#but he speaks in a different accent and it’s still 100% Caleb

[foundfamilynonsense]

I just finished episode 70 of campaign 2 and I have not been shy about getting spoiled by tumblr so far

So I knew the line “enjoy your mouthful of lies when they choke it out of you” well before hand. Since people gif it a lot.

And like. Yeah! It’s a good line! Very dark Caleb I liked it! But WHY is that line obsessed over while this:

“I’m simply waiting for my sentence.”

“It has a period on end.”

Is completely ignored! Holy shit!

Like hello? Is that a saying that I’ve just never heard before or did Liam just come up with that on the spot. It’s essentially Caleb telling her the same thing: you are going to be executed if you don’t grow up and talk to me and maybe even if you do. You’re powerless. And being high and mighty about it isn’t going to change the outcome. But it’s so much cooler in my opinion.

The first one is angry but this one is so COLD. Which is perfect for Caleb bc one of the cool things about his character is that he has fire as a symbol but he has very cold temperament.

Maybe I’m just a nerdy English major. But the reworking of the multiple definitions of the word sentence and then using it as intimidation? God that’s a line that, if I had come up with it, I’d like stare at it proudly for a week before continuing to write.

[wardensantoineandevka]

If I had a nickel for every time in Campaign 2, a non-exhaustive list:

...a member of the Nein was woken up from a patron vision to get their ass kicked by a servant of that patron in the middle of a storm, ending in them falling from the full height of the mast of the ship they're sailing on (46: A Storm of Memories, 98: Dark Waters)

...the Nein Polymorphed a dangerous creature into a turtle, then had to Polymorph that turtle into something else because the turtle somehow still posed a threat (60: A Turtle By Any Other Name, 100: Hunted At Sea)

...a member of the Nein Polymorphed a giant into a four-legged creature that would go on to deal a surprising amount of damage to Fjord (50: The Endless Burrows, 60: A Turtle By Any Other Name)

...a member of the Nein was drowned and woke up magically different (Veth and Fjord)

...Fjord stood in a volcano, disrespected a powerful sea creature with delusions of godhood, and left that conversation without his sword (72: Clay and Dust, 102: Ghosts, Dinosaurs, and Stuff)

...a member of the Nein from the Menagerie Coast put themselves in physical danger at a volcano to shout demands at a distant and indifferent higher power (72: Clay and Dust, 108: Traveler Con)

...a female cult leader dedicated to a being who isn't actually a god but pretended to true divinity kissed Fjord (40: Dubious Pursuits, 118: Solace Between The Secrets)

...a member of the Nein had a vision of aid from a god representing a ferocity of nature, which gifted them a boon in line with their personal progress and growth, and the next morning they used that boon to catch the woman they love while she was falling from a height of 70+ feet (65: Chases and Trees, 106: A Fog Lifted)

...a member of the Nein pledged to the Wildmother had a terrifying nightmare on the same night Yasha had a profound religious experience (98: Dark Waters, 125: The Neverending Day)

...Fjord got separated from the group by going through a magically hidden entrance and Matt refused to describe what happened to him until the rest of the party resolved what they were going to do (45: The Stowaway, 103: Maritime Mysteries)

...Fjord and Jester flirted in a drinking establishment one of the other Nein hung out in as a teenager, while it smelled like shit (93: Misery Loves Company, 109: Frigid Propositions)

...a member of the Nein, when asked to give up something of great value by a powerful creature, got out of the bargain without losing anything at all by making a deceptive offering (93: Misery Loves Company, 102: Ghosts, Dinosaurs, and Stuff)

...Fjord turned down even attempting a long rest to keep watch against an enemy feared to be coming upon them in the night (81: From Door to Door, 133: Hunter and the Hunted)

...a captain speaking in a Texan accent and granted magic by Uk'otoa was entangled in an intimate relationship with Avantika (Fjord per 40: Dubious Pursuits, Vandran per 141: Fond Farewells)

...a beloved character killed several dozen episodes prior was seen raised again, appearing during a blizzard in the northern reaches of Wildemount in the final minutes of an episode (111: New Homes And Old Friends, 112: The Chase Begins, consecutive episodes!)

...the Nein had to Polymorph three of their group to chase an enemy through the cold of northern Wildemount in a Perception check sequence to retrieve an orb-shaped item that was stolen from them (113: A Heart Grown Cold, 123: Fair-weather Faith)

...Fjord was attacked by servants of Uk'otoa during a storm in the middle of traveling for the purposes of totally unrelated business that was connected to the Assembly, and Vess was marginally present but missed the entire combat (98: Dark Waters, 112: The Chase Begins and 113: A Heart Grown Cold)

...a spellcasting goblin had an antisocial wizard friend who is both suffering the great shame of a ruinous decision they made and worryingly interested in time travel magic to possibly undo a mistake (Veth and Caleb, Uraya and Essek)

...Yussa, after being well appraised of the dangers to especially mages of the location he was about to travel to, got himself trapped without any meaningful way to communicate his predicament (The Folding Halls, Cognouza)

[mythvoiced]

what’s a weird headcanon you have for each of your muses?

@theimpalpable​​ |  — ⊱asks for muns with a multimuse or more than one muse⊰ 

---

OH BOY- I kept re-reading this question and couldn’t get past this one question in regards to it: what counts as a weird headcanon? Because I honestly have no idea what one might consider a ‘weird’ headcanon, so I’m just going to give...? Tiny fun facts about my muses that don’t really matter (or do they-) and are a little out there maybe, and hope it’s okay and that they’re interesting in any way :3

Patrick: he touches his face a lot when he’s really disagreeing with the person he’s talking/listening to but doesn’t want to go through the trouble of letting them know, it gets increasingly weirder the more he does it/the more time passes Cesare: he really doesn’t like apples, but for some reason, he keeps eating them, as if he expects this fact to change if he just eats enough of them Seona: really loves plants but she’d rather die than have any, caring for them drives her nuts Diana: when she gets overwhelmed with positive emotions, she may gain the ability to build a small wooden cottage from scratch, in the fashion of ‘I can’t handle this, I will chop down some trees instead’ Eunjae: really wants to cut their hair but literally every time they lift their scissors to some strands or are about to get to a hairdresser’s appointment, something dramatic happens and the hair stays Domenico: has offended countless Italian elders by speaking to them informally because he forgets they don’t know he’s their elder by at least a 100 years, usually Caleb: makes up games to entertain himself with when he’s alone on a hunt and they usually don’t make much sense, plus he forgets his own rules after a while and just kind of gives up on them Sunhee: will literally walk on an ankle four times its size, very purple, and evidently twisted and make a confused face if you point it out to her, as if you’re the weird one for telling her no Sunhee, just because you can sorta still kinda walk on it, doesn’t mean you should Catharina: literally hates scented candles for some reason, her mood spirals if she smells citronella in a corner of the room Yoshino: collects leaves in autumn and takes them home to keep somewhere until they fall apart, you can see tiny holes in them where she held them with her teeth in her tanuki form Nathaniel: loves thunderstorms and no it’s not a good thing because for some reason they energise him and he’s even more likely to cause mayhem Eros: likes cappuccinos with animals drawn into the cream, bears and cats preferably, sometimes orders them without ever drinking them Samuel: finds it really difficult to wear turtlenecks because they have the potential to make him feel like he’s suffocating when he gets anxious; Samuel also wears turtlenecks, like... a lot Quincy: has somehow never noticed that they remember to have stolen things but don’t remember what happened to the stolen items afterwards; they’re also really bad at retaining languages Haniel: could probably snap just about any of my other muses (safe for Sabriel and maybe Muninn) over her knee like a twig but will get offended if you remind her of that, as if you’re insinuating she would Muninn: has at least three different cryptic lines ready to use in response to just about... any question or statement Jungwoo: his medical alert bracelet is wedged between his bed and the wall it’s pushed against, it’s yellow, and there’s a glass jar with change in it on his kitchen counter, I don’t know why I established this Corey: not a headcanon, but has anyone ever wondered where he gets all these notebooks from, because I would like to know; okay, actual headcanon, he owns a science textbook with a blue cover and white cover text, it’s all-encompassing and doesn’t go in-depth about anything and is sorta dry and very boring Kaeden: they don’t like matcha-flavoured Market O’s Real Brownies <w<; they also don’t wear socks Lotte: reaches quite a height but somehow still manages to find clothes that are just slightly oversized and seems to favour these over anything tight-fitting Taejoo: when he gets stressed, but not stressed enough for his powers to act on their own, he has this telling gesture of clenching one of his hands and pushing the knuckles of said hand into his forehead, simultaneously looking down and perhaps trying to hide beneath said hand while not having the courage to do so fully Nota: his school uniform is dark blue/navy with red and white accents Sabriel: they have no idea what diplomas and doctorates are and titles mean absolutely nothing to them, they will walk into a chairman’s office with the same air they would into a janitor’s room Junghoon: he has a secret weed stash that his entire family actually knows about and he actually acquires through legal means for his anxiety and no one knows why he keeps hiding it, also because he keeps forgetting the hiding spot and changing it once he actually finds the stash, only to forget this one, too Kangmin: would really love to wear a long black gala dress with split and matching dark make-up, but most likely never will; they’d look dashing, though Beomsoo: can memorise phone numbers in the blink of an eye and is otherwise very good with memorising things, only exception to this are grocery lists, don’t ask him to buy things for you Chulsoo: has a slightly crooked smile, his facial muscles and nerves are in perfect health, yet one side of his face is slightly more expressive than the other, it’s almost impossible to catch though, unless someone tells you to look out for it

[itsomgitsgreenblogging]

Consumption: A Critical Role Fanfic

Okay so for day 7 of @essek-week...it’s a Vampire AU but I feel like I should tell you guys the story behind this fic because it’s honestly pretty funny. I’m part of the Essek Theylss Fanclub Server and it’s an amazing place full of amazing people and we have a rule about being inclusive. Which is like hella awesome, and one of the rules is no nsfw content to make sure everyone is comfortable. Which is like, a great rule and I’m 100% for it. But I’m writing this fic...a vampire AU...and I go...wow this is sexy (because vampires are sexy)...I think it’s too sexy to go with my other fics...uh....I’m probably not going to be able to post this in the ETFC...well you know what I may just go all the way then.  

So that’s how we got this fic. Enjoy! 

Trigger warnings:  NSFW, Vampire related content (biting, blood drinking, hypnotism), corruption kink, master and servant play, voyeurism 

Read on AO3

You would think facing an eternity of endless darkness would be depressing, but Essek often found that the key was to remain busy. If you remained busy, interesting things tended to happen. One couldn't be busy all the time though, and even the undead couldn't stay awake forever without suspicion, so when that happened Essek commissioned a nice coffin for a handsome rich socialite who oh so tragically found their life cut short in whatever way it was fashionable to go in the time period. And then he played dead for a few years before picking up again wherever he left off. 

This time, it was consumption. There was a small closed casket funeral because an open casket was so gouache, what was the point of everyone looking at you when you couldn't enjoy their attention? And then Essek buckled down for a nice long nap in a marble mausoleum that was in a graveyard in a property by a mansion that of course was in his name and tied up in so much legal nonsense that no one but the person who had the deed would ever be able to claim it. 

So Essek slept, and slept for a good long while. Sleep for a vampire was different than for a mortal, for all intents and purposes it was much like death had been...even if death had been a temporary state for Essek when he had first been turned.  There were no dreams or consciousness of any sort, just darkness. It wasn’t comforting or distressing, it just was and there was nothing else to it. Essek, when he was awake, often wondered at the simple pleasure of it. When he was mortal he had tranced, dreamt seldom, but now he couldn’t even remember what that had been like. It seemed too messy for his tastes. 

And then one night, Essek woke up. 

Essek knew immediately that something was different than usual because he definitely was not ready to emerge from sleep. Usually he would awaken when his body at least ran out of its stores of energy, but this was not the case this time. It was the sense that someone else was there that sent him on alert. There was someone else’s presence ripping him from his darkness and back into consciousness. He was thirsty (ravenous he supposed) and outside of his coffin Essek could hear the sound of a heartbeat thick in his ears, of something metallic being settled down. A vampire hunter? No, there was no garlic and there was no sense of danger.  He couldn’t yet smell, because the coffin was sealed, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt...would it? After all, whoever had awoken him had clearly been rude. 

Essek remained still as the lid of his coffin was slid off heavily. Once the coffin was cracked open the scent of a human was perfumed in the air, there was silver but not enough and far enough away that Essek knew he was not dealing with a hunter. But he waited, and waited--

There was an intake of breath, and then-bizarrely Essek felt a finger trace his cheek. 

Essek grabbed the offending hand, causing whoever it was to yelp in surprise. Essek’s eyes did not need any time to adjust to the darkness as he lunged out of his coffin and pinned the attacker to the floor. There was a man underneath him, frozen in fear. Essek’s other hand found an anchor, fingers were settled on his throat--hard enough to threaten but not hard enough to kill. The man underneath him was scruffy and underfed, his heart moved and at a jackrabbit rhythm in his chest. There was candlelight--the fool underneath him had a lantern. In the flickering light there was a blue shine to his eyes and it was the only color he seemed to possess. Everything else about him was sallow and starved and a layer of dust and grime clung to him and soot stained his fingertips and caked his nails. 

“I think we both know that you have done something wrong,” Essek admonished him sweetly, like a nanny scolding a misbehaving child. “It is very rude to wake up someone who is sleeping. I shall have you know that. Now, what you are planning on doing to make it up to me is the question.” 

“You-you-!” the man stuttered before cutting off in a desperate sound as Essek’s fingers slid up his neck, raising his chin so he could see exactly what treasure he had in front of him. At the sight of the pale freckled skin rooted with thrumming blue-green veins, Essek felt his canines ache and elongate. What an utterly delectable prize this human was in possession of, it would really be a shame not to open it up. Essek could smell the fear rolling off the man in waves, ruining his revelry.   

“Now, now. No time for that. Speak convincingly and quickly,” Essek told him, licking his teeth. “I am very hungry and you are extremely distracting. But if you convince me, I may not leave your corpse for the crows to peck at.” 

“I did not...mean to disturb you,” the man croaked, struggling beyond his panic. Essek felt him attempt to take a steadying breath. Good, he could take orders. That was a pleasing sign. “I was simply looking for spell components. Tombs and graveyards are full of things that can be used. That was a mistake on my part, one I understand was grievous.”

“So you fancy yourself a tomb robber,” Essek chuckled in spite of himself. He liked this human’s voice, his accent and the soft deep tones of it. “Stealing off the backs and from the coffins of poor dead grandfathers and grandmothers.” 

“I am a wizard,” the man corrected guiltily before closing his eyes, the violet hollows underneath stark and beautiful despite what they meant. When he turned his head Essek could see the lantern-light caught in his curls. And below the grime, Essek could tell his hair was a rare red. “A poor one. I ask only for your mercy, that you should leave me alive once you are done feeding from me...not that I deserve it.” 

“Perhaps I will, perhaps I won’t,” Essek sighed, giving the man’s wrist a teasing squeeze. He released his fingers from the man’s throat and caught his other wrist before he could move. “Now, relax. This feels so much better when you are at ease.” 

Normally Essek would have charmed his victim, but he wanted this one to have the full effect of a feeding. After all, he hadn’t made up his mind yet about whether what he had done was a killable offense. The punishment did have to suit the crime, after all. With little hesitation, Essek savored the sensation of his fangs sheathing into skin. The taste of his blood was utterly exquisite, hot and sweet with the dying embers of his magic. It soothed the ache of his parched throat, instilled new strength into his limbs. The man made a broken noise, caught between a cry and a moan, but then went quiet and still except for the occasional whimper as Essek drank long and deep from him.

He had talent, was easy on the eyes, and had a delicious flavor to boot. It would be a shame to not ruin him, when there were so many more interesting things they could do together. 

“Good boy,” Essek purred as he pulled away, careful to press the punctures and blooming green-blue bruises with pressure to stop the bleeding. Though he had been pale before, his intruder was now almost translucent. “See, that was not so bad was it? I have been told that the feeding is as pleasurable for you as it is for me, and you certainly are delicious.” 

“More,” slurred his guest, head lolling to the side in an adorable attempt to seduce him back to his neck, where two trails of blood traced the hollow of his throat from the place Essek pressed. “Please...please, more.”  

“You are quite talented at begging when you put your mind to it,” Essek soothed, using his free hand to trace his lips, they opened under his touch like a spring flower in the sun. “I will be happy to indulge you again soon, but only once your marrow has seen fit to fill your veins completely. Now tell me, what is your name?” 

The man’s blue eyes fluttered open. His expression was utterly guileless and dazed, it made something in Essek shiver in desire. But it would have to wait...good things came to those who waited.  

“Caleb...Caleb Widogast,” the man said before frowning, and Essek could see the effort he was putting in trying to think beyond the poisoned haze. As much as Essek would have liked to praise him for it, he also knew the benefit of restraint. After all, why give praise away easily when you could make the beneficiary work for it? The best things always came to those who waited. 

“Well Caleb Widogast,” Essek said, testing the name...tasting it, and finding it satisfactory. Caleb was a lovely name, he had always had a penchant for strays. “Tonight seems to be your lucky night. It appears that I have an opening available for a student, and you are in need of a teacher with the funds to support your endeavor. I see no reason why we cannot come to a simple agreement that will benefit us both.”  

____________

Caleb settled in nicely to Essek’s estate. He had already proved himself smart, and as sharp with numbers as a knife on top of being a talented wizard once he had the funds. The property itself found its way back into Essek’s hands easily as usual, and Essek found teaching to be a happy way to spend his days and a good excuse to stay inside and away from the light.

 Soon enough the whole estate was up and running once more, awoken from its dormancy like a hibernating beast. All the proper signatures and dotted i’s and crossed t’s that usually took Essek some significant effort were dealt with in a manner that was orderly...and honestly impressive. Servants were acquired from the surrounding village with relative ease...which provided Essek with a steady source of sustenance. He had always had a good amount of self-control. Though others in his coven had often accused Essek of being cutthroat, Essek found it to be so much better to keep your meals alive. After all, why feed deeply once and arouse suspicion when instead you could feed lightly and conservatively and stay alive. There was a reason that Essek had outlived a good many of his brethren.  

But speaking of aroused…

“My lord…” the maid gasped, her whole body trembling as Essek ran his tongue over her wrist...where she still bled. She was a pretty youthful looking half-elf, not that feminine beauty did much for him outside of just aesthetics. This wasn’t really for him though, and considering the response he was getting from the shadowed alcove by the door the act was appreciated. The dulled effect of the charm kept her compliant...while the poison did its work. However, as he saw when looked off to the side, this was all having its desired effects. 

“Now, now, no need to fuss,” Essek bid her as he extricated himself from her wrist, taking his handkerchief from his jacket and tying it to her wrist to stem the flow of her blood. She leaned forward, love-drunk to kiss him but he chuckled as he dodged it, and gave her hand a pat. “That was quite careless of you...holding that knife in such a way. But it is alright now. You may feel a bit lightheaded but that’s normal.”

“Yes...the knife…” the maid repeated, the story seeping into her ears sweetly.  

“You know I eat lightly, I’ll have the cook package some food up for you...to make up for the trouble and to keep you strong. Go home to your husband and be sure to get some rest...he’ll tend to your needs well.” 

“Thank you...thank you I’ll just…” she said, before swaying and stumbling off. Caleb caught her as she approached the door, making sure she was steady on her feet before letting her go.

 Essek took the moment to appreciate him. Even with just a few weeks of good food and Essek's meticulous care he had already filled out nicely. Essek certainly had to pat himself on the back for that. Gone was the diamond in the rough, and there stood a man who looked naturally fit to stand between marble statues and crystal chandeliers. Part of that was the work of Essek's newly acquired tailor, outfitting Caleb in high collars and waistcoats that brought out the blue in his eyes and the red in his tied back curls. Truly on that night Caleb looked the part of the nervous bachelor arriving at the matchmaker. He was a present for Essek to unwrap. 

“Make sure that’s done, Caleb,” Essek said as he tossed the napkin on the table before offering Caleb his own pristine plate and motioning towards the filled dining room table. “And please, as always feel free to help yourself as well. I have heard from the other servants that the cook’s beans are to die for.” 

“You are doing this on purpose,” Caleb accused softly. “You have been for weeks.” 

“Oh? Are you not hungry?” Essek asked innocently as he placed the plate down and pushed out his chair to angle towards Caleb. “Well, I suppose I am doing it on purpose. You were nearly skin and bones when we first met and having a mansion with no cook is suspicious-”

“That is not what I meant and you know it,” Caleb said, blue eyes dark with longing as he crossed the space between them and stood before him. “Night after night...you make me watch this. Why?” 

“Am I making you uncomfortable, Caleb?” Essek asked, crossing his legs. “You should be grateful you aren’t my meal...that I’ve given you a warm bed and books and spell components and a job. A little blood is enough to make you regret it? Why...now I am feeling a little unappreciated, Caleb. I suppose I can excuse you from this...all you have to do is ask.”   

Caleb’s breath caught, loud and ragged. His face was flushed deliciously, rounded ears warmed through with color. Essek could hear his heartbeat from here and his grin felt victorious.  

“So it is not the watching then, you naughty thing? You like that part, I know you do...watching me ravish a poor maid or stablehand. Though I must admit the maidens are more for your benefit then mine.. they don't get my blood going if you'll excuse the tawdy joke. Perhaps it is something else, Caleb? Go ahead, tell me.” 

“Essek...I…” Caleb swallowed heavily, fists clenching and unclenching. His voice cracked and frayed with barely contained desire, as plain as the very attractive nose on his very attractive face. “Why is it them? Why not...why is it not…?” 

“Ah...I see,” Essek said, a victorious smile spreading across his face. “Am I making you jealous? All of these things I’ve given you...a home...food in your belly and coin in your pocket...my hands bathing you...and yet you feel covetous over this? You know I charm them...they only feel a dull watered down sensation to the pleasure you felt, and yet you are fantasizing about me opening your skin...sinking my fangs into you and filling your veins with poison. How greedy of you, but that’s what you want isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Caleb admitted raggedly, sinking to his knees, taking Essek’s foot in his hand, kissing the top of his shoe. “Yes, please.” 

“Ask and you shall receive,” Essek said leaning on his hand as he smiled sharply. “Don’t fret, my love, I’ll give you an even greater pleasure than any of them could ever dream to achieve tonight. I will always give you what you deserve so long as you ask nicely.”  

“Thank you,” Caleb gasped, fingers sliding up his pants...hot on his calf and running his tongue along his shin. Essek had known vampires who scoffed at the common pleasure of sex...after all nothing ever would compare to the ecstasy of a feed. The sensation of hot blood filling the mouth and wetting the throat was truly a pleasure most profound. But sex was not just a physical act, and with the right person of a similar mind? Well, that too could be something profound. Essek certainly found something interesting and worthwhile with this beautiful man on his knees before him. 

 “Patience, Caleb. Patience is indeed a virtue,” Essek promised him. “Go ahead, I’m watching you now Caleb. You have my attention, tell me...what would you like?” 

“Anything,” Caleb begged, eyes dilated. Kneeling on the ground he made quite a pretty picture, flushed and wanting already with his legs spread so Essek could see and smell how affected he was. “Anything you want.” 

“And if I just want to watch you debase yourself?” Essek asked him, pressing his heel into Caleb's shoulder. “Maybe I’ll deny you instead, you should know by now how entertaining I find that...to see you so tightly wound. Perhaps you don’t even want me? You just want something to fuck into like an animal in heat. I'll find a pretty maiden or handsome gentleman for you to have your wicked way with.”

“No...it’s you, it’s only you,” Caleb promised desperately. “I’ll give you anything you want, I’ll make it good, I’ll-”  

“Now, now,” Essek soothed, cradling the back of his head and bringing him to lean against his knees. At the sensation of Essek carting his fingers through his hair, Caleb shuddered. “I’m just teasing. I am sorry if I ever made you feel as if I don’t appreciate you. Tonight I’ll have my fill of you, and you shall have your fill of me. Sometimes it’s the wait that makes it worth it.” 

“It’ll never be enough,” Caleb said astutely standing, catching his hand to kiss it. Caleb looked up at him, with eyes half-lidded and tender. They certainly were a pair the two of them, that meeting had been serendipitous in more than one way. After all, a vampire was a creature who only knew how to take...one needed someone to give as well. 

“No, I doubt it will be,” Essek observed with a smile just for Caleb. 

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Episode #100 Highlights!

That’s right: 100 EPISODES. That’s a lot of great questions, greater answers, questionable pronunciations of usernames, even more questionable uses of overlays, and a++++ excellent dogs. 

The entire cast is answering questions this week!

Max runs an (adorable) intro in the above puppet theater, and each cast member gets a title. Laura is The Heart, Sam is The “Funny Guy”, Travis is The Brawn, Liam is The Actor, Matt is The Brains, Marisha is The Face, Taliesin is The Pyramid, Brian is The Convict, and Ashley is The Favorite.

The cast’s entrance is majestic. There are balloons, sashes, tiaras, and champagne. Henry has a tiara too!

The Search for Grog will air this Friday, February 22 at 7 PM Pacific on twitch.tv/criticalrole. If you miss the stream, it’ll be available Saturday morning on CR’s YouTube channel!

Talks Machina and CR will air on CR’s official channels starting today! Starting next episode, TM will be available on CR’s YouTube channel on Thursday at 7 Pacific, and also in podcast form!

Stats: in 100 episodes of TM, there’s been 81 episodes of Brian’s glorious beard. There have been 9 Skype/FaceTime call-ins! There were 244 guest misnomers before that well ran dry. 93 episodes of pre-show hijinks (thanks to Max James!). 95 episodes of Arsequeef. 826 days of being on the internet!

Brian: "The concept of creating a talk show about a D&D campaign has always been absurd to me, so we wanted to embrace that terribleness.”

There’s now a Steve Cam (quietly reading, meal prepping, and ignoring the show), and a Zach Cam (staring at a monitor that’s all just Liam’s chest hair and the Fjord bust), and a Max Cam (dancing in a stripper cop outfit), Lockey Cam (practicing with a sword in front of a mirror and then charging at Daniel for filming it - Brian: “Hopefully Daniel’s non-union.”), Ed Cam (drinking scotch and counting down the days until football returns, and also lint rolling his new goatee), Chris Cam (rapping in the VO booth), Brittany Cam (dancing with a unicorn blanket, huffing compressed air - Brian: “You can’t show that on Twitch!”).

Matt is asked how his DMing style has evolved with campaign 2. “Well... I’ve been forced to embrace a little more of the tragedy in the characters’ backstories.” The internal and external conflict has been really interesting for him to watch and react to. “I’ve learned to be very proud of my players for mucking up my perception of where things are going to go.”

Coming to Xhorhas, Nott’s thrilled to no longer have to worry about the mask. Sam’s excited about the City of Beasts “to see what kind of fucked-up individuals we’re going to find and seeing how Nott will react to that.”

Yasha definitely sympathizes with Nott trying to save her spouse, but “there’s a lot going on with her going back to Xhorhas. It’s definitely triggering for her, but she understands the need to want to go back. I wish I could go to Xhorhas. We’ll see what happens.” Travis: “I’m pretty sure once we go to a place we can never go back.”

Favorite item on the Talks shelves? Taliesin mentions a magnetic Percy mini, Sam likes the tiny Sams (”It looks like my bedroom!”), Ashley and Brian are partial to the Sully painting, Laura loves the Pike painting, Marisha loves all the stuff the cast bought on a hungover voyage to the flea market when they were first building the set, Matt loves a very cool dice tower. Brian likes the Vecna with Marisha’s face. Matt: “I don’t know if I like that one.”

Laura doesn’t like the party using the derogatory term for the Krynn, because she wants people to be happy even if she doesn’t know them. Sam: “I haven’t been the best for that, but if Jester wants me to... I guess I’ll change.”

There are new wipe transitions featuring the Matt pillow and the Fjord bust. It’s glorious.

Gif of the week: Sam calling Travis “studly” for catching the candy. Laura: “...I like that I’ve been cut out of it completely.”

Arsequeef gets the Lifetime Achievement Award for Gif of the Week. He wins Max’s 2006 Honda Accord.

On Caleb taking off his bandages because there’s nothing to hide anymore: “Was that terrifying for him, or a relief?” Liam: “Yes!” He’s waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it feels good. He’s got f...r...iends?” Marisha: “I love that sitcom. (weakly) F...r...iends?”

Caduceus being a source of comfort, insight, and advice was built into the character. Taliesin looked at low INT high WIS, and Matt immediately started laughing and told Taliesin he’d do well with that. Taliesin: “There’s plenty of things that will eventually flap that, but we haven’t hit them yet.”

As a player, Travis doesn’t like to weigh things carefully all the time, so a lot of Fjord’s leardership has been a bit about pressing fast-forward. Marisha: “So what you’re saying is that your Grog’s poking through.” Matt points out that if both characters have a trait, it’s probably just Travis. 

Liam: “I’ve got a little Travis poking me from behind.” Marisha, musing: “So many conflicting beards...”

Beau’s prayer to Ioun mostly came from a “couldn’t hurt” perspective. “I’ll try it out. Give it a spin.” When Travis asks, Marisha clarifies that it was Ioun specifically because of the Cobalt Soul. Travis: “Oh yeah, I totally knew the relationship there. I just wanted to make sure the audience did.”

Bugbear friend or bugbear foe? Sam: “He speaks goblin, he seems cool, his name’s Gluzo. He has a hard-to-pin-down accent, but it’s amazing.” Taliesin: “You have a hard-to-pin-down accent, too. It’s something you have in common.” Taliesin gets asked if his insight check revealed that the bugbear is secretly pretending to be someone else. “Yes, he’s just pretending to be a bugbear. He’s actually Matt Mercer.” Laura: “I like him. ‘Cause he’s cute and he let me give him a tattoo.”

Sam: “Nott trusts her friends to be as strong as they can be, and at this point, I don’t know if she’s as concerned with one of them dying as just getting to her husband in time before he dies. If we lose one along the way, Nott will probably cry a little, but will move on.” What if it were Fjord? “Fjord’s expjendable.”

Matt: “I’ve reached a point where Travis controls Yasha in combat, but I don’t consider any of his roleplay canon.” Ashley: “I trust Travis. Barbarian respect.” Laura: “Don’t give him that.” Ashley: “Travis himself is like a Deck of Many things. This is risky, but it’s kind of fun!”

Sam: “That dunamancy shit is lit.” Liam: “And it’s tied up in everything that Caleb wants, so if he can get on the entropy shit and the gravity shit, you know he’s going to go back in time, motherfucker.” Sam is so excited to have these mystery spells because they’re so new, and they’re inherently something they don’t know how to counter or prepare for. Travis: “It’s almost like every time we play D&D.”

Fanart of the Week: a spectacular group shot.

Everyone freaks out over how good Travis looks with glasses. He takes them off and puts them back on sexily for a while. I was too slow grabbing a screencap, but don’t worry, the gifs will be everywhere.

Laura: “Jester hasn’t experienced a lot of emotions. She hasn’t experienced a lot of anything, really. She’s definitely dealt with sadness in her life, but I don’t think it’s been so in-your-face constantly, just the trauma of it all.” Liam: “Yeah, she’s with some very terrible people.” Laura: “While it is traumatic, it’s also been a great adventure, and she’s enjoying being out and doing things. Even if it might hurt her, it’s so much better than reading about it, drawing it, just imagining how it would be.”

Caleb’s still feeling out the shift in his relationship with Nott, but there’s no question that everything they’ve gone through can’t be forgotten or overlooked. “He sees her as an absolute ally no matter what, and will do anything for her. In a weird way, he feels like they’re even more alike than he thought they were, and he loves her and wants her to succeed in what she’s doing, and hopes that the things that he wants don’t fuck it up entirely.” Sam: “Are you talking about Liam and Sam right now?”

Caduceus’ thoughts on Xhorhas? “A new environment, certainly, and a new aspect of nature that he’s unfamiliar with. This is just more terrain to him at this point. He’s also very unaware of the political realities. He’s vaguely aware there is war. He’s still not sure why we can’t just go up and ask for directions from everyone.”

Brian: “That tiara is the most blessed image.”

Travis on the Captain Tusktooth tattoo: “Brand recognition is huge in Xhorhas.” Taliesin: “Viral marketing.” Laura confirms that it’s not likely to change apart from some small differences from tattoo to tattoo. “Each person gets a special google.”

Laura on fans actually getting this tattoo: “I am ALL ABOUT IT.”

Marisha: “Guys! How about instead of M9 tattoos...” Sam: “We let Laura tattoo us? I would legitimately be down with that!” Ashley: “I’m kind of into it.” Liam: “This is what splits us apart.” Laura: “Everybody gets a dick.” Travis: “How would we explain that to our kid? ‘What’s that?’ ‘Your mom did that.’”

Beau is holding back a bit since her impulsiveness started having negative repercussions. “I think it’s about accountability. She’s started to learn--- especially when she first joined M9, she didn’t have friends, really. I think you had to learn, oh, my actions do affect others around me. I think that’s something you can learn and you can grow in, but yeah, she is trying to not be a total fuckwad anymore. Trying. But old habits...”

Favorite TM moments? Travis: “Do you remember that episode where Brian wasn’t the host?” Brian remembers Travis throwing the card that almost took him out. Ashley fondly remembers PullOutKing. Laura remembers Taliesin saying the phrase “I love teenage assholes” (referring to Percy acting immature), and Taliesin is super glad someone brought that up again just when the tweets were finally starting to die down. 

Ashley talks about how proud she is about how far Brian’s come, and how great he’s doing at this. Everyone has an uncharacteristically sincere moment of applause for Brian. Liam: “Everyone take 30 seconds to drop the bit that we think you’re a total fucking weirdo. You’re so good at this, and you’re such a good friend, and we’re so glad you’re part of this family.”

Marisha pitches the idea of trying to sell TM syndicated on LifeTime now that they have 100 episodes.

Brian remembers having food poisoning that led to him running off-screen, throwing up in the middle of the show, and then having to come back. Marisha remembers Travis texting everyone that night with “lol, did Brian just yarf on TV?”

Matt talks about how proud he is of Brian for going from zero tabletop experience to co-running his own game.

Talks Machina After Dog ft. Sleepy Boi Henry

“This is the best dog-petting show ever.”

Liam was skeptical about TM initially, because he was worried it would take away from what would be shared in-game. Marisha: “I was stoked for it, not gonna lie. I was very misunderstood and people hated my character, so I was kind of stoked to just get to explain it.” Travis was sold once they picked the name.

Marisha: “It also set the precedent for really dumb, punny names.” Brian points out that, as a channel, they now can’t stick with serious names as their final choice.

Laura’s sister has been watching the show, and she texted Laura after the show to ask what the whisper was, so Laura’s going to tell her and no one else. Liam: “You’re gonna tell your real sibling?”

There’s a horrified discussion about giraffe fighting. Some segues happened in there.

What’s something their characters have done that’s made them proud? Liam: Caleb using the Wall of Fire. Marisha: the Plank King execution episode as a whole (everyone agrees). Travis: “I was proud of hooking up with an NPC when my wife wasn’t here to threaten me with death.” (he immediately turns to Taliesin: “Help.” Taliesin: “No god can help you now.”) Taliesin: “I sunk a boat.” Laura: Proud of not getting caught with Nott in the Platinum Dragon sanctuary. Sam: Taking the blow for Jester so she could escape. Liam: “Molly showing his dick covered in eggs.”

Matt: “I’m proud of you guys not entirely descending into evil madness. I’m proud of the character arcs of being broken, terrible people, and finding out that it’s okay to be broken; you’re not necessarily terrible.” Liam: “The entire cast went, ‘He’s talking about everyone but me’.” Matt thought it was going to be very hard to keep the group together, but the party turned it into character growth moments. “I’m proud of you.” Laura: “Thanks, Dad.”

Yasha loved the arm wrestling. “Oh man, it’s so fun to be the tank.”

Laura: “I’m really proud of us for saving Kiri!”

Everyone has Liam’s chest hair:

Wishes for the next 100 episodes? More Ashley. 

Brian: “I hate this coffee table more than anything in the whole, entire world.”

What’s something that should never change about the show? How ridiculous it is, the barrel, Dani. Also always have a dog. They fundamentally do the show for themselves, still, and that’s made it a really good environment for them to open up about the show and their characters.

Liam: “There’s a lot of beauty to what we do, but it’s also inherently silly. And to deny that is silly.”

Matt likes that it’s unpolished and imperfect. “Things are going to go wrong regardless, and you can either get angry and frustrated about the lack of control, or you can embrace it.” Sam: “None of this is real anyway.” 

Brian points out that this is not an excuse to stop paying him.

And that’s a wrap! This is the last After Dark for a while, but there are some big ideas in the works for the coming weeks!

[dnkaus]

Fateful Visions | Ch. 1: Where it Began

Namjoon x Reader (OC)

Summary:  Idol Namjoon meets a grad student, Maya, but he experiences strange visions each time their eyes meet and they touch one another. Fate plays a magnetic role, & keeps bringing them together. Are these visions a sign that they should stay away or stay together?

Genre: Angst, Fluff (eventually)

Warnings: Indirect mentions of emotional abuse

Previous Part: Trailer Next Part: Chapter 2

April 2016

Maya woke up late. It was half past 9 and she was suppose to teach class in an hour and a half. But Maya couldn’t get out of bed for some reason. Her eyes were open and her mind was awake, but her body was resisting all her attempts to even sit up in her bed. It’s hard to wake up when your inner state is in complete chaos. Maya knew she wasn’t physically tired, but emotionally and mentally she was far beyond exhausted. Maya laid there, thinking about the events from the night before.

Maya’s boyfriend, Caleb, had ditched her again at the restaurant they were supposed to meet at after his work. She waited for 2 hours and then came back home. Caleb eventually came to Maya’s house around 10pm. Apparently he had ran into a friend and they went for drinks and he “totally forgot” he had promised to meet Maya at the restaurant. Maya was angry. This was not the first time Caleb had “totally forgot” about her, and she also knew this was not the last. As expected, they fought till late at night. Cruel words were thrown around and tears were shed (only by Maya). In the end, Caleb promised he wouldn’t do it again. Maya accepted the promise half-heartedly.

Truth be told Maya was far too numb from her relationship. At this point, she was mostly in the relationship because it was what was expected from a girl her age. If it was up to her mom, she would have already been married by now. After all, Maya was 22 and being an immigrant with very conservative and traditional parents, her mom had insisted that she and Caleb start considering marriage. However, Maya knew somewhere inside she was not meant to be with him. She knew this relationship was like a time bomb that was just waiting to explode. But,Maya was afraid that if she broke up with him, she would somehow be in more pain than she already was. Fear of loneliness is bigger than fear of being in a bad relationship.

Meanwhile, Maya somehow was managing her first year in a Ph.D. program for English at University of Central Arkansas (UCA), and working a part time job at Teavana, a shop that sells tea, in a small town in Arkansas, United States. Maya’s life wasn’t that terrible, besides her toxic relationship and her heavy course load. Plus, she was teaching an undergraduate class, which was always a hassle.

Maya finally managed to get off of the bed after a few minutes of intense deliberation of skipping her classes today. She thought about how nice it would be if she didn’t have a class, or didn’t have a paper to write, or wasn’t grading assignments for at least one day. However, this was the life she had chosen for herself. The writer in her wanted to take the long road, and so she did. Getting a Ph.D. in English was not a requirement, but Maya rarely ever did anything easy. Perhaps, having a higher than an average IQ came with its own difficulties.

It’s true, that Maya had taken an IQ test in elementary school, and was apparently in the top 10 percentile. At the time, her parents had wanted their daughter to become a doctor or an engineer and use her advanced brain for something that will get her the big paychecks. But of course, Maya was known to disappoint others. Nothing that her parents planned for her ever worked out in their favor. This is why when she told them she was getting a degree in English, they didn’t even bother convincing her otherwise.

Maya did have something to look forward to today, and it was the fact that she only had one class to teach and then she was free the rest of the day. Of course, the rest of the time would be spent in the library or on her computer working on her thesis, but still, she at least didn’t have to deal with people. This small reason gave Maya the motivation to go to her class, stand in front of her students, and pretend like she knew what she was talking about. 

Maya’s class ended smoothly. Besides the usual naive questions that students asked, she was able to get through the material she needed to cover. To Maya, that was what was important, since the students were to have an exam in a few weeks. Maya packed her things and headed out the lecture hall. The building where she had her class was gigantic, and her class was on the fourth floor. She had all her papers in her hand as she was walking. She had forgotten to bring her folder where she usually puts all of her papers, and so she was just trying to carry all of the papers in her hand. However, carrying 100 papers from your Introductory English I class without a clip or a folder is harder than it seems. Especially since she was also carrying her other bag which consisted of books she was reading for her own graduate class.

She continued walking and reached a turn in the hallway. She took a turn and suddenly one of the papers from the stack flew out of her hand and landed farther away from where she was. Her gaze followed the paper and she ran after to grab the paper without dropping the others. She finally reached the paper and so she bent down to grab it. Though, before she could bend down she saw a figure bending down in front of her to grab the paper. The person was a man, and he slowly got back up with the paper in his hand. Maya initially didn’t look up to see who it was, as she was too embarrassed. He extended his hand with the paper to return it back to Maya.

“Here you go” the man said with a thick accent.

Maya slowly accepted “Oh, thank you!” She finally managed to look at the man who had so kindly helped her out. As she managed to look up however, she was surprised to find how beautiful the man looked.

Maya’s mind immediately questioned whether this man was a student here or not. From the look, Maya could tell he was Korean. Maya would know since her entire graduate career was built on studying Korean culture and literature, as her thesis was all about Korean culture and its impact on Korean fiction.

What was most intriguing about the man that was standing in front of Maya at the moment was his hair. Her attention immediately drifted to his hair, as it was bright red, and the way it was styled it made it clear to her that this man was definitely not a Arkansas native. Maya realized she probably had been staring for far too long, and so she decided to cut the silence.

“I am sorry, I just forgot my folder at home today, so I am having to carry all these separately. Thanks for your help! Maya smiled.

The man’s expressions were ambiguous, but when he saw Maya smiling he returned the smile. Maya began to wonder if he understood. He just said, “Ah, no problem!”

Just then another man that was standing behind him called his name “Yah, Taehyung. I think it’s this way!” The person was speaking in Korean. Maya was able to understand their conversation because Maya knew Korean. In fact, despite not being Korean,  she had to learn Korean  and had to take multiple exams to prove that she can speak Korean for he her thesis. After all, she can’t talk about Korean fiction in her thesis without actually reading Korean books.

But Maya didn’t take interest in just Korea. She was also fascinated by many other cultures. For example, she studied abroad for a whole year in Brazil, when she was an undergraduate, and she also took a trip to Marakesh the summer after she graduated from high school. Maya loved cultures in general, and she was constantly trying to implement different cultures in her writing. In fact, that is exactly why she chose this college, as the program she was well-known for their diverse faculty and interesting work. As much as she disliked some aspects of graduate school, she also knew she was at the right place. Unlike the men in front of her. They all seemed lost.

Maya had picked up on a few different things so far. First, the man that had just helped her was someone named Taehyung. Second, the person talking to him also had very strange hair and there was a whole group of them behind Taehyung. Finally, they all seemed to be looking for a particular place, or at least that’s she picked up from the conversation that was taking place amongst the group.

When Taehyung’s name was called he gently bowed towards Maya and went back to the group of strangely haired guys behind him. Maya stood there a second longer as she couldn’t look away from the group of guys in front of her, but eventually she realized she had a huge stack of papers in her hands and she could not afford to lose them, so she began to walk away.

However, as she began to walk away, someone behind her yelled “Excuse me! Excuse me, ma’am! Maya immediately turned around, because she recognized the voice. She knew it was the same voice. It was the guy, Taehyung.

“Yes?” Maya asked as she saw the entire group staring at her when she turned around. She gulped as she began to realize that each guy looked more handsome than the other with their fancy hair and makeup. Taehyung looked over at the guy with the greenish hair. The guy responded in Korean “Go ahead, you ask her”

Taehyung hesitated, but came up towards Maya with a piece of paper. “Hi...umm...do you know this place?” Taehyung said and extended his hand with the paper. Maya slowly took the paper in her hand.

The paper stated the address to a college. However, the college that was written on the paper was not University of Central Arkansas, it was just University of Arkansas. Along with the address, was also the title of the event that these guys are presumably planning to attend.

“Breaking Down Eastern Cultural Barriers With Kpop”

Maya was shocked to see the title of the event, since she had heard about the event before from her advisor. In fact, her advisor, Dr. Kelly was the one hosting this event, as Dr. Kelly’s entire literary career was based on writing about East Asian music, and was a well-known figure in the field of cultural studies. Maya knew about her event, but she didn’t plan on attending it since the event was being held at University of Arkansas.

It was at that point that Maya had started putting together all the puzzle pieces. She realized that the strangely haired men were most likely some Kpop idols that Dr. Kelly had invited for the event. Maya knew about Kpop and listened to some of the music , however, she was never a hard core Kpop listener. Her music taste varied from day to day, so despite her thesis being on Korean culture, she wasn’t a fan of any particular groups. Maya knew that Kpop and the Hallyu wave was a great tool to transcend music into cultures, and sometimes Maya wished that Korean literature was also as famous as their music.

Maya suddenly felt more obligated to help them out, not only because they were probably celebrities, but also because her advisor was probably having a panic attack since the guys weren’t there yet and the event was supposed to start in 45 minutes.

Taehyung noticed that Maya was quiet, so he asked his question again “Umm, so do you know this place?

Maya nodded. “Yeah, I know this place...but this place is not here.” Maya looked towards the group who was all staring at each other and then back at her. Suddenly the one with the greenish hair began to walk up towards Taehyung and her. He was a smidge taller than Taehyung and had the most proportionate body Maya had ever seen. As he began walking towards Maya, for some odd reason, she felt a bit nervous. He had an authoritative aura to him.

Maya quickly looked away from him as she noticed he was staring at her. He stood up in front of her with a questioning look on his face. “Hi, I am sorry, were you just saying this place is not here? So...so where is it?” The man spoke more fluently than Taehyung, and barely had an accent.

Maya felt bad. She didn’t know how to tell the man that they were at the completely wrong university. She wondered where their staff was. If these guys were really celebrities, don’t they go around with their staff?

“Umm, well this university is University of Central Arkansas, but the university you are supposed to go to is called University of Arkansas. This college is in Little Rock, and you are currently in a town called Conway.” Maya tried to speak slowly, but she also didn’t want to make it seem like she was trying to dumb it down for them, so she kept a consistent pace.

The man with the greenish hair became distressed. He took a deep breath. The guys in back came up to stand next to him all wondering what was going on. “Namjoon, what is it?” one of them asked in Korean. The man with the greenish hair, whose name was most likely Namjoon, at least that’s what Maya presumed, repeated what Maya said in Korean.

All of the guys became distressed now. Maya felt guilty. She thought about how she could help, but she needed to know for sure if her previous assumptions were true.

“I am sorry, but I am assuming you guys are here for the Kpop event? Correct? The one being hosted by Dr. Kelly?”

Namjoon nodded with enthusiasm. “Yes, that’s exactly why we are here. Can you help us? We are from Korea and we need to attend this. Do you know about this event?”

Maya smiled slightly at how hard Namjoon was trying to speak in English. “Yeah, I know this event. Dr. Kelly is my professor. I am a graduate student here. My name is Maya. I can actually speak in Korean, so we can communicate in Korean if that’s easier.” Maya extended her hand for a handshake towards Namjoon.

The man was still in shock from Maya’s words, but when he saw Maya’s extended hand, he decided to introduce himself.

“Hi, I am Namjoon. You can also call me Rap Mon,” Namjoon says in Korean.

(Author’s note: This is 2016 so Namjoon’s name back then was still Rap Monster)

Namjoon extended his hand to meet with Maya’s hand. Moreover, the moment that changed Namjoon and Maya’s lives forever started here, in a small hallway of a building at University of Central Arkansas.

As Namjoon’s hand touched Maya’s, his gaze met with hers as well. However, as he looked into Maya’s eyes and touched her hand, something extraordinary happened.

Namjoon unanticipatedly found himself in a vortex of images appearing and disappearing all at once, some lasting longer than others, some more faded than others. There were some that had no color to them and some that were extremely vivid. There were some sounds that he could hear, others were just mere murmurs, nothing audible. These images captured his entire attention span as his entire cognitive system flooded it’s resources to the novel stimuli. There was one thing common between all these images. All of them contained him and the woman he was shaking hands with in that moment.

One moment Namjoon was standing on the stage and looked out into the crowd and found the woman looking back at him….he was now suddenly sitting in his studio and turned around and found the woman sleeping on the couch which he kept in his studio... then he suddenly saw himself hugging the woman tightly feeling the same feelings he would feel as if he had just hugged a close loved one...the woman said something, but he couldn’t hear her...He then saw the woman looking at the mirror and crying as she saw herself….”I hate myself” she whispered...next he saw the woman being dragged by several hooded figures through a dark and abandoned looking hallway, as she was crying and screaming for help...he then saw himself on the stage again, this time he was going up to the microphone with his brothers and taking a deep breath with tears pouring from his eyes… “I have something to say” he said in the microphone…

Namjoon suddenly blinked and the images disappeared. Namjoon abruptly took his hand away from the woman’s hand and looked away. He was back in the small hallway in that small university where he was not supposed to be at. He felt breathless, like he had just walked a thousand miles and also felt a bit dizzy from overstimulation of his neurons in his brain. He looked around to see if others around him saw the same images he had just seen, but saw no sign of strange behavior, except from her. He noticed the woman was definitely behaving strangely as she slowly took her hand back once Namjoon removed his hand from hers. She ran her fingers through her hair and blinked a few more times. Namjoon began to wonder whether she had also experienced what he just had experienced.

However, his thought was interrupted as his bandmate and brother Seokjin extended his hand towards Maya and began introducing himself.

“Hi, I am Jin,” the bandmate said in Korean. This time Maya was a bit hesitant to shake Seokjin’s hand. She looked towards Namjoon again, before she returned Seokjin’s handshake.

“I am Maya. Maya Shroff”

The other members also took turns shaking hands with Maya and introducing themselves. Namjoon kept looking over again to see if they also had experienced the weird images. However, again none of them seemed to display any strange expressions. So far Namjoon only knew Maya’s name and that she somehow knew Korean, but some part of him had already started to feel like he needed to stay away from her.

After shaking hands with the maknae, Jungkook, Maya turned towards Namjoon again to speak to him. She didn’t know much about Namjoon, but from the little information she had gathered, she realized he was the main guy in the group. “I was just thinking, if you guys want I can take you to the college. The college is about 35 minutes away from here. If we leave now, we can still make it in time for the event.” she said.

Namjoon began speaking as soon as Maya finished the sentence, “NO!”

Everyone else around him was taken aback by his assertive decline of Maya’s offer.

He continued “...I mean, no it’s not necessary. We can handle it. Thank you!”

“Namjoon-ah, I know this is kind of weird since we don’t know this girl, but considering the fact that we running late, we should just take the offer. I still don’t know where manager Sejin and the other staff members are...we don’t want to miss the event because of our stupidity.” Hoseok, the dance prodigy of the group, whispered in Namjoon’s ear.

“We can’t just accept people’s help, when we don’t know them, Hobi.” Namjoon retorted.

“Well do you have any other options?” Hobi replied. Namjoon was silent. He looked back at Maya, who was awkwardly waiting for their response to her offer. She knew they were hesitant since they probably worried she was some die hard fan and would take advantage of them or something, but she really had no interest in that. Maya viewed Kpop idols as just humans that got trapped in system of the Hallyu industry, when all they really wanted was to make music, sing, and dance. She felt that behind all their hair and makeup were a lot of sacrifices. She didn’t really know anything about the group that was standing in front of her. She didn’t know the trajectory of their fame nor the type of music they made.

As Maya waited, Namjoon decided to give his staff members another call. The other group members waited. He really didn’t want to take Maya’s help. Something inside him told him not to get too close to her.

After a few attempts, Namjoon gave up. Not even their stylists were picking up their phones. What was going on?

You see, a couple hours ago, the group and their staff had made a bet about who would get to the event first. They had went into separate vans from the airport and decided that Seokjin, the eldest one in the group of 7, would drive and the rest of the guys would help him navigate to the event. This was a terrible idea, of course, but none of them thought that the guys would actually go to the wrong university. What made things even more unfortunate was that the cellular network at the event’s venue was terrible, which meant the staff members couldn’t pick up their calls. The staff had assumed they were still on their way.

Namjoon’s anxiety was getting worse. He even sent emails to their manager to get them to respond, but the manager didn’t see the email.

Maya became tired of waiting and her hands were beginning to hurt from holding on to the papers. She decided she would try and explain to the guys that she was not some creepy fan and that they could trust her.

“Hey guys, I know this is a weird situation and you are probably having trouble trusting me. I have no idea where your staff is. But seriously, I don’t mind driving you there. I promise, you can trust me. I am just a graduate student in English and the reason I want to help is because my professor is in charge of the event.”

The guys all looked at Namjoon. Because as Maya had correctly suspected, Namjoon really was the leader of the group and he also was the only one in the group who could speak English fluently. The rest of the members trusted Namjoon more than they trusted themselves. They knew that whatever decision he made, would be the best for the group.

Maya saw that they were all waiting for Namjoon’s response, but it seemed like Namjoon was still not convinced by Maya’s explanation.

“Okay, well how about this...how about I call my professor and let her know you guys are lost. You guys can decide with her what you want to do. Sound good?” Maya tried once again to help them.

Namjoon took a few more seconds to consider her response. He really didn’t know if this was a safe idea, because he knew that even one small mistake could really risk his group’s reputation, and he also was well aware of how spread out their fan base was. It also didn’t help that he had that weird dreamlike experience earlier, which made him afraid to go close to this woman.

Nonetheless, when he looked around and saw that the members were just waiting on him to say ‘yes’, he finally gave in to the idea. He thought, what’s the worst that can happen from a phone call to her professor?

“Sure, that sounds okay” Namjoon said hesitantly.

Maya wanted to take out her phone from her bag to call her professor, but because there were so many things in her hand, she was struggling to find it. Jimin, the other dance master in the group noticed Maya’s struggle, and immediately took the papers out of her hand, so she can get her phone out of her bag.

“Oh, thank you” Maya said, as she noticed Jimin was trying to help. She was still really taken aback by how kind these men were. For a split second she thought about her boyfriend, and how he didn’t even help her carry all her bags when they would go shopping together. It almost felt like she had forgotten that not all men have to be jerks, since the ones that she had met were all one worse than the other.

Maya finally managed to pull out her phone from her bag and called her professor. As the phone rang, she could feel all 7 guys staring at her. Maya put the phone on speaker, so that they can hear her. She could tell that Namjoon was still hesitant about the whole situation and wanted to make sure he trusted her.

Finally, Dr. Kelly picked up. “Hello-- Dr. Kelly?” Maya said.

There was initially no response, just bunch of sounds.

“Hello, Dr. Kelly? It’s Maya…”

Finally, the lady spoke.

“Hey, Maya...sorry the signal is really bad here...let me go outside” Dr. Kelly said. She was surprised to receive a call from her student all of the sudden, but felt like it had to be important if Maya had called.

“Hi, Dr. Kelly?...Can you hear me?... I am calling about an important situation. I am not sure if you know this but...umm...the group that’s suppose to be at the event today accidentally came to our university.”

Maya was speaking in English, but the guys all gulped, as they realized she was talking about them on the phone. They knew once their staff found out they would get in trouble.

“What?” Dr. Kelly responded.

Maya thought she still couldn’t hear, so she repeated what she said before. “The Kpop group that’s suppose to attend the event accidentally came to UCA instead of the venue.”

Namjoon interrupted, “tell her it’s BTS. We are BTS.”

Maya said, “Yeah, the BTS group is here. They got lost and came here instead. I ran into them.”

“Yeah I heard the first time, but how did this happened. What are we going to do?” Dr. Kelly seemed frazzled. “Is there a way, you can drive them here.” Dr. Kelly added.

Maya pursed her lips, as she stared at Namjoon. Namjoon sighed. He took the phone from Maya’s hand and began speaking.

“Hi Dr. Kelly. This is the leader of BTS, Rap Monster. Ms. Shroff here offered us a ride already, but we were wondering if we can speak to our staff. It’s better that they pick us up here.”

Dr. Kelly responded,“listen, I will let your staff know. But I think you need to leave with Maya right now, because by the time your staff leaves and brings you here the event will have already started.”

“Can I at least talk to my manager?” Namjoon insisted.

“Sure, let me go get him.” Dr. Kelly gave in to his request.

Dr. Kelly went and found manager Sejin who was talking someone on the phone already. She told him about the situation and he immediately took the phone from her hand and began speaking to him.

“Hello, Namjoon-ah?”Sejin began speaking in Korean.

“Manager-nim, we are at the wrong university. I am not sure what to do.” Namjoon complained.

“Yes, this lady, Dr. Kelly, told me. You should just come here with her student.” Sejin suggested.

“Are you sure?” Namjoon tried one more time. “Yeah, it’s almost started and it’s faster if she just drives you here instead of us trying to come there and pick you up. We’ll handle everything. It’s okay.”

Namjoon sighed again. “Alright, if you say so. Thanks.”

Namjoon ended the phone call and gave it back to Maya.

“Alright, I guess we are coming with you.” Namjoon said to Maya in Korean. He figured at this point, she was probably fluent.

“Great, I have a minivan, so we should be able to fit. Just follow me.” Maya said.

The members followed Maya’s lead to the campus garage where her car was parked. Once they got to the car, they all tried to figure out the seating. Namjoon tried to sit in the back sit, but he was forced to seat in the passenger sit in the front, next to Maya.

“You are the leader. You should sit in the front.” Yoongi, the other rapper of the group, whispered in Namjoon’s ear while smirking.

Namjoon rolled his eyes and sat down in the front. Maya got into the driver’s seat and turned around to count how many people there were.

“What happened?” Taehyung said as he noticed Maya was counting.

“Oh, I was just checking to see every color of the rainbow is present in this van.” Maya jokes. However, no one laughed except Jimin and Taehyung.

Namjoon gave Maya a death glare as she turned back. What was his problem? Maya thought.

“Alright then.” Maya started the car and drove in silence. There were whispers and side conversation in the back of the car. However, Maya remained silent. She was thankful that she didn’t have classes the rest of the day. Who would have thought she would be in her van with Kpop idols today.

It finally sank in for Maya, that she was really driving  celebrities around. She should be more excited, right? After all, there are probably girls and guys out there practically dying to see these men. She wondered how popular this BTS group was. She made a note to herself, to check out there music later on.

After 10 minutes into the drive, she decided to break the ice again by talking to the man sitting next to her.

“So, how long have you been in the Kpop industry?” Maya asked innocently.

Namjoon didn’t say anything at first as he was too busy tracing the road to the venue on his iPhone maps app, making sure the girl that was driving them was on the right way to college, and wasn’t kidnapping them or something. But he realized the question was aimed at him, so he responded.

“Umm, we debuted in 2013. So about 3 years.” Namjoon responded and went back to his maps.

“That’s cool.” Maya answered. She really didn’t know what to say to that. However, someone in the back seemed to be more curious about her.

“How come you speak Korean so fluently?” Taehyung asked from the back.

Maya smiled. “Oh, I am a Ph.D. student and I am studying Korean fiction for my thesis, so I had to learn the language.”

“Wow, you are so smart! I am so glad we ran into you. Right, hyung?” Taehyung said referring to Namjoon.

Namjoon didn’t respond. Again, someone else in the back answered. “Yeah, who would have thought we would have found someone who speaks our language in a place like this,” Hoseok added.

“Yeah Arkansas definitely has a very small Korean population,” Maya laughed.

“So, how did you get interested in Korean literature?” someone else from the back asked. It was the grayish haired man, Yoongi.

“Well, I have always been interested in cultures. I just happened to read a lot of books as a kid, and became more interested in Korean literature when I read more books for my East Asian Literature class during undergraduate. So then I thought well, it would be awesome to do some research on how Korean culture shapes a lot of the fictional stories that come from Korea, and how we can bring those stories to the western world. I feel like there is just this barrier between the East and West, and I think books and even music are the best way to break that barrier, you know?” Maya stopped speaking as she realized she had went on a full blown rant. But she couldn’t help it, this was one of those topics she was really passionate about.

“Ah, sorry, guys! I got a little carried away. It’s my thesis topic so I get a bit too excited,” Maya laughed and looked through the rearview mirror to see everyone’s reaction. She saw Taehyung’s mouth hung open, and then she saw Yoongi nodding just slightly before going back to look unamused.

“You are really cool, Maya-ssi” Jimin brightly smiled and responded.

“Aww, thank you! You guys seem cool too.”

Maya turned to look at Namjoon, who was staring at her, but as soon as she made eye contact with him he turned away pretending not to care.

During the rest of the car ride, the guys and Maya continued asking questions from each other back and forth. Maya learned a lot about BTS and the type of music they make. She was surprised to hear that this was not their first time in America. She wondered how big their fan base must be. Maya knew there were a lot of American fans of Kpop, but had never looked into how big that number must be. Maya had not quite realized that the group sitting in her car was at the verge of breaking some big music records with the amount of fans they had. 2016 was the year when BTS was about to breakout big in the music scene. There trajectory was going straight up. Of course, by the time Maya would realize this, she would already be in too deep in too their world.

They soon arrived at University of Arkansas, and Maya parked the car at the auditorium where the event was being held. The guys all got out of the car and followed Maya’s lead, as she led them backstage of the auditorium. She turned around to see if they were following and noticed they all had their face masks on and some even put on their baseball caps. Maya was intrigued by their behavior as they started walking quickly almost pushing her aside and getting in front of her.

It was as if the 7 sweet guys she had met had just transformed into a mafia gang. She couldn’t understand what their purpose was of them walking like they were about to go rob a bank.

One of them whispered to her as they passed “We have to rush before they find us.” She couldn’t pick up on who said it.

She now was following the guys as they led her backstage of the auditorium. Thankfully, they still had 5 minutes to spare before the event started. Once inside, the staff of the group and stage managers all took over. Maya was overwhelmed at how many people were back there. She didn’t realize how big this event was. Maya just stood aside and watched all the chaos. She could hear screaming and shouting outside on the stage and she peeked through the curtains to see how many people were there. Her eyes went wide as she saw the amount of people in the place. There were literally people standing outside the auditorium pushing each other to get a better view of the stage.

Maya realized that there was no way these people were there just to see her professor’s panel. They had to be there for BTS. Now it also made sense to Maya why the guys rushed to get inside the auditorium. They didn’t want to be found by their fans.

It finally hit Maya that the group of guys that she had just drove were not just some ordinary guys. This was Maya’s first glimpse into BTS’s world and she was already overwhelmed.

Soon the event started and she watched professor’s panel from the backstage screen. After Dr. Kelly’s panel, Dr. Kelly invited CEO of BigHit on to the stage. Maya was shocked when she saw the man walk up on to the stage. Where had she seen him before? Maya learned at that time that BTS was under a company called BigHit and that their CEO was someone named Bang Shi Hyuk. That man seemed familiar.

Mr. Bang Shi Hyuk entered on the stage, and him and Dr. Kelly talked about how BTS and other Kpop groups are a tool that can break the barriers. Maya was really engrossed as he talked about how BTS was formed and the ways in which Kpop industry has changed over time.

In the short span, Maya was learning a lot about the world BTS was from, and she realized that the CEO was quite knowledgeable as well from the way he was speaking in English. But in her mind, she was still trying to remember where she had seen the man before.

After Mr. Bang was finished, Dr. Kelly stayed on stage to introduce BTS. As she announced their name, the group of guys that were just in the car with Maya a few minutes ago, now all walked on to the stage wearing suits. Maya was awestruck at how they transformed from being just ordinary men to idols.

As they went up on to the stage the lights dimmed and they began to perform. Maya watched the performance closely. She had seen Kpop music videos, so she wasn’t surprised that the guys were dancing, but it was still strange to see that the same guys she had just met in the hallway were now performing in front of a loud screaming audience.

There were fanchants and the audience was singing along with the boys. Maya couldn’t help but slightly smile at the way they all moved. Her eyes went towards Namjoon a few times, as he looked a lot less stressed now compared to before. His complete concentration was on his performance. The deep voice during his rap portions filled the auditorium sending goosebumps down Maya’s spine.

When their performances ended, Maya found herself clapping like the audience out in the auditorium. She felt a rush of excitement and contentment as they walked passed her when they walked back from the stage.

Jungkook quickly smiled and waved as he passed her and she returned the wave. Suddenly she heard her name being called, and so she looked to her side to find the source of the voice. It was actually Dr. Kelly that was calling her over as she stood next to Mr. Bang. Maya was confused about what Dr. Kelly could possibly want from her. Maya walked over to her. For some reason she felt nervous walking up to talk to Mr. Bang, but she couldn’t understand why.

“This is my student, Maya.” Dr. Kelly introduced Maya to Mr. Bang.

“Hi, nice to meet you” Maya bowed as she realized this was much more appropriate considering he was Korean.

“Nice to meet you, Maya. I heard you brought the boys here. I just wanted to thank you. You really saved the day today!” Mr. Bang said.

“Oh, it’s okay. I am glad I ran into them,” Maya shyly responded. She thought, what could she possibly say to the CEO of a Korean music entertainment company

“Well, Dr. Kelly thank you for inviting us. This was a great event,” Mr. Bang began talking to Dr. Kelly again.

“Ah, no the pleasure is completely ours. It’s not everyday that we get to see such influential people out here in Arkansas. Right, Maya?”

“Right,” Maya replied.

The conversation between Dr. Kelly and Mr. Bang continued talking, and Maya decided she should just keep quiet. Maya often had the tendency to overstep her boundaries and she didn’t want to risk something like that in front of such famous people.

However, as Maya was standing there, she felt someone walk up behind her so she turned around. It turned out to be Taehyung.

“Hey!” Maya replied as she was surprised to see him walk up behind her.

She saw the rest of the group was also with him.

“What’s up?” She asked curiously.

“We just wanted to say thanks to you, Maya-ssi” Jimin responded. “It was very sweet of you to help us.”

“Ah, no worries guys. I feel like I just got to see a free BTS concert, so I am definitely not going to complain” Maya laughed.

Some of the guys awkwardly laughed at her lame joke. Others looked unamused. Namjoon came more towards the front and looked towards her. Maya felt her breath hitch again.

“Seriously, we are very grateful for your help. Good luck with your studies.” Namjoon said with a very serious and authoritative tone.

“Thank you” was all Maya would mutter as she felt a bit intimidated by his ‘leader’ voice.

After that day, Maya looked into BTS. She felt like she at least needed to know who these men were that she had met. Little did she know that once you fall into the BTS wormhole, there was no way out.

Within the span of few days, she had engulfed the entirety of BTS discography. She found herself thinking more and more about them as time passed. However, what she thought about the most, wasn’t just the group.

It was one particular instance she had experienced that day. Maya kept replaying the weird dreamlike sequence of images she had experienced the moment she had shaken hands with Namjoon. She hadn’t really thought too much of those images that day, but as time went on, her mind drifted back to that moment. She couldn’t remember all the images though. She remembered bits and pieces, and she kept trying to repeat them in her head to remember them.

Meanwhile, Namjoon and the rest of BTS had continued on with the tour that they were on across North America. After their short stop in Arkansas they had went west towards LA where they had their next concert.

The guys had forgotten the weird experience they had in Arkansas as their lives went on. However, for Namjoon it was impossible to remove those images in his head. He kept wondering why he experienced it. Was it a daydream? Was he just imagining? Why were those images so vivid yet so faded?

Namjoon sat on the plane back to Seoul after BTS had finished the tour in North America, and thought back to the images. He found himself thinking about Maya. However, he stopped himself as he realized instead of Maya, there was someone else he should be thinking about. Among all the chaos of the tour, he had almost forgotten about his girlfriend, Choi Ji Hyu.