#this is dedicated to my current running dnd character

[the-three-whumpeteers]

The whumpee had finally managed to escape the whumper, and after countless efforts, finally thought they could be safe- but this wasn’t true for long. The whumper tore through countless things just to find their favorite captive. when they finally recaptured the whumpee, the whumper made sure that they would never escape again.

[eric-the-bmo]

Now I’m curious to hear about your VtM character! Impulse Embraces are always really fun (and I’m noticing very Malk-like)

[barrels into the room] MAN OH MAN I HOPE YOU'RE READY TO HEAR ABOUT LEO WEST, THE NUMBER ONE MALKAVIAN OF MY HEART

[tiny pixel leo was made by @ slimejunior btw]

(It's so cool you wanna hear about him- this is my first time in a vtm chronicle, and while i'm not the best at roleplaying, i've been having a blast with the story. I'm sorry btw, this turned into a very long post- I jumped at the chance to ramble about almost everything I can about him- however, since my fellow players follow me here, I'm keeping quiet about certain parts of his character and past.)

Anyway! Leo West is an amnesiac(?) conspiracy theorist and Anarch Malkavian, and is for an on-going chronicle taking place in San Jose- us players have decided to name it Blood and Silicon (there's actually a blog dedicated to it that's run by one of the players).

Leo's a quiet and inquisitive man who's earnest and stubborn, and refuses to talk to the coterie about his issues (but really, none of the other members do that either). He knows very little about vampire society, as his sire refused to tell him anything before sending him away, and has been repeatedly described as a blank slate and full of potential- mostly due to his "newness" to Kindred unlife. He's probably being manipulated by at least 2 people at this point.

He's got Auspex and Obfuscate, and is (unintentionally) built as a stealth character. He also has the Sandman predator type- it's how his sire hunts, and he would prefer victims who wouldn't struggle, anyway.

With his occasional visions, it seems he's got connections to the Cobweb- additionally, since no one's explained to him what the Beast is (and his takes on the guise of his sire's voice), Leo is currently convinced his Beast is actually his sire just talking to him.

While I described him as an amnesiac earlier, he hasn't completely forgotten everything.

However, my main form of communication is infodumping (/hj), so allow me to ramble below, even though I can't fit everything about him in here:

Leo was a hopeless romantic born on May 26, 1994, raised in Chicago and brought up as a Christian. He stopped believing in that faith sometime in high school; something Definitely happened during that time in his life, since it was also when he broke his nose and started smoking (but hey, if I don't know what happened, then he doesn't either /lh). He did eventually quit cigarettes in college, where he graduated and was a librarian for a while; he helped run the DnD sessions the library would hold every month :-)

In 2019, he met a man named Jeremiah: his future sire. J is a man I could make an entire post about- but tbh this isn't about him, so I'll give only the bare amount of information needed.

Jeremiah is a bartender who moved to Chicago from San Jose, and at some point in the first year of knowing Leo, he ended up blood-bonding him for reasons unknown. Leo, who was completely unaware that he was now Jeremiah's ghoul, experienced the symptoms of the bond and assumed he was in love- which surely was a whole thing for him, because at this point in Leo's life he had just come to the conclusion he would never fall in love, since he's never had the best luck in that part of his life. The two of them entered a relationship (or at least it seemed that way to Leo), and of course given the dynamic/power imbalance here- as well as Jeremiah in general- it wasn't a very good one.

(Amy, Leo's sister, kinda picked up some bad vibes from her brother's partner, and very much dislikes him.)

During their almost-three years together while Leo served as his ghoul, Jeremiah used Dominate a lot on him, erasing his memories of anything that could be seen as Masquerade-breaching- meaning that Leo has no idea what he did for him.

Mr. West noticed his gaps in memory, of course, and with the help(?) of one of his more common library patrons, Chris, he fell down into a bit of a conspiracy rabbit hole to try and figure out what was happening to him. Sometime around this point he picked up his smoking habit again.

[As a result of J's actions, Leo no longer trusts his memory and carries around a notebook; It's also one of the reasons he avoids eye contact a lot, since that's necessary for Dominate.]

Eventually he must've figured things out, or perhaps his curiosity got the better of him- but somehow, on September 16, 2021, Leo stumbled upon something that resulted in his untimely death at 27 years old.

Jeremiah Embraced him that night, although it's unknown whether he did it because he still needed Leo's servitude, or if he genuinely cared about his ghoul (and I am unsure which one is worse).

The rest of the events of his Embrace are a bit tricky to talk about- I can't go into much detail without giving much away- but with all the stress and trauma of what happened, his clan bane manifested as Dissociation; in tandem/addition to this, Leo's brain blocked off parts of itself, resulting in even more memory loss.

In fact, after Sept 16, there's about an entire month and a half of missing time for Leo, and he doesn't remember any of it (this was originally due to a misunderstanding of the game's timeline, but is now a part of the Lore).

Anyway, even though I can't go into specifics of what happened to Leo during this moment of his unlife, I can offer you this sort-of-meme about it:

[At some point during this time J informed him of blood bonds, which was kind of a jerk move, considering his childe was having a bad mental moment already.]

It's been stated by Leo that Jeremiah sent him away to San Jose, and the fledgling currently has his coat- which implies J gave it to him as a gift, or at least let him take it with. His relationship with his sire right now is... complicated.

Anyway, Leo spent about a week in San Jose before meeting [aka getting kidnapped by] a Kindred named Harrison, who introduced him to the rest of the coterie. Currently, they're all a bit secretive, and Leo occasionally leads them into trouble (like lowkey breaching the Masquerade, and almost getting caught by a gang).

Throughout Blood and Silicon, Leo's been learning about Kindred unlife, and has additionally requested an informant to look into Jeremiah. (He's got a bit of a fixation on his sire- in his eyes, his investigation to figure out what's going has not ended, and it seems Jeremiah has many secrets..)

In the most recent session, the coterie has been gifted territory as a reward for doing a quest for Harrison. Meanwhile, something's going on with Leo, because vampires can't get headaches, can they?

I'm very excited to see where this leads...

[thank you for asking, this was fun to ramble about him <3]

[ranjxtul]

VTM Rambles: the Lesbian Cinematic Universe

so i run a chronicle set in new orleans and it's part of what my girlfriend and i call the lesbian cinemtic universe which also includes their berlin by night chronicle that i play in. we call it such because i'm sure you can imagine there are so many lesbian characters. and like, i love it because our games are so queer friendly as they're run by trans lesbians and played by other sapphics. all of us are also experienced ttrpg players or storytellers in some other way too so it's very common someone will have someone else crying or freaking out because of the scene they're playing,

I also think the queerness and our experience with storytelling allows us to better explore the themes of vampire, which to me are what does it mean to be human and what does it mean to be good. We all have characters, PCs or SPCs alike that re struggling with the darkness of the kindred and human world, in fact I think some way all of them are. i love being able to explore what that means for these people and how they react and cope with the pain of their lives. As creators in these games, we've taken a very human approach to creating these chracters as world of darkness seems to believe that once you're embraced you lose all goodness. it also seems to me they believe tiers of humanity are fixed and unuanced when that is simply not the case so i love playing with what each tier of humanity might mean for each character.

as a storyteller, and a player i interpret the beast as more a figurative manifestation of whatever magic that comes with kindredhood and the blood combined with a person's shadow self and subconscious. i'm personally not a fan of the idea that the beast is an actual entity now living in a kindred' head because of the embrace that sucks the good from you. i think the beast forces the kindred to grapple with the darkest parts of themselves that were already there so the fight for goodness or humanity is internal and intrinsic. to me, this has created such an interesting conflict and even fear in certain characters who want to be kind and humane but are scared to lose that due to age or the world etc.

in these two games, we also have some really interesting themes going through. in berlin, i'd say we're creating a theme of healing generational wounds and in nola i think our theme is becoming learning to hold on to the love and kindness in your life, because it will save you in more ways than one. as a creator whether that be on the storyteller or player side, i'm taking these ideas and running with them. for me, a throughline theme helps tie a story together and helps write the story as it devlops even in an rpg.

additionally, i've found that vtm is a great system to explore heavier topics than you more easily could in dnd or something similar. the central questions of the game lends itself to that. for example, in nola i have a plot that has to do with the second inquistion in the cia and how the prince of the camarilla is currently being trafficked as a part of a deal to hold of the cia which was made knowing one day she'd break. i also think the system is a good way to explore power dynamics in society and tradition. even though our political systems are very different in reality a lot of the messiness and the constructs that create those systems are present in the construction of the camarilla, anarchs, and sabbat- to me this is just another interesting way to explore morality in a game like this.

i am a neuroscientist and enjoy tweaking the poorly written mechanics relating kindred anatomy and physiology. i could make a whole post dedicated to what i've messed with in that regard because it's been a lot. i've altered scarring, disease/immune states, the appearance and visibility of disability, metabolism, and fertility to name a few. most importantly from that list is disability and disease. in both games several characters are autistic or adhd or both. there are vampires who use mobility aids, who are amputees, the nola prince and her wife have hiv, one of my pcs has hEDS and the other has lupus. world of darkness erases disability entirely when talking about the embrace and to me, that's wrong. disability isn't awful or heinous and shouldn't be erased in a low (or high for that matter) fantasy game because it's a part of life for so many people.

lastly in this rant s/o to the people who create with me in the lesbian cinematic unverse @rj-thursday @yelenaslightchangeofplan and andi (who's tumblr i don't know) i love yall and i'm so happy to play these games with you... undercover todd forever

[nomsfaultau]

(Not) Daily ask №32

I really don't think that I can keep up the 5 questions every single day thing. Procrastination gets the better of me : (

Isekai edition!

1. What is your favourite universe? Like a favourite show, game, book, etc.

2. What are your 3 favourite characters from that universe?

3 What is your favourite time period of the universe? Ex. Pogtopia arc for dsmp, an episode of a show, a scene from a book.

4. What is your favourite antagonist/villain from that universe?

5. BOOM fault crew gets into your favourite universe, in your favourite time period of the show, with your favourite characters finding them first and then they meet your favourite antagonist. How does that go?

There is completely no obligation to do anything ever, buddy. 

1.Really hard to look past the haze of Fault that’s been my brain for years. That said, I’ve been having an INSANELY good time with Taz vs Dracula recently. Essentially it’s a DND campaign where they go through a wacky gothic horror setting that’s very heavy on the comedy, all in the name of defeating Dracula. It incorporates a lot of free domain characters, so like Pinocchio, Mickey Mouse, King Arthur, the invisible man show up (or doesn’t, he’s a flakey POS). All with some crazy twist of course ofcours. Absolute blast. 

And no read more line because I’m proselytizing for this podcast now okay ok. 

2. Lady Godwin. She’s a posh old lady who got run over by Dracula and the Wolf Man (who is a bad influence on Dracula). She had a Frankenstein life policy but it got shut down due to bad business practice, and her head got stuck on a barbarian lady’s body. On top of that severe body dysphoria, Lady Godwin gets bitten by a were-horse and gets transported to the mental realm of Oats on occasion. She’s prim and huffy and goes into destructive rages. Perfect woman. 

Thumbs. Thumbs is a were-orangutan DJ for the Wolf Man’s nightclub, since he’s the only one with thumbs. There’s supposed to be a spell that allows everyone to communicate with one another, but he just speaks in monkey noises. Notably is banned from pushing the big red button on his DJ set up. BUt ooooooh man. Wants to. Deserves to. (this destroyed the were-house were-nightclub)

An. He’s an almost dead god of night with a dedicated cult and the Sword in the Stone jammed through his skull, pinning him in spot because evil cults don’t tend to have a lot of people pure of heart and rightful king of England material? Who knew. He’s so suave and has a major superiority complex and is so so so overtly evil but the DND party is just so chill about debating whether or not to free him. But An has searched all of the land to find the most Pure of Heart….and landed on Brother Phileaux, the monk currently sharing a Pinocchio body with THE Van Helsing. Who is an absolute little freak, mind, so I have absolutely zero idea why he’s trying to (in his own words) 4D chess manipulate Phileaux when he is pure by no one’s standards and also very dumb. It’s very hard to be a gaslight gatekeep girlbosser when dealing with stupid adventurers. Poor guy. He dies due to the redneck Mutt becoming the casual King of England, a reverse knock knock joke and the Toby Slayer*, and a cross that the interim-temporary Turbo Cardinal stole once. 

3. Episode 16 is my favorite part. Literally howling the entire time. Acquiring the Toby Slayer*, a legendary sword that obliterates anyone named Toby with. Yes this means they spend the rest of the campaign trying to name people Toby (nicknames, telling an amnesiac their name is Toby, shortening Turbo Cardinal to Toby (works because one of them is the king of England via authoritarian legends). They kill a god using the Toby slayer. This all happened because the DM tried to give last minute flavor text to a loot item. Casually water boarding the severed head of a Dracula clone while discussing if they could raise him to be the ‘good Dracula’. Meeting a crazy fish monster man with a basketball wife named Elizabeth, who is a druid that only turns into sports items. Taking a break from a revenge quest to play the sickest game of volleyball ever using said sports druid. Lady Godwin randomly biting a severed ear. The ENTIRE inventory situation of Phileaux, including teeth from a sea monster, said severed ear, and LITERALLY HIS OWN DEAD BODY SHRUNKEN DOWN INTO A LITTLE VILE. The offhand discussion about if Phileaux should make a flesh homunculous using spare Dracula clone parts. I think this TAZ episode made me laugh the most, though the Steeplechase campaign where they went on the trashiest dating show ever was so choice too. Schlebethany my beloved….

4. DRACULA. Oh my god he’s soooooooo fun. Might be my favorite villain ever. Absolute love to hate character, except he’s so funny and charismatic that it’s hard to hate him even though like terrible evil dude. But he’s also a complete dork, and cringes about his ‘wizard phase’ and opines about how everyone wants to kill him :( so rude. He had a toxic BFF relationship with the Wolf Man but had to cut him out for being a ‘bad influence’ (HE IS DRACULA THIS MAN IS THE WORST). He helps Mutt (protag) pull out his fangs to make earrings. All of his clones insist they’re ‘the good’ Dracula. Dracula had an unrequited romantic relationship with Dr. Frankenstein, and is now in a love triangle with him and another Dracula clone, who wants to kill OG Drac for breaking Frankenstein’s heart. He is a staunch supporter of the fine arts. So far I think he might be trying to mind control an entire town/end the world (?) via evil airpods because he can’t get one song out of his head from when he was a kid. And also so he doesn’t have to drink blood anymore because it’s yucky >.<

Like. Just listen to him:

“Dear diary.

How come everybody wants to kill Dracula?

I mean, the people whose villages I’ve razed to the ground, whose family trees I’ve so thoroughly pruned, them I understand. But how did my vulnerabilities become the topic of casual dinner table conversation? I don’t talk about the weaknesses of mortal men, and Lord knows I could. I may be biased, but it seems these days that haters are coming at me left, right, and center…(enter SICK MUSIC RIFF)

5.Tubbo will get obliterated. No help for it. The SECOND the DND party finds out their name, the Toby Slayer is going to come out. Thems the rules. Or they’d try, but the Fault crew would step in and then the DND party would be really chill and laid-back, brushing off the murder attempt while everyone else is freaking out. Tubbo would probably try to convince Phileaux to work more with Van Helsing on the semi system thing. Overall freaked out about how casual murder is here. Second, Wilbur is having a bad time due to the permanent eternal night upon the land. Oh well. Flashlights may or may not exist, since we have both horse-drawn carriages and Honda elontras show up? Good luck lmao. Phileaux could probably cast light on a pointed Pinocchio hat for him. But would be wayyy too interested in getting samples from the void. Tommy thinks it’s spooky as hell. Maybe Elizabeth could teach him the cantrip Shape Water, which would solve 99% of his problem if he can artificially control Red. Wait. And he can touch Brother Phileaux! That’s big for him, until Phileaux says something offputting and oh muffin that wasn’t a joke- The Blade is really vibing with Mutt, since, ranger. They’re also very blunt and straight forward characters. And he’d love Lady Agatha (dog). Probably Lady Godwin too for their similar rage modes, but the comments about curvaceousness would make him awkward. I really really really want Philza to party with the Wolf Man. But the auto killing any non were-person would be a damper on the relationship. And Philza isn’t at random haha murder philosophy atm, so would probably not hang even if he can pass. Ah wait forgot he’s super duper beheaded by this point of the series, moot point. He can definitely gel with Lady Godwin and Elizabeth about getting lost in the sauce re: body, be it the plane of horses, basketballs, or dragons. 

Now I could go on and on about how the existence of monsters casually in society both as threats and friends would drastically be eye opening for the Fault guys, etc etc, however they’re in the middle of a swamp at the moment. 

As for plot: The Blood God would be extremely hyped about the cult of the Buried Blood! …until he finds out it isn’t about him. Booo what kind of god gets half murdered? Loser. I figure the Fault crew would pick up An’s rank vibes way more than the DND party bothered to act on, the manipulation is pretty blatant. Tubbo is absolutely fuming about not being pure of heart, and that the random redneck did it through the power of rats. Tommy is desperate to become the king of England, and is infuriated because none of the DND guys know what England even is. 

Probably a lot less impressive to kill a god when you have like 3 on your team, but-

Everyone is down on the killing Dracula thing. Even Tubbo I think, given how evil he is. Would prefer a different method! But it’s looking like world ending stakes so maybe it’s okay. As for actually meeting the real OG Dracula? The campaign hasn’t gotten there, so I can’t even guess. But the fact both universes have potentially world ending songs is really funny. Based on vibes, Philza, Tommy, and The Blade think Dracula is absolutely great and kinda forget they’re there to kill him. Philza definitely sympathetic on the curse of immortality thing. Dracula doesn’t pass Wilbur’s vibe check at all, thinks he’s sleezy, and Tubbo can see way too much of the mind control stuff happening to brush it off. Like if they can manage to hate friendly Philza the charisma isn’t going to mean much. 

Probably ends up trying to suck Tommy’s blood, getting Red’d, and having the most balls to the walls insane fight scene ever. Man I can’t wait for the finale.

[papillenjolras]

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤 many heart emojis for the OC ask game!!!! (For any oc you wish!)

This is soooo late but I just did the other ask game so I figured I'd bring it back!

Hmmm I want to use a dnd oc so let's go with Neph (Nepheros)! He is a tiefling fighter. Purple trans guy with a cool green undercut who incorporates armor into fashionable outfits.

❤️ RED HEART — what are three of your oc's positive traits?

Loyal: This is one of his driving traits- he sticks with people after he's made up his mind about them and it takes a lot to dissuade him. He will go to great lengths to protect people. (Sometimes this could be a negative trait since loyalty can cause him to be blind to faults or to the truth)

Humorous: I love roleplaying him and his personality is such a joy to play! I like that I can respond with my natural jokes or comments and it will fit with his character. It feels fun to embody his character.

Determined/willing to step up: He is willing to make those hard decisions, to make a choice even if he's not sure if it's the right one.

🧡 ORANGE HEART — does your oc tend to prioritize family or friends?

Friends- He values intentions and effort, and doesn't feel that blood trumps that without work put in behind that. He's currently traveling with the party and does not have contact with his family after going on the run due to murder.

💛 YELLOW HEART — how many languages does your oc speak? what language(s) are they learning, if any?

He speaks common and infernal due to his tiefling heritage, though he doesn't like infernal as he doesn't have much connection to his tiefling heritage as he was raised by his human parents.

💚 GREEN HEART — does your oc prefer being inside or outside?

Well he has certainly been outside adventuring a lot recently! Which he enjoys! But he would probably appreciate some indoor time after all that. But overall probably outside.

💙 BLUE HEART — does your oc have any cool/special powers and/or abilities? how are they with magic, if it exists in their world?

He is a fighter class and places his focus outside of the realm of magic, though he can cast some spells as a tiefling- thaumaturgy, hellish rebuke, and darkness. He is comfortable with this and uses thaumaturgy regularly in his life, having played with the spell since he was a child.

In the campaign setting, there are two forces- the Light and the Sea. Many magic casters such as paladins value the Light, while necromancers value the Sea. As a tiefling, Neph has an innate connection to the Sea and can sometimes communicate with others who have that connection. Also recently, after killing a necromancer, he's started hearing dead people? Which is a cool plot hook and I'm excited to see where that goes.

💜 PURPLE HEART — what is your oc's ancestry/genetic background?

He was born to human parents, but is a tiefling due to a pact his father made with a demon/tiefling asking for a happy marriage. So in some ways he resembles his tiefling heritage as well.

🖤 BLACK HEART — has your oc killed or seriously wounded anyone before? have they broken someone's heart and/or broken someone's trust?

Yes, he's killed in battle as a soldier. Notably, as part of his backstory, a trusted captain of the guard named Latha (who is a secret spy) manipulated him into killing a general, then placed all the blame on him. So this is where his sense of loyalty can also be a fatal flaw. And as strong as his loyalty is, once that trust is broken, he is just as dedicated to revenge.

As far as him breaking trust, during the campaign he did get blackmailed into trying to assassinate a npc (don't worry she lived) and that didn't go over well with the party, but it's all pretty much patched up now.

[keeperartwork]

OC-tober Zodiac Edition Day 1 I'm dedicating this year's OC-tober in honor of my current Dnd Campaign I'm running. Starting off with the oldest and youngest player character, Pickle! Pickle's a repurposed character from several Dnd campaigns, and now he's made his home here in the Dàlù Shēngxiào. He's a fun and silly dragonborn who's always either trying to make new friends, or share some pickles from his infinite pickle jar Pickle belongs to @yadedaj

[spiritelectric3]

My journey through Homestuck: Act 1

The gods have chosen me to experience the horrors of Homestuck. I have chosen to do so via comic dub (specifically the Void Over Nexus dub). Here are my takes:

-Okay, I'm still in the kid's bedroom and they are already introducing such complicated mechanics. -16 minutes in and he's finally left his room. I'm so glad I didn't read this or it would have taken forever -I'll admit, so far, this does make me feel kinda nostalgic for my childhood. It has an attitude that was common for comic books and cartoons of the 2000s, but has gone away. Reminds me a lot of picking up random comic books from the library as a kid and reading them over and over. -With some deeper thought, too, this is a pretty accurate description of what it's like to have free time as a kid, how you kind of just goof off doing whatever, but somehow it all feels important. Sort of like how the Lord of the Rings dedicates a lot of pages to walking so that the reader gets a similar feeling to the characters. -Plus, from what I know from the plot, this is kind of an actually good way to set up a story like this. John's home is important, so the work spends time on it. It's annoying that it takes awhile, but that's why we have comic book dubs. -okay, tbh, this is a pretty accurate depiction of what (neurodivergent?) childhood thinking is like, at least for my own childhood -okay, so more on the neurodivergent thinking thing: I love how well the comic integrates strange system but shifts the reader's mindset towards the world of the series well. It reminds me of how I end up seeing the world differently based on my current hyperfixation -also unrelated, but I thought Stacks were first in first out and Queues were first in last out -wait, how is this inventory system different!? -thought on the language: I think the descriptions thus far are kind of hit or miss. It's a hit when we get detailed poetic descriptions of childhood mentality. It's a miss when it becomes so long and pedantic that I can't make heads nor tails of it. -Is TT… psychic!?

-I love how no one in this series can handle simply having a human body so they need inventories and the ability to move things long distance. Honestly same (oh god I'm beginning to think like the writing style) -okay, this is just what it's like to play an overly complicated video game for the first time, just in semi-literary form -I'm kind of terrified of what's gonna happen to the second person narrator later on -Why are John's eyes shaped like glasses lenses if he doesn't wear them? -I love how ominous Sberb is quickly becoming -…OH. I think I'm beginning to realize how this became a massive influence on all media in the 2010s+ -This is the moment where I am wondering if I should turn back, already realizing that it is too late -Honestly, I can already see how someone could write a paper on how this series fundamentally redefines thought, in and of itself -why does this series make me want to play Run 2 on coolmathgames.com? -this is legitimately like non-cyperpunk cyberpunk -I'll admit that for all that's been happening the meteor is kind of a weird uptick in stakes -Ah, that's what happens to the second person voice -I love how the narrator's personality shifts to match Rose's -Seeing Rose get introduced this late feels like during a first dnd session when your the last character to be introduced at the end of the session -Rose's captchalogue is pretty based -okay, I'm gonna say it. Rose is a much more entertaining character than john. She's like if Susie Derkins had a wilder imagination -Wait… WHAT THE FUCK!?

Overrall I'd say, yeah this is pretty slow. In this format it's honestly worse when they're playing the game than when John is just doing stuff in his house. Those earlier sections almost made me tear up. They didn't, but they got close. I think there is a childlike joythat encapsulates this series thus far, and has been the majority of the charm

[undercaffeinatedgeek]

My Eternal Project...

I started this one when I went remote for work, and found myself hoarding tarot/oracle decks about as much as I do plants.

I wanted to make one based around DnD given how much it's meant to me over these years. It felt natural to combine my three passions. Art, DnD, and my love of Divination. However, since I'm only planning on making this a very limited run, it might not hit for all DnD fans. Given all the inside nods.

When I say limited run, I mean it. I'm only making this for myself (and all the characters I've been let's be honest they need this). As well as for a few others from parties past and present, or friends that have contributed beloved characters and settings. This will NOT be sold in my current or future shop.

But I will happily continue to share and stream when I create new ones! Anyway, click below if you want to know more about each card. This one was getting a bit too long. 💜

So for all these I think I'll list the Tarot card, with it’s general meaning. Just in case someone who isn't familiar with Tarot wants to know why I picked the people or images I did. I won't bother with the Reversed meaning, because it didn't influence my art in any way soooo...

I'm probably overthinking this...

==============================================================

The Sun - a joyous and happy outcome. Success at last! The freedom to enjoy the fruits of your labour. Celebration and pleasure. The clouds are finally lifted and you can proceed with confidence. Overall positive sign in a reading.

The Card - Meet Phallyn. (Fae-Lynn) This character belongs to a friend of mine that I have yet to play in a game with, but I just adore her characters. The backstories are just a delight to read. She is a cleric, devoted to Sarenrae (yes she's a Critter).

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The Lovers - can often indicate a relationship coming into your life. Although usually romantic in nature, this relationship can be any sort where good communication is involved. If you are considering getting involved with someone for love or business this is a good card to see.

The Card - This card is particularly special to me because it meant a lot to my sister. So I didn’t want to overload it with details, I really wanted to focus on the characters themselves, and their love. She has had these characters for the long haul, playing them past lvl 20. Yes both of them lol, and they are super important to her. So please enjoy Jocelyn and Houston in a loving downtime embrace. Jocelyn here was born an aasimar and Houston became one later through… circumstances.

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The High Priestess - trust your own instinct. Got a hunch about something? Go with it. This is the time to really listen to that nagging voice in your head sometimes referred to as your “gut”. Before making a decision of meaning or with an power to it, look inward first. The answers are all there within you.

The Card - This one is an old character of my own, and when I say old I mean old. I was still in school, when I last played her. I won’t age myself too much by giving too many details, sorry lol. But she’s a priestess of Ioun, you should see some iconography in the card dedicated to her. Her name is Morwan, named for my fav character from The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. She has a cat familiar named Pea, and I just adore her to bits even now. Maybe I should rehash her for a new game one day.

==============================================================

The Magician - a card of talent and power. You’ve got the skills to accomplish your goals at this time. It’s time to make the most of your abilities. Proceed with confidence. Know that you have everything you need to manifest whatever it is you have in mind right at your fingertips.

The Card - This was so much fun to make! This is the first card to feature one of my current party members. Woo Magical Menagerie finally being represented! In such style as well, by our golden boy and reluctant/in denial leader Raja. He’s the bard of our group and also somehow an unintentional musical superstar thanks to playing at one festival. That’s all it takes folks. So here he is, depicted playing in his final concert in Calendor. I made those glow sticks with vials and phosphorescent mushrooms. Our DM is very “rule of cool”. It was such a fun moment for all of us. I love this card the most so far. 💜

==============================================================

And lastly we have the card back, which is just a revamp of a magical circle I created previously with a ton of DnD iconography included. I postedpreviously about that if you want more info on all the little bits and bobs I snuck in.

Anyway hope you enjoy! I’ll post new ones as I finish them!

[tinycurlyfry]

I was tagged by @karinzany​ to take on the impossible task of narrowing my favorite characters to just 10 jgskdlfgjs

....Obviously my current bias/hyperfixation for the silly gay pirates is showing (The way I could, and nearly have, written full essays on how amazingly complex some of the characters are in this show) and I haven’t consumed much media lately besides OP, but I think I feel good about these characters being my current top 10 (They’re in no particular order)

1. Trafalgar Law (One Piece) - This man’s got two (2!!) tragic backstories and though he was undeniably revenge driven he somehow came out of that trauma so unbelievably kind. He wants to come across as this terrifying, cruel and rude ‘Surgeon of Death’ but his instincts are always to take care of others. Also, his dialogue when Cavendish and Robin tried to get him away from the fight to get treated? Still drives me insane. Despite what he wants people to believe, he gravitates towards silly and kind people too. There’s a reason why he’s so adored by his crew and they mean the world to him too.

2. Roronoa Zoro (One Piece) - Zoro’s character is so deceptively simple, but *slaps his massive tits* You can fit so many layers in this bad boy. The way he dedicates his entire being to Luffy, the way he claims that he doesn’t see the point in the whole “I’ll have your back” mentality AND YET he will absolutely rush in to block and protect the others of the crew. He’s the first mate so when Luffy is running off being Luffy he’s gotta be the one to make sure everyone else stays safe. But, he has so much faith in his crew’s strength and is such an amazing team player. He’s also a little mischievous and silly and easily embarrassed and is so fucking hard on himself. Just *makes wild vague gestures at his mossy head* HIM.

3. Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece) - When I started the series I really liked Luffy but Zoro was definitely my favorite for the longest time. But Luffy is really hard not to love. But then... Idk at some point during Whole Cake Island I would just start tearing up and crying over this boy. And I’ve only continued to do so in Wano. He’s just- god he is the sweetest ever. Just the goodest sunshine boy. He’s just so full of love and will stop at nothing to save someone he’s noticed is having their freedom taken away or are suffering at the hand of a tyrant who’s got no value for people’s wellbeing. He’s so stupid and doesn’t understand typical social behavior but he’s SO emotionally intelligent and he’s grown so much and he’s just this sweet, unstoppable force of love.

4. Taako (The Adventure Zone) - Okay, finally forcing myself to move away from One Piece characters. Taako is another character who’s just got so many damn layers to him. He’s full of himself, yet he’s got so many insecurities because of trauma. He’s an asshole, yet he’s kind. He plays stupid, yet he’s probably the smartest of the main three. He definitely started out as just a joke-y character, the whole series very much started off as just the Mcelroys goofing around playing a silly game of dnd, but his complexity as a character down the line is insane. I think about his lines and actions as the story was about to come to its end CONSTANTLY.

5. Zuko (Avatar The Last Airbender) - Probably the first character that would consume my thoughts. After all these years Zuko easily wins a spot in my list of all time favorite characters. Zuko’s character development throughout the series is just *chef’s kiss*. Wonderful. Amazing. I love this poor boy so much.

6. Karkat Vantas (Homestuck) - Honestly it was tempting to put both him and Dave Strider in this list but I think Karkat has Dave beat by a little bit in my heart. Yet another character that is so beautifully complex and wonderfully flawed, but my god was he just doing his fucking best. I love this loud angry boy immensely. 

7. Hunter (The Owl House) - This poor, poor boy. I hold him so gently in my hands. He is just doing his absolute best. He’s gone through so much abuse and trauma and I just wanted him to be given the chance to be a kid. To be happy! His development is also so so good, and I just hope the trauma he’s going through doesn’t completely crush the sass and confident silliness he had before.

8. Caleb Widogast (Critical Role) - This spot was a toss-up as to whether I wanted to give it to Caleb or Essek, but I had the brainrot for Caleb Widogast for near the entirety of Campaign 2 so I felt obligated to give him the spot on my list. Can you see the pattern of my love for traumatized characters who manage to be a little silly and try their best to be kind (even though in Caleb’s case he very much believed himself not to be capable of being a ‘good’ or kind person). It was pretty hard not to include many of CR2′s characters, but I tried to keep myself from having too many from the same show/media (even though I definitely didn’t actually do that gsjkflg)

9. Roy Mustang (Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood)) - Enter the series I did also cave and give two spots to. Starting with Roy Mustang. He’s silly but so fucking clever. He cares so much more than he lets on. I think he’s definitely my favorite of the series.

10. Greed/Ling (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood) - My god. Talk about beautifully flawed and complex characters. Yes, they’re technically two characters but I love them both and their interaction together so much that I couldn’t give one the spot over the other. Just a pair of dudes who have to learn the hard way the consequences of their actions/ambitions.

Honorable Mentions: Jester, Essek, Mollymauk, Yato, Trevor Belmont, Alucard, Riza Hawkeye, John Silver, BlackStar, Dr. Stein, Mr. Spender, Himura Kenshin, Vash the Stampede, Kurapika, N, Decim, Eda Clawthorne, Dave Strider, Duck Newton, Ned Chicane, Usopp, Donquixote Rosinante

[utilitycaster]

you tend to have very interesting opinions about the intersection of character build mechanics and narrative in dnd- what are your thoughts on the builds of the brass ring?

They are all extremely good. I'll go through each PC although we don't have all the details on Patia's build:

Nydas has an incredibly cool build that explains his history, fits with his current state, and makes him particularly deadly in battle. His first few levels are in sorcerer, which explains how he was able to rise to his position (this was used as a device for Saccharina in D20's A Crown of Candy too and is in my opinion one of the best reasons to play a sorcerer), but he then gained the bardic skills to be a fighter and a leader. His connection to dragons fits his role in the Golden Scythe and his sword proficiencies and various forms of expertise make sense for a pirate-mage. Even his metamagic choices fit perfectly; he is both exceptionally quick to act and a very forceful, hard-to-defy person.

Patia is hard to pin down because we don't have any subclass features nor many feats, and she's otherwise a straightforward wizard build, but her spells paint a picture of a noncombatant, primarily interested in defense and obtaining information. The fact that many of these spells may be from her orb of power (and the ambiguity of whether this was standard at the time or something she had herself created) is also very cool.

Zerxus is a similarly very straightforward build and in many ways very classic paladin but the choice of redemption - a primarily defensive/deflecting build - and the degree to which he commits to that - as well as his incredibly powerful magical items - is a fantastic choice. I think it does a lot for story and worldbuilding to have the characters with divine powers be given the most powerful items and pivotal roles within the city while also having them be locked out from positions of true decision-making power. Inspiring leader was also a fun and fascinating contrast because on the one hand it complements both standard paladin abilities and specifically Oath of Redemption's focus on talking through problems rather than smiting first, but contrasts with Zerxus's incredibly serious and even somewhat bitter personality.

Loquatius, like Nydas, has a primarily bardic build with a few levels of another charisma caster, granting him some highly specific offensive capabilities bards lack but unlike Nydas, he is largely a support and utility character. The archfey subclass doesn't actually end up doing a whole lot mechanically, particularly since he's already a fey being, but it does put his choice to decline Elmenore's portal in a new light given that it's implied she's not just his queen, but the source of some of his powers. And, of course, eloquence is the perfect bard subclass for someone who is head of the state-run media and who in the end feels guilt over the damage his incredible powers of deception wrought.

Laerryn is by far the most min-maxed/optimized for combat: her high constitution, the tough feat, and her subclass are all designed to permit her to tank despite being a wizard. Eldritch Adept not only gives her additional armor as a cantrip; it also provides her with a way to game the system and recharge her arcane ward as Mage Armor is abjurative. It's a very cool choice, as well, to have her narratively be dedicated to something we often think of as conjuration or transmutative (planar magic/moving the leylines); to have her be the destroyer of some of the most powerful abjurative magic that ever was in that pursuit; and to then have her use that other skill set ultimately for a protective purpose in the end. The all-purpose tool is also very fitting and narratively earned in her role as someone who works on the infrastructure of the city. I also happen to just love the idea of using abjuration to refer to someone who is in charge of preventative maintenance rather than reactive shielding.

Cerrit has both a relatively simple build - martial, comparative restraint with the magical items - and a highly specialized one that tells the story of what the Eyes of Avalir are and how this non-magical group succeeds in a city of mages. Cerrit is built to be the anti-mage. He is incredibly good at seeing through quite frankly everything (expertise in insight, perception, and investigation); he is able to evade a number of magical effects and, failing that, outrun a lot of mages (150 ft in a turn of pure movement gets you out of range of the vast majority of spells); and the choice to have observant and mage slayer - and therefore to be a mostly melee rogue - means it's difficult for wizards to get around him. Inquisitive rogue also grants you the ability to get sneak attack without allies and to see through illusions. It creates, in effect, a character who will be in opposition of what we know to be the hallmarks of the age of arcanum, which makes his survival narratively very fitting.

[impzone]

Could you tell me more about solar austus, max, and jackson if possible? :3c

of course, i'd be happy to! all of those characters are currently npcs in a dnd campaign i'm running (players have met two of them) so i'm putting their info under a readmore. my dear players i am asking you to look away from this ask 🙏

-- SOLAR AUSTUS --

Austus is their name, Solar is their title. They're a holy warrior of the sun, with their body capable of harnessing the sun's power due to a divine transformation they're undergoing. This gives their body a glowing, warm appearance. Their current quest is to bring light into dark places, and they commonly fight back against shadow monsters and accompany adventurers in their nighttime travels. They want to travel all of Kyor and feel the sunlight in all its high places, with their final goal being to become a vessel of the sun itself. This process of becoming the sun involved a ritual, with a magic tattoo being placed on them to slowly mutate their body into a vessel. They can speed up this process by using more of their sunlight abilities and furthering their quest. Austus is odd in their mannerisms, but as friendly as can be. They enjoy helping others, but also won't miss the chance to stop and rest. Their strange nature and dedication to their quest make them quite lonely, so they treasure the time they get to spend with other parties. Their story is currently unfolding in the dnd campaign, so we'll see how their quest goes!

-- MAX --

Max is an exiled Vaness, who now travels the country taking bounty hunter jobs with his partner. He was exiled because he killed his own brother when he was a teen, but this was due to a curse that was placed on him before he was born. The curse fills with him an insatiable lust for blood and flesh, which while makes him an excellent fighter, it keeps him from stopping before the other person is mangled to hell. The Vaness are fighters, but in a sport sense. They admire fighting as an art but condemn senseless bloodshed, so when Max killed his brother they sent him away. Lucky for Max, there is a way to cope with the curse. He found out that if he eats raw animal meat (that due to the curse he can process) that need for killing completely goes away for a while, its just a matter of eating it every week, like a medicine. Him and his partner will go on hunting trips to keep this condition managed. :) Writing out his backstory now makes him seem really edgy, but he's quite upbeat, playful and outgoing! He's the kind of person who's presence uplifts a room. He loves to wrestle and generally goof around, as guys do.

-- JACKSON --

Jackson is a hitman/bounty hunter that is currently working for the Order Church. He feels no actual affiliation with their ideology, but he works for them because the pay is good and it keeps him out of trouble with the law (since, well, they are the law). Jackson is an antisocial weirdo who got himself possessed by a demon in hopes of it making him more sociable and charismatic. The demon he got himself into a deal with, Sonia, is a mirror demon. Mirror demons make special pacts with people to act as a sort of 'coach', in exchange for the person engaging in the demon's vice. For Jackson's case, his demon makes him more assertive, charismatic, and confident, while he's supposed to kill and cause violence for the demon. Right now, the demon and Jackson are two semi-separate people, with the end goal that their personalities, traits, and consciousness merge until there is no distinction and they function as one entity, both internally and externally. Because Jack does not normally crave incredible violence, and because of his lack of ability to control the vices of his demon, this process of becoming one is not going super well. Unlike Max, Jackson does act a bit edgy. He's aloof, tries to act cool and badass, but often just comes across as strange and like a bit of a loser. With the demon helping him, he comes across as much more intimidating and fills the role of 'badass hitman' better. Though, under all that, all Jackson really wants is to fit better into society and make some real genuine friends.

[supercantaloupe]

okay yeah actually, i’ll bite. i’ve got some of my own thoughts about the unsleeping city and cultural representation and i’m gonna make a post about them now, i guess. i’ll put it under a cut though because this post is gonna be long.

i wanna start by saying i love dimension 20 and i really really enjoy the unsleeping city. i look forward to watching new episodes every week, and getting hooked on d20 as a whole last summer really helped pull me out of a pandemic depression, and i’m grateful to have this cool show to be excited about and interested in and to have met so many cool people to talk about it with.

that being said, however, i think there is a risk run in representing any group of people/their culture when you have the kind of setting that tuc has. by which i mean, tuc is set in a real world with real people and real human cultures in it. unlike fantasy high or a crown of candy where everything is made up (even if rooted in real-world cultures), tuc is explicitly rooted in reality, and all of its diversity -- both the ups and downs that go with it. and especially set in new york of all places, one of the most densely, diversely populated cities on earth. the cast is 7 people; it’s great that those 7 people come from a variety of backgrounds and identities and all bring their own unique perspectives to the table, and it’s great that those people and the entire crew are generally conscious of themselves and desire to tell stories/represent perspectives ethically. but you simply cannot authentically represent every culture or every perspective in the world (or even just in a city) when your cast is 7 people. it’s an impossible task. this is inherent to the setting, and acknowledged by the cast, and by brennan especially, who has been on record saying how one of the exciting aspects of doing a campaign set in nyc is its diversity, the fact that no two new yorkers have the same perspective of new york. i think that’s a good thing -- but it does have its challenges too, clearly.

i’m not going to go into detail on the question of whether or not tuc’s presentation of asian and asian american culture is appropriative/offensive or not. first of all, i don’t feel like it’s 100% fair to judge the show completely yet, since it’s a prerecorded season and currently airing midseason, so i don’t yet know how things wrap up. secondly, i’m not asian or asian american. i can have my own opinions on that content in the show, but i think it’s worth more to hear actual asian and asian american voices on this specific aspect of the show. having an asian american cast member doesn’t automatically absolve the show of any criticisms with regard to asian american cultural representation/appropriation, whether those criticisms are made by dozens of viewers or only a handful of them. regardless, i don’t think it’s my place as someone who is not asian to speak with any authority on that issue, and i know for a fact that there are asian american viewers sharing their own opinions. their thoughts in this instance hold more water than mine, i think.

what i will comment on in more depth, though, is a personal frustration with tuc. i’m jewish; i’ve never really been shy about that fact on my page here. i’m not from new york, but i visit a few times a year (or i did before covid anyway, lol), and i have some family from nyc. nyc, to me, is a jewish city. and for good reason, since it’s home to one of the largest jewish populations of the country, and even the world, and aspects of jewish culture (including culinary, like bagels and pastrami, and linguistic, like the common use of yiddish words and phrases in english colloquial speech) are prevalent and celebrated among jews and goyim alike. when i think of nyc, i think of a jewish city; that’s not everybody’s new york, but that’s my new york, and thats plenty of other people’s new york too. so i do find myself slightly disappointed or frustrated in tuc for its, in my opinion, rather stark lack of jewish representation.

now, i’m not saying that one of the PCs should have been jewish, full stop. i love to headcanon iga as jewish even though canon does not support that interpretation, and i’m fine with that. she’s not my character. it’s possible that simply no one thought of playing a jewish character, i dunno. but also, and i can’t be sure about this, i’m willing to bet that none of the players really wanted to play a jewish character because they didn’t want to play a character of a marginalized culture they dont belong to in the interest of avoiding stereotyping or offensive representation/cultural appropriation. (i don’t know if any of the cast members are jewish, but i’m assuming not.) and the concern there is certainly appreciated; there’s not a ton of mainstream jewish rep out there, and often what we get is either “unlikeable overly conservative hassidic jew” or “jokes about their bar mitzvah/one-off joke about hanukkah and then their jewishness is never mentioned ever again,” which sucks. it would be really cool to see some more good casual jewish rep in a well-rounded, three-dimensional character in the main cast of a show! even if there are a couple of stumbles along the way -- nobody is perfect and no two jews have the same level of knowledge, dedication, and adherence to their culture.

but at the same time, i look at characters like iga and i really do long for a jewish character to be there. siobhan isn’t polish, yet she’s playing a characters whose identity as a polish immigrant to new york is very central to her story and arc. and part of me wonders why we can’t have the same for a jewish character. if not a PC, then why not an NPC? again, i’m jewish, and i am not native, but in my opinion i think the inclusion of jj is wonderful -- i think there are even fewer native main characters in mainstream media than there are jewish ones, and it’s great to see a native character who is both in touch with their culture as well as not being defined solely by their native-ness. to what extent does it count as ‘appropriative’ because brennan is a white dude? i dunno, but i’m like 99% sure they talked to sensitivity consultants to make sure the representation was as ethical as they could get it, and anyway, i can’t personally see and glaring missteps so far. but again, i’m not native, and if there are native viewers with their own opinions on jj, i’d be really interested in hearing them.

but getting back to the relative lack of jewish representation. it just...disappoints me that jewishness in new york is hardly ever even really mentioned? again, i know we’re only just over halfway through season 2, but also, we had a whole first season too. and it’s definitely not all bad. for example: willy! gd, i love willy so much. him being a golem of williamsburg makes me really really happy -- a jewish mythological creature animated from clay/mud (in this case bricks) to protect a jewish community (like that of williamsburg, a center for many of nyc’s jews) from threat. golem have so often been taken out of their original context and turned into evil monsters in fantasy settings, especially including dnd. (even within other seasons of d20! crush in fh being referred to as a “pavement golem” always rubbed me the wrong way, and i had hoped they’d learned better after tuc but in acoc they refer to another monster as a “corn golem” which just disappointed me all over again.) so the fact that tuc gets golems right makes my jewish heart very happy.

and yet...he doesn’t show up that much? sure, in s1, he’s very helpful when he does, but in s2 so far he shows up once and really does not say or do much of anything. he speaks with a lot more yiddish-influenced language than other characters, but if you didn’t know those words were specifically yiddish/jewish, you might not be able to otherwise clock the fact that willy is jewish. and while willy is a jewish mythological creature who is jewish in canon, he isn’t human. there are no other direct references to judaism, jewish characters, or jewish culture in the unsleeping city beyond him.

there are, in fact, two other canon jewish characters in tuc. but...here’s where i feel the most frustration, i think. the two canon jewish humans in tuc are stephen sondheim and robert moses. both of whom are real actual people, so it’s not like we can just pick and choose what their cultural backgrounds are. as much as i love stephen sondheim, i think there are inherent issues with including real world people as characters in a fictional setting, especially if they are from living/recent memory (sondheim is literally still alive), but anyway, sondheim and moses are both actual jewish people. from watching tuc alone you probably would not be able to guess that sondheim is jewish -- nothing from his character except name suggests it, and i wouldn’t even fault you for not thinking ‘sondheim’ is a jewish-sounding surname (and i dislike the idea/attitude/belief that you can tell who is or isn’t jewish by the sound of their name). and yeah, i’m not going to sit here and be like “brennan should have made sondheim more visibly jewish in canon!” because, like, he’s a real human being and it’s fucking weird to portray him in a way that isn’t as close to how he publicly presents himself, which is not in fact very identifiably jewish? i don’t know, this is what i mean by it’s inherently weird and arguably problematic to portray real living people as characters in a fictional setting, but i digress. sondheim’s jewish, even if you wouldn’t know it; not exactly a representation win.

and then there’s bob moses. you might be able to guess that he’s jewish from canon, actually. there’s the name, of course. but more insidious to me are the specifics of his villainy. greedy and powerhungry, a moneyman, a lich whose power is stored in a phylactery...it does kind of all add up to a Yikes from me. (in the stock market fight there’s a one-off line asking if he has green skin; it’s never really directly acknowledged or answered, but it made me really uncomfortable to hear at first and it’s stuck with me since viewing for the first time.) the issue for me here is that the most obviously jewish human character is the season’s bbeg, and his villainy is rooted in very antisemitic tropes and stereotypes.

i know this isn’t all brennan’s fault -- robert moses was a real ass person and he was in fact jewish, a powerhungry and greedy moneyman, a big giant racist asshole, etc. i’m not saying that jewish characters can’t be evil, and i’m not saying brennan should have tried to be like “this is my NPC robert christian he’s just like bob moses but instead he’s a goy so it’s okay” because...that would be fuckin weird bro. and bob moses was a real person who was jewish and really did do some heinous shit with his municipal power. i’m not necessarily saying brennan should have picked/created a different character to be the villain. i’m not even saying that he shouldn’t have made bob moses a lich (although, again, it doesn’t 100% sit right with me). but my point here is that bob moses is one of a grand total of three canon jewish characters in tuc, of which only two humans, of whom he is the one you’d most easily guess would be jewish and is the most influenced by antisemitic stereotypes/tropes. had there been more jewish representation in the show at all, even just some neutral jewish NPCs, this would not be as much of a problem as it is to me. but halfway through season 2, so far, this is literally all we get. and that bums me out.

listen, i really like tuc. i love d20. but the fact that it is set in a real world place with real world people does inherently raise challenges when it comes to ethical cultural representation. especially when the medium of the show is a game whose creatures, lore, and mechanics have been historically rooted in some questionable racial/cultural views. and dnd is making progress to correct some of those misguided views of older sourcebooks by updating them to more equitably reflect real world racial/cultural sensitivities; that’s a good thing! but these seasons, of course, were recorded before that. the game itself has some questionable cultural stuff baked into it, and that is (almost necessarily) going to be brought to the table in a campaign set in a real-world place filled with real-world people of diverse real-world cultures. the cast can have sensitivity consultants and empathy and the best intentions in the world, and they’ll still fuck up from time to time, that’s okay. your mileage may vary on whether or not it’s still worth sticking around with the show (or the fandom) through that. for me, it does not yet outweigh all the things i like about the show, and i’m gonna continue watching it. but it’s still very worth acknowledging that the cast is 7 people who cannot possibly hope to authentically or gracefully represent every culture in nyc. it’s an unfortunate limitation of the medium. yet it’s also still worthwhile to acknowledge and discuss the cultural representation as it is in the show -- both the goods and the bads, the ethically solid and the questionably appropriative -- and even to hold the creators accountable. (decently, though. i’m definitely not advocating anybody cyberbully brennan on twitter or whatever.) the show and its representation is far from perfect, but i also don’t think it ever could be. still, though, it could always be better, and there’s a worthwhile discussion to be had in the wheres, hows, and whys of that.

[fandomcares]

The Project Black Lives Matter Silent Auction IS CLOSED!!

@fandomcares​ is a support blog run by dedicated members of the Teen Wolf and Sterek community. Our goal is to help fans within the community who may be going through financial, emergency, or other hardships, be it through fundraising, providing resources, or just giving them a safe space to talk.

The silent auction will start NOW and will go until 12:00 am PST (-5) on Tuesday, June 9th.

Fandom is full of creators that wanted a way to support the Black Community. This auction will be multi fandom and a percentage of the proceeds will be split between several charities suggested by our participants. Check out this post for more information: 

https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620061910413557760/coming-tomorrow-the-project-black-lives-matter 

(Also keep in mind this is a living document, changes are made constantly so if something is incorrect or missing please message us and let us know!)

Our amazing fandom artists, authors, and creators have donated commissions for you to bid on!  If you see a post that catches your eye, please fill out the BID FORM.  The amounts on this post will be updated periodically so keep a close eye on the post you bid on!  

Feel free to rebid and bid on multiple posts.  Check out ALL of the entries! We have some AMAZING CREATORS who are waiting to fill your commissions.  

NOTES:

Fill out the form and during the day I will update the bid amounts. Keep an eye out to see if you’re still in the running! 

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Enjoy and HAPPY BIDDING! 

(Sometimes Keep Reading is wonky on mobile so here is the full link: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620135038600806400/the-project-black-lives-matter-silent-auction-is)

#1 >5k word fic: DiscontentedWinter - Opening Bid: $20

Current Bid: $30Current Bid: $50Current Bid: $100Current Bid: $110Current Bid: $150 Current Bid: $175  Current Bid: 200

Current Bid: 500

Fandom: Teen Wolf - Sterek, Steter // Offering:  1 -

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620114718125932544/discontented-winter

Bid on Me!

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#2  >5k word fic: BunnyWest- Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $30 Current Bid: $75  Current Bid: $100

Current Bid: $150

Fandom(s): Teen Wolf - Steter, Stargent, Stetopher, Dargent, Steter Senior // Writing (fics over 5k words) // Likes: fluff, HEA, domestic fic, arranged marriage, friends to lovers, nothing too dark // Dislikes: scat, watersports, incest, non-con.

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620062358022291456/bunnywest

Bid on Me!

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#3 Digital Art/Traditional: RubyRedHoodling- Opening Bid: $20 Current Bid: $25 Current Bid: $35 Current Bid: $45

Current Bid: $50

Fandom(s):  Teen Wolf - Sterek, Steo, Cordia, Allydia, Allira, Berica, StoydHaikyuu!!, My Hero Academia (BNHA), Fruits Basket, Ace of Diamond (Daiya no A), Demon Slayer, FF7R (Final Fantasy 7), FE3H (Fire Emblem 3 Houses), DnD, Critical Role, Animal Crossing and more // Offering: Digital Art, a single full body chibi character (fanart or Dnd/ Animal Crossing OC), a chibi couple

https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620116177017061376/ruby

Bid on Me!

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#4 Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $15 Current Bid: $50

Current Bid: $100 

Fandom(s): Teen Wolf - Sterek, Steter // Likes: darkfic, angst, fluff, AU or canon, anything // Dislikes: none // Offering: Writing (fics 5k words and under)

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620062418906890240/cookie

Bid on Me!

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#5 Opening Bid: $5 Current Bid: #10

Current Bid: #15

Current Bid: $25

Fandom(s): Teen Wolf - Sterek, Berica, 911 - Buddie // Likes: fluff, angst, mystical/fantasy (with sterek) // Dislikes: non-con, graphic violence, self harm, suicide mentions // Offering: Writing (fics 5k words and under)

Creator Profile:  https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620118576220733440/mila

Bid on Me!

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#6 Opening Bid: $15

Current Bid: $25

Fandom(s): please visit Artemisa's showcase at https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620119057099866112/artemisa // Likes:  To explore the dynamics between character dynamics that stand on opposite sides just as hunter/werewolf, imperial/rebel, pureblood/muggleborn, mutant politics in general…), Kid fics and mpreg // Dislikes: Smut, Time Travel AU or full crossovers, but open to discuss AU where characters live in a different universes (please talk to the author about specifics) Bad Peter Hale or Bad Hale Family. // Offering: Moodboards

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620119057099866112/artemisa

Bid on Me!

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#7  Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $15 Current Bid: $20 Current Bid: $50

Current Bid: $60

Fandom(s): Teen Wolf, Supernatural // Likes:  Sterek, Destiel, open for other pairings, happy endings, fluff,  smut, crack and angst as well or a little bit of everything // Dislikes:  Peter, Theo, and Crowley MCD where character stays dead, and some kinks (please contact the author for a list) // Offering:  Writing (fics 5k words and under), Writing (fics over 5k words), Depends on story idea/prompt for length

https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620119265775894528/swlfangirl

Bid on Me!

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#8  Opening Bid: $5

Current Bid: $5 

Current Bid: $25

Fandom(s):  Teen Wolf - Steter, Sterek, Stoyd, Voiles, Stalion, Stargent, Steopher  // Likes: fluff, angst //Dislikes:  Non-con, dub-con, drug use, graphic violence, infidelity // Offering:  Writing fics around 1k and lower

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620119682067922944/bxdcubes

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#9 Opening Bid: $10  Current Bid: $20  Current Bid: $30

Current Bid: $40

Fandom(s):  Teen Wolf - Sterek// Likes:  fluff, hurt/comfort, angst, crack fics // Dislikes:  non-con, incest, abuse // Offering: Writing (fics 5k words and under), Writing (fics over 5k words)

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620117416667643904/rachel

Bid on Me!

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#10 Digital Art: Paws - Opening Bid: $20

Current Bid: $30 Current Bid: $50  Current Bid: $75 Current Bid: $80  Current Bid: $95  Current Bid: $125  Current Bid: 130  Current Bid: 135  Current Bid: 150

Current Bid: 160

Fandom(s): Any Fandom // Likes:  Portraits, figures, soft romance // Dislikes:  non-con, underage, sexually explicit // Offering:  Digital Art

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620119907407921153/paws

Bid on Me!

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#11 Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $25 Current Bid: $30Current Bid: $50Current Bid: $51

Current Bid: $60

Fandom(s): Check, Please! - Zimbits // Likes: Fluff, domestic fluff, meet cute, AUs,  Zimbits fluff, Zimbits AUs, flirty meet cutes // Dislikes: Infidelity, Kent Parson anything, non-con, A/B/O // Offering: Writing (fics 5k words and under)

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620119997898981376/wrathofthestag

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#12 Opening Bid: $5

Current Bid: $10 Current Bid: $15

Current Bid: $25

Fandom(s):  Marvel (MCU) - Steve/Bucky, Captive Prince - Damen/Laurent // Likes:  angst, fluff, smut, getting-together, first kiss, mutual pining, UST // Dislikes:  non-con, A/B/O, hardcore BDSM // Offering:  Writing (fics 5k words and under)

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620122054562398208/disraeligears

Bid on Me!

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#13 Digital Art: happyzimm - Opening Bid: $15

Current Bid: $25 Current Bid: $30 Current Bid: $40 Current Bid: $41 Current Bid: $45  Current Bid: $46  Current Bid: $50  Current Bid: $55

Current Bid: $57

Fandom(s):  Check Please (zimbits) // Likes:  portraits (no background, digital illustrations/drawings // Dislikes:  nsfw, violence // Offering:  Digital Art

https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620062669146374144/happyzimm

Bid on Me!

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#14 Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $10

Current Bid: $15

Fandom(s): Teen Wolf: gen or Sterek, Supernatural: gen or Wincest, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spuffy, Spillow, Spangel, or no pairing // Likes:  gen, fluffy, dark, angsty, Sterek, Winchest, Spuffy, Spangel, Spillow // Dislikes:  cheating // Offering:  Writing (fics 5k words and under)

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620062661373296640/astus Bid on Me!

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#15 Digital Art: Poetry-Protest-Pornography - Opening Bid:

 $15 Current Bid: $25 Current Bid: $30 Current Bid: $35

Current Bid: $40

Fandom(s):  Teen Wolf (Sterek, other ships can be discussed),  OMG Check Please! (Pretty much any ship that doesn’t involve Parse), The Witcher // Likes: Sterek and Zimbits // Dislikes:  non-con, graphic violence/gore, bestiality // Additional Info:  Poetry-Protest-Pornography is open for other fandoms as well as OC’s. // Offering:  Writing (fics 5k words and under), Digital Art

https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620062775276961792/poetry-protest-pornography

Bid on Me!

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#16 Digital Art: BEERWOLVES - Opening Bid: $20

Current Bid: $30 Current Bid: $50 Current Bid: $65 Current Bid: $75  Current Bid: $80

Current Bid: $100

Fandom(s): Sterek (Teen Wolf) // Likes:  Fluff or anything SFW // Dislikes:  Non-Con or anything NSFW // Offering: Digital Art/Sketches

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620062720027459584/beerwolves

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#17 Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $15

Current Bid: $50

Fandom(s):  Teen Wolf - Stiles/Derek, Stiles/Peter, Stiles/Derek/Peter // Likes:  romantic, fluffy, angst // Dislikes:  non-con, humiliation, major character death // Additional Info: Devilscut is definitely into ‘happy ever afters’ or at the very least into hopeful, positive endings. // Offering:  Writing (fics 5k words and under)

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620120197360156672/devilscut

Bid on Me!

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#18 Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $20

Current Bid: $35

Fandom(s): please visit LadyMerlin's showcase https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620061333557280768/ladymerlin // Likes: fluff and angst but fine with any genres, happy to do smut too // Dislikes: graphic violence, non-con // Offering: Writing (fics 5k words and under)

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620061333557280768/ladymerlin Bid on Me!

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#19 GIFs and/or GIF sets: Klam - Opening Bid: $15

Current Bid: $20

Fandom(s):Teen Wolf (any and all characters prior to season 4)// Offering: 1 - GIF or GIF Set // Likes: Dark fics, fluff, angst // Dislikes: Non-sterek, super sweet fics

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620120341660991488/klam Bid on Me!

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#20 >5 word fic:  Halehathnofury : Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $15 Current Bid: $20 Current Bid: $30

Current Bid: $50

Fandom(s): Sterek, Stucky, Hannigram, any Sterek side ships especially Berica, Clintasha  // Offering: 1 - > 5k word fic // Likes: Anything goes // Dislikes: Non-con, female Stiles, self insert, oc insert with main ship

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620120820925235200/halehathnofury Bid on Me!

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#21 Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $20 

Fandom(s): Check Please, Star Trek, Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, Leverage (Please check the creators ost for more information) // Offering: 1 -

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620120526501920768/thereoncewasagirl Bid on Me!

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#22 Digital Art/Traditional Art- Gwen- Opening Bid: $15

Current Bid: $25

Fandom(s): Hetalia (Fruk; Gerita; Spamano; Prumano; AusHun; PruHun; Ameviet; open to discuss other ships; open to general fics and brotp)  // Offering: 1 -

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620121138941558784/gwen Bid on Me!

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#23 Opening Bid: $ 10

Current Bid: $15 Current Bid: $25

Current Bid: $50

Fandom(s): Sterek, Stony  // Offering: 1 -

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620121321217605632/yoda Bid on Me!

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#24 >5k word fic: HolyCatsAndRabbits - Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $20 Current Bid: $35 Current Bid: $55 Current Bid: $70 Current Bid: $85  Current Bid: $150

Current Bid: $200

Fandom(s): Good Omens (please check the creators post for more information) or Original Characters// Offering: 1 - >5k word fic // Likes: low-fantasy romance, erotica, pining, fluff, adventures & misadventures, SFW and NSFW, with characters in a variety of gender identities and sexual orientations, including aro/ace.  // Dislikes: No horror, graphic violence, torture, non-con, dub-con, underage, & other really dark stuff. For the erotica, kinks are negotiable: most common kinks are fine, and I will do light consensual non-consent with safe words and after care.

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620121431708172288/holycatsandrabbits Bid on Me!

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#25 Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $15

Current Bid: $25

Fandom(s): Yuri on Ice (Viktuuri, Salami, EmiMike, Leoji, Seung chuchu), The Magnus Archives (Jonmartin, What the Girlfriends), Fullmetal Alchemist(/Brotherhood) (canon ships, Royhughes), Sherlock Holmes (Holmes/Watson) // Offering: 7 - >5k word fics // Likes: shippy fluff, domestic moments or slice-of-life, or single-character introspective pieces // Dislikes: Noncon/dubcon, underage, heavy angst/angst without a happy ending

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620121795702472704/the-walrus Bid on Me!

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# 26 Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $30

Fandom(s): YuGiOh DM & GX (not Abridged or dub), Hetalia, Babylon 5, Mo Dao Zu Shi / The Untamed, Persona 4 // Offering: 1 - >5k word fic // Likes: Fluff, h/c, unusual AUs, crossovers (if both fandoms are known), dark or mature themes, rare pairs // Dislikes: Explicit NSFW, ABO. Dark themes discretionary to be discussed

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620060934002655232/sixy Bid on Me!

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#27 >5k word fic: Gia (outtoshatter) - Opening Bid: $10 Current Bid: $15

Current Bid: $25 

Fandom(s): Sterek, Teen Wolf // Offering: 3 - >5k word fics // Likes: AUs, fluff, action, adventure, romance, plot driven, world building // Dislikes: non con, graphic sex, incest, drug use

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620060976948117504/gia Bid on Me!

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#28 Digital Art: hillnerd- Opening Bid: $15

Current Bid: $40 Current Bid: $55

Current Bid: $60

Fandom(s): Harry potter "I prefer canon pairings but am willing to do almost any", marvel, dc, broadway shows, jane austen, anne of green gables, avatar tla "Really any fandom I'm happy to draw- as long as I don't have to do mechs/furries." // Offering:  2 - Digital Paintings // Likes: "I'm best at cute fluffy moments- sweet romantic ones, character moments- check out my art and see for yourself :)"// Dislikes: non-con, gore, anything like pedo/chan works.

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620017264783196160/hillnerd Bid on Me!

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#29 >5k word fics: Neche - Opening Bid: $10  Current Bid $15

Current Bid: $30

Fandom(s): Teen Wolf (Sterek)Marvel MCU (Stucky) // Offering:  2 - >5k word fic  // Likes:  fluff, one shots, get together, canon compliant // Dislikes: rape, no main character deaths, no drug use, no incest (this includes adoptive & step siblings), no paedophilia

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620061125051072512/neche Bid on Me!

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#30 $15

Current Bid: $20

Current Bid: $50

Fandom(s): TW, Sterek, Supernatural, Harry Potter, Buzzfeed Unsolved, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, MCU, crossovers, Rare Pairs (please check their creators post for more information) // Offering:  1 -

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620060896844234753/stormlyht Bid on Me!

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#31 >5 word fic: cleo - Opening Bid: $10 Current Bid: $20

Current Bid: $45

Fandom(s): Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) (please check the creators post for more information)  // Offering:  1 - >5k word fic  // Likes: smut, dark, au, fluff, crack // Dislikes: Hard DNWs: Foreplay and sex involving food scat, watersports, emetophiliaUnrealistically happy endingsHigh School AUA/B/OCalling a partner Mommy or Daddy (or variations) during sexAnimal abuse/animals in peril

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620061570378153984/cleo Bid on Me!

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#32 >5k word fic: deathsweetqueen - Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $15

Fandom(s): Marvel - anything with Tony (please check the creators post for more information) // Offering: 1 - >5k word fic // Likes: Racebends Tony as Indian, Tony or fem!Tony centric, poly relationships, soulmate AUs, canon AUs, canon divergences, genderswaps, horror movie AUs, Skrulls, pirate AUs, daemon AUs, time travel, historical AUs, A/B/O AU, supernatural bonds // Dislikes: Non-human (except supernatural) sex, tentacles, scat, urine, age play, mpreg, Zombie AU, Hogwarts AU, Coffee Shop AUs, bodyswaps, Steampunk/Cyberpunk AUs, apocalypses, fake dating, incestuous pairings

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620061517301366785/deathsweetqueen Bid on Me!

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#33 Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: 10

Current Bid: 15

Fandom(s): Steve/Tony, MCU  // Offering: 1 -

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620061270009380864/neb Bid on Me!

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#34 Traditional Art: Alby ( artgroves) - Opening Bid: $15

Current Bid: $50 Current Bid: $75 Current Bid: $80 Current Bid: $100  Current Bid: $200

Current Bid: $215

Fandom(s): Merlin, Marvel (any fandom), X-Men, The Eagle, TW (Sterek)  // Offering: 1 - Pencil sketch or paste painting // Likes: "Happy to draw any rating, including fluff, angst, porn and romance, would prefer something shippy" // Dislikes: character death, violence, complex armour, mecha or furries

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620122286012399617/alby Bid on Me!

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#35 Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $10

Current Bid: $15

Fandom(s): Marvel - Bucky/Tony, Loki/Tony, Stephen Strange/Tony, Gen // Offering: 1 -

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620016483950592000/calmena Bid on Me!

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#36 Opening Bid: $10

Current Bid: $25

Current Bid: $50

Fandom(s):  Teen Wolf -  Steter, Stetopher, Stargent, Chris/Lydia, Derek/Lydia, Corydia (Cora/Lydia), Lucifer, Tidelands - something Cal-focussed; preference is Cal/Corey/Dylan, but Cal/Corey, Cal/Dylan, and dark Cal/Adrielle is also on the table. Also willing to do Lucifer/TW crossover pairings // Likes & Dislikes: please visit Twist's showcase at https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620116913977180160/queerfictionwriter // Additional Info: Twist is disabled, so there’s a good chance they won’t be fast in completing your prompt. They also do not, as a general rule, take prompts, so if you’ve ever wanted them to write something for you, this is your chance! // Offering: Writing (fics 5k words and under)

Creator Profile: https://fandomcares.tumblr.com/post/620116913977180160/queerfictionwriter Bid on Me!

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[ohhgingersnaps]

for the character bingo: jonathan harker / wheatley / sebastian stardewvalley :)

Thanks for asking!! Gonna do these in order of Strength of Feeling

(From the Character Bingo post here: x)

Sebastian Stardewvalley, my beloved blorbo emo boy, current hyperfixation, love of my life, etc. He is confident in who he is and what he wants! He is an introvert who has the self-awareness to know when he needs space and enforce boundaries politely! He's complicated and independent and loves frogs and has cool hair and likes horror films and runs a fun DND campaign for his friends! He tries to be edgy and cool but really he's just a big soft nerd and I love that about him. I always accidentally romance him even when I don't set out to do it, just because I really enjoy talking to him. Whenever I hear Iris (Goo Goo Dolls) on the radio I turn it up in his honor. Also Colors (Halsey). Actually I have an entire dedicated playlist lol

Admittedly I've been on a big SDV kick lately, mostly because I've been working on this novel-length superpowers AU (which ofc features him as one of the protags), so a lot of what I like about him is definitely shaped by my own version of him viewed through that lens, but he was my first-ever SDV spouse and I'm pretty sure he's always going to secretly be my favorite

Side note: I came very close to also checking "everyone but me is wrong about them <3" because although about 90% of the fandom takes on him are good, every time I see a bad one (specifically ones that malign/mischaracterize him for being an introvert who's good at enforcing boundaries, or bad takes about how he relates to his family) it does make me angry enough to block on sight. I have a lot of strong feelings about their family dynamic actually, because it reminds me of a less healthy version of my own?? not to project my own life onto this but tl;dr nobody is really at fault and it's all mismatched expectations and badly-paired neuroses, but this is a story for another day

Wheatley! Specifically Blue Sky Wheatley is just. Chef's kiss amazing, Blue Sky Wheatley still has one of the best character arcs I have ever seen in my life. I have marked "wow! they are a horrible person" because he is, but like, in the same way all of us are, you know? It's about the redemption arc. The important bit is that he actively chooses to be better. Obviously he also works better as part of a dynamic with Chell, that's part of the point, right? He is still a blorbo but he's like, a dormant blorbo I haven't thought about in a minute. I'm sure I'll pull him off the shelf again to put him in the main rotation whenever I reread Blue Sky for the dozenth time, though.

Okay so, Dracula Daily is really my first ever exposure to Dracula (and therefore Jonathan Harker)? Like, everything I know about Dracula is via cultural osmosis, so I don't know a ton about him yet, besides what I know from fandom osmosis and the entries we've had so far. I do think it's very sweet how much he cares about Mina, and that earns him several bonus points. I also think his mentality of, "This is my first big job after passing my exams, I better get a good grade in this customer interaction," is absolutely relatable, which I enjoy. He's just a little lawyer man trying his best, and I really hope he makes it through his ordeals in one piece. (It's not looking like he will, but, you know, I can hope, right?)

[romijuli]

All the things you reblog about dnd make it seem so cool and fun! But,, I don't have anyone I could play with and have no idea where to start

Have any tips on how to start? And if there's a way to play without meeting up in person?

Hi anon!!! Honestly, finding people to play with is possibly the hardest part of dnd, hehe. That and getting schedules to line up. (I got really lucky with my current campaigns; my bf is always ready for dnd, and some idle discussion about dnd on a discord server led to my other campaign!)

So, uh, I guess these are Chel’s (not-so) Hot Tips For Dnd! Or any ttrpg really cause like. There are SO MANY out there that deserve some love :3 (apologies for potential lack of coherence it is like 11pm where I’m at so I’m SLEEPY)

Okay so for starters we’re answering out of order but: I’ve actually been in only one campaign that met up in person! Most of my dnd experience has been virtual, whether over discord voice chat (several old campaigns) or zoom (my paladin’s campaign) or just a regular old text channel (my bard’s campaign). There are plenty of options for it if you can’t meet in person or just would prefer not to; actually, doing it virtually makes things a LOT easier in terms of getting a party together. Hell, you could even trash the whole “schedules lining up” part of it and just make it a play-by-post situation a la regular old RP. I’ve had a few campaigns that did that! (Rip telecodnd which I think is TECHNICALLY just on a really long hiatus but)

Dnd is becoming semi-cool nowadays—thank you actual play podcasts!—so odds are that any nerd-adjacent community you’re involved with has at least one person with dnd experience and a couple others who would be interested. Other than that, I believe there are discord servers and the like dedicated to helping people find folks interested in a campaign, but I don’t personally have experience with those so I can’t really speak to that.

Hardest or second-hardest aspect of getting a campaign together: figuring out who’s running it, honestly. DMing is hard; I have a little bit of experience with it in dnd and there are so many things to keep track of, but if someone in your potential group has some Cool Story Ideas in mind and the patience to herd three to six players, it might be for them! And if you’re lacking in Cool Story Ideas, god knows there are plenty of adventure modules online that you can run.

Speaking of which, you can find pretty much everything you need online without having to buy a single book. PIRATING IS YOUR FRIEND, REALLY. Wizards of the Coast is owned by hasbro they earn enough.

Talk about expectations and things before you start playing!!!! Stuff like topics you don’t want addressed, preferred roleplay-versus-just-monster-hunting, etc etc. it’ll save you a LOT of problems in the long run.

If you wanna get a feel for how dnd works ahead of time, there are plenty of podcasts available featuring people playing it! Critical Role is pretty well known and has plenty of material to work with, The Adventure Zone is generally sillier but shows off how Fucking Weird you can get with it (note; this is specifically about the Balance arc, I haven’t listened to the rest yet and I know that the second season actually isn’t dnd at all!), and Dimension 20 uses dnd to get REALLY neat with settings and concepts. And there are plenty more out there that I’m not familiar with!

Honestly just mucking around with character concepts ahead of time. Get weird with it!

Anyone who says you’re ‘playing wrong’ is a jerk.

[viviae]

can you like. tell me a little about dragon age. seeing your posts about it has got me interested in playing but i have little to no clue what it actually is

Boy can I explain nonny <3 This is a bit long so strap in and im sorry

Dragon Age is (currently) a three game series composed of Dragon Age: Origins (PS3, Xbox 360/Xbox One, PC), Dragon Age: II (PS3, Xbox 360/Xbox One, PC), and Dragon Age: Inquisition (PS4, Xbox One, PC) and its really unique because of its selling point that your actions impact the games as you progress. Like if you kill one character in one game they’ll stay dead through the rest of the series which makes you feel lived in the story and that your actions matter. Dragon Age is also an RPG so a roleplaying game kind of along the same lines of DnD where you get to make and play your own character. And yes there are romances and you can be gay.

The First Game of the series is Dragon Age: Origins where you choose from a selection of six unique (technically seven) origins or backgrounds for your character. You can be anywhere from a human noble or a Dalish elf, the unique elven culture in Dragon Age of nomadic clans dedicating to reclaiming their past. But eventually, from the events in your origin, you wind up a member of a secretive and elite order known as the Grey Wardens whose duty is to protect the world from the Blight.

The Blight is this spread of a horrible disease known as the Taint but is characterized by the presence of Darkspawn, a kind of zombie like creature who exists only to destroy the world. Grey Wardens take the heavy duty of protecting the world from the Blight, which have nearly wiped all of humanity multiple times, at all costs. And currently the country of Ferelden is under going a blight and due to events you wind up the only Grey Warden with your companion Alistair to save the world and reunite Ferelden which had fallen under a civil war.

Along Origins you meet many interesting characters. Alistair is your friendly co-warden who has a mysterious parentage that he hides under his happy go lucky attitude. In contrast to Alistair is the witch Morrigan who is your favorite goth swamp queen who would insult you and you thank her. In addition you meet your chaotic bi rogues Zevran and Leliana. Leliana is a nun who is on the run and hiding from a dark past and she is suspiciously good at murder. And Zevran is not at all hiding his aptitude for murder as an Assassin for hire who tried and failed to kill you but who can ignore that charming bastard?

Dragon Age II follows a much smaller story of a Ferelden refuge who had escaped from the Blight to the city of Kirkwall named Hawke. Unlike in origins where you get to pick your background 2 limits you to Hawke but fear not, Hawke is a loveable bastard and you can still customize them. Throughout DA2 you get to experience all the delights Kirkwall has to offer: Demons, crime, corrupt cops, and fighting your way to survive in this city and make a name for yourself.

Where Origins sets the stage for the world DA2 you are the actor in that play - literally the game is divided into 3 acts that take place over a span of 7 years. DA2′s main conflict is the argument of Mages vs Templars, as in DA’s lore while there are those who are born with magic they are forced to live in prisons policed by the Templar order and the church. You explore the more political arguments of; are the Templars right in their fears of magic as Kirkwall is filled to the brim with corrupt mages or do Mages deserve the chance to live and prove themselves freely from their prisons.

Your romancable companions in DA2 are all bisexuals as the true theme of DA2 is: be gay do crime. You have the foils of Anders: the runaway mage who fled from the prisons the mages are housed in and is determined to bring mages to freedom, and Fenris: the runaway escaped slave who curses magic for only inflicting pain and suffering in his life and wants his warnings to be heard about the dangers magic bring. In addition you also have Merrill, your cute but terrifying Dalish mage who would probably murder you with a cute smile and then go oops. And of course, my pirate wife Isabela, who lives a life free from commitment and is dedicated to the idea everyone should have a good time no matter the cost. Also while not romancable Hawke’s bff Varric deserves every ounce of praise he gets as never before has the energy of “two idiots sharing a braincell” ever been so well adapted.

Then finally we reach Inquisition. After the events of DA2 it triggers a full on war between the Mages and Templars that is destroying the land and causing severe damage that neither side can handle anymore. Desperate for an end to the conflict the Divine (err... fantasy pope) calls for a meeting on both sides... only for the entire thing to literally explode. Killing everyone present and causing a hole in the sky which now means demons are raining like cats and dogs you are the only one to survive. In Inquisition you can once again return to pick between unique backgrounds like in Origins but you don’t get to play through those backgrounds sadly.

You now possess something on your left hand which gives you the ability to patch up the hole in the sky that is pissing demons and due to being the only survivor everyone is incredibly confused about you. Eventually the Inquisition is formed around you, the character they are calling the Herald of Andraste (Andraste is fantasy Jesus) due to your ability to seal the holes. The mystery unfolds as over the course of the game you learn what caused the explosion, how you are connected, and what exactly the mark on your hand is.

DAI has the largest numbers of romance options so I’m gonna give a quick bullet point list for them all

Iron Bull (Pansexual, All Races): A Qunari (think Tiefling but big and beefy) mercenary who is far more clever than he lets on, as well as being the rope top dom of your dreams. Literally! Bull’s romance is a really healthy bdsm relationship if you are interested its very well done

Josephine (Bisexual, All Races): Your loveable ambassador and advisor for the inquisition. She is a workaholic noble who is a tried and true classic romance. Sweep her off her feet and duel for her hand all while navigating the nobility

Dorian (Gay, All Races): The flamboyant pariah rock star mage, he demands attention whenever he walks into the room. Although he wants to be all talk and no emotions make no mistake he is making puppy eyes at you the entire time and gets deeply offended if you say he is. Also not going to lie Dorian is the best piece of gay male rep in gaming history.

Cassandra (Male-only, all Races): Your stern warrior wife who is all serious no funny business... expect she is a bleeding heart romantic who reads horrible smut for fun. You wish to COURT HER?? I mean... if you want 👉👈 she won’t say no...

Blackwall (Female-only, All Races): Your weird dilf who wants desperately to prove himself every step of the way and help people. He is a constable for the Grey Wardens, but all the details on him seem murky... Ah well I’m sure its nothing, the Grey Wardens are a secretive order after all.

Sera (Lesbian, All Races): My wild child, monster chugging, beer guzzling, arrow shooting lesbian. Sera is here for a fun time and not a serious one, she’ll always make sure to keep you humble and ensure you aren’t getting to big for your breeches. 

Cullen (Female-Only, Human and Elf only): Cullen’s the Inquisition’s commander who oohh boy is steeped in a lot of trauma. Cullen’s actually a character you get to know through out the series and see just all the horrible nonsense he’s been through. But he is your tragic self loathing... he isn’t princely but he is your adorkable charming

Solas (Female-Only, Elf Only): The humble apostate who joins the Inquisition out of curiosity of the breech, he is an expert on what the hell is going on with that hole in the sky. However, he holds a wisdom that goes far deeper than your typical apostate. Smooth talking and refined he carries a heavy cloud over him.

I left out a lot and all the nonsense with books and what have you but this is the easiest overview of the series I can offer. It’s main selling points is the deep story and characters throughout the games. And of course who doesn’t love the ability to make and roleplay your own character as a bonus? The games are bit of a flawed gem and Origins in my ugly child but they are truly a delight if you are interested