#fun fact: mad abt the boy was one of the first recorded uses of the word 'gay' meaning homosexual

[ultraviolet-cello]

Day 8 of the tristamp analysis marathon and jesus christ i am!!! really excited to do these now because people have been adding onto/being nice abt my stuff and that's super cool. Thank you again to @tristampparty for running this! I didn't manage to join in on the book club last year so it's nice to have a fun little event all the same

[But as for next book club,,,, well. I'm extremely transgender about trimax and would love to join in]

As always, spoilers for trigun stampede and trigun maximum! Also some CWs for Vash-typical passive suicidal tendencies and discussion of his psyche

So! Episode 8! I have.... mixed feelings, on how Tristamp portrays Knives. On one hand, I definitely think that we're being lead to believe that Vash has always been a peace-loving kid and that Knives has always had those tendencies, which would set up for season 2 to break that down. I hope.

The one thing I couldn't figure out, ofc, is the Knives not needing to eat thing - My friend millions-dykes theorized a black hole/white star dynamic a little while ago [as seen in the screenshot. I'm Organ, they are Nagito Malmonella]

aaaaaaaaanyway, we still get these little instances of knives just being a kid, and it's the funniest thing in the world to me. Vash is also apparently in tune with him enough to pick up on that and it's such twin behaviour.

There's also just a lot of cases of Knives smiling or being giggly around Rem, which,,,, he's such a mama's boy like we know this but it's so nice to have it reinforced. This theory of Knives having always been cold/standoffish just doesn't track - the only time he usually seems uncomfortable is when Rem touches him or when he talks about Plant stuff - particularly when he's talking about being different to Vash. Knives, to me at least, is a tad autism-coded :]

OKAY TO THE SCENE[TM]

So obviously this has changed from when we first saw Vash tell the story. Vash's sequence of events runs as follows:

Vash walks up to the little hill that Knives is laughing maniacally on top of -> Knives says "I finally did it! It worked! -> Vash confronts him with "How could you do that?" -> Knives reassures him with "Don't worry, I left the Plant ship" -> Knives says "I even got Rem killed!" -> Knives points out that Vash is his accomplice, but does not elaborate why. "Don't get mad. You're already my accomplice, isn't that right Vash?"

Now the sequence of events in this version is provably more accurate (the same audio is used in the black box recording discovered later), and goes as follows:

Vash wakes up from the escape pod and goes "Nai, where are you?" -> He spends some time following Knives' footsteps where he sees the crashed pods and fire and Knives laughing on the hill -> Knives says "I finally did it! It worked!" -> Vash says "I can't believe you killed Rem!" -> Knives says "Don't get mad. You're already my accomplice, it was you who told me the passcode - Am I right, Vash?"

So there are several inconsistencies in these two versions of events, most notably for me is that Vash is the one to bring up Rem. If the 1st telling was correct, it would imply that Knives wanted to kill Rem, but that part is conspicuously absent, because Vash is the one that brings her up.

Vash's retelling also omits the fact that he was the one to give Knives the passcode, shifting more blame onto Knives. It's very very interesting to me. Finally, Knives mostly has his back to Vash when he dissolves into laughter again. Which is a technique often used to hide if you've been crying or are having a hard time keeping some emotional responses down.

And I'm not even done with this flashback! The scene where Vash just lies down and wants to give up is,,, Well, in Trimax, ever since Tesla, Vash has struggled with suicidal ideation - he's the one that asks for Rem to just kill him, and that's heartbreaking, but we also see a bit of that leaking through here again, where he just wants to lie down and give up. It also gives me hope we're gonna see that Tesla aftermath scene in the next season, because that'll be breaking Vash down into his more complicated, messy parts.

Okay so I do think that the subtitles Aniwave uses are... a little bit Wack, I'm pretty sure that they're unofficial and probably a bit wonky, and I'm only slightly conversational in Japanese so I have 0 idea about this, but hey I think someone should inform Wolfwood, for no particular reas- [I am dragged away by security]

[I did check the dub, which referred to Plants giving birth which I think is much more likely to be accurate. But it'd still be funny for Wolfwood to have to sit through Plant sex ed so neither of them get pregnant]

Rem really was very, very young,,,,,

There are four photos here, but only one is given to Vash. I wonder why,,,, Possibly to gauge his recognition of Knives being in the photo, or keeping the other three to learn what they can about Knives.

The night/day progression cycle here doesn't really match up with Vash's little tally, so I don't think it's counting days. Given that he apparently went to say hello to everyone in cold sleep while on the ship, I think it's a little more likely that the tally marks are for them....

Do we ever actually get to hear Rem say the blank ticket thing in a flashback? I don't recall it, but it is said to Vash after the whole Stabbing Incident in Trimax, so that's possibly why they've kept it from us.

Theeee markings under this Plant's eyes match Elendira's, which. Obviously Elendira in tristamp is part plant there's just so many little details that lend themselves to it,,,

The HAIR COLOUR CHANGE AAAA

I like the little wall of Vash baby pics in the background here, but he still didn't get any of his 3 other ship pics back :(

Finally, Vash's line of "an Independent will make up for what an Independent has done" is interesting because his guilt complex really does spiral, huh. The reason Knives telling him "Oh, you just feel guilty for the Big Fall, huh?" in a later ep fucks him up so much is because like. That is kinda true to an extent. Vash is his own kind of self-deluding, but that only really starts spiraling at about this point in time.

Alright, setting up for a Day of analysis tomorrow, because I have many thoughts and feelings surrounding Knives (I love him very dearly and I hate him a lot (affectionate)) and we Will spend some time talking about Trimax Flavour Knives because my understanding of him is fundamental to my understanding of Tristamp Flavour Knives.

Thank y'all for the fun comments and theory addons!!! I'm having a lot of fun and we're really getting into how [normal] I am about Trigun!

[deathstands]

              ・   。   ◟  major   big   uwu   moment   ,   i   haven’t   been   this   excited   abt   an   rp   in   a   minute   &   i’m   ecstatic   for   my   muse   !   i’m   really   glad   to   meet   you   all   ,   i’m   cc   ,   nineteen   &   a   notorious   loser   .   a   quick   about   regarding   seamus   ,   former   nasa   nerd   ,   lover   of   stars   ,   fight   mode   because   he’s   been   doing   it   his   whole   life   .   this   is   entirely   too   long   &   winded   ,   but   i   think   (   ???   )   it’s   cool   n   e   way   .   like   this   &   i’ll   come   to   u   for   plotting   or   ,   lmk   if   you’d   prefer   to   plot   on   d*scord   .

                                stats  /  wanted  connections  tag  /  connections  page

(   ben   hardy.   cis   male.   he   /   him.   )   /   SEAMUS   OLMSTEAD   has   been   with   the   group   for   two   years   and   is   currently   doing   their   part   in   the   community   as   a   car   mechanic.   while   here,   the   twenty-nine   year   old   has   created   the   reputation   of   being   abrasive   &   cursory,   but   can   also   be   known   as   venturesome   &   jocular.   in   a   sticky   situation,   they   will   resort   to   fight   mode   and   their   current   weapon   is   a   handmade   spear.

𝓲.     𝕒𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥   .

full   name   :   seamus   lucas  olmstead   nickname(s) :   lucas  ,  bastard  ,  selfish  wanker age   :  twenty  -  nine gender   /   pronouns   :  cis gendered   male   /   he  /  him sexuality   :  bisexual  /  panromantic hometown   :  des   moines   ,   iowa position   :   car  mechanic previous  occupation  :  aeronautical  &  aerospace  engineer faceclaim :  ben  hardy

fun facts : misses   his   cigarettes   *   clenches   fists   *   every   gd   day   ,   hasn't   brushed   his   hair   in   three   months   ,   used   to   be   a   division   one   collegiate   swimmer   ,   doesn't   know   how   he   made   it   this   far   because   he's   loud   &   selfish   ,   stargazes   at   night   by   himself   :(   ,   has   worked   on   rockets   ,   gives   good   hugs   but   doesn't   give   many   out   .

aesthetic :  the   dark   side   of   the   moon   ,   quiet   contemplations   while   bathing   in   the   moonlight   ,   drowning   in   a   field   of   grass   while   mourning   a   broken   family   ,   running   in   slow   motion   in   the   shallows   of   a   pool   ,   blessings   from   artemis   ,   a   worn   out   id   badge   unable   to   be   thrown   away   ,   targets   on   your   back   &   watching   out   for   yourself   first   &   yourself   only   .

𝓲𝓲.     𝕔𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕝𝕖   .

death tw .

bathed   in   the   moonlight   at   his   birth   ,   the   first   thing   icy   hues   see   are   the   stars   .   implanted   into   his   memory   ,   he   grows   up   loving   the   night   sky   .   at   four   ,   he   brings   his   twin   baby   brothers   out   on   the   rooftop   his   window   leads   to   &   shows   him   the   constellations   the   night   they   come   home   from   the   hospital   .   his   parents   yell   at   him   for   endangering   his   brother   ,   but   all   he   wanted   to   do   was   show   him   his   love   for   space   . 

he   grows   up   thinking   he’ll   go   to   the   stars   .   he’s   smart   &   he’s   sharp   ,   but   he   can’t   ignore   the   way   the   kids   in   his   class   laugh   at   him   ,   how   they   make   fun   of   him   when   he   comes   to   school   with   a   fishbowl   around   his   head   like   he’s   an   astronaut   .   he   doesn’t   fight   back   at   first   because   he   can’t   –   he’s   small   ,   skinny   &   he’s   a   nerd   ;   that’s   how   it   is   &   that’s   just   something   he’ll   have   to   ignore   if   he   wants   to   go   to   space   .

&   so   ,   thirteen   years   of   his   life   he’s   a   nerd   ;   nothing   but   a   skinny   little   boy   with   his   head   stuck   in   a   science   textbook   &   that’s   his   brand   .   but   in   eighth   grade   ,   his   mom   of   tired   of   her   skinny   lil   son   coming   home   with   bruises   &   black   eyes   because   he’s   fighting   his   bullies   ,   so   she   signs   him   up   for   the   swim   team   .   tiny   ,   little   seamus   who   lives   in   a   land-locked   state   ,   forced   to   swim   .

luckily   though   ,   it   all   works   out   for   the   better   .   he   takes   to   water   like   he’s   taken   to   STEM   &   it’s   all   in   his   favor   .   over   the   next   few   years   ,   he   finally   hits   his   growth   spurt   (   say   hello   to   6′2″   ,   seamus   )   &   buffs   out   ,   gaining   a   swimmer’s   body   while   still   keeping   up   his   smart   lil   head   .   he   learns   to   fight   ,   finally   ,   &   people   leave   him   alone   when   they   realize   he’s   no   longer   just   brains   ,   he’s   also   brawn   .   

at   the   end   of   his   high   school   career   ,   stanford   gladly   offers   him   an   athletic   scholarship   &   to   nobody’s   surprise   ,   he’s   accepted   into   the   aeronautics   &   aerospace   engineering   program   .   he   thrives   ,   obviously   ,   balancing   swimming   &   his   heavy   workload   very   well   .   college   is   a   breeze   &   he   loves   it   ,   because   he’s   met   like   minded   people   with   like   minded   goals   &   nobody’s   making   fun   of   him   when   he   snags   an   internship   with   nasa   after   graduation   .

but   ,   his   senior   year   ,   his   youngest   brother   –   the   younger   twin   ,   abraham   ,   is   killed   in   a   freak   accident   &   seamus   doesn’t   hear   about   it   because   he’s   too   busy   .   it   takes   a   full   day   &   over   twenty   people   until   he   hears   the   news   &   it   tears   him   apart   .   abraham’s   death   tears   the   entire   family   apart   –   how   did   a   seventeen   year   old   pass   so   suddenly   &   so   quickly   without   any   warning   ?

well   ,   seamus   doesn’t   ever   return   home   after   the   funeral   .   he   throws   himself   into   work   ,   finishing   his   masters   in   record   time   ,   earning   a   job   at   nasa   by   the   time   he’s   twenty   -   four   .   he’s   a   full   blown   rocket   scientist   &   an   astronaut   in   training   ,   which   should   make   him   happy   but   he’s   felt   nothing   but   childlike   anger   since   abraham’s   death   .   how   unfair   ,   that   death   just   takes   &   takes   &   takes   .

&   death   doesn’t   get   any   kinder   .   twenty   -   five   ,   his   partner   dies   during   flight   training   &   his   mom   passes   suddenly   from   an   illness   nobody   knew   she   had   .   twenty   -   six   &   the   outbreak   starts   .   all   of   his   friends   at   nasa   die   in   front   of   his   eyes   &   by   the   time   he   reconnects   with   his   family   ,   he   learns   his   father’s   passed   getting   his   remaining   brother   out   safely   .   as   the   years   go   by   ,   his   allies   die   ,   his   enemies   die   ,   he   kills   &   he   kills   &   he   chalks   it   up   to   self   defense   ,   but   it   doesn’t   make   him   feel   any   better   .

he   finds   woodbridge   with   his   youngest   brother   by   fluke   ,   only   convincing   them   of   his   worth   when   he   shows   him   a   nasa   id   he   could   never   bring   himself   to   throw   away   .   since   then   ,   he's   kept   his   head   down   &   done   his   work   ,   doing   whatever's   asked   of   him   &   still   keeping   to   himself   .   he's   a   former   rocket   scientist   &   he's   a   smarty   ,   making   him   quite   adaptable   &   able   to   fix   up   almost   anything   inside   the   walls   .   the   guy   to   go   to   when   something   miscellaneous   needs   tweaking   or   fixing   ,   he   gladly   tunes   things   up   for   no   charge   as   long   as   no   questions   are   asked   .

the   final   straw   ,   this   past   year   –   the   death   of   his   brother   who   left   the   safezone   &   never   returned   .   he   left   a   note   &   all   seamus   knows   is   that   he’s   probably   out   there   dead   somewhere   .   looked   hard   for   a   few   weeks   ,   but   has   all   but   given   up   .   it’s   the   apocalypse   ,   death   is   now   a   common   theme   .

𝓲𝓲𝓲.     𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟   .

exterior   ,   he's   found   his   spot   as   a   car   mechanic   .   he   used   to   work   on   rockets   ,   cars   are   much   easier   to   work   with   .   on   the   exterior   ,   he's   a   jocular   guy   who's   known   for   making   dry   jokes   at   the   worst   time   .   selfish   ,   in   the   way   that   he   tends   to   look   out   for   himself   only   in   the   madness   .   he's   got   a   reputation   for   having   a   face   that   makes   him   unapproachable   ,   with   anger   lined   in   his   features   that   make   those   not   want   to   bother   him   – but   ,   most   in   the   safezone   know   that   he's   harmless   (   mostly   )   .   a   soft   space   nerd   with   something   smart   to   say   at   any   time   ,   he's   a   loner   ,   but   he's   good   company   if   you   want   someone   to   listen   or   someone   to   bounce   ideas   off   of   .

interior   ,   there's   a   quiet   rage   that's   been   brewing   in   his   blood   for   years   &   he's   waiting   for   it   to   erupt   .   it   might   ,   if   not   for   the   constant   apathy   that   takes   over   his   brain   every   day   he   wakes   up   .   the   guy   to   go   to   when   something   needs   fixing   ,   seamus   can   hide   his   anger   in   death   &   the   world   very   well   .   he   keeps   it   in   ,   forcing   a   well   rehearsed   smile   &   carefully   chosen   expressions   to   mask   his   inner   thoughts   ,   he   wants   relief   but   he   doesn't   know   where   to   find   it   .

midway   ,   skilled   &   experienced   ,   he's   shied   away   from   the   spotlight   most   of   his   life   .   he's   always   been   one   to   keep   his   head   down   ,   not   bother   anyone   unless   bothered   &   he   intends   to   keep   it   that   way   even   in   the   apocalypse   .   he'll   fix   your   watch   ,   your   car   ,   your   fridge   – whatever   you   need   ,   but   he   won't   give   up   his   background   or   tell   you   why   he   keeps   his   nasa   id   in   his   back   pocket   at   all   times   .   quiet   and   silently   intimidating   ,   even   if   he   doesn't   intend   to   come   off   as   that   .

[mvlcolms]

*clears throat*  is  this  thing  on  ?  hi  friends  im  mella  !  i  go  by  feminine  pronouns  n  am  19  yrs  of  achy  joints  and  random  migraines  .  basically  19  going  on  107  .  i’m  here  to  introduce  u  to  malcolm  .  fair  warning  tho  ..  he  is  the  worst  .  so  if  u  dont  hate  both  of  us  by  the  end  of  this  ,  feel  free  to  like  this  or  hmu  so  we  can  plot  smth  ? 

❛ welcome  to  new  york  ,  malcolm  hansen  .  your  resemblance  to  herman  tommeraas  is  absolutely  uncanny  .  by  the  looks  of  your  tesla  roadster  ,  we’re  thinking  you’ll  fit  right  in  .  according  to  tmz  ,  you  just  had  your  twenty  second  birthday  bash  .  your  chances  of  making  it  in  the  city  are  dicey  since  you’re  unscrupulous  ,  but  being  captivating  gives  you  an  advantage  .  (  cismale  &  he/him  ) 

SO  let  me  introduce  u  to  malcolm  richard  hansen  iii  ,  but  if  u  call  him  anything  other  than  mac  ,  he  prob  will  throw  hands  .  he  comes  from  olllllld  money  ,  nobody  rly  knows  how  the  family  got  rich  initially  but  his  grandpa  (  the  og  malcolm  )  made  even  more  money  by  creating  a  very  successful  record  label  thats  now  rly  dominant  in  the  music  industry  .  his  grandpa  is  currently  79  yrs  old  n  just  recently  stepped  out  as  the  ceo  but  is  still  has   a  lot  of  influence  in  the  company  and  obviously  in  the  family  .  this  might  sound  irrelevant  but  it  will  be  important  later  on  i  promise  .

ok  so  mac  was  born  to  mac  jr  and  a  former  singer  named  tara  michaels  .  they  met  when  she  was  in  the  record  label  building  , for  a  meeting  in  regards  to  a  possible  contract  and  the  rest  was  history  ?  grandpa  hated  tara  and  made  no  secret  of  his  opinions  abt  her  .  basically  he  thought  she  was  a  golddigger  (  she  was  )  and  his  son  was  stupid  (  also  true  )  ,  and  even  refused  to  attend  their  wedding ceremony .  needless  to  say  ,  as  soon  as  they  got  married  ,  the  couple  left  sunny  california  n  settled  down  in  chicago  .

mac  was  his  first  male  grandchild  tho  ,  n  even  if  he  hated  his  mother  n  resented  his  dads  stupidity  ,  mac  was  kinda  like  his  golden  child  .  so  senior  kinda  stole  his  grandson  ?  not  rly  but  he  did  keep  him  in  la  every  summer  n  holidays  ,  when  he  wasnt  in  school  in  chicago  .

so  mac  rly  looked  up  to  his  grandpa  growing  up  even  if  he  also  thought  he  was  an  asshole  ?  they  werent  super  close  but  had  a  lot  of  respect  for  each  other  ,  n  mac  much  preferred  spending  his  time  with  og  mac  than  with  mac  jr  n  his  ma   (  oh  boy  this  is  bound  to  get  confusing  )  .  but  yea  ,  his  grandpa  was  a  huge  influence  on him  while  growing  up  ,  which  was  mayhaps  not  a  good  idea  .

once  he  graduated  high  school  ,  his  grandpa  told  him  that  he  wanted  him  to  run  the  company  in  his  dads  place  bc  he  wasnt  leaving  a  multibillion  dollar  company  for  that  doofus  ,  but  sneaky  old  mac  told  him  that  there  were  terms  to  this  development  .  mac  would  get  the  company  once  he  retired  ,  but  since  his  father  had  been  such  a  dumb  fuck  ,  he  would  only  get  the  company  n  his  money  ,  if  he  married  a  woman  approved  by  the  senior  before  he  kicked  the  bucket  .  mac  threw  an  absolute  fit  ,  but  eventually  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he’d  rather  marry  someone  for  convenience  than  be  poor  for  the  rest  of  his  life  .  which  tbh  so  would  i  .

ENTER  ARRANGED  FIANCÉE  .  they’ve  been  engaged  for  about  two  yrs  now  but  no  one  is  in  any  rush  for  the  actual  marriage  .  the  deal  was  that  they  only  had  to  do  it  before  senior  died  ,  n  since  he’s  in  pretty  much  perfect  help  ,  the  duo  is  just  biding  their  time  .  mac  moved  to  nyc  to  live  w/  the  fiancée  ,  but  as  of  now  ,  they  r  pretty  much  just  roommates  atm  .  so  yeah  basically  thats  how  mac  ended  up  in  this  moment  in  his  life  lmao  . 

in  regards  to  his  personality  ,  mac  is  pretty  much  a  mini  version  of  malcolm  senior  .  he’s  v  confident  (  cocky  )  n  has  a  LOT  of  trouble  trying  to  view  life  by  any  other  point  of  view  than  his  own  .  very  selfish  and  honestly  not  a  guy  u  can  put  ur  trust  in  ?  he’s  not  like  a  super  asshole  or  anything  ,  is  in  fact  rly  charming  n  can  be  a  great  person  to  hang  out  w/  but  if  you’re  his  best  friend  n  he  feels  like  he  can  get  away  w/  hooking  up  w  your  mom  ? 12/10  will  do  it  .

is  mad  into  parties  ?  always  hanging  out  in  the  hottest  spots  w  all  different  kinds  of  ppl  until  the  sun  is  comin  up  .  he  has  weird  views  when  it  comes  to  dating  which  is  lowkey  for  is  kinda  an  asshole  who  gives  no  fucks  n  usually  ends  up  being  hated  by  his  exes  .

but  he’s  also  a  super  fun  guy  to  be  around  !!  will  always  be  down  for  a  good  time  n  do  his  best  to  cheer  u  everyone  around  him  .  u  r  always  going  to  be  entertained  around  him  there  isnt  even  a  choice  .

he  works  on/off  for  the  record  label  ,  mostly  monitoring  bigger  artists  n  such  because  we  love  nepotism  around  here  friends  ,  but  he  also  does  music  every  once  in  a  while  ?  its  not  frequent  ,  n  he  mostly  writes  songs  for  other  artists  , but  he  has  previously  released  an  album  n  scored  a  couple  of  #1s  .  i  pretty  much  think  of  his  vc  n  style  as  bazzi’s  ,  but  he’s  definitely  not  super  active  as  a  singer .

so  far  this  is  pretty  much  it  for  mac  .  i’m  still  working  on  him  a   little  ,  but  this  is  an  alright  outline  of  his  for  now  .  i’m  gonna  list  some  possible  connections  but  those  are  gonna  be  pretty  basic  .  feel  free  to  hmu  in  my  ims  or  on  discord   (  mella is lost #1597  )  where  i  am  p  much  all  the  time  so  we  can  come  up  w  some  bomb  ideas ?

someone  whos  signed  to  the  label  n  they  connected  through  it  ?  could be  all  kinds  of  stuff  actually  .  

best  friends  bc  even  demons  need  those  every  once  in  a  while  .

exes  ,  all  kinds  of  them  but  mostly  bad  terms  bc  mac  is  the  worst  .

pretty  much  all  the  fwbs  no  strings   attached  things  specially  if  they  come  w/  angst   . 

hype  friends  who  r  always  there  to  have  a  good  time  w  each  other  .

first  love  type  of  thing  ?

skinny  love  that  will  never  work  ?

i  cant  think  of  anything  else  ?  pls  dont  give  up  on  me  tho  n  like  this  thing  or hmu  for plots  bye !!!

[obeetlebeetle]

Do all the dnd asks!

1. A favorite character you have played.

done!

2. Your favorite character that someone else has played.

o my god.. this is so hard, my group makes really good characters! for each of them:zach - nickels!! trauma child kenku weirdo who sold their soul to talk.. who grew up to be an angry pirate who adopted a child on impulse.ari - lael, obviously. they have a half-elf complex, a good chunk of their personality is being the kid that catches lizards, and they have a robot arm.lemon - honestly? jj devinyl. i mean, john mulaney as a tiefling cleric who loves his wife and is also going completely insane? yeah.bree - i.. love layla. she’s a good-aligned cleric to an evil god and her and kellan are the cutest couple in dnd tbh.connor - guardian is a robot.

3. Your favorite side quest.

o fuck!! y’all.. it’s bufo. it’s the fact that my talking toad npc was so lovable that they unlocked the quest in which his mother hunts him down and tries to kill him so that she can live forever. they killed her ofc and bufo was untransformed into a handsome.. halfling.

4. Your current campaign.

i’m running a murder mystery set aboard an airship! with strong cosmic horror elements! and i’m playing in a large-scale epic about spies caught up in the very start of a continent-wide war.

5. Favorite NPC.

also a very hard question. on one hand, jean is my actual boyfriend and also a literal angel assassin. on the other hand, nika is a child god trapped in an amulet whose super god power makes people trip which is so fucking funny. back around to the first hand, which is now the third, aengus is so well-done as a villain that he’s almost scared me in my real-life actual heart and yet he’s an a huge loser with breakup trauma, which is objectively also so fucking funny. on my fourth hand, fela is my most important npc who i’m probably in love with and she’s been in every one of my campaigns. on my FIFTH hand--

6. Favorite death (monster, player character, NPC, etc).

done!

7. Your favorite downtime activity.

done!

8. Your favorite fight/encounter.

that time nasuada beat lumley up in her own dumb-ass head, and lumley’s response was to find this super hot.

9. Your favorite thing about D&D.

getting together and spending time with my friends! or maybe that it lets me be creative without the stress writing gives me.

10. Your favorite enemy and the enemy you hate the most.

fav enemy is def aengus!! like wow he’s fucking terrifying!! and i hate yin&yang the most, they were so creepy and cruel and they were never really punished.

11. How often do you play and how often would you ideally like to play?

i dm once a week these days, and i play sporadically. thesis year has been hard on me! but ideally i would love to dm twice a week and play in one or two steady campaigns, or dm once a week with regular one-shot sessions!

12. Your in game inside jokes/memes/catchphrases and where they came from.

o.. there’s a lot?? my favorite is “honeyclaw pissed on lenthol” bc our barbarian thought it would be a good idea to climb into the robot piloted by the “big bad” (or so we thought at the time), and then to sell her bluff that she was looking for the bathroom, she just...... pissed herself >:(

13. Introduce your current party.

as a dm: lael (half-elf magitechnician who bases their mad science off of cool bugs); guardian (robot paladin on his third life, basically robocop with light existential crises); senhora (brash and kind-hearted by turns, an elf who [REDACTED] before becoming a ranger and bonding w a wolf); jj devinyl (a tiefling cleric who does stand-up comedy and loves his wife); and percy (an android with identity issues, driven by curiosity, and love for magic, and literally no qualms about threatening to kill her friends).

as a player:rowan (the last prince of a lost kingdom and also the saddest, gayest boy in town); ko&kokumo (my elf boy whose soul split in two after leaving his warlock patron, driven by nosiness and romance respectively); honeyclaw (a tabaxi pro-wrestler who deserted her life as a child soldier, pissed on lenthol); peitho (the surprisingly wholesome god of sex, was kinda into the tactics of being a spy before he got distracted by p*ssy); and lumley (the dumbest baby lesbian ever o my god, she’s the daughter of a powerful river goddess and she still can’t get a date).

14. Introduce any other parties you have played in or DM-ed.

that would take me one million years.

15. Do you have snacks during game times?

yeah!! traditionally we take a halfway break at 9 and all go get snacks together, it’s great.

16. Do you play online or in person? Which do you prefer?

i prefer in person, but we play online a lot, and we’ll have to be only online once we graduate.

17. What are some house rules that your group has?

we round up score mods from odds and we don’t pay attention to like.. most of the little rules. it’s more abt the storytelling. (which is why we may switch to a different system if i can seduce them away.)

18. Does your party keep any pets?

o yeah, i think almost every group has had an animal companion. and if not, zach always plays a furry.

19. Do you or your party have any dice superstitions?

a lot of us roll specific sets for each character! 

20. How did you get into D&D? How long have you been playing?

i got into dnd in high school bc i liked a boy who watched community, and then i watched community, and the dnd episode fucking rocked. never got past making characters and one botched attempt at a session. then in my first year of college, i joined the dnd club and i’ve been playing since! so like, three years and some change.

21. Have you ever regretted something your character has done?

ya lol i play very much how my character would act and tho that usually goes well for me.. ko wanted to break his pact with aengus despite the Consequences and i didn’t. but overall i think the outcome has been a lot of fun!

22. What color was your first dragon?

silver! just introduced them, actually!

23. Do you use premade modules or original campaigns?

all original, baby.

24. How much planning/preparation do you do for a game?

a ton. as a dm i write........ a lot. i want to have a lot of vivid characters, solid plots, and a huge interwoven world. so my docs are always huge and take me months to finish. 

as a player i do less bc players just inherently have far less to do. but i still try put a ton into really developing my character so i can play them more naturally.

For DMs

25. What have your players done that you never could have planned for?

in my first campaign, i used a lot of weird memory spells to keep characters from remembering the big bad, because him being unremembered was a HUGE plot point for me. i had two different groups playing in the city at the same time, and one of them.... had this dragonborn who just liked to talk to plants and who hated nobles, and who fucking cast MAGIC MOUTH on their FANNY PACK to record that big bad so that it COULDN’T BE FORGOTTEN. MAGIC MOUTH. THAT’S THE SPELL THAT BROKE ME.

26. What was your favorite scene to write and show your characters.

i’ve really liked a couple, but i know i haven’t topped the finale for my first campaign. after finally the groups finally came together and killed Shargaas, the city began to crumble around them, and they all watched me set a ten-minute timer for them to figure out how to get away with their lives.

27. Do you allow homebrew content?

o yea, i adore MFOV particularly.

28. How often do you use NPCs in a party?

o there are always a couple kicking around.

29. Do you prefer RP heavy sessions or combat sessions?

we don’t really.. do... that second thing....

30. Are your players diplomatic or murder hobos?

yes.

For Players

31. What is your favorite class? Favorite race?

o fuck. uh probably wizard. and i love................. half-elves.

32. What role do you like to play the most? (Tank/healer/etc?)

i really like long-distance damage dealers.

33. How do you write your backstory, or do you even write a backstory?

i always start with a concept and then i just write an entire novel ell em ay oh.

34. Do you tend pick weapons/spells for being useful or for flavor?

done!

35. How much roleplay do you like to do?

like, 70% rp, 30% jokes,

[whipplefilter]

could u do a fic abt storm? idc what it's abt but if u cld thatd b great!

Sure thing, anon! Here’s a fic about how Storm spent the off-season timeskip at the beginning of Cars 3! 

Fic: Motherland

They’re in Gemmayzeh, in a restaurant with a dress code to meet an uncle the American side of Storm’s family is elated to see. His mother cries.

Half an hour ago, winding through Beirut, Storm asked why a hauler couldn’t take them. But Storm’s mother wants the entire city to see her. Normally, Storm doesn’t mind being the center of attention, either, but none of these cars know who he is, and no one cares. Not here. Storm doesn’t like being reminded that his reputation doesn’t always speak for itself.

“At the restaurant, don’t speak,” his mother tells him. Whisper, if he must. She says, “Your Arabic is… ” and she means it’s like a baby’s. His family–well, his mother’s family–is very well-known in Lebanon, and there will be listeners.

If Gale were here, she’d laugh about this. She’d laugh about anyone telling Storm to be quiet, and she’d laugh at Storm being mad about it. She’d tell him his mother’s probably doing him a favor–Storm doesn’t want to talk to any of these cars; really, he’s been given permission to be sullen and silent. It’s a win-win.

She’d be right, but Storm’s still angry.

–

“Are we going to have to pray?” Storm asks. A private jet is launching them over the pole, straight from LAX to Lebanon. “Like, five times a day, facing–”

“We’re Maronites,” says his mother, tersely. Like that explains anything. Storm’s pretty sure he isn’t one.

–

“Do you have any plans for the off-season?” asks Shannon Spoke.

He’s never really understood her mannerisms, can’t tell if she likes him or wished he’d rot. She’s too professional. He tells her he’ll be overseas, training with supercars.

“You go where the competition is,” he says. He sounds self-assured and silky, like usual. When he watches the broadcast, he believes it.

In Lebanon, he tries to make his world as much like Los Angeles as possible. He doesn’t need to be worldly and he doesn’t want to “train” with supercars. In Lebanon, the Internet is the same. The fuel is a little better, to be honest. But those mountains could be the Sierras and the water could be the Pacific; they’re just out of reach, just like in Los Angeles. From Storm’s vantage point, Lebanon is just like Los Angeles.

Storm has never been to the mountains. He’s never touched the sea.

“Don’t people just live on the beach over there?” asks a cousin, in English Storm’s mother called “stylized” and Storm just thinks is bad. But it’s still better than his Arabic.

This cousin lives on the beach.

“Have you ever been to Disneyland?” the cousin asks. “What about Jag-Z’s house?”

When Storm turns one year old, he’s in Lebanon. His mother claims he’s been here before. Obviously, he doesn’t remember. He is one year old, and he has been to twenty-four racetracks. And Lebanon.

–

They are faster. Storm doesn’t need to race them to know. His cousin has diamond-encrusted headlights just because he can. He wears gold instead of chrome. And he can drive 400 kilometers an hour. Storm’s not even sure how fast that is, because kilometers mean nothing to him, but he’s a racecar. He knows speed when he sees it. He knows horsepower when he hears it. And he can feel it through the road, into his tires, into the core of him.

They’d never make it 600 miles, though. Not in the dense muggy heat of North Carolina, no sea breeze. No breaks.

“Why would anyone do that?” asks a different cousin, incredulous.

Storm hates them, because supercars aren’t cars; not really. Not according to him. Putting wheels on something doesn’t make it a car.

Fun fact: Half the cars in the stands in North Carolina think the same of him. All the Next-Gens. “Stock cars,” indeed. The other half probably don’t think even think something like McQueen is a real car. Again, not really.

“He doesn’t really… belong here,” says yet another cousin. She’s a contortion of metal that doesn’t seem like a car at all. She’s the fastest. She looks at him, and it’s a mixture of pity and resignation.

Storm’s an adult. He’s a superstar. And he needs babysitting.

And maybe that’s not what she said at all. She was speaking too fast for Storm to understand, and it’s then Storm realizes why his mother thinks he’s an idiot. She’s always spoken to him like one. It’s really not his fault he hit the road with IGNTR and guess what! Newsflash: Talladega doesn’t have a lot of Arabic speakers. Neither does Daytona. Charlotte. Kansas. Phoenix.

And now he can’t understand what this stupid girl is saying.

“The movie we want to see is in Arabic. Based on a Kahlil Gibran book,” she says. “We don’t think you’d understand it.”

“Oh, Kahlil Gibran,” Storm replies airily, in English. He hasn’t figured out how to be skillfully sarcastic in Arabic. “He’s a legend. Right up there with Dean Koontz.”

There’d been a Koontz novel in the LAX bookstore, discounted 70% and collecting dust.

“Who?” asks the cousin.

Storm mimes haughty shock.

–

There’s a story that everyone in the garage kind of knows, about McQueen and some terrible desert town and whatever it is he’d learned there. Or at least, McQueen seems to assume everyone knows it, and everyone gives a damn. Storm is sure he’s not the only one who doesn’t. At all.

But stranded in Beirut, which is not in a desert and is not a small town, that’s what comes to mind.

If Storm has any stories to bring back, they all end the same way.

He wants to get out of here.

–

His mother cries when they leave. Out and out weeps. Storm’s mother doesn’t cry about anything, ever, but she cries when they leave Beirut. She’s been living in America for thirteen years and Lebanon is the only home she feels she’ll ever have. If it weren’t for Storm’s father, she’d never leave it. Storm’s father is the only thing she loves more than her motherland, and sometimes Storm wonders if even that is true. Maybe she’ll disappear into some casino in Jounieh and he’ll never see her again.

She’s self-conscious about her emptiness, when it’s just the two of them parked in first-class. “You wouldn’t understand,” she says. “You can’t.”

She’s right.

–

“Welcome home,” Gale beams. She meets them on track at Daytona. Qualifying for the Florida 500 is in a week.

When Storm lays down an all-time track record during practice, RSN says he’s marking his territory. He’s the Piston Cup’s youngest, newest champion, and he’s coming home to roost. He’s the king of the superspeedway.

“And also holds track records at multiple intermediate and short tracks on the schedule,” Bob Cutlass clarifies. “Not just superspeedways.”

Darrell Cartrip guffaws. “Heck, put Stormy boy on anything, and he’ll make it a superspeedway!”

When Cartrip talks about Daytona, Storm’s pretty sure his voice breaks. If he had to live an ocean away from Daytona, he’d probably cry too. It’s the home of the Piston Cup, after all. And Cartrip bleeds race fuel.

–

Home. Home home home. It’s all anyone ever talks about.

–

McQueen shows up eventually. When he talks he sounds even more homespun than Storm remembers him, as though he’s spent his off-season buried in a southern swamp somewhere, befriending the Piston Cup’s lowest common denominators. Given the sporty yellow thing and the rusty old truck in tow, this probably isn’t untrue.

–

“You don’t belong– on this track–!” Storm grits out, fender to fender with that sporty yellow thing. He says it because it’s true. He belongs here; she can’t. This is the only place he belongs.

And then, at the finish line, he doesn’t.

–

He doesn’t.

–

He’s never felt like the world was so far away.

–

When he returns to Los Angeles after the race, his mother is in town. She’s discussing business, catching lunch with Storm’s agent, his contracts attorney. That she and Storm cross paths is sheer coincidence. She hadn’t exactly penciled him in.

She’s polished and detailed, immaculately presentable and not at all the woman crying into magazines, weeping streaks across her windshield 41,000 feet above sea level. But Storm thinks maybe, just maybe, that might be their common ground. What he’d felt, he still doesn’t know, he can’t really tell. But she’s his mother, after all. Maybe if she–

Storm narrows his eyes. Maybe she could be useful to him for once in her life.

“Good morning, habibi,” she says absently, still scanning over some papers.

He wants her to look up. To look at him.

He wants her help. He wants her to explain his feelings to him, tell him she understands. She can talk about his stupid uncle if she wants to. Even the cousins. He feels stupid wanting any of that.

When Storm’s mother finally looks up, she takes one glance and says, “Oh, stop. You lost a race, not a country.”

She doesn’t look up again.