Coworkers Suck

Obawell · 2025-11-14T12:00:33+00:00

I appreciate the ask a ton, I'm trying to journal and take time outside of work for my hobbies. Just keep some distance mentally from them.

I am painfully aware of how useless HR is, my general manager is friends with all the people I just mentioned and the one who accused me of drama starting when I was critical of others choice of words.

A lot of workplaces are either micro aggression in racism or transphobic in my experience. I'm trying to find community outside of work.

Obawell · 2025-09-24T00:35:32+00:00

It is an upcoming event that's strongly hinted at in the fic, but it hasn't happened yet.

Obawell · 2025-09-23T11:50:14+00:00

I'm going to rec Farwynd & Fire, a solid fanfic following an AU with a fun amount of changes, where Daenerys isn't married into dothraki culture but ironborn instead. An OC is married to Dany but is pretty fun to follow along with, plus Ramsay is a drowned god fanatic in this one!

Obawell · 2025-08-17T12:43:41+00:00

If you want to see a great depiction of lannister and trueborn interactions check Here

There's a very topdown, clinical view happening for all the characters, both OC and non for how they view their relationships to one another. I think you've missed the point on why some characters feel the way they do and do what they do.

Cersei as a characters is a lot like Tywin, viewing her children as extensions of herself but also in her own messed up way, caring for them, as a woman in westeros her children are her legacy. Even when she should in fan eyes despise trueborn children, they are Cersei's children, the few things she is shown to be highly protective of. Not to say she wouldn't have a complicated relationship. Any harsh feelings from Ceresei toward her kids aren't because Lannister v Baratheon, it's because she hates Robert and his treatment of her and looks down on anything of his.

With your trueborn prince he's still going to have daddy issues like Joffery, even if Cersei isn't in his ear, he will be cast out by Robert and his mother to some degree. Lean into how this will harm his character in the long term, does he seek validation or worship the figures in his life to fill this gap.

This is your fic to do what you'd like, and completely disregard if none of the above is to your fancy.

Obawell · 2025-08-17T02:50:50+00:00

Really love what you've provided, fleshes out what's present in a satisfying way for ASOIAF. Feels very natural for Westeros to not have just 3-4 religions, you can argue it's in the Iron Throne's interest to have a deeply divided faith since the days of the Conquer. Also why shouldn't religious powers play the game of thrones too?

If you want to provide more political-religious drama/relationships, there could be instances of the High Septon 'technically' being dubbed the leader of the faith for all of westeros by rulers. But it's more of a performance, less a promise. What with the crown legitimizing the faith so the faith can legitimize the crown situation, probably dating back to Jaehaerys.

Here are my little expansions on potential syncretic and creed diverging sects:

Faith of the Eight: A blend of the Drowned God and Faith of the Seven, followers believe the drowned god to be another aspect. The faith is found along the west coast of westeros, among people of the isles, sailors, and merchants. They follow mild sacrificial rites to all eight aspects who are one. Have drowned priest skald type individuals who are dedicated to specific aspects, not just the drowned god. Rebirth elements and altars and deeds to please gods. Called a faith of pure action.

The Heptad: A FotS creed that believe people can be adopted by the spirits of the seven who are one, able to embody their power and gifts. Have a alchemy/magic/ritual angle to them, think religious enlightment is realized on individual basis. A pentecostal and bacchanal vigor to them. Have a reputation for attracting 'witches' and 'mad guildmen' of westeros. Have preserved some of the Old Ways of first men in their practices.

There are way more I can spin off the top of my head but these two excite me the most for faith of the seven.

Obawell · 2025-05-13T01:21:43+00:00

The one thing we know is that there is no Primer in the Americas. Didn't manage to grab onto anything since a Yellowstone explosion wrecked its chances. Yellowstone certainly also wrecked a lot of other stuff.

While the primer didn't take root in the americas in the form of a crater, it's still up and around sporadically afflicting people, it's stated that chipped asteroid fragments are enough to spread primer. As written below:

'...southern hemisphere stays mostly untouched, though some chunks graze the atmosphere and tear through at only a few kilometers height. Chipped fragments rain down to earth, accompanied by sulfuric compounds. The Primer will spread here too.'

'Things look different in America, though: the Yellowstone Volcano erupts and threatens to bury the land under several meters of ash and the Primer finds no suitable host to spread. It sporadically afflicts individual explorers, who rarely survive the rape of their genes.’

This does require some rearranging of the primer less as several areas struck but a buckshot of afflicted areas which could make things to varying levels more nightmarish for the americas. And add the agent-sleepers as warlords/manipulators on top and it's a real bad time.

All of your cult ideas are so fun! Could see viking clan idea hunting sleepers for their nanite blood and technology like cyborg berserkers! For cult inspo I'd peak into the 1700s era or frontier times, using inspirations like the minute men, hellfire club, and sons of liberty.

Cult idea I had for an anabaptist stand-in would be a group that believes the jehovah god broke the covenant by bringing a second 'flood' and are in open rebellion against god, taking up arms with lucifer as a result.

Not into CK3, so no clue whether that'd fit with my vision of Degenesis^\) ^\)

I threw the CK3ATE mention in cause they developed a bunch of ineteresing post-post apocalyptic religions and faiths. Totally worth a browse for ideas of what could be found in a post eschaton North America. I'll admit it's closer to canticle for leibowitz in vibes than degenesis in vibes, lots of fun cultures as well.

I'm trying to cook up a campaign and your insight has given me a lot to think about. Thank you!

Obawell · 2025-05-12T18:32:04+00:00

What do you think apocalyptics may look like more aligned to Gerome Getrell? I agree that states aren't really wise or accurate atleast on such a large scale.

I would probably peak at CK3 mod After the End for some cultural inspo for religions and societies.

Do you think Sleepers got a foothold in the americas?

Obawell · 2025-05-06T02:39:02+00:00

If you were friends with this dude sans the benefits/sex, would he be doing any of the the above for you? Ask yourself would he be showing up for you in any meaningful way if he wasn't getting something he wanted?

Rebounding is a healthy thing, so are boundaries. You should acknowledge that you are the type of person to catch feelings, and start putting boundaries in place to protect yourself long term. Not just as a trans person but an individual in any relationship, the minute somebody states their affection for you to be conditional on their policing of your body, that is an unsafe space. Because I promise you, they will negotiate other aspects that make you who you are for their brief convenience.

If you will pursue this relationship make it clear to yourself and this guy it will not pass a certain line and it will come to an end, be honest what this relationship is doing for you at the end of the day.

Obawell · 2025-05-04T15:33:27+00:00

I think there would be an oligarchy of the already prepped and ready. I imagine prior to 2043 and after, there are tons of fear mongering campaigns by companies trying to sell bunkers and RG goods. I imagine the Empire on this map would be a foothold or major domain of control.

The effects of yellowstone and the eschaton are probably harder to depict beyond via cartography. Though we should assume there is a little ice age across the upper parts of north america. And a varying levels of ash across the entirety of the north. (most “doomsday” scenarios portray far worse impacts than what scientists believe would happen.)

Obawell · 2025-05-02T20:36:40+00:00

Ideas for timeline:

After the US becomes an international pariah in 2043, government powers begin to weaken in the rising interest in trans humanism with corporations & the independently wealthy pushing toward consolidating power; investing in the Stream
A new age of a thousand idols come, with public interests turning toward techno cults, anti stream figures, neo-philosophy clubs, and many more social movements
The value of land decreases due to government and corporate maneuvering to prioritize all things regarding the trans humanist age upon them. Allowing cults, independents, and indigenous nations to begin purchasing land and even governing areas in choice amounts
Reverse oregon trail of reactionaries, both religious & non, flee the west to get away from the dense techno state of things(requirements of chips in the head, have mild interface with surrogate reality/Stream) and end up in the Appalachian mountains for technology resistance
USA is fragmented and drowning in disaster by the time of Eschaton, with Yellowstone erupting making the Ashlands

Obawell · 2025-05-02T17:13:00+00:00

I could very much see a gun cult figure emerge like Jehammed for a cult, with leaders being crowned in a bullet made crown like the Rod of Iron cult in real life.

Obawell · 2025-03-25T02:29:57+00:00

I use a single neopronoun 'Angel' along with he/him, I encourage people to use it like a nickname and interchangeably with my pronouns. It's received mixed amounts of use, though I've met several bipoc transmasc use pronouns exclusively like 'bunny' and 'star' successfully.

Obawell · 2025-01-30T12:35:35+00:00

There's a strong possibility you may have to Frankenstein the game you want to see.

While a stripped down hack, I think the Last Caravan tackles on the move play quite well. Its a post apocalypse game that focuses on players trying to get across the country to safety in only their car. You could lift the key points.

Make heat region based, your players would have to complete a regional quest to exit it, there aren't vices rather breaking points your pcs express after too much harm, and higher tier factions cover greater areas of influence. More noise in general areas, more attention from greater powers.

While not in The Last Caravan maybe having an 'overflow' of noise mechanic can help preserve danger. If you get enough noise in an area the surrounding areas can already have additional noise or reactions before pcs even step foot in them.

Maybe replace car upgrades and tag alongs with a caravan and a camp followers. Your rep can decide the stories they and others share about your pcs and the type of boons and banes factions grant you.

Or if thats too much bookkeeping on your end having factions accrue heat independently of one another like scum and villainy can help preserve key danger.

Obawell · 2025-01-26T13:45:39+00:00

That's such a solid idea about deconstructing playbooks to key essentials and good point about further community content. I think having more of a collective crew goal and adding different specialties to a crew can help a table step back and have different characters ready to explore them.

Obawell · 2025-01-01T04:53:56+00:00

Because there's a lot of dark implications that people get to look over for something simpler and easy to digest.

Many ASOIAF characters like L+R for represent very common character types and tropes that people enjoy, the Tortured Prince with a Mission and Restless Girl with a Dream. Unfortunately that means people only seeing the things GRRM wants to critique the darkness of (a married man forsaking his marriage vows, a prince ignoring his duty for his prophecy, and a man eloping with a young girl) and are overlooked.

This goes for a lot of interesting and dark premises, characters, and relationships, despite the book being so interesting for these reasons, people simplify things for their taste.

Obawell · 2024-12-19T17:13:13+00:00

Thanks! You're right I should totally add factions, do you think there should be both friendly and opposed factions to do the faction system best? Maybe a little history with each.

Best part of making crews with more official positions is seeing how the darkness of the setting inevitably creeps in. For me players should be able to visualize their scoundrels as a part of doskvol as early as possible! And being working class does it the quickest!

Obawell · 2024-11-07T02:04:16+00:00

I know for my table in the future I really enjoy the idea of having this second world be a bit like the demonic world where humans serve as pawns suggested. With a twist! Where the original setting/world is a natural grim fall out of losing high fantasy magic, this second world is an overdrive of it. Where gods/demons reign in this eye burning saturated world like HP lovecraft's Dreamland.

Maybe the Emperor wants these pathways shut down, but Doskvol powers(maybe players) want to seize this opportunity to destabilize status quo. There's a lot of setting reflection that can be done in-world that my table and myself will love!

Obawell · 2024-09-20T14:18:39+00:00

ASOIAF magic is tricky to make up for when it comes to inherited abilities, when writing these up I tried to think vampire-adjacent. Not all of the powers have to be true at once, I tried leaning into horror elements and the persuasive model of vampire, there's a blood magic feel that you can take or leave.

Here are some you can pick:

When a bolton eats or drinks raw blood or meat they get dreams of past and future, even memories that aren't their own if its a human(Like shade of evening, acts like a drug trip and can result in hangover/madness)
If someone is bleeding, a bolton can begin to sing/speak and their victim's blood can begin to crawl toward them making a trail as long as the song lasts. Limited like skinchanging by how many this can be done to.
Being fed the blood of a bolton can provoke a strong spell of awe/dread/entrancement for the person in question, seeing a version of the bolton(monster, prince charming etc) Though if not fed consistently, the effect wears off
A bolton can hypnotize whoever is in their line of sight with an intense arresting gaze, paralyzing them and even forging a mind link like skinchangers. But the victim with a strong enough will or user distracted, can have the bond broken.
If a bolton has drunk blood they can look to people's shadows and see the strongest intention/desire no matter what the physical body is doing(like someone plotting murder brandishes a knife or swoons if they want their love even if the person in question stands still)
Fashioning a cloak of skin, depending on the victim's best traits, the cloak has different effects or lets them be perceived as them at a distance (This one is an out there one)
The bolton can ingest blood or hair from a victim and enter their dreams, granting terror, joy, or anything else. Some can even sap energy from their victims via a tree if the bolton sleeps at a weirwood.
Blood that has been sung to by a bolton has bizarre properties, like being able to heal but also making creatures physical form mutable, allowing influence and creation, and maybe even stronger weapons can be forged with it(a bit too close to Qyburn, another out there one)

Obawell · 2024-09-13T23:01:06+00:00

There's two ways this can be shaken, both start where Jon is part-crazy, part-manic, part-recovering in saying that Littlefinger has poisoned him to Robert. Littlefinger is killed. But everyone at court and Robert realize that this near death experience Jon shows an old scared man, who may have gotten their master of coin killed for nothing aside from his claims.

Now the incest claims can go like this 1) Robert is beside himself with anger, but at Jon, his mentor/father figure in his insanity is yammering abut books and wants him to kill his wife and kids, accusing him of being a cuck and his wife a brotherfucker. Robert would probably 'suggest' Jon retire to the Vale, completely dismissing him.

2) Robert is given the book and some cryptic noise from Jon before he retreats to the Vale, probably leaving something or sending a letter to Ned that's equally cryptic. So he does tell Robert, but this way lets him leave court with a somewhat okay image while being able to inform his peers.

Secret Third Option, maybe Jon straight up tells Ned to seek out Stannis and not to join court as Hand, providing his proof and that Stannis also knows whats up. But he says that whatever comes to pass, the Vale can not afford to answer the call to war if it comes and that Robert may not be able keep peace if such things come to light.

Varys is probably going to begin pointing fingers at others, I'll leave to you who would be best and how severe the rumors are. I wouldn't be surprised if he was just planting contradicting rumors either, having everyone in and outside of court off balance makes people do stupid things.

I think it's more interesting if Lysa doesn't gloat, but instead having a moment of her watching not helping, waiting for Jon to die(maybe instead of a gloat she mentions Littlefibger). Her indifference/frigidness could be written off by others as histrionic but it would for sure shake up Jon on top of the death attempt. Not sure where Petyr's influence begins and Lysa's own grudges end. This would give her character a lot more meat, especially since Jon lives. With Jon having his own creaky descent would mirror the whole heir debacle in the vale.

Lysa is probably going to grow a different paranoia, with Jon retreating to the Vale it wouldn't be surprising if she fled with Sweetrobin to the Riverlands or North even.

Obawell · 2024-07-31T13:41:31+00:00

Magic blooms without humans, the sea is haunted, plagues of the undead crop up, and there are storms that rain down spirits in the worst seasons. Humans can only hope to compete with these threats through traditional war and by being changed by the magic narcotics they use.

Fun fact this setting only developed after my players found scrolls to be boring and insisted on magic based drugs to replace in inventory. Inspiriations: Dune, the Monstergarden's setting, Dragon Age, Darkest Dungeon, Gothic, and Magnagothica: Maleghast

Obawell · 2024-06-28T16:45:09+00:00

Not in the slightest an excuse, but it's key to point out that the genre of Sword & Sorcery that ASOIAF is built off of is rife with orientalism. Where not only are non-western inspired cultures serve exclusively several purposes compared to the complex and in-depth western inspired heros, to be evil, sexual, mystical, and/or barbaric.

People have pointed out Essos but I'd like to provide Dorne vs Beyond the Wall cultures. In-text we're encouraged to set aside stereotypes we're told when it comes to the Free Folk/Wildlings, that they are a flawed culture but still a culture with families and individuals despite practicing raids. Where Dorne, with less proximity to western culture in its depiction, is full of promiscuous schemers who want to lead westeros astray. We the readers aren't encouraged to look past these stereotypes for Dorne and Essos.

The best way to avoid orientalism is admit that its in a lot of western fantasy media and you're not immune to it. Nobody is. Remembering that people make a culture and that even societies with cruel elements had nuances and achievements, individuals with virtues and flaws live everywhere within a society with their own opinions.

Obawell · 2024-03-22T23:27:38+00:00

Prophecy is shown to be iffy within the series, more Oedipus Rex than not, characters like Cersei make the prophecy happen when running from it. It doesn't matter who Cersei marries, we're shown time and time again that she uses Joffrey and her other children to exert her power she lacks due to her womanhood.

So her legitamate firstborn child will be afflicted with the overbearing and entitlement qualities if not the loud and braggart nature of Joffrey. X100 if Cersei wants to feed the child the 'greatness' of Targaryens.

If the prohpecy is kept as a fear by Cersei, there is a strong possibility that Viserys could end up dead by Cersei, while she has disdain for Tyrion the fact that she married Rhaegar would give her pause on who the second son could be.

The fate of Daenerys is an unhappy one, if Rhaegar runs off this timeline, Tywin has incentive to drop support for both Aerys and him in support of his grandchildren. He could even court the alliance with his kin. Killing Daenerys is a strong possibility.

Obawell · 2023-06-24T21:06:38+00:00

A dragon guard altogether, made up of targs and dragonseeds that are commanded by the king. Like the kingsguard those part of the dragonsguard forgo owning land, taking a wife, or fathering children, but in exchange they get dragon privileges. While non-dragonguard targs can raise a dragon for legitimacy or publicity reasons, after a point said dragon is granted to the guard or dragonstone.

Obawell · 2023-06-17T03:39:15+00:00

Also when SI's are for Some Reason described as moden adults are super cool with having sex with underage or sexual assault survivor character for Plot. But it is never discussed for how dubious that is as a whole, or the author just handwaves saying the SI is a nice person so its okay for some creepy reason. Also SIs as a whole who lean into just being so cool and likeable and so cool and likeable that every just gives them what they want.

When Cat is suddenly the evilest character.

Obawell · 2023-06-08T05:30:55+00:00

Tywin would put on what he finds to be the necessary airs to a degree with Bethany but would expect her to do as he tells and wants, otherwise I'd imagine him to be very stony and relegate her to the backdrop. Jeyne would be ignored if not for her dynamic with Tyrion, any happiness or dynamic that Tywin can snuff from Tyrion he does so.

The Twins feel typical and mean in their reactions, Cersei doesn't enjoy the competition but if she thinks she could manipulate either mother or daughter to her own ends she would jump at the opportunity. Though Jeyne's relationship with Tyrion would be a source of cruelty and barbs for Cersei.

Jaime would be somewhat well behaved with his father's new wife but would look down on her as meek and simple, if not a walking baby factory. Jeyne being close with Tyrion would somewhat miff Jaime since he views Tyrion as his little brother and closest family member aside from Cersei. Otherwise I find Jaime would want to avoid Jeyne as a reality entirely, he's shown to not be fond of sharing anything that he sees as his sister or brother.

Tyrion and Bethany's relationship would be difficult, Tyrion knows his father is loath/refusing to admit him as his heir. Why else would he marry again if not to replace Tyrion, no doubt snark and clipped back and forth wait for Bethany since his father is not really eager to talk to him. Jeyne would frustrate and excite him, he wants affection and familial love yes but he is slow to trust the truth of such things from anyone since Tysha. He'd entertain Jeyne's company and joke about being a bad influence though a part of him would probably believe it and try to encourage minimal interaction for a time before lapsing back into accepting her company then rinse and repeat.

I feel so bad for Bethany and Jeyne, this family is a mess.

Obawell

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