#mcif

(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!

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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!

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.