#in the end although it's frustrating the fandom often sells him short

[utilitycaster]

Unpopular opinion: parts of the cr fandom are really dismissive/ reductive of Travis’s characters. It feels like it’s due to Travis being seen as THE cis het man of the group, and by extension his characters must be heteronormative and bad, despite the fact that you could have queer interpretations of his characters. At the very least, Travis’s characters explore masculinity and the different ways it might look. It’s like the people who are all “ew men are gross and shitty” and act like that’s an absolutely normal reaction to a man just existing.

So this is another one in that I agree with the initial statement, but I'm actually not sure re: the reasoning why. I think it's possible but I could not tell you for sure.

I used to, again, think this was people carrying through Campaign 1 elements well beyond the point where C1 had ended, and so Grog having an intelligence of 6 was being applied to Travis; and this definitely does come through to an extent when people treat Fjord (objectively as smart as Beau without her circlet) as stupid or act shocked that Chetney is the brains of Bells Hells or that he can play a Cerrit, Fjord, or Nathaniel. However, again, I think this is one of those opinions that pops up among people who weren't around for Campaign 1 (or early enough in C2 to be exposed to it regularly) so I don't know if that's the case anymore. It could still be - it could be that Approved Fandom Opinions get passed down even when the logic behind them has long since been lost; that's a really common thing in institutional memory. But I can't say for sure.

I also have in the past credited it to, as you said, people assuming his characters are the cishet guys and then writing them off. That's still possible - I've seen both Fjord and Chetney called "token straight" despite considerable evidence of bisexuality, and they also paradoxically are both commonly headcanoned as trans while still getting called "token straight," which sort of ties into a post I would need to find from someone else from quite some time ago about which cast members are granted agency by the fandom in their choices vs. which are assumed to be the victims of circumstance. And I do think that there are people in fandom who have decided men are icky or whatever, and I used to think this came from a place of bigotry and a slide towards t*rf ideology but I now do genuinely think it's just idiots who don't grant interiority to characters outside their own limited understanding.

But I think it's also useful to consider a few things, most of which I've brought up before:

Travis is extremely offline. He is not here to entertain your headcanons; he has been politely but openly dismissive of some (imo, really fucking dumb) fanon/fan theories. I think the cast frequently talks about how it's their table, and I think that's valid and correct, but Travis is one of the players who lives it the most. He is playing this game with his friends, and he'd like it to be a good story, but if you don't like it, he is not here to make you like it. I think that really fucks with the parasocial connections some people desire with the cast.

Travis's characters tend to examine masculinity as a performance but also the general performance of the self, and the fact that you cannot in the end control how you are perceived entirely, and I think that really unsettles people who have equated presentation with reality and are again, looking for external validation of the self.

Travis can play it big but he's often extremely subtle, especially with his more serious characters, and he's not as easily quotable out of context as some others at the table. I think because he is a lot more naturalistic than dramatic at times (Chetney notwithstanding) and isn't as pithy and quotable in his characters as many of Taliesin's PCs are, and a lot of the strength is in the delivery, he gets overlooked despite being very good with words on the fly.

And finally: this would be a whole post on its own but people are still very foolishly wed to this idea that pressing the big red button in D&D is Wild and Chaotic and haha Big ADHD Man when it's actually how you play D&D if you're not a coward; the button is where the story is stored, and a lot of Travis's strength is that he is extremely good at understanding what the GM wants and supporting it with sufficient grace that it's only visible if you know what you're fucking doing.

[madlori]

A quick primer on Schitt’s Creek

So apparently going by the comments on some of my fics I’ve done the thing where some of you who have been reading my fanfic a lot over the years want to read my newest stories without ever having seen the canon source material! You are all valid and I support you. 

So I thought it might be nice to write a bit of a primer on the show so you at least know what these people look like and who they are.

First of all I recommend just...uh, watching the show! It really is fantastic, and not just because of the amazing queer normalization. It’s funny and surprising and strange and heartwarming.

Caveat. A lot of people struggle with the first season. It is true that some viewers find it a rough start. The Roses all have significant character arcs and to do that you have to start from somewhere, let’s say. Also the tone of the show and its pace changed markedly between seasons two and three, which is when Dan Levy took over as head writer and they got a bunch of new writers. But even if you’re not quite feeling it from the first episode (I did not have this problem but some people do) I promise, you will be rewarded. And it’s fast, the episodes are only 20 minutes, so.

So! WTF even is this show. 

The Premise: The wealthy Rose family lose all their money when their finance guy absconds with it having never paid taxes. They’re left with nothing but the clothes (and wigs) on their backs and the ownership of a small town called Schitt’s Creek that father Johnny once bought for his teenage son as a joke. They relocate there and move into a dilapidated motel, thanks to the good graces of the town’s rednecky mayor, Roland Schitt (Chris Elliott). There they occupy two adjoining rooms, the parents in one and siblings in the other.

The Roses

Johnny (Eugene Levy) - Patriarch Johnny Rose made his money with a chain of video stores. Johnny is the straight man of the family, finding himself constantly shepherding his dramatic spouse and offpsring. 

Moira (Catherine O’Hara) - a former soap opera star, Moira is a creature not of this reality, it sometimes seems. She is an eccentrically outlandish persona who cares deeply for her family but is often befuddled as to how to handle those emotions or express them. 

David (Dan Levy) - firstborn son David is probably the character most viewers connect with first and more strongly, for a variety of reasons. His personal arc(s) are really the show’s emotional backbone. A former gallerist and pansexual aesthete, David is constantly frustrated by the Incorrectness of everything happening to the family.

Alexis (Annie Murphy) - younger sister and socialite, kind of a Coachella girl, who has spent most of her life globetrotting and getting herself mixed up in outlandish scenarios (it’s a running joke on the show for her to drop in “That one time when I was...” stories as offhand remarks). David is very protective of her even though they fight constantly, and often bailed her out of her Situations when their parents were too caught up in their own stuff.

The Honorary Roses

While the central “character” of the show is the Rose family, in my opinion there are six core characters, which includes these two.

Stevie Budd (Emily Hampshire) - Employee of (and later owner of) the motel where the Roses fetch up. She is David’s best friend and the first person in town he connects with. She is snarky and deadpan and sarcastic. She and David have a short-lived romantic/sexual relationship which ends amicably in season two, but their close friendship remains an important part of the show (yet another thing SC does that’s quietly revolutionary - feature exes who decided to be just friends and then actually do that). She later develops a strong surrogate-father relationship with Johnny as he becomes the co-owner of the motel.

Patrick Brewer (Noah Reid) - David’s business partner, and by the end of the show, husband. Although the show has a great deal to offer apart from this, a lot of people watch mostly for the David & Patrick relationship (which is fine, it’s a big part of the show). Note: if you are watching for this, Patrick does not appear in the show until the mid-third season. At first Patrick seems like an oasis of down-to-earth normalcy amidst all these larger-than-life personalities but it doesn’t take long to realize he’s actually an enormous troll who expresses his love for David by gently roasting him constantly.

And the Others - The show is an ensemble, and apart from these six folks, includes a lot of great secondary characters. Veternarian Ted Mullens (Alexis’s on/off boyfriend), Mayor Roland Schitt and his wife Jocelyn (who is one of my favorite characters), town council curmudgeons Ronnie and Bob, cafe waitress Twyla (played by Dan Levy’s sister Sarah), the local all-gender Casanova woodworker Jake, and the Schitts’ adult son Mutt, Alexis’s first hookup in town.

The Arc: This show is about how the Rose family - who have historically been distant and disconnected - had to lose all their money to find themselves as a family, and later, for each of them to find new fulfillment for themselves. They start out chafing and struggling to get out of this new reality, trying to find a way to sell the town, get “back to normal,” but gradually, they fit themselves into the community. Their family reconnection is pretty strong by the end of S2 (the final scene of that season was my first teary moment) and starting in S3, each of them finds a way to rediscover themselves. Johnny invests in the motel and in Stevie. Moira joins the town council and the local women’s a cappella singing group. Alexis goes back to school and starts pursuing a career in public relations. David takes over a vacant general store and turns it into the Rose Apothecary (which you have probably seen on merch everywhere), a venue for local artisans to sell what they make. It is through this venture that he meets Patrick, who first consults and then decides to invest and become David’s partner in the store.

The show is at the same time outlandish, hilarious, touching, abrasive and over the top. The Roses are over-the-top characters - especially Moira, who speaks in an unidentifiable accent and uses words that may or may not exist - and the story seems to exist in a kind of alternate reality (it’s a fandom joke that the timeline of the show makes no sense - it doesn’t - and it is always summer in SC except for one time when it was Christmas). There is also, by design, no homophobia in Schitt’s Creek. The various iterations of queer characters and relationships aren’t just represented, they’re normalized in a way that I didn’t know I was missing until I saw it.

Plus, it’s fun. Like many of Eugene Levy’s previous works (although the show is really Dan’s creation), the show makes use of musical set pieces. Probably the most famous is the iconic mid-season 4 episode “Open Mic” in which Patrick and David host an open mic night at the store and Patrick serenades David with an acoustic cover of Tina Turner’s “The Best” (arranged by actor Noah Reid, who is IRL a talented singer-songwriter, check out his albums, they’re great). It’s one of the most romantic things I’ve ever seen, made more poignant by the really remarkable face journey David goes through as he listens.

Well, have a look.

Another big moment was season 5′s production of “Cabaret,” directed by Moira and Jocelyn and starring Patrick as the Emcee and Stevie as Sally Bowles. The rehearsals and performance were mined for a lot of great moments.

Anyway, that’s the gist. Probably more than you wanted or needed.

[jadetiggy]

STRUGGLE

FANDOM: Final Fantasy XV (GANGSTER AU) PAIRING: Gladiolus Amicitia x Amalthea Leonis

PART 1 - BETROTHED

Thank you, @swiggle-muffin for being the first person to read it and to give her feedback. I hadn’t been writing in a long time due to being busy with my studies and with work. 

@babelast also thank you for the drawing she did of Cor and Amalthea (my OC).

She stared at her phone in disbelief. It would have been a lie if she did not feel angry. Her heart raged when Weskham told her about the agreement. She loved her father, but Cor Leonis’ decision to marry her off without consulting her first was unjust. What made matters worse, Amalthea got betrothed to a well-known playboy; without her approval no less! She was only eight years old when her father decided to send her to Altissia to leave the family business; to be safe from any bloody dispute but as she got older, she decided to be part of the family business. Then, two decades later, she receives news that she was somebody’s fiancée.

She sat at the bar; pressing her temple with her thumb. While Weskham wiped the rock glass, sniggering to himself. He watched his goddaughter and recalled how he trained Amalthea Leonis to fight and defend herself. There, she sat, frustrated at her father’s brash decision. The dark-skinned man with dreadlocks tried to find the right words to say to the young woman. He may understand Cor’s motives, but he felt that Cor should have spoken to Amalthea first. Amalthea buried her face into her arms as she grumbled. Golden liquid filled the rock glass in front of her. “Drink up, Girl. You need it,” Weskham said in his usual fatherly manner.

Amalthea looked at the glass and picked it up. “Is Cor Leonis trying to sell me off?”

“Don’t think of it that way, Girl. Cor does many things but selling his daughter isn’t one. You know how being in the business is,” Weskham tried to explain. Her sighs somewhat broke his heart. All those years, he saw Amalthea as the daughter he never had, but there she sat with the rock glass in her hands. “You better hurry back to your flat. You need to pack to go home to Insomnia.”

Amalthea lazily made her way back to her flat. She had wondered about her father’s lack of visit as of late. She'd be lying if she did not feel angry, but she tried to take it as bringing honour to her family. She knew Weskham had already arranged a boat for her. The flat suddenly felt empty, despite all her possessions being in its place. The message from her father stated that he needed her back in Insomnia, and she had the freedom to go back to Altissia if she needed to.

“Why him? Of all person. Of all the men in Insomnia, why him?” Amalthea asked out loud. She poured herself a glass of scotch and sank into her favourite armchair. Sipping her drink, she stared at the fire dancing within the fireplace. Slowly, her eyes grew heavy, and she slipped into a dreamless slumber.

The ride back Galdin Quay was a tiring one. She hated it, though. She knew the reunion with her father was going to be a heated one. Although, her father's distillery business boomed through export and import, and that had earned the Leonis family a few enemies.

"Back here again, and probably for a very long time," she sighed, standing in front of her family house. She entered the house, inhaling the scent that was weirdly new but old to her.

"Miss Leonis, you're home," the old housekeeper, Sapphire Everest greeted the young mistress. Amalthea spent eight years of her early life brought up by Sapphire. She saw Sapphire as a mother figure since her mother lost her life to bring Amalthea into the world.

Amalthea embraced the elderly woman, "It is good to see you, Sapphire." She recalled Sapphire's scent of soft flowers. "You've grown since I last saw you," Sapphire said, pinching Amalthea's soft cheek.

"I did not expect you to arrive this early," Cor said.

Amalthea turned and looked up at her father at the top of the stairs, "Hello, Dad." She went up the stairs and embraced her father. As usual, Cor felt warm and smelt of musk and tobacco. She did not know how to start questioning her father but judging from his face; she knew he had difficulties telling her what led him to the decision.

"Get freshened up, I got some explaining to do," Cor said, his voice almost ringing in remorse and worry. Amalthea stood perplexed before her father. "You remember where your room is, yes?" he asked. His little smile made Amalthea chuckled. He smiled even wider, hearing his daughter's laughter. He still saw his daughter as the little girl who ran around the house playing with him when he had time, but there she stood as a grown woman running his business for him in Altissia. Questions of his motives started toying with his thoughts. He wondered if he had done the right thing.

The warm water flowing down her skin left a comforting feeling to her senses. A lot filled her mind, especially the look her father gave when he told her that he has some explaining to do. The look of worry filled his tired face left a feeling of discomfort.

Cor sipped his whiskey as he waited nervously for Amalthea. He needed to find the right words to tell her about his decision. He knew what he did without consulting her made her angry. The memories of Artemisia filled his mind; how she used to be the voice of reason. He wondered if he made the right decision to marry her off to the son of Clarus Amicitia to unite their families.

The house felt lively since she stepped back into the house. For Sapphire, Amalthea brought life everywhere she went; even when there’s death involved. Sapphire watched over the girl since the day she was born into the world, taught Amalthea everything she knew. The day Cor brought his baby girl home, Sapphire knew that that little girl was going to be a beacon of the family, but Cor’s decision was not what Sapphire had in mind.

Cor looked up from his newspaper when he noticed Amalthea entering her father’s office. Instinctively, he folded his newspaper and leant back. “Amalthea, first of all, I want to apologise to you for making such a decision without consulting you first,” he started. His heart pounded in his chest as he avoided eye contact with his daughter. He knew it was not a good sign if she did not say anything; her silence meant discontentment. The thought of the head of the Bloody Roar fearing of his own daughter’s silence and probably resentment tickled his senses.

“Dad. Why must it be the Amicitia boy?” Amalthea sighed. “Of all the men in Insomnia, of all the families you chose, you chose my rival,” she started venting. She did wonder why did Cor agree to an alliance with the head of the War Shields.

“Of all the families in Insomnia, Girl. I have no issues with the War Shields, and by uniting in matrimony, you and Clarus' son, we will be stronger. We will be a family instead of a normal ally.”

“Clarus’ son though... at least ask me first, Dad!” she sighed. “And you’ve always told Weskham that you wanted what was best for me. This isn’t the best for me. I don’t want to be married to a playboy...”

Cor blinked at his daughter. He now knew exactly why she disagreed to the marriage. He intended to unify the two families to form a strong allegiance. “Amalthea!” he piped, and immediately she stopped venting. The only way for him to get her to stop was to call her by her name. “Clarus and I decided on this because we want to expand our business. I will run the distillery, while Clarus will provide the manpower for us. He has a weapon factory and a gambling den. With Clarus, we have Cid who manufacture vehicles. It’s all business,” Cor explained.

“But... why marriage?”

“If anything happens to either Clarus or me, you or Gladio can stand together and avenge us. I need you to be with someone who can protect you when I can’t,” he stopped.

“Dad... I am capable...”

“I know you are, Girl but I want you to continue my legacy as Clarus wants Gladio to continue his legacy,” Cor reasoned.

Amalthea knew she had to oblige to her father’s wishes. “I won’t be surprised if this is Clarus’ strategy to tame his wild son,” Amalthea joked.

Cor smiled at his daughter. He could not deny that was the truth that Gladio was a wayward sort and was often seen around with the girls. Most of all, Cor felt a feeling of surprised knowing that Amalthea knew about Gladio’s reputation in Insomnia. “Let’s bet, Girl,” he teased his daughter.

A curve appeared on her lips, and she nodded. She enjoyed betting with her father, as she often won big Gil betting against him.

"Cor!" a familiar voice greeted from behind. Amalthea knew whose voice it belonged to. If he was there, her future husband could be there as well. Cor got off his chair and greeted Clarus.

Amalthea got off her chair and turned to Clarus to greet him when she bumped into Gladio’s chest. She looked up at him and expected a smug but his look of surprise shock her. “Oh, sorry,” she apologised, but she was not even sure if her apology had been a sincere one or not. Upon her apology, he smirked at her, and that turned her off.

“So, you’re the one... You don’t look like how I imagined you,” he commented. The look in his eyes as he studied her from head to toe indicated perversion.

She fumed when she heard his remark. She wanted to land her fist into his face, but she thought about her father. And the intention of the wedding. She pursed her lips and turned away from him, making her way towards the seat on her father’s right. “My friend, I’m glad you made time on such short notice to meet Amalthea.”

Clarus’ warm smile made her wonder of the vast difference in attitude between the father and son. How did such a sweet-looking man end up having a cocky son? She noticed that Gladio hadn’t stopped checking her out, and it made her feel uncomfortable. To her, it felt like he had already ripped her clothes off her body with his ember eyes. “I remember you when you were still cradling in your father’s arms,” Clarus laughed, putting his hand out. “Tight grip!” Clarus commented as Amalthea shook his hand. “Your daughter is strong, Cor.”

Gladio grinned as he put his hand out. “Good to meet you after a long time, Amalthea.”

“Pleasure,” she said flatly. She side-eyed Gladio and noticed the way he looked at her. She decided it was best to ignore him. Her gun tucked in her holster nicely, but she knew it was best if she did not use it. She had to act civil towards him. She did not want to disrespect her father and Clarus, whom she has respect for. Slowly, she made her way to take her seat behind her father, and faced Clarus and Gladio, to discuss the wedding arrangement.