#but i not only managed to watch the whole campaign i also really enjoyed it haha

[pinazee]

Sometimes i’ll remember that moment in the dnd campaign where (spoilers) tony (jon) tries to sacrifice himself and it basically goes:

*everyones shocked and a little appalled hed do such a thing*

Jon despairs that his choice nearly got everyone killed (and did in fact kill zephyr, james’ character) and everyone gives him shit for it

Mariah tries to tell him its okay

Jon pleads in the comments for people to donate so his friends will still play with him (bonus: his smile when they did it)

And lastly Everyones screams in excitement when he successfully saved himself and they managed to get everyone out of the campaign alive.

P.S the moment everyone shouted at Jon to put his little fly hat back on lives rent free in my head.

[welcometo79s]

just a little love

synopsis: as you're busy reading in your coruscant apartment; fives really craves some attention and affection from you.

contains: fives x gn!reader, kisses, fives being clingy, pure tooth-rotting fluff, self-indulgent [repost after being shadow-banned]

warnings: non-sexual making out. yeah it's a thing. my asexual soul only found out that most people on this cursed earth consider like, french kissing and neck kisses inherently suggestive like 4 weeks ago so if you wanna read it like that, sure. but it's also fiction where i can have whatever i want so just know this was made with the intent of it being SFW romantic fluff and that's how it's written. i hope this isn't too confusing to my allosexual audience, bear with me here.

word count: 2k

The rain seemed to be hitting the windows of your small Coruscant apartment but you paid it no mind. The thick glass shielded you from the relentless storm outside and your nose was buried in your newest novel; an adventure of two mercenaries doing seemingly impossible jobs throughout the galaxy. You had made yourself a cup of tea and the steaming beverage as well as the warm blanket you had thrown over your lap soothed you and helped you focus on the story. You hadn't gotten very far in the book yet; only having just started Chapter 5, but you already had a feeling that this was going to be a good one.

You were about to find out whether the two protagonists would manage to make it to Tython to find an ancient Jedi holocron for their client when you heard sounds coming from the bedroom. You noted that Fives must have woken up. This was his first day on shore leave and as much as he had enjoyed the nice lunch he had shared with you and the holofilm you two watched together, the campaign before had tired him out. So the two of you had laid down in bed and cuddled; Fives having fallen asleep in your arms to the sound of your heartbeat and the soothing motion of your fingertips running up and down his back.

Once you had woken up, you couldn't fall asleep anymore so you opted for finally getting started on that book you bought; getting up quietly as to not wake your favorite ARC Trooper. You had pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and left him to finish his nap, instead sitting down on the living room couch.

But now that Fives was awake, it didn't take long for him to show up in the doorframe, dressed in black pajama shorts and a loose fitted blue 79s shirt he, according to his own words, had won in a Karaoke competition. You gave him a soft smile. "Slept well?", you asked before returning your attention to the datapad you were reading on.

"Hmm... I missed you though", he mumbled and made you laugh with the almost pouting tone in which he said it. He sat down beside you and wrapped his arms around your waist, leaning against you and resting his chin on your shoulder. You could tell right away he was in a clingy mood and when Fives wanted attention, he wasn't exactly subtle. The way he had basically slumped against you with his whole body weight and attempted to snuggle up to you, despite your sitting position and the way you were holding that datapad making it pretty difficult, had already given you an idea of his current state.

But when you continued reading instead of putting the datapad aside and giving him the affection he was looking for, Fives decided he had to dial it up a notch. "Cyare...", he started carefully, turning his head on your shoulder to press a few soft kisses to your neck that tickled you, "you know I'm only on leave for a couple of days... then they're putting me back in the danger roulette with all the separatists, clankers and evil alien machines that want to kill me."

He sat up and and put a finger to your chin, turning your head towards him and pecking your lips gently. "You're the only thing I look forward to when I'm on leave... well besides not having to fear for my life", he continued and you let out a sigh. Fives nuzzled your cheek, leaving a few kisses on your skin every once in a while. You paid him no mind. There was however a subtle smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. You couldn't deny that you liked Fives being a little clingy and sappy sometimes.

Fives wondered whether you had understood that he craved your affection. "Can I kiss you?", he asked and poked your other cheek with his pointer finger, resting his chin on your shoulder once more. "I really want to kiss you."

You wrapped an arm around his shoulder, gently running a hand through his hair. "Believe it or not, I got that cyare", you chuckled and your tone softened a little. "Let me just finish up this chapter. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes."

Fives' response to that was attempting to sit down on your lap, pushing your datapad closer to your face due to the proximity. You looked up from the device and gazed at him through half-lidded eyes, raising your eyebrows. "You're a pain, you know that?"

He chuckled. "You don't mean that."

You let out a sigh and handed him the datapad. "Can you put this on the table for me?"

There was a triumphant smirk on his face when Fives took the item from you and leaned back, turning slightly to place the datapad on the living room table behind him. Once he had turned towards you again, he inched closer to you on your lap and you snuck your arms around his waist, pulling him flush to your chest. You could feel his weight on your legs, knowing he was technically too heavy for you to keep him here for long, but you tried to brush that thought aside.

Fives was so close to you now that you could feel his breath on your lips and he smiled at you softly; a loving gaze in his eyes before he cupped your face with his hands and pressed his lips to yours. You closed your eyes and kissed back immediately, slowly and lightly pecking his lips with your own. You could feel his lower lip slightly tremble under yours and you went to gently pluck on it with your lips. Fives let out a content sigh and pressed a more firm kiss to your mouth, then your cheek and several spots along your jawline.

"I love you so much...", he mumbled between kisses, making you smile at him.

"I love you too", you responded quietly, pulling him in for another round of kisses to his lips, your tongue gently sliding over his bottom lip and being met with a sweet taste. You pulled away for a moment, smirking at Fives. "Are you wearing lip balm?"

Fives chuckled slightly. "Had to. How else am I supposed to convince you to keep kissing me?"

"What makes you think I'd say no to that?", you pressed another soft kiss to his lips and Fives went in for another two as soon as you pulled away.

"You just did", he responded, thinking back to you reading on the couch.

"No, I said 'wait a second'", you reminded him and Fives grinned.

"If we spend all our time waiting, life passes us by", he proudly proclaimed and you rolled your eyes.

"Do not give me words of wisdom to justify your abysmal lack of patience", you laughed and Fives chuckled as well. "What flavor is this anyway? The lip balm?"

"It said bubblegum peach on the package", he answered and you shook your head with a smile at the mental image of the 501st elite ARC Trooper, slayer of battle droids, walking into a drug store and buying something called 'bubblegum peach lip balm' just to kiss you later. Then again, that was something Fives would do. "Do you like it?"

You pondered the question for a moment, chuckling to yourself. "Jury's still out on that one", you teased and pulled him close again, pressing your lips flush against his before opening your mouth slightly. Fives' plucked at your lower lip gently before his tongue slid in to meet yours in a loving, slow kiss. You felt a fluttering sensation in your stomach and Fives wrapped his arms around your neck, the motion lifting his shirt a little. You shifted the position of your arms and wrapped them around his exposed midriff, your fingers gently drawing circles onto his sides; something you had learned did not tickle him in the slightest.

Fives kissed you slowly but passionately, pouring all his love for you into the gesture and you knew what he tried to convey without him needing to say anything. He had missed you. You had felt the same way while he was away on the campaign. This was him making up for all the times you both had been laying alone in bed at night, wishing to be able to hold the other. Fives already called you every day if possible, sneaking out of the barracks at night in secret to contact you and let you know that he was okay; that he loved you and thought about you. You thought about his brothers and wondered what they would think if they could see him sometimes; sitting on your lap like this and kissing you tenderly over and over again. The difference from seeing him decapitate droids in battle was probably jarring.

You smiled against his lips at the thought, almost letting out a chuckle as Fives attempted to snuggle even closer to you, his tongue moving against yours in a gentle motion. You didn't know how long you remained like this. It was easy to lose track of time when Fives was all you could focus on and he kissed you like you were his favorite thing in the galaxy. He said you were, at least. You vaguely remembered him having followed that up with listing "beds that don't feel like concrete" and "fruity mocktails at 79s" for second and third place.

Sometimes it felt like you could go on like this forever, getting lost in the sensation of his kisses and forgetting about the rest of the galaxy; about the war. For those few days you spent together when he was on leave, a future where the two of you didn't have to worry about keeping secrets and fighting battles seemed almost in reach. You pulled away after a while, noticing how your legs were beginning to feel a little numb from the weight of carrying Fives and you gestured him to lay down.

Once he had done that, you snuggled close to him on the couch, pressing a few lazy kisses to his lips before Fives lifted his head to press one to your forehead, his nose brushing against yours as he did so. You slid down a little to rest your head against his chest, burying your face in the fabric of his shirt. For something they gave away at a Karaoke competition in a clone bar, the shirt was of surprisingly good quality and soft; the comforting sensation made complete by the warmth that Fives radiated. He wrapped his arms around you and held you close, resting his chin on top of your head.

"I still can't believe I'm this lucky", you mumbled and felt his chest rising and falling with every breath. Fives chuckled softly.

"I feel the same way sometimes. A lot of times actually", he had a content smile on his lips and closed his eyes, enjoying holding you in his arms like this. "Want to continue that holofilm later we started on my last leave but never finished?"

You shrugged. "I honestly didn't like that one that much", you admitted and Fives grinned as an idea hit him.

"Then how about a Fives original?", he chuckled and looked at you with a mischievous smile. "Do you want to see Hardcase and Jesse look for the hidden stash of gold from a pirate group in the freezer of 79s? They made me promise not to show the recording to any of our brothers but you're not one of my brothers, so..."

You laughed. "I don't think they'd appreciate if you showed their drunk misadventures to me though."

Fives sighed. "Yeah they wouldn't... still, do you want to see it? I made it a montage and put funny music over it too."

You chuckled and smirked up at him. "Are you kidding? Of course I want to see it."

[lavellenchanted]

having watched the final episode and thinking about the season as a whole, overall I still have very mixed feelings - it's still very enjoyable to watch, the animation is beautifully done and the acting is fantastic, but I think this season is definitely weaker than the previous two and I have a lot more criticisms than I had of them

I think that's for a mix of reasons: there's the inevitable issues with compressing an improvised campaign of hundreds of hours into seasons of 12 half-hour episodes, and I think this season shows that the chroma conclave arc could easily have stretched to another season (though I can understand why they wouldn't want to push that when they didn't know if they were getting a season four), but while I never expected the show to be a 1:1 of the campaign and certain changes were always going to be necessary, I do think some of the more significant departures they've made this season don't actually help the greater narrative and in some cases have actually been harmful to characterisation and the emotional beats of the story

I also think we're seeing the butterfly effect of choosing to start s1 with vox machina building their reputation in emon and then skipping ahead in the narrative rather than introducing them as an already established and competent group - they're just not in the same place they were for these story beats in the campaign, and that has an overall impact

as said I still enjoy watching the show, it is overall a positive experience and it's nice to spend any time back with these characters I love, and I hope s4 will be tighter because it's not as sprawling as the chroma arc, but we'll see

more specific thoughts under the cut - spoilers ahead, ye be warned:

starting with positives:

loved seeing keyleth's earth trial, I think the way they've folded her class features into the story and her arc is great

raishan managing to achieve her goal with thordak's body was fascinating, I really enjoyed getting the sense of what a genuine threat she really was

same with thordak, you could really feel his menace and what a genuinely terrifying enemy he was

the songs were great this season and kaylie's song was beautiful

I actually really liked the change of scanlan being in a coma rather than dead and how kaylie brought him round, as well as her encouraging him to go and join the fight against raishan

lots of nice little references - grog "blacking out" to be smart because travis just couldn't hold back that one time, anna's men playing uko'toa, keyfish reference, "do you spice?"

laura broke my heart with vex's confession during percy's resurrection

and while I wasn't a fan of different order things happened in, every perc'ahlia scene was still a delight to watch

seeing inside orthax's realm was very cool

dis was rightfully horrifying and will haunt my nightmares

I did also love them folding in some of the wider exu lore through zerxus

the fight choreography was always fantastic

as was the cinematography

and now on to negatives

my biggest disappointment this season is the complete failure to really showcase any of the group dynamics outside the romantic pairings (and occasionally the twins and pike & grog, and even they suffer), to the point that vex seemed to be the only character grieving for percy or even wanting to avenge him, when ripley's death was one of the rawest, most emotional moments on stream because it was the entire team coming together. would anyone watching the show only even know that keyleth was percy's best friend? or that one of her biggest struggles with her aramente was knowing she was going to outlive them all, not just vax?

don't get me wrong, the boat fight in ep11 was very well done and enjoyable and I loved getting some 1 on 1 moments with the twins, and vex using percy's arrow was still an emotional moment but taken in context overall it felt very anti-climatic - especially when the only comment anyone had about it was keyleth saying "I saw".

just at this point I don't know that I really buy that the show versions of vox machina really do consider themselves to be family, so the "break up" at the end wasn't as impactful as it could have been, nor was keyleth's anger at the group when raishan took thordak's body

and honestly I think you could keep most of the changes and still show those dynamics with just a few tweaks like,

have percy be the one keyleth really butts heads with over raishan - his cold practical logic vs her morals and emotions, remind us of their friendship (which was shown so well in s1) and have her regretting their fighting when he dies

keep grog and keyleth's conversation about anger; it's a beautiful character moment for both of them, and grog's assurance that they will stand with keyleth against raishan if need be would make her anger at the team and running away from them instead of relying on them echo better later

especially if that's following up with keyleth holding herself back because of her fears of outliving everyone and letting herself rely on all her friends, especially when her best friend just died, instead of making it all about committing to vax (even though he was the one with the aging fears this time)

let pike and vax talk about religion - vax suddenly finding himself the champion of a god when he's never been religious turning to the group's cleric, who can be honest with her own struggles. let pike threaten the raven queen! let it be clear why vax tells her at the end, "you showed me the way"

have scanlan talk to vex and vax about kaylie, because they grew up with a shitty father and can offer some perspective on how kaylie might be feeling (and depending on the conversation that could either play into the bard's lament or help play into the softer ending they went with)

if they were really set on not having the "how do you, vox machina, want to do this?" moment then at least let the others express gladness that ripley's dead and disappointment that they couldn't be there for it

if they're also set on having percy stay dead (which I hated purely because it means he was left out of the two major endgame fights) have pike try to resurrect percy and fail because she can't find his soul, let her feel like she failed him and have that play into her questioning storyline

although I have to say on that note I am also overall disappointed in how they've handled pike this season - which obviously to some extent is because she was in and out of the campaign so much, but even so it really didn't feel like she had a complete arc this season and I'm hoping they do properly follow up next season

because it is very unclear how she actually feels faith-wise at the moment. I'm interested to see where they take this bloodline personally I'm not a fan of giving her another crisis of faith storyline when she had that in s1 - I would have preferred to see her faith in herself growing as a reflection of the strength of her faith in her everlight, understanding that the everlight chose her because of who she is - and as it is I'm not sure if she's doubting the everlight, or just doubting whether a life of faith is for her, or if that's going to have any knock on impact on her magic

and part of that is because apart from one or two very cool set battles like using the plate of the dawn martyr against thordak . . . pike's powers have very much been nerfed. to the point that she can't even handle percy's resurrection on her own. even though in stream she's performed multiple resurrections and got a goddess to punch a fucking dragon for the team (no I'm still not over that being cut, I never will be)

she's not the only one. I feel like vex's powers have been downplayed a lot (like has she cast a single spell ever?), and so have scanlan's.

other things that I wasn't thrilled with:

really don't like where they seem to be going with vax saving percy being the reason he ends up a revenant, not least since it implies that percy's soul being taken by orthax was his pre-ordained "fate" not actually a complete perversion of the natural order

also very sad we lost all the aftermath of percy's resurrection, especially percy and vex's forest walk and long talk about forgiveness and that he heard her, and percy and cass's reunion

grog seemed to just be there for comic relief and to punch things this season, I'd really like to see him given more moments to show his deeper characters

sad we didn't get j'mon sa ord joining the fight against thordak

I do feel like gilmore's relationship with the whole team but especially vax is shortchanged a lot in the series, and I'd love them to give us a bit more of his character the way they did kima and allura

very 'mmmm' on them including vex's line about not getting married which is contextually very different than it was on the stream - mostly I'm worried that between that and her then eloping with percy, plus vax's doom being because he saved percy for vex, that there's going to be a lot of fandom blowback on vex (it was bad enough just on stream when vax hadn't yet died)

still absolutely furious that they killed kash

name checking cabal's ruin but not getting it? like, what was the point

things I'd like to see in s4:

taryon darrington. they cannot rob me of him.

kynan appearing as a whitestone guard or cass's personal guard (if jarret can be a guard in emon then why not)

more spotlight on the platonic dynamics beween the group

following up on percy looking at the dragon scales by having him make vex's armour

some unambiguously positive depictions of the gods, especially the everlight

kash being resurrected. or just like ... turning up somewhere like, "yeah I got better, it's cool".

[sigridstumb]

Get out of my own way

There's a phrase that is new-ish to therapy models, one that I look at entirely askance because what is now termed "pathological demand avoidance" is what I have spent my life knowing as "self-sabotaging dumbass." In most of my life, I manage to avoid being a self-sabotaging dumbass. But in one area, that of cultural trends, it sometimes sets in. Usually to my loss and detriment.

It's just that, when I am barraged with a whole bunch of people all loving a thing at the same time (Tumblr amplifies this a LOT) it *irritates* me. This is asinine, and it makes ME the asshole were I to voice it, because oh my god, Sigrid, people love what they love! Do not squash joy in this parlous existence! But internally I resolve to never watch or read or listen to the thing in question.

Why? I dunno, because sometimes I am a self-sabotaging dumbass!

At any rate, after months of being vaguely irritated with the INTENSE love people have for Dimension 20 (it's not you! It's me! I have a problem! You go on and keep loving the shit out of what you love!) I finally saw a TikTok clip of the show Game Changer. And Brennan Lee Mulligan was hilarious and brilliant.

So, I sought out the show, Game Changer. Spouse and I both really enjoy it, and agree that Brennan is our favorite. I figure out that to watch more episodes, I should subscribe to Dropout.tv. I do, and suddenly realize that Brennan Lee Mulligan is that guy from Dimension 20 that everyone loses their goddamn minds over.

Oh. Oh!

I, with a sense of letting down some internal moral code and a pervasive feeling that I am doing something shameful, watch the first episode of Dimension 20: Fantasy High. It is, as literally everyone (not literally, obviously) already knows, very very good.

I am hooked! I have become One Of Those People! And, Sigrid, the only thing keeping you from enjoying this all along was your own self-sabotaging dumbassery!! Argh!!

ANYWAY.

For those of you who do not know, you are one of Today's Lucky 10,000.

Firstly, Dropout.tv is a comedy troupe formed out of the wreckage of College Humor when it imploded. There is a core group of, I'm not sure, 12-20 people, and they invite guests. The group does a variety of different web tv shows, some of them game shows, some skit comedy, and a great deal of table-top role playing game based improvisational theater. The members are actors, impressionists, writers, voice actors, musicians, and very skilled improv comedians.

Dimension 20 is the umbrella name for the 30-ish different TTRPG campaigns they have filmed. They play in different genres, there are a handful of GMs (though Brennan does a LOT of them,) and the player group composition shifts around a lot. In later seasons, there are nerd celebrity guests.

We, the viewer, are watching people play AD&D 5th edition. That's it, that's the show.

Except it is not at all the show! Here are some points I was not expecting:

- The production values are great. The props, the miniatures, the sound effects, the models of the combat areas, it's all great. It's the dream TTRPG set-up of my teenage years. - The people are voice actors. They are fantastic. They inhabit their characters, and it is fantastic to watch. Also, Brennan Lee Mulligan as GM does all the non-player characters. He does voices for ALL of them. - These people are all IMPROV COMEDIANS. Whatever the others say, they roll with it. Unexpected things happen constantly, both because of the dice rolls and also just because players are unpredictable, and everyone picks up the event and carries on. - They are actually playing a game, so much of what happens in controlled by rolls of dice. And everyone is pretty damn good about this. They make it work, they make the plot continue, using whatever the dice has given them to work with. They are SO much better at it than any of the gaming groups I was in! - The episodes I have seen so far are all good-natured in vibe. The people playing want everyone to have fun. They want the GM to have fun, the players to have fun, and the audience to have fun. There's no sniping except in the most friendly way, there's no sulking about bad rolls, there's no vibe-kills that I have seen.

Anyway, if you like improv comedy, if you like voice actors performing SF/F plays live, if you like other people's TTRPGs, Dimension 20 might also be for you.

[munson-blurbs]

Happy 2k followers! If it’s alright could I make a request for my birthday using the 2k prompts with Eddie/hellfire room/birthday cake?

Very fluffy fic incoming! Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: none, all fluff!

WC: 1.2k

--

“Okay, okay, yeah. No, I totally understand,” you say into the receiver, willing your voice not to crack. “I hope everything gets cleaned up quickly.” You slam the phone back on the hook, punctuating your aggravation with a string of curses. 

“That sounds like it went well,” your neighbor, Dustin, quips, munching on a granola bar. Any time he comes to your house, he manages to find your snack stash. 

You bury your head in your hands. “That was Meg’s Café,” you explain. “Apparently a pipe burst last night and flooded the whole place.”

“Shit,” Dustin mutters, taking another bite. There’s nothing more indestructible than a teenager’s appetite. “That’s where you were having Eddie’s birthday party!”

“Oh, really?” you retort, voice dripping with sarcasm. “That hadn’t occurred to me; thanks!” You sigh as Dustin flips you the bird. “Where are we gonna find space to throw him a whole party in…” you check your watch, “...three hours?!” You turn to the younger boy, who’s already moved on from your crisis in search of more food. “Dustin, focus!”

“Sorry, jeez.” He holds his hands up in surrender. “I can’t think on an empty stomach.” 

You roll your eyes and reach into your fridge, pulling out a crown of broccoli and tossing it to him. “Go nuts.”

He takes a big bite just to spite you. “Okay,” he says, “let’s consider our options.” He puts the vegetable down on the counter. “We could have it here.”

You shake your head; the apartment you share with your mom is barely big enough for the two of you. “Too small.”

Dustin nods. “I’m guessing Eddie’s trailer is also out, then.” He sighs in exasperation. “My mom would never let me throw a party, so that rules out my place, too.” He taps his chin before raising his pointer finger excitedly, like a mad scientist with an ingenious idea. “How about the Hellfire room? We can decorate it, order some pizzas, cut a cake—”

“The cake!” you groan. “Meg’s was gonna have one for us!” 

Without saying another word, Dustin darts across the hall to his own apartment. Communication is not his strong suit, you think wryly. He comes back moments later, out of breath and clutching two rolls of cookie dough and a bag of potato chips. 

“Let’s bake ourselves a cake,” he pants, plopping the tubes on the stove. 

“With sour cream and onion chips?”

“Oh, that’s for me. Though the broccoli was much appreciated.”

~

Dustin quickly recruits the rest of Hellfire Club—and Steve Harrington, their reluctant chauffeur—to decorate, while you two start on the cake. 

“I need a rolling pin,” you tell him as you open the plastic casing. He dutifully hands you the tool. “I hope Eddie is okay with a chocolate chip cookie cake,” you murmur. 

Dustin chortles. “Please,” he says, “that man would eat dirt if you were the one serving it to him.” You feel your cheeks heat up, and you try to focus on rolling out the dough. You and Eddie have been friends forever, but you’ve only been dating for a few months. That’s why it’s especially important for everything to be perfect. 

“Don’t believe me?” Dustin continues. “Ask Lucas and Mike. One time you left him a cute note in his locker, and he kept looking at it during Hellfire. Couldn’t even stay in his DM character. And this is the guy who once puked and came back to finish a campaign like nothing happened.”

“Okay, okay,” you say, placing the dough in the oven. “I’m gonna call everyone and let them know about the change of venue. Just take the cake out when the timer goes off.” He gives you a little salute as you make your way through the guest list. 

“Cake’s done!” Dustin calls out as you wrap up your final call. The smell of freshly-baked cookies wafts through the air. “Just gotta let it cool.” He looks over at you before blurting out, ��So, uh, do you love Eddie?”

“I, um,” you choke on your words. “I don’t really know what love feels like. Like, romantic love.”

“Well,” he starts, plopping onto a kitchen chair, “when you get news—good or bad—who’s the first person you wanna tell? When you think about your future, who’s there? Who makes you smile more than anyone else? Whose sadness makes you sad?”

It’s the same answer for all of his questions. “Eddie.”

“So, there ya go!” Dustin exclaims, slapping the table. “Now all you gotta do is tell him.” He says it like it’s no big deal; like you wouldn’t be baring your heart to him. What if it was too soon? What if he thought you were rushing things?

~

Your nerves are already at an all-time high, but when you hear Wayne and Eddie’s voices traveling down the Hawkins High hallway, your heart feels like it’ll pound out of your chest. 

“So you’re applying to be a custodian?” Eddie’s saying, disbelief tinging his tone.

Wayne coughs. “Uh, yup. Figured you could show me where your club meets before my interview.” His voice is so stilted and awkward; for everything he’s good at, Wayne Munson is not an actor. 

The doorknob turns, and your stomach feels like it’s filled with lead-winged butterflies. “This is the Hellfire–” Eddie stops in his tracks as he takes in the sight before him. All of the club members plus Max Mayfield yell out, “Surprise!”, and you watch as a huge grin spreads across your boyfriend’s face.

“Happy birthday!” You bound over to him, wrapping your arms around his waist and pressing a kiss to his lips. 

“Baby,” he murmurs once he wills himself to pull his lips away from yours, “did you do all this?”

“Kind of?” You laugh at his bemused expression. “This was gonna be at Meg’s, but they had a flood, so everyone helped me move the party here.” You glance at the table behind you, where people are already digging into the pizza pies. “I was hoping for more of a sit-down dinner, but we had to make do.”

“Tell him about the cake!” Dustin shouts, making you roll your eyes playfully.

“Cake?” Eddie asks, cocking an eyebrow.

“Yeah…Meg’s was also supposed to provide a birthday cake, so Dustin and I whipped up one using cookie dough.” You’d managed to find a tube of blue gel icing in your cabinet, and you’d written Happy Birthday Eddie with a little heart on top of your makeshift cake. “I know it’s not exactly what you wanted, but it’s all we had on hand…”

Eddie shuts you up with another kiss. “Not exactly what I wanted? Babe, I’m surrounded by my favorite people at a party thrown for me by the girl I love. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

You’re so touched by his words that you nearly miss his confession. “Wait, you…you love me?”

He nods, caressing your cheek with his thumb. “I love you so damn much, it scares me,” he admits, letting out a little laugh.

“I love you, too, Eddie.” You’re about to bring him in for a passionate kiss–audience be damned–when you’re interrupted by a certain curly-haired meddling freshman.

“Told you!”

--

[on-a-sunbeam]

Revenge and Dollhouse for the ask game?

YES HI!!! Uhm I’ll do Dollhouse first!

My rating (1-10): I’d give it a 6, maybe. Which is to say that I enjoyed it A LOT but also I have just like. A Few Critiques. Just one or two.

My favourite character: ADELLE!! There is no contest here at all I loveee her

My least favourite character: Okay, this used to be super easy because I really hated Topher at first, but I have grown to tolerate him so. I mean I hate like almost all the clients and also Sierra’s handler, but you’re supposed to hate them so it’s not really specific to me, I guess. I’ll say Nolan though, for obvious reasons.

The character I think I'd be friends with: I think Ivy because I have friends that Ivy reminds me of heh

The character I think I won't hit off with: Maybe Ballard? He seems very serious I don’t know

My favourite episode/scene: EVERY SCENE WITH ADELLE. I’m kidding but only slightly. Uhh I really liked A Spy in the House of Love, though, and I think Echoes is pretty funny. Belonging has um. A LOT going on in it, but I will say I really liked Adelle in that one, too.

Whose clothing style I like best: Unfortunately, I’m legally obligated to say Topher because I dress exactly like him. It was slightly detrimental to my whole initial hating-him campaign that every time I saw him I went ‘ah I would wear that’

Times I watched it (and if I would again): Once! And I definitely would again; despite its flaws I do really like it and it’s not super long either. Plus Adelle.

Aaand Revenge!!

My rating (1-10): 8.5! I love it a lot

My favourite character: UHHH HARD tie between Emily and Victoria. I do also really like Amanda so I don’t know.

My least favourite character: It’s been a hot second since I’ve watched this, so no one’s really jumping out to me. I will say though that I somehow forget that Jack exists half the time. I really don’t know how I manage that when he’s kind of a Main Guy, but it’s still a little surprise every time he shows up. This doesn’t even happen to Declan, just to him.

The character I think I'd be friends with: I’m not saying Ashley is normal, per se, but I am saying she’s MOSTLY normal. I feel like we could hang out and chat while I was blissfully unaware of any scheming.

The character I think I won't hit off with: I have a weird soft spot in my heart for Tyler but we most certainly would not be friends

My favourite episode/scene: SHOOT. Okay, I liked the party where it all came full circle to the beginning, and I feel like there were some really good twists, but I really like the scene where Amanda dies (which is stupid because I love Amanda but). Also I know this is SUCH a small thing, but for some reason that group shot of the Grayson’s after Victoria kills Helen means everything to me. It’s so silly, but I love it so much.

Whose clothing style I like best: Nolan, maybe? I don’t know, I feel like he had some iconic looks.

Times I watched it (and if I would again): I have a confession to make guys, I actually have not finished it yet 😔. I’m actually still in the middle of season 3 because I’m slow at watching things sometimes. But I have really liked it so far, so odds are pretty good it would be something that I will rewatch!!

Sorry, I just thought of an answer to the least favourite character thing. I HATE AIDEN. I HAVE NO RHYME OR REASON I JUST DISLIKE HIM.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the ask though!!!

[ruvviks]

hi. vitali's favorite food & any hobbies. is he allergic to anything . when did he find out. does he take multivitamins

HIII THANK YOU FOR THESE >:] young vitali would honestly just eat about anything because he barely had any time to make good food for himself so his all-time favorite food back then would've been like. burritos. those very soggy ones that you put in the microwave and are entirely too greasy and there's barely any flavor but the whole combination of textures and flavors is sort of JUST tolerable enough to be decent. but when you're really hungry you can devour that thing in seconds. am i making sense here. he was also never sober when having them which would've also played a part in it

vitali nowadays doesn't eat greasy food anymore because his digestive system can't handle it anymore (gee i wonder why) and he likes eating varied, so i'd say his all-time favorite food nowadays would just be a good stir fry! very versatile and easy to make, he loves cooking it and he loves eating it just as much. anything with good quality beef or pork would be his favorite ^_^

when vitali was younger he honestly did not have many hobbies :/ he mostly just liked hanging out with people to get high and drunk and then go clubbing, or he would go hang out at someone's apartment to then get high and drunk there and play video games or watch the other person play video games (and then they would have sex afterwards nine out of ten times), or he would just sit on the floor and stare at the wall while listening to music and he called that his self-care hour. any other moment was filled with either going to school or doing homework or trying to keep a job (he was bad at it because he was stubborn and talked back when people were being annoying and also most jobs didn't allow him to take regular breaks for his leg which also didn't help)

nowadays, vitali still works entirely too much so he doesn't have a lot of free time on his hands but at least he knows how to relax now :] i'd say cooking is 100% one of his hobbies because he loves preparing food for himself and others; he also enjoys playing the guitar, still goes boxing sometimes (he didn't consider it a hobby when he was younger, more just anger management LMAO), surprisingly enough has picked up chess sometime after the broker fic, and he's also surprisingly good at writing plot lines for ttrpgs because he regularly writes outlines for fun quests for the d&d campaign his mercenaries are playing :] he doesn't really play himself all too often but he would show up for a session every now and then. the dice rolling is too confusing for him

as far as i can remember i have not given vitali any allergies but i can't double check because i don't have my laptop. poses cutely. he also only takes vitamin d because of the long office hours he makes and thus doesn't go out in the sun enough. basically he needs a vacation but also he doesn't want a vacation. he's a businessman boy

[hermit-searching]

TMNTposting, Michelangelo edition:

I still have favs, but I would love nothing more than to talk about the boy in orange. Michelangelo is such an interesting character, development-wise in the series. While Leos and Donnie's usually end up developing more negatively (like the emo breakdowns and all that) Michelangelo and Raph seem to always be the ones that make positive growth. And I love it. We love to see that here.

All Michelangelo's are pretty silly and goofy. They're the most laid back of all the turtles, mostly due to the "youngest brother" dynamic he has with the rest of the turtles, Rise being the most obvious one of all. With 87 Michelangelo, he's more of a chill party dude with an unyeilding optimism despite the circumstances in the later "Red Sky" seasons of TMNT 87. He's the only one of the turtles who genuinely still saw the good in things, and tried to revisit the old dynamic they had even though there was a massive hate campaign against them, and getting double mutated...among many other things. This dude, this little guy, was able to keep a steady girlfriend through all this which is insane (and adorable).

Some of the other cute things I remember about him is:

-he remembers their time being regular turtles.

-he normally sides with Leonardo whenever theres an argument (usually started by Donatello)

-the little alien star child in season 7 could have destroyed the planet but he still decided to be nice and comfort him anyways.

Also random fun factoid about the memory of being a regular turtle. Both he and Donatello or Raphael have mentioned before they spent half their life at the bottom of a glass bowl, in the pet shop. Which either implies they lived in a tiny fishbowl for a really long time, or they were really young when they mutated. The implication seems to lean more towards the latter, and the turtles mutated straight into being teenagers. It's entirely likely the 87 turtles are technically young kids stuck in the bodies of teenagers. Enjoy the nightmares thinking about that.

Now for 03 Mikey. I want to chefs kiss the writers because this series was when they started the "kinda annoying younger brother" trope for him, but somehow still managed to handle his development with absolute grace. The Battle Nexus arcs are some of my favorites in TMNT 03, personally. Both because I'm a sucker for 03 Leosagi, but also because they showed everyone just how smart Mikey can be, and that he is perfectly capable of handling a fight on his own. He's been named Battle Nexus champion, not once, but twice. The first time was more circumstance, but don't let that distract you from the fact he outsmarted Raph in a fight and still won the tournament.

And the second time? That time, he was cursed so any injury he sustained couldn't be healed and he still won! The second time was entirely on his skill and fighting alone and he won.

Despite rubbing it in his brothers faces, he genuinely didn't believe he was capable of winning the Battle Nexus tournament and I LOVE the writers for giving me that. 03 Mikey is a loveable menace.

fun things I love about 03 Mikey:

-he literally saves Klunk because he liked her vibes. on Christmas. good for him.

-despite how often they bicker, he's Raph's best friend.

-the whole thing about him (and his brothers) helping the homeless people in the Garbageman episode.

I don't really have much to say about 2012 Mikey tbh. He sure is a guy who exists. It is cool he survived in Dimension X for a few months on his own though. Good for him.

And finally, I'll leave the Rise ramblings to the other TMNT blogs out there. Because everything I say is something someone else definitely has before. And I mostly want to make these posts for the people out there who never watched the older TMNT series.

[tarakaybee]

Oxventure - Portal Combat and Final Final Campaign Thoughts

This is gonna be a bit of an essay, but I have had a lot of thoughts over the years.

Honestly, in the end, Oxventure just managed to stick the landing for me. My one major ask with my complex relationship with this D&D show, and the reason that I stopped watching it, is that I wanted to be told a good story. I feel like sometimes when I talk to people about this, I get given the excuse that "it's just a comedy" and that you don't need to follow the rules to have a good time, neither of which is at all where my complaints lie. Don't get me wrong, I'm a massive nerd for the mechanical minutiae of 5E and love to minmax and roleplay using my character's stats and abilities, but the rules don't automatically equal a good story. It certainly can help to create a story with dramatic tension if the rules carry with them the possibility of death and failure, you only need to listen to The Adventure Zone: Balance to see that you can tell a good D&D story that follows the rules as little as it feels like, and have an overtly comedic tone, while also telling a really strong, effective story with a realised world, an escalation in dramatic tension and three dimensional characters.

I love Critical Role, Dimension 20 and that first arc of TAZ, but my personal favourite Dungeons and Dragons actual-play is Not Another D&D Podcast, which is basically the platonic idea of Oxventure (and also is more consistent and a better told story than TAZ in my opinion). The setting and characters are explicitly comedic archetypes, and they can spend half an episode riffing, but they're much more competent at keeping the story on track, which is after all, part of the reason I invest in this game. When I say that Oxventure started to get boring and receptive around Season Two, that I think they mess around riffing with each other too much, which saps time away that they could've spent developing their characters or fleshing out the world in any conceivable manner, and that they don't follow the rules enough for the game to have any tension, I want you all to bear in mind that my favourite D&D show is one that starts with a five minute conversation about dragon pussies before introducing any of the PCs, and that one PC has a possum who has the ability to scribe letters and act as a lawyer, purely because she joked about it so often the DM was forced to canonise it.

I thoroughly enjoy Johnny and the Oxboxtra crew, and I've always thought that they had it in them to tell great stories, and I was proven to be correct when their Deadlands and Blades in the Dark campaigns concluded and told amazingly compelling, dramatic stories without losing their comedy edge, and that encouraged me to give the main campaign another shot. For the most part, this final arc has been more of the same kind that I got bored by and stopped watching, but these last two episodes managed to pull through for me. The story and everything the story has ultimately been about came to head afterward the main fight with the post-climax confrontation with Lilliana.

I love the bold choices that Luke, Andy and Ellen made, technically none of those spells should have worked the way they did, but for the purpose of the story it worked. Corazon's big sacrifice was a great story beat to end on, it was a bit of a cliche, but cliches are used for a reason. What I like about Corazon and Dob's big sacrifices is that Corazon would never have done that in episode one, wheras Dob was always this good and always would have done, and his choice affirms what we love about him. Ellen acted the hell out of that scene too, I'm glad that she got a big moment as well.

This campaign is the one that got me into the TTRPG hobby, it was bittersweet to see it end after all this time. Inspired by Dob, I ended up playing my own Half-Orc Bard in a weekly campaign that lasted five real years, it's not an exaggeration to see that that was a whole and significant period of my recent life that Oxventure kicked off. Knowing now what they know about the way Oxventure turned out, I'm genuinely curious to see what they'll all do differently, since obviously they won't want it to just be the same kind of campaign a second time. I personally hope for a story that sticks the middle, as well as the landing and takeoff, but we'll see!

[girl-next-door-writes]

Of course I have some Eddie for my dear friend @fandom-princess-forevermore under the cut.

A: Aftercare, B: Body Part, E: Experience, F: Favourite Position, I: Intimacy, K: Kink, N: No and W: Wild Card

A: Aftercare; what they're like after sex.

Eddie would like to be the perfect gentleman, he really, truly would, but he has just put everything he had into what you just did and you're lucky if he has enough energy to roll off you. In his head, he would help you clean up, whisper sweet nothings, tell you how wonderful you are and how amazing what you just did was, but the reality is him just pulling you close and mumbling incoherent sounds as he drifts off to sleep.

B: Body Part; their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner's.

Although he quite likes his hair, Eddie's favourite body part is his fingers. They are expressive and dexterous and he can play you almost as well as he can play his guitar. Yeah, he is incredibly proud of what his expert fingers can accomplish.

When asked what his favourite body part of his significant other's is, he will grin cheekily and say 'have you seen that ass'? But in reality, he thinks the best bit about you is your lips. You can make him weak with just a smile, can make him ache with a soft pout. His gaze often lands on your lips and sends his mind racing to create a whole load of incredibly filthy scenarios.

E: Experience; how experienced are they? Do they know what they are doing?

What this boy lacks in experience he makes up with enthusiasm. He may not have had many sexual partners, but he is a kinaesthetic learner so he takes every opportunity to get some practical experience in. He takes his time to plot out what gives you the most pleasure with the precision of one of his DnD campaigns and boy does that attention to detail pay off.

F: Favourite Position; this goes without saying.

Eddie is absolutely feral for you on top. In this position his hands are free to explore your body and being able to look up and watch you take charge, knowing you want this as much as he does, it blows his mind. There are times he still can't believe you are with him, so being able to take you in from this position is like a dream come true each and every time.

I: Intimacy; how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect.

The only time this boy breaks eye-contact is when his lips are trailing over your skin. He is a hopeless romantic and that side of him definitely comes out when he is between your thighs and buried deep inside you. Holding your hip with one hand as his other caresses your thigh, his forehead pressed to yours, his gaze a little cross-eyed due to the close proximity as the tip of his nose grazes yours, soft, sweet words of adoration falling from him as he makes sure you are enjoying this as much as he is. Eddie really is so soft for you in all the best ways.

K: Kink; one or more of their kinks.

Eddie is definitely down for a bit of roleplay. He is a dramatic fuck anyway, but if you showed up dressed as an elven princess, asking to be rescued by the big brave hero, well... honestly he is gonna be lost for words and then have a mad scramble to get into character, but the idea that the two of you would end up together in alternate universes where you were the Arwen to his Aragorn, that really gets him in a way nothing else does.

N: No; something they wouldn't do, turn offs.

Pain is a nope, he's also not keen on degradation. The poor boy has been through some shit in his life and the last thing he wants in an intimate moment of passion between the two of you, is a flashback to some childhood trauma he's managed to keep buried.

W: Wild Card; a random headcanon for the character.

It takes a while before Eddie finally seals the deal. It isn't that he doesn't want to, hell no! It's that he wants it to be special for you and, try as he might, he doesn't think his stained mattress in his uncle's trailer is the romantic setting you deserve. Neither is the back of his van. In fact, he spends quite a bit of time saving up so he can get a hotel room. Not some dingy motel room, no, he wants to really make the effort, even if that means waiting a little longer as he scrapes the money together.

[shytastemakerthing]

Hi, if it’s possible, would I be able to get a romantic TWST match up?

I’m not exactly one for athletics, but I’m a huge music nerd. I did choir for 8 years, and vocal training for 10, and I was a big theatre kid. I also enjoyed history and biology classes the most in school, and I’ve got a love for forensics. I also do doll repaints, and it’s one of my favourite hobbies.

I also enjoy gaming, but playing combat games gives me a lot of anxiety, so I only play when I have my cat to comfort me because I’m really jumpy, at least until I am ridiculously overpowered for the area I am in and can one shot any and all enemies. Outside of online gaming, I also like to play TTRPGs with my friends, and I lean towards playing either bards or sorcerers.

My personality as a whole tends to slip between “mother of three kids who is always sighing at their antics” and “if god wanted to stop me I wouldn’t have made it this far” depending on who I’m with, but I’m overall a fairly strong introvert, and I like to have some time to myself every day, though I do have a habit of swearing like a sailor.

Hello and thank you so much for your request!! As a fellow TTRPG player, I mostly play as either a rogue or a druid. Though, I do have one bard character I have yet to play!

Tw: None

I match you with........

Idia Shroud

Right off the bat, this man would absolutely love to do TTRPG's with you! He is very selective as to who he plays these with. Ortho will join him, maybe Azul here and there (Azul would honestly be so good at these sorts of things, I swear). And the moment that he hears that you play them? Bring all your supplies next time because the both of you are going to have a long night.

Now, as to the relationship part of this, it was hard to get him to open up to the idea of one to begin with, let alone being in one. It took a lot of time, effort, and dedication to get to that point, but you made it! Bonus if you ran a campaign throughout the duration of this process and in the end, managed to ask him out (or even the other way around), honestly, how could he say not to that?! Like I said, dedication.

Idia plays a lot of combat games, but he knows that you aren't the biggest fan of them, and given just how heated he can get over these matches, he is careful about how out of hand these games get. While he may not have a cat to help comfort you when you do choose to play a combat game, he has plenty of squishmellows. Feel free to go and choose one!

Game night dates, 100%. This man is the very definition of an introvert. If you opened a dictionary to look up the meaning of the word, his name is right there in big bold letters. So the fact that you are also more of an introvert is like a dream come true to him. No one to try and pull him out of his room for outdoor time. You two could just curl up in his room watching the latest slice of life anime, play tabletop games, or any of the various games that he has.... which is a lot.

He will never be able to admit this without his hair turning fifty shades of pink, but he loves to be able to hear you sing. The fact that you practiced for as long as you did to harness such a skill is always something that impressed him. Sure, he's had to work for years to harness certain skills that he has but nothing as skilled as working with your own voice.

Overall, honestly it's just a very wholesome relationship that you have with the gloomy housewarden. He is just thankful that you actually put up with someone like him with how self-depricating that he is about himself. But you make him smile, you make him happy, and he certainly hopes that you feel the same way.

[idleglowingpixels]

I finally got my schedule aligned with a friend of mine to watch Monster High 2 (the live action movie sequel) and I have some thoughts about it

(Keep reading only if you're okay with spoilers, I go into a lot of detail)

Monster High 2 was a solid experience altogether. The previous movie was in a similar vain, but I think the special effects budget got amped up, because everything looked stellar and just generally better than the first movie. It's still not cinema film level quality but these aren't meant to be compared to that. It's a TV movie, and for what it is I thought that (almost) everything rendered out beautifully (idk why they keep having Lagoona do the oAo thing but okay).

As per the previous film, there were lots of highs in the comedy (Frankie is always the highlight of these movies for me, Cleo taking her job as campaign manager so seriously was kinda funny to me, and a lot of the Heath shenanigans were so reminiscent of G1 to me ESPECIALLY the teasing about Clawdeen being Deuce's girlfriend and general himbo behavior), but it's also a kid's movie, so there's bound to be misses too. Comedy isn't personally my forte, but I got enough chuckles and laughs here and there that it didn't really matter to me.

The songs sounded pretty nice! I went into the movie this time without hearing any songs in advance like the first movie, and was pleasantly surprised. None of them were particularly bad to me, but I think my favorite one was the very-poorly-disguised friend breakup song with the main trio. It reminded me of a similar song in Descendants 2 ironically enough, but I don't mean that as an insult, I love the Descendants soundtracks too!

Okay, now the story of the movie…I don't really know where to begin, there's so much to talk about. I guess I can start at the beginning.

I've seen a few people complain about Clawdeen blowing up on social media and going viral when the characters would regularly go viral or get tons of views on their not-YouTube channels in G1. I know the Internet was different back in 2010, but it wasn't THAT much different going viral back then as it is now imo. I found it an odd complaint personally.

While I have no idea how a half-human ghost can exist in the first place, I ADORED the little bits where that new character was. Unfortunately I neglected to remember her name, usually I'm better with keeping up on this stuff. But she was so goofy, like yeah queen, walk through the door and immediately hit it on the way back out. 💖

The whole thing with the prefect is kind of irrelevant for the most part, so I don't mind it as much. I have an irrational love for the whole fire and water thing Heath and Lagoona got to do for it together, and I noticed characters like them actually have something to do in the movie instead of just awkwardly showing up at the end to record Komos and stand guard I guess??? And they had much more dialogue this time around (very few exceptions, I can only think of Ghoulia and Abbey but who knows, maybe they'll get to be main characters in the third movie I presume will release next year).

Torelai being a general nuisance was amazing, and here she really did feel like her G1 counterpart…if said counterpart was British lol. Her outfits were really nice, felt super edgy and it was a plus for me. I also liked the mention of her scarring from the witches in France, where she'd studied abroad, but I do think they repeated the point of her bringing it up against witches in the song was too quick after the initial mention, perhaps it could've been reserved to the song and have her sing-song her way through explaining the wraith silver.

Draculaura was the main focus in the film, and I really enjoyed her story. She's got every card stacked against her, even those she trusts, it feels like they turn on her in her point of view (Clawdeen and Ellis specifically). I've also seen characters like Ellis a billion times, but as generic as he is, he served the purpose he was in the film for (lowkey thought the name was a reference to Elphaba/Wicked Witch of the West).

Seeing Dracula as much as we did this movie was amazing, loved that, though Zamara kinda fell flat with me as an antagonist. Making a comparison here, but it felt like they were trying to replicate what they'd done with Komos in the previous film, just adjusting her to fit the new narrative, but Komos was much better executed imo (I promise this isn't my bias to Jekyll and Hyde characters showing, I just think his dynamics with the students flowed more organically). I found the whole thing about witches marketing herbal products as remedies with magical healing properties to exploit humanity's fears of appearing healthy to be funny with Z, but that's about it. I also could tell she'd be the villain a lot faster than I did with Komos haha. Seeing Apollo play a significant role here was nice too! I really like how the adult/parent characters can be just as important as the teens, as I find the lack of parent appearances in G1 to be too sparce for something so integral to the characters' stories.

As with pretty much anyone who's seen the film, it seems we were all shouting at Clawdeen towards the end to just turn human to avoid injury from the wraith silver bars (I was so confused lmao), but I think she was so desperate to save her friend that she was in too blind a panic to control that or think rationally. Frankie is in a similar vein; I thought their upgrades would've caused more pain than it'd be worth, and since we saw the electricity from their arm separating from the rest of their body earlier in the scene, it might've triggered a rush of pain to Frankie or their energy would've been zapped out like a light. Also, y’all, they thought their friend was going to forcefully commit genocide, I don’t think either of them were safe from having irrational/impulsive solutions to a situation in which their friend is literally gonna die if they take time to think critically. I do think there could’ve been better execution with the scene, especially how important it is for later, however. I may be explaining the thought process of my only other point of contention here, but it wasn’t thought out all too much imo — Deen could’ve tried to shift back and find it doesn’t work, Frankie could’ve tried to detach their hand/arm and found themselves getting hurt (but not scarred since that’s really the were-girls’ common thing).

But when Clawdeen died just from touching the bars for too long, I was so shocked it was happening from something so small, I figured the explanation was that it might drain a monster's life force or something. But I COULD NOT take the grim reaper thing seriously. Genuinely laughed my ass off cause WHAT WAS THAT??? It seemed so out of place for the pacing to me I guess. I felt like it could've been a perfect opportunity to have Komos reach out to her through his petrification, especially with how much she hangs around his statue during her troubles and looks to his statue for guidance, but I knew going in he was like 99% certain to be a one-off villain. 🥲

Anyway, Torelai and Clawdeen's little trauma bond moment with the scars at the end was very wholesome, a nice tie back to the "not afraid to show my secrets or my scars" line from Coming Out Of The Dark. And for once the franchise acknowledges were-animals as having kinship, like don't get me wrong, I know it's mainly for the cats vs dogs thing, but they're essentially the same monsters. I always found it odd that they were treated as completely different monster types entirely when all they are is just a human base with animal features and abilities (speed, agility, heightened senses, etc.).

A lot of people have a problem with Clawdeuce being a thing, but I don't mind it personally. It's a different gen, nothing has to stay the same as G1, so I’m just going along with the vibes. And I can tell Deuce leaving is going to be where we follow through in the next movie (unless he got tossed into the underworld in the end credits scene, I have no clue). To be honest I really like his prominent inclusion in the roster of characters, especially with how erased he’d get in the G1 movies (they literally cut his part of the rap out and it’s so apparent q-q).

But back to the point about the after credits, when I saw the grim reaper actually CAME BACK and just threw Deuce to the side (or maybe through the portal idk) I instantly freaked out, no laughter to be had, like "WAIT OH MY GOD WE WERE SUPPOSED TO TAKE THAT BIT FOR REAL—"

I know the third film is looking to be centered on Frankie (They 💖) but I do worry with how much elements they're taking from G1 movies to make up new/similar narratives (Drac's Sweet 1600, the previous gen's self acceptance narrative but specifically with a half human character, the emphasis on Jekyll and Hyde shenanigans, vampires vs werewolves but make it vampires vs witches instead, etc.). I just don't think another Freaky Fusion thing with Frankie sacrificing their life energy should be necessary. Especially considering the new antagonist is very clearly gonna be this Grim Reaper dude. And since the Underworld might be the main location for the third film, I wonder if the whole thing about Heath being Hades's son in the TV show will come up in the movie. Ik they're different canons from each other, but It'd be pretty interesting to see how they'd create a MH version of Hades. (I found his design from the cartoon after typing all this up and I mean, okay then I guess 🤷 Don’t love it but don’t hate it either, he just looks too nice to me haha. I love when Hades is actually a nice character, but his appearance and Resting Bitch Face make him out to be a huge dick.)

As of right now, that's basically everything I have to say on the movie. I personally prefer the first one, but I will not deny that it's because I liked Komos more as an antagonist than Zamara — antagonists are just as important as protagonists. He has the Jekyll and Hyde thing going for him too, which is just overall a favorite trope of mine (Though his change wasn’t as literal). I do think this movie had more going on and much higher stakes, what with characters almost committing mass genocide, suffering injuries and nearly outright DYING.

But I don't know, it was a solid 7/10 for me I think, on the higher end of 7 but Zamara keeps me from giving it a higher rating (sorry y'all I just REALLY didn't like her character, not even in a love to hate way, and villains’ likability matters too much for me personally). I guess my ranking for the first movie would be a low 8, but it’s based more on how much I enjoyed it than how objectively good or "perfect" it is.

[of-the-autumn]

i’ve been watching a ton of video essays on the last of us pt2 (again lol), not sure where this latest obsession came from tbh…

i’ve had some pretty strong negative opinions of this in the past but i think i’m now at the point where i consider it easily superior to tlou pt1 & possibly even one of my favourite video games of all time.

i think - as unpretentiously as possible - i really just didn’t understand it before.

my biggest complaints were around the general pacing & also the last few hours which i felt led to a drawn-out, anticlimactic & miserable ending. i’ve reframed my perspective about where i thought the ‘climax’ was supposed to be & that we were still only halfway through the story at this point. i had issues with the flashbacks breaking immersion, but i now understand how these are revealing key pieces of information at very specific points in the campaign to try & help us understand what the game is trying to do & why the characters might be reminiscing on these events.

i complained that the game was too bleak & the characters were too cynical & desensitised, all the while i was overlooking the various threads throughout the game where they are trying to be better than they are.

i always enjoyed abby more & was unfairly harsh in my dislike of ellie in pt2. i think i have a more balanced view now that they’re both fucked up people who have done some really bad things & found themselves in terrible circumstances. the game tries to draw parallels between their stories but i don’t think that means we should be making a surface comparison of ‘she did this’ vs ‘she did that.’ some aspects of their journeys are similar but they’re very different people.

i felt unsatisfied in the resolutions for both ellie & abby, but i’ve come to realise these aren’t the endings for these characters, pt2 takes us through a transitional period during the darkest times of their lives, they both finish the game ready to embark on the next part of their recovery journeys.

i think there’s a very valid argument to be made that it shouldn’t require multiple playthroughs & hours of reflection just to understand what kind of game you’ve played in order to decide whether or not you actually like it. i do think the structure of the narrative makes it impossible to properly appreciate on a first playthrough & i don’t know how i feel about that.

but ultimately i’ve really come around on pt2 & when i think back on the game as a whole now, something about it makes me feel almost hopeful - which is fucking wild considering where we started.

i’m a little concerned about the tv show, since i now understand how integral & intentional the structure of the game is in telling this story. i hope they manage to pull it off in a manner more suited to television.

[swiftiesav89]

Putting this in the Universe

When I was little, I really thought things would someday just fall into place. No matter how bad things would get, somehow, I thought once I turned 18 & graduated high school, real life would kick in and I would be a success. I didn’t know what that would look like. I was good enough at everything but math and science. I read so fast and so well at such an early age that I made myself believe I was secretly a genius. All my “what career field should you pursue?” tests came back with the same kind of result - go into the creative fields, my girl, your brain is not built for anything else. At least that’s the message I get now that I’ve become more versed in my own specific kind of neurodivergence and trauma responses. Back then, I was sure it meant I was the next JK Rowling (which, now, ew...) or destined to be a hard-hitting journalist at Rolling Stone. I’ve always believed I have an accomplished writer living in my soul, just waiting for me to put my fingers to a keyboard and allow her to become real. Maybe that’s a delusion of grandeur. We’ll see if I have the energy to find out if I have any potential at all. But now, when I remember those visions of future me, they feel like a daydream. I never knew what steps to take to make any of them happen. I had always been smart enough not to concern anyone and did so well in some situations that they clouded the gaps to any teachers looking for “signs” of learning disabilities. My mom didn’t know that how fast I read and spoke and how lost I would get in my own little worlds and how obsessed I would become over anything I enjoyed were signs of something bigger when considered all together. When I watched Titanic a hundred times in second grade, it was more than Kate Winslet naked that made me do that. I could disappear into a three-hour film (that happened to feature Kate Winslet naked) and then my mind would just replay the film frame by frame in the time I wasn’t watching. When I was twelve, I spent an entire summer watching only The Fellowship of the Ring. I learned the whole script, devoted any amount of money I could get my hands on to buying magazines that I would paste into binders and write elvish phrases and guides and cast lists by hand. I still have one of the binders. It was the ravings of a lunatic, to be honest. At least that’s how it feels now. That obsessive behavior carried over into all my crushes. I was raised to be super religious in a very small Bible Belt town. I was known for my “boy-crazy” behavior regardless of the fact that I was terrified of them. And I’m sure I terrified them. I once got so obsessed over a senior boy when I was in seventh grade that I fished his empty Dr. Pepper bottle out of the trash. Proudly. Then I kept it on my shelf at home like a trophy for 2 years at least. LIKE why the feck that did not set off alarm bells for my adults is incredible. When I became "active" at 16, I wasted my energy on the absolute dregs of the male population at my school, angling for the attention of boys who now make me actively gag and sacrificing all of my self-worth in the process. I went off to college an hour away from home and couldn't keep up with the course load or the responsibility of living on my own while working full-time. I was inspired by the Obama campaign that fall and volunteered all my time. I leaned hard into the idea of politics as a career, only to completely make an ass of myself with a misplaced crush on my field campaign manager while I was also fighting a crush on my best girl friend. I flamed out spectacularly after the distraction of the campaign ended. I couldn't focus on class or show up most of the time and convinced myself I needed to drop out and re-evaluate back home as soon as it got really hard. When I got home, I froze in time and really never unfroze. I've fallen in love and made so much progress in theory. I have made dream trips come true and experienced real, unfiltered happiness and joy. And now I finally love myself but I am somehow still stuck.

[purplesurveys]

1654

What is one change you need to make in your life this month? A month? That’s super short-term...erm, maybe trying to figure out a new position when I sleep? I’ve been waking up with very sore shoulders and numb arms lately. What was one good thing about today? My mom finally started using what was my Christmas gift to her – a portable, foldable bathtub hahaha. She always said she’d set it up once the climate gets warmer, and now that summer’s started she stuck to her word and used it for the first time today.

What’s been tugging on your heart lately? The whole sticky situation of mine and my friends’ fate regarding Yoongi’s concert. It’s too complicated to explain in full, but basically a major part of it is that Angela was lucky enough – and was the only one in our group of 4 – to secure 1 ticket (Reena didn’t get one from the ticketing website but quickly got to snatch one from a seller, so she’s covered), and she said she’s willing to turn it over to me while she and Hans can just go around Bangkok on the day of the concert. It’s a very conflicting situation on my end because as much as she says that she picked me and genuinely wants me to go, she is also my best friend in the world and I don’t want to enjoy the show knowing that I got in with a ticket she got, in a show she should be enjoying.

I’m super 50-50 about it right now because I’m heavily leaning towards just selling the ticket so neither of us go, but anyway that’s the reason why we’re still trying to chase extra tickets from people selling theirs – we want to be complete, and we want all of us 4 to get to watch the show. We’re starting to get offers from people willing to sell their extras, so we’ll just have to see where this takes us.

Are you comfortable with who you are? Have you accepted who you are? I’m at least more at peace with myself than I was, say, three years ago. I’d say that’s as good as it would get. There’ll always be things to work on and I don’t think I’ll ever get to say I ‘accept’ myself fully.

All the money you ever need or someone to spend the rest of your life with? Money; I don’t need a lifelong partner. Decided on that a long time ago.

What is the last thing you did that made you feel guilty? THE YOONGI THING UGH. I feel both guilty and bad about it. Of fucking course I want to see Yoongi, but I don’t want it to come from a place where my friend would have to give up her ticket for me. Worst case scenario none of us go and of course, honestly speaking, that would be a huge bummer.

Would you have sex with the last person you texted? Can’t remember the last person I texted but probably not.

What was the last thing you received in the mail? Just bills for electricity and water.

Who did you last creep on? Like...stalk? Just influencer profiles I had to review to see if they’d be a good fit for one of the campaigns I’m working on.

What country would you most like to visit in the future? I’d love just to go back to Korea. One day in Jeju is too short a time to be there.

At your workplace, are you required to wear a uniform? Nah, just a dress code.

Who is the last person that gave you butterflies? I had this minor crush on a girl I had to work with for an ad/commercial shoot. She was like production manager or something like that and anyway she fit what would typically be my type...but then that all ended when our most recent shoot ended up a disaster and we had to go like...9 hours overtime. It was a very stressful situation at work and I’d rather not get into detail but anyway that marked the end of any butterflies I had for her lmao.

Do you consider weed, marijuana, pot, etc. a drug? Well, yeah.

Are you planning on kissing anyone tomorrow evening? Nope. Do you require a lot of private time? Um, not really. I like being around people, and having weekends to myself usually suffices as me-time already.

Have you ever done something humiliating while drunk? Yep.

Have you ever told a guy you were a lesbian to get him to leave you alone? Kind of? What I did before was stick closer to my partner at the time and wait for them to get the hint.

If you have a favorite television show, who’s your favorite character? Gus Fring.

-- a lil two-in-one again for this round --

Hi, Your name is? Robyn.

What was the last thing you ate? Aligue pasta.

Do you hold the singstar microphone with your right or left hand? The...what?

What’s the best part about flying? The views at the start and end. The flights themselves can get so boring, but I still gun for the window seat as much as possible as views of the city always get me in the feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeels.

Who did you last have a deep and meaningful conversation with? Andi. I talked to them about my struggles with enjoying wrestling these days, and how I was starting to come to terms with the fact that I can’t actually digest technical wrestling and mostly watch shows for their entertainment/storyline value. Very WWE way of doing things – which is why I’ve always struggled to get into other promotions. It prompted Andi to open up and they got into this whole spiel of what technical wrestling is really all about, and taught me some mental notes to take note of the next time I watch wrestling so I can get into the in-ring chemistry more. They gave me some sample matches to watch too, just so I can understand better what they meant with their tips. Really loved that conversation. 

Any vacations planned? Yeah I’ve now got two in June. Bangkok with friends, and then Kuala Lumpur with family that same week. The latter has me going CRAZY because my mom booked it to be the same week I’m flying back to Manila from Bangkok :((((( So basically, I arrive in Manila from Bangkok on a Tuesday morning; then Friday evening I’ll be on a plane again en route to KL. It’ll be such a hectic couple of weeks for me lol.

Who were you last in a car with? Mom and siblings.

Do you play any sports? Table tennis.

Which friend have you known the longest? Angela and I have been friends for 18 years.

Do you drink the recommended 6-8 glasses of water per day? No. I drink a lot of water in a day, but not up to 8 glasses.

How many times have you been to Wet'n'Wild? What’s that?

Did you ever watch Sailor Moon? No, not into anime.

Chocolate or Vanilla ice cream? Honestly neither since I find chocolate to be too strong a flavor and vanilla too bland; but if I didn’t have a choice I might just go with chocolate.

Do you have a facebook? Yes.

Favourite shop? Ncat, hahahahaha.

What was the last thing you brought on ebay? I’ve never bought anything from eBay.

Did you know that Deli Lama is actually a person and not a Llama? Deli Lama??????????

Do you think Merryl Streep can actually sing in Mamma Mia? Idk I’ve never seen that movie and am not interested.

What gym do you have a membership to? None.

What do you want for Christmas? Damn, I have to pick this early? Hahaha at this point, if anyone asked me I’d probably just ask for Yoongi tickets.

Do you think hiptops should be called “shit tops”? I have no idea what this question is talking about.

If you had to get glasses would you wear contacts? I can’t stand anything being put near or in my eyes, so no. I’ll always prefer glasses.

Are Mac’s really better than PC’s? I’m sure both have their strengths but having experienced both, I prefer Macs. My old HP laptop lagged all the time and was a hub for viruses and it was all generally just very stressful for me lol.

Favourite drink? Just cold water.

Have you ever been to the snow? No, I’ve never seen snow.

New Year’s Plans? No clue, it’s too early to plan for that.

Would you agree that Sex and The City is the best show ever? I’ve never seen it but I’m pretty confident there are tons of better shows.

Do you call your friends with red hair “ranga’s”? No?

Should Paris Hilton consider running for president? No.

If you were to go to prison for one thing, what would it be? Idk man. Maybe disrespecting police because ACAB and because I realistically would have no problem doing that when push comes to shove, and especially if I feel disrespected first.

[twilight-resonance]

Storytelling and Sharing

Once again, here keeping the brain sinkhole at bay. Doing generally better than I was some weeks ago, thank the gods for that. The goal today is to do some writing so that I can scrub my brain clean and focus on planning for D&D with Hearthsnail’s coworkers tomorrow, so that’s what we’re on. Otherwise just the usual general processing etc.

Just finished watching some C-SPAN while playing a game and waiting to warm up so that I can think. Was watching a senate committee hearing on broadband access, and it was interesting watching some actual D-R collaboration going on. The committee chair is Navajo, so there was a lot of looking at parallel obstacles to access between tribes and rural areas. Which is legit. Lots of other things interesting about that conversation, but I was only half-tuned in and I’m not sure I got it all so I’m gonna leave it for now.

Other things we need to do to get my brain going is eat an actual meal (in progress) and warm up (also in progress, though lemme grab my jacket) - then I’ll hopefully be able to actually focus on D&D. The party is at a choice point right now, so I’m working on writing out all three of the possible paths they could choose; a fair amount of work up-front, but will also mean that I don’t need to do planning for a while after this because the choices are very much not mutually exclusive and they can come back to them later. There’s also the chance that they take a completely other fourth path depending on whether they’ve decoded that paper I gave them last session... And depending on what I actually put in there. I don’t actually remember anymore, which makes it, uh, challenging to plan for.

(Oh crap, I was gonna try to make a map today. More things to add time and space for. We’ll get there, I hope.)

I know that I’ve said it before, but this D&D campaign - the one for Hearthsnail’s co-worker - is almost certainly my favorite thing I’m running a the moment. A big part of it is the joy of introducing people to the genre: not only is this their first tabletop RPG, for a few of them this is also their first experience with fantasy and particularly high fantasy as a genera. So there’s a lot of introducing them to the really classic tropes and themes and features, and being able to see them with fresh eyes alongside them. It’s also a lot of fun GMing for a bunch of teachers, in that even if they don’t have the fantasy RPG background, they absolutely have the very clever problem-solving skills and ability to pick up on subtle things going on. That one I also have to keep an eye on - because they’re also picking up on some subtle cues in how I react to and manage things, and I’m going to have to work very carefully to not give things away in tiny ways.

Shit though, man, I think the other big part of what I’m enjoying about running the whole thing is being able to just be who I am in my own skin and not worry about it too much. There aren’t the preexisting politics and traumas that exist is my other gaming spaces, I’m with my actual age-peers who are full adults and can manage themselves, and there are moments when I’m in the middle of running a scene or encounter when I realize that I’m just comfortable and haven’t been self-conscious for an hour and a half. I’m here doing what I love with people who are wonderful, and storytelling and able to share that with people who haven’t gotten to see that side of me and things are just good. So that’s a piece of it as well. 

Anyway, I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Got to finish my planning and make that map, and I’ve got other responsibilities besides after that. I was also going to make some potato skins to bring for snacking on tomorrow, so  that needs to happen too. 

FalJL this weekend was also nice. It was a very rainy event, especially in the afternoon; but all of the players were troopers about it. They were great about keeping each other safe on the field and keeping the equipment covered up once it really started raining, and stayed in good spirits despite the wet and cold. The parents of a pair of my newer players were also incredibly thoughtful and brought both a big easy-up tent space and a tarp to put under it for the inn, so that we had somewhere dry to be. That family also gave me a Christmas present - just a cute little handmade santa ornament, which is now hanging proudly front-and-center on our tree. It was all so incredibly sweet, and I’m glad that as a family they’re getting so much out of this.

It was also nice having more players in general. There were about ten in the morning, which - while, in the grand scheme of things, is still fairly small - it’s been a long time now since I’ve had ten players at once at FalJL. Many left for the afternoon - understandable, given the rain - but even then, we still had about six, which is an improvement by far. 

I’ve been really enjoying the story for FalJL so far this year. I know that I’ve talked before about having rearranged my story pacing for this season, and it’s very much working out for FalJL in particular. So too, being able to use the weather to my advantage; I was realizing over the course of the event that one of the particular qualities/specialties that features in my GMing is being able to respond to and use changes in the weather to enhance a scene, even as they’re happening. There were some cool moments earlier in the day - talking with the Fated Death Cultists, negotiating with a local town and the fey who had taken it over, etc - but it was really the end of the day that was my favorite.

Not to give away too much, but for the last scene of the last mission I was playing Death. It’s important to know that, in my game world, Death comes at sunset - which is to say, we draw from the deathbag at the end of the day. Well, this was just as the rain was picking up; and as the sun was sinking, so it was growing ever-dimmer behind the clouds; and the wind was still, and there was the faintest mist starting to cling to the air. I set myself far away from the party, far across the fields and facing away with them; and all the baddies playing vultures on the first trees skirting the edge of the field between me and the players; and when it was game on, just started - slowly, methodically, calmly - walking away. And oh, it was magical. To say nothing of, watching the players make connections with some other til-then loose threads of things they had learned earlier in the day and earlier in the season; and it was wonderful. So too is that first moment that they work up the courage to come close enough to peek under my hood and see the mask - because they know, somewhere in their hearts before then, that I’m Death; but they’re not sure until they see that first glimpse, and there’s the suspense and the fear and the wonder that comes with the lead-up to it. 

So that was an awesome day. They were also champs about helping me clean all the equipment up as fast as we could to minimize the damp that got into the trailer, and about helping the parents who brought the easy-up take it back down and fold up the tarp without even being asked. My players are great, and I’m so very proud of them. 

Also got to plan for FalAL. We’re out of town for the holidays on the date that would be the normal schedule for it, so I’m running it a weekend-and-a-day early because that is the only time there is to do it in. So that’s one of the things I need to do after planning D&D. Lots of work to do on that front - insert yikes face here - but we’ll get there. I hope.

So that’s all the adventures in my job and GMing and whatnot right now. Actually, that’s a lie - there’s plenty more - but I’m going to pass over those for now and find a handful of things to talk about that aren’t that, for my own health and sanity.

Let’s see. Still reading The Dark Tower, and still enjoying it. Got to the end of a chapter that hit particularly keenly, so I’m going to kind of just sit on that for the day and not go back to it to let it rest. They also finally got whatever rights they need to add Catan to Board Game Arena, so I’ve been playing a fair amount of that in the evenings as well as Plate Up during the day when Hearthsnail’s not home. I don’t know what it is about Plate Up that tickles my brain so good, but it does. Sometimes I fall asleep with the patterns of the game still going in my brain - only once or twice, but still.

Ah - I think the other big obstacle to planning at the moment is actually how messy the house is. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t do the dishes until Hearthsnail takes the garbage out, so things are... a little backed up. All the dishes and kitchen things piled up everywhere is not helping for my focus. I’ll maybe... see what I can do to consolidate that once I’m done writing this, on the off chance that it makes a difference.

Working on holiday gifts for my family and Hearthsnail’s family. We’ve got his sister-and-family’s gifts sorted out for sure, I think; and I have a long list of possibilities for mine, just need to go through them and pick things for settled-true. Also been trying to think of things to put on my own wishlist because people don’t know what to get me and I made that wishlist specifically to help with that, and that’s been its own challenge. 

Yeah, I dunno, I think that’s mostly it. We got a tree last week, finally - a smaller one than in past years - and I’ve been enjoying it as ever. Picked up a tree skirt for it this year. The first night we brought it in, we found out a dragonfly had hitched a ride on it; and somehow clung to the tree through the whole process of cutting it down and driving it home and shaking off all the water from it - until it warmed up enough to wake up and freak out and buzz around the house for a bit. It wasn’t hard to catch - it doesn’t have the same “flee” instinct as, you know, a prey animal would - and after that we tossed it outside to do what it would do. Getting the tree was fun - always is. So’s setting it up. All good things.

That’s about it, I think. Haven’t done much hiking since we got back from Zion; it’s the end of the semester, so Hearthsnail’s had no time for it. He’s already staying late probably every day this week to catch up on grading, so that doesn’t leave much time in the evenings for anything else. We need to cut his hair and stamp some of those wedding invites tonight if we can, but we’ll see how much time we have. All to hope.

Anyway, I’m going to dwindle off for now. Open the curtains, do some tidying up, and maybe play another run of Plate Up before going back to planning. Looking forward to it, at least - just got to get the focus to cooperate.