Silver GM

I'm a fanfiction author, primarily interested in Pillars Of Eternity. Find my A03 page here: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverGM

[ridragon]

thinking about how Pallegina (and the godlikes in general but especially Pel) is SO unintentionally(?) intersex coded and it makes me feel things so much i couldnt stop thinking abt it on my drive home

- she is not legally a man or a woman in her home country which resulted in a weird relationship wrt gender and sex her entire life

- she was able to join a paladin order that was supposed to be men only but didnt really have a "neither" clause. the members see her as too woman like to belong there and ostracize her. but shes not woman *enough* to be called one legally and have the rights they do either

- had cosmetic surgery(s?) as a child preformed on her before she could truly consent to try to "fix" her and make her look more "normal" before she hit puberty and got "worse"

- has a very mixed relationship wirh herself and why she is how she is. she is both proud and ashamed. happy she was shaped into who she is but also bitter it had to happen in such a traumatizing way

- characters, both directly to her and behind her back, openly speculate about her anatomy including blatantly asking about her genitalia

....also thinking about this it means that the main character in avowed, due to being a godlike as well, is like the only ever customizable character or maybe any main video game character that is intersex in all iterations of a game-world. so like, thats really neat actually

[silver-gm]

Darkly hilarious to get an ad for the next Call Of Duty on a video essay on Spec Ops: The Line

[silver-gm]

I liked the writing in Avowed, but there was one pretty significant thematic hole: Much of the game is about loyalties and obligations, but the game seldom discusses what happens when those loyalties are betrayed or obligations ignored. <moderate spoiler warning>

The biggest example of this is the Envoy themselves: They're hand-picked by the Emperor, so one would think that betraying him would not be something done lightly. Heck, the game's in-dialogue title drop is literally the main villain referring to the Envoy as 'an Avowed servant of the empire'. But the Envoy suffers no apparent mechanical or narrative consequences for even directly opposing Aedyr's interests; even if they unite the Living Lands against Aedyr, the game doesn't mention the consequences for the Enovy.

Another example is Marius: he abandons his oath to Solace, which is supposed to be a grave crime; there's an entire other quest line about this. But Marius is entirely welcomed back, with nothing more than a few lines about how he broke the rules.

The idea is not wholly ignored, of course, because of the aforementioned quest line: Amalia and her supporters seeking to leave the Tusks, which they can do if the Envoy exploits a loophole in their oaths. This is one of the game's strongest moments, exploring things like systemic oppression, its causes and consequences.

Now, I do believe that the player should have had the chance to disobey the rules - that's one of the strengths of RPGs. But there should have been some more narrative weight behind those choices, a demonstration of how systems try to keep themselves up. It's still a very solid game with enjoyable writing, but there could have been more depth

[silver-gm]

Tagged by @lukedanger for a WIP, thank you! Here's a little something from my K-pop demon hunters Golarion AU, ft. Rumi in a blender (Shocking, I know.)

Meanwhile, Mira and Zoey were patiently awaiting Rumi's return. Mira was deep in thought, while Zoey bounced around thought like a kangaroo in an earthquake. She suddenly looked up. "Oh, I just remembered!" Mira looked up to ask what, when Zoey grabbed her and pulled her into a kiss. Mira kissed back as her eyes welled with tears. As she slowly pulled away, she whispered "I…I didn't think you'd remember…" Zoey laughed. "Aww, Mira! Of course I'd remember, time paradox or not!" She turned away from Mira with a blush. "Actually, I… I felt a little guilty, at first. I mean, I could tell you have your boundaries, so I really was waiting for you to kiss me first, but you were dying and, well…" "You… were waiting to kiss me?" Mira choked out. Zoey seemed bemused. "Uh, yeah? Of course I want to kiss one of my girlfriends." The swell of emotions in Mira's mind came to an abrupt halt as her mind jammed. "Wait, girlfriends? Since when?" "…For, like a year." Zoey blinked. "Did you not, you know, know?" "You…no. No I-" Mira's face rapidly shifted between expressions as she processed this information. "Mira, we've literally been sharing a bedroll for years." Zoey said flatly. "Because you were cold!" "Mira, 'friends' don't cuddle eachother to sleep every night." Something clicked in Zoey's mind. "Wait, if you didn't know, I probably should ask Rumi." Mira cocked her head. "What?" "I thought it was all three of us! You know, like Shelyn, Desna, and Sarenrae!" Fear bloomed on Zoey's face. "You're… are you okay with that?" Mira relaxed a little. "I… I haven't really thought about it before, but I would be. If she is." Zoey sighed in relief. "Cool! I mean, it would have been cool every way, but extra cool! I'd kiss you again, but I don't want to leave Rumi out." It was then Rumi returned. "Leave me out of what?" Zoey tensed. "Oh, uh, we were talking, and um…are we dating? Like, the three of us? Becauseitstotallycoolifwe'renotbutalsoIreallywanttoandMirascolwthtndtdbencbtIdntwnttmkyncfoblratinggrfnoteatgrgatut okay!" Mira said "Uh, yeah. Zoey thinks she's been dating both of us for, like, a year, but I don't mind. And I would like to date both of you." Rumi froze. She knew, right then, where that siktempora had come from: from the love they held for her. A love so strong, it transcended time. She also knew she loved them just as much. She also knew that she couldn't let them love her, lest they discover she was unholy. With all her skill, she forced her raging heart behind the mask she'd been building for years. "I…Look, I care about both of you a lot, but…" she felt like she was driving a knife into her own heart. Zoey's smile remained, but she didn't manage to hide the sadness in her eyes. "That's totally cool Rumi! That's… not going to change anything, is it?" "Of course not! I promise." Those words, at least, were easy to say. As painful as the proximity was, pulling away would be worse. Mira frowned, but nodded. "Yeah, we're cool. I mean, dating Zoey is pretty awesome already. We'll be fine." Rumi forced herself to smile. "Yeah, you two make a cute couple. I'll leave you guys to, you know, get a room." Before they could say any more, she turned and left. The second she was out of sight, she broke into a run. She didn't even know where she was going, her heart just screamed at her to run, run away from her pain. She vaulted over walls, sprinted across rooftops, her feet carrying her aimlessly. Of course, she couldn't run from what she carried in her heart. Finally, the strain on her body and heart lead her to drop to her knees in a field on the edge of town. She wept. She clutched her holy symbol. She would have wailed, had she the breath. She could only whisper to her goddess. "Why…?"

tagging @avalost, if you'd like!

[lukedanger]

tagged by @dujour13 for a WIP. Thank you! Here's one part of the intro for my Kingmaker baroness and her particular twist, after the mansion prologue but before leaving Restov.

“Oh, I read about people like that! You’re a beastkin?” “No, I was born a werewolf. A natural werewolf, if you need the distinction." "Wow," Linzi grinned as the paladin moved on to her maille shirt while Linzi shifted the brigandine closer. “That’s amazing! Oh, my book just got so much better! Everyone knows what to expect of Iomedae’s paladins, but then they find out you’re also a werewolf? Yes, they’ll want to understand every bit of it!” “No.” The denial was firm, but clear even over the iron rings falling over Jocelyn's body. Jocelyn took a knee to look Linzi in the eyes at somewhat equal height. “Linzi, most people see werewolves as mindless beasts, and for good reason. Those afflicted by lycanthropy lose their minds during the full moon, unlike those born with it. The last thing I need is to be widely known as one, or worse for people to then ask questions about my family.” “I- but…” Linzi started. The story! She was sitting on such an opportunity!

Tagging, if they want it, @silver-gm, @rollofleaf, @empyreal-lore

[robobrat]

you are not immune to a psychosexual relationship with your sword

[silver-gm]

I do wish Avowed included just a couple more options for being snarky when people are astonished about you being a godlike.

"Are you a godlike!?"

"No, my mother just fucked a sporeling."

[iwoszareba]

hey artist pals of all kinds, can I offer you motivational Sosiel in this trying time? he supports you 100%. (also I read up on Shelyn lore and turns out she cares more about the effort put into art creation rather than just final product so she is in your corner too)

[silver-gm]

Just once I'd like to almost randomly cross paths with a hero and get recruited into their crew of misfits who all trade witty banter and travel around the land with them on a quest to save the world

[silver-gm]

For the 'For the Askers': 3: The best ship you've written for?

Octavia/Regongar in A Bond Reforged, both poking at the genuine problems the two have but highlighting that it's also their respective coping mechanisms for what the Technic League did to them, allowing them to actually move past it. Especially as it's clear neither of them are fooled by the tropes at play but they recognize it for what it is after the clue-by-four the illusions deliver.

6: Something I remember vividly from reading one of your fics

The Five Sins of a Paladin, Jubilost's smut manuscript getting an acid arrow from Ekundayo, and Linzi's brilliant reaction to his litany of questions. "It's Ekun."

Aaawww, thanks!

After playing the ending slides, I could definitely see how Octavia and Regongar could heal, but figured they'd need more of a push to do it.

Honestly, saying that scene had 'illusions' is almost a misnomer, as they were never meant to deceive the pair, just to get the two to confront the truth.

And I'm always a sucker for Jubilost taking an L

[silver-gm]

Something that bugs me far more than it should: Every god in Pathfinder has a sacred animal, but they're completely inconsistent with how specific they are. Cayden Cailean specifies 'hounds', which is a subset of Canis Lupus. Asmodeus, meanwhile, just says 'serpent', and there are so many different species of serpent with different traits. Pharasma specifically says 'whippoorwill' while Desna just lists 'butterfly'

Just... where's the line here?

[dragon-hoard]

seen a couple posts calling others out for saying marius is mean and now thar I have started avowed I can say: hes fucking tsundere

[ask-games-from-a-weird-girl]

Fanfic asks - for the askers

Basically, it's a fanfic asks with a twist - because now it's the askers who answer the questions and send them to YOU! Mostly to give you some love about your writing! Giving you some well deserved ego boost! <3

So, askers - pick a number, or several numbers, to answer in ask boxes that you send to your fic author!

My favorite fic of yours

My favorite chapter in my favorite fic of yours

The best character you've written for

The best ship you've written for

A fic I haven't read yet from you, but I want to

Something I remember vividly from reading one of your fics

What made me the most emotional after reading

What I like the most about your writing

A fic i'm excited for you updating/posting

A character/ship I didn't enjoy/think about as much before you wrote about them

Something I wish/hope you write

A fic of yours that i've re-read

If i've ever shared/talked about your fic to someone else

A fic I didn't expect to like so much

A question I have about one of your fics

[silver-gm]

Warhammer 40k but it turns out that the galaxy and its other peoples aren't actually Like That, it's entirely Imperial propaganda. It's actually generally peaceful. (I know I'm not the first to come up with this idea, but I've personally never seen it really explored before)

The Necrons and Eldar are busy in difficult but progressing negotiations on how to divide up the galaxy.

The Tau's whole caste system is really just a ceremonial thing at this point. They're so loyal to the Etherals because they're elected officials (something Imperial citizens can't comprehend). They're actually generally perfectly happy to leave others alone if they're not interested in philosophy, but a lot of Imperial citizens want to defect, so propoganda says they invaded those worlds.

The Tyranids are actually a vital part of a complex interstellar ecosystem. Most galactic civilizations worked out how to co-exist with them, but then the Imperium messed up all their food sources and migration patterns.

Genestealer cults straight up aren't a thing. That's just an excuse the Imperium has to shoot mutants.

The Dark Eldar aren't actually slavers, there's just enough people in the galaxy that are that kinky.

Daemons span the whole spectrum of ideas and moralities. It's entirely possible to make deals with one without any real harm, so long as you're careful. The Chaos Gods, while pretty gross and not exactly beacons of morality, aren't nearly as messed up as the Imperium makes them out to be.

Chaos corruption isn't actually a thing, the Imperium just doesn't want its people exposed to new ideas.

Horus wasn't corrupted, he just realized that his dad was an asshole, and struck deals with daemons in order to put a stop to him.

The Orks rediscovered Blood Bowl and they've been satisfied ever since.

[silver-gm]

[groovy-ruins]

As someone who started the Fallout franchise with 4 and is only casually familiar with the older entries, playing The Outer Worlds really opened my eyes to the level of satire i was missing out in by only playing the bethesda entries.

Like yeah, both of them do the “woah, cool retro future!” thing, but TOW uses that early 1900s retrofuture setting to sell this wildly satirical parody of an anarchocapitalist society. A setting which -despite being so balls to the wall- works because everyone in the world takes it 1000% seriously: “What do you mean ‘why do we pay rent on our own graves?’ It’s only fair to the company!” “Sorry I know i’m dying but i can’t accept medical assistance from you if you’re from a competing company”.

[groovy-ruins]

And all that is made clear within the first hour or two of the game.

Now don’t get me wrong, i love me some fallout 4, i may actually be one of the dozen people who liked the voiced protagonist. But they missed so much potential for this in favor of just going “look, future 50s!”

The most minor of spoilers warnings: in the opening of Fallout 4 you start out as a prewar person before being cryogenically frozen. You get to see the hyper capitalist world that the previous games could only reference FIRST HAND. And what do they do with it? ‘Look, see this brand? you ‘member that brand?!’

There’s almost no depth, no insight into what your life was like, no way to role play that shift after you wake up. They don’t play up the worshipping of the past or the ‘war never changes’ within the game, or how your character might have been affected by being from that time. You get a few throwaway dialogue lines at the beginning and end, and maybe one or tow conversations with really old ghouls.

Again, i’m not saying FO4 is a bad game, but after seeing another game really take advantage of it’s setting from square one, i can’t help but feel Bethesda squandered a lot of potential with their premise

[silver-gm]

Characters the gods talk to: The Watcher, Pallegina, Vatnir, Waidwen, The Envoy

Characters the gods don't talk to: Durance, Hiravias, Tekehu, pretty much any priest in any game

The odds of an Eoran god talking to you is inversely proportional to how much you want them to talk to you.

[silver-gm]

This is probably because if a god gets involved in your business you quickly learn that they're all utter bastards.