#are you gonna look at me and tell me that im wrong

[arkhambug]

JASON TODD hearing you try to mask your accent

“and, that isn’t—,” you enunciate, and jason doesn’t even hear the rest of what you’re saying. your words are coated in some weird neutral accent, and he’s sure you’re not even trying to sound any specific way other than not how you do. you’d started off normal, with that pretty southern twang, but somewhere through the conversation it was like a switch was flipped and you’d eased yourself into whatever this was.

he tries to tune back in, to listen to what you’re saying, but his brows are knitted together, and his nose is crinkled, and he hates this. “the hell are you doin’, ma?”

“what do you mean?” you push out, trying so damn hard not speak how you’re used to, and every word is wrong, not how it should sound coming from that pretty mouth. and jason shoots you a look, one that very much conveys ‘you know damn well what’ with a heavy frown, and you cave in an instant.

you try to explain. that you don’t want to sound like a hick, or a country bumpkin, or uneducated, because you’re not uneducated. and there’s reasons, of course there are, and they’re all stupid to him. coworkers mocking you, or friends making a poorly timed joke. maybe an overheard conversation, just something. but the one that stands out the most is that you don’t want his friends, or his family, or him to think of you that way.

and that’s the most stupid, by far, because how could his brilliant, wonderful partner ever worry he’d think you’re uneducated? he’s seen your brain work, seen you solve things in half the time it takes him to, and that’s when you’re giving him a chance.

and he drags you to him, across the couch, and pulls your face into his chest, and kisses the crown of your head. and he sings your praises, a million words of reassurance — about how you’re the smartest person he’s ever met, about how he could never think that, about how he’d kick someones ass for even insinuating that you weren’t as brilliant as you were

and it doesn’t fix everything, but it makes it okay, even just for a minute. it helps.

yeah idk how to end this????

straight up was gonna just give up at the fifth paragraph and call it

but anyways!! im insecure abt my accent and i want a big ass sweet man to hold me and kiss me and tell me my accent is pretty and that it doesnt make me sound dumb like people say it do 💪💪

[jovialoddity]

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HELL YEAHHHH THE GROUP IS LOOKING GOOD!!!!

I LOVE all the little interactions going on here oh my god I can already tell this is gonna be a chaotic group (/POS) and I love the way you drew me/Jovi for this!!! They look like such a little shit it’s perfect lmao

…ALSO SORRY IF IM SEEING THIS WRONG BUT IS RTV GRIMACING AT JOVI?????? IF SO THAT IS SO FUCKING FUNNY GOD I AM ALREADY SO EXCITED FOR WHATEVER INTERACTIONS ARE GONNA HAPPEN BETWEEN THEM 😭😭😭

2nd Group!

Lots of colorful ones in this one! :3

@entityarts @itz-miss-kamilyvision @untitled14360 @naetheartisticbutterfly @goofishh @fenicearts420 @jovialoddity @kuromipuzzles2000 @vextheallay @alien-star88 @niranutcake

[ohgodthevoices]

going crazy over how husband material osamu is, hear me ouuutttt

tags : fluff, time-skip, f!reader, tattoo , he listens to, he cares , and he cook , i’m thirsting m sorry

osamu would be the type of bestfriend that knows damn well you want him bad but keeps on teasing you and acting clueless just to see how far you can go before you crack

as childhood friends, it was normal for you to be touchy and generally comfortable with each other but it raised his suspicions when you now looked away when he was topless around you. it’s not like you were uncomfortable with it ?

you’ve basically lived your whole life with the miyas, you’ve seen osamu wet the bed as a kid, get rejected by his middle school crush you’ve even witnessed him putting his hand in his pants and scratch his butt, seeing him topless in the comfort of his apartment was a casual thing so why the hell would you look away , did he lose his shape ? no, he still worked out frequently even if he’s not an athlete anymore…

either way osamu always took care for you, he was always so careful when it comes to you , sure he’d playfully hit you here and there but it was nothing you couldn’t handle

just imagine him cooking you a nice heart-warming meal, glancing at you every now and then while you’re sitting on the counter looking like a mess after a long exhausting day , wine glass in hand and rambling your worries away. it really became a ritual for you to swing by his place unannounced after a bad day.

he’d open the door with his signature lazy smile “ya had a bad day?” you finally let you shoulders relax “long story..” he steps back, inviting you in “i got time”.

sometimes osamu gets this weird feeling he can’t explain when he realizes he’s seen you grow into a real woman, it really freaked him tf out when you told him you had your first time with some boy he never heard the name of.

he scolds you after a bad decision for sure , but he’s always there to comfort you right after. SO imagine his surprise when during a drunken confession after you finally listened to him and dumped your toxic bf, you admit to him between sobs that broke his heart into pieces

“why can’t i find a guy that actually likes me—?” your face was buried in his now wet tshirt , his strong arms holding you tight as if they were gonna protect you from feeling hurt, your words were muffled, melting together “why can’t i find someone like you samu…im so jealous of the girl that’s gonna be yours” holy fucking shit how was he so blind to never realize this…

thank god that night was complete blurry in your mind , so when you woke up the day completely hung over and found your beloved best friend making you breakfast with a bed hair and his sleeves rolled up showing off his forearms that you find really hot for some reason , your slight blush was explained.

omfg the day he showed up to your workplace during his break with a well crafted lunch box he made full of delicious onigiris because he listens and he remembers that your annoying coworker kept flaunting her relationship to you and it pissed you off and you wanted to show her that you can pull too

ever since he realized the power he had over you, he wouldn’t stop just picking at you and seeing how far he can go, he was basically testing the waters by stretching until his shirt lifts u, hold eye contact for a lil longer than what he should, and how he praises you don’t get me startedddd

“yer actually pretty decent at this” when you cook dinner with him, “look at ya bein all confident and independent !” when you actually tell the waiter they got your order wrong, “yer pretty distractin’ yk that? that’s kinda dangerous.”

osamu was a pretty touchy guy, not overly cuddly or anything but he did enjoy proximity, he’d usually hold your wrist when passing crowds but for some reason he now held your waist, his touch gentle yet firm on you. istg his hand placement is impeccable

there’s just something about him keeping a hair tie on his wrist for you that’s so endearing, so caring and attentive to your lil daily struggles.

it all happened when you got your first tattoo, he had sent you to his friend whom he deemed good enough to ink your body. he nervous and excited as if he was the one getting tattooed but that’s mostly because you wanted to keep it a mystery, he knew that when he came home after closing the shop he’d find you there already.

there was just something so intimate about him coming back from work and finding you already at his place , he liked it, he could get use to it.

“ ‘m here !” he yelled out closing the door behind him , analyzing you from head to toe as you pop infront of him with his tshirt and shorts on displaying an almost mischievous smile, his eyebrows creasing as he doesn’t see any trace of a tattoo on your arms or legs, maybe it was on your shoulders?

he plopped down on his couch , man spreading “soo… are ya gonna show me or ?” you happily turn to the side, his eyes widen as you lift up the shirt enough to reveal a sideboob tattoo. he sits up the shock visible on his face “holy shit cmere” you obey him , getting closer for him to get a better look. with a swift motion his arm was now around your hip , pushing you to sit on one of his legs

he clearly recognized his friend’s intricate style, the design cupping the side of your boob, he wanted to admire his work but damn he felt a lil jealous that he worked so close to you. he finally looked at your face only now noticing your reddish face

his face was just inches from yours, his previously shocked expression fading as he met your eyes. he leaned in slightly, his breath warm against your jaw, and for a split second, everything around you felt quiet, just the two of you in that small space. he couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, though, breaking the tension as he nudged you lightly

“didn’t know you had it in ya to do somethin’ like that” he whispered.

before you could answer, his hand found its way to the back of your neck, gently pulling you in. his lips brushed yours, just a soft, teasing touch, before pulling back slightly with that same smirk. “couldn’t resist,” he muttered under his breath, and this time, when he kissed you again, it was longer, deeper—no more teasing, just the feeling of the moment taking over.

i’m currently such a sucker for time skip osamu he’s all i’m thinking about

[littl3rockstar]

disabled little sister x caretaker big brother

(pls self insert other disabilities but since im autistic and have chronic pain that's what im gonna write about)

autistic little sister who only lets her brother touch her because it hurts to be touched wrong. caretaker big brother who knows the exact amount of pressure to apply with his hands, never tickling her or brushing lightly.

(keep reading for more)

caretaker big brother who has always been protective of his autistic little sister, but once she began experiencing chronic pain it amplified his need to take care of her, never wanting to see her hurting or unhappy.

he rubs tiger balm on her shoulders, and makes sure she eats. he encourages her to shower regularly and helps to keep her room tidy. he massages her back until she stops crying on bad nights. he's always loved his little sister, but being this close felt awkward at first, until... it didn't, until it felt weird.

at first, he would push down his desire to look at her body, her curves and her skin, until one day he stopped trying to abstain, peeking at her subtly, trying to not be noticed. he hated himself for wanting to do things to his little sister that were simply against the rules of life. you're not supposed to want to fuck your sister, you're not supposed to see her the way he saw her. they were both young, him being 18 and her, almost 16. he knew it was inappropriate, but she was just so... cute. sometimes he would have to excuse himself to the bathroom when she was on her bed chewing on her favourite stim necklace, his eyes unable to leave her mouth, lips pink and soft. fuck, he would think, awkwardly shuffling out of the room only to immediately start palming his hard bulge the second the bathroom door clicked behind him. he'd push his jeans down with his boxers, back flush against the door, and pump his dick until he came only seconds later. it was embarrassing, how quick he came when his sister was the object of his desire. porn never did this to him, and none of his ex girlfriends ever made him break so fast. his sister was too tempting and it made him loathe himself. he'd clean up the cum and wash his hands, flushing the toilet like he had pissed to make it believable, then he'd stroll back out into her room, able to hold himself together for at least a few more hours, full of shame.

she was in tears one night, pain flaring up in her right leg, and he offered to massage the back of her leg until it felt better. he hated seeing her cry and wanted nothing more than to fix her pain, in these moments he felt so protective of her, like his purpose in life was to care for her, like he was built for this. so he gestured for her to roll onto her tummy. she was wearing pj shorts that were too fucking short. god, please no, he was getting hard again. stop it, stop it. her whimpers were muffled into the pillow and he squirted lotion onto his hands, warming it up before sliding his hands over the back of her thigh. "is this okay?" he'd never touched her there, he was afraid of making her uncomfortable. she made an approving sound and her tears lightened up a bit. his hands kneading into her soft flesh, transfixed by the way they left temporary pressure marks on her leg, getting red under his fingers. he kept going, deeply massaging and giving her the relief that she needed, all the while his need for release just kept growing. it almost hurt he was so hard.

he was oblivious to the fact that she could tell, and she had known for a few weeks at this point. she wasn't stupid, and he wasn't as quiet in the bathroom as he thought, always making this pathetic whimpering sound when he came. she liked the way it made her feel, like tingling pressure was building in her legs when she heard him. she had never had an orgasm before, only tried, and as he was pressing into her thigh with both hands, she reached back, turning onto her side a bit to look at him.

"i know you jerk off to me."

he sputtered, too flustered to make a coherent defence. "n-no, i-"

"yes you do. i hear you," her voice was confident, and assured. her big bro's face continually getting redder as she stared into his eyes lustfully. he knew he had to reject her if she pressed further, but her big brown eyes looked up at him like a doe, and he whispered "fuck, fuck."

She reached for his jeans belt loop, pulling him closer while he resisted, his crotch hovering over her hip, trying to avoid touching her with his erection. She scooted onto her back under him and grabbed his hips, pulling him in with one assertive tug. he groaned into her neck as he collapsed over her, unable to stop grinding into her warm cunt. she was wet through her shorts and it made him dizzy. "stop, stop it," his voice quivered.

with that, she started to look ashamed, blushing and pulling away, and he could see the confusion in her eyes. "but... i thought you wanted th-"

"what i want doesn't matter, i can't do this to you," he was almost crying, the guilt creeping up his body. the shame made his cock throb in his pants, and it disgusted him.

"i'm sorry" she whispered, turning her gaze away, he could see her embarrassment and couldn't help but stroke her cheek gently, cooing "hey, hey, it's okay. it's not... i do.. want to...it's just that... ugh," he took a breath, collecting his thoughts, "have you even had sex, dude? i feel like i'd be a monster if i did this to you. c'mon you know this isn't right," he pleaded

"you keep saying it like you're raping me or something, i want you to do this with me, and yes, i have had sex, ive done it twice, idiot" she said with a hint of immaturity lingering in the air. her gaze was locked on his now, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his forehead.

she moved into a seated position in front of him, and he sat back too, watching her take off her tank top. her bare tits looked so plump and adorable that he wanted to pin her down and jerk his pathetic dick right over her cute little nipples, painting her chest with cum. his breath hitched in his throat when she grabbed his hand, yanking it towards herself. she placed it firmly on her breast and said "please, big bro?" as seductively as she could. it broke him.

"god... god..." he muttered as he stopped resisting, his hands now freely wandering over her tits, squeezing them and pinching at her nipples. "god, im so sorry, im so sorry," he whispered as he pushed her onto her back again, firmly rubbing his hands down her sides, lightly squishing her soft tummy, until his hands found her hips. her hips had grown wider this year and he felt so aroused every time she wore those damn shorts. those tiny, flimsy little shorts he just wanted to rip right off of her. One hand held her waist, the other slipping fingers down her shorts and helping them slide off, throwing them to the side.

she was exposed now, wearing nothing but her panties, innocent cotton panties with bunnies on them. fuck, im disgusting, he thought repentantly, as his fingertips inched towards the little wet spot in the center of her undies, "are you..." he paused, still tentatively rubbing at the wet fabric, feeling the warmth underneath, "are you sure?"

she didn't respond verbally, just began writhing under his touch, leaning up into it as best she could, desperate to feel the pressure of his fingers on her clit. he slid her panties to the side, revealing her puffy lips, swollen with arousal with juices leaking from her hole. she moaned at the thought of his dick filling her.

his clothes were still on, a problem he quickly corrected, tugging his shirt over his head. his hands fumbled with his belt awkwardly and he laughed in a nervous and shy way. she giggled too, playfully. it was so adorable that he took one hand and rubbed his bulge one time before continuing to take off his jeans, just needing to feel a second of relief. finally his pants came off, his boxers still on. there was a little precum drop on the tip of his boner soaking through, and it made his sister giggle again, this time with a little excitement, like she had been waiting forever for this moment or something. he pushed his underwear down and let his dick spring out, veiny and larger than she anticipated.

"um... the guy i...sorry," she mumbled, shy now, "he wasn't so ... big."

a devilish smirk formed on his face, feeling a small sense of pride. he was going to stuff her better than anyone else had, and she would wrap so perfectly around his cock, like they were made for each other.

"i can go slow" he offered, gently leaning in to kiss her cheek, then her neck, collar bone...chest....his lips found her hard nipple and he bit it gently, suckling and moaning on it. he pulled her down by the hips into position, and began to slip his hand over her wetness, putting one finger inside and feeling her squeeze it. "uhh," she whimpered out quietly, and it sent a jolt of pleasure straight to his dick.

He started to lick at her clit, sucking on it like his ex girlfriend taught him. his mouth was warm and wet and his tongue was exploring her so slowly, "i can take it, you know, you don't have to be scared..." her voice was gentle and meek now, like she wanted to submit to him, he was nervous and excited and so, so hard. he lifted his head to look at her, nodding and moving to position himself right at her opening.

His tip pressed gently at her hole, teasing it slowly. in... and out... and in... and "h-hey-" he protested as she grabbed his ass and slammed him inside of her. he was completely still, unable to move from fear of hurting her. then she started humping up onto it from beneath him, fucking him. he stayed still, letting her show him her moves, feeling her get slicker, and gushier and tighter with every moan she let out. he was floored, unable to imagine his autistic little sis learning this from some fucking guy. he got jealous in that moment, possessive, and he started to rock into her, one hand on the bed to hold himself up and the other hand on her soft, bouncy tit, squeezing it hard. he was panting now, breathing right into her ear, almost collapsing into the pleasure.

"please, big bro, i want it so bad," she coo'd seductively, daring him to explode right there.

"fuck, fuck, fuck, im sorry, im sorry, im sorry," his breath was hot against her neck and she felt him let go, filling her and tickling her leg as it dripped out, his dick still throbbing. he got up to get her a warm cloth, ready to give her some much needed aftercare. he was fully buzzing, his fantasies having played out in real life, he had no idea his sister was so... sexual.

when he returned with the cloth, he found her rubbing circles around her swollen clit, using his cum as lube. "god, dude, you're such a slut," he said playfully, letting out a small laugh. he leaned in and kissed her, his erection growing again, and reached his hand down to replace hers. "have you ever had an orgasm?" his voice was inviting, and warm, and safe. she melted into his touch, shaking her head no in response.

now he had a mission, he had to help his baby sister cum.

His fingers firmly swirled around her clit, dipping into her hole and pulling more cum out to keep her all slick and slimy. he kissed her forehead, then got into a cozy spot next to her, still rubbing her cunt and smiling, he nuzzled into her and adjusted til they were both comfortable. she leaned her pelvis towards his touch and tried to stay relaxed, she was nervous now, unsure if she would be able to make him happy.

"what if i can't cum?" her voice small and conflicted.

"dude who cares, it's no big deal okay? it's okay.. i just want you to feel as good as you made me feel, just relax. that's it," he soothed her, "just like that baby," rubbing in lazy circles. "god you feel so good, best pussy i've ever fucking had," he teased, voice lingering in her ear. she felt it build all of a sudden, her cheeks flushing red. her heart beat quickened and she felt a moment of immense pleasure between her thighs. She writhed and bucked her hips, whimpering out a little "yes, yes, yes," as she let go. her pussy twitched under his fingertips and he loved the sight of it spasming and clenching on nothing.

"are you okay?" he asked gently, checking in. she nodded and smiled cheekily, with a blushing face, one hand reaching up to stroke his soft bottom lip, inviting him to kiss her.

his heart melted with affection, and in that moment he knew he would never, ever want to stop fucking his kid sister.

-s0ftestpetal

[dadsdog]

Kinda vague prompt but can you do some of your ur usual shit but like. In a truck. Like one with a bench seat. I like pretty much all the shit u post about. Js... truck. In a truck.

as an avid truck sex enjoyer, this is awesome ty :] this one's not very forcemasc-y but it's VERY dad/son fauxcest-y

while i'm all for dad/son incest fantasies, i can't stop thinking about a teenage boy, who opens up to an older man (maybe a family friend, a friend's father) about his relationship with his dad. how he was never there, how he never supported his son when he needed it most. the older man comforts him, wraps him up in a tight hug. "hey... you're gonna be okay bud." the boy sniffles and looks up at him, still clinging to him desperately, "thank you. im sorry for dumping all of this on you." he shakes his head. "don't say that kiddo, there's no need to be sorry. i'm happy to listen. just say the word and i'm there."

he starts spending less time at home, and more time with this older guy. he takes the boy to get food, shows him all his old interests, let's him ramble on for hours about one thing or another. and if the boy's father did anything that upset him, he would always be there to listen.

this kid finds himself thinking about him all the time. how wonderful he is, how patient and kind. he wonders what it would ve been like for him to be his dad instead. he thinks about how he smiles at him when he speaks, how handsome he is. he thinks about how whenever they re going out somewhere, he always rests his hand on the nape of the boy's neck. his hands are big and calloused, but so gentle. he wonders why he gets so excited when he touches him. wonders how his hands would feel cupping his chin or petting his hair.

"i wish you were my dad." the boy confesses to him, on a late night drive. he looks down, finds his hand gripping the truck's bench seat. the older man has gone strangely quiet. looking over at him, the boy tilts his head. "what's wrong?" the man feels his knuckles whiten on the steering wheel. "you shouldn't say stuff like that, kiddo." "why not? you might as well already be my dad, you're the one actually looking out for me."

the man pulls over jerkily, stopping in a forgotten, tree lined road. he exhales heavily, hands still clenched. "hey, what's wrong? did i do something?" he's never this quiet. the kid slides closer to him, and hears him inhale sharply, like the older man had just been burned. "are you ok? what did i do? i promise i wont do it again. please, just tell me whats wrong." he lays a hand onto the older man's knee.

suddenly, the man has the boy by the shoulders, gripping him tightly and pushing him away. he gasps, clearly spooked by the roughness of his touch. "i'm sorry, kiddo. you didn't do anything wrong. it's me." his hands loosen their grip ever so slightly, he starts to rub comforting circles up and down the boy's arm. "you can't say stuff like that." the boy tilts his head. "why?"

he had no idea what to say. because i've wanted to fuck you ever since you first cried into my shirt. because the idea of having you as my son gets me so hard i can't think. because i don't know how long i can have you in my car without losing control and taking advantage of you.

"because i..." he stares down into the boy's eyes.

"you just shouldn't." he starts to break away from the touch, but the kid moves to hold his hand, pouting up at him. "but i really do think of you like that. i think of you as my dad." he inhales sharply again, feeling his cock throb in his jeans. he tightens his jaw and his mind strains with the effort of not grabbing the kid and rutting his cock into him through their clothes.

the kid looks up at him, creeping even closer.

"i love you, dad."

the final shred of self control left in the man is shattered into nothing. he grabs the boy by his waist roughly, and puts his other hand in his hair. he brings their lips together in a sloppy, clumsy, hungry kiss. the boy's eyes go wide and his mouth falls open as he lets out a cry of surprise. this only allows the man to slip his tongue into his mouth.

"wait- mmh!" the boy is pulled roughly onto the man's lap, where he can feel the hard cock pressing up into him. the older man finally pulls away from the kiss and holds the boy's head on his shoulder. "fuck- 'm sorry. love you. god, you're such a good kid. fuck."

he's grinding into the boy's pussy, hissing his apologies into his ear. he can feel the boy take fistfuls of his shirt, gasping and shaking. "wait-what are you doing, please-" "shh. it's okay. you're okay. fuck, i'm sorry- just let me-" his hands grab hold of his hips, pushing the kids small body against his, listening to his shocked moans. the boy is too stunned to say anything, to ask what he's doing, why it makes him all wet down there, why it makes him feel so good. "mnh. shit. im sorry, have to have you- doing so good, champ-nnhgh." he feels the boy lift his head to look him in the eyes. tears are dripping down his cheeks, but his face is twisted in pleasure. his cock throbs so hard the kid can feel his pulse through his jeans.

"feels- nnh! it feels- weird, dad. nmh! dad!" he can't stop himself from slamming the boy's hips down onto his cock. "call me dad. fuck. do it again, son. nngh- say i'm your dad." the boy's thighs shake on his lap. "dad. nngh- you're my dad. mngh! ah! dad- please don't stop- hhnm" the kid feels warmth spreading through his body, and pooling in his stomach. the friction and the rubbing and the hands on his hips are all too much. he feels a pressure building, making his cries for dad even louder.

"ah! nmh! dad, m-my- it feels- nngh! oh god, dad. oh god oh god oh god dad." he feels the kids thrust his hips back and forth on dad's cock, chasing that fuzzy warm feeling in his tummy. "ngh- shit. such a good boy. c'mon son- fuck. gonna make me cum. gonna make your dad cum. nnnh, fuck!"

"dad, dad, dad! nnh! my- it's gonna- oh god daddy! daddy!" the boy doesn't know what's happening. his boxers are soaked through and his head is fuzzy and the pressure in his tummy is too much. he grinds his pussy into his dad's lap hard, in a long downward motion, that finally lets the pressure release.

his dad watches as he quivers, cumming on his lap, completely overwhelmed by the shock of his own orgasm. he watches his boy moaning and crying for him, and feeling his orgasm build, he grabs his hips and presses him down onto his cock, thrusting upwards and cumming in his jeans for his little boy.

the kid collapses into him, panting and shaking, occasionally twitching with aftershocks of his orgasm. the man, huffing and sweaty, embraces him, placing soft kisses on his head. they sit like that in his truck for a long few minutes, catching their breath, before his boy looks up at him.

"i love you, dad."

[your-turn-to-role]

if it helps at all (reblogging directly from you starry bc can't tag you) - as someone who gave up on it pretty early on bc it wasn't really my thing, i have been wanting to look up more positive opinions on the campaign recently, i've just been really busy so haven't had time to respond to anything but what's on my dash, which yeah is a lot of critique, and with what i do know there's definitely stuff i'm not a fan of, sure

but also like. the critical role cast aren't some corporation just trying to squeeze money out of this show, like a lot of the things c3 has been compared to are

while they could have, in retrospect, probably made better decisions to really pull off whatever they were going for, they're also playing the game that makes them happiest (and they're putting it all online for free it's not like they're obligated to follow the fans' ideas of what should happen)

if you enjoyed it all start to finish, you're honestly a perspective i'd like to see round tumblr more! you're seeing what the cast see in this narrative and that definitely doesn't make you wrong or stupid. if there was no value in this story whatsoever they would have stopped a long time ago

as megs said, being able to articulate an opinion well doesn't make it objective truth. god knows i can pull out a million references for any of my essays but when i write them it's always gonna be me shining light on a specific angle of the narrative that appeals to me. other people can choose to pick a different angle and still be just as right, regardless of whether or not it's something i personally would enjoy looking at. and that's even more true in a fandom like this, where every narrative is in fact 7+ narratives that we hope will weave together well, and there's a million things to focus on that haven't all been handpicked by the creators for the sake of telling a singular story

if you're seeing an angle a lot of people aren't focusing on, hell, celebrate that! i love hearing about the moments that genuinely appealed to people, it just feels like there's been fewer and fewer of them focused on bells hells the longer the story went on. but i've also been in fandoms where i truly genuinely enjoyed the ending of a particular story and thought it was well told the whole way through, and then it turned out 99% of the fandom thought the ending was rushed and it ruined the whole thing, so i definitely get how that can feel a bit crushing and like you're fighting a tidal wave

(and hell to your tags about being worried c3 will become an automatic skip in the fandom - i also really love a lot of the c1 episodes before ep24 and think there's some great character stuff there that a lot of people skip bc orion or because the briarwood arc is where it gets 'good', so im with you on that one. it sucks but it doesn't mean i can't talk about, say, trial of the take, there still are and always will be people in the fandom who've watched it, and there will be even more people who didn't watch it but are glad to find out what's in it because they couldn't find out themselves)

so yeah all to say if you ever wanted to write about c3 stuff you loved, im on your side here

if you're just sad that the fandom reaction to stuff you liked has been overwhelmingly negative, that's also fine, and doesn't make you any less a valued member of this fandom

idk I kind of feel like I'm an idiot bc I actually enjoyed cr 3 from the jump to the end but like the blogs who follow bc I feel they are definitely more articulate and insightful than me are like "the whole thing was meaningless and pointless! matt fumbled everything!" so maybe I'm wrong to have liked it all? I'm not really sure where I'm going with this sorry

I think one thing to keep in mind is that many (and in fact, I would argue, most!) people who are critiquing the story and construction have also generally enjoyed the campaign as a whole! Certainly I don't know anyone who stuck it out through the end who did not overall enjoy watching it, for various reasons; I know there are people who hate watch, which I think is an absurd and honestly really stupid waste of time, but from my experience they are normally making snide and vicious tweet-length posts rather than long considerations of what isn't working for them.

There are also a lot of levels of critique—I've greatly enjoyed a lot of moments in isolation that I simultaneously felt weakened, contradicted, or even actively undermined the structure of the story as a whole, but those moments were still really fun and interesting beats. The Arch Heart's cameo comes to mind, as does, in hindsight, some of the construction of the post-Solstice split, but there are plenty of others of higher or lower impact on the story. In the finale the Raise Dead falls into this place very strongly, so I'm going to talk about it at length for a moment, since it was an absolutely stellar moment for me personally and as such I do think it serves as very illustrative of an example where I simultaneously fucking love a moment while finding it worth significant critique. I think it also touches on the critiques you're referring to, which I would summarize overall as the idea that many of the outcomes feel influenced negatively by pulled punches on the part of the DM rather than a flaw of one player or another. (Also, I want to talk about it cuz I love it. :3) This got very long but I think that to your point, it is worth examining in this amount of depth.

First, the good: it is an absolutely phenomenal culminating point of an arc that was only really concluded in summary; I have, as noted earlier this week, written at length about how Essek is never situated as a protagonist, which is functionally fine and even good. He ends up tied very strongly to Caleb's arc, and moves in the narrative in such a way after 2x97 that allows Caleb to reach a concluding note, and strengthens that narrative. So we only really hear about the outcome of Essek's choices, his inevitable leave from the Dynasty, in the summarization of the campaign 2 epilogue. This is not inherently a problem, because he is not a protagonist. But this moment does functionally create a material representation of that denouement, which does strengthen his arc in its own right.

This moment also, hilariously, bears out my argument from this post. That the resurrection should only work with this intervention, particularly while the Nein are involved, does follow through on the Nein's general positioning within Exandria. Essek's leave happening without a fight (and, frankly, with only one attempted Counterspell) both makes for a very well-paced moment and also maintains the overall sense of story that the Nein impart when they are on screen; I'm thinking again of how their Ruidus episodes feel, much like their campaign and their post-campaign one-shots, like an intrigue action thriller series, and this fits well in that framing.

So overall, it is a fantastic moment... for the Nein. The Nein are not the protagonists of this story. They exist in the world, and are such active agents that they do continue to develop and exert motion on the narrative into this campaign, and frankly, I think this would have been fine if the party given ownership of this story and campaign did not abdicate their responsibility for it with unfortunate frequency. They do not exert a strong control over their story, which is at odds with the fact that the Nein do, and are present and also involved by the nature of their ending. It completely overshadows Ashton's heroic moment, in that the culminating action beat of this sequence is Essek getting away, which kind of takes the wind out of the sails of the Hells' involvement in the gods' outcome. It doesn't negate it, certainly, but it does refocus the story from them to, for some reason, Essek. So in this sense, it occurs at the expense of the Hells.

I find that while the handwaving of using dunamantic intervention to push Raise Dead beyond its limits (if indeed the reason it didn't originally work was because Ashton's brain was essentially gone) fits fine and even well within the framework of the Nein's story, and an NPC being able to do so without a roll is fine, since NPCs are vehicles the DM uses to guide the story, this is a significant divergence from the overall mechanics of the world at large; even the Nein had to do a full ritual for the resurrection of their tiefling. Matt put those mechanics in place specifically to create narrative meaning behind resurrections, which can feel very unmotivated and like a get out of jail free card in D&D, and while it's been noted that this would've really strained the runtime beyond its existing length, prioritizing it at the cost of, for instance, more truncated end notes for the Nein and Vox would've bolstered the Hells' presence in an ending to their own story that even many of their fans felt was ultimately lacking.

Giving the resurrection full weight would've also given Ashton's sacrifice and the Hells' involvement more narrative weight; the reason the other parties are involved at all is because the Hells were truly running on fumes by that point, but any lack of involvement this created could've been alleviated by having them directly involved through pre-established ritual elements that are not contingent on them having any mechanical offerings. So this moment sits within the context of critique that I agree with: that it felt like a pulled punch that ultimately also served to decenter the Hells within their own narrative, when it could've been used with more deliberate narrative force.

At the same time, I fucking love it, and watched it four times in a row yesterday, because it is so good—and it is, as I described, narratively and thematically coherent in one sense! And I think that is one issue of the campaign: many, many great moments are excellent and coherent in a certain framework but are weaker to varying degrees when considered as one piece of a larger whole. There are so many frameworks at play in this narrative, and not enough direct intervention to manage those as frameworks rather than as a single story, but at the same time, I think those frameworks are far more apparent if you're really looking for them, and that's much more difficult, if not impossible, when you're in the midst of them and telling the story.

I also don't think this means one cannot critique this; in fact, I would say this is more an issue of being a serialized narrative than an improvised one, which is often how critique of it has been pushed back against within the fandom. I was thinking about this as I'm currently in a course on, quite literally, how to critique comics, and we discussed this week how Marjane Satrapi said in an interview after making the film adaptation of Persepolis, which was first a serialized comic, that she ended up preferring the film, and I speculated that was because with a film, one has the ability to make a more cohesive narrative purely by virtue of the fact that with a serialized form, you cannot go back and make retroactive edits when no developments come to light. This is something that long-running comics must constantly navigate (as do many long TV shows), and in extreme circumstances such as decades-old comic franchises, ends up resulting in infinite timelines and hand-waving, which becomes so ridiculous that at this point it's a meme. In that scenario, though, it is not presented as a non-contradictory story, let alone a cohesive one.

Many of the critiques of campaign 3 are operating within the idea that this is presented as one overarching narrative. (And honestly, comics and other narratives that don't utilize that presentation are also still critiqued on that merit by people who greatly enjoy the texts they're critiquing anyway.) Within that context, I feel that the framing of the Raise Dead, as well as much of what would be my critique of the other pieces I referenced (the Arch Heart's cameo and some of the party-split sections) if I was to do the same kind of rundown of those, actively undermine this presentation by introducing and forefronting too many conflicting frameworks that are not interwoven well enough to create a single, cohesive overarching narrative.

This is a very long-winded way to illustrate my point, which is that I would really encourage reading critique not as a lack of enjoyment of the campaign, let alone a suggestion that no one should've enjoyed it (and if you did, then you're not smart enough to know better), but as a way to engage with the text(s) as presented within one framework or another. I think this is sometimes obscured in online fandom spaces, where we're not engaging in critique in as formal of a sense as one would in, say, an academic setting, where the norms generally dictate the framework one is using is explicitly stated if not fully delineated within the critique, but it is, more often than not, still implicitly present within the critique.

And as a final note, I would also really urge everyone reading others' opinions on something they enjoy to resist the urge to elide their own opinions from the conversation, even if you don't feel as articulate or as well-versed in critique. Critique is a trained skill, so it is certainly something one can pick up if they are inclined, and at the same time, someone doing it does not mean they are inherently right—and in fact, with all argumentative writing, it is up to the reader to consider the argument and decide whether or not they agree with it. (You can decide that you disagree with me about the Raise Dead! Just because I wrote a thousand words on it does not inherently make my interpretation truth; it's just an interpretation. You get to say whether or not you think my interpretation makes sense based on the evidence presented.) Even here I'm using the framework of some critique that others have made, but I don't delineate in full myself. In doing do I'm not presuming that you agree, but I am presuming that you've read it and know what I'm referring to. Strictly speaking it's also not even saying that I take that critique as true; it's saying that I feel the conclusions drawn are applicable as a basis for my argument. If you wanted, you could even say that you feel that my argument is irrelevant to you because you don't feel those critiques are true! But you ultimately do have to be the one to decide any of that, which does involve a balance between a confidence in the formation of your own opinions on the text and an openness to entertaining others'.

[c-duceusclay]

Okay, but spirits coming back to enact revenge on the one who killed them is the EXACT SAME THING THAT HAPPENED IN FNAF

[officrnolen]

icb maddie method acted too hard that she actually fell in love with cait

[bulbabutt]

i always see these dogs as the cast of drawfee am i crazy

[skitskatdacat63]

Actually no wait Fernando's new haircut looks kinda like Napoleon, I'm okay with this actually

Welcome back Napoleon 🙏

[spookythesillyfella]

ominous and threatening sketchy ... sniffle ...

★ some extra stuff under cut :

some concept drawingz i made for the little guyz of an unfinished fic of mine

and headshotz that i redrew digitally

[dragong-dg]

@thatdeadaquarius just whiped this up for you 🥺

Dis you?

[weezerlvr228]

hi fam !!

[asteria7fics]

So when are we as a general fandom going to embrace sneakerhead Kyle, huh? Do I have to live on this island all by myself?

[fantasticgothicpeachsludge]

THE VOICES!!!

[codecicle-archive]

codecicle you put things on my screen that are so confusing and have no relevance to my interests but its you so i find it so very endearing. keep having so much fun and whimsy on tumblr dot com child :3

you have GOT to get on this horrible TV show dude you don't even understand. it's bad and has 0 redeemable qualities, literally my bread and butter rn. can't get enough of it