My Adaptation Of The God Of Arepo Short Story, Which Was Originally Up At ShortBox Comics Fair For Charity.

How do you think Ghoulcy would’ve went down if she had been there pre-war and they met?👉🏻👈🏻 (assuming this is after he’s separated from barb)

Thanks for your patience on this one, babe. I tried to go more general with the response, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I actually have a fairly specific vision for how these two would have ended up meeting in a pre-war world...

Naturally, I think a Lucy from that era would be from somewhere in the middle-of-nowhere Midwest. Vault 33 is sort of supposed to be in/reminiscent of Nebraska based on the projected images of the corn field and everything, right? She'd grow up somewhere dinky, but not too small; big enough to have a few nice amenities and a tight community that adores her and her prominent father. But, much like we see in the show before her dad's exodus from the Vault prompts her to leave, she'd be restless and always secretly pondering what else could be out there for her. Dreaming of the sun on her face, so to speak.

She'd be restless from early on in her youth, from around the time of her mother's death, and no matter how hard she works trying to force herself to feel at peace, she never truly does. Maybe she goes to an in-state college to get her degree when the time comes, gets a small taste of the kind of freedom and variety living in a bigger city can provide and falls in love with it just a little bit. When she goes back home, she idealizes moving somewhere different, being literally anywhere else as she feels like her life is sort of passing her by.

Honestly, I think she'd be exactly the kind of twentysomething that decides she wants to move to one of the coasts to shake things up. She's exactly the type to get involved in some sort of internship or shadowing program, since that would provide some sort of protective plan to her desires to strike out on her own. Or maybe she'd just up and move to Los Angeles on a "What else am I doing with my life?" sort of whim, whatever savings she can scrape together hidden away amongst the few personal things she manages to drag halfway across the country with her. If she fails, she can always go back home, but she knows she'll never forgive herself if she doesn't take more risks and live her life properly while she's young.

Besides, she wants to be married some day, and her home-grown options for candidates aren't exactly impressive. All the prettiest people live in L.A., it seems...maybe she'll find her partner there.

Cooper, on the other hand, would be sworn entirely off of dating in the aftermath of the divorce; between the antagonism that lingers between he and Barb, the uphill battle he's fighting trying to revive his career, and his desire to protect Janey from the fallout of both, he doesn't have the time or proper effort to give to a potential partner. Nor does he have the desire, initially. Frankly, he's incredibly broken up about the (necessary) dissolution of a marriage that he thought he'd be part of forever, to the point that he's sort of operating under the assumption that he'll be single the rest of his days. If he weren't famous, he'd probably just pay for some company on the rare occasion he feels "lonely" enough to desire it and keep it to that, but he's too afraid of ending up an even bigger laughing stock than he feels he's already become. He can perfectly picture the headlines in his mind.

Instead, he spends the better part of a year working insane hours, taking pretty much any gig thrown his way and doing everything he can to cut expenses. Every dollar saved goes into a fund he's saving up to take Barb back to court...as well as a significant chunk he's hoping to eventually use to buy up some out-of-the-way property. He's dissatisfied with the custody agreement they reached during the course of the divorce; true, his irregular and sometimes brutal work schedule doesn't make him an ideal primary custodial parent, but he's pretty desperate to spend every second possible with his child, the knowledge that the world could end at any minute looming large over him, casting a dark shadow. Part of him fantasizes about picking her up for his visitation time and simply not returning her, disappearing somewhere safe. He can perfectly picture the headlines about that, too.

It all wears on him. He knows he's getting older, that he needs to be taking care of himself so he can be around for Janey, but between all the work and all the stress, he's drinking more and sleeping less.

The two meet once, maybe on some set Lucy's managed to find her way onto or something similar. She tries her very best to not absolutely swoon over meeting THE Cooper Howard, already embarrassed by her own enthusiasm; Cooper tries his best to be pleasant and charming, exhausted as he usually is. He finds their interaction strangely refreshing, though, and after that it's like he sees her everywhere. Her rather meager savings have run out even quicker than she had anticipated, so, like most non-wealthy people in L.A., she has multiple jobs and works whatever side gigs she can fit into her schedule. Sometimes that leads her back into his path, and he always wants to say hello, to chat and ask her about herself. Who is she to turn him down?

Eventually, he offers to hire her on to work for him, personally, both impressed by her work ethic and feeling rather sympathetic towards her situation (the fact that he thinks she's beautiful certainly doesn't hurt, but he refuses to look those thoughts in the face). He feels bad that he can't really pay her what he'd like to, what he thinks she's actually worth, but it's significantly more than she was already making between all her other jobs, so she's nothing but grateful. At first, she runs personal errands for him, returns calls he's too busy for, helps him schlep all his stuff back and forth when he works the "cowboy for hire"-type gigs.

Cooper greatly enjoys her company, enjoys once more having someone to help him tackle life's everyday struggles. Slowly, he begins to open up to her a little, allowing her to become privy to more of his personal problems. She hasn't met Janey, not yet, but he begins to talk more and more about her. Lucy has such a kind, empathetic nature that it's hard to not spill your guts to her just a bit. Soon, he realizes that he's developing actual feelings for her beyond appreciation for her physical beauty. Typically, he'd be able to see that his feelings are silently reciprocated, but his self-confidence has taken a pretty significant hit over the last couple years, leaving him feeling like an old creep salivating over his young personal assistant.

Fortunately, he manages to hide it well enough, though Lucy is quite preoccupied by her own thoughts, anyway.

Her own attraction to him is soaked in embarrassed guilt, as well; she already sometimes feels like a charity case with as kind as he is to her, so the crush she's developing feels like it could easily be contributed to his caring nature and his largesse. Besides, she had a bit of a crush on him as a girl, as well. He does often make her feel special, something she isn't used to on this level, and she tries to convince herself she's simply been taken in by the glamor of movie star Cooper Howard. However, the more time she spends alone with him, the more she realizes how physically attracted to him she is, as well. It makes her feel silly; what would a very established, famous, attractive older man want with her, some nobody from nowhere? You can't throw a stone in Los Angeles without hitting a gorgeous twenty-something. Surely if he wanted someone young, she tells herself, he'd have someone young, someone with more to bring to the table.

However, their twin denial and negative self-talk isn't enough to hide the way they see one another forever. Too many early mornings and late nights working together make them rather familiar with one another, and soon they're both far too comfortable in the other's presence for things to go unaddressed. They both try to put it off anyway, until things come to an eventual head.

When this happens, they don't so much as agree to give a relationship a try as fall into one another's arms and decide to think about the consequences in the morning.

Unfortunately, their relationship doesn't only progress from this point. Suddenly, Lucy isn't just his young employee who people theorize may be dating him...she is dating him. Before, the idea of Janey meeting her wasn't such a big deal, even if he secretly already had his eye on her; now, he'll be introducing his daughter to his girlfriend, which feels like a much more significant event. He loves being with her, but he's hyper-aware of how he knows people are going to respond if they decide to go public, how Barb is going to respond, and he finds it all overwhelming. Lucy notices his hesitance, but she misreads it as him being embarrassed of her, unwilling to claim her, and it hurts her feelings. He wants her to feel secure and validated, but he also doesn't want to rush things, knowing he isn't only making decisions about his personal future, and that there are consequences she can't possibly wrap her brain around until she really experiences them.

These two would have a fairly significant uphill battle to fight, all factors considered. He isn't as perfect as she may have once thought, and as mature as she may act, she's still lacking in real life experience, which sometimes limits her perspective. However, I think between Cooper's desire for a family and Lucy's desire to find somewhere she really feels like she belongs/is contributing to, they could manage to iron things out. Their life together may not look like every other nuclear family, especially as she supports him in his fight to see Janey more and he convinces her to give his Bakersfield dream some real thought, but life is what you make it!

fully do not get the thing about halsin coming on too strong at the tiefling party bc like...that's the party where you can flirt with *everybody* and at that point halsin turns you down too.

even before the party lae'zel asks you very up front if you wanna bone and i dont hear ppl saying lae'zel is too pushy (btw i don't think so either, her bluntness is part of her charm)

also when you actually can get with halsin in act 3, he's very respectful abt it, including if you turn him down. i do think some ppl are overthinking things and just aren't ready to deal with their negative ideas about polyam ppl 🤷

Surprise! Tumblr just got turned into an epic fantasy RPG, just like [your favorite appropriate media franchise]. And the Tumblr RPG's plot needs to have all of its characters covered, in roles both large and small.

That means that you are assigned to a stereotypical RPG role inside our new fantasy world. Spin this wheel to find out what you are now doing for a living.

Which one of the companions makes you feel the SAFEST? (You, not your OC! For the sake of this question, you and this companion don't know each other well and are trapped alone together for a week. You don't get into any battles but you must share space, sleeping quarters, and food)

Safe being defined as Physically, mentally, AND emotionally

Please share this for a larger sample size!

idk my brain does somersault about these two

Generally, it depends. Luth's been taught that it's usually a bad idea to show something got to her so going quiet is her default response until she can decide what to do with the offender. Some generic asshole looking for a response? Dismiss and ignore as the companions and her have more pressing matters to deal with. Can't ignore it? 18 Charisma makes for some effective threats and warnings.

Threatening their lives however? She'll burn several sorcery slots to make a point. Good luck dodging 3 ice storms.

Tav Question

How does your Tav express their anger?

I've been thinking about the tendency of some fans who create their ideal OC character in an RPG and the mockery it gets because it's derided as too "Mary Sue" and I thought about my own preferences as I'm prone towards that in my own way.

But it's only done once and then I'm good with wanting to explore other backgrounds, other decisions and appearances. In fact, I explicitly don't want to repeat the one "perfect" playthrough.

I don't know how similar that is for other folks, but I kinda suspect that I do it because in a life of constant imperfections, of compromises and thwarted wishes and dreams, of having to be content with far less satisfying outcomes, an RPG lets me indulge in one instance where I don't have to compromise, where I can have it exactly as I wish (mods have become an addiction) without it harming or affecting anyone else. There's something deeply soothing about being able to save every villager, to have that waistline I know I'll never have, to wear an outfit I'd never feel comfortable doing in public (and still have no wish to), to have a romance that still gives that giddy rush.

It scratches an itch I know isn't realistic, it lets me feel like there's some parallel universe where it inexplicably all came together and then when it's done, I can set it aside and revisit whenever I'm feeling particularly frustrated with the real world. And when I get bored with everything being so specifically to those wishes, I can go try something different.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go provoke a necromancer and then lead him into a fight with the guards.

*Looks at Halsin*

*Imagines sorceress Tav recreating the Weave scene Gale taught her so she can share her thoughts to him*

*Imagines Halsin sharing his imagination of her with over 3 centuries worth of experience*

*Now imagines Tav too stunned to think and the spell breaks*

Do you think romanced companions use the tadpole to sext each other?

Like they’d be in their own tents across camp and suddenly you get a dirty message from your camp sweetheart. Or you’d be walking to wherever you’re going and get a message. And your companions would suddenly be asking if you’re ok because you’re blushing so badly.

What if there was a race that had been enslaved through drug addiction? Kept in line by the need for said drug and altered and changed into behaving a certain way considered acceptable for the sake of that drug? With all the pain and horrific withdrawals that come from being without it too long, to the point that said race would be driven to a brink of madness as they're left with either enduring until they get more of that drug or through death, for there is no other way permitted by those who watch them carefully?

And all the while, this race of beings are aware of what's going on, loathing their very enslavement through this dependence? Even while they crave and itch for the highs of these too brief moments because no drug truly lasts as long as an addict wishes during their zenith.

And yet, no one has tried to free them from this. Oh not from ignorance of the cruelties of slavery, no. And certainly not because it is seen as a righteous thing they'd want inflicted on themselves either.

For you see, it's all that's keeping these slaves from returning to their true natures and that would mean much death to everyone around them. Oh the shrieks and gurgles, the puffs of pain and horror, that was their delight. For these beings had no soul to appeal to, no conscience nor heart that poets write of, to stay their skin ripped limbs from prying the eyes out of the youngest of their captors.

What is this drug, you ask?

Why, love, of course.

Oh not the sentimental moment of truth where these wretched things would find some tug of mercy like our collectively bonded nature, no. It was something akin to the Oxytocin that stays a predator's teeth from the necks of their mewling babes, the compulsion of chemicals that renders the sociopathic nature of creatures built for survival through brutality into docility.

That said, this being a drug, not all of them reacted the same. Sure the guards are there to banish them back to hell, but that is only a stop gap until the cages are reinforced again and the bodies removed before the smell of blood draws the curious into resisting again.

I finally got the Halsin proposition/sex cutscenes and I have no idea what some of you are talking about. "Oh he comes on too strong" "He's so pushy" like did we watch the same cutscene? He asks, and if you're already partnered, he asks you to go to them and see how they'd feel about it, and says he wouldn't do anything without anyone's permission. He's so kind and lovely about it. If you say no, or your romanced character says no, then nothing happens and he respects it. Playing the game with Halsin in my team just makes me more aware of some of the lies I've seen going around about my boy.