#over villain npcs

[multiplicityofmind]

what kind of sorcerer do we think jace is?

if he's not a divine soul, he can't revifify. Porter would be the only person there capable of reviving the downed rat grinders.

with the bad kids wiping them out as hard as they have been, it's unlikely buddy dawn manages. and at that point? Porter's not stopping to rez the pathetic children doing his biddign, they've served their purpose. maybe once he's ascended to godhood he'll let them rise again.

that leaves post-fiight. kristen applebees, while a cleric, seems unlikely to spare them a second thought. would their corpses be left there, slowly burning in the wreckage of the gym? or would someone come after them - henry or perhaps a medic?

what becomes of the rat grinders?

[edited to be a transcription bc for some reason tumblr converted my post to an image??]

[bunabi]

Solavellans get overzealous defending Solas and treating Lavellan like the only origin that matters but you definitely won't get hate-stalked over criticizing or disliking either one of them 🙅🏿‍♀️ and that's the absolute truth

Fans being lost in the sauce for an interesting antagonist makes sense as opposed to what was happening with Cullen

[celestiall0tus]

Dungeons and Dragons, Aki

The boy has been redrawn and colored, just like Rose. He was one of the original NPC companions in the first campaign I ran that was adored by one of my OG players. To this day this man is still the best boi and favorite hoe.

[anonymouspuzzler]

Assumption: if coaxed into actually playing, Buck would both take Mario Party too seriously, and be worryingly good at it. Davey would also take it too seriously (as soon as he starts losing). Minnie is too much like Buck. It's ending badly.

i think you're right. they extremely have to talk Buck into it, but the majority of the gameplay is close enough to board games that he's able to understand it, and the minigames so often come down enough to "hammer the button so much so fast" that he doesn't need a lot of video gamer specific skills to win. minnie is an extremely sore loser and keeps being like IT'S NOT FAIR HE DOESN'T GET CONTROLLER BRUISES HE HAS A BIOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE or USING THE BOOS IS CHEATING. davey is trying SO hard to keep the peace but Buck so rarely is Actively Winning Things that he's just the sorest winner you've ever met and davey's infinite patience is wearing So Thin. he eventually gets so pissed off that he just silently uses one of the Steal A Star things and everyone just starts screaming and ripping power cords out of outlets to shut the game down. davey buries the disc in an unmarked mound of dirt in the dead of night to prevent any further incidents. the very next day buck discovers mario kart

[firstruleofmethclub]

Gimly's D&D 5E Player Characters - #7

Name: Astra Harrowe, the Wolf Spider

Race: Half-Moon Elf

Class: Seeker Warlock x. Whispers Bard

Background: Courtier

Ability Modifiers: +5 Charisma; -2 Strength

Campaign: The Lost Mines of Phandelver campaign I had originally played as Tree in began to spin off into a bigger thing with at least two whole extra campaign books thrown in, and Tree had kind of run her course, so I asked if I could bring in a character of my own creation, and thus, Astra.

Backstory: Astra was a Harper agent who had been installed in a small castle, posing as a courtier to learn its goings on and return information to the Harpers, and ensure that their values are being upheld there.

She was recently reassigned to Phandalin to quietly investigate rumours that the Lords Alliance have seized unwarranted control of the town, and that Order of the Gauntlet agents had also been dispatched there. Her orders were to discover if these other factions intend simply to provide aid the town of Phandalin, as had been suggested, and if so, to assist them as best she could. If however their motives are to use hostility to take Phandalin as their own territory, she is to report back to the Harpers immediately, and co-ordinate their downfall.

[boyfrillish]

I only started playing masters right at the end of october (fashionably late, yes) when I instantly zoomed when I heard about Unova chapter dropping, so I missed out on like every story event ever and am so confused on what’s supposed to be the timelines (but that goes for main series games since around ORAS & Gen VII too tbh especially bc I went hiatus-mode mid Gen VII but anyway) but I cry a lot about masters!Nate because he’s a treasure and I hope he gets an alt soon

Also masters!Cheren adopting every angsty emo rival is my favorite thing

[legitimatesatanspawn]

It's always "age gap" this and "romance plot" that but the real problem is that the Chosen Hero completely ignores how the Immortal Beast of the Apocalypse acts for no explicit reason. The Beast is given a free pass by fans AND author for being hot.

"He literally just murdered a thousand innocent villagers who had nothing to do with the war, even tangentially."

"Oh but he's never killed anyone important so its okay! Besides, the ultimate villain infected him with the Murder Curse. Everything he ever did wrong can be traced back to the Father of Helldemons."

"The curse only lasts for a year. Even if you take it as 'awake time', then it's been worn off for about 3/4ths of that time. Plus the Hero thinks that the Beast did it all willingly from the start and he STILL wants to be with him."

Discourse about whether shipping the Chosen Hero with the immortal Beast of the Apocalypse represents a problematic age gap, and if so, in which direction (i.e., the Hero, on account of the fact that the Beast is ten thousand years old and the Hero is like thirty, or the Beast, on account of the fact that the Beast is only awake for like two weeks once every century and thus has less lived experience).

[spinogreen0iq]

If I had just a tiny bit malice in me, y’all it would be so over.

[inthelittlegenny]

tavern talk is great; just completed it. 10/10 would recommend if you want something super chill (i'm going to ramble in the tags so probably spoilers)

[pr0cyon-lotor]

AU where instead of Shen Yuan being obsessed with Luo Binghe, he's instead obsessed with the scum villain himself. I mean we all know Bingge is Very Not Good Person™ but you know who else a Very Not Good Person™? Say it with me: Shen Jiu

Like just imagine a timeline where Shen Yuan is writing paragraph after paragraph about how Shen Qingqiu might actually be a good person but Airplane is wasting his potential. The other commenters are saying he's delusional because he abused the protagonist and as all these TERRIBLE allegations towards him. So he's a clear cut villain.

But Shen Yuan is defending his fav with the vigor of a devout worshipper. He's constantly siting parts that are obvious plot holes and how they could give much needed context to Shen Qingqiu's character.

Other people are demanding for worst things to happen to Shen Qingqiu to spite him. Airplane caves. Shen Yuan actively commissions art and fics where Shen Qingqiu is happy. People tell him "Shen Qingqiu won't fuck you bro"

Shen Yuan isn't interested in that. He's a freaky little man with freaky little likes. He'd gladly take Shen Qingqiu's cold glares and even volunteer to have tea poured on him.

When he finishes PIDW, he's been outraged that Shen Qingqiu was killed off a while back. He's even more outraged that Shen Qingqiu wasn't given any mention at the end.

Now, imagine with me that he gets transmigrated into some NPC, literally Unimportant Character No°5. Probably as the head disciple for drama reasons. And as soon as Shen Jiu is brought in, scruffy and hissing as he is. He immediately hugging his thighs and saying he'll be peak lord for sure.

Please follow me into this suspicious alleyway as I continue to explain my vision fueled by sleep deprivation.

So now imagine your Shen Jiu. You're a former street rat and demonic cultivator, you aren't expecting to be liked or respected. You're expecting it, you've come to terms with it a long time ago. What you weren't expecting was for this random ass guy you have to call da-shixiong is immediately insane about you.

He met you first day, literally saw you bite a guy, and immediately started spouting out how you'll be the next peak lord and the absolute envy of Cang Qiong Mountain. You conclude he's missing a few screws because he said it in the most disgustingly sincere way.

You try to continue on with your life, trying to beat him and he looks almost... Excited about you beating him. So he's an M, you think to yourself. But then you see someone trying to beat him or you on something, and this guy immediately gets aggressive. Okay so he's just weird with you.

You continue to deal with him. He's weird but also weirdly respectful. He leaves if you tell him to leave. He defends you like it's his very birth right. He's always there to tend to you as if you were a god. He doesn't touch you and only sits around like a dog waiting for a command.

You eventually get strong enough to beat him, and this absolute buffoon is over the moon about it, already spouting about your supposed success again.

When you actually become peak lord, it isn't surprising. Your hype man has been saying it since day one, he was expecting it for some reason. He continues to spout out nonsense about how he just knew you were going to do it.

So what now? You obviously desire him carnally. What is the next step?

Okay so I know this wouldn't fix them. Almost without question this would make they both worse. But, hear me out, it would be funny. (Especially since just know Shen Yuan's entire inner monologue would be him saying he's just being a good friend as if he isn't being the gayest man in the sect and Shang Qinghua is there. That's an accomplishment to outgay the author)

[pigdemonart]

【ISADORE】

WERENT EXPECTING ANOTHER DEPOT AGENT COMIC WERE YA (unless youre a patron and you knew for a while now lol)

This comic was brought to you by @potentialforart who commissioned me to finish these pages! I had the script and loose thumbnails done. Thank you again my dear friend!! Now you all can just catch a glimpse at the way this would-be villain thinks.

It also answers the question of Why do Ingo and Emmet even keep this guy around. Because he really is too good at his job, SO good he’ll prioritize work over evil plots. Also if you’re new, Isadore and the other Depot Agents are the Battle Subway npcs. I made some designs/comics for them a while back, so check the tag for those!

Patreon | Ko-Fi

[meow-moment]

every so often i remember how fucking buckshit whacked out Homestuck actually is. Every single character, no matter how charming and endearing they seem, is a loser. The author is a character within the story, who is killed halfway through and the job of writing the story is taken over by the story's villain. Said villain is so misogynist that he wants to destroy the whole universe. Every single character dies, at least once, the only exception being a random background NPC who delivers mail. The entire plot is a vehicle to get one creepy ventriloquist dummy from point A to point B. The ICP is there too.

[oh-stars]

Eddie Doesn't Share Food

Love is sharing food.

a @steddielovemonth prompt | 1131 words | CW: N/A | Rating: G

--

It’s a common fact among Hellfire that Eddie doesn’t share food easily. He can provide food to everyone and if he knows you’re going without, he’ll gladly give you all of his share, or at the very least a good portion of it. But outside of a necessity or hosting an event, Eddie’s not one to share. 

When they get a basket of fries for the table after games, Eddie takes handfuls at a time. He’ll eat one and place the rest on a napkin in front of him. He’ll eat a few here and there, grab a few more from the basket, and then eat the remainder from his napkin.

They’ll all be sharing bites and trying each other’s meals when they’re out to eat, swapping onion rings for fries and bites of steak for the grilled chicken, but not Eddie. Never Eddie. If you even ask for a bite of his food, he’ll give you that stare, the one he usually saves for his villain NPCs or when you ask a dumb question in Hellfire. 

So you can imagine Dustin’s surprise when Eddie splits his burger with Steve unprompted. 

“Are you sure, man?” Steve asks, taking the sandwich from Eddie’s hands. 

Eddie nods, already reaching to take a bite of his half. “Go for it.” 

Steve shrugs. “Want a part of mine?” He offers his plate, where his BLT is already cut in half and one side is completely untouched. 

“Sure,” Eddie says. 

Dustin looks between the two of them, unable to even touch his chicken fingers, as they go back to eating like this is a completely normal thing for them to do. And if it was literally anyone else other than Eddie fucking Munson, Dustin may be inclined to agree that it is. But since Eddie is the initiating party, it is assuredly not normal.

And he knows a thing or two about freaky things. 

“Close your mouth,” Steve says as he tosses a fry at him. “You’ll catch flies and I am not about to perform the heimlich because you decided to swallow flies instead of fries.” 

Eddie snorts, smirking through his mouthful. 

Dustin scrubs his face, then shakes his head so hard his hat nearly falls off. “What am I looking at?” he asks, eyes narrowed at Eddie. 

“We’re eating. It’s what you’re supposed to do at lunch, Henderson,” Eddie says. He reaches forward to thump the bill of Dustin’s cap so it falls over his forehead. “If you don’t hurry it up, we’re leaving you here and heading to the movie without you.” 

“You wouldn’t,” Dustin says. 

“Try us,” Steve says, shrugging as he wipes his mouth. 

Dustin opens his mouth, then closes it. He’s not about to goad Steve into a dare. He’s seen how that plays out one too many times. Instead, he vows to see if this is a singular occurrence or if it happens again. 

Which it does, the next week when they’re setting up for Hellfire. 

Eddie’s got a bag of chips in his hands as he looks over his notes, leaning back into his chair. They’re all talking amongst themselves as Eddie gets in the zone, regrouping for the session and filling in Jeff on what he missed since he had to miss the last session for a family thing. 

Steve brings a two-liter in and some red solo cups, filling it up for everyone who wants the pop. “What about you, Eds?” Steve asks, leaning against the back of Eddie’s chair. 

“Yes, please,” Eddie says, glancing up from his notebook. He’s holding a chip, has been for a moment, likely too lost in his thoughts to remember he was snacking to begin with. And Dustin has the honors of watching, horrified, as Eddie offers Steve the chip. Only, Steve doesn’t take it like a normal person, he dips down and lets Eddie place the chip into his mouth. 

“Thanks,” Steve says as he leaves Eddie’s freshly poured cup on the side table Eddie has next to his chair. Then he disappears back into the kitchen.

Eddie just smiles and goes back to his notebook, hand fumbling for the bag to grab another. 

Dustin whips around to his companions, eyes wide and gesturing toward their dungeon master. “You guys saw that, right?” 

Gareth’s eyes are narrow, but he nods. “He’s been brainwashed,” he mumbles. 

“Or maybe he’s just growing up,” Jeff says. 

“Eddie?” Mike scoffs. “Please. The guy’s so stubborn he’d rather die than give up his beliefs. And not sharing food is one of his biggest ones.” 

“Apparently not,” Lucas says, motioning to the bag of chips Eddie’s still digging through. 

It happens again when Steve comes back in to say he’s running to the store, pausing only to take the offered chip from Eddie, this time like a normal person. 

They don’t even get a chance to process it before Eddie’s announcing the start of the session. 

Dustin racks his brain on a way to bring it up, to investigate further, but once again, he doesn’t get the chance. 

He’s staying the night at Steve’s, with Eddie and Robin, to watch movies and celebrate Steve’s birthday in a lowkey way. The four of them are relaxing and enjoying the night together, simple and quiet in comparison to the party’s usual festivities. 

Steve dishes out the small cake Robin had made him, slicing and passing out plates to all three of them. He doesn’t take one for himself though. Instead, he plops back down onto the couch and practically sits on Eddie, tucking himself under Eddie’s arm. 

Eddie offers a bite of his cake, unprompted and like he doesn’t even know he’s doing it. 

All Dustin can do is watch as Eddie and Steve alternate bites, eating from the same slice like they were a couple or somethi–

Oh. 

Dustin feels like his brain is hit with a thousand thoughts at the speed of light as it all falls into place. Huh. Okay then. He leans back into the recliner he’s sitting in, his own plate held close to his chest, and lets himself enjoy the too-sweet icing. It tastes like how he feels; happiness and wonder in the form of cake and icing. 

If Eddie’s willing to share his food with Steve, then he must really love him and that’s the kind of love Steve deserves. 

He feels like he could burst with happiness for his friends, for the possibilities this will open for them. Rather than express those thoughts, even if he really wants to, Dustin shoves the biggest bite into his mouth and does a little dance. 

Steve laughs at him, eyes all crinkly and bright even as he accepts another bite from Eddie. Yeah, Dustin could get used to seeing Steve that happy.

--

Thanks to @lady-lostmind for betaing!

Ao3 Link

[the-s1lly-corner]

Jax crushing on fem!villain!npc!reader

Prize 1/5 for @thatweird12

Not sure when this will post since queue stuff but how do you guys feel about TADC being put on netflix? What are your thoughts on it??

Notes: reader is fem, jax doesnt know what to make of his feelings for the reader, reader is mischievous like jax, match madd in heaven type deal, reader is a reoccurring npc, reader uses bombs

Cws: none

banter... so much banter... the two of you go back and fourth for so long that some of the other circus members are practically begging for one of you to shut the hell up so they can go on with the adventure

his ears perk up when he steps into the setting and recognizes it as your theme

would throw the bombs you use at some of his fellow circus members

if outright asked if he has a small crush on you he outright denies it... him? in love? dont be stupid, he just thinks youre funny

agrees with you if you say something a little mean about a cast member, in fact he might even try to one up you- which... leads to another bout of banter

sometimes just chills in your evil lair until you notice him, your guards and henchmen are so used to him that they just let him enter

actually knowing him he might take you up on the offer to join you on the dark side, generally thinks its funny to cause problems as well as generally enjoying the time spent with you

inadvertently extends the time it takes to complete the adventure, or maybe hes doing it on purpose...

youre the only person who can get him to break character and talk about some of the heavier stuff that bothers him- the stuff that he keeps bottled up and shoved out of sight of the others

maybe it helps that youre an npc... youre not a real person, he knows you wont rat him out to anyone and hes under the belief that you wont judge him

i mean its not really in your program (it definitely is but you... dont do it... peculiar...)

queue the two of you leaning over the railing of one of your towers as you toss bombs to the rest of the cast below, oddly speaking heart to heart through the chaos

he knows better than to bring you to the circus, not after what happened to gummigoo

[utilitycaster]

I like that the Raven Queen, who made the decision to take on an immense and (at least to her understanding at the time) unending responsibility is the one who calls Bells Hells out on their endless indecision.

It's been...interesting, shall we say, tracking this "party of NPCs," and tracking the fandom response throughout. The initial reception to "party of NPCs" was actually a rather cold one. This took place early in the campaign, prior to the Gnarlrock fight, and at the time a lot of people who shipped Imogen and Laudna were actually extremely resistant to the idea that Imogen was the "main character" of the campaign (as seen in the fallout from the gnarlrock fight, in which the bulk of attacks from the fandom were on Imogen). I've had complicated feelings on Taliesin's reads of this campaign specifically - he tends to have a very good understanding of his own characters that doesn't necessarily expand beyond them - but that phrase was indeed pretty valid. I think about the WBN interludes, in fact, in which the cast plays using NPC statblocks, and what a true party of NPCs for Bells Hells would look like, since it would be quite simple to draw up.

Allied NPCs in TTRPGs rarely act without guidance from the PCs. I've cast a critical eye in the past towards certain meta (particularly romantic in nature, regarding Yeza or Essek or Gilmore not making moves) for this reason, because while villains and antagonists move throughout the world generating obstacles, allies exist to be directed. They have their limits, of course; they have their own priorities and motivations and cannot be persuaded against their nature, but they can be guided at oblique angles from the GMs initial intent given enough work from the PCs. They're still people with thoughts and feelings and dreams, to an extent, but rarely do they make decisions that would conflict with those of the PCs.

That's the problem with a party of NPCs. NPCs take direction. They serve as support, but they're not in the driver's seat. And the Raven Queen has noticed.

The attitude within the fandom towards "Party of NPCs" became far more positive over time, and I wonder if it should have. People began to lean perhaps too heavily on how Bells Hells were people from nothing and nowhere, discarded. This is of course objectively false when comparing across parties (can we really say Imogen had a worse childhood than Vex? Chetney to Caleb? Even Ashton to Fjord?) but were it true, that in and of itself wouldn't be a problem. D&D backstories are often tear-stained and blood-soaked, full of unjust accusations, dead or neglectful parents, failure and regret. D&D is a game about coming from very little but a disproportionately good stat block for a commoner. It is unavoidably about amassing power. Starting off as a party of NPCs is fine. You should not still be a party of NPCs at the endgame.

I mentioned the gnarlrock, and I've mentioned an emphasis (or overemphasis) on this party's lack of agency and I think that remains the problem. Ludinus's villainy is rich, complex, and multifaceted, but a consistent element of it is his eternal false insistence that he - Martinet, founder and head of the Cerberus Assembly, Archmage - is just a little guy, chaff in the wind of the will of the gods, without free will of his own (he says, as he places his thread outside the reach of the Matron). That too is a theme in fandom discourse: free will and intent. Is Imogen justified in being angry at Laudna for breaking the rock if that wasn't Laudna's intent? (yes.) Is Orym on a quest of vengeance, with a death wish? (no, but if he were it wouldn't matter.) Was it wrong to pressure Fearne to take the shard instead of letting her make her own choices? (yes.)

Did any of you, perhaps in preschool or kindergarten, since that's about the age when this happens, have someone pull your hair and for adults to say "it's because they like you?" I find this is a good way to convey the importance, or unimportance, or intent. Because when your hair is being pulled, at least if that is the extent of the problem, it doesn't matter if it comes from the misguided affections of a four-year-old admirer who doesn't know how to use their words, or a six-year-old who just grabbed the most obvious material with which to test the limits of the safety scissors, or an eleven-year-old bully. Your hair is being pulled and you want it to stop. It doesn't matter if the person secretly likes you or if they want to hurt you; it matters that no matter the intent behind it, they are doing so. And if you reject the affections of your fellow preschool classmate because you think they might pull your hair, that's a fair consequence.

Bells Hells' indecision is some sort of cosmic hair pulling. They have reasons for faltering, and some of those reasons are understandable balking at an immense weight placed upon them and some of those reasons come from a deeply self-centered place in which their individual pain is used to blot out the suffering of countless others. But in the end, even that doesn't matter. Their histories don't matter. We don't need another series of introductions of where they come from and what they've done. We need people who can make decisions and who will act.

The Raven Queen seems to have been convinced they will. I'm not sure. But I think we are in agreement that inaction is, regardless of the intent behind it, no different than active harm. It would be irresponsible to continue to be a party of NPCs; if they truly are lost and forgotten fuck-ups, they have a responsibility (as the god of death once did) to abdicate and find a replacement.