#its not a place holder

[opalsaverem]

Maybe I'm just old, but can we stop calling slice- of- life episodes filler? Canon material meant to show what life in a setting is like so that the setting and its people matter to you when the lore happens isn't filler!

[tvwebs]

Wade trying on different hair systems

"I look like a long haired hippie!"

"honestly, I'm not seeing it." You replied

"You look the same to me as you've always looked-"

you ruffle the wig because hair is weird

"hot."

"ughh.."

BASED ON THIS COMIC PANEL FROM SCOTT PILGRIM

[3416]

also. i think people are being very dramatic about auston 😭😭😭 i'm constantly joking about him not being able to score without mitch because it's funny how much their careers are intertwined at this point and how much they have WANTED that, but i think he's realistically fine 😭. maybe something's nagging him, but he did just score a goal last game and is still on a 60+ pace... it's not like he's dead..... mitch and auston have always boosted each other's stats... he wouldn't have hit 60 without mitch and he wouldn't be on pace for 70 without him either, but mitch being out for a little bit isn't the end of the world. (it does feel like it to me personally though)

[takami-takami]

OH, LOOK AT THIS BEAUTIFUL SHELF I THRIFTED BY THE WAY my mom got it for me as a gift.

She is literally the most beautiful shelf I've ever seen she's gorgeous she's giving vampire gothic realness. And she's HEAVY.

The estate sale was FULL of vintage goodies. The house was very, VERY old. I wish it was my house. The house was FULL of, like. Old Victorian-looking furniture. The good stuff, authentic!

BUT ANYWAY LOOK AT HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[novodontia]

I was just thinking about how in total dramarama, Cody has died like 5 times. That made me think of Kenny from South Park, and so on a whim I made this horrible concoction.

Good lord what have I done-

[istherewifiinhell]

anyway havent had the wearwithall to finish a post or lay stuff out With Proof. in some way yet but. Just lets play our favourite game. This story from someone elses perspective.

the very funny stone pov. ur the oldest coolest strongest guy around doing ur tasks and also lookig to bring home a guy/polictical tool for ur granddaughter. u see a alone consort guy and ur like okay. interesting. but when he sees u watching he gets SO SCARED and runs away. then u see him sentenced to death via the elements.so u save his life. and turns out hes the most neurotic lost puppy in the whole world. and he doesnt know anything. and he thinks your going to kill him for the weirdest things. and hes an asshole. but also probably sometimes he looks at you and your like. jesus. this fucking kid. all through it all ur still mostly considering using him politically/setting him up with ur granddaughter. and not telling him.

and then get in the shit at this place u were going to that got all destoryed and ur fighting for ur life and all that. and the little idiot followed you in? and saves you and you save him. and then hes looking SO SCARED but different scared and hes all banged up and ur like. jesus. kid. and its like... okay well what if we did sometime crazy ur not gonna like it AT ALL. and he would have to trust you. AND HE DOESNT TRUST U. but he does it.

and u show him more of you and The Lost Neurotic Puppy factor has just gone throught the roof. cornered prey AND homesick dog. and he finds out the other part of the plan. and he HATES that hes NOT gonna do that... but he keeps hedging whether hes gonna run away now. while reaffirm his commitment to 'helping temporarily'.

likeee do u get my point just like. that moon is NOT actually able to hide whats going on for him and like. damn. thats insane. whats wrong with this guy (his pathetic and abrasive nature has charmed another grandfatherly figure)

OR. and this one sends me into hysterics. from jades pov i think this turns into a DIFFERENT genre eh? like ur grandpa was supposed to bring you a politicial/royal match but he brought... a dark brooding stranger... hes a little Wild. he Hunts or Runs off by himself, he doesnt know the customs blah blah. He's illusive and wont accept ur gifts what are you doing wrong!!! and u travel off with him and its like. right hes neurotic and shy and he maybe doesnt wanna stay. oh but hes so good at solving problems in excepted ways. he nearly dies saving ppl. and u gotta like. hold his weak shivering form <- take a shot every time. and anyway he WONT commit to you... he MIGHT CONSIDER giving u some kids tho... but its complicate. and he DID seem interested for a second but breaks it off... but u have gotten the faint impression he does likes being lead/bossed/pushed around a bit.

including up to. getting attacked and he kills and enemy but not b4 u hear stuff where its like. Woah. did he betray you all. can he be trusted. but no its actually just. His Tragic Backstory, THE SECOND PART. oh and another, ah thats why hes like that. in general and about ur advances. but anyway he tells you all that be hesssss freezing to death.... wont someone keep him warm 👀. and NOW finally. he wants u back. cause he just really needed to be seen and acceptected that bady. oh and... He does. Like being pushed around. btw.

insane. insane. his stray dog rizz. his. horrible everything going on that is impossible to resist. as long as where INSIDE moons head the story is filtered thru his 8000 layers of social calculus and his constant mantra of 'what the fuck is going on and Are you going to kill me and fuck this shit honestly im so tired' but thinking NOT seeing his thougths its hard to imagine it makes it less obvious that his whole. shit. is fucked like that. it would just instead be. ppl reacting to the scrappiest little weirdo in the world. my little freak. what do the kids say. pookie?

[timwrightliker]

headcanoning the fav with ptosis. + JJ of course

[cookiepie111]

Why is writing smut hard, im struggling. can't y'all just imagine them going at it really hard 😭

[rindemption]

I'm picking up crocheting also \o/ it's not coming as easy as knitting but I'm getting there

[bwobgames]

Small tour of the place

or at least all the unlocked areas

[royalarmyofoz]

woke up with complicated girlfailures feelings today so i put on palm springs

[thegayestcat]

I'm gonna rewrite my prewar fallout 4 au :3c gonna do an actual slow burn

Here's an old doodle based on it for now ;3

[box-dwelling]

OK so I am like a day past completing the Ansur dungeon and it's been enough time to let my thoughts on it settle. Spoilers ahead.

For context, first playthrough with a basic tav. I'm a good way through act three and have finished a few of the pc quest lines. Minsc, Jaheria and Astarion are done. I have yet to get the hammer or do the house of grief but I have done sorcerers sundries. Also I haven't refused Ulder yet but it like the next thing I'm doing. Other context is that dnd is a huge special interest of mine. I've been playing for about 7 years straight. Both dming and as pcs and I have played under professional dms before. This does affect how I view the game but it's mostly postively.

Disclaimer, I haven't finished the game so there may be some stuff that ends up being done that I just haven't seen but the quest line says it's over and from what I've read online it doesn't seem like that's the case so.

So let's start off with the pros because I honestly have less to say there

As a dm I can and always do look at the dungeon design. Larian is genuinely really really good at this, and this dungeon is no exception. I loved the puzzles though a few could use some tweaking. They arent all great. But there's ideas there that I will probably introduce in my games some time. A chess puzzle especially is such a great idea. That was so cool and the fact bring gale along means you can get the answer free I'd you don't play chess makes perfect sense. Genuinely great.

I also liked the visual design. I had expected the appearance to be what I was starting to dub in my head as the "character development dungeon aesthetic " given that really in terms of design and function cazadors dungeon, the gauntlet of shar and the sorcerers sundries vaults are very very similar. But this one wasn't and I'm very happy about that. Give me some variety.

The Ansur fight itself, AMAZING. Great boss battle. I loved the hell out of it. I'd have to dig into the code to properly tell but it looked like they used a varient of the colossus fighting rules which while I've actually never run but I have been at tables where it has been run to incredible effect. They're good rules. I'm glad to see them used. It honestly makes me consider running them myself.

Last pro, on the face of it, I like the idea. I like the concept of wylls character development dungeon being about learning about the tenants of being a hero from one he looked up to. That tracks. It's a good place to take his charcater at least in theory.

As for the cons, it's mostly one but it's also a big one that has majorly pissed me off. Because Wyll is in my joint top 3 for favourite characters and they did him so fucking dirty.

I really really hated how they handled the twist with the Emperor. I don't dislike him as a charcater but I think it's at least to me pretty unambiguous that he's a pretty shady and morally grey charcater. Which is fine. In fact, it's actually a pretty interesting way to take Wyll's arc. That he looked up to this hero, internalised his mindset through the chambers and then learns that he was actually a pretty shady morally complex figure that doesn't live up to wylls expectation, that is a GOLD mine of character development. That is absolutely fascinating. Except, it doesn't do that. He barely even comments on it. Just says he's forged into a new hero by the trials while ignoring the person who set them is the very shady figure who has honestly fucked us over a lot.

You know who's another hero wyll probably looked up to? Minsc! And the Emperor is a real fucking bitch about letting him join the party.

This is compounded by the fact his good/bad ending choice rather than being a slow build up like everyone else where they get tempted by power and then have to turn it away, he instead just says "hey I could become grand duke" out of no where and then doesn't even need a persuasion check to get talked out of it like everyone else does.

So, I would be remiss without giving a way I'd fix it. So here is that.

Th ansur dungeon isn't given to us by florrick in the lower city. It's given somewhere else before you get there.

I'd recommend like, it being in a book or something in Wyrms crossing. The location is tied to wyll anyway. Maybe add in his childhood bedroom that he asks to go visit. You can put in some environmental storytelling telling that can expand on his complicated relationship ulder. Maybe the room is bordered up and untouched but when you get inside there evidence of genuine love.

When you get there you get the story of ansurs legend and wyll becomes obsessed with using this as a way to help save the city.

The ansur dungeon then gets basically left untouched. Twist and all.

But at the end of it, rather than just deciding he's going to become grand duke, it becomes a question. He can't become grand duke while Ulder is alive. And Bauldrian the great adventurer became a politician after wards. Give the Emperor a reason to not want ulder alive. Maybe Ulder risks not being able to defeat the elder brain in some way, and tie it into his reaction to Wyll taking a deal with Mizora.

Wyll is now conflicted. If his father dies he can carry on in both his and Bauldrans footsteps. Ulder left his child in command of an army before he was an adult. Can he really be trusted to take care of the city? Of course wyll loves him and of course wyll wants to save him but there's that doubt there. I have been reforged in to bauldarns heir. I could do a better job. I could save more people. He abandoned me. Why should I save him? If he breaks his pact this is also fed into by the fact it puts him at very active threat from mizora. It's not that prevelant. Wyll is wyll he's not that susceptible to corruption but a little bit of doubt, coaxed on by the Emperor is all he needs.

Then the lower city.

Make sure you have to get minsc before continuing his quest line. Have wyll have a reaction to the Emperor 's distrust of minsc. These are two of his childhood hero's fighting. Play that up for some drama.

Then saving ulder becomes the thing that either makes him the blade of avernus or the grand duke. He can either choose to not save his father, take on the title of grand duke and rule the city following in baulderans footsteps or, he can kill mizora and swear his life to killing demons as a the blade of avernus. . Later becoming a ranger just like minsc. Even give minsc a few lines giving him a pep talk about it. Maybe even having him explain that wyll need to be his own kind of hero taking the infulances he has from the past and learning from them to become a better one. If the pact stays he just remains the blade of the frontiers if he saves ulder but can become grand duke if he doesnt.

Then, have ulder apologise and then reconcile. Have wyll learn to actually recognise his father as a flawed man who hurt him but who is also complex. Maybe even have an option for if he chooses to fully reconnect their relationship or not.

The bones of a really really really good story are here. Please, for the love of God, larian actually tell it.

[3416]

girl you okay? 😭

absolutely fucking not klfjsdklfjsdkl. look at these gifs and tell me you are

[ameliaenya404]

I'm working.

[virikako]