bard, druid, warlock, and wizard for elodie, ozy, and francis :) 🩷🩷
tyyyy | d&d character class asks
bard: How does your muse handle social situations? Are they personable, charming, awkward, shy? How does your muse respond to being the center of attention?
elodie — she swings wildly between impressive proficiency and utter disaster, usually depending on how close she is to the other party and how vulnerable she feels about the situation. if she's pretending to be someone else it's great! if she's trying to genuinely express herself it's fucking joever, she struggles to even finish a sentence. she doesn't mind being the centre of attention in front of strangers but she's pretty shy around people she loves.
ozy — very adeptly. he's the most 20-charisma silver-tongued bastard of all my PCs, and he's rarely out of his element. he only really struggled in any kallux conversation towards the end of the campaign, in which he was genuinely fighting for his fucking life. being the centre of attention only bothers him when it's coloured by emotions he doesn't know how to receive (gratitude or awe or affection). otherwise it's fine. he's used to being stared at, for better or worse.
francis — he's pretty gruff and awkward. he doesn't have the social graces of a born noble or certain other knights he knows, and he doesn't enjoy the finicky dance of small talk. conversation is much easier when he's talking to another knight or someone else from the palace. being the centre of attention was fine when he had a job to do but he hates the feeling of eyes on him now. he does not want to be perceived, and certainly not gossiped about.
druid: How does your muse interact with the natural world? Are they good with animals? Plants? Do they keep any pets?
elodie — she’s a long way from her unruly childhood spent exploring the woods and coastline of watcher’s eye. now she’s mostly a city girl, though she did spend a lot of time by the water in marona and prefers the sea to any other sort of nature. she’s not good with plants or animals, which maybe should’ve been another clue that crankle was Not A Cat.
ozy — he has a healthy respect and appreciation for nature, born from decades of living in a desertified wasteland. he’s especially captivated by the ocean and any of the patches of wilderness that spring up on asdor as the years progress. he’s not especially good with animals or plants, though he kept a small succulent on asdor and absolutely dotes on his paladin steed orum.
francis — the queen’s park is about as much nature as he’s gotten to appreciate for the last few decades (unless he accompanied their majesties on trips out of brighthorne?) and he does enjoy the lake and the patches of forest. in his heart i think he prefers something a little less orderly than the pristine, symmetrical gardens that are fashionable in upper brighthorne. he’s good with horses and dogs, and especially loves his steed titania. he’s not had much experience with gardening but i honestly think he might like it?
warlock: Has your muse ever made a deal to get something they wanted? Is there anything your muse wants enough to broker for it? What would your muse sacrifice to get what they want?
elodie — she hasn't but she absolutely would. warlock was actually my initial idea for her class! she's got -2 wisdom and a 15-year-old albatross hanging around her neck that she'd do anything to try and make up for. she'd sacrifice plenty of things at her own expense, but nothing that would endanger her friends or family.
ozy — his oath to the owl was very much a deal, though he didn't see it that way at the time. he got partway through a deal with the demon lord suliel to save kallux's life, but luckily squirmed his way out of it. there's a bunch of things he would have made deals for during the campaign, considering how little he cared about his own wellbeing, so it's probably a good thing the opportunity never really arose. he would have given anything to help the party achieve their goals.
francis — maybe in his youth (when he had no name and no means) he made a bet or two to prove himself before witnesses or win access to a competition, but nothing arcane. even if someone or something offered him what he desperately wants now (a return to how he was before the attack) he'd be sorely, sorely tempted but ultimately refuse. he's too sensible and too leery of consequences to make that sort of deal.
wizard: What is your muse like as a student? Do they have the patience for studying? What do they like learning about? What do they most want to know?
elodie — generally pretty poor except when it comes to dancing or kol's rapier lessons (the former because it's her passion, the latter out of stubbornness). she especially likes learning new dances, but she's curious about art and music and performances from around the world. right now the things she wants to know most are unfortunately either aneirin-related or sora-related.
ozy — he was never academic but he’s a good hands-on learner, and if something really mattered to him he could knuckle down and hit the books. i can see him stepping out of his comfort zone during asdor's recovery and learning a lot about what makes a planet or city or society function, maybe even something about agriculture. assign that man some manual labour.
francis — extremely diligent and single-minded. he's definitely the kind of student who would train the same move endlessly until he was sure he'd perfected it, even after the masters told him it was "good enough". he likes learning about martial combat and history (especially military history). we need to find him some other hobbies...
Okay, I don't remember where I read this one, here or AO3 but anyway I hope the author doesn't find this bc I don't wanna be mean or anything, but
So there's this fic that was either OC/Maul or Reader/Maul, it doesn't matter. The thing spanned a long time of Maul's adult life while he worked for sidius and before AOTC. After he gets chopped in half by Kenobi, the girl in the story doesn't get any news for a long time and assumes he's dead. A long time passes and he comes back already in his cybernetic legs look from when he takes over mandalore, and they meet again.
Mind you, this story wasn't a modern AU, it was entirely set on canon universe and its events. So when both characters argue over how he disappeared on her, or how she never looked for him, idk, he gets hot-headed and slaps her across the face, immediately regretting.
Then, he sheepishly says something along the lines of "I'm sorry, I've been through a lot, I have PTSD and it makes me lash out like this sometimes-"
It was such an OOC moment to me that I was knocked out of any sense of immersive reading by that sentence alone bc:
1- Let's say that the modern-world term "PTSD" might even be used in the SW-universe psychology, sure but
2- why in the fuck would Maul know the term itself and, worse, use it to explain away his behavior
3- why would maul bother explaining away his behavior at all in a fic where everything is more or less identical to canon so he didn't go through any major personality-changing events? Maul doesn't apologize to anyone, he never did and never will
4- mymaulisabitchandIlovehimsomuch.gif
5- Maul, as the character is, would rather chew his non-cybernetic limbs off than EVER go to anything similar to therapy or admit that there might be something wrong with his head
6 - The last time someone (obi-wan) tried to gently suggest that he might be a victim of abuse and trauma, his response was 'you know nothing of me!' before he violently killed the woman obi-wan loved just for the heck of it.
7 - The only thing this man would ever admit to have is Post-Traumatic-Stab-Disorder
I would've be sort-of okay with an apologetic, fault-admitting Maul in an AU or something but canon Maul? The one whose head is so fucked up that when a jedi tried to read his mind he literally died of insanity? Nah
some from a potential wip about the darlingtons called violent tendencies:
lisa: *calls her parents*
her dad answers the phone, breathing heavy anxious breaths.
lisa: dad?
lisa's dad: kitten, this really isn't a good time. daddy's a fucking mess right now.
lisa: what happened?
lisa's dad: well, your mother was playing mind games with a patient and it escalated. now we're being investigated by the FBI. oh god, i can't go to jail. i'm too handsome.
....
"at least i feel things. i'm not a robot like you."
preston shoots her an unimpressed look from where's he's feeling the softness of his face in the mirror. the vain bastard.
"i feel all the same things as you," counters preston. "i just don't care. you know what your problem is? you're impulsive like dad and sentimental like mom. that's going to be your downfall."
lisa feels a chill then. like someone walked over her grave.
"yeah right," answers lisa, trying to sound as arrogant and haughty as possible to cover her unease. "we'll see who dies first."
by then preston is ignoring her.
"you know you'll get wrinkles if you keep doing that."
"kill yourself."
...
preston: here's my card.
person: what business are you in?
preston: *smirks* meat.
warning: implied cannibalism.
preston: thank you lord for this meat you have provided for us. this body, this blood, this life that will be given up for our survival. *he looks down into the frightened eyes of the girl laying on the altar.* we appreciate your sacrifice.
fletcher watches preston raise the knife.
this is from the noir jazz cyberpunk wip
claire: you're the prettiest girl i've ever seen.
narrator: i bet you say that to all the girls.
claire: only the ones i like.
carry me
durant: who's sludge going with now?
malik: some hot blond just moved back from verona.
durant: man, if you told me sludge'd be getting more ass than any of us...
malik: are you saying you don't get enough ass? that hurts.
durant: baby...
malik: scotty you hear this shit? man's complaining he don't get enough ass when he gets plenty at home.
scott: *trying not to laugh* no comment.
durant: how's it going with your lady?
scott: *blushes* she's not my lady.
durant: oh c'mon scotty, everybody in BC with eyes knows you got a thing for rayray. it's like, in neon and shit.
I'm happy to! It's honestly delightful how encouraging the Tolkien fandom is, haha
So, Nymphea is the middle of three from Old Took's youngest, Isengar (who in canon was childless, but shh), who'd "gone to sea" when he was young - I'm taking that as he'd gone off and been a sailor for a while
Despite how incredibly rich the Took family is - gentry, as it were - Nymphea took up shepherding for the sake of getting out of the house, and is also quite skilled at embroidery, drawing, and handy with both the shepherd's crook and slingshots
The night they'd signed the contract, they'd quickly snuck back to the Great Smials to pack in secret, but Isengar happened to catch them...
So... Nymphea's rather more prepared than Bilbo is for the journey, haha
I also wanted to try and touch a little on the relationship with Thorin - I think he's bemused by them, more than anything? They're so soft, and this whole journey is dangerous, and why aren't they back home tending to the sweet, nice things they're used to?
But 'soft' doesn't mean 'weak', and given what a hard life he's led, Thorin could use a little softness...
I also made their hair that particular gold blond for a reason - there's that fun little twist of his gold sickness, and oh, what better to covet...
Hey! Just dropping in to say I’m very excited about this game! I will definitely be playing the Demo as soon as it’s out. (One IF writer to another, can I ask how long your demo will be? I’m just trying to get a sense of what others do)
i'm excited that you're excited! 🥰 we're getting close to release day now 👀 would def love to hear your thoughts once you read!
the demo drop on oct 1 will include the prologue, chapter one, and multiple codex entries totaling about 14k words. my beta says that an average playthrough will probably be more or less 45-60 minutes (depending on your choices as some scenes and lore require you to make certain ones).
if eotm as a whole was a chef's tasting menu, then the prologue would be a canape, ch 1 would be a tone setting first course, and the codex entries are the fancy cocktails you got to treat yourself to something extra 😋
I’m an IF writer myself and I hope you don’t mind my saying this as a cis person, but all this discussion has helped ME a lot to see where different people stand and to not be afraid of nb options, and to start thinking about gender in an IF in a different way. I don’t know enough about any of this to offer any opinions but you’ve handled this very well and I personally am learning a lot 💖
ahhh thank you so much this is so sweet!!! i'm really happy i've been able to help, even a little bit, and i'm grateful to everyone for sharing their experiences and thoughts, and that everyone has been really courteous and understanding.
i'm no expert by any means, and definitely not any kind of authority, but still, i'm really happy that we've been able to discuss all of this and get people thinking more about representation and gender in IF.
