Oh Westendorp...

Cara. 22. she/her. Pinterest: x

[thegmsighs]

Questions for your players and why they help

Thought I would share some of the questions I asked my players about their characters prior to session 0 as well as a short statement about why and how they help

What are some things you really don’t want to encounter in the campaign?  & What are some things you do you really want to see in the campaign?

-knowing what your players really like/dislike is very important as it helps you avoid things that they’ll be frustrated or bored by and include stuff they will find more engaging

What’s something you’re looking forward to most about playing your character?

-this tells you where the players priorities lie with their character perhaps it’s money, fame, power or really cool decapitation finishing moves, this will help you plan stuff that will engage them and give them opportunities to feel like the badasses they want to be

What’s something you dislike or are dreading about someone else’s character?

-Knowing if your players have any worries or peeves about other characters can help avoid potential arguments/falling out in future by compensating for issues or discussing them with your players before they become serious problems What are your characters long term and short term goals? -knowing your characters goals is useful for helping the players find a direction for their characters and helping you as a GM help them achieve them What sort of treasure would your character like to find?

-useful for making special treasure hoards

What is your character best known for?

-Adventuring and heroics are all well and good for building a reputation but whether locally or nationally your character will be known and knowing what people will know about them will change how they behave creating more immersive roleplay especially if you visit a hometown

What’s one unique thing about your character?

-something I picked up from another DM (mark Hulmes of highrollers if anyone’s interested) and I like this question as it helps set your character out from the crowd and makes them feel unique and could be worth commenting on in RP

What is your character’s greatest fear?

-Useful to know what to avoid (or add muahahahaha)

what’s a dark secret your character hides?

-Creates compelling RP when the past resurfaces

What is your character looking for in love?

-Not every GM wants to put in a love interest (probably because THEY have to do the flirting) but if so it’s useful to know what the character is looking for

Is your character a leader or a follower?

-A deceptively simple question that lets you know what characters are more likely to stand up and give orders and take charge during situations or stand back and listen, GMs might want to create opportunities for the followers of the party to make decisions (this also applies for players)

What does your character do in downtime?

-Often players don’t think about downtime so it can leave them a bit flummoxed when it comes up so this helps them come with a few ideas before the campaign begins

What type of books does your character read?

-knowing this can influence what sort of adventures you make, using the themes they provide keeps their interests at heart. It also helps to know what genres your players enjoy as well

What is a personal weakness your character has?

-Much like their fears knowing weaknesses will help you as a GM cover said weaknesses (or exploit them muahahahaha)

what sort of people do your characters mingle with? Who are your contacts?

-This can help in RP, say a character is a frequent tavern-goer (as most are) they may be more knowledgeable about taverns, get on with innkeepers and patrons or even be known amongst other tavern goers.

what does your character spend money on?

-Useful to know so when the time comes to spend their hard earned cash the stuff they want is available (and less of a shock if a player spends half their gold on alchemist fire)

how does your character feel about authority figures?

-From city guards to kings and gods encountering people you really shouldn’t pick a fight with is inevitable and when the time comes it’s good to keep in mind which characters are more likely to try

[6ooey]

Corviknight and Wooloo gijinka I love them so much

[beachdeath]

re: last gifset i mean yes and good and i would die for zendaya but the spiderman reboot only exists because andrew garfield was vocally campaigning for a bi peter parker and for michael b. jordan to play mj and sony responded by firing him and signing a licensing agreement with marvel which explicitly contractually obligates marvel to portray spiderman as heterosexual and white

[beachdeath]

ok this seems to be getting notes outside of my circle so i’m going to add some more context to this

so in a july 2013 interview with entertainment weekly, andrew garfield said that he’d been discussing the possibility of a bi peter parker with marc webb, the films’ director, and matt tolmach, one of the producers. this was just a little over a year before the amazing spiderman 2 was released. choice quote:

Recently, he says, he had a philosophical discussion with producer Matt Tolmach about Mary Jane or “MJ” to fans. “I was kind of joking, but kind of not joking about MJ,” he tells EW. “And I was like, ‘What if MJ is a dude?’ Why can’t we discover that Peter is exploring his sexuality?  It’s hardly even groundbreaking!…So why can’t he be gay? Why can’t he be into boys?”

Garfield even has an actor in mind: “I’ve been obsessed with Michael B. Jordan since The Wire. He’s so charismatic and talented. It’d be even better—we’d have interracial bisexuality!” The star has clearly suggested a sexually flexible Spidey to his director, Marc Webb, as well. When EW later mentions the idea to Webb, the director says, “Michael B. Jordan, I know.” Oh, so he’s heard this too? “Uh, are you kidding?”

so, in andrew’s own words, he was “not joking” about this, and michael b. jordan was not just a random suggestion andrew threw out during an interview - he’d actually discussed the possibility with the director. 

for what it’s worth, michael b. jordan was open to it. in a july 2013 interview with vh1, michael said: 

Spider-Man‘s Andrew Garfield recently said that the superhero’s sexuality is open to interpretation, and he named you as someone he’d want to play his gay lover in the film, should Marc Webb choose to go that route. No thoughts on that, but I am a fan of Andrew. He’s a talented actor, I admire his work, and I’d definitely love to work with him in the future. He’s a funny guy–he’s got a sense of humor and I love people that won’t take themselves too seriously all the time, so it’s cool for him to come out and say how he felt or joke around or whatever. It was fun, I laughed at it.

it’s worth noting that one month prior, in june 2013, it was announced in the hollywood reporter that shailene woodley, originally cast as mary jane, would have all of her scenes cut from spiderman 2. note this excerpt from the article:

“I made a creative decision to streamline the story and focus on Peter and Gwen and their relationship,” said Webb. “Shailene is an incredibly talented actress, and while we only shot a few scenes with Mary Jane, we all love working with her.”

The plan now is for Watson, one of Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s iconic love interests, to be introduced in the third movie.

It is likely that Woodley will not return and that the part will be recast.

“Of course I’m bummed,” Woodley told Entertainment Weekly, which first reported the news. “But I’m a firm believer in everything happening for a specific reason. … Based on the proposed plot, I completely understand holding off on introducing [Mary Jane] until the next film.”

okay, so - couple things:

“watson, one of peter parker/spider-man’s iconic love interests” - not “mary jane,” but the gender neutral “watson”

the director complimented shailene’s talent and work ethic, indicating that nothing in her performance was a problem; nonetheless, “woodley will not return and the part will be recast”

and woodley says, “based on the proposed plot, i completely understand holding off on introducing [mary jane] until the next film”

and the brackets around [mary jane] indicated that she… didn’t say mary jane. she said something else. maybe “watson.” maybe “MJ.”

and, of course, one month later, andrew garfield and marc webb were publicly running around comic-con calling for a bisexual spiderman and michael b. jordan as MJ. 

hmm.

now, when later asked about the entertainment weekly interview, andrew claims that he was “joking” and that “it wouldn’t make sense for peter parker to suddenly discover he’s into boys” but then… he delivers a three-minute monologue about lgbt teen suicide and the importance of representation and almost starts crying. so make of that what you will.

then, shortly after comic-con, in august of 2013, stan lee was asked a couple of times about andrew garfield’s call for a bisexual spiderman. his thoughts:

This past weekend, Comicbook.com covered Fandomfest in Louisville, Kentucky, where we reported on Stan Lee’s reaction to a question about Andrew Garfield’s idea to make Spider-Man bisexual. Stan Lee said, “He’s becoming bisexual? Really? Who have you been talking to? I don’t know…seriously I don’t know anything about that. And if it’s true, I’m going to make a couple of phone calls. I figure one sex is enough for anybody.”

In an interview yesterday with WGN radio, Stan Lee was once again asked about Andrew Garfield’s comments. The radio host asked, “There’s one thing that happened recently, and I think this is one thing that makes you a little bit mad. Andrew Garfield suggested that maybe MJ could be a man. Was that out of left field?”

Stan Lee replied, “Boy, that was so out of left field! I don’t understand why he said that, and one of the quotes I gave, he wanted to talk about I think Spider-Man being bisexual, and my only comment was I thought one sex at a time ought to be enough for anybody.”

When asked where he thought Andrew Garfield’s comments came from or if he was just trying to include another audience, Stan Lee said, “Or maybe sometimes you say something just to be noticed or to create a controversy, who knows? But he’s a great guy and he’s a fine actor, and I hope this doesn’t hurt him in any way.”

so like… stan lee was not on fucking board. stan lee was talking about “making a couple of phone calls,” and suggesting andrew “said something just to be noticed or to create a controversy,” and intimated, “i hope this doesn’t hurt him in any way.”

and then, of course, andrew was let go from his contract, and sony struck a deal with marvel to reboot spiderman according to a legal licensing agreement - in place prior to the andrew garfield movies, actually - requiring peter parker to be heterosexual and white.

now, earlier this year, andrew garfield took part in a roundtable discussion with several other actors, including dev patel.

at one point, around the 36-minute mark, dev mentions that he regrets participating in avatar: the last airbender, saying:

I saw a stranger on the screen, like, i didn’t really relate to. And I was just like, this is a terrible extension of me. This is not what I want to represent in any way.

andrew then replies:

I love what you just said, that it felt like you were looking at a stranger, and feeling like you were perpetuating something that’s toxic. And something that’s shallow. And something that has no depth. No matter how much depth was attempted to be bought into it and sold. And then you go – millions and million, for me it was, you know, Spiderman stuff… There’s millions and millions of young people watching who are hungry for a hand here. Someone to say, “You’re okay. Everything’s okay. You’re seen. You’re seen very deeply.” And we have opportunities to do that with those kind of behemoth films. And more often than not, the opportunity is not taken. And it’s absolutely devastating and heartbreaking because there’s so much medicine that could be delivered through those films.”

then the interview asks, “but why is it not taken?” and andrew replies, “why do you think? why do you think?”

tl;dr andrew garfield and marc webb were lobbying for a bisexual spiderman and sony literally fired both of them, signed a licensing agreement with marvel, and rebooted the entire franchise to ensure that would not happen. thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[cherridew]

I was inspired by bowling alley carpets

[fluffysheeps]

Thank you nintendo for my life!!!!

[uinferno]

This man’s wardrobe is such a disaster. It’s like he picked random shit he thought was cool and threw it together. This outfit includes:

Booty Shorts

And Leggings

Sports Jersey (and the sword design makes it look like a fucking tie)

Snap Back designed like a crown

Wool lined cape

And a Single Glove.

That’s not evening mentioning one crucial detail:

He has fucking sponsorships on his cape.

And this jackass wears this outfit every God damn day in public. This isn’t just a costume.

It’s so bad it wrapped back around to absolutely iconic.

[preqame]

protector of wooloo’s

[lotrmusical]

Top Ten Shanties and Sea Songs That Perfectly Embody The Line Between Homosocial and Homoerotic in Naval History

[lotrmusical]

many people demanded the list so here we go! this list is anachronistic and uncomprehensive! cheer up me lads let your hearts never fail! [spotify playlist]

1. Don’t Forget Your Old Shipmate

it doesn’t get more homoerotic than this

2. The Handsome Cabin Boy

three cheers for the ‘girl dresses as a boy to go to sea’ motif! ‘And the captain’s wife she says to him, “My dear I wish you joy, / For it’s either you or I betrayed the handsome cabin boy.”’

3. My Johnny’s Gone To Hilo/Tom’s Gone To Hilo

shoutout to the first-person pov in this mournful shanty about a lover who’s gone away to sea

4. Golden Vanity

the pathos of cameraderie in the face of a cruel captain! ‘So then the cabin boy he swam unto the starboard side / Saying, “Messmates, take me up for I am drifting with the tide.”’

5. Greenland Whale Fisheries

depending on the version - some have the captain lamenting the loss of the whale more than the lives of his crew, others vice versa. all are bops

6. Leave Her, Johnny

the lyrics make it pretty clear that the ‘her’ refers to the ship, but the ambiguity is still good, and either way it has a strong sense of cameraderie and the tune is a+

7. Admiral Benbow

some good old-fashioned rousing patriotism and loyalty to your heroic captain. there are two versions of this song and they’d both do fine on this list but i’m going with this one for this verse: ‘Now the guns they did rattle and the bullets did fly, / But brave Admiral Benbow for help would not cry; / “Take me down to the cockpit, there is ease for my smarts, / If my merry men see me, it would sure break their hearts.”’

8. Haul Away Joe

‘haul away together’/‘haul for better weather’ is up there on the list of ‘good if unintentional metaphors for gay solidarity’. also featuring the very gay moods of regicide and being told to kiss girls by your parents

9. The Bonny Ship The Diamond

‘Now don’t you weep, my bonny lass, though you be left behind, / For the rose will bloom on Greenland’s ice before we change our mind.’ this earns points for being very similar to some verses quoted in moby-dick

10. Northwest Passage

this is a song about holding hands with franklin. what more do you want

[doctorslippery]

127551 views and 2809 votes on Imgur

So this is a cheat-sheet I’ve made for personal use to just have an overview over all the basic D&D rules. The first page covers most of the text rules. The color divides the sections more or less from one another.

The second page covers most of the important tables and stats, that you’ll probably need through the game. Hope you like it and find some use for this! Cheers.

[bardicknowledgeblogger]

SUPER handy! I might use this for the kiddos in my beginner d&d camp this summer!

[otherwindow]

A Dark Souls-like game where the lore for a weapon gets less vague the more you upgrade it. Broken Blade: A brittle sword. You can’t seem to let it go. Unpolished Blade: A cherished weapon from ages past. Polished Blade: You remember something. Bride’s Blade: Your wife’s sword.

[otherwindow]

at first i wanted to make this funny but it just made me sad

[otherwindow]

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

“Give that back”

[poshtearex]

Okay but can you imagine how frustrating being a wizard in dnd would be. Like. You spend so long, maybe even years, studying magic, reading books and working hard be well versed in magic and end up really smart.

Then you meet the other spellcasters and they’re just like

Cleric: I believe in God so I’m magic.

Warlock: I just had to ask cthulu for magic and they said yes.

Sorcerers: I was born with magic.

Druid: I just chilled in the forest and got magic.

Bard: I play the fiddle lmao

[they-call-me-ace]

wizard: takes months to memorize a gesture and an incantation that bends the fabric of reality

bard: doot doot magic flute

[battlecrazed-axe-mage]

Wizard: does ten years of magic grsd school

Sorcerer: My granny fucked a dragon lmao

[doctorslippery]

127551 views and 2809 votes on Imgur

So this is a cheat-sheet I’ve made for personal use to just have an overview over all the basic D&D rules. The first page covers most of the text rules. The color divides the sections more or less from one another.

The second page covers most of the important tables and stats, that you’ll probably need through the game. Hope you like it and find some use for this! Cheers.

[bardicknowledgeblogger]

SUPER handy! I might use this for the kiddos in my beginner d&d camp this summer!

[theartofanimation]

飞行猴

[witcheshaven]

The Rose Serpent

[celestine-starlight]

@cornsnoot

[hawberries]

The red string of fate joins the hands of destined lovers, transcending time and place. It may stretch or tangle, but never break.

now in collar pin form! i’m so excited to share these!

get them here!

[busymatches]

Prepare For Trouble…And Make It Double!!   

i missed drawing these goons 

[elusianknight]

Upcoming Anime: Carole & Tuesday

Do you like music? Sci fi? Lesbians?  Then do I have the upcoming show for you.

Meet Carole and Tuesday, a new original anime directed by  Shinichiro Watanabe and Kunihiko Ikuhara… aka, the directors of Cowboy Beebop and Revolutionary Girl Utena, respectively.  You know, two of the most iconic shows this medium has ever seen.  

The synopsis is as follows (from ANN):

Fifty years have passed since mankind began migrating to the new frontier: Mars. It’s an age where most culture is produced by AI, and people are content to be passive consumers. There’s a girl scraping a living in the metropolis of Alba City, she’s working part-time while trying to become a musician. She’s always felt like something is missing. Her name is Carole. There’s another girl. Born to a wealthy family in the provincial town of Herschel City, she dreams of becoming a musician, but nobody around her understands. She feels like the loneliest person in the world. Her name is Tuesday. A chance meeting brings them together.

It looks like we’re in for a very interesting, unique story, with our central characters eventually forming a band, possibly?  The futuristic setting looks very intriguing… if you want to see for yourself, the promo video is here!  And it looks absolutely stunning.

Also, if you’re worried that our main pair might be bait, consider the legendary legacy of Utena, and also other wonderfully gay series that Ikuhara has directed: Sweet Blue Flowers and Yurikuma Arashi chief among them!  Also, the OP/ED theme are sung by the singing voices of our main two, and are called “Kiss Me” and “Hold Me Now” respectively.  So yeah, there’s a lot going for this series, and the main couple <3

Looks like Japanese netflix has picked it up, but no announcements have been made for the West so far.  Here’s hoping they do it like Violet Evergarden, where it’s dubbed and released weekly!  Either way, I really hope more people talk about this show, because it looks absolutely stunning.