still at it

the gander and the hunter and the gatherer

[lolthwoven]

GUYS, I am absolutely losing my mind over these two 😭♥️ Just look at them!!

A huge, huge thank you to the incredibly talented @yelenhol for this absolutely gorgeous piece! I'm completely in love with it!

[denimecho]

If you would like to see the making of the "In Between with Mr. Door" painting, I have compiled each portrait I made for it and more under the cut.

I started out with black and white, then coloured it later. The image I had in mind was quite dreamy, but it sometimes occurs to me that my abstract internal image may not be translatable, so I initially abandoned that for a new, very purple look. However, giving it a whirl with the colour-balance sliders turned it into the final look, which is almost exactly like I first imagined it.

I don't always plan this carefully when I set out to make a painting, but for this one, I had a very specific idea in mind.

A lot of extra body was painted for some of them, as I could not be sure how much I was going to use in the end.

The sort of glitchy effect was made by copying each "head" and using wave distortion, after which I could erase most of it to bring the full faces back. There is thus a fully visible "normal head" underneath, and "a distorted head" on top.

In the end, a lot of parts of each "head" were placed on top and between each other to create the fading in and out effect. The lighter parts of the distortion are the same layers set to "divide".

[digitalkiddo]

If you're writing anything involving cons, scams, heists, or morally questionable characters who are very good at lying, here are some free resources I've been using for research. Saving you the "why is this in my search history" anxiety.

1. The FBI's Famous Cases & Criminals archive (fbi.gov/history/famous-cases) has detailed breakdowns of real fraud cases, Ponzi schemes, and confidence operations. The language they use is clinical and precise, which is perfect for getting the procedural details right.

2. The FTC Consumer Sentinel Network publishes annual reports on the most common fraud tactics in the US. Great for understanding how modern scams actually work and what makes people fall for them.

3. The Smithsonian's American Art Museum has a free digital collection of forgery case studies. If your character forges documents or art, this is gold.

4. Court Listener (courtlistener.com) is a free legal database where you can read actual court transcripts from fraud trials. Want to know how a real con artist talks under oath? This is where you find out.

5. The Internet Archive's collection of old newspaper crime sections. Search for "confidence man" or "swindle" in papers from the 1920s through 1960s and you'll find incredible real stories that would feel too dramatic for fiction.

Bonus: The Psychology of Fraud section on the Association for Psychological Science website has accessible articles about why people trust, how deception works cognitively, and what makes someone a convincing liar. Essential reading if you want your con artist characters to feel psychologically real.

Reblog to save for later. Your WIP will thank you.

[lolthwoven]

Self-Indulgent Sunday Monday

Thank you so mach for the tags @kt-catt and @thesanguinesonnet!

Well, I'm going back to shameless smut (which I'll politely tuck under a read more) to finish my tiny Outsiders' Welcome, which is only just about to stumble past the 30k-word mark

But hey! I'm still learning how to write something bigger than a one-shot, and I look at all of you writing actual longfics with the warmest kind of envy. You're all incredible! 💛

Gently tagging @unovafarm, @wasteful-sam, @mellybaggins, @lottavilja, @my-favourite-zhent, @gortashsrighthand and anyone with a WIP to share <3

Nothing gentle in it now. That was not what either of them had come upstairs for. He was drooling into her, mouth open and sloppy on her cunt, tongue flat and relentless, wet noises spilling out of him - the sound of a man who'd stopped caring what he sounded like an hour ago and would not be caring again any time soon. Sucking. Slurping. Making an absolute state of himself, both of them, and the sheets. It became a war of mutual sabotage. While he'd wear her down till her rhythm faltered, growing messy and desperate on him, she'd take him deeper and deeper, until his mouth slipped and, groaning, he had to fight his way back to competence. They kept undoing each other. Kept getting undone. "That's it," Rugan panted, coming up for air just long enough to say it, finger still pushed into her arse. "That's it, love. Look at the state o' me, eh? Go on. Give us more." He used his thumb properly now - with purpose, slow, filthy, feeling her open and yield and clench again - and she flooded him more, thighs shaking either side of his head, drenching his chin and running down into the pillow. He'd never been happier. Never once known Tav to keep giving like this, on and on, as though there were no bottom to what she'd hand over if he only kept coaxing it from her.

[lolthwoven]

Last Lines Written

Thank you @kt-catt, @tynithia and @drow-drow-drow for the tags this week!! 💛 I love these tiny tag games where you don't have to think of something clever to post. Latest lines? Great, I've got latest lines

"I don't believe we got out of that as easily as we did." It was the first thing Tav had said in a while, and she aimed it into the mouth of her pewter wine cup, which, having no voice of its own, borrowed the words and gave them back with the shape gone out of them.

No pressure at all, as always @graysparrowao3, @87000beesinapersonsuit, @optimisticgrey, @spillingteanotpermitted, @ginateeth, @missfortunetherogue, @carnivaley

[baldurs-writers-3]

Worldbuilding? In fanfic? It's more likely than you think! Even if writers are not creating the /entire/ world from scratch, fanfic is a great place to see some excellent world building. Especially when the setting is coming from Dungeons and Dragons, a property which greatly encourages creators to make it their own!

Below find pre-canon, post-canon, and all other sorts of worldbuilding efforts!

The Favored One by Incognito_Ghost (21592, Explicit) Content Notes: Major Character Death Pairings: Minthara Baenre/High Priestess of Vandree | Minthara Baenre's Previous Lover

A pre-canon story set in Menzoberranzan, following Minthara and her lover as the latter prepares to ascend to the rank of High Priestess of Lolth at Arach Tinilith, where ambition, faith, and the city's deadly political games are impossible to separate

1st Reccer says: I love this so much! The everyday life of the drow is portrayed so convincingly, and all the political manoeuvring and intricate schemes make it feel like one giant game of 5D chess. It's fantastic 2nd Reccer says: Hot, evil drow women plot against each other, not forgetting to criticize each other's fashion choices. The author has thought very carefully about how drows see the world and how their society is structured.

Keep Telling Me To Breathe and A Heart As Cold As Ice by Defira (213,375 and 279,110, Explicit) Content Notes: Canon-typical violence and Bhaal/devil horribleness Pairings: Dark Urge/Gortash and Gale/Tav

These two fics span pre-canon, canon, and post-canon for the Dark Urge (Kassara) and a drow Tav, Ryme'dra, along with their respective romances and multiple other original characters and canon companions.

Reccer says: This is a double recommendation because Defira's BG3 long fics have incredible worldbuilding with multiple OCs in the same universe. Keep Telling Me to Breathe covers a rich and complex history between Durge and Gortash, and A Heart As Cold As Ice digs deep into drow culture, Mephisotopheles' reign in Cania, Gale's worship of Mystra, and more. And the two stories intersect! Each fic stands fully on its own, but reading them both (and/or her other BG3 fics) makes everything so much richer. Highly recommend.

The Last Will and Testament of Cazador Szarr by AbigailMoment (234498, Explicit) Content Notes: the usual spawn!Astarion-related warnings apply: slavery, consent issues, violence, heavy angst and whump Pairings: Gale / Astarion

AU - what if in efforts to deal with the orb, Gale turned into a vamp? he also inherits Astarion when Cazador dies, as a status symbol

Reccer says: i love so many things abt this one, from Gale still being Gale, still trying to do good and limit his negative impact on other people and the city, i love Tara in this, but the main reason for a rec here is the worldbuilding. it is amazing! from sections of the fic in outsider pov like the person doing lamp post maintenance observing the vampire lord effects on the neighborhood, to the intricate city politics and territory wars between Gale and other vamps. loved how Gale was looking for a druid to help with the plants dying al around his place bc he was a vamp lord, all that good stuff. and then there is the fucking amazing, genius and oh so poetic way the author handled the vampire lord - vampire spawn relation on a, let's call it, mechanical level, with a mental link to see the emotional landscape of the spawn. inspired!

With Your Boots Beneath My Bed by loserscardigan (190228, Explicit) Content Notes: explicit content, graphic depictions of violence Pairings: Astarion/female!OC

A mysterious Tav with a twang in her accent and a heavy past slowly but surely falls in love with Astarion!

Reccer says: One of the most unique and refreshing fics in the fandom & Evie is one of the most interesting Tav’s I’ve read about. Her character & her story is possibly my favorite part of this fic.

Three times three by nuage12 (4821, Mature) Content Notes: Canon-Typical Violence Pairings: The Dark Urge/Enver Gortash

Three episodes from three lives: a future paladin, the head of a cult, and a wanderer with no memory or voice.

Reccer says: I especially love the first chapter. The Dark Urge's adoptive mother is so well-written. She's such a morally ambiguous character from an outward point of view, but at the same time she has a very clear moral code of her own, which she passed on to the Dark Urge.

Eldest Daughter by spacesunderstairs (1000, General) Content Notes: None Pairings:

Menzoberranzan through the eyes of a little girl in a middle-class family who is about to be a big sister for the first time.

Reccer says: This is such a powerful little story that fleshes out so much of the lore of this setting that doesn’t get explored in canon: daily life for regular drow, family relationships, the stuff a child picks up on and the stuff that goes over her head. Terrific stuff.

Heavy Petting by LulaMillay (30561, Explicit) Content Notes: None Pairings: Gale/Tara, Tara/Vajra Sahfar, Samark Dhanszkul/Vajra Sahfar

Gale accidentally turns Tara into a human girl, and hijinx ensue.

Reccer says: This is an absolutely DELIGHTFUL romp. And on top of the charming character work, the city of Waterdeep really IS like a character, ya know?

The Matriarch: The Morena Dekarios Story by Tynithia (47469, Mature) Content Notes: None Pairings: Morena Dekarios/Original Character(s), Morena & Gale, Morena & Original Character(s), Morena & Tav

After witnessing the abduction of her son and grandmother, Morena Dekarios does not sit idly by waiting for news. She takes matters into her own hands, by recruiting a coalition of old friends, bitter rivals, and volatile political allies to find her family.

Reccer says: Even though Gale's mother, Morena Dekarios, is only mentioned a couple of times in the actual game, she now feels like a completely real, fleshed-out character. To support her story, the author built an intricate family tree for Gale's family, complete with a rich history that fluidly ties them into the existing lore. In fact, I kept checking the wiki, because some of the author's own world building was so good, I couldn't tell which was the author's and which was the existing lore! I was entirely immersed in the vivid details of Waterdeep, Neverwinter, and even Evermeet, as if I were walking the streets right alongside Morena. The narrative seamlessly jumps between the past and present to explore Morena's life. Even though the fic isn't complete, it is already a masterclass in world-building! I look forward to see where it goes!

Acts of Civil Service by LulaMillay (28823, Explicit) Content Notes: Major character death, ptsd Pairings: Barcus Wroot / Stonemason Kith

Five years after the Netherbrain left the city in ruins. Barcus has led his clan to success and prosperity and Stonemason Kith has just arrived from the Underdark, trying to build a new life. Neither of them are looking for love. But together, they might build something safe and whole in a city whose foundations are still too shaky to trust.

Reccer says: The pairing has great chemistry, tons of rare and minor characters like the society of brilliance (and the Ironhands might be the mafia?) the world it builds out is a fresh perspective on what could happen after the game if the good guys win but things go wrong.

[87000beesinapersonsuit]

@lolthwoven’s character talatavael from her fic outsider’s welcome 💛💛💛

[lolthwoven]

MEAN... LOOK AT THIS???

Seriously, thank you again! ♥️😭 This is the sweetest gift eveeer

[87000beesinapersonsuit]

i felt a deep and primal need within my soul to draw freedom as the gta6 cover girl

[lolthwoven]

WIP Whenever

Huge thanks to @87000beesinapersonsuit, @thesanguinesonnet, @kt-catt, @optimisticgrey, @graysparrowao3 for the tags this week!

I'm still working on Outsiders' Welcome, and I'm actually feeling pretty damn confident that I'll finish it this time (which is 100% thanks to all the sweethearts who've been encouraging me 🫂❤️)

Besides, both I and the characters have finally reached Rilsa Rael, and at this point there's really no turning back

The Kingpin had dealt in cut and clarity long enough to know that most of what walked in dressed as treasure was paste - glass with a good story and a better lamp behind it - and that the only honest way to read a thing was to take it out of the flattering light the seller had chosen for it. So she held the stranger to a plain light, in her head, and began - unhurried, the way she'd have gone over a necklace some grieving widow swore was her grandmother's - to look for the flaw, because the oldest names were the easiest to counterfeit and the most expensive to be wrong about. Did not find it. That was the first unwelcome thing. Even under such handling she could read the cut of her: the true southern line of the jaw, and the sense to know that thrashing got your throat opened and waiting did not. So the woman waited, folded back against Yusef's chest with a thread of her own blood running from beneath the blade and drying in a thin line along her collarbone - where she'd learned this lesson the fast way. Then the chin came up. Beneath it, a pair of green eyes that hadn't the decency to be frightened.

No pressure at all, as always @missfortunetherogue, @akelan, @unmoderatedzhentarim, @dramatiquechipmunk, @unovafarm and anyone with a WIP to share :3

[dramatiquechipmunk]

Read it here on AO3

Chapter summary: Seven days back from the dead, and Astarion is winning. He has brokered a truce with the shower, conquered the coffee machine, annexed the balcony, and reached a fragile détente with the cat. He is sleeping magnificently, adjusting beautifully, and healing right on schedule—just ask him! Now all he has to do is charm his way through something this world calls "therapy," and absolutely no one will notice that every word out of his mouth is a lie.

Beautiful art done by @klaradraws

Taglist: @vividiana, @andromedaancunin, @alwaysmauria, @missfortunetherogue

Fic summary under the cut

"I hope you die screaming" were the last words Astarion said to his companions. He never imagined they'd come true.

Six months later, drowning in guilt and armed with a stolen Wish spell, he tries to bring them back. Instead, he wakes up at his own funeral in a world he doesn't recognise where everyone he lost is alive, and the woman he loved and abandoned is calling him "partner."

Now he must learn to navigate a life that isn't his, a world whose technology baffles him, trauma that follows him across timelines, and a love he hasn't earned—all while deciding whether to fix the past or fight for a future he doesn't deserve.

[lolthwoven]

Genderbent OCs

Thank you for tagging me on this post, @kt-catt! ❤️

Honestly, these were never meant to leave my folder. I was just messing around with the lighting (go on, guess my two favourite colours), but now I'm absolutely obsessed with these boys :3

I can't even begin to imagine how unbelievably toxic that curly-haired bastard must be. Victor might even outdo Victoria herself 🫦

And then there's Talatavar, as opposed to Talatavael, who has obviously never had anything to do with the city's criminal underworld and has always been the very picture of loyalty to Baldur's Gate and Ravengard

I'll tag the people whose OCs I either haven't seen yet or have accidentally forgotten about (sorry) @tynithia, @spillingteanotpermitted, @thesanguinesonnet, @alwaysmauria, @gortashsrighthand, @dramatiquechipmunk, @vakariansyndrome, @wasteful-sam, @cep-stories

[tsukioreo]

What even is sober anyway.. ?

Thought it’d be quick, well it wasn’t, I really struggled on that one but happy with the result ! Jean Vic is a dangerous man playing on my mind right now..

[lolthwoven]

WIP Wednesday Thursday

I constantly joke that insomnia switches off my amygdala, and with it every last shred of self-criticism. Which means I can actually enjoy writing and share snippets without immediately wanting to crawl into a hole

So… I'm trying to finish this Outsiders' Welcome chapter while the magic lasts

Thank you for the tags @gortashsrighthand, @missfortunetherogue, @kt-catt, @tynithia! Even during the quieter stretches, I absolutely love seeing and reading your little snippets 💛

The woman's name, or the name she was using, did not matter. What mattered was the cut of her: spare, watchful, Memnonite by birth and Zhent by trade, with that thrift of motion the Black Network drilled into its people in place of a conscience. Rugan had known her once, in the easy way of two people who had worked the same filthy waters without ever quite sharing a boat. She was not one of the ones he had sold. That was the whole of the warmth between them, and it was enough to do business on, and not one degree more. After all, she kept such a man where she could see him; nor was he, gently put, someone whose motives inspired confidence. Betray an entire crew of his own to save his skin and then, a season later, stroll back into the one organisation on the Sword Coast with the best documented reasons to want him dead, smiling as he asked after southbound routes. Whether this was for the simple love of a smuggler's wage, or for cover, or for the long slow settling of some private account whose bottom line only Rugan would ever read - that she did not know, and was not interested in insulting herself by guessing. She just told him when.

No-pressure tags for @mellybaggins, @optimisticgrey, @c-e-p5315, @wasteful-sam, @funniestbitchinfaerun, @graysparrowao3, @unovafarm, @spillingteanotpermitted and anyone who wants to join :3

[insert-witty-user-name-here]

[lulamillay]

Four more cards from The Whims of Fortune: Baldur's Gate, as seen through the Minor Arcana

Page of Wands here with rarepair darling Gasper -

2 of Cups (Halsin from Zevlor's perspective)

Queen of Swords (Orin from Durge's perspective)

Queen of Coins (one of my personal rarepair darlings, Derryth Bonecloak)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/84784331

Another part of my contribution to the @bg3-fate-spins-along Tarot Event

56 Drabbles. 56 Characters. 26 Perspectives

Each card can be drawn randomly or each suit can be read as a self-contained arc.

This is featuring the other fantastic card by @akelan (love the interpretation. There is also a Bane card in my other post!)

[cleric-of-ilmater-and-sune]

Priests of the Faerunian Pantheon via "Faiths and Avatars"

Sorry I couldn't tag everyone. There's a 30 tag limit

[lycowarrior]

Death ancient and mad and mighty, death sorrowful and ashamed.

A shameful failure/Nothing will bloom from this/You can wait forever and still receive nothing/No redeeming end awaits

This is based on the butterfly hatching metaphor in the novel, but to make the scene more fatal, I drew the cocoon a failed-to-hatch one, with only malformed flesh inside.