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sy-tech · 1 month ago

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Alright, so as part of a private project to literally condense everything (Meaning lore and history) Castlevania related into notes for my own reference when writing fanfiction. (Or even just talking about the series because I feel like some of y'all will eviscerate me if all I knew was the Animated series...) I get to look through a lot of the old game manuels. Most the time any narrative that those old games had was in the manuel and not the game itself. (Kinda just how games back then worked because I know Fallout even did the same thing. Granted there still WAS a lotta lore in the game itself but there was a whole lot more in the manuals/books and such but I digress...)

Now most of these manual are just as I expected. Really fun and campy writing. More or less aiming to set up the reason why the game is happening however something about CV 3's manual- cracks. me. up.

Just in case the quality drops and you can't read it...

"The time is 100 years before Simon Belmont's birth. The moon burns red overhead and the black clouds loom large on the horizon. All is still and quiet. Only the call of a distant crow stirs the cold night air. Suddenly, thunder roars out of the Morbid Mountains and into the village of Warakiya. Like the yell of an angry giant, the terrible sound shakes homes and shops as if they were sapling branches. But no one blinks an eye. The village is dead calm. For all the people have fled after receiving warnings from the Great Beyond that Count Dracula has assemble a mighty army of evil, and they're poised to march up from the Valley of Graveyards to bury mankind in a Tomb of Terror. Unfortunately, there's no corner on Earth that won't be gobbled up by this bloodthirsty legion of Swamp Dragons, Slasher Skeletons and Forces of the Undead. The last line of defense is you, Trevor Belmont- the forefather of Simon Belmont and the origin of the Belmont Warlord Chromosomes. But your chances are slimmer than Jim. In fact, the only real edge you have over this fang sharpened freak is your power to transform into three different partner spirits: Grant DaNasty, the ferocious Ghost Pirate. Sypha, the Mystic Warlord. And Alucard, Dracula's forgotten son. Each of these spirits will confront you as you fight through 17 possible levels of never-ending fright, including the Haunted Ship of Fools, the Clock Tower of Untimely Death and Curse Castle. You must also possess the strength to wield the mighty Battle Axe and Mystic Whip, which were given to you by the Poltergeist King. So go forth young Trevor into the cold black night, where death lurks around every corner and evil lingers on every stone. And remember, if your courage and cunning are any less than magnificent or if you fail to choose the correct Paths of Fate, you'll be banished to the world of the undead, and zombies will rule until the end of time." - Pg. 4-5. "How to Play Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse"

Once again... if you can't read the text,

Trevor C. Belmont - "Trevor the infamous forefather of Simon Belmont- the mighty warrior who pulverized Dracula in Castlevania and again in Simon's Quest. Trevor has a number of oldie but goodie attack items that have been given to him by the Poltergeist King. These include the Mystic Whip, Battle Axe, Banshee Boomerang, Dagger and Sacred Water. Trevor is also the master of special items. Including a Pocket Watch, Invisibility Potion and the Rosary." - Pg. 8, "How to Play Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse"

Alucard - "As the son of Count Dracula, Alucard once tried to prevent Trevor from accomplishing his mission. However, he reached a point where he could no longer abide by his father's evilness, and is now looking for a partner to help him put an end to his father's wicked plans. A resident of underground tunnels, Alucard attacks with a Ball of Destruction, which he can also fire in three directions (if he captures a special power booster.) Alucard's primary strength, though, is his ability to turn himself into a bat. However, he cannot attack while he is airborne and will turn back into a human form if his wings are clipped by an evil enemy." - Pg. 8, "How to Play Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse"

Grant DaNasty - "Count Dracula used his sinister powers to turn this Pirate Captain into a ghost. And as one of Dracula's gruesome gang, he will attack you from the top of the Clock Tower of Untimely Death. However, if you can defeat this scoundrel, his spirit will join you. He's small, nimble and has a strong spring in his step, so he's able to jump up onto walls or ceilings and stick to them like glue. Grant's primary attack weapons are an axe and a dagger. Another of his weapons is his skill to scurry along hidden routes not accessible to Trevor. Unfortunately, both his body and ego bruise easily." - Pg. 9. "How to Play Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse"

Sypha Belnades - "Sypha, the Mystic Warlord of Warakiya, is also a vampire hunter who walks quickly and carries a big stick. Rumors of his death were spread throughout Eastern Europe, but in truth he was captured be "Cyclops", the one-eyed Ultimate Evil. Sypha uses his Warakiya Staff to attack. Other attack favorites of his include flames, frozen crystals and lighting bolts. With these, he can destroy evil enemies before they get close to him. However, his skin is very thin and blisters easily when blasted by grotesque enemy attacks. To score BIG, Sypha must attack before his enemies find him." - Pg. 9, "How to Play Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse"

This game did NOT take itself seriously in the manual. The text feels like someone had a list of keywords they had to hit for each character (They probably did) and the framing is so... campy. I ADORE it.

The look of the character too are just so... stereotypical too. For example, Alucard there? Like I knew that this was his original design but something about viewing an actual PDF of the manual with the corny description just made me smile. Smug bastard. Trevor and Simon basically have the same BarbianTM look. Grant was ripped from being a deckhand and Sypha is so covered it really managed to keep the fact she was a girl till the very end of the game when she lets her hair down. I both adore this and found a new gratitude for the later re-imaging of these characters.

Last little tid-bit is this incredibly classic monster art on page 20-21. They are so goofy! I'd see them in a Goosebumps book! I love it!

The link to the PDF used.

Also found this site that lets you play CV3 in a browser. Probably common knowledge for those of you that have been around for awhile but... I figure I should share it anyway. The only problem I had with it was the audio was a tad distorted.

I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

#castlevania #trevor castlevania #sypha castlevania #alucard castlevania #grant dynasty #castlevania dracula #castlevania netflix #castlevania games

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kerubimcrepin · 11 months ago

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Episode 52 - Goodbye. (part 1, out of 2.)

Judging from the clothes, this story happens after Ecaflip City. Yes, I am analysing a story that never gets told. This is my last chance to get really tin-foil hat-ty with this blog.

Not Joris leaning on the table cutely... 😭

Also, considering it is no longer snowing, I am assuming this takes place during spring. Therefore, in this episode, Joris is now eight years old! :D

Kerubim is probably feeling like he's going through his 20th platonic divorce. Even though Simone is literally leaving a job and he's her boss.

Everyone in this household is somehow traumatized by divorces, despite no marriage even taking place.

(coughs up blood) It's lore unfriendly if you don't draw Simone and Julie with matching rings. Preferably on their ring-fingers.

While there is something to be said about the fact that Kerubim is gentle here, and doesn't even seem bothered, — I think it's him putting on a brave face.

He probably feels like he's losing Simone. And, just like he is going to lose Simone now, he is going to lose Joris. Because Joris is bound to grow up and leave him, or go through a moody teenage phase.

And after that, are they going to have a good relationship? Is Simone going to visit him? Is Joris going to visit him? Is Joris going to have someone he loves more than him too...? He can't expect either of them to be a part of his life forever, — it's selfish, he already had his chances at companionship with Lou, Bashi, Indie, and Atcham, and he missed them all.

He can't expect them to be a part of his life forever — both metaphorically and literally. He couldn't have known that the dragon thing would extend Joris's lifespan.

And who knows, if Joris will even like or tolerate him anymore, once he's old enough to actually think.

The impact of this exchange only gets more emotional, if you consider the fact that Joris is now eight years old.

Simone is going to miss them too. It's probably why she wants them to start a travelling store, — so that the two of them can meet new people, form new connections, once she's gone, — and so that, perhaps, they could visit her too.

Chances are, the happy atmosphere is a bit painful. He has a lot of reasons to be sad.

He can't just live in a bubble where everything stays happy forever.

Joris's book he worked on the entire show...

This says "JORIS SECRET"

They will miss each other a lot.

OH GOD NO.

Of course the guy who grew up with Kerubim would think this is remotely okay. dfjgksfdg. One last moment of bashing Kerubim's parental skills for the road...

I love this show.

I love it with my whole heart.

If they make a second Dofus movie, and don't include Simone in it again, I am not responsible for my actions.

Not Joris playing with a rock...

He's so used to having Simone, that it feels lonely, to just be with Kerubim again. He hasn't had someone leave in his life, yet, either... This is a first for him.

Also, for the last time in this show, I will translate: the book still says "ALBUM PHOTO".

Just like the other times we've seen it.

I know Kerubim says that one has to rub it (and calls him a fucking noob), but listen. Listen. I have some pretty big news for Bob:

There's this little thing called "survivorship bias", and basically——

#ep52 #ro liveblogs dofus #dofus #krosmoz #wakfu

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admirange · 3 months ago

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Mcl style contest outfit dump pt. 5

Devil's night

Looked it up if it means something specific. Found out there's a book (?) series with this title, saw some fanarts and every character was in black, kinda military like clothes. Also devil's night was a day on October the 30th or 31th where in some american towns ppl did mischief and vandalism and stuff. At least that's what I read, idk about these stuff. But I continued this thought process and thought the Purge movies would fit with this theme too? The vibe I was going for is a little extra, going to parties, doing whatever the hell she wants, killing, anything. Taki robbed a bank.

Got well ranked with top 20%

Devil's advocate

Took the theme quite literally. But also didn't want to do a normal formal outfit, this is the DEVIL's advocate after all. So sort of formal, but still extremely slack. Taki shows off how rich they are.

Got well ranked with top 15%

Hollow lantern

I used very extra, overly-decorated clothes to give that feeling of those beautifully decorated lanterns. A bronze color would've matched more, but white is what I have. A little over-dressed for my taste, I don't know how to feel about it. I don't expect great ranking with it.

Got well ranked with top 25%

Demonic entity

My first thought was the nun Valak! Did a test run but it's really hard to make a decent nun without cloaks. Give us cloaks pls!! I also thought about the Babadook so I went with that idea after the nun didn't really work out. It's still kind of a mix between those two. Gave her that sunshader because it felt really empty, to have her just stand there. I actually pondered a lot if I should give her that or stay without stuff but I don't know, somehow it felt more sinister with the shader. Maybe just for me.

Got low ranking with it. The podium is a disaster. But not surprising since every second outfit in this theme was a fairy sparkle butterfly princess. Are we familiar what a demon is?

Dragon slayer

Although I watched it like 10 years ago, my first thought was still Fairy Tail... then Lance also came into my mind since yk... he killed his lil bro. Who was a dragon. So he's a dragon slayer. No? Okay. Searched for a picture of Gajeel from the anime and used it for reference. Not a 100% but it wasn't my intention anyway.

Got well ranked with top 28%

Pirate

Harr! The theme song of Pirates of the Caribbean was the ringbell for the end of the class in my school for 3 years. Went for a classic pirate, I honestly don't have much to say about it. I like it!

Got well ranked with top 22%

Ghost

Not much to add, tried to do something a little bit different since it's getting a little repetitive. We had like 3 different ghost themes so far. The goal was to put the whole character in white and look kind of old. The lore is that this is a library lady ghost, I just had to come up with something because yeah. It's getting boring.

Got well ranked with top 22%

Dark rituals

Pretty messy and a lot is going on, but that was my intention. As I said I'm getting a little bored with the clothes I have so I just tried doing a little more chaotic look. She doesn't even have a lore :(

Got well ranked with top 28%

Vampire

NADJA FROM WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS!!!! I can't even describe how much I love vampires. Both portrayed seriously and in a comedic way. I love playing with vampires in the sims and I love forgotten hollow. I love looking like a vampire. The scented wax I'm using rn is called vampire blood. The outfit is obviously referenced from Nadja, but only from my memory. Taki reminded me of Guillermo because of the vest and the glasses! I hope hope hope some ppl will recognize my vision 🥹 this may be my all time favorite outfit so far.

Got well ranked with top 12% (so much only for the basic looks to win again... I saw so many great cosplays, it's so disappointing but not surprising)*

Black widow

Looked up some inspos. I didn't want to do anything extra, an elegant but more tight fitting outfit. She's like the sims we make to marry the rich ones then kill them in the pool. Taki is enjoying their money. Idk about the background, it's something between a rich home and a funeral house? Like she's still at the husband's funeral lol. Spent an awful lot of time creating the outfit and it isn't even my best one.

Got well ranked with top 30%

*I don't wish to attack anyone with this, it just genuinely feels like I'm seeing the same outfits over and over again in different colors. Seems like a lot of people dress as the "color" of the theme rather than the theme itself... I promise a demon does not need butterflies and flowers, red or not it does not fit the idea.

Thanks for reading and/or looking through my creations! <3

#mclng #mcl new gen #mcl #my candy love #my candy love new gen #mcl style contest

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gellavonhamster · 2 years ago

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reading the story of merlin

the backstory of Merlin’s mother and how he was conceived differs here and in Book I of Lancelot, and I prefer the less moralistic, funnier version in the latter, but I do like the idea of idea of a literal baby talking and essentially being his mother’s lawyer during her trial (and basically telling the judge “your mom’s a hoe”)

he was also born remarkably hairy for a child, so does it mean he’s supposed to look like your traditional picture of a demon but without hooves/horns/tail? Or what?

has Vortigern considered, well, building the tower in some other place?

“Then they dragged one dragon near the other, and they smelled each other’s backsides” like dogs on a walk

“I must, by the force of my nature, be away from people at times. [...] If you want to keep me as a friend, you must not be upset whenever I go away” Snufkin behaviour

Merlin built Stonehenge. Brought the stones from Ireland and put them there. I’ve heard this part before but every time it’s like. Okay

reading about Uther trying to court Ygraine and absolutely SEETHING. Get a job! Stay away from her! She has told you no!!!

interestingly, this version specifies that Morgan is a bastard. Further it is said that “Ygraine [...] had five daughters, three by her husband the duke and two by her first husband”, while earlier it is mentioned that she had three daughters. Anyway, my question about which Arthur’s sister is Lore’s mother seems to be pointless because the number of his sisters is inconsistent here

“and she learned so much so well that she mastered the arts. She became wonderfully skilled in an art called astrology, and she worked hard all the time and knew a great deal about the healing arts. For her mastery of knowledge, people called her Morgan the Fay” <333

Antor (Ector) is described as “one of the worthiest men in [Uther’s] kingdom”

I feel so, so bad for Ygraine, she doesn’t even know who had sex with her (probably thinks it was the devil or something, because her real husband died that very night), and now her newborn baby is given to some random old man that refers to him as “the thing you are bringing me”, and then she “began to weep because she was filled with great sorrow” 😭😭😭 no one ever tells her anything! God!!!

“You know that Ygraine your wife is dead” what?! She doesn’t even get to meet her son in this one?? Oh for fuck’s sake!

Arthur bursting into tears when he finds out he’s adopted gets me every time

for reference: Kay here is “barely half a year” older than Arthur

“She is very beautiful and young, and she is one of the cleverest women in the world” - Merlin about Guinevere

“Yvain the Great, whose heart will be filled with every kindness” I love you normal guy <3

gonna turn inside out the classist notion that Kay got his rude manners from being nursed by a commoner woman and conclude that this is how he got the skills necessary to run the castle household as a seneschal

I’ve heard about Arthur and Guinevere having a son called Loholt in some romances, but here he is the son of Arthur and a lady called Lisanor. That reminds me how in Le Morte Arthur also had a son with some lady, and both of these sons are mentioned to become knights of the Round Table... and there’s never any drama around them. I wonder if they knew who their real father was

apparently, the Duke of Clarence also is Arthur’s nephew. Literally who ISN’T Arthur’s nephew

I confess I am still very confused about how Gawain’s solar powers work, it seems to me different stories have slightly different interpretations of when he is at his strongest

“That day Gawainet killed more of them than all the others, and he and his horse were all covered with blood. He wielded an axe, and right away, any man he went after could do nothing to avoid being split open down to his bowels [...] But above them all, it was awesome to see the death and destruction that Gawainet meted out” - I say that is my baby and I’m really proud

“When King Arthur saw the maiden, who was of such great beauty, kneeling before him, he was very eager to look at her, first of all because her breasts were firm and hard like little apples” I read this with my own two eyes and now you also have to

chapter titles that sound like superhero comics:

“And he said to himself that he would be most unwise to fall asleep in sin and lose his mind and his knowledge just to know the delights of a young lady” - she is TWELVE years old.........

“Sir Pearmuzzle led the ninth; he was a good knight, but his nose was no bigger than a cat’s” - the authors’ attempts to make up a guy are really starting to get out of control

on how to distinguish the two Guineveres: “King Arthur’s betrothed was a little taller and darker than the other Guenevere; she was better-spoken, for of all die ladies in the world, she was the best trained in eloquence and speech, and her hair grew much thicker, but in every other way they were so much alike that people could hardly tell one from the other, unless it was a lucky guess”

I’ve completely lost track of how old everyone is at this point. During the war with King Rion Arthur is “still only twenty-eight years old”, but Mordred is only two years old, and Arthur was still a squire when he slept with Morgause, and he was a teenager when he was crowned

“And while they were staying in the city, Morgan and Merlin became friends; she was endowed with great learning, and she grew so close to him and came around him so much that she found out who he was. He taught her many wonders in astrology and necromancy, and she kept them all in her mind” !

“Yvain the Bastard and his four cousins who were all named Yvain” I laughed

weird as fuck to read about La Rochelle here after having recently read The Three Musketeers where it also plays a big part

I just met Grisandoles/Lovely (the lady who came to Julius Caesar’s court disguised as a squire, was knighted and made seneschal) but I am already obsessed with her

more details on Morgan in the Vulgate: “she had a rounded build, not too thin and not too plump”; she’s “the best worker with her hands that anyone knew about in any land” and a very good singer; there’s a bit when she spins golden thread to make a headpiece for Morgause

Mordred is referred to as the “uncrowned lion” in the prophecy

Gawain just got turned into a dwarf. This is a thing that happens

Nimue imprisoning Merlin in this version because she wants to keep him for herself forever: boring. Nimue imprisoning Merlin in Lancelot because she’s sick of his advances: awesome, a girlboss move

#took a break to write a fic but now i'm back on my bullshit #arthurian legends #arthuriana #talk talk talk #gella talks arthuriana #merlin #nimue #king arthur #gawain #guinevere #morgan le fay #yvain #kay #igraine

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bharv · 2 months ago

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I love your posts so much analyzing the game and the Devs choices! Thank you so much for writing them and i would also like to know your opinion on what they have done to the greywardens in DATV. Im not gonna elaborate further on what is written in the game for them in case yoy didn't get there yet! But please if you have any analysis or opinion i would LOVE to hear them!

Ohhh thank you anon. I’m still having issues with my inbox so I’m hoping this posts…

I still haven’t finished the game so this is going to be my incomplete thoughts but I have, unsurprisingly, mixed feelings.

I'll put under a cut just in case! And apologies if it's a bit slapdash, I'm still a bit covid-brained.

I am going to be controversial in that I've never loved the bringing the griffons back part of the lore. Last Flight is easily my least favourite book, I preferred the imagery of griffons being a symbol of the warden's lost valour, rather than something to literally bring back.

However, I did like the Cauldron and what it showed about the dead glory of the wardens. I thought that was really good! Also the little histories in the memories about the wardens during the siege were very interesting, and a clever way to get around not importing choice by making it about people from the backgrounds of characters we know.

Davrin is also one of my absolute favourite companions. I love his attitude, I love his resolve and his inner conflict, and the performance is I think one of the strongest in the game. Controversially I kind of wish Assan wasn't a griffon but was an actual mortal child lol, I love the parenthood analogy but I kind of thing it would hit harder. As cute as Assan is.

I loved the First Warden. Again, another favourite character for me. I remember thinking FINALLY when he turned up. Finally, an adult! Finally somebody reacting to this news in a way that makes sense! I chose to talk him down and I loved his final stand as well, though I'm wondering if the implication that the gods can talk to the wardens through their blood is going to... pay off elsewhere. I've also always been a fan of Evka and Antoine, so seeing them get such a prominent role was great, and on the whole the wetlands is one of my favourite areas in the game. Feels very, very origins.

On that note, it's been one of my favourite things through the series that the wardens get progressively less majestic the more we learn. In Origins you hear of the Order in other lands, and you think (and your warden probably also thinks) oh, it's okay, out there somewhere there is a whole retinue of heroes that WILL save us! We just have to survive this, and then it will be okay! And then seeing that the order even at its headquarters is woefully underfunded, largely people who were conscripted and are scared and just trying to do their best... I really, really like that as somebody who has always been most interested in that side of Dragon Age storytelling.

I do wish we had a little more reactivity to our warden-commander in the game, even if the game did just decide to confirm that they were dead (hey, it's completely justified to me to kill them off screen. They would be nearing their calling now I think.) And the way the blight functions is a bit... nonsensical to me now we are absolutely COVERED in blight all the time. The likelihood of it getting in the bloodstream is so, so high the way the fighting works!

I've heard the story continues into other territory, so I will let you know what I think when we get there...

#datv spoilers #I am interested in this

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rise-my-angel · 6 months ago

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I would like to indulge your batshit conspiracy theory about the Starks.

Okay I might not be able to, cus I am selfish and it is kind of a spoiler for something in my fic. But I assure you, it is based on very real, very complicated, and sometimes vauge but insane lore from grrm.

With characters like Jojen Reed so naturally being someone gifted with the Sight, and with free folk north of the Wall having Wargs be people that are not unusual to know, clearly those descending from the First Men are more inclined to be born with natural abilities of more unusual Northern magic, or are more inclined to be stronger with it then others.

But uh, lets just say, there are unique things about the Starks specifically that other families engaged in magic, natural or otherwise, that tell me that the Starks abilities run deeper then normal people should be able too. The show doesn't go into this at all, and it is still very vauge in the books.

But in the books, grrm tends to leave trails like this a lot. Where you can connect a lot of very unexplained details to ends with massive lore implications that might not be true, but he has certainly left you with enough scattered details to come to specific conclusions.

So while I don't think the Targaryeans have any magic that is special, unique, or exclusive to them at all, there is evidence to suggest that the Starks, in fact, do have something unique in their blood.

Something that uh..the show didn't even try to go anywhere near, but god wouldn't the Starks stories be crazy if they did. Bran and Jon's magical subplot from the books have the most to contibue to this uh..magical theory, a bit of Arya in the books has some as well.

I'll just leave it like this: Dany is not actually special because of her surviving the pyre and getting dragons. Both those events occured at the same time, and are a clear result of extremely rare but extremely dangerous and costly blood magic, or what some in the series call black magic. Dany being the unburnt and the mother of dragons are something she forced into the world through dark dangerous magic.

The direwolves were sent to the Starks peacefully, the wolves survived because Jon implored his fathers empathy to NOT cause harm by gifting them to the Stark children, the wolves are not inherintly out of control or dangerous because they reflect the nature of their bonded companion (Lady being the best example of having zero moments of any kind of aggressive behavior reflecting that Sansa is the least inclined to violence out of all the Stark kids). And The magical abilities of the Stark kids all came to them without any action against another. Bran, and in the books, Jon, Arya and certainly implied with Rickon and Robb are wargs without cause. They can do it, and no one got hurt and no magic or ritual was performed to cause them to be able to do it. In fact the only person who got hurt was Bran, as he woke up from him being harmed alone and had these abilties awaken in him, and Jon and Arya discovered it naturally and do not need to engage in specific magical spells or anything to use it.

Danys Dragons were forced into the world through literal fire and blood, and any magical connection she has with them is through the fact that she was involved in the blood magic that created them. They and her bond with them does not exist without that forced magical violence.

The Direwolves came to the Starks peacefully, and were kept through sympathy, and after they got those wolves, did magical abilities begun to awaken in the Starks and none of it requires any scrap of actual harm or blood or fire to perform.

Something about the Starks is connected to very specific Northern magic, and there was nothing they needed to do but exist, to have those abilities awaken within them.

So I would then ask, what would cause the Starks specifically, to have such specific magic through ALL of them that others do not have to that degree and why is it so STRONG in all of them when many with the sight or are wargs, are not as powerful as they all are.

Then you start looking at some other lore and stories within the world grrm has created, and other strange details about the Starks that stand out from other people, and you come to some...interesting conclusions.

But I will say, the Starks are not special beacuse of the implications of my theory, but because they are who they are DESPITE all of this, and they would all still be the goood, honourable, and even heroic characters they are even if they did not have this theory about them.

Whats special about their blood doesn't make them special as people, and that's part of why the Starks are not the same as the Targaryeans. The Targaryeans were ONLY special because of their so called, special abilities. Not despite them.

This was a long winded way of saying, I cant say it, but if I am anywhere near correct about this theory, grrm is a fucking mad lad.

#im not tagging anything about this this answer is a fucking incoherent mess

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l-flyhight · 1 year ago

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Kung fu panda the dragon knight characterisation and scene analysis. (Shipping problems aswell)

(This has been a long time brewing)

Disclaimer : this analysis is strictly from my trained observation using proof and layout of a scene. Thusly any scene signifiers and connotations used is viewed not from an audiences eye but from the perspective of a media analyst and animator view. Consideration under the ruling that this is merely by anaysis. disagreements while valid are not to be posted"

(Also take a shot for how many times the word subtle is mentioned)

Right so where do i begin? Where all things start i suppose. The premise.

To cut a long symopsis short two weasels travel to china to gain magical relics and po must stop them. Along with a knight from England whos agender relies heavily on revenge.

Simple plot. Nothing special. I can deal with it. Fine.

But things get complicated along the way as things do. While season 1 and 2 are flawed its fun. Like paws of destiny. Just a pinch of salt. Fun.

But i still have issues and one such is the nonsensical chaos that is implied in shipping. I was quite happy with the subtle chemistry and bonding po and blade had. Subtle being the key word.

ive a degree in snimation and excelled in character design, lore and characteristic signifiers. The subtlety here is how po would look at her during the moon festival. Its not platonic. Why you ask? He looked her over up and down in a way that signfied a hint just a hint of developing affection.

Now fast forward to when blade was angry with him saying po took advantage of her anxieties so she could let her gaurd down and unwind a little.

So lets look at how po spoke suring his response. The cues as it were dictate

"I just wanted you to see what you'd miss about china - and...what you'd miss about me"

The last part wasnt as strong at the opening statement. Their was a pause. That pause shows sadness and the rest of it was said in a gentle vulnerable way. Perspective? One of two things po is an innocent guy so it could be construed as him just wishing to be missed but due to the cues again can be caught as something else.

Blade throughout season one and two actually likes po for him. They've bonded through thick and thin.

So now we come to the simp himself Collin. So here we had emphasis on had a bad ass tracker who was tracking down blade because she was a wanted criminal. Po was collateral or at the very least he saw as an accomplice. Now this comes to an important analysis. Towards the end of season 1 blade and collin are fighting on top of the mountain. Collin is very vehement on doing his job. Fair enough. But lets for a moment fast forward to season 3 where he literally simps for blade because reasons? If he hesitated during that fight in season one just for a moment that the stones for s3 are set. But nope.

Also lets look at some signifiers that suggest romantic scenes. Or at the very least implied. Back to season 1 end. Po and blade share a very long hug. Po even leans into it nose to neck. Intimate. But we also see the romantic view of the mountain scape. Its drawn out to say the least. Ooookay subtle doesnt need to have any emphasis on it really.

If po hugged tigress like this then people would be frothing and loving it and i digress the scene sets itself. You do not hug fruends in this manner as its considered affectionate or intimate.

Bored yet? Annoyed that theirs analyse? Well its not over yet and it only gets worse.

So season 2 is littered with what we can call growth between our band of heroes. Po and blade holding hands all the time. The bit that comes later worth note is when blade is at her most vulnerable and po writes in a book about the rules of being a dragon knight. He doodles master masterdon giving po a piggyback. When blade mentions it po gets all embarrassed which again is subtle like he doesnt want to look like a dork in front of his friend. He later grabs blades hand and fistbumps the air. Staying like that for a bit. Now while this is sweet and hes very much riding out the high.

"You can let go now"

"Not yet"

But again it shows chemistry and banter of growth. A huge contrast in season 1. Growth.

Season 3 is such a mess. Pacing of story issues. Character cringe. Twists that actually made no sense and at one point they could of very well summoned captain planet.

So collin still wants to bring blade in but hes not subtle about showing he very well has a crush on blade. Now this gets rather intrusive as the episodes continue. Collin doesn't really add anything to the group. Akna has her ingenuity though is socially awkward. Ruhkmini is the literal voice of reality but brings the group together with hiw resourceful she is. Collin just stumbles along. Which again is a shame considering what he brought in season 1. Weiman was also wasted potential.

So season three kills off the main villian which is somewhat derivative. Veruca was such a poignant character with a goal in mind to ravage England from those that rejected them to create something new. Fine this was fine and they should have kept it that way. But no.

So lets cue to season 3 where blade reunites with po. He runs to her picks her up, spins her around and they hug? This is very romantic coded. You would not pick up your sibling this way nor a friend. Later we find po is so depressed that blade does all she can to help him (the episode is one such pacing issue) so both are in a gorge po is paralysed by a plant and cant move and blade is literally high of a plants pollin. I wish i was joking. So po does everything in his power not to get up or attempt to rid the paraylse but to hold her hand. Again subtle.

So lets cue to the end if we can even call it that. Collin asks blade out finially asking her i suppose and she just shook her head. Keeping it open i guess as her response could be taken in a few ways. But theirs a but. Then we see blade returning to china to star gaze with po which is a stark contrast to season 1. They also share baobao buns. In a moonlit restorant outside in a seating area. Signifiers, the moon has such strong romantic connotations.

England has nothing for blade anymore. Shes a wanderer free to go as she pleases. Unhindered and in no ones shadow. So if she actually said yes to collin it would complicate a lot. She doesn't want to be a knight and being a debutante is something she voiced very clearly thats not what she wanted. Whats she going to do wait till hes fone with the dutys for the day and thats it? Collin would possibly like that. No actual chemistry between them. It'll be like zuko from the legend of Aang falling in love with after after chasing him all over the globe.

Blade is independent and from what we do see she comes back to po?

The whole bestie signifier just isnt convincing nor is this oh they act like siblings. Its as if they were queer coded. Like perish the thought po would be into another a bear.

This is long overdue and again i really wanted to get into alot. So much more about pacing issues and when the script contradicted what we actually saw.

Po and blade for the record never actually wanted to officially get together. I was quite happy for them to be hinted at, subtle and sweet.

End of shipping/character analysis. Now piss off im tired.

(British humour)

(Will need revising at some point)

#kung fu panda dragon knight #rant post #shipping #shitpost

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syn4k · 2 years ago

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thank you whoever you are for enabling me on this btw you have saved my life

(if you read through this review and decide that you wanna check this series out or buy it, the link to the official website is here!)

OKAY

The Wingfeather Saga is a four-book fantasy series by Andrew Peterson. Despite being a series written and aimed towards children, it also deals with serious themes in a way that doesn't trivialize them or shove them to the side.

Do you like dragons? This series has dragons. Do you like themes of healing and dealing with some pretty heavy shit but healing nonetheless? This series has that too. Do you like hella good worldbuilding and a solid plot that is richly detailed and makes sense, but isn't muddled or confused? Like hell you do! Do you like actually decent representation in your works? You're never gonna guess what this has! That's right! It's got it all, baby.

This book has next to no romance in it, and all of the major relationships that it focuses on are platonic. But what even is in it in the first place?

The story is centered around a small family living in a small town. Their surname is Igiby, and they lead as quiet a life as one can whilst being occupied entirely by what's essentially a fully armed army. More on that later.

The members of this family are:

Nia, mother

Podo, grandfather

Janner, eldest sibling (12 when the series starts, 15 when it ends)

Tink (Kalmar) (11 when the series starts, ~14 when it ends)

Leeli (8 when the series starts, ~11 when it ends)

Now, the world these people inhabit is called Aerwiar. In it reside half-lizard creatures called Fangs, which have been making the lives of the people living on the content Skree horrible for years. The Fangs are under the command of Gnag the Nameless, the whole villain behind the whole thing, although we don't really figure out why he is like he is until the fourth book.

Through a series of events, things happen and this family alongside a few other characters go places and eventually have to run from their home.

What other characters? I'm glad you asked!

Peet the Sock Man (that's not his real name, it's later revealed to be Artham- again. lore. i'll explain later), the local village "crazy man" who lives in a huge treehouse in the woods and is actually related to the Igibys.

Oskar Reteep, the local librarian who runs a small bookstore called Books and Crannies. It's an odd place, but as a family friend of Nia and Podo's, he ends up going with them when they have to flee to their home.

Now, here's the thing. I mentioned representation earlier, right? Here's the cool thing. I wasn't kidding. This shit's fuckin' awesome. Let me explain.

Leeli, the aforementioned youngest sibling, has had a lame leg for as long as she can remember. She walks with crutches, and it's just regarded as a casually natural thing. She can keep up with her brothers just fine, but they also know that if she needs help, she'll ask for it. (This is literally said in plain text like, 6 pages in.) Even though she needs additional help from her family sometimes, they're also very respectful about it and stand up for her where they can!

Podo, the grandfather, was a sailor once and has a wooden leg. His original one was eaten by a dragon. He gets around just fine with this, and makes a lot of casual jokes about it as well.

"But Amys!" you say. "Why's it called the wingfeather saga if there's no mentions of wingfeathers in it at all??"

Allow me to elaborate.

The Shining Isle of Anneira was a kingdom that got totally and utterly destroyed about ten years ago by Gnag the Nameless for reasons that are elaborated on later about halfway through book four. It's revealed at the end of Book One that Nia used her maiden name of Igiby when she and her family fled to keep them all safe, but her husband's name was Wingfeather, so basically everyone's last name is Wingfeather. Yeah.

Where's the husband? Oh, he's dead. (Or is he?)

See, during the attack on the castle way back then, he just straight up dissapeared amongst the fire and the ashes. Everyone has long since made their peace with his death, or something close to death. Except for Artham, a.k.a Peet the Sock Man.

Artham, as it turns out, is heavily implied to have some heavy trauma/PTSD for [waves hand vaguely] lore reasons. I can't explain this perfectly, I'm trying so hard to not spoil anything because the best thing to do would just be to read it. Anyways, here's the incredible thing- at one point, he DOES face his fears and get through a large part of his trauma. Even then, though, he has recessions sometimes due to triggers! Healing isn't linear, and in fact he still struggles with his past throughout the entire series!! How fucking amazing is that! god i love artham he's one of my favorite characters in this entire goddamn series

Uhhhh let's see here *flips through notes* what else is there this is my second time writing this goddamn post (thanks Tumblr) oh yeah! There's uhhhh nonhuman transformations there's seriously good worldbuilding and lore and explanations for things there's some serious advice on how to persevere through difficult things there's a focus on the good in the world despite the evil within, there's really silly but still genuinely touching poems, there's a bittersweet ending that's still incredibly satisfying and zero plot holes that I have found, and best of all the art in jt SLAPS.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention. There is some SICK ASS ART in this series, both on the covers and in the pages of the books themselves. I can't find a good source for any of that so you'll just have to take my word for it but trust me it fucking SLAPS.

anyways i'm trying to not spoil anything so that you can go into this yourself because this series is chock full of detail and completely rewired some core bits of our brain. i promise uou will not regtet it i habe been going insane over this for years OLEASE AT LEAST TRY TO GET THENFIRST BOOK IF YOU CAN

thank you for coming to my ted talk, fuck you tumblr for deleting my first draft, and please for the love of god just give it a try

#amys' tag #wingfeather saga #answered #i am very autistic about this and for good reason #i promise it all makes complete sense once you read it

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bohemian-nights · 1 year ago

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"...but why should she even be Valyrian? I'm terribly afraid that the point keeps going over your head"

She is of valyrian blood. What sort of racist shit are you saying? A black/brown woman can't have valyrian blood because of their skin color??? This argument is inherently racist and has been called out in the fandom already. Don't you wonder why it's Netty whose valyrian heritage gets questioned and not Addam/Alyn? George is already hinting at the racism yet here you are parroting the same racist shit. George literally wrote Brown Ben Plumm, the same guy whose Dany's dragons are comfortable with, as having valyrian blood. He wrote lores about dragonriding. Nettles is a dragonseed. You talk against racism but speak like a racist.

You sent me this and two other anonymous messages within an hour of each other(each sounding more ridiculous than the last).

It’s clear that you are spiraling and have a bad case of I’m not listening disorder, therefore this will be the last time that I respond to your unhinged rants.

This is how you(and the others who parrot this garbage) sound when you say Nettles’ fantastically brilliant Black self(don’t think I can’t see you still trying to be slick about her race) can’t be a non-Valyrian dragonrider: “How dare you say Black girls are pretty/talented/smart. Only non-Black girls are pretty/talented/smart and if you say otherwise you are a liar who doesn’t respect her betters.”

That’s the exact logic you are using Miss I’m not a racist, you are the real racist 🙃 GRRM isn’t writing this story to tell us how special the Targs are and that Targ supremacy is justified, but you are more than welcome to think that if you can’t handle the fact that a Black non-Valyrian girl was able to claim and tame a wild dragon🤷🏽‍♀️

According to GRRM, Nettles is a legal adult while Rhaenyra is a minor when they begin their respective relationships with Daemon. Additionally, Daemon has known Rhaenyra since she was a child and she’s his niece. He only knew Nettles when she was a legal consenting adult who could’ve gotten herself the hell out of dodge if she wanted to.

There is no way a smart girl like Netty who found it preferable to be homeless than be used by men for their pleasure would stay where she didn’t want to be. No matter how much you go on about it, Dettles≠Dumbnyra, and yes, a racist white woman is the villain here(last time I checked CSA doesn't make you into a racist and it doesn't excuse trying to make a pregnant woman into a hate crime statistics. She's a victim of Daemon, but she's a villain to Nettles. She’s responsible for her own actions here)🤷🏽‍♀️

Calling me a “white male worshipper” is ironic considering I’ve had someone accuse me of “only wanting to put Black women with Black men” due to shipping Baela and Alyn rather than Baela and Jace. It can’t be both so I need someone to tell me ASAP(no Rocky) which one is it.

So now you care about Black women 🙃 I like Baegon in an AU setting where Aegon knows how to act right, not how he is in show/book canon. Laughable that you actually think I’m using Baela as a proxy(or any of these ladies) to lust over Aegon of all characters 🫠Like I said, you are unhinged.

If anyone wants to know the fastest way you’ll get blocked by me it’s this(being butthurt you got called out so now you have descended into spamming me with your drivel).

#bnasks #bnask #a tragedy 🎭#hotd fandom nonsense

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anurapoda · 1 year ago

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Orginal Character Masterlist

Hi, fun fact about me: I mainly write orginal works with orginal characters. Despite this everything on this account is very fanfic focused... I want to change that!

This is a masterlist of orginal characters I am actively using. This is not every orginal character I have, as there are a few I'm just not invested in outside of specific roleplays. Those ocs will be excluded.

For the sake organization these ocs will fall under three sections, orginal characters, dungeons and dragons ocs, and minecraft ocs.

PLEASE SEND ME ASKS ABOUT MY ORGINAL CHARACTERS

Anyway, ocs are below the cut and will include their name(s) and basic background.

Orginal Characters

*Anura (She/They/He) - This is just my online sona, she is different from oc!Anura who will appear later in the list. persona!Anura is a shapeshifter who can take any form she wishes with no restrictions, her most common form is with feathered wings and some kind of horns - thought it depends on how I'm feeling *turns into catgirl*

Usha (She/Her) - My oldest orginal character, Usha comes from an old god roleplay based off of a webcomic I read back in 2017. She's the goddess of Death, may have destroyed 80% of the world that one time, and has a son named Insanity who is @fizzello character!

Constance (She/Her) - My second oldest orginal character, she orginally went by a different name and was considerably younger. I took the main themes of her old character and made Constance, a medium from the 1860's who's heavily indoctrnated and falls in love with a white boy.

Walter (He/Him) - The white boy Constance falls for. He is a newer orginal character who has gone through a lot of revisions, at first he had fire powers! Now he's just a redhead in the 1860's who's a cop with a politician as a father. Also he may be cis and straight but in modern day this bitch is a femboy.

Annette (She/Her) - I keep saying I'll flesh her out but I haven't. She's dead, Constance and Walter need to solve her murder. Annette is not her real name, I forget her real name, it's in a book somewhere. Annette exists.

Solstice (She/They) - My lil vampire baby, I love her. @fizzello character kidnapped her but that's ok because they're gonna fall in love! She's super new and I haven't used her much, I'm just in love with her as a whole. Think high school mean girl obsessed with her looks but she's actually really nice (unless if you've kidnapped her)

Dungeons & Dragons OCs

Robin (She/They) - My first DnD oc who I made in 2021 I believe? I gave her all my trauma. Abusive mom? Check. Brother who she has complicated feelings for because she feels betrayed? Check. Lesbian cat moms? Ok so I don't have those but that's besides the point.

Ceana (She/They) - I love Ceana. You can take her from my cold dead hands. Her parents are dead, she's a single mom who works two jobs to support her 7 brothers, there's other stuff I can't say here cause @fizzello is gonna see this and they're in the campaign she's an NPC for, but just know I will tell you about it if you send me an ask.

Nephilia (She/They) - I LITERALLY CANNOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT HER BECAUSE OF @fizzello BEING HERE. But I am so gay for her. She's a villain and that makes her 10x hotter. She's also a spider!! She has many arms to hug me :)

The Queen and Princess - Once again, cannot say anything about these guys cause of @fizzello. Please ask me about them though. I need to scream about them.

Minecraft OCs

*Anura ( She/They/He) - Listen, I know she's identical to my online persona. But her lore is different! She's made entirely of void, can shapeshift, and feeds off of player code. Also, she's not a player!

Azelea (She/They) - The twin of @blood-smith character Berry, Azelea works in Decked out as a medic and landscaper and owns her own bakery called the Lush Cafe! Oh also she's a mooshroom hybrid who will fight you if you pick on her sibling.

Ayaan (She/They) - A wallcreeper bird hybrid! She's orginally from an anarchy server and has a found family with @cr0w-covered0n-m0ss and @chara--system characters. Her dream is to be a server admin, though she kinda put that dream aside to be of us to her family.

Aria (She/Her) - My newest oc, she's a demon hybrid who has a found family with @z-alien-boi character. She's grieving the loss of her brother and working to let Z's character enjoy their youth - something she's never been able to do.

*When discussing Anura I will use either person!Anura or oc!Anura to indicate which one I am discussing. If I do not include the prefix, assume I am discussing oc!Anura.

----

That's all the orginal characters I'm invested in at the moment, I'll try to update this as that changes. I always love talking about my ocs so please send me asks about them, and I'll try to write orginal stories for them again soon and post them here...

#anurapoda #ocs #my ocs #master post

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swankedofsauce · 1 year ago

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Triple Threat - dnd campaign updates (2)

A story about three goobers

If you haven’t read the first campaign update here it is

Next session, session 5/6:

After waking up, Miles attempted to roll the bodies off the cliff to have any remaining conscious ones dead.

Two of the three he rolled woke up, those two being the bugbear bossman who beat the shit out of Blooper, and a hobgoblin who said something along the lines of skinning Orion for a rug (because. Tabaxi lore.)

The third was the half orc who Orion charmed and whatnot and he died and Orion set him on fire on our way back down.

Anyway- the bugbear started bookin it and Miles tried shooting him but was off by one point on his AC (also I wasn’t counting attack bonuses at this point since I was fairly new)

Anyways, he got away.

The hobgoblin on the other hand we ended up tying up and taking all his stuff so he couldn’t hurt us.

He apologized to Orion and told us that basically all the goblins here were being blackmailed and he had a family he needed to provide for.

We told him his boss got away and then he asked us to kill him, we didn’t. He told us basically if bugbear got away then his family was probably already dead.

Told us his name was Ogabond but we all just call him Og.

Two of the merchants were frkm Valica while Lloyd (Samantha Green’s husband) was from Farport.

So we all went to Valica first since that was much closer, and returned the the merchants back home.

But, there was a lot of bustling within the streets and it was super busy. Odd.

Orion went to ask someone what was happening and Orion and Miles specifically had not a clue what was happening, Blooper probably would’ve known.

Turns out there was a dragon festival happening and it’d be an event for the next three days. Pretty cool.

Also it was a colder day than usual (this will be important information for later)

The three of us decided to go chat with Korg, as we did. Orion and Miles decided to be very strange about it.

As- Orion snuck in, and Miles decided to book it in.

One important thing to note is that all three of these goobers are covered in blood.

Miles was tackled by a guard but teleported out of his grasp to right outside Korg’s office as Orion ended up there as well.

As for Blooper- he literally just asked the front desk where Korg was and if he was available.

We go to Korg and he’s happy to see us and we told him what was up and everything.

He was very impressed with us and offered us a job at the merchants guild in helping some beast tamers gather silk from spiders.

And he told us we should join the merchants guild etc.

We started considering the idea. As Blooper was on board while Miles? Not so much.

Anyway, Korg lent Dragon and Orion an armed guard carriage to return the remaining merchant(s?) back to Farport.

Korg said that we basically got rid of any threats that would be to and from the two places but despite that yk still heavily guarded.

Now I don’t remember everything to an exact point but basically a long rest happened somewhere and Og got out of his restraints and just lied down on the ground and Miles gave him a blanket.

Next morning Miles made fun of Blooper a little bit. Because. Their relationship is very much like overly competitive siblings.

Anyway, festival was setting up and during this we saw a beast keepers exhibit, which Miles was able to sneak over to and see two fey dragons who wanted out.

After telling the situation to Blooper and Og, we concluded we needed thieves tools to make this work. But. We are all broke.

What was the next best thing? Pickpocketing the public.

We got over 70 gold from that with Miles and Og pickpocketing and Blooper being once again- a good distraction.

We’re able to get some thieves tools and we waited for night to come.

Orion and dragon made it to farport and returned Lloyd home. I’m now realizing his name was actually Luke and not Lloyd.

But I guess that doesn’t matter too much because we never heard from him again. However we do meet another Lloyd within this later, so. They aren’t the same person I wanna make that clear.

Samantha was happy to have her husband back home and gave Orion a magical amulet and some money. Orion went back to mr Keraldac to get the money promised to us for solving the case.

He promised us 60 gold and doubled if we could take care of it.

After Orion struggling to remember how much he owed us, he was able to get the money.

Also. To any of you wondering: he loves the rats we gave him.

Also Miles named them since he tamed them and their names are Vanilla and Mayonnaise. Neither are white.

Anyway, got the money and Orion had to figure a way back. And I don’t really remember how it led to this? But basically Orion turned into a horse and tricked a farmer into thinking he had 4 horses and not 3, and Orion convinced all the horses to be free and follow him to Valica.

The farmer tried to get his horses back but Orion turned into a panther and terrorized this man and then left and eventually found his way back to Valica.

We all met back up and relayed the plan we were trying to enact.

We tried to talk nicely to the people and convince them to let the dragons go- that didn’t work. Also it was much more guarded now that it was night.

So what ended up happening was Og started throwing punches at Blooper as a distraction. Making a scene so the guards had to run to separate the two. Miles ran off and was able to free one of the feydragons with thieves tools but that took a solid minute and while that was happening- one of the guards started coming back.

Orion turned into a small black cat and went over to the guard and started purring rubbing up against the guards legs.

The guard thought he was super cute and assumed Orion was a stray cat and not a full grown man pretending to be a kitten. And took Orion back to his home.

Blooper was able to make the fight look big and believable with his time as a sailor spitting the most horrid words out of his mouth but the guards were able to separate them and it died down.

As for Miles- the guards now that the fight died down were coming back and the second feydragon was urging for them to leave.

Miles wasn’t having that, he was able to crowbar the cage open which- yea it’s loud, and that alerted the guards as Miles teleported into a back alleyway unseen.

Orion now at a random guy’s house- wasn’t his house, he was just in town for the festival. The guy had a very makeshift room and was trying to take care of him, Orion had to figure a way out so.

Once again.

Panther mode.

Terrorizing this man, and then booking it out of the home and through the town which he did get shot at a few times but was able to zoom off- into the water and then back out on land as himself again.

Gang met back up (hurray) and Orion was able to make quite the impression on both towns as “the demon cat” and.

Orion doesn’t even hurt people when he does that, he licks them and then runs off. (First man he did hurt by accident while licking his face, second guy he just licked his hair) and the beast keepers were blamed for that incident.

Session 7/8 (I don’t remember at all):

Miles was blessed with the ability to speak draconic by the fey dragons who thanked him in his “sleep”

We all went out and decided to take down the rest of the beast keeper place, as a lot of boats were boarding we tried to figure out which one it was- Orion easily figured it out.

Blooper was easily able to board the boat with Miles (sailor background)

And the two made it on easily.

Orion asked Og to make a distraction but not punch or hurt him in doing so- which Og decided instead to brawl with a random civilian.

That worked pretty well.

Orion turned into a beaver and started chewing at the rope docking the ship, unfortunately he was caught- as a guy bumped into him, just thinking it was weird but Orion then turned into a panther, clawing at the rope and then leaping onto the boat, which- that mixed with Bloopers move water to push the boat- was more than able to set sail.

Also the crowd seeing Orion made them wanna fight him but luckily Orion was mostly uninjured.

Keep in mind that Miles and Blooper have no fucking clue that this is Orion.

The two people on board the top deck were pretty shaken at this, and initially tried to shoot Orion but both Blooper and Miles were able to “animal handle” Orion and everything. The two on board gave them some rope to leash Orion up.

And then take him down below to put him with the others.

Once we got down, no one else was in the room so Orion turned back into himself.

And we saw three cages- one holding a blink dog, one holding this little mushroom lizard and the third holding an owlbear.

We tamed and freed all three of them.

The blink dog teleported out of existence, the mushroom lizard we ended up taking with us and we named him Celery. And the owlbear we got out and it caused fuckin havoc- screams being turned to silence very quickly and it terrorized a few townspeople as well before hopping into the sea and swimming off.

Orion blew a hole in the ship which ended up sinking it as we all swam off- oh right forgot to mention as well that while we were setting sail we saw Og getting arrested and looking beaten the hell up.

Anyway, we swam off and ended up going somewhere else so we wouldn’t be suspected as blooper drained all the water from us but now Celery was mad at us.

He tried to poison us all once- but that didn’t work, Orion just used a little gust of wind to blow it away. Miles picked him up and he tried to poison miles but that didn’t work, he was pretty exhausted after that so he just gave up.

We saw all the beast keeper circus people getting arrested meanwhile we got off Scott free.

And then went to a local jail to see where Og was.

After a few inquiries and questions we were able to get him and his stuff out, he was confused why we helped him and Blooper told him “because you’re our friend. We hope.” One of the many things he had on him as he gave him his stuff back was a bone carving of something that looked to be like a toy- and when we gave it back he started crying and whispering something in goblin, Miles was able to comfort him a little bit before we moved on to the next thing.

We went to Korg to see what was up and he seemed very stressed and out of it.

Asked him what was wrong and he said basically that this item had gone missing of a very valuable noble woman and he tasked us to go find out what was happening.

We followed a long trail of scattered jewelry/gold and stuff that led to a caravan of these guys who’s thing was knocked over, we told him basically what was goin on. That we worked for Korg and they pointed us in the right direction, leading us to a place at the very edge of the city called “the witches cauldron” we went in, and after some investigation we noticed a bookshelf out of place, which we pushed out of the way and delved into an underground basement.

The next two sessions, which I'll just label 9 and 10 for simplicity sake were "background sessions" that were done with the ranger (Miles/me) and cleric (Blooper) because the druid (Orion) was on vacation.

TW: abusive relationship, and drug mentions

This was how Blooper and Miles met- so those two were hired by a local farmer named Gregory to save a noble woman named Layani from an abusive relationship with the lord Ophellion.

Gregory and Layani were actaully in a relationship with one another and Layani's father- mr Goodman, was marrying her off so that the family could essentially earn more money and whatnot. Mr Goodman was noted not to be a bad person, just making a bad decision he was unaware of Ophellion being a terrible person.

Anyway, we had to figure out a way to sneak into the noble's party- gregory told us to get suits from a local tailor and tell him that he sent us there. we did- and started getting our suits done tailored after the underdark and oshabara, he told us he'd work fast and we'd have to check back in tomorrow.

In the meantime we spent our time going around town and getting any info we could on the marriage and lord Ophellion, a drug addict told us he beat someone alive and then went to have a nice conversation while blood was still on his fist and that the body got dragged away via an invisible force. basically just heard a lot about an invisible body guard.

We asked some guards what they'd known about it as well and they gave us the minimal info that they had- (I don't remember specifics)

We then went to scope out the house that was having the party and made some form of plan with Gregory that he'd set the outside gate on fire and Blooper and Layani would escape through the garden.

Also we ended up getting poisonous drug mushrooms from the addict on the streets so we could poison Ophellion's drink.

Our suits were done the next day and the gnome tailor helped us get ready for the party and told us not to run in our suits because the fabric was cheap and would easily rip.

We ended up heading to the party and that's where the first session ended.

next session of this two parter:

we basically lied our way into the party, scoped it out- Blooper was the life of the party while Miles just averagely fit in. Blooper gossipped with all the other nobles and tried to get information out from them, which led to finding out that most of the people at this party were for Ophellion and that a lot of people had good things to say about him. other than a few where one of them told him that Ophellion ripped him off in a deal and when he spoke out about it- he was basically left for dead and that he was only here to "make up" for it. and that if this person wasn't like a noble- he'd probably be dead.

Another person was an older dwarf man, who told Blooper that Ophellion got into some beef with his son and he was just here to "make ammends" despite the dwarf's hatred towards Ophellion. He also told Blooper that Ophellion got into an accident when he was a kid where his entire face burned off via fire- but with modern medicine he has not a single trace of it on his face. Ophellion and Layani finally made their way down as Ophellion was a half drow, and Layani was a half elf- she has two younger brothers and her mom- the elf. is dead. anywho- Ophellion is apart of the royal bloodline and was very distantly related to them, also found out that "An angel protects the royal bloodline" and it was a surprise to hear anything spoken of a "guardian" for Opehllion BECAUSE he's so distantly related.

Anyway, those two come down and while coming down someone on the steps got shoved by a seemingly invisible force. Anyway- Layani and Ophellion did their little dance and then invited everyone else to dance as well, Blooper and Miles both got asked to dance- Blooper accepted and danced meanwhile, Miles declined and decided to explore the house. He went upstairs and was immediately stopped by someone telling him that they were trying to keep the party downstairs- did that stop him? no. Ignoring this person completely he found Mr Goodman's room and broke in, stealing some letters off his desk (which I could not read, because that's Miles's character flaw, however much later we ended up reading them) the letters basically said "thank you so much for this opportunity" and "we're so grateful" etc. leaving he almost got caught again but teleported away then went to explore the home a bit more. He found Layani's room next and not a lot stood out. Other than bloody bandages on the bed that looked to be from a headwound. not great.

the music started to die down so he made his way back but as he did, He saw a small cut on Layani's head from above- not nearly to the severity of the bloody bandages, but oh shit healing magic exists.

Blooper questioned where the fuck Miles went and after a few "doin ur mom" jokes from the man who is basically 40 (he's 381, I play him like a 40 yr old) Layani and Ophellion were chatting with guests, line for gifts started forming and it was go time to enact plan. Blooper presented an ice scupture of dragons to present and tried to lure Ophellion away from Layani- Miles did as well but neither attempts worked. Miles got on Ophellions suspion radar as he was the only one in underdark colors and he didn't invite anyone from the underdark. fun.

During the time Blooper spent talking with the guests who wanted to talk to Ophellion and Layani, Blooper basically hinted at some stuff in the "I'm here to rescue you" sense as Ophellion went out to the bathroom. Miles followed him there and tried locking him in and burning the stalls down, that went. horribly wrong. Ivisible guy bonked Miles in the head as Ophellion got out and saw this goingg down- was about to brawl but Ophellion fear of fire so that made him panic and he ran off as the only weapon Miles was able to sneak in was a dagger, so he was able to teleport away, heal himself, thornwhip the weapon out of the big guy's hands and then burn him- Ophellion spent most the fight cowering which Miles threw some flames at him which snapped him out of it, as now guards started getting alerted- all the while Blooper kinda got the gest of something being up and he got Layani to come with him as he tried to get his and Miles's stuff and leave. Layani had no clue what was goin on, as Blooper went outside and tried to distract some guards by shooting the signal for Gregory which worked as Gregory started setting fire to the gate, Miles got a bit beaten up but was able to leave by climbing the wall as everyones attention shifted towards both of the fires (outhouses and wall) we were able to get Layani free, safe and sound now with Gregory- but not without burning down her house by accident and committing treason and terrorism since a lot of nobles died at that party. (my bad) and now theres a 1,000 GD bounty on Miles' head. Also Layani confirmed all the terrible things about Ophellion and that the head wraps were indeed because of him and she gave Blooper an amulet that casts cure wounds once a long rest and that it was a gift from Ophellion incase he "went too far"

Also, she was going to be Ophellion's third wife.

Ophellion is unfortunately still alive as every cleric was on to helping him recover. surely this wont have any dire consequences. surely not.

That’s where I’ll leave this part at its end :)

Next part is right here:

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #dungeons and dragons campaign #dnd campaign #dnd update #dnd updates #campaign update #dnd campaign updates #dungeons and dragons campaigns #dnd campaign update #ttrpg #triple threat #dnd triple threat

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writingalterras · 2 years ago

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For the random questions ask: What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story? - (@enchanted-lightning-aes)

OH I am so glad you asked this! I think up so much random bullshit for my characters. I’m going to have to break some of the rules for this game, cause there’s no way I can only say one thing. And I think I know the perfect thing to start out with;

Sir James Honorborn is probably my favorite immortal “side” characters of all time, but he is very much an important character to the story. Valthoraxe meets him for the first time, it’s in James’ bounty hunting tavern called, “Blade & Honor’s: Beer, Bounty, Bravery.” James co-owns the tavern with a man named Franvil Bladeson. While never stated in the book, it’s loosely implied that they are married. James is somewhat of a playboy, having slept with literally tens of thousands of guys over the course of his life, and continues doing so after his husband dies.

Valthoraxe’s species, the Firath, have always had excellent relations with the higher classes of dragons, and Draconic is taught in the Firath’s equivalent of an education system. I have so much lore about the dragons that I will only delve into in the sequel. A part of that lore is how Valthoraxe rules by sending orders and setting laws to every major city on Alterra, including the region of Lizea (the top third of Kio), which is recognized as dragon territory. Dragons are always welcome in The Lord’s Wastelands, which is why they are often seen flying overhead when heroes attempt to confront him. Valthoraxe knows many dragons personally, including Rathnir Cascada, king of the dragons of Kio.

Thank you @enchanted-lightning-aes for this ask, this was very fun!

#writers on tumblr #writing #creative writing #fantasy #novel #worldbuilding #alterra #ask game #ask #lore

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caxyanalysis · 6 months ago

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American Born Chinese is probably the WORST media related to Sun Wukong that I have ever had the misfortune of seeing.

They portray Wukong as just...a kinda strong guy? He's a martial artist, and is losing out to his son consistently despite his son actively avoiding learning and training as much as possible.

They also make it clear that this version of Wukong is nothing without his staff, which is bullshit given the staff is only ONE thing that makes him special. The dang thing weighs so much he's supposed to be the only one capable of using it, and his mastery over it is unparalleled.

See, in the original myth the staff is literally just his weapon. Like, yeah it's special, sure, it weighs way too much and it can stretch or shrink as much as he wants it to, but it's still JUST his weapon. It's not the source of his power, it's not like Mjolnir where picking it up grants you his abilities (LOOKING AT YOU, LEGO MONKIE KID), it's literally JUST a super-heavy magical staff.

Wukong, by himself, IS the big threat. He's capable of creating as many clones of himself as his body has hairs, and each clone is equal in power to him. He's able to leap from one end of the universe to the other. He can see through any illusion. He can, single-handedly, defeat the entire army of Heaven. No demon can defeat him. He is, ENTIRELY BY HIMSELF WITH NO MAGIC WEAPON, a powerhouse that cannot be beaten by any except the Buddha.

But this godawful show fails to do him justice in any way. He's just a guy who looks KIND OF like a monkey, not actually a monkey. He's not powerful in his own right, he's just stronger than most humans and has access to some magic. His weapon is everything, it's the source of his real power and it's the only way he'll stand a chance against the looming threat of the Bull King.

Like, I've seen a LOT of Journey to the West adaptations. I've seen a LOT of "Monkey King" related movies, shows, books, etc.

DRAGON BALL was more faithful to the original as an adaptation than this show.

Hell, DRAGON BALL SUPER is a more faithful adaptation of Sun Wukong's story than this show!

Like, I get it, you can't make a lore-accurate Wukong because modern western audiences will be bored to tears watching someone who's only growth is emotional/mental and none of the physical threats will be any risk to-

OH WAIT.

NO.

BECAUSE ONE PUNCH MAN IS EXACTLY THAT.

BEN 10 IS EXACTLY THAT.

DRAGON BALL IS EXACTLY THAT.

DANNY PHANTOM IS EXACTLY THAT.

AND THEY WERE ALL ADORED. LOVED. MASSIVE INFLUENCES. MADE TONS OF MONEY AND STILL DO TO THIS DAY.

Like seriously! I promise your bottom line will not suffer just because you follow the fucking source material when making your adaptations!

Are you seriously this awful at making media?

Oh who am I kidding, it's Disney, of fucking course they're this awful at making media...

On another note the fact the show force-feeds you "MC is Asian! Look they're Asian! Did we mention they're Asian? By the way they're Asian! Oh, everyone knows they're Asian! Isn't that noteworthy, THEY'RE ASIAN BTW" is absolutely infuriating. Like, yes, I am 100% aware that some Asian individuals do go through exactly the same social shit Jin goes through in this.

But COME. THE FUCK. ON.

We don't need an ENTIRE EPISODE to establish that he's Asian and that sets him apart in this white-washed school. Five minutes. They could have cut EVERY OTHER bit of "He's Asian, did you know?" out of this first episode and JUST left in the scene of the principal forcing him to let Wei-Chen shadow him and it would have been enough. That ONE scene was enough to establish the bullshit people around him.

Instead we get half an episode that is just "Jim Wang?" "It's pronounced 'J-in W-on-g' actually" and "What could go Wong!?" and "omg that's probably insensitive, what if it's appropriation, omg did you know he's Asian", and the other half of the episode is this fucking GARBAGE rendition that I can barely even call "Sun Wukong" at this point, because HE HAS FUCKING NONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKE THE MONKEY KING THE MONKEY KING.

GAH.

Fuck Disney.

#long post

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mneiai · 1 year ago

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Reading/re-reading a bunch of Dragon Age books and thought I'd give my quick thoughts for the ones I've gone through the last few days:

Asunder - 6/10. Always shocked Gaider wrote it, it does not feel like someone who knows the lore or games well, except insofar that a lot of the fight scenes are "this is how I envision it would play out in the game" as opposed to ones meant to be read. I can't remember if the printed version was this bad, but either there some horrific typos in the digital version or, again, it does not feel like someone that knows the lore wrote it ("Rite of Annulment" what the fuck). Creates some weird conflicts with established lore for no good reason. Last half better than the first half and Cole, Rhys, and Evangeline are genuinely likable once it gets going, at least.

Tevinter Nights - 3/10 to 10/10. Weirdly find the Talons story incredibly engaging and the characters very interesting (though that could be my OCD-based sympathy lol) and wish it were a book of its own and not just a short story that had to rush over a lot. In fact, I'd say most of the Crows-related stories are good, as well as the ones actually set in Tevinter. The Grey Wardens ones vary in quality and the Nevarra ones read like someone took passages from the World of Thedas and told a writer they had to come up with an excuse to infodump with poor mysteries shoved in. Most of the rest were just blah.

Magekiller - 2/10. This is so bad. The intro feels like some 12 year old writing about their OC and the addition of the relationship between Marius and that one DAI NPC that never goes anywhere again makes the protags honestly look way more at fault for some of the shit that goes down in DAI than Cole ever could. And this is true about all the comics, but the art is Not Great and relies very heavily on lazy shortcuts normally found in lower quality comics. Also a lot of lowkey ableism considering how Marius comes across. Never had strong feelings about Charter before, but now I dislike her.

Alistair comics - 5/10. The collection doesn't seem to have a good name to call all these lol Anyway, some interesting parts, getting to see one of my fav Tevinter characters and the way she's handled is always nice, but the whole thing is very C-quality-DLC-plot-thrown-out-during-development. Just all over the place. Hated the Isabella stuff, what even was that? We're not even going to get into the multiple international innocents that should have happened, but the whole thing was honestly ridiculous. Mae carries this shit.

Knight Errant - 8/10. Vaea and Ser Aaron are a trope, but it's a good one for comics and well-done in this, they're very cute. Varric feels way more natural here than in the Alistair ones, not sure what's going on with Sebastian but I think that has more to do with how wishywashy he has to be for Bioware canon than anything else. Literally nothing will make me care about the Magekiller romance, though, and it's honestly weird that's the conceit for the job.

Wraiths of Tevinter - 6/10. I think this was slightly better because it had to establish some of the characters, but it wasn't great (and what the hell did they do to my poor Fenris?!). The original stuff was better than when it started mixing into the overarching comics plotline, and the fact that 50% of these DA works fall back on "Qunari Ex Machina" got very old by this point. I cared absolutely zero amount about any of the villains and the Magekiller characters felt incredibly out of place in an already large cast. If it weren't for the endearing Knight Errant team and the mabari, I'd probably mark it down lower. Also lol why am I supposed to care about a slave owner Venatori apologist just because she had a bad childhood? Literally every one of the characters had a bad childhood. Fenris and Marius were literally slaves!

Also actually sitting down and reading the World of Thedas volumes instead of just looking stuff up in them and they're...fine. I still wish they were more encyclopedia like and I'm still confused at some of the assumptions people make based on things clearly not actually said in them, but that's fandom for you.

#dragon age book thoughts

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