#not like i literally even have the time to dump into a massive game like that but i waaaant to. i kinda want to

[seventh-district]

so was anyone gonna tell me that Neil Newbon is the VA for Astarion or was i gonna have to find that out myself when he suddenly started uploading his playthrough of the game on YT

[lcriedlastnight]

Lando calling reader his wife even though they’ve only been together for about a year

oh my god yes anon i love this idea!

tw: fem!reader, swears maybe, she's on the shorter side! lmk if you want me to add anything.

w/c: 944

lando was the perfect boyfriend. he was everything you had ever wanted in a partner. you liked to think he was literally made for you. how can someone be so perfect for you and not be? it was not possible.

you loved pet names and he loved calling you them. you loved touching him in anyway you could and he loved touching you ten times more. you loved doing things for him to show him just how much and how deeply you cared for and loved him and he loved sitting back and letting you help him destress from a busy race weekend. when you needed space? he would just go away to race for the weekend and let you realise that you could barely function without him and his love.

you had been out shopping with some of your friends for one of their birthdays. it had been nice catching up with them but your separation issues from your boyfriend had ended up kicking in and you could not wait to get home. you were itching to just sit on his lap and have him explain the plot of some dumb film that he had put on while waiting for you to come home.

when you trod back into lando's place, slipping off your shoes and leaving them by the door, the first thing you hear is lando's infectious laugh booming from his streaming room. it makes you smile as soon as you hear it even though it makes you realise you probably will not be able to sit with him for at least another hour, at least. your hands are still holding onto your shopping bags as you pass by his room as quietly as you possibly can, so as not to disturb him and his friends. you dump the bags in your bedroom and plan to head back into the living room to watch some tv and relax.

lando hears you this time and calls out for you, the door is creaked open a touch as you prepare yourself to be seen by millions of lando's fans. as you enter the room you hear one of the guys lando was streaming with (you were almost positive it was ginge) ask lando something you could not make out. lando's response almost kills you off though, his fans too.

"nah, the wife is just back home from shopping so i'll be finishing this game then hopping off." if you were holding anything it would have just fallen and shattered to the ground. you hoped your expression was hidden from his camera. you clear your throat and lando spins around mid-game to greet you. he slides his gaming headphones down to rest on his neck and reaches back to mute the stream but not before he mutters out in the warmest voice he can muster, a "hiya, honey."

you smile down at him as he shuffles his chair closer to you then sticks hims arms out like a child, practically begging for a hug from you. your mind is still stuck on the wife thing but you fall into his arms willingly anyway.

you straddle him on the big gaming chair, the tops of your heads at the only things that can be seen on the camera. lando presses a few kisses into your hair as he holds you close.

"missed you while you were gone." lando speaks into your hair, it makes you laugh.

"i was gone for three hours."

"ugh, don't remind me! i almost died from bordem." lando groans, head falling back against the soft material of the chair. you just laugh into his neck, nose brushing his throat softly.

"drama queen." you roll your eyes.

lando looks down at you with the biggest heart eyes you have ever seen and you feel your heart melt into a massive puddle in your ribcage, you feel it drip down to settle into your stomach.

"so i'm your wife then, huh?" you ask with a smile and a teasing tone. you feel lando tense up a little but he relaxes as soon as he feels your smile against his skin. his hand comes to splay out across your back to keep you supported. then he is smiling as he explains himself.

"guess i'm just so used to called you my wife when i'm with my friends that i accidentally did it on stream. sorry honey, didn't mean to embarrass you." lando says, almost shyly. his eyes peer down at yours to see your reaction.

"you call me your wife to your friends?" you smile back at him, hand coming up to run through his messy curls. the other resting on the side of his neck.

lando grins a stupid big smile at you as your hand rakes through his hair. "well you're gonna be one of these days right? might as well get the practise in. don't wanna slip up and call my wife my girlfriend now do i?" he is cheeky in his words and tone but you let him off. even though his logic makes no sense. you know it makes sense to lando so you let that go too.

"okay, sure. whatever you say husband." you did not think lando's smile could get any bigger. you were so wrong. he laughs and holds you close. little did either of you know that lando had missed the mute button and around three thousand of lando’s fans, plus all his friends had heard you both. lando would find out once he went back on his phone the next day, spending the rest of the evening and then the night with his girlfriend (wife).

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for letting my dog correct (nip) my niece to prove a point and refusing to punish him?

I own an ex-K9 called Biggles. Biggles is impeccably trained, a total gentleman when you're not being an asshole to him, but also has no time for your bullshit. He'll tolerate a lot more hassle from the younger kids in our family, but if they're allowed to persist in bullying him, he will correct them, just like he would the adults of the family.

Mostly Biggles will just push them over and walk away. Its his way of saying to leave him alone. Sometimes he'll bark loudly, a kind of 'fuck off now' bark. At the very extreme, he'll give them a tiny little warning nip on the arm or hand.

(Biggles has only ever nip corrected kids twice in all the years I've had him. Once when my cousin thought it was 'cute' to dump her toddler right on top of Biggles and let him rip at his fur and try to bite at his face, and once when my nephew was having a tantrum, Biggles tried to snuggle up to him to soothe him and my nephew hit him in the face.)

I firmly believe in learning how your pet communicates and respecting their reasonable boundaries. To me, if you're yanking on a dog's tail and ignoring everyone warning you to stop and you get a nip to the back of the hand for it, that's a valid consequence of your actions and you've just learned to respect the dog enough not to try pulling its tail out of its spine.

(This likely seems unfathomable to a lot of you, but I must clarify that Biggles isn't some hyper-reactive aggressive, dangerous dog like my sister thinks. He will more than happily play around with the little ones, faux wrestle with them, let them paw all over him and fuss at him, ect. He loves children, they're his babies. He does not love being in pain, and if the person causing it will not respect him or me enough to listen to my warnings, I believe they earn it when he warns them too.)

Anyway. Like you might've guessed, yanking on his tail was what my niece was doing at the beer-and-barbeque this weekend. I told her not to. My parents told her not to. Even my sister half-assedly suggested 'maybe Biggles wants to play a different game.' Biggles got up and moved away from her twice and she followed him both times to 'keep playing.'

My entire family knows how Biggles works. I warned my sister Biggles wouldn't tolerate what was happening. My sister told me I shouldn't own such a dangerous, unpredictable dog and he should be put down if he can't handle some 'rough love from a kid.'

(This was not rough love. This was my niece literally ripping at his tail thinking his pain responses were funny.)

I didn't want to cause a scene or subject Biggles to further harassment so I decided just once I'd cave and take Biggles inside so he could get some peace and I could enjoy my burnt ends without my sister squealing in my ear about being cruel to her child by telling her off.

Unfortunately, Biggles' patience ran out before I could make my way over. My niece yanked at his tail again, hard enough that it actually jolted him on the grass, and Biggles whipped around and nipped at her hand. I got to see her hand afterward and there was just a little red mark, no blood or broken skin. He'd just pinched her a little.

My niece screamed bloody murder like he'd taken her hand off and my sister screamed bloody murder about my 'vicious animal.' It devolved into a massive family-wide argument against my sister because my entire family knows its just basic respect and kindness not to cause an animal pain deliberately, and that its my sister's fault for not listening to anyone when we all told her and my niece not to hurt Biggles.

My sister stormed off and has since been blowing up the entire family demanding that Biggles be put down. She's threatened to call the cops, animal control, you name it. None of us are worried about that. There wasn't even a proper mark left on her hand and Biggles will pass any behavioral test with flying colors, but my sister is giving everyone grief and is refusing to attend any family events if Biggles will be there.

My dad is firmly on my side, but my mom is imploring me to just fake apologise to get some peace back. When I recounted the story to my colleague this morning, he said she got what she earned, but also why would I bring Biggles to an event I knew a disrespectful little shit of a kid was at?

I don't feel like an asshole in terms of allowing my dog to establish his boundaries. In my and my family's opinion pets are their own entities and should be treated with belonging and respect when part of a family. Its also just common sense not to cause an animal pain for the fun of it.

However, I'm also very aware that getting nipped by a dog, especially at such a young age, can be catastrophic. My niece could be terrified of dogs for the rest of her life, and while I don't feel guilty she got corrected, I do feel somewhat guilty that I didn't intervene sooner and have possibly set her up for failure in the future. And I do feel like an asshole for letting it get to that point, but it did all happen pretty quickly.

All things considered I do love my niece, she's family, she just gets away with murder because my sister thinks being a little girl is an automatic pass to do whatever you want without consequence.

I've probably painted Biggles out in a real bad light here, but I can assure you that in general Biggles is the perfect family dog. He's loving, playful, he tries to share his kibble with everyone at dinner, he helped us teach my uncle's puppy tricks and how to behave and potty outside ect.

So I guess I'm really asking am I the asshole in this situation, as the one responsible for Biggles?

What are these acronyms?

[t0ast-ghost]

Season 3! Episode 1! (Spock’s Brain)! Time to watch a guy lose his mind. Literally:

- Scotty’s got a new hair cut.

- I like her purple outfit (10/10 would wear myself, that and those boots)

- Nap time on the bridge, turn off the lights

- He’s eepy (don’t take his brain!)

- sleepy

- Diagnoses you with “brain is gone”

- The camp of this episode is camping

- “Then we’ll have to take him with us.” “Take- take him where?” “In search of his brain, Doctor.” Do they realize how bizarre this is?

- I’d say there should be a game where you take a shot every time they say ‘Spock’s brain’ in this episode but that would be irresponsible

- Kirk is having a lot of interaction with the bridge crew this episode

- Uhura asking the right questions

- “If I guess wrong Mr Spock is dead. Spock will die.” He cares and is scared

- “Life form readings, Mr Spock- Mr Scott.” Damn

- “The givers of pain… and delight.” Cool song title

- This is unsettling. Like worse than most horror movies. Imagine controlling your friends body with a remote because they don’t have any brain

- They didn’t give McCoy any warning about the trap activating

- Heating up rocks with phasers

- I love how Spock is still saying fascinating even just as a brain

- When Kirk can hear Spock’s voice again he goes up to his body so he can pretend to talk to him normally

- “Captain, there is a definite pleasurable experience connected with the hearing of your voice.”

- Sleep

- Sleepy

- Once again they gave Kirk period pain

- Sulu on the bridge

- “I think science provides us with an answer.” “It does, captain.” “Agreed, Doctor.” *all three proceed to kick the shit out of you.*

- They’re all violent and feral in this episode

- McCoy’s boots fly up

- Those buttons to control Spock are so specific, I can barely turn on a light switch if there’s more than three buttons

- McCoy is so ready to potentially die to save Spock

- Massive Migraine McCoy

- James “I’d die before I break the prime directive” Kirk breaking the prime directive

- THE OVERLAYING OF FACES AND MCCOY SWEATING WHILE KIRK NARRATES. IM DEAD. WHO DID THIS.

- This is fucked up. What the fuck is happening

- *wakes up from brain surgery and starts info dumping*

- “I should have never reconnected his mouth.” You love him and you missed him. Admit it. Awww the laugh he lets out as Spock just continues

This was… an experience…

Masterposty

Episode written by Lee Cronin

[yuri-is-online]

omg... we talk about yuu here?? we love yuu here???

I could talk about yuu forever, they're infinitely more interesting than any of the boys to me (not sorry). I know for a lot of people yuu is just kind of their pawn for this epic fantasy world and they don't even think about the ramifications, but me personally I would descend into insanity if I got isekai'd into magical teenage boy hell. deep down I know this freak is traumatized to the nines and likely severely depressed.

one of the most important things about yuu's character is that they feel helpless. they can't perform magic in a world that's almost completely reliant on it, for one. as you've pointed out, they have no true autonomy. they have no government documentation, no family, nowhere to go, hell, they're not even a full student. they have no real hope of going home, and most of the nrc boys don't even seem to particularly care about that (if anything, I assume a lot of them would selfishly want yuu to stay, regardless of yuu's own wishes). the rules of this world are still unclear to them, and people don't really seem to acknowledge that.

can you imagine how lonely that existence would be? sure, people like yuu. they have friends. but as you've pointed out, no one (with the exception of adeuce, maybe) really seems to care about how things effect them specifically. yuu is manipulated, exploited, physically hurt and almost killed like, a bunch of times, bullied, harassed, and on top of everything, completely helpless to it. despite having friends who supposedly care about them, no one really seems to think about yuu's feelings on magic and the multiple life-threatening incidents they've experienced in their short time at nrc. as someone who has ptsd, I can't imagine that yuu would walk out of all that completely mentally unscathed.

as you've pointed out before, yuu is treated like any other student. their experiences and circumstances are never really taken into consideration, and they're expected to just... go along with things like everyone else. sure, equality is nice, but that doesn't really help yuu's case. yes, realistically, yuu is not totally helpless but good lord someone needs to help them out. someone needs to empathize with them, and defend them, and at least try a little to help them navigate this terrifying reality they've been expected to... just adjust to with no help. with their lack of autonomy, they're pretty much at the complete mercy of the people around them. yuu is lonely and I stand by that.

and on top of all of this, they have a massive amount of responsibility dumped on them constantly. yuu is a sort of mediator. they solve problems, usually ones that other people create, and never really by their own will. they arguably live in pretty shitty conditions and have no way of making money. they have to not only babysit grim (bless him tho), but also literally everyone else, while also trying to keep their own shit together. I mean, they're still technically a student. and a mini-housewarden. and crowley's errand runner. and they just got here a few months ago. psh.

yuu feels helpless, but they aren't treated as such, and so no one really extends a helping hand without ulterior motives. as much as ace and deuce want to help, they're also teenage boys and have their own tiny worlds to attend to. while people can be nice, no one seems to really want to understand, or care, about yuu's mental health.

anyway. I love the boys but in my heart I know that my yuu wouldn't be able to handle all that. me irl already deals with feelings of loneliness and crushing responsibility and misunderstanding and helplessness. twst is not a choose your own adventure type game and the tiny choices yuu gets to make don't really affect the story (which is oddly symbolic).

but like, listen. if I was zapped to another universe where I'm completely alone at a school full of teenage boys, most of which who couldn't care less if I lived or died, and one day I was sent on a trip to a city that painfully reminded me of home and some catholic-coded freak started being really considerate and empathetic to me for no other reason besides just liking me and genuinely being appalled at my circumstances, I would help him destroy magic. idc. I wouldn't even think twice about it. I stand by the idea that rollo feels some kind of affection for yuu. this would affect all of the diasomnia book because I would literally not want to leave and they'd have to drag me out of fleur city screaming and crying and clawing at the floor. poor malleus would be crushed.

anyway. haven't caught up to diasomnia yet so I may be way off. feel free to answer this or not! sorry for my weird english byebye!! love your posts

Yes we talk about Yuu here! They're the goat and I am so sorry I took forever to respond to your ask! Your English is wonderful you just had so much to say I had to really think on it σ(￣、￣=)

>deep down I know this freak is traumatized to the nines and likely severely depressed.

I think this is a very reasonable assumption to make about Yuu. While how well they take being isekaid to "magical teenage boy hell" (that's such a funny way to put it) is something up to each player's interpretation I like to write Yuu as being prone to bouts of longing for their own world, if for nothing else than wanting to feel something familiar to them. Which you point out in the rest of your ask!

I think one of the reasons people loved Rollo so much is that he was finally someone who acknowledged all those little things about Yuu's situation that we wanted to see talked about. He is someone we can realistically sympathizing with Yuu's situation and would treat them with a degree of care the other boys might not notice they needed. I have... played around with some AU stuff for him in my spare time and the conclusion I have come to is that I think he would try to avoid asking for Yuu to help him in his plan to destroy magic. He wouldn't want them to be implicated, and his plan is a sort of personal penance for his inability to save his brother. The idea that someone would want to help him, let alone someone as perfect as Yuu, isn't really something that would cross his mind. Besides, I don't think he would trust Yuu to help him immediately, he doesn't know them all that well at the start of GloMas.

Mental health tends not to be something focused on in isekai stories. I do think that our limited choices (i agree it is fittingly symbolic) have shown a Yuu who is slowly starting to feel the lack of control they have over their situation and are starting to feel stress over it. Ace says that he wants Yuu to be able to go home, as does Deuce, but I do think they both would be equally as happy if Yuu got to stay. They enjoy their friendship and love them a lot, if the story happened in more of a vacuum I could see both Ace and Deuce picking up on Yuu needing the extra support, but with how many things have happened over our school year they haven't had much time to sit and think to themselves about... much of anything really. But that doesn't exclude Yuu from feelings of loneliness or isolation; some of the most painful types of both is when you are surrounded to people and yet still feel unable to scream.

As for Malleus... well these aren't Diasomnia spoilers but if I understand his platinum jacket card correctly he can't stand seeing other people be happy when he isn't so. If Yuu were genuinely happy in Fleur City and he was left alone... oh he'd be so unhappy about that he would be beyond crushed.

[alicelufenia]

Conquest and Dominion: A Minthara Build

"Once I have had my vengeance and the Absolute is ours to control, people will pledge an oath to our cause. Conquest, and dominion." —Minthara

I'm back in on bg3 after a break, which means even more mods to play with and delay finishing act 2 enhance my game experience! And since my current Dark Urge is the sort who would totally become the Absolute if not for *vaguely waves hands at character growth from interacting with every other companion*, but since as of act 2 she still thinks it's a good idea, and a duo run of her and Minthara would have that as their end game no question, I figured now is the time for Minthara to take up the Oath of Conquest that is her true calling.

Mods

This build uses just a few mods, MOST of which are available on console, so I'll detail the 100% console-friendly version first. You only need three mods (plus obvious prereqs like ImpUI):

Oath of Conquest Tasha's Feats Mystra's Spells

Technically you could get away with JUST Conquest, but I like the versatility that the other two provide. The addition of several quality "half-feats" that give a +1 ability score means we can do a two-feat multiclass and still can afford to take something other than the mandatory two ASIs.

Onto the build!

Multiclasses

⚔️Conquest⚔️ Paladin / 🧠Great Old One🧠 Warlock (Blade Pact)

That's right we're going lockadin! While any patron could work for gameplay purposes, Great Old One is mandatory for lore reasons. It's literally her lingering connection to the Absolute, the Dominion in the title. Why is she able to have the Absolute as a patron when it's the game's main antagonist? Welllll [REDACTING MASSIVE ACT 3 SPOILERS] suffice to say, it works. Feel free to make use of ALL the Illithid powers on this build too.

Ability Scores

STR: 12* DEX: 14 CON:14 (13+1) INT: 8 WIS: 10 CHA: 17 (15+2)

While we are a bladelock, getting Charisma all the way to 20 isn't strictly mandatory for this build, but certainly an option we'll explore when we get to feats. Minthara is forever cursed to have an 8 Intelligence, sorry I don't make the rules.

*We won't be attacking with Strength, but since we start as Paladin we can grab Athletics and have a semi-decent score to push enemies, and makes us more resistant to being pushed if you go with gear that doesn't prevent movement. If you prefer to dump Strength entirely, you can then bump Constitution to 16, which is what I'd recommend if you're optimizing.

Skills: You'll want to take Intimidation (it's Minthara after all). If you're not taking Athletics, Religion is an appropriate alternative. Otherwise pick what you want, you won't be making lots of skill checks.

Levels 1-2

Paladin 1: Oath of Conquest

We get a really nice violet-themed subclass with this mod, as well as a fantastic level 1 channel oath action in Chosen Adversary. For a bonus action and our channel oath charge, you gain advantage on attack rolls against the target you mark with this ability, and force a Wisdom save when you hit them to make them Frightened. It's just until the end of their next turn, or they take damage again, so it's not the most reliable source of Frightened, but will serve us well until we can get the later features.

Paladin 2: Divine Smite, Spellcasting, Fighting Style

We want to get smites online as early as possible, which is why I recommend taking the 2nd Paladin level before getting into Warlock. You can pick your favorite when it comes to fighting style. I prefer Defense as an always useful option that doesn't care about my current gear. You can be more flexible with your spell preparation since we can actually hit with our spell save DC (we'll get to that) so I'd highly recommend Command and Wrathful Smite, along with old standbys like Bless and Shield of Faith for concentration options.

Levels 3-7

Warlock 1: Great Old One Patron

Right away we're getting the goodies. Mortal Reminder pairs beautifully with our Paladin oath, which loves the Frightened condition, and Minthara, who loves critical hits. Since we are definitely using Illithid powers, Luck of the Far Realms is a guaranteed crit we can use every day, plus our ability to get advantage easily means higher odds for critical rolls.

Our cantrip selection is interesting. It's hard to justify not taking Eldritch Blast to compensate for our lack of a ranged option, however Mystra's Spells means we now have the blade cantrips as options. Both Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade have their uses; to lock down enemies near you (where we want them) or hit adjacent targets before we get Extra Attack. Regardless of what you choose, I highly recommend picking up Mind Sliver either here or at Warlock 4. That -1d4 to saving throws is going to come in handy (unless you use a broken gear option later)

For spells, Armor of Agathys serves us well, but I'd recommend holding off for now as we'll be getting it later. Dissonant Whispers scales nicely with our Warlock spell slots and is a source of Frightened. I'd also suggest picking up Hex, as it's still useful early on, but we'll be replacing it eventually.

Warlock 2: Eldritch Invocations

The usual picks of Agonizing Blast and Devil Sight work great. If you don't plan to exploit Darkness, I'd go with Repelling Blast as a non-Strength based pushing option. For Spells, I like Magnify Gravity as an area speed reduction.

Warlock 3: Pact Boon

Pact of the Blade at last! Our spell selection depends on our general strategy. Minthara gets a once per day cast of Darkness at this level, but if you are heavily using that strategy you can pick it up here. The problem is it feels real bad to use a Warlock spell slot on Darkness. A better choice would be something like Misty Step (which we no longer get from our oath)

Warlock 4: Feat

This is where the Tasha's mod comes into play. We want to pick a half-feat to take care of that odd Charisma score. In my own game I picked Performer because I wanted Minthara to be able to play an instrument alongside my durge, but you can pick a not-terrible feat instead!

Any of them can work: Actor if you want her to be a face, Fey-Touched or Shadow-Touched for the free spells (Fey is an alternate way to get Misty Step, and I like Shadow for Invisibility, as a nod to her time in the Underdark and a way around having heavy armor), Telekinetic grants yet another way to push without Athletics, and Telepathic is just fully in character.

For our spell I really like Cloud of Daggers for the no-save damage, and can make it really suck for our enemies to be stuck near us (just mind you don't catch yourself in the spell when you cast it!)

Warlock 5: Eldritch Invocation, Deepened Pact

Right on time for level 7 when most parties get Minthara, we have our extra attack now! We can pick Sign of Ill Omen to get Bestow Curse, and for our spell we select Fear. Congrats, you have the 9th level Conquest spells 2 levels early! Especially nice as we won't be getting to 9th level Paladin with this build.

We are also opting to replace Hex (you're definitely not using it by now) and picking the direct upgrade Spirit Shroud. Having a choice of adding 1d8 radiant, necrotic, or cold damage is especially nice when we utilize weapon actions like Cleave. Don't forget, the wet condition doubles cold damage!

Levels 8-12

Paladin 3: Conquering Presence, Guided Strike

A big level for us, we get Guided Strike, which is nice to have I guess, but most importantly Conquering Presence to inflict Frightened to every enemy in a massive area around us. While the Fear spell inflicts the much stronger Fearful condition, this has the advantage of not being a cone, and using a channel oath charge instead of one of our precious spell slots that could be used for smiting. Between Conquering Presence and your Warlock slots both coming back on a short rest, this makes Minthara MUCH less likely to run out of steam in a long adventuring day.

We also get Command and Armor of Agathys as oath spells, which both serve our purposes well.

Paladin 4: Feat

We now have a choice: max out our Charisma score, or get a general feat. Personally, I vastly prefer to pick up a feat here; we have so many ways to gain advantage that we're not hurting on accuracy, and getting our spells to land will not be a problem right around this point in Act 2 (you can probably guess, but we'll cover it in depth in the gear section).

Great Weapon Master is always nice, but again, since I'm building to be mostly weapon-agnostic, I think nothing beats Savage Attacker right now. We have so many bonus dice we can stack on each attack, this is going to raise our damage much more I feel, and still let us use a shield.

Paladin 5: Extra Attack

If you're on Tactician or below, the extra attack we get from Paladin and Warlock's deepened pact both stack. Meaning we now are doing 3 attacks a round, 1 level earlier than a Fighter! Since these don't stack on Honor Mode it's obviously less effective there. As I've never actually completed an Honor Mode run I don't feel confident making an Honor Mode-friendly version of this build.

We also are happy for more oath spells, and pick up Hold Person and Spiritual Weapon, which we LOVE to see! It's never worth it to upcast Spiritual Weapon, as it serves more to have a body to draw aggro and occasionally deal bonus damage. We're a bit late in getting Hold Person, but level 10 is around the time we start seeing more humanoids after the endless wave of undead in act 2, so now is a good time to get it anyway.

Paladin 6: Aura of Protection

An already amazing feature is made even better by our higher than usual Charisma! +4 to all saving throws is WILD, making it much less likely we drop concentration on our nasty, nasty Fears.

Paladin 7: Aura of Conquest

The perfect capstone to our build. All the fear mongering pays off, as now every Frightened enemy within our aura will have its movement reduced to zero, AND frightened enemies take half our Paladin level in psychic damage whenever they start their turn in the aura. Which they will. Because they can't move and we can.

But wait Kaylin! You think. Doesn't the Frightened condition already make a creature unable to move? What's the point of reducing its speed to zero?

An excellent question! First, there are actually several conditions that the game considers part of the "Frightened" status group, which includes both the Frightened and Fearful conditions. Very confusing, I know, but it means all the guys you just made drop their weapons can't even escape you.

In addition, while it's true the Frightened condition makes a character unable to move, their movement speed is unaffected. With zero movement, this means anyone who is affected by this aura and is knocked prone cannot stand up. This is the sort of trick a maiming Barbarian gets to play with, and so can we now with Thunderous Smite.

Gear

And now we need to talk about the hollyphant in the room, the obvious gear combo that takes this from strong to potentially game ruiningly broken.

Helmet of Arcane Acuity + Band of the Mystic Scoundrel

These two items are the reason why we didn't cap Charisma, and why we don't need to take any spell save DC gear. The Helmet of Arcane Acuity is available right away in act 2, and grants you 2 turns of Arcane Acuity every time you deal damage with a weapon attack. So right at level 7 Minthara can put this on immediately upon joining the team, hit an enemy twice, and you now have a +4 to all your spell save DCs. Use Chosen Adversary with your bonus action, and whatever target you choose is almost guaranteed to fail their wisdom save, and will immediately be Frightened. Next turn you Acuity drops to +3, but you hit a guy two more times, now you have +7. Drink a speed potion, and use any spell you want (like an upcasted Command) and make 3 enemies of your choice do whatever you want because your save DCs are now astronomical. This bonus caps out at +10.

Remember what I said about Frightened and Prone enemies in your conquest aura being unable to stand up? Yeah, you can upcast Command and make all of them grovel, and take them out of the fight until their Frightened shakes.

Which won't happen because your ridiculously boosted spell save DCs apply to their rolls to shake off Frightened. So unless they're immune to fear they are just out of the fight.

But don't worry, we're not done! You can get the Band of the Mystic Scoundrel as soon as you enter act 3. For the low cost of hitting a creature with a weapon attack, you can cast any Illusion or Enchantment spell with a bonus action. What spells do we have that qualify? I dunno how about Command, Dissonant Whispers, Hold Person, frickin' Fear??

Yes please I'd love to cast Fear as a bonus action with my +10 spell save DC. Now five Baneites just dropped their weapons, and they're stuck where they are unable to do anything for the rest of the combat.

So yeah, these two items are like, so game breakingly busted they actually make the game boring and unfun.

In MY opinion. As with all things, your mileage will vary. I can't say I blame you if you want to see Minthara Crit Smite one fucker, Hold Person on two more, then use her two remaining attacks to ALSO Crit Smite those two fuckers. So if you like, go for it!

The alternate: One little cantrip

If you prefer not to use the incredibly broken Arcane Acuity + Mystic Scoundrel combo, there is a more balanced alternative, and that is to take the Mind Sliver cantrip. Giving one enemy a -1d4 to saving throws isn't much in comparison, but with the Mystic Scoundrel ring it's still just a bonus action, and applies to any saving throw that target makes until the end of your next turn, which could help your companions immensely.

Aside from these two, I can just run through a few gearing recommendations quickly. You'll want the best Heavy Armor you can find (+2 Plate with a shield gives 23 AC, not a bad choice considering you want to be surrounded by as many enemies as possible), a bonus to crit chance like The Dead Shot or even using Knife of the Undermountain King as your main hand, Surgeon's Subjugation Amulet to turn crits into boss killers by paralyzing them for follow up crit smites, and The Killer's Sweetheart pairs with the Mystic Scoundrel ring to round out your accessories.

Conclusion

In case you couldn't tell, I really really Really like this oath! It walks this line where the paladin can be heroic or villainous even better than the vengeance oath, and since it lends itself to spellcasting more than other oaths, it pairs nicely with a full caster. If it weren't for the fact we never get 4th level spell slots, I'd call it a top tier paladin multiclass. And while I recognize why Minthara is vengeance oath by default, it doesn't take much prodding to see how she'd fit better as a conquest paladin. Just look at the oath tenets:

Does this all not sound exactly like how she talks about her plans of conquering and retaking her House, her plans to march on the Sword Coast, even her method of seizing and gathering power in her "stay in Baldur's Gate" ending? For one who has not just renounced Lolth, but pledges to wage war on the Spider Queen and her followers, it feels exceedingly fitting.

It also works for the various evil endings. Should the mc take over the Absolute, this build is primed and ready to slip into power at their side. On the other hand, if the Absolute is destroyed in the end, it is not the end of her ambitions. While I think she'd lose the Warlock levels, no longer having a tadpole or any Illithid powers, I think she'd compensate by becoming a pure Conquest Paladin, and advance to the higher levels beyond the scope of the game.

Alternate Builds

Before I close this post out though, I want to confess that, while the above build is servicable, I personally have gone with something a little different. And it centers around one last mod I didn't mention, one that is (currently) unavailable to console, but I think well worth exploring anyway, especially if it ever does reach console:

Pactbound - A Warlock Overhaul

THIS Warlock variant reworks Warlock from the ground up, using a lot of the new rules introduced in the 2024 player's handbook for 5e. Among those, it expands on Invocations, makes the various Pact Boons Invocations you can take as early as level 1, and moves the patron subclasses to level 3, to match other 2024 phb classes, albeit with a few houserule variants to match the sort of gameplay changes Larian applied to other classes and subclasses in the move from tabletop to video game. This lets us explore some unusual builds, such as:

Conquest Paladin 11 / Blade Pact Warlock 1

With Pact of the Blade obtainable at level 1, we can forgo further levels in warlock altogether, sans subclass, and go the rest of the way in paladin. This is literally Hexadin but better, sacrificing the Hexblade level 1 features for a more useful way to use Charisma for our weapon. This still gets us heavy hitters like the Fear spell, as well as Aura of Courage (it is fitting that the master of fear on the battlefield is fearless herself, as are her allies), and also gets us that delicious Improved Divine Smite. We're a bit weaker on the ranged side, but make up for it by being more durable, harder to debilitate, and just as hard hitting.

More Invocation Options

What I wound up going for in my game is a direct variant on our main build, going 7 Paladin and 5 Warlock, but taking advantage of the new and improved Invocations imported from the 2024 phb. A quick rundown of my favorites: Eldritch Mind (level 2+) - Grants advantage on Constitution saves. Exactly what we want with all our powerful concentration spells, especially as we'll be taking a lot of hits. Otherworldly Leap (level 2+) - Can cast Enhanced Leap and Feather Fall. As they're rituals, no spell slots required. Some handy utility spells we were lacking, and improves our mobility which we are lacking as always, as a paladin. Eldritch Smite (level 5+) - My personal favorite. Once per turn, add 1d8+1d8 per slot level in force damage to hits with our pact weapon, with a chance to knock the target prone. We looove prone, and this is a more effective way to use it, and with the least resisted damage type too! It can also stack with Divine Smite, at least on our first attack in a turn. One With Shadows (level 5+) - The mod lets us select two Invocations at level 5 unlike tabletop, where the extra attack is an Invocation tax, so I picked this up to give Minthy Invisiblity in lieu of taking the Shadow-Touched feat.

Other features from the reworked warlock class:

Magical Cunning - A small bonus, it lets us restore half our warlock spell slots once per long rest. Since they come back on a short rest this is "nice to have" but not vital in any way. Psychic Overflow - Great Old One's level 3 feature in lieu of Mortal Reminder. While we miss the frighten on a crit, this is more reliable, causing a psionic explosion around us, dealing half our warlock level in psychic damage to enemies within 6 meters, when we use a level 1 or higher Enchantment or Illusion spell. Y'know those things we can cast as bonus actions in act 3? Yeah, they just got arguably better.

And that concludes this build post! I'll close with some optional mods you might consider, some obvious recommends, others you may not expect.

Optional Mods

Adjustable Party Limit

Easily the best thing mods have enabled for all platforms. Just take everyone with you! I prefer a 6-character party to prevent things getting too crowded. And if you feel the game got too easy there's:

Tactician Enhanced

As of this writing not currently on console, but it's just come out of beta, so hopefully won't be long before console players can get it too. Can be set to automatically scale enemies based on the current party size. Like the author's other mod, is incredibly well documented in game, intuitive to use, super customizable, and basically idiot proof (only requirement is reading!)

Lighter Half Illithid/Normal Half Illithid

We'll be using advanced illithid powers, so if you don't care for how partial ceremorphosis changes Minthara's appearance (the loss of her beautiful red eyes is the most tragic part) these mods will help. The first one doesn't remove the effect entirely, but does tone it down by 50% and restore the character's eyes (teeth are still a problem). If that's not working for you or you're on console, Normal Half Illithid simply removes the effect entirely.

Cheater's Ring/Cheater's Spell Scroll

Because I DON'T have the time to worry about leveling my characters all the way to 12 when I just want to do the bits I'm interested in. I'm too tired, too depressed and too old for a "do everything" run these days lmao

[obstinaterixatrix]

ok got to the end of the metaphor demo. it took like 10 hours. the thing is I love jrpgs so I’ll probably get the game for whatever black friday sale happens but I hate jrpgs so I’ll complain the whole time.

love the hieronynus bosch designs, intrigued by the inevitable metanarrative elements, and I do like that the protagonist is voiced and has a follow-up to whatever dialogue option you go for (feels more meaningful than the ‘yes/okay/sure’ choices you get in persona sometimes). I actually like where they’re going with in terms of ‘a hero without followers is a renegade that’s doomed to obscurity, in order to be a hero you need to connect with people and rely on their support’—sets up a good foil to louis and his… popularity/mass murder

the music doesn’t really hit (very high fantasy, might grow on me—apparently they’re using esperanto which is interesting), it’s definitely a LOT of telling over showing in the beginning with the ‘my village…! no I shan’t say. ok now it’s time to talk about my village…!’ and the ‘as you know we’ve been soooo close for at minimum 12 years and I am your best friend’ (which will inevitably even out after the prologue I’m sure), the lore-dump and ten billion words they throw around is always a little tedious at first (it’s so. greebly deebly.) and I hate monarchy. show me a king I’ll show you an axe. the thing is though, I tend to be :/ about monarchy narratives because there’s a lot of emphasis on lineage over. political competence. and with the hero/followers/king competition, this haaaas sort of turned into… well… kind of a democracy because it’s a popularity contest with literally everyone as a possible king and whoever’s got the most supporters from the citizens is going to be king, and also kind of not because one of the leading candidates is doing terrorism and has blown up the church and is killing a bunch of people and saying ‘make me your king or die’ and I feel like threat of violence and more mass murder should exclude him from king candidacy. anyway I took a bunch of pics and forgot to post em while playing

I always love the lowest stats, protag gets dragged so hard. his ass is CRAVEN, NAIVE, INFLEXIBLE, TONGUE-TIED, and VAPID

XIANXIA REAL… they actually let you do this in the city and all the peripheral gossip becomes all about how you’re an inconsiderate stupid show-off who everybody hates for reasons beyond mega-racism

when more was saying this I’m p sure I took a pic bc I was thinking WOAH…! BONDS OF PEOPLE IS THE TRUE POWER…. JUST LIKE P4

you have to go to the hushed honeybee inn & this dialogue option was my favorite one of the game. it stuck in my head so much I had a nightmare about trying to inch my body towards a massive swarm of bees so they’d fight the ants that were crawling all over me.

the protagonist is the most minority of the 9 tribes and thus gets mega fantasy racism directed at him instead of normal fantasy racism. I thought it was really funny that a pretty sour guy tries to be mean to you, double-takes, & then goes like. woah. you have it way worse than me, sorry about all the mega-racism, good luck

���rich and poor’ hang on. hang on. that is not equal. that is inherently unequal.

I love that hulkenburg goes like. so you’re gonna murder this guy? cool. let’s murder him. together. also gallica has a point

the game over screen is really funny

[shima-draws]

You blogging about One Piece Treasure Cruise is really making me want to play it…is it fun? Do you recommend? :D

FROTHING AT THE MOUTH UMMM HI YES you should get OPTC and play it it’s SO much fun. I’ve only been playing for about a month (?) or so and I’ve been having a TOTAL blast

I know that generally gacha games can be really hit or miss for a lot of people but I will highly recommend OPTC bc of the MASSIVE amounts of freebies they give out. I’ve played lots of different gacha games over the years and I’ve never seen a game give out as much freebies as OPTC has;; There’s multiple different game modes you can do and they all have different rewards where you can literally just. Choose the character you want. There’s some game modes where you can challenge the same boss over and over and get multiple of the same character to increase their level to the max. They’re stupidly generous with their rewards too like just by leveling up or beating a certain quest or doing a challenge x amount of times they’ll give you a sugo rare (basically a 6 star character, the best units in the game) for free! FOR FREEEEE!!! Also they give tons of unique rewards to rookie players as well so just by getting the game and starting it for the first time they will bury you in Stuff :)

A lot of gacha games are pay to win but honestly you don’t need to spend any money in OPTC to A. Have fun and B. Win harder challenges. It really just depends on how you build your crew and with all the free handouts you’re BOUND to get some really good recruits even at the very start. And if you don’t mind spending a little money they do have achievement packs that unlock whenever you hit a certain level, and the rewards are very generous.

Anyway coughs now that I’m done ranting about how much free shit they’ll give you the actual gameplay is a lot of fun too, like I mentioned there’s lots of different game modes but they generally all revolve around the whole building your crew thing. And a few of these game modes will reset every couple weeks and let you get new characters/rewards so things are always changing and updating! They just had an event to get a free 6 star Bonney and then super evolve her into a 6+ star with her in her Egghead outfit and like.

Bro. That’s so RUDE,,

I will say they do dump a lot on you so it can be really. Confusing and complex lol. I wouldn’t say I know the ins and outs of this game QUITE yet but I have learned a lot of things since I started playing, so if you have any questions feel free to come ask me 🥰

Also the game’s 10 year anniversary is happening (Franky voice) SUPER soon so now is a great time to start playing bc they’re definitely gonna give all the players heaps of rewards ;)

Anyway I’m totally not obsessed with OPTC can’t you tell

[devilheartsblog]

Synthwave (Gantlos x Musa) Massive Info Dump

Before I start shoutout to that one Russian who makes edited pics of these two.

Don’t mind me yapping about these two because I think they’d make a good pairing IF you write them well enough. I can easily see Gantlos being used as a moral scapegoat to make Riven look better in comparison, despite Riven saying his gf changed when that’s literally her special interest and she’s the FAIRY OF MUSIC!

Anyway the ship mostly started as a joke when I found out about Fairies of the Black Circle and brainstormed some interactions for a Season 4 rewrite but the more I thought about it the more I think their dynamic works and my friend @calissarowan agrees with me (and in return they lade me ship Dumantlos)

Enemies to Lovers is actually fire

This is my biggest argument for the ship and that Enemies to Lovers is honestly a dynamic I’ve grown fond of after seeing it being done right in some stories.

The biggest one I can point out is Ace Attorney tho it’s more Rivals to Lovers. Long story short Miles Edgeworth is Phoenix Wright’s rival as the prosecutor in the first game. He ends up being a suspect for the last murder and Phoenix, as the defense, decides to take his case and defend him. Throughout the story we learn about their character and how Edgeworth is the reason why Phoenix became a lawyer, and Edgeworth ultimately redeems himself by bringing down the true culprit of the overarching story built up during each episode/chapter.

Gantlos and Musa are obviously enemies fighting to get Roxy and later on the White Circle. While they don’t have many interactions, you can use your imagination; Musa taunting him while he brushes it off to attack her and maybe banters back in a similar fashion to Anagan, and even shits on Riven for being a bad boyfriend. Now if we tweak Season 4 to make the wizards more useful we get the Winx and wizards banding together to stop the Earth Fairies from getting rid of humanity, and as the story goes Gantlos opens up to Musa and they grow closer, eventually fighting tooth and nail to have eachother’s backs. I know this is fanfiction territory but I don’t like how the threat of genociding humans was brushed off while the wizards’ treason and sending Nabu into a coma was treated like blasphemy (which I mostly blame the writers for killing him off tbh)

Basically the enemies to lovers dynamic opens for a lot of character growth and thus better dynamics for them. Not to mention it being very interesting overall when done right.

But Harper, why would they even like each other?

While I can’t give a direct reason my answer lies within the other characters. It’s well known Riven and Musa are very shitty to each other, with how Musa sets up too many expectations on Riven who’s new to dating, and Riven’s jealousy and insulting his gf’s special talent. The others also push them to be together when we all know where this is going… Anyway, Musa has said before she needs someone to support her but it’s obvious she likes bad boys. Well, if you think about it Gantlos fits her type perfectly. Again he’s stoic and a jerk at times but if you’re someone he’s close to he’ll show you he cares. I mean, his concern over Duman is why people shipped them so I can see him comforting Musa when she’s sad or scarred. And here’s a bonus, the reason she gets back with Riven every time is because he’s brave and strong and able to protect her. Guess who stopped the metro to protect his friend despite it possibly costume both their lives: GANTLOS! She’d be head over heels for him if he was a good guy!

For Gantlos you’ll have to bear with me here. I’ve noticed in the show he’s not respected on the same level as the other wizards: Ogron acknowledging his ideas ONLY after he’s proven wrong, Anagan saying he may have lost his mind and Duman insisting he’s wrong in Episode 16 (god I need to make a rant post about this someday). And since Musa can listen to the song in his heart and empathize with him she’d maybe treat him better and with the respect he wants. Maybe they get closer and he starts to have romantic feelings towards her and wants to stay by her side to protect Musa.

The Dynamic:

I should walk you guys through the dynamic we cooked up tho. Gantlos is obviously the jaded and stoic guy to contrast with Musa’s more “romantic” and snarky vibe. Even if Gantlos is evil he’s shown to have a soft side mainly for the people he cares for. Musa would tease him about having a soft side which he would deny until he caves in. I doubt Gantlos would be a pro at talking about his feelings, stumbling on his words and downplaying it, which doesn’t work on Musa since she can read the song in his heart (remember how that was established in one of the movies?) And with both of them being aloof or giving off that vibe even if they prefer to be alone they can be alone together, like two introverts getting hyped about each other.

Of course I can’t ignore the fact they would also argue and fight, Gantlos calling out Musa’s bad traits while Musa insists he’s not being good and he’s still a villain. It’d be rocky and they’d both be stubborn, but I think Gantlos calling Musa out would open her eyes to the fact she’s also to blame, while Gantlos gets talked by Ogron or Anagan that he was being too harsh on a lady. They talk it out in a healthy manner and no drama is dragged out for about 15 episodes.

Dates/Hobbies ideas (a lot of headcanon territory here)

In terms of dates I think it’d range from fun, to chill, to spicy. I can see them just hanging out by themselves listening to music together in a park or Musa’s room. With their more aloof nature they would probably do things like stargazing when it’s peaceful and nobody’s around, opening up about issues they have while the other comforts them.

I headcannon each wizard knows how to play an instrument and Gantlos does the electric guitar which is why he can summon seismic waves and has similar powers to Musa (sound waves, seismic waves, ya know). So he can jam out on a guitar while Musa sings to the melody or sing a song to her. Yes I also think he can sing, but the other characters assume the opposite because of his constant yelling, so him and Musa could duet (and they seal it with a kiss cause dhskdjsj it’s perfect that way)

Restaurants would be nice. I doubt Gantlos eats much, same for the other wizards, so he’d scarf down anything and wait for Musa to finish afterwards.

They could brush each other’s hair, maybe Gantlos braids Musa’s hair if she wants. Musa could also give him a massage whenever cause he needs it.

And lastly I don’t really talk about steamy stuff but I’m 90% sure they’re both freaky switches.

Marriage? Child?

Sorry but I can’t see them married, but that’s because I’m not big on marriages. But either way Gantlos is definitely moving from the sewers to her house and maybe has to work on his criminal record to get her dad’s blessing. I can imagine them having a mesh between a rock concert and the typical wedding stuff for theirs.

I’m also not a fan of fanchilds cause I can easily see the characters being reduced to “mom and dad” but maybe that’s a me problem. I’d imagine they have a daughter who’s very punk/rebel and she’d be a guitarist whose weapon is the same guitar she uses for her rock album.

The End

So far that’s all I have to say about this ship. Maybe I’ll talk about how Riven could factor into this or the tragedy of it all if it follows the cannon ending of Gantlos being stuck in a frozen hellscape after betraying Musa, her friends and the Earth fairies. But otherwise let me know that you think in the Reblogs and I’d appreciate anyone sharing this post because I feel like Synthwave would be a fire crackship.

Otherwise I’ll see you guys next Wednesday, buh-bye!

[grumpylia]

i hate to be a hater but here’s a little yap about ep 6 of the pjo tv show

- i was soooo disappointed in this episode! i literally got bored halfway through LMAO and kept getting distracted which was so upsetting!! because the lotus hotel is one of my favourite chapters of the lightning thief!!

- starting from the beginning; i wish wish wish that we’d gotten the ‘you’re my friend, seaweed brain - anymore stupid questions?’ moment because i just love that moment

- but if they weren’t going to give that moment to us surely they could’ve at least given us?? something??

- instead of just luke’s fan service-y ‘old married couple line’

- i also think the whole the trio things tlt is clarisse thing is just?? underwhelming. the show hasn’t done a very good job at making us really understand the stakes here!!! it feels like they’re just fucking around and i don’t like it!! like they literally missed the deadline!! and that didn’t even feel like a big deal!! that should’ve felt earth shattering!!

- also where was the zebra. where was percy being able to talk to the zebra :(

- i wish also that they’d done more with grover in the start of this ep - they could’ve showed us his character rather than just giving us a massive exposition dump

- the EXPOSITION!! i was fine with it in the first few episodes, bc like the book isn’t exactly perfect with exposition either but it’s actually getting to a point where i think it’s taking me out of the story!

- why why why did they skip the lotus hotel stuff??? omg! i can understand some of the other changes (e.g. waterland) but the lotus stuff would’ve translated soo perfectly to screen!! it would’ve been such a good way to build tension without having the characters ohtroght saying to the audience “this is the lotus hotel. time doesn’t move properly here, and if you’re not careful you can forget who you are.”

- i still can’t believe that they didn’t adapt the book this chapter! it would’ve been so perfectly suited for screen! this tv show also has a tension/stakes problem so it would’ve been a great way to help fix that

- also they’re meant to be TWELVE ! ofc they come across a hotel with infinite food and games and money and love it! the whole point is that across the series we’ll see them grow and become more wary of these things! i could understand why they made the change with medusa, but them knowing what they were walking into here just felt like such a boring choice

- and if nothing else the lotus hotel episode should not be boring!!

- also why are we talking about may castellan🤨the reason it has so much impact in the og series is because you’re putting these pieces together and then it all just hits you

- but here it’s just like…

- and hermes’! i don’t have an issue if they wanted to include hermes’ in this scene - cancel me but i think lmm lowkey ate - but i don’t understand why they would do it in this very expositiony way. and are we not meant to think that hermes’ is neglecting luke too?? at least until som?? if i was writing this and i reallly wanted to include hermes’, i feel like there are sooo many different ways to include him that would’ve read sooo much better. still brainstorming what those ways are, but point still stands

- i did think the taxi scene was really funny tho sue me

i hate to be a hater because i really wanted to love this show! and i really did enjoy some specific moments and episodes! but i just wish they’d done a closer adaptation of the book - i think they’re trying to do way too much way too soon and they need to just let the characters and the story breathe for a bit before trying to really go heavy in with all these really in your face themes and exposition

[evangelineshifts]

I feel like the pjo show isn’t what I thought it would be at all, like they changed a lot of things, didn’t stick with the books(for the most part they tried), didn’t really pace it well(it was either rushed or slow but at the wrong times) and honestly it wasn’t that good to me. I feel like maybe I’m a bad person for thinking that the people playing these characters just aren’t it, liek clarisse for example, she was described to be this tough, unconventionally attractive girl who is (frankly) buff and strong physically but in the show(and no hate to Dior) she’s not buff, she’s not big, she’s skinny and conventionally attractive. And I feel like that’s, disappointing. Like finding girl characters who are not conventionally attractive and/or aren’t skinny/pretty is so hard already and now clarisse is this skinny, conventionally attractive girl and so I’m left with thoughts like “am I the bad guy for feeling this way?” “Is it me who’s the problem?”

so, I just feel like maybe I’m weird for feeling this way. Maybe me thinking(oh Rick said he’d stick by the books so he will) was a stupid thought because he obviously didn’t and whenever I even think of saying ‘this isn’t like the books.’ I can literally taste the massive swarm of people telling me ‘well Rick himself is directing this’ ‘why don’t you like the show it’s literally so good’ ‘you just don’t like it because you’re racist’ and now I’m left with feeling like a bitch and a fool and now I’m getting gaslighting into making myself think that the show did stick by the books and that nothing important changed-🦭

I disagree with the characters part just because I think as long as they embody the essence of the character they’re fine and everyone casted did a really good job at that.

As for everything else I totally agree and tbh I found the show boring. It was only faithful in some aspects but it’s lost its charm. The changes that they made (most of them) make no sense to the plot and seem unnecessary. Somethings that were taken out to make room for new/changed scenes really were just disappointing. The random info dumps that happened had me like ???? Cause half of the stuff isn’t known till like 3-5 books and for good reason. Like learning about May castellen this early literally spun me on my head. And I saw someone talk about how there’s some things that they info dumped about but not enough that you’d be able to understand without reading the books and just general stuff thrown in without explaining significance. And they just took out most everything that made the series lovable. The humor MIXED with the danger, the way things intermingled with the human world (the underworld having an entrance in a recording studio as a nod to the evil in Hollywood, Charon being this fun guy who loves luxurious Italian suits and is underpaid, there being an E-Z line in the underworld. Stuff like that). I know they could fit EVERYTHING in but the stuff that they could’ve put in the they omitted for other stuff just seemed like a sloppy attempt at a rewrite.

And how fast they figured everything out completely threw me off. It takes away the stakes. I understand everyone’s arguments of “ofc they know about the myths and stuff they grew up with it they aren’t dumb” but that’s the thing. In the books the whole point is that they knew about this stuff and they still got caught off guard with the way the monsters adapted to the human world. That and the mist which canonically can affect demigods a bit too. It made it gripping how they had to use their brains to forcefully push through the mist and find a way out. And they are twelve years old on a quest not even a grown man can handle l, they’re stressed, they’re tired, they’re hungry, it makes MORE sense that’d they fuck up a bit and be off their game.

I’m gonna stop before I make this a novel. But I agree it fell flat and it’s very disappointing but kudos to the actors cause they did amazing with what they had to work with.

[avionvadion]

We've angered enough gods, lol. I think there's only... one that's on our side right now??? Anyways, MILD GALE and MASSIVE GONDIAN/IRONHAND GNOMES SPOILERS BELOW.

Welcome to the anxiety club!

PFFFT. Mood.

Astarion, you literally gave up the chance to be a Vampire Ascended. What are you talking about???

OH SHIT GORTASH. HEY. HI. SORRY I MISSED YOUR ORDINATION CEREMONY. MY BADS. HONESTLY HAD NO IDEA WHERE IT WAS TAKING PLACE BECAUSE OF HOW SIDETRACKED AND DISTRACTED I GOT. HOW'S IT GOING??? WASN'T EXPECTING TO SEE YOU HERE.

Alskjfldkjfldkjfldk, I was so tempted to go with number three. I love that it's even an option. You can see Astra contemplating the pros and cons of telling him to "f" off.

OMELUUM!??? BUDDY!??? YOU'RE HERE!??? WHY ARE YOU HERE!???

So many surprise encounters and I'm just trying to finish my massive list of sidequests.

Anyways, long story short I freed all but one of the hostages- that one was killed on his way running out by the enemies. Astra and Wyll were also... blown up, because Astra died and Wyll wouldn't have made it out. Omeluum got Karlach out just in time. Astarion was the first to reach the ladder.

All the baddies decided they were gonna gang up on my girl. T_T It was very rude of them. Poor Karlach had to do all the lockpicking. I had to keep reloading so she could roll natural twenties because she needed a 25. RIP. I probably could have restarted and sent Astarion that way instead, but, well, it's fine.

Everything's fine.

Poor Astarion. I find it absolutely hilarious that the game put him in charge since Astra was out of commission. Just, oh, what's that? Your wife died? Your turn to hold the braincell, then!

Imagine him getting up to the submarine and waiting for everyone to hurry up, and Karlach and Omeluum appearing- but Astra and Wyll are nowhere to be seen, and Karlach is like, "I tried to help her, but the bastards shot her back down! Before I could try to carry her and Wyll, squiddie over here teleported me."

Omeluum: "A thank you for saving your life would have sufficed..."

And the prison is already exploding so Astarion has no choice but to maneuver the submarine to safety.

WITHERS, PLEASE, MAN IS TRYING TO REVIVE HIS WIFE. BESIDES, HE'S MOST LIKELY GREY-ACE, ANYWAY. LEAVE HIM ALONE.

Astarion did not wake up this morning thinking he was going to have to revive Astra and Wyll.

I've.... never actually had to revive a character yet. I've always been able to "help" them back up, so Withers and the twenty Revivify Scrolls I have were just... chilling all seventy hours of my playthrough so far. Huh.

ONWARDS TO THE FACTORY.

BADA BOOM, BABY!!!!

Gods, I can't stand this asshole. Genuinely regret saving him.

YOU TELL HIM!!!! GO OFF, KINGS!!!

I am... so proud of Barcus right now, oh my gods. This is so satisfying. Finally he's breaking things off with that toxic genocidal asshat. I knew it was too much to expect an apology from Wulbren, but for Barcus to call him out on his bullshit and dump his sorry ass??? PERFECTION. I love this gnome so much. He does his best.

DON'T YOU FREAKING DARE LAY A HAND ON MY BOY BARCUS WROOT. I WILL FIREBALL AND MAGIC MISSILE YOUR FACE IN, WULBREN. KARLACH WILL CLEAVE HER AXE THROUGH YOUR SKULL.

HA!

BARCUS, MY BOY!!!!!!!!! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU RIGHT NOW!!!!!

[maddsmallow]

10, 17, 20 for the dbh ask!

10. Least favorite trope?

i dont know if i would say it's my least favorite, but it's the first one that popped into my head as a brainrotted hankcon shipper lmao—when connor is portrayed as a lil helpless baby uwu bean who suddenly becomes essentially hank's maid post-revolution, and when hank is suddenly completely cured of his alcohol dependence once connor moves in/they get together. i want that man to WORK FOR IT, "it" being a healthier life and actual coping skills with his grief. and i'm a big believer in connor being a badass "adult man" who really doesnt need anyone's help but just likes hank with him because of what they went thru together, and they grow from there into something more.

granted, i do understand that we're all just. having fun with fictional characters and slapping these barbies together in whatever ways makes us happiest. so i could sit here and go off on how incorrect it feels to their characters, but i dunno. it doesnt really matter how "canon" it is, it's all just for funsies, so. kind of a weird thing to toe the line between 😅

17. Favorite moments of each playable character?

ooo this is a good one. again, im a brainrotted hankcon shipper, so it's gonna be hard to choose just one with hank and connor haha. probably my favorite with connor is when he's dragging hank to the bathroom to "sober him up" just because they're both such ASSHOLES to each other LMAO, just completely fed up with the other's shit. hank is just a grumpy bitch who wants to wallow in self pity, so even when drunk off his ass he's still putting up a fight with connor by grabbing the doorway to stop connor from taking him further into the bathroom and then straight up trying to walk away from the bathtub. connor is so done with hank holding him back from doing his goddamn all important mission, so when he finally gets the (probably freezing) water going, he deadass just stands there and watches hank flail around for an extra second. JUST to be an ass to hank for being an ass to him. it's SO funny how the two of them are constantly butting heads and then end up basically trauma bonded anyways by the end of the game lmao

if it counts, my favorite kara moment would probably be her realizing she's merchandise in that one short video back in like,, what was it, 2012? 2014? that was sort of the first rendition of an idea for the dbh universe. just, her realizing she's a product and not a person and then begging for her life was REALLY moving, valorie curry's acting there was fuckin top notch. but that's not really part of the game itself, so. hmm. i really love when they're at the amusement park and finally find a place to stay to ride out the storm, but the door is covered in wooden planks that have been nailed in, and (ignoring the fact that there's no reason to assume kara wouldnt have standard android strength and find this action quite easy) kara's this tiny little android trying to rip off the planks, and then big ass luther is just like. allow me. im literally made for this shit. and yoinks em off like they're nothin LMAO. that was the very specific moment i fell in love with luther and wanted him and kara and alice to stay together FOREVER

and for markus, i mean, i GOTTA go with the scene where he goes through the passageway of hands and other android parts in the junkyard. or really just the first scene in it where you take off your bad leg and find another compatible one and the realization sets in that you're in a massive landfill of body parts, and markus has been dumped into a situation where he has to dig through dead and dying people of his own species and take their parts to save himself. the first time i watched it, i literally gasped and covered my mouth with my hand and teared up. it's HORRIFIC, the idea of being in a giant pile of half alive creatures to be forgotten about as you have to take bits of those half alive creatures to attach to your own self to survive. you're now made up of multiple other dead people. it's fucking nightmarish, and the first half of that level is such a punch in the gut. fantastic story telling there

20. What were the hardest decisions/actions in each character's story for you?

oh man so TECHNICALLY i have never actually played the game myself LMAO. i'm just not a gamer, i'm in this for the characters and the shit they have to endure in the story. but i imagine the answer is the same for all of them with being mean to the companions in each story haha. getting hank to the point where he finally uses his gun on himself, making kara leave alice at the "recycling" camp, and i guess markus doing peaceful protests even tho that means soooo many more androids die from his inaction.

thanks for the ask!!

[daisychainsandbowties]

contributing to the autistic beatrice & lilith agenda, bealil are just the “me and the bad bitch i pulled by being autistic” meme except they’re both autistic and the bad bitches

i've literally been thinking about this all day u are so right i mean separately they both have so much game. good god. but also 0 swag.

we have lilith who is being mostly accidentally rude to everyone & so profoundly touch-starved she looks thirsty even in comparison to tantalus. she has that ianthe tridentarius flair for the dramatic which is an almost inexplicably cringefail kind of drama. like just a mythically bad sense of when it's the appropriate time to do or say literally anything.

she's hot but there's absolutely no point to it because she pretty much only excels at dragging around dead things (including herself in that category) and being a Massive Fucking Problem for No Reason

meanwhile we have beatrice. the kind of person who grows up thinking that if heaven exists it's definitely just a really big library with a buffet table (in her case, this buffet table is stocked with little chocolate pudding cups and very cold water).

she knows Facts & it's lilith's problem because nothing makes beatrice happier than 1. hitting things and 2. info-dumping sotto voce & lilith is amazing at 1. being hit with things and 2. sitting there listening to beatrice talk.

so the batshit bullshit they have going on is just ridiculously compatible

but also when you put them together the Dumb Bitch language barrier is so absolute that they both end up swagless and pathetic and wet with blood but also utterly convinced that the other person has been bamboozled out of recognising their innate Badness.

bealil is incredible because it's like no they cannot talk to each other but no they don't NEED to talk to each other. these bitches are psychically linked they have history they were ex-girlfriends before they were girlfriends. beatrice is good at talking and blind to her own needs but hyper-aware of lilith's. meanwhile lilith is BAD TERRIBLE AWFUL at talking but good at listening (to beatrice, only) and again could be bleeding from the eyes and not notice but is capable of gauging with one glance how many hours of sleep beatrice has had.

what i'm saying is that beatrice is the library and lilith is the buffet table and they don't really think that heaven exists anymore but they've kind of blundered their way into making a heaven out of each other and it's really just girlfailure central but also they're fucking profoundly good for each other and also yes they're also both wearing the 'me and the bad bitch i pulled by being swagless and autistic' shirt

[jaythelay]

My thoughts on Kamala/Walz and Palestine involve the Absolute Pants Shitting amount of propaganda and ignorant adoration of genocide by so fucking many, and that Biden was weak as shit while Kamala/Walz feels like they're playing the game and aiming for the end while Biden just told Israel "Yeah sure I'll lie about headless israeli babies that you'll eventually make out of palestinian babies."

Straight up feels like they know they can't just come out and say "Genocide Bad No Matter Who" or risk an absolute plummet in every possible sector, that'a not including the media either who'd flip so damn hard on her for daring to say Genocide Bad No Matter Who.

Seriously I wouldn't flub this election up pointing out the moral obvious when half of all dems, and all but 10 politicians (all dem it was bipartisan that Genocide Good) are just so extatic to defend a Genocide. Imo, and it's all we'll have mind you, an opinion, they'll make progress. Biden, most dems and all but 10 dem politicians, and Dump, are on the same level on this issue.

Just saying, she's talking with groups and called for ceasefires. Biden lied every fucking time Israel shot up a hospital or school or church on christmas, without an ounce of scrutiny, simply regurgitated horrific propaganda that instantly backfired literal days to weeks after the lie.

Kamala hasn't. Not as hard at least, since running as pres. Our efforts are being heard and it's why I fucking lost all respect for anyone who chooses not to accept the reality of Genocide Bad No Matter Who just to feel safer in an election with a guy WE ALL TOLD YOU WAS SHIT and lo and behold? He was! Just not as shit as dump, his literal, only legacy and reason to vote for him.

When even Kamala is doing more than you fucks, I don't want to hear aaaanything ya got to say on any issue. Dems being radically republican about EASILY SOURCED INFORMATION will never not be such a Permanent massive fucking turn off to the entire dem party for me.

Imagine pushing away potential dem voters because you refuse to call a Genocide Bad, while Kamala is making progress to stop it, progress that ya'll sabotaged the absolute whole entire god damn way up every step of the way not missing one potential beat.

Fuck off Pro-Genociders, yur shite and almost cost us the election. Thank fuck for Kamala, and Genuinely not any one of you weak genocide enablers.

[wolfsclothing6]

Things have been weird since I sucked off that big brute of a guy a couple weeks ago. All I can think about is sex. Not that I didn’t think about sex a lot before then. But it consumes my mind now.

But that’s not all… When the big bear of a man pulled me into the back room I was a bit disgusted by him. A sweaty, hairy, lunk of a man that I’d never seen before at the bar. Yet here I was, getting face fucked by this ape. I have to admit he had a huge cock, but I was hoping to get more than a little back room fun.

He wasn’t exactly gentle either. He held my head firmly with his thick-fingered hands. Using my mouth as a receptacle. I was literally a cum dump for him. When he finally shot his wad, I could’ve sworn he started mumbling the words I’m sorry over and over again. What the hell?

A couple days later I woke up with some raging morning wood. I jerked off a couple times that morning. Finally getting it to ease up I was able to get dressed and get to work. Every guy that walked by my cubical had my attention. Short. Tall. Thick. Twinkish like me. All of them. I found myself day dreaming of their cocks. At one point I caught myself rubbing my own cock through my pants.

I went to the executive restroom and beating off in there. I was so horny. What I also noticed was how dark the hair around my dick seemed. I presumed it was the lighting but it definitely looked darker than my normal blonde pubes.

A couple days later, after waking up rock hard and jacking off, I noticed my twinkish body was a bit hairier. Normally I would’ve taken great care to manscape, but running my hands across all this new hair made my cock hard again.

It was a little over a week, and I was sitting at my desk, day dreaming of my officemates, when my ‘work wife’ commented on liking my new hair color. Adding that I must’ve stepped up my game at the gym because I was finally putting on some muscle weight. What the fuck? I was proud of my lean body. But sure enough my biceps did fill out my sleeves and then some. My pecs felt like two massive slabs of meat under the fabric of my shirt. I could also feel copious amounts of hair there as well.

I left work saying I was sick. Really I just couldn’t wait to get home and strip naked to explore my body. Something was happening. Maybe that bear at the bar knew what was going on.

I never made it to the bar though. I got home and once I saw my body in the mirror I immediately started to rub my cock. Before long I shot a huge volley of ropey cum on to the mirror. I told myself I’d go look for the man, but feel asleep and didn’t want up til the next morning.

I didn’t even have to think about work, I called out sick. The secretary barely recognized my voice. I didn’t know what the fuck she was talking about. This has always been my voice.

I reeked. I smelled of BO and sex. My chest was a matter mess of hair from where it was apparent I’d shot another load. Was I masturbating in my sleep now. It did feel good when I stroked my cock. It wouldn’t surprise me if I did. My cock has a mind of its own some days. Clearly today was gonna be one of those days.

I got in the shower and started to lather up. So much hair. I was certain I didn’t used to look like this, but it seemed like a distant memory. As I sudsed up my cock I knew that this bear dick needed attention. I grunted with each stroke. Pretty soon I was thrusting hard in the air. My hand was a poor substitute for an ass or mouth.

I stood in front of the mirror admiring my stocky, hirsute form. I’d do me. Hell, I kind of did in the shower. I needed to fuck. Getting fucked might have been fine in the past. But what I was craving wasn’t going happen from having a dick up my ass. I need to feel my cock in someone.

I didn’t want to put on clothes. I just stared at my form. Looking at the clothes in my closet then seemed different in a way that was like a foggy almost forgotten reason.

I put on a pair of well worn jeans, sleeveless shirt, because who doesn’t want to see these beastly arms? I headed out. It wasn’t until I got into my Jeep that I realized I wasn’t sure where I was headed. I was just driving. I drove around for a while before decided to head to the lake. There was always one or two pervs a looking for dick to suck.

I had no problem getting my rocks off by face fucking a guy. He started to tell me he was married and about his wife not knowing. I didn’t give two shits. He wanted to suck a dick and I needed my dick sucked. For someone who claimed he was straight he had a pretty talented tongue.

Heading back to my place my clothes felt tight. Like I could hulk out of them at any moment. I got home and unbuttoned my shirt and pants and laid back in the couch. Stroking my cock was all I could do anymore. My dick had my attention all the time it seemed. I let out a deep roar as I shot a load on to my chest and almost over my head. I basked in the afterglow for a bit before my hand slid up to me chest and rubbed my seed in to my thick black fur.

I knew that would draw some attention at the bar later. Some pig would smell the sex on me and would follow me home. Speaking of the bar. It was a bit early but I could use a cold one.

I saddled up ik my new Harley. I remember how proud I was when I traded in my Jeep and bought my bike. It seems like only yesterday. Again that foggy feeling came over me. Probably just because it’d been so long since I had a beer. I was jonesing.

At the bar there were a few guys who might turn out to be good prospects. There was one guy in particular, a big burly bear like me. He kept eyeing me from across the room. Did we fuck at some point. I don’t remember him, but that doesn’t mean anything lately. My memory has been shit. He made his way across the bar and stepped up next to me.

He was a handsome guy. Big arms. Hairy chest. He was packing too. His bulge was obscenely large. Did I suck him off? He seems so familiar. Nah. Couldn’t be. I’m more likely to get sucked. Unless I was feeling unusual and he was just that charming.

The guy nudged me, and gestured to a couple of twinks just walking in. He told me they look like fun and that we should give them some attention. I agreed. We bought a couple drinks for them. Chatted them up for a bit. Mack was a good wingman. Not hat I needed it. These two boys were all over us. I knew that leaving my cum in my chest would do the trick. Speaking of doing tricks. Mack said it was time. It was coming back to me now. This is what Mack did to me. Taking me to the back room. Feeding me his cock, rathe forcefully if I recall. He apologized. I don’t know what the fuck for. He has always been a great friend. We love finding guys together. Divide and conquer he would always say.

As I fucked this skinny boys face it came over it me what I was doing. This man would never be the same again. Just like I was never the same again. But I felt great. Who wouldn’t want to feel like Mack and I do? After Mack and i finished up we headed back to our home. My husband was a sexy fucker. Oddly enough sex just made him hornier. He was insatiable. We were barely home and he grabbed a couple cigars from the humidor. Lit them and gave one to me. We sat there on the couch watch porn, puffing away on our cigars, and jacking our cocks.

When we were both good and wound up I offered up my ass to Mack. He was the one hairy fucker that would tuck this hairy fucker. The reverse was true too. Sure we’d have the occasional playmate, but they always got fucked.

Maybe those two cubs in the making would be over later next week for round two.