#(we can talk about chet but. was he Really interested in chet. was he Really)

[jackfuckingtwist]

— Looks like Merilwen's not the only one preening on deck. bonus:

[pottersmiracle]

Drunk words are sober thoughts

Sparrow!Ben Hargreeves x Fem! Reader

warnings: tiny bit of angst here and there-fluff-drunk ben-clingy/affectionate ben-klaus teasing you both-use of y/n-small bit of pet names (by ben)-drunk ben talks about being married to you 👀

summary: your boyfriend tries his best to act like the umbrella academy being there doesnt affect him, he also tries to act like he doesnt care that they don’t like him. But he’s horrible at hiding it from you.

a/n: rewatching tua - if this man doesnt get a smidge of happiness in season 4 im rioting - someone give sparrow ben a hug and a kiss - not proofread don’t murder me - pls send requests for umbrella academy characters 🙏

Masterlist

Ben was drunk. Really drunk. You were sitting next to him at the table and Klaus came over and started talking to you both, mainly you because you were actually interested in talking to him, “eleven people.” Ben mumbled. “Huh?” Klaus asked, you looked at Ben confused. “There are only eleven people left.” He says looking at both of you.

“Okay.. drunk ben clearly likes numbers and.. shrimp.” Klaus says looking at Ben’s plate. You laugh softly as Ben looks at Klaus, “and you couldn’t even invite me to your stupid bachelor party.” You sigh and lean back in your chair. You were right

“Oh.” Klaus said taken aback, “have we finally flicked off bad benny’s hard candy shell?” “Why don’t you like me?” Ben asked, his words slurring a bit. “Because you’re a big puckering asshole!” Klaus admitted. Actually its not like you could disagree with him, Ben was an asshole to klaus and the others.

You let them talk and walked around talking to everybody, congratulating Luther and Sloane, even having an actual nice talk with Reginald, Ben was staring him down the whole time though.

You walked past Fives table and nodded at him, you could tell he was severyly drunk and it was honesty humorous. He raised his glass to you and nodded as you laughed and walked back over to your boyfriend who was watching you as you sat down.

“You left me.” Ben pouted. You laughed and scooted your chair closer to him, “you were having a conversation. I gave you two some privacy.” Klaus gave you a smile and took a sip of his drink.

Ben groaned in response and took a bite of his shrimp as you all watched Reginald stand up to make a speech. You rubbed Ben’s back softly as Reginald talked, as he talked you notice Viktor and Allison. They were in a heated argument it was obvious but Allison ended up leaving the wedding.

“The sun rises over a lily’s field. A mother veiled, her lips concealed. The mourners come in droves of black to bury what their hearts unpack. With shallow breath and time eclipsed, i pray you miss death’s gentle kiss.” Reginald finished his speech and looked at everyone.

You clapped lightly and klaus cheered, “Beautiful! bravo dad! Bravo!” Ben stared at his father, “makes no sense.” He mumbled, you smiled at him and held his hand.

Chet turned on some more upbeat music after Reginalds dark speech. Everyone got up to dance except for you, Ben, and Viktor. “Can i tell you something?” Ben asked sitting up to look at you, his words were slurring but not enough to not understand him. “Of course.” You said.

“I would’ve loved getting married to you.” He admitted. “Just.. not at the end of the world.” He said slowly. You looked at him, you were shocked that he said that. He was always affectionate but not like this. He got up and kissed the top of your hand before standing up, “come on, let’s dance.” He had a wide grin on his face, he was officially in his chaotic stage of drunk. You tried to push off what he said as, he’s just drunk, its nothing to think about.

Although drunk words are sober thoughts..

After the fun dancing, everyone sat on the roof and hung out. You sat next to Sloane with Ben and Klaus trailing behind you, Ben sat next to you and wrapped an arm around you and Klaus sat next to Ben.

Ben rested his head on yours and Five got up, he wobbled around and everyone started yelling and laughing, “i feel like im gonna throw up.. actually, i’m hungry.” He said his goodbyes to everyone before going inside followed by Diego and Lila.

Ben and Klaus got up to leave as well. “Oh god.” You muttered standing up, “i should follow them. Goodnight guys, congratulations.” You smile at Luther and Sloane who smile back, “goodnight!” Viktor said goodnight to them as well and went inside with you.

[fossilizedflint]

・﹒・ from vault 32 [1]

Summary: You got approved for a marriage partner from Vault 31 after not finding a suitable boyfriend in your own. After meeting your future husband, and standing ready to saw your vows, you both agree to call it off. But they couldn't not have a wedding- so you chose his cousin.

Warnings: 18+, arranged marriage

Pairing: Norman MacLean x GN!reader

Notes: Yes I love him and Cooper I am a man of many tastes. Also this was too long for 1 part so I broke it up. Where my Norm lovers at???

Parts: 2

Today was the day- you were getting married! Despite not dating much, you were excited yet equally as nervous since your new spouse was someone completely unknown to you. Sure, you had crushes here and there, but all the guys here were so...boring?

Nothing about them were interesting to you, they were all the same, so that led you to seeking out Vault 31 for someone. This was completely normal so it wasn't odd, if anything, it was just a matter of time. Well, the time came and was now just moments away from seeing your soon to be husband.

"We're so proud of you...we'll miss you but, just know that we we'll always love you" Your mother sniffled as she adjusted your appearance here and there, ensuring that you were as perfect as can be. You assured her that you would visit once a year and that everything was fine. You, your family, the overseer, and few other dwellers of your vault who you knew stood outside of the entrance to 31, and you were nervous. Then, the door slowly opened.

There he was, standing in the center just like you were with your vault members. He was tall, and attractive, but you didn't know what to even say. Then, your friend bumped into your shoulder as a sign to say something as everyone else was silent, anticipating you and your future husband to say something.

"Um...hello" That was not the ideal first impression, but you couldn't help it! You could hear your friend groan from the awkwardness, which was understandable.

"Hi, I'm uh...Chet. You can call me Chet! Haha...yeah, Chet" Either he was having an off day or he didn't seem too interested in you. Was there supposed to be some sort of spark? Because you know you didn't feel anything and it was obvious that he didn't either. Awkwardly laughing along with him, internally cringing, your graze drifted over to the much shorter man beside him.

Oh he was cute. Shorter than you, but he had short, black hair and all you could really describe him as was cute. Why couldn't you have been paired up with him instead? Your eyes and his eyes both met and only then did you feel that spark. But before you could fully process what that means- their overseer ushered everyone to their vault so the wedding can begin.

"Hi...Chet. So...excited? Nervous?" You tried to make small talk as you walked beside him, but it was if everyone around you could sense that this wasn't going to work out.

"Well...if I'm being fully honest, I was put up to this" He leaned closer and whispered in your ear, the honesty caused you to gasp but then you realized that you needed to be secretive as he whispered it to you.

"Oh...but why?" You whispered back, slightly concerned. Your gaze drifted back to the shorter man standing on the other side of him and you caught him staring back at you.

"Well uh...I may or may not have a crush on my cousin, Lucy. So they uh...thought this would help me get over it. Namely her father, the Overseer" Turning back to Chet, you just stared at him as that was...unexpected, to say the least. Clearing your throat from how awkward it got. you didn't feel bad about not marrying him anymore. Stealing another glance at the shorter man, you looked back at your arranged husband and he looked back and forth between the man and you.

"Ok- either I'm stupid or do you guys like each other?" You slightly jumped as he was suddenly louder than before, causing a few heads to turn in your direction before facing forward again.

"Chet!" The black haired man scolded him and hit his shoulder, causing Chet to say "ow".

"This is Norm, he's my cousin and Lucy's younger brother" Chet smiled as he introduced the man who you fell for far too quickly, you awkwardly smiled at him and he did the same back.

"Hi Norm, nice to uh...meet you"

"Nice to meet you too..."

"What's going on?" A girl with long, dark hair whispered from the other side of Norm, curious of what you were all discussing.

"Nothing, Lucy!" Chet and Norm both yelled in hush. So that's Lucy... After that- you made small talk about some things from your lives and before you knew it, you were on the small stage ready to say your vows, looking at him and he was looking back. But you both knew that this wasn't going to work out in the slightest. Staring into the crowd mixed with his family and yours- you found Norm looking back at you. His expression seemed...pained, almost. Did you both genuinely fall for each other while you're marrying another man? Like sure he was really cute...but you just felt drawn to him in a way Chet wasn't.

"Do you?" The sound of the officiate shook you from your thoughts as you looked back, humming to have him repeat it.

"Do you take him to be your lawfully wedded husband?" You stuttered as you stared at Chet, he looked as equally as worried about this, not wanting to go through with it. So you said the first thing you thought.

"No"

[genderlesssinner]

Oh look Taliesin is just dressed normally today

I love them so much

Oh no poor Robbie 😂

But I'm so happy to see him back at the table, I missed him

Oh no it is the last ep of the year? I thought we'd have one more, damn okay. Aah okay daggerheart next week

Ooohhh Whitestone comics

AND TLOVM ART BOOK 😭💖

Okayokayokay

Let's fucking go!!

I am ✨terrified✨

Oohh I love but hate the little timers yeesh

Ooohhh she's poking the bear again okayokayokay

And our girls are tethered to each other again, weird moon shit

Bad Decision Wheel or Good Decision Wheel? Or could know

Awwwww Orym using Dorian dice

Their planning is so chaotic it's hard for me to pay attention to rn

FEARNE girl calm down about being prisoner

Come on girls, you got this

HELL YEAH ORYM AND HIS MAGIC SMILE

Woof okay he was trying to take my girl,, good timing blowing shit up

AH ARE THE TIMERS EVENTS the one was counting to the explosion I bet

Matthew why did you just imply that THE MOON is breathing,,, pls no

Oohh not the doggies again

Ooh yes Ash natty 20

That's like 3 already?? Is that a good sign???

Oh shit I've 20 v 20 there with Braius damn

Oh boy okay Marisha (Laudna?)

Oh no it is organic I hate that

And there's critters oh

Awww the myceit, they're so neat

Wait

I love the lil man

I also love that at moment of Dorian starting to him for comfort (maybe he's gonna summon his dragon horse tho)

Ooooooo they have mycelium interesting

Oh oh okay oh no

Hive mind mushroom babies

MORE WHISPERS

"Easily 8 out of 10 times when I listen to a mushroom it goes really well." Ash..... I don't know if the All Minds Burn counts

"YOU ARE A MIATA" Travis wtf

I hate this so much but it's probably saving them so much time

This just got even weirder what the fuck is happening

"what's the worse that could happened" ashleeeyyyy

Okay okay okay

Interesting

'Talking' to the mycelium

IT TASTES LIKE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN Matt what

Oh my god let's keep up the good rolls pls 🙏🤞🤞

I thought we were getting a map for a second man

Or he was just gonna grab a Predathos mini 🤣

Oh shit boys there he fucken is

Maybe we can still save Liliana

Stealth wolf transformations may be my favorite

(also if anyone knows of a compilation of all of Chet's transformations pls send it to me)

YAH I WAS RIGHT

WAIT HOLY SHIT ORYM DO IT

Dorym pecks 🩵💚

BREAK TIME BREAK TIME AAAAAAAAA

OKAY OKAY OKAY WE SHALL RETURN

How we feelin yall?

[thewickedkat]

100% love your analysis on laudna and her handling of the current situation!!! This is a tangent off of that because this isn’t meant to detract from your really good take on laudna’s current state of mind! But I also have a thought that in that whole altercation a more prevalent part of Delilah was influencing her to the point of even her motives and fears were mingling with Delilah’s so the moment/ the way she snaps at Chetney abt how he had ‘no right to talk about loss to her’ gave me the impression that that was Delilah helming the reigns more so than laudna. Idk I think the lines between them have blurred so much since laudna has been feeding her more and more. I really worry about how she hasn’t even acknowledged that aloud because she really is becoming Delilah. It definitely lends itself to the self sabotage that you talked abt already, but you can really see the flaws laudna already carries being amplified and influenced by Delilah to get her ultimate goal. And as a viewer gotta give it to marisha because her rping as always is so layered and interesting

(I also haven’t really paid attention to how the cr fandom is reacting to the current debacle, but I’m sure it’s rancid lmaoo ‘xD just want to say I really like your take being able to acknowledge the extremely flawed characters without infantilizing them or condemning them to be without any redemption and how this is also a show made for entertainment)

oh, i think Delilah is definitely influencing Laudna more than even Laudna realises, and when she is aware of it, i think that knowledge brings a deep and abiding shame, which only further fuels her self-sabotage. because in all honesty, here is a woman who, in her life, apparently had little: Laudna didn't have money, or lands, or a title; she was a simple farm girl who had a budding propensity for magic. by her own account, she had few friends. by the time the Briarwoods came to Whitestone, she was just ordinary, a little lonely, and then the new lady of the land comes and acknowledges her, seems to see her, and invites her up to the castle. what common person wouldn't be a little starstruck by that?

then the most horrible thing happens to her. she wasn't special, after all, just bore a passing resemblance to someone the Lady hated, and her corpse was strung up for all to see after it was altered. and then she is 'restored' to something that only passes for life, scares townspeople through no fault of her own, and is summarily run out of town and left to subsist in isolation, always on the fringes of civilisation, for the next thirty-odd years.

it's awful. and of course Delilah is going to take full advantage of that, no one knows you like I do, dear, no one understands what it's like to be able to do what you can and be what you are, but I do, I've always seen that within you and I can teach you, I can help you do so much more; all you need to do is let me in.

even if Laudna despised Delilah in the beginning (and from what we know, she absolutely did), after a while, with only her as company, Delilah is going to erode Laudna's resolve like water on a stone. it's grooming, without the gross sex connotations. all Delilah has to do is hammer down on the point that she has known Laudna the longest and still 'chooses' to 'help' her grow in power, remind her that she has seen Laudna at her worst and hasn't forsaken her. that's it, that's the crack she gets her narsty bitch fingers in and pries open. not even Imogen knows Laudna's darknesses and insecurities, not like Delilah, and Imogen will never need Laudna the way Delilah does--she's eminently capable, Imogen is.

Laudna is terrified she will be left alone again, and so she swallows down those parts of herself that seem to cause friction: when she got angry after the party split and the half that went to Uthodurn seemed to have a good time (Letters found FRIDA; Fearne and Chet and Deanna knocked boots; they had a shopping spree), she choked that anger back so as not to upset Imogen. when she tried, later, to talk to Imogen about Delilah, Imogen literally cut her off with a kiss and derailed that conversation. every time a serious discussion potentially crops up between those two, the words I love you are deployed (not just by Imogen, to be fair) almost as a stop sign, to quell any unpleasantness between them.

(not that either of them know what a healthy relationship is like, having grown up alone and isolated, whether emotionally or physically or both. not that either of them know what stable love is like, how good it can be despite spats or arguments.)

so Laudna keeps quiet on a great many things and Delilah isn't one to sleep on an opportunity.

see, i think Laudna knows she isn't special but deeply wants to be, just like any person does. i think she very much wants to belong, to be part of something, and i think she is afraid that if she is 100% wholly open, she will run everyone off--after all, it's happened before, repeatedly. and Delilah just gleefully pours gasoline on that fire, amplifying the self-sabotage and self-destructive tendencies.

but after all of that empathising, after all the tragic backstory and yes, Bad Things happened to you, Laudna, i get it, i think it is completely possible that even if Delilah weren't riding shotgun in her head, Laudna would be just as much of a mess--i just think it would happen much more slowly, with less bang and more whimper. Delilah just turns up the volume on the ugly.

conversely, i feel there's also cognitive dissonance within Laudna in that she doesn't want to admit that she's becoming more Delilah, that she's abrogating her own autonomy and giving slivers of herself up. because she's worked so hard, recently, to be herself, to become herself and feel comfortable in her own skin. because she has friends that worked so hard to bring her back, friends who don't run from her scariness, friends who like her and want to be around her and who understand even just a little about how awful the world can be to the smallfolk who live in it. and if she admits that Delilah is beginning to suffuse her, then all that work and effort and time? means nothing, doesn't it? means Laudna isn't worth it, means that her self is just something to be absorbed and used and ground into dust. so she clings to the idea of I'm fine, I know what I'm doing, this is my choice because the alternative is too awful to think about.

all that being said, all she had to do with Orym was say 'Can we talk about that sword? Cause it gives me the ick.'

[snakiest]

You know, I’ve heard a lot of conversation about how Turbo fast has a lot of interesting plot lines that never went anywhere, and mysteries that could be really interesting that are seemingly ignored in favor of adding more comedic episodes, but… (press read more, this is a long one!)

there seemed to be a sort of change in direction when it comes to what the show was supposed to be about, really. Or that it wasn’t really supposed to be a show about facing villains and uncovering those mysteries entirely, and the show simply wasn’t given enough time to get ready and solve those problems they vaguely hinted to in some of the more “action packed” episodes.

There’s a pretty cool interview with Chris P. that gives insight into the production of Turbo fast, where he says things about the mindset on creating the show that changed how I personally felt about it, even though I’d already watched it ~15 times in the past 11 years and felt the same each time…

The show had always been created with the goal of fleshing out the cast, particularly the rest of the crew that were left to the sidelines as purely comedy, or used as a means to develop Turbo and Chet’s story and the plot of the movie as a whole. However there was a slight change in pace during development,

I really think the best example of the change happens as early as the first episode, actually.

Crazy Fast has always been a spectacular episode of this show, that I’ve seen almost universal enjoyment of across fans whether or not they like the direction the show went in, or whether or not they even like turbo fast in the first and just prefer the movie…

It’s also one of the strangest episodes in the series when compared to tone of the rest of them.

CF could be described as a more action-comedy focused episode, but there are actually plenty of those in the series (Turbo Drift is a particularly well received example in this case, which I and others agree is an episode that reaches similar quality of CF, which is certainly helped by its similar 22 minute runtime as opposed to being a segmented 11 min double episode like the rest of the series.) Yet, not many actually keep the same “vibes” even so.

I believe the difference between even the more action focused episodes and ESPECIALLY the comedic focused episodes and how they changed fan’s enjoyment and the quality of the writing (especially for the characters) can be best observed through Turbo, who can be argued to be the main protagonist of the series, and franchise as a whole.

If you’ve read this far i’d be really hopefully that you’ve at least watched the movie Turbo, and at least seasons 1 and 2 of Turbo Fast. (I’d be really surprised if you haven’t actually. Why are you here?)

While this is a post about the show, It’s kind of impossible to talk about Turbo’s character without briefly explaining his personality in the movie and how it transferred, changed and evolved going into the show.

In the movie, Turbo is an incredibly stubborn yet optimistic sort of guy. Quite literally doing things that could most definitely end in his death (see: lawnmower scene) just because he holds the genuine belief and hope that he can do it.

He is also sarcastic, rude even the slightest bit egotistical at times, a notable example being him laughing at Whiplash and the rest of the crew (which, at that point he was not yet a part of) because he believes himself to be somewhat better than them because they’re slow… only to be immediately humbled lol.

During Crazy Fast (which, I’ll from now on refer to as CF) , he retains these traits, just shows them in different ways!

Ironically, he also gets pretty humbled in this episode, like, multiple times, as he learns that his way isn’t really always the best way. We see another example of how despite his optimism (and, in a negative sense, his stubbornness) being one of his defining traits, it isn’t always impenetrable. His belief that he can overcome everything becomes a negative thing as he accepts Hardcase’s challenge without really any other choice, which puts everyone in danger.

A new trait that I personally did not see very much, if at all in the movie is that Turbo is also incredibly naive in this show. partially due to his default mode of thinking everything is gonna go as planned, and brazen (sometimes egotistical) belief that He’s Got This, (he doesn’t got it, fyi) and the fact that he is incredibly inexperienced as a racer.

His naivety is a very good example of taking traits that Turbo already possessed and amplifying them both to flesh out his character by highlighting parts about him the movie didn’t introduce itself, and to create more opportunities for comedic situations!

However during later seasons, particularly late season 2 and all of season 3, the shift in focus on writing for the show drastically changed how turbo’s traits were expressed…

Sure, it was definitely funny. But even when I was the age of 7 years old watching this show instead of my pathetically elderly 17, I could notice that it wasn’t really the Turbo I loved seeing on the screen.

he seemed… kind of stupid!

His optimism was still there, but he became so optimistic and naive that he lacked skepticism even when faced with obvious opposition, things he consistently took as a trigger to shift his opinion or even get mad at, seem nonexistent for the sake of moving the plot along. It drastically changes him to create room for stories that yes, while funny, lose any comedic value they might have had because it shouldn’t even be happening to happen in the first place, or at least not in the way it’s played out, because he just wouldn’t respond to the situation that way.

That isn’t always a bad thing, however! Sometimes characters have to do things they wouldn’t normally do. That’s kind of the entire point of creating new scenarios and episodes. If none of those things happened then it would kind of be an incredibly boring show, not funny or good at all.

It’s the way that the characters react under these situations that sort of make or break it, whether you’re trying to make the audience laugh, or any other emotion you aim to convey through your episodes.

While still flawed, a well executed example of pushing Turbo’s traits in a situation he wouldn’t normally allow is Adopt-A-Toad, which is an episode in the middle of season 1.

An awfully executed example is The Snailman, which embodies a lot of Turbo being uncharacteristically stupid… There are a lot more cases similar to The Snailman in this show rather than Adopt-A-Toad, unfortunately.

I’ve asked around in a Turbo fandom discord server people’s opinions about the show and gained a few common opinions about these changes, especially in character personalities and general “flanderisation.”

For starters, most people (including me) don’t actually have a problem with the fact that the show isn’t always racing or story focused. The characters and their shenanigans they get up to are what people watch the show for, and that interest aligns pretty well with the goal of production and the creation of the show in general. The purpose has always been to flesh out the characters and world these little snails would live in.

What people do have a problem with is how the characters almost entirely change from how they were established both in the movie and in the beginnings of the show in ways that do not make sense in order to be “funny.” When oftentimes, it doesn’t really work too much in later episodes, as it’s so extreme.

Common complaints on that front are about Turbo, Skidmark, and Burn, who most people agree are the worst victims of flanderisation throughout the series. (An honorable mention is Whiplash, and I’d personally add on Chet and Hardcase as well, although Hardcase less so as he is the only one of these picks who originates from the show and not the movie.)

Some claim and have problems with the fact that, despite the show’s focused on fleshing out characters, they didn’t actually get fleshed out all too much?! Some were given backstories or information about themself that either never went anywhere or were very, very one off jokes. Most complain about Whiplash and his mysterious past mentor, Breakneck which we never learned too much about, and the fact that some members of the crew weren’t really given as much care as he was, and his was never resolved…

Personally I don’t actually have a problem with the whole Breakneck incident and never finding out what it is. To me, it seems like the purpose of it was to serve as a “hint,” a real thing that happened, while also being a joke. And it succeeded! Whiplash and Breakneck’s past and current dynamic is still treated seriously, and the joke probably would’ve been ruined had they actually said or shown what the incident was, but I can also agree with the fact that it would be pretty awesome to learn what happened.

One thing I undeniably agree with is that the rest of the crew, including Turbo and Chet who we know the most about, do have incredibly missed potential when it comes to their own stories. Like previously mentioned, many are relegated to jokes (I.e. Skidmark, whom of which has a few jokes referencing his family that range from really, really funny to nobody likes this episode and never comes back to rewatch it, so 99% of people don’t even remember that Skidmark said that, and also Why the hell does he hate his dad so much??)

Smoove is probably one of the best characters when it comes to “giving them things other than being in the crew,” what with his little brother and everything to do with that, which I won’t be getting too much into because I want to make a post about Buster EVENTUALLY…

People are also pretty sad about the fact that certain villains never really get to return, particularly F.A.J.I.T.A, who I am also incredibly bummed about never getting any more screen time despite them being so, so interesting… but I suspect that it has less to do with the way the show changed and more we just didn’t get enough runtime to actually go about them again.

Regardless of the direction F.A.S.T. went, and all its shortcomings, it’s still a show that really changed my life. I made this post because I cannot stfu about racing snails…. Maybe there’s an alternate universe out there where all of our problems were addressed…

Also. Yes, I am aware this show is for 14 year olds.. but like, I noticed all of this while watching when I was 9. If 9 year old me had the mind to I am sure he would also be making long ass tumblr posts about it.

Thanks 4 readinggg

[canonically47]

thoughts on every ridonculous race duo including don at the beginning because i just finished watching it for the first time. continued in reblogs

don is such a fun host! he doesn't want anyone to get hurt, and doesn't push anything 'for the ratings'. and even so, he manages to have a lot of funny, witty moments. of course, chris is still my favorite host, but don definitely cuts it close!... especially because, let's be real, we all forgot anyone else in the universe. (don't come for me blaineley fans she's fine I SAID DON'T COME FOR ME STAY BACK PLEASE I HAVE A FAMILY)

the LARPers. definitely some... interesting characters. they're the prime example of total drama's flat and boring personalities, most of which were distributed in pahkitew island. i'm kinda mad that, of all those horribly mid and boring characters, we got the most mid and boring one back. hell i'd have preferred dave there, he'd had given us some substance to the story. i don't even remember the girl's name and i don't wanna google it. forgettable, but definitely annoying for as long as they were on screen.

the tennis rivals. good, but overhyped i think. at least, i've seen a lot of people talk about them and ship them, especially since their cameo in the reboot. i for sure thought they'd last longer because of that. i really liked their banter but they don't come close to my favorites. i will not be calling any of their agents. sorry :(

the geniuses. yeah they definitely existed! i mean their characters were fine and i really don't have anything against them, plus their concept is kinda fun. but i absolutely despise courtney's character and hearing her voice come out of another contestant's mouth made me hate her immediately. I STILL KINDA LIKE HER... like, her character design is fun... i just don't care for them that much

the vegans. they look sooo pretty and.. that is the sole reason i put them down as 'i vibe with'. i really don't care for them. i don't even know their names lmfao

the fashion bloggers. sooo fun whenever they were on-screen. unfortunately this show is so predictable and i can tell when a character's arc comes to an end and they're going home. i don't wish they stayed longer tbh? i like them but i think they've had their time. the wlw/mlm solidarity ever next to the ice dancers but we're getting to them. anyways, solid duo!

mom and daughter. ugh. fuck you

the adversity twins. i don't want to sound like a copypasta so i'll keep it short but GODDD THEY WERE SOOO ANNOYING. does NOBODY else feel this way?? i swear before i watched RR i only saw good things about them. HOW? LITERALLY HOW??? they are so fucking annoying and all they do when they're on screen is whine. "ooh mickey is allergic to breathing :((" "actually jay has a water allergy :((" AND THEN THEY HAVE THIS OP SUPERPOWER WHAT THE FUCK IS TEMPERATURE DYSLEXIA THAT DOESN'T EVEN EXIST ahem. excuse me. getting too worked up over thE WORST DUO. SHUT THE FUCK UP let's move on sorry i'll control myself

the step-brothers. idk about you guys but they are really close to being my favorite duo. just... their entire gimmick is so good. the build-up to finding out they're so similar... ough the bros ever. i was so sad when they got eliminated :( they were so funny AND fun. lorenzo is higher than chet because i like his character design more. tbh they're kinda the same person to me? but this is a mistake i made before watching RR, thinking every duo is the same person. which they're not, i quickly learned. at least not most of them. but yeah these two were very fun, they bounced off each other very well. i really liked them. they should've gone further methinks.

[hersweetrevenge]

rohan is so cute as frank. and not enough people talk about it!! just wanna hold him and tell him everything will be okay 😭

he is !! anon, you are so right !! 💗 i could talk all day about how pretty rohan is and his boyish good looks, but i could spend just as long talking about how much i love frank and how interesting i find his character so i really wish there were more frank fans out there too (i guess we just have to stick together lol) !! season three is not available for me yet so this is based on s1&2, but my agenda remains the same: protect frank hardy at all costs.

i think what i love most about frank is he is so earnestly genuine. i love how when he first meets callie and chet and isn't sure how to respond to callie's playful scrutiny. i love when he can't take the rosegrave tour seriously. i love how he understands the need to hone his detecting skills through fenton's books, rather than joe's intuitive approach. i love when his voice goes all soft when he realises he was wrong about tom ellroy (and also how it signals the first inkling that he is getting too reliant on the eye). i love how when fenton comes back from finding rupert, his reuniting with frank is so different to his one with joe; he tells frank "it's okay", over and over because frank's reactions are so much more internal than joe's (for the most part).

frank is honestly just very well-written. he's athletic but not a jock. he's studious but not an academic. he's romantic but he isn't particularly flirtatious (i'm not sure it even registers to him that he is handsome, beyond the "clearly biased" opinions of his mom/grandma/aunt). he's level-headed and has a check on his external displays of emotion, but his internal emotional experiences runs very deep. he is rational and measured, but he can also be one-track minded.

i love how there are so many facets of his character but none of them are ever really contradictory, and when they are it just highlights how he is a teenager who is struggling with this huge trauma and sometimes makes irrational decisions because of it. he's a skeptic, he's level-headed, but he's also not had the support he needs in order to grieve his mom properly so all of his skepticism goes out of the window for a chance to see laura again. he's selfish in his grief because even though he knows joe is hurting too, it's difficult to see past his own hurt because (as everyone points out) he was laura's counterpart, and joe is fenton's. the fact that he really is a perfect fit to be gloria's heir but he's so deeply compassionate that he could never be ruthless enough for that sort of business.

where was i going with this? i don't know, but i agree with you, anon. i really want to tell him it'll all be okay. frank really has the weight of the world on his shoulders, and he is struggling so much but it's revealed in much more subtle ways than with joe. in the first season, he's lost his mom, he's in a new place and his dad has left. i think part of him feels like he has to stay grounded and reasonable, for joe and fenton and trudy. i just want him to be supported and happy. in the second season, he's still struggling, and now has to try even harder to keep himself grounded even with unimaginable influences working again him in his very own brain. he's trying so, so hard to remember that it is the eye that manipulating him, he tries so hard to ignore george even when he's starting to see him everywhere. he can feel himself going mad and there's nothing he can do about it.

by the end of season two, before the sleep room, frank feels like he needs to save himself because no one else will. he feels like he needs to save his mom, because no one else wants too.

the show is really about, amongst other things, how grief can effect people. and even more so, it's about grief effecting people in different and unexpected ways. joe clearly channels his grief into solving mysteries and helping people. sure, he's a little bit gung-ho about it but it makes sense for his character -- optimistic and impulsive. frank, on the other hand, who is shown time and time again to be skeptical and level-headed, is the one who becomes irrational and unstable and emotionally volatile. of course the eye has some influence, but i also think frank's more reserved nature is being strained by the grief that he isn't given a chance to deal with and ultimately it makes him desperate and scared.

what i'm trying to say is: frank is so very cute and caring and earnest and i love him very dearly.

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 102

So, back to normal then, theoretically ... let's see ...

Sam is mimicking Matt ... this should be interesting ... "siggle", yeah ... XD ... "Magina Taintus, the Peenkeeper"? Oh dear ... an emu heair transplant"? Wow ... Marisha? O.O ... how could you?!!! Matt: "You're not me, Sam! You're not!" Sam: "Well in the eyes of the Law, I am!" Omar! Awwwwwww ... :3 He's so cuuuuuuuuute ...

Much as I expected, Omar's kind of stealing the show already ... I love it ...

Marisha: "Wife swap!" Liam: "New on Beacon!"

Oh yeah ... Braius Doomseed ... yeah ... almost forgot about Sam's new entirely harmless and totally heroic character ...

So ... after three weeks of THAT, how do we actually FEEL about the gods right now, people? Hmmm?

Fucking Ludinus ... still trying to be the hero in his own deeply fucked up twisted story ... can we just KILL this douchebag already?

Wow ... he really does go ON AND ON AND ON ...

Come on guys, there's no way you're gonna talk this ancient asshat down, just kill him already ...

Whispers? Already? Blimey ...

Ah Orym ... getting down to the meat of the matter ... thank you ...

The blue whale? Hmmmm ...

Marisha (to Laura): "Did you just make Ludinus cry?"

Why IS HE so mad? Oh, here we go ... The Motivation (TM) of Ludinus Da'leth ... which is a whole lot sound and fury, signifying nothing ... yup ...

Sounds like the truth is as much of a weapon as Predathos ... hmmm ...

Oh dear ... is Braius going to be a problem right now?

Third option? What? Bring the Betrayers back? Yeah ... no, I don't think so ...

Hunter's Bane? Really, Chet? He's an elf ... they just live A LONG LONG TIME ...

Fuck ... are we losing Ashton?

Yeah, Otohan was TOTALLY on Ludinus ... he's definitely got bloody hands in this shit ...

Braius: "Careful, every time you hold that up we have a three episode break." XD

Please don't try and spike the Orb like a volleyball, Laudna ...

Another Whispers ... this is getting interesting ...

"Join us ..." And there it is, of course. Join him or die ...

Wait ... demonic hot boi's just ... GONE?!!! Just like that? That's ... disconcerting ...

Oh yeah ... good point, Chet ... are we gonna be another Molaesmyr on a grander scale? "Blue whale us, like the krill we are." Yeah ...

Yes, I think it's safe to say that THAT is sarcasm, Braius ...

Delilah? Oh here we go ... is he gonna make THAT a problem? Yeah, no ... come on, Laudna, DO NOT fall for this shit ...

Somehow I don't think he's gonna so dumb enough to give away his WHOLE PLAN, Chet ...

Oh! Oh fuck yeah ... of course ... he DOES want Imogen, doesn't he? SHE'S the missing piece of his puzzle ...

What IS the rock?

Wow ... and now Fearne's trying to steal it from him. Bewcause OF COURSE she can pickpocket it right out of his hand from 15 feet away ... oh, Mage Hand? This should be interesting ... DEEPLY disadvantaged ... of course it is ... 18? HOW?!!!

Yeah, OF COURSE that didn't work ...

He CHUCKED it? Oh shit ... and Laudna catches it? OH SHIT!!! But Chetney catches it first, just in time ... phew ... but also NOT, definitely ... what the fuck is about to happen to him?

Hunger of the Shadow? SERIOUSLY, Laudna? Oh but that's right, it's definitely more Delilah right now ... O.O 21? Yeah, that definitely hits ... 14 points of Necrotic damage! Ouch ...

Laudna is DESPERATELY trying to claw her way back in charge ... oof ... this is getting scary already ...

Oh here we go, Roll for Initiative ...

Sam: "Ashley Johnson, dice that are UNREADABLE." Yup ...

Sam: "This dice HAS no numbers." Ashley: "I just decide?"

And POOF!!! He's gone, the bastard ... of course he is ...

Detect Thoughts ... yeah, that's a no. He is GONE ...

Oh shit ... fucking Delilah ... I had a feeling this was coming. Bitch DO NOT do this right now. None of us are in the mood right now ...

Come on guys ... pull her back ...

A Wisdome dave? Oh shit of shit oh shit ... please roll well, Marisha ... 18? Pease tell me that's enough, Matt ... oh fuck ... this is already sounding SO BAD ...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!! Fuck ... that's it, we're so fucked ... it's happening ... FUCK!!!

And we're going to break NOW?!!! Seriously? MATTHEW!!!

Straight into Rolling for Initiative ... great ... AND IT'S BATTLEMAP TIME!!! Ooooooh ... and it's FANCY ...

Holy shit Laudna is TERRIFYING right now ...

Multi-Rollies for the bottom spot ... okay, Boulder Parchment Shears instead ... yeah, that really WASN'T a good idea ...

Okay, so here we go ... Ashton's up first ... "Sit the fuck down, bitch!" Oh boy ... Rage! The rainbow sparkles? Oh goodie ... so he takes his first swing ... 23 to hit? SHIELD?!!! Seriously? Her current AC is STUPID ... fuck ... just one hit lands, then ... crap ... 22 poitns of damage ... oof ...

LEGENDARY ACTION?!!! Oh for fuck's sake ...

Orym takes stock of the situation before rolling under Ashton's legs to get into melee with her ... Insight Check! Oh, he's goingfor NON-LETHAL right now ... Goading Attack! 13 misses ... TWICE!!! Ow ... 18 ALSO misses ... crap ... so he just tries to BEG instead ... and DISARMS himself? SERIOUSLY, Wee Man?"

Delilah is ALREADY healing pretty much to full HP again ... fuck, that's not a good sign ...

Dorian plucks his mandolin and casts Invisibility on himself, then dashes for the cave, does some trickery and than rushes back ... I have NO IDEA what he's doing right now ... now he drops it and tries to give Laudna Bardic Inspiration ... Hmmmm ... does that go to Delilah or Laudna?

Fearne casts Aura of Life ... oh, that's pretty sweet! Roll a D20? Oh crap ... bloody Wild Magic! Oh, can they both get through to her? Hmmm ...

Imogen casts Calm Emotions at 3rd Level ... roll a D20 ... 15? Delilah rolls a Nat20! SHIT!!!

Essek reluctantly casts Hold Monster ... yeah, that's a fail ... and he has to roll for Wild Magic ... crap ...

Braius has NO FRAME OF REFERENCE in this ... so he just thinks she's an ENEMY ... so he charge and casts Sacred Flame on his Balls to hurl at the monstrosity ... Matt laments letting Sam create this character ... oh boy ... three D8 ... meanwhile he gives Dorian Bardic Inspiration ... and finally says: "Moo ..." in a mencaing way ...

Chetney flanks round, checking out what's left of the machinery, which is now useless ... hmmm ... then takes out the Harp of Valour ... three Magic Missiles! Nice ... 11 points of Thunder damage!

Now Matt's letting MARISHA take Laudna's turn ... hmmm ... can she break herself out of this mess? Success? That means SHE GETS TO TRY AND FIGHT this turn ... okay ... she looks up at Delilah and tries to get through to her ... oh, and she's trying something ... Wrestle From Within? Sounds promising ... also Quickens Phantasmal Force to asume Sylas' form? OH SHIT!!! O.O Yeah ... that was definitely worth a try ... but it just makes her angry ... so she just drags her right back into everybody's range ...

Lair Actions? Fuck's sake ... the temperature drops ... oof ...

Delilah casts Blade of Disaster ... CRAVEN FUCKING EDGE!!! Matt Mercer you EVIL FUCKER!!! That's brilliant in its awfulness! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

44 points of Force damage and Orym is DOWN?!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

And now she's summoning undead shit to attack them all ... FUCK'S SAKE!!!

The undead attack Fearne! Balls ... but it tanks BADLY so she just shrugs it off ... wow, NONE of them manage to hurt her ... nor do the ones that attack Braius ... oh wow, they really are just kind of USELESS all round, actually ...

Ashton tries to flank her while avoiding the evil ghost sword ... oh nice, he finally lands a hit ... 21 points of dmage! Second is a NAT20!!! Sweet ... fuck, that's 48 points of damage this time! O.O

Legendary Action Wraith Claw at him ... ouch ...

Orym comes back to consciousness to a living nightmare, of course ... ooooh ... he retrieves his weapons as he struggles back up, then casts Hex. Sticking with non-lethal he starts battering her ... Goading Attack! 18 points! Another one, 15 points ... and a third ... another 16 ... Action Surge! Sweet ... he is REALLY WHALING ON HER right now ...

Another Wraith Claw ... and Orym is DOWN again ... FUCK!!!

Dorian rushes in to his boy's aid ... Cure Wounds! Yes! With the Mandolin that's pretty frickin' sweet ... 20 points right back! Yeah! Nice save! It's so cute! :3

Legendary Action ... and Delilah Shadow Steps away ...

Fearne rushes to where she is NOW and hurls a Flame Strike at her ... Column of Fire! HOT BLUE!!! Yeah ... O.O ... 8 D6 ... 19 Fire damage, but halved ... 16 Radiant damage, ALSO halved ... well, it's SOMETHING ...

Imogen turns around, lights up her fancy robe, tells her: "I love you." and twin spells Catapult at SIXTH LEVEL!!! Wow ... oh, that DEFINITELY hits ... BOTH of 'em ... 8 D8 x2 ... 45 points of Bludgeoning damage for the first, 32 for the second! Holy fuck ...

Oh dear ... it sees Chetney ... he screams for Essek's help ...

Essek glides his way, casting Haste on Chetney ... and gets buggered by the Wild Magic! Roll a D100 ... and now he's a goat ... oh my gods ... it's Sheepleb all over again! And it's floating! XD

Sweet fuck Sam Riegel WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?!!! That is SO MUCH freakier than the gas can ...

Braius Misty Steps into range with Delilah ... Poison Pen! Nat20! Okay ... 35 points! Another one, this time with Divine Smite! Enhanced becaus she's undead ... 29 points of damage! Nice ...

Now Hastened, Chetney carves into himself and charges in to start slicing at her with his chisel ... 15 for the first plus 5 for Cold damage ... second is the same ... third one lands 5 more! Haste is so cool ... then he rushes off to hide, taking a glancing hit as he goes ... ow ...

Laudna gets to take her full round ... nice ... Animate Objects? Interesting ... oh, okay, living statue! Crazy ... meanwhile she sticks with Wrestle From Within ... finally she drags them towards Aashton ...

The living statue plods in and takes a big swing at Delilah ... 25 hits! Yeah! 11 damage? Hmmmmm ... it's okay, I suppose ...

Delilah goes for Ashton, gets a Nat20 with Craven Edge ... crap ... and Matt's STILL FUCKING ROLLING ... I don't like that at all ... 103 POINTS OF DAMAGE?!!! Shit ... yeah, Ashton is DOWN ...

Oh wait ... Relentless Rage? Hmmmmm ... maybe he can save himself ... OH MY GOD HE LIVES!!! Thank fuck ...

So Craven Edge goes for Fearne instead ... oh fuck ... crap, that's it for Aura of Life, then ...

Wow, he's just going to kill EVERYBODY now ...

Oh yeah, Orym is DOWN again ... fuck ...

Here come the undead again ... will they be any more effective this time? Wow ... looks like they're behaving about the same? Wow ... they are SO ineffective ... so fucking pitiful it's hilarious, really ...

Ashton slowly stalks towards her, gettign bigger as she does, turning into diamond form ... and that's ALL HE CAN DO ... bloody turn-devouring transformation ...

Orym fails his first Death Save ...

Dorian is OUT of spells to help from this range ... fuck ... Dimension Door ports Orym far away from danger ... then leaves him to return to the fight ... oh boy ...

Lergendary Action Shadow Steps them out of range again ... CRAP!!!

Fearne does another 6th Level Flame Strike on Delilah ... 17 Fire damage, 12 Radiant damage ...

Imogen shifts so she can line up to hit Delilah, Craven Edge AND the undead with a Lightning Strike ... nice ... 7th Level? Holy fuck ... Counterspell? Hmmmm ... Rollies, then ... gods Laura PLEASE blast it ... FUCK!!! Matthew, you git ... Delilah, we hate your fucking guts ...

But Wild Magic gets her back ... oh fuck ... Marisha rolls a D100 ... wait ... WHAT THE FUCK?!!! That CAN'T be right! Fuck, that just KILLED US ... that is going to be so fucking bad ...

Wait ... what's Essek doing? Go all in, seriously, do it, you have to ... I'm intrigued, what IS this? Reality Break? Holy shit ... oh damn it ... fucking Legendary Resistance ... NO!!! NOT FAIR!!! I HATE THIS!!!

Braius Misty Steps up to her and swings for the fences ... 27 definitely hits ... 498 points of damage! Holy shit ... second with Divine Smite ... 29 ...AND THE HDYWTDT!!!

Yeah ... SHOULD WE be cheering? I'm now concerned ... even though this is pretty cool ...

So ... is Delilah beaten? Like proper gone? Or just subdued? help ... and meanwhile Laudna's really messed up ... is SHE dying?

A Charisma save COULD help? Hmmm ... maybe risk it ... oh boy ... Strength of the Grave ... but Radiant Damage? Crap ...

Okay, so Fearne just Cure Wounds her instead ...

Meanwhile Ashton rushes over to Orym and gets a potion into him before the diamond form disappears and Ashton just COLLAPSES ...

So Laudna is awake ... is it all her? Seems like it ... hopefully that might take ... so she's still there, but VERY FAINT ... hmmm ...

So what IS this amulet thing? Fearne casts Identify ... "What the fuck is this?" XD

Ruidian glass ... an arcane battery ... nine spell slots? Nice ... that definitely seems useful.

The cloak is AWESOME ... so it kind of turns into a fancy armoured red scale catsuit? Fascinating ...

And the Soul Anchor ... oh, nice callback to Campaign 1 ... Thordak! Sweet ...

Oh ... wow ... yeah, they could use that ... yes ... yeah, maybe they could use it to finally GET RID OF FUCKING DELILAH ... yeah, definitely, try that ...

Fuck ... so this could actually REALLY WORK ... oh yes. Yes, definitely ... that's worth a shot ...

A little memorial moment for FCG ... oh man ... that's heartbreaking ... Braius: "The fuck is that?" Wow ...

So are they gonna keep this decidedly shady guy, then? I really don't know if they can actually TRUST this Doomseed guy ... LOL

Is Asmodeus actually gonna reply? O.O ... he is totally ridiculous, I love it ...

Aha, the lair of Essek Thellys ... AND CALEB WIDOGAST?!!! Sweet ... ah yes ... the Sex Room ... XD ... awwwww ... altogether it's a very sweet walk down memory lane for the Nein ... :3

DOES SHE need Delilah to survive? That's never really been established, has it?

Awwww ... Caleb's scarf ... :3

Imogen: "Who drew those dicks on the wall?" LOL

Oh yeah, they both have hooves ... XD

Wait ... is Braius trying to FLIRT with Fearne while he heals her? You sneaky litle shit ...

Yeah, there really are A LOT of dicks on the walls ...

Dorian is allergic to almonds? Oof ...

Ah, yes ... SHADOWGAST ... :3

Braius tries to work out everybody's names ... oh boy ... "Oprah"? Wow ...

Oh dear ... what is Essek going to do to him for THAT accidental insult? Ah ... so his armour is now FROZEN SOLID ... perfect ... XD

Okay, I guess this is it for the night then, the way Matt's clearly wrapping up ... ah yes, I was right ...

Thank fuck we survived THAT total nightmare ... this session almost got SO BAD ... but if they can get rid of Delilah next episode that would be SO HELPFUL ...

[ancelineonline]

Friends I was thinking about the finale of On The Rocks again today and the corresponding Verbal Component and I was struck by the thought that while one of the main themes of both Off the Rails and On The Rocks is “Capitalism, Bad” another connected theme is “caring matters.” I think it shows up more in On The Rocks a bit.

Spoilers below the cut.

I think the part that really got me was the intersection of those two things. And something that Gus and Haley mentioned on the last live Verbal Component really drove it home for me. Gus was talking about how Suds was coping with the difficult reality of a blowing up a building that was full of people, and not very many of them got out. And Haley rightfully pointed out that a big part of the theme of capitalism being bad is the the people who bear the brunt of the bad are the ones who least deserve it.

But I love love love how that intersected with Suds and also Atelut both still caring about people. Both stopping to try and save whoever they could, even though in many ways it could be seen as a waste of time or a failed effort.

It reminded me deeply of that fabulous tumblr post about the RMS Carpathia rescuing the survivors of the Titanic. (Take a minute to read it if you like, but be warned, you will almost certainly cry.) Because here’s the thing, just like the Carpathia, Suds failed. But just like the Carpathia, it matter so so much that he tried!

I think it’s interesting that at the start of the mini arc we have Rian, Chet, and Piper working together to do a terrorism revolution all on their own (sort of) but at the end it’s them AND Suds and Atelut and Foq. It’s a balance, and it’s a really important one.

Team Terrorism Revolution is important to making the revolution happen. They’re the ones that understand that Bad Things have to happen and are willing to do them, even though there’s going to be some collateral damage, even if they feel badly about the collateral. In one of the live Verbal Components the question came up of “what would happen if everyone died except your character?” And for Rian the answer was so clearly “take down as much as he can before they kill him” that it didn’t even matter that Dylan wasn’t there to say so. And Haley said the answer was more or less the same for Piper.

But this is the key bit, they need something to balance that. You spend so much of the mini arc watching how Rian is so focused on their goal that he is balanced on the edge of a cliff and if he falls it’s full on villain mode. His singleminded dedication to the goal can become all consuming in a really bad way really easily. And that’s why he needs the others. That’s why all three of them need the balance of the people that care. They need people like Foq who is on the surface a bit of a fool, but when you get down to it cares deeply about not seeing people hurt or killed when they don’t have to be. They need people like Suds and Atelut who will stop in the middle of a disaster to pull a few people out of the mess because even a few lives matter.

I just love how it ended with those two forces so well balanced. I think it’s a beautiful ending to the mini arc, but I also think it’s a beautiful promise for what happens after. Because as much as you need the people who can make the ruthless choices required to tear things, you also need the people who care about every life to be there to build things back up after.

[whatisthismandoinghere]

Is there a fic of yours that you want to talk about?

Thank you so much for the ask!!

I'm gonna take this opportunity to ramble on about my ghosty Johnny series, so for those of you that don't know I wrote a fic for emergency! where I killed Johnny Gage (I know, I'm sorry, just stay with me here) and then I brought him back as a ghost (see? it's not all bad, he's still around, it's a very fluffy deathfic I promise, it's titled "I Miss You" and it's on ao3 if anybody's interested)

I actually really like how it turned out (sorry, not trying to be braggy or anything) and I decided to turn it into a series because let's face it, we need more ghosty Johnny shenanigans. I have some ideas in mind, granted they're not fully fleshed out yet but I still wanna talk about them:

The first sequel is gonna be set directly after the events of the first story where ghosty Johnny makes his first appearance to everyone at the station (minus Roy who had already found out). I don't have a set plot for this yet but I'm thinking I wanna have the guys just bombard Johnny with questions cuz naturally they're gonna be very curious about everything (plus it kinda gives me a chance to explain how I've set up my version of the ghost world). I might sneak in the Rampart crew as well or I may make that a completely separate fic. This may change though, none of it is set in stone.

Obviously the prank war between Johnny and Chet continues. The thing is though: how does one go about pranking a ghost? Chet has to do some serious research to take his revenge.

I wanna play around with the idea of possession and there's a lot I still need to unpack there. I'm still trying to decide how high stakes I wanna make it and all the fine details such as consequences of possessing someone, how long it can be done for, etc.

Little bit of background for this idea: so the way I set it up, a ghost has to master a certain skill before it can level up basically and move on to the next one. For example, let's say when Johnny first becomes a ghost all he can do is make house sounds like creaking floorboards or squeaking door hinges. That's all he can do for the time being. Once he masters that he can move on and start learning a new skill like making ghost noises like "oooooo!" And so on and so forth. So far his skills include house sounds, ghost sounds, wind manipulation, speaking, and his latest acquired skill, appearing in ghost form to living people. I really wanna do a fic where we go through the process of Johnny learning a new skill and what that all entails. I think it'd be so much fun.

And lastly, I wanna write a fic where Johnny saves somebody from Station 51 because that's his whole reason for still being around: protecting the guys + Joanne and the kids. I don't have much more on this, I do know that I want it to be dramatic tho lol

That's about all I got right now. I haven't touched the series for a couple of months but hopefully I'll start working on it again soon! Thanks again for the ask and giving me the chance to ramble about my fics! <3

[accirax]

https://x.com/pau01ml/status/1840140291816259610

Y'know it wouldn't surprise me at all if these two broke up like a couple years after the events of this ep. I'm kinda hoping they did for their sakes because they are clearly not that compatible with each other and... .. Honestly just- fuck Molly! 🖕😤 (I'm seeing a lot of parallels between her and Ellie and I Do Not like it)

I see why the last cameraman left if this was the kind of disrespect he had to put up with 24/7 from one of his "bosses". I would've quit sooner.

Can I confess something else? I just feel like... This whole episode itself was just... kinda... super disappointingly underwhelming (and based on one of the comments I've seen from SillyBilly's reaction to the ep, I know I'm not the only one).

It's kinda conflicting, I mean- DGMW, I'm glad we were able to learn about Marcus' life prior to DC; that he had a family & a daughter.. BUT WHAT ABOUT NINA??? Sure, we know that she's this sentient girl puppet/doll with supernatural/demonic powers, but that's ALL we know! They never tell us *where* she really came from or *who* created her or that entire toyline of dolls to begin with. Did a witch curse them with sentience one day, or were they brought up from the pits of Hell itself to wreak havoc on unsuspecting buyers? Did the person/people selling them *know* what they were like, and if so, *why* would they do this?? What's their motive???

There are SO MANY loose ends this episode could've finally tied for us but they NEVER did!!! And I doubt they ever will at this point.. (We won't get much information just from seeing two dolls tied to a safe in an abandoned house and then watching them fight to the death, Jared.)

I remember, leading up it, SolarVolar kept mentioning a special surprise guest or smth that would be in the episode, and I was hyped because I thought they were giving us, like, a crossover or something with a guest character, or a big reference. Turns out he was just talking about the fact that he voiced Chet. 😅 And I mean, great for him, but... Idk. I just thought we would've gotten more. 😔

fully agree with you both on the couple and the episode. although, honestly, Anika and Molly were at least more interesting to me because they were obviously so dysfunctional. like, if they were just a perfectly cute goth x prep couple, i would've been like, "aww, that's nice" and then promptly forgotten about them. then again, is it better if i remember them because i was slightly annoyed by them? at the very least, ONC got me to not feel bad about Marcus kinda screwing them over in the end, which i assume was the point of making them not very rootable.

the episode itself was... really weird. so, you're telling me that the entire Real Girl doll line was haunted for reasons completely separate from the death of Marcus' daughter? why? what happened to make that doll line cursed? we didn't learn anything about it!

and then, Marcus goes to chase down this (apparently) haunted doll that his daughter never even had out of some sense of guilt. he just wanted to get one so that he could... leave it at her grave site, maybe? he never actually says that. it felt at times that the script was written where the writers knew that going on this quest would give Marcus a "new daughter," yet forgot that Marcus would have no idea that that would be the outcome when he went to seek the doll out.

speaking of "new daughter," that ending was... honestly really off-putting. i imagine that, like me, many other people believed that Nina (the doll) would be revealed as the spirit of Marcus' dead daughter. however, that... just didn't happen? which means that, instead, Marcus took this completely separate sentient being who he had met literal minutes before making this decision, said, "yeah, that's close enough," and decided to name it after his deceased daughter. and then he altered that completely separate sentient being's appearance to better match the specter of his past. that's super creepy.

i suppose i can sum up my thoughts on the staff stories real quick here. to me, there's a clear top and bottom half. the Kristal and Trevek episodes were both pretty good, containing some nice insight into Kristal and Derek's characters respectively. meanwhile, Marcus and Jensen's episodes were both pretty meh. at first, i thought Jensen's was my least favorite-- i'm not much of a dog person, and without that "aww" factor, the episode was a very cliche "guy and his dog" story. however, after writing out all that about the Marcus and Nina episode, i think that has to be the worst one. i at least appreciate the commitment to showing Jensen's sister die on screen, hilariously unexpected as it was.

that's not to say that other people can't rate the episodes differently, of course! those are just my takes on it :)

[sweetness-and-the-sour]

So, a couple things I wanted to say. 1. Would you like to be friends? Because I loved this reply! I absolutely adore when people go on tangents about things they find interesting, especially if it's a shared topic. I'm gonna try to touch on everything you said but fair warning I have ADHD so this might turn into a novel.

Five's DNA enhancement, one of the most interesting/horrifying parts of the comics. The idea of Five having the DNA of every killer in history (if I remember correctly) embedded into him and having to fight that strong of a bloodlust constantly is wild to me. However, I agree with you about Show!Five killing the board for his family. Mi amiga! My heart! The devotion! Comic!Five eating AJ did slightly scar me though. Glad they didn't keep that. Honestly with how gritty/graphic the comics are, I'm surprised they never approached the topic of Five....ending things on his own terms, if you will.

I give big props to Mr Aiden Gallagher because I honestly forget that this is actually a teenager and not a man almost in his sixties. Especially the scene of him singing during the wedding reception (the effect felt like a mix of Frankie Valli and Sinatra) The exploration of Delores as Five's companion was another wonderful thing in my opinion. (My little cousin found Aiden's nickelodeon show during covid and we watched it together. So being married to a mannequin might not be the weirdest thing the poor boy has ever had to film xD)

Allison....'sigh'. I really want to like her so much sometimes. But the GASLIGHTING. Sister, you've lost two marriages, a child, your throat got cut because of your actions andddd what do you choose to do the minute your "backup plan" shows interest in another girl? Full-on looses it. I can understand wanting to be wary of the Sparrows but she acted like Luthor is a toy that she didn't want until another kid asked to play with it. (I love Emmy, I'm well aware this is the writing. Just wanted to say that real quick) But Luthor deserves his own agency, not to be a contingency plan.

I'm not even gonna get started on everything between her and Vanya/Viktor. It would be too much. I ask to remain with the Salon dance scene and that's that. Comic her was just so angry, all the time. Also scary powerful, if you got to read the spinoff where she made a clone of herself. That was a messed up storyline.

When I mentioned Luthor and Five being Twins, I was going more for the Fraternal angle, so I don't think their appearances would have mattered much but that's just my opinion. I love the brothers being together. The roadtrip, the pub scene, Diego and Five talking about working at the Commission. Fantastic scenes. I have the Pilot script but I've not read it yet. Hopefully do that soon.

JAYME AND ALPHONSO. I loved them so much. Jayme, my Queen. "Are they all perverts?" Perfect, no notes. WHY DID SHE HAVE TO GO?! Alphonso's powers still confuse me but still a funny dude. They gained points by beating up racists at the pizza shop but lost some for the fight with Diego. (He was with Stan! Don't fight with the man's kid around. Basic etiquette people!) And Jayme, darling, yes, Grace is a robot but your brother is a CUBE. Do you really have room to talk?

Mr Pennycrumb....poor puppy. (Having Death from Supernatural play Chet made me so happy though)

I actually have a Hotel Oblivion keycard from the comics. But I did love the design of the hotel in the show. It felt almost like a meetup spot for time travelers if that makes sense. I didn't know they planned to go to Japan but that would have been really interesting. Art deco appeals to me some days, especially 70's style homes with the pit in living rooms. But Modern can be nice as well.

I feel like alot of fans agree that season 3 should have been fleshed out more. It's still a wonderful season! But so much was going on and the potential for storylines just fell sorta flat I suppose. (Also Lila lying about Stan....I really didn't like.) I get that the whole family really has no understanding of non-toxic relationships but I loved Lila before that. Now, Diego has lost someone he was growing to love as his child and I'm scared that Stan will be forgotten in favor of their new baby.

I'm probably forgetting half of what I wanted to say but seriously, thank you for your reply and I would love to talk more about TUA or anything related if you would be down for it. I hope you have a wonderful day! Its August 1st. 7 more days people! Whoo!

Hi! I just wanted to say I really like your blog and the ideas you have for TUA. I have a question if you don't mind? If you've read the comics (I just got to read You Look Like Death and....my head hurt alot after) is there anything you wished they had kept from the comics for the show or vice versa? Personally I wish they had kept Luther and Five being twins in the show. I get why they chose not to do so but come on.

Five doesn't get his dog and then he also doesn't get his biological brother? I love the Pub scene from season 2 and it would have fit really well for them to learn it (just my opinion)

Thank you and I hope you have a lovely day! :)

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy my ideas!! I love asks lmao so no problem at all!

I have read the mainline comics and a few spin offs (the Diego & Vanya band AU one comes to mind??) but I'm a show main sadly. I like the comics as an informant to the show, so generally I prefer how the show depicted things.

I do want to briefly (edit: it was not brief... i am so sorry) talk about the Five DNA thing because that's one of the things I love in the show.

in the comics Five is genetically altered by the commission

this only works in the comics for me because every character is an asshole, Five especially (he literally prefaces this moment by bragging that he's fucked a lot of women). So for Five to have this excuse? to show horror at the very idea? that's a redeeming quality.

but in the show, they make every character likeable to an extent (recall that in the comics Allison rumours Luther into loving her), so this wouldn't have the same impact because it just makes Five less of his own person - removes the agency from his actions.

Five in the show is someone forced into a corner, and his actions in accepting and carrying out his job as an assassin, as well as his willingness to kill innocents and his own brother throughout s1 show how his experiences have made him desperate and ruthless in his pursuit of love and happiness.

it's a psychological exploration/study.

which to me, is infinitely more interesting. Five doesn't kill the board because his DNA dictates he will, he kills them because he chooses to. He is not cruel because his DNA dictates it, he is cruel because his experiences have made him that way.

and I think overall, this approach is adapted very nicely to fit the tone of the show, as all the same beats are hit. Five has been made into the Commission's killing machine against his will, and he is resentful of it,

but that doesn't mean he can undo the damage done, his psyche is forever attuned to this line of thinking no matter how much he hates it he doesn't know how to break the cycle of violence inflicted on him,

but because Five hasn't been genetically altered, he is fully responsible for his actions and he has to live with that.

the DNA altering in the show would feel like a cop out to me. and also the interesting aspect from the DNA altering is that he is essentially made into a psychopath (most famous serial killers are - Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer, etc.), which means removing his empathy.

because despite his dislike of the non-consenual genetic surgery, comics!five doesn't have empathy.

and show!Five is interesting because he has so much empathy, yet he remains a killer. he is never given the opportunity to use that for good.

without that empathy we wouldn't get scenes like this where he admits guilt,

and in all honesty, isn't it more interesting that the best and most prolific killer in the show possesses a large amount of empathy?

idk sorry I got sidetracked - I've seen a lot of people who say they prefer the DNA plot of the comics and I just feel like it's very contradictory to what a lot of people love about Five.

anyway, the only element of the DNA plotline that i'd want to see adapted further is the non-consenual surgery itself

largely because I love Five!whump and despite comics!Five claiming it was painless it's fairly obvious to see that it wasn't (and I love when this is expanded on in fics so much - no time, no time, dear brother o' mine is an amazing read because it deals with this)

but I also think it would do a good job at reinstating the commission as the villians they are rather than the weird, nebulous thing it currently sits as (Five would never entrust Herb or Dot to the Commission it's so ooc and it's canon??? Dot and Herb were both 100% in support of the commission's ethos, even if Herb was a bit shit at his job. Dot literally was in charge of the apocalypse and saw Five arrive & at no point thought that this was fucked actually).

plus, we already know they waited until Five was hopeless, alcoholic potentially passively suicidal, weak both physically and mentally, desperate. all likely to better control him.

what's to say they didn't also pick up him just in time to prevent his death? 45 years in a polluted wasteland can't be good on the body - and I don't about the general population, but most of the people I know in their 50s aren't fully grey. the stress was probably killing him all on its own.

they could have seen his death and gone back a few years/months/days to recruit him. but then that would mean they still have to fix whatever illness was killing him, and how do you do that? surgery.

perhaps that's how they recuit all of their agents. maybe that's how they get away with it not disturbing the timeline, take someone who was going to die anyway, and then force them into a debt of gratitude for saving their lives. idk.

I also think AJ was criminally underused. He's supposed to be the big bad of the commission, his character was originally adapted into the Handler but then they decided they wanted his design in the show or something.

I think his role in the comics is much more interesting, as a person who selected Five from a line up of assassins already in the commission and gave Five personal training, and assigned him to the JFK case,

I think he could have been adapted a lot better than he was, and like the surgery, he could have steered the commission back towards the villains they were always supposed to be - instead of The Handler (as amazing as Kate Walsh is to watch on screen I love her) we could have had AJ manipulating Five throughout s2.

as for Five & Luther, I don't mind them not being twins, because honestly their genetics are so different (Aidan is 20 something and he's probably going to stay at 5'5" while Tom is like 6'5", plus hair colour, skin tone, bone structure etc.) and we already know that they weren't planning on making them twins from the pilot script (Five is born a singleton to a polish teenager I believe).

I do think it would have been fun to repurpose this plotpoint for another pair. of the Umbrella's I actually think Five and Viktor pair quite well as they both have similar heights, hair colour, they both have that square jaw too. but I also think that this could have been an interesting way to give depth to the sparrows - Jayme and Alphonso could have been the twins.

Pennycrumb was... a let down? I don't think he should have been a big part of Five's character, but I also don't think he should have had 0 affect on it either.

otherwise??? honestly Hotel Oblivion was wayyy more interesting in the comics than in the show. I would have preferred something more in line with the comics but I think they were afraid of the classic horror elements and the classic superhero elements.

like the faceless bus boy guards

the hotel rooms, seemingly ordinary, being prison cells

the prisoners having enough freedom to move around the hotel and have relationships with each other but not enough to feel safe hanging around the hotel

i just.. i wish more of this had been incorporated into the show.

also.. art deco buildings.. my beloveds

this could have been the hotel Oblivion..

like ik they planned to go to japan to film s3 and that got fucked over by covid but like.. art deco is such a good aesthetic for a horror setting compared to the japanese style hotel we got (i've heard it called hotel orientalism as well so, theres that too).

if I had been in charge I would have had s3 focus on the mothers, develop their stories & why the umbrellas were given up for adoption & then linked this all to the 43 being the 16 instead. have the reveal be not that theyre dead but missing, non existant. because the children were taken by hargreeves to power Oblivion. if we somehow keep the kugelblitz then we use that as a distraction as to where and why all the sparrows keep going missing, and eventually the umbrella's numbers start to dwindle. until Oblivion is discovered and we find that every hotel room corresponds to a member of the 43 - maybe even have the brellies/sparrows numbers correspond to their door numbers somehow, or floor level.

idk I'm not a good writer but thats a bit of how i feel about the comics being adapted into the show..

sorry idk if i even answered your question? thank you again for the lovely ask!

[thetoxicgamer]

Former Valve writer debunks the constant Left 4 Dead 3 leaks

Left 4 Dead was often used as a testbed by Valve for a number of ideas across games like Counter-Strike and Half-Life, a former writer has revealed when asked about the seemingly neverending Left 4 Dead 3 leaks. While the co-op game sequel looks like it’s never going to happen, at least we may have an explanation as to why Left 4 Dead content keeps popping up all the time. Leaks and rumors about a supposed Left 4 Dead pop up all the time, with references to the sequel even appearing in other Valve games like Counter-Strike 2, and cut content making the rounds every couple of years, reigniting the fire. Valve has made it clear it isn’t working on a Left 4 Dead 3, and hasn’t been for years, but we now know where all the Left 4 Dead leaks may have actually come from. Former Valve writer Chet Faliszek, who worked on Portal, Half-Life 2, and both Left 4 Dead games, has talked about how Left 4 Dead was always a useful “testbed” at Valve for the team to test new ideas in, which may explain why there’s so much unfinished work and ideas still being found in the series. Faliszek explained all this on a recent episode of The VŌC Podcast, where he was asked about all the apparent Left 4 Dead 3 leaks of the past few years. Keep in mind that Faliszek left Valve in 2017. “I don’t know exactly what you’re talking about but in general, as we were working on Source 2, we often used Left 4 Dead as the ‘testbed,’” Faliszek explains. “So you may see things that came out of there that were really more the testbed than, ‘hey, we’re making a new Left 4 Dead.’” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFbZc63Bn9g Left 4 Dead 3 leaks happen all the time and often get debunked, either by Valve itself or eagle-eyed fans that scour images and info for what’s really going on. But it keeps rearing its head, in no small part due to how good of a co-op game Left 4 Dead still is to this day. “With everything at Valve, there’s a bunch of stuff happening in the background, things are being tried and whatnot. But Left 4 Dead is a good base to try things on because it’s a multiplayer game. So you’re gonna exercise that muscle, it’s co-op, you’re working together.” Take note of how Faliszek doesn’t refer to any specific apparent leaks related to Left 4 Dead and its fabled third installment, but his point is still a very interesting one. Valve built Left 4 Dead in such a way with Source that it was the perfect place to test out things like maps for its other Source games, and as this bled out over the years it looks like many kept thinking it was for Left 4 Dead 3, even if it wasn’t. If this isn’t enough for you, we’ve compiled everything we’ve ever heard about Left 4 Dead 3 for your reading pleasure, alongside a breakdown of the very best PC games like Left 4 Dead that can fill that zombie-infested hole in your heart. Read the full article

[angelsndragons]

so episode 31, really the last three or four episodes, honestly, crystalized a lot of what i have been working on behind the scenes when it comes to the hells so let’s talk. warning: as always, this a long post.

because the thing is, the thing is, bells’ hells have been a control party almost from the word go. control parties, for those who don’t know, build themselves to go around obstacles and find new, different win conditions for encounters. control parties have a million different ways to handle these objectives. they can avoid combat altogether via stealth, charisma checks, or other pointed party actions. they can, as the crownkeepers did with the crocodile, find a creative way to neutralize an encounter. this doesn’t just apply to combat, by the by. social encounters provide ample opportunity for a control party to flex their muscles and steer their targets towards the party’s objectives. the haunting of the moon tower is a perfect example. they tend to be more creative and aware of their environments and the people within them than their glass cannon and cockroach counterparts. they have to be. you can’t redefine victory conditions without that awareness or creativity. control parties are just willing to try new things in ways that other parties can’t (glass cannons tend to be built for just damage) or won’t (cockroaches prefer optimizing the action economy).

the hells are several different control modes smushed together into some semblance of a balanced party that can switch on a dime and adapt. they can playfully booby-trap their way through a museum job then roast their opponents alive before flipping back to friendly assistance once the threat has been neutralized and they’ve won. the hells are much more interested in gathering and using information than their c1 or c2 counterparts; they’re also much better at extracting it. whether it’s fearne and orym scouting out enemy bases or numbers, fcg and imogen running roughshod over other people’s minds to find it or being irresistible enough that information is just handed to them, or chet, laudna, and ashton scaring the information out of opponents, all of them have some way of pulling information together (using it is still a skill the group is working on but they’re getting better). in combat, laudna and imogen easily cycle between environmental control/support (think imogen’s hunger of hadar reskin and laudna’s form of dread) and big damage numbers, chet literally has two modes he can fight in, while ashton and orym have a number of ways to control enemy movement and attacks.

and the thing about last episode and this most recent string is how the cast has built characterization into and from the mechanics and abilities. the hells are a control party, and they all have control issues. every last one of them.

ashton - traumatic brain injury that left them their unreliable at best memory, sometimes unable to rein in their impulses, and a rage they’ve only recently learned to channel and use, a man who wants very clearly defined roles and relationships (and oh boy it says something that ashton is the one who best knows their limitations and has gotten used to living with this lack of control).

chetney - werewolf who has lost control of the beast once that we know of. has issues with authority and people having control over his creations and livelihood.

fcg - has been denied autonomy and personhood for much of their existence, can snap to murderbot mode when sufficiently stressed with no memory of what occurred.

fearne - oh fearne, she has issues with cages and how things need to be free but also how she collects the things and people she cares about (she’d never keep them but at the same time...). after all, if she collects them, well, she can’t be left again, right.

imogen - has to maintain a stubborn, rigid control over her feelings, thoughts, and powers at all times or else something could explode. literally, in some cases. or worse, she’ll be subjected to every passing, awful thought of every person around her and who wants that, really?

laudna - a potential puppet on delilah briarwood’s strings. her control issues stem from her (pretty justified given her life) fear that everyone will leave her, that she’s not worthy enough for people to remain by her side. if she just controls herself and finds the one thing that others want, they’ll stay, they have to, right?

orym - like imogen, orym’s holding himself together by the skin of his teeth sometimes. he’s trying to control situations and fights around him so that this time, maybe, hopefully, his loved ones won’t be hurt, never mind if he gets hurt in the process.

part of what fascinates me so in the last several episodes is how out of control the hells have felt and the catalysts for that. yu, who manipulates and worms their way around obstacles and uses others and changes the win conditions and gets what they want in the end, a dark mirror of the hells’ own tactics turned on them. ira, who has controlled and manipulated and wiped out any good intention fearne’s parents had, right down to smearing away their memories and emotions. delilah, who gaslights, manipulates, and abuses, whom they cannot escape without leaving one of their own to her “tender” care. fcg, who weaponized what little actual vulnerability this party has been able to let itself feel.

so strap yourselves in, folks, we’re in for a long haul here.

[wardensantoineandevka]

Can I ask why you like Chet? He’s a character I’ve struggled with and would like the perspective of someone with a positive take. this is not intended sarcastically nor as bad faith question.

This took a while, and it ended up as a very long post. This isn't even everything that draws me to him, just a bunch of things I could think of before I decided I was taking too long to get back to you on this. So, all the elaboration is under the cut.

But, the short of it is that Chet is extremely funny to me, I am generally drawn to the themes that Travis repeatedly explores that are present also in Chet, I am super into Chet being someone as old as he is (which is really uncommon in these games and stories), I'm fascinated by the contradictions Chet has, and I enjoy the specific craftwork approach of Travis' characters.

Also, I like werewolves.

He's funny as hell. That sounds like a joke answer, but that's genuinely a significant point. Chetney is extremely funny, and Travis' comedic timing in the way Chet talks, his diction, and just the shit he says amuses me greatly.

In more serious quarters, I think there's something incredibly compelling about a character who has seen so much of life already finding themselves in radically new circumstances and is set off on an adventure. Chetney has lived an entire life, lived long enough for multiple entire lives, but there's still enough room for something wild to happen to him. I enjoyed this in Fjord too, who has lived enough of life to be settled into a routine and to start thinking that he understood what the rest of his life looked like. Chet is at an extreme of that in that he's, well, elderly. I'm drawn to the idea that life still HAPPENS to him and, despite his age, he is going to have to adjust to his new circumstances. It's fascinating to me always to watch characters who have already settled into their lives deal with things being upended.

I am always interested in a lot of explorations of control, violence, agency, power, domineering others, and impulses as something both dangerous and freeing that runs through Travis' characters. I'm as fascinated with this as a theme as he is. Since this post is very long, I'll just say that I trust Travis is exploring a theme here about self-control and potentially losing yourself to the decadent and dangerous freedoms of newly acquired power and agency. The Tuyen scene is amazing, particularly "There was a time years ago where I would've just sat by my lonesome and hated you from afar, but there's a different side of me now, and he wants to hunt", and I look forward to seeing more of this.

I do also love the adjacent thing about power that frees you and gives you agency and is something that you enjoy is also something terrifying to you and you must grapple with that danger, liability, threat to yourself. We saw this with Fjord and his warlock pact, and we're seeing beginnings of it with Chetney and lycanthropy. The lycanthropy is both something that Chet enjoys and finds freeing, but he is also quickly realizing that it can be horrific, that it is known as a curse for good reason.

I think that Chet has been both not giving a shit about how others perceive him (too old to care) and carefully tailoring how he appears to others. He clearly cares very deeply and is extremely kind, but he seems to prefer others think him as ornery and standoffish. He also appears to feel a type of way about suddenly finding himself always on the outside of things but he also seems to reflexively frighten the others off to arm's length. He likes to present as impulsive and scattershot, but he is among the more deliberate and patient of the group. There's a fascinating series of contradictions here that Chet feels cognizant of and is deliberate about that I am always drawn to, and I'm curious to see how it'll pan out. I just love so much this kind of thing.

I feel like Chet is not as secure as he presents himself to be and is actually feeling very anxious about his current position in life. I love a good false bravado, and I can't wait to see that resolve itself.

From a craft perspective, I think it's fascinating to adapt a character concept across contexts. Chetney and Chutney are separate and different characters, but there is very much a shared core here. I think taking that and adapting it across not only settings but lengths of the work and goals has been a fascinating exercise overall, particularly in areas of what is worth keeping and what is radically changed and what to find analogues for and how Chetney has developed apart from that. I think it's highlighted Travis' skill in character crafting, and I enjoy seeing this continuing to develop.

I do have to admit there is a fair amount here in that I like Travis' approach to building and playing a character. I like that his characters are A Lot in the way that reminds me of this TikTok. Just the way that this guy pulls out that stuff and starts making a balloon animal, I think Travis' characters tend to be very much like that. I feel Travis builds characters in a way that makes them not feel thoroughly cohesive, which is not a dig at all. The individual elements of his characters don't feel like they're aiming for total unity and cohesion and harmony, and that creates a character with unexpected qualities or skills that give them a lot of depth or vibrancy in the same way that real people are grab bags of unexpected (sometimes contradictory) experiences and skills and traits. Chet is very much an example of this. An elderly werewolf who is a toymaker and a thief, that's a lot in a way that I enjoy out of Travis' characters.

Also, I like werewolves as much as Travis does, and I think someone who is both a werewolf and very small is hilarious.