#also who the hell is frida.

[iced-souls]

So i really felt like doing the @lostcompanyofficial dtiys, but i was slightly busy prior and knew i wouldn’t finish it for the due date BUT

I DID IT ANYWAY WOWZERS YIPPIE!!

Just a couple of fun lads

Go check it if you haven’t already, if you have check it again haha

I also had a second urge to doodle the alien turtle teens are the same time that are complete strangers to me and i have absolutely no clue what they could be a reference to, reference? What reference pffff—

[fluidstatick]

FCG's sacrifice | Critical Role - Bells Hells ep 91

If you've not seen Sam's video on the Crit Role channel, It's Been Awhile, go watch it now. Then come back and watch this again. Then bear with me, I need to talk about this for a bit.

When I saw this the first time I thought it was odd that everyone was crying so much. Laudna's death gave everyone focus, and Molly's was met with solemnity, but few tears. Why did Sam's decision rock the table so much harder this time?

Everyone is crying when FCG decides to sign off. Matt cries harder than we've seen since the C2 signoff. Taliesin hides his face. Liam is visibly crushed, and then snarling with rage, and then numb. Marisha is bargaining, Ashley is protesting, Laura is speechless. At the time I wrote it off as the cast being tired, frustrated by the Otohan battle, disappointed by a rough run of ineffective strategies.

Most of all, I thought Travis' body language and quiet remark were so strange. He's smiling throughout this death scene, eyes sparkling, awed, and he says in a level, sincere voice - "I'm so proud of you." We all know Travis laughs when he's panicking, so I thought he was just enjoying the symmetry of FCG's character arc. But now that we know why the table was so broken up at this, I understand Travis' amazement and pride, too.

Everyone is in tears because they don't know if Sam is going to come back. They don't know if he'll make it. They know they can't make their fear and hurt explicit, because it'll breach Sam's privacy at a very dark and frightening time. But he takes this poetically timed opportunity to allow Bell's Hells to endure. He removes himself narratively, preserves his privacy, and lays a plot point that will allow the others to channel their grief and fear into the game in his absence. Travis sees what this decision does not just for the narrative, but for the health of the brand. That's CEO Travis telling Sam how proud he is. And when FCG bolts for Otohan at a full dash, thinking about Bertrand, and Dorian, and Frida -- That's Sam, squaring up to cancer, thinking of his predecessors in the fight, his comrades in his own battle, and the people who most need him to win.

When Matt said "The stakes are higher than ever", he wasn't talking about Exandria. He was talking about Sam, the table's one of a kind friendship, and the joyful soul of CR. And nobody knew when or how they'd come out the other side.

At the Greek, When Ashton failed his wisdom save against Dominox and it used FCG's voice to accuse them of letting him die, I was thrown a little by Tal's performance. If Ashton failed the wisdom save, why is he so strong in the face of this accusation? But now I see it's Taliesin asking cancer, how dare you try to make us feel guilty while our best friend kicks your ass? How dare you tell us that we've fucked up, when we've all done everything in our power to protect this man that we love?

I didn't like Braius when he debuted. I thought he was too vain, too brash, too pushy. I thought he was a goofy swing and an ill fit for the party. But now, in context with everything we didn't see before, he's perfect. He's a husky-voiced warrior of few words, a jittery fanboy, a wounded jester, a powerful healing force of darkness, a joyful slut with a slit throat, so alive, alive, alive.

I could say so much more but I'm emotionally exhausted. Get your HPV vaccine. If your body needs pelvic exams, get them, every year, no slacking. If your body tells you something is weird, listen to it, and find a doctor who will also listen to it.

If you're reading this, I love you. Go tell someone who needs to know that you love them.

Fuck Cancer.

[ilanarose7]

Some outcomes of Critical Role episode 91 (that happened either because of or completely separate from the big thing)

SPOILERS!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

Starting with the ones not due to FCG's sacrifice:

Liliana has some level of trust and attempts at redemption with her daughter (those 31's on deception and persuasion Laura you legend!), which means a major player (and VESSEL?? tf was that about) who was formerly (and maybe kind of still) on Ludinus's side is swapping over

Ashton and Fearne are about to be exhausted from being Titans (Ashton much sooner since they powered up in ep. 90)

Zathuda is both proud and angry towards Fearne which is both terrifying and a bit heartwarming(?)

Nana (I think/hope it was her bending fate) was able to help Team Infiltration escape the Weavemind after Orym reached out

Now for the other outcomes due to FCG's sacrifice:

Orym's deal with Nana should be void since the group cannot return as they were (VM Spoiler Note: Liam's PC was finally saved from a deal leading to a life of service by Sam's PC after he wasn't able to in C1)

Chetney is ALIVE! I'm counting this as part of the sacrifice bc due to weird leveling circumstances Sam sacrificed his one brand-new 7th-level spell slot to take Revivify, which is a major thing to give up

Otohan is DEAD! GONE! That is a MAJOR player off the board and another one of Ludinus's high-ranking members off the board

FCG is dead, seemingly unrevivable based on how Matt phrased it (asking to make sure Sam understood what it meant). That will have MAJOR implications going forward.

On a D&D technical level, there is no primary healer meaning that Fearne has to take some healing spells or the party can't heal at all (pretty sure they used up all their potions during that fight).

On a character level, this is going to be devastating. Ashton, who started this whole adventure with FCG and has been saying for a LONG time that FCG was going to get themself killed, was unconscious when FCG made the ultimate sacrifice. Sending works, which means when they get back to Exandria, Imogen will probably be the one to let FRIDA know what happened.

On a slightly lighter note, I feel like Travis is going to shine next week. It's been said before and I'll say it again, Chetney is the heart of Bells Hells. He knows how to be there for this family and I have a feeling that will come to the forefront as we see the aftermath

I'm sure there are more outcomes, but these are the ones on my mind after barely sleeping last night following that episode. Sam knows how to play this game well and cuts straight to the heart while doing so. It was masterfully played and while completely devastating to watch, was also incredibly heroic and beautiful.

Good game, great players, amazing DM, and of course thank you Fresh Cut Grass for being a Faithful Care-Giver until the end

[isagrimorie]

I honestly love how angry Laudna was in the first half of the show, out the gate. The moment Orym called attention to FCG's new clothes, Laudna's face was this:

But even through that Laudna can't help but comment and compliment Imogen on her new look:

Imogen smiles at Laudna: "I love the new look."

She just lit up at Laudna's compliment.

And then Sam just goes straight into it, probably sensing the Drama potential and immediately Laudna's mood shifts from sad-soft to sharp.

Also, of course, Imogen's face when Ashton said: "You were the last person to have a complete breakdown."

Fearne also looked concerned.

And then Imogen's face when Laudna pointed to her and said: "You have a new best friend, apparently."

Completely bewildered by this classification of her friendship with FRIDA. I also love Travis's husband reaction of: 'Uh-oh.'

Imogen is completely startled because out of everyone on Team Wildemount she was the one who didn't want to rest and just want to be on task.

I live for Imogen's 'Excuse me?'

It's so funny because apparently, Laudna didn't get any of Imogen's messages that she WASN'T having any fun sexual or otherwise last episode. Like, Imogen really did need to spell it out for her, and another reason why Imogen decided to just make her feelings plain.

Imogen tries to explain and Fearne is also quick to buck up and defend Imogen. Meanwhile, Chetney offers his sexual healing services.

Laudna looked like whatever Chetney's saying isn't computing with her and later looks like she was half a second away from getting angry at him.

And then much later Ashton and Orym are gently trying to convince Laudna to try and unwind, feel what it's like to be Human again. Taking care of Laudna the way they failed to do, bringing her back from the brink of the abyss.

Imogen doesn't even know yet that Ashton and Orym just let her fall.

Orym and Ashton coaxing her back from the edge, directing her back to life, to Imogen.

And it starts to work especially when Imogen brings up visiting Zhuduanna and their old home in Jrsusar. Signs of the old Laudna seem to be softening her edges and her stare isn't as blank or blankly furious anymore.

But it's true they all need to unwind from the harrowing trip they've all been through.

Still, I feel there's hell to pay if or when Imogen ever found out that Orym and Ashton just let Laudna fall down the abyss and possibly let Delilah back into Laudna.

Fearne is just trying to navigate this seachange of emotions too, she was also deeply affected by the split of the team but she's just much better at hiding it.

(Also, Marisha Ray deserves all the accolades because she's so good!)

[blaithnne]

I LOVE THE FIC!! AND THE WHOLE SERIES!! ITS WONDERFUL!! Sketchbook black cat x golden retriever my BELOVED

I have so much to scream about in terms of this fic, but I just want to say that I have a tendency to skim read when I don’t take my meds and for a second I thought Edmund shook Kaisa’s hand, looked her dead in the eyes and said “I’ve talked shit about you behind your back”

YELL. No please I should have made this canon. This is too fucking funny ksgkjgshckajdkjsf

And I’m. So flattered you like this fic 🥺👉👈 It’s been a pet project of mine for a couple of months now, I’d only shared it with waddles, so I’m really happy to know other people in the fandom like it as well :)) thank you for the ask!!

[luddlestons]

Can I ask what you think bells hells sound like in bed? Like who’s loud, who’s quiet? Who likes dirty talk and who prefers to just moan?

-cracks knuckles- oh you ABSOLUTELY can ask.

I think a LOT about character voices, especially when I listen to them talk for so long, so this is giving me leeway to ramble for a loooong time.

Below a cut because NSFW, long, etc.

Ashton: Capable of being very quiet, because all of their teenage fooling-around happened in shared rooms. Obviously swearing constantly. I think he's more likely to cut off in the middle of a sentence and gasp or straight up growl than he is to moan. The dirty talk is 70% the word 'fuck'. Sounds dangerously similar to how they sound when they get their ass kicked. Which is hot af. Like ragged and low and out of breath. And, uh. Whatever they were doing when Orym gave them a massage. That exactly.

Braius: We don't know him that well yet so I'm not sure? I think he'd be fairly loud and exuberant, with a lot of praise for his partner. Lots of talking, not concerned with whoever tf might hear him. He's a slippery one, voice-wise, it's hard to place him.

Chet: .......guys I don't know if I wanna picture all the weird old gnome noises. I think probably it's half weird old gnome noises and half werewolf howling. Probably very bad at dirty talk but in a charming way. He's silly with it, and silly sex is important! I do also like the idea of him dropping into the werewolf voice too <3 werewolf transformation during sex is also important. He is talking JUST as loud as he always does. That man cannot whisper.

Dorian: Obviously his voice is beautiful, and I imagine that if you do things right, you can get him up into that really high-pitched voice he does sometimes, usually actually when he's nervous. Dorian's such a proper lad so he doesn't swear very much (it's hard to write from his pov bc I don't think he even swears much in his own head) but I think you can get him rambling if you try. It's not that dirty, per se? But if he's very plain about what he's feeling it can be unintentionally filthy. The air genasi unending breath thing is of course something I use a lot in fics, and I like to think of it as an emotional response, like a gasp that doesn't end, but you can't vocalize much unless you're breathing in or out, so he's quiet when he does that. And he's a romantic! Very likely to just say "I love you" when he comes.

FCG: you might've thought I wasn't putting FCG on this list but THINK AGAIN, I want them and Frida to have at least one night of robot passion! Now. Do I think robot sex noises sound like dial-up? Yeah. Yeah I do. Actually, Letters probably sounds like dial-up, Frida probably sounds like..... like the haptic noises on the PS4 home screen. Listen I know that's a weird pull but that's the closest thing I've got. I think there would be a lot of talking and communication, probably a lot more of that than there is of sex. However robot sex happens. I've read some fanfiction for them and it's cute!

Fearne: oh fearnie <3 she probably sounds SO beautiful, her voice is already so breathy and sweet! I think (and often write) that the tone of sickeningly sweet condescension she pulls on people sometimes, especially when she's laying it on thick while lying to someone, comes out when she's domming. Generally more soft and gentle with her voice but she can get loud too, especially if she's trying to be noisy on purpose. Moans a TON and sounds good doing it. She can get a little theatrical if she knows her partner's into it, not in a way where she's faking it, but letting herself put more oomph into it than she needs to.

Imogen: I can see her doing a lot more low, gentle talking that gets interrupted by little gasps. Definitely the type who puts her hands over her face when she gets too overwhelmed, so she muffles herself a little bit. Not very loud, but tends to get kind of startled into making noises. It would also be cute as hell if she goes completely quiet sometimes but just sends out a BARRAGE of horny emotions telepathically.

Laudna: Very loud and has no idea she's doing it. Will say Imogen's name 30 times in one minute. I feel like she rotates between soft, whispery sort of talking and extremely loud crying out. Her higher register when she talks tends to be very loud and clear (think how she calls out a name when she's sending a Message to someone) so you can hear her anywhere in the building.

Orym: Somewhat similar to how I picture Imogen, I think Orym is big into praising his partner in that kind of low, gentle voice he has when he's explaining something (the scene I'm picturing is when he's describing his and Will's family as they're coming into Zephrah). Unexpectedly filthy, though (Orym is pretty good at keeping it professional but does swear in a way that sounds natural and probably dirty talks like that, too). Very calmly tells his partner exactly what he wants to do to them--let's not forget that Orym makes a LOT of sex jokes, like only slightly less than Fearne and Chet. If he bottoms he's probably less verbal, but still kind of quiet, little moans and gasps separated by half-sentences.

[malaismere]

Bells Hells Shipping Statistics - Year 3

Having hit the end of October, and the three year anniversary of Bells Hells, I return with more shipping statistics, to see how things have changed. It's been quite the year!

The biggest overall changes have been a rise in Dorym with Robbie's return to the show, Callowmoore becoming more consistent, and Chetney/Fearne eking out Imogen/Dorian to sit be #10. But there's a lot more to talk about as we zoom in to the individual characters.

These data were collected by the number of fics on AO3 from the friday following a given episode to the thursday the next aired, same method as my previous work - which has now moved over on to AO3. It's mostly the same, but the old graphs are a bit shinier.

As always, the closer look for these is hanging out below the cut.

Chetney Pock O'pea

As always, starting with table order means we start with Chetney, who isn't the most exciting of graphs. There isn't much to say about this year - there's a bit of the Fearne/Deanna threesome, and some Fearne and Ashton (and the threesome, for the most recent), but there's no real consistancy to the ships. Fearne is definitely the top, but no ship is getting more than 2/week.

zooming out slightly to the monthly values, I think we can see 2023 was really the height of different Chetney ships, but even then, not that much going on.

Laudna

As should come with no surprise, the dominant ship here is Laudogen. The largest peaks are for Laudna's death (73) and their kiss (63), with the peak for 2024 being episode 97.

While the early period had Dorian as the secondary ship, and the middle Ashton, the only thing with any impact is the Fearne threesome, and even this is very sporadic. There has been a small return of Dusk/Laudna, unrelated to anything in canon.

Zooming out to the monthly scale - Laudogen has been put on the right axis to make things readable, and we see a dearth of anything but Laudogen, with the same generally muted peak, although the threesome really centralizes around August.

Fresh Cut Grass

Fresh Cut Grass is interesting, because, unlike every other case...there's no real fic response to FCG's death. Part of this is the lack of an in party ship - there has been no real ship with anyone but FRIDA since their introduction, and that fell off rapidly following FRIDA's departure, but it's reflected even among & tags, where the dramatic 'peak' is only five Ashton & FCG fics, compared with the dramatic visible reactions to Laudna, Percy in C1, and Molly in C2.

And, zooming out to the monthly, which I think better emphasizes the rather singular peak for FCG/FRIDA.

Fearne Calloway

Fearne has the most chaotic chart, mostly because it's rather low. Only now in 2024 are we really seeing Callowmoore escape from the weeds, with the Dorian/Orym combinations falling finally away, but while they've been consistently at least 1/week since returning from Ruidus, their highest peak in 6/week for e111 (and overall an 8/week back for e77).

Grouping by monthly however really is putting Callowmoore apart from the other ships, as their consistency allows them to be larger than the more variable smaller ships.

Imogen Temult

Imogen is once again dominated by Laudogen as a ship, although we see making a decent impact Imogen/Otohan, a rarepair that has continued through Otohan's death, as well as Beau getting a brief resurgance from an initial peak back at the solstice with the two characters again meeting.

By month, again with Laudogen on the right axis, we can better see the presence of Fearne/Imogen as the largest part of the witches be bitches ot3, as well as the presence of Otohan and Beau, although still very low in comparison to the heights of Laudogen.

Orym

Orym is in a low ship point through the Ruidus arc, before we see a massive spike in the return of Dorian with e93, that once again spikes with the pairing becoming canon in e111.

Also of note, a very brief but high peak with Orym/Braius, which is evident in e98 as his introduction but has not managed much staying power after that, ad the general consistent background of Orym/Will.

Zooming in by month, again most dominant is Dorym dominating, replacing the already declining Ashrym - and while the values aren't back at where they were at the start of C3, they are very close to challenging it.

Ashton Greymoore

Ashton has a fairly clear shift with Callowmoore finally outpacing Ashrym through the Ruidus arc and dominating after. While they had a brief moments (e24 and e77), these had been intermittent, while they've finally managed to stay at least 1/week since e90.

Zooming out to look by month further amplifies the dominance of Callowmoore over Ashrym through 2024, with the rest of ships (mainly Dorian) cntinuing to be a much lower background).

Braius Doomseed

Braius is new, and that makes this an inherently funny graph. But, more seriously, while we see an initial interest in Orym/Braius, it hasn't had as much staying power. The OT3 has had some independent use more recently, as has some use with Fearne/Ashton/Braius (with some Ashton/Braius but no Fearne/Braius), these have been very individual fics.

Zooming out better shows the relative impact of Fearne/Ashton/Braius, but again, it's two fics. This is not quite as comical as the weekly chart but still.

Dorian Storm

Last but certainly not least, Dorian Storm! The impact of Dorym was previously discussed, but it's a clear and dramatic rise. All other ships had fallen to the wayside after his initial departure (save some lingering Ashton/Dorian and ot3s with Orym), and only Dorym came back with force with the return.

Zooming out monthly further shows that, and the sharp rise of Dorym, but everything save Dorian/Ashton is still very lwo.

[juliedrawz]

I saw some old posts where people addressed Héctor's flaws. I got stomach aches reading them because I think they got it totally wrong! I couldn't get it out of my mind, so here I am, putting my salt into the soup!

~

First things first, EVERYONE's got flaws! Nobody is perfect. Everyone's done and is doing mistakes. And with Héctor, we need to look very carefully, consider 1. His character and 2. His situation.

Right off the bat, what some see as flaws are actually GOOD character traits merely tending to bring trouble because the world is dark and twisted most of the time! Héctor is one of the most selfless and altruistic characters ever! He'd give everything for those he loves and this immense love also makes him reckless sometimes.

Let's beginn with the first flaw pointed out by others.

"Héctor let himself be persuaded to go on tour with Ernesto. He should have said no."

Yes, Ernesto talked Héctor into his idea, BUT, they were best friends! As close as brothers! Héctor came along because 1. He loved Ernesto and 2. He wanted to provide for his wife and daughter! Even if that meant he had to do something he was slightly uncomfortable with. Ignoring his wants to stay at home, he took the chance! He took the risk. If being away for a while meant more money and hence a better life for his family, he gladly make that jump! It is absolutely selfless but also admireble! Like, that's what a good father does! He couldn't have know how much Ernesto would change during that time, nor that he would eventually snap and get him killed. And Héctor did stand up for himself! He's not a weak, idiot who let's himself get pushed around! Most of the time he's just peace seeking and slow to anger! Which, are RIGHT traits according to God! And to me too! It might get you hurt and some people might take adventage of your kindness but what exactly is bad then? Your kindness, selflessness or those mean people? Aha, see what I'm getting at? Nobody should change their positove traits or harden their hearts just because others are in darkness! It's a whole different thing to draw lines and stand up for yourself. And Héctor does!

"His irresbonsibility"

*big sigh* Ok, there are 2 reasons mentioned to put the stamp irresponsible on Héctor's forehead and it get's me mad!

The thing about him lending things and losing them all! Well, Héctor tried desperatly to cross the flower bridge for decades! He tried everything to cross. Lending himself stuff and noz being able to return them wasn't because he's careless and irresponsible! He just couldn't bring them back! Take a look at his broken bones, his knocked out teeth, his scratches and THINK for a second! All the horrific accidents he must have gotten into. He surely aimed to bring each and every item back but they all got lost or destroyed in the process. And I don't think Héctor made an attempt to cross with it most likely failing at the back of his mind. He just went for it! Remember how he bolted forward once he was through the check? All his mind is focused on is "I need to get to and see my baby!" And before that it was "I need to get to and see my wife and baby!"

If Héctor had the chance to bring the items back, he would have! He wanted to take the Frida costume back but who forbit him to do so? The officer! (Joke's on him though because it'll be Ceci giving him hell later"

He was being irresponsible with Miguel ...

Someone said it would have been easier to just hand over Miguel to the police and have them sort it out! Well, have you seen how Miguel ran from his own family to get his way? He ran from Héctor too once he figured out Miguel had relatives around! Héctor helped Miguel first and foremost because out of desperstion! Miguel was the BIGGEST ticket for him to be able to cross, by letting him bring the photo back. But for Miguel to do so, he had to help him bring him to Ernesto. And that's what Héctor did. He tried hi best to get Miguel to Ernesto as fast as possible. Not to forget, that it was a race of life and death for both.

And Miguel is a kid! And obviously he's acting like one now and then! And Héctor paniced when Miguel ran off. Because he worried for him! If his deal wouldn't work, he would look for another way but Miguel could die! Yes, Héctor might not always make right decissions, but he is giving his best and he always means well! And we also need tp consider his condition! He knows he'll most likely not last the night, yet he still risks that and helps Miguel.

Of course we see Hèctor later on pleading with Miguel one last time that they had a deal but then in the cenote, he caves in. He's getting weaker by the second, the process of him fading has begun. And even through his pain, he is still comforting Miguel.

Him being clumsy and him lying is also often seen as one of his flaws. And while I absolutely agree, that yes, he's a huge clutz and he's both accident prone and sometimes too reckless when it comes to his own health and savety, I wouldn't call his lying a flaw in the classical way. Because, the only times we see Héctor lying in the movie is so he can get as much as a hinge closer to his goal of crossing the bridge. That's how important his daughter is to him! Lying is never good, but he lies out of desperation. (In my book, young Héctor sometimes used his catch phrase "That was a lie! I apologize for it!" as a means of his humor, and, or to calm his opposite. And Héctor is darn humorous!

Now to what I point out in my book, not necessarily flaws but things that get Héctor into trouble often

His kindness

His altruismn, selflessness

Him ignoring his own needs and wants for the wellbeing of others

His clumsiness

His recklessness

His trait to always see the good in people

His stubborness

And while most of those are wonderful character traits, as mentioned above, in a world where such personalities as Hèctor are rare, it's hard to get around.

What do you guy's think?

[mrsfrecklesmarauders]

"Admit that Sirius Black is everyone's type" Mary commented as she munched her fruit.

"Not mine" Lily shivered as her eyes scanned the book in front of her.

"Mine either" Mary shrugged after considering it "But I bet he's Marlene's" and she winked at her.

Marlene rolled her eyes "Bloody hell, what is so special about Sirius Black?" he asked her friends and mostly herself "What makes girls act like that?"

Marlene pointed to the spot where the group of boys was just crossing the door. Alecto Carrow and her friends were immediately surrounding them. One of her friends being Dorcas Meadowes.

Alecto was all over Sirius, like she didn't have any dignity left.

It was clear that Sirius was over her. He used her, snogged her and now he was done. The poor brainless princess just didn't get it.

"I don't know" Mary started looking at the scene as well, fork still inside her mouth "Probably the fact that he is really good looking"

Marlene groaned "What makes him good looking?"

Mary smirked "He has a symmetrical face, you know..."

Marlene's eyes tried to lay on Sirius to see what Mary was saying, but somehow they flickered to another person near him. Marlene knew it was inevitable. Since she was very attractive and beautiful. Bloody Dorcas Meadowes.

That was a symmetrical face. She had a smaller nose and rounder face. Everything was well proportioned.

"Girls say he has peachy lips, you know, desirable to kiss..."

Dorcas's lips were big and soft. She was always wearing that glittery lipstick that moisturized them. Marlene knew it was watermelon flavored. She had seen Dorcas put it on. And Marlene wanted to have those lips, she like watermelon candies so...

"Also those gray blueish eyes that have like some sort of profundity to them..."

Dorcas's eyes were more interesting and intense. They were so black that it was difficult to notice the pupil. They were big. They reminded Marlene of the immensity of outerspace. The nothing. The darkness and the magesty of mystery.

"Plus, some might say those thick eyebrows are very sexy...."

Marlene agreed. Dorcas's eyebrows were unique. She didn't keep them thin and delicate like other girls. They were thick, even joining in the middle of her eyes. Something like Frida Kahlo. But with more style. Marlene wished she could pull it off.

"Oh Mary" Lily tutted "Sounds like you have a crush on Sirius as well. Have you also succumbed to his beauty?"

Beautiful. Dorcas Meadowes was truly breath taking. Marlene had always observed her, had always admired her since the day she met her. It was pure envy, because she wanted to be like her. Have a little of Dorcas's grace. Right?

Then why did Marlene feel a strange sensation inside her belly? It was the same shot of happiness that the adrenaline of playing rugby gave her.

"Yeah..." her subconscious concluded.

And God! As soon as Dorcas noticed her watching, Marlene went bright red and looked away immediately as if she had been caught doing something indecent. And she drank her morning juice as if it was alcohol.

"See, Lily?" Mary laughed when Marlene finished drinking like a maniac "It's Marly who is into him, not me"

Marlene blinked before taking one last look at Dorcas to make sure she had looked away.

"Sure" she said without thinking, which made Mary squeal in happiness. And Lily raised an eyebrow but smiled nevertheless.

Marlene was screwed. Maybe it was not Sirius Black who she fancied.

[bluedalahorse]

I think I’ll say this once, since I need to say it before I can move on to more excited posting about promos and things:

Obviously Young Royals means a lot to me. It’s become another way for me to connect with my hyphenated-American heritage and to start teaching myself Swedish again. It helped me survive a pretty brutal year of bullying at work. It made me confident enough to start the process of getting formally evaluated for autism and ADHD. I’ve been writing a 200k+ historical AU fanfic for YR—the kind of fic I always read and adored back in fandoms when I was younger, the kind of fic I wanted to write myself. I’m proud of the way that Heart and Homeland has made me a better writer, and I’m glad for the way it’s deepened my friendship with @heliza24. It is Young Royals in part that inspired by thesis on restorative justice in YA literature. When I was in the hospital last fall because I almost had a literal stroke from stress, I was comforted and kept calm by the fact that I was wearing a YR t-shirt and had a plush doll of a YR character sitting in my lap. And all of that is the short list.

As we come close to the release date, I hope that every single member of the fandom gets something they enjoy in the new season. I don’t think every person is going to get everything they want, but I genuinely hope there’s a moment, a scene, a line that brings them joy. We’ve all stuck with this series for a while, and I want us all to have something we can take with us. A little bit of sparkle for the road, if you will.

There’s of course the possibility that some of us get a lot of what we want, and others of us are let down. I know this was the case for season 2, and it feels naive to imagine that everyone in the fandom will be equally satisfied by season 3. I’ve got my fingers crossed that I’ll enjoy the hell out of it, but I’m also trying to prepare my heart in case it’s not what I wanted. I’m trying to gently talk to myself right now and say that even if the third season leaves me upset and unsatisfied—even if the writing takes a nosedive or it’s good writing but it’s just not what I wanted—that I still learned a lot about crafting stories and being myself and surviving hardship and thinking about systems and whatever else, from this show. That my experience with the first two seasons still matters, that my work on my fic is something to be proud of. If season 3 is a disappointment, Heart and Homeland will be my new canon. I’m sure there are other people out there talking themselves up in this way too. I know we’re all pushing through the pre-season jitters.

The other thing I’m trying to reconcile right now is how I feel about the promotional material that’s come out, and the conversations around that. Like on my own, I actually feel pretty great? It’s fun to see the new stuff come in? But then I think about the ratio of Wilmon to other things and some of the responses I’m seeing to that. And I see people say like “oh the show is back to focusing on what’s actually good about it” and “it’s great that they’re doing this because the audience doesn’t really care about characters who aren’t Wilmon.” And… hello? Aren’t I the audience? Tumblr isn’t too bad (most of the time) but then there’s like, Instagram, where the Netflix Nordic posted whole set of photos of different pairs and friendships from a whole bunch of shows, and there was one (1) picture of Sara and Rousseau and I saw enough comments where people were like “ew! Vomit! Give us Wilmon instead!” that like… y’all. Frida Argento is a human being and a damn good actress, and Lisa is a good writer of female characters, and like. We can celebrate that, once in a while. We can create space for her too. It’s not Frida OR Omar and Edvin. It’s Frida AND Omar AND Edvin AND Nikita AND Malte AND Nathalie AND Mimmi AND Fabian AND Samuel AND… look I could keep on listing but I’m going to get distracted if I do.

Like, man. I love Wilmon. Don’t get me wrong. I love the complexity their relationship can run with. There are lines heliza has written for them in fic that make me swoon and I am giddy about the part where I get to read them first. I love the glowsticks. I love Wilmon’s sense of humor and the part where they cheated at Vincent’s rowing race thing and their utmost commitment to being dumbass teenage boys against the world. The first week I saw the show and came into work (where we have an athletic field) I went and took a selfie on the field after covering my hands in those gross fake dots. Look. I am all in.

And also… I came to the show for Wilmon but I stayed for so much more. I would have watched Young Royals once or twice and said “that was pleasant” without ever getting back into fanfic after a decade away, if the show was only Wilmon. I do like Wilmon, but it wasn’t Wilmon who inspired my thesis on restorative justice or made me a better writer overall. I survived that year of bullying at work because I could come home and write my ensemble fanfic, especially the parts where I focused on the non-Wilmon pairing I was in charge of writing. I finally felt confident enough to be evaluated for AuDHD because of a connection I felt to a character who wasn’t Simon or Wilhelm. It was a plush doll of a non-Wilmon character who sat in my lap and kept me calm while I was hooked up to those scary machines in the hospital this past October.

I guess my one humble request is that people be thoughtful about how they use phrases like “everyone thinks” or “no one wants.” Not every member of the fandom has the same opinion, and not every member wants the same things out of season 3, and there are some of us who are happy about the new Wilmon content but who are still feeling a little hungry for more of our most beloved characters, and hope they’ll get meaningful storylines (and not get ignored) in season 3. I do know we probably won’t all get what we want, and that some of us will probably get more of what we want than others. I hope that whatever happens, we’ll all get something we want, and we can all be gracious about it, and continue to find meaning in the canon.

For the people here on tumblr who are already including me in their everyone… thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope you know who you are and I hope you know how much I appreciate you. And I do hope this Little Fandom That Could can keep going into all sorts of new creative places.

[randomcerealbrand]

What’s your favorite TMNT ship besides Timatello?

Also another question, how would you react when your online friend turned out to be a Roblox YouTuber?

Favorite TMNT ship? Uhhhh...

I don't have any other ships I like as much as Timatello. I know some of my friends' OCs that are shipped with the turtles (in a not weird way dw) but they don't technically count.

I like Leosagi, but mostly 2003 Leosagi and certainly not 2012.

Aprinardo in TOTTMNT is alright, I like them being a couple because they actually aren't weird towards eachother and it's wholesome, but I only see them as platonic.

Leochi (Leo and Yuichi Usagi) is pretty good, I love the concept of Yuichi working at the Run Of The Mill Pizza, or a crossover between dimensions.

Shellshocked is sweet, but it could never happen, unfortunately.

Donnie and Atomic Lass is just funny as hell.

Apritello is something I don't really enjoy, especially in 2012, because of the way they wrote it. If written correctly, I can see this ship happening from a platonic standpoint.

Mikey and Renet - Again, platonic.

Raph and Mona Lisa - 2012 did it and it was rather undercooked and he never actually called her by her actual name, which was odd. Overall it's very sweet but I wish they had more time to develop it. Again, I'd love to make them a thing in my Rise fanon, but my current storyline is incomplete.

Raph and Alopex - Yeesh, the age gap that some of the artists said they had was.. Odd, to say the least. But their relationship definitely did grow to be pretty good until they parted ways. I'd be down to make Alopex best friends with Raph, but the romantic aspects don't vibe with me.

Donnie and Bigfoot - Get the fuck out.

Any of the turtles in general x April - Depends on the way the canon version wrote it. (Aprinardo is currently the only good one.)

April x Irma - Sillies :]

Leorai - This is dogshit.

Baronjitsu - I mean... Sure, I guess. I like the concept.

Splinter x Tang Shen - Canon in 2012, I liked it, it was sweet. As for ROTTMNT, I like how she was one of his co-stars in the Lou Jitsu movies.

April x Casey - Depends on the iteration. 2003 is great, 2012 can go fall off a cliff. 2018 would be cute :]

Raph x Casey - Sure.

Donnie x Casey - 2012; fix the amount of toxic behavior and hostility they have towards eachother, and I'll talk to you about it.

Vernon x April - Bayverse; He's okay, I guess he just misread her signals, but she doesn't like him back and I suppose he respects that.

Donnie and Mona - IDW Comics - Very cute, I like it :)

Donnie and Irma - We don't get to see much of them throughout the franchise, but I like their dynamic in 1987 (platonically) and I enjoyed their dynamic in 2012 as well.

Leo and Koya - I like it. Not much else to say.

Frida x Casey - YES. YES.

Casey Jr. x Nobody - AROACE CJ FOR THE WIN‼️‼️‼️

Splinter and Big Mama - I mean there is some tension there, but I don't think they'd ever get back together.

Leo and Dale - I honestly really like it, they're just two guys in the apocalypse who really like eachother :]

April and Dale - I bet Dale realizes that he likes men and immediately starts apologizing to April. She forgives him and they become besties and they gossip with Sunita and Casey about shit 😭

I saw someone ship Sunita and Dale together once and cringed so 🤷

Sunita x April - I like it, it's cute, but I feel like it's pretty platonic. I'll think about it more as time goes on, but yeah.

Sunita x Raph - I once saw a friend of mine ship these two together and honestly, I liked it! Very good art, very good opinions on it.

Those are all the ships I can remember off the top of my head. But none of these compare to Timatello.

[cringefaecompilation]

i hate the "dorian is going to join ludinus to spite the gods for taking away his friends" concept so much. i could just reblog that one post that says "people criticizing the gods does not mean they support the vanguard" and call it a day but this is part of a worrying trend of villainizing the cast members of color who don't support the gods wholly. even within the hells not everyone is devout.

ashton? literally said they refuse to worship the gods, period. that if they want his help they can ask him themselves. imogen? her guilty conscience towards the concept of killing her mother and her own sorrow at being neglected by the gods makes her also uncertain if she trusts them fully. laudna? is seen as inherently evil by every paladin in a five-mile radius because she’s undead. and if predathos takes a big munch out of vecna’s face, delilah’ll shit herself and die and free her from her grasp permanently.

and yet they all desire ludinus’ head on a stake and do not trust the vanguard nor believe what they are doing is right.

do i think orym and dorian are going to butt heads over their viewpoints on the gods? naturally! it’d be weird if they didn’t! but i just cannot see a universe in which dorian storm would backstab the surviving people he cares about over spite. he’s angry, he’s hurting, but he’s not going to trust a genocider. neither would deanna or FRIDA despite their compunctions and questionings.

honesty, the person i’m scared of getting corrupted by the vanguard is dariax. cults specifically go after people that feel isolated or lost, and dariax just got abandoned by all of his friends after a god pushed them apart. poor guy is a perfect pawn if ludinus ever stumbled across him.

[mocha-mothman]

Bells Hells as Things My Friends Have Said

Chetney: Ripping people apart is how I stim.

Laudna: I deserve a joint and a forehead kiss!

FCG: I have affirmations I wrote for you to use. Or just jump to biting. I just work here, do as you see fit.

Fearne: I realized I wasn't stealing enough. And I needed to fix that.

Imogen: But I'm the one who gets creative. That's why people get exploded.

Orym: I devote myself to the queen and her boy-girlfriend.

Ashton: Why am I not the villain? I have the perfect personality AND the traumatic backstory to be one. I'm also very hot so it would just work out perfectly.

Bonus

Sir Bertrand: Hello, fellow kids. Would you like some smuggled beanie babies?

Dorian: God cursed me with social anxiety and a need not to be bothersome, all so I wouldn't be drowning in pussy.

Deana: Imma need 3 buisness weeks to process that I saw your abs.

FRIDA: What if the real gay rep was the friends we made along the way?

Prism: I'm not an "academic weapon". I'm the academic equivalent of WD-40 and duct tape.

✎Edit to add in new quotes for other honorary BH members:

Deni$e: You have to be careful with creative accounting, 'cause sometimes it qualifies as "illegal" or "tax evasion" or whatever else the man says to keep ya down.

Bor'Dor: I don't know the exact energy I give off, but it can't be good.

Yu: Gender is but a performance. And I'm an improv actor.

[isagrimorie]

In general, I think Team Issylra is more of my speed than Team Wildemount where it has more joke and troll characters taking charge/disrupting the narrative.

Deanna and FRIDA are more support characters. Fearne goes with the flow, Imogen would please just not want to be the Leader.

Chetney doesn’t take anything serious and FCG is far too self-sacrificing that they’re willing to drive themselves and others into the Deep End. (Cue Logan Roy’s: “You are not serious people”).

In Team Issylra, Deni$e is cynical, she’s inquisitive and willing to push people to get answers but also so grounded and supportive. Deni$e and Deanna are two sides of the same coin in this regard.

Prism is an inexperienced wizard who is also very inquisitive.

And Bor’dor, if that is even his name, turned out to be one of the cultists.

Mix them in with Laudna, Orym, and Ashton who are a powder keg away from exploding and in Laudna’s case, she did.

Honestly, the fact that she hasn’t before this is a testament to the support of the whole Bells Hells group.

She just died again month ago. Yu’s betrayal is still fresh— Yu made her feel special and then it turns out she was an assassin. Then Otohan happened, and then the Apogee Solstice, and then they lost Imogen, Fearne, Chetney and FCG.

And then the Issylran group were thrust into a fairly gray situation where they helped a town with an also dubious town leader oust an overbearing colonizing Church institution.

And while it was fun with Team Wildmounte, the angst and heaviness with Team Issylra really worked for me and also I think it really helped the group that Deni$e was along too because she’s very good at taking initiative.

And then Bor’dor happened

He was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

It also re-crystallized for them that they are fighting a war.

Team Wildemount are returning to Jrsusar with their skin clear, reinvigorated with their mission, finding love and laughter, with the exception of Imogen who is still very much filled with anxiety but also looks slaying.

Team Issylra, returning to Jrsusar traumatized, looking in the middle distance with haunted expressions. Dirty and a bit more feral and broken. Soldiers.

(Seriously, Team Issylra has really upped their game tactically and skills wise).

I love Campaign 3.

[thecavernsabove]

okay now i just want to talk about my expectations versus why i have ended up liking certain characters because i am just so intrigued by everything these people and characters do. for bells hells, i went into it knowing i would love ashton because they are the reason I started watching, i didn't think i would really latch onto any other character, apart from maybe fearne because she's a satyr and i am particularly partial to satyrs, and imogen because i mean it's laura bailey!

but what actually happened, is that yes i did get super attached to ashton of course i did, but my top three quickly became ashton, orym and laudna (and as someone who started being able to watch live at the split you can imagine how devastated i was). and recently chetney is really creeping up there. i do love all the characters dearly though.

ashton just reminds me of myself so much, apart from the fact that they are much braver than i could ever be, and blunter too. i wish i could be them and also see all my faults in them. its a lot.

orym was my first introduction to liam o'brien and his devastating little guys (more on caleb later), and just his backstory and the way he deals with people intrigues me so much and i want to see him happy so bad.

laudna oh laudna. marisha ray you have ruined me. even going into this with my minimal knowledge of the briarwoods, her backstory reveal was so intense and it hurt. also, creepy unnerving girlies stick together! she's iconic.

chetney is so wild to me i love him so much. he is so intensely gender as well i love him so much. i love gruff and grumpy characters that are actually nice once you are more friendly with them.

imogen. i will say it took a little bit for her to grow on me but i do love her. i think the bassuras dusk stuff really helped me like her more. also her immense power and lightning scars are pretty cool if you ask me.

fearne. i love how sweet she is and the stuff like being bad at lying and also just stealing little things here and there was really fun. but what made me like her more was when she got more serious and i didn't expect that (foreshadowing for later!)

fcg. now, i still have, mixed? feelings for fcg. in a sense of i dont hate the character but i think the character arc is not something im too interested in, but i do still like them. the stuff with frida was very nice, and i do like the bits that they do - but i think there still feels like there is something missing for me somewhat.

now, with the mighty nein, i had an inkling on who i would like. i thought caleb certainly because we seem very similar, molly maybe because i liked ashton so hey i might like this taliesin character too! and that was it really. going into it though, because i had seen so much of jester (talking about her and cosplays mostly) i thought that she would be probably my least favourite because her personality didn't seem to really gel with what i usually like in characters. but here i am, on the other side with my favs being caleb, fjord, and jester! it was so much watching everything for the first time, even with knowing the big spoilers and then looking at more minor spoilers so i knew somewhat what would happen - but i do that with a lot of things, its different knowing what happens versus actually watching and experiencing what is happening.

caleb. caleb widogast is such an intense character and i loved every minute i spent with him. i spent so much time checking when i would finally see the nein sided tower of his and watching liam describe everything for an hour was so incredible i was in awe. i truely love that dirt wizard so much.

fjord was a truly unexpected character for me to fall for. the first time i realized that i was going to love him though was when they were in the one politicians house early in the campaign and he held his sword to caleb to make sure he wasn't fucking with them. then seeing his growth, the accent change, and just his whole deal i was enraptured. i do miss the southern eldritch blast though.

jester oh my goodness did she creep up on me. i think her initial cuteness that i had experienced throughout just existing on the internet put me off for some reason but i don't know why. however i did quickly fall in love with her, when she had one of her more sinister/serious moments early on. i don't remember what it was but i remember thinking oh. /oh./ okay. i love her. and then her relationship with her mama, and artie, gosh i just loved watching laura bailey do literally anything. the cupcake bit! also the sprinkle bit is quite funny. i also just love doing her voice when im talking to myself. she is also the reason that i take a decent amount of damage spells with my current cleric.

beau. i think i thought that i would have liked her more than i did (don't get me wrong i liked her a lot but she is not in my top three), but she is incredible. as a fellow monk pc i do love going the extra mile with those stunning strikes, and also seeing her relationship with yasha blossom was so lovely. and her bro relationships with fjord and caleb were also some of my favourites.

yasha. after starting with campaign three, it was really hard to not see ashley all the time and i remember having to look on the wiki while watching to check when she would come back every time she left. i think i really started to like her more after her she got taken, and went through that big arc, and we were around her more often. i loved watching her dreams. i loved watching her so much.

veth was so unexpected are you kidding me?? i will say i have yet to have a sam character be in my top three but god he knows how to throw an emotional punch and i love that kind of stuff. i love her relationship with caleb, the detective agency, the chaos crew. i love her arc of getting herself back, of seeing her family again. ough. im a big lover of families.

caduceus. goodness gracious me what a character. i just absolutely loved the aesthetic and caduceus's whole relationship to how he approaches death. he is also the reason i started playing a grave cleric in a newer campaign. but truly, has made me think differently about death - which was especially needed for me this year.

mollymauk. i knew he was dead. i knew he would die. but that didn't make me any less upset when it happened! i think about him often, what could have been. especially since i was so sure he took the wrong amount of damage in that fight and should not have quite have been knocked out at that time. but his whole maximallist aesthetic is something i very much enjoy, and i love the through line of his cards with jester.

wow okay this has gotten to be very long but i need to get my thoughts about everyone out somewhere!! if you've read this far im so sorry this is so much of my own ramblings.

[masterqwertster]

I find resurrecting FCG to be an interesting conundrum at this point.

There's a lot of good arguments against resurrection for the weight the sacrifice gives to the narrative and its stakes that do make sense. There's also the type of player Sam is, and how he likes negative consequences to land and stick. I'll admit that I think the chances that Sam will take FCG back up are low.

But on the other hand, Bells Hells are the type of people to try a resurrection, the type who refuse to let go. And honestly, I feel like on a character level, if FCG had the opportunity to come back, he would. He has a reason to live: the people he loves. FRIDA and Bells Hells and even FCG's own desire to just help people in general. I feel like that's all reasons FCG would want to return. And their self-hate has been pretty heavily combatted and reduced as of late, so I don't think that would be in the way for them too much. And there are in reach mechanics to make it work.

I dunno. I just feel like it's not completely set one way or the other, even if it feels like a 80-20 split against.