#rogue loves playing with pens

[gemstarstarlight]

I sent this to my roommate who is Decidedly Not On Tumblr, but maybe you all will enjoy this better than she will.

[amalthiaph]

I took an interest in The Bad Batch around the tailend of S2. It's not news to Tumblr that I almost slept on this show. And I cannot thank Caleb Dume enough for being the reason why I pressed the play button for this one. While I haven't been around for most of its active run, and I wish I had been, the last year has been among the best months of my life.

This show challenged my morals, and taught me lessons that I will forever take with me.

Tech taught me to embrace and take pride in who I am. I now think that I am not something that needs to be cured. I needed to be understood and accepted. He taught me that we deserved to be loved and be allowed to live the way we want to (as long as we are not causing harm to ourselves or to others).

Hunter taught me that at the end of the day, we're all still humans. We make mistakes. We fail. But we can learn from them, and we can strive to be better. And I should also take care of my hair bec I cannot accept that a man in a galactic war have better hair than me (Okay, did you honestly think I'm gonna be serious this entire essay?)

Crosshair taught me that at the end of the day, we really are still humans. Sometimes, we make choices that not everyone will understand or agree to. Sometimes, we don't even understand our own choices. But we can learn from them, and we can strive to be better. And that I should also go to therapy bec istg my hand shakes like hell I always need to rely on a pen stabilizer when doing my artworks.

Wrecker taught me that in this world where we can be anything, always choose to be kind. He is a great man who would always be there for everyone, and I hope that one day, I can be that person too. He is afraid of heights, but he climbs and go on high places anyway. Like him, I should also start conquering my fears. Dear Wrecker, I did try conquering my fear of heights last March 9 but I can't. I will try again.

Echo taught me to always fight for the greater good. Almost two years ago, me and a group of people campaigned for a great tomorrow. With pink flags and pink balloons, we worked on our little thing I like to call our rebellion. Sadly, we lost. At times, I am thinking of just giving up bec that's democracy and I cannot go against the people's decision, but characters like Echo and the rest of Rogue One taught me that nothing should ever stop me for fighting for the people's rights and that my love for my fellow citizens should always come first before hatred.

And lastly, Omega taught me to be curious, or more likely to not be ashamed for being curious. Learn about the world. Learn about lots of things. We never know when we need it. While I could say be good at strategy and win 30 grand on card games, nahhh, I'm not that smart.

I also learned to reevalutate myself as an artist. This show taught me integrity. I had ranted about this lately but these characters challenged me in terms of art. I knew that the creators aren't best at proper representation. While I could draw them as they are in the show, I choose to stand for what is right, and represent them as properly as my skills could. In the more technical side, I became good at drawing armors. And this little Actors AU Draw Series taught me to be responsible; I tried my very best to create and post them on time. This increased my productivity.

But enough about me.

There's something I realized two nights ago; we, the fandom, are Bad Batchers ourselves. We can consider ourselves a family, but not one of us is the same and we're all interesting, and capable in our own unique ways. We can have our own opinion and stand about something and still coexist. Like our favorite charactera, we embrace and celebrate our differences.

This show may end. No more Bad Batch Eves, no more cryptic tweets that cause us to hyperventilate, no more Bad Batch Wednesdays but it will live on, through us.

I know there will be a day where we decrease in number, one by one, little by little, but still, the show will live on through our actions, our opinions, our choices we make after May 1, 2024 because I know that all of us were changed in some ways by these characters and this show.

To the crew, your cryptic tweets caused me sleepless nights, but thank you so, so much. It is through your hardwork that we had this wonderful show. Thank you for making every second of the past year so worthwhile and enjoyable for me and for everyone.

However this show will end, whether happy or sad, I am glad it happened. However short my time was with them, I am happy I had been here. However short my time with everyone in the fandom was or if some of you leave one day, still, thank you so much for being part of my life; I am so happy I met all of you.

To Clone Force 99, thank you. I've never loved anything like this before. May the Force be with you.

[penultimatefan02]

A Penultimate Pen Theory.

Recently, @pentition posted a very insightful and thoughtful analysis regarding Pen’s potential future as a core romance candidate in an upcoming game. This gave me food for thought about Pen's future direction and how his past relationship with the Sandrock builder could come into play, or whether he should find love with a playable character in an upcoming game.

When I think about Pen’s future, I’m limited by the few crumbs Pathea has offered us to theorize about his history and motivations. It’s not much but there are tidbits that I’ve clung to that put me in the camp of “team Pen.” There are also a few Discord posts by zede05 that I’ve added to the tiny pile of details.

Some history to note is that players who participated in the MTAS early access may have a different opinion of Pen than late-comers due to Pen’s romance being a Kickstarter goal and not originally developed. Also, his character art was greatly improved after he was introduced (I’m basing this on Discord comments as I did not participate or see prior iterations of Pen). These details may put EA players in the “Pen’s romance and physical characteristics were an afterthought” camp, which is valid.

Regardless of the romance aspect, it was Pen’s story that was greatly developed. He was such a BIG character for 2/3 of MTAS. No one makes a character that big with that many parallels, hints, and ambiguities unless they plan to utilize them in the future. Pen may become a big deal, and his arc may likely have a strong emotional impact on the player.

The one thing we know is that Pathea can and may change their mind about storylines and character development based on player response. Many discussions regarding Pen’s future romance potential are read and possibly considered in how they will approach his story arc and resolution. The more we talk about it on Reddit and Discord, the more chance we have of helping to shape Pen’s outcome. Based on zede05’s comments, nothing is set in stone.

Now, with that said, I think the original direction they may have decided on, and why Pen was not a marriage candidate is because he’s going to take the true role of the anti-hero, and his ending will be his end. Please forgive me for typing it out, it’s not meant as a jinx, and I truly don’t want it to happen. However, I do think there is a strong possibility that the writers may decide or have already decided that this resolution needs to happen to counterbalance his actions in MTAS (and in future game(s) if he continues the villain path a while longer).

I’ve been wrong many times before, but I see Pen as being the main hero of the series at a great cost to himself. Aadit gets to go home, but Pen doesn’t. Pen may even be the one to save Aadit so he can return home to Portia’s builder.

Pathea doesn’t think players will be disappointed by “how” Pen ends up, not “where” Pen ends up. Granted, there are translations involved and they didn’t know whether Aadit would be the Rogue Knight or not by Portia’s end, so it’s all speculation. However, if Pen sacrifices himself for the greater good near the series end, zede05 would be right that we wouldn’t be disappointed. If anything, we would all be greatly moved by it and the emotional impact and payoff would be huge. Pen ends his story as a true hero.

I’m not sure how many games they plan for the series, but I’ll play the odds that Pen will be recurring until the end. I believe someone at Pathea mentioned using Marvel’s film series as a guideline for its continuing characters (in reference to Aadit and Pen).

To bring the discussion back to romance, I think Sandrock’s builder was the first time Pen ever felt something akin to affection or love. At the end of the Paradise Lost quest, we know he’s quite familiar with sex, but then sex doesn’t require emotions. He was unsure of what friendship was, and he didn’t understand the feelings he was left with after his dates with the builder. Pen only knew he liked it and wanted to spend more time with them. He comes off as very emotionally stunted, which aligns with his more narcissistic traits.

One comment that stood out to me was in response to a question about Pen becoming romanceable again in the future, zede05 replied, “But Pen only loves himself and his form of justice. Haha.” So, if anything, Pen must grow and learn to have concern for others not just himself. I think the builder’s relationship with him in Sandrock set that into motion, but we won’t know the impact until he’s reintroduced later on. While I wouldn’t be surprised if Sandrock’s builder has a role in his future, I believe at the very least they helped build the foundation for his potential redemption arc.

I don’t think Pathea will let him be romanced again until something happens to counterbalance his past crimes. So, if he does do the big thing to save the day and lives, then maybe the next game could see him become a marriage candidate. Although, I really like @pentition's idea of Pen heading off to find the builder or having them ride off into the sunset, preferably on Merle’s back. I’m a big fan of full-circle storylines, so Pen dating a new character comes off to me as slicing the pie in half and chucking it in the bin.

Regardless of what is to happen in the My Time series, we know that Pen will probably play a big role in it. I do hope that whatever road Pathea has laid out for him will ultimately lead to his redemption and that we are all left feeling proud of him and satisfied with his story.

Gosh, this was hard to write. @pentition, thank you for sharing your thoughts, which in turn gave me a bit of courage to share mine. I hope I'm not a total Debbie Downer on this topic.

[isagrimorie]

Agatha/Rio and/or Seven/Raffi for the ship game?

For the ship game:

Agatha/Rio:

Who accidentally pushes a door instead of pulling/vice versa

Agatha. But she makes it seem like she planned it All Along. Rio pushes by accident but it still works for her because... She's Death. It annoys Agatha, but she's thankful it just works and doesn't explode.

Who doodles little hearts all over the desk with their initials inside them

Rio, but carved with a knife. It's sweet but also looks ominous.

Who starts the tickle fights

Who starts the pillow fights

It depends on the mood either one could start the tickle or the pillow fight. But they would definitely take it too far.

Who falls asleep last, watching the other with a small affectionate smile

Since Rio can forego sleep, Rio just spends the time Agatha is asleep watching her. This used to creep out Agatha, but she's used to it.

Who mistakes salt for sugar

Both. For different reasons, Rio because she honestly doesn't know better since... Cosmic Being. Agatha, because she's distracted, and then Agatha will loudly complain about it until Rio changes it magically.

Who lets the microwave play the loud beeping sound at 1am in the morning

Rio, to annoy Agatha.

Who comes up with cheesy pick up lines

Honestly, both! They both come up with cheesy pickup lines, but Rio is the one who does them sincerely. Agatha does it either to troll or be sincere.

Who rearranges the bookshelf in alphabetical order

Surprisingly, it's both of them. Agatha is a Nerd. And Rio, for all her chaotic sensibilities is actually a Lawful neutral.

Who licks the spoon when they’re baking brownies

Both.

Who buys candles for dinners even though there’s no special occasion

Also, both!

Who draws little tattoos on the other with a pen

I think, with Agatha's restless hands, this would be Agatha.

Who comes home with a new souvenir magnet every time they go on vacation

Rio, if they were invented when they were dating.

Who convinces the other to fill out those couple surveys in the back of magazines

Ooh, I think it would be Rio. Agatha can be too cranky about it or thinks she's too cool for the whole thing.

Seven/Raffi

Who accidentally pushes a door instead of pulling/vice versa

Raffi, I think. I feel Seven's still careful about these things despite looking and playing like shes a rogue.

Who doodles little hearts all over the desk with their initials inside them

Raffi, I think. Seven would be too appalled to do that, inside, she's still the same stuffy ex-Borg on Voyager.

Who starts the tickle fights

Who starts the pillow fights

I would like to think when Seven becomes comfortable, she would start the pillow or tickle fights.

Who falls asleep last, watching the other with a small affectionate smile

Seven would fall asleep last since sleeping still doesn't feel natural for her.

Who mistakes salt for sugar

Ooh, I think. Raffi because she gets distracted in the kitchen.

Who lets the microwave play the loud beeping sound at 1am in the morning

Raffi, because she forgets about and Seven because she's running an experiment.

Who comes up with cheesy pick up lines

Seven would do it because she thinks its expected of her.

Who rearranges the bookshelf in alphabetical order

Seven of Nine, would do that!

Who licks the spoon when they’re baking brownies

Oh, I think they both do, but Seven appreciates it more since she's never done it. Raffi introduces her to the practice.

Who buys candles for dinners even though there’s no special occasion

I think this would be Raffi, Seven wouldn't think of replicating candles.

Who draws little tattoos on the other with a pen

Raffi would love drawing little tattoos and maybe Seven would like the sensation. It's very new to her.

Who comes home with a new souvenir magnet every time they go on vacation

Definitely Raffi.

Who convinces the other to fill out those couple surveys in the back of magazines

Seven because she dutifully completes surveys that she sees.

[itamis-multi-muses]

Fallen for a Common Villager

Shisui Uchiha: Falling for someone who isn’t a Ninja isn’t a big deal for Shisui Uchiha. Sure, the Clan would rather he date a person who isn’t ‘weak’ or ‘fragile’, but, it’s really not up to them at the end of the day. The only thing that matters to Shisui is you. The way you watch him train for hours on end nearly every single day, the way you cook him a delicious meal when he returns home from a mission and the way you run your fingers through his hair to help him fall asleep.

He would be super protective of you, too. (I think all of the Uchiha men would be super protective of their wives tbh) Making sure that you hold his hand when you cross the road together, immediately jumps in to help you if something goes wrong in the kitchen (that Body Flicker Technique is hella useful) and when you’re reaching for your dropped cutlery on the floor, he will place his hand on the edge of the table where your head is so that you don’t hit it on the way back up.

Speaking of being protective, he will definitely keep you sheltered from his job as a Ninja as much as he can. He absolutely loves watching your eyes sparkle when he shows you a new jutsu or technique that he’s learned, but he will hardly ever talk about his missions. Someone as precious as you does NOT need to know about any blood he himself or his teammates had spilled whilst they were gone, and don’t even get him started on enemies infiltrating the Leaf Village. When he’s called into action, he’ll tell you that he needs to help protect the Village and the people in it, but that he loves you so much and needs you to stay as far away from the fighting as you can. Then, he will pick you up bridal style and teleport the two of you out of harms way. Before he leaves, he will place a tender kiss to your forehead and snake his arms around you in a quick embrace, letting you know that you are his top priority. And you always will be.

Itachi Uchiha: Itachi never intended to fall in love, period, especially not with a woman who wasn’t a Ninja. After that fateful night of the Uchiha Clan slaughter and joining the Rogue Ninja group, the Akatsuki, he had plenty of time to contemplate every single choice he had made in his life. He played them constantly, on repeat, every single night. Furthermore, he had come to the conclusion that, 1) In order for his plan to come to fruition, he needed to die at the hands of his little brother, and 2) He was irrevocably in love with you.

How could this have happened? He had worked so damn hard for the sake of the Leaf Village, never once thinking about selfish things such as love and romance. But now… It’s all he could think about. Did you know what he had done? Do you believe that he was a monster? If both answers were yes, could you ever possibly return his feelings? All of these rhetorical questions were irritating him to the brink of insanity. He knew what he had to do.

He snuck out of the Akatsuki hideout when Pein and Konan were away and made the strenuous journey to the village hidden in the leaves. There, he discovered you in your apartment, reading a light novel in your living room. He took a deep breath, hesitated, but politely knocked on your front door. You were shocked to see who your midnight visitor was, but you trusted him just enough to step outside and allow him to speak. He was one of your childhood friends, after all. Once Itachi had confessed his feelings and explained his situation to you, you were gobsmacked. Understatement of the year. After taking a few seconds to breathe and fully understand Itachi’s words, you smiled and took his hand in yours. In that moment, Itachi’s mental load subsided and he stayed with you until you fell asleep. Before he left back to the Akatsuki hideout, he found a pen and paper in your kitchen and wrote a note for you, placing it directly on top of the novel you were reading previously. ‘Sweet dreams, my dear. I will be back before you know it. - Itachi’.

Sasuke Uchiha: If there is one of the Uchiha boys who never believed in love, it’s this guy. He had one goal in life and one goal only: Become stronger so that he can kill a certain someone. He believed that nothing could detour him from his path of revenge… Until he witnessed you in an argument with one of your family members. You had stormed out of the house in a fit of rage and angrily kicked your trash can over, the contents spilling onto the freshly trimmed lawn. You groaned in frustration and tears sparkled in your eyes thanks to the full moon. He watched you for a few moments, trying to talk himself out of his out-of-the-blue curiosity towards you.

Unfortunately, it could not be done. He stepped out of the shadows and looked pitifully down at you as you sobbed into your hands. He caught your attention with a cough and told you to stop crying. That there are worse things in this world to cry about. To his surprise, your sadness became anger once more and you stood to confront him. You told him exactly where he could shove his opinion and where he could go. He merely smirked, mildly entertained by your little outburst. This angered you even more and you raised your hand to slap him, unaware of who or what he actually was. He gripped your wrist and locked eyes with you, his midnight orbs made you audibly gasp. Sasuke tilted his head slightly to the side and his infamous smirk reappeared. Maybe he should take a different approach with this pretty one, just this once? The young Uchiha sighed and dropped your arm back to your side and introduced himself. Your tears dried and the conversation continued… It felt as if you had known this young man your whole life. Although his aura was spine-chilling, there was something in his eyes that attracted him to you. Ashamedly, Sasuke could say the same thing.

Eventually, Sasuke insisted that he should go, but neither of you wanted that to happen. You asked him whether you would ever see him again, and Sasuke’s breath hitched in his throat. The realisation that he actually wanted to see you again caught him by surprise. He could only nod and look away from you, not wanting you to catch him off-guard and lose his cool (he has his reputation to uphold, duh). After that night, Sasuke made it a side-mission to visit the Leaf Village more often than he would have liked to take moonlit strolls with you through the empty streets and talk about anything and everything that came to mind. It was usually you doing all the talking and the Uchiha would listen intently and hum when appropriate. It’s safe to say that Sasuke Uchiha was becoming more open to the idea of love thanks to you.

{ Hi there, dear reader! It’s your girl back with another post about these insanely handsome Uchiha boys~ I really hope you enjoyed it because I put a lot of thought and love into this one! Well, that’s all for now. Thank you for reading! }

- Itami 🌸

[omgshiftercat]

BG3 Blogging: Packrats and Picklocks

I was reading about what happens when there are large-scale disasters. Obviously, people tend to flee, but they can't bring all their stuff. So… they often bury it, in the hopes that later they'll be able to return and claim it.

Often they can't do that, though -- either they can't return, or they lose track of where they buried it.

In real life, these are valuable finds for archeologists and anthropologists, and were occasionally a lucky find for some peasant.

In BG3, this explains all the buried chests. Faerûn has had a lot of disasters.

Discussing the "buried treasure" thing with my dad, and he mentioned that in many places there were laws saying that the king (or sometimes just the landlord) got first crack at any treasure buried on their land. Adventurers would just shrug at that, obvs.

It was difficult, first time around, determining what items were useful and what weren't. I ended up doing this:

This time I didn't grab the "minds" from the nautiloid... only to find out, quite a bit later, where you can use them.

There's a gold cost to learning a spell from a scroll, but not for casting. And while you need food for each long rest, there is tons of food just lying around. (Just as well, considering how, especially at the beginning, it's good to spam long rests.) So it's not like there's no resource management at all, but it doesn't feel stressful.

Picking up food items is worth it just to read the (heh) flavour text. Especially the commentary on the quality of the wines.

I got very spoiled by playing the rogue in my first campaign, sneaking around everywhere and picking all the locks. And I didn't even have the Gloves of Thievery that time! They give Advantage on Sleight of Hand rolls. But also, the game was occasionally bugged so that even if I'd just picked up the key, doors would still be like, "❌Locked". So I was like, "Screw it, back to the trusty lockpicks."

Now it's more like this:

I suppose if I'd started out playing Gale, it might have been more like this:

I haven't had her try pickpocketing anyone (I'd leave that for the actual rogue), but "Yoink!" and "ooOOooh" are things that Karlach says when looting crates and whatnot. Trinket would approve.

Explanation: a while ago we played a campaign in which all the characters were awakened animals of one sort or another. Trinket was a raven who had been the familiar for a university professor wizard (who accidentally blew himself up in a lab experiment). She saw university kids saying things like, "Yoink! Your pen's mine now," and concluded that you were allowed to take anything as long as you said, "Yoink!"

[midorisudachi]

“Living a lie…it festers inside you, like poison. You have to fight for what’s in your heart.” – Dorian Pavus

I recently beat Dragon Age Inquisition for the third time! I love that game immensely: everything about it is wonderful. I chose a male Inquisitor - as a rogue - because I wanted to romance Dorian. The first time I played DAI, it was the female elf Lavellen – whom I named Zephyra – and she was a mage, and the romance with Solas was a bloody disaster & heartbreaking. (Damn you, Solas!) The second time I played as the human female Trevelyan – named Bryony (who you have seen me do two fanarts of) – a warrior, and romanced Cullen. (Cullen is so hot for a video game character…where can I find a man like that? Lol.) I hope you like this artwork!

Also: Happy Pride Month! 🌈 It’s actually a perfect time to submit this artwork. This was a lot of fun to create (a full colour piece). If you haven’t played the Dragon Age games, it is actually very LGBTQ friendly. You can make your characters gay, lesbian, or bisexual. There is even a transgender male in DAI, named Krem, who is a cool character. Bioware is open-minded, that’s for sure, so the DA series is for everybody. And omg, let me tell you that the conversations & bantering between the characters is hilarious!

⚠️Warning: Spoilers Ahead!⚠️

Dorian is quite the character…a sarcastic & witty lad. He is complex at first, especially regarding his history (how his father tried to “erase” who he truly was, when it came to his homosexuality). It was fun romancing him with Cedric (Trevelyan), who I made a rouge/assassin. So off course I had to draw my OC [male] Cedric Trevelyan with Dorian! Cedric is Dorian’s “Amatus”. I made them wear simpler outfits when I drew them, because near the end of the game, they were wearing complex armour. That stuff is hard to draw! I chose to draw Lilies by Cedric & Dorian, because if you romance Dorian, his tarot card shows him holding what looks like a Lily.

The two of them had this conversation near the end of the Trespasser DLC:

Cedric: “Whatever happens, I wouldn’t trade the years we’ve had together for anything. I love you.”

Dorian: “I knew you would break my heart, you bloody bastard.”

Lol! Awww, jeez, Dorian, just say you love my Inquisitor, too. I honestly really think that Dorian loved him, as stubborn as he was to admit it. At first I was annoyed when Dorian chose to go back to Trevinter, and I thought, “Darn you, don’t you dare pull a Solas on my Inquisitor, after all you've gone through with him!” However, after the game ends, it tells you what happens to the characters (depending on your choices). For me, the game said that Dorian’s “greatest strength lay in the lover he left in the south, but still conversed with via message crystal”, and “some claimed to have seen the Inquisitor on the streets on Minrathos on rare occasions, sneaking into the heart of Trevinter to aid his Amatus.” It made me happy to know that the Inquisitor and Dorian stayed together. I wonder if that will show up with the 4th game.

⚠️Spoilers Over!⚠️

Speaking of the 4th game, who is excited to Dragon Age: The Veilguard, to be released later this year? I watched the gameplay trailer and I am excited for it! I hope characters from DAI will be in it (so far, Varric & Solas have been shown).

Drawn with sepia Sakura Pigma Micron pens, then coloured in with a mixture of Copic Markers, Ohuhu Markers, & Zenacolor coloured pencils. White accents done with a Sakura gel pen & the gold accents were done with Golden brand acrylic paint.

Dragon Age Inquisition/Dorian Pavus/Inquisitor Trevelyan © Bioware & Electronic Arts

Artwork © of me, Jacqueline E. McNeese

[stargazerlily7210]

Things about this episode (Rogue) that I either haven't seen mentioned yet or, just stood out to me (obviously, spoilers under the cut):

The Childur were our Child/Baby/etc. analogue for this episode...they just behaved so childish the entire time. Like, more than a group of rabid fans in cosplay, they felt like a group of children playing dress up.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rogue is the distillation of the Jack/River/etc. character type. But almost more than that, he also fits that pattern of returning part-time companions being introduced in an RTD Era episode penned by another writer(s).

**side note. While I do like Rogue, I'm not head over heels for him like many are. But I also disagree with people who are trying to claim he has no charisma/charm. He is just a type of love interest character that isn't currently in vogue (tall dark and handsome, Mysterious morally grey antihero loner with a harsh/brooding/sullen exterior hiding a heart of gold).

I've seen people celebrating the dance scene. And I've seen people talking about the little things that are playing into the TV Show theory, like the mention of TV signals, the Bridgerton namedrops, the Bridgerton soundtrack style of having classical covers of pop songs, the idea of cosplay/fandom to begin with. But I feel like the *Dramatique* lighting change/staging of the dance scene has to have been just as diogetic as anything else we've seen, and might be the biggest example of it we've gotten yet.

**side note again: The way they did the flashback to Carla reminded me of the flashback to Ruby Road in Space Babies, in that it was a tangible, intrusive flashback that was actively happening to The Doctor, if that makes sense? Not just for our benefit.

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Troublemaker

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~1k

Summary: Your dogs get some herding practice in. 

A/N: Did someone ask for more dog adventures? @rianncreates. 

Warnings: Fluff, very little angst, and sleepy parents.

It was hard being a parent. Not to say that you and Wanda didn’t enjoy it because you really did. You loved your daughter who brought you so much joy, but taking care of her was a full-time job and then some. Not to mention, you had three animals to take care of as well, and one of them didn’t quite understand why you weren’t so willing to jump out of bed and feed her at 4am. Not that you’d ever truly been willing to do it.

So despite how grateful you were for your daughter and how infectious her smile was, you were tired. You were resting on the couch now while Wanda ran to the store to get something, and you were watching Natalya as she went between napping and playing in her pen.

Her uncle had bought it for her and he and Yelena had argued about how to put it together for nearly an hour. The instructions were very thorough and Pietro had very little patience for them. The pen was built and it contained his niece so he called it a day. Yelena was a little more skeptical, but watching Natalya happily bounce around for a while tamped down her desire to argue further.

You hadn’t meant to fall asleep, really, but you’d made the mistake of telling yourself that you’d just close your eyes for a bit, and then you were out like a light. Nat of course was waking up and wanting to crawl around. She was bored of her toys and she looked around for a way out of her colorful pen. Boone was upstairs on the second floor sleeping in the hall while Fletcher was in her favorite spot on the third floor. Rogue was sitting splayed out behind the couch as he waited near the door for Wanda to return. He was still a little upset that she hadn’t taken him with her, but she promised to be back soon, so he was going to wait patiently. Nothing would distract him.

The sound of plastic snapping made his ears twitch, but he doesn’t pay it much mind as he yawns cavernously. He’s been sleeping less so he barely hears Natalya escape from her colorful prison and start crawling around. It’s not until he feels something touch his tail that he decides to sit up and investigate. Rogue turns around and sees Natalya smacking his tail back and forth with a gleeful smile. He grumbles before standing up and looking around for you, but you don’t notice as you continue to snore.

Rogue huffs in annoyance before turning back to see that Natalya’s lost interest and is heading for the stairs. He hurries to follow her as she tries to climb them for maybe the third time this week. She must like it up there because she makes it up the first step clumsily before Rogue tries to stop her. She’s determined though and grabs the second step and tries to pull herself up, but she isn’t very successful. Rogue mouths at her shirt and tries to pull her away but she just continues to squeal happily as she makes her loud escape. Rogue almost looks back to you to try and alert you, but he hears Boone at the top of the stairs coming to investigate.

The other shepherd grumbles in annoyance at being woken up, but he hopes its you so he can go outside. When he starts down the stairs and sees a little human and his brother on the stairs he sighs in defeat. This has happened once before. You and Wanda had been so freaked out when you couldn’t find your daughter after you came home from a much-needed date night. Pietro had fallen asleep with Natalya and the dogs all in the living room, and when they came home it was just him. Wanda had nearly throttled him while you ran up the stairs to try and find your 6-month-old. You’re unprepared to find her lying in her bed with both dogs curled up next to her. You sigh in relief before trying to figure out if you’re more pissed off at Pietro or proud of your dogs for taking care of their little sister.

Pietro was no longer allowed to babysit alone, at least for a while, and you’d be lucky if you were allowed to as well after this. You sleep through the entire ordeal on the stairs, so you completely miss Boone come down to try and help out his brother. The clothes Natalya’s wearing doesn’t make it easy, and they’ve slobbered all over her before they manage to grab her and take her back to her pen. Once they see that it’s not going to be an easy task Rogue just jumps up on you to wake you up. You do with a startled gasp and you look around quickly to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

You immediately see Rogue at your feet, frowning if that’s possible, while Boone holds onto Little Nat’s shirt as she tries to escape again. You sit up quickly and reach out to grab your daughter right as the garage door opens and you curse under your breath before reaching out to pet the shepherds.

“Such good boys. Thank you!”

Rogue just heads for the door to greet Wanda while Boone jumps up on the couch beside you and gets even more slobber on Little Nat. She’s still fussy and trying to escape when Wanda opens the door and sees Rogue at her feet. She smiles as he jumps up and whines before wagging his tail excitedly. She sees you and Nat on the couch and she smiles before coming to check on you.

“Hey, all good?”

She frowns when you offer her a guilty smile before just nodding and releasing a nervous laugh.

“Great! Great, Wands. All good.”

Masterlist

[utilitycaster]

Didn't get a chance to update my progress last night before CR started but. many things have happened:

Did Davrin's companion quest. I must say. Davrin is a fucking INTENSE person. He wants to talk all the time back at the lighthouse. He uses the most wild hunting metaphors. He is single-minded and arrogant. It is a vibe and he is fun to talk to but he is So Much (I say, known Paladin enjoyer). I also need to level him and the other new companions up more (I am NOT playing favorites even though I have them) but the thing is also, I play a warrior so I was doing pretty good with my initial crew of rogues and mages. The quest was great though, Assan is adorable and I did like learning about Davrin's past (which he's really forthcoming about). You get the sense this man hasn't had anyone to talk to in a while but unlike Neve or Lucanis he's like "and I'm going to do so IN ABUNDANCE." (Bellara and Harding and Emmrich seem to have had more people to talk to; Lucanis would have but for the year in the Ossuary; hard to read Taash).

I have picked up Emmrich! there was a weird crossroads thing where I could eavesdrop on the elven gods whose names I can't spell reliably due to the apostrophes. I love the crossroads by the way. I am trying to balance out my impatience with doing quests (including sidequests) and hanging out at the lighthouse watching Lucanis explain cacio e pepe to Bellara (real thing that happens and it's glorious; it's a way for you to also catch that Lucanis is buying nice coffee for when Neve comes back, pardon me while I lie face down on the floor) with the fact that I would LOVE to explore things forever with the fact that I can't read a fucking map apparently. ANYWAY brought Bellara there and she and Emmrich are pen pals, so this was fun. I fucking love the Necropolis, which is good because I do play a Mourn Watcher and it would be weird if I didn't, but I must admit Emmrich's recruitment quest is like "kill six billion demons while I do a ritual for a bell" and it's like professor you must be shitting me. Then again I play a Mourn Watch warrior (I have heard this is weird within canon lore, to which I say fuck you I'm a cavalier, also clearly SOMEONE needs to kill venatori and ferry around wisps and slay demons and these mages sure aren't doing it, AND the reaper specialty fucks hard AND I get to say goth things that Neve and Emmrich like and Myrna needs SOME boots on the ground to boss around, so there) so it would be kind of weird if I hated it. Anyway Emmrich is great.

Harding is like, a sleeper character; I like her a lot but as a person with no emotional attachment to Inquisition I'm more drawn to the other three starter companions, and she's solid in combat but not flashy for the most part. However I perked the fuck up when she said she felt sorry for Solas and thinks he's deeply lonely; that was a banger conversation and I do think loneliness and not knowing where you fit into the world is very much a theme of this story.

Neve sent a letter saying Rana, Elek (Threads paper seller) and Hal (street fish merchant) were alive but she needs to stay there. This is honestly the best news; if Hal had died I would have never forgiven myself.

Went to do one Mourn Watch quest and was immediately given two more Myrna is my boss and she's like I know we sent you away for "going against the nobility" even though it was "baller" but now that you have a reason to be back temporarily, please do 3 quests now. And I did, and it was pretty great, although the wisp-ferrying stresses me the fuck out.

Decided that before I seek out the trillion other sidequests that suddenly popped up I should grab Taash, because i kept getting "Tab" pop-ups because I have my game on "I don't know what the fuck I am doing mode" to light Necropolis braziers and then they were like "haha no one can do this, Rook, you dumb bitch". There's also Gaatlok somewhere in Minrathous that I couldn't do shit with. So I did that. Taash fucking rules. I was expecting to not necessarily like them not because of their vibes, but because in real life when I encounter 23 year olds I'm like you're baby. And they are, sort of, baby, but they're also hilarious and blunt and a lot of fun. The surliness towards their mom is great; the fire breathing rules; I finally understand the Antaam's deal. I will say I need to go back to the Appearance Mirror because I picked up a really sick shield that does NOT go with my aesthetic. I respect you slutty pirates, but I am a goth. This also ngl makes me wonder what I would do on a replay because Lords of Fortune are not my personal vibe, though Isabela seems great. Probably Veil Jumper honestly. or a mage crow, which would also probably not work with the lore? really my issue is I love the shadow dragons and also probably will always save Treviso so I can never play it because I am if nothing else loyal. Point being, Taash is here and I'm excited.

Neve is back and she's colder than ever towards me! I don't care, she's back and I re-statted her, time to take her out into the field and destroy shit. This does mean I will probably need to, for the first time, make Lucanis heal me. I don't usually need much healing because Story Mode but I'm very slowly learning combat and one day perhaps might inch up to a higher combat level and then I will. Also the champion fights and the dragon fights. I'm just really terrible at avoiding AOE. Also maybe I'll finally use her time slow stuff. I haven't been doing much with the buff abilities because I am a melee/tank/shield-throwing beast but Davrin's taunts were actually very useful.

I have so many side quests and also some main quests so I have no idea what to do. Might check out Morrigan in fallen Minrathous; might do the veil jumpers quests though. There's also some quest in Treviso I haven't pursued and something I picked up in Taash's room. Everyone's back so might as well!

I haven't been talking a ton about all the little codex bits but they are great, and specifically it is important you know that the first book club occurs AFTER everyone is recruited, which is to say, Taash, Davrin, and Lucanis do not attend for whatever reason but Neve, who is grieving and angry, does. This is hilarious.

Manfred and I are tied 1-1 on Rock Paper Scissors; I have been petting Assan every time I go check on the unhinged pantry conversations or go talk to Davrin.

[lizardboyscalesmcstuffins]

I decided to make dndads pokemon team headcanons

Each character will be limited to 3 max (exceptions pending)

Daryll:

Greedent - Looks just like him, Matt said so himself. Calls it Grant. It gets confusing.

Meowth (Galar) - Scruffy just like Daryll. Evolves into Perrserker, fitting Daryll's barbarian class. Named it Aragorn on a whim and wouldn't change it even when people told him it doesn't fit.

Kangaskhan - Loving, protective parent. Inherited from Frank as the baby of his own Kangaskhan now grown up. Named it after his grandmother, Sally.

Henry:

Cradily - No brainer. Best of both interests (nature and geology). Named it Lily. Simple, sweet.

Carnivine - Thorn Whip/Entangle/Grasping Vine! Also representative of his more aggressive nature that he pushes down until he snaps. Named it simply Flower cause he wanted to associate it with nice and gentle imagery.

Trevenant - Had it since he was a boy and both lost their memories when they were transported to earth. Gifted to him by Beary to help attune him to the Doodler's eldritch nature within him by interacting with the ghost type. Made of the husk of an oak tree. Perhaps possessed by the lost soul of an Oakvale child. Can learn Will-O-Wisp, which is a good enough justification for Wall of Fire for me. He never named it.

Glenn:

Beeheeyem - Had it since it was an Elgyem, but doesn't remember catching it. He remembers getting high in the desert one night, then waking up with a new friend. He doesn't even know the species name, he just calls it Star Wars.

Rotom - Let's it chill in his amps or guitars when at home and in his vape pen when on the go. When it possesses his electric guitars it can play loud even without an amp. Calls it Lil' Dude/Lil' Man/Lil' Guy/Lil' Buddy. It responds to all.

Pikachu - of all the characters, he feels the most right to have a Pikachu. What's it's name? Nick Jr.

Glenn hasn't technically captured any of his pokemon.

Ron:

Herdier - His first pokemon that he had to give up long ago. Named Rogue.

Greavard - It found him one day.

Paeden:

Tyrogue - It's the same size as him and he found it after joining the dads. He fought it himself. Calls it his Rival.

Walter the Immoral:

Honedge - The sword that gave him his name. He never wanted a pokemon, but when the sword he crafted broke and killed that hero, it became possessed and returned to him. Has no name, and he barely refers to it. Good friends with Paeden.

Scam Likely/Well Actually/Scam Actually:

He has no set team. Every time he crosses paths with the daddies he has a different pokemon accompanying him, even if they were only separated for an hour.

Some examples of pokemon he's been seen with -

Purrloin

Sneasel (both versions)

Mew

Igglybuff

Each of the daddies' pokemon (at different occasions)

Spinarak

Murkrow

Meowth (Kanto)

Seviper

Zorua (most commonly seen)

Arin O'Neal:

Trevenant - (Lots)

Torterra - (Lots)

Willy:

Dusknoir - Uses it as a tool and nothing else. Doesn't refer to it at all, conditioned it to respond to orders only.

Darkrai - Keeps it contained and under wraps. Never tries to use it for battle or utility. He doesn't want to risk losing control, even in his dreams. He would have to be desperate to resort to using it.

Beary:

Liligant (Hisui) - Uses it as a partner for light aerobics and yoga. Calls it Lily.

Golurk - Created it himself. He considers it something of a magnum opus. Refers to it by its species name.

Dragonite - His ace up his sleeve. He lets it guard the O-Dads compounds and bases. Calls it Raymond Dio Labot.

Bill:

Slaking - His oldest pokemon. Extraordinarily powerful, but just as lazy as he is. Calls it Brother.

Exploud - He likes it loud. Taught it to beatbox and Willy fucking hates it. Calls it Rock and/or Roll.

Rotom - Glenn's Rotom. He bequeathed it to him some time before he "died". He's the one that started calling it any variation of "Lil'" that Glenn caught on to.

The Doodler:

Unown Unknown

[illarian-rambling]

🐹 for the OC ask game?

Confession: I've never played a Pokémon game in my life. I just had the cards as a kid cause I thought the art looked pretty, so I'm not really sure how to answer this one.

In lieu of that, I'm gonna answer about a game I know way too much about: dnd!

🎲 If your OC played a pen and paper RPG, what class would they pick? Warrior, mage, thief, ranger, cleric, paladin, druid, necromancer, bard (or other, if that’s not enough).

Izjik would be a gloomstalker ranger with a 3 level dip into battlemaster fighter to help facilitate that melee build. She'd have good strength, dex, and con, but abysmal everything else. Her maneuvers would be tripping attack, goading attack, and ambush.

Sepo would be a swashbuckler rogue with expertise in stealth and intimidation. His charisma would be high just for that intimidation, and his panache ability would just be him giving people a death glare. He'd duel wield daggers.

Twenari - despite being in Illari terms, a sorcerer who gets magic from her blood - acts much more like a wizard in the practical sense. She'd be an evocation wizard with the warcaster feat. Later on, she'd probably take a dip into artificer.

Djek would be a thief rogue/shadow sorcerer multiclass with high dex and charisma, but low strength and con. I thought about making him an arcane trickster, but he does damage with his magic that would fit closer to a sorcerer. He'd definitely be higher into rogue than sorcerer.

Astra would be an artillerist artificer, despite fighting like a full caster, rather than a hald caster. The arcane cannon ability could be reflavored as her ribbon coat, while her infusions are all the gadgets she makes. She'd probably take the skilled feat.

Mashal is pure battlemaster fighter. He has high strength and con, but utterly terrible wisdom. His maneuvers would be bait and switch, disarming attack, and riposte. He'd also have the mage slayer feat.

Ivander would have one level of celestial warlock for flavor, then the rest would be in inquisitive rogue, as he doesn't really use magic all that much, but he is one hell of a detective. He'd abuse tf out of steady aim and probably take the gunner feat.

Elsind's main battle strength is being slippery and they fight without weapons, so I guess that makes them a monk? I'd say way of long death monk because they're pretty tanky, but he's too nervous to do much fighting.

Avymere, as much as I love making fighters, fits way too well to be anything but an oath of devotion paladin, even if they have no divine magic in the actual story. I feel like they'd have the sentinel feat as well.

Thanks for the question, and forgive me for derailing it, I just love talking about dnd :)

[hestusjamsession]

I’ve been depressed so I decided to do what normal people do when they’re depressed and make a list of my favorite Legend of Zelda fanfics thus far. I think I’ll make a Linked Universe one next.

Almost all of these fics are finished and most are multi chapter. Some are quite long too. I also tried to include a variety of ships and stuff. I’m a multi-opportunity shipper, what can I say?

I know a few of the authors are here on Tumblr but I can’t for the life of me find them. So if anyone knows the usernames of the authors so I can tag them I’d appreciate it.

Anyway…

*cracks knuckles*

1. Make a Wish, Make it Count by LiliansMalice

Three very different people get forced to work together to find a powerful relic that can grant them wishes and solve their (admittedly pretty bad) problems.

It’s got angst, it’s got humor, it’s got found family vibes. And demons. Lots and lots of demons. Such a good read y’all need to check it out. Also, if anyone knows of any more fics like this let me know!

2. Honor Among Thieves by DawnTheRithmatist

The Master Sword has been stolen and as things start to go missing around the castle Zelda decides to do some digging which ends up with her becoming pen pals with a wanted thief.

Zelink fic which Link goes full rogue and koroks are eager accomplices.

3. Beating Around the Bush by Umbreonix

Revali retires from the air force and becomes a remote bush pilot. His life is all well and good (if boring) until a slightly feral researcher from the University of Central Hyrule derails his entire life.

This fic is genuinely hilarious and also heartwarming. Umbreonix writes Revali so well. Revlink fic with a modern spin. (Side note, the fic “Finding Link” by the same author is also really good)

4. Displaced by Socksock

What do you do once you’ve saved the day? Yeah, Link and Zelda don’t know either. But Link has monsters to kill and cool new outfits to find and Zelda has massive bridges to rebuild and loyal knights to smooch so they’ll be ok.

This was one of the first fics I read after beating BOTW. Novel length Zelink goodness with lots of humor and healing and Link dressing up like Tingle because he’s like that.

5. K.K. Love Song by Socksock

Anything by Socksock is gonna be great but this fic literally kept me sane while I was working on site during the Pandemic. Oklahoma be like that.

Modern Zelink fic where the hot new Shiekah Slate game Animal Crossing brings a Princess and a cook closer together. Link apparently does a good KK impression.

6. Nothing More, Nothing Less by Farbsturz

Ravio, Bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, must head to Hyrule to help it’s Hero defeat the Calamity. Ravio, Bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, is not sure about this.

Ravio plays Breath of the Wild. Or- the Ravlink fic you didn’t know you wanted.

7. The Queen’s Tournament by AshleysWrittenWords

In order to become Queen, Princess Zelda must marry. Zelda’s plan? Part 1: Host a tournament were the winner gets her hand in marriage. Part 2: Enter said tournament in disguise so she can, to quote Merida from Brave “shoot for her own hand”. And it all goes according to plan until Link decides to enter the tourney as well.

I THINK I might have read this, or something very similar, once upon a time on Fanfiction.net. Twilight Princess-ish Zelink.

8. Branded by Embyrinitalics

In a land haunted by war, two lonely people find solace within each other.

This one’s got a somber vibe to it, but it’s beautifully written and it hits me in the shipper feels so yeah.

9. The Wolf of Farore by Wayward_Chronicler

The Legend of Zelda meets The Witcher in a fic that is technically not finished but has 71 chapters and more character cameos than you can swing a sword at.

Long fic fam this one’s for you. 😘

10. Interim by Starkraving

Link and Zelda have just defeated the Calamity and are wandering Hyrule when they meet a strangely familiar Gerudo who wants to buy Link’s giant horse and has no idea what he’s about to get roped into.

The Link/Zelda/Gan fic filled with angst, humor and lots of Gerudo grammar lessons.

This was the other fic I read right after beating BOTW. Fair warning- its rated E so it’s got spicy parts to it. But if you don’t mind that it’s a fantastic read.

11. Re-Domestication by AnthemXIX

The description says it best: “A semi-feral amnesiac and his wolf guardian try to get along with the locals.”

A really good BOTW Link and Wolf Link fic that isn’t Linked Universe related (Though the author has written several really good LU fics as well). It’s part of a series and they’re all really good.

12. Secrets of the Shadows by @skyloftian-nutcase

When Link goes missing, Rusl finds a wolf instead of his adopted son and ends up making a terrible mistake. Hopefully he can make it to Kakariko in time to rectify it.

Papa Rusl angst because it’s good for the soul.

[lewvithur]

OC: Rylzyne Auvryndar

well i did this for Brynnrae a few months back, and since this is December 8th, it has been a full year now since i brainstormed this Bhaalspawn babe who has won my heart. so let's talk about them and how they came to be.

meet Rylzyne!

(i was working on some art i meant to have ready for this post, but my tablet pen kept fucking up so you just get this)

now here's how it goes. i was wondering to myself what should i do for a Dark Urge run of Baldur's Gate 3. at the time, i was doing a run with a tiefling sorcerer named Zenith, but i was thinking about other things. then one night, while i was driving, a song happened to start playing, and that was Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene by Hozier. and that's when the idea snapped into place. this Durge would be the epitome of sex and death whose very presence is akin to a high one becomes dependent on. who loves to slit throats at any form of climax. who draws people into their crazy little world and then end them just as fast. the lyrics that stuck out to me was "straw blonde hair" and "tongue so mean". that was what i was working with.

the next day, i fucked around in the character creator to give myself ideas. i chose a short feathered bob, and then the idea came to me. i want this character to have Roxie Hart vibes. someone who could easily be seduced into evil by the fame that is promised by being a killer. this may have eventually melted away, but the conceit is there. someone who isn't good aligned. someone who is selfish. someone who likes killing. and in fact, someone who is not above manipulation and deception to get what they want, which is the finer things in life.

i also decided to make them non-binary, because frankly i will make any character non-binary if i wish. and that is why their name is Rylzyne by the way. i found a table for drow names, picked the first half from the male section and the second half from the female section. already, this makes them an anomaly among drow, as if the pale skin is not enough. these were fun little hints i put in to suggest that as a Bhaalspawn, they have no real connection to drow heritage. otherwise they'd most likely be fucking slaughtered for refusing to play into their matriarchal society by just straight up not having a gender.

a bunch of other things started to creep in. by making them a dual wielding fighter/rogue, they became an assassin, bhaal’s favourite little killer. everything about them is geared towards making them a streamlined perfect murderer. they’re light on their feet, barely eating, a waif that clings to the shadows and catches victims unaware. however, their favourite method is what they call the little death that starts the big death. they love to kill their victims during sex. that’s what that means.

in order to create perfect scenarios for themselves to kill without getting caught, they’ve developed a talent at reading people. their penchant for insight grants them opportunities, including one Enver Gortash. that said, their charisma could do with some work. while they do try to play the role of in-over-their-head ditz who is secretly a silver-tongued bastard who holds all the cards, the truth is they’re not a silver-tongued bastard. so when that mystique is destroyed, they reveal just how much of a brat they really are.

there is also a gamine aspect to their character, an impish boyish charm. they also aren’t good hearted, despite ultimately resisting the Urge. they only care to do good if it benefits them, and they dream of a life surrounded by jewels and gold and more people than they know what to do with. they want their name to go throughout Faerûn. Rylzyne, the most beloved killer. they’ll steal your heart. maybe literally. they love the image of a killer. the mystique it brings. the certain je ne sais quoi. all of that and more.

but even with all of this, there is one thing they crave more than anything else in existence. they crave control. and the Urge is a threat to this very control. there is poetry in a kill. it is an art form. and the Urge wants them to paint a canvas with nothing but splatters of blood. they want to be present within the moment. they don’t want to close their eyes and find a corpse mangled beyond recognition. and the moment they start holding people close to them, the last corpse they want to see is their loved ones. so their game is a tightrope act, balancing from embracing to resisting and then ultimately disposing of Orin and being reborn into their Urge-free self.

the way i imagine Rylzyne going from act to act is. act 1, they're tetchy and grumpy because of this headache and these urges, and since bloodlust is soothing them, they might as well indulge. that said, they think the tieflings aren't a satisfying enough kill, so they're hunting goblins instead. turns out they can do the good thing, if not for completely fucked up reasons. Alfira is an example of what a bad kill feels like. they do not know yet that the reason they didn’t like seeing Alfira dead is because it was out of their control. they just assume that it’s because this kill was too much. this is an outright gore fest that feels motivated by a deep primal hunger that they are trying to fill with a single slice. but hey, at least they aren’t making themselves sick by holding back. so they’ll gore it up. for now.

act 2 is when they realise that these orders from the butler are more structured. but Rylzyne doesn't like being told who to kill. they decide it for themselves. so they do what they can to not kill Isobel by hoping that spilling blood in the shadow cursed lands will make up for it. it doesn't, and now they're forced to put a hand on Astarion's neck. at least until they fight back. it is then when it hits them that they can't soothe the wound of murderlust with more murder. they want their body back. they want control. and they can't mindlessly kill their way to this control.

act 3 is finally when they turn over a new leaf, knowing that they are a Bhaalspawn and this is their birthright. now they know who to aim the knife at. Orin. they'll shed a tear for her because they see themselves in her. but in the end, they are still quite selfish, and if they have to spill Orin's blood to be rid of these urges, so be it.

post game, they'd realise their love of luxury is really mostly a fascination with jewels. the artistry and precision of cutting jewels is a skill they can practice quite well. they’d probably end the game running a jewel shop with all of their finest works for sale. at least, by day. by night, they’d play hero for a bit, killing for hire. maybe Astarion can join them too, if he’s up for it. but the important thing is they’re killing by choice, no longer to sate a hunger that has haunted their mind for too long.

that’s their story, but i did come up with some other bits of information.

one thing i developed is their thoughts surrounding food. as a Bhaalspawn, their concerns were keeping light, not concerning themselves with eating as that could weigh them down, and only ever feed the hole in their stomach with raw meat when they felt like feasting. it wouldn't really be until Astarion sits them down and offers them food that they realise "yeah if it helps him have tastier blood I'll do it, it’s all part of the transaction". and then they become more aware of the yawning ache within them, and they find whatever helps to ground them, whether it be a good meal, love, or indulgences they denied themselves because it wasn't murder.

there is also their view on sex. in some ways, it strengthen Astarion's views, in that they see him as part of a transaction. because of their emotional intelligence, they figure out quite quickly what he's doing, but they're willing to play along because it will motivate him to fight. and hey, he's the only person they've slept with that they haven't had the urge to kill because he's already dead! there's also the fact that he's the only one who is willing to let them indulge. so when he admits his feelings and admits he's been seeing this as a transaction, they assume that he knew that they knew this already, which is why it confuses them. but now that he’s putting his heart on the line, they will do the same. and they will hug. and it’s great.

so uhhhh that’s them!

on another note, i have to give many thanks to @abysskeeper for breathing life into this character through their commissions. after seeing these fun little conflicts with them and Astarion i've been given new angles i've seen this character through. it's added another dimension to them and i love it. stormy has taken a basic description and turned it into vignettes that speak to my vision. again, thank you so much. and check out their stuff! it is very good <3

[yononart]

no new art yet, so let me yap a bit about my Tav/D&D rogue Aerin - did the same kind of post on bluesky so I might as well share stuff here!

art improvement journey under the cut! This is gonna be long and I'm also gonna talk about some stuff I went through over the years as an online artist.

Around 2016-2017 I started playing D&D with a group of friends, so of course I chose the rogue class to start. My DM did not allow drow characters for whatever reason, so Aerin at the time was just a random elf lol. I did not care much since I was very new to D&D.

This is what she looked like in 2017, my very first art of her:

big purple anime eyes lmao. what even is that shading...

I grew very attached to her during our campaign, roleplaying a smartass rogue that somehow always landed 19 on Perception checks was definitely fun, so of course I had to draw her again. Her skintone changed to be more tanned, her eyes changed color, but she was pretty much the same.

early 2018 (left) and late 2018 (right) art of her:

definitely looks better with golden-ish eyes

Sadly our campaign ended when the whole group parted ways and the DM kinda disappeared from our lives, yet I still loved my character a lot! I wanted to keep her alive, even without a D&D campaign!

I tried drawing her again in 2020-ish (I think?), but I never finished this:

Looking back, I can really see how much my style changed from anime to whatever it is now. Lmao. The 2020 wip is definitely closer to what I was trying to achieve at the time.

Back in the days I used to be very active on deviantART and Tumblr, but also joined IG for funsies. And oh gods, it was the worst idea I ever had in my entire life. While in 2015-2017 I was extremely productive, I started to slow down a lot, drawing just for the purpose of getting attention. I tried to draw things that were likely to be liked, or DTIYS stuff I didn't even care about. I was extremely uninspired because of how much I tried to please others and not myself.

Unfortunately that is when the big old artblock demon got me - I stopped drawing from 2020 to...2023? Pretty much. Maybe even earlier than that. Just a couple sketches here and there, but many and many months passed with me not even trying to draw anything. The "pressure" of trying to get some likes, being acknowledged etc was what made me stop drawing. I felt extremely unwell about what my art looked like, it was not good enough, I kept trying to change my artstyle to whatever, kept comparing my stuff to other people's works, it really became stressful to even hold a pen. I was pretty sad, cause in my most productive years I drew whatever came to my mind without giving a single f about anything. I completely lost this mentality over the years, so I stopped drawing.

Then Baldur's Gate 3 came out and oh my god. Holy hells.

I kid you not when I say this mf game did wonders to my creativity. Ngl, I already was in the mood for trying to get back to art - I bought a new graphic tablet (smaller, more comfy to use), tried out different brushes, followed some tutorials here and there, sketched a bit whenever I had the time to do it. But Baldur's Gate 3 really dragged me back to that carefree mentality I was yearning for. And after a "trial" run with a random character me and my partner created together, I OF COURSE had to bring back to life my beloved rogue. And finally turned her into a drow, heheh.

In no time I started drawing again, having no idea how to do anything anymore, kinda scared of how the result would look like and boom. Here we go, with Aerin again.

(left) more simple style VS (right) painted kinda style?

I do not think I am especially good at art. I lack many things (I suck at anatomy and proportions, it takes me ages to finish one piece) but...I can still see the improvement, even after years of not doing anything. It really surprised me. I never stopped observing art - I did not draw, but my eyes were still trained - and somehow this reflected in how I draw nowadays.

I am extremely grateful to this game. It fueled me so much with creativity I literally have too many ideas and things I want to draw (but no time lol), and I don't even care too much about what others may think. I am drawing again for myself, not to please others. I draw what I want.

And honestly, all this big post was just to say:

If you feel overwhelmed by socials and art isn't fun anymore, take a break. It doesn't matter if it's long or short - just take a break. Do not ruin things for you because of a couple of likes or whatever. Instead, try to keep the fun alive. It doesn't matter if your artwork doesn't get shared or liked a billion times. Your art is not worth the number of likes it gets. And if you have fun drawing your stuff, just do it! If you don't have fun in the process, the result is gonna suck for sure. At least for you.

And what if the result is not so good? FUCK IT!!! You cannot improve unless you work hard. You cannot improve unless you draw and keep your eyes trained. Consume art, draw, do whatever works best for you. Every artist, even the best you can think about, started from ugly sketches and cringe art. And keep your old art at hand - you may not notice it yet, but after a year or two go back to your old stuff and compare it to the newest you have. You will definitely notice the difference. That, my fellas, is improvement. It's hard to notice if you compare your last week's artwork with the current one you're working on. Go check older stuff. You ARE improving. You just didn't notice.

Take it from me, I'm an old 31 y/o hag and I have experienced things. Never let the fun dry out.

[cafesascha]

Oh What a Web We Weave

tyler hoechlin, hay, male, he/they, fighter (rogue) «—◦—→ well met, sascha becker! the godling born child of despoina. it’s been 37 years and now they have answered the song in their veins. can he change the course of history with their adaptability, generosity, focus? or will their jealousy, impulsiveness, impatience hinder them? only time will tell before this godling’s name is sung into myth and legend!

name: Sascha Becker

nicknames: Sasch, Beck, Becks

date of birth: October 31st, 1986

age: 37

face claim: Tyler Hoechlin

godly parent: Despoina

height: 6’3”

dominant hand: Lefty

education level: Masters of Business Management

occupation: Runs his family’s coffee shop and has an indie true crime podcast on the side

parents: Tony Becker ( father ), Despoina ( mother ), Susan Becker ( step mother )

siblings: James Becker ( little brother ), Amelia Becker ( little sister ),  too many foster siblings to count.

pets: Puck and Titania ( pet cats)

astrological sign: Scorpio sun / Libra moon / Leo rising. 

positive traits: Adaptability / Generosity / Focus 

negative traits: Jealousy / Impulsiveness / Impatience 

habits: Bouncing his leg / Cracking his knuckles / Playing with pens / Being a cup goblin (always has at least four cups of different liquids at any given point)

quirks: Says goodbye three times / Refuses to wear matching socks / Always carries a pack of cloves even though he has never smoked / Sleeps with the AC on even in the middle of winter

pet peeves: Slow walkers / People who chew with their mouths open / People who play music on their phones in public without headphones / People making fun of anyone’s tastes in coffee

hobbies: Puzzles / Reading / Hiking / Swimming / Podcasting / VIdeo Games

sexual orientation: Homosexual

sexual position: Verse

clothing style: Typically Sascha dresses like a stuffy professor. He loves a chunky knit sweater and just general being cozy. That said, he does have plenty of outfits to scandalise the neighbors reserved for the rare occasion that he actually goes out to a bar which typically consists of a jock strap and one of his many harnesses. 

prominent features: Resting Bitch Face, but also a killer smile, thick hair that is always perfectly mussed, giant dick and perky butt.

what were they doing when they hear the song of their godling blood? He was editing his podcast in an absolute panic because it was nowhere near being ready to publish and was supposed to be released in a couple of hours.

class: fighter 

inspirations: Riz Gukgak, The MC from this delightful series of PI smut books whose name I am totally blanking on, Sherlock Holmes

Biography to come