes when he ascends Tav/Durge if they romanced him and agreed to become a god with him. Do with that what you will. But two...it just gives me the ick. This is a different kind of ascension for Gale. It's a restoration of his place in Elysium, but it ultimately means his premature death. If this is the route you take as him...it's hardly better than him sacrificing himself using the Netherese Orb without becoming a mind flayer. Only this time, we get to see the scene where he goes to Elysium, I guess.

It also massively complicates the whole idea that everyone gets to be a special mind flayer with a mostly-intact, mostly-apostolic soul. If the soul didn't change, why does Mystra need to "restore" it? And if it did change, why is Mystra the only one capable of un-changing it back to its original form (is it because he’s her Chosen and is/was so faithful)?And if such a thing is possible, why offer it and then say "but you're dead now"?

It seems as though her "fixing" Gale's soul was really just her...I don't know, separating it from his physical mind flayer body so the illithid anatomy wouldn't mess with it as much, and then dusting off his soul, which is now bodyless, and taking it with her to Elysium. I'm not saying that's what she did, but that's the weird vibes I get from this interaction. Like, there seems to be some kind of implication that you can't have a fully humanoid, apostolic soul housed within an illithid body. The soul has to be altered somehow to work with the illithid body.

So why not just give him a new body, Mystra??? Fix is soul and give him a new body! You’re absolutely capable of that!

I have so many questions.

Of course, keep in mind that Gale can reject her, obviously, and return to the mortal realms as a mind flayer. She does acknowledge that he has at least something of a soul that can pray to her so...I mean, there's that.

Anyways, what have we learned?

The Summary

With Karlach, we see that being a mind flayer does necessarily change parts of a person's personality (which, again, is part of their soul). Usually this results in a person seeming calmer, more mellow, less emotional than they normally would have been, but it does seem that for Tav/Durge, the companions, and Orpheus that turning into a mind flayer doesn't completely destroy their soul. It just seems to alter it a bit. In my opinion, the soul just becomes a tiny bit more illithid. Karlach’s case does leave us with questions about how “good” consuming and retaining so many memories might be in the long run, but as of six months post-ceremorphosis, she seems fine.

From Gale, we learn that apparently it's possible to restore or un-alter a partly-illithid soul so that it goes back to normal, but this power is extremely rare and likely relegated to the gods alone (or a particularly powerful Wish spell). We're also reminded that keeping recognizable parts of one's soul, like the personality and memories, is a huge surprise, because that's not how normal mind flayers work. We know this from Orpheus, but Gale just kinda reinforced it.

I guess we also learned that Mystra is a massive—but I should keep this civil. We all know what Mystra is.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that she's unwilling to accept Gale into her domain while he is still a mind flayer, even though his soul obviously would fit the bill based on what a soul is/does for the gods. He has a viable apostolic soul, it’s just mind-flayer-shaped!I'm sure Mystra thinks she's being magnanimous by offering him eternity as a human in Elysium, but I think it ultimately just shows how shallow she can be. Gale only gets to come back if he’s not mind flayer shaped.

And I think, deep down, Gale has always suspected that would be the case.

And on that familiar note, my friends, thank you for joining me on this excessively long deep dive into mind flayer souls and things we can learn from the game and the lore.

~*~*~

If you made it to the end, congrats! More gold stars for you!

✨⭐️🌟⭐️✨⭐️🌟⭐️✨⭐️🌟⭐️✨

If you read through all three parts and also made it to the end of this one, you are the real MVP and I wish I had stickers or achievements to give you so you can be like "I survived another three-part deep dive from mumm." But I don't even have a lousy T-Shirt to offer you.

You can have this random picture instead though :> it's my Tav Dani looking very unimpressed by the Emperor's offer of sexy times (sorry not sorry Empy, she's got a man and his name is Gale and she prefers him and all her friends to be tentacle-free)

Enjoy the lore and remember that it's all up to you to decide what you want to keep or reject! I'm just showing you what's out there!

Tags for those who wanted an update! @galesdevoteewife @stuffforthestash

[daydreamgoddess14]

Salvation pt. 3

Full Masterlist

Roy Kent Masterlist

Roy Kent / Reader - general rating for now... set to increase 😏

Meet the woman who stole Roy Kent's watch... We finally get to some Roy x Reader deep conversation and messy history... This one is ALL OF THE ANGST guys! But the reward in part 4.... whooooo boy! The spoils (🔥) are coming lads, fear not!

This also helpfully covers one of the prompts from my 200 Followers Celebration 🎉! From a lovely Anon who requested Roy and "I won't let anything bad happen to you".

~~~~~~~~

You pick Sammy up. It’s an excuse really to see Nia, your mother/sister/best friend stand in of the last few years. Even if she is practically the same age. If Sammy’s the one who gave you a job and some semblance of financial security, Nia’s the one who recognised the dark hole you were in and lowered down the ladder to you. You hadn’t realised how close you could feel with someone in only three years, but she’d become your ‘person’ almost immediately.

“Darling, morning.”

“Hey, how’re you feeling?”

“Like my ribs have become a xylophone.” You grimace at that. The human body is a magnificent and terrifying thing. When she’d shown you in her baby book how her organs shifted to make space for her growing baby, you’d declared auntie duty would be just fine, thanks. There would be no babies moving your organs around. 

“Nice. Brought you breakfast.” You pass her a bag of pastries. “Is he ready yet?”

“Nearly. Must have changed either his tie or his turban about four times trying to find the perfect combination,” you both roll your eyes and laugh at his commitment to the flawless matching pair. You both knew the answer already - 

“Blue floral.” You confirm together with a nod.

“The fabric is just beautiful. I do feel sorry for the poor bugger who has to make a matching tie for every turban though.” You muse, knowing it’s his mother in law who takes up that mantle.

“I know, right? And he complains that I buy too many books? I think not, pal.” She sniggers.

“You show him who’s boss. Cos if you don’t, then a certain someone else will.” You point at her growing belly. 

“Come on, Sam. You’re going to be late!” She shouts up the stairs. “Dinner tonight?” She asks you, she knows you might need company after the day ahead of you. You’ve disclosed a lot more of your past to her than Sam so she’s already up to speed on the last few days. You nod gratefully. “You’ll be fine. You need to talk to him though, apologise properly - explain what was going on back then.”

“I know. I will.” You hug her tightly and pester Sam out of the door.

Rebecca Welton is a gracious host. Warm, welcoming… you knew the lies the tabloids liked to spread so you knew the whole ‘cold, old Rebecca’ name tag was a load of crap.

“So, I think if it suits you both, I’ll have a cup of tea with Sam and we can get caught up while I get Roy to give you a tour and then we can arrange some smaller interviews with key staff and players?” Sam is beside himself,

“Sounds perfect Ms. Welton.”

“Yep, I’d love a tour.” You accept with a tight smile. 

“Wonderful! Here’s Roy now,” he steps through the open door and is clearly not expecting to see you.

“Thought we had reporters coming?” He grunts.

“We do, Sammy’s here from the Gazette. This is his… apprentice?” Rebecca tells him, “Something like that.” Sam laughs. You take a deep breath before holding your hand out,

“Nice to meet you again.”

“Hmm.” His warm hand engulfs yours and shakes it. The feel of his skin against yours is enough to trigger memories through your brain at top speed - his hand in yours, his hands on your face, your legs, in your hair. You snatch your hand away. “Come on, tour.” You follow him down the stairs and through mazes of rooms, “ticket office, finance,” then out into a wide corridor, “hall of fame.” You stop to look at the collection of memorabilia, making your way slowly past each piece and reading the accompanying cards. You stop fully at the couple of shelves dedicated to him, fingertips resting lightly on the glass. He clears his throat and you follow him deeper into the building. “Locker room, physio, boot room.” He pauses at the boot room. More memories come flooding back. “Remember when we -”

“Yeahhh,” you breathed, “I remember every single time.” You turn away to avoid his gaze.

“We were good together?”

“The best.” You reply quietly, a little sadness creeping in. He pushes the door open and holds it for you to follow. You sit shoulder to shoulder on the bench, both looking straight ahead.

“How have you been?” He asks quietly.

“Better recently. You?”

“Well no one has stolen my fucking watch lately.” He bumps you slightly, there’s the barest hint of amusement in his voice that you latch onto.

“They haven’t tried hard enough then,” you reply with a wry smile. He lets out a breathy laugh that he can’t quite disguise as anything else.

“I wish I could be more fucking angry with you than I am.”

“You have every right to be angry with me. I fucked up. I’ve been angry with myself for as long as I can remember.”

“You really fucked up. I just can’t understand why. I’ve spent this whole time trying to understand why. Because we were good together.”

“I know.” You agree, again. You were good together. You’ve been single since the day you walked out on him, haven’t even kissed anyone else in all that time. He’s the one you think of when you’re alone - he’s the only one you need to think of when you can’t sleep and you let your memories guide your hand down your body. These are obviously things you can’t say aloud, illicit memories you shouldn’t lean on but do. You sigh, he’s so expectant beside you, “How are you so… calm?” you wonder aloud. 

“Therapy,” he mutters with a short laugh.

“Shit, really?”

“Yeah, you?”

“No. Not sure if I’m ready for that yet.”

“Much as I hate to admit it, it helps.”

“Do you remember when you were angling for an invite to Christmas at my mums?” You ask, he frowns a little at the sudden change of subject. You feel him nod next to you.

“That’s when it started, that’s when you started to pull away. I never met any of your family.”

“My brother. You never met him, I never wanted you to meet him. He was there… he’s an addict. He has been for a really long time and we’ve tried everything to help him, everything. He told me that he was in some money trouble with some blokes he brought off. I didn’t have much but I gave him everything I had saved. Then he needed more. And more, and more and I just didn’t know where I was going to get it from, or how to help him. I took the watch, changed my phone number and left.” You pause for a minute to take stock of what you’ve said, you can tell he wants to ask questions but he waits patiently instead. “He was a fucking mess. I made him tell me who he owed and went to see them on my own, told them I’d pay them back myself if they never went near him again. Worked about three jobs, moved back in with mum so I wouldn’t have to pay rent as well, and spent the next year and a half paying them back. I worked 18 hour days, 7 days a week. I literally kept back, like, a tenner a week for myself. I kept a record of how much I paid and when. When we were done I told them so and told them to never come near us again.”

“And?”

“They still turn up occasionally to try and get more out of me, they claim it’s interest.”

“And your brother?”

“We sent him to my uncle’s house up in the North West, he’s been there ever since but he’s clean now. Too scared to come home though.” Roy is quiet for the longest time.

“He must have owed…”

“About 130k. Maybe a bit more than that. I was pretty fucking knackered. I was doing early mornings 4-8am at Maccys, then 8.30-5 with Sammy at the paper and then bar shifts til about 10 or 11 pm most nights. Sam saved me, let me get an hour's kip at lunchtime, and brought extra food every day for me to share with him.”

“Fuuuuuck.” He slumps where he’s sat next to you.

“There is something else.” He looks over in disbelief. You reach into your bag, pull out a sleek, matt black box and put it in his hands. 

“Fuck off?” He slides open the box to find his Rolex, in pristine condition - still ticking. “Fuck off.”

“I went to hand it over to them and… I couldn’t. I didn’t want them to have something of yours. I didn’t want to know that I’d done that, sunk that low.” Your voice gets even smaller, “they tried to suggest other methods of payment but…” you feel his shoulders tense, see his fists ball tightly in his lap, “I told them to give me a couple of months and see that I was good for the money, and if I ever missed a payment then we’d have that conversation.” He wants to know if you ever had the conversation, you can feel it in the air between you both,

“You never have to justify yourself to me.” He says firmly.

“I didn’t do it. Never missed a payment. Had to borrow a bit from Sam occasionally when I fell short, but I was never going to have that conversation with them. Never.” The air feels weighty with the tension, like it's risen up from your shoulders where it’s weighed you down for the last three years and is now hovering around you both. You’re amazed you got through it without tears. It’s been so easy to fall into the trap of feeling sorry for yourself over the years and wallow in the self pity of it all. Roy on the other hand is still visibly tense, his knuckles white. You tentatively reach your hand across to cover his, using your fingers to unball his hands.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He sounds worse than he had when he asked the same question a few days ago. His voice is hoarse and tight,

“I couldn’t let them know about you. They’d have ruined you. I had to protect you.”

“I won’t let anything bad happen to you. I would never have let anything happen to you. We could have sorted it together.” You turn to face him, bringing your other hand to his cheek,

“No love, it was never your problem to fix.”

“If all of this was over eighteen months ago -”

“Don’t ask me why I didn’t come back, Roy. It’s never really over, I couldn’t bring this shit to your doorstep and these dickheads just turn up whenever they think they might get a bit of extra cash out of me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I’m sorry I took your watch and I’m sorry I walked out on us.” You can hear voices in the corridor outside, your times up and now you both have to be the epitome of professionalism while Roy is interviewed. “I’ll get Sam to interview the team and other staff first, give you some time.”

“What about you?”

“I’ve been living with this for three years, I’m tougher than I look. Besides, I’ve got some happy memories of this place,” you admit, looking around the familiar boot room. “I had the best sex of my life in this very room.” He lets out a low laugh, shaking his head. “I would never expect you to forgive me, Roy, but I truly thank you for giving me the chance to explain.” You pat his hand gently and leave a cool space beside him when you slip through the door to meet up with Sam and Rebecca.

~~~~~~

[natelawtism]

pal, Speak more about your love for nate i DARE YOU (/pos) (i genuinely wanna hear about it)

DONT GET ME FUCKING STARTED ON THIS. but you already have. So I hope you're prepared for an insane rambling. (ALSO IM SO GLAD YOU WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT HELLO?????)

There's so many things I love about Nate Lawson. he's always plaguing my mind and hasn't left for months (as you can see). Currently all I can think about is how he loves, and how he expresses that love! Since he's. It's so unique to him and how he is.

Like I've said before, he literally said "I'll relax when I die". He is such a workaholic and he's so scared of love and affection.

YET! His love languages are physical touch and words of affirmation (stated on his wiki). That's so... sweet to me. He fears anything or anyone getting "too close" but feels safe and secure in an environment where he can be loved and held. He needs someone to tell him they love him, but he's afraid of that fact.

That fact bleeds into how closed-off he is about affection. The fact that he rarely holds the player's hand, the fact that he INSISTS that he will not have his first kiss until it's the absolute "perfect moment". The fact that his ending CG is him giving the player a hug after they graduate!

And even then, the player encourages him to leave his comfort zone without pushing boundaries. Of course that doesn't mean that JB DOESN'T push boundaries, but a lot of the time on dates the mc encourages him to be more open and treat the relationship as what it is. She asks to hold hands and if he says no, she instead pivots to "can I walk closer to you on our way back?" it's something within his boundaries but out of his comfort zone! Something so they can both be close without Nate getting scared and rejecting the situation.

I GENUINELY CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS BOY AND WANT TO HOLD HIM. He's my everything. He truly needs someone and somewhere he can relax, no matter how adamant he is about not relaxing or wasting time.

I believe he needs someone just as persistent as him, but also lax as a partner. Someone who can stand their ground and push against how stuck in his ways he is, but knows when to let something go about his boundaries. Not in a way where they argue with him, but in different ways. Someone who can find a loophole to get him to relax, or try and comfort him to convince him.

Someone who won't give up on trying to help him, and tries to help him because of their love for him. They want him to grow because they know how wonderful he is. They want him to heal.

Asking me to talk about my love for Nate is BASICALLY an invite to talk about my yumeship so I'm gonna ramble specifically now.

I think that Rowan gets Nate into the habit of holding hands tbh. It's like a year into their relationship at LEAST but I think they, naturally, have different progress than Nate and JB (because JB is her own diff person lol). I believe that part of the fact Nate and Rowan get into the habit of holding hands is the fact that Nate kind of... finds himself getting comfortable. When he realizes this, he FREAKS THE HELL OUT. But that's kind of a story for another post. The holding hands isn't public (at least for a WHIIIIIIILLEEEE), but it happens in private settings or on dates when no one they know is around. It's VERY SPECIFIC settings, but it's small contact that makes both of them feel loved. The mushy feeling in Nate's heart makes him nervous and scared when he thinks too much about it, but with Rowan he begins to let himself .. Just live. Even if it's small steps of doing so.

[companion-showdown]

Who is your favourite companion?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

propaganda under the cut

Compassion

Imagine this you are a Remote who is very happy being a space time anarchist punk thank you very much. Hanging out with their pal Kode and then suddenly in comes this British Twink talks your pal in to committing suicide so they can get their boyfriend back and then unplugs you from your culture and plugs you in to their Time Machine so you have to start travelling with these people who you hate. And this time travelling Brit keeps trying to stop you being Aromantic. Then suddenly bam you get turned into a TARDIS and now British Twink’s ex best friend turned Genocidal Dictator (who looks like she is from the 1920’s) try’s to turn you into a breeding slave to make more TARDIS’s from the war that is yet to happen for them but you have already experienced. So the Twink makes takes away your autonomy and ability to control where you land in a brutal and unconsensual act of needless cruelty and cowardice because they think they know how to look after you better than you a space time anarchist punk from the future so. Oh and they also seal of your primary means of defending your self from War Queen Romana who wants to make You a breeding slave. Eventually you break their conditioning and kidnap an unwilling time lord saving them from the destruction of their home before/after the war you came from. Now you have fun times and occasionally visit the war. Then you get board and become all of humanities afterlife and make everyone immortal after they die. Also you are the 5 A’s Aromantic, Asexual, Agender, Autistic, Anarchist. (anonymous)

Mind-links with the TARDIS and becomes a TARDIS herself. Travels with a human companion of her own and becomes a key player in the War. Later turns herself into the City of the Saved, an afterlife for all humans in the universe. What more can you ask for? (anonymous)

repressed bisexual from the sixties who's in love with the Doctor (anonymous)

Roz Forrester (joint propaganda with Chris Cwej)

Even though I never really followed the New Adventures books (so am probably not the best person to speak up for them) I've come to love these companions and their dynamics with Seven just from the three novel adaptation audios and the boxset of four new stories with them. Two 30th Century Adjudicators (basically military police) who end up leaving their job and journeying with the Doctor instead. They're pretty much polar opposites to each other but work together well and are both competent and likable. The actors both do a great job of bringing them to life and despite how little they've been used by the audios I think they've made a great impression with their limited time. I certainly hope we'll be hearing more from them beyond the one announced boxset where they're appearing with all of Seven's other companions. (@seven-times-champion /@elden-12 )

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Talia al Ghul

GRANT MORRISON YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF HEAVEN FOR CONVINCING PEOPLE THAT TALIA WOULD BE A BAD MOM WITH GENOCIDAL AMBITIONS YOU DUMB FUCK. She did nothing wrong I hate you racist retcons. Son of the demon origin truthers RISE

Makoto Hanamiya

If you scroll down to comments on the Kuroko no Basuke wiki entry for Hanamiya, you'll see automatically that people do not like it when you like Hanamiya. I started on tumblr with KnB and Hanamiya is my profile picture. He's my favorite character. Ooh, people don't like that. We've had discussions about him. Because of his grueling and blatantly cruel way of playing basketball, where he goes out of his way to physically injure star players on the court—in front of the referees no less, he is probably the most hated character in the series. I practically wrote a treatise on him a few years back, someone had said that Hanamiya was way worse than another "villain" character, Haizaki. I argued that Hanamiya was the better person of the two. Hanamiya is 100% an asshole and he 100% maims people for fun. He is not a good person by any stretch of the imagination. However, he is redeemable. Haizaki physically assaults women and by reading the wiki entry on him, one can surmise that off-screen/off-page, he rapes girls and women—frequently. Hanamiya, from what we can see and glean from the wiki, has never harmed a female. Not once. That's a line even he won't cross. He also doesn't abuse his teammates, at all. He's on a first-name basis with one of them. Just like with Arlong in One Piece, Hanamiya went after a character connected to the main group, and that made him evil incarnate in people's eyes. The fandom is volatile to people who like Hanamiya or any of his pals. We get mocked and harassed for it. If you allow the Anon function, you get some pretty nasty stuff sent to you. Those same people, who loathe Hanamiya, practically worship Haizaki. Haizaki who on screen, canonically, picked a woman up BY HER THROAT. He uses and abuses women, he feels entitled to do so, he canonically abuses his own teammates and coach. He's a monster but the fans love him and hold him over Hanamiya and the fans who like Hanamiya. That's why Hanamiya is misrepresented by fans. Yeah, he is an asshole who goes out of his way to do bad things. But he's less of an asshole than Haizaki. Haizaki is a felonius woman-beater and possible rapist. Hanamiya deserves better and the fans deserve to be treated better, because Haizaki is so much worse and doesn't deserve his golden pedestal.

[arsont-t]

I love how bioshock fans can hate on characters for being annoying but we accept them and all their atrocities. I’ve been in the genshin and ghost and pals fandom, they’re not as chill about characters who’ve done atrocities as bioshock fans are. I’ve seen dottore from genshin get hated on, despite the fact that is very clear dottore is a villain. He’s done as many atrocities as a bioshock character. He would love rapture, and he would fit decently well in the bioshock story. Fayrouz from Qualia automata, a series made by ghost and pals, gets hated on so much despite the fact that compared to even tenenbaum she’s not that bad. Tenenbaum experimented on kids, and even then we still love her and her redemption arc. Fayrouz was controlling to one adult man and was neglectful to two robots. anyway I really appreciate how you and other bioshock fans are really chill

I don't know much about these universes. But in the end, they're all fictional characters

As long as their behaviours aren't banalised in game (which is not the case in BS), as long as the player is aware and understand, it's pretty fine to like toxic characters, morally grey characters or the fucked up evil characters.

The concept is to have fun. I believe it's a chance to have a bunch of people that share the same interests in a fandom. We shouldn't fight over what is ,in the end, a subjective way/ personal appreciation of a media. And as much as we're emotionally attached to our interests and headcanons, sometimes it's good to cool down and remember they're not superior to others.

Personally, I like to see everyone's interpretations and drawings. It gives ideas and open perspectives. Of course I'm also always overjoyed ( but that's the bit of 'tism)

Finally, it's cool you find it chill here. It's important it's safe and tolerant. It's what any fandom should look like in their prime.

[fox-from-fairytale]

Doesn't matter if I already know how it ends, this game will never fail to make me cry.

It's so good that I'd replay it even if I've just finished it, but thankfully there are the other seasons. The thing is, the first one really is the best one. I've always found all the characters so well written and the story is so compelling, even if there are some awkward moments. Couldn't Clem kill the walker with the bat before trying to take the gun/keys? Why didn't the bandits follow Lee and Mark through the open fence? Did Ben really not see the walkers on the other side of the door? Still, those are little things compared to everything else.

The first time I was so focused on Clementine that most of the characters were just background noise to me, but this time I had the possibility to appreciate more of the game since I already knew it, and who shined the most was Lilly. I love that woman for both her good and bad traits, and I'm afraid to replay TFS now lmao 😰

It was a bit annoying how the game seems to try and antagonise her through the other characters bitching about her, but it makes sense since that's something that of course would happen to the only person with the guts to distribute food rations. But still, having Lee as the only one who can say something positive about her and what she has done when the player has absolutely no idea about how things are in the group because it's the beginning of the episode? Lmao fuck you. Also, why does she accuse Carley but if you save Doug she kills him as a mistake? Let my woman show no remorse towards both of them.

She's already hurt for losing the only family she had, so losing the other thing she was protecting so desperately because someone within the group betrayed them is the last nail in the coffin, along with being dismissed while she was trying to find out who did it. I'm not saying it was right to kill Carley/try to kill Ben (who did what he did for understandable reasons from his side), but I still see why she snapped and I can't hate her for it.

It's a pity the game gets rid of her, because seeing someone who still didn't lose her humanity (sure, she doesn’t want other mouths to feed, which should be obvious why since she is the one giving food and knowing they can barely survive with what they can find, but she shows it when she doesn't agree with Kenny if he says that Lee made a mistake putting the girl in Macon out of her misery or when she doesn't want to steal from the stranger - she doesn't want to bear the weight of more people because it would be impossible to take care of them too and she prioritise her family and then her group, but this doesn’t mean she wants to survive on other people's expenses, which, ergh... kinda changes) doing something so ruthless it's so interesting, and I would have loved to see her progression through the game. I guess we do in TFS, but at the moment I'm torn about what they did with her in that season... Also, I simply wanted more of her in the game lmao

Protecting Duck and Katjaa as much as I could + trying to save Larry was a good combo for Kenny, I genuinely think those choices gave me the best of him. I like to make fun of him for being a pain in the ass if you agree with him about everything but a single choice is what makes him despise you and even avoid to save your ass when you need, but I really liked how things evolved in the final episode.

Kenny isn't a bad person, no one at the motor inn and who can join the group later on is, and killing someone (who at the moment is defenceless) because it's what you think is the right thing to do to protect yourself takes quite a lot, and Lee not helping him surely would make him feel like being left alone in such a hard moment and would divide them. But in the last episode, after seeing the worst of him (I mean, I believe that's in s2, but that's another story) because of his loss, the fact that he comes around when Clem is taken and treats you as a pal and uses the last bullet for Ben? I loved that, I think it showed the best of him. I thought he was going to be an asshole till the end, but I'm glad I can be on Lilly's side without having to be hated by Kenny for the whole season. I still loved to kick his ass in the third episode though lmao

I've made some pretty different choices compared to the first time, putting more thoughts behind them, especially when it came down to end someone's life.

Lee is a man who killed before it was necessary to survive, but it wasn't premeditated (or so I believe at least), and still has the heart to take care of a random kid as if she was his own. In the end, I only made him kill the girl at the motor inn who was bitten, the one screaming in Macon, and the stranger. Following this, I didn't let Clementine shoot him, and I'm glad the game made me give the actual reason I thought about: killing changes you, and I don't think a parent (that's who he is in the end) would make their child go through that, especially when said parent knows what it's like, and not only after the apocalypse.

It's clear that in the world she lives in she'll end up doing it, but it wasn't necessary to her safety, and Lee is no coward, and I like to think that he would keep prioritising Clementine over himself even in such a moment. Yes, it's sad for Lee, and Clementine surely is going to regret this, but I wanted to make the choice as Lee, not as the player nor as Clem.

These aren't all my thoughts on the game but the rambling got a bit too long, so I'm going to end it with the love of my life being pissed:

[arche0ps-moved]

can you please tell us more about your cool earthbound (or mother in general) headcanons. . . one's already mentioned are so cool I WANNA KNOW!!! ps YOU ARE COOL IN GENERAL TOO!!!!!!!

OHHH MIKE YOU SCAMP .. TWIRLS MY HAIR!! This could be long so. Under the cut !

okay first guy: ness I love ness.

Ness is a trans kid!! he doesn't know the right terminology for any of it but he knows he never felt like a girl. his family all support him ofc, but Tracy got a little sad thinking ness wouldn't play dollhouse with her anymore (he still totally does)

Ness looooves gross stuff. Bugs, mud, bones, etc. Call me autistic the way I study those bugs (<- ness)

oh also he's autistic 👍 very sensitive to loud noises and the cold, and wears almost the same outfit everyday because 1. different outfit everyday is HARD . 2. He likes his outfit!!

his special interest is baseball :)

him and pokey play on the same Onett baseball team and have an unofficial rivalry with the Fourside Fogies . one time they trapped pokey under the bleachers. it was a whole ordeal (hc from soypeople thank you bestie)

ness was their number one player!! until. yk. giygas. after all that he quit going to school and became a shut in for a good while (he'll be okay)

Paula helps teach him the PK moves!! Fire freeze thunder etc etc. In return him and pu teach her how to heal and such (none of them manage to learn starstorm, though ..)

Ness is overall an overly caring kid. he'll often put others before himself, especially in the line of danger. But he can also be very stubborn if he chooses to (if he's angry, he'll most likely give you silent treatment until he simmers down)

Ness and Paula date in the future :]

ok paula now.

Paula is a transgirl!! she knows the terms bc she's a fast learner (with gifted child syndrome)

When she grows up she most likely takes over the Polestar preschool

Funnily enough, her favorite color isn't pink. It's green!

Her parents are a bit overprotective of her .... Ness and her had to practically beg to go fight Giygas

Much like Ness, she cares a lot for her friends. Unable to heal them with her PSI, she resorts to carrying around lots of healing items for her pals! (And wet towels for Jeff, since he overheats easily)

She doesn't mind any temp, but sweat is an unpleasant sensation for her (it's gross, it smells, and ew, it's wet! Jeff shares the same sentiment)

She isn't a damsel in distress, obviously. She probably would've beaten up Montoli and Carpainter all on her own if she didn't have the brain to accompany her (though, an hour longer in the cage at Happy Happy and she probably would've started a fire ..)

OK JEFF TIME I LOVE JEFF :) copy pasting some jeff-tony hcs from my personal discord teehee

When Jeff couldn't stand in class Tony would take his assignments to the teacher when they both finished (albeit a bit later as Tony took more time on his)

Tony signs the end of the Y in name with a small heart when writing Jeff. Jeff was oblivious to it's meaning till he got older

Tony will sometimes break stuff on purpose when Jeff has nothing to tinker. Just little things that they won't miss if Jeff can't fix them (he always fixes them)

Jeff shares what he doesn't eat with Tony (tony has a bit appetite!)

Jeff carries Tony's bag in his lap when in his chair

Neither of them use air fresheners or perfumes. It irritates Jeff's nose and Tony has asthma. Win!

They don't have the same taste in music but like to listen to each other's music when working in their dorm. They take turns putting in tapes

Jeff prefers classical music .. Tony calls him old for it (it's endearing. He's memorized Jeff's favorite artists)

Jeff falls asleep in class a lot .. tony makes sure to write plenty of notes if he does

Non Tony related ones:

Jeff is autistic! And physically disabled. His legs were injured in the novels boat incident, so he uses a cane(or crutches) and a wheelchair depending on how well he feels

He doesn't like being babied or carried around much, but if it's necessary he'll allow someone to lift him (mostly ness or tony)

Distant relationship with his dad obviously. It gets a bit better but they never get as close as they could

Jeff modifies his chair to have rockets on them. Because it's fun!

Even after getting his prosthetics he'll still use the chair whenever he feels tired

As stated in my fic he hates the heat so so much. He'd rather run around in the snow butt naked than spend a minute at the beach

Okay that's enough Jeff sorry for the favoritism <3 pu time!!

I spell his name as Pu thanks to mysthlarey (thank u bestie)

Probably very stressed. It's hard being the newest king and also 14

His hair is shaved on the sides and tied into a long braid. No reason behind it he just likes it that way tbh

Despite his resting-mean-boy face, he's super sweet under that Princely attitude! (He's got a lot on his shoulders, it's hard to relax)

Much like in game he's very . Uh. Physcially weak. Most people don't expect that because of his "fighter" look, so they don't usually mess with him

He's a picky eater bc of sensory issues. What do you MEAN you guys can eat rice? Yuck! (It tastes fine, but the feeling is .. bad. very bad)

Water enthusiast :) often the one to remind Ness (water hater) to drink some water

Tallest of the group (sorry jeff)

Funnily enough he doesn't grow once he hits his current height. Sooner or later Paula matches him in height and he finds it p funny

Uses his future kingly status to mess around with his friends. (Ex: DEAR NESS. THIS IS THE KING OF DALAAM. COME OKAY WORLD OF WARCRAFT WITH ME OR ELSE I WILL START A WAR WITH EAGLELAND. signed ur bestie xoxoxox :) )

bonus time oh goodness oh me oh my! Random character's!

Tracy uses she/they

Picky uses he/they. they match!

Picky loooves spiders (<- he doesn't know about pokey)

Tony's family actually live in Scaraba- they sent him off to Winters since it has the best school in the 3 major continents (he was eligible, so why not take the chance!)

Pokey and Ness liked to draw comics together :) they're probably super cringey now

Picky, Tracy, Ness, and Pokey all used to walk to school together. Sometimes pokey had to carry picky since he was half asleep

Ness doesn't actually eat trash burgers okay it was ONE TIME you can STOP BRINGING IT UP POKEY

pokey needs glasses due to his bangs fucking up his vision. will he ever get them? probably not

aloysius minch is bisexual. win I guess

[infernothechaosgod]

@scummiezzz thank you for asking 6ezuxfux! Hope you dont mind me answearing in a post since when I talk about fanny i yap for hours and it would make too big of a comment ToT (sorry for all the typo's)

for her accual faults

I think she's very socially akward but not in a adorkable way and more of shes answears very directly and shortly to avoid any conversations and sometimes she doesnt answear at all and just sits there, from her perspective she takes alot to think about what to Say and panics a little but from outsiders perspective she sees herself as too good to talk to them (in my notes i have it checked to have her talk to strangers the same way spartan letters were written lol)

She's got alot of walls around herself, she doesnt like to let people in, to a certain level she thinks "if they'll wanna get close they will have to try a bit" but "a bit" is accualy a lot LOT, shes not really a people person, the only people i would say shes friendly with are the ones she knows arent gonna try to be too close to her for examples people at a swing club she goes, there all there for short dances, drinks and music and most of them know their distance but not eachothers names lol

Also she doesnt take anything personaly witch is a good thing for mean patients and little jabs people can send to her it slides right off, but so do the good things like i said lots and lots of walls

What she thinks her faults are is just being mean like awful mean

To certain level shes right because she is mean lol but not in a way that really stings you or stays on your mind, in reality shes a little rude and a bit too direct but in her own mind she thinks everyone views her as this awful never letting go of anything cartoon villian, thats not the case at all people dont like her but they don't dislike her either, she always sees herself as watching the game but not a player ya know?

For people she hates?

Id say she hates patients who cant work with her and the medical staff, they really annoy her she of course still aids and helps them but also curses under her breath the entire time doing so lol

She also hates people who are a bit too optimistic (wild since shes best friends with one) she thinks that their happy views are unrealistic and any suggestion of theirs gets shot down by her easily...a bit out of her pity, she tries making too much logical sense while at the same time not beliving in that people might just wanna help them out on their own without nothing in return

As for the main cast, shes one of them in my ver :D

She's best friends with mickey, she brings out a bit of his sassy side and he brings out her more optimistic side (she wont admin that ever though) at first she wanted to be there for him "when his happy worldview shatters, so it'll be easier for him to accept lifes not a fairytale" but in the process she almost forgot about that goal and geniuenly became very close friends with him

For minerva (aka minnie) id say she likes her a little but doesnt spend time that much with her, she seems nice and very sweet but that sweetness gets on her nerves a bit after talking with her too much, she'd say shes pals with her if you'd ask her for their relationship, sometimes they chat over the cup of coffe

She absolutley loves pete (platonicly!) He's her favorite patient a "kitty cat" he lisens to what she tells him to do during check ups and is very nice. to her that is. They have a bit of that "he asked for no pickles" dynamic exept he did ask for the pickles! He just wanted to get you in trouble! she does know he's not a Saint and doesnt turn blind eye to his evil actions though! she gives him the cold shoulder anytime he does something she doesnt like too much, friends! exept he's enemies with all of her friends and she probably sent a pipe bomb to his friends at least 5 times

As for oswald there dating :D!

They had that rivals to lovers dynamic, she got on his nerves, he got on hers, but over time they kinda realized there into someone standing up to them and geniuenly making good arguments and they also figured out they had the same goal in a certain situation (oh 100th birthday oswald project how I cant wait for you to be done) they had to apologize to eachother and work together because they had the same cause and realized they've got alot in common and what one disliked in the other the most was a flaw they themself had, after swollowing their own pride and letting go of their stubbornness for once they geniuenly apologized to eachother and got closer...realllllllly closer iykwim

For some funfact's abt her, she's trans mtf 💙🩷🤍🩷💙, she and oswald buy eachother gifts at the same time alot, i think of giving her a little dog since in her last apperance she had one running around her she's autistic and her main love language is quality time but she buys her close ones gifts alot

Thank you for letting me yap about fanny! I love her so so much T♡T! ❤️....I just realized I didnt write in her strenghts as accual seperate points aw dang it

Some other relationships for her i havent fleshed out that much yet are-!

Felix! She switches between being rivals and friends with him, ultimately there more of friends that rivals

kitty white/kitty kat shes friends with her too usualy they hang out in calm places and share some hobbies like reading and have alike fasion sense

Ortensia she doesnt know her too well but does see her around a bit usualy staring at her the same way L stared at light in that one scene from deathnote, she thinks ortensia's pretty and from what she heard nice so she doesnt mind, ortensias got a bit of one sided beef with her ToT (its not bc of oswald though)

Bimbo the dog owns her so much money from lost poker games to her-

Sylvester shyster and her have a very personal beef (she folds him like a chair on tuesdays) (Also she threw him off A building once spoilers for something coming out in 3 years ig)

[rottmntsimp]

hello!! i was wondering if i could get a ROTTMNT character match up (when ur free and got the time!!)??

i go by many many online names, but usually i stick with sandra! i'm southeast asian, 5'2, and gender non conforming. i got black hair that's in a medium-length butterfly haircut and i usually dress up in a soft-grunge style (i don't have a specific style in reality, too indecisive for that rip).

i have audhd, and find it hard to open up to people. when i have an interest, it's usually really intense! marine biology, certain video game franchises, tv shows, music, the arts—i'm super passionate about all of them and find myself infodumping if i dont catch myself. i keep to myself the majority of the time, but when i open up to people that i believe i can trust, i'm usually described as energetic and very active!

dancing, singing, playing music, and drawing are my main go-to hobbies. especially music—i know how to play the piano, violin, cello, bass, and guitar! the last two are self-taught, but i got a few years under my belt :D

i'm an esfp, and i love listening to people talk about their passions and their love for whatever it is. i'm dramatic and love doing things for shits and giggles (for the plot yk), but i'm bad at recognising and understanding other people's feelings at times. i'm horrendous at comforting others and i can not read between the lines for the life of me.

so sorry for typing so much!! i wanted to make sure u had good material to work with 🤲

i hope you have a wonderful day evening or night !!!

—🌷 anon <33

Hey Sandra! As you didn't state a preference for your partner, I'm going to assume that either any is fine!

Also genuine question, should I add my taglist on these?

Don't ask how but I can see myself shipping you with April!

💚 - When it comes to dressing up, let's be honest, April could probably rock anything [much like I bet you do!]

💚 - So please for the love of god, let her borrow your clothes. She may not ask for it much, but if you're cool with it she is burrowing herself into your clothes-

💚 - Height-wise, I'd say 5'2" is pretty average, but compared to April, oh boy-

💚 - Her canonical height is 4'8", but let's give her a few inches out of pity, and make her around 5'0"...yeah no she's still short.

💚 - If it takes time for you to open up to people, don't worry! She'll be there, waiting and by your side the whole time.

💚 - As for special interests, if you happen to like a video game she has, she'll definitely let you borrow it. Hell, you guys can play together, maybe even infodump!

💚 - ^^ She'll probably sit there, head propped up in her hand, smiling at you softly.

💚 - Now, as for music, I'm sorry if this is just me projecting, but music players,,,

💚 - Would probably swoon if you ever wrote her a song, or even played for her.

💚 - Would probably ask you to teach her a few things, even if it's just the basics.

💚 - You're both extroverted so expect more outdoorsy dates! Amusement parks, bowling, arcades, whatever your heart desires, it shall get!

💚 - Now, as a fellow ✨THEATER KID✨ if you're demiromantic, aro-spec, or just more of a friends to lovers kinda person, depending on how long you've known each other, and if she can trust you to keep a secret, she might introduce you to Donnie, and maybe even the other turtles.

💚 - Pass the vibe check, please, because if her brothers friends don't like you, I'm sorry but you're gonna have to go-

💚 - Now, if you do vibe with them, especially Donnie, maybe, just maybe, you might get an invite to become an official member of the DPFL [Dorky Pals For Life] club.

💚 - Being unable to comfort April on a bad day might lead to an awkward gap between you two at times, but if you two can talk it out, you'll be just fine!

💚 - As for reading between the lines, if you're unable to read a room, or understand a joke, or just something someone said, she'd got you covered <3

I hope you liked it! <33

[roxannarambles]

Indigo Disk Photo Album

Just some screenshots and excuses to ramble a bit about Drayton, the environments in Indigo Disk, and Rika. Major spoilers obviously.

First of all, I want to say when Drayton said "Yo, Champ in the making," I was so happy. Such an adorable callback for old fans. Then when I beat the next E4 and he said 'Yo yo, Champ in the making' I thought maybe it was just script writers being lazy and not noticing, but MAYBE he said it twice because I beat TWO people? The third time confirmed it was intentional and I was so happy, lol. Also, I saved him for last, which the dialogue takes note of, so that was really cool.

I liked Drayton, he was my favorite BB person. I think most of that 'laziness' stems from pushing back against all the no doubt intense pressure put on him to follow in the footsteps of family members that are very powerful and accomplished trainers, and really, who could blame him. (Read his dialogue with Hassel if you get the chance, it's good) He's also a 'lil toxic towards Kieran when Player wins, but again, I can't exactly blame him for having some bad feelings towards Kieran considering how much of a JERK Kieran was being.

Terarium stuff. I loved this Pyroar they intentionally placed on the Pride Rock-esque formation. Also I loved other environmental details like electrowebs for Galvantula, antlion pits for Trapinch, nests for Vullaby, etc. Also met up with Perrin so the brothers could re-unite . . . girl why don't you evolve your Growlithe. You do know all you need is a Fire Stone, right? You could be riding a giant fire dog around.

The extra-super sparkly part to Area Zero was nice, but this underground lake with this awesome tree in the center was the coolest. I think they should have had Terapogos there instead of some random poke you need to battle to progress. Also, I have to admit this WAS a very cool moment, when Terapogos broke the Master Ball. It felt very impactful, just seeing that. So props for that.

Ms. Briar's academic obsession with Terapogos is so similar to Sada/Turos' obsession with building a Time Machine and a paradise, I really expected more parallels to be drawn in the story but they never really did. I feel like they didn't take full advantage of that. Although I suppose it's nice Ms. Briar realized she needed to step back, that she was hurting people as a result, whereas Arven's parent never realized this. (I'm gonna explore the idea more if I do an Indigo Disk rewrite and get the Paldea Pals properly involved in the plot) Kieran had an obsession of his own, of course, with Ogerpon but also with growing stronger, and that resulted in a lot of pain too ultimately.

Okay so, the added information on Rika was interesting. She mentions 'babysitting the boss' because Geeta is prone to being absent-minded and needs help keeping track of all the details, which a lot of people loved, although personally I don't like Geeta, so that info didn't fascinate me too much. I found it more interesting that Rika got super upset when she learned Player went into Area Zero, which is honestly really sweet that she's that concerned for our safety. She also mentions that she 'went to kind of a rough school' which is really interesting. I guess she didn't attend Naranja then. People often assume she and Geeta attended Naranja and met there as students, I guess that kinda wrecks that theory. I wonder which school Rika attended? I'm going to guess it's in an area that was economically disadvantaged, as "rough" usually means "poor" (Rika also notes the clubhouses were not 'as nice' as BB's)

Rika also notes that she has a "professional mode" when she's teaching or doing League work, which she finds exhausting if she has to do it all the time, and that she prefers her regular, relaxed, normal self. (She also reveals she wears the glasses because they make her look sharp and professional but they're literally just for show, which is hilarious.) If the player tells her they prefer regular Rika to professional Rika, she says she'll try to loosen up around us and act like her normal self. Aw.

[onegianthotmess]

So, I’ve been on a kick with the possibilities of a toxic relationship recently, so I decided to make my dreams a reality!!!

Meet Finnian Rex, formerly known as Finnian Rosehearts! This is the ex-husband of Iracebeth Rosehearts and the father to Morel, Riddle, and Rayne Rosehearts! He’s also the reason why his children all have pretty baby faces!!

He’s themed after the White King a bit in terms of being the opposite of Iracebeth Rosehearts, the world’s worst wife and mother.

Currently, Finnian is 46 and on his second marriage with his old friend from Night Raven College who told him that Iracebeth was bad news, but our boy didn’t listen until he slowly saw it for himself when Morel was around three and deemed a “failure” by Iracebeth’s controlling ass.

Finnian was a very good and well-known professional Spelldrive player until he was blinded in his left eye due to an “accident”. After he retired from the sporting scene, he fell back on his second passion, art, and now he’s a professional artist, specifically a painter! He’s made a pretty decent living off of his works, too!

Throughout his relationship with Iracebeth, Finnian realized how bad she was and eventually began demanding a divorce, but he didn’t get it until after Riddle and Rayne were born. Slowly, but surely, Finnian began to use alcohol as a coping mechanism due to Iracebeth coaxing and enabling him before she took it to court and Finnian was deemed unfit to have Morel visit him at all due to his alcoholism and he lost all custody of her. For people wondering why Riddle and Rayne weren’t in shared custody, they were quite young during this time and Finnian’s name isn’t on their birth certificates, so he legally isn’t their father.

After Finnian lost the right to see his children at all and was ordered to stay away due to his addiction, he fell further into alcoholism until his friend, now spouse, saved his life when he was about to die of alcohol poisoning. When he almost died, Finnian began to straighten up and go to rehab, he eventually even got to be able to write letters to Morel, who just got into Night Raven College and was in Heartslabyul.

Finnian always regretted never being able to stick around for Riddle and Rayne, but he was always very happy when Morel wrote about them in her letters and such. He was even sent prints of pictures and stuff that Morel took so that he could have something at least. It did shock Finnian just how much Riddle and Rayne look like Iracebeth, but Riddle looks the most like her to him. Eventually he became pen pals with Rayne and then Riddle and he became even happier because now he could get to know them on a deeper level.

His plan is to meet them in person during their graduation and apologize for everything he’d missed. He also plans to give them all of the cards for their birthdays that he was never able to give to them because of their mother—Finnian even has very old letters addressed to Riddle and Rayne from their first birthday that he was going to give them when they learned how to read, but was never able to because of Iracebeth.

Onto more fun stuff and facts about our lovely father here, Finnian is an incredibly kind man, almost to a fault. He is generous and doting to those he cares about, he just wants to show his love and appreciation for those around him. He’s very similar to Trey, though he’s less of a mom friend and more of a full on support system in case someone needs it.

Finnian is the friend who will stab someone if you so much as say the word-

He used to wear contacts instead of his glasses because they got in the way during Spelldrive, but since he was blinded in his left eye he started wearing them all the time because there really was no point in the contacts anymore and he needed all the help with sight he could get. Also, Finnian’s hair is straight! It’s just fluffier and not as flat as Iracebeth’s hair and he doesn’t mind going around with his hair slightly tousled up. It somehow always looks perfectly messed up and looks amazing on him, even if he’s just woken up. His spouse is jealous-

And Finnian steers clear of alcohol for the most part aside from the occasional couple of glasses of wine or dessert wine. He stays away from strong drinks and tries to not drink around Morel when she visits because she’d arrive at his house to find him passed out from morning drinking when she was still allowed to visit him as a kid.

He can’t cook, but he can bake somehow. He’s one of those people who can’t boil water, but he can make a baked Alaska no problem by some strange and unnatural fuckery or witchcraft. But he’s more of a bread kind of guy and the sweetest thing he usually makes is pound cake. He will be making pound cake for his kids when he finally gets the chance.

He’s just a sweet guy who wants to make up for lost time with his only son and younger daughter.

(Also, he looks like a cute nerd to me and I love it. Maybe it’s the cardigan for me. I don’t know, but I love Finnian, he’s a new favorite of mine!)

[randomnameless]

Which story do you like more, Scarlet Blaze's or Golden Wildfire's?

It's SB!

I mean, have you seen that ending?

Slap a kickass song on it, and you have a sentai ending where the hero "disappears" taking down the "evil bad guy" in an explosion! Forget SS, SB's ending is really the ending where Rhea goes down like the champ she is, to save the world.

(wait someone told me Rhea isn't the protagonist of that route?)

Much like CF, I like SB not because of what the playable protagonist cast does, but because I like the antagonists (and it's the only route where you can get rid of Clout!).

Granted, it's a Supreme Leader route, so that also helps : the cast isn't forced to swallow cobras to justify her uwu conquest since we're playing as her and her Court - in a way it's more bearable than the uwu sobfest AG gives us about "wah wah we're participating in this war we BaD" and the "we are invading Adrestia the people here must hate us :'( even if we are fighting to get rid of the people who are playing bowling with adrestian citizens used their heads as a ball :'("

It's also the route where, despite what Supreme Leader and her Court parrot, we see how the so-called "nefarious values" of the Kingdom like chivalry, self-sacrifice and loyalty/devotion are rooted in love, aka affection for people those so called knights have to protect (iirc that's what happens when House Dominic takes the fight!) - and it shows how far Adrestia has fallen (Adrestian Nobles would never do something like Baron Dominic did!), ditto with Rhea knowing "secret routes" in Enbarr's palace, unknown to the current Emperor and her long list of predecessors : a person who was there 1100 years ago knows more about the City than people currently living in it.

In a nutshell, much like Tru Piss, Supreme Bullshit is a route where, if you squint a bit, you can see things that are completely opposite to what your playable cast is telling you (remember Ferdie and the crested Kingdom nobles?), informing the player that the protagonists are, just like in Tru Piss, full of nonsense.

What is shown contradicts what is told!

But I confess I'm biased, because Supreme Bullshit at least gives some spotlight to Nabateans, especially Rhea, who doesn't reappear in the plot only to die - and what kind of spotlight ! She literally steals the show at the end, defeating the Mole People while Supreme Leader is watching the spectacle, eating popcorn and giving a high five to her pal Barney.

There's also the Shamir'n'Catherine scene - that obviously ceases to be interesting the moment when Shamir becomes a part of Supreme Leader's court - where, again, we can see another instance of a knight (even if Shamir would deny it! She is a tru merc, not a knight!) sacrificing themselves to save a loved one.

SB>>>GW.

[redrocketpanda]

I'm literally vibrating with excitement about my Wednesday Dungeon of the Mad Mage D&D game & need to yell about it here bc otherwise I won't be able to concentrate until then

Firstly, I am in LOVE with my character - and apparently so is everyone else, which is an absolutely unexpected delight to me

Temerity is a Zariel Tiefling Barbarian, descended from the hells with 2 cambions for dads. She's a tiny, petite little thing with rose pink hair & grey tips, who wears pastel coloured high fashion dresses & killer heels, is super nice in very country gal kinda way, and is essentially a pretty little princess with a pink warhammer making her way through a dungeon with her pals

In our first game (3 weeks ago), we were missing a player but our cute ragtag bunch had fun traipsing around and getting into trouble. Temerity spent 2 rounds of combat checking out a statue of a hot sharkman and then (almost) single handedly defeated it with a single throw of a hand axe - crit hitting it & causing 18 points of damage

Then, the next week, the mysterious missing player turns up at the table with the cutest fucking Half-Orc bard boy called Elrig who plays thrash metal on his triangle. He's big and threatening looking, with a shady background, but all of his scars are from falling over & really he's just a soft boy

CUE INADVERTANT ROMANCE BETWEEN THE PRETTY LITTLE BARBARIAN PRINCESS AND THE BIG INTIMIDATING HALF-ORC BARD????

I managed to somehow snag a bardbarian romance but with cute little gender twists in week 2??!!!

We only had that one session but there was already a little flirting going on between them. Elrig seems very impressed with Temerity's combat skills & upbeat personality, and Temerity seems very taken with this big, strong boy who isn't quite who he appears to be. Plus neither of them are very smart so it makes it even more fun

We also had a very fun duo moment when Elrig was intimidating some goblins (to just tell them to keep away) and Temerity was hanging off his shoulders speaking in infernal to assist with the check. We rolled a 28. Elrig just stood there looking scary whilst Temerity's there like "yeaaaaah, y'all should be scared! Look at him... look at.. look at those muscles *feels them* wow... they're uh... they're real big..."

And possibly the cutest thing to come of this so far is that me & the player have exchanged Pinterest boards with each other. They sent me a song called Princess of the Night, which they think Elrig sings about Temerity. And we also sent each other character playlists???

Anyway it's TOO FUCKING CUTE. Like I LOVE Temerity, and I've never had a D&D romance before so it's all very akshsksjsk to me. Plus all the players are really nice?! We even had someone send some temerity/elrig related posts in the discord group and I am sooooooo