#especially when either one or all parties involved don't make it known that they're just using others

[flammenxci]

I'm going to need people to realize that throwing a hissy fit over somebody gently or casually rejecting your offer to help them is going to make them SO MUCH LESS inclined to accept it in the future. And making it a point that they should have anyways, often through guilt trips, is going to motivate them even more to avoid you.

Especially if it's over something so fucking small like carrying something for somebody even though you know they can do it themselves and they're clearly not struggling.

"I'm just trying to be nice. 😤" If you're going to be like that then I have some bad news for you, you're not a nice person. You're larping one. "Being nice" to get some sort of mental or spiritual high out of it and throwing a fit when you're denied that isn't what it actually means to "be nice."

I'm not sorry but since fucking when were you entitled to using someone else to regulate yourself? Even through "nice" gestures like helping them with something? Especially if the only reason you're doing it is because you're bored?

"I don't handle it well." You can die of it for all I care once you've taken it to that point.

[eraserisms]

@ravenbled / Shota twin sent in these from here!

☀ Does the mun listen to you while writing or not?

"I don't know if the word listen is the the accurate word. I feel like we're almost always in synch with one another. That is at least, when he is actually writing instead of pacing the house like a lunatic trying to convince his brain to get some words out. It's just that sometimes neither of us have the mental capacity to get things done around here. Either I'm not in the mood to co-operate, we're both tired from work, or there are too many external factors going on in our lives"

✍ Has the mun some special talents beside writing?

"He probably would tell you that he doesn't have any talents, unless you count being able to put in exactly 30 dollars of gas into a car, or however much you want in it." "His friends would say that he has a talent for cooking, but he is his own worst critic. He loves to cook for others, but doesn't like working in the industry. It's tireless and unrewarding. He often says that being a cook is like being a 'starving artist who won't starve' and says that they won't starve only on the basis that they're cooks. They would be able to not go hungry by eating family meal at work and for the fact that they know how to stretch out ingredients. If you want to do well in the culinary industry, you have to be great. And he'll tell you that he's only a good enough of a line-cook to work Mother's Day brunch at the Olive Garden. Nothing higher than that. He isn't good enough to be able to handle the pressure of fine dining and Michelin stared restaurants." Shota gave a toss of his head in thought before letting out a soft 'tch' of a laugh. His lips even dared to curled up into his rarely seen true smile. "And I'd say....well, I don't know if I'd consider it a talent but, he can be a quick thinker when the time calls for it. His rapid responses likely comes from working in hospitals or from being a cook and having to sometimes think on the fly. When it comes to himself he is the type of person who freezes up or shuts down. However, he is like Izuku in a way, and if it's another person or party involved, he can usually spring into action to help rather quickly. I'd even say it's heroic of him, but he'd say it's just human decency. "

🌟 Is there any genres the mun doesn’t enjoy writing but you enjoy being part of?

"Ehhhh, I don't think it's a matter of not liking certain themes or implications. D.A. is pretty open as far as what he is willing to write with people. Out of all thread types, he doesn't really like writing smut and doesn't plan on writing it on this blog. The only person he ever writes smut with is a close friend that he has known for over 10 years. In fact, they even met on this website. It doesn't really bother me all that much, but I'd like to get laid at least once in a while." Shota's mouth curled into a mischievous smirk. "But I guess I'm okay with it just being implied. A lay is a lay whether its written in detail or not." Considering there were few things that D.A. wasn't interested in writing, it caused Shota to pause briefly. His lips pursed in thought, trying to think of something else that wasn't common for his mun to write. "Another thing he doesn't write often is fighting. No matter if it's a physical fighting or a verbal fight, he isn't a particularity strong writer in those genres. That's not to say that he doesn't take pleasure in writing fighting scenes; he just isn't very good at it. In cases of fighting, depending on who he is writing, he is afraid to write characters as over-powered, especially me given the nature of my quirk. Alternatively he is anxious about making the mistake of leading a fight into a direction that his partner doesn't want it to go in. I suppose that's what plotting and out-of-character stuff is for though. I think that's why he made that last post about wanting to have a rival based thread so he can practice that." "As far as writing verbal disputes goes, he is always concerned that his arguments aren't going to make sense, or he'll end up not knowing what to say to a well-made point. Once again, this applies to a person like me who is driven by logic. That isn't to say that he isn't driven by that, but sometimes in his personal life, his emotions can override his reason."

[lhs3020b]

In The News

More slightly-inchoate BG3 commentary, this time on an Act III side-quest.

Oh, SPOILERS, by the way.

Last night, I accidentally stumbled across the "Stop the Presses" side-quest...

I don't quite know what I make of it.

For those who don't know (and don't mind spoilers!) it's the side-quest where Baldur's Gate's main newspaper runs a Daily Mail-style character-assasination piece on you. You start it by talking to either one of the newspaper-sellers or (I guess) walking into the press building. Thing is, the first problem is that if you do what the game tells you to (talk to the Editor), that basically guarantees you the bad ending. You meet him, he harrangues you, presents your actions in the worst light possible (and unlike Khalisah from Mass Effect, actively and directly lies about your behaviour) ... and then has you thrown out of the building. One long sleep later and the hit-piece is published and, as the game puts it, "your reputation is in tatters".

Apparently it is possible to avoid this outcome, but you apparently can't do it through dialogue. Instead, you have to sneak in and manually change whatever is mounted on the printing press itself. (Apparently the newspaper's staff are too stupid or apathetic to notice that what's coming out of the printing press is not what they put in there. Or maybe they're just not paid enough to care.)

I have feelings about all of this.

First of all, this is a bit of a weird sidequest. As far as I know, it's not integrated into the main story. It's not clear why the Editor wants to run a hit-piece on you - why does he even care? Possibly he could be acting on orders from Gortash, but again this doesn't quite hang together - you get this quest, most likely, after you've been to Gortash's accession-ceremony. By that point you're either already an active enemy of Gortash, in which case who cares about shitty op-eds, or Gortash is trying to get you on-side with him, in which case this op-ed actually runs directly against his personal interests. (Why offend the person who might bring him Orin's netherstone? It just doesn't work. Gortash is evil, yes, but he's not an idiot.)

Perhaps the Editor is working for the Absolute? I considered this, but as far as I know there's no evidence in the text to support it. He doesn't seem to have a tadpole - there's no illithid dialogue-options when you talk to him - and anyway, ultimately this would make him a patsy for Gortash. Maybe Orin could be involved - maybe she could be trying to drive a wedge between you and Gortash? - but, really, this is too subtle and not-sufficiently-violent for Orin. Also, inside the newsroom, there are Steel Guard sentinels stood there, which imply that the newspaper has official protection. That would point back to Gortash.

Except we've already established that Gortash makes no sense as a puppetmaster here.

Another possibility, I suppose, is that the newspaper's Editor is simply completely out-of-control and drunk on power. I mean, I live in the UK, which is sadly known for its appallingly-rotten journalists (witness the revolving door between senior newspaper positions and Conservative Party Special Advisors - nothing corrupt here, oh no!), so this is at least a believable possibility. But, narratively, this feels like a wasted opportunity - this quest could very easily be linked into the main storyline. It would be depressing, but a subplot about how a corrupt newspaper helped Gortash lie his way into supreme power would fit with the main story. Except, to my knowledge, this never happens.

The Editor's only attempt to justify his actions is a ritual inflection toward "freedom of the press", which apparently in his interpretation includes complete freedom to lie, slander and deceive the public if he feels like it. You know, for shits and giggles. While a lot of real-world newspapers behave like this (especially in the UK - those of you who remember my "Diary of a Disaster" series from 2016-20 will be familiar with the reflexive, enthusiastic lying that they practise), at the same time, it feels deeply-depressing.

But, the "happier" ending also has its own issues. That's the one where you change the printing press to print the stories you want it to - while better for you personally, propaganda is still propaganda, surely? Is it necessarily better if you're the one who manipulates public opinion rather than the Editor?

Either option, honestly, feels iffy. This was a side-quest that I came away from with a faintly-queasy feeling. I actually ended up rolling my saved file back to before I interacted with the newspaper-sellers, and I'm actually seriously-considering just leaving this one to one side. It does feel a bit like the only genuinely-winning strategy here is not to play at all?

[memento-morri-writes]

Morri!!! first of all, how are you???

I wanted to tell you that I started for the first time playing a solo ttprg with like the whole deal (well this one uses 2 d10 and a d6 but I added a d12 to make a scale yes/no/maybe answers bc sometimes you just gotta ask fate no?) and I look up to you a lot for all your DnD ocs so the moment I started I was like "damn, gotta tell Morri!"

anywayyyy I am playing Iron Valley which is basically a big what if Stardew Valley were a solo (or +2 people! but idk anyone irl to play ttrpgs with so I'm going solo) ttrpg?? Is not DND cause... I need friends for that I think. And it intimidated me. BUT I am having so much fun???? And since is solo there's a lot of writing down and journaling involved so is SUCH an amazing wiring exercise?? (← hasn't written her wip since uhhhh April? yeah more or less)

would you mind if I asked you about your ocs?? I am so curious!

@ink-fireplace-coffee

CARMEN! HI!!!!!!!!

Congrats on your first ttrpg!! I've never actually played a solo one before, but that's mostly because I kind of need other people to keep me focused. (I get distracted way too easily, adkjasd.) But Iron Valley sounds so cool!! I love that you're adding your own mechanics!

And yeah!!! Playing ttrpgs is GREAT for your creativity!! My DnD characters are my current biggest source of inspiration, and they're the focus of most of my creative output right now.

(I also haven't written anything in MONTHS, so don't worry. You're not alone there. <3)

As for asking about my ocs, of COURSE you are welcome to ask!!! I'm obsessed with these ridiculous people in my head!!!!

(putting discussion about OCs under the cut, because I talk too much.)

My two current characters are Rook (half-elf swashbuckler rogue) and Asola (aasimar oath of vengeance paladin). And I adore both of them SO MUCH.

I'm obsessed with Rook to an unhealthy degree, lmao. He's the love of my life, and a complete disaster of a man. (You can find all the stuff I've posted about him on my personal blog here.) Me and my DM are currently plotting on how to absolutely ruin his life.

Our current plans include forcing him to face his intense trauma from Captain Wolf (the woman who held him prisoner for two years and tortured him), and also dealing with cursed nightmares sent by a literal demon lord. My boy is NOT going to be having a good time soon.

Asola is a little less developed, but she's growing with every session!! Just last session I realized that her oath of vengeance isn't against just one person or group, but rather against the unfairness and shittyness of life as a whole. Specifically, she takes anything that hurts the people she cares about personally.

The most recent example of this is our party's 16-year-old bard, who has a very fucked up past. At the end of last session, he was abandoned by his only real friend (who he's known for 11 years). None of the rest of the party even knew this "friend" existed, since he communicated with / lived inside Val's head. But when Sola finds out, she is going to be FURIOUS. (But not at Vallamir.)

(Sola's tag is here.)

I'm also eagerly awaiting the moment I get to use my Grand Fuck You. (Screenshots to follow.) The way I have it flavored is that Sola doesn't know she's an aasimar, and she has no control over her Radiant Consumption. Instead, it activates in times of extreme emotion, usually anger or grief. The only time it's happened in her life to date was when she found out her family had been killed. So I'm just waiting for the day that the DM does something that will break her enough for me to use this. (Also, as a fun bonus, none of the other characters know she's an aasimar either, since even she doesn't know. So it will be fun for them to find out. Especially since they might be trying to help her, but she will be burning them if they get close.)

(if you do the math, and assume I was level 20, and only rolled exactly half on the dice, that one hit would do 70 points of damage, not accounting for any weapon bonuses.)

I have another character, who I'm going to use after Rook's campaign is done. We're going to be playing Pathfinder (which I don't like, but I will survive), and my character is a fetchling witch named Morana Novak. (Her tag on my personal blog is here.)

As for other DnD ocs, I have about 20 more that are in varying stages of development, but talking about them all would require me to write a novel, lmao.

[qqueenofhades]

Academia AU (I will never have enough, apparently), Fivan being cute old marrieds, with Aleksander being an idiot and Alina being very, very perplexed?

Aleksander Morozov, associate teaching professor in the Department of History, Art History, and Classics, Os Alta Imperial State University, has done something mind-boggingly stupid again. This fact comes as absolutely no surprise to anyone who knows either Aleksander Morozov or Os Alta Imperial State University, though it might be new to the department only insofar as they had to crunch together all three disciplines together last year due to budget cuts. It has not escaped anyone's attention that the Department of Energy has gotten a gleaming new building, the Department of Economics is flaunting its exchange program at Ketterdam University that's unofficially guaranteed to land you internships at top Kerch banks, and the Department of Mechanical Engineering has been nauseating everybody with its nonstop glowing press coverage of Prince Nikolai's attendance at the announcement of their next chair. The prince has also just been named as honorary chancellor of the university, which means they're going to see his insufferably gleaming golden mug around here a lot more. As if this day could get any worse.

Ivan Kaminsky, Assistant Dean of Faculty Affairs, stares vainly at his computer screen, wondering if he should hope for one more fucking email asking questions about logistics for the Ketterdam International Economic Forum that have already been answered three times in the FAQ and twice more in the call for papers. These are the people with the most advanced degrees in all of Ravka, and they still can't figure out how to navigate a simple travel booking site. He has debated the merits of just composing a passive-aggressive Out of Office Auto-Reply and fucking off for the weekend, but before he does that, he needs to deal with Aleksander Morozov. Again. Saints help him.

"You realize," Ivan says, "why I've been asked to speak with you today. Professor Morozov, you must be aware that your relationship with Miss Starkova -- alleged relationship," he adds, for the sake of form -- "presents a serious conflict of interest, is in breach of the usual code of academic ethics, and -- "

"She's not my student," Aleksander interrupts. "I have nothing to do with her direct study or supervision. And she's a first-year PhD, not an undergrad. Besides, she's working with my mother, not me."

Ivan pinches the bridge of his nose. "You know that doesn't make it better, yes?" he enquires, in his iciest disciplinarian tone. "You're still faculty, she is a student, she is enrolled in your department, and as for Baghra, I will also be asking her whether she finds it appropriate for her son to be having an intimate relationship with one of her supervisees, especially when that son is also a faculty member in her same department. If I have to escalate this to the dean -- "

"Come on." Aleksander leans forward, face darkening. "This is ridiculous. We're not doing anything wrong. We're both adults, we're close to the same age, and we met off-campus, at a dinner party. I've already recused myself from anything to do with her committee, thesis topic, or comp exams. I can email you the paperwork, if you want."

The absolute last thing Ivan wants, ever, is more paperwork, and he briefly wavers at the potency of this threat. He has this job because he's a good enforcer, yes, but mostly as a sinecure, since his husband is a universally adored junior professor of Ravkan language and literature and they don't want Fedyor to start thinking too hard about job offers elsewhere. (And yet, the tenure committee still won't provide a firm date for the hearing. Logical!) If Ivan had known that it would involve almost-daily yelling at Aleksander Morozov, OAISU's too-cool-for-school resident bad boy and goth rock star academic wunderkind, let's just say that he might have brought a squirt gun. Or a baseball bat. Both might be good at getting this asshole's attention.

"Anyway," Ivan says, when the silence has stretched out to an agonizing level. "I'm putting a note in your file, and I will be speaking to your mother and Human Resources. This matter is not closed."

"Fine. You do that." Aleksander shrugs elegantly and gets to his feet. "Always a pleasure to see you, Mr. Kaminsky."

With that, he saunters out, as Ivan sits behind his desk and silently seethes. He hears voices at the end of the hall, however, and gets up to peer suspiciously out of his office door. Aleksander is talking to Alina Starkova, who was clearly waiting for him to get out of the principal's office, and they -- well, they do appear to like each other, and she is a PhD student and not some callow eighteen-year-old, but Ivan still doesn't like this. Doesn't trust her. She looks like trouble. (Then again, there is hardly room for more of it in this relationship.)

Whatever Aleksander says seems to placate Alina, for the time being, and he puts his arm around her shoulders as they walk away. Ivan snorts thunderously and retreats back to the safety of his office, since keeping his door open for too long might offer the impression of availability and/or an invitation for people to harass him with their existence. Why didn't he buy that squirt gun? Maybe he will. No more office hours for you, unwashed masses.

Ivan trudges through eighty more emails about KIEF, deletes three-quarters of them, changes two commas in the Revised Code of Professional Conduct that they want each assistant dean to produce sheerly for the sake of busywork, and thus is startled out of his skin by his office door opening at noon. There is only one person on the entire planet who has the right to do that without knocking, and sure enough, it's Fedyor, fresh out of his last session of The Fjerdan Wars II: Literature, Nationalism, and Resistance. "Hey, darling," he says, brandishing a sandwich bag. "Hungry?"

"You have no idea." Ivan pushes his chair back from the computer and tips his head back to accept Fedyor's quick kiss. "Hopefully your morning wasn't as bad as mine."

Fedyor shrugs. "Well, I did have to explain for approximately the ninety-fifth time that footnotes are a common part of an academic paper. Plus the fact that 'Online Newspaper,' which was literally the entire citation, also does not count. So you know, the usual."

Ivan snorts, accepting his paper-wrapped sandwich as Fedyor hands it out, then perches casually on the desk so they can eat together. You know, he thinks, looking up at his husband in silent adoration as Fedyor chatters away, dark hair glowing in the sunlight and his eyes filled with stars. I guess this job isn't so bad after all.

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to Guiltrip!

Alright, so this one is a bit more of a serious one for me. But I'll be going in order of the episode so the more serious talk will be a bit further down! First thing we get is this lovely moment:

I've already addressed it in a post, but I'll say it again here. Guiltrip is episode 11, several episodes take place before Guiltrip that we haven't seen yet, so this is awhile after Marinette and Luka broke up. We also know that Marinette has always had feelings for Adrien, even when she was with Luka. Luka always knew that fact too. None of this is new and is to be expected, obviously, when Love Square is endgame. But! I also want to point out here that this is just a soft look. Very gentle, very common. I see people looking at each other both in real life and in other shows all the time. A look that says "I adore you". And I think it's sweet! Very subtle, but enough. Something's wrong with Rose. We never get told (in this episode anyway) what it is, but it's a chronic illness that's a worry in Rose's life, ever since she was young. I feel really bad for Juleka, knowing that her friend's been struggling with an illness, and whenever something happens she has to worry about it alone. Also that really sucks when you try to cheer somebody up and make a joke, that because you were mislead about a situation you end up making things worse. Poor Marinette. :c Adrien when he realizes he's bumped into someone (and the pink bubbles to remind us of Marinette's feelings for him):

Adrien when he realizes just who it was he bumped into!:

Scroll up now and look at how Marinette was looking at Adrien earlier that day. It's the exact same look. Yet, something feels different from usual to me, idk. But continuing on. Marinette gets slightly jumbled with her words, but manages to give herself a kick and says nope not now! Good for her! You can't expect to change overnight, but she's working on it.

She looks to the side, gathering her surroundings for a split second and she misses the top step. I'd like to say that this is just a joke for the show but well, this kind of thing has happened to me a lot because I'm that much of a klutz so I feel for her here. (On Halloween I forgot that there was another step as I was walking down as I wasn't paying attention. I couldn't walk on my foot for 2 weeks. It's a serious problem, guys. Really. xDD) Marinette had told Adrien she's concerned it was something she said that upset Juleka and Adrien tells her while sometimes she doesn't make sense, what she says is never mean. This scene reminds me of when Ladybug's worried about something and Chat Noir's there to keep her grounded and remind her of how things really are. I very much appreciate seeing such a scene with Adrienette! Makes the Love Square much more rounded. Also the way he stops her and says let him go talk to her to try to help the situation and any possible misunderstandings from taking place. ;-;

Can I just say... oh my gosh. He went from determined, to hearing Marinette trying to comfort her, to looking with confidence "This girl is amazing." and the whole Ladynoir vibe I'm getting from this scene makes me happy. The thing that's unrealistic about this scene though is you expect to tell me that 8 kids went down those stairs and came up behind them and Marinette, Adrien, and Juleka didn't hear? XD Now here's where the serious comes in. Rose is hospitalized with an illness we don't know about, but has been a long-term thing that has Juleka really worried a lot. That must be so stressful :c I'm going to be honest and say I never really saw Julerose romantically. Like I can see how people do, but to me, I could see that their bond was really unique. It didn't really fit completely in the "BFF" category either. But if felt like there was more to them that I didn't really understand. I think the best example off the top of my head was during Zombizou, when Rose was going to help Chloe after she slid down Chat's stick and she went too fast for him to catch her. Juleka seemed especially worried and concerned for her. Rose never seemed to get concerned about Juleka in the same way Juleka was about Rose. Juleka's always been more protective and worried and it was always one of those things that made me go "hmm, interesting". Now this episode finally explains why and I'm honestly super glad for it. Because this kind of a relationship is not a common one in media, especially kids media. Partially because having such serious illnesses in young people is not particularly common, and having someone who's so caring and protective of that person is even less common. And most people probably don't realize how amazing it is to have health problems and then have someone in their life who acts like Juleka does for Rose. I had a life-threatening illness as a kid, one that still affects me greatly today. When in school, my friends knew about it without me having to say anything unfortunately, and while they didn't usually treat me differently, sometimes they were pretty ignorant and didn't understand why I wasn't "normal" like them. They asked questions that were harder ones to answer, and tended to forget my answers. I got a lot of "I know you have X problem but I still don't see why you can't..." as well as thinking I was lying if I said I wasn't well and couldn't go to a party, and that was hard to deal with, being limited in what you can do which makes you different and being judged for things out of your control. So seeing these kids who only know something's wrong with her, but are willing to do so much to make her life better and happier, not judging her at all, wanting to take care of her no questions asked was really heart-warming for me. I only had one friend during that time that was anything close to this. I never had to explain anything to him if I didn't want to. He never asked me personal questions I didn't want to answer. And he seemed to know what he could do to make things for me easier if I was having a hard time without me ever saying so. And this is another reminder to me that this show is aimed at kids. To show kids that they'll likely encounter someone around their age that's going through something serious like a health problem, and what that kid needs most is kindness and not to be made to feel like they're even more different from the other kids than they already feel. The way they handled that aspect of it for such a short, limited intro to it, I think they did good. I discussed this next bit with a friend. She mentioned it first, the trope where those with chronic or serious illnesses are usually an "inspiration". With this episode, you kind of get the feeling that because Rose's been through so much, she's therefore a really positive and bubbly person and it kind of gives off the vibe that if you don't view things the way she does, then you're not doing it right. "What matters isn't the problem, but how you handle it." While I agree with this, and that when you come out of or regularly deal with

such hard times, automatically trying to see the world better and brighter can easily happen, but it's not exactly realistic either, at least not to the extent Rose and other people the media has portrayed. For one, I think you have to have always been more of that kind of person from the start to realistically be so positive. As my friend said and I agree, positivity is just who Rose is, she's not who she is just for the sake of a trope. But honestly, when you've gone through something so difficult, and if life continues to throw you more difficulties on top of it, being positive so much can sometimes turn into a negative and be harmful too. When you've been through a lot, it's important to allow yourself to feel the negative too because it's part of dealing with such problems. And if you've been through a lot in life and you haven't come out of it being all sunshine and rainbows, always looking on the brighter side of things, that's perfectly okay. Life's hard and tends not to work out how we'd like, or even for the better sometimes. If being positive and hopeful after struggling is hard to do, you're not bad or wrong for feeling that way, everybody handles things differently. c: ANYWAY, moving on to the rest of the episode! Juleka being all irritated and worried that the class was going to expose her spilling Rose's secret xD While the situation isn't ideal, it's nice that this is the most involved she's seemed with everyone in the entire duration of the show. But Rose knows something's up, and I love that she talks to her about it and realizes that she should've told everyone herself instead of Juleka being the only one who knew. Which has been such a burden on her. (Oh no, what if this is a reflection of Alya knowing Marinette's Ladybug later on? I'm hoping not.) Ugh these children and how much they care about Rose! These kids are the absolute best. But then they kind of ruin it a little with going overboard. Which, frankly, I think is just ignorance of her situation really. I mean, we don't know what exactly is wrong with Rose. Just that she ends up in the hospital. If they knew about her condition, what causes her to get sick, what to look out for, etc, they'd be much more informed and much less likely to be frantic whenever something's not perfectly "normal" with her. All of these kids are going to be overprotective parents someday, aren't they?

Okay so like... are Adrien and Marinette going to question at all how Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up immediately after Juleka was akumatized, and no damage had happened outside of the school for it to be known to the public? Literally the only ones that could've possibly known were the class to have shown up that fast. ??? I am confusion. "I can't help my best friend face his father." "No, Nino..." Two things: The fact that THIS is what he's feeling guilty about? My poor Nino! Dx I just love him, he really doesn't get enough love and appreciation imo. Also, um, isn't Ladybug like right by Chat? Didn't she hear that? What? Idk but I feel like we're really missing something here. Usually we get things that are kind of hints, that make us wonder if they know right, but this? This is a bit too blaring-in-your-face, and there's two major things so close together. Really strange. Chat about to use Cataclysm on himself. Good grief that was not expected. Chat Blanc threatened to destroy himself along with everything else. Now Chat Noir while affected with negative emotions from an akuma almost Cataclysmed himself. This show really is getting deep and dark isn't it. o.o Also is there something Adrien needs to work out with someone...? Daizzi and Rose saying the other's so cute, ugh they're both so cute! And Pigella's costume and transformation is so adorable omg. Okay so Pigella's power allows people to see their biggest wish, the thing that'd make them the most happy and feel positive emotions. I know some people probably think "That's it?" Considering that Shadow Moth preys on people's negative emotions, such a power is actually extremely useful facing Shadow Moth. (And let's not forget, that while that's her power, she has the ability to fight and make a difference just from being transformed too) BUT AWWW Juleka's wish! And her face when Pigella said it aloud. ;-; Am I the only one wondering if Pigella may someday use her power on Shadow Moth and that's how they learn his motive? I'm so impressed with how Rose knew how to handle everything. She knew she can't slip up with Juleka. She knew to sneak away to detransform and come back as Rose. She knew to subtly give the Miraculous back so nobody would ever know she had it. Even Chat Noir had no idea! I don't know why, I'm just so very proud of that. "She doesn't need a Miraculous to be a superhero." She really has the characteristics of one, and I can't wait to see more of Pigella. Also I'm really wondering. This scene here:

All the kids that are part of that friend group are there...except Marinette and Adrien, of course. Alya knows why Marinette isn't there. But is she wondering about why Adrien isn't there too? LOL Marinette being like "I'm taking your pillow back, sorry! Gotta wait for it like everyone else." and the boys being like LE GASP. Marinette's right, she's not fragile! The fact Rose jokes with her and makes everyone laugh, and Chloe saying "Hey, why doesn't everyone laugh when I say something like that?!" Adrien: Because in your case, it's never a joke. Chloe: Hm, that's true. Which is super funny, especially how he just so casually says it. But also it really shows again how Chloe wants to be liked. She wishes the kids would laugh when she makes comments, but it's because they're said in a serious/obnoxious way, instead of making light of something like in Rose's case here, that they don't. I know she talked about it with Ladybug in an episode, but it again shows that that's what she'd like. All that needs to happen is someone helping her get there. Maybe Zoe and Luka will somehow help with that later on. Anyway, this was a really great episode! I feel like some things might not make quite as much sense as they should if we got it in order, but what can you do when Gloob has to air them? Even a friend of mine who's been doing what she can to avoid spoilers, still got spoiled. She's having to delete tumblr to avoid future spoilers because people can't help themselves and tag things properly. So thanks Gloob. :P All we wanted was the episodes in order. We've waited this long for S4, we can wait a bit longer. But they gotta make money I guess. I'm glad other countries are trying their best to keep it in order anyway. c: Guiltrip also has some really great Adrienette moments, and covered a more serious topic which was really interesting and shows how much the show's changing. Especially with some of the choice of camera angles and movements! Like the zoom-in on the door with Adrien and Marinette, the boys LE GASP scene. Very cool artistic choices! Looking forward to the episodes that come before this one to try to help fill in some of the gaps! And apologies to those that frequently read these posts from me, I started writing it up late and couldn't finish so you get it the day after instead. xD

[itsbenedict]

Two-Faced Jewel: Session 4

A half-elf conwoman (and the moth tasked with keeping her out of trouble) travel the Jewel in search of, uh, whatever a fashionable accessory is pointing them at. [Campaign log]

Saelhen and Looseleaf, following their recent dance conquest, get back on the road to Thunderbrush- and get themselves wrapped up in a blood feud between rival farming villages. Before that, though... something goes bump in the night.

It's the night after the wedding reception, and the party has free rooms, courtesy of Carrid Bronzebloom. Looseleaf and Oyobi remain roomies, Vayen shares a room with Orluthe, and Saelhen insists on a room of her own, as a proper noblewoman.

Also as a proper noblewoman, she searches the room for any and all places of entry or exit, and places some ball bearings in front of them. It's just the window and the one door, so... two spots.

In the night...

A pair of crit fails, on the part of whoever's sneaking into her room at night, and on Saelhen's part to notice them! Saelhen, it seems, meant to sleep with one eye open, but the eyes disagreed on which one it should be, and she dozed off something fierce.

Which means that Oyobi, trancing in the adjacent room (elves don't sleep!) is the only one to hear Vayen bang his shin on something and go "ow!" in the middle of the night. Oyobi, however, has a -1 to int, and fails to recall exactly which rooms her other party members were in.

The next morning, Saelhen notices... that the ball bearings by the door have been disturbed. Even though the door was locked, and remained locked the whole time, someone was able to get into her room and pass the DC 10 dex check to not get knocked over by the ball bearings. Apart from that, though, nothing in her room is out of place or missing. Hm...

On the road, while Looseleaf is distracted buying a quarterstaff from a traveling merchant, Saelhen and Oyobi touch base on the situation in Thieves' Cant.

They're not taking action on this just yet, so they proceed onwards. The tall grass starts to thin out and get shorter- turning to prairie, and then almost scrubland as the climate gets more arid. It's here, as day turns to evening, that they approach a two-story building at a crossroads.

Benedict I. (GM): There's small buildings in the distance on either end of this road- and further up the highway, past the two-story building is a tall black stone tower that seems to be standing in a field, completely alone. As you approach the crossroads, you can see the sign- Wheatley General. And as you approach closer, you can see the vandalism. Some sort of yellowish-white paint has been used to write "EAT SHIT, TRAITOR" across the left half of the building's exterior, and the glass windows have holes in them. Across the right side is similar vandalism, in a more brownish-yellow paint, reading "SWINDLER INSIDE". To the left of the store is a sign pointing off to the left, northwest, reading "<- Barley". And to the right of the store is a sign pointing off to the right, southeast, reading "Wheat ->".

Inside, the place is cleaner than the outside, and fairly well-stocked for a general store in the boonies. At the counter is a very tall and very tired-looking person- either an especially tall human or a very lanky goliath.

(Most of the session is interrogating this dude.)

He tells them that they have rooms for rent, and that they're open 24 hours. Also, he warns them not to visit Wheat or Barley- apparently, they've got some kind of blood feud going on, and there's a lot of hate directed his way for trying to be neutral in the conflict.

Looseleaf: "What... are they paranoid about?" Benedict I. (GM): "Each other, mostly." Looseleaf: "And wwwwwwhy are they paranoid about each other," Benedict I. (GM): "If you go down there, they're gonna interrogate you to make sure you're not sent by the other guys to kill people." "Oh, uh, the killing people." "The murders and stuff." Looseleaf: "OKAY you could have LED with that," Looseleaf says, flipping her antennae forward and backwards. Benedict I. (GM): "They keep, I don't know, killing each other, over pointless stuff." "And getting angrier and angrier about it." "S'why I left and set up here. Tired of it." "Didn't... really help, though." "As you can probably see." Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Ah. One of the sad affairs where each death is the next death's cause." Saelhen lowers her eyes. "In my country, we call such things ばかげたナンセンス."

Looseleaf's not sure this adds up. She wants to know why he set up shop in a place he hates, rather than just pack up and leave. His excuse is that his little sister is still in Barley, and he needs to stay here so that she has someplace to go if things get worse for her.

Looseleaf: "Wh- why are you letting your little sister stay in a place where people are apparently regularly dying- you're painting this place up to be a warzone, that's how you're making it sound?" "Seriously, why not just, I don't know, book it for Blacksky. It's not that far a travel from here." Saelhen du Fishercrown: "You assume he can compel her to leave, Madam Looseleaf." Looseleaf: "Or, even the port town upwards the road from here. That's where we're going too; if it's inability to leave keeping you here, we could take you with us?" Benedict I. (GM):"It's... ugh. It's not that bad. Just like... I don't know, they all act like it's not happening, until it does." "Nobody will admit to killing anyone, even if they'll talk all day about how the other side deserves to die." "Too polite for it."

Saelhen declares that she'll confer with her companions on what to do about all this- but the shopkeep insists that he didn't ask them to do anything. It's not their problem, and it's better to not get involved.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Ah, of course. I forget myself in this exotic lands. No one has asked anyone to do anything. Yes, Oyobi? Vayen?" Benedict I. (GM): Vayen has no response. "It... sounds like something should be done, though," Oyobi says. "If it's a monster, I can kill it dead!" The tall guy sighs. "You're Deathseekers, aren't you?" "You're looking for a quest." "But I can't pay, so... just forget it."

Looseleaf is entirely on board with this guy's pitch- why should they get involved?

While they're deliberating, there's a mysterious thump from the back of the store. Thalath asks them to please wait while he deals with the situation- so of course they peek at what he's doing.

Thalath piles up a few armfuls of groceries, and brings them to the backdoor, where, waiting for him, sits... a wheelbarrow. Which wiggles expectantly.

Thalath, unsurprised by this ("...Still the usual."), exchanges the groceries for a sack of coin left in the wheelbarrow, which trundles away, satisfied.

Anyway, this is unremarkable, so the party continues deliberating on what to do. Looseleaf theorizes that the murders are being committed by some unknown monster preying on both towns, which would be far too dangerou-

Oyobi is super down for night-monster hunting, and votes that they interfere. Orluthe volunteers because he just wants to help people (and not because he wants to fight monsters, surely), and Saelhen wants to get involved because getting tangled up in a clan war might provide an opportunity to get rid of Vayen somehow.

Vayen votes to get involved, too.

That... doesn't bode well. But, uh, the votes are the votes! Looseleaf is determined to do this right, if they're doing it.

Looseleaf: Get a sheet of parchment out, start taking notes. "We're investigating apparently now!" is what Looseleaf says. "Now, tell me everything you know about these mysterious deaths." "The great detective Looseleaf is on the case." Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Cultural studies," adds Saelhen. "This will make fascinating material for a thesis on standing intergenerational grudges." Benedict I. (GM): "Wh- oh, god. That's- studies? Don't tell me you're from the University..." Saelhen du Fishercrown: Better than deathseekers! Benedict I. (GM): "I should've known when you said "run to Blacksky" and not "run to Oyashio"..." "I mean... I guess they'll know you're out-of-towners for sure." "So you probably won't get run out on a rail." "But... you really don't want to get involved. It's just heartbreak no matter where you look."

They put the screws I mean persuasion rolls to Thalath, and manage to get some information out of him:

His sister's name is Kensa, but if they go around asking about her, they'll know it was him who put them up to it, so please don't

There've been honor killings on and off for a while, but there's been a sudden and severe uptick in killings in Barley over the past year.

Barley's victims are all found in their fields, with four evenly-spaced holes in their chests, in a diamond pattern- and sometimes the bodies go missing.

He doesn't know much about Wheat's murders ("you'd have to ask Sass", but he heard dogs were involved.

There's a new killing around once a week now- usually on the outskirts, not in the town center.

The local authority in Barley is one Malath Kanthalga, cleric of Diamode, who's huge and has four fingers on her right hand.

Looseleaf: "What are the local authority forces like? Who would usually be responsible for handling deaths like this? Is there an Ecumene in charge of this town?" Benedict I. (GM): He nods, and grimaces. "Malath Kanthalga. Cleric of Family, in Barley. You'll be able to recognize her because she's gigantic and only has four fingers on her right hand." "If it's not three, by now." "She's the one in charge of witchhunts and telling people how to live their lives."

Looseleaf puts two and two and a DC 15 Religion check together to come to a conclusion. To the Ecumene of Diamode, which puts family first, losing a child is like losing a finger from your hand. Consequently, under Diamode law: to disown a child, you legally have to cut off one of your fingers. Given that, and what Thalath said about emphatically not being a Kanthalga, it's likely he was disowned.

On their way out, they notice the wheelbarrow trundling towards that weird black tower down the road- and Looseleaf pops back in to ask Thalath about it.

Looseleaf: "What's with the ominous black tower looming over everything in the distance like an evil villain's lair in a storybook," Looseleaf belts out rapidly. Benedict I. (GM):"Wh- oh, that?" "That's just- don't go over there, either." "That's just- there's some crazy torture wizard, stay the hell away if you can help it." Looseleaf: "There's a crazy torture wizard, and he buys groceries from you?" "And... nobody's thought to pin all the mysterious deaths on the ominous crazy torture wizard with an evil tower?"

Thalath seems convinced there's no way it could be the crazy torture wizard in the spooky tower. Reasons being:

you can't torture people if they're dead

he doesn't bother anyone anymore, since people got mad at him kidnapping people and then got mad at him trying to trick people into volunteering

he hasn't been seen in at least a year

he's totally senile and couldn't possibly get away with dozens of murders without being caught

Looseleaf suggests that maybe this guy is dead, killed by one of his own creations, and that monster is responsible for the murders. Thalath doesn't think that's possible either- he's clearly still alive, right? Someone's doing magical lightshows up in that tower every night, and someone's putting sacks of coin in the wheelbarrow in exchange for groceries.

Looseleaf... makes an arcana check to remember something about arcane magic, which I mentioned in our Discord chat:

Benedict: things about the world you would know as common background knowledge: arcane magic- that is, magic built into the world by the gods as part of the system, available to anyone with sufficient training or talent- strains the body somewhat it feels tiring, like physical exertion Farn: is it exercise? Benedict not quite, is the thing unlike physical exercise, which builds up the body's muscles so that you can do things easier over time magical exercise just gives you more of a feel for magic, so that you can do more difficult things with it. the easy stuff never gets any easier- you just have more endurance magic practice is known to shorten lifespans a bit and make the body frailer- a mage needs to work out more and eat better than a non-mage to maintain the same physical fitness it's why wizards are typically squishier- it's not a game balance thing, it's a literal effect of putting in the amount of practice to be a good wizard Farn: and arcanists tend to be nerds so that's often not gonna be a thing i imagine not enough time in the day! Benedict: yep furthermore, the image of a wizard as an old man with a long white beard isn't really a thing in the popular imagination- because physical aging makes you less able to cast magic that strain magic puts on the body can cause actual damage when your body's deteriorated enough and can't handle that strain this is why Dean Variable Velocity is in a wheelchair. she was one of the most accomplished wizards in the world, with raw power that whole cities feared- but she's no longer capable of more than the simplest cantrips due to her advanced age casting big magic would literally tear her apart and has done so in the past, costing her the use of her legs that's why she's an academic administrator, now- she means to pass on her knowledge to the younger generation, who can actually make use of it

What Looseleaf realizes is: if the old man is as senile as Thalath says he is, it's pretty weird that he'd be doing big magic lightshows every night. Maybe impossible! Maybe whatever's happening up there isn't an alive old wizard doing magic!

They report back to their team about their findings.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "There appears to be a torture wizard in the tower," she remarks. Orluthe Chokorov: "A... torture wizard?!" Looseleaf: "Okay, here's my deductions, courtesy of the great detective Looseleaf's ultimate thinking brain," Looseleaf says. "According to Thalath, there's an evil torture wizard in the tower, yes. Like, an actual, comedically evil torture wizard, which- that makes no sense?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "A torture wizard whom Sir Thalath regards as not at all a viable culprit for these incidents, no less." Looseleaf: "How has nobody come around and dealt with the torture wizard? There's a cleric of Diamode here for crying out loud, and I know that Diamode isn't exactly super big on conquering evil and saving the helpless, but surely having a torture wizard around interferes with family values in some way at least." "I bet Thalath's the real wizard or something. Thalath's a great name for an evil wizard." "And at the end, he's gonna be like, muahahaha, I fooled you all, it was me behind the whole situation, my machinations laid undetected for YEARS." "Guy really doesn't want us going to the evil wizard tower or any of the towns." Saelhen du Fishercrown: "The point Madam Looseleaf is driving at, whilst also recklessly speculating, is that we would like you to keep an eye out for anything..." "Torturous, or wizardly, while we investigate." Looseleaf: "Look, you're the one who wanted us to get into this situation involving people getting killed, and now apparently on top we also have to worry about becoming tortured by torture wizards."

So, to investigate further, they head into Barley to gather information. On the way, they noticed, by the roadside... some old rotted wood and blackened soil that indicates a building burned down there some time ago. Looseleaf reads the spirits of those burned-out foundations and finds that- while it was too long ago to get details- they burned down from a fire that burned hotter than normal fire should've, and... those burnt timbers witnesses, and sometimes caused, death. It seems like there used to be a town at this crossroads, before it split.

They arrive in Barley, and they're directed by a local farmer to the Temple of Diamode, in response to which Orluthe takes off his cap and stole- he doesn't seem to want to be recognized as a cleric of Diamode by actual Diamode clergy. There, they meet...

Malath Kanthalga, clearly a goliath, is handing out pieces of newly-forged plate armor to a queue of farmers. (That's expensive! They wouldn't be buying that stuff if they didn't need it, out here!)

She rounds on the party and gets a very good roll to intimidate them, demanding to know who they are and what they're doing there.

Looseleaf comes up with a clever angle- she wants to offer her services as an animist, to inspect the bodies of the victims and determine how they died- ostensibly proving once and for all that their hated enemy was responsible, is the angle.

Malath isn't opposed to her doing some magical forensics- she seems convinced that it was in fact the town of Wheat that's been killing the people of Barley, and expects the investigation to confirm what she already knows. She refuses to let up on the guard thing, though- safety first.

So, next time... it's time for some fantasy CSI! I've never written a murder mystery in a setting where magic is real before, so this'll be a fun challenge.

[timeladyjamie]

Yeah Marian (or Marion, as it's spelled in RoS) nearly gets forced into a marriage a couple of times. Or, well, with de Belleme in Robin Hood and the Sorcerer I would say it's more like an excuse to get her to his castle so he could sacrifice her for Magic Ritual Stuff. But in Herne's Son she actually does get forced into a marriage, that's true.

And yeah RoS Marion is very much an action girl (in Witch of Elsdon she actually beats Robin up to convince him that she's no more a liability than any of the other outlaws). At the time I think that was somewhat new, having her be a part of the gang so to speak. She doesn't get to do a lot of the hand-to-hand fights and generally has no melee weapon, but she shoots as well as any of them. Or better even, maybe. At least in "Seven Poor Knights" in the beginning when the outlaws were sort of competing on who could shoot most accurately, she and Robin were the only ones of to hit the target. But on the other hand in actual fights they always hit the target when it matters, so that doesn't narratively count for anything.

I did get around to watching the first episode of BBC Robin Hood, too, and one sort of half-similarity I noticed is that Much is /definitely/ not the sharpest tool in the shed in either. I find it way more irritating in BBC RH, though. Dunno why. I guess it's just that in RoS Much is not so much stupid as just... well, naive, really, and inexperienced, and youngest of the group (the actor was the youngest, too, only 18 or so when they started filming the show). Whereas with BBC RH Much it's more like cliche comic relief character stupidity which for some reason really gets on my nerves sometimes.

With what you said about Robin and Guy's relationship in Robin of Sherwood... yeah, you're partly right. Keep in mind, RoS has two separate Robins, though (if you've done googling I think you'll probably have already found that out, right?) Gizzy is half-brother to Robert of Huntingdon, but not to Robin of Loxley. Robin of Loxley canonically has no biological siblings, but he was raised by Much's parents so they're basically brothers, the two of them. (Considering that I do find it funny that they have different enough accents that even I can hear it, and I'm not a native English-speaker and my accent ear is downright horrible.)

Fun fact, by the way: according to Kip Carpenter (who created the show and wrote almost all episodes), the reason Guy and Robin number two were revealed to be brothers is that the cast and crew of the show were at some party at one point, and someone pointed out to Kip how funny it was that the only two blondes in the room were Jason Connery and Robert Addie, who played Robin and Gisburne.

I find incredibly funny, by the way, that BBC went and made their Robin Hood both Robin of Locksley and the Earl of Huntingdon at once, and Robin of Sherwood had both Robin of Loxley and Robert of Huntingdon (although Robert wasn't the earl, just the earl's son and heir) as Robin Hood, but kept them separate characters. Like, my understanding is that most adaptations choose one of those two, but not these shows I Guess.

I'll have to admit that one thing that is going to take me some getting used to in BBC Robin Hood is how clean and kind of new everything looks. Like maybe the difference is just made by the sharper image of newer cameras, but like everything in RoS, even various noblemen's places, looks kinda rough around the edges, worn, lived-in. Like in Nottingham castle, there's straws scattered on the floor, servants hurrying somewhere in the background, an open fireplace in the center of the hall rather than on one wall or something, there's always some random items scattered about, and so on. Whereas my first impression of BBC Robin Hood's Nottingham Castle is... kind of like it's all new and shiny, you know? Everything's clean, in perfect condition and orderly, very few things have a look as if they'd been in use for a while.

And I feel like it shows even more with the lower class characters. Sure, their homes and their clothes are less impressive, less showy... but even the buildings don't really look that old, the clothes seem clean and straight as if recently ironed, and it doesn't look as if they've seen much use.

Compare Robin of Sherwood. The ordinary people's homes look kind of shaggy and while they're in good condition, they don't look as if they've been built yesterday, you know? And everyone's clothes, and that includes the outlaws (except Nasir whose clothes somehow always stay neat, but then again half the time Nasir's there mainly to look good so whatever), are kind of like... there's a little bit of stain in them, you might see some mended tears (in some episodes you can see the outlaws actually repairing their own clothes, too, I think) and patches, and frayed edges and such. They're still in good condition, obviously, but they've seen enough use that they no longer look new.

I'm not complaining, mind you, but it just feels weird because I'm not used to it. (So does the show starting by Robin returning from the Holy Land to find everything a mess, even though I think it's a fairly common way of starting Robin Hood stories. In RoS neither of them was at any point involved in the Crusade stuff.)

Yeah, BBC Robin Hood is known for not being accurate with the times when it comes to physical appearances, hence it’s contemporary edge. I mean, the costumes are kind of obvious with it: (Guy’s leather biker armor, Marian’s hair going from straight to curly as if by magic, and a good majority of the characters costumes in general. I could keep going.) And as you’ve pointed out, even some of the sets look as if they are perfectly neat. Despite taking place in the 12th century, they also allude to political things of the 21st century at times and use contractions not yet used in those times. I think they made it this way though to help adapt it to modern times when it came on in 2006 and keep it interesting for the kids (since it is still a kids show too.) It’s cheesy at times, and some things are just so damn obvious it hurts or makes you laugh, but that’s why I love this show. I think the costume department started to do a little better towards the middle of Season 2, but Season 3 is where they really shined with the more historically accurate costumes thanks to new costume designers. I can’t say anything different about the sets though XD.

As for Much, the writers sadly made him the Butt-Monkey a good majority of the time in the show. And it’s sad, cause I actually see a lot of wonderful potential with Much and adore his character as Robin’s former man-servant and best friend. I’m glad to see they have Much in ROS and like the idea of him being Robin’s foster brother. I will warn you that the writing for some characters may get to you at times (the fandom knows that all too well), but it’s still worth the watch. <3

And yes, they are two separate Robin’s which surprised me. In my previous reply, what I was talking about concerning Archer was if the show wasn’t canceled, the writers were planning to make Archer the new Robin (spoiler spoiler), so the two different Robin’s kind of reminded me of that along with the whole half-brother thing. I’ll probably find it a bit weird to get use to, especially since that was something I didn’t like about the Russell Crowe one, but I’ll get to that bridge when I get to it. :)

I love those little tid bits though about how the crew just sat together and was like: lets make the only blondes in the cast related, and bam, Gisborne/Huntingdon became half-brothers. Haha, nice!