#mcif

[dragonagitator]

It's canon that our Earth is part of the same multiverse system as Faerun:

(from the Ed Greenwood Wikipedia article)

So if the Emperor had connected the steering tentacles slightly differently, the nautiloid could have plausibly realm-jumped to Earth during the opening cinematic and snatched up some Earthlings, too... including YOUR author self-insert fanfic protagonist!

Just saying. ;)

[fullsunhyuk]

do you ever think about how fast life can take a turn cause just in march I was like "oh let me just watch this silly survival show haha" and now I'm backpacking through half of europe just to see some short korean dude with an oppa kink that I saw on tv

[ericacarterphotography]

The road to recovery

Ireland has long had a problem with addiction, and it is taking its first steps to combat and reduce this issue. Its first Medically Supervised Injecting Facility was approved recently, which will be a clean and safe environment for those who inject drugs and will greatly reduce the harm they are doing to themselves and potentially others. It will provide support and links to those who feel ready for treatment.

The facility aims to be open in 2021, and Merchant Quay Homeless and Drugs Services hope it will be the first step in a long road to recovery for many of Ireland addicts.

[dragonagitator]

BG3 fanfic prompt for my witchy friends:

So there's different sources of arcane magic in Faerun, right? Mystra, the Goddess of Magic, controls the Weave and she sends her agents to seek out and destroy other sources of arcane magic like the Shadow Weave, Karsite Weave, etc.

Meanwhile, it is canonically possible to believe a new god into existence. Mostly only Kuo-Toa do this but my understanding is that's because they are inclined towards fanatical levels of religious faith and not because they have an exclusive racial ability to spawn new gods.

So let's say you're writing a Modern Girl in Faerun author self-insert fic. And your MGIF was a practicing witch back on Earth. What happens if she continues practicing in Faerun? Does that introduce a new kind of Weave into the world?

And if she does diety work, does her belief in her gods and goddesses from Earth cause them to begin manifesting in Faerun?

Culminating in a showdown against Mystra, where it's not just Gale going up against her, it's Gale and your MGIF and her gods and goddesses from back home.

"Oh, so you're the local Goddess of Magic? Well, let me introduce you to Hecate and Freyja and the Morrigan and Isis and..."

[dragonagitator]

The D&D Forgotten Realms lore about Jergal has some pretty interesting implications for BG3 fanfic authors who aren't shy about writing world-changing deviations from canon.

Jergal was so desperate to retire that he was willing to hand out godhood as a bowling trophy (see screencaps below cut).

Meanwhile, Gale is so desperate to ascend to godhood that he'll risk his life/soul/love in pursuit of it unless you make the correct series of dialogue choices.

And per the epilogue, it seems the Dead Three are getting fired and thus Jergal might be "hiring" for his replacement again soon.

A fanfic protagonist who knows all this (e.g. a "Modern Character in Faerun" who has played BG3 and knows some D&D lore) would be in a position to make some ~☆~interesting~☆~ suggestions...

(Meanwhile, my horrible author self-insert: "Should I be jealous of Withers, Gale? I know he's your type." "What in the world could have ever given you the impression that I am attracted to the undead?" "Well, he's a god, and you have a thing for dieties, right?" "...what?" "Withers is Jergal." "And you didn't think to mention this before?!" "Well, he always asked me to call him Withers, and it seemed rude to dead name him. Ha! 'Dead name' him -- get it?")

Relevant excerpts from the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide below the cut. And if you intend to play with these ideas in your own fanfics, you may find my Withers Style Guide helpful.

[dragonagitator]

BG3 fanfic idea:

Modern Character in Faerun fic in which the author self-insert suffers from whatever chronic illnesses and disabilities the author suffers from IRL and Shadowheart inadvertently cures them all the first time she casts Lesser Restoration for something.

It turns out that you weren't that far off all those times you'd joked back on Earth that "God nerfed me by giving me [condition] because he knew I'd be too OP without it."

And all that extra effort you used to have to expend every day just to minimally function? That was like a lifelong intensive weightlifting program for your willpower because you were constantly forcing yourself to do things despite all the pain, fatigue, brain fog, nausea, etc. Once you're freed of the shackles of your chronic illnesses and disabilities, you're able to utilize that power in ways chronically healthy and lifelong abled people could never dream of.

Title idea: "Traded My Spoons For Knives"

Lore caveats: Lesser Restoration canonically cures the conditions diseased, poisoned, paralysis, and blinded. If you're missing body parts and want them back then you'll need to wait for the 7th-level divine magic spell Regenerate, which can't be learned in game because character progression is capped at level 12 but should be achievable fairly quickly in a post-game story because clerics and druids get access to 7th-level spells as soon as they hit level 13. If that causes you to inadvertently regenerate body parts that you didn't want back, the 9th-level spell True Polymorph can permanently (with your consent) change your healthy/whole baseline to something else. You'll need a level 18+ wizard to cast it, which Gale was before the orb since he was an archmage, and it's certainly plausible that removing the orb would allow him to bounce back to his old character level without needing to grind XP to get there.

(Inspired by memories of taking Adderall for the first time. That was a REVELATION, y'all. You mean I wasn't just stupid and lazy this whole time? This is what I can do when my brain actually works right? If my physical disabilities and chronic illnesses could also be cured/treated as instantaneously, I'd be unstoppable.)

(Also, how is it that as soon as I start writing my first attempt at fanfic, I start generating ideas for new fanfics faster than I can even write the ideas down much less ever actually write any of the stories?)

[dragonagitator]

Since people enjoyed this post so much, perhaps you will also enjoy this snippet from my "Modern Girl in Faerun" author self-insert isekai WIP.

For context, it's the first long rest, and we've been to the Grove but haven't encountered Karlach yet.

Scene under the cut. Criticism welcome!

The fire was warm, but the ground was hard and cold, and my scavenged bedroll was too thin to provide much cushioning.

"Gale?" I broke the silence after a couple of minutes of tossing and turning.

"Mmm?" he responded sleepily from his side of the fire.

"Why are we sleeping on these bedrolls when you can summon beds? Because I know you can summon beds, I've seen you do it in my previous, um, 'time loops.'"

"Ah, well, while I could certainly 'summon' a bed, it would only stay 'summoned' for as long as I am able to concentrate on maintaining the spell," he explained. "So, as soon as I were to slip into slumber, the bed would wink out of existence, and its occupant would tumble to the ground rather abruptly. Counterproductive to a restful night's sleep, as I'm sure you would agree."

"Oh, that makes way more sense than my theory," I said.

"Oh? And what was your theory?" Gale sounded excited over the prospect of having someone to discuss magical theory with.

'Oh, my adorable nerd,' I thought fondly.

"That the spell's somatic component was an erection," I teased.

Wyll erupted into peals of laughter while Gale sputtered indignantly.

"What? No! Why would you -- that is absolutely not how it works -- whatever in the world gave you that idea?" Gale demanded.

"Context," I replied mysteriously.

"Will you lot be quiet?" Shadowheart interjected disapprovingly. "We've all had a long day, and it sounds like we have many more long days ahead of us. We need rest, not this late-night foolishness."

"You know, for someone who doesn't remember shit, you sure do a keen impression of a Mother Superior scolding the girls' dormitory," I retorted sulkily.

"The istik priest speaks truth. We would be wise to rest while we can," Lae'zel chimed in.

'Dang, Lae'zel and Shadowheart agreeing on something already? I'm such a uniter! Look at me speedrunning their friendship!' I began giggling to myself.

"SHUT. UP!" Astarion snapped.

'I don't know what he's so pissy about. He only needs, what, like 4 hours of meditation? Oh, wait, he's probably hungry and waiting for us to fall asleep so he can sneak off to hunt. Right.'

"Goodnight, everyone," I sing-songed sweetly.

Wyll's muffled snickering gradually faded as he regained his composure, leaving nothing but the sound of the crackling fire.

'When I fall asleep here, will I wake up back in real life?' I wondered as I drifted off.

[dragonagitator]

One of the more fucked-up things that I'm writing into my "Modern Girl in Faerun" author-self insert isekai fic is making Astarion the only companion who immediately believes the MGIF that she's from another universe and that her foreknowledge of events comes from an interactive story that she's played as a game.

Everyone else is varying degrees of skeptical because there are several possible established in-world explanations for why someone might have the gift of prophecy, and it's more plausible that the MGIF is simultaneously gifted and crazy than her "you're all fictional characters, we're inside a game" story.

But Astarion? Upon learning that his entire existence is merely to entertain otherworldly beings, who control him and push him to do this or that for our own amusement? Yeah, that sounds about right.