#why get therapy when bard?

[ellekhen]

A Psalm for a Fallen God

Summary:

To put it nicely, Magnolian "Mags" Grimwick is a bard down on their luck. But what still brings them purpose is forty years of devotion to the god of ambition, Dekarios, poured into the words sung from their mouth and strummed upon their lyre. After receiving an unexpected burst of inspiration, the astonished bard finds themselves invited by the god himself for an opportunity to perform their magnum opus for him — an epic song about the Gale Dekarios's mortal life, trials, and triumphs.

However, gods are as fickle as mortal men. When Mags strikes the wrong chord regarding Dekarios's late, mortal lover, they find that their dream come true might actually be a nightmare.

Inspired by and takes place before the time-traveling, parallel universe events of @grovyrosegirl's Tav/Gale fic, "In Another Life (I Found You)."

Pairing: Gale x Fem Tav (Past) Rating: Teen Length: 5.86K words

Excerpt below:

Mags’s song weaves together what they could uncover of the mortal life Dekarios once led — a human man from Waterdeep whose life had been devoted to sharing the beauty of magic. It recounts his childhood, his talented youth, his eventual romance with the goddess of magic, Mystra herself.

His devotion, his ill-fated, misplaced theft of what he would eventually turn into the Galerian Weave.

His epic adventure led to the discovery and creation of the Galerian Weave and his ascendance into godhood.

The details have become foggy to time and hearsay, but it is during the sixth verse that Mags recalls —

"A beauty from Rivington, so proud and fierce, Her eyes of honey and her hair of gold, Dekarios looked within his heart, And the memory of her, shall never grow old."

Dekarios straightens up slowly upon this throne, resting his head upon his hand as he listens.

“‘Stay,' she pled, but alas he fled, To the heavens he went Til’ his lover lay dead — " 

“That’s not how it happened.” 

Mags chokes their strumming at once at Dekarios’s interjection, a cold chill gripping their heart. 

“Ah, yes of course, your grace,” the bard babbles. “It’s only… I had to take some creative liberties, you see. I only had secondhand accounts to work off of, after all.”

“I didn’t abandon her!” Dekarios gesticulates agitatedly. “I came back — I found her, spoke with her, and asked her to ascend to godhood by my side!” 

“Oh,” Mags utters, mortified. “I… I didn’t... know… that…?”

“But in the end she refused,” Dekarios continues without acknowledging the gnome’s mumbling. “I don’t understand why, but she stayed and yes, I left, but…”

Lost in thought, he trails off, his expression troubled. 

Mags sits there for what feels like a full minute before carefully setting aside their lyre. 

“If I may, your grace…” the bard ventures tentatively. “Forgive my… embellishments. My generalizations. I am so blessed that you brought me here, for now I have the opportunity to hear the tale from the source of truth. Perhaps you can set the record straight? That way your story — and hers — can be done justice?”

Dekarios eyes them warily.

“What do you wish to know?”

[ishtar7677]

This was a Christmas gift to me and my husband from our GM of our very first characters that we ever TTRPG'ed (Pathfinder) who commissioned this from @cutetanuki-chan. (The picture is from me taking a picture and cropping at a weird angle - the whole thing in its frame is stunning.) These two characters (Chrissy and Odhran) met when our game night people were like... hey let's try pathfinder. So I made a character and so did my husband and after meeting them, I was like... oh god... we are gonna get divorced. Lol. We were struggling at the time. And we made these characters and god, they hated each other so much..... but eventually found their way to being friends. But they were our first characters EVER. The next character my husband rolled up in this campaign (we needed to double up to round out a playable campaign), my rogue eventually formed a romantic attachment with. Then I made a bard for a totally separate campaign, and now we're both determined that he meet Chrissy at some point b/c within MINUTES of meeting my bard in a totally unrelated campaign, we were like, okay he's soulmates with Chrissy! But that's the magic right? Finding the parts of ourselves unexpectedly that can be completely accepting of other parts of our partner... even the parts of them that we thought we didn't like, want to be around, or understand to begin with. (CAUTION WARNING: let the reader understand, do NOT use this story to excuse abuse or bad behavior to try to fix a partner! This is an exercise that can ONLY be done with a feeling of absolute safety and trust between partners. We were not there when we started TTRPGS but got to a better place of trust due to his own personal work with therapy. But there were MASSIVE strides before I even trusted it. ) We joked tonight after our friend gave us this picture that Odhran (my rogue) saw this picture and was like oh GOD, what hell-fan of Chrissy (actress) did this? Why do I look like I'm worshipping her? GAHHH nOoOo. But....Odhran can also shut all the way up. :) What ultimately makes me as the player love this picture so much is probably the underpinnings of a romanticism depiction. These two characters, while they never and will never fall in love, in a meta sense, they were the gateway for us into several characters who did help us rediscover love again after years in a very difficult marriage, find a adhd hack into new relationship energy through RPing, and just provide us an outlet for a lot of intense emotional energy. And this artist, despite knowing NONE of this, captured its essence in a two completely non-romantic character portrait. @cutetanuki-chan you knew none of this and still managed to capture it perfectly. This picture will hang proudly in our house and I will enjoy explaining it to anyone who walks through our doors. Your depiction of HERO FORGE characters being so accurate is stupid impressive. Also shout out to our GM, Grace, who actively sought this out for us. What a perfect present. We couldn't ask for a better GM or a better friend. You're family and we love you so much.

[ambrosearietes]

We (and by that I mean myself) demand more headcanons cuz they go hard asf😈

i have so many i’m gonna break these up by character. i will only do like the major ones. these are not all my headcanons just my big ones.

ADAM

despite living in slavic countries for most of his life, adam speaks english with a british accent because he learned it from anthony. he can also do a perfect american accent because he played WAAAAAAAYYYYYY too much fallout

adam is autistic (this one actually is canon, i mean come On dude) but also has ADHD and C-PTSD

scrawny because he was malnourished during his time as d-class. very insecure about it.

he and sylvester sloan know each other through anthony. i mentioned that sloan babysat adam occasionally, i was completely serious. he let adam watch star wars and adam literally wanted to BE luke skywalker.

yeah luke was his gender awakening

uses she/her to refer to his younger self from before anthony saved him as a coping mechanism— in reality he’s trying to deny that it even happened to him in the first place.

smokes weed when the team is off. calvin does not approve.

marries harvey in every stardew valley playthrough.

romances halsin in baldur’s gate 3.

cracked at fromsoft games.

CALVIN

bisexual, he just doesn’t realize it.

calvin is a gamer. he had adam build him a setup. they play together. adam beats his fucking ass in everything and makes fun of him for it.

really, really bad habit of bottling his emotions (which is why olivia keeps dumping him)

was ~19 when he got arrested for the stuff hyun-ki mentioned. vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence is considered a felony charge.

grew up in the midwest. talks like a midwestern dad.

his aunt owns a horse ranch. calvin REALLY likes horses as a result.

he once promised adam to take him to meet his horse and teach him to ride after everything. poor guys :(

he and aaron would have had a father-son relationship.

he was a very “difficult” child due to him not being believed about his mother’s death. he had no idea how to cope with it. often got into fights, which is why his aunt ended up sending him to boarding school. she got a lot of calls even when he was there because calvin just. got into a fuckton of fights.

he didn’t go to therapy until the insurgency MADE HIM go to therapy.

legally can’t drive. doesn’t give a fuck.

he would occasionally let adam just lay on top of him like a cat. he thought it was platonic. like just guys being dudes.

would be a good father.

if he saw his dad again he’d shoot the guy without any hesitation.

blames the foundation’s negligence for his mom’s death.

likes planes a lot.

OLIVIA

sees adam as her little brother. they’re extremely close by O5-3’s chapter. she’s rather protective and very quick to defend him.

adam taught her to play dungeons and dragons and gives her book recommendations. she plays a halfling life-domain cleric/college of swords bard (multiclassing)

loves mystery novels.

adam introduced her to stardew valley. she usually marries leah.

bisexual. does not know this.

easily frustrated with calvin because calvin is terrible at communicating his feelings. calvin is trying to work on this. it’s going terribly. despite this, calvin is very affectionate with her and she does how open he is with that.

very relationship-centric person. this is mostly because she didn’t get much characterization in twie.

keeps a sketchbook. mostly doodles flowers.

her and sophia would have gotten along amazingly.

likes to dabble in poetry.

would romance wyll in bg3

huge fan of law and order. adam questions her taste in television shows.

if she had procreate she’d be fucking unstoppable.

i don’t have much on her bc characterization is so lacking :((

would have gladly taken sam (O5-11) with her back to the insurgency. deeply regrets that she didn’t. she thinks about sam a LOT, it genuinely haunts her. like she will try to sleep and she’ll just hear that gunshot and want to throw up.

VINCENT ARIANS / ANTHONY WRIGHT

i don’t remember if i mentioned this in the last post but vincent is a cat person. had a cat named mira. she was a calico.

insomniac.

in his ‘ideal world’ he would have lived with aaron and been able to raise adam.

very, very envious of people with ‘normal lives’.

we don’t know much about what vincent did in the foundation— the dialogue from O5-13 at the end of the children matches up with what he tells aaron in the apartment scene so i assume vincent was felix’s predecessor and felix held another number. as for what he did, we do know he was, like, an ACTUAL engineer who designed bombs at some point (stated in O5-5’s chapter); he could have been in charge of security.

it’s implied he had a second-in-command type position under aaron and likely was on the first delta command before his first ‘disappearance’, unless he wrote the summa modus operandi then just vanished off the face of the fucking earth for a while.

records of vincent are next to impossible to find within the insurgency as he worked so closely with the engineer and they don’t even know who the engineer was.

aaron thought vincent was dead until he received reports of anthony wright working with calvin.

anthony and sloan were good friends and out of all members of delta command during the way it ends, he respected sloan the most. anthony would have considered an actual relationship with him if he wasn’t like “no, i’m probably gonna disappear again or just straight up die soon anyway.” anthony was right, he did in fact die.

sloan knew who vincent arians was, he just had no idea that anthony and vincent were the same person.

genuinely, anthony wanted to die.

adam gave him a reason to live outside of vengeance.

GENUINELY sees adam as his son. he’s a bit harsh on him during TWIE because he never wanted adam in the insurgency at all. he and adam had a conversation at some point where anthony expressed this and told adam he wished the latter just went to a good college and worked in programming or IT.

would not have been able to kill calvin had he made it to the end. would also have not been able to kill aaron.

frederick traumatized this man just as much as he traumatized aaron, vincent just absolutely refuses to acknowledge it.

sophia knew about vincent’s love for aaron and may have even encouraged it.

if his love for aaron was reciprocated, they likely had a relationship while aaron was with the insurgency and tried to be secretive about it but felix carter just “I know what you are.”

he would be very sweet as a lover. very sappy. hopeless romantic. given who he was in love with, are we even surprised?

cigarettes are part of how he started aging again.

the insurgency kind of knows he’s older than he looks, they just say he’s in his fifties because he looks like it, but even TWIE says he’s been around as long as anyone can remember. likely, vincent surfaced as anthony wright around the same time that sylvester sloan joined the insurgency.

his plan in case anyone saw any old photos of vincent and noticed that he looked eerily similar to anthony was to say that he’s vincent arians’ grandson and that his mother was arians’ daughter.

vincent had no children, but he did like being around kids.

during his years with the foundation he’d often lock himself in his lab just to cry. aaron often checked in on him.

frederick repeatedly called him aaron’s dog as a joke that vincent found very not funny. vincent/anthony isn’t really big on dogs because of this.

if anthony saw adam today he’d be immensely proud.

if anthony had made it to the end he would have tried to make aaron tell him why he left. aaron would not have been able to tell him.

anthony was a bit scared of how much like aaron calvin is.

would have liked O5-11 if they met.

AARON SIEGEL / O5-1 “THE MAN WITH THE INFINITY GUN,” “THE FOUNDER”

if you claim to be frederick’s #1 hater and you’re not aaron siegel then you’re fucking lying.

very sappy romantic, similar to vincent, but only with sophia. she thinks it’s adorable. he just really loves his wife a lot.

cannot let go of anything for shit. if he was at the scene of vincent’s death he would have tried to bring him back.

had a very weird father-child relationship with sam.

tolerated most of the other O5s at best, especially rufus (O5-6) and valerie (O5-7).

felix has always been his favorite aside from sophia (and vincent during the insurgency days)

borderline personality disorder

capable of straight up hanging up on frederick. this annoys the absolute fuck out of frederick.

PETTIEST BITCH IN THE WOOOORRRLLLDDD he’s like a fucking crow

sees mortimer (O5-5) as family because he’s the grandfather of alison chao, at least in other realities. mortimer gets along well with aaron.

very easily sent into overstimulation, it’s unknown why. he’s only ever perfectly calm in a sensory deprivation chamber.

extremely pale.

lives at overwatch. often falls asleep at his desk or on the fucking floor.

wreck of a man, but a surprisingly exceptional leader when he actually feels like leading instead of letting valerie handle things.

the other O5s don’t even know much about him.

visits san marco as much as he can.

FREDERICK WILLIAMS / THE ADMINISTRATOR

obsessed with the string theory, literally discovered it before the idea was even conceived.

had a wife and daughter, both died horribly. his daughter was extremely young and he’s a tad bit obsessed with the idea of bringing her back. driven by grief but also the fact he’s just a Bad Person in General

extremely manipulative (canon), but also just likes to fuck with people.

sometimes he doesn’t even call aaron or calvin he just speaks into their heads.

sometimes he’ll just call them and ask shit like this. aaron would hang up on him but calvin can’t.

can manifest however he wants, he usually chooses the phone.

reality bender (canon) and extremely powerful at it. like it’s lowkey concerning.

god complex.

totally the kind of guy to go “no don’t kill me im just a girl”

adam ivanov as the engineer would beat the shit out of him if given the chance.

what aaron described in the apartment scene was literal psychological torture. aaron was not the only person he subjected, just his favorite punching bag.

aaron, near the end of his life, got him a world’s worst boss mug and kept it next to the phone. calvin got a second one just to drive the point home.

a bit obsessed with antediluvian anomalies (project paragon). talks to calvin about them extensively.

hated vincent for no real reason he was just a bitch.

[decarabiandivorce]

Tbh the sheer magnitude of angst potential that decarabian has is untapped. Imagine thinking everyone loves you, that you know you’re taking care of them and they appreciate what you do for them, that people look up to you in respect. But in reality your kingdom is falling apart, everyone including your own wife hates you and your actions, simply because you’re blind to the world around you, trying and trying to protect everyone but nearly everyone else thinks you’re trying to hurt them. You have so much love in you for everyone you know that it system overflows into hatred, apathy, and obsession, and the two people who could ever have the potential to truly understand you and your motives are both plotting together to kill you

(he needs therapy)

😔 he needs both therapy and a divorce. Those who hated him realized they couldn't do anything about it just left. They would rather embrace the cold than defy him. No wonder why the only people left in his city were those who 'respected' him. Its survivorship bias. The naysayers are all outside his walls and so of course only the yes-men were in earshot.

Also yeah once Amos is like "you know what? I should leave him!". Decarabian starts to Spiral. Its not healthy at all, and it effects him a lot. Amos was completely justified in leaving him, and thats why i think Decarabian's winds get even worse. You know how there were tornadoes and such when Dvalin attacked the city? Yeah. Yeah.... Anemo guy gets abandonment issue 3.0 and acts like a dragon.

This just makes his citizen hate him even more, driving more people to the Nameless Bard's side. Oh once he realizes that all of them are on that bard's side he's going to blame the bard for everything. "Things were perfect until you came along!" Type of monologues. Its a mutual hatred, NB hates Deca for stuff that Deca didn't even do. They should stab each other :)

I can just imagine him at the top of his tower, the halls are as silent as they always been but its only now he can sense the *missingness* of it all. He knows something is wrong. He knows that he isn't happy. But he refuses to wake up. His throne glitters while the stone beneath him shatters. For the first time in a long time he feels emotions other than content. Anger. Despair. Bitterness. Guilt.

If he surrendered would he be able to see Amos again? See his citizens again.

Thats such a silly thought! He's trying to protect them! There is a war outside!

But Andrius's blizzards are weakening. When was the last time that wolf fought against his winds

When was the last time he went outside and talked to anyone

Everything is fine! Its perfect.

He misses her so much. He misses her so much. He misses her so much. Amos where did you go? Are you eating well? Are you cold? Your ring is right in my hand. Please come back. Please. You would do anything for her

Well, besides what she wanted.

Was happiness worth the lack of protection?

[keldae]

Get To Know Your Tav

Tagged by the lovely @starknstarwars -- thank you! <3 Throwing a tag out to whoever has also been infected with the BG3 brainrot and wants to gush about their babies. ;)

Leeeeet's talk about Deviali Nulys, aka Devi!

What is your tav’s favorite weapon?

Devi's first weapon is her words. She's a smooth talker, and rolls decently high (most of the time) on her persuasion checks! She can usually talk her way out of trouble. Second-favourite weapons are her knives. Her brother Jehn taught her how to fight with daggers when she was eight or so, and she learned to keep a backup pair of knives in her boots/in her inventory for if she ever lost her main weapons.

style of combat?

DIRTY. Devi has no aversions to biting (unless it's a goblin... eww.), kicking, elbowing, ambushing her foes, or throwing sand/mud/warg shit/whatever at her enemies. If it gives her an edge, she'll take it! Considering she's a Smol for a half-Elf, it's easy to push her around or physically overwhelm her -- best to take down her bigger enemies quickly and decisively. She's picked up using a bow over the course of her adventure, so she can shoot with pretty good aim (and loooooves her lightning arrows), but she would rather use her knives.

most prized possession?

Remember those backup daggers Devi keeps in her boots? Those were a gift on her tenth birthday from Jehn -- and after he ran away from home, they were all she had left of him. She would rather cut her ears off than give those up! Her lockpicks have gotten her into (and out of) more than a few tight spots too. She learned how to play the violin as a teenager, but her asshole of a father destroyed her violin that Jehn had stolen for her; she picks up a new violin in Act I, and it's a prized possession now.

deepest desire?

She wants answers for what happened to her mother, who disappeared when she was about five. She has her suspicions, but nothing she can confirm. (She also wants her father and some of his friends to die slowly and painfully.)

And after the events of the game, she wants to personally murder Shar, and to punch Mystra in the face, godhood status be damned.

guilty pleasure?

Trashy bodice-ripping romance stories. She and Shadowheart compare notes regularly. ;) Even if she struggles to read easily, thanks to her childhood lack of education, she puts in the effort for those!

best-kept secret?

Pre-game: She's a SA survivor, and she's got some trauma from that. But she keeps that secret under wraps -- she won't talk about it unless she absolutely has to. (Honestly, this girl needed therapy even before the game.) Post-game: Look, she has no idea who drew a large mustache on every statue of Mystra in the Lower City, but she wishes she could kiss that person on the mouth, honest, Mister Interrogating Cleric! (It was totally her, with Astarion's help. Gale pretends he doesn't know anything about it. Mystra is not amused.)

greatest strength?

Her loyalty. She trusts very few people, but those whom she trusts and loves, she is very much the ride-or-die friend. (See also: why she wants to kill Shar and punch Mystra.)

fatal flaw?

Her temper and her insecurities. She is a wee bit fiery and will throw hands when provoked. And she's so afraid of being abandoned again that she tries to give off the impression that she's self-sufficient and doesn't need anyone's help -- she won't accept help until she either trusts someone (which, again, doesn't come easily for her) or she's desperate.

favourite smell?

Pre-game: flowers in the public parks in the Lower City, the scent of tea steeping. Post-game: Gale, the books in his library, and the flowers he frequently brings home for her since he knows she loves them.

favourite spell or cantrip?

She doesn't have access to any spells of her own (unless I up the difficulty level of my game enough to multi-class her as a bard)! But she highly appreciates a good usage of Vicious Mockery.

pet peeve?

Cracking knuckles. She haaaaaaates that sound.

bad habit?

She does not put things away correctly. She has a bad habit of leaving whatever she's reading/playing with/working on out in the open and forgetting about it until it's in the way. It drives Gale bonkers. She also swears like a pirate... and can drink like one, too.

hidden talent?

She's an excellent violin player, and can sing surprisingly well! The rest of the Tadfools figured out she can sing quite by accident after a drink-off at the tiefling party in their camp during Act I. She doesn't sing often, since she's very self-conscious about her voice, but her friends try to get her to sing something for them regularly. She also claims she hasn't yet met the lock that she can't pick. ;)

leisure activity?

Playing new tunes on her violin. She can't read music very well, but she can remember a tune like nobody's business -- if she hears a song once or twice, she'll probably remember it.

favourite drink?

She used to just get the cheap wine at the taverns that she frequented, but Gale's gotten her used to the finer tastes in life, so she's grown to appreciate the good wine in his cellar. She also likes tea in the mornings!

comfort food?

Her favourite food is pumpkin soup, from one itty-bitty tavern in the Lower City. Gale has learned to replicate it perfectly, much to her delight.

favourite person(s)?

Gale, for obvious reasons.

Her older half-brother, Jehn (and by extension, his partner, Ferrus).

Shadowheart, Wyll, Astarion, and Karlach become her best non-romantic friends over the course of their adventure.

Do Scratch and the owlbear cub (who she and Halsin name Garmus) count?

favoured display of affection (platonic and/or romantic)?

She's very touchy with the people she loves. With her platonic friends or her brother, she'll lean on them, or nudge them, or sometimes kiss their cheeks if she's feeling very touchy. With Gale, she'll almost always be in contact with him in some way, whether that's leaning against him, or playing with his hair, or kissing him -- his lips, his cheek, his neck, whatever.

fondest childhood memory?

She barely remembers her Elf mother, but she can remember one day when she was curled up on her mother's lap, Jehn sitting on the floor beside them, and listening to her mother sing a song in her native tongue. She doesn't clearly remember the lyrics anymore, but she can just remember the tune, and she remembers how comfortable and safe she felt in her mama's arms with her big brother right there.

free-response! Is there anything else about your Tav you’d like to share?

I think Devi is trying to learn magic post-game in Waterdeep! She won't enrol in the Academy, but she does try to get Gale to teach her some basic spells.

[song-writer-melo-wrath]

~durge aus~

Behemoth: the one who was already a durge, so let's reverse it

gold-seeking flirtatious adventurer who is revealed to actually prefer being quiet and truthful

outlander background???

Takes one look at Karlach and immediately starts an arc from "I have to act confident in what I'm doing since she's new to this" to "[internal sobbing] what if we,,,kissed,,,and hellldd,hahandsds,,,"

Athmoth:

all the previous trauma still exists. it's just now combined with durge trauma.

It's not exactly gonna be fic material (most likely [except for that one time]) so I'll go into it here ig: the thing I considered for them was that the amnesia removes the durge memories...but not what happened before durge things

a certain archfey avatar is very. very worried.

they have huge Orpheus from Hades energy

Quietly clings to people sometimes when it gets to be Too Much

Sir that is their emotional support vampire

Harper:

WHY.

My man is plagued with murderous urges and fucking sobbing the entire time

[SAD ACCORDION NOISES]

Oh god what do you think happened to the rats. Oh no. The rats.

The world is empty and meaningless place- omg Wyll hi!!!

yeah I imagine pre-amnesia this guy just kinda dissociated from every murder to remain cheerful

post amnesia he doesn't exactly know how to do that anymore

Lemming:

WHY. X2

Plagued with murderous urges and fucking sobbing the entire time, the sequel

Lemming, clinging to Lae'zel like a lifeline "is this normal for gith BECAUSE I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT BEING A GITH IS LIKE-"

SELUNE. SEND HELP. SEND ALL THE HELP.

their romance with Shadowheart now has the tragedy of "whether you hate me for things out of my control or love me at least you're looking at me. please look at me so I can know who I am."

pre-amnesia murder was probably somewhat scientific for them. they're efficient, so they don't think about it too much.

Mythos:

[MANIACAL LAUGHTER]

Oh they will not hesitate, bitch

"you feel an urge to murder" "alright murder it is" "wait wh-"

[A MAN HAS FALLEN INTO THE RIVER IN BALDUR'S GATE]

they don't remember they had the title of nightmare bard but once they learn they're probably just like "yeah sounds about right"

karmyth remains tragic as hell but less because mythos is haunted by their actions and more because WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE DOOMED BY THE NARRATIVE. I WOULD KILL ANYONE WHO TRIED TO TOUCH YOU.

gortash: [misses them] mythos, local aro: [lol]

[shaking them] please get therapy we are all begging you PLEASE GET THERAPY-

raph can you like keep them behind bars. it's for the greater good trust me.

Noon (already a durge, haven't developed them much so this'll be interesting):

Noon's path in a non-durge au would probably depend on who gets to them first. Big peer pressure person.

Once it gets to the point where they have contradicting sides to this it'll get…complicated.

ace attorney style debate would need to happen

hey Noon, maybe you'll actually get to develop a personality (not just out of character. in character they're very passive until directed, down to emotions and wants)

[looks at their relationship with Minthara] ... oh, this'll be interesting.

yeah, Noon remains uh. not the best person.

the rest of the gang were already non-dnd OCs that I just made bg3 tavs, so they probably wouldn't fit this v well, but ye

[pokidot]

MANDELA — CHARACTERS (2)

VENTI — Even with his extensive litter of awards from multiple sources of generational, yet bridled talent, Venti hated being active. Nothing irked him more than being a member of society. There’s time he wanted to shave his head and become a nomad, or maybe even a bard in medieval times playing at his tiny little harp, or playing a harmonica in prison. It’s not because he didn’t have ambition, he just didn’t want to be bothered. So, in retrospect, he shocked himself a little when something so ridiculous interested him so much that he wanted to tag along. It was like he had hearts in his eyes the minute he saw that ugly looking creature on the first slide of your presentation. Who knew your chaos would be his stimulus?

XIAO — It wasn’t his idea to start the Chess Club at the university— it was Venti’s. Even with that in mind, Xiao still was credited. His name was plastered everywhere on those fliers to join the chess club, and he hated it. Heizou’s dedicated advertising got them nowhere, and in result, all of the attendants pretty much got away with not doing anything during chess club. It was cool for a while, Xiao finally got to catch up on his studies. And then it started to become every day…where he would sit there with the rest of his friends and do nothing. It was driving him insane; he usually liked being alone, why would he want to spend time every single day with his friends? He’s not even the self appointed leader, they just made him that because he was the most responsible. Inertly, he was relieved that you gave them something to do, because he was on the cusp of going M.I.A.

AETHER — He was many things, but one thing he’ll never be is a pussy. He was so adamant at one point that he and his sister were from a bloodline of ghosts? Like, they were never human at all, they’ve just been ghosts their entire lives. As if they were meant to be soulless, and bloodless beings. He got that thought after one day leaving a organization for charity (it ended up being a cult. Apparently, they kept trying to convince him that “the spirits are watching him and he needed to be enlightened”. His friends told him that he’s crazy, and he thought it was bullshit too, up until he took a DNA test and it turned out he was 99% of everything. Now, he lives in paranoia that everything he says is a test from his ancestors, and is going through this extensive identity crisis. You were no gospel, but even you thought he needed therapy.

HEIZOU — You were scared of him, and he was the reason why you thought there wasn’t a single normal person in Kuni’s friend group (you were elated). For some reason, after Heizou found the IP address to one of the biggest bandits in Inazuma at the time and beat him to a pulp, he started thinking bigger but he didn’t start thinking better. He’s currently looking for a notorious drug cartel leader who’s never been caught before, and he is stopping at nothing to find something that will get him closer to the truth. His goal is to wipe out the Top Ten Most Wanted Criminals list, and as a university student? That is a bigger dream than you’ve ever thought of in your entire life.

KAZUHA — It was the university’s idea to appoint people to take care of the souvenir shop they had, and every single time, Kazuha was always the one who ended up taking responsibility. Nobody comes to the souvenir shop except people who are just traveling, so he ends up doing absolutely nothing there except cleaning and restocking. Except there’s nothing to restock. Because nobody goes in there, but for some reason, students and professors alike more than often come in to get an astrology reading from the woman at the back of the store, Mona. She even gives them coupons, are you kidding me? He didn’t even care about the souvenir shop that much until she started shimmying in stealing his nonexistent business? And ever since then, he’s been silently competing for her business, and Mona doesn’t even know it. If this ghost hunting club didn’t come into his life, he was pretty sure he would’ve went insane sooner.

HU TAO — The girl who keeps following you around the university? You’ve noticed she’s always where you are ever since your presentation, but you’re not sure what she wants.

prev | masterlist

NOTES || i've come to realize that the reason why i go in depth with these characters is because i have no character of my own 😒 (spongebob disappointed noise)

TAGLIST: @wisteriarain @akagism2 @murderisokayforme @aeongiies @d4y-dr3am3r @truck-kuns-gf @3lysiaa @ayoitsmarie33 @crucnhice @natsuscrustyscarf @dreamsofminnie @zuchilovescats @goj0h @cicibao @xirthia @kylexzz @dollpoetwriting @dreamingkace

[carmendeiact2whenplz]

Amos for the character!

First impression: “she’s cool :) but i don’t really care about her that much tbh, nameless bard supremacy” (i don’t actually remember what my first impression of her was)

Current impression- “AMOS MY GIRL :( YOU DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER. Not enough people talk about her outside of the concept of her weapon :( the average genshin player probably has no idea who she is :(“

Favorite moment: When she tried to kill decarabian (we know very little about it outside of her bow’s description, but I assume it must have been a very emotionally charged moment and I hope we learn more about it)

Idea for a story: I would love to read something about her post-rebellion grieving over deca (her and nb survive), and having conflicting feelings over “I genuinely did care about him and I hate how things ended” and “I hope he burns in hell forever.” It would be cool if gunnhildr comforts her while she’s doing so and then they kiss but in general, old mond gang comforts amos post-rebellion. how does this not exist yet (to my knowledge)?

Unpopular opinion: I don’t know enough opinions about her to tell if this is unpopular, but I think she never fully got over decarabian. Even until the very end deep down she still did care about him, whether as her lover or as her enemy. She would like to have an actual conversation with him one last time.

Favorite relationship: Since we don’t know much else, her relationship with deca is so tragic and just. ough. why do so many people not know about them. they’re lovers they’re friends they’re married they’re divorced they hate eachother they need couples therapy they’re enemies they care about eachother they want eachother to get out of their lives. i’m sososososo normal

Favorite headcanon: Unfortunately I don’t really have many headcanons for her, but I like to think that if she and deca were actually married, at some point she sold her wedding ring (most likely super expensive with. Way Too Many diamonds on it) for a ton of money and used some of it to fund the rebellion. Bonus points if no one knew she did it

[shatter-song]

I think I'll just post just the 1st chs of my ongoing stories and that's it. like I'll post updates when I finish them but these will be my main examples for people at how I'm doing writing wise

so this ch 1 of my melodybeast centered fic!

Oh. This is bad.

 

Viney doesn't know why it took her this long to realize that but it did.

 

Ever since Hunter's second arrival to Hexside and telling everyone the truth about the Day of Unity, all the kids were thrown into hysteria.

 

And who could blame them? The former Golden Guard comes to their school, tells them that the Day of Unity is actually a planned out mass genocide of all living things on the Isles and only the mass believers of Belos would laugh in their face.

 

Thankfully, Viney has always been a nonbeliever.

 

She mentally thanks her parent for instilling that in her.

 

But then it was the Day of Unity. Those with sigils nearly died, her friends go missing (whenever someone is saying that they could be dead, she asks Skara to cast a silencing spell because she might end up fistfighting someone), her Nobi goes missing, and all the kids are left alone.

 

She recalls Matt saying he doesn't know whether or not Glandus is okay which led her to wonder if the kids from other schools got branded or not.

 

(Are they alone, too?)

 

Regardless, none of them are showing up.

 

A week into the apocalypse, with every adult at Hexside turned into a puppet (because of Boscha, the darker parts of her mind provides) and many more missing, the realization what's happened sets in for every kid.

 

Then came the tears.

 

Everyone not in kindergarten was in charge now for the kindergarten kids. Their parents were either missing or puppets. No one was coming to help them.

 

They're on their own.

 

Yeah. This is totally not good.

This year is going in the therapy books. If those will even continue to exist anymore.

 

They have to get supplies. The kids – Oh yeah, she's one, too – were in this for the long haul, Titan forbid anyone think otherwise.

 

Which leads to now.

 

Ordinarily, Viney would be one of the witches to stay because of her capability in healing. Kat is... not here, Emira is inexperienced with major injuries that are more common than ever and is also taking care of Edric, and Bo is good but far too tired from the past few days alone.

 

And that's just naming a few. Viney is sure she could make a whole book listing the problems healers alone have right now.

 

However, with Matt busy in staging a coup, and the healing homeroom not actually packed for once, Viney volunteered to look for supplies.

 

Like hell she would live on school lunch for the rest of her life.

 

"If I knew that the apocalypse would come last week, I would've dressed more comfortably." Skara says irritably.

 

"Yeah, scavenging around in school uniform does not bode well for days in a row." Jerbo replies with a low note of humor.

 

Herself, Barcus, Jerbo, and Skara are scavenging the hollowed out town that was Bonesborough.

 

Apparently, there's some kind of schedule with how the Collector acts – at least, that's the best way to put it.

 

The morning to the afternoon was "playtime". The night until morning was "bedtime". It's coming into conflict to what she thought the Collector to be. Regardless of those thoughts, one thing is for certain.

 

The Collector is dangerous. And very powerful but that goes without saying.

 

"What should we look for first?" Barcus woofs from the front of the group.

 

"Hang on," Skara halts. "I made a list." The bard takes out a folded sheet of paper. She unfolds it then reads outloud.

 

"Okay so, we need some clothes for the kindergarten kids after they tore theirs while hunting down lockers."

 

Jerbo groans while Viney pats his back in sympathy. "That's gonna be a common occurrence, isn't it?"

 

"Yeah... We also need food, seeds for the plant track students – any will do, and some extra sleeping bags."

 

"Okay," Viney starts, "Let's head for the marketplace then. We'll find what we need there."

 

The trek wasn't hard. They ran into little to no trouble because... well, there wasn't anything. The streets were empty and quiet. It was wrong. Everything about this was wrong but now isn't the time to have a crisis.

 

She can save that for later.

 

"We should split up." Skara suggests, "We shouldn't run into much trouble but I'd rather not risk anything. You guys got invisibility glyphs?"

 

The trio nods then Skara continues, "Alright. Viney, you're with me. We'll scour the Ceilingmart. Barcus, you and Jerbo check the stands."

 

Ah. Hm.

 

Viney doesn't mind at all going with Skara but that doesn't stop this bubbling feeling in her from rising.

 

It's not the first time either.

 

"I think Skara is poisoning me." Viney says, one day. The two of them are inside the room of shortcuts except for Barcus.

 

Jerbo looks away from the potted abomination he was crafting. "What?"

 

"I think Skara is poisoning me."

 

"Why do you think that?"

 

"So, you know how when you're slowly poisoned overtime, you would feel weird in your stomach?" Viney gestures to him like this is completely normal.

 

...

 

"No, Viney. I wouldn't know." Jerbo says with a completely blank face and straight lined mouth.

 

"Okay, good."

 

"Oh my Titan, Viney."

 

"Anyways, that's what happening to me for like... a week now. I would just feel sweaty and like, I would feel my heart pounding so much faster than it should." Viney said.

 

"And you're sure this is her poisoning you? " Jerbo questions. At this point, neither of them are paying attention to whatever task they're supposed to complete. This is clearly more important.

 

"Well... no. But those are the symptoms of being poisoned, so..."

 

"Alright, there has to be more to this."

 

There is. Thank Titan that Jerbo is a good listener.

 

Viney would sometimes stare for a little too long. Think about her at nearly anytime of the day. Remember the littlest of things that just seem important to her. All that.

 

Then, Jerbo manages to develop the answer. He narrows his eyes. "That's not her poisoning you, Viney. That means you have a crush on her."

 

Oh.

 

Yeah. Oh. In hindsight, it was probably stupid to think she was poisoning her.

 

Whatever, this is where the problem comes in. What does she do about this?

 

She's never had a crush before. On anyone. What if she ruins their friendship? What if Skara hated her for it?

 

What if this wasn't a crush and she's just panicing over nothing? What if Skara actually reciprocates her "feelings" only to break up later?

 

Viney doesn't want to hurt her. She's been through enough hurt by her own friends as it is.

 

"Viney?"

 

The beastkeeper blinks, her intrusive thoughts disappearing as she takes in the present. She sees Skara looking at her in concern. Her cricket palisman is on her shoulder mirroring her witch's look.

 

"Yeah, what's up?"

 

Skara points to where Viney was originally looking. "You were just, uh, staring down those pots like it had done something to you."

 

Viney looks to where the bard is pointing. Ah, right. Since they can't go outdoors, they'll have to grow crops from pots.

 

"Sorry, just thinking about which pots to get. I'm not in the plant track so I don't know which one to get."

 

Ugh. Thinking about school romance of all things when you're supposed to be getting supplies for an entire school body? Seriously?

 

Get it together, Vernal.

 

"I guess that makes sense." The bard purses her lips in consideration. "Maybe I should've sent Jerbo here instead."

 

Viney shrugs, "Eh, it's fine. We could just come back if we need to. Not like they're going anywhere. I think." She turns to Skara, "Are pots sentient?"

 

That earns her a chuckle which in turn makes the healer smile.

 

For a moment, everything's right. This one moment they can ignore the apocalyptic setting around them and just be kids.

 

So it's only a matter of time before something goes wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They weren't supposed to be here.

 

It was nighttime. Isn't that the Collector's bedtime? Do these things just have minds of their own?

 

Skara quickly plays a few notes on her lyre and the star is shoved into a nearby building by bard magic.

 

Jerbo uses a vine as some kind of lasso and drags another star down so Barcus could destroy it with a bite infused with oracle magic.

 

And Viney? Well, she's good at defense so defend is what she'll do. Puddles is... also not here so the best she could do is conjure shields whenever the time arises.

 

The shields are hands at least so she could swat them away like vampflies.

 

But this is getting too much.

 

"Barcus, look out!" Viney shouts.

 

Barcus yips and jumps up to dodge a spy's puppet-transforming magic before Jerbo catches him in his arms.

 

"We gotta fall back!" Jerbo yells and Barcus barks in agreement.

 

Viney makes a wide spell circle and the four are surrounded by a giant dark blue dome. It immediately cracks under the attacks recieved by their enemies.

 

Thankfully, quick thinking and improvisation are skills that you need if you were to be a delinquent a few months ago. And also a survivor in the apocalypse now.

 

"Grab hands and use an invisibility glyph then run like hell into the alleyways!" Viney commands.

 

Skara grabs Viney's hand – Oh Titan, calm down, it's literally just handholding for dear life – then she grabs Jerbo's. Barcus, who is still in the grip of his fellow delinquent, pulls out a glyph from his pouch.

 

"On three, hold your breaths!"

 

The group nods. Viney's shields are about to go down due to the force of the star spies.

 

Honestly, she's actually pretty surprised it lasted this long.

 

"Two!"

 

"Wh-?! What happened to one?!" Jerbo sputters.

 

"No time for one!"

 

The shields shatter into glistening light particles and spread across the baren street. Viney's proud of how long those lasted.

 

"Three!"

 

The group breathe in their share of air, hold it in, and run. They rush down the alleyways and out, dragging each other into a new street.

 

Pieces of Bonesborough watch as the spies fly past broken down husks of buildings of the place they called their town. The confusion is oddly clear on their faces.

 

The spies aren't giving up so neither are they. Well, in a sense they are, but this battle doesn't need to won in this war.

 

Jerbo drags them into a open building before shutting the door behind them. At that point, they all take in a large gulp of air, the invisibility taken off of them.

 

Skara, not stopping for a moment, covers the window with its blinds. Viney slumps against a wall while Jerbo puts down Barcus back on the floor.

 

"That..." Jerbo panted, "was close."

 

"Too close." Barcus huffs. "It's the middle of the night. I thought the Collector was asleep?"

 

"I guess those things must be capable of acting on their own." Viney said. "When we were running, I noticed how the spies looked confused. Like, really confused. That may not sound like much but you'd be surprised at how a lot of beasts are not capable of facial expressions."

 

It'd be fascinating if it weren't for the fact those things turn people into wooden puppets.

 

"They're quite the unique beast, no?"

 

"Regardless," Skara says, gathering the attention of everyone, "it's probably best if we hide for the meantime. Let's scour the building for any supplies."

 

"Aye aye, captain." Jerbo salutes. He leaves up a stairwell with Barcus in tow. The demon sends a side eye to Viney and before she could react, he's already gone.

 

Weird.

 

"Well," Skara begins and Viney turns to her. "where we should we start?" 

 

Ah. Right. Barcus knows because of couse he does.

 

Gay. Gay. Homosexual. Gay.

 

Shut up, Barcus.

 

She feels a chortle in her mind before it fades away. What was she doing again?

 

Oh! Right, a place to start.

 

"How about a kitchen?" Viney suggests. "I know I'm hungry after that ordeal."

 

"No kidding." Skara giggles. "I hope they have some cake in here."

 

Viney laughs. "Here's hoping."

 

Skara draws a circle and a ball of light is brought to life in the palm of her hand. She smiles at her which has the troublemaker darting her eyes, uncharacteristically shy-like.

 

Okay, Vernal. Just you and who is probably the prettiest girl you've ever met scouting a random building for supplies. You got this.

 

She doesn't expect the bard to hook her right arm with her left but hey, she doesn't mind.

 

Just don't look into her beautiful silver eyes and say something embarrassing. Easy.

 

She's so got this.

 

(No, she does not.)

[honorary-fool]

venti/bard, venti/carmen, and venti/xiao for the bingo :o (yes i'm just naming every ship i've heard you mention shhhhhh)

i forgot that was the ask game i accidentally queued 😭 /lh

& dsgfdhg you're good ^^

without further ado..🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

going in the order they're listed, starting w/ the bard & venti!

not a lot to say honestly, it's not my favorite but I also don't hate it. only qpr (or strictly platonic) bardven though- every other version is INCORRECT /lh

"they should go to therapy together" not bc of relationship issues, they've just been through Shit and need to get it sorted out (thanks Decarabian /sar)

carmven my beloved. totally not biased /j

same reasoning as the therapy one for bardven, except it's just their own individual trauma 'cus there's not a lot that I can think of that they've both been through at the same time

"it would never work in canon" 'cus one's an OC. hardy har har /lh

technically "everything between them is platonic" works because also a qpr but also..not? still tryin' to figure that out (also applies to "man I don't think THEY even know what they have going on)

xiaoven!! i adore, idk why i latched onto it when i did but hey, fuck it /lh

third time's the charm w/ the therapy one, for same reasons as carmven, 'cus of their own individual traumas...and maybe the flute thing?

so close to putting the "fanon gets them so wrong" 'cus of all the people that like...overly feminize one venti in the ship, or mischaracterize 'em, but honestly?? i haven't seen a lotta that, so it's off

i feel like there's more i could've written but i can't remember what so i'm gonna end this off here methinks

[eternal-learner]

October 2024

Book

👻 Bear by Marian Engel

Movies

🦇 Salem's Lot (2024) 🦇 Scary Movie (2000) 🦇 Evil Dead Rise (2023) 🦇 Brain Damage (1988) 🦇 The Relic (1997) 🦇 Evil Dead (2013) 🦇 Basket Case (1982) 🦇 Chasing Cain (2001) 🦇 The Substance (2024) 🦇 Smile (2002)

Other

Design Your Career with a Whiteboard

Human Behavioral Biology 4. Molecular Genetics I / 5. Molecular Genetics II / 6. Behavioral Genetics

Podcasts

🎃 Anatomy and Physiology - Bit by Bit 1. Body Organization / 2. Homeostasis / 3. Cells and the Plasma Membrane

🎃 And Colossally That's History! Imola '94: F1's blackest weekend (Part 1, 2, 3)

🎃 Aria Code Puccini's Madama Butterfly: When My Ship Comes In

🎃 Articles of Interest Clergy

🎃 Automotive Repair Tips Automotive Brake Systems, Lines and Components Explained

🎃 Bean to Bar World Melanie with 20Nord20Sud of France

🎃 Canada: A Yearly Journey 1894 / 1895 / 1896 / 1897 / 1898 / 1899 / 1900

🎃 Canadian History Ehx One Long Terrible Journey: The March West / Bringing the Bard to Life: The Stratford Festival / Canada's Titanic: The Empress of Ireland / When Germans Invaded Winnipeg: If Day / The SS Viking Disaster / The Story and Tragedy of Henry Hudson / Exploring the Christmas Stories and Traditions of Canada / The History Behind 24 Sussex Drive

🎃 The Chess Angle 123. The Most Confusing Chess Concepts for Developing Players / 127. Chess Study Plans & Formulas

🎃 Completely Arbortrary The Phantom Fir (Douglas-fir) / Squirrel Talk (Oregon White Oak) / Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Tree (Arborvitae)

🎃 Draftsmen Karl Kopinski on Discipline, Sketching, and Making it as a Freelance Illustrator / Creativity Insights Artists can Pull from Writers / Developing an Illustration / Reinventing Yourself / How to Study Masters

🎃 The Evolution of Horror What is Horror? / Slashers Pt 1: An Introduction / Slashers Pt. 2: Psycho & Peeping Tom (1960)

🎃 F1 Explains Guenther Steiner on his hardest decision / Bernie Collins + Ruth Buscombe on strategy secrets / Liam Lawson answers your questions / Inside the safety car / How F1 helmets are made / Mika Hakkinen on high-speed tracks / Meet the mechanics in an F1 garage / Damon Hill on F1 title fights / How Formula 1 plans its races / Coaching F1 drivers / DRS: how the Drag Reduction System has changed F1 racing / What we learned in 2023 / Overtaking, breaking, and qualifying / Mick Schumacher + Bernie Collins explain the F1 race start / F1 race suits, boots + gloves: what F1 drivers wear / Pedro de la Rosa explains F1 car set-up / Downforce + why F1 cars have wings

🎃 Formula Once Upon A Time Senna, the Hills and Monaco / "Niki was the first real professional driver" - Daniel Audetto / Lauda "You're gonna have to shoot me down." / Show me the Money - what people get paid in F1 / The $10m Handshake

🎃 How To Chess 1. GM Eugene Perelshteyn on How to Limit Blunders / 2. How to Choose an Opening / 3. How to Get Past a Rating Plateau / 5. The Right Way to Read Chess Books / 7. How to Choose Your Opening Repertoire / 9. How to Review Grandmaster Games / 12. How to Improve Your Chess Away From the Board / 15. How to Choose a Chess Coach / NM Han Schut on Getting to the Root of Your Chess Mistakes / GM Sahaj Grover - How to Approach Studying the Endgame / GM Johan Hellsten - How to Analyze Your Own Chess Games / NM Bryan Tillis - How to Remember Opening Sequences / IM Alex Astaneh on How His Coach Accidentally Taught Him Board Visualization

🎃 Learn to Paint Dean Mitchell

🎃 The Listening Service What's the point of Listening? / Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto / Transcendence / Chasing a Fugue / How do you describe a teaspoon in music? / How Do You Make a National Anthem?

🎃 The Nations of Canada The Basques / An Alchemist Matter / Mystery on the St. Lawrence / False Starts

🎃 Psychoanalysis: A Horror Therapy Podcast Sibling Rivalry: Basket Case (1982)

🎃 The Race F1 Tech Show The pros and cons of Renault ending its F1 engine programme / Lifting the lid on F1 helmet technology / Unpicking the strengths and weaknesses of F1's "Big 4" teams / The secrets of F1 simulators / Secrets of F1 suspension

🎃 The Science of Birds Bird Songs - Part 2 / Vision in Birds / Hummingbirds / The Biggest Global Threats to Birds

🎃 Shop Talk Live - Fine Woodworking 318 - Back to School / 324 - Bridging creativity and technicality

🎃 Song Exploder Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over / New Order - Blue Monday / MUNA - What I Want / Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out / AURORA - Runaway

🎃 Stella Culinary School Flavor Structure Part 1 and 2 / S is for Sauce Part 1 and 2

🎃 The Tucker Carlson Show JD Vance: The Immigration Crisis, How Polls Are Used to Fool You, and the Left's Plan to Stop Trump

[alistairssock]

Assorted drow siblings facts because I think about them constantly

- Rolf is most likley a stage name. Since he's a bard and has wanted to make a subtle reputation for himself he decided going by something relatively nondescript, yet normal enough to stick out. He probably had a very drowish name at some point, but that is long since abandoned and tossed away

- Briza struggles with some weird soup ala survivor's guilt, and despite her loved ones being alive - albeit not well - it struggles with the fact that it's alive and had to depend on someone else to be saved, instead of being the one sacrificing themself to save the other. It's complicated <3

- Despite being one in many Durges, Sengo does have a faint sense of who he was before Bhaal snatching him up from the streets. It's very few, scattered pieces he manage to puzzle together, very slowly. He remembers Rolf and Briza when they meet, but has no idea what relation they have to him, and he's pretty in denail that they're even important to him

- Briza either sleeps straight like a log or limbs in every plausible direction, there's nothing in between. On occasion ends up in someone else's sleeping roll and nobody can explain why

- Rolf would fall on the aroace spectrum somewhere, but he isn't opposed to small, brief romantic or sexual endeavours. He's just uncomfortable with the thought of anything being permanent or long-term. He knows bards have a reputation, but he's trying very hard to not let that define his craft. He simply just want to play his flute and bring the same peace his tunes give him to someone else out there. Music is what keeps him afloat, and also the closest he gets to therapy (if Faerûn even has that)

[market-spy]

What's Brewing in the Medical Fluid Bags Market?

Hey there, fellow earthlings! Ready for a journey into the dynamic world of medical fluid bags? Buckle up, because we’re about to take a rollercoaster ride through the latest report on the Global Medical Fluid Bags Market. No, we won’t be decoding or navigating anything. We’re just going to have a casual chat about it. So, grab your favorite snack and let’s dive in!

The Growth Story:

So, turns out, the medical fluid bags market is not just about plastic bags hanging around in hospitals. It’s a booming industry valued at a whopping USD 3.21 billion in 2021. And guess what? It’s expected to party its way to USD 4.742 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 5.0%. Now that’s what I call a growth spurt!

Why the Hype?

Picture this: an aging population, a surge in chronic illnesses, and a global pandemic. What do you get? A skyrocketing demand for efficient fluid management solutions! Medical fluid bags aren’t just for show; they play a crucial role in IV therapy, blood transfusions, and more. Oh, and did I mention the cool features like ergonomic designs and antimicrobial coatings? It’s like the James Bond of bags, keeping it safe and classy.

The Pandemic Effect:

Ah, the COVID-19 pandemic — the unexpected plot twist. The world needed IV solutions and blood, and medical fluid bags stole the spotlight. Production soared, and these bags became the unsung heroes in the battle against the virus. Talk about stepping up when the world needed them the most!

For More Information: https://www.skyquestt.com/report/fatty-acid-ester-market

Challenges in the Bag:

Now, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Strict regulatory frameworks and growing environmental concerns are like the villains in this market story. Compliance issues and production costs are the hurdles our heroes (aka medical fluid bags) must overcome. But hey, every good story needs some challenges, right?

Market Snapshot:

Let’s take a quick snapshot, shall we? The market size in 2021 was USD 3.21 billion, with PVC compounds leading the way. The fastest growth? You guessed it — PVC compounds again! And the forecast? A cool 5.0% CAGR. North America is the reigning champion, but the APAC region is catching up like the rising star it is.

Product Showdown:

In the battle of products, Intravenous (IV) bags steal the spotlight. Widely adopted for saline solutions, medications, and other IV drugs, these bags are the rockstars of the medical fluid bags world. On the flip side, drain bags are making a name for themselves, collecting bodily fluids like a pro.

Material Matters:

PVC compounds are the rockstars in the material department. Cost-friendly and flexible, they’ve held their ground despite environmental concerns. But here’s the plot twist — Thermoplastic Polyurethanes (TPU) are making waves with their eco-friendly nature. Looks like sustainability is stealing the spotlight!

Regional Rumble:

North America is the heavyweight champion, thanks to the US and Canada. But hold on — the APAC region is on the rise, with countries like South Korea, India, and China leading the charge. Looks like the underdog is becoming the top dog.

Key Trends:

Customization is the name of the game. Patient-centric solutions are in, with bags designed for specific patient conditions. And guess what? Eco-friendly materials are stealing the show, aligning with the global shift towards sustainability. Who said medical fluid bags can’t be trendy?

Competitive Arena:

The market is a battlefield, and the top players include Baxter International Inc., Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Terumo Corporation, and C.R. Bard. These industry giants are in a constant dance of innovation and collaboration to stay ahead in the game.

Recent Developments:

B. Braun Melsungen AG is integrating IV fluid bags with infusion pumps, Baxter International Inc. is launching PVC-free IV fluid bags, and Technoflex S.A. is extending the shelf life of IV fluid bags. It’s like the Avengers assembling to save the day, but in the medical fluid bags universe.

Key Market Trends:

Customization and patient-centric solutions are gaining popularity. Bags tailored to specific needs? It’s like having a wardrobe for your medical fluids. And let’s not forget the shift towards eco-friendly materials. Sustainable and stylish — who knew medical fluid bags could be so chic?

Conclusion:

So, there you have it — a not-so-robotic exploration of the Global Medical Fluid Bags Market. It’s a tale of growth, challenges, and innovation. Who knew medical bags could be so fascinating? Until next time, keep it fluid and stay bag-tastic!

About Us-

SkyQuest Technology Group is a Global Market Intelligence, Innovation Management & Commercialization organization that connects innovation to new markets, networks & collaborators for achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Contact Us-

SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

1 Apache Way,

Westford,

Massachusetts 01886

USA (+1) 617–230–0741

Email- info@skyquestt.com

Website: https://www.skyquestt.com

[sqinsights]

What’s Brewing in the Medical Fluid Bags Market? 

Hey there, fellow earthlings! Ready for a journey into the dynamic world of medical fluid bags? Buckle up, because we’re about to take a rollercoaster ride through the latest report on the Global Medical Fluid Bags Market. No, we won’t be decoding or navigating anything. We’re just going to have a casual chat about it. So, grab your favorite snack and let’s dive in!

The Growth Story:

So, turns out, the medical fluid bags market is not just about plastic bags hanging around in hospitals. It’s a booming industry valued at a whopping USD 3.21 billion in 2021. And guess what? It’s expected to party its way to USD 4.742 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 5.0%. Now that’s what I call a growth spurt!

Why the Hype?

Picture this: an aging population, a surge in chronic illnesses, and a global pandemic. What do you get? A skyrocketing demand for efficient fluid management solutions! Medical fluid bags aren’t just for show; they play a crucial role in IV therapy, blood transfusions, and more. Oh, and did I mention the cool features like ergonomic designs and antimicrobial coatings? It’s like the James Bond of bags, keeping it safe and classy.

The Pandemic Effect:

Ah, the COVID-19 pandemic — the unexpected plot twist. The world needed IV solutions and blood, and medical fluid bags stole the spotlight. Production soared, and these bags became the unsung heroes in the battle against the virus. Talk about stepping up when the world needed them the most!

For More Information: https://www.skyquestt.com/report/fatty-acid-ester-market

Challenges in the Bag:

Now, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Strict regulatory frameworks and growing environmental concerns are like the villains in this market story. Compliance issues and production costs are the hurdles our heroes (aka medical fluid bags) must overcome. But hey, every good story needs some challenges, right?

Market Snapshot:

Let’s take a quick snapshot, shall we? The market size in 2021 was USD 3.21 billion, with PVC compounds leading the way. The fastest growth? You guessed it — PVC compounds again! And the forecast? A cool 5.0% CAGR. North America is the reigning champion, but the APAC region is catching up like the rising star it is.

Product Showdown:

In the battle of products, Intravenous (IV) bags steal the spotlight. Widely adopted for saline solutions, medications, and other IV drugs, these bags are the rockstars of the medical fluid bags world. On the flip side, drain bags are making a name for themselves, collecting bodily fluids like a pro.

Material Matters:

PVC compounds are the rockstars in the material department. Cost-friendly and flexible, they’ve held their ground despite environmental concerns. But here’s the plot twist — Thermoplastic Polyurethanes (TPU) are making waves with their eco-friendly nature. Looks like sustainability is stealing the spotlight!

Regional Rumble:

North America is the heavyweight champion, thanks to the US and Canada. But hold on — the APAC region is on the rise, with countries like South Korea, India, and China leading the charge. Looks like the underdog is becoming the top dog.

Key Trends:

Customization is the name of the game. Patient-centric solutions are in, with bags designed for specific patient conditions. And guess what? Eco-friendly materials are stealing the show, aligning with the global shift towards sustainability. Who said medical fluid bags can’t be trendy?

Competitive Arena:

The market is a battlefield, and the top players include Baxter International Inc., Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Terumo Corporation, and C.R. Bard. These industry giants are in a constant dance of innovation and collaboration to stay ahead in the game.

Recent Developments:

B. Braun Melsungen AG is integrating IV fluid bags with infusion pumps, Baxter International Inc. is launching PVC-free IV fluid bags, and Technoflex S.A. is extending the shelf life of IV fluid bags. It’s like the Avengers assembling to save the day, but in the medical fluid bags universe.

Key Market Trends:

Customization and patient-centric solutions are gaining popularity. Bags tailored to specific needs? It’s like having a wardrobe for your medical fluids. And let’s not forget the shift towards eco-friendly materials. Sustainable and stylish — who knew medical fluid bags could be so chic?

Conclusion:

So, there you have it — a not-so-robotic exploration of the Global Medical Fluid Bags Market. It’s a tale of growth, challenges, and innovation. Who knew medical bags could be so fascinating? Until next time, keep it fluid and stay bag-tastic!

About Us-

SkyQuest Technology Group is a Global Market Intelligence, Innovation Management & Commercialization organization that connects innovation to new markets, networks & collaborators for achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Contact Us-

SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

1 Apache Way,

Westford,

Massachusetts 01886

USA (+1) 617–230–0741

Email- info@skyquestt.com

Website: https://www.skyquestt.com

[catnerdenby]

My first ever D&D game

Today, 5 minutes ago, I finished my very first D&D session. It was...it was awesome! I had so much fun, all the people were really chill and nice to the new ones in the group. A few of the new ones didn't show up, so our DM was a bit dissapointed at that, but the game was still very enjoyable!

What happened?:

The session started with the party boarding a ship and being greeted by the royal couple and having to give them the items that they had quested for last session.

They got paid for their efforts in 2000GP, 2 magic books, and 1 magic scroll. They split the gold pieces between their warforged paladin and their halfling bard.

The bard immedeatly invited everyone to the tavern: drinks on him! which was the introduction que of me and another new player.

In the meantime, the paladin got yeeted into the void twice (bad internet) so we had to wait a little. Otherwise they were on their way to a weapons shop but then they saw everyone leaving and also went to the tavern themselves.

There we got properly introduced, the paladin went to the kitchen to talk to the barman, some gajingle bajingle and suddenly instead of a warforged, we have a human. Technically we now have 2 human paladins. Fritz and Ksara (former warforged).

After that was done, we ordered our drinks, (me and our tortle cleric Kurranduk (Duke) drank tea, most got ale, a few got nothing), decided on what to do (go to a festival), and how to get there (carriage).

We found a suitable carriage, and it came out that our dwarf barbarian Ranleen (Ran/Ranny) can drive a carriage. Then we had to decide on sleeping places and reached to the conclusion that some can sleep in the carriage. While our tiefling ranger Histari (me) wanted to sleep under the stars, me and Ran discovered that it was Maran (Spring) and the seasons last 8 months. One year is 32 months and this really destroyed me and Ran's image of age.

Slightly before that Duke had gone to reconnect with his deity and deal with his trauma, no-one knew where he was, so when we got the carriage stuff settled, we went to look for him. All the while Ksara enjoyed their first meal.

We stumbled upon the town square, looked around a little, and found The Sun Tree. I wanted to climb it at first but then figured it wouldn't actually be a good idea. We got a bit Sun Tree lore and then just chilled around, yelling for Duke.

Meanwhile Duke found out that hanging out with your deity is better than therapy and came to share his joy with us. He accidentally healed our bard Bigbe, a bigass emerald dragon showed up, and demanded her loot, which was to everyone but Bigbe's surprise the exact same stuff the royal couple wanted.

The Dragon initially wanted to kill Bigbe, as no-one else knew of the little quest she had for the party, since Bigbe didn't tell them, but Duke convinced her otherwise and then Dragon threathened to burn down the capitol (where the festival was supposed to happen btw) unless she got what she wanted. We reached a compromise and now we're all a little fricked.

We returned to the tavern, the barkeep was terrified of the emerald dragon and hid in the basement, so Ran stole several bottles of booze, Duke cast a truth spell on all of us (I failed my charisma saves all times) and so began our game of Truth or Pass. It started as Duke wanting to know the truth why didn't Bigbe tell the party of the Dragon's quest, but Bigbe was the only one the truth spell didn't affect. Still he told the truth.

We then asked each others a few questions, all of mine being very silly (like about Duke's crush) (It was an orc lady Bruna from his past but the attraction was one-sided. We turned it into a "that's rough buddy" joke), they learned about Histari's non-existent family, Bigbe's dead older brother and escape from city so the people that were after him wouldn't use his big family. Ran was a family runt from a big and respected dwarven family.

All the while she drank booze and she kept rolling higher with every drink (it was foul stuff as well, btw. 3 bottles of Dragon's Breath and 2½ bottles of some extra potent special stuff.) I drank half a bottle of the special stuff and was almost immedeatly knocked out by it, if it wasn't for the fact that I had decided to reside under the table for the entire time we were at the tavern. Before that I hadn't drank one bit. Luckily Duke decided to help me out and removed all poisons from my body, which sobered me up. Ran ended up sober though she had been a bit tipsy for a while.

It came out that the stable our carriage was in was locked so we all slept at the tavern, me, Bigbe, and Ksara got beds, Duke and Ran wanted benches.

This concludes our wonderful game and I can't wait for the next one!

We also had Duke's best friend Hope with us. He couldn't join the game this time but he seems cool.

Histari's name also used to be Hope. So grateful I changed it because it would've been way too confusing otherwise.

[sideboot]

Omg yes speak at length on your expertise. Sorry, i promise the god forbid was only at most 5% wariness of people demonizing nate 95% a joke dashed off too quickly in the tired dead of night. Thanks again for your thoughful meta

Correct me if I'm wrong but Warhammer is a game that can be done with two players, while dnd you really need at least four people to have a decent party going. Nate getting an even bigger upgrade in income right when he loses his social circle. Thats right, warhammer as part of nates villain arc.

I love to imagine that post healing arc nate is the dnd dm for the coaching sqaud (also pls let roy play a barbarian. Pls let roy have all the rage based powers) and everyone but particularly ted loves it because he views it as a team building exercise and he likes the variety of win conditions. Ted is absolutely the kind of guy to play like a bard or cleric and rp his way out of fights. I imagine Nate has to start making constructs and nonsentient enemies just to make sure Roy gets a chance to bash things.

But I would love nate to keep up his warhammer hobby because its okay to want to win! And I think his obvious opponent and fellow hobby enthusiast on the squad is Beard.

Beards dnd character is also a munchkin.

I think the coaching squad runs the full spectrum of backstory creation. Teds is like ten thoughtful pages. Beards is a joke that starts getting to real. Roys is one sentence that then also starts getting too real as he starts getting emotionally attached. Ted and Roy are a lot like their characters, whereas beards is more jokey and out there but picks up a few traits from their creator.

Nate post healing would be at his peak dm skills. I see pre-canon Nate as a DM who would fold easily when he got pushback from players, watched a bit of critical role and tried to do character voices but got embarrassed and immediately bails. If his players ever meet up with people from their backstory and have miraculously made a character with living parents, Nate always plays that NPC as kind of an asshole but insists thats not what hes doing, thats just what a loving dad is like hes being authentic. Nobody pays enough attention to get why and that they should soft pitch Nate going to therapy

I'm sure once he starts Nate loves making minis and creating interesting tactical layouts for rooms and statting monsters, but he strikes me as the kind of guy who got into dming and immediately became a forever DM because nobody else would do it. I see him being deeply embarrassed about his nerdy hobbies because of his relationship with masculinity and also growing up in a household with a dad who would shut down any excitement and find a way to insult any positive aspect of Nate's life. I imagine a Nate who had any nerdy hobbies hid the materials in his room and never played at home.

Pre-canon nate also doesnt seem to have a lot of a support network or friends, I imagine that Ted being his main life raft after god knows how long in a sea of loneliness accounts for some of the emotional intensity of their relationship.

(Fuck, that reminds me I need to do the Sam character study that positions him as a partial foil to nate)

I see Nate playing irregularly with a bunch of randos he met through a local game shop who dont give a shit about him or his cool plans. They dont hang out with him outside of session, nobody in the group realized they should have a conversation about what they want out of the gaming experience or talks about any sort of boundaries. they're sore winners and worse losers as Nate resorts to throwing bigger and bigger monsters at them because they keep bullying their way through npc encounters

I imagine to some degree Nate likes the rules of DnD and the formalized permission to say fuck no to people. He's the dm, if he says that this player action doesnt work cause they didnt roll high enough or the monster did this much damage, it's his world his rules. I'm sure a Nate dming in season 2 rolled up to the table with a different attitude.

Actually maybe post healing we start with Beard as DM, and Nate gets to finally make a PC and be like a halfling caster or fighter or something. A creature whose small size is an advantage and whose function is to control the battlefield.

Whoops that got away from me

People who actually know the Premier League, do popular coaches get figurines. I'm not sure if Nate's figure of Ted is hand painted or something he bought. If it's the former that's serial killer behavior.