#but I’m rambling again

[dice-n-antlers]

Thinking about Astarion (because of course I am) and the spell True Resurrection.

There’s been some debate over the dates on his headstone and how long he’s been dead and how old he was when he died. The dates are listed kinda weird, but the general consensus is that he’s exactly at or just under 200 years (un)dead.

It is true that, as written, the creature must be dead “no longer than 200 years” for the spell to work.

However.

I think you can argue that in Astarion’s case (and for vampires in general) that it doesn’t matter.

Of course, to work within the confines of the game, the spell has to be written with specific rules and limits. However, rules can be bent and in a tabletop setting, this would be up to DM discretion. As you can see in the spell description, the soul of the creature must also be free and willing to return to life and their body must not have died of old age. So, why the 200-year restriction? To answer that question, let’s talk about souls in the Forgotten Realms.

In general, when an ensouled creature dies, the soul moseys on over to the fugue plane over the course of a few days or even up to a month. This is why there are different resurrection spells that have to be used within a minute or ten days; because the soul is still sorta hanging around.

Once on the fugue plane, the soul just kinda hangs out. Waiting. After about a tenday-ish, a divine postal worker from the soul’s chosen deity comes to pick up the soul and deliver it to its final resting place on the home plane of their deity. The soul can’t be forced or tricked into following the wrong mailman. And there are exceptions to this rule as well. For instance, a soul who wasn’t particularly faithful might end up waiting centuries before someone shows up. If they wait too long, the soul may fade out of existence or Kelemvor may judge them before then.

Once the soul has been prime-delivered to their deity’s planar doorstep, they become a petitioner and their form and the nature of the afterlife can vary wildly depending on who they follow. Some exist in bliss or anguish. Memories of their life on Toril may fade. In the case of elves, they tend to retain their individuality and identity and may eventually be reincarnated in a cycle seeking perfection.

(Note: non-elven petitioners of the Seldarine pantheon of Arvandor could appear as elven or with elven features in death even if they were not elves in their mortal life. Same goes for drow, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings and their respective gods and planes. So you could even make the argument that a non-elf could then enter the elven reincarnation cycle and be elven in their future life if they worship Sehanine Moonbow or Corellon Larethian, etc. Consider also that the Reincarnation spell has the potential to change a dead creature into almost any race without effecting their soul; therefore reincarnating an elf into a tiefling but not removing them from their normal elven reincarnation cycle.)

(But I digress)

The point is, when you are raising a creature from the dead, you are pulling them from somewhere in that natural process. Depending on how long they have been dead, they may no longer exist, or may have little to no memory of their mortal life, they may not want to come back, they may have already been reincarnated into another life, or you might be pissing off some deity. In fact, once a soul is a petitioner, their deity has to approve of their return to life as well. Not to mention, for most souls there may not be much worth coming back to after 200 years; there is likely nothing remaining of their former life and loved ones.

Again, the soul must be both free and willing.

So what about Astarion? To bastardize his own quote: his soul is RIGHT THERE.

He died, sure, but his soul didn’t go anywhere. If you didn’t ascend him, you know his soul exists intact. It’s not on the fugue plane or any final resting plane and hasn’t been reincarnated. His body is dead(ish), but didn’t die of old age. Not to mention, the Monster Manual specifically lists (re)killing them and bringing them back to life as a potential way to cure a vampire.

Assuming that Astarion is willing to return to a full, mortal life, I see no barrier to True Resurrecting him… except that you might need to kill him first… and you need a fuckton of diamonds.

In short: think of the 200-year thing as more of a guideline than a rule. Alternatively, consider that Astarion may have been un-dead for a good long time, but he has not been dead-dead for 200 years.

Now, go forth Tavs! Go kill and resurrect your vampire boyfriend!

#this one is for the angst-with-a-happy-ending fic writers #astarion ancunin #baldur’s gate 3 #bg3 posting #I spend too much time thinking about death in the forgotten realms #I play a grave cleric worshipper of a homebrew goddess who rules over The Grey #best described as the transition area in the fugue plane for souls #my DM tweaked the fugue a bit because death is fucky in TFR and she didn’t like the normal process #said cleric is the tabaxi in my pfp #but I’m rambling again

[thirsty-4-ghouls]

Do you get more “rarer” potions or whatever the higher you get in alchemy levels? Because I stg it wasn’t this hard to get green or yellow when i was ten levels lower >:\

“You transmuted blue sludge” I don’t fucking need more blue sludge! I’m out of yellow!!! I keep transmuting one and two star items and the last one I did (2 stars) gave me red sludge!!! I like having purple, red, and blue, sure, but I need yellow!!!

#emma posts #flight rising #I might be imagining it #because I don’t have this problem with muck and slime #but I’m so frustrated #I spent the last two weeks transmuting one star ‘other’ items #and now have eight green sludge and THIRTY TWO ORANGE #I have only started needing more yellow a day or two ago so I haven’t been doing this for a super long time #but I JUST had this problem with green sludge #and the green goo problem is similar but that’s impacted by how much food my lair consumes #I currently have 180 dragons in my lair and a majority of them either eat only or seem to prefer insects #it makes me a lot of treasure and I love pretty dragons. but they sure do eat a LOT of bugs #it usually hits a few weeks after the monthly festival because I haven’t been fighting as much and thus haven’t been getting as much food #from that combat. I just love puzzles and will spend a lot of my fr time doing them #my current best time on a puzzle is eight minutes! and that was on normal difficulty! I’m so proud #but I’m rambling again

[probablygayattorneys]

I wonder, what were the black Psychelocks actually supposed to be about? I know in DD they establish that it’s a secret the person is keeping even from themselves, and that you have to be very, very, very careful about breaking them, lest you do more harm than good, but the first time we see them are Kristoph’s, and… I don’t know. That explanation doesn’t seem to fit with him. Like, he seemed perfectly aware of what he was doing and why he was doing it, he straight up told Phoenix point blank “I killed a man […] because I am an evil human being.” Like… he seemed to know what he was about all along. What could be possibly have been hiding from himself, especially with FIVE locks?

#apollo justice: ace attorney #aj spoilers #aa4 spoilers #Kristoph Gavin #psychelock #i just. #i don’t get it. #i don’t think this is what shu wanted for the black Psychelocks #but I’m rambling again #this is queued to post midday but I’m actually typing it at 3:30 AM #after I’ve taken my sleeping pills

[the-adventures-of-dave]

Around tumblr lately I’ve seen people with the opinion that not only are free roaming cats bad (correct) but also supervised cats in catios or on leashes (????). I assume it must stem from that “ecology of fear” post from a few months ago, but to me the sudden appearance of these kinds of posts just strikes me as odd. I’ve seen multiple posts like the below one in just this week.

—

—

If your cat is contained to your yard/catio/the sidewalk, then it still allows for predator-free safe places in your neighbourhood for wildlife, and creates predictability for them too. That’s one of the reasons why hiking trails ask people to stay on the trail— so you (and your dog, horse, cat, etc) can safely enjoy nature while still giving it space. It is possible to exist outdoors in natural spaces like that while maintaining wildlife comfort. If it wasn’t possible to do that, dog-friendly or (even just hiking trails in general, since humans are predators too) simply wouldn’t exist.

The problem with free roaming cats is that they break boundaries between human area (ie. trail, back porch) and wildlife area (foliage, etc) and there is nowhere the wildlife can go to exist that is safe from predators.

Idk, this is just my opinion but I just think there can be more nuance to the outdoor/free roaming cat issue than “never let your cat step outside under any circumstance”.

#also it’s just dog double standards again #no one’s calling for people to stop walking their dogs 🙄 #arguably a dog barking at and chasing a rabbit is way more stressful than Kepler sitting in his backpack on the porch with me #it’s possible to coexist with wildlife you just have to be smart and respectful about it #anyways ignore my 8am rambling #I got woken up by the fire alarm at 5am and then immediately saw some bad takes on tumblr once that was sorted #so now I’m like :/ #outdoor cats

[tawaifeddiediaz]

i haven’t had a single night’s rest since i realized chris and eddie have the same excited inflection of their voice when they see buck

#zee rambles #was talking to aliealex and got emotional about this again #idc what anyone says eddie loves buck with something we all can only hope to find #i’m literally in tears over how excited he is to see him!!!!!

[frm9pm]

He’s playing beatmania

#drarry #I had trouble with my mobage the other day and my wife helped me clear it with no issues lol :’p #and then my brainrot makes it Drarry oops #also I wanted to draw Harry with a game boy color #I’m going to do it again #he deserves one #I’m rambling blahblah

[chrxnicdaydream]

hc that Dazai made a point of calling Chuuya small when they met because Dazai was used to being the small one.

like, finally there was someone shorter than him. because let’s be real, Dazai was barely taller than Chuuya in Fifteen.

i think people forget how small Dazai was too— not just in height, but also in weight. He was underweight in Dark Era, but in Fifteen & even at present he's barely within the healthy weight range for his height. he was constantly described as a twig in Fifteen, and almost every time he's introduced in the light novels he's called lanky, slender, etc.

#even in terms of his present day height. like yes he’s tall #but he’s not even close to one of the tallest in bsd. he’s just tall compared to Chuuya #fic writers should really take advantage of the fact that Chuuya called Dazai a twig in 15 #‘but what about broad shoulders Dazai?’ pretty sure that’s just how harukawa draws 😭 like basically every character has ‘broad shoulders’ #if you look at it like that #i recently came to the realization that i gatekeep my hcs & theories fsr?? so i’m trying to change that lol #i wrote this in the tags of a post but figured it deserved its own post #rambling about bsd again #bsd #bungou stray dogs #soukoku #skk #bsd dazai #bsd chuuya #dazai osamu #nakahara chuuya #bsd analysis #bsd meta #tw weight #bsd hcs #skk hc

[anna-scribbles]

the fact that ml has a built in mechanism for adrien to talk to the IDEA of emilie à la the steven universe episode “storm in the room” HAUNTS me. like if he got ahold of félix’s kwagatama he could have a full conversation with the version of his mom who renounced her miraculous (and who KNOWS when that was?? as early as when she got pregnant and then handed it off to the fathoms? she wouldn’t really have had a reason to use it again after that.) oh i can’t decide if he would find this cathartic or devastating or both. your mom is dead but she’s here and she can’t answer for any of her crimes because she’s hardly even committed them yet. the crime was you. she won’t believe you were a crime. your mom is dead but she’s here and she’s so young, she’s the age she was when she conceived you, when nothing bad has happened yet and she can’t stop marveling at your face and how it is so like hers. your mom is dead and she won’t believe you now when you tell her it was your fault. your mom is dead but she’s here and she loves you and you can’t touch her, she’s real and not real at the same time, just like she was when she was alive.

#felix could also do this obviously. but in this house(my brain) we think about adrien #ml #emilie agreste #adrien agreste #anna rambles #sorry i’m thinking about emilie agreste a lot and also rose quartz. it will happen again #if the show never explores this thing they’ve set up i will………….be unsurprised #(lol) #but it is making me crazy to think about it

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: sacrifice / self sacrifice / slight suicidal themes / death mention / ]

I personally think that Leo took the wrong lessons from the movie. I definitely think he grew to understand the importance of teamwork and making sure he takes others into account so as to not harm them by proxy of whatever scheme he has cooked up, however based on the ending events I’m not quite certain he fully grasped two things.

The first thing is communication. Oh, he can communicate, and he does, when he deems it necessary. When he’s setting up a plan prior to the action. But this is where the second thing comes in.

The second thing I don’t think Leo truly grasped is “it’s not about you.” It’s so unbearably easy to take that the wrong way, especially when taking the rest of the series into account.

What I believe Leo took from this message is not “it’s not just you, everyone matters and can contribute, can help and be helped” but “put the whole of everyone above yourself” which can both be a good lesson…and a fatal one.

And it is fatal, we see as much in the movie.

Even after the big hope speech, when Leo is “fighting” Krang!Raph, he takes a huge risk. Sure, it worked, and Leo managed to get through to Raph through a well deserved apology, but it could have so easily ended in his death and yet he barely even hesitates to go for it.

And then again, to the big scene at the end, where Leo sacrifices himself not only for the sake of his family, but for the whole world.

To him, that’s the message to take from this. That the lives of everyone, of the greater good, matters…more than him. That the risk to himself is worth it if others can be saved.

Leo learned that gambling with his life as the betting chip is always the best move to make in the end.

And to make matters worse…this thinking is what works.

These risks are ultimately what is needed to save the day, so why would Leo look away from it now? Clearly it’s the right move and everything worked out!

Thing is, Leo did grow from the events of the movie. He learned to take things more seriously and be more mature, he learned to value his team’s input and capabilities enough to rely on them more, and he learned to be less self-centered and realize the turmoil others were going through (especially if that turmoil is a result of his actions.)

But still, he’s grown to accept the gamble of his life as a viable answer to their problems.

Personally, with how Leo has been shown to toy around with the idea of “it’s better me than them” I think this goes beyond sacrifice in the name of love or even sacrifice in the name of responsibility, and pushes over into sacrifice in the name of worth.

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt leo #rottmnt headcanons #rise leo #death mention / #sacrifice / #self sacrifice / #suicidal tendencies implication / #I honestly could go on for hours but this is all a kinda messy ramble rn #but yeah like…I genuinely can’t see how Leo doesn’t take the wrong message from this all #sure he gets a lot of good growth but #he’s a gambler at heart #it’s just now he’s only willing to bet *himself* #ONCE AGAIN- #‘I’m nothing without them’ and ‘it’s not about you’ can and do mix into quite the dangerous cocktail huh #thing that gets me here too is that a lot of what Leo has to learn in the movie is things he already showed moments of knowing in the show #like Leo KNOWS what his family is capable of and can rely on them if necessary #the problem is when it’s necessary #and he grew to understand that it’s actually ALWAYS necessary…except at the very end #leo is also often the voice of reason throughout the series…but he also often folds and just goes with the flow #he’s goofy like that lol #and tbh he likes to RELAX #that’s a pretty subtle but pretty substantial part of his character #imo at the beginning of the movie Leo KNOWS he’s being immature and THATS THE POINT #they’re still kids man #they’re all just kids #but yeah #I keep rambling and rambling but Leo really is such a tragic character in the grand scheme of things #he’s so utterly fascinating to look at because of how many layers and complexities he has but I just want to give him a hug and let him rest

[daeyumi]

💫🌟 From the Heavens (Eclipse the Moon) 🌙✨

[Cycle of the Stars]

#zelda #legend of zelda #zelda au #loz au #au zelda #zelda fanart #daeyumi art #princess zelda #cycle of the stars #cycle of the stars au #okay remember when i said that there were originally supposed to be companion pieces to that au link piece i posted a while back? #probably not lol #but anyways this is one of those pieces #i finally started working on them again! #and like yeah there’s prob gonna be a gap in quality from the link one to the other 3 but that’s a good thing right? #i mean hopefully i’ve improved lol #ah anyways sry for the ramble lol but i’m v happy to get back to this idea #it’s been a minute #prob gonna do ganondorf’s piece next so stay tuned like next month maybe

[deviouz]

. . . mean jason todd !!

jason todd is the type to fuck you so good tears seem to permanently stain your cheeks and leave your skin feeling raw after all is said and done. he’d have your body contorted and folded in, knees pressed firmly against your chest and legs thrown over his broad, scarred up shoulders. he smirks so cruelly as he absolutely destroys your poor cunt, tip of his cock kissing your cervix with every thrust of his hips.

“‘s the matter, pretty girl? you’re crying so pretty for me. got you drunk on my cock, don’t i?”

jason todd is also the type to grab your jaw and dig his fingers into your cheeks, pushing them together and laughing at the embarrassed whines that garble out of your throat. he’ll stare down at you with those pretty eyes of his, his gaze stern and unwavering, hips still snapping away without much thought. you’re practically drowning in pleasure as jason is ever so in tune with your body, what makes you tick.

“you gonna look at me when you come? i don’t want you lookin’ away from me, not even for a second. let me see that pretty face when i make you come on my cock, doll. that’s it, just like that.”

jason todd is just so mean to his pretty girl. he’ll mock your pleas just to make you repeat them loud enough your voice shakes and broken, desperate sobs push past kiss-swollen lips. if you don’t beg just right, he’ll show his thrusts, eyes focused on yours, as he smiles down at you, all sharp and all teeth.

“what was that? don’t think i quite heard you. say it again for me, yeah?”

jason todd will deny you of your release endless times, simply because he can. he gets a giddy joy at seeing how unabashed you can get at the continuous denial of release. you shake and cry and beg and thrash in his grip, but nothing ever seems to persuade him.

“you can come when i say you can, do you understand? now, be a good girl and shut the fuck up and just take it.”

likes + reblogs heavily encouraged and appreciated!!

#listen. #i’m having thots #oops i meant thoughts #(he’s so hot holy shit i need him) #he’s so mean ): #do it again jason <3 #anyways ! #. . . katy’s ramblings 🪐 #. . . my fics 💌 #. . . jason todd 💭 #dc x reader #dc smut #dc x reader smut #jason todd #jason todd x reader #jason todd smut #jason todd x reader smut #red hood #red hood x reader #red hood x reader smut #red hood smut

[lazylittledragon]

idk what kind of shapeshifting i learned in my sleep but i did my lipstick differently and it gave me a different face

#ramble #idk how to feel knowing i will never look this pretty again bc i doubt i can recreate it #i am unfortunately getting used to ‘natural’ makeup because i’m job hunting and idk if my giant bat eyeliner will be welcome in the office

[thingscanalwaysgetworse]

Okay but like!! It’s about the failure of abstinence-only education. It’s about the adults making teens think that any sexual feelings are unnatural and “evil.” It’s about how none of this actually stops them from having these feelings, it just leads to them having an irrational response when they actually do want to have sex (cough Grace cough). Idk if I’m making sense but you get what I’m saying

#rambles from the ether #nerdy prudes must die #npmd spoilers #npmd #nerdy prudes must die spoilers #abstinence camp #nerdy prudes spoilers #grace chasity #grace chastity #yeah sorry I’m thinking about the implications #it will happen again

[skyward-floored]

Linked universe incorrect quotes (assorted) pt. 4

(Art/AU belongs to @linkeduniverse)

Part 3

#I’m back at it once again hee hee #linkeduniverse #linked universe #linked universe memes #linked universe incorrect quotes #memes from the floor #rambles from the floor #the last two are my favorite

[mearchy]

I love Cassian Andor so so so much as a character he’s just so well written and well acted. He’s so compelling. The way he really would prefer not to be a hero but not in a performative “I just suck so bad I could never be a hero” way in a very ordinary “keep me out of this because it’s not my problem” way. He’s eternally a background character getting put in key positions of main character plots. When I see him break out in that charming beseeching smile, trying to convince who he’s talking to to just give him one more chance, like to the judge when he’s convicted or to his debtors on Ferrix. When I see his face twist and turn grim and intent when he pulls out the gun and shoots a man begging for his life. When he’s in the Narkina 5 prison and he’s just staring emptily ahead and you can SEE him reliving his time in prison as a 13 year old. The anxiousness hidden by sharp aggression when he gets touched unexpectedly while training for the heist. It’s all so good!!!!! He never feels like the bad guy, every decision he makes is so human and you can see the same deeply feeling person behind all of it and I love him so much.

#andor posting again #where is season two where is it where is it where is it #lucasfilm i am banging on your walls #andor #cassian andor #i’m just rambling i don’t expect this post to get any traction #i needed to talk about it after that last gifset #i have so many feelings so many #star wars #rogue one #diego luna

[purrfectlycontent]

anime onlys will never know that the ada cares so much about dazai they literally crafted an entire plan on how to revive him if he actually dies

#my ramblings #the current arc had me thinking about this again #i don’t think the anime did the best job portraying the ada’s relationship apart from fukuzawa ranpo and yosano #there’s also atsushi with kyouka and dazai but other than that the characters seem… disconnected? from each other? #i’m about to reread 55 minutes just for this #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd dazai #armed detective agency