#which is also why i think there's so much dex love

[softmoonlightmelody]

so i've seen a lot of people in the fandom going into the keefe and fitz discourse, respectively, how fitz and keefe are hated.

but here's the thing. i think a lot of you are mixing up dislike with disregard (for lack of better terms).

okay, i'll explain a little more. dislike is when you dislike a character. not because they're a bad character, simply because you find yourself not enjoying reading about them. that's me with keefe! he's not a bad character by any means, and i recognize he has trauma that he should heal from (and also that he has an important place in the series). but i also find myself disliking him when he's on page.

now disregard is different. disregard is when you link your personal dislike of a character with how they are written. this is where you get people saying 'i hate fitz, he's such a badly written character' and likewise for keefe. they're not badly written by any means. in fact, keefe and fitz are very strong characters!

so that's my two cents. people are confusing characters they dislike with characters who are badly written. you can dislike a character. but disliking a character does not mean a character is badly written.

[dexaroth]

somwhat currently inspired to try and develop my own little worldbuilding despite all the horrors.. debating whether i should make it public or not on dexcentral. i dont have much figured out of course so im afraid that people wouldn't check the page again for updates and would only remember the unbaked parts so itd be better to post when its at least half-baked. then again it feels like im having ice crystals growing from inside the grooves in my brain when im reminded of how little creative stuff i make and post anymore that itd be a temporary relief to know that at least part of the worldbuilding is public and such. im trying to let go of only posting finished stuff but to no one's surprise it is very hard

[galesdevoteewife]

Gale may not be so typical squishy wizard/scholar?

-My Galeology study note-

Looking at his character sheet in the Deluxe pack gets me thinking, maybe our wizard is not exactly designed to be the typical squishy one...?

[Act2 spoiler warning]

2 things caught my eyes:

1) Great physical fitness, and good reflexes. (For your reference, Gale & Wyll are the two companions who have the highest Con: 15. I put everyone's sheets at the bottom of the post.)

His Con and Dex are... very high?? I mean, higher than Karlach and Lae'zel...????

Note 1: I suspect it could have something to do with his background as Mystra's chosen, as they are somewhat "transformed" when they agree to become the goddess's chosen. A topic for another day since I haven't quite figured it out yet, for anyone who is interested there's a chapter about it in The Seven Sisters. Also, I have little clues on how much chosen lore credit Larian was taking into account while designing him, or how Mystra's "taking back the given ability" works. Note 2: Again, Mystra's chosen are often sent on missions that involve a lot of traveling according to Elminster's series. Mystra also mentioned that Gale and she used to have adventures together, which leads to an assumption: despite his preference he might be traveling quite a lot until he was cast aside and quarantined himself in his tower. Might be the type of scholar who is very keen on field studies?

Note 3: Can someone undress Elminster to exam my theory please??xD Neh won't work I think all human might share same body model in game

Come to think of it, there was a party banter between Karlach & Gale that went like :

Karlach: Whoa! Almost slipped there. Gale: You wouldn't be the first, I'd wager. It's been some time since these walkways felt the carpenter's hammer. Karlach: You gonna catch me if I eat a brick? Gale: With my reflexes? I'd catch you before you so much as stubbed a toe.

At first I thought that was a sarcastic joke but, seems like it wasn't? Also this:

Karlach: Ready to enter the belly of the beast? Gale: It's the stairs I'm dreading. I shall close my eyes, and pretend I'm climbing my own, far superior tower in Waterdeep. Karlach: In that case, welcome home.

...So it seems when I pictured him as a homebody, I should reimagine the concept of home... His has...lots of stairs? Just walking around in the tower could be counted as a workout, sort of thing? Note: I don't think the place he shows in the Act 2 cutscene is his tower. Otherwise, aren't these neighbors pretty much doomed?

2) Not THAT smart. Well, I love him, so I will speak in his defence: [1] He has a warm(s) digging holes in his brain. [2] Poisonous magical bile running in his blood. Maybe he's just not at his best, makes sense, eh? Wyll mentioned he is nerfed after tadpole too. After all, this man obviously memorized a DICTIONARY:

Gale: You promised to stay in Waterdeep. 'Promise,' verb, meaning to swear something will or will not be done. Tara the Tressym: And I decided 'will not'. And a good thing, too. You look like you haven't had a good meal in days

Player: When I said we could be more than friends, you answered 'perhaps'. What does that really mean? Gale: If I recall correctly, the Waterdhavian Dictionary of the Common Tongue of Faerûn defines it as an adverb that conveys the meaning of 'it may be that', or 'possibly'. Gale: Sorry, sometimes I just can't help being quite insufferable. In seriousness, I'm glad you asked that question.

Along with a bunch of you-may-never-need information:

Everything about ceremorphosis? Myconid? Why in the world have him read about Cazador??? And how can he not know the distance between Waterdeep & Baldur's Gate, even Karlach ―who spent a decade, which is likely half of her life in hell― knows better geography than him. Gale either totally ignored the subject or portaled everywhere; distance meant nothing to him?? Uh, but you can't take party banters too seriously; it's buggy. How could a bug bit Karlach in the swamp? It should've been burned into ashes before it even reached her, no?

Anyway, just rambling some thoughts <3 I would have gone to Harvard if there was a major in Gale...

-DISCLAIMER- Brought to you by a brainrot wife, Galerian missionary. Be warned the article might has (strong) bias because the writer is braindead and she thinks Gale is the most awesome character in the world.

[utilitycaster]

Daggerheart Character Build thoughts!

I am actually out at work and haven't checked the version that's since come out, but I did participate in the character build beta, and the NDA is officially lifted, so here's my thoughts from that! It's definitely limited since I just made a L1 character and didn't go through gameplay, though I surmise about some aspects of gameplay.

Overall, it clearly seems to be made by people who love a lot of things about D&D 5e but wanted both more flexibility and more simplicity, which is difficult. I think they succeed.

To that end, it takes away some of the crunchier aspects (precise positioning, exact amounts of gold) and I think for some people that will be a problem, and that's valid, but ultimately this game wants to both allow for interesting mechanics in and out of combat while also not being terribly math/map/resource management heavy. It is a hard line to walk; most systems either go hard crunch or go entirely gooey.

The dice mechanic (2d12, Hope and Fear system) is fantastic; look it up but I think it handles mixed successes more gracefully and interestingly than a lot of games.

The playtest was not super clear on armor and evasion choices (or indeed what evasion means; it seems to be sort of initiative but sort of dex save, or maybe more like the Pathfinder/old school D&D varying ACs by scenario?). It was much, MUCH clearer than D&D on weapon choices (part of why I play casters? Weapon rules in D&D are annoying and poorly explained and many people rightfully ignore them) so I'm hoping this becomes clear when there's a full guide rather than just the character creation info.

The character creation questions by class were fantastic and in general, and this is a theme, this feels like it guides people towards collaboration. FWIW I feel like D&D has that information, but the way it's presented is very much as flavor text rather than a thing you should be doing. Daggerheart makes this a much more core part of creation. The Experience mechanic is particularly clear: you better be working with your GM and really thinking about background, rather than slapping it on as a mechanic.

The other side of character creation questions is that it really encourages engagement with the class, which is something I've talked about. I think either subversion for the sake of subversion, or picking a class for the mechanics and aesthetic but not the fundamental concept, will be much harder to justify in Daggerheart, and I think that's a good thing because when people do that, their characters tend to be weaker.

The downtime is designed for you to write hurt/comfort fanfic about and this is a compliment. There are a number of mechanics that reward RP, particularly one of the healing mechanics under the Splendor track. I feel like a weakness of D&D is that when you try to reward RP it's really nebulous because there's not actually a ton of space to put that - you can give inspiration, but, for example, the empathy domain Matt homebrewed actually feels kind of off because it's based on such fuzzy concepts amid mechanics that are usually more rigid. Daggerheart comes off as much cleaner yet still RP-focused, and I'm excited to see it in action.

A judgement of Candela and I suppose Daggerheart might be that it's designed for actual play. I've mentioned before that I know people who are super into the crunch and combat and numbers of TTRPGs and are less story-oriented, and again, that's valid, but actual play is just storytelling using a ttrpg and so yes, a game that encourages RP while also having mechanics to support that and influence it is an extremely good goal. I am not an actual player, but I do like D&D games with a good plot and not just Go Kill Monsters, and I want to play this. (I also have some real salty thoughts about how if you modify an existing game for AP purposes that's staggering genius apparently, but if you make your own game how dare you but that's another post).

And now, the classes/subclasses. I am going to sort of use D&D language to describe them because that's a point of reference most people reading this will understand, but they are not one-to-one. A couple notes: everyone can use weapons and armor. HP is not totally clear to me but it seems to be threshold based - everyone has the same HP to start but people have different thresholds and armor, so the tank classes have the same amount of HP but are much harder to actually do damage to.

All classes are built on a combination of a subclass and two domains. There are 9 classes and 9 domains. This technically means that if you wanted to fuck around and homebrew you could make up to 36 classes (27 additional) by just grabbing two domains that weren't otherwise combined, which is fun to consider for the potential. Anyway I cover the classes and briefly describe domains within them. You can take any domain card within your domain, regardless of subclass.

There are six stats. Presence, Instinct, Knowledge, and Strength map roughly to Charisma, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Strength. Dex is split into Agility and Finesse; Agility covers gross motor skills (jumping, most ranged weapons, "maneuvering") and Finesse finer ones (lockpicking and tinkering, though also it does cover hiding). The really big wins are first, no CON score, so you don't need to sink stat points into something that grants no skills but keeps you alive. The second one is that the "hybrid" classes spellcast from their physical stat. This is fucking fantastic. The thing about ranger or paladin or the spellcasting subclasses of rogue and fighter in D&D is that if you don't roll pretty well you're locked into the core stats and CON and nothing else. (This also doesn't have rolling for stats: you assign +2 to one stat, presumably your main, and then distribute two +1s, two 0s, and one -1.)

Your HP, Evasion, and Thresholds are set by class, and there's a core ability; the rest is all from the cards you take for subclass and domain.

Leveling up is very much based on taking more domain cards (abilities) but has a certain degree of flexibility. It's by chunks: in leveling up anywhere levels 2-4, you can, for example, increase your proficiency by +1 once, so if you wanted to do that at level 2 but your fellow player wanted to wait until level 4 and take something else at level 2 instead, they could. It allows for more min-maxing, but also everyone has the same level up rules and differs only in the abilities on the cards, which is very cool.

Bard: Grace (enchantment spells) and Codex (learned spellcaster stuff; the spells available are definitely arcane in vibes) based, Presence is your main stat. The two subclasses map roughly to lore-style stuff and eloquence. Core class ability is sort of like inspiration but not entirely. It's a bard; I like bards a lot, and this is very similar vibes-wise to your D&D bards. If you like D&D bards you will like this.

Druid: Sage (nature spells) and Arcana (raw magical power spellcaster stuff), Instinct is your spellcasting/main stat. The two subclasses are elemental but frankly cooler than circle of the moon, and a more healing/tranquility of nature focused one. I really think Marisha probably gave feedback on this one, because the elemental version is really strong. You do get beastform; it is quite similar to a D&D druid under a different system, as the bard, but the beastform options are, frankly, better and easier to understand.

Guardian: Valor (melee tank/damager) and Blade (damage). Strength based for the most part (Valor mechanics assume strength) though you could go for like, +2 Agility +1 Strength to start. This is barbarian but like. 20 times better. It is, fundamentally, a tank class, and it is very good at it, with one even more tank-focused subclass and one that is more about retaliatory damage. You do have a damage-halving ability once per day, but really guardian's questions are incredible. I think Travis and Ashley likely gave feedback. Also rage doesn't render you incapable of concentration as that doesn't seem to be a thing, so multiclassing seems way more possible (you are, I think, only allowed to do one multiclass, and not until you reach level 5 minimum, which I am in favor of). Yes, you can be a Bardian.

Ranger: This is what I built! It is based on Sage and Bone (movement around the field/dodging stuff) and it is Agility-based, including for spellcasting, which is a MASSIVE help (as is, again, the fact that CON isn't a thing.) The subclasses are basically being really good at navigation, or animal companion. Most importantly to me you can be a ranger with a longsword and you are not penalized; Bone works with either ranged weapons or melee.

Rogue: Midnight (stealth/disguise/assassination spells and skills) and Grace-based. Yes, rogue is by default a spellcaster, which does help a LOT with the vibes for me. One subclass is basically about having lots of connections (as a spy or criminal might) and the other is about magical slinking about. Hiding/sneak attack are also streamlined. I will admit I'm still more interested in…almost everything else, but I think it evened out a lot of rogue weaknesses.

Seraph: Splendor (healing/divine magic) and Valor. This is your Paladin equivalent. It is strength-based for casting, again making hybrid classes way less stressful. Questions for this area also incredible; you do have something not unlike a lay on hands pool as well. Your subclasses are being able to fly and do extra damage; or being able to make your melee weapon do ranged attacks and also some extra healing stuff, the latter of which is my favorite. Yasha vibes from this, honestly. Single downside is this is the only class where they recommend you dump Knowledge. I will not, and I never will. Now that I don't have to make sure CON is high? I am for REAL never giving myself less than a +1 Knowledge in this game.

Sorcerer: Arcana (raw nature of magic/elemental vibes) and Midnight based. Yes, sorcerers and rogues now share a vibe, for your convenient….less enthused feelings. Instinct-based, which intrigues me, and the core features are in fact really good. The two subclasses are either one that focuses on metamagic abilities, or one that is elemental based. I would play this for a long-running game, though it's not my favorite, and I can't say that for D&D sorcerer (except divine soul).

Warrior: Blade and Bone, and the recommended build is Agility but you could do a strength build. Fighter! One subclass is about doing damage and one is about the hope/fear mechanics core to the game that I have NOT talked much about. I will admit, the hybrid martials and Guardian are more interesting to me but you do have good battle knowledge.

Wizard: Codex and Splendor. Wizards can heal in this system; farewell, I will be doing nothing else (jk). Knowledge-based, and you can either go hardcore expertise in knowledge, or be a battle wizard.

Other scattered thoughts: healing is not as big a deal here; there is no pure cleric class! There is also no monk, warlock, or artificer. There is not a way to do monk as a weaponless class really though you might be able to flavor the glowing rings as a monk weapon and play a warrior. Wizard, meanwhile, with the right experiences and high finesse, would allow for some artificer flavor. Cleric and Warlock are the two tough ones and I will admit those are tricky; I feel like you'd have to multiclass (which you cannot do until level 5) between perhaps seraph and a caster class and you're still going to come off very paladin.

[fulgurbugs]

What would the travelers Pokémon teams be?

I can totally see Alfyn having a Blissey. Therion seems like he’d have a Gengar, potentially.

ok. upon literally hours of deliberation and team building (i actually already had ones for the OT1 travelers but decided to revisit them and change a few picks) me and my bestie @snailcruncher have settled on some teams. i will be going in depth on reasonings for these so prepare for a long post lol. im gonna put it under a readmore because really im not joking about how long it is

we also came up with some ideas/lore for why some of these would be picked in a pokemon AU setting, so i’ll be explaining any of those thoughts if they’re relevant too.

Ophilia:

one of the only teams left untouched, I think this is a good batch for her. i’m imagining a scenario where the sacred flame takes the form of a pokemon, and it’s a lampent. frosmoth and togetic felt just like… the right vibe. Lapras and Ampharos both have associations with guiding, so they’re in. Audino is a notable healing pokemon, and it feels in line with her personality as well.

Cyrus:

Alakazam for mr high iq smart guy. duh. oranguru for his role as a teacher, and Runerigus would be a late acquisition to his team in his ch4. Flareon, Glaceon, and Jolteon for the 3 scholar spell types. i also think him having 3 eeveelutions could also be kind of like, they’re really good for demonstrations for single-type stuff, as well as being popular with others. people might come up to him and be like omg you have a flareon i love flareon pleaseeee tell me more (flirtily) which of course would go over his head and he would start telling you flareon facts. I feel like Cyrus would excel in double battles.

Tressa:

Meowth: the pay day signature pokemon. this is as close as i can replicate to tressa randomly finding money. Skwovet (she can now take her pet squirrel with her in a pokeball)

Gyrados for sure. one, she lives along an ocean, so she should definitely have a water type, two, i’m imagining a scenario where she buys a magikarp cheap, seeing the potential in it, then raises it into a real powerhouse. just like her!

carbink: really funny scenario me and the bestie came up with that instead of eldrite the treasure was diancieite. the carbink is from the same cave. tressa did try to evolve it with the diancieite. it didn’t work.

pidgeot… felt like she needed a flying type (wind magic rep) and i feel like she’d gravitate to the humbler normal types… doesn’t get much more straightforward than pidgeot. Dhelmise… maybe it used to be captain leons, maybe she fished it out of the harbor in rippletide herself. either way, she thinks it’s cool

Olberic:

Aegislash: sword form, shield form…. this pokemon itself is the unbending blade. obviously i have given him several other sword based pokemon, too.

gallade, escavalier, and sirfetch’d badically all fit this. they’re knight-like, so they feel fitting i think to him.

as for conkeldurr and garganacl, they feel kind of… solidly built. like him. ( ⬇️ garganacl pick lore)

Primrose:

almost all of her pokemon can learn some kind of dance though their level up. Oricorio is the obvious choice, dragonair reps dragon dance, beautifly reps quiver dance, and lilligant… well they can learn so fucking many. we couldn’t decide on which one to give her, so we ended up giving her both. they’re her backup dancers or whatever.

mawile just feels very primrose to me. its cute or pretty or whatever, and you might underestimate it… but watch out. it bites.

Alfyn:

he feels like a guy who loves a big fluffy dog. and stoutland has also been used in games for its ability to sniff out items, so it feels like it’d be a good pick for an apothecary looking to sniff out herbs and such. Comfey is an obvious pick, i mean its signature move is. floral healing. meganium also has mentioned in its dex entries its healing and calming properties. it’s also a cool as fuck dinosaur so i think alfyn would like it.

chatot. does this even need explanation

we also wanted to give him an ice type, and settled on cubchoo. it has a perpetually runny nose… even Alfyn can’t fix it, try as he might.

as for leavanny, we had some trouble picking the last slot on this team. we were looking through friendship evos, and leavanny caught my eye. it’s dex entries mention that it’s very gentle, it also shows no mercy to foes who target young pokemon. seems fitting… we decided alfyn got it as a swadloon (maybe it could be taught to use its sewing abilities to dress wounds?) and it evolved during his ch3.

Therion:

I think Krookodile, mimikyu, and klefki are quite obvious picks, so i won’t go too in on them. Ninjask and Shedinja…. Ninjask is super speedy, so it felt right to give one to therion, but also i feel like.. he’d keep the shedinja around. even with 1 hp and one billion weaknesses… it’s still a part of his team. it and ninjask were born from the same nincada. he couldn’t abandon it like that.

and applin lol. something about therion gives me “guy who’s going for a cool as fuck hydrapple and ends up with an appletun actually”

H’aanit:

If anyone’s allowed to have legendaries, it’s the hunters. Chien-pao is as close as we can get to a snow leopard. and yeah maybe it’s a little evil but H’aanit is built different. Decidueye feels like an obvious pick, and spirit shackle is a great signature move for the h’aanit vibe. trapinch for. leghold trap. kilowattrel is literally a thunderbird. and ariados… well, it has the ability sniper, to reference hunter’s crit boosting abilities, as well as having some trapping moves like webs. for the Hunters, I’ve left their last spot blank, but this just means like, a “flex” spot that would be different each time you battled them. H’aanits got boxes of options to choose from.

now, onto the OT2 ones!

Ochette:

I’m sure you can see what i’m going for here. it’s just the closest i could get to Akala/mahina and her 3 story beasts. and again, like H’aanit, the last spot is “flex” not empty, so imagine her bringing some different new bullshit to every battle.

Cassti:

i wanted to do a few things with Castti: obviously, give her some healing-y mons, but also a few oddball picks that might have you looking twice. picked Shiinotic because of its ominous dex entries, and then. toedscruel because i realize shiinotic actuallt doesn’t get spore i think? and i think castti “put em to sleep right in the street” florenz should have a mon with spore. (edit. i actually just cant read the bulbapedia tables and shiinotic does get spore. anyways she gets two spore mons i guess cuz what if she’s gotta knock out two people at the same time. or whatever. dustox emits toxic powder from its wings, which seems like it could be something castti would want to keep on hand for poison axe. these three might seem a little weird tho, and reinforce her bad first impression in canalbrine, even though i’m sure they’d all be very well behaved and nice. Blissey and Arboliva are straightforward healing picks. I feel like these would be common for apothecaries to have in general.

and then galar-slowking. poison-activated brain nonsense. i feel like she acquires this one post-amnesia. they feel a kinship with each other.

Throné

Throné’s team is half-blacksnakes dedicated, half catered to herself. Every blacksnake has a seviper or an ekans, as well as probably most of them also having other grunt-esque pokemon, like zubats and such. throné’s taken care of hers, though, and friendship evolved it into a crobat.

chose furfrou because i think throné would like a prissy little dog she can dress up cutely. milcery, which she’s waiting on evolving until she can figure out what alcremie form she wants, and a shade-cherrim.

oh, and zangoose, of course. the natural enemy of sevipers. one appeared to her right after she left new delsta. what a sign, right?

Osvald:

Osvald we had some interesting stuff to work with, I think. we decided that most of his pokemon were newly acquired after his prison escape- not on purpose. they seem to just take a liking to him and start following him around.

the avalugg helped get him out of the frozen water at cape cold, and then stuck with him.

the teddiursa.. also just stuck with him. we wanted to give him something that felt a little oddball for him… so this doesn’t evolve. it stays cute and unevolved forever.

the shuppet was found hovering around the ruins of Osvald’s house. he was reluctant to take it, but if it was formed out of some semblance of his desire for vengeance… he has to be responsible for it.

the Indeedee is the only one of osvalds old pokemon, out of this lineup. since indeedee are so helpful to people, it was kind of a family pokemon acquired after elena’s birth (dex mentions they’re good at babysitting.) Osvald could probably also trust it with simple lab assistant tasks like moving stuff around. was a very beloved pokemon within their family. anyways, following his sentencing, clarissa managed to get ahold of the indeedee and took care of it all this time. when osvald returns, it’s clear it wants him to take her with him.

the drampa was acquired after the events of montwise, having shown up and basically just forced itself to go with osvald. somehow it seems to know what’s going on and who it can trust…

and slowking.. well, smart guy needs a smart pokemon. it’s another one that took a shine to him, though at that point he was getting used to this happening.

Partitio:

Talonflame: partitio’s aptitude for fire magic and the “chickadee” nickname made this an obvious choice for an ace. I can imagine a young partitio’s first pokemon being a fletchling, for sure.

bramblegast. the funny tumbleweed. put it on the team immediately.

Milotic: Paritio picked up a feebas. having a knack for seeing the potential in pokemon, he wasn’t wrong, and now hes got this thing. it’s very popular with other people, though it seems an odd pick for partito at first glance to strangers.

armarouge: ok this one’s a little convoluted so i will explain it later. kind of vibes based pick tho lol. revavroom kind of. uhh. steam engine. (we can pretend)

there ain’t a more partitio pokemon out there than gholdengo. everyone say thank you scarvi for giving partitio most of his team.

Agnea:

hey, it’s another oricorio! i think you can guess why.

volcarona: learns fiery dance, but we thought up even more lore on this one. the larvesta was a family pokemon. mostly belonging to Garud (we ended up deciding that the Bristarnis had a lot of bug types, who help out with the sewing stuff and larvesta does give a little bit silkworm, lol..)

anyways, part of his blessing for sending agnea off was telling her to take the larvesta, who also turned out to be a dazzling star in the end too… after a lot of hard work.

altaria and leafeon rep dragon and swords dance. i just feel like they’re good picks for her energy, too. lunatone reps the moonstep. I’ve also opted to give her a sunny cherrim, which i think would be cute contrasted with Throné’s gloomy one.

Temenos:

temenos has quite the oddball lineup for a cleric. but hes kind of an oddball cleric so i think it works.

Absol. man. a lot of shit happens to temenos. this absol is stressed tf out 24 fucking 7. sorry man.

Clefable: felt like we had to give him a healer-adjacent pokemon and this one evolves with a moonstone. feels fitting for mr night-ability mistral tbh.

Lokix. alright. another scenario based pick. Temenos caught this thing on the pilgrims way as a nymble at like level 2. probably rustling in the metaphorical tall grass, crick is all “get behind me, it could be dangerous” and then. lvl 2. nymble. doesn’t even need to be fought to be caught. and then temenos is all hey crick, it’s a “crick”et pokemon! (we’ll ignore that the dex says grasshopper) he’d keep it just to mess with crick, but it ends up sticking around.

Houndoom. well, temenos is the pontiff’s hound, so we did need to pick a dog for him. it’s a houndour in the beginning, houndoom by the end. probably evolved in a moment of crisis (in ch4?) the yamask is from crackridge.

wooloo. this is actually Crick’s. it wasn’t helping with the little lamb allegations… after the events of stormhail, Temenos takes it in.

Hikari:

Kingambit: i mean. come on. gotta get a kingambit for the future king.

Gardevoirs dex entire mention that it is dedicated to its trainer/cause to the bitter end, and would do anything to protect it. perfect for Hikari.

Morpeko and Zweilous. some literally two-faced pokemon. (maybe he feels a little bit of a kinship with them in that way) i also really wanted to give Hikari a pseudo-legendary, and i think that his zweilous would probably evolve just in the nick of time to kick some ass against mugen. Hydreigons might be notoriously destructive, but something about the personalities merging into one brain in evolution seems to have mellowed Hikari’s out. it’s remarkably personable, for a hydreigon.

lucario: i really wanted to give him a pokemon that learns copycat, and lucario fits that bill. plus, he definitely needed a fighting type.

Cerudelge: formed from bitterness of old cursed armor, but also an extremely skilled sword fighter… one of hikari’s aces.

I also like to imagine that a lot of hikari’s pokemon are quite difficult to deal with (his ceruledge in particular is quite belligerent and mean) but they all have utmost respect for him as a trainer, once they’re on the battlefield. but onlookers sometimes worry… how the hell does he deal with it all?

other notes about some of the picks :

Partitio’s amarouge. Paritio picked up a. charcadet later on, and hikari personally warned him that it might be difficult to deal with. (his charcadet and later ceruledge were super hard to train for him) of course, partitio did end up in possession of the cool nice armor that evolved it into the better mannered and nobler armarouge… but honestly, even his charcadet was far better behaved.

paritio and tressa both get those shitty fish that get cool. must be because they both have an eye for a diamond in the rough.

agnea and throné’s cherrims are best friends. throné rarely got to see her cherrim sunny-form until she left new delsta… she wonders if maybe it was upset about being so nocturnal before, with the blacksnakes.

castti and osvald, team mom and team dad somehow both ended up with slowkings. everyone’s a little concerned about castti’s, though…

after the events of his story, Osvald leaves indeedee and teddiursa with clarissa and elena. the teddiursa and elena in particular take to each other very well… when osvald finally is able to return to elena’s life, the teddiursa is really much more her pokemon.

also. H’aanit and Ochette and far and away the best battlers of both groups. i know i only have them with one flex spot, but you can imagine that they’d swap out a lot more for whatever they need to do to build a good team. they’ve got loads more options than everyone else.

you know that thing about giving someone an applin in galar? therion did trade it over to alfyn at one point. but really they have joint custody of that thing. which definitely ended up as an appletun.

we also had some npc aces sprinkled in there, so here’s some other thoughts, just as bonus!

Malaya: Pawmot (revival blessing), rapidash.

Elena: Abra

Harvey: Hypno, Bacephalon

Pala: Kricketot (formerly belonged to her and agnea’s mom)

Roque: Metagross

Kazan: Husuian Braviary

Ori: Chatot

Trousseau: Glimmora

Cordelia: ….ferrothorn

Erhardt: Aegislash, Hisuian Samurott

Z’aanta: Zamazenta

Juvah: is literally a solgaleo

Darius: Scrafy/Pangoro

Simeon: Malamar

Esmeralda: Mismagius (wanted to give her something with perish song)

Mattias: drifblim? darkrai?

Lucia: Hatterene

Miguel: Grimmsnarl

Werner: spectrier

Mugen: Kingambit. mirror match with Hikari, but mugen’s has supreme overlord while Hikari’s has defiant.

Kaldena: we couldn’t pick but maybe she goes like lusamine mode and fuses with something.

Claude: Cradily. (uh. literally fossil pokemon)

Dolcinea: belive it or not, also an oricorio. also, solrock. but her oricorio is the prettiest.

veronica: she has somehow acquired the worlds first and only female gallade through the power of lesbianism.

Crick: … wooloo….

I do wanna make some drawings for these ideas, but this post was literally already one billion miles long and has way too many images, so it’ll probably be a separate post. thanks for the ask! and sorry for talking so much, but i fucking love making pokemon teams so much it’s insane.

and a big thank you again to my bestie @snailcruncher who helped me with a lot of these picks (and did basically all of the npc picks thank you so much i love you). tysm for pokemon octopath brainrotting with me for like 4 hours.

[3storyofmylife3]

Y’know, I will never get over the wasted potential of Fitz Vacker.

Like i’ve always thought his character was one of the most interesting but I feel like Shannon switched things up so she could resolve the love triangle (which i’m convinced was unplanned).

Like I love this series and I think it’s well-written for the most part, but Fitz’s disrupted arc will always make me cry.

He had his flaws (we know what they are, we never shut up about them) but he has good characteristics too? Like “We could always use a little more weird in our lives”, wanting to hug it out with Dex and telling him they should be friends???

Like my boy, what happened😭.

Also it makes sense that he wants to confirm to elven traditions ig (like match making), but I just don’t understand why Shannon decided to go down that character path? Like he went to exillum for his friends, people used to talk about him because he disappeared a lot (the guy spent most of his childhood looking for Sophie, he is very much crushed by the fact that she doesn’t like him), he stuck up for his friends in Everblaze even though it made him less popular because he knew they weren’t doing anything wrong.

And I feel like with everything weird about Fitz and his friends the last thing people would care about is matchmaking, it’s like Grady said, for elves power will always be the most important thing.

And Fitz is powerful.

I feel like the matchmaking thing shouldn’t have been the main focus of the fitzphie break up because I feel like Fitz could’ve gotten iver that very easily if Shannon had stayed consistent with his character.

The Fitphie breakup should have been about the whole “Fitz is jealous of Sophie’s powers thing and he doesn’t like that she’s stepping up as a leader because of his arrogance ( a flaw he’s had consistently and makes sense because he’s a Vacker, a family that basically represents the elven world and what people pretend it is, and elves’s main flaw is arrogance, so Fitz’s being arrogance MAKES SENSE).

Why make it about matchmaking😭😭😭.

Idk if anything i said makes sense, i suck at making my thoughts coherent, but I could swear that Fitz is a good character up until it gets in the way of the love triangle.

[lavender-iced-coffee]

I’ve seen a lot of theories about the idea that Keefe and dex switched places and about the original fate of the love triangle but I think they’re off just a little bit

My theory is that dex was originally supposed to have the role that Keefe would later embody (in the everblaze-nightfall era not so much these current plots). I think everyone can agree with this considering Keefe was literally not supposed to exist for the first 20 drafts. Dex takes on the best friend role in the first book while Keefe is just kinda there with little purpose. Plus a general sentiment I’ve heard from other fans is that they either shipped or were more invested in dexphie in the first book.

Anyways as an extension of that theory I believe that the original love triangle was supposed to between dex and fitz AND dex was the original endgame love interest.

For one thing fitz’s introduction puts an initial estimate of fitz at 15 to Sophie’s 12. Even though it is later revealed fitz is only 14 it puts an image in the readers head. Even people who are lax with age gaps would probably 3 years for teens is kinda big. Besides the image of a 12 year old liking a 15 year old would probably make most readers think he’s kind of unattainable for her.

But the main reason I think this mostly has to do with tropes and general writing patterns. A second love interest would not be introduced if they were not meant to be endgame or challenge the other love interest in someway. More importantly though, is the idea of emotional vs physical appeal. Stories with romance love the trope of the girl who is head over heals for a guy who is hot who then falls in love with her best friend who meets her emotional needs. Think Tall Girl. Think every dcom. That’s not to say that fitz had no character aside from being hot but Sophie’s crush was mainly fixated around that in the first book. On top of that dex was her best friend who she spends most of the book with. Especially during the very emotionally charged climax.

On top of that, generally audiences are more prone to underdogs. Fitz is portrayed has a character who kind has it all while dex is the opposite of that. Fitz also literally calls dex “deck”.

And then when Keefe took on dex’s role in exile, I think SM realized they had more chemistry together which is why that romantic alicorn ride moment happened and it all just unfolded from there. Plus gleaning from the excerpts I’ve seen of sky fall, I have a feeling SM likes writing snarky flirty boys.

I could write so much more about the implications this ended up having for the series and I will probably make a follow up.

[animentality]

So one thing I wish we’d seen fleshed out a bit more is whether or not Gortash is actually decent in combat. The fight against him is pretty lame at least compared to other bosses and while we know he’s adept with his crossbow we don’t see it get significant use. We know that he hired Karlach as a bodyguard, implying that he may not be confident enough in his skills to keep himself safe from threats. I think she also described him as an indoorsy type at one point, or something to that effect. He relies heavily on the steel watch and guards for safety, which feels pretty par for the course for a wanna be dictator to be fair, but also suggests that he’d rather not end up in direct combat himself. Iirc he also doesn’t have a backup weapon apart from the arbalest but I may be blanking on that.

However, we also know that Durge considered the Hall of Wonders heist a means of testing his mettle in combat, and the fact that they went on to work closely with him suggests that he proved himself in one way or another. The fact that he got his start in Baldurs Gate in a gang before moving on to smuggling and arms dealing seems to suggest a likelihood of some type of fighting proficiency, even if just in knowing how to brawl. And while we don’t know much about the Mephistopheles heist, it’s hard to imagine Durge walking into the Hells next to someone who is useless if shit hits the proverbial fan.

All this to say it almost feels wishy washy as far as if we’re supposed to take away the idea that without outside help is Gortash basically all but defenseless, or he’s dangerous and would just rather not get blood on his hands. The Orin fight is a little disappointing too, but we know from the game just how dangerous she’s supposed to be, likewise with Ketheric. Part of me blames the fact that he doesn’t have an (official in the game) class for us to make better assumptions off of. In fact, all of this really makes me warm up to the idea that he should have been an artificer with a gun, because that seems like the perfect fit for his character.

ANON, Gortash makes no fucking sense stat wise.

He has BOOSTED stats even though he's like an Artificer and his best stat SHOULD BE intelligence.

He used a magical crossbow, EXCEPT HE HAS GAUNTLETS FOR PUNCHING WITH HIS BARE HANDS?

He technically belonged to a gang back when he was young, but you expect me to believe a dude who plays with ranged toys really wants to GRAPPLE with people?

EXCEPT THAT HE DOES?

Which is so weird.

Plus he seems to love traps and buffs and debuffs, and relying on the Steel Watch, but then it still doesn't make sense with the gauntlets????

So I don't know.

He SEEMS like a squishy little wizard nerd, but the game thinks he has amazing stats even though he looks like a pathetic wet kitten that spilled its milk bowl on itself.

Look at this fucker's stats???

Why does he have high strength and dex and intelligence and wisdom and charisma????

Excuse me?

This freak?????

NO.

His intelligence and charisma, fine, but his wisdom and dex should be 10.

Strength I'll give him only because I suspect he has to at least marginally lift shit to work on in his workshop, maybe.

But dex???? No.

This man does NOT get up out of his office chair. His spine is deforming.

Plus this bitch ain't wise! He's intelligent, but he's not WISE.

Just look what happened with the netherbrain. Didn't see that shit coming, now did he?

[ramiethewizard]

I have many critiques on Keeper of the Lost Cities. Don’t get me wrong, I love it as a series. But like any series, there are both obvious and unobvious flaws. Since I finally have a place online to talk about them I thought I’d share my thoughts! (Disclaimer: this is not bashing on Shannon Messenger or the series in any way!)

1. Too many protagonists

The series was fairly okay with the original gang in the earlier books. That group being Sophie, Keefe, Fitz, Biana, and Dex. There was a chance to connect with all of the characters and grow on each of them. I know I know, characters like Biana and Dex were still pushed aside a bit but they had a better chance at being involved again. But then only more and more protagonists joined. Adding Tam and Linh was iffy, but fine. Then you add Marella, Maruca, Wylie, Stina, all those people. We don’t have a chance to connect with the characters.

2. Obvious favoritism

A few people have pointed this out already, and I thought I’d do the same. Shannon has very clear favorites of the series - which is fine, don’t get me wrong. But sometimes it’s used a little too much. Keefe is a very obvious favorite. We constantly focus on him and his story. At this point, Sophie AND Keefe are the protagonists. I love Keefe, but I want to learn about the injustices and discrimination of Bad Matches from Dex. I want to learn about the expectations of being a Vacker from Fitz and Biana. See what I’m saying?

3. Little plots abandoned

I feel like there have been so many times where Shannon starts this little idea and then throws it away. If you reread the books, you seem to find so many instances where there’s something, and then it’s just abandoned. For example, Magnate Leto (Forkle) says in I think Exile how he doesn’t have a wife and he seems quite sad about it. Or the time in…Flashback I believe where we meet Tinker. Tinker is such an interesting character. She freaks out when Forkle talks about explosives and he said that he wouldn’t make her build them - ‘not again’. HUH? And we’ve gotten no more out of it.

4. Overly focused on romance

Probably my biggest pet peeve with the series is that it is so so focused on romance. Having romance in the series is fine but there’s so much. I feel like Sophie barely even has any character left. You can tell that Shannon was just really excited to write the romantic relationships because even in the first book (WHEN SHES TWELVE) there are already intense moments. And the biggest thing is that characters like Keefe and Fitz (the love interests) are so much more important than characters like Biana and Dex (the friends). It’s a weird thing because Sophie should be apart of both groups but there’s just a weird focus on the guys that she’s into.

5. Lack of diversity

This is something that I think should just be improved in general. Most of the protagonists are very stereotypical and don’t have any diversity. Most of the main characters are white - which is fine but when it gets to be that ALL of the protagonists are, it just gets a little…you know? I mean, Tam, Linh, and Wylie are not white but they’re also not focused on at all in the series. It’s one of the reasons why people headcanon the Vackers to be POC so much. There’s also no LGBTQ+ characters - which again, fine for the most part but also…people of the queer community are incredibly common and the KOTLC characters seem so…not straight. So the fact that it’s been like ten books and there hasn’t been anything is just a little eh. Same with mental health, or physical abilities. Just a lack of diversity.

I love this series a lot, but like anything, it can always improve. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[frontierpodiatrist]

My ScarVio Jacq Crack Theory

i have to get this out because i feel insane that no one else seems to be headcanoning/thinking about this except two people, but i feel like jacq is definitely either up to something nefarious or has some sort of relevancy to the upcoming DLC and/or the hexagon pokémon from the scarlet/violet book

- he was marketed as almost a main character, one of the first few characters whose design was revealed and almost implied to be like a relevant character but in-game he is none pizza. nothing burger. go girl, give us nothing! he barely has any lines outside of his classes

- in relevance to that, he’s the only teacher that you can’t bond with. you can even bond with miriam and she doesn’t even teach a class. what’s up with THAT jacq

- his face during battle when he plays up the whole clumsy, sort of inept teacher vibe....excuse me? were you faking being a klutz for clout? (also his ace is farigiraf, the evolution of a two-faced pokémon...just saying)

- why does he have a beast ball he gives you for completing the dex...where did this come from? why do you have that? How'd you get that?

- the fact he doesn’t comment at all or express any sort of surprise about the paradox pokémon in your dex and is just extremely excited for research to study? aren’t you curious about what the hell those things are, when most people think the scarlet/violet book is complete bogus?

- as above, part of what i believe to be the case here, is the fact that in my opinion, jacq seems to imply that he worked with the professor and clavell in area zero. it’s stated by raifort in history class 6 that clavell and the professor are rumoured to have work together

and then jacq states in biology class 3 that he and clavell used to be fellow researchers “at the same facility” when we know that clavell and the professor were also coworkers, and it’s implied that the professor at least had a small team of people (and based on what raifort says, the identities of the people who were working together with the professor aren’t publicly known). and IF this is in fact the case, why does he have absolutely nothing to say about arven OR the professor? if he was acquainted with both clavell and the professor at this time, he’d surely know about arven, and is seemingly willfully ignoring his existence, as well as the death of a former supposed colleague

- his glasses are shaped like hexagons, something hassel goes out of his way to make note of in art class 3

which stands out to me given how prevalent the shape is, coming up over and over again. the exact shape covering the walls of time machine, and also the specific shape described of the pokémon from the book, comprised of hexagons. it is also the shape they repeatedly used in designs for the area zero expedition, present on the zero gate among other places

now listen, this is not a bad thing, in fact i would love if jacq was evil (or at least relevant) because then he wouldn’t be a complete nothing of a character who just gives you a shiny charm and then fucks off forever. and i do think raifort (even if she is my wife whomst i love so so so much) and geeta are a bit suspicious as well BUT

[taylor-swift-fosters-it-again]

Omg Taylor Swift and kotlc

YESSS I ALWAYS LOVE THIS

so i’ve always headcanoned that sophie was a swiftie before coming to the lost cities, but given the timeline i saw, it was probably taylor’s older music. her ipod probably has some classics like picture to burn and should’ve said no. she’s definitely a fearless gal at heart (*jumps off a cliff to teleport* “head first fearless”)

fitz feels like a red guy, purely from all the angry vibes we get from him. also the revenge side of reputation, which i know isn’t much but it still feels like something he’d scream his heart out to with mr. snuggles

keefe, however. buddy, you are a reputation guy. he’s such a hopeless romantic (in my head anyway) but like your mother wronged you? your father hates you? your crush is dating your best friend? *turns volume all the way up* THEY SAY I DID SOMETHING BAD *you kiss her* THEN WHY’S IT FEEL SO GOOD???? he’s also a ttpd guy because of the ✨ emotional damage✨

biana feels like a speak now girl. independent and she knows her own self worth!! also i feel like she’d be a good singer, so she could totally do the high notes in enchanted. and she’d definitely jam to better than revenge after nightfall!!

dex is probably evermore because they’re both getting forgotten (i’m sorry). also after the crush cuffs fail he’s sitting on a bench in coney island wondering where did his best friend go. that’s all because i need to stop 😭

tam. we may all think he’s a reputation guy, but he’s a total softie and a huge folklore stan. but i won’t sit here and tell you folklore is so light and happy! there’s some dark stuff on folklore, but also that “i know i miss you” kinda stuff. not to mention that element of always being there and watching (official tam cam activity)

linh however feels like a lover girl. i’m so sorry but she is a hopeless romantic 🩷 i love her. again there’s also the “i hope i never lose you” aspect. but she also just feels so happy and optimistic that i can’t not say she’s a lover girl.

marella feels like a midnights girl, and it’s not because of all the gossip and the song paris (ok maybe it kinda is). also her flavored air. that stuff has to be, like, kid-friendly smoking. she also gives off the vibe that she never sleeps.

stina is debut because i feel like i’d give her a country accent. (“so yer fearless moonlark ain’t got no plan, eh?” i’m so sorry.) and she SO gives off picture to burn and should’ve said no vibes! read: angry country

maruca gets 1989 for two reasons. a, we haven’t had a 1989 yet, and b, she just feels like the kinda gal who’d live in new york and be a city girlie. i don’t know that much about her so i’m sorry i feel like i didn’t do her justice 😭

*checks to make sure i didn’t miss anyone*

bored? send me an ask!

[whoredmode]

kind of a headcanon/lore dump?? idk whatever you wanna call it. whatever it is. dewynter sisters stuff no one asked for but they’ve been on my mind and i don’t think i’ve really shared much of my hcs for them.

so if you keep up with my rewrites/my canon, you know that kiki and viola are mercenaries sent by ultor to kill loren (and later dex). here’s some more basic lore. this is all barely scratching the surface of all the lore and thoughts i have on them, so by all means feel free to ask me stuff. and honestly i’ll probably end up making more posts like this in the future (for them and others) if people are interested.

father: hendrik dewynter

mother: akane dewynter (née ueno)

their father is dutch and french while their mother is japanese and filipino.

as far as their general background goes, they were born in the netherlands, traveled with their parents for their work a lot, and were raised in both europe and the united states. both twins are fluent in dutch, french, and japanese.

both parents have been working in the criminal underworld for decades and have essentially been training the girls to become the mercenaries they are since they were young. hendrik and akane work primarily in illegal arms deals, and they use their cover as high society people to facilitate that. all this led to some familiarity with some syndicate members pre-loren’s leadership, but more so through their high society connections. worth noting i don’t believe the syndicate leaned as heavily into arms dealing until after loren became head of it because that was his area of expertise as well. regardless, hendrik and akane and their network got into illegal arms trade and espionage predominantly within western europe. when they had the twins, they were trained from a young age to become the perfect spies, assassins, whatever. this unintentionally made it so the girls really only trusted each other. they are not a close family. the dewynter’s see their relationship with their daughters as more of a business arrangement. almost transactional. they’d argue that what they put them through was for them to succeed, but in turn it just dissolved any chance of a meaningful relationship between them. despite this, or perhaps because of this, they became extremely adept mercenaries. keep in mind though that all this shit about the dewynter family was not widely known. hendrik and akane still had their regular careers as covers, and it’s why the twins have their backgrounds in economics and art.

regardless, loren was delighted to have them working within the syndicate—however he did not know that them asking to work for him directly was because they were being employed by ultor to sell secrets and eventually kill him. it also helped that they could speak dutch and french to him; there were many instances of the three of them having conversations that matt and killbane could not understand (which bothered the latter to no end).

the twins themselves only have a sense of loyalty to each other, and they do their work based on who’s paying best and what they believe they should do with their information they’re given. it’s why viola switches sides so easily after the death of kiki. money may have been their endgame, but the one thing they put above that is each other.

fwiw, viola does go back to doing mercenary work after the events of my sriv rewrite conclude. she’s one of several characters who leave the saints at the end. she allows them to keep in contact with her though. this whole thing kicks off a bit of a cat and mouse game she and shaundi have, but that’s for another post (oh wait i already made one kinda. happy shaunviola saturday).

this is getting away from me. also i wrote this all while really tired so apologies if it’s a little scattered. i love kiki and viola.

[royalrebelpropaganda]

ooh you should elaborate ooh

( @oklotea ) ( @dollmenace )

why ofc 🤭 with no further ado here are my transfem headcanons & explanations

duchess :

manifesto largely here , here , and here , but I don't ever clarify as to WHY I think she has trans girl energy, so I will elaborate now.

first of all, narrative role of swans in stories. especially in stories like the ugly duckling, where there's an "ugly" kid who is socially outcast, excluded, harassed, and ends up becoming something beautiful like they were always meant to be-- it works really well as a trans metaphor, and duchess is literally a swan <3

but that's not her story! and you'd be right to point that out. to me, there's something about the way she's constantly feeling left out of the other princess groups because she's not a "happily-ever-after princess," the way she's basically dismissed by the princessology teacher by her saying "are you sure you're a real princess?" -- and wanting so desperately to be one.

so she follows around ashlynn, so she yells at apple, so she tears raven to shreds. she is so jealous and I honestly really think that the jealousy translates really well to a sort of gender envy -- especially since she's constantly dismissed by the same girls. she's constantly portrayed as wanting to "steal" their stories, and really all she wants is a happily ever after, the same safety and comfort they get by being a princess. I think the metaphor kind of speaks for itself.

"Seems to me we need to win this thing so you can always be a girl." - Sparrow Hood to Duchess Swan, Next Top Villain

dexter :

manifesto here + also I ADORE @tiny-leafbug's transfem dex art

now I know a lot of people headcanon dex as transmasc, which honestly I can actually fully understand in the context of the show and diaries. the idea that he's constantly trying to perform this paragon of masculinity, and constantly falling short. I get it.

HOWEVER! the books is where I fell in love with dex, and in the books dex's vibe is different. he doesn't care about being a "prince charming," not really, and his relationship with his brother seems much more affectionate, with him responding to daring's ribbing in turn and not really caring about daring making fun of him. this lack of caring makes all that pressure put on his shoulders by his parents seem more like something he never wanted to live up to in the first place. on the boxes, he says -- well, I'm good at hero training. and in the books, raven notices the calluses on his hands, the skill he has in PE class. it's not that he's ever been bad at what his parents what him to do. it's that... he doesn't want to do it.

at some point he says "well ... everyone else has been able to recite their story since they learned to talk, while I'm facing this huge unknown." there's something about this lack of direction and destiny that sets him completely apart from students that need to be a certain thing. all dex ever had to do was be a prince, and still, he wants to rebel. still, he followed raven into the dark. because maybe he didn't want to be a prince at all.

raven said "check you out, totally rocking the prince-to-the-rescue gig," and dexter said "what? no, I mean... that's not really me." - Storybook of Legends

dexter, in the books, is constantly torn between the royals and the rebels, this loyalty he has to the first person that's ever seen him, and daring, who still wants him to be, yknow, him. he is expected, at all times, to perform as his brother, to be his brother. and he doesn't want that. he doesn't want that at all.

“And Prince Dexter Charming?” Kitty smiled hugely. Her smile lingered a moment after she disappeared. She reappeared beside Dexter, holding a broom, which she thrust into his hands. “He might become a wicked witch!”

Dexter looked at the broom, shrugged, and gave a small laugh, glancing over at Raven as if to check what she thought.”

- The Unfairest of Them All

cedar :

I don't have quite as much to say here; this isn't a headcanon I have 24/7, it's just fun to think about

she is constantly talking about how she "wants to be a real girl" and idk there is something trans about that. to me.

“I don’t know what to do,” said Cedar. “Am I supposed to sit with my friends same as always? Or pick a side based on what I want? I’m not a Royal, but then again I do want my destiny, when I’ll be changed from a puppet into a real girl, but then again, I do want others to be able to choose if they don’t like their destiny so… so I don’t know what to do now!” - The Unfairest of Them All

I hope this helped <33

[penny-hartzs]

one day anon here. So good, right? I’m all for an adaptation making changes when necessary but the movie was too condensed/rushed. I also thought AH was a mismatch for Emma. The series worked so much better allowing the viewer to go along on the broader journey with the characters. I LOVED that the series included the garden maze scene which the movie did not, one of my fave moments. Thought the way the way the writers interspersed quotes and broke down the decades was laid out perfectly. I had seen LW in white lotus but his performance as dex shattered my heart. Every time tears flowed off his face you were wrecked along with him. Brilliant!

You've said everything so perfectly! I remember liking the movie when it came out but I never revisited it and as much as I enjoy Anne Hathaway's work, I don't think she was exactly the right choice for Emma. I spent too long trying not to get distracted by her pretend accent and couldn't connect to her character that much, which was a shame because I loved book Emma. Ambika Mod on the other hand was phenomenal, she completely understood the assignment and brought Emma to life in such an accurate way. As for LW, i think he was a perfect choice for Dex, with the way you cant help but feel for him even at his lowest points.

The fact that they turned it into a mini series was such a big advantage to a story like this one because as you said, it really allows the viewer to take this journey along with the characters and understand how much they had to work to earn their love. Which is why the ending ends up hitting you so much more.

My only tiny complaint is that they didnt include the iconic line "i love you so much, I just don't like you anymore"

[danwhobrowses]

So I Finally Finished a Playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3

It's been months of playing over my holidays and the weekends, but I've finally completed my first playthrough of what was deemed Game of the Year for 2023.

As someone whose only D&D experiences come from the two movies (the bad one that traumatized me as a kid by killing Snails and the good one that deserves more love) and Critical Role, I didn't know much of what I was getting into, only my coworkers saying 'buy it, it's a masterpiece' unanimously when I inquired about it. Having no idea how to play or the lore, I was very much entering blind.

Continued down the Keep Reading

So, I'm sure we gotta get through the first set of questions so let's get to them.

What was your Tav? It took a long time to realise that 'Tav' meant your player character among fanpages, I can't tell you why it's Tav still, but I only pieced it together from Durge naming too. My Tav is Dec, short for December because that's when I started playing and I couldn't waste too much time on stream thinking up a clever name. He was a High Elf Guild Artisan, for Class I started as a Beast Master Ranger, ironic that Ranger is deemed one of the lesser classes among the community, I was adamant to not use archery at the start but by the end of it I was a Crossbow Expert. I went 9/3 with Rogue to get Assassin, but then respec'd my Ranger into a Gloomstalker, since I never really summoned the bear (probably should've learned from Sam's constant dissing of Trinket eh?) plus when I remembered Dread Ambusher it gave me 3 attacks on the first turn. He has combustible blood thanks to Araj and some tadpole powers after consuming them after the creche incident made him more open to trusting the Dream Visitor; Charm - which failed 90% of the time - Psionic Backlash, Favourable Beginnings and Luck of the Far Realms used mainly, I had Stage Fright and Force Tunnel but didn't use it, same for Cull the Weak. Likes to talk things through, especially with Persuasion/Charisma buffing invisible hats. Has the Duellist's Perogative Sword and the Swire's Sledboard Shield for Melee, and the AC bonus, plus the Armor of Agility giving him an evasive 24 AC with Advantage thanks to 20 DEX and the Cloak of Displacement.

You can't see his scar and tattoo too well from here but I had to show off his Black Furnace and Red dye on his armour it looks too good. Here's a better look of his face:

For his tattoo and scarring I like to think he got the tattoo after the burn, in some ways distracting it from the scarring.

Did you Save Scum? Don't Lie to Me! Yes and I'm not sorry about it. If you wanna invite me to a D&D table I'll follow the rules and how the dice lands but there's a lot more wiggle room there than in a game where there's finite dialogue options. I was also not going to sit there and let my companions turn against me just because the game fancied throwing continual Nat 1s or low rolls at me, nor would I let Omeluum die in the Iron Throne, or end up leaving the Mirror of Loss empty handed. I bought the game so if I wanna carve this experience this way I shall carve it this way, I get some people see the Morally Good path as boring for this kind of gaming but I like to be good, it feels good, and I want good things to happen for my allies, even if it means having to undo most of their religious indoctrination. But, it did take a while for me to start save scumming, really it was freeing Halsin that started it but it didn't become regular until Auntie Ethel. I only really did it for dialogue/lore expansion (or when there were two dialogue options I was between which I hoped would be interpreted how I expect it to) and for necessary buff rolls like the Mirror of Loss, but sometimes I did it to keep some key NPCs alive like Jaheira, who died at Moonrise the first time.

Who did you usually team up with? Kinda a harem squad since I had Lae'zel, Shadowheart and Karlach. I was very combat-oriented; Lae'zel adding support to Karlach's melee or Dec's ranged combat while Shadowheart made up for most of the magic with heals, summons and like 100 scrolls in her bag (Dec horded about 100 different arrows and poisons too, sometimes pays off). I respec'd her to Light Domain after the Nightsong stuff to fit her character and hair change - though I must admit I preferred the black hair - and gave her my Adamantine Splint Armour for defences plus the ring and Balduran's Helm for +5 healing each turn. Lae'zel was a Battle Master, clad in the Helldusk set, though I didn't use much of her Superiority dice moves; the enemies often made saves against it even with 18 strength (20 after the mirror of loss, and higher at endgame thanks to an Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength), I relied more on her brute force, plus reaction skills like Executioner and Sentinel, plus the Silver Sword of the Astral Plane. Karlach was a 9/3 Bear Heart Barbarian and Champion Fighter, I did respec her for the Feats but the Bone armour, Balduran's Greatsword and Brutal Jump also helped at times, plus the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength and the Amulet of Greater Health made her a high damage, near-200 Health-on-Rage machine (over 200 thanks to the +30 extra health at the final battle). I tended not to swap around a lot, I couldn't abandon my healer, loved Karlach's personality and I had sentiment for Lae'zel being the first person I encountered, she has the sad eyes too, but I did do some rare switching for personal quests. Initially I started with Astarion, but that's because of a misunderstanding of who Karlach was - more on that later - and it turned out that I wasn't doing much for stealth, I brought him for Cazador though, much like I brought Wyll for Ansur and Gale for the Book of Karsus. Later in Act 3 I played around with dyes and equipped everyone, out of fear that I may be sprung unprepared like with Orin - Halsin only had a torch - by all campmates joining the fight, it didn't happen but everyone at least looks stylish.

I go between whether I like Wyll's colours though, on one hand he looks like a Templar and the white would stand out in Avernus, other times he looks like a cosplayer XD Minsc and Jaheira needed no dyes the colours already suited well, but I do love the colours I chose for Astarion, Halsin and Karlach.

Who did you fuck? (romance) Probably would've been asked sooner but sadly Dec became an unintended bachelor, at least outside of the headcanon. He did share a night of passion with Lae'zel after freeing the Emerald Grove but it wasn't something he wanted to pursue further, our dynamic was more befitting of two soldiers, or at least a dynamic where we think we're the General and the other the Advisor. Had Shadowheart took 'later' for her drink offer as 'I want to see all the dialogues other characters have first' rather than a refusal there might have been a romance there, instead I feel we fell into a more sibling bond, she can be a bit too sassy at times in passing dialogue - I had hoped to see more development with her and Lae'zel eventually being friends. Wyll did his best to throw sad puppy eyes at me when I refused to dance with him but it just made things more awkward, Gale meanwhile probably was gonna make moves when teaching me the Weave but he was very hung up on Mystra for me to entertain it, I sat with him when he felt the mortal coil though. Astarion I think made a passing suggestion but nothing of substance, Halsin left it late after he got kidnapped by Orin - I didn't realise he had to physically join the party to be a part of the group until Act 3 - coming onto me right before I confronted the Brain which was quickly turned down. I believe Minsc and Jaheira are unable to be romanced atm, and I did not fuck the Emperor; it weirded me out that he just was there shirtless chilling next to my unconscious dream state. We killed Minthara, didn't know you could recruit or romance her in a Morally Good path. Which left Karlach, fuck did I want to romance Karlach, not for lack of trying either; but because when I met Wyll he was talking about killing her I immediately assumed 'oh Karlach must be that woman on the cover with him' (aka 'the bitch who could've been cool if she wasn't such a bitch' Mizora, who I also wouldn't have romanced given the option) and stuck a pin in it, I was also unaware that most Act 1 romance stuff would come to a head at the end of the Emerald Grove quest which I prioritized so I only encountered Karlach after I saved Halsin and the Grove, meaning I couldn't reach Dammon until Act 2. By then Karlach seemed to be locked out of romance, perhaps for another misunderstanding on my part too since I did upgrade her engine twice at Lost Light very swiftly, but it still was a knife to the heart after all that and the date at the circus that she called us 'just mates' to Fytz. All this and then they give us a better kissing patch ¬_¬

Yes so sad, anyway what about ~Astarion~? Astarion is popular, and I know why he's popular, and the scene of him killing Cazador was very well done...but Astarion for me though was just fine; I mean you guys see Karlach right? Part of the reason she stays my group was that I can't bear to part from her. A lot of the times my Morally Good options didn't align with Astarion's brand of pessimistic chaos, so he spent a lot of time in camp as I mispronounced his name until I heard it be properly said, which probably hampered his story a bit more, but we had a close enough friendship that he heeded my advice with the Ascension and the spawn, wish he reacted to me getting a painting of him since he can't see his reflection though, felt like something could've been done there. Jaheira was a fun personality too, angry old lady who says it like it is, kinda wish we had more to her quest, seeing her home and her interacting with her wards/children was interesting, Minsc was charming too in his simple way, would've been cool if he had more of a presence as well, like we could hear about Minsc and the Stone Lord in separate lights earlier in the game to build up to him. On that topic, I was surprised to find that there wasn't a companion for each role, I suppose there were constraints but Aylin and Zevlor both worked as Paladins, Alfira a Bard (though I don't think anyone would dare put her in the line of fire), I suppose there's little need for a Sorcerer when you had a Wizard or a Monk when you had a Fighter and Barbarian but it was strange, you get 2 Druids and your Ranger is built more like a Fighter or Barbarian (the latter I added to Minsc). I'd later learn that there was cut content for a halfling companion who was a werewolf, but I can see why that one was cut, with Chetney and all, but yeah not any halflings, Barcus could've been a companion even without the Artificer class, or a Dragonborn.

So how did your story go? Being the Morally Good Guy I was I went through most of the best options I could, but I also tried to avoid combat earlier on when I was struggling to work with it. I was friendly with the Goblin Camp for starters, since they thought I was with the Absolute and Dec is willing to put shit on his face to avoid conflict, it all went tits up after freeing Halsin and having to kill everyone but it may've had some benefit to how I could walk freely through Moonrise. Ironically it was the same with the Githyanki, friendly up until they wanted me to hand over the prism, though the Creche was a lost cause anyway, they're lucky I didn't ransack the place, could've gotten a lot of xp and loot there. I let Viconia live, so she can dwell on that burn Shadowheart gave her but oftentimes I was not so merciful, do wish I didn't kill that one Sharran with the letter of hating being there though, why'd you fight me girl? Same with the Bhaalist with the parents at Elfsong, and the goblin children, I was using nonlethal but arrows don't count as I'd soon learn. Allies were mostly good-to-neutral creatures like the Tieflings (though I wish I saved more, nobody told me about the harpies and I thought convincing Rolan to stay would mean the Grove not the Shadow Cursed Lands - also why send refugees who struggle with goblins through the SHADOW CURSED LANDS?) and 90% of the Ironhand Gnomes because fuck Wulbren - I didn't like Barcus too much at first, thought him rude, but when Wulbren didn't even show gratitude for his attempts I softened to him. Kindness made me quite the enemy to others however; the infernal naturally did not appreciate my deeds of pact breaking but saving the Duke anyway and pilfering the House of Hope, but to be fair Raphael (and his clear portrait of himself I clocked onto immediately when he was in his human guise to know he was untrustworthy) never repaid me in-game for 'killing' Yurgir, and Mizora would've squirmed a lot more in her Ilithid pod had it been a table interaction - though, the latter two were more than willing to help me with the Absolute, 'cept Raphael because he's dead - but in my defence I loved outwitting and being a sassy little shit to demons. Slaying the Chosen was a given, as a very Pro-Karlach guy I was never letting Gortash live, got the Father/Grandfather-Daughter set with Bhaal too. Killing the former Balduran was disappointing; as much as he was on my side he always felt like he had his own ulterior motives, he also had a superiority complex to him with his constant urging of being half-Ilithid; thinks it's not important that he's Balduran either, dismissing Ansur's legend until confronted by Ansur's spirit. Stealing the Orphic Hammer was an insurance policy at first, I could understand Voss' disdain for us using Githyanki Jesus in a box like a forcefield, but it's a shame that the guy who was all about trust decided not to trust me in releasing Orpheus; we could've stopped the brain together! Omeluum would've heard me out. I mean Orpheus was a bit salty but he at least was willing to negotiate and not immediately side back with the brain like a petty bitch. I'd say the gods have mixed feelings with me; friendly with Selune and Lathander at least, and whatever Withers is - though the guy roasted me about my love life. The rest either neutral or anti; Shar and Vlaakith (if you can call her a god) definitely hate me, because they're sore losers, think Myrkul and Bhaal likely hate me, Bane however seemed to respect game not sure how I feel about that. I don't quite like Mystra, think she's a bit extreme with her treatment of Gale, but I understand her role, valid god but shitty person. On the other hand I probably have Cyric's favour for helping the Strange Ox, which might be bad...but Milil was happy to be recognized.

In the end, most of the allies got to live somewhat happily; Gale got the orb out of him and became a professor, Lae'zel - having dealt the final blow to the brain - leads the charge against Vlaakith after Orpheus became a Mind Flayer and was mercy killed, Shadowheart has her family (Shar would've always been with her regardless of her choice), a bunch of pets and can maybe reminisce with Nocturne again one day, Jaheira and Minsc - once he survives Zhentharim execution, didn't realise I needed to have him talk to Nine Fingers - also can rest with her wards and probably share drinks with Nine Fingers until the next fight, Astarion sadly has no cure for vampirism but he is owning it and killing the right people (I like to think he'll get to see the sun again, maybe Omeluum and the Mycolids help), plus Halsin has a bunch of kids in Moonrise to look after, plus Thaniel, Oliver and a new Owlbear who I'd rather had left with Dammon given the option. Isobel and Aylin can settle down, Rolan runs the Sundries, Hope is free, Alfira and Lakrissa got their bard's school, Florrick and Ravengard resume leadership to rebuild, Dammon has his forge, Scratch found a new home in this Mindy (but I remain best master), Mol I'm sure will be running the Guildhall in a few years, Thrumbo has a shelter for his brothers, Mayrina will raise her son without the threat of a hag, Vanra won't become a hag (but does need therapy), and Arabella will probably be the next Withers after reading some more rocks. Yenna didn't seem to have an ending so I'll assume that she found a loving home too, maybe with Halsin or as one of Jaheira's wards, or maybe Gale wants a Sous Chef since she did bring her own carving knife if you didn't know. I wish Alfira got invited to the epilogue, god of song is fine but not the familiar face and it would've been cool for them to meet, nice to get a letter at least, and we'll have to visit Art's grave sometime. Surprised we got no word about Mizora, I didn't get a letter from Geraldus even though he survived, Naaber apparently had more in him after wanting to be a dog, sad not to get anything from Rolan, Devella (I know Valeria mentioned her but c'mon), the Gondians, Mol, Omeluum, or Aylin and Isobel from the epilogue, did we really need the ramblings of Ettvard? Plus the papers must've glitched they said Stelmane's killer was still at large? Post-credits scene felt a bit weak mind you, but guessing Withers is that old God of Death Jerghal? Least he's not a surprise villain to fight. As for me, well, I was never one to give up on people and neither is Dec, and thus Dec and Karlach brave Avernus to seek a fix for her infernal engine, punch a few demons and whatnot, Wyll is there too as the Blade of Avernus, a role he embraced twice after barely contributing to killing Ansur but that's more proximity. We'll chill in the House of Hope especially after her letter, but soon enough we'll all return to Faerun on a more permanent basis.

So you enjoyed it? Yes, very much. I did of course make a lot of mistakes though; kept forgetting about Dread Ambusher for one, my earlier failures at romance still stung, I think the game wasn't as welcoming to those unfamiliar to it. The dice did not like me many times, I once got a Nat 1 in a 2 DC with +2 bonus, I also have had several instances of back-to-back Nat 1s, even had 6 in two different streams. Combat was an adjustment period, I missed a lot of the time which was frustrating, or the enemy would make saving throws on my gambits, Karlach even got pushed into the abyss at the Temple of Bhaal, I was livid. I think I probably would've experienced more if the game established better that you can long rest as much as you like without turning into a Mind Flayer, because much of Act 1 was me reluctant to Long Rest because they say you can change 'within 2-3 days', as a result that affected some romance options too, nobody to spend the night with if there's no night, as well as other in-camp interactions - Astarion never tried to bite me for instance, and I'm sure Raphael would've arrived to reward me for killing Yurgir had we not dealt with a backlog of interactions. I remained quite the hesitant player too, I ignored Gale stuck in a portal for a while fearing some magical backlash was gonna vaporize me, oftentimes I expected worse than what actually happened. Graphically there were a few characters whose cheeks were being pulled to the far left side of the map which was weird, and some battles would have enemies who would just do nothing for their turns, and some areas didn't render quick enough to not be noticed, but it was small stuff in comparison, I didn't do much for camp clothes or dyes until late on but probably for the better since style should be for the final act. I also keep seeing stuff that I somehow missed in my playthrough; like there's an angry squirrel near the grove? A frog in Ethel's house? A bird who wanted help with the giant eagles? What? Where?

What was the most difficult part? Act 3 had a lot of tough shit going down, though one of my most memorable struggles was against Auntie Ethel in Act 1. Already deep in her domain at lv4 it was a rough run to start with, continually hit by Hold Person by her projections, only when I learned they were one-hits did it become a little easier, but without Extra Attack it was still difficult. After that combat was here and there, sometimes it was just the environment like being jammed in a pipe when fighting Minsc; Lorroakan was annoying, Grym I had to be tactical with the hammer, the Assassin at the Facemaker was quite difficult too because he'd Haste himself and hide. The Death Shepherds in the Mountain Pass were surprisingly difficult without the Blood of Lathander, much easier with its Sunbeam. The companion quest final battles of Cazador, Ansur and Viconia were each difficult in their own way; the former was most annoying because my party would be downed but the thrown healing potions weren't working (plus those downed members were the ones with Radiant damage and holy water), wasn't even Bone Chilled like with Viconia, Ansur was difficult because of his burst attack. Raphael hits fucking hard, but once I realised that Hope kept dying because she was getting backlash from dealing Radiant Damage it was just attrition and lots of potion throwing. Combat-wise I think the toughest battle was Cazador due to the glitch of thrown potions not healing, otherwise the toughest boss was Ansur. Overall the most difficult experience I found was the timed operations of the Iron Throne.

Will you play again? Most likely, which is something I don't tend to say so Larian did do their job well. Though I might wait a bit to play other games first and give Larian time to add more content and finer polishing, I think I'd have a better time with it the second time around, would definitely try to resolve previous wrongs or missed opportunities, though I doubt I'd look forward to everything there; killing the Goblin Camp was still difficult work, same with the Steel Watch and all the turn limit stuff, I'll at least wait until I have Extra Attack before dealing with Ethel in Act 1 and take more Long Rests, maybe rotate the party a bit more and try out some other classes - but you will pry Speak with Animals out of my cold dead hands! Learning later about there being a bunch of cut content would entice me to play a third time if they reach a stage where all the intended content has been added in, but there's not exactly a time frame for that or a clear show of intent so far, so we'll see in that one, for all that is cut it seems like the end product is the tip of the iceberg. Enjoyed the play, played for a long time, would play again: money well spent.

[shima-draws]

IF YOU DON'T MIND I am going to talk... about my Kieran-momotaro theory for the Indigo Disk... so IDK how much you've seen of it but there's some pretty compelling evidence of a Momotaro pokemon to round out the Lousy Three in the Teal Mask DLC, and I believe this pokemon is likely the source of the poison chains the three have. But that begs the question, why introduce it in Indigo Disk instead of Teal Mask, where it would fit the setting most? I think that it's because it'll play into Kieran's character arc.

My theory is that Kieran will partner with this Momotaro pokemon during Indigo Disk in his pursuit of strength. Kieran already has a kind of connection to the lousy three, namely that it was HIS rage that brought them back from the dead. We're never really told HOW that happened, whether or not anybody getting mad near the monument would've revived them or whether there was already something about Kieran that made his anger special, but the fact remains that it was specifically Kieran who unintentionally brought them back. Another thing is that, what this Momotaro pokemon does is make others stronger. In Scarlet's dex entries, it goes over how the Lousy Three's chains all enhanced them in different ways- Okidogi got big and buff, Munkidori got really smart, and Fezandipity got... a fabulous new look. But boiled down, these poison chains all made the Lousy Three stronger, which matches Kieran's current pursuit of strength.

So I think Kieran is going to have a literal toxic relationship with this Momotaro pokemon, which makes it really on the nose that this thing's apparent symbol is poisonous chains, and the player is gonna have to beat some sense back into him/get him to snap out of it.

And honestly? The idea that Ogerpon's rejection would drive him to join forces with the ringleader of the pokemon that hurt her the most would make for a DELICIOUSLY ironic character arc

OOOH YEAH I've been seeing theories like this floating around! Also somebody pointed out that for a VERY brief second when Kieran punches the monument his fist glows purple. Whether that was bc the monument was just reacting to his negative emotions OR bc the Momotaro Pokemon was interfering and using Kieran to revive the Lousy Three remains to be seen but there's very compelling evidence that something happened in that moment 👀

I can definitely see the Momotaro Pokemon seeing Kieran's conflict and deciding to use it to its advantage. Idk if Kieran is acting out willingly or if the Momotaro Pokemon is twisting his emotions and really making him have a toxic obsession with strength but I can't WAIT to find out what's going on there.

God I'm SUCH a slut for puppet master situations like this. Is the character in question lashing out of their own free will? Or are they being manipulated to do so? Are they genuinely spiraling due to trauma or abuse or whatever else or are they being drawn into a trap? AGHHH.

Love this theory and your take on it and you are SO right Kieran teaming up with the Momotaro Pokemon would be the cherry on top of the absolute mess of a cake that we've gotten. I need the Indigo Disc YESTERDAY I'm going to lose my mind when it releases