#thedarklordsnicklefritz

[thedarklordsnicklefritz]

[thedarklordsnicklefritz]

I am fascinated by whatever is happening in your playthrough.

Cause obviously Astarion disapproves of a lot of things when you're doing a "good" run. But most of them are only a -1, and people who want to romance or befriend him are usually able to make up for it by being understanding/supportive on the Important things he actually cares about related to his personal storyline and trauma.

Which, from what you told me it sounds like you let him bite you and defended him from the drow lady?

But also managed to choose some options that were like. The most fuck-you-in-particular to him personally and not engage with his personal quests?

But not enough that he's left the party.

We are having such different Astarion experiences, rofl.

@thedarklordsnicklefritz says I'm basically doing whatever the opposite of romancing Astarion is

[theregoesmylurkerstatus]

@thedarklordsnicklefritz I would have felt so weird dropping a chunk of the way into the campaign! I'm glad people are happy to see it, though, especially since starting at the beginning was the consensus when I first started, and I'm super interested to see how it all builds into the infamous Whitestone arc...

[smallerthanzer0]

tagged by @interropunct and @relaxed-and-extremely-uneasy

Last Song: Pomegranate Seeds by Julian Moon. i am Cooking

Favourite Colour: i'll go for darker blues or yellows if they're on offer, but any color is pretty if i'm in the right mood ^^

Currently Watching: Dungeon Meshi, Dimension 20's Fantasy High: Junior Year

Relationship Status: we'll burn that bridge when we get to it

Current Obsession: copying this one straight from Cubie - fucking mission impossible. still.

what type of pokemon are you (alternatively what's your classpect): i do not know enough about either of these to answer, and the most recent personality test i've taken is the CAARS assessment. is inattentive-type ADHD a pokemon class?

tagging @bravest-notts @essektheylyss @letsoulswander @liass-21 @nijiironokoi @safehousebooze @thedarklordsnicklefritz in if you're so inclined!

[salamoonder]

@thedarklordsnicklefritz THIS IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE TAKE OH MY GOD

it's been my dearly held wish for AGES that c3 is a pre calamity campaign and you just increased that wish by a factor of ten

[mindovermuses]

I agree and kind of wish her patron had been the Whispered One instead of dragging Delilah out yet again... Even if we learned that he were using the likeness of Delilah to control Laudna, perhaps seeking a champion of his own, even in banishment.

The most exciting thing I can think of that could come about from using Delilah is that it provides a chance that some necromancer will get word that Laudna is carrying around Delilah's soul in a functional Aeorian soul anchor in her chest- because SHE TELLS EVERYBODY SHE MEETS ALL ABOUT IT!- and steal it to take on her power themselves.

Aeor clearly designed the soul anchor to hold a power source and make it easy to siphon their power... How hard would it be for a powerful necromancer to capture Laudna and cut it from her chest? Strong henchmen and an anti magic field? Imogen can't be by her side 24/7.

Then there's @thedarklordsnicklefritz's important addition.

Laudna has no real goals for just herself with everything important happening before the campaign began. Even her relationship with Imogen felt like it happened far too easily and quickly for me to connect with and root for- all of their initial bonding happened off screen. And, once they got together, it's all about Imogen's goals and a possibility that they might be together after all of this.

There's a phenomenon/curse in television that is usually attributed back to the show, "Who's the Boss?" where, once two main characters in the narrative end the will-they/won't-they dance and get together, their story together becomes less interesting to those not already obsessed with it beyond the show. This definitely happened for me with Imodna as it took me a while before I connected with any of the ships based solely on what we were given on screen. It all just rings hollow between them to me compared to other potential pairings that have popped up since.

I just wanted Laudna to have one non-Delilah based goal... Please stop beating the dead horse that is the Briarwoods! Laura can only kill Delilah so many times before I start rooting for the underdog in the fight... (Side note: I Love Laura and she 100% earned & rocked the kills she got already)

I saw someone else had posted that it would have been more impactful if Laudna hadn't been revived after the Otohan fight, and I think I agree.

I adore every macabre detail we've been given and seeing Marisha bring this character to the table has been a delight beyond words, but everything gripping about Laudna happened in the past. If she had died with the same poison used on Will, Derrig, and Eshteross and Orym had only survived because revivify was cast before the poison could settle into his system... I hate to say it, but it would have given the group a new level of agency and bonding earlier in the story that they needed.

The group could have returned her body to Whitestone for burial and to introduce the members of VM there. The difference being, it would have just seemed like short cameos for fan service instead of more powerful people they now report to like soldiers and await missions from.

Marisha could have come in with a new character with a different viewpoint of the gods and their role and insights into places they might go to find answers.

Plus, just imagine the group having a functional soul anchor going into a fight where they might need to trap Ludinus or Predathos for good...

I don’t think having connections to previous campaigns was the problem, I think centering your entire backstory around them was.

Orym has a tenuous connection to Kiki, and this manifests in knowing more about what’s happening in the wider political landscape (even if it’s just knowing who the players are). Orym is a fully functional person outside of his connection to Kiki. In fact you can remove his being a Tempest Blade from his backstory and just make him a standard Ashari and it all still makes sense.

Bertrand went to the Hells with VM, but other than being able to name drop them, he didn’t have much going on with them.

Ashton having Dunamancy Juice in his brain made for some interesting conversations with Essek, and Caleb, and the Bright Queen. But he had other shit going on between the Titans and trying to keep his suicidal robot friend alive, and finding out what happened to him as a kid, that if you took the Dunamancy Juice out there’s still something to dig into.

Laudna’s whole deal though is/was Delilah. You can’t separate her from that callback, you can’t ignore it. It’s there, all the time. And it means that on some level Laudna is a problem the Vox Machina needs to deal with, it means spending time in White Stone, it means interacting with Vox Machina. It means introducing those characters into C3 in a way that you can’t take back or move past.

And it’s funny, because the people I see complain the most about ‘Bells Hells getting sidelined in their own campaign’ are generally Laudna/Imodna stans. Your girl’s the one who opened that door, and once it was opened there was no closing it again.

[acepalindrome]

Hi.

Hi. I've been following you for a long time. Literally years if you count vicariously through @maeofthedead and I just have to say that you give the full experience.

Like, sometimes you're sharing cute art and animal crossing designs and then other days I unwittingly learn about cannibal dating sims

Iconic

I contain multitudes! But seriously, my favorite stuff tends to be either cute and fluffy or very dark and creepy. Glad you’re enjoying the ride with me!

(The cannibal dating sim is fun if you like horror visual novels, btw. It’s not perfect, and maybe tries too hard to follow in the footsteps of Doki Doki Literature Club, but the lore is really interesting and I love the Slavic folklore and hints of history in the story as you try to piece together what’s going on. It was the first game by this company, so I hope to see them make more and continue to improve!)

[catalists]

I'm obviously interested in any and all Caleb or Essek bits, but "Grace under fire" caught my eye and now I'm very curious 👀

There is a Lot of Caleb and/or Essek bits in there, so we’ll do Grace Under Fire for now, which is part of my really extensive oeuvre of fics in the how can we hurt Caduceus today genre. I’m pretty sure this one came out of a conversation with Star about what might make Caduceus lose faith:

“Your precious Wildmother won’t save you now. How does it feel, to be dying alone?” The man loomed over him. His breath reeked of animal fat.

“Save me?” Caduceus smiled. Smile, because nothing makes them angrier when they’re trying to make you afraid. Smile, because you have nothing else left. “Of course she won’t save me. That isn’t the point.”

“All this time,” the man kicked him again, not very hard, but against his broken ribs it made him black out for a moment. When he came to, the man was still talking. “—and yet for all your suffering, all your prayers, she won’t come help you. You can’t even hear her voice. And still you worship her?”

“Maybe you have done something to her voice,” Caduceus said, when he had a semblance of breath back. “Or something to my ears. Or maybe this place has the sort of walls that voices can’t speak through, even the voices of gods. But it doesn’t matter.”

“She is not coming for you,” the man said. “Understand that! You will die here alone.”

“Understand this,” Caduceus said. “She is here. Whether I hear her again or not, whether I see her again or not, she is here.” He sunk his fingers into the earth, hauling himself into a sitting position. “She is here in the dirt, in the bugs and the worms. She lives in the air and in the stone. And you can kill me but you cannot keep me from her, because my body will go back to the earth in the end. If you burn it, if you bury it, if you leave me here to crumble to dust, the worms and the insects will have me and then the earth will have me.

“Understand this,” he repeated. Something was broken inside him, maybe worse than the ribs—he could feel it shuddering with every breath, fluid pooling in his abdomen. “I am never alone. She is here, always, in the air and the trees and the animals and the insects and the earth and the stone and the sea. I am a part of it all, and all of it is her. You can do what you want to me, burn me, beat me, let me bleed out here in this cell, and it’s true. I will die here. But it doesn’t matter. I will go back to her in the end.”

Ask about my WIPS!

[essektheylyss]

For the writing prompts, 25. (But also any of them that involve hand holding or hugging or soft angst is good)

me? writing a prompt fill set in an au that I haven’t even published yet? more likely than you’d think. there’s some soft angst in here that is uhhh kinda not explained lol but this idea would not let go of me soooo hope you enjoy!

He stumbles into you, and you catch his elbow and your heart drops in your chest with his breathless joy and the light in his eyes as he steadies himself and presses a clumsy kiss to what you think was intended to be your cheek but instead landed on your ear.

“Danke,” he grins, the tinge in his cheeks pink in the glow of the gentle lights that keep this strip of the beach illuminated now that the sun has set.

You are pleasantly tipsy as it is, but he is farther gone than you, and you don’t blame him. If you thought drinking more would prevent what tomorrow brings from arriving, you would drown yourself on the beach of Palma Flora to keep the sun from rising.

It’s not a power you can claim, however, even with all of your control over the flow of time. Perhaps if you’d had more time, you’d have been able to build a spell to give you the time you want, but that is not a paradox that the world has afforded to you.

So instead, face warm from the alcohol you have already consumed, you gather his arm in yours and kiss him deeply enough to drink him in instead.

“You are causing a scene, Mr. Widogast,” you murmur against his mouth even though there isn’t really anyone close enough to be paying attention, and feel him smile.

“Oh, and I suppose you think you’re acting perfectly sober,” Caleb replies, and before you can protest drags you both off this boardwalk onto the beach, down into the sand.

It is hard to rip your eyes from him, but still holding you close to him with one arm laced through yours, he points into the sky, and your gaze obediently follows.

“The stars are coming out,” he says with a reverence and a joy that you cannot put a name to, and lays back into the sand to watch them twinkle into sight above.

Instead of laying back with him, you prop your head up on your palm, tracing patterns absently into the quickly-cooling sand, and you fix the image of him here—sunburned, intoxicated, joyful—into your mind.

“Don’t tell me,” he says, barely glancing over, his smile unwavering in its calm, “I am a more beautiful sight than the stars?”

It’s teasing, but your gaze doesn’t waver from him, and you are solemn when you answer, “Yes.”

Very slowly, he props himself up in a mirror image of you and he cups your chin in his palm. And though your eyes are closed when he kisses you, you can still see the stars behind them.

[xombigirl]

From that writing prompt list literally any of them for widojest, but especially any of the ones that involve hand-holding or forehead kisses. Or bantering? Or jealousy? the birthday one is also great? There are no bad options here

I want to apologize in advance. This is angsty but then again it’s me so you get what you ask for. Love you Snickle. Also spoilers for episode 128 of campaign 2. 

6. forehead kisses but it’s the male being kissed on the head

It’s been a rough day, all of them are dirty, tired and more than a little singed as Caleb starts his ritual for the hut. The fire plane is exactly like and nothing like Jester expected. There are actually people here! And a giant city but they’ve been steering clear of that on Caleb and Beau’s recommendation. 

“Jester? Can you entertain Luc?” Veth asks and Jester skips happily over, pulling out her sketchbook and showing him some of the safer drawings in it. 

Caleb makes a sound of accomplishment when the dome suddenly pops into existence before collapsing into it with a low groan. Jester looks around at everyone else and gestures for them to stay back a moment as she heads into the dome and sits by Caleb’s head. 

“Cay-leb? Do you need some healing? I have a little bit left.” Jester asks, reaching out to lay a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“Nein Jester, I am -- I am fine.” 

“You’re not fine. And that’s okay. I know it’s been a rough day but we’re all here for you okay? All of us. And if I ever see Trent’s slimy face again I am going to smack him with my razor lollipop!” Jester says, miming the smack with a giggle. 

Caleb shakes his head frantically, “No. You -- you cannot do that. He would bat you like a fly and I -- I couldn’t bear to be the reason you’re no longer around.” 

Jester sighs and bends down to kiss his forehead gently, “Haven’t you realized by now that we would do anything for you silly?” 

“I think that is what frightens me the most.” Caleb says in a small voice, leaning his head on Jester’s shoulder for a brief moment before standing up and inviting everyone else inside.

[ayzenigma]

Caleb and Fjord (platonic or otherwise), "this was a mistake" and d8?

2. this was a mistake | d8 rolled a 2 so four sentences it is! wow that’s so short

“This was a mistake,” Fjord deadpans from where he’s pressed up against Caleb as they hide in a closet.

“No, it’s not, not yet at least,” is the response, though Caleb sounds like he’s trying to convince of the fact.

A loud crash right outside the door followed by more distant cackling and shouts causes them both to startle, looking at each other in concern.

“Okay, ja, maybe this was a mistake.”

[thedarklordsnicklefritz]

[luckthebard]

thedarklordsnicklefritz replied to your post: I know with a name like “Shadowhand” it sounds...

Maybe he’s just the equivalent of Magic IT.

oh my god

[critrolefandom]

to @thedarklordsnicklefritz for always being there, for your fantastic username, and for always writing what i'm thinking but way better.

about | submit

[widogasm]

So, what 2 Mighty Nein members would you have a threesome with? And Vox Machina?

in a world where i’m not asexual i imagine i’m probably looking for a good time, and i think beau and reani ??? would be the most Fun. i’m counting reani as a m9 member for reasons. for vm, vex and keyleth for sure

i really regret letting my friends come up with this game though skjfkajksgh

[salamoonder]

Angst prompt #36 (or literally any of them) with Caleb?

“Are you okay leaving things like that?”

Caleb frowns, a little startled by the door to his room opening but more concerned with the out-of-the-blue question.

“Whatever do you mean, Jester?”

“Welll...” Jester walks over to the window to stand beside him, and he can hear her tail swishing against the thick carpet. A nervous habit, he thinks. “If...if I had been so super in love with a person like you were with Astrid, I’d feel...I’d be really really sad if I never talked to her again. You know?”

Caleb takes a second to make sure his expression will hold before he looks at her. “Ah. Yes...yes, I know. It is...” he fishes for the word, wishing he could just speak to her in Zemnian, and ends up coming up with, “difficult, it is difficult to know when to let these things go. But I think you must. At some point. Let...go of people.”

Jester tilts her head at him. Like Frumpkin does, when he’s listening. “I never really thought about it.” She laughs, but it comes out short and breathy. “I think I’m pretty bad at letting go of people, Caleb.”

Caleb feels his face burn with the weight of his lie, and he shakes his head at her. “The way you held onto Yasha--that is not a bad thing. I...I am glad the world has not stolen that away from you yet.”

“Really, are you okay, Caleb?”

He turns abruptly away from the window, away from her, and begins gathering up the spell components he’s left out on the desk. “I have to pack, I’m sorry.”

“Oh...okay.”

He listens again for the swish of her tail, till it recedes down the hallway and he can throw himself on the bed and torture himself with the picture of her face, so innocently concerned, overlaid with Astrid’s scar.

send me a number and i’ll write you an angst thing ^.^