VINES TRIED TO EAT MY DICK (The MacElroys Play D&D)

well, ive got one, but alas i do not seem to have saved the rest.

 

out of genuine curiosity, why are there so many people who have collectively decided that Taako is green?? High elves in DnD are bronze-skinned... where did green come from and why has it become so prevalent in art of Taako, I'm so confused

 

I would assume it was probably a thing where one popular fanartist did it and then the hordes followed... But I don't know, really. Personally not my favored Taako look, but eh!

 

The Adventure Zine is going back on sale! Briefly.

 

My best guess is because the fanartist who made the banner for The Adventure Zone site used a green tint for Taako's skin.

 

Oh right. I forgot about that completely.

 

From what I recall, there's one line in the beginning of the Crystal Kingdom where Taako is trying to coordinate his suit with his 'green undertones' and I think it spiraled from there.

 

I remember the bit in The The Adventure Zone Zone where they mentioned that they hadn't had a whole lot of mindfucky enemies and that such a thing would be pretty bad news for Magnus, and is anyone else kind of disappointed that he crit saved the one time something did try to dominate him? Because come on, Mister Protective would have the best post-mind-control angst.

 

Yeaaaaah, that'd be. Jeeze.

Who do you think is gonna double dip with the sacrifices next episode? I woulda said Magnus, but it seems like he actually wants to have fully functional limbs and eyes and shit. I feel like it might be Merle, just cause Merle doesn't give a fuck.

 

Also! I just bought the Adventure Zine PDF, and holy shit what the hell is up with this fucking site?? Can I only see it through this dumb app thing? I can't tell where I can just fucking download it onto my computer, so that I can, yunno, actually fucking see shit. Did anyone else buy the thing, and how'd that work for you?

Okay, never mind, it just loaded weird for some reason. Better now.

 

Spoiler: suffering game arc spoilers just in case

My guess is Merle, if only because he offered to double-dip sacrifices in the second ep when Taako balked? Also that seems like an OOC thing that Clint would do. But yeah, they really need Magnus fully operational in order for him to tank, and Taako is on his last legs.

 

Spoiler: Also Suffering Game Spoilers

Also, Merle is a cleric who can't heal right now, which significantly cuts his usefulness.

Two thoughts - One, I wonder if it would be worth anyone's while to call in Kravitz for a favor, he seems like positively inclined towards the group right now and destroying two ancient liches might be his jam.
Two, they really should have asked the Director how she got out of Wonderland. Mister Skull (I forgot his name) and the Vogue Elves seem pretty adamant that it's impossible, but we don't know if the Skull is mistaken, or lying, or if Lucretia exploited a loophole that's since been closed, or what.

 

Spoiler: Suffering Game Arc

I mean, it's maybe to Clint's advantage right now that he tends to play around with cleric tricks OTHER than healing.

Since the Suffering Game arc is supposed to end really soon, I can only predict something will happen that throws off the normal course of events. We know the Vogue Elves are liches, but we also know they're running multiple games at once, so it makes me wonder if the elves we see are more like AI based on the liches, or if they really have to split their attention so much. If so, it doesn't sound like a very fun existance, even if one could guess they're sadists who don't mind causing suffering to people to stay sane.

 

Spoiler: Suffering Game

I don't think we've seen the real Wonderland. I think what we've been experiencing is a very convincing mental simulation designed to provoke real suffering from the people who enter Wonderland, which is then milked along with their life force to power the Bell and keep the lich elves as sane as possible. The Skull thinks there's no way to leave because there ISN'T a way to leave from inside the dream. Dreams can stretch into infinity, but it's all an illusion. Lucretia managed to snap back to awareness during her game somehow, but decades had already been sapped out of her, and she was disoriented and mentally altered enough that she genuinely doesn't remember what she discovered about the true nature of Wonderland.

Why do I think this? It comes down to cost. The Artifacts are extremely powerful, but there's always a cost. Even the Chalice can't truly change the past, because it can only do so if the user is satisfied with every event that happens following the change, and that will truly never happen. Changing the past or no, disasters still happen and people still die. The future is unpredictable and unsafe, and nobody can be 100% satisfied with everything that will occur from this point onwards.

However, if the Bell really is powering Wonderland, which is outright stated, it's not only creating an ever-shifting space that customizes to every group, it's running these games simultanously, while keeping the lich elves 'alive', while creating new entities on random dice rolls, while going so far as to keep our decapitated friend aware and 'alive' despite lacking almost everything. That's not just necromancy, this is... precise, controlled reality shifting. Even if the Vogue Elves are the ones making the decisions and supplying the imagination to keep this going, it'd be by far the most powerful Artifact we've seen.

But if this was all truly a mind game...

 

I've been steadily chewing my way through literally all the Adventure Zone fanfic and it's interesting to me just how many fics involve trans headcanons. Like, half or more? I don't know if it's a New Thing or an Adventure Zone thing or what, but it's a little surprising to me.

Spoiler: cautious grumbling

Also I'm like... kind of a bit :\ that it's almost always Taako being a trans man? It feels like what happened with Steven Universe, how a lot of fans said 'my headcanon is that steven is trans' after that episode he wore a skirt, like a lot of people don't really get that cis people, even cis men, can be gender nonconforming.

And I feel kind of uncomfortably like... the thing with headcanoning feminine men as trans men, feels to me like girls are saying 'those feminine parts of that guy are literally feminine, he wears skirts and cooks and that's a girl thing, actual real genuine born-like-that men wouldn't be the way this character is, so him being trans fits'. I really don't like that line of thought. I feel like it also says crummy things about girls, to girls, like maybe you have to either accept the stereotype of femininity as your gender or else you're actually a trans man if you feel more like being a flawed protagonist instead of a sweet helper object, but I can't articulate it as well.

I mean, ultimately it's really cool for people to be so positive and welcoming about trans people and trans representation and headcanons, even if they're awkward or sexist or something, because nothing's perfect. And I hope trans kids reading the stories are really happy! But it's also always a little disappointing when the Big Fanon for a character is something you're personally uncomfortable with. I'm totally in favor of 'don't like, don't read', but it still means there's less to read for me, and I'm mopey about that.

 

Same hat, augh

 

Here's a thought: Trans Magnus.

 

Or lil' trans boy Ango! (Whoof, imagine if Taako had accidentally stumbled upon his birth name that time he called him Agnes...)

Also I would like to second Roach's grumbling. I'm not the most traditionally masculine trans dude myself, and I love Taako, but it does rankle to think that people decided he was born with an elf uterus just 'cuz he likes fancy things and canonically wore a skirt that time.

 

tbh I have skirts I'd like to wear, but I specifically avoid it on account of the whole uterus thing. If Taako's face were anywhere near as feminine as mine, realistically he'd be getting ma'amed constantly.

 

A bunch of Draws :) (mostly Taakos)

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: 2

Spoiler: 3 some fashions

Spoiler: 4 more fashions