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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 1 month ago

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wish lantern rewrite

I can’t be the only one that wishes we had actually traveled to a new location… that we had learned about a new culture and holiday… that Riddle had actually had more character development in Wish Lantern instead of being cooped up in the library, being forced to play pretend princess in order to get out, and give like maybe a handful of lines max in the second half of the event 😭 What we ended up getting was fun too, but I keep thinking about the missed opportunities and how great this story event could have been.

If Twst won’t give it to me then I will have to cook my own food 😤

Here’s how I would write Wish Lantern if I was in the Twst writing room:

Since Riddle is the SSR, I feel the story and its set-up should center him. I’m thinking maybe he’s invited to (or told by his mother to attend) some kind of conference or event in the Kingdom of Heroes or the Sunshine Lands for aspiring medical mages. Let’s say it is being held in the same place where the story of the Princess in the Tower originated because the Sundrop flower mentioned in the tale has miraculous healing properties (and the city/kingdom has since become known for its medical advances).

Riddle is uneasy about going there by himself (the implication being that this event is set after book 1 and, more specifically after book 6, when Riddle expresses to Azul he has been considering pursuing law instead of magic medicine/the career his mother chose for him). Maybe he mentions this unease around Deuce, that he feels obligated to go because “Mother knows best… She has always known what is beat for me, hasn’t she?” It could even be in the library. Say that Riddle is brushing up for the conference and happens to run into him, who is looking for a book to help with completing an assignment. After listening to Riddle’s woes, Deuce, being one of the people who knows about his dorm leader’s complicated feelings toward his mother and finding his own independence, offers to come along as emotional support.

As for how Jack gets involved, he’s Deuce’s club member. Maybe he overhears Riddle talking about sports medicine or panels presented by medical mages who work with athletes, or Deuce mentions it in a club meeting. Jack becomes interested because he’s the type of person that’s always looking for ways to enhance his training and to learn more about this subject.

Kalim can either join because he's conveniently in the library + wants to learn more about poisons and antidotes (on his own self-development journey to be more self-sufficient instead of relying on Jamil all the time) or because the Asims are sponsors of the event and he gets a free invite through his Rich Privilege.

Use the usual "Grim overhears and whines until he and Yuu get invited to go along" excuse or maybe have Yuu and Grim come because they, too, want to be emotional support for Riddle. (They could have heard from Deuce?) With that, we have all of the main characters for this event assembled.

Even though this is a rewrite, I'm going to try and follow the conventions of OTHER "hometown" events. That means most of this rewritten event will be exploring the new area, learning about its customs and traditions, souvenir shopping, and sampling food. This would be a great chance to, of course, throw in Tangled references. Because I proposed that this event be focused on a conference for aspiring medical mages, we can also learn more lore about what medical technology and practices exist in Twisted Wonderland and how magic has played a part in advancing medicine.

So it turns out, there's a festival going on in the area at the same time as the conference. That's because there's a holiday in this kingdom that celebrates the Princess in the Tower finding her way home by following a trail of lanterns. Since the conference doesn't start until the next day, we can go out and enjoy the festivities! (Riddle can be hesitant at first, but the others convince him to loosen up.)

The new outfits + hair can be explained away as part of local traditions. Everyone is provided with a potion that lengthens their hair so they can emulate the Princess in the Tower. Or maybe there can be a potion-making station, and length still correlates with the skill at which you were able to brew it. (In this version, the hair lengthening potion isn't made with super rare ingredients; it is something easily accessible for even non-mages to brew and can be made cheaply.) YES, THAT MEANS WE GET LONG HAIR GRIM.

Local specialties could include dishes mentioned or depicted in Tangled, like hazelnut soup (Rapunzel's favorite).

HERE ARE SOME CUTE INTERACTION IDEAS BASED ON RAPUNZEL'S OWN EXPERIENCES IN CORONA: the gang doing chalk drawings and clowning on each other's artistic abilities (or lack thereof), trying out cupcakes (the reasoning being that they're "single servings" so it's okay for Riddle to indulge), exploring bookshops, painting on the walls, and everyone joining in a big group dance! (For the dance, maybe there’s a competition to see who can drag in the most bystanders into the dance and Riddle gradually finds his footing in that + is crowned the winner?) There could even be a tavern that pays homage to The Snuggly Duckling.

While we're out having fun, there should be a consistent pattern of Riddle having to be convinced that it's okay to be participating in these activities. He feels that he should be focusing on studying for the conference, but the others are there to reassure him it's okay to take breathers.

"You won't perform at your best if you're always at 100%. In terms of a workout, you'd be asking to pull a muscle if you push yourself to exercise without end." (Jack)

"Mmm? But how often are we going to be in [name of city]? We're here now, so we might as well experience everything that's here!! The food, the music, the games, the people... You can't find that anywhere but here." (Kalim)

"I get the importance of preparation, but I'm kind of curious about the celebration that's going on. If Rosehearts-senpai wants to study, then he should do that. I'd feel bad exploring the city without him, though... He might miss out." (Deuce)

"Shouldn't you at least grab some grub first? I'm pretty hungry too! Let's check out the food stalls!" (Grim, maybe Yuu can also get a dialogue option)

At some point, the group decides to browse and buy souvenirs. They discuss who they are shopping for and come upon the subject of family. Kalim and Jack want to buy stuff for their siblings and Deuce thinks his mom might appreciate a locally made handkerchief with the kingdom's sun emblem on it. (As a trucker, Dylla often drives for long hours so she might find use in a handkerchief to wipe her forehead.) Yuu and Grim can also bring up potentially getting something for the Ramshackle Ghosts, who are like their found family.

Riddle becomes visibly uncomfortable when the topic of family is brought up. Everyone else sounds so happy talking about theirs, but he has no idea what a happy family is supposed to be like. Deuce (and maybe Yuu + Grim too) realizes why Riddle is uncomfortable and quickly apologize. Kalim and Jack, who aren't familiar with Riddle's background or his attempts to speak with his mother over winter break, are a little confused but the others feel it's not their place to explain why and Riddle doesn't know them well enough to elaborate on personal matters. (Here, Jack and Kalim serve as an in-universe reason to keep his family history vague so as to not spoil people who haven't gotten that far in the main story yet, but the awkwardness is palpable enough to imply something is wrong to serve the narrative of the event story.)

Now, "hometown" events tend to introduce a new character, typically a family member, to us. However, the new characters are not those who appear as the "trauma source" for the respective OB boy. (For example, Falena was not the character introduced to us in Tamashina Mina/Cloudcalling on the Savanna and we met Kifaji instead.) Following this trend, we will not be encountering Mrs. Rosehearts but rather MR. Rosehearts.

I realize that we don't have a ton of lore about Riddle's dad yet so everything I write about his personality is completely headcanon (primarily based on the personality of the King of Hearts). The only things that are canon in this depiction is that 1) Mr. Rosehearts is a medical mage like his wife is and 2) Mr. Rosehearts does not have a happy marriage with his wife.

Anyway, we run into Mr. Rosehearts out in the city. Turns out that he is one of the presenters at the conference and he was supposed to meet and receive Riddle. He's a quiet and slightly anxious man but overall is kind to his son (though we should get the impression that Mr. Rosehearts isn't good with confrontation and folds easily).

Maybe have a part where Mr. Rosehearts is surprised that Riddle has friends because uh... the last time he recalls his son having friends, it was because his wife ranted at them for 5 hours and banned them from their home. But hey, he's chill about it and promises Riddle this can stay between them and he won't tell his mom. Could insert a line or two that implies that the winter break talk didn't go over well. (This is just my headcanon, but you could also stick in a line that insinuates that the Rosehearts parents don't just outright divorce because Riddle's mom can't deal with the potential social fallout + realizing that she is "wrong" in her marriage.)

Every "hometown" event thus far has presented us with some kind of minor external conflict to be resolved. In this case, Riddle's conflict is more internal. He's wrestling with what he wants to do with his future and trying to cope with the reality that his mother isn't the loving, "always correct" woman he thought she was. This, of course, mirrors Rapunzel's struggle with Mother Gothel, who tries to keep her in the tower and doing as she commands.

We finally make our way to our quarters for the night (Riddle has his own room; everyone else has to share one), perhaps in tall tower to mimic Rapunzel's home with Gothel. Riddle knows he should retire early because the conference is first thing tomorrow, but he admits to everyone that after spending time in the city, he has become curious about the tradition of releasing thousands of wish lanterns into the night sky. It happens pretty late in the day though, so he brushes it off and says they should sleep.

... But the others get really hype about Riddle "finally getting into the spirit of the holiday" and decide they should see the lanterns!! The only problem is, Riddle is locked in his hotel room for the night. There could be a local superstition, tradition, or security reason for this. Like maybe due to the story of the Princess in the Tower (and Gothel locking her up), people who are indoors at a certain time of night can't leave until the next day?? Or maybe Mrs. Rosehearts had prepared Riddle's room for him in advance and instructed staff to ensure he doesn't leave because she has been paranoid about him "breaking the rules" again after the tart incident. I don't know, pick your reason.

YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS??? It's time for Jack, Deuce, Kalim, Grim, and Yuu to be Riddle's Flynn Rider + animal companions to break Riddle out. Our group represents the freedom and childhood wonders Riddle missed out on, the antithesis to Mrs. Rosehearts'/Mother Gothel's control. I can see Riddle using his long hair to hoist himself down, Jack using his UM to help everyone race to the water in time to catch the lanterns, Deuce being the muscle if they run into any thugs, Kalim using his social skills to quickly befriend the locals and ask for directions to the best vantage point or using his $$$ to rent the group a rowboat, etc.

We can keep the rhythmic/twistune from the original version of this event where Kalim, Deuce, and Jack were able to safely descend using Riddle’s hair but Riddle hesitates before he’s able to get himself to follow. The reason is the same; he worries about breaking the rules and how his mother would disapprove of him leaving the home. Riddle wonders if the Princess in the Tower felt the same, but ultimately his friends convince him it’s fine (by baiting him with the rules). He will be trapped in this tower forever if he doesn’t summon his strength and take the leap. If not now, then when? When will my life begin? “There are people waiting for me outside, so… it must be okay for me to leave. Right… Mother?”

Riddle keeps nagging everyone about how many rules and social norms they're breaking, but eventually he loosens up and even laughs a little at some of the dumb things they do. We can maybe have him thinking, This is just like… and then flashback to his childhood days with Trey and Chenya.

They're out on the waters just in time to see the lanterns being released. Alternatively, the even runners could be having trouble lighting up all the lanterns or something so Riddle has the opportunity to help with that (this way, we’d still get the other rhythmic/twistune featured in the original event). That particular rhythmic/twistune ends on Riddle with five lanterns floating overhead, which I think could be important symbolism (five lanterns -> five mentions of Heartslabyul).

It's beautiful. Everyone oohs and aahs at the sight--most of all, Riddle. He can say something like... "This city is known for its many contributions to magic medicine. I know that, and yet... I don't believe any magic or medicine could replicate what I am feeling in this very moment." There is some part of Riddle that acknowledges the healing and therapeutic properties of just... being allowed to have freedom, of allowing himself to live in the present and not stress about the rules or gearing up for a future someone else has decided for him all the time. He just doesn't know how to fully verbalize it + has not fully come to terms with it yet, so this is how he expresses it. At last, he sees the light.

While the new location they travel to + the conference provide us with the backdrop of medicine and health for this rewrite, I think there’s also something to be implied about the injuries we don’t see, the pain inflicted that isn’t physical. Both Riddle and Rapunzel were trapped in towers but were also emotionally controlled and prevented from leaving/made scared or the world and disobeying their mothers. When Riddle sees the lanterns, it’s sort of a “wake up” sign to his soul, a reminder of how healing it can be to just… live by one’s own terms, to not be ruled over by fear of disappointing someone else or failing to meet expectations. Rapunzel and Riddle bear scars on their heart from having been raised in the households that they were, and it is seeing the lanterns in-person that helps to “heal” what hurts them.

Riddle recalls the story of the Princess in the Tower and how she made a wish to see the lanterns, so now people make wishes upon these lanterns before releasing them into the sky. He lets go of his own lantern and wishes that, someday, he can be like the Princess in the Tower and this lantern floating up to the sky… and follow his own Road to Freedom.

Everyone sneaks back into their rooms and rest for the day. Uhhh, and there can be a scene of slicing off their hair for tomorrow. Riddle can talk about how the Princess grew her hair long because her mother told her to, but that it must have been cumbersome to walk like this. This way, by cutting off the hair like how the Princess does at the end of her story, it's a liberating act.

It doesn't matter what happens at the conference because what was important was the experiences Riddle had with his friends leading up to it. At most, maybe we see Mr. Rosehearts again while heading to the venue and they have a brief exchange where Riddle lets it slip he's a little tired. "That's so unlike you," Mr. Rosehearts remarks. "Well," Riddle replies with a small smile, "I am a growing young man, after all. I am changing every day."

I want to be clear that this does NOT mean Riddle has had a full character arc to come to terms with how he was raised. He would NOT feel 100% okay with rebelling against his mother by the end of this (hypothetical) event. The point of my version of Wish Lantern isn't to empower Riddle to fistfight Mrs. Rosehearts or to tell her off. The point is that it's supposed to be a small step in helping Riddle through the very complicated process of recognizing he was traumatized and/or abused, accepting that reality, and learning about how he can grow from it and his abuser (who is someone he thought he loved and could trust). This can take YEARS to process in the real world, and it would probably be similar to Riddle. Again, this is meant to be a SINGLE STEP he takes, NOT THE ENTIRE JOURNEY.

So in my rewrite, the event would be split up like this:

Episode 1: invitation to the event; gathering all the relevant characters, hopping through the mirror

Episode 2: arrival in the new location and having fun in the area

Episode 3: souvenir shopping, meeting Riddle's dad

Episode 4: retiring to room, changing mind and deciding to break out instead

Episode 5: seeing the lights, ending

As you can see, the structure is very similar to a traditional "hometown" event. I didn't want to stray too far from Twst's usual writing conventions, as it could mess with the cohesion with the rest of its story events. I did, however, try to change things up a little (like having an internal conflict instead of an external one) and tied in this (hypothetical) story with Riddle's overarching character development, as those are elements that I personally prefer in a story. I realize that the biggest change here is tying my rewrite much more strongly to the main story than similar events have 💦 BUT LET ME HAVE THIS, I think I cooked 😭

... What Wish Lantern could have been OTL Don’t get me wrong, though!! The version we did get wasn’t all bad. There was lore about the NRC library, lots of involvement from the staff, and fun character interactions with the whole student cast. I just feel like those could have all been used for a different event and not the Tangled one which could have been so much more interesting for Riddle and his character.

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vixensdungeon · 7 months ago

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Alright, time to talk about one of the hot button issues in D&D today: skills, and how they've evolved over the 50-year lifespan of the game. We'll start, of course, from the beginning.

Dungeons & Dragons (1974)

So there actually isn't a skill system here. But the primordial origins are there, in the various neat little procedures of adventuring. Firstly there are languages. Humans know the "common tongue," which at this point isn't a single language, it just refers to the local Lingua Franca. I think all non-human player characters are assumed to be in 20% of other creatures who speak the language along with their own one. You also know an alignment language (Lawful, Chaotic, or Neutral), and one additional creature language for every point of Intelligence above 10.

NPC reactions. This is rolled on a simple 2d6 table for recruiting hirelings. Another 2d6 table is for monster reactions.

Surprise rolls. There are no stealth or perception skills, and adventurers are simply assumed to be sneaking around while in dungeons, with surprise rolled when monsters are encountered.

Doors can be listened at and secret doors found, with simple d6 rolls.

There's also a chance of getting lost in the wilderness, which sort of implies a general ability to not do so in most situations.

And that's basically it! You can already see several different skills we know today forming in the primordial soup.

But you feel like something is missing, right? Ah, of course! We must take a little detour to

Greyhawk (1975)

Did you know that in the original game, the only classes were fighting man, magic-user, and cleric? That's right, the now classic thief would not be introduced until the first supplement! And with them came for the first time actual named skills.

Thieves could open locks, remove traps, listen for noise, move silently, pick pockets, and hide in shadows. Additionally they could read languages, treasure maps, and even magical scrolls at higher levels.

Now, these skills are only for thieves, so what are other characters to do? Well for most of them, nothing. It simply is not a fighter's job to pick pockets, or a cleric's job to open a lock. Certainly an item can be forcefully taken from an NPC, and a door bashed open, so they are not completely helpless in these tasks. But the thief simply excels at doing such things with superior ability and grace. And of course any character can hear noises behind doors, thieves are simply better at it. Moving silently and hiding are two slightly odd skills, as they overlap with surprise rolls but don't interact with them. It can be assumed that a thief moving silently can scout ahead and report back without actually encountering the monsters they find, and a hiding thief can let wandering monsters pass by even when there isn't sufficient cover (as only shadows are needed, other characters can obviously still hide behind cover if they are aware of the need to do so). Other characters can also climb using ropes and other tools, but won't be able to climb sheer surfaces unaided like thieves can, so again the thief can simply do something general in a superior manner.

There are many classes with their own skills to be found in various magazines, but I'm not going to dig through them. So let the totality of original D&D skills be the above.

Next time: we get Advanced

#dnd

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dduane · 6 months ago

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The first part of that last message got me curious -- given how long-running of a series YW is, how do you keep track of All That when writing a new entry? Copious amounts of notes? Re-reading the entire series backlog? Keeping a fully-functioning simulation of the entire YW universe running in your head with perfect accuracy? (only mostly joking with that last one)

And somewhat-relatedly, did you have any plan or idea when you started for how long YW would run? Or was it more of a "I'll keep writing about this universe until it stops churning out ideas," type of thing and that point just (very thankfully!) hasn't happened yet? I know for per-book purposes you're a proponent of outlining (I swear I'll try writing to one one day Q_Q) but do you also apply that to a series as a whole?

Let me take this backwards, as it may make more sense that way.

Particularly when doing series work, outlining is more vital than usual for me. (Which is saying a lot.) Some of the most basic reasons for this are laid out over here.

The simplest one, though, for series outlining, is logistical. Without having achieved a sense well in advance of what events (or effects of events) are going to be most formative or important (or both) for the characters in a series, you won't have allowed yourself time to think about them enough. And to fail to spend enough time on this is to cheat both yourself and the books in the series. (And your readership.)

If you're smart, you learn very early on that attempting to save time by shortchanging or omitting the planning stages is potentially profoundly destructive. You need to have a plan... and you need not to let anyone make you ashamed of needing one. Putting off your detailed character-interaction and event planning in the name of some magically occurring fit of inspiration, or theoretical bid toward creative spontaneity, will serve neither you nor your creation. You can throw "Hail Mary" passes all you like... but you'd better be damn sure there'll be someone in the end zone to receive. ...If not Herself.

...And just in case you're worried, your initial plans can be really loose! They don't have to jump out of your head full-formed like some local war goddess after somebody hits her dad in the head with an axe. The plan for the Middle Kingdoms books—after The Door Into Fire dumped me gasping by the side of the road and left me a few minutes to breathe—was nothing more than "Now that his boyfriend's finally upped the ante beyond all expectations, Freelorn finally gets off his feckless Would-Be Robin Hood shit and gets to work becoming king." I then spent the next decade thinking purposefully about how that was going to happen, and writing the second book in the series—while sufficiently working out the fine details of the climax (and beyond) to then be able to get busy executing the third book. Even though there was a change of publishers between the beginning of that series and the end of it, the basic dead-simple MK plan from a very early stage quickly became detailed and robust enough (because the series was short enough) to withstand the change. Not least because I'd been thinking about it in a general way since the early 1970s... and continue to do so, pretty much daily. The Door Into Starlight is still hanging fire...

YW has been a different story—quite literally—because the only plan extant at the start of things was, "Everybody slowly gets older (and slowly closer)." I always knew there were going to be more than the original three: there was way too much interesting ground to cover to just stop with those. (I've never yet succeeded in finding out who started the rumor that there were only going to be three books. Over time it's become one of those things you just shrug at and move on.)

(Adding a break here, because this does go on a bit. Caution: contains publishing skullduggery, plans ganging aft agley, approximate word counts, software recommendations, and value judgments.)

("Now wait just one minute. 'Feckless would-be Robin Hood shit'? Can she just say that??")

The circumstances surrounding the writing of Deep Wizardry and High Wizardry, though, made it plain to me that I was not going to be at the then-publisher (Dell) all that much longer. By the time HW came out, they were already starting to pull away from midlist books and authors in order to spend that part of the budget on best-sellers... so it became plain to me that attempting to construct a long arc with/at that publisher would have been folly. Because who could be sure what was going to happen next, and blow everything I'd built to smithereens?

Sure enough, when I finished A Wizard Abroad, Dell declined to pick it up (even though the books had been selling steadily and increasingly strongly in paperback). This annoying validation of my concerns—and my shiny new agent's—made it plain to me that further books in the series were going to need to be thematically driven, rather than mostly character-event-driven, and almost entirely capable of being taken as standalones. Any long arc was going to have to be one that could be suspended, or reworked, with little warning. Because what happens to you once, in publishing, doesn't at all mean you're immune to it after that.

It wasn't until the YW books were picked up by Harcourt in the mid-90s, with a strong editorial team behind them, that I felt confident enough to start building longer-arc material into the books, beginning with the arc that kicks off in The Wizard's Dilemma and more or less completes in Wizard's Holiday and Wizards At War. There is a secondary (and I assume, generally less obvious) arc that picks up material still unhandled in the "War Arc," and deals with it in A Wizard of Mars and Games Wizards Play. But plans for those stories' management were already nailed down in electrons as soon as 2001, because I had made some early choices about where I was going with the characters and their situations; and as new books came out, my editors agreed with me that the choices had been sound, and should remain.

I'll say this only because I've said it before: there is one piece of business planted in So You Want To Be A Wizard that has never been explicitly dealt with/followed up on in any of the books, and is at the core of YW #11. For the moment, it's safest merely to say that I do not willingly leave loose ends hanging. Beyond that, I'll leave you all to your own deductions.

...Now. How do I keep track of all this stuff? (The urge to mutter "With great difficulty" and run off into the wings is strong. But never mind.) :)

The question's fair, as there's a million-plus words' worth of it in the series at the moment. ...Mostly my guide remains the books themselves, in ebook form (in their NME versions. If I need to, I refer back to the traditionally published versions as necessary). I normally have a general memory of where a given event happens or where a given issue comes up for handling. I then pull that copy of the ebook(s) in question, and do a search on various useful target phrases until I find what I'm after, and where it leads.

For new work, or stuff not yet committed to what passes for canon, I do have lots of notes. Some of them are actually out in public, at the currently-being-revised Errantry Concordance (though they're not in any form that anyone but me will recognize). Others are tucked away in the notes sections of pertinent Scrivener files—this being one of the most valuable things about Scrivener, as far as I'm concerned: the ability to store project notes in the project itself as opposed to "all over the damn place." Others yet are in my iPad, as either typing or dictation, and get transferred to other files/formats as necessary.

But the very first thing that happens, when a new work comes into train, is an outline. Sometimes a hilariously simple one, sometimes one with more detail in the middle than at the beginning or the end. Doesn't matter what shape it starts in. All notes, scraps, prose chunks, random thoughts, and midnight cogitations, get slotted into place in this until it's ready to be organized and sent off to an editor. And this outline—no matter how fragmentary or how polished—remains ready to hand at all times until I've finished with correcting the book's ARC and am looking at the release date.

And then I zip it up and put it away where I can find it later if I need to... because some other plan, still in the building stages, may need something in that one that never happened, but now has its chance. Because in YW, as everywhere else in my work, it's so often about the things that have always almost happened... until they do.

...Anyway: HTH!

#writing #process #you've got to have a plan #Young Wizards meta

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transmutationisms · 1 year ago

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being reductive here but i do think the covid pandemic has & continues to expose a very specific strain of techno-optimistic or utopian thinking wrt medical technologies in particular---this idea that you can simply solve a massive socio-technical problem (disease spread) through a solely technical intervention that thus requires no input or cooperation from the average person besides a vague sort of 'pro-science' stance. you see this first with the crowd who thought the 'post-vaccine world' was one in which things ought to immediately 'get back to normal' but you also see it with those who seem to believe that eg a risky recreational event (parties, bars, &c) would be magically transformed in a binary manner into a wholly 'safe' one if only people were to wear masks. in this sort of politics there is no real understanding of risk as being along a spectrum or varying according to numerous factors including people's social behaviours; instead it is a technical problem solved instantly by a singular technical intervention. there's no need then to engage in larger and messier conversations about things like capitalist de/valuation of biopower, or disabled people's right or ability to participate in society. you sidestep the whole issue because you have applied the right technical means to simply dispense with the political problem. obligatory i wear masks when i have to be in public and i am boosted and blah blah but i'm under no illusion this means i can't get or spread covid (or other diseases). but more to my point here, i think this mode of thinking has dangerous consequences for all manner of social theorising that's simply answered with a lazy appeal to technological 'development' or advance---assumed to be something we can magic away if we throw enough money at pharma companies or weapons manufacturers or whoever else. what this ultimately does is stifle political consciousness and bolster the power and epistemological authority granted to institutions tasked with producing and protecting hegemonic forms. and my point here is not 'anti-science' or techno-pessimistic either; again, i am profoundly grateful for many a technological intervention into my life and i will continue to avail myself of them, including medtech. however the fantasy that problems of political and social forms and arrangements can be solved by sufficiently advanced technology is both foolish and dangerous.

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star-lights-up · 2 months ago

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I'm having thoughts again (it's a very dangerous thing, thinking is): Cherik matilda au, with Jean as matilda. Honestly, it'd probably be a jean-centric fic, background cherik, because i mean miss honey doesn't have a love interest in the original lol. (Oh, right, Charles = miss honey. Erik also kind of = miss honey. they're sharing the role.)

ALSO i'm basing this on the book and the original movie, not the musical and musical movies. I love all incarnations of matilda but I am too tired to work in the whole premonition story thing.

So Jean is just chilling. She's like two years old and already she can cook and clean and pretty much be self sufficient. Her parents are self-absorbed assholes who don't really pay her any mind, and her brother is a little shit who's older than her and never home anyways.

She goes to the library, and she reads. She expands her horizons. She learns. She develops a yearning to see the world outside of her lonely little life -- she may be self-sufficient, but it doesn't mean she doesn't want any friends.

Now, when she's six, she tells her parents that she really should've started school already, and her dad makes a deal with this terrifying man to send her off to Hellfire Elementary (sounds like a great place for kids, amiright?)

There she meets Ororo, who's funny and nice, and then there's Logan, this older kid who's absolutely TERRIFYING (at least he thinks he is, jean's calling his bs). He warns them about the headmaster -- Shaw. The truly terrifying one.

Shaw in this isn't really the kevin bacon shaw. He's like if shaw lost his fucking marbles and became a really buff lunatic. He throws a girl wearing her hair in pigtails over the fence. It's insane.

Then Jean goes to her class. The first years have two teachers -- Mr. Lehnsherr and Mr. Xavier, who tells them just to call him Charles as long as Shaw's not around.

The classroom is kind of amazing. They've got art by students hanging everywhere and cute little posters and vases of wildflowers, the doors opened to the school grounds and filtering in the last of the warm summer air. To Jean, it feels magical. She's finally at school. She finally feels like she's going to get to be in the world. She chats with Ororo and some kid named Scott before the bell rings.

(Now for teaching duo cherik! I'm thinking for them, this is an established relationship fic. )

They've both been hurt by shaw (more on that later) to the point where they've become more muted versions of their personalities.

Charles is kind, as he always is, but in this he's very soft-spoken and stuff. Even as he smiles warmly at the kids, checking on the girl with the pigtails, Jean notices this deep sadness in his eyes.

And then there's Erik. He's quiet, very matter-of-fact when he does speak up, methodical. He's very gentle with all of the children, though, and Jean sees him tracking Charles with his eyes, as though he's sure something awful will happen to him as soon as he lets him out of his sight. Again, his eyes hold some deep sadness, some hidden pain.

As the lessons begin, they're shocked by Jean. Her reading, her writing. Her incredible math abilities.

( found this cute little line from the original book, and i wanted to adapt it (very erik-core):

"It's not fair," Ororo says, "How can she do it and we can't?"

"Don't worry, Ororo, you'll soon catch up," Mr. Lehnsherr says, lying through his teeth. )

After class is over, Charles wants to talk to Shaw, try and get Jean in a more advanced grade. Erik doesn't want him to go. They go together, and Shaw pretty much yells at them and threatens them until they leave.

They decide to think of another way to go -- they can't have jean just sitting in class, learning how to spell r-a-t when she's read shakespeare already.

Back at home, for another week or so, Jean's life continues much the same as it always does. Her parents: the assholes. Then her father takes her and her brother into work one day, telling his son he needs to learn the family trade. Jean's just there.

He shows them all sorts of illegal things he does to the cars before he sells them -- sawdust in the engine, running the miles backwards until the car seems barely used. It's not legal. Worse, it's not safe.

Jean speaks out and gets yelled at.

So she finds some superglue and glues his stupid hat to his head the next day. And so starts her rebellion.

Charles and Erik decide that perhaps it's best to speak to Jean's parents directly. Cue creepy CGI cherik from the last stand. No, no, I'm kidding. They just show up there, try to talk to the greys, who really aren't having it, and before they leave Erik sneaks a book behind a coat rack, Jean smiling at him from where she's hidden on the stairwell, having listened to the whole thing.

Jean plays another prank on her parents for treating her teachers so bad (blabbermouth parrot in the chimney. Mrs. Grey is convinced they've got a ghost).

Meanwhile, at school, Charles and Mr. Lehnsherr give her all these workbooks with more difficult math and language and science, apologizing that they can't instruct her directly or get her into a more advanced class but promising to help if she has any questions (she doesn't).

Anyways. Then we get to the interesting part.

It's been a while, and Jean's seen the horrors of Shaw. He made a boy eat a whole cake in front of the school. he throws kids out windows. And there's this terrible thing called the chokey.

Shaw comes into their classroom to teach his monthly class -- Charles and Mr. Lehnsherr quickly hiding all the art and decorations in the room.

Ororo sneaks a newt into shaw's water. Pandemonium breaks out. Shaw starts targeting poor scott, of all people, who's not capable of breaking a rule.

Something in Jean snaps. And the glass tips over, sending the newt right onto shaw and shaw right out of their classroom.

After class, she explains it to Charles and Mr. Lehnsherr. She shows them what she can do. With just a little bit of anger, she can push the glass over.

The two teachers glance at each other (after being quite shocked, of course), then Charles asks if she'd like to have tea, and talk about this more, if her parents wouldn't mind.

Jean knows that they most certainly don't care where she is, and agrees.

Charles and Mr. Lehnsherr bring her to a small cottage, surrounded by wildflowers. The walls are whitewashed. There are two little windows. Charles spreads cheap margarine on the toast. Mr. Lehnsherr pulls two chipped mugs out -- there doesn't appear to be a third. The kitchen is just a shelf, really, with a little portable stove.

Charles asks Jean if she'd be willing to get them some water from the well out back. She has a wonderful time doing so, never having drawn from a well before.

She and Charles have tea and toast, sitting on the crates that are the only furniture in the whole of the tiny cottage. Mr. Lehnsherr sits cross-legged on the floor, leaning against Charles's crate a little and not eating or drinking anything.

Jean, as a small child -- because, yes, no matter how smart and independent she is, she's still a small child -- asks a few questions that might be a little too personal, inquiring about just how poor their salaries are to live like this.

"Why shouldn't you ask?" Charles says, after Jean apologizes. "You were bound to ask in the end. You are much to bright to not have wondered. Perhaps... Perhaps we even wanted you to ask."

Erik nods his head, saying his solemn voice, "You're our first visitor, after all."

Quietly, a little sadly, Charles begins to tell Jean a story. He once lived in a large brick house in town. His mother passed when he was born, and his father was absent until he died, leaving him in the care of an uncle. The uncle brought with him a ward, Erik.

The uncle was an unkind man. He forced them to work around the clock, doing the household chores and the cooking and anything else he could think of, like they were servants and not young children. He would beat them if they disobeyed -- and even when they didn't.

They managed to go to the teacher's college about forty minutes away when they both turned eighteen. They could've gone to university -- but the evil man wouldn't allow it.

"How did you get away?" Jean asks, equally riveted and in deep sympathy for her kind teachers.

They tell a story of being forced to sign away their salaries to the uncle, since apparently they "owed him thousands" for being just barely fed and clothed for ten years. With the little that they got to keep, it seemed they would never get a place of their own...

But Mr. Lehnsherr, on his early morning walks, stumbled into a small, empty cottage. He went to find out who owned it, and the farmer, after insisting he didn't want to live there, agreed to rent it out for ten pence a month.

Charles and Mr. Lehnsherr (who, at a point, sighed and told Jean just to call him Erik since they're not at school) quietly packed their things, informed the evil man that they'd rented a house, and rushed out the door.

While Jean is happy for their triumph, she's aghast of the idea of the evil man still living in Charles's old home. He says that his father's will was apparently destroyed ("no prizes for guessing who," Jean says, and Erik huffs a laugh) and his uncle produced a piece of paper saying the house was to go to him -- Charles is sure it was counterfeit, but there's nothing he can do.

"He still owns my family property a town over, too," Erik says quietly. "Won in much the same fashion." His hands are balled into fists, his face mournful and angry. He doesn't elaborate, and Jean and Charles are smart enough not to push.

Jean asks who the evil man is.

With a glance at his partner, Charles says the name "Shaw."

After the initial shock, the conversation changes, and Jean eventually excuses herself to go home. Charles and Erik apologize for keeping her so late, walking her to the end of the dirt road and back to the sidewalk.

Before they part, Jean asks a few questions: what did Charles's father call him before he passed? Charlie. He hated it. What did charles and Erik's parents call Shaw? Sebastian. His first name. And what did he call their parents? Brian, Charles answers. ...Edie, Erik whispers after a moment of hesitation.

Jean practices her new gift at home. It's not long until she can lift things at whim, pointing at them or staring at them or just thinking of it. She plots. She plans. She practices what's needed for her plots and her plans.

The next time Shaw comes into their classroom, he's startled by the whiteboard chalk floating into the air, beginning to write a message:

Sebastian, give my Charlie back his house. Give him and Erik their wages. Give Erik his land. Then get out of here. If you don't, we will get you. We will get you like you got us. We are watching you, Sebastian.

There is a great commotion as Shaw passes out on the floor in shock. He's carted out of the school. He leaves the brick house within a day. Reportedly, Brian Xavier's will turns up. Charles and Erik move into the great house. Charles is appointed headmaster of the newly christened "Big Friendly School." (Note: this is taken from the source material. I don't think charles would name something after himself in this au tbh). Jean is a welcome visitor anytime.

Then, one day, arriving back from the brick house in the evening, she finds her parents packing up the car. They're moving to spain, they say. Her father has been caught, which they don't say, but is clear.

Jean runs all the way back to Charles and Erik's house. Jean begs them to let her stay -- she doesn't want to leave, and she certainly doesn't want to be trapped with her parents forever in a foreign country.

Charles and Erik come with her back to her house. She takes some adoption papers out, which, funnily enough, she's had since she was tall enough to use the copier at the library! Boss move, Jean.

her parents don't fucking care, so they sign the papers. Charles and Erik are pretty much about to cry. They're parents, now, something they never thought they could be. They hug Jean, something her own parents never did, and don't bother to watch them leave.

Now, they all live in the big brick house together, and it's a house full of reading and laughter and life, all three of them, daughter and her fathers, finding a kind of happiness they never thought they'd be able to have.

and that's it. Why did I spend two hours writing this. 😂

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labelleizzy · 5 months ago

Text

You have to understand what is happening on a mythic level, okay? What we have here is a relatively rare phenomenon: advance warning of an imposed culture change. It is critical to understand what the people who are going to be in charge believe to be true.

As you read this, remember mighty Achilles had a heel.

Everyone has a heroic self, and among the leadermen a coming they are strong and smart and capable; unafraid and fearless, they know better than anyone else how things should be done. The heroic challenge - they have been unjustly prevented from setting things right by a thorny poison wall. Through heroic exertion - generally the use of violence, trickery, and expendable companions - victory is achieved. The wall is severed and the hero prevails. The hero is rewarded with buxom adoration, many children, some degree of material success and the regard of the lesser, non-heroic people.

For thorny poison wall, understand laws, regulation, and the acknowledgement of universal human rights.

Within the myth, the hero in confidently invincible. Outside of the myth, confidence does not guarantee success. This can be quite a shock to the system. It is important to push back. The hero may still kill their opponents, but eventually someone will get him. Even immortals die from time to time; it's the rebirth thing that saves their ass.

Why is it so important to this hero to control fertility is because on a very deep primal level they understand it's their only route to divinity. As much as they value innovative accomplishment - and heroes by definition are surrounded by novelty, they are always the first in a strange land - they cannot through their own efforts ascend to being any greater than they are. Women, specifically via the provision of children, make heroes into better men, at a minimum, and via sufficiently obedient behaviors, into the closest to Godhood as they're going to get.

When you say but that's gender essentialism, let me clarify that that's exactly the point. The existential threat inherent in independent women is the disruption of the heroic path to divinity. They may say it is a mission from God, but in fact, it is a mission to be God.

And how do we defeat would be Gods? We don't believe in them. We certainly don't treat them with the fear and dread they desire. There is no respect or veneration due. That thorny, poison wall will hold. They that hold it may bleed, but the wall will hold. It may get cut but as long as one thorn remains, it will grow back. Regulations and laws are written in blood. They are sacred words in their own way. But they must, like all magic words, be used, guarded, and protected.

You may not live long, with what's coming. But in myth, you live forever. Their way of being a hero is not the only way. And somebody has to save our ass.

If you were waiting on a call, this is it.

(author requests anonymity)

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chacaillejdr · 20 days ago

Text

How to write a remarkable NPC for your campaign ?

Let’s say you’re writing an RPG campaign, or even a one-shot. You absolutely can have a scenario where the PCs are alone in a deserted or abandoned place, or are exploring a dungeon full of non-speaking monsters, then you won't have to ask yourself how to populate it with Non Player Characters. But there are many occasions to create NPCs, and it’s not always easy to give them remarkable personalities. There are many methods to give life to these creatures, and I’m here to suggest a few that I use.

The first thing to do is to determine the importance your NPC has in your scenario. You won’t use the same techniques if they appear for three sentences giving directions or if they’re going to help (or fight) your players for a 80 hour campaign. We’ll divide them in three categories : the Silhouettes, the Utilities and the Actors.

The Silhouettes are NPCs that only appear because you need someone present. They’re just a voice, and you know your PCs won’t meet them again. They’re the easiest to improvise, and you only need to know four things about them : their name (because you can be sure if you haven’t prepared one your players will ask for it), why are they here (no more than one sentence !), what they know (only about your scenario), and two or three adjectives about their tone.

For example : the PCs came to witness a political assembly as simple onlookers, but none among them has a background allowing them to identify the speakers. They’ll then be searching the crowd for « someone who seems to know anything about it ». So here’s the following Silhouette : Charles Abernatty, an aspiring reporter who’s writing an amateur paper about conspiracy theories, who knows the names and affiliations of every politician present, and who is bubbly and speaks fast and miiiiight be stalking some of the senators here on his free time. In a few lines the character is sufficiently developed to be used to move the plot forward.

Then come the Utilities. These NPCs will have more complex interactions with the PCs, and can come back multiple times in the scenario. For those the writing will be a little more complete. You’ll still have to find them a name of course, but also the following éléments : - a physical description - a background (one paragraph might be enough), so you’ll have in advance some elements to use in their dialogues to make them more alive - their role (what they know and what they want) : every character wants something in your scenario (whether it be to simply live a simple life, or to find the lost magic sword of their uncle, or whatever it’s your story guys). This will allow you to know their place in your story, and explain how and why they may have a recurring rôle. - the roleplay, including indications for the voice and the posture (so that you’ll be coherent from one occurrence to another) but also typical reactions (will they be protectors towards an injured PC, or disapprove the use of foul language, etc.)

As you can see, these elements are roughly the same as for a Silhouette, but way more defined.

Finally you have the Actors. These are NPCs with a pivotal role in your scenario, and who have multiple apparitions. They are written the same way as Utilities, but with two more things : - their role will be expanded, not only containing what they want and know, but also their implication at every level of their respective storyline, and may have their opinion on a few subjects - their three motivations : your Actors will have three levels of motivation. The first one is the affirmation, what the NPC will openly tell as their objective. The second is the secret, what the NPC is really after but won’t display. The third is the buried one, what the NPC doesn’t consciously know they desire but is motivated by nevertheless. For example a pirate captain may have as an affirmation to amass a fortune to afford a palace, as a secret to have enough bounty to reclaim the family house taken by an usurer, and as a buried motivation to prove themselves of value in the eyes of their family who disavowed their pirate ways. These three motivations will ease the creation of a coherent character arc for your NPC through the scenario, but also to allow them to reveal themselves to your PCs, through slips or confessions. You can also prepare for your Actors some key scenes with pre-written lines. It is not mandatory at all, and can even be problematic if it is done too often, but it can be useful if you want to use misdirection in your formulations, or if you have an NPC with a complicated way with words or a difficult accent.

With these techniques, you should have deep enough NPC to avoid the syndrome of « wait, who’s this guy again » PC reaction, while still giving your players the information you want. Well, you’ll never be immune to this, but every little bit helps ! I’ll post other tips for RPG writing, so… stay tuned !

#role playing game #role playing games #rpg #tabletop roleplaying #tabletop rpgs #ttrpg #ttrpg community #indie ttrpg #writing tips #npc #tales of the grey #scalecat

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elodieunderglass · 4 months ago

Note

Delicious in Dungeon and Weasel Heart in Defiance are wonderful (as is the Sharpe story; my inner teenage crush on Sgt Harper was immediately rekindled).

My ask is a silly one. I'm writing a story where a spell/knot of spells/magical algorithm briefly posessess a weasel. That's actually pretty normal in my setting -- but normal doesn't make a good story. The spells should dissipate after their task is done; instead of fading away it retains the weasel-shape and weasel-spirit (not the weasel itself; it goes home just fine) and becomes Something Else. (Her name is "I.")

The ask: what advice would Bee offer to the newly enweaseled? (Provided she's willing to advise without hire, of course. Don't want to cause any issues with the union.)

(In reference to the absurd crop of daemon AUs I’ve randomly written this year, and Bee the least weasel from Weasel Heart / His Delicious Materials)

Thank you so much! I love this!

Bee does have a secret weakness for silly and trashy fiction, according to a joke scene in HDM that I’ll never probably be able to fit in anywhere, so she would be super into The Assassins of Thasalon by Lois McMaster Bujold. This is part of the Penric and Desdemona series, in which wild demons (scraps of elemental chaos) sometimes possess animals and imprint on them, picking up their intelligence; after passing through human hosts they become humanised. In the setting, a person who catches a sufficiently advanced/humanised demon becomes a sorcerer and can do chaos magic. In Assassins the characters meet someone who has taken on a wild new weasel demon. So her first advice would be to passionately insist that your weasel ought to pick up this story, because it’s Representation. She would REALLY like to be part of a mustelid book club. Would “I” like to be in the book club with her -

(This is where she slightly diverges from her human, who, to Bee’s annoyance, in the belief that it would help him avoid a conversation, has claimed in front of witnesses that he “couldn’t read.”)

For more advice she offers VERY reasonable retainer! daily rates payable in advance.

#weasel heart in defiance #his delicious materials

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notetakers-blog-of-holding · 16 days ago

Text

How to write a remarkable NPC for your campaign

Let’s say you’re writing an RPG campaign, or even a one-shot. You absolutely can have a scenario where the PCs are alone in a deserted or abandoned place, or are exploring a dungeon full of non-speaking monsters, then you won't have to ask yourself how to populate it with Non-Player Characters. But there are many occasions to create NPCs, and it’s not always easy to give them remarkable personalities. There are many methods to give life to these creatures, and I’m here to suggest a few that I use.

The Silhouettes are NPCs that only appear because you need someone present. They’re just a voice, and you know your PCs won’t meet them again. They’re the easiest to improvise, and you only need to know four things about them : Their name (because you can be sure if you haven’t prepared one your players will ask for it), why are they here (no more than one sentence!), what they know (only about your scenario), and two or three adjectives about their tone.

Then come the Utilities. These NPCs will have more complex interactions with the PCs, and can come back multiple times in the scenario. For those the writing will be a little more complete. You’ll still have to find them a name of course, but also the following elements : a physical description - a background (one paragraph might be enough), so you’ll have in advance some elements to use in their dialogues to make them more alive - their role (what they know and what they want) : every character wants something in your scenario (whether it be to simply live a simple life, or to find the lost magic sword of their uncle, or whatever it’s your story guys). This will allow you to know their place in your story, and explain how and why they may have a recurring rôle. - the role play, including indications for the voice and the posture (so that you’ll be coherent from one occurrence to another) but also typical reactions (will they be protectors towards an injured PC, or disapprove the use of foul language, etc.)

As you can see, these elements are roughly the same as for a Silhouette, but way more defined.

With these techniques, you should have deep enough NPC to avoid the syndrome of « wait, who’s this guy again » PC reaction, while still giving your players the information you want.

Well, you’ll never be immune to this, but every little bit helps!

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shadowgast-recs-weekly · 1 year ago

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Science Fiction: A Shadowgast Rec List

This week, we have science fiction! Check under the cut for 7 fics that include a lot of space and other sci-fi tropes, and don't forget to comment and kudos if you like them!

The Schwarzschild Solution by dawl_and_dapple (13650, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

A series of meetings between Caleb and Essek across the galaxy.

Reccer says: Loved the build between them and the picture of the universe they live in

A Tapestry of Stars by Cinderstorm (127981, Not Rated) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn, Rape/Non-con, Dubcon/Consensual Non Consent, Domestic Abuse, WIP

Caleb and Essek end up in a political arranged marriage - in space!

Reccer says: There's so much politics and intrigue and feelings!

into the desert of your pitiless faith by burningdarkfire (24913, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Essek is a newly-arrived ambassador in Rexxentrum, Beauregard is his assigned cultural liaison, and Caleb is the consecuted soul at the back of his mind. Empires and Dynasties do not serve: they consume. (A Memory called Empire AU)

Reccer says: So lyrical, and fascinating - you don't need to be familiar with A Memory Called Empire to read it, but reading this fic might make you want to read the novel, and that's a double win in my opinion.

calling occupants of interplanetary craft by principessa (1273, General) Reccer's Content Notes: None

Essek Thelyss, the sole Vulcan on the USS Eden Horizon, would quite like to be left to his experiments, and for the rest of the crew to stop calling his intellectual discussions with Commander Widogast 'weird science flirt lunch dates.'

Reccer says: It's a lot of fun!

you must first invent the universe by renquise (3466, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

The Mighty Nein are getting ready for a big fight. Caleb can't seem to sleep while they wait, so he ends up talking with the ship instead.

Reccer says: Absolutely fascinating world building!!

such a constellation by Chrome (6362, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Exhausted and disillusioned with Starfleet in the aftermath of the destruction of Romulus and the loss of his friend, Romulan maybe-spy Essek Thelyss, Caleb Widogast retires to his parent's farm in Germany with the intent to view the stars through a telescope from now on. But an unexpected arrival changes everything, and Caleb discovers that the wider universe may not quite be done with him yet.

Reccer says: This is a fabulous fusion that encapsulates the wizards so perfectly in a different story. Worth every second of the read!

Sufficiently Advanced Magic by SaltCore (5880, General) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Caleb and Essek met Spock, Captain Kirk and the protagonists of the Locked Tomb series? No? Me neither, but I sure am glad I found out!

Reccer says: For one, the origin story of this fic is uniquely wholesome - it came to be as a result of all three pairs reaching the finale of a shipping tumblr poll, to extend an olive branch and honour the ships' place in their fandoms' hearts. Secondly, it's SO funny. There's humour in every little detail and it gives me a Douglas Adams vibe. The characters' voices in their POVs are distinct and endearing too. I keep returning to it when I need my spirits lifted.

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast. Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week, we’ll be back with Established Relationships!

#shadowgast #caleb widogast #essek thelyss #critical role #cr fic recs #fan fiction rec list #aeor is for lovers #critical role fan fiction #cr fic #cr fics #science fiction

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renguro · 9 months ago

Text

My first dunmeshi OC, Pickpen who is very precious and close to my heart I'm really not certain what to type here other than uh explodes x1000 look at him if you think i haven't been putting out enough canon content it's his damn fault

(adventurers bible style profile writings under the cut if you wanna know more about him also you can ask--)

Raised within the confines of the dungeon, Pick has adapted to become an intensely clever and self-sufficient young man. Through a combination of actions to look trustworthy, and then breaking the favor he curries without the other person even realizing it, he lies and cheats his way through every interaction to get exactly what he wants. Though his actions make him look two-faced, this half-foot would argue it’s all for the sake of survival, and that he just happens to be better at it than everyone else. Though half-foots using magic is nearly unheard of, Pick is an extremely advanced magic user, weaving illusions to be somewhere one moment, and gone the next. Just how did he acquire these abilities…?

True Name: Pickpen Roys Age: 15 years old Race/Gender: Half-foot / Male Birthplace: Northern Central Continent Family: Father (deceased), Mother (deceased) Physique: Roughly 95cm / BMI 20 Likes: Everything he hasn’t had Dislikes: Rabbit, Mushrooms

#ren ocs: pickpen #ren ocs #myart #fanart #dungeon meshi oc #dunmeshi oc

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rhodes-knightwife · 4 months ago

Text

Okay! So, first chapter - and cutscene chapter - of Path of Life! There's a lot there, so let's take it by characters, shall we?

Starting with Rhodes and the Abyss Hunters, I should preface this by saying I do not have the right context for this event. I have not played Under Tides, I have not played Stultifera Navis, and I have not played most of the main story. I know some things through the grapevine, but I am mostly in the dark. With all that said, while seeing Kal'tsit actually concerned for the Doctor's well-being made me feel like I woke up in some alien planet, hearing more about Skadi and Specter's lives before they became Bloodborne characters is delightful, as is seeing Laurentina post-treatment in a way I'd never seen firsthand. Gladiia is interesting enough so far, but without the context from previous events I can't comment on her much. This line was funny though:

When it comes to the Iberians, Irene and Jordi are quite fun, though I do know that I also lack context on their end. Their personalities are made clearer though, and Jordi's struggle is laid out plain and presented sympathetically; I do want to see him find himself in a meaningful way. And the buddy cop dynamic between Irene and Secunda promises to be fun, I appreciate Underflow's no-nonsense sort of attitude.

And speaking of, the main star of the show - Ægir itself. What a god damn introduction. I felt GENUINE fear when they picked up signatures from the SKY and we were greeted with this:

Seeing Ægir come in with such a show of force and a display of superior tech all in one sells perfectly everything they're about. Progress, yet also arrogance in a way that's so effortless it almost can't possibly be malicious! (Almost.) From the greco-roman names and the almost cyberpunk take on togas and tunics, they go HARD into being presented as superior, enlightened, and thus alien. Any sufficiently advanced tech may as well be magic... and not all magic feels like it's meant to be understood.

I have no idea if Clementia is a villain or not, but I truly hope she is, because if so she'd be one of my favorite kinds. The kind that in a sense, believes she truly knows best! She comes at you with a sword, yes, but also with open arms and a warm embrace... you almost can't believe she'd ever do anything to harm you.

(Almost.)

#arknights #path of life #also lumen needs to be folded in half #just saying

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yellowocaballero · 3 months ago

Note

'there's such a thing as too honest' sounds interesting to hear about <3

Yes!!! That's actually a Flash fic :D. There is an unmentioned and unposted "New Wave!Steph and Tim harrass Superman" fic, and this is the "New Wave!Steph and Tim harrass Flash" fic. I have an extremely specific vision of the Flash. This is my design.

I've never posted it because I wanted to post the Superman fic first and I never finished the Superman fic :). Someday tho!

I seriously have this whole internal idea and schema for Barry and Wally and this is just my excuse to write it. Wally and Linda's relationship is largely sourced from my other Wally story, which I'm still inordinarly fond of. I grew up in a fantastic Natural Science museum, and you can tell.

Un-copping characters under the cut. Yet again, this is my design.

“I have a secret to tell you.”

It was practically impossible to get the undivided attention of an assembly of elementary schoolers drunk off life, but the man standing behind the table at the front of the room managed it. Maybe it was the way he said it - soft but clearly audible, conspiratorial but welcoming.

Or maybe it was the bow tie? The bow tie was hypnotic. Stephanie was hypnotized.

With great relish, the man in the bow tie and white lab coat announced to the group, “I’m the king of Atlantis.” The group broke into giggles, and Bowtie affected a faux-hurt look. “What, don’t believe me? Don’t I have enough muscles?”

“Aquaman can talk to fish!” A third grader at the front volunteered imperiously. “And he controls water! He’s Jake’s favorite superhero.”

Next to her, a boy shoved her arm. “It’s the Flash, I said the Flash -”

“I’m pretty socially awkward around fish - but that coelacanth fossil in the Paleontology exhibit can talk and talk for days.” Bowtie held up his hands in faux-defeat. “I admit it, I’m not King Arthur. No long and flowing golden locks on me.” It was literally always so funny hearing people call him that. He couldn’t have picked a more on-the-nose landlubber name. “There’s one big difference between us, besides our stunning good looks: King Arthur controls water with magic. But I control water with science.”

The crowd rippled with incredulity. Next to Steph, Tim was still disinterestedly playing the new Link’s Awakening on his Gameboy Color. Tim always had his head ducked over some game or phone when they were on Batman business. He insisted it was part of his cover as Disaffected Teen ™, but Steph was pretty sure that he just completely failed to find a kid’s science museum demonstration interesting.

On Steph’s other side, another slightly-too-old-for-this kid sat with a chemistry textbook on his lap. He was pretending to be fully engrossed in the textbook - which looked like it was for high schoolers and not a twelve year old - but Steph could see him sneak peeks up over the textbook every few minutes. Steph had to agree with him: there was something magnetic about Bowtie. It wasn’t just the charisma or sense of humor, either. There was something about him that drew you in. Steph had to presume it was his negative charge.

“Let me guess: science and magic can’t do the same things, right? Dr. Fate, Zatanna Zatara, all those heroes - us normal people can never do something that cool, right?” Tim snorted softly. Bowtie continued setting up his experiment, taking a deflated balloon and using a hand pump to inflate it. “But Superman doesn’t fly with magic. Superman flies because of his biology! With some special biology, some amazing science - anybody could be a Superman. Because, as Arthur C. Clarke said, ‘sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic’.”

“What about the Flash?” A kid cried. The other kids murmured in agreement. The kid sitting next to Steph jerked his head up to look at Bowtie, eyes shining. “Flash’s magic!”

Bowtie took the balloon off the pump, tying it neatly. He arched an eyebrow at the kid. “Really? The Flash’s given a few interviews where he says differently. We got any Flash fans in the audience?” The entire audience broke into the loudest claps and cheers of the night. Bowtie’s grin widened. “Mr. Popular. Last time I checked, he gave an interview to CCN explaining his powers. Anybody know what he said?”

“That his only superpower is speed!” The kid said instantly. “He doesn’t have intangibility powers, like everyone’s saying - he just vibrates his atoms so fast that they can pass through solid surfaces! He can’t control the wind, either - he creates tornadoes and whirlwinds by spinning the air with centrifugal force!”

“Looks like we have a Flash mega-fan in the audience.” Bowtie grinned again, and the embarrassed kid ducked his head back into his textbook, cheeks as red as his hair. “The Flash goes pretty fast. We don’t actually know how fast - he’s never found his upper limit. But that’s not his real weapon. Without his real weapon, he’s just some guy who runs fast. Does anybody know the Flash’s real weapon?”

“Science,” the kid whispered worshipfully.

In tattered chorus, the assembly of children cried, “Science!”

Bowtie laughed. “You got it. Who knows - with enough knowledge of science, maybe any of us could be the Flash!” Tim and Steph glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. Leaning against the wall behind them, seemingly engrossed in a newspaper, Bruce was undoubtedly losing respect for this man by the second. “Who here wants to learn a superpower now? Anybody?” The crowd went wild, and the man gave a little bow. “If the people demand it! Now, I need a volunteer from the audience. Jake, how about you?”

With impressive efficiency, Bowtie managed to rub a balloon on the heads of several enthusiastic children. Tim glanced at Steph out of the corner of his eye, and she shrugged in agreement. A long time ago, when he first took this job, he probably rubbed the balloon on his head himself. These days, that was probably a bit more dangerous…

“Take a look at the chalkboard behind me. You see it? This is a diagram of an atom. We have another class on the atom, so stay tuned for that if you’re interested. Now, the little guys flying in circles around the bigger part is called electrons. When we rubbed the balloons against our hair, we just collected up a bunch of electrons. And these electrons have a negative charge. Remember that, it’s important!”

Bowtie turned on the faucet in his desk, letting thin stream of water flow from the faucet into the little sink built into the desk. “This balloon’s like a magnet now. It’s full of negative charges, so it’s looking for something with a positive charge. And this water has just what it’s looking for. So let’s look carefully…”

Bowtie held the balloon next to the stream of water. Sure enough, the water began to bend towards the balloon. The kid next to Steph was paying full attention now, the pretense of a textbook left abandoned on his lap. Bowtie pulled the balloon further and further away, sending the water spreading out from the sink in a flowing ribbon that stretched out halfway along the table.

The children ooh’d and aah’d. The kid next to Steph looked excited too, but Steph noticed that he looked a little confused. On Steph’s other side, Tim clicked his tongue.

“That water’s stretching real far for some balloon static electricity, huh,” Tim muttered quietly.

“Yeah,” the kid said, as if Tim was remotely speaking to him. “I did this at home forever ago. The water only moves a few inches.”

“Look at that,” Tim told Steph. “The water only moves a few inches.”

“He’s so cool,” the kid whispered.

“Look at that,” Steph told Tim. “Bowtie’s so cool.”

“Bowtie?” the kid hissed, affronted. “He has a doctorate.”

“Dr. Bowtie,” Steph allowed.

All three of them sat patiently through Dr. Bowtie’s explanation of static electricity. And Steph thought she was good with the kids who come through Dr. Leslie’s clinic. Dr. Bowtie made her look like a chump. With a few strategic jokes, some physical comedy, audience engagement, and the inherent mysticism of the bowtie, the kids were captured. Even the patient adults standing around the back wall were engrossed. Although Steph was pretty sure that the moms in the back were more interested in Dr. Bowtie’s pretty face. He was alright. Cass was prettier. Tim told her to stop saying that Cass was prettier than women, men, and the Grand Canyon, but it was true.

They all clapped politely when he finished. The kid had gone back to his textbook, making careful annotations in the margins. A group of kids attacked Dr. Bowtie with sheer enthusiasm, which was pretty expected, but Steph saw plenty of adults walk up to him and shake his hand too. It was obvious to an expert in body language: even the adults admired Dr. Bowtie highly. Everybody around him looked at him with respect and awe. You could hardly tell just by looking at him joking around and adjusting his bowtie, but the humbleness was part of the mystique.

But Steph was cheating. She already knew all about this guy. Uncle Clark had asked her very politely to stop putting together extensive dossiers on their targets, but Bruce had looked at him as if he was crazy. Steph had to agree with him. As if they would ever approach dangerous people without a background check? Uncle Clark had also asked them to stop calling them targets, which was slightly more fair. Uncle Clark had an overdeveloped rigamarole of kindness. It was the Kansas. In Gotham, stabbing you was a handshake.

Once the crowd thinned out, leaving Dr. Bowtie to clean up his station in preparation for the next group, Bruce finally rolled up his newspaper. Steph and Tim glanced at each other, but Bruce made a small hand signal as he walked towards the front. They quickly stood up and ambled in his wake, chatting meaninglessly about what five star restaurant they’d check out after this. The Central City Michelin situation was dire, but apparently there was a legendary burger place. Ohio was a desolate land.

Bruce stood on the other side of the table, waiting until Dr. Bowtie crouched down behind his desk before removing his baseball cap and sunglasses. He tossed them over his shoulder and let Stephanie catch them, stuffing them in her purse.

“That was an awesome show,” Bruce announced. “Never seen anything like it. How long have you been doing this, Dr. Allen?”

“Please, it’s just Barry.” Barry stood up, holding a glass flask in one hand. “And it’s been -”

For one microsecond, Barry looked shocked. His hand twitched open. And just as quickly, his hand twitched closed and his expression smoothed out. Nice. Somehow disappointing. Steph loved the ‘holy shit, it’s Bruce Wayne!’ heart attack. Can’t you tamp down on the superspeed and drop the flask anyway? For the entertainment value?

“Just a few years,” Barry said smoothly. He looked at Steph and Tim, loitering behind Bruce in different levels of disaffectedness. “The show’s not really designed for high schoolers, but I hope you two got something out of it anyway! We have a show for teenage audiences later today.”

“I learned so much about electrons,” the girl who spent the last eighteen months swallowing forensic textbooks said solemnly. The boy who spent his thirteenth rotation around the sun making bombs gave him a thumbs up. “Bruce was the one who made us stop by, though.”

“I had no idea electrons were so interesting,” the med school dropout said earnestly. To be fair, he was a dropout. He shook Barry’s hand firmly, before passing over a business card. Barry took the card, and his face twitched slightly when he looked at it. Another missed opportunity for shock. Sad! “The name’s Bruce Wayne. Would you mind lending me a bit of your time? I already talked it over with Ms. Landis - and you have a free hour before your next show, right?”

Slowly, Barry said, “Yes, I do. I’m sorry, Mr. Wayne, can I ask what this is about? Ms. Landis didn’t…mention this…to me.”

“Mention what?”

The red headed kid popped up at Barry’s elbow, blinking in confusion between the four of them. Barry’s eye twitched again. Steph didn’t blame him - mostly because Tim’s dossiers were very thorough.

“That I have a business meeting after the show.” Barry patted Wally on the back. The two looked nothing like each other, but there was some indefinable similarity anyway. “Wally, why don’t you catch up with Linda in the Exxon exhibit? I think I have some stuff to talk to Mr. Wayne about.”

Wally had never looked so wounded. “You said that you’d eat with Linda an’ me at the cafe after the show” He turned his righteous attention onto Bruce, who looked politely attentive. “If you wanna talk with my uncle then you gotta make an appointment.”

Barry’s face twitched again. “Mr. Wayne, this is my nephew Wally West. Wally, this is Bruce Wayne.” Wally still looked unimpressed. Tim looked a little incredulous that somebody in this world didn’t know who Bruce Wayne was, but Steph didn’t know how to break it to him that normal middle schoolers weren’t hip on other city’s billionaires. “You know how Linda’s parents work at a Wayne Industries biotech lab?” Wally nodded, uncertain of where he was going with this. “That’s Wayne.”

“He’s rich?” Wally looked at Bruce with new, appraising eyes. “So that’s what rich people look like…”

Bruce grinned at him, sticking his hands in his pockets. Barry looked a little like he wanted to die. “Sorry for stealing your uncle, kiddo. But what’s that book you got there? Isn’t that for high schoolers?”

Wally brightened, pulling out the textbook from underneath his elbow. Steph couldn’t help but be a little surprised - it was advanced high school Chemistry, for juniors and seniors. “I’m on the pressure and volume chapter! Uncle Barry’s been helping tutor me. Did you know about Avogadro’s Law? It’s the rule that equal volumes of gasses at the same temperature and pressure have the same amount of particles!”

“Wow,” Steph said, impressed. “I didn’t know what an atom was when I was your age.”

Wally lowered the textbook, squinting at her dubiously. He pointed at the chalkboard, which still had a well-drawn image of an atom on it. “Even little kids know about atoms, dude.”

Steph crossed her arms, amused despite herself. “Inner city Gotham doesn’t really have guys like your Uncle Barry. We’re all scienceless orphans.”

“You caught me,” Tim said, seemingly bored.

“That’s actually what I’m here to talk to your uncle about,” Bruce said lightly. “The Wayne Foundation’s thinking about expanding into science education outreach. We’re focusing on inner city Gothamite kids like Stephanie here - oh, Barry, this is my ward Tim Drake and his girlfriend Stephanie Brown, say hi -”

“I could do with less science, frankly,” Tim said.

“You’re just still pissy that Mr. Freeze robbed us so many times.”

“I just think Batman and Robin could have done a better job catching him.”

“They did a great job -”

“Before he stole five hundred thousand dollar’s worth of tech and research.”

“But we’re looking at donating funds to free children’s programming at museums across the nation,” Bruce said beatifically. “I’m thinking about investing into this program, and your boss said that you were the real shining star of the department! I’d like to speak to someone passionate about the program, and apparently there’s nobody more dedicated than you, so if you have some time to chat…?”

Even Wally understood what that meant. In their endless quest to harass other superheroes, Bruce had sneak attacked another unsuspecting middle class suburbanite. Barry’s boss had officially thrown him into the lion pit of businessmen and put him in charge of securing hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding. Bruce said that this was his way of seeing how they operated under pressure.

And Steph could already see that Barry was the coolest head she would ever meet. Which - duh. He was a total cheater. Anybody could be chill if they had thirty internal minutes to chill out. Barry obviously took a few mental minutes to recover from the power of Bruce’s pocketbook, but he didn’t waste a physical second before looking down at his nephew. “Hey, Wally. Could you give Stephanie and Tim a tour of the museum while I talk with Mr. Wayne?”

“Of course I could,” Wally said, unimpressed. “I practically live here.”

“Consider it practice for your future life as a docent,” Barry said importantly. He ruffled Wally’s hair again, making him grin. “Thanks, kid. I’ll be back in a flash.”

Wally groaned. “That’s so bad.”

“You’re funny,” Bruce said. Steph and Tim fought dual winces. If they were in costume then Bruce would be tearing the man a new one for ‘cuteness’. “Where’d you get your doctorate, Barry? I went to Harvard myself, but some things you just gotta get out of the way.”

“He has a doctorate in education from Brown,” Wally informed Bruce imperiously. Steph had never met a kid who was the expert in his uncle’s life, but judging by Barry’s embarrassed look he would have skipped over the Ivy League part of the equation. Which - what? “He’s got a bachelor’s in Chemistry and Physics from Ohio State and a master’s in Applied Physics from University of Chicago! Pretty cool, right?”

“Dude,” Tim said, “pick a field.”

Steph elbowed Tim, but Barry just looked a little embarrassed. “I was going to go into forensics. But…well…you know. Life happens.”

“The cops told him to ignore some evidence and he refused so they fired him -”

“Let’s say a little less, Wally.”

A failed cop. Counter-intuitively, Steph was surprised. Guess he hadn’t learned his lesson until later in life. Bruce (Gothamite) and Uncle Clark (Literally Uncle Clark) had known that path would be a fool’s errand from the start.

“Physics to Education is a big jump,” Bruce said. He already knew the answer - they had copies of Barry’s personal statement in his Brown application - but a cornerstone of interrogation was asking the same question in different ways. Liars couldn’t keep their stories straight. “Why the change of heart again?”

Barry shrugged helplessly. “I wanted to help people. Don’t you, Mr. Wayne?”

Bruce didn’t say anything.

Of course he didn’t. He didn’t understand at all. As he hadn’t understood Uncle Clark, as he hadn’t understood J’onn J'onzz, he didn’t understand Barry Allen at all. The two other people on Earth most like himself - present company excluded - and he was faced with a horrendous and complete lack of understanding.

How could he? Bruce had poured his life into creating justice and vengeance and fighting against cruelty. It was Bruce. He had fed his life into his mission, and it was just barely enough to succeed. He couldn’t afford to half-ass this. For a very long time, nothing else had existed in his world.

Uncle Clark and J’onn J’onzz hadn’t needed a teenage girl to beat the power of hope into his brain. Uncle Clark was dedicated to Superman with his entire heart, but it wasn’t why he got up in the morning. J’onn was just a sentient person who couldn’t stand to see people suffer, and maybe his own altruism had saved his broken heart, but he was powered by empathy and kindness.

Barry and Uncle Clark had weird definitions of helping people. To them, it was as simple as making people smile. Giving them a bit of hope in their day, or restoring optimism to a tired crowd. A lesson that sparked an interest in science, a newspaper article that opened up a reader’s mind to new perspectives - to them, that was enough. If they were ordinary people, it would have been enough.

Bruce did not respect the complete lack of hustle. There was a reason why he only hung out with Alfred, Steph, Tim, Leslie, and Gordon - the only other real hustlers in the world. Bruce was an ordinary person, and gratuitous acts of million dollar philanthropy were nowhere near enough. Nothing was enough for him - not even Bruce. But he liked Uncle Clark and J’onn J’onzz and Barry Allen anyway, and Steph knew that was what he really didn’t understand.

“Paleontology, huh?” Tim asked Wally. He turned off his Gameboy and stashed it in his cargo pants pocket. “You got any T-Rexes?”

“Oh, man,” Wally said. “Do we ever.”

#BARRYYYYYYYYY #i have a very distinct Mental Flash Family #that i could kinda explore with reverse robins but obviously not as much as i could #barry's so.....he's so dead wife. he's so perfect in your memories. but maybe that was the whole thing.#and maybe that's the whole problem.#anyway barry definitely has a backdoor agreement with the Rogues that he lets them get away #if they keep control over the Central City crime scene and keep it moderately ethical #he's so white bread that nobody ever suspects.#my writing #my asks

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