#the dm at the end of that session: that was not how i expected any of this to go

[sanctamater]

i love d&d because what do you mean our hairbrained scheme somehow succeeded

[aesthetic-bbyg]

PAINT AND WINE ~ BILL K.

BASED OF THIS POST!

Bill Kaulitz x nailtech!reader

in which your favorite client comes to you to decorate his nails and leave you flustered by the end of the session.

FOR WHAT FELT LIKE THE 50th time you sprayed down your supplies, wiping each individual tool till you saw your reflection. You scurried around the room, reaching for the cherry scented air freshener and spraying it everywhere. You checked yourself in the large mirror, scrunching your hair, fixing your smudged lipgloss, adjusting the your shirt, you had a client coming in. Not just any other client, your favorite client, the famous lead singer of a German band that had slid into your dm’s and eventually became your regular client. Not to mention the fact that he was cute, beautiful bleach blond hair reaching his shoulder, he always had on dangly jewelry that jingled with each step, a bright outfit and the occasional platforms.

He had booked an appointment a week prior, texting you a frowny face and his outgrown nails that you remember doing just a month beforehand. You immediately pushed back any plans, clearing up the whole day just for him, was a bit excessive, yes, but at least your were self aware of it. You pulled the wine out from the fridge and added it into a bucket of ice, two shiny glasses stood next to it. You took a look around the room, making sure that everything was perfect, then a knock softly came from your front door. You smiled, rushing towards it and swirling as his familiar face came into sight. You immediately grinned back, opening his arms and lowering his tall figure to connect your bodies in a hug.

As you expected, he had a glittery outfit and a bright expression on his face. “It’s so good to see you, schatz!” He mumbled into your hair, lightly swaying your bodies side to side as you giggled.

“It’s amazing see you.” You hled his hands and pulled him into your apartment, he took in the open windows that let the natural light in, the bowls on the floor for your dog, and the tidy living area that lead into your mini setup. “How’s my favorite client doing?” You questioned with a knowing smile, walking towards the cold wine bottle and opening it.

“Oh, your so sweet.” He blushed, setting down his mini hand-bag onto your couch, helping you pour in the liquid to the glasses. “I’ve been doing very good, the band and I are meeting up soon to start practicing for the show. And, I’m hosting the German Barbie premiere!”

You gasp happily, smiling at him and clapping your hands, “That’s amazing, Billy, I can only assume that your outfit will absolutely gorgeous.” As if your words sparked a reminder in his head he rushed to his hand bag and pulled out his phone.

“Oh, you must see what I’m going to wear, it’s stunning and I want to have matching nails with it.” His grown out nails clicked on his screen as he swiped through his photos and flipped to you, in the photo he revealed his sparkly, sequin one piece that was displayed on a mannequin. “And then I was thinking of some pink platform to go with it.”

Your eyes widened, taking the device into your hands you zoomed in on piece. “That’s beautiful, Bill.” You mumbled looking up at the blonde, “Sit down we have to start now, a pretty design for a pretty man.” You winked, handing him back the phone as his face flushed with a red tint.

You immediately began, sanitizing your hands and slipping on pink gloves as Bill described his idea for the look. It incorporated a lot of pink—obviously the premiere would be centered around Barbie’s iconic color— and green. Of course, he always let you have some creative freedom when it came to doing his nails, you were the artist of course. Your took buzzed as you swiped it I’ve the old design, giving you a brand new canvas to deal with.

“And when I first pitched the idea to my designer he totally didn’t agree, he was talking about how the green wasn’t right, the sparkles didn’t look good..” Bill ranted on like usual as you listened in, humming occasionally to acknowledge your attention while always working up his nails.

“Bill, just fire him at this point.” You spoke up, sipping the wine and placing it back down before reaching for a brush. “Your stylist hasn’t done anything but disagree with your options, a professional one would listen to you and Mickey add in their opinions.”

The man let out a sigh, throwing his head back in a groan, you smirked, softly chuckling to yourself at his antics. “I know, I know, I just don’t know how to fire people, I’ve never done it before.”

“Sometimes you have to be mean in order to get your message across, don’t let people take advantage of your kindness, learn to draw line.” You replied softly when a ding rang from your phone, you glanced over and smiled. “Our food is here!”

Bill gasped, as you stood up. “You got me food?” He stared up at you admiringly, voice so soft and happy. You nodded, walking towards the door before he caught your hands, tightly holding it. “You are the best nail tech ever.”

“You are my favorite client ever.” You smiled, squeezing his hand and pulling away to pick up the food that was dropped off on your front door. Once you collected it you walked back into the room only to be met with a phone camera recording you as you walked ack to your seat. “What?”

“You are amazing, truly.” He said, putting his phone down, “I’m posting that on my Instagram to show people just how mama isn’t you are.”

“I do my best.” You winked, handing him a few boxes of food, and fizzy drink to keep him company as you continued your work. “Are we thinking about gems for the look.”

“Of course, it is a requirement at this point.” The blonde replied, sipping away at his drink while watching you. “You know we have a show coming up soon, you should come.”

“Really? I can’t even remember the last time you guys have preformed.” You smiled, dipping into the light pink acrylic with a wet brush and gently swiping it from his nail bed to the top of his previous nail. “Where will it be at?”

“In Germany, but don’t worry I can pay for the hotel the flight, everything.” He ushered out quickly, awaiting you reaction while you work skillfully on his hand.

“I’ll see if my schedule is busy that week.” You replied, “I’ll do my best, especially if you’ll be wearing my nails out there.”

Bill smiled, revealing his pearly as a giant dimple indented his cheek. “You know your my only girl.”

His words made such a bubbly feeling flutter within your stomach as you kept your head low and focused on his hand to hide the blush on your face. Once you’d refilled all ten fingers you reached for your phone for inspiration, flipping through multiple designs and colors that would match his outfit but also be cute enough to wear out for any occasion. “I think a sharp stiletto shape could be good, and we could do two separate colors on each nail.”

You nodded as you listened to his words, reaching for your nail file and buffer, he was already looking through multiple tester nails to choose what colors he wanted. “So should we do a different design on each nail to keep the theme going or keep them all the same just change the color?”

“To make your job easier, I say we keep them all the same.” Bill replied before shaking you a bright neon color that caught his eyes. “Let’s do this one,” You noted the color before he switched to another shade of pink, “and this one.”

“Amazing choice.” You smiled, running the file against the nail, shaping the plastic into a sharp pointed as the blonde admired your passionate concentration. The way you leaned in, eyes focusing on how even the edges were despite Bill not caring whether they were symmetrical or not. You could’ve given him the worst possible set with an unflattering color and he’d still tip you a ridiculous amount of money.

You purposely took far to long buffing his nails, making dumb small talk and stopping your movements so that you could engage with him more. You played dumb when you connected your drill, pretending that one didn’t work or it was busted just so he’d lean forward a little in an attempt to help despite not having a clue on what the issue even was (Which was nothing).

“Are you finished?” You questioned, pointing at the cup that had been sitting by his arm for the past thirty minutes, he snapped out of his mini trance and grabbed it.

“Yeah, I’m done.” He smiled kindly as you tossed it into the trash can behind you, where all the rest of the empty boxes of food resided. “So, how has life been?”

You chuckled softly, reaching for a bottle of nail polish. He’d asked the same questions three times now. “Pretty good.” You nodded, coating a thin layer of black onto his nails.

Bill clicked his tongue, eyes wandering around the room in a desperate attempt to find another topic to talk about. “Has Bruno gotten better?” He glanced at the picture frame sitting on a shelf, a fluffy shih tzu posing for the camera.

You beamed at the sound of your dogs name, lifting your head up from his nails and leaning over to grab your phone. “Yes, the last vet visit went really well! Look, he even starting eat regularly now.” You pearly teeth practically sparkled from your big grin as you showed him a video the the dog grubbing on the cylinder treats in a metal bowl.

“Aww, look at the baby boy.” Bill muttered, taking your phone as you went back to painting the design onto his nails. “Thinking about getting another one?”

“Thinking about, but I don’t know yet, I really want to though.” You replied, squinting your eyes and steadying you hand as you swirled the thin brush onto the acrylic. For the next hour you worked diligently in perfecting the colorful neon colors and giggling when the blonde made immature jokes before the room fell into a comfortable silence. Bill could only stare in awe as you hands worked in such smooth movements, everything about you so elegant and beautiful.

Even the concentrated look on your face that you swore was stupid made him smile, such supple features carved out that he could only describe as perfect. Gentle and soft skin, such a silky voice that hummed with the music, it was ridiculous just how many things he could find that he’d admire. From the color of your irises to the different moles on your face, he’d sat in the same chair so many times and admired you for so long that you practically engraved in his mind. And as the space in his brain began to fill up, it quickly leaked in the core of his heart, he couldn’t say that it belonged to him anymore because it only beat for you.

“You like the way it’s looking?” You spoke up, Bill’s mind fogged up with so many thoughts that he’d spaced out for a while. You’d already begun placing the rhinestones, for what he thought was seconds was actually hours.

“Oh my.” He mumbled, taking in the sparkly jewels that were placed onto his thumb. “I love it!”

“Perfect.” You blushed, going back to your work, and so you finished after another half hour, finishing up by rubbing some cuticle oil scented in sweet watermelon. Immediately, Bill walked over to your couch, retrieving his mini back and digging through to find his wallet. Your hands came up, gripping his wrist as he pulled out a large sum of bills. “It’s on me, I insist, Billy.”

“No, no, I can’t let you do that!” The blonde whined, knowing that you were far too stubborn when it came to paying for his nails. “Just this once, let me pay you the money you deserve.”

“I’ve told you before, I don’t want your money, keep it.” You lightly pushed away his hands that were offering you the money as he frowned, sighing heavily. “When I have you here, it doesn’t feel like I’m working, it feels like joy, so keep the money.”

Bill groaned, “Fine, I keep the money but you must promise me something.” You smiled as he placed the cash into his bag.

“Anything.”

“Sometime this week, you and me are going to find someone to make you a dress for the premiere.” He smirked, crossing his arms as your mouth slightly hung open ajar.

“But I have to check my—“

“Sweetie, your going with me, and that’s it.”

“Is this your way of asking me on a date?” You teased, your tone only half joking as you giggled.

He shrugged, hair bouncing of his shoulder while he smirked. “You could say that, the plus one ticket could go to you, my date.”

You grinned, “Your date? So does this mean you like me, Billy?”

“I really like you, sweetie, otherwise I would’ve invited Tom.” He chuckled softly, “Though I don’t think he’d want to wear pink.”

For what felt like the millionth time, you smiled so big and wide that you were sure your mouth would get stuck in that position. “How about a kiss and some wine, in honor our first date.”

Bill’s spark nails clicked as it wrapped around the wine glass. The red liquid swishing as he sipped it before passing it to you, you drank what was left before placing it onto the table. As soon as the liquid passed down your throat he leaned forward, red stained lips connecting with yours. The taste of wine lingering between your intertwining tongues as you desperately leaned in closer, arms around around his neck.

After months of waiting you finally got your own taste of heaven.

y’all this took way to long to make and I’m sorry but ur girl has been busy w school and after school I’m sleeping so this took way long to write then usual. ALSO, I need to spill the tea abt this mf in my class that’s like an ugly-hot typa dude but his personality is a 15/10. But the worst part is that he had a gf— but like we have a connection I swear he wants me fr.

[casualcontingency]

The farther we get away from the Season 2 finale the more I NEED and think past DM has to have happened, although I am not as hopeful as others that it will happen in the series. But I do think it is not that hard to imagine how it could have happened in this timeline.

We know that Armand wiped both Daniel and Louis' mind after the incident, so why should we expect either of them to start behaving differently. We know Daniel continued doing drugs and interviewing people in the area well into the 80s and Louis continued killing people in San Francisco after the incident as well.

So it is very likely that Armand had to make sure the two of them stayed apart, since they still ran around in the same scene. And one day, after Louis already left with his latest conquest, Armand was left alone in a bar where Daniel had showed up.

Knowing how obsessive and controlling Armand is, maybe he wanted to make sure Daniel didn't remember him. And while Daniel does not remember him, he does make sexual advances. So Armand learns that Daniel is actually attracted to him and didn't just make those passes during the 6 day torture session out of self preservation.

And since Armand cannot/does not leave San Francisco for some time, what if this becomes a semi-regular occurrence and any attempt Armand makes to ward Daniel off, even the occasional violent attempt only makes Daniel latch on harder. Maybe Armand eventually relents or maybe he doesn't and because Louis is still so stuck in his grief, it isn't hard for Armand to keep it all a secret.

Eventually Louis and Armand move on, and Armand thinks that is the end of this situationship with the boy, but then on a chance stop in Paris he meets Daniel again, and it becomes a full blown romance. Daniel momentarily turns away from Alice and doesn't finish his book. But then Alice gets pregnant and Armand is still with Louis and the two of them just cannot trust the others' commitment.

Maybe I need to fic it out. If the show won't do it, I guess I could.

[galilleon]

Hey all, This is my first Tumblr post ever! I'm pretty new here, but I'm hoping to share some DM techniques, tools and tips and to make some new friends as well! Feel free to send a chat request (an ask[?]) if you're interested!

With that aside, on with the post!

Better and More Meaningful Random Encounters!

Random encounters are a staple of DnD, they are expected to be there during exploration as a way to make the world feel alive, to have it have an aura of adventure and danger, to eat up party resources and put pressure on the PCs to make interesting and important choices, and also as a way for a DM to reasonably 'stall' the party with a quick and easy situation.

Usually, it ends up something like this:

There's just one problem with most random encounter tables though, it's so easy for them to be GOSHDARN BORING! Especially for a newer DM.

Making them interesting becomes gambled improv on the DM's part if they're not used to it, and it's hard to keep track of the important factors that need to be kept in mind

Luckily, I ended up finding a great source for random encounters from 'Dungeon Masterpiece' on YouTube, and I integrated it into my own DMing. I figured that I'd share it here for any that want to work it into their own sessions as well!

After adjustment, a single table can account for multiple entire sessions of in-depth worldbuilding and fun without getting dull!

Sources:

Source 1 (Creating interesting Random Encounter Tables):

Source 2 (Making Random Encounters reflect your Worldbuilding):

There's 4 major methods we can use to improve the Random Encounter table

1. Make the table a straight 1dx roll.

2. Adding 'depth'.

3. Adding meaningful encounters.

4. Prerolling and/or Multirolling.

You can also check out the "Where to Start?" section for some direction to make getting it down and prepped all easy peasy!

1. Straight Roll:

Its enticing to go for 2d6 or the such in order to add non-linearity to the rolls, but these sorts of adjustments only end up making one or two encounters extremely likely and leave all others in the dust, it often ends up defeating it's own purpose of interesting randomness.

In the previous example, it was extremely likely to only get Wolves, Barbarians, Orcs, or Spiders, from a table of 12! A straight roll would serve us much better. The rare rolls are already rare enough as is!

Simply enough, adjusting the original example by replacing the 2d6 with 1d12, it'd become something more like this:

#2. Adding Depth:

We can add more columns in the encounter tables. These columns will represent different aspects about the encounters that we can roll on separately!

Usually it can be difficult as a DM to naturally come up with motives for the encounters, showcase the worldbuilding and have it all come together.

This setup can give you a solid guideline on how the creatures/people think (if any), and also sets up the overall area so that you get an idea of what events tend to occur there as a result of its occupants. 

We want to add 3 more columns to the tables to convey different aspects of the encounter. Fill in these new columns corresponding to the expectations of each encounter.

We'll roll each of these and combine them, then we'll interpret them to make a robust, in-depth random encounter with truly unexpected results!

I recommend rolling alot of complete encounters at once and interpreting the context to the vast general area the party is travelling in.

i. Behaviour: How the creatures act. Are they friendly, scared, aggressive, curious, mischievous?

ii. Complication: Something behind the scenes in the encounter. Do they have sick young? Broken equipment? Are they starving?

iii. Significant Impact: This is a tick box, and will only be present under ONE of the rows. It will be rolled like the other columns, but ONLY once. It signifies which encounter is the Significant Encounter

The Significant Encounter will have its encounter's presence prominent amongst all the other random encounters in the area. There could be burn marks and carcasses from a rampant dragon, or a goblin raid leaving tracks moving through the area. Which is the most impactful of the different encounters?

Adding this to our previous example would expand it to:

Rolling this would give us things like:

Significant encounter: Owlbears

Note that the significant impact shows that the Owlbears are a massive problem in the area. Perhaps the Owlbears are agitated for an unknown reason, and are unnecessarily aggressive.

The significance of Owlbears gives us context to the second one as well! Perhaps the hunters raided an Owlbear den, and adopted an Owlbear cub from there as well.

There could be uneaten carcasses, ravaged trees, less wildlife, etc around these parts.

Note how much sheer CONTEXT these columns add to our encounters. It's invaluable!

3. Adding Meaningful Encounters

Usually random encounters tend to be rather mundane and very one-note.

There's usually some general wildlife and monsters, different disparate factions without any rhyme or reason, and maybe a general non-combat encounter or two, but these don't really tell us about the area or its surroundings at all by themselves.

Instead, we can add in wildlife and monster encounters specific to the biome, non-combat encounters, and encounters of nearby factions and/or settlements to the table, and we can even add environmental encounters in there as well.

Note that we're not tied down to 12 encounters, and can expand it ad infinitum according to our need of diversity in our encounters.

Just add in specification and connection, and suddenly the dominos all fall into place.

Lastly, we'll also be adding in 'DOUBLE TIME' which will let us roll on everything twice, and make it so it's a double encounter!

Thus, the table can instead be adjusted to:

Note how each and everything has its relation in one way or another, but through the sheer variance, they remain truly random and novel.

4. Prerolling and/or Multirolling

Lastly and this is just something that I do, but that I found gamechanging. Be sure to pre-roll 5-7 encounters for each session, for the general area the players are going to be headed in.

Note that you don't need to really prep anything at all, just interpret all of them on a surface level as a buffer.

Also note that you don't need to use all of them if they're not needed. The foreshadowing and signs are worldbuilding and having secrets that the players don't unravel is just as useful as the ones that they do, perhaps even moreso. It adds depth and detail beyond the scope of what the party will encounter

It simply let's you get an idea of the connections between encounters, allows for foreshadowing, and acts as a deterrent to getting caught off guard.

Even if you roll mid-session, I recommend calling for a 5 minute break, rolling 5-7 encounters at the same time and interpreting them and their connections before resuming the session.

It WILL make a difference, trust me

Where to start?

It can be difficult getting inspiration or direction to get started in creating these random encounters, and sometimes you don't want to go through the hassle of thinking them up from nothing

For some great conceptual headstarts and examples for these tables, you can check out 'Worlds Without Number' and it's:

- Page 205 (Great general templates for encounters differentiated by broad creature types such as Beasts and Monsters, Sapient Monsters, and Humans)

- Pages 206-219 (For inspired locations to occasionally run rare encounters or groups of encounters in. This works best with flexible/discovered worldbuilding given the significance of some of these, and you also want to add these in sparingly to keep them significant)

- Pages 246-247 (These pages have great templates for the kinds of encounters and situation to be included in the tables, and it can be expanded vastly, and certain options can be selectively and repeatedly chosen to meet our needs. Mood works well as a complication.)

There might be other pages that are useful as well for these sorts of random encounters in the wilderness that I haven't come across yet. If so, give them a shout out and I'll be sure to add them in. It's worth checking it out in its entirety for some great tips!

Conclusion

Again, credit goes to Dungeon Masterpiece and Worlds Without Number for excellent adjustments. This has been quite long, but I hope you stuck around till the end.

Many a session have been made easy but complex ever since this was introduced and I hope that this helps you out as much as it helped me in my prep and improv!

Feel free to give any advice in formatting on Tumblr, or any feedback on the post itself. It really means a lot to me, thanks!

[spacemonkeysalsa]

Somebody (okay like a lot of people) said being attracted to a character makes it hard to be objective about them. So, for science (eh, for fun) I have interviewed a lesbian with nearly 3000 hours in Baldur's Gate 3 with questions about Astarion:

Q: Hi. I know you are a lesbian, but that doesn't preclude being attracted to Astarion, so let's also establish objectivity according to the experts. Are you attracted to Astarion at all?

A: No. It's kind of devastating to me because I love vampires. But apparently they do have to be lady vampires.

Q: Perfect. Have you ever tried to romance him anyway?

A: I started a couple of games with the intention of romancing him. It never worked out. I always end up with Shadowheart. Or Lae'zel.

Q: Do you like him, as a character?

A: Yeah. He's great.

Q: Ever kill him in any of your playthroughs?

A: Only to resurrect him, to see his lines. But I've never permanently killed him.

Q: Why not?

A: Because I like his story. I don't always enjoy talking to him about his story, because he's a bit much. But I want him to have that development and see it through. Be happy and free! Fuck Cazador. What a bitch.

Q: Is he an asshole?

A: Yes, but he's a lovable asshole. As much any of the others. Well, some of the others. Let's be fair.

Q: What's his alignment like?

A: I don't understand DnD alignment.

Q: For the record, have you played DnD?

A: Yes. I still don't get it. I have played for years now and this is all I know: lawful tends to equal "the worst in your group." There are exceptions though, like obviously I love Shadowheart, even though she starts off pretty strictly obeying Sharran dogma. Chaotic means "fun." Most party members in any given campaign say they are one thing but then act as true neutrals. And if you participate in a torture session with a DM controlled NPC and you forget to ask any questions, then your alignment will get shifted mid campaign. I learned that recently.

Q: I have no comment on that besides that maybe you should have listened to the bard in your party telling you this was stupid and pointless?

A: I wasn't running the torture session, I just held her still! I'm an accessory. I'm a barbarian, I can't be expected to think shit through or pay any attention to you when you speak.

Q: ...So can Astarion fall in love?

A: He's perfectly capable of that.

Q: If you had to guess his sperm count...?

A: Why would anyone ever care about that? Even if he were a real person? Why would anyone give a shit? Is this really a talking point? Fuck. I hate you guys. Just play the game.

Q: Whose your favorite companion?

A: Shadowheart.

Q: Tell me what you like about her?

A: The process of getting to know her, delving underneath that shell of secrets. She's so strong and sweet even through she can't easily show it right away because of all the bullshit she's been taught. In early access, when I couldn't get her out of the pod, either because that wasn't an option in the game yet, or I was too stupid, I've never figured it out, I was devastated. I didn't even know her yet, but I was so in love from the very beginning.

Q: Aww, that's really nice. What character do you think you are most like?

A: Karlach and Lae'zel. Maybe more Karlach, but definitely both. Not that Karlach isn't great, but I wish I was more like Lae'zel.

Q: And I should probably end on an Astarion question again since that was kind of the point. What about him do you find relatable, assuming that's anything?

A: I totally relate to wanting to put up a front to protect yourself. Can't relate to the method at all but the motivation is solid. Also, even though I have never romanced him, I have seen his DTR dialogue, and I really love it. I love how honest he is about his feelings. It's not romantic to be uncertain, but he doesn't care about that anymore, because he's just being totally transparent. It might seem weird that I would say that while being down bad for the least transparent character in the game, but that's a trait I personally value in myself more than a partner. Don't get me wrong, it would be nice, but for me I really try to be honest about what I am feeling. You can't DTR with Shadowheart really, the equivalent would be the stupid "you've never been in a relationship like this have you?" dialogue option which is never what I would say irl, but it's all I get in the game, and I think she's telling the truth when you have that conversation. With Astarion, it's so obvious. He's so obvious. I'm like that. I think it's very cool that you see that development in him, going from lying to survive to just being totally readable. Whether you're romancing him or not, by act three you know exactly what he's really about. Or if you don't, you haven't been talking to him, or like failed all your insight checks or something.

Q: Thanks! You were great. Anything to add?

A: Shadowzel forever.

[utilitycaster]

Wizard Breakdown Tracker: Mighty Nein Reunited, Part 2

Gather ye wizards while ye may, though with the return to Campaign 3, we are finally headed to Yios, where there are wizards, once we finish with the Gloomed Jungles, where there are were-creatures, which are also very cool. The hierarchy is, as always: paladins; wizards; were-creatures; literally everyone else; dhampyrs, kalashtar, changelings, and "hey DM, can I play a tiefling bard with intelligence 7". But I digress.

Ludinus Da'leth: So at this point (ie, shortly post-this episode), Caleb, known bridge between the Cerberus Assembly and the Cobalt Soul, has taken a job at the Soltryce Academy, which means any efforts to make a new, slightly more palatable volstrucker program and quietly keep it from Archmage Becke are going to go straight out the window. The walls are closing in, and he doesn't even know that Jester can go to the Feywild. 7/10.

Astrid Becke: Caleb listened and took the job! That's one success in what's got to be a thankless new position in many ways. Also I still really want to know who the hell has become Archmage of Antiquity, or if the Assembly just writes that one off as "make a deal to bring back a powerful Age of Arcanum entity and raise it to godhood once, shame on you; make a deal to bring back an powerful Age of Arcanum entity and raise it to godhood twice, shame on us and also what the fuck are we going to do with two nickels in a society that uses gold, silver, and copper currency." 3/10; Astrid's doing better than she ever has in this tracker, and good for her.

Eadwulf Grieve: Caleb is still keeping him in mind, which is good, because he really is like...look, he's a wizard, so he's not dumb muscle, but compared to his two former lovers he's very clearly the 'And Peggy' of the bunch. On the other hand this means he's probably just organizing the Temple of the Raven Queen Yulisen Night Potlucks and inventing the Exandrian equivalent of Minnesota Hot Dish or something. 0/10.

Yussa Errenis: Is aware of the storm on the horizon. Is chilling in his tower. Is largely unbothered. Other people pointed out that while he has developed a reputation for fucking around and finding out, he has also technically never physically left his tower to do so, which is honestly impressive, but does explain why Beau did not have to bamf out a partially dissolved old wizard when she ended up in Uk'otoa's gullet. Anyway, glad he's keeping up with Caleb and making potions. 3/10, for being aware of the storm.

Allura Vysoren, whose name I keep misspelling: Yasha did give Kima back the sword, and Caleb doesn't seem to have her staff, and she helped make a new, cooler sword! 2/10 for League of Miracles reasons only.

Essek Thelyss: Still under a lot of political pressure, regardless of where he is...but he's also getting, as Figueroth Faeth would say, his kisses in, so better than I expected! 5/10.

Caleb Widogast: So here's the thing. It is, as the other post said, about the green beans. And it is, as my last iteration of this said, not time for deep Caleb meta in here. But I do have a lot of thoughts about the similarities between Caleb and Fjord, as I always do, and about how neither of them really had much of an understand of what happens in their life past That One Big Thing They Need To Do, having already woken up at some point and been like *Mitski voice* I used to think I'd be done by 20. I do feel that the Caleb Widogast of part 1 of this two-shot was truly a Caleb Widogast who could go either way re: the T-Dock usage, and the Caleb Widogast of part 2 of this two-shot is not; the event has not (in my understanding, at least) occurred but the decision has unconsciously been made. Also he's dating Essek and he gets to have Dragon Time, which sounds like Floor Time but better. He does get a 4/10 though, because he takes it upon himself to become the Mighty Nein's Social Event Coordinator. As someone who just had to cancel a carefully scheduled D&D session for tonight because I am sick but also the DM and if I have to talk for 2 hours while simultaneously using my brain I will cry, this is very stressful.

Veth Brenatto: Camp's going great! Only one kid died, and not permanently! 1/10.

Known Gem Wizard Hotsauce Lutefisk: Oh so the demigod leviathan CALAMITY SNAKE gets released from its prison beneath the sea, three seals in three temples broken in under 18 months, and yet, I, Halas Lutagran,

Bonus!

Warlock Breakdown Tracker

Fjord: For real? Who knows. I personally imagine that it does, as they say, briefly go to 11, because though Uk'otoa is dealt with and Zehir seems to have understandably gone "you are way too interested in love and the ocean for me to give a shit, I'm going back to bed", Fjord (not unlike Caleb) has to sit with the fact that he's done with that and he's happy OH GOD HE'S HAPPY WHAT THE FUCK DOES HE DO WITH THIS. Also he has to deal with the orphanage, which is going to be traumatic and unpleasant for sure, plus you know someone named "Grankton" is going to be holding a massive grudge against the world at large. But with time, it settles back down somewhere more reasonable, only to briefly spike and resolve again during Kingsley's little maneuver. So you know. Some numbers, probably.

[olderthannetfic]

https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/744363402559995904/reading-the-anon-abt-the-doll-hobby-not-having#notes

More BJD wank.

People using alcohol markers on their dolls. Just... don't.... don't do that. Also, people complaining that the alcohol marker doesn't wash off the doll anymore. Yeah, who'd have guessed that using alcohold markers on a highly porous material would end up not being removable. Also, don't use oils. Do not use any paint strippers that contain oil. And only use water soluble glue.

People who sell some of the most beat up looking dolls, chewed limbs, broken pieces, yellowed to hell and back. And then expect $$$ and even more than full price of a new doll. Generally it's not particularly offensive, but by the Gods if it doesn't get obnoxious when someone starts whining that nobody wants to buy their trash heap.

The fujoshi discussion was also quite ripe. It's no secret that probably 80%+ of the regular BJD hobby is women, and a lot of those women like men. The fujoshi discussion gets brought up ever few months? Years? And it's stupid every time. I remember the most recent incident being started again by a transman who took special offence to the large amount of M/M doll couples, and started getting angry when people dismissed his very misogynistic reasons as to why it's bad. Then tried to flip it around to homophobia and transphobia against him specifically, when all the people just told him to stop treating fujoshi as an insult and blah blah, you know the drill. People didn't buy it that he didn't just wanna admit defeat, but it kinda fizzled out when some other trans people entered the discussion, and some gay/bi men who also said that this was a stupid discourse. Also a few pretty heartfelt experiences by women explaining why they preferred male dolls over female dolls.

"Put a trigger warning on your amputee doll characters." Not a big discourse, but a few people talked about how they had gotten comments or DMs about tagging their dolls who represent amputees with trigger warnings. General consensus was "Fuck those people." To make this extra clear, these were just amputee characters, not horror or gore.

Did I mention Nazi dolls? Because there has been several rounds of drama around Nazi dolls. Most people agree that Nazi dolls, aka full Nazi uniform with the armband are a huge fucking no-go.... BUT, some people try to argue that "Well if you depict the doll as a disgusting pig wearing a Nazi uniform..." Yeah, that was a long wank session.

The honestly kinda an pointless argument about "Are you racist if your dark resin doll face-ups look ass?" The argument is basically around dolls with dark resin tones who receive... unfortunate face-ups. The issue here is that in many cases the people getting called racist are really just bad at doing face-ups, which is especially hard on dark resins because it's hard to layer colors without it looking ass if you don't know what you're doing, and the main medium is just pastel chalks. Combine that with sealants that might leave behind a whiteish sheen with the topcoat, and you end up with a real ashy dusty looking mess. While we're on face-ups, generally a lot of face-ups just objectively look like ass when you're not a professional face-up artist. It's just what happens when you don't know what you're doing and still learning, because you don't wanna spend $$$ on sending it to an actual artist. It's really fucking hard layering colors, and then painting over it to get details when you're just not that experienced yet.

Also thanks to the one person in my last anon mentioning "Dollshe" and his wait times: Dollshe is a doll maker who's infamous for his year long wait times, and constant "sales." Apparently the dude bought himself a big fancy car, while people were still waiting for their dolls. Some wait times have exceeded half a decade. Guess what though! People still decided to take the chance. He's apparently closed shop now, and there are probably high double or low triple digits of people who haven't gotten their dolls yet. Not sure what his average price point is/was, but a quick check, the front page is filled with dolls starting at 800 going up. (So like 700-1 500) https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/744582859159945216/744363402559995904reading-the-anon-abt-the-doll-h#notes Also, yes, Anon is 100% correct. Smartdolls are basically just considered "honorary" BJD's because they fall under the same idea as the VOLKs dolfie dreams, and their creator just copied the idea. But generally, most people wouldn't refer to SMD's when speaking about BJDs, unless specified. Since they are vinyl you do not have the same artistic freedom as you have with resin dolls, which you can customize heavily with various mediums. They also aren't as available for custom face-ups, and apparently the creator has a bit of an ego problem when it comes to that as well. Another piece of drama: The joints of these dolls are internal skeletons as already explained. The problem a lot of people faced is that the joints would break quickly during posing. Under normal circumstances you'd maybe assume you could get some customer service to replace the broken joint, or at least be able to buy one for free. WRONG. You had(have?) to buy the entire skeleton just to replace one broken joint. I also think there was a time where you couldn't even get a replacement skeleton, and were left with a broken doll. Fun fact: Originally the "Smartdolls" were also supposed to be robotic, that's what the "Smart" originally referred to. That then got downgraded to a concept doll that got a bit of automated head shaking and limb moving, which then ended up with the creator backtracking and claiming "Smart" stood for "Social media art doll." Also, while we're at it, he also made a cochlear implant disability device for his dolls. A pretty significant amount of HOH/Dead-BJD people criticized the inclusion of said device because of some medical issues of it. And guess what! Banhammer. I also re-checked the story of the disabled person who got banned, and then made the creator post a "They aren't made for disabled people." The doll the disabled person struggled with was a male doll, but because the male dolls were so rare, they didn't have a male skeleton, but the female standard. Meaning the skeleton inside the male doll shell was female, and the skeleton didn't properly match up with the vinyl male-doll shell. Which was one of the main reason they struggled so badly to reattach the limbs. Bonus story: The creator has a real culty following, he has/had joined a few facebook groups around smartdolls. Apparently people noticed a pattern that he'd throw random tantrums in the groups, leave, and then the entire group had to grovel and praise him to get him to rejoin.

--

[dungeonsandkobolds]

So- Uhm hi! So so sorry if this is a bother, but I noticed you answered some questions about DnD, and me and my siblings have been trying to get into playing.

We decided I'd be the DM, and I've been doing a fair bit of research. I was wondering if you had any tips for a beginer DM? I just really want to make sure I do a good job! Of course feel free to ignore me! I don't want to be a bother!

Have an amazing day/night!

Omg so sorry it's taken me forever to answer this but I do have a few top tips (and also I tag a lot of helpful things as 'DM resource', 'DM tips', 'DM advice', or 'Dungeon Master' on my blog)

Tips are:

Being a DM is like any performance - no one knows how it's meant to go except you. Don't stress if things go to plan, if you go with whatever's happening it often ends up being more fun. And if you're a bit flexible, no one will be able to tell that things went off plan in the first place

Have a session 0 where you establish expectations and build characters - doesn't matter how well you think you know each other, this is always helpful. Also establish a safe method people can provide feedback/raise concerns with you

In the session 0 also establish that you want them to tell you what things went well lol - this helps you cater to what everyone wants but also combats something I think is commonly termed like 'DM drop' or something (where you're flying high during a session then get mad anxiety afterwards)

Don't feel pressured to do things like any DnD podcast/show!!! People like Matt Mercer and Brennan Lee Mulligan are literally paid to DM! They have way more time, experience and support that you do! I even disagree with how they rule things from time to time. DM for you and your table - you'll find your own DM style in time

It takes a while to get a hang of things - and that's fine. I only really fully hit my stride with my current group last year (we've been playing since 2017 or 2019 depending on how you're counting)

Start simple!! Do something fun and silly for the first session. You can get imaginative later, make things easy on yourself

Anyway I hope this is helpful! Feel free to ask more questions for sure! DM-ing is fun and I love it haha

[aquadestinyswriting]

Writeblr Re-Intro

Hi folks, it's been a while. Life has been pretty hard the last few months, but I'm ready to come back to the community and get back to posting. I apologise for the readmore here, but this is quite lengthy. I'm up for tag games and asks of all types, though I may take a bit of time to respond at times. Please DM me if you want to be added to any of my taglists.

I'm Aquadestiny, or Aqua for short, I write almost exclusively fantasy based on an old D&D campaign that took place in the world of Fighting Fantasy. Said campaign has been given the title 'Destiny's New Servants' and was the second D&D campaign I ever took part in as a player, then halfway through it became my first experience as a GM. The campaign was played using 3rd edition D&D as the ruleset, so much of the way I write has been partially informed by the mechanics of that system. I have been given the blessing of several of the other players of that campaign to use their characters in my writing and the full blessing of @druidx to use her characters and referencing some of her writing in my work as we both write for the same setting. Full credit will always be given if this is the case in any given piece of writing I do.

My work goes through the whole spectrum of experiences from cute and fluffy to heart-rending angst and pretty much everything in between. A good amount of the things I write are either: Dramatisations of campaign sessions, or pre/post-campaign stories that help to further character development and/or the worldbuilding.

Although all of the work I post here is interlinked in some fashion (my masterpost contains links to everything) my WIPs can be split into 5 main camps:

The Wizard's Tale: The story of the Destiny's New Servants campaign as seen through the eyes of my very first roleplay character, Selene Frigidwake, who became an important NPC. Expect a whole lot of angst and unresolved trauma stemming from my first campaign as a player with this one.

The Trouble with Meredith: The backstory of my second roleplay character ever, Meredith Gruksdottir. This story is a little more light-hearted and tells the story of how Meredith even ended up becoming a Player Character in the Destiny's New Servants campaign. There's still some drama and angst, but it's not quite as prevalent.

Destiny's New Servants- Fangthane's Folly Edition: Contains dramatisations of the Destiny's New Servants campaign story from Meredith's perspective, as well as other stories detailing the goings on back in Fangthane during the campaign that happened 'offscreen'. This one runs the whole gamut, but there's a lot of angst and drama seeing as this is based on a D&D campaign where the original GM was a huge fan of both.

Titan Fighting Fantasy Modern AU: This is currently a working title. This is basically what it says on the tin. This is an alternate universe story set in a modern version of Titan, taking place around the 90s.

The Ouroboros of Destiny: This is a collection of stories based around the current campaign I'm running in the setting. The series mostly follows Meredith's youngest son, Llachlan, and covers mainly the backstory of this current campaign and some of the goings on behind the scenes of events occurring during it. This has angst galore, so buckle up.

I also have pages specifically for worldbuilding and for my character profiles if you're interested in either and I also have an AO3 if you would prefer to read and leave kudos/comments there

[sagesariadnd]

Dungeon Master Red Flags

I've seen so many RPG Horror Stories about behavior from DMs that new players let slide and/or get turned off from D&D (or other TTRPG systems, but I usually see it in D&D) because they think it's how the game is supposed to be played.

Just giving it to you straight: if you're uncomfortable, talk to the DM or leave the table. The game is meant to be fun, and if you're not having fun or feel uncomfortable or threatened at the table, it is not worth it and that is not how the game is supposed to be played.

So here is my list of red flags to look out for when playing with a new DM. Feel free to reblog and add to the list, and I'll have one for player red flags in the future. Some of these can still work out in the end - sometimes DMs make mistakes out of inexperience - but they are at the VERY least things to be wary of and keep your eyes peeled; if things don't improve, then you have a bad table.

does not have a session zero, or at LEAST a pre-game period in discord or similar where you can do session zero tasks such as meeting the players, establishing table rules and boundaries, and discussing the kind of character you want to play

starts session one but calls it session zero - session zero is for game setup and character creation. if you start playing the game, you are no longer having a session zero.

does not give direction, especially if any direction you try to take is the 'wrong' direction

rejects multiple character ideas for arbitrary reasons

insists that you MUST play a certain race, character, gender, etc.

gender or sex targeted house rules (IE: "charisma is at disadvantage while on your period," "roll for dick size," or "all female dragonborn are sex workers")

criticizes your character concept or in-character decisions

NPCs try to seduce you and either won't take no for an answer or will force the issue with charm, fudged dice, skipping ahead, etc.

does not stop harassment from other players or at least pause the game to make sure everything's okay

does not introduce your character as soon as possible, leaving you sitting at the table doing nothing

enemies exclusively attack you for reasons that can't be justified in-character (obvious tank, they saw you casting spells, you're carrying something you know they want, etc.)

immediately takes away abilities or items you were excited about

scoffing at or mocking safety tools

does not consult with you for major character changes (such as alignment changes or losing powers), or doubles down if you address displeasure with it after the fact - you as the player should be braced for bad things to happen, but if your character is going to be massively overhauled for story reasons, it should be a conversation.

punishing characters in-game for out of game behavior instead of talking to the players

favoritism of one character over the others (only focusing on this character's backstory, only ever finding loot this character can use, etc.)

Main Character DMPCs - I don't dislike DMPCs the way others do because I think they CAN be done properly, but if the DMPC is the center of attention in literally EVERY scenario, then that is bad DMing.

deliberately putting you in constant unwinnable situations just so a DMPC can swoop in to rescue you (see previous bullet point)

Rolling a natural 20 is only met with "you fail."

getting angry if you come up with clever plans

"We're going to be the next Critical Role!" or comparing themselves to Matt Mercer - Critical Role is awesome, but you should not be expected to play exactly like them or be the same level of quality of roleplay or production

Openly hates a class or race but allows you to play it anyway - this is a one-way ticket to being targeted and antagonized in game. If they hate this race or class, they should just not allow it in their game. They ARE in fact allowed to do that.

none of your choices are permitted or matter - there is a massive difference between a linear game and railroading. Railroading is not the presence of a path, it's the absence of choices.

lets the session grind to a halt because players missed something, failed a roll, or genuinely have no clue what to do

adheres to RAW, historical accuracy, or other Hard Rules to the point where the game isn't fun anymore

plays the game like a character meat grinder without warning you of this being their playstyle

punishes you for making a choice offered in game, then criticizes you for making that choice at all, especially if you were "supposed" to do something else

"cutscenes" - sometimes you'll WANT to just listen to the DM's narration and let it play out, but if you're not allowed to interact with a scene at all because the DM is treating it like a cutscene in a video game, that's a red flag and an actual example of railroading.

[pathetic-gamer]

okay here's my hot take: D&D is a game about dungeons not the hero's journey.

Mechanically, it's about dungeons. This has been true from the very beginning, and remains true, regardless of what WotC says in their marketing. The culture can shift, and the goals and expectations players have when they gather a group and sit down to play can be anything under the sun and that's good, that's great, I want people to have fun!

None of this changes the fact that the rules of the game are designed to facilitate combat encounters (and traps and riddles and puzzles and such that you would find in a classic rpg dungeon). And it's not really a rules-light system in the first place ("smh noob, 5e has nothing on 2e with THAC0-" shhh, its okay. take my hand. let's make space vehicles in GURPS 3e together.), people just have a level of cultural familiarity that makes them think it is and thus that they can get by without reading the PHB when the extent of their knowledge is actually just "roll the big one to do stuff."

Of course you can tell a good story while you play! Of course you can have fun! It doesn't have to be nothing but rules and arithmetic all day every day - what I'm saying is just that vast heroic fantasy narratives are secondary.

So what do I mean when I say it's about dice-rolling?

I mean that the same thing that keeps combat interesting (a single d20 leads to lots of volatility and means crits are uncommon enough to be exciting, but common enough that someone at the table is almost guaranteed to get at least one in any given session) makes role-playing difficult sometimes (doesnt matter how persuasive your argument is - a nat 1 persuasion check is a nat 1 persuasion check).

I mean that at the end of the day, whatever funky character work you want to do has to work with the game's mechanics. As fun and interesting as it would be to play a sneaky little trickster of a cleric, you simply will not have the dexterity or charisma to successfully steal that plot-important key while seducing the innkeeper.

I mean that the mechanics of the game, especially for DMs who aren't professional actors or improve comedians, are meant to support and reward clever fighting, not clever debates. Skills, abilities, class features - all of these assume your energy will be focused on fighting. It takes a lot of flexibility, homebrew, and house-ruling to move around that.

There are other games that are meant to facilitate really good rp, though! There are rule systems that are elegantly structured around soft skills and encourage cleverly handling social encounters, or systems with much more class flexibility to enable something like a trickster cleric to exist from day one.

So anyway. I say all of this as someone who loves lot of different ttrpgs, D&D 5e absolutely included, but you'll have so much fun exploring the vast world of ttrpgs if you would just let a game's rules inform how you play, and find a ruleset that matches your goals.

[bunnygirl678]

Okay team…

Going on a hiatus for all writing and for the most part tumblr, might still be some lurking and I’ll have my queue going butttttt

Had my first physical therapy session today, and it’s a lot worse than I was thinking it was, I have three sessions a week rn and have to completely change my set up

I now have to use a standing desk (I got an under desk treadmill to go with it! Gonna be back in marathon shape by year end my dudes), luckily no surgery is expected! Woooo

I might try to write some but between work and being on pain killers and muscle relaxers nothing I’m outputting is any good, I’m no bukowski… or Hemingway…. Or any of the other drunk writers lol

Really sad cause I had some fun stuff in the pipeline

Probably going to be a little rusty when I get back into it buttttt

I vibe with my therapist, an older dude who kept calling me sugar, made my southern ass feel at home lol, it was funny he was attempting to massage a bit but I kept inadvertently twitching he said my nerves are in high gear and asked how I’d been doing this for 3 week lmao (remember when I had pneumonia for 3 weeks and was effectively just ignoring it lmao see a pattern here)

I had my Pokemon backpack, and shoes, and a black Pokemon shirt and he was telling me his son was really into it, and I’m like cool cool thinking he’s talking about like a 6 year old, nope 23, I felt more comfortable after that, his son apparently just got back from Japan

He gave me a bunch of home work and told me baby steps, lol not something I’m good at

But he was really understanding of my work and the fact that I can’t just not work lol (ngl my company wouldn’t make it a month without me)

Idk my dudes I might be a bit high rn

Don’t expect anything exciting from me.

But feel free to shoot me messages on discord or dm here or ask for my email like it’s 2006, I might be a little high tho lol

I love you all, I’ll be here when I can, also don’t turn 30, those fuckers weren’t lying when they say your body starts falling apart!

I just have to be okay for Nashville cause my ass is going to see the Dresden dolls come hell or high water,

[official-dnd-posts]

Acrobatics insight stealth :)

behold! forbidden knowledge:

Acrobatics - have your players ever made you have to quickly rework/improvise an entire adventure?

Not an entire adventure, but I have needed to rework many sessions on the fly because of a player's choice. I wish I had a good example but it just happens so frequently that I don't know where to begin - and I think this is a major part of what makes D&D fun for me as a DM. I LOVE being surprised and caught off guard by my players. I try to prep in a way that makes this possible for players but not overwhelming for me (I wrote and then deleted paragraphs of prep advice in response to this like three times, I could talk about this for days.)

Insight - How do you resolve player conflict?

I'm very lucky to play with the same general group of players, and we have very little conflict (especially compared to the countless horror stories out there). When it does happen, I generally don't have to get involved before the players themselves resolve things. Setting expectations up front for any game is key: we're all here to have fun, together, and never at anyone's expense. Don't be a jerk. Facilitate the fun for others, and you can expect the same back. I've only had to remind players of these rules a handful of times in the past, thankfully. (And I expect my players to hold me accountable in the same way.)

Stealth - Have you ever completely surprised your players?

This is the other side of the Acrobatics question above - I LOVE surprising my players. Imo, surprises should come in a mix between "all the clues were right in front of you the whole time" and "this was completely unexpected". The expanded beginning to Descent into Avernus was a good mix - everyone felt like something bad was going to happen, and then was completely shocked by the scale and severity of how bad the thing was.

Happy surprises are key too, like the sudden appearance of a friendly NPC. Maybe the best one in recent years: early on in DiA, the party rescued a pregnant woman named Dara, whose husband was lost when Elturel was destroyed. They got Dara to safety and she had a healthy baby a few weeks later. A long time passed in the campaign and the party ends up in Hell, where they encounter a guy in the process of crafting a deal with a devil; he's getting ready to sell his soul in exchange for feeding an entire community (a risky act, but a selfless one). The party is obviously against him selling his soul, but are struggling to convince him otherwise; he wants to help his community, the only thing he has left after he lost his family... when Elturel was destroyed.

There was a long pause as the PCs were piecing this together. Then all at once everyone was yelling as they realized this was Merric, Dara's lost husband. It felt like every player was shouting DARA IS ALIVE!! YOUR BABY IS ALIVE!! into their mics (and there may have been some joyful tears def not from me though)

And the deal with the devil was immediately off the table, of course.

[alternazine]

Time for our first "Questions and Answers" session!

I, Rebi, will be your guide. You are in good hands! Here, us scientists will resolve all doubts. Remember you can ask us anything via our Curious Cat, Twitters DMs, Tumblr ask-me-anything or email. Now, let's begin! . . .

«The following questions belong to our: INTEREST CHECK.» 1.- "What is this even about?"  R = 'Utopia of Yesterday' is a free zine dedicated to Alterna, the setting of Splatoon 3's Hero Mode. Our contributors will work on an assigned kettle for their zine assignment, which can be an art work or a piece of writing. 2.- "Would a portfolio be absolutely necessary to join as an artist of any kind?" + "Are there any requirements/expectations when presenting our portfolio?"  R = Per our guidelines, a linkable and viewable portfolio is needed for our contributor applications. It can be done in any way you like and contain how many pieces you want that show us your work! Your portfolio doesn't need to have Splatoon samples but it is encouraged. As well, we expect to see 1 background example. Portfolios with NSFW, suggestive illustrations or (heavy) gore won't be accepted nor taken into consideration, ending in an instant rejection for the applicant. 3.- "What does it mean exactly to be a supporter and what do they do?"  R = A supporter is a person who supports yet does not contribute to the zine as an artist or writer would do! They normally share the zine's posts, talk about it with their friends, or maybe even just follow us. These are just some ways of being a supporter! 4.- "What's a Spot Piece?"  R = A "spot piece" is a small artwork dedicated to fill the empty space and complement the bigger picture of the zine's layout and design, usually found alongside the writing. 5.- "Is there a consistent theme or set of characters artists can draw or is it more customizable?"  R = It is more customizable! In 'Utopia of Yesterday' we allow our contributors to draw/write about any set of characters, be it sea creatures as inklings or maybe even humans long ago when they lived, as long as it is in the setting of their assigned kettle/site. 6.- "r u guys gonna have mod applications tee hee"  R = No, we will not. The current staff team is able to take care of all needed areas. Thank you for the interest! 7.- "If someone did get suggested [for Guest Artist], would the team ask if they're interested directly or leave it up to fate and hope they apply?" R = Something like that! Once we decide who to invite to participate in the zine based on the suggestions given in the Interest Check, we reach out to them via the zine social media! It's up to them if they accept our invitation or not. ----- «The following questions belong to our: CURIOUS CAT.» 1.- "Are there any zines formatted by a host that I can see? Although they have been involved in many zines, I can't see any projects that are finished and show me the quality of formatting that this zine will have. Sorry if this sounds rude!! but I am genuinely curious TT" R = Tari, one of the hosts and our formatting mod, has been mainly involved in zines as a contributor. Most of their formatting work is personal/private, but there will soon be a public example! This Monday 29th, the zine Classified Love will be released to the public freely. It is a project about love made with love. We highly recommend you to go check it out and support everyone's hard work! 

. . . This has been all for today. We thank you all for the constant interest and support. Now, I must go back to the lab... Please stay on the lookout for our next "QnA" session! See ya~ « Art by @calatarii. Graphics by @rebiisea. All rights reserved. » « Information Hub: https://alternazine.carrd.co/ »

[catsidhesilvie]

So in my D&D campaign, Zilvra the feylost drow druid-turned-warlock with fey-induced amnesia has had a lot of character development! She is so fun and my favorite ;v;

Our group adopted/saved/kidnapped(?) an orc, who is now a sort of apprentice for our cleric. This session, they were working on teaching him to read before bed, lol. Someone asked how tall he was at some point, and we realized that, with how tiny drow are, Zilvra and the orc would have a tiny evil lady/himbo henchman vibe going on, and the cleric immediately shipped it. I leaned into it, and it has been hilarious.

Unfortunately for her, one of her parting "gifts" from the feywilds was that any flower wilts in her presence, so..... haha.

We also had the big reveal from the DM this week that she was actually a Lolth-following drow before being fey-napped!

I had told the DM in session 0 that I am totally open to anything he wanted for her backstory with my framework, be it naturally good drow or traditional Lolth drow who learns to accept outsiders after the experience, but he had suggested that I go ahead and throw an idea at him. I went with a modern Eilistraee-following drow backstory who lived with an above-ground druidic circle, so that she wouldn't seem too edgy. But the DM apparently had other plans and it was SO GOOD because I/the other players did NOT expect it at all!

We met another drow at the end of the session who recognized her, leading to exposition where we learned she had been sent from the underdark to get druidic assistance in ending a war against mindflayers. She was instead caught by fey for 200 years and failed her mission, leading to the destruction of their city :O But the matron of her house survived, and recently returned to their old home to try to rebuild....

So now she knows that, while she was a druid (circle of spores), she was not a particularly friendly one, and she has -angst- about what she will be like when she completes the mission assigned by her unknown fey patron and her memories are returned. Does she stay an adventurer? Does she return to her home in the underdark? Does she turn against her party? Or have they changed her?

I'm so flipping excited for this campaign. I love the other players/characters and the DM has put in so much work. I'm gonna be sad when we finish this campaign since it is only supposed to go to level 6 :')

[crowkip]

hi there!! i came across your art recently and love how you simplify forms for your style!! Do you have any tips on what you did to learn art and develop your current style? Did you take figure drawing lessons or just hyperfixate on an anime?? Any materials/exercises that were particularly helpful for learning how to draw humans? Thanks for your time!

thank u so much!!! i do have some handy info but im gonna put it under the cut so it doesnt clog up ppl's feeds bc it's gonna get a little long, hope this helps out!! ꉂ(ˊᗜˋ*)

ok so!! my top tip is to try out some life drawing classes! you'll often be expected to capture a full body gesture in 5-15 minutes which really helps you learn break the body down into its simplest forms since you wont have time to work on all the details. i only ever did a few sessions since they were part of a design course i was taking but even that alone definitely helped me streamline my process when it comes to planning out poses and making sure things arent looking too stiff

as for developing a style i honestly dont have a super clear answer bc i still find that i feel like my art is vERY very inconsistent, but even with that being said i do still have a few things that've helped personally!! easiest place to start is finding the tools you enjoy working with, for me i have a handful of brushes in csp that i tend to default to which helps form a little bit of consistency across my drawings (ofc dont be scared to branch out!! it's just handy to know what brushes work best for you). the other thing that's influenced my style is reading lots of comics and spending a lot of time looking at other artists' sketches, if you see a specific feature you like in their work try giving it a go yourself!! i remember noticing the contrast of soft and hard shadows in old oil paintings a few years ago n thinking 'ooh ive gotta try that' and ive been using it on my own art ever since. in the end your own style is greatly just a reflection of little things you've loved seeing in other peoples art and once you combine all those you end up with smth uniquely yours which i just think is awesome tbh

and as for shows n stuff that got me drawing, i dont have the coolest answer but as a kid i got super into drawing my friends as my little pony characters lmao i would spend every minute between classes drawing these stupid little rainbow horses and it actually really got me into picking out colour palettes and helped me build up that muscle memory which was what led into me drawing things that were a little more challenging. even if whatever motivates you to draw is considered kind childish or 'cringy' or whatever, dont stop drawing what you enjoy!! i wouldnt be drawing now without the years of pony doodles on homework as a kid and im glad i embraced it. i hope this can be helpful to you, so sorry for the long read but thanks for getting through it all!! good luck as dont be scared to dm me if you ever have any questions, i'll always do my best to help out :D