#True Fey Gaming

[sweetsmalldog]

There is no thoughts beyond Hob and Rue. I just want them to be happy.

#a court of fey and flowers #delloso de la rue #captain kp hob #dimension 20 #Rue adored by all but loved by none so adept at the social games they all play that their true personality has to be hidden #and Hob who’s respected as a military commander and a warrior but is lost on the social level both in his own court and at the Bloom #Rue complementing Hob’s honor when he’s been told over and over by his own court that he’s so loyal to that it’s a flaw #Hob thinking Rue wouldn’t care about his words or opinions because he’s a Goblin who doesn’t fit into his own Court or any other #two people so astranged from others in two opposite ways

[2nd-mushroom-circle]

I don't know if anyone's asked already, if yes I didn't see it, but I would absolutely love to hear about your fairy tale murder mystery!

no one has recently (unless my notifications have gobbled it up), so thanks for the ask! i posted about it a while ago when i was still worldbuilding, but now we’re at about the midpoint (or a little further) of the game, so it’s a great time to catch you up! i won’t give you details cause it’s complicated but here are the vibes:

Book 1: A Tangled Web

We open in the tiny kingdom of Kiatar, sandwiched between several larger countries and the encroaching forest of the feywild to the west. Tensions are high between Kiatar and the feywild, and they have been for a while. Hunters poach magical creatures and plants for magicless humans to draw on. Lost children disappear into the woods, never to be seen again. Shapeshifters walk among us, so well hidden that it’s hard to know if you can even trust your own family.

And the king has just been killed.

I would say “all signs point to feywild,” but that’s not quite true. The signs point in a confusing number of contradictory directions. It’s pretty clear this comes from the feywild, though - I mean, who else would do it? And it probably has something to do with that unlikely group of people and animals who found themselves teleported from the crime scene to the edge of the feywild in the middle of the night when we had a scheduling difficulty.

Our party consists of: Moseas, a devout priest of justice made out of rock; Shiloh, a young librarian with a tragic secret and a lot of pent up rage; Spice, a literal ferret who belongs to the princess of Kiatar; Foggy, a fairie posing as a cat to find out why the hunters keep attacking her home; and Gene. Who is just a guy. (Allegedly.)

The party spent the first book of the campaign trying to avoid suspicion and uncover clues by sneaking about through the hidden passages of the castle, to varying degrees of success. Shiloh made some enemies. Might the stares and mistrust bring back bad old memories of the way she was blamed when her sister was lost to the feywild? Who can say? (I can. They did.) Spice made some discoveries. Hard, still, to tell what the gaps in his memory are hiding, or why he can’t remember that door in the princess’s room, but his beloved princess is lying to him, and he doesn’t know why. Foggy made some progress when she and Spice investigated the greenhouse and found suspicious activity from the gardener. Gene made a break for it, when suddenly confronted with a man he recognized from long ago, arriving with the aiding forces of an allied kingdom.

And Moseas made a deal.

Ill-advised but understandable, really, when you come down to it. He couldn’t have known the witch would ask him to kill the queen of the fairies.

We will leave our party there, setting out for the feywild to support their friend, leaving the mysteries and intrigue of the castle behind - or so they think. After all, they still have not discovered why the king and queen have faked their iron rings of protection, or what happened to the maid Ariadne, who seems to have disappeared. They don’t know whose eyes sometimes look out of their own reflection. They have not traced the whereabouts of the guard captain’s changeling daughter, or discovered the truth (ha!) of the shattering goddess. They do not know of the Dryad, the Weaver, the Caterpillar, the myriad of twisting, powerful things in the feywild that play with truth and lies as much or more than the royal court.

Oh yes, the mysteries are not quite over for our party. But neither, I think, are the revelations.

#wktk #in case you can’t tell the parts about the feywild are written from a very specific in-universe perspective #they are not. necessarily. true #one of the main themes of this campaign is truth vs perception #anyways that doesn’t even get into some of the plot points #like the magic mad scientist who’s gonna cast a world-changing spell on shiloh in two days #or the king and queen’s secret fey polycule #(which the party just discovered a few sessions into the feywild) #if this gets literally any attention i will do an ask game abt the npcs cause i care them

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

For the oc ask game!! 10, 37, and 38 for Liam please? I love him sm😭<3

[ask game]

Thank you for the ask!! <3

10. which oc is the biggest romantic?

Liam, no contest lmao. This idiot is such a hopeless sap

37. which oc has the best handwriting? the worst?

Neira's is probably the best as in the most neat/legible, and Ari's is the best as in the prettiest (not necessarily legible tho lol). June and Noya are both contenders for worst; June cos she writes too fast or without paying attention, and Noya's just looks messy smh no matter how hard she tries to write neatly

38. drop a fun fact about your oc ! (Liam)

He takes up playing lute as a hobby after Orana teaches him how to play, and he's pretty decent at it!

#tbh most of my ocs end up being saps in some way or another lmao but liam in particular is a lost cause #also i really dont think or talk abt orana enough.. #even if she isnt in their close circle of friends i do adore the thought of her being inevitably adopted into hawkes found family #on that same note the same is kind of true for bodhan and sandal tbh i think there is some good potential for shenanigans there lol #but i digress jkldfsjdfl #ty again for the ask fey! <33 #makes me so happy to hear you enjoy my silly little guy ;w; #oc: liam hawke #oc: neira surana #oc: ari adaar #oc: june trevelyan #oc: noya tabris #my ocs #(idk if it makes much sense to tag all of them lolol but just in case i try to search for this in the future) #oc ask game/ my answers

[yeonban]

Q :  WHAT  PART  OF  THIS  HAUNTED  HOUSE  ARE  YOU?

A :   the  living  room.

Something  close  to  dread  follows  you,  even  though  you  can  smile  in  its  face  and  have  everyone  believe  you.  You’ve  been  cheated  and  lied  to  and  yet  you’re  still  the  hearth  at  the  centre  of  this  house;  the  constant,  unequivocal  warmth  that  emanates  in  snowy  December  or  sunny  July.  You’re  burning  you’re  burning  you  burn  for  everyone  all  the  time.  You’re  going  to  catch  fire  one  of  these  days,  and  when  you  do,  you  will  smile  in  its  face.

Tagged  by :  @godefied​​  &  @shometsu​​  Thank  youu  !! Tagging :  Whoever’s  reading  this  and  hasn’t  done  it  yet  !

#muse: shalnark kurta. #* shalnark kurta. / development. #* dash games. #Mmm half accurate tbh! #Shal's always smiling unless the situation's REALLY bad so this meme's parts about smiling are true #BUT he's not 'burning for everyone all the time'; he knows how to balance himself and never pushes past his limits unless 100% necessary #and the only people he /would/ push himself that much for are Chrollo; Fei and maybe a select few other troupe members #ALSO I've been wondering if the 'you've been cheated and lied to [...] you're still the hearth at the centre of this house' part fits or not #and in a way it does in a way it doesn't #the primary example of 'it does' is Hisoka's entire time w the troupe basically; followed by Shal in revival au still smiling for the spider #my guy went through several traumatic experiences in the span of 10 minutes bc of Hisoka but he's still :) 90% of the time w the troupe #and for 'it doesn't'... Shal's smart enough to figure out when people lie to him most of the time; unless they're great liars or #liars by omission with abilities that help them lie (i.e Hisoka's bungee gum changing his own fortune in Yorknew etc) #so typically I'd say people don't really get to lie to him and get away with it but there /are/ exceptions so it can fit at times

[shinyas-ashes]

I finally finished the ace Attorney trilogy what a fucking ride

#much to say tho #like hey wtf #the last case despite being the most interesting subsequently has like 50 plot holes but thats alright i had a good time #pearls thoughts on having sisters?? one of whom is still alive?? who knows we sure dont #they only have the great ace attorney on switch other than the trilogy but i wanna play the other ones too #Ill look for emmm #yelling about aa #anyways no remorse for misty fey in this house like girly just come home for like a night??? #just be like 'don go to this mountain lol??????' whatever tho #gumshoe got a meal that made me very very happy #also franziska??? girl ty for being here i genuinely enjoyed her presence #also getting to play as edgeworth?? very good #its his payment for fucking off for 2/3s of the game as always 😔 #anyways the feys need family therapy #cant have shit in the fey clan apparently #maya is severly traumatized pleAse capcom adress this #pearls too but its not as bad as maya who has been accused for her mom and sisters deaths also set up by her aunt and cousin also kidnapped #iris when u get outta jail pleaSe yall need to do a girls night or something #also i like to imagine edgeworth is just whiteknuckling it in the audience when iris was telling pheonix she had feelings for him #franziska is laughing at him in true sibling fashion #its why he is only shown smiling after the case is completed cause hes realized pheonix's type and knows he needs to up his game #but i digress #i love this game lol

[rivilu]

OHOHO! Nenio you're giving me so many lore options to execute in my head and my head only, thank you for your service

#Reveal of the true self? THIS SOON? delectable. chefs kiss #So i skimmed the pathfinder wiki to see if any fey types fit elluin (which ihavent mentioned but that's not his like. true fey name btw ) #(that'd be very stupid to announce to everyone bsjdfhg) and i tHINK- #i like wild hunt? the hunt thing fits his vibe and what he said he was doing pre game pretty dam well #AND they dont get described appearance wise so i get to do what i want #AND he might actually have been an elf at some point but like who knows! #the one thing im not sure is the supposed power level starting out because the info isnt consistent from one wiki to the next. eh. #I DO really enjoy the picture of these particular companions i have with getting a glimpse at this freak's true form though #(llan seelah nenio sosiel woljif ) #the paladin and cleric questioning their life choises vs the tief and mongrel realising they're not in fact the weirdest ones here #vs an imminent scientific examination probably #i should art this. when i have time #riv finds the path that sure is wrathfully righteous

[system-contact]

What do you need to hear?

I'm glad you're here.

god, it’s been hard. I know it has. it has hurt like hell and some days have felt like you’re pulling yourself through one second after another by your broken fingernails in the dirt. you’re tired. it’s a bone-deep kind of tired that settles in somewhere behind your ribcage and makes breathing feel like dying half the time and it never really seems to go away. but you’re still here. you’re beaten and bruised but you’re still kickin’, trudging one foot in front of the other no matter how heavy those footsteps are. you decided at some point that, goddamn it, if this is rock bottom then things can only get better from here, and you decided to see better for yourself. and so you’ve been clinging onto yourself for dear life and it’s been the hardest thing you’ve ever done but you are one tough motherfucker and you’ve done it. and god, I’m glad you did. I’m so glad you’re here. I know sometimes it feels like no one appreciates how hard it is to just be here, but I do. I know. and it is absolutely amazing how far you’ve come and I’m so grateful you’ve made it. you are so important and your life is so beautiful and it would be such a shame for you to miss it. so keep on pulling forward. I promise it’s worth it.

you are enough.

I see how hard you’re working. I see how your body aches under the weight of it, how you lose sleep and rub the red out of your eyes in the hopes that they can’t tell how desperately you’re clawing at “good enough.” I know how that dirt feels under your nails, that filth of never being what they want. you’re running yourself into nothing trying so hard to be good for them. but you are already good. you are already enough. you have nothing to prove. you are beautiful and what you bring to the world, what you have to show for the space you take up is perfect. it is enough. you are enough. you can rest. you don’t have to try so hard to be more than what you are. you are, and that’s enough. you’re already perfect.

you are loved.

I know it’s been hard. it’s been lonely. they didn’t treat you how they should have. maybe they still don’t, and that aches in a place you didn’t know you had until it started hurting. but love is out there. I promise. the world is infinite and grand and full of people who would love nothing more than the chance to love you. and they do. they do love you. you’ve met some of them and others have yet to come into your life but they all love you more than you can stand. there’s enough love to fill that hole inside you and make it stop hurting. there’s enough love to fill you up. I promise it’s out there and I promise you’ll find it. you are so, so loved.

tagged by :: @laughing-hellblazer tagging :: you! yes you! anyone who wants to, tag me back so I can see it!

#dash games ;; tag you're it! #// crying these are all so perfect #// fuckin Fei's tho #// he has been through so much so fast and he's still trying #// a huge chunk of his arc is becoming someone who keeps trying #// and Id's hhhhhhhhh #// boy that one rings true especially for while he was kidnapped #// boy may have been trained to be the slayer of god but that fucked him up sO MUCH #// and the Kiddo needs some love #// he is just a very scared baby who went through terrible things and doesn't realize that he might be hurting others with his own hurt

[sundial-bee-scribbles]

Moke, on two hours of sleep a week and about to fucking lose it: KAGAMINE LEN IS A BITCHASS MOTHERFUCKER AND ALL OF THIS IS HIS FUCKING FAULT, IF HE DOESN'T GO DIRECTLY INTO THE STRATOSPHERE I WILL SEND HIM THERE MYSELF- (this concept also unintentionally ties into the argument scenario) -🌟

AHKDJSGHJKSGHK WHAT DID LEN DO??? HOW IS THIS HIS FAULT YALL COLLECTIVELY BEING STUPID BRUH. DONT BLAME THE ONE W/O THE BRAINCELL WHEN NONE OF YALL HAVE THE BRAINCELL

#ask #moke being sleep deprived is so true. #i have this (translated vers of a) comic that vsinger posted abt him and fei and moke stays up late to game true HSDJHKJHK #fei has to resort to extreme measures to get this lil shithead to sleep. TFW YOUR PET BIRD MORE RESPONSIBLE THAN YOU BRUH #another reason why i believe moke/oliver friendship should happen; both have these pet birds that are done w/ their shit HDKJSHGKJHJAKNG #sorry that went offtopic lol. BUT BRUH WHAT'D MY HOMESLICE LEN DO?? AHKJSHDKG 😭 #ollie the star anon

[theminecraftbee]

i'm still thinking about the fae zedaph prompt so much that i have. an entire au in my head now. that i am now sharing, in case others are interested.

so the setting of the au is an intentionally kind of anachronistic blend of sci-fi and fantasy, and those things often come into conflict, with a lot of magic interacting badly with technology and technology interacting badly with magic. a vaguely earth-like setting from the near future, where there are robots and space travel and cybernetics, but ALSO a vaguely earth-like setting where there are portals you can slip through that will drop you into the feywild and there are magcial creatures lurking beneath the surface. the idea is like, if an urban fantasy had the 'urban' part set in a sci-fi world.

anyway, so zedaph is an ancient fey creature. a wild fey no longer really associated with either court, but at one point having belonged to the seelie court, zedaph mainly just courts chaos. he's PROBABLY some kind of archfey, but it's worth noting that even other fey aren't fully certain what zedaph is supposed to be at this point. see, in a move that makes almost no sense to a human, zedaph has started to get bored of the games of fair folk. he finds them too... predictable! and sure, to HUMANS the fair folk can seem chaotic and without rules, but to zedaph? he wants something NEW AND EXCITING.

too bad that these days, even if he IS invited into the human realm, it is a bit dangerous to navigate for a fey such as himself. his own deep connection to nature and the natural world makes it so he has some trouble when he's in the tall metal cities of the human realm.

enter: tango.

tango is an android built for... some purpose. he's not really sure what his purpose is, or if he still has one, which is kind of distressing, because his creator either died or abandoned him before tango was turned on. he likes building zany contraptions, sure, but he also sort of wants to search for SOME kind of meaning in his life, since androids aren't really built to be purposeless and that lack of purpose is starting to wear at him. and in another setting, this is a great start to a cyberpunk story about what it means to be human, but in THIS setting, tango accidentally proves he must be developing a soul when he stumbles through a portal to the feywild by accident and fails to find his own way out.

the good news for tango is also the bad news: he's not built for a natural place like the feywild. see, his creator had made him largely out of cold iron, and that, even more than any specific technology, repels fair folk magic. so the good news is that he is largely immune to fey shenanigans! the bad news is that the feywild itself is rejecting him, putting him in immense danger.

enter: zedaph, who is FASCINATED to discover that these days the humans are making machines with souls. zedaph, eager to discover something new, makes a bargain with tango: tango guides him in the human world so zedaph doesn't die of metal poisoning, and in return, zedaph guides tango whenever he stumbles into a dangerous supernatural hotspot. look, zedaph's even making a fair deal and everything, since he can't just like, steal tango's name and force him to, on account of not even tango knowing what his true name would be! the two of them shake on it, and as such, a bargain is struck between both android and archfey.

they both find each other surreal and baffling but are ALSO each other's best friends in an equally baffling and surreal world.

impulse comes into this story later--after whatever the first few adventures tango and zedaph have are, exploring both realms together to try to find something new and exciting for zedaph and something to give tango purpose, the amount of magic tango's being exposed to finally takes its toll, and tango starts to malfunction. zedaph panics as he realizes all at once that he has a friend (thing he didn't know he even could get?) and that friend is in danger. also, uh, more importantly that deal. right. that.

naturally, he then kidnaps the first software engineer he can find. this is a proportionate response, right?

luckily the first software engineer he finds is impulse, and impulse is hardly like, normal, either. like, yes, he's a fully mundane human with only the world's most minor cybernetics, he's normal that way, the way he's not normal is that he gets kidnapped by a terrifying and awesome fey to fix a paradoxical android and goes "this is so cool. hi my name is impulse it's nice to meet you! aw, geez," and acts like everything is normal. neither tango nor zedaph are quite good enough at the idea of 'normal human' to dispute this, and a friendship is then born.

impulse serves as the fixer for a lot of their problems that neither tango nor zedaph are equipped to handle, but he's also like, he'd theoretically be the everyman if he wasn't busy going "every man gets whisked away by the plot of a philosophy major's dream every once and a while right" and going with the flow on things NO SANE PERSON SHOULD GO WITH THE FLOW WITH. he's just chilling in the world's least "just chilling" scenario.

so... there you go there's the ENTIRE TEAM ZIT AU that my brain spawned from the prompt "fey zedaph" i hope you enjoy,

#hermitcraft #zedaph #impulsesv #tangotek #team zit #like i have this whole vision in my head #MAYBE ONE DAY I WRITE MORE OF THIS BUT FOR NOW HERE TAKE THIS VISION #YOU MAY USE IT YOURSELF IF YOU'D LIKE TOO I DON'T MIND.

[deconstructthesoup]

I think the reason that Dimension 20 really scratches all those itches in my brain is that it really shows what you can do with D&D---and TTRPGs as a whole.

Fantasy High, by itself, is an incredibly compelling concept. What would D&D look like in a semi-modern setting? What would a high school that's all about teaching teens how to be adventurers look like? And the way it's done is beyond inventive, especially if you look at all the encounters in the first season---we've got a literal food fight, a high-speed road chase with tiefling greasers, a nightclub brawl with zombies, vampires, and werewolves, a skating match with a bunch of dwarven middle schoolers and a concrete golem, a high-stakes game of football (ish) with undead jocks that give off major teen slasher vibes, a fight done in an arcade where characters can get trapped in the consoles, and the final battle is done at prom. PROM! How cool is that?

And then we get to the Unsleeping City, which takes the urban fantasy elements that Fantasy High already had and elevates it. The way the D&D lore and magic is interpreted in a modern New York setting is excellent, as is the whole take on the "American Dream," magic literally coming from dreams, ideas, and the imagination. I know that I need to actually finish the UC saga, but from what I've seen and experienced, it is truly fantastic.

And the same energy carries through to the other seasons---my personal favorite outside of Fantasy High being A Court of Fey and Flowers, just because I'm a sucker for any Fey Realm content and I've been raised on Jane Austen---where the genre mashups shine through in the best way possible. I'll admit, I haven't seen A Crown of Candy, purely because I know how heartbreaking and devastating it is and I don't think I can physically handle it, but the concept of Candyland Game of Thrones is so beautifully bizarre that I totally get why people love it so much. Escape from the Bloodkeep hitting that workplace comedy vibe that we love to see in villains. Misfits & Magic being a love letter to the "magical boarding school" genre while also calling out all the weird contradictions inherent in it. A Starstruck Odyssey literally being an homage to Brennan's mom and exactly the kind of madcap and unhinged energy I need from my sci-fi. Neverafter perfectly encapsulating the true horror of fairy tales. Mentopolis hitting my noir-loving heart and personifying hyperfixation in the best way possible.

I'm not even kidding when I say that, if it weren't for Dimension 20... I probably wouldn't have even started my own campaign. I'd had snippets and ideas ever since officially getting into D&D and joining a game with some old friends (and getting back in touch with them in the process), but after I saw the Mentopolis trailer, I realized just how much variety TTRGPs had to offer. I could do a time-blending, history-meets-future campaign. I could go out-of-the-box. I could have endless amounts of options available to my friends and still tell the story that I wanted to tell. And when I sat down and watched Fantasy High---and when I got that Dropout subscription so I could consume whatever I wanted---it felt like the show was actually giving me advice. It's fantastic.

Also it helps that the episodes are usually only roughly a couple hours instead of being, like, an entire afternoon long. And that each season is 20 episodes, tops. No offense to Critical Role, but the sheer amount of content literally makes it impossible for me to get into it.

#dimension 20 #dropout tv #fantasy high #the unsleeping city #a court of fey and flowers #a crown of candy #a starstruck odyssey #neverafter #mentopolis #i just love this show so much you guys

[hunterxmilo]

When you say you got that dog in you, except when you're actually a dog.

First two images are dog breeds that I feel fit for Phoenix, Miles, Maya and Franziska from Ace Attorney and the rest are more so their canine spirit where only Franziska's is true inside and out XD

(Even when I try to draw something simple to relax I end up making it into another project... ((Originally 5th image was my only original plan for a final piece...))

Phoenix Wright (Akita) (Alt Pomeranian)

-Japanese origin, loyal and courageous, looks adorable but also tough "I will defend my friends!" About same size as Doberman. (Yes his badge is a tennis ball)

Miles Edgeworth (Doberman) (Alt Afghan Hound)

-English origin, fierce yet eloquent looking, ears look like "demon" (prosecutor) horns, can be big softies to close family and friends.

Maya Fey (Japanese Spitz) (Alt Chihuahua)

-Japanese origin, cheerful, playful, intelligent, great companions.

Franziska Von Karma (German Shepherd)

-German origin (relating to American game version) but common with American work force (relating to Japanese game version), in government related work force, trained to be fierce and "perfect" for their job, intimidating, loyal.

#wrightworth #franmaya #miles edgeworth #phoenix wright #franziska von karma #ace attorney fanart #ace attorney #ace attorney au #dogs #miles edgeworth x phoenix wright #phoenix wright x miles edgeworth #maya fey #maya fey x franziska von karma #akita #doberman #japanese spitz #german shepherd #pomeranian #chihuahua #afghan hound #art

[y-rhywbeth2]

"Bhaalspawn" is a template that can be added to any dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, monstrous humanoid, outsider, or shapechanger (referred to hereafter as the "base creature"). The creature's type changes to "outsider." It uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities...

Looking at that article again (I enjoy it, leave me alone).

For context, if you're confused by "template," in 3.5e when a character was unusual in some way the template was a bunch of extra rules you put on top of the "base creature" (so if a human is a Chosen, or had unusual parentage such as being Half-dragon, or in this case having Bhaal for a father, you start with a human character and then put the template's mechanics and rules on top of the "base" human ones)

But moving onto what caught my eye; the mortal parents of Bhaalspawn belonged to categories including: "dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, monstrous humanoid, outsider, or shapechanger."

Bhaal what (who?) the hell were you doing. I mean I already had an idea, but what, are there dryad Bhaalspawn? Pixies? Lemures??

Also; "The creatures type changes to "outsider.""

Uuuuh... Turns out - in tabletop rules at least - Bhaalspawn are not even human[oid]!

Outsiders are things like elementals, devils, demons, celestials, modrons...

Honestly that would make a lot of sense regarding dying in BG1+2 where you just get insta game over when you die, your body dissolves into ashes and your soul fucks off to the Throne of Blood.

"Unlike most other living creatures, an outsider does not have a dual nature; its soul and body form one unit. When an outsider is slain, no soul is set loose. Spells that restore souls to their bodies, such as raise dead, reincarnate, and resurrection, don’t work on an outsider. It takes a different magical effect, such as limited wish, wish, miracle, or true resurrection to restore it to life. An outsider with the native subtype can be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected just as other living creatures can be."

When a creature of the outsider type dies outside of their native plane, their body disintegrates (or something like that) and reforms on their home plane. If Bhaalspawn are outsiders considered native to their father's domain in the Lower Planes, they'll return there on death and reform (and would only be permanently destroyed if they died within the plane itself).

They didn't explain this in game, but since the article is written by the original game writers, I assume this is how it worked in-game. I thought it was being innately tied to Bhaal, but no, it's the plane itself.

This is more relevant to Charname, Imoen, Sarevok and the original games because Larian paid absolutely no attention to that part of those games but HUH.

#In fairness I can also point at places where Bioware wasn't totally faithful to this idea #Yes yes Larian did some fascinating and annoying things with established lore like ignoring it #The lore still exists #durge #the dark urge #lore stuff #bhaalspawn

[demon-prosecutor-milesedgeworth]

Playing through Ace Attorney for the first time and I'm on the second game and I'm just deeply in love with how things that are essentially just gameplay features impact and interact with the world of the game. I'm not sure if this makes sense but like:

Mia Fey is, in terms of game play, basically just the tutorial. She's there to show the player how the game works and what buttons to press and give hints when the case gets complicated, but the decision to have her

A. become the next murder victim that Phoenix must investigate

B. continuing to show up as a sort of "hint" system in court, but also being a major part of the story (namely in Farewell, My Turnabout where she's the way to interact with Maya while she's kidnapped, and also her being tied to the concept of spirit mediums in general which are so important in a lot of the cases)

is like, SO GOOD because it just the world of the game feel so much more alive than just the gameplay functions that specific things are tied to.

The same thing is true for the magatama, in that, like, not only can the player see the chains and locks that appear, but it's made very clear that Phoenix himself is seeing the exact same thing and comments on it often. It's not just a gameplay feature for the benefit of the player, it's something that exists and is talked about in the world.

I feel like the way the tutorial works in the second game also fits into this category, because rather than just suck it up and go through the gameplay again for anyone that hadn't played the first game, they decided Phoenix had to be *hit on the head with a fire extinguisher* and lose all of his memories, and rather than tell anyone, realize he's a lawyer and then without even being fully aware of what his name is, still wins a trial.

This is such a long post already, but the writing of the games also seem so aware of what makes the game function well and then how to twist that to its advantage to make the game more interesting. Like, of course, starting out, Phoenix has to win all of his cases. All of his clients have to be found 'Not Guilty', or else the game wouldn't be satisfying, but then you reach the Matt Engarde, and Phoenix's belief in his client's innocence becomes a defining character trait instead of just something that is necessary for the game to function properly. All of his other clients have been innocent, so when the setup with Matt looks the same, of course he believes it.

Can you tell I like these games? I really like these games.

#phoenix wright #ace attorney #mia fey #maya fey

[fishofthewoods]

Oh my god I woke up this morning and my Stardew Valley meta post had almost 150 notes????? Hello?????????? Anyways I started writing this last night because @moon-is-pretty-tonight left nice tags on the original so thank you so much!!

We know from the starting scenes of the game that the farmer's grandfather loved Stardew Valley. So why did he leave? Pelican Town is a good place to grow old; George and Evelyn are just fine. It's a fine place to raise a kid, but maybe he just wanted to raise his child closer to real schools and other children.

Or maybe, just maybe, he understood.

Was there a day when he was in his thirties where he looked at his friends and realized they weren't like him? That he could run faster than them, work longer, explore deeper into the hidden places of the valley?

Was there a day when he went to the wizard to ask him for help, for knowledge if nothing else? Did he learn then that his family was different? Special? Chosen? And how did he react? He couldn't possibly raise a child in the valley if they would be as strange and fey as him. He had to leave. There was no other way.

But years later, on his deathbed, did he regret that choice?

Is that why he gave the farmer the letter?

Is that why they went back home?

When the farmer steps off the bus that first day, the valley is still on the cusp of winter, just barely tipping over into spring. The flowers are starting to bloom, but a chill still hangs in the air. As soon as the farmer's boots touch the soil there's a change. The air gets warmer. The trees get greener. Not by too much, not all at once, but it changes.

The junimos watch the farmer as they do their work. They're new to farming, but take to it with frightening speed; their first batch of crops is perfect. None of the townsfolk tell them that parsnips don't normally grow in less than a week, that cauliflowers don't grow to be ten feet tall, that fairies don't visit when the sun goes down and grow potatoes and beans and tulips overnight. The junimos talk amongst themselves in their strange, wild language, and agree: this is the one. They're back. The valley recognizes its own, even when they've left for a generation. The farmers have come home.

Things change fast in the valley. The community center, empty and decrepit for so many years, is rejuvenated. (Lewis says it was abandoned only a few weeks after the farmer's grandfather left. Strange coincidence, he says, that it both came and went with the farmer's family.) The mines and the quarry, similarly abandoned, are explored for the first time in ages. The town becomes cleaner, brighter, more vibrant, happier.

And it is happier. Not just the environment, but the people. It's the talk of the town for weeks when Haley does her first closet purge. Leah's art show in the town square is a huge success. Shane's smiling for the first time since he moved to the valley. All of them, when asked, say it's all thanks to the farmer.

People love to ask why Lewis didn't fix the community center on his own. Why Willy never repaired the boat to ginger island. Why Abigail or Marlon never went down to fix the elevator in the mines, or why Clint didn't fix the minecarts.

But isn't it so much more interesting to ask how those things were there in the first place? How they got so broken down? If the stories the townspeople tell are true, the valley was once a beautiful place, flourishing and full of life; why did that change? When did it change?

Was it when the farmer's grandfather, the locus of the valley, its chosen representative, left town?

And if so, what happens when the farmer comes back?

#lich says shit #stardew valley #stardew farmer #sdv #my writing #Hope y'all enjoyed! #I'm thinking about developing this into. Like. An actual Fan Fiction. Still sort of short-form but like with more detail? #LMK if you'd be interested to see that! Also if you want to be tagged in future installations of this please just let me know :) #I'm super into this version of the farmer as like. Blessed and cryptic child of the valley with all the strange behavior that entails #If i DO write a more in-depth version of this it'll be from the perspective of someone in town #maybe Leah? She seems like she'd be the one to notice the farmer being Odd. Either that or I'll do it from the perspective of multiple-- #--different people to get their unique insights and stuff #I'd also want to dig into like #The family history of the farmer. And what that's like. #Because like why did grandpa leave? #He clearly loved the valley #So why didn't he stay? #Why did he give the deed to his grandchild and not his literal child? #And is it a coincidence that everything in the valley went downhill when he left? #I don't think so.

[spacient]

I fully love Dimension 20 and the way Brennan Lee Mulligan can tell an incredible story. Of course, the full cast of characters makes a huge difference in where a story can go, and there was no better cast than those they found for the Mentopolis side quest.

I've seen all the main seasons with the Intrepid Heroes, and I've seen a hefty chunk of the side quests. Here's my top 5 ranking for anyone asking:

A Crown of Candy -- absolutely BRUTAL. For such a whimsical setting, it's Game of Thrones out there. The Politics are messy, the war is dangerous, and The Hungry One has seized my appetite. Special mention to Matt Mercer for coming in on the prequel Ravening War side quest. That being said I have no idea if I can ever fully rewatch this.

Mentopolis -- whole opposite end of the spectrum in being the most cartoonish of all the series. I have never laughed as hard and as continuous as I have watching episode 4 of the series. Underneath all of the humor and tropes of a noir, it was incredibly philosophical. Also, I'm a big sucker for murder mystery. If ACoC wasn't as strong as it was, then this would be the #1.

Fantasy High -- a fan favorite. Such a fun romp and an easy-in to watching any DND campaign. The dice really do tell the story here. Shoutout to the sequel Sophomore year, it really fleshed out the world and characters far more. Maybe a little higher on the list than it deserves, but fight me this is my list.

A Court of Fey and Flowers - more politics dressed up for tea. Aabria Iyengar knows how to set a mood, and she knows exactly how to let her players drive a story in the setting she creates. There's something so special the way all of the players stay true to their characters even when it comes to making a difficult decision. They all came in knowing the assignment. Also, it sure is nice to see Brennan enjoying himself as a player #GiveThatManABreak

The Unsleeping City -- Heavily character driven. The concept of a fantasy world veiled around us at all times is heavily appealing. Another very philosophical season, and a season that isn't afraid to let characters have a little conflict with one another. The sequel shows the characters have incredible growth as well. Again, maybe a little lower on the list than deserved, but I can't justify lowering ACoFaF.

A special mention to Starstruck Odyssey for just barely missing the top 5 ranking. I really enjoy the shenanigan seasons.

#mentopolis #collegehumor #dimension 20 #prefrontal pis #just shuddup sam #intrepid heroes #had to edit the court of fey and flowers #plus a couple little typos

[poetryinsilence]

A Wish for Eternity

Astarion x gn!magical!tav

A/n: am I madly in love with this elf? Yes. Do I wish to bring him everything he hoped and dreamed of? Also, yes. Hence, here I am, thinking about what happens after the epilogue, did he search for a way? If you play as a sorcerer or wizard, once you are at a higher level (not in the game), there is a certain spell that could achieve your hopes and dreams. So, what if…? Anyway, happy fluffy valentine's day!

Synopsis: a long journey of travelling through every corner of Faerûn for what seems to be an eternity. Luck sure isn’t on your side in your quest to find a mythical item, a cloak. Rumoured to be special, you are determined to find it, with your nightwalking partner, Astarion. But, fate has other things on its mind.

Word: 2,344

6 months after you reunited heartfelt celebrations with inebriated companions; the night never seems to cease with boundless alcohols and dancing to lively tunes until your feet refuse to leave the ground. Through thick and thin, nonetheless, such an adventure weaved you all together at the stake of Baldur’s gate.

At the right place, at the right time.

In a blink of an eye, another 6 months had gone by. On your quest, you trek through the marsh terrain on your journey and strangle a few swamp things; scorched and burned under the dry heat of the sun and almost meet your fatal death by getting swallowed up inside a giant sandworm; and almost, almost, stepped into the fey realm by no fault of your own. Suppose it wasn’t for a certain trickster. A very lovable trickster, mind you.

The relentless quest to acquire an article of clothing—a rare magical item; enchanted with each woven of threads. A cloak, to be exact, that was once said to have been created by drows of the Underdark. To allow one that’s weak in sunlight to walk freely under the blistering sun.

You first heard about this mystic item from none other than Gale. The wizard was lost in his recent reverie of taking upon the role of teaching, to no surprise. One night, while holed up in his tower, flicking through weathered pages of tomes, when he came across the wonders of this cloak. Intrigued, as he may be, wanting to study the magic behind this unique fabric. After all, a little more knowledge wouldn’t hurt.

But, it seems others require it more than him. Lo and behold, he appears when you think your luck has run out. Seems like Tymora has finally blessed you with a pat on the back, who would say no to divine intervention?

Although this is a solution to your current situation, it all just seems too good to be true. A flimsy piece of garment is your answer? You could swipe a black cloak from the market and enchant it yourself. Though you are well-versed in magic, enchanting items aren’t really your forte. Nor are you of drow descent to know such ways of crafting.

You had your doubts about this cloak, however, you do not doubt the reliability of Gale. If he said such a thing exists, then it must be credible.

Month after month of tracking your journey—based on one rumour that gossamer across Faerûn. With every possible lead, you travelled across the continent of the cityscape to the underworld. This endless journey may be gruesome, but you didn’t do it alone. Your lover, Astarion, walks amongst your shadow. By day, you are his shield protecting him under the blazing sun. At night, he swore as your sword to cut through the lurking dangers of the dark.

The Sun and its Moon.

He is the reason why you’re on this journey in the first place. To bring him the sunlight once more, to breathe in the life of the Pelor over the vast lands that were taken from him when he was still young. But the chances of finding this cloak are getting slimmer by day—like water slipping through the cracks of your hand. 

Astarion’s hope is getting dimmer, too. You tried to reassure him that you were certain the both of you were getting close; maybe you were just not looking at the right places.

Of course, he brushes you off with a smile and jokes that he’s not that interested in it because ‘cloaks cramp his style’. He persuades you not to mind it so much. Or, hoping you’d be the mirror reverberating back to him instead. But you can see right through the facade. Pride. Shame. Disappointment. All too familiar.

The guilt is rubbing off on you. When you talked him out of ascension, you believed that it would be the best decision for him. You were no better than the others.

No. This shouldn’t be the answer. If the cloak’s got you nowhere then you just have to look at this situation from a different perspective. Take matters into your own hands, even if danger is on deck. At the very least, you have to try.

You made camp for the night; a quaint spot overlooking the horizon that joins the sky and the sea, with the moon taking stage in a cloudless canvas. The pale elf took charge of the campfire with a stick in his hand to poke the flame. Next to him, you lie down with your hands weaving through the air, connecting the stars together, making a revelation to your own understanding of your magic. It flows through you like the air that you breathe; like calm waters gliding your hands.

This might be the perfect time to ask, though wyverns gnaw at your stomach, you’ve run through this scenario millions of times in your head. You’re prepared, you think.

The lavender and turquoise hue dissipates from your fingertips, you steal a glance in Astarion’s direction and sit up amid his distraction.

“If you’re getting tired, you should sleep first. I’ll join you in a little while.” He chimes out.

His little ritual, you’ve noticed. Whenever the two of you opted to camp in the arms of nature instead of paying for a tavern’s night and listening to drunk patrons shouting till the break of dawn. He would lay with you in your bedroll until you fell asleep, then as quiet as a mouse, he’d get up an hour or two just before sunrise. You’d caught him once, just as curiosity nips at you, slipping out of the tent and finding him sitting in the open field with the blades of grass swaying to its own rhythm. Just watching, waiting. Waiting to catch a glimpse of the sun, as it slowly casts life back to the lands, before the ray decays him. The light sears his skin and cracks like dry paint, biting down the pain as much as possible until he’s bound back to the shadows. Then you’ll find him in bed again like nothing ever happened.

“Astarion?”

“Yes, darling?” He hummed.

“What if…” you hesitated, “what if we stop looking for this cloak?” Your voice wavered at the end of your sentence.

The stick in his hand stopped. You can see it, the thoughts forming in his mind like a potion. Stunned, confusion and a drop of anger concocted in muddy colour. But like a cork on top, he bottled it up when he soon turned to face you, the warm glow lit up his plastic grin.

“Oh, heavens! I forgot about that until you’ve brought it up.” His voice is in a higher octave. A string of vicious mockery disguising his lie, in all honesty, stings more than you think.

“No, that’s not—let me rephrase this. W-what I’m trying to say is, how about we look for a different method?” You asked, hands fidgeting more than usual.

His crimson gaze pierced in you, they engulfed and tangled like flames, wanting to swallow you whole till you’re nothing but a pile of ashes. “Vampirism isn’t an illness or a wound. If a person dies, they could be resurrected. But I’m too far gone beyond the point of living now, darling. There is no other way.” He snarled, snapping his gaze away before he could say something he truly regrets.

“But..there is another way.” Your voice comes out with nothing short of a whisper. Astarion’s shoulders slumped as he perceived your words, now fire in his eyes had extinguished and reflected with the solemn of moonlight.

Hope.

You spring onto your feet and take his hands into yours, thumb gently caressing his skin.

“Don’t give me any hope. 200 years of hoping for hope has tormented me endlessly that I do not want to be part of it again. Please…I do not have the heart to take this…” Astarion whimpered. You can hear the sob suppressed in his throat for the last 200 years as his hands tremble, emotions so vulnerable and unravelled right in front of you that he so desperately tried to hide. It shouldn’t be like this. It breaks your heart to see the man earning his freedom, yet the illusions of shackles are still tying him down.

It is unfair.

You grip his hands tighter to your heart, biting down the tears threatening to spill. “When there’s a will, there is a way,” You smiled. “Astarion Ancunin, what is it that you wish for?”

“What? But—I don’t understand—“ his brows furrow trying to make sense of your words but failing. Yet, he can feel a tingle at the back of his neck. A sign.

“Please, Astarion. Tell me your wish.”

The warning bells in his mind are telling him to run, to end this conversation right here, right now. But the fluttering feeling in his gut is saying ‘This is it. This is the moment you’ve been desperately trying to find’. Now the sparkle in your eyes is drawing him in, things that he had been longing for, and the love you are showing him. The sign he’d desperately prayed to the gods for all these years.

“I wish…” he trailed off, “I wish to walk in the sun again. I wish to see this world in the light that I was created in; I wish to take back the life that was ripped away from me for all these years, in darkness and torment, to have what is rightfully mine.

I wish to live again.”

The soil beneath your feet vibrates and crackles, the fabric of your clothes softly ripples in the air; a lavender beam emerges through and etches your runes, circling a gateway around both of you.

“Then, your wish is my command.”

Statics channelling in the air as you tune yourself to the weave. You can feel it. You can feel it all—the dark musk of ember, the evergreen blades rustle, the crashing of ocean waves. Magic tying deep into the burrows of the Earth willing to your command, feeding brighter into your rune as you hold on to its reins. But, the power of this spell is not without a cost, like gravity dragging you down. Your face breaks into sweat with the force burning in your gut.

“Stop that! You’re killing yourself!” Astarion struggles to break free from your grasp.

“Don’t—I’m almost there!”

A sinking pressure presses in Astarion’s chest; it’s warm, then burns aflame but it does not hurt; the pressure pushes deeper, searing through his organs and scratches at each porous of his rib cage. And then, gone.

The sound of silence.

Your legs give out as you crumble onto the floor, ready for impact. With a swift motion, Astarion catches you in his arms and carefully lays you in his lap. His mouth opens, ready to protest with his snarky remarks but closes it again, brushing away strands of stray hair from your battered face.

You chuckled breathlessly, reaching your hand, heavy as it may, and cupped his face. “Your wish has been granted.”

The sky begins to transition in lilac as dawn breaks, the ocean glimmers on the horizon and songbirds sing their tunes again. The red flaming ball peeked through the crystal water, bringing out the soft glow of orange. As the first ray of light shines, the warmth of it carries. Hungry, delicate, a sign of life.

“I’m…alive.”

A gentle breeze picks up and brushes against his cheek; hot tears spew from the corner of his eyes. So naturally warm. So, very warm. The silvery strands swayed to the rhythm of the wind, and he inhaled deeply, as much as his frail body could hold, the nostalgic scent of sunshine, like a spring afternoon.

Then, an unfamiliar familiar sense came. A thud. And another. Something rattling endlessly at his ribcage threatening to come out and yet staying in its place, a rhythmic humming coursing through his chest to the tips of his fingers. A sound so loud thumping and yet so quiet as a whisper in his ear. A sense of jamais vu. 

“You'll always be who you are. No matter what you've become—a vampire or not. I will love you as long as life continues to breathe on these vast lands. And till the end of time."

Astarion squeezes you into a tight hug. He’s trembling in your embrace, and catching you off guard, he bursts into a fit of laughter. Maybe even your first time to hear him laughing with such carefree manner but the heat of his tears travels to your shoulder. Your hand finds its way to his soft locks, petting him as you melt deeper into his touch.

He pulls back, eyes frantically searching your face. “I-I don’t—I can’t—“ he clears his throat, “thank you, my love.”

He cups your cheeks and gravitates towards your lips. Sweet and velvety, your lips curl at his kiss. He pulls away just enough to admire your features; cheeks flushed rosy and eyes bright and confident. Everything about you is love-touched, that after centuries, someone could cut through the world to bring him back into the light.

“Now, are you going to stare at me all morning, or are we going to get some breakfast?” You teased.

“Actually, I was thinking,” Astarion eyes you up and down. Whenever he has some brilliant idea, it’s never a good one. “The tent’s been empty all night, and I think we should, um, keep our bedrolls warm, at least.”

His hand slithers its way under the hem of your shirt, running a hand at your soft curves. You sigh in defeat, knowing you could never say no to his lovable face.

“Fine. I guess breakfast can wait.” You smirk.

Hands flew to the collar of his shirt as you yank him down to your lips. You parted them slightly, an invitation for him to deepen his kiss, teeth included. It might be a long morning, but there are plenty of mornings yet to come.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 fanfiction #bg3 fanfiction #astarion #astarion fanfic #astarion ancunin #astarion x tav #astarion x reader #⭐️.doc