#i could ramble about him for days though. 'silly goofy side character who actually has so much more going on' etc etc

[shirogane-oushirou]

OMG RO HAPPY ANNIVERSARY WAJFEKAHFEKE ;-; take this as an opportunity to gush if you want!! <333

KJNASDKJN THANK YOU NICK!!! technically i messed up yesterday, it's actually tomorrow kjsndfjkn, but i started the gif and art reblogging early bc i've collected so many lmao ;; i'm the only oushirou gif-maker and people WILL see my boy!!!!!

i was going to gush on my anniversary art post, but you've handed me a golden opportunity to do it here. you will regret this. :3c 💞

[cw quick mention of a scene where he's called a slur]

oushirou's been my most beloved, specialest, best boy since my first year in college. i was working my way through the games, and i saw his profile in some artbook scans, and i went... who the FUCK is this guy??? KAJSNKDJN. i hated his design so much; it didn't fit with the rest of the series's designs.

but he immediately won me over as a side character in the pc game, and then i was Doomed the second i booted up to play the PSP port with the added oushirou route (our 13yr anniversary is the day i started posting about playing his route lol). i became The Oushirou Guy™ in the eng fandom from that point on ;; and, of course, now i'm like "i need MORE characters who look like this guy, RIGHT NEOW" kjsnfkjn.

and then a year later -- 12 years ago tomorrow -- the last game released AND, FINALLY, he had his own karedanna cd! a fandom friend sent a rip to myself and my also-oushirou-lover friend, as we were waiting for ours to ship... and he proposes in it. my friend and i both made this day the wedding anniversary in commemoration. i even have some ancient joke art i made on the release day itself LMAO

i love him so much more than i think i let on; ren's my main right now, so that's what people know me for, but oushirou really is The Blueprint for me.

he's so self-driven. he could have lived a cushy, comfortable life following the family trade as a western fortune teller, but he would rather throw that -- and an unealthy relationship with his family -- away so he could follow his dreams of being a photographer and journalist.

and he's loyal. after his life is saved by another student (kazuki), and he realizes kazuki will be held back due to spending too many days recovering from the injuries he incurred, he makes sure he's also held back a year so he can play as kazuki's right-hand-man during the remainder of their time at seigetsu academy.

also like... ngl, him being a scorpio is like 👀 he's a freak like me LMAOOOO we can be like "every zodiac girlie hates our pussiessss" together. 💖

oh. and then of course he's the Ambiguously Queer Character of the series. he's a little fruity w it in general, he loves crossdressing, he's flirty with kazuki, homare, and shiki, he's stated outright that his love for kazuki and tsukiko are equal and he can't decide between them, and his fashion sense is just a little cherry on top ksjdnfk.

ugh. honeybee's just itching to call him a slur i s2g.... wait omg wait they actually had some one-off characters call him a slur in his first route KJASNDKDJNSDFKJN WAIT???????? I JUST REMEMBERED??????? it was one of the first scenes i translated from his route i'm lksnfkns oh my fucking god. and everything since then has been like. doubling down without actually calling him anything. crying omg ksjdnfkjns.

ANYWAY. just a year ago, he was the character everybody associated me with, only beaten out once ren appeared. even my art username is based on him (zerofoursix -> 0-4-6 -> o-shi-ro -> oushirou). he's pulled me through so many things, from shitty college experiences to my health issues... to even being part of the reason why i picked art back up after i took a 5-6yr hiatus due to art school burnout. ;;

i love him so so much, forever and ever, my beloved hentai sentai red*, my adhd king, my most skilled f/o by a LONG shot**, my scorpio twin, my misunderstood weirdo... he's Everything to me 😭💗

* think i've posted about it once before, but it's a running joke that he's a sentai hero who regularly saves tsukiko from creeps in his AW route ;;

** photographer, journalist, multilingual, fashion-forward, western fortune teller, super emotionally intelligent... i could go on. the guy hides SO MUCH of his power level around others.

[maochira]

noa, chris, and lavinho as father figures and they find out one of the blue lock characters are dating them/ courting them/ has a crush on them or reader has a crush on them (can be mutual pinning or one-sided)

Honestly, I was going to write a scenario similar to this at some point, because I've thought a lot about this with Noa and my Blue Lock OC. But thanks for the request! Feel free to send more, I love writing these so so much!!

Tags: gn!reader, silly goofy fluff, reader is rejected by their crush in the lavinho headcanons, Noa/Chris/Lavinho has been reader's father figure for maybe two or three years at this point, reader is like 16 or 17 year old in this

How each of them became your father figure

Series masterlist

Basically, you got to go along to Blue Lock, but you're not a player in the Neo Egoist League. You're there to accompany your father figure because he took this as a chance to get you away from home for a while. You're by his side most of the time, acting pretty much like an assistant. But, that also means you get to know the Blue Lock players.

Noel Noa

-you started dating one of the Blue Lock players after only two weeks. And you really fell hard. But for some reason, you tried to hide it from everyone

-but come one, of course Noa realizes what's going on. He even noticed how your feelings for your (now)boyfriend grew before the relationship started. He decided to not ask you about it, though. Noa thinks it would be better to let you grow into this for a bit on your own

-but at some point, he randomly drops a sentence like "you and your boyfriend could-" and that's how you find out he knew the entire time

-you're really flustered, also a bit embarrassed

-Noa reassures you that he's fine with it. Although with certain players cough Kaiser cough Raichi he would definitely have some concerns if they work out with you in the long term, but he doesn't express it towards you, because he doesn't want you to feel insecure. about your relationship

-whoever you're dating, Noa will definitely keep a closer eye on him. He would probably take him aside as well to tell him that only because he's dating you, there won't be any special treatment

-would always give you advice if you have any problems in the relationship, especially if this is your first serious one

Chris Prince

-one of the players start crushing on you. He approaches Chris about it to ask if it's okay to ask you out. Chris thinks it's a joke at first, but when he realizes it was a serious question, he's a little surprised

-he thinks it's really cute, actually. So of course he's okay with it!

-although you don't feel ready for a relationship yet, you want to get to know your admirer better first

-so, that's why Chris puts an effort into getting the two of you to spend time together at least once a day. And after a while, you reciprocate those feelings and start dating the Blue Lock player

-Chris thinks you're adorable together. He's extremely supportive of your relationship and whenever he sees you and your boyfriend hold hands or kiss, Chris feels so happy for you because he just adores that you managed to find someone who loves you like this

Lavinho

-you fall for one of the Blue Lock players. And you fall hard. Always blushing when you're near your crush and being shyer around him

-Lavinho picks up on that super quickly, so he asks you about it. He'd definitely do that in a teasing way, saying things like "Ooooh someone's got a crush, huh?"

-somehow that conversation turns into you rambling about how you're way too shy to talk to your crush and how you're way too unsure if you should confess your feelings or not

-Lavinho talks to you for as long as you need, trying his best to give advice to make you feel more secure about what to do

-he gives you the courage to confess to your crush. Because who could say no to you?

-so, uhm. You've been rejected.

-Lavinho makes sure to spend some extra time with you every day, so you can get enough distraction. He accompanies you throughout your mess of feelings and thoughts, which really helps you get over your crush faster and easier

[fangirlovestuff]

Playful - Chris Evans x reader

a/n - hey lovely people! i’ve had all these little headcanons in my head for quite a bit of time, so i’m finally posting it! let me know what you think and enjoy!<3

warning: implied sexual content

you and chris are known as a really goofy couple

what do you expect? when you put a couple of children at heart together there’s bound to be at least some chaos

once you built a blanket fort in the middle of the living room and spent the night in it

obviously, a disney marathon was involved

on the morning you wake up to find chris tangled up in the blankets you had for yourselves, leaving none for you

i mean you were pretty sure he didn’t do it on purpose, but still

you woke him up with a pillow to his face

which led to a pillow fight that ruined your fort

“oh well, it was bound to be ruined sometime”

you took your tongue out at him and he returned the favor

you were both pretty fond of puns as well

if you found a good one you’d make sure to share it

sometimes you’d get on a roll

“what did the grape say when it was crushed? nothing it just let out a little... wine,” you burst into laughing and so did chris

“what do you call a can opener that doesn’t work? a can’t opener!”

you could get into hours of laughing at each other’s stupid jokes, until your sides hurt and you were practically crying with laughter, when you got in a silly mood 

once you were having a nice saturday lunch at his parents' house, the whole family coming together to see each other and staying the afternoon

you were sitting on the couch, reading a book Lisa just lent you

the kids were playing outside, and, so you thought, was chris

but once you were immersed in your book chris came in without you noticing 

he came up behind the couch and circled his arms around you

“you look pretty” he smiled and whispered in your ear, startling you from your book

“awww, you’re pretty too,” you replied

and then, smirking, you continued

“pretty annoying”

you burst out laughing

chris pouted and turned to walk away

you quickly grabbed onto his arm and turned around, so your knees were on the couch and your face was towards him

you pulled him back towards you, circling your arms around his neck

“you look handsome,” you whispered before bringing your foreheads together 

you smiled and pecked his lips

just then one of the kids came in 

“ewwww,” he exclaimed at your PDA and everyone laughed

a lot of times when you mildly annoy chris he has a not-so-secret weapon against you

the mustache

god, you hated it with a passion

so if you were feeling particularly bratty that day, he’d just sigh and go “you know what? i think it’s time to bring back that iconic stache”

which would prompt you to thoroughly apologize 

“okay okay i’m sorry, please just not the mustache, i won’t do it again!”

you’d pout and you’d both laugh

you actually challenged him to a push-up contest one time

was it an excuse to watch him do push-ups because he didn’t like working out in the house? 

maybe

anyway, you actually held up better than you thought but he still won, obviously

you started rambling about how it’s kinda unfair that he won but he cut you off swiftly, putting his arms on the small of your back and asking you in a low voice

“when do i get my prize?”

there was one summer day when your AC broke down

it was an absolute nightmare

you called a technician but he said he could be there only in about three hours

you laid down on your bed with your phone, the heat boring into you like hellfire

you had one of those ceiling fans, but they were no match for an AC, doing nothing to cool the room down 

you were scrolling on your phone, a bit sweaty even though you were laying down, when chris came to lay behind you

he started moving his hands on your hips and sides, coming to squeeze on your ass

“chris,” you groaned “it’s hot as shit in here, please let’s not make it worse”

he hummed as if debating it, then brought his lips to kiss along your neck, sucking and nipping at your collarbone, drawing a moan out of your lips as you tilted your neck to grant him easier access

“i don’t know,” he mused, “i think we could use a distraction”

he ground himself against your ass and your breath hitched as you tossed your phone aside

once you both came down from your high you laid down beside him, sweaty and breathless

you huffed and rolled yourself to lay on top on him, like a big sweaty blanket

“nooo,” he groaned, “it’s like 200 degrees in here”

“oh really? who would’ve known something like this would happen?” you exclaimed

you lifted your head from his chest and smirked at him

“this is really your fault, you brought this onto yourself and-- oh!” you squealed and giggled as he suddenly rose from the bed, lifting you with him

you wrapped your legs around his waist as he made your way to the shower, smiling the entire way

sometimes interviewers would ask stupid questions about him working out, or people who met him would say they thought he was bigger

he tried to take it in good humor but you knew it still stung a little

so you never missed a chance to show chris how much you thought he was hot

touching his arm and pulling your palm away immediately, holding it in your other hand as if you got burned

“ahhh,” you hissed, “you’re hot!”

he laughed heartily, his hand slapping his chest

other times you see him talking to someone in a family gathering and come up next to him, slipping your hand into his back pocket and splaying it on his ass

luckily for the both of you, he’s an actor, so no one but you sees the glint of laughter in his eyes

other times you’d just see him standing in your kitchen, or in front of your bathroom sink, brushing his teeth

and you’d just give his butt a nice little smack

america’s ass wasn’t the only one who appreciated a nice ass in this house😏 

once you were sitting on the couch when you had scott and some friends over

you were sitting in chris’ lap, talking to him in a hushed voice, your hands intertwined in your lap

absentmindedly, chris brought your hand up to kiss it

you rubbed your nose on his in an eskimo kiss

which resulted in you both gave each other mad heart eyes

everyone in the room rolled their eyes

“c’mon guys,” scott said, “you’ve been dating for more than a year, when’s this gonna stop?”

the both of you just laughed

because you knew the answer to that was never

in conclusion chris evans come wife me up right now!!

hope u enjoyed! as always if you have any requests/ideaslet me know! btw for this anon - this is the fic i was talking about lol

Chris Taglist: @swatson06 @horny-nd-bored​ @shannon124 @perfectlyharolds​ @phoebe-21-99 @wintersoldierslut​ @iceebabies​ @wanessalopesueiros @sleepingpapermouse @steverogerswasalwaysworthy @holtzkinnon @angelicl-y @stydia-4-ever @thatoneperson5000 @fangirlfree​ @kaitcordx25 @bequeening​ @steve-barry-damon-logan​ @itscrazycherryblossomcollection​ @hollandxmarvel​ @darkwitchfromthesouth @stargazingfangirl18 @readsreblogsfics @onetwo3000 @beritmetal

if you wanna join / be removed from the taglist, comment/message me! this is a taglist for Chris and his characters. much love <3

[froggonoboggo]

Answer all the OC questions Erika. D O I T

Alright then! lol I’ll do Persedimun Rigas as he is currently in the rp thread I have with my friends🌹 Where in the world does your OC feel most at home? Is there any reason why? If it’s not the place they were born, where were they born? Is there a certain somebody that makes them feel at home where ever they may be? What does home mean to them?

Percy feels most at home on his farm and anywhere in the ocean. He made the farm his own after he had been in hiding for centuries, and as a water dragon, he and the ocean are one. Percy was born up north somewhere deep in the ocean but left when he was old enough to separate from his family. There is absolutely someone who makes him feel at home, and home to him means somewhere he feels safe, happy, and can just be himself without holding anything back.🍄 What are your OCs favourite snacks? Their favourite comfort food which always cheers them up when they’re down? Favourite meal to make? Do they enjoy baking and cooking and are they any good in the kitchen?Percy has a sweet tooth and he’s not picky either, the man will eat about anything you give him. He’s also a big fan of soup, and any soup he can fix up is his go to in order to cheer him up, the same goes for favorite meal to make. He adores baking and cooking and he’ll tell you that he’s alright in the kitchen.

🍁 Where does your OC go when they need to have some time to themself? Would they ever have their own “comfort corner” filled with all the things they like? Do they have a favourite spot outside that feels like its theirs and theirs alone?

Percy doesn’t have many places to escape to, due to needing to keep himself inconspicuous from higher beings, and he doesn’t need to for the most part because his safe place is on the farm. If that place is compromised he disappears into the ocean for awhile.

🍂 Does your OC enjoy hugs? What do they do as a show of affection for: their friends, their family, their significant other(s) or for strangers? Over all what are they like with recieving affection from others?

He adores hugs and will readily give them out whenever it is needed. For friends and family he shows the same type of affection for both. He’s a very touchy guy, lots of pats and jokes, always ready to do something for them. The same goes for significant others actually, but more kisses involved, hand holding, and lingering touches. Does not hold back from PDA. For strangers he’s less involved with the touches. Percy loves receiving affection, and depending on what it is, may become bashful.

🌻 What little things do they notice about people or the world around them that make them happy? What tiny little treasures do they find in the normal every day that makes the world seem a little brighter for them?

Percy is a bit of a cheesy sap, and smiles and laughter really brings him in. The sounds of happiness really strikes him. The soft eyes of his cows, his dog, and the soft pattering of rain calms him.

🌾 Describe your OC through the eyes of someone absolutely head-over-heels in love with them

Persedimun is warm and soft, as well as a big boy who’s chest serves as the best pillow. He’s super goofy, adventurous, caring, and has incredibly kind eyes and gives the best hugs. Percy is a cheesy romantic and its adorable, his hands are rough but they hold what they cherish so delicately and tenderly, with every ounce of love and admiration he has to offer. He’ll hang on to every word you say and will say your voice is one of his favorite sounds.

 💐 How does your OC handle being unwell or forced to rest in bed? Who cares for them and in what ways? Does your OC enjoy being doted on or are they a terrible patient? Reversed: is your OC good at taking care of others who are ill or in need?

He’s not particularly a fan of being sick and he’s usually the one who takes care of himself, since he was a rogue dragon for a long time and he’s also by himself for the most part. He does, to an extent, like to be doted on, though he’d rather do the doting to the ones he cares about himself. He’s an excellent caretaker and usually stays by their side unless asked otherwise.

🌿 What way does your OC show that they care without using words? What way do others show your OC that they’re cared about without using speech?

As stated above, he shows that he cares about someone by always being willing to help them out, no matter what he’s doing or may want to do. Percy likes to take care of people. He also likes to give gifts, things that remind them of someone or he creates something.

🌳 What is your OC’s favourite way to relax after a stressful day? Do they have a favourite book to curl up with? A hobby? Or do they have a nice bubble bath and have an early night to bed?

He draws, paints, or naps, for the most part. If he could, he’d morph into his dragon form, hop into the ocean and sun himself on the surface like crocodiles do. Or he sits under a tree in the field, surrounded by cows and sheep and just looks out across the moors and into the trees, perhaps doodling. Percy’s an artist, and likes creating paintings or sketching, perhaps writing as well.

🌲 How deeply does your OC feel? Are they typically empathetic or do they have a hard time connecting with others in this way? What are they like when offering support and comfort to someone they care for?

Persedimun cares perhaps too much, sometimes. He’s incredibly empathetic and sympathetic, always available to lend a hand and help someone, whether it be an innocent bystander or someone they care about. Him caring about the wellbeing of his people led him to where he is now, shamed and hiding in the middle of Scotland by himself.

🌺 What does your OC do to calm down when they’re scared or after a nightmare? Do they have any special comfort items or need to be reassured by a specific person? How do they handle this if they’re alone?

He usually stays up, gets out of bed and just looks outside and thinks to himself. Or he’ll go outside and listen to the sounds of the night, sit on the porch and just contemplate. He’s not too keen on asking other for help in this situation, and usually deals with it by himself unless they find out. He will accept help at that point, and contact is great at calming him down.

🌸 What are some of their favourite things and why? List as many as you can think of!

Naps, eating, shiny and pretty things, painting, the ocean, rain and storms, cows, being cozy and warm, sweaters, animals in general actually, flowers (specifically gladiolus).

🥀 How would your OC decorate a notebook or journal? What kind of things are written in there? Could you give an example of a nice entry?

If he can, will doodle on the cover and within as well. Would write about random thoughts and rambling, notes about what he’s learned about his curse, notes about his art, things for him to remember and things he does remember because if he’s not careful with his protection spells or forgets to bring his charm, he’ll slowly forget things that he should remember. An example of a nice entry would just be him rambling some random fact he learned today from one of his friends and a silly doodle at the end. 

🌼 Who are this characters friends and found family? How did they meet, how long have they been friends for, could they ever be something more than just friends? What do they look for in a friend or a romantic partner?

Percy’s new friends would be Matteo, Artemis, and Killian, who belong to @sanguinemori @cacticouture and @technologicalnoiz respectively. As it currently stands in the thread, the closest Percy is to any of them is Matteo. They technically first encountered each other in a seedy bar when some werewolf decided to insult Matteo’s sister and Matteo pulled a sword on him. Percy interceded before things got too crazy, as well as the other two. They haven’t known each other for long, but their chemistry is perfect, and there is definitely a chance that they could be more than just friends. 

What he looks for in a partner and in a friend is not much different from each other. He loves to hang out with adventurous people, people who know how to get rowdy and have fun, people who can be as goofy as him and don’t mind that he tends to ramble about things that sometimes don’t matter. And people who care, who are warm.

💫What is your favourite fact about this character and why?

My favorite fact about Percy is that when he became a god he was like “fuck hanging out and hiding in the clouds, I’m staying right here and interacting with my worshippers as if they were family and helping them directly” and I love that because how easy would it be if you were some guy in ancient Greece and you could just walk over and ask your local dragon god if he could make it rain since your crops aren’t getting enough water and he’s like “yeah no problem dude” and then it just happens. No middleman, no catch, nothing, just straight up answered.

☄️ Does this OC deserve better treatment from you? Do you make them suffer just a little bit too much? Be nice to them!

As of right now, his backstory takes the brunt of the suffering, but hey, there’s always room for more >:)

🌠 On a scale of 1 - 10 how Baby is your OC? 

on a scale of 1-10, Percy falls on a 6. He is baby to me, but I’m not actually sure how much baby.

💦 If you as the writer could erase one traumatic event from this OC’s life what would it be and why?

His rebellion caused a whole string of traumatic events, just one after another, but I’d take away him losing his first friends, where they were captured, stripped of their godhood and are now being tormented. Percy didn’t deserve to lose them, and there could’ve been a very high chance they all made it out alive. The man would probably be in a better place if he still had their support.

God this is a lot, sorry about this but those are all the asks Aary XDD as you requested! I had a lot of fun doing this!

[nobodies-png]

modern!au is a CONCEPT. bless y'all. could u do some hcs for modern! roxas, ventus, vanitas, xion, and sora + having a disney marathon w/ their s/o? like what movies they pick, do they sing along, r there snuggles, what snacks are brought, etc. (pls feel free to add any other details u want. i love lil details.) (this might've sent once already, my page refreshed. if so, sorry!) hugs & kisses!

o this is such a wholesome prompt, thanks for sending it !

Sora : 

You’re looking at the Disney King himself. He knows a shit ton of movies and almost every song in existence so you bet your ass he’s gonna sing. And you’ll probably tag along too, his enthusiasm is just so contagious - hell, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the lyrics, just sing whatever you want to the rhythm of the song with him ! 

He’ll b e g you to watch Big Hero Six and the Lion King movies with him. After that, you can choose anything you want but just p l e a s e let him watch those, they’re his absolute favorites. Also, remember to keep some napkins around cause Sora will cry no matter the movie, the messages just hit d e e p and he’s just a softie. Just snuggle with him for a bit and pat his back while he just stutters about how cool the movies were, he’ll eventually stop with the waterworks. 

You know what ? Sora probably has a lot of Disney merch. If you guys are having a disney marathon, you’re gonna do it properly. He won’t hesitate to prepare his entire house just for this movie night - building a pillow fort in the living room so you two can chill comfortably, hoarding a lot of snacks and like a thousand popcorn bags, wearing his Stitch onesie (and probably lending you his Winnie the Pooh onesie if you’re up for it !) 

Like the whole concept could feel childish, but not to Sora ! He grew up with Disney and he holds those movies very dear to his heart, so he’d be so happy to know that you’re willing to pull an all-nighter with him ! You’re never too old to enjoy these things.

You know Sora would suggest inviting absolutely everyone, but he won’t complain if you wish for a more intimate date. That’s fine with him too ! The two of you would have such a fun time and then pass out in the pillow fort at like 4 am. 

Vanitas : 

You know those people who are like “Pffft, Disney is overrated” ? That’s Vanitas right there. The guy looks like he’s fueled by kicking puppies and being a generally mean jerk - but you know better than that. Vanitas has zero knowledge about Disney cause he was never interested in cartoons as a kid so he simply assumes it’s bad. It’s up to you to show him the real deal.

At first he’d be against the idea of having a marathon. The guy can barely pay attention to class or hold a normal conversation and you want him to just sit there and watch movies ? U n b e l i e v a b l e. Are you singing ? Please stop, no singing allowed in this house, no he doesn't want to be part of your world, plEASE SPARE HIM - Accepts in the end just to avoid doing homework. He’d let you pick whatever movie you want, but if he were to choose, he’d probably go with the Lady and the Tramp, Treasure Planet or any Pirates of the Caribbean movie. 

No one will be able to wipe off that shit eating grin off your face after seeing Vanitas go from constantly talking over the movie, critizicing everything, teasing you for being so childish to just being dead silent, completely absorbed in whatever movie you two decide to watch. Feel free to catch him off guard with a smooch here, he’ll probably have a hard time processing what the fuck you just did cause holy shit did you see Hercules beat Hades' ass?

If you introduce Vanitas to the whole conspiracy theory about all Disney movies being related, you better be ready for 3 hours of him just rambling about the posibilities. Now THAT’s something that interests him. The movies would just be background noise as you two just talk away into the night, probably in the kitchen while preparing some weird food combination cause you two ran out of snacks. 

If you expect Vanitas to admit that he was wrong and that Disney was, in fact, something pretty cool then you better sit down, honey. The closest thing you’ll get is him just stubbornly saying that “he wouldn’t mind spending more time with you, watching movies for kids.” 

Ventus : 

Ventus is a casual fan. The type that just knows the old 2D princess classics because he grew up with them, but just slowly lost track of what the hell Disney was doing. Like he probably didn't even get to see the Princess and the Frog - But's all good cause he's eager to see your favorite Disney movies !

If you make him choose a movie to watch, he'd go with the safe choices. Stuff that he knows like Snow White, the Little Mermaid and Cinderella. I can see him loving Pocahontas, Moana and the Three Musketeers, though.

If you want to pull an all nighter to watch as many classics as you can, he won't stop you and he'll try to stay awake with you (and pass out a little after midnight, lmao) - but he'd insist on taking breaks cause looking at a screen for over 6 hours straight can't be h e a l t h y.

Ventus would gladly cuddle and snuggle with you - and he'd also love to sing along, but the poor dude doesn't really know any of the lyrics. Solution ? Just put on those good subtitles and there you go ! He'd love to sing Aladdin's A Whole New World with you or just any duet. You two would get so into it that your neighbours would propably have to knock on the walls a few times so you'll lower your volume.

If you ever mention your favorite (s) disney character(s), you can totally expect Ventus to show up one day unnanounced with a plushie of them, just for you. Consider this his way of saying thanks ! And also apologize for passing out so early - he'll make up for that inviting you to yet another movie night with him.

Roxas :

Another casual fan, but the complete opposite of Ventus. Roxas never got into 2D Disney as a kid and he's more into the 3D additions like Brave, Coco or Frankenweenie. He's also that type of controversial fan who actually enjoyed the liveaction remakes of the old classics.

But don't get him wrong, he's still a r u t h l e s s critic. Roxas gets bored pretty quickly with movies that have such obvious and bland plots and twists that he can see them coming from a mile away. I see him being more of a Pixar fan, just quoting Shrek in his usual deadpan voice on a daily basis. Roxas' brain in a 1000 heartless fight : "and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they-"

If you want to watch movies with him, prepare to discover Roxas' more sassy side - the guy just can't hold back all these funny remarks and jabs at Disney Fairy Tale Logic™. "Oh good for you Gaston, trying to send your crush's father to a psychiatric ward just so she can pay attention to you is SUCH a powermove. You should've dated Lefou instead -" "Do you think Ariel's daughter was born with a mermaid tail or legs? Imagine the monstrosity -".

In the end you two wouldn't even pay attention to the actual movies, since you'd be too busy mocking and impersonating every character and just rolling on the floor laughing your asses off. Your snapchat and instagram stories would be filled with videos of each other doing dumb stuff, calling out all the tiny mistakes as if you two were CinemaSins.

In the end, this Disney Marathon would just turn into a weekly movie night where you two just watch everything and anything. Sometimes it's fun and goofy, and sometimes you two actually get into the plot and discuss all the h i d d e n lore. Roxas would feel super special to have this little new tradition with you.

Xion :

Xion is the definition of a Disney Princess. She absolutely loves every princess movie and you bet your ass she screamed when all of them appeared in full 3D during Ralph breaks the Internet. Like she's a natural romantic and a dreamer at heart, so all the fairy tales just get to her, always tearing up during the climax of the movies.

Ironically, most of her favorite Disney movies aren't princess related : Aristocats, Peter Pan, Tangled and Brother Bear. Xion is that type of person who just points out all the similarities between her friends and the characters. Like Kenai and Kods's bond remind her of her and Roxas' friendship with Axel, Saix reminds her of Randall from Monsters Inc, Kairi is totally Lilo and Aqua is Nani - You get the idea !

Even if you suggested the idea of a Disney Marathon, Xion would just plan the best course of action and take the lead almost immediately. She's just so excited to be able to spend this night with you that she wants to make the most of it ! Snacks ? Check. Netflix and other sites to see movies ? Check. A shit ton of blankets and hot cocoa ? Check. The perfect partner ? Check.

Xion would do her best to not break out into fullblown singing - mostly out of respect for her roommates and neighbours, but you'll definitely hear her hum along and mutter the lyrics under her breath. And if the song is catchy enough, she'd love to pull you in for a dance !

At the end of the night, you two would be exhausted but content. Probably giving up on seeing all the movies, just listening to a disney playlist on Youtube while you two do stupid and silly Buzzfeed quizzes like "What Disney villain are you based on your aesthetics" and such. Xion has trouble sleeping, so you'll most likely end up falling asleep on her first. She'll stay awake till sunrise, taking a few sneaky selfies with you peacefully sleeping by her side.

[theragamuffininitiative]

“Starring Opposite You” recap, aka a monster-length post

This is really long, and it’s me just rambling a bunch of dumb stuff about the night with video links to the songs, so I’m being courteous and inserting a readmore link, because I have no idea how the formatting is gonna come out by the time I’m done. XD

But guys. I got to see Ashley and Jeremy in concert together and it was incredible, and I got to see them afterward too. ^_^

Enjoy!

Ok, far as venues go, Sony Hall is gorgeous. It was cramped seating, but the venue itself was amazing. I got exactly two pictures of it and then my battery died. XD

Before the concert started, @hisloveconsumesme (my amazing traveling buddy who somehow managed to keep this ragamuffin in line) and I were sitting at these long tables that stretched out from the stage toward the back of the venue, so we had to turn sideways for the show.

So. Directly across the room from us was a little round table near the wall, and lo and behold seated there was none other than Melissa Benoist, Jeremy’s costar and the lead from Supergirl, who is on Broadway herself for a limited engagement in Beautiful and came to support her friend for a night of fun. She wasn’t exactly hiding and people kept coming up to get pictures with her and she was very sweet to all of them.

We kept watching that side of the room and by the end of the night almost the whole Squad had shown up so that it was Melissa, Kara Lindsay (JJ’s costar from Newsies) and her husband Kevin Massey, and Corey Cott (Bandstand, and JJ’s replacement in Newsies) and his wife Meg, and the queen herself: Laura Osnes (Bandstand, Cinderella, JJ’s costar in Bonnie and Clyde, and Ashley’s competition/friend from Grease Live). It was so fun not only seeing two of my faves on stage as a fan, but seeing my other faves there enjoying and reacting to everything as friends.

Ok but the songs:

Ashley and Jeremy came out and with zero introduction, they just stood on opposite sides of the stage facing one another, never giving the audience a bit of notice, unlit at the corners of the stage, and sang Castro’s “Automatic” 

They stepped closer to each other through the whole song until they were right in front of each other, and then they danced together, and then they spun around and faced the audience for the first time. It may have been my favorite song of the night and this is the only clip I think any one snagged of it, but it was so cute the way they staged it, I love them.

Melissa waved at Ashley from the audience and Ashley smiled so big and waved excitedly back, like how cute.

Then they introduced themselves (”in case you all came to the wrong place” Jeremy joked to the packed room) and gave a little background of what they’ve been in and how the night was their own little celebration of all they’ve done on stage and together and got to talking about how they will get the other person’s showtunes stuck in their head for days. Ashley burned JJ on having to listen to Newsies and Smash back-to-back and honestly they just roasted each other for a bit.

They talked so long about wanting to be in something together, they got tired of waiting so that’s why they did the concert: “Starring Opposite You.”

They had a script. They woefully went off script. They would do 'impromptu' jokes and then be like “this is in the script” and “now it’s your line” and honestly I can’t with these dorks.

Ben Rauhala was shaking his head at them from his keyboard 90% of the entire night, especially when Jeremy said “We didn’t rehearse!” and Ben was 100% done with Mom and Dad.

And then they started singing a medley of all their standards, except that Ashley was singing JJ’s songs and Jeremy was singing her’s ohmygosh

AND IT WAS HYSTERICAL BUT ALSO HOLY HECK GUYS ASHLEY IS SO GOOD.

ASHLEY SLAYED “Moving Too Fast” and “Raise A Little Hell” and “Broadway Here I Come” and “Santa Fe.” Like, don’t think this is anything less than a compliment, but I’ve pretty much come to expect phenomenal performances by Jeremy at this point, but there is not nearly enough content for Ashley AND SHE’S SO GOOD, I CAN’T STOP GEEKING OUT ABOUT IT. I need a cast album with her yesterday.

Jeremy was ‘offended’ that Ashley was doing choreography while he was singing so during “When You Got, Flaunt It” he shouted “Now for the dance!” and started to go for it and Ashley immediately went “No!” and stopped him. XD XD Heaven bless her.

Everybody screamed so loud for Bonnie and Clyde, these are my people.

Please please please, the part at the end where she’s singing “Santa Fe” in Jack Kelly’s accent. I don’t know if that was planned or not because Jeremy was dying on stage and had to fight so hard to get control back for his next bit, send help. XD XD XD

And yeah Jeremy sang “Harden My Heart” and “Hopelessly Devoted” so. um. heck.

He was such a huge dork the whole time, I don’t even know what to say, except to point out that at one point early on - I don’t remember exactly which of his antics got this reaction but does it honestly matter - I looked over and Corey’s wife Meg was doubled over with laughter while simultaneously covering her face with her hands in shame like “please. I don’t know this man. I swear.”

They did a scene from Rock of Ages and sang “High Enough” because they were both in it but not at the same time, so they played their characters opposite each other and it was great. XD

Featuring! Jeremy explaining to the audience he was holding a cassette tape, and Ashley then throwing it on the ground. XD

How did she fall in love with him when he was doing this role, I don’t know, but maybe it’s a good thing because at least she knew what she was in for.

Those harmonies though.

Then JJ grabbed a guitar and talked about old songs he wrote growing up and the whole bit cracked the entire room up

and this video has slightly better audio but without the intro.

Let me just tell you, as someone who taught guitar to middleschoolers for four years: that Green Day song is somehow always the one boys teach themselves on their own and I don’t get it.

AND THEN!!!!

ok ok ok ok ok Jeremy Jordan asdfghjkl singing the love song he wrote to Ashley and their future family, aka “Memories of Loving You”, aka “Ashley’s Song” - THE ACTUAL TITLE, aka my most favorite thing he maybe has ever done alkjfshldfijksdfjhleiudzfknv,fhslidvdxkvnd *broke*

They talked about Riley a lot. Like a lot a lot.

They joked that every time Riley was mentioned, everyone had to take a shot, but Ashley added that you needed to get someone to carry/drive you home. XD

There was a slideshow presentation of all of Riley’s nicknames and I honestly don’t remember most of them (kicking myself over that, because they were wild) but it was everything from like “Ri-ri” and “Riley Bear” to completely different names to long complicated made-up words that didn’t even make any sense - and there were like 30 of these. Most of them were dubbed by Ashley.

I could see Jeremy’s eyebrows doing The Thing while he sang from where I sat. XD

Jeremy was such a Dad because he kept getting distracted by the fact that the slideshow wasn’t keeping up.

I don’t remember which song it was around but Ashley had videos of her as like a three year old toddling around and singing, and this girl already had it from that age, and it was adorable.

The whole night felt like a chance for them to not only star opposite each other, but to swap places. Ashley was showcasing in every performance and song, being silly, but also very much bringing her a-game. Incredible. Jeremy on the other hand, was so incredibly laidback and goofy the whole night, this was the performance from a guy who knows he has nothing to prove and was just enjoying the moment and probably enjoying showing off Ashley for a bit because he never shuts up about how gorgeous and talented she is anyway, and he’s RIGHT.

Ashley talked about how much she was grateful for all the roles she’s gotten to do, but they’ve mostly been pop rock musicals and not anything classical, and so she sang “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” from Showboat

Someone cast her in something quick

And give us a cast recording

I’m begging you.

The Waitress medley. (!!!!!!!!!!)

I can’t.

@hisloveconsumesme kept grabbing me excitedly and if I had been behind her I would have been doing the same thing but basically I couldn’t take my attention off the stage long enough. We were living. Cast them in Waitress too. ;) ;) ;)

Ashley’s so perfect.

I have no words.

Except! Watch Jeremy stand back and be completely enthralled while Ashley is singing “What Baking Can Do.” You could feel the waves of admiration coming off that stage mixing with that coming from the audience.

Now go back and watch it again just to listen to her.

The part during “Bad Idea” where they go “you have a wife / you have a husband” and just shrug and laugh at each other like “yeah: you.” XD XD XD

He did “Run Away With Me”

probably the best he’s ever done it

especially after making a whole point about never doing it because of always messing it up lol.

Also the bit about the pie at the beginning might be what was embarrassing poor Meg Cott.

He did not share the pie.

Ashley singing “Embraceable You” was so precious??

ohmyword listen to her

I’m so uPSET I didn’t get to see her play Polly. *flops*

Literally everything they did was love songs, even when the other person wasn’t on stage for it. Jeremy kept popping back onstage saying things like “aw, you mean me?!” and Ashley just rolled her eyes at him.

These dorks. The 90′s Medley story is great, but what are they doing though, what...what are they.

90s kid me was having flashbacks

EVERYONE CLAPPED AT THE PART and it made Ashley so happy. XD

While Ramin will forever and always be my favorite Jean Valjean, Jeremy came out of freaking left field and sang “Bring Him Home” ????! for us as his final song, complete with a little story intro for his experience with the song.

I was seriously concerned by the fact that he wasn’t taking nearly enough breaths for this piece and I don’t know how he did it skjdflhajdfa

also he can go play that role any time he wants even though I never would have said I wanted it before the concert.

Oh, and when he finished, I glanced over at where Kara Lindsay was sitting and she was crryyyyyyyyyinngg AND I HAD BEEN FINE UP TO THAT POINT BUT HECK. SAME GIRL. SAME.

Seriously.

This is from the second night

Enjoy it all over again.

Ashley’s final song was “Stranger to the Rain” from Children of Eden, and gosh I need to stop forgetting how much I adore Schwartz’ music, so yeah, basically just listen to this and weep.

#PancakeHands

She is so pretty and talented, I’m sorry I’ll stop saying that.

They forgot to introduce the band until the last song lol. Jeremy kept making jokes about how we should all come back the second night because they would get it right then. XD

The final medley of the night was from a bunch of classic musicals, favorites of the Jordans, and wOW.

Medley featuring: “Our Children” from Ragtime, “Follow Your Heart" from Urinetown, “As Long As You’re Mine” from Wicked, “Come What May” from Moulin Rouge, and “Suddenly Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors.

I think Corey (and Melissa) laughed at every single dumb thing Jeremy did - the “Agony” video sums up their entire relationship I’m pretty sure -except when they went into “As Long As You’re Mine” and Corey’s little Wicked fanboy heart could hardly contain himself.

The whole night I couldn’t decide who I should be watching or when, because when Jeremy was singing, Ashley was still in full performance mode and being brilliant and hysterical and occasionally reverting to expressions of “you utter nerd what are you doing.” On the other hand, whenever Ashley was singing, Jeremy literally stepped back and just watched her like there was no one else in the room and not only like he was watching his favorite singer, but like she was the entirety of his universe and askjflhdjfdf - I can’t with them. Seriously, when you watch the youtube clips, watch the other person during the duets and you’ll see what I mean.

He kept reaching for Ashley’s hand the whole night.

Like, seriously, they held hands so much and it was so cute.

Ashley is such a good dancer. Jeremy used all five of his moves. XD She kept throwing him off by dancing and also giving him A Look if he tried to follow suit.

They came back for an encore and sang “You’re All I Need to Get By”

If I remember correctly they said this was the song they danced to at their wedding, and there was a full slide show of pictures of them (I feel like the slideshow was earlier in the night but if it was, I don’t remember which song, so unless I can see the screens from someone else’s youtube videos lol)

AND JEREMY FORGOT THE LYRICS. “ready for you” he says - NO YOU WEREN’T, JJ. Ashley and Ben kept trying to get him on track and he was so lost. XD

He was embarrassed and did the little double-over-giggling-to-hide-his-face thing I did a gifset of months ago.

Ashley held up her hand with her wedding band while singing “dedicate my life to you.”

I love them.

Standing Ovation.

Ok

But

At the end of the night:

After we applauded as loud as we could and laughed and cried.

We went and stood in line, because we had VIP tickets, and we waited for forever and chatted about the show and how incredible it was.

And then we get into this little green room in the back of the venue, and Ashley and Jeremy were taking pictures and saying hi to everyone one at a time. So I go in first, and someone before me had accidentally left their bag on the floor just inside, so JJ and Ashley were very concerned about getting it returned. Person, if you’re reading this, I hope you got your stuff back, but like, I also have a small bone to pick with you, and not actually because I totally tripped upon walking in. Jeremy and Ashley were both all “oh! careful!” (a direct quote from both of them), and very sweet about it lol. Thankfully it was only a little trip and I just laughed it off. XD So we got in and we took each other’s pictures getting a Jordan sandwich hug, and yes Jeremy really is that short, and I’m ashamed to say my brain was thinking “ohmygosh he’s so short” at the very minute I tripped over the bag.

Ashley kind of took over the little meet and greet, because naturally JJ had reverted to his shy off-stage self, and I was actually really okay with that because a) I was slightly concerned people would be all over Jeremy and ignore her and that wasn’t the case at all and b) it was much easier to focus on her and not be an awkward fangirl lol.

We told them “thank you, for everything” (at least, I think so, I was totally not focused at all at that point), and both of them were just so kind and actually thanked us for coming, and hisloveconsumesme got to chat with Ashley for a minute too as the next people where coming in and talking to JJ.

And then that was that. We left. We almost stopped to talk to Ben, but he was talking with a bunch of other people, and we were tiiiiiired. XD

So yeah. I’m sure I’ve forgotten half the night.

But this post is huge anyway. XD

It was a very good night.

@youtube user ren598, idk if you have a tumblr but I owe you for getting all these videos. There are some videos from other people there and from the second night, but these are my favorites, bless you.

Bless Ben Rauhala as well. Idk what the Broadway community would be without him, the King Medley Maker. I love him.

asdfghjkl

can’t

done

[ponyguru]

Wondercon Brag Day 2: AKA, Mistakes Were Made 

WELL Day 2 was the most crazy, most PACKED day of the con for me, and yet I managed to buy a bunch of stuff, somehow! The very first awesome find of the day was my Batgirl figure from the DC Bombshells line - I won her at the ‘toy discussion’ panel for asking a question, it was so cool!! I mostly went to see if the Mattel rep would say anything about Barbie, but it turns out he works solely in the action figures side of things. Oh well! (He also showed up like 20 minutes late, way to go Mattel.)

Second stop of the day was to find the Zira figure I’d asked about after Day 1! I was tempted by her at the time, but my ‘don’t buy anything you don’t love before Day 2′ mentality prevented me from snagging her. She was originally priced at $10, but when I realized she had a melty leg and no hands???? I talked her down to $5! (Which is probably still $4 too much, but hey.) 

(Cutting the rest of my rambling for the sake of your dash!)

Part of it happened all in one fell swoop, since I made a bit of a splurge and bought one of the ‘surprise’ boxes I saw people carrying around. Silly me, I thought if so many other people bought them, they must be a great value! Instead, my ‘valued at $45′ (actually $32) box had probably three things from the dollar store, a pair of nice socks and a supercute Eevee drink tumbler! Live and learn! :P Good thing I love Eevee! 

Day 2 was the day I realized, “WAIT, I NEED TO GET LIKE ... ALL OF THE EAH DISCOUNT DOLLS!”, and hunted down the same booth again! Now I sort of wish I’d gotten a centaur too, but I didn’t want to literally buy all of them ... until Day 3, anyway. ;) I was primarily looking for bodies I could swap various other heads on to! For the sake of carrying them around the con, I deboxed both dolls almost immediately - the boxes they came in were gently crushed and water-damaged, which is why they were so cheap! (Good for me though, since I was gonna debox anyway!) 

I bought the Funkos (I can feel Oak23 recoiling LOL!) solely because I was attending a panel where the VAs for Goofy and Donald would be, and I wanted to get something signed! And the only thing in plentiful enough numbers to find the right characters from was ... Funko. (Seriously, the hall was probably 50% Funko!) But it turns out this wasn’t the same Donald VA who worked in Kingdom Hearts, and I would feel really bad asking him to sign something he didn’t work on! And Goofy’s VA didn’t do any signings after the panel, so ... now I have two unsigned Funkos! (I’m giving one to my sister for her birthday, MWA HA HA!) I bought the Donald Tsum for the same reason, even though logically I know I didn’t need two Donald things signed... But, Tsumtsum! And the same place I bought them from had a promotion, if you bought $25 of merch you got a free Supergirl figure! And my sister loves Supergirl, so happy birthday to her! 

I had a pretty disappointing moment, apparently one of the ‘surprise guests’ on the voice actor panel was Katie Leigh, who voiced several important G1 ponies (Fizzy!! Baby Shady! Sundance!!), but despite trying my best, she vanished before I could ask her for an autograph! :( SO SAD! 

The same Pokemon mystery box from above was selling the Neko Atsume blind boxes, which was something crazy like $8, but considering any other place online I’d have to pay shipping, I figured it was about the same. I picked the heaviest box, hoping it would be Tubbs, but I got Ms. Fortune instead! She’s pretty cute, and I love her little house! 

Let’s see, what else? Oh! Pins!! I got the ghost unicorn and Feminist-Mantis for myself, and the other three are for my sisters! Ditto for the Disney soundtrack and the “I want all of the cats to love me the best” sticker! 

THUS CONCLUDES DAY 2, WITH HIGHS AND LOWS! Onward to Day 3! 

[zippdementia]

Part 12 Alignment May Vary: Prophecy of the Tomb of Haggemoth

Starting with this week’s session (post 12) I’m going to mix up my format a bit and do quicker synopsis and more DM analysis, rolling a lesson or two into each session for the enterprising or novice DM. As always, this is for my 5th edition group of three players who have completed one story arc from the Rise of Tiamet adventure path and have since embarked in earnest on a side adventure, the wonderful Tomb of Haggemoth adventure from 3rd edition.

Leaving behind the island of the Ooze, the party sets sail for the Island of Alcazar, the island where the oracle resides, and they arrive without further mishap in a couple of days. 

Much of this section of the adventure is meant as set up. The idea is that the party sees the oracle, she gives them a riddle that lists three places they need to go and three things they need to find before they can access the Tomb of Haggemoth. She also rambles on for a bit about character-specific back stories and anything else the GM wants to set up. Since she can see the future, she is the perfect tool for the GM to use as foreshadow. I use her to tell the players that the priest they left in Ottoman’s Dock to take care of the Rose situation (the woman who was selling sex slaves there) has met with misfortune. It’s a set up for next session. I also drop some hooks for each of the players. For Karrina, I foreshadow her quest to find Raiden, mentioning that what she will find is not what she expects and that he believes he did not betray her. For Abenthy, I mention there is one with a great red eye searching for him, whom his father was killed by and against whom Venthusias strives to keep him hidden. For Twyin, I talk about his dead son and hint that there is something darker to his past the others do not know.

There are some other hooks here, as well—for instance, one of the other characters here to see the Oracle is a wizard named Shelackar the Vermiculate (don’t laugh). He has already seen the Oracle and she’s given him some bad news: he done effed up. How? Well, he bet his life against the hand in marriage of a sultan’s daughter that he could make it rain in a place called THE GREAT DRY DESERT. That didn’t work out so well. So he came to the Oracle to seek advice and she told him that he will die if he ever ventures into the desert. But he’ll also die if he doesn’t. This is all build up towards an adventure later in the campaign. 

Other characters here can be used by the GM as desired. For instance, there is a warrior here whose lands have been overrun by orcs and he is here to see the Oracle about it. He doesn’t show up again in the pages of the campaign, but Twyin seemed pretty interested in him, so he may very well find a place yet in my version of the campaign or in some future one.

There is a twist to this part of the adventure, too. The unique coin the players have (from their patron Zennatos) which will gain them access to the Oracle is a forgery. Worse, the day they are to see the oracle, the person carrying the real coin shows up, and he is none other than The Butcher of Skago, a plantation owner with enough money and power to buy a small city. When he finds out that someone is using a forgery of his coin he flips shit and demands they be brought before him. Keep in mind this is all before they’ve actually seen the oracle, so the players have to figure out a way past this obstacle. Do they try and fight the Butcher and his men? Do they try to bribe or sweet talk him into giving him the real coin? Or do they slink away and then sneak back to the island at night, determined to force their way into the Oracle’s chambers? In our case, Abenthy tells The Butcher the truth of why they are here to see the Oracle and agrees to pay him HALF of the treasure if they get it. To watch over his investment, The Butcher sends one of his loyal men, a killer named Haymish Hardwicke, to go with them and make sure they keep their word.

Lesson: A Session of Roleplaying

There wasn’t a single roll this session aside from a couple investigation and perception checks. Everything was handled and resolved by roleplaying. Which raises a good question—how do you handle a session that’s entirely roleplaying, while keeping everyone at the table involved and engaged?

It happens to all of us. Whether because of luck, or because they’ve hit a big city with lots to do and no encounters, we all encounter sessions with no combats and not very many rolls. It is easy to write these sessions off by saying “I promise next time there will be combat!” and just gritting your teeth and getting through it. But is there a way to make these sessions exciting and memorable?

First of all, it should be said that roleplaying should be a small part of every session, because it encourages a player to get inside their character’s head (which in turn makes them more engaged in the game) and because it offers a break from tackling every obstacle by rolling dice and checking numbers on a sheet. After all, what sounds more memorable in the following scenario? You come up against the Butcher of Skago and successfully roll a 15 to convince him not to kill you for stealing his coin, or you come up against the Butcher of Skago and over the course of a conversation come up with a way to weasel out of having stolen his coin. Any player will feel more accomplished by the second, for they actually did it.

But despite roleplaying being rewarding, an entire session of it may sound like anathema to you and your players, and with good reason. Roleplaying an entire session of NPCs means coming up with multiple personalities, voices, and being ready to improvise a wealth of responses to things the players might say or ask. It means making judgement calls on how “well” the players are roleplaying their cause, rather than relying on numbers to tell you how things are going. Finally, not all players like roleplaying, and keeping these memebrs of your group engaged and entertained is challenging.

Here’s my tips, with examples from this past session, on how to keep your game flowing and cut down on your work load during such a session.

Make your conversations conflicts. A lot of times the big complaint about roleplaying is that it is “boring.” Players are here to play D&D, after all, and D&D is at its heart a battle game. Character abilities and traits have mechanical effects on dungeons and battles, not usually on conversation. Often times, though, it is not the roleplaying that is boring, it is the situation. It’s simply not fun to talk through a conversation with a shopkeep where you are trying to find the rowdiest inn in town, or buy a pair of nice pants. On the other hand, a conversation with a Dwarven miner who thinks you are after his gold and is about to bring the mine down on the both of you if you can’t convince him otherwise... that is a conversation worth having. If you are afraid your players are going to get bored, then try limiting your conversations to those that have real risk, or add some risk to your smaller conversations. In my session, one of the first NPCs they met was a steward of the island who wasn’t all that interesting but who was the gatekeeper to the Oracle and thus the only way they were going to get to see her. I had him act incredibly suspicious of the players so that the whole conversation was put on edge��so much so that when he finally asked them to turn over their coin, Twyin didn’t want to do it! He felt they would be betrayed. This took what was a necessary conversation and made it tense and thus more exciting.

Use humor. Another good way to liven up a roleplaying session is to use humor. People like to laugh and (hopefully) you are friends with all your players, so that means you (hopefully) like to laugh together! Make one of your NPCs a little goofy, or add in a funny quirk to them. After the players had met two stewards and had similar conversations with them, I was afraid things might get dull. So the third steward they met I turned into an over-zealous, over-the-top salesmen of “Oracle Trinkets.” Little wooden swords with your name engraved on it! Mugs that say “The Oracle saw my future and I was drunk!” In addition, this steward believed (wrongly) that he was good at guessing names, and jumped into conversation by guessing ridiculous names for the characters. Just be careful not to let things go overboard. If one or two characters in your town/island/castle are silly, then that makes your world a little more lively. But if every character is goofy and funny, then your players have stumbled on the Island of Misfit Toys and aren’t very likely to take anything that happens this session very seriously.

Watch and listen to your players. The simplest way to know how to set your pacing is to just pay attention to your players. Look at their body language. If they are building dice towers and nodding along dumbly to everything you say, it’s probably time to skip a few conversations and bring them to your Big Scene (see below) or to start upping the stakes dramatically (see above). Similarly, if your players seem to be asking for MORE roleplaying, don’t be afraid to give it to them. In our session, I had only intended to roleplay Shelacker out of the oracle groupies, because he is the most important, but my players wanted to split up and talk to as many of them as they could. Everyone was eager for this, so I jumped in and played out more of the conversations. I kept them brief, to save us time for the Big Scene, but I wouldn’t have done it at all if I thought my players were getting bored.

Bring in your absentee players. There is one or two players in every group who dominates in roleplaying situations. They have something to say to everyone, a witty comment always ready. They have +5 to jumping in when another player is asked a question and answering it themselves. They walk all over the dice-tower-architect described above, not to mention the shy guy who likes to roleplay but also likes to think about what he says before blurting it out. Plan some things before the session to make sure you are giving these more contemplative players some focus. In one conversation, point dramatically at your dice-tower-architect and have your NPC say, “I saw your picture on the Wanted poster at the bar! You have a price on your head!” This will make them the focus for a while. Or have an NPC set a time to meet your shy guy, and them alone, to give them some information. Don’t let the other players come. This splits the party, but it’s worth it to give some shine to players who aren’t as rambunctious and animated at the table. In my game, all of my players are good roleplayers and pretty strong personalities, but Karrina's character is naturally more silent and withdrawn. So I like to make sure that at least once during a session I put her in a place to be the focus of some important conversation. In this case, it was with Shelacker, who is one of the most interesting characters on the island. Twyin even jumped in at one point—before remembering he wasn’t at the fire where they were conversing!

Find your Big Scene. Before you go into your session, think about what is going to be accomplished during the session. Are the players going to end up with a key piece of information? Are they going to be solving a political crisis? Are they going to be talking their way out of a death sentence, or into the trust of a powerful criminal lord? Once you know this, you should also know what your big obstacle to gaining this will be, and how that obstacle will be bypassed with roleplaying. The scene where this is done is your Big Scene. There may be more than one, but these represent the “action” of your session, the moment when the stakes are highest and each word spoken could make or break the characters. Think of this as the POINT of the session. Steer your players towards this moment. If things get dull, speed them along to it. And when the Big Scene is resolved, start moving them towards the next one, or wrap up the session (if that is the last Big Scene). When preparing for your session, don’t spend too much time on the incidental bits—focus on the Big Scenes. Prepare some things your NPCs in the scene might say or want. Think on some ways the conversation might resolve and what will happen next. In my session, there were two Big Scenes. The first was when the Butcher of Skago turned up. This moment has the potential to change the entire campaign. If players decide to attack the Butcher, that makes a powerful enemy. In addition, I had to be ready to launch into combat if this happened. Instead, they chose to barter, but even this has a big effect: a new NPC added to their party and a big promise they will be expected to keep after the adventure. The other Big Scene is with the Oracle herself. The campaign suggested playing this out in fifteen minutes of real time, with players asking questions and the Oracle answering. That was a lot of material to prepare, but I was glad I did. When we got to that scene, my players seemed stunned and unsure of what to ask, so the first ten seconds or so were spent in silence. I had enough material prepared that I was able to talk for most of the fifteen minutes and steer them towards questions for the rest.

Assign a "Difficulty Class” to the roleplay. Some DMs, especially newer ones, have trouble deciding which way a conversation has gone without a dice roll. An easy way to bypass this is to make up a conversational difficulty class for your Big Scenes before the session. Think on what goal your characters have and come up with some set things they will have to say or mention in conversation in order to achieve this. Each one they say gives them a success. Then decide how many successes they need to win over their opponent, or get their goal.  This number is your conversation DC, and it best ranges from 1 (easy) to 4 (very difficult). You may also wish to assign certain things negative points, and if they say those things, then you subtract them from their successes. In the Butcher of Skago scene, I had predetermined that the Butcher was going to be better disposed towards anyone who told him about the treasure hunt, anyone who played off his arrogance, and anyone who seemed actually interested in cows, while he would be very ill disposed towards anyone who made threats. During the conversation, Twyin kept throwing the Butcher intimidating looks, so I lowered the number of successes they were getting in the conversation otherwise. The end result was a decent success, so he jumped right to negotiations. I had already decided he would be willing to accept as little as 10% of the treasure as payment, but the party didn’t argue with 50%, so he happily ripped them off.

Hopefully, identifying the Big Scene will help give you a landmark to steer by when running a roleplay heavy session, and the other advice helps get you through without losing your players.

I know that last time I said I would be discussing monster/encounter building in this post, but I’m going to save that for next time, in Return to Ottoman Dock (when they are far more likely to have some encounters).