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vethbrenatto · 19 days ago

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TLOVM Season 3 Retrospective

I am not a campaign plot purist. The concept of fitting a meandering D&D campaign into a 12-episode season of television is, by all accounts, ridiculous. TLOVM is based on the campaign, not a blanket retelling, and we've all known that from the start. In fact, that's why I'm not particularly worried about the comments about the M9 series that CR has released, how the plot will change vastly. D&D, especially in worlds DMed by Matt Mercer, is extremely sand-boxy and will not one-to-one translate to the time allotted in TV and movies. VM is actually the campaign that I think translates the best to the medium without much modification as it has very clear arcs and corresponding antagonists (Briarwoods, Chroma Conclave, Vecna).

That said, the core behind plot changes is that the narrative heart should remain. The character beats, the character arcs. And I do think Season 3 dropped the ball with this.

Let's start with those that I think were handled better- Vex and Percy. Percy's relationship with both Ripley and Vex, I think was handled excellently. We see Percy's journey to move beyond vengeance and try to grasp something real beyond it, the start of the man who just wants to be a clockmaker. Vex struggles to be loved and deal with her fear that's she's a curse to those she loves and then her reluctance to do it while Percy was still alive, thinking she's missed her shot.

Vax and Keyleth have an odd role switch in this season, with Kiki (initially) hopping into the Vaxleth relationship while Vax feels it's too risky to get involved? This just feels weird to me, as a lot of Vax's characterization is so centered around still pulling for love in the face of death and adversity. Outside of Vax, Kiki gets a late season arc about believing in herself and coming into her own as a leader, but I felt this was somehow both redundant and underplayed. Keyleth's fire plain aramente in Season 2 felt reminiscent of her E10/11 scenes in Season 3, so I got a bit of deja vu. But also the stem of her belief in herself in this season, her instinct about Raishan is so underwhelming. Keyleth's moral compass and instict is a pivotal character beat for her, she's the only one who clocked Raishan and that matters. The others disregarded her opinion and that matters. And yes, it got brought up, but the take away ends up being just tying back to Vax and "You have ties to this world. Don't be afraid to let people in." ?? These are two separate issues, my guy. (On this point, I feel I must point out that while plot changes are necessary, Keyleth spent an episode and a half doing a scrying spell. Could she not have been better utilized exploring her emotional connection and friendship with Percy in the Vax/Vex chasing down Ripley plotline?)

Grog is absolutely shafted in this season. I can't say it's shocking- Grog is a simple guy (Likes ale, fighting, loves his friends) and I don't expect him to reach the character depths others do. But he had a very clear place he could’ve soared this season- yes, the Scanlan stuff. Not only is the “fix him” character beat a muffled whimper, but he’s left to comedically hold Scanlan’s limp body while Pike goes off to save him (by finding Kaylie). Grog could’ve easily slid into that side story, Kaylie could’ve heard not only from Pike about Scanlan and why he’s important and good and worth saving, but also from Grog, a man who cares about very few people in the world, but so very deeply when he does and Scanlan is one of those people he cares about.

I enjoyed the amount of Pike content this season (that’s my girl!!!) and I won’t get super into because I already made a post about it, but I just didn’t really get the crisis of faith arc for her. She’s already experienced a crisis of faith in a prior season and it’s not something I feel like campaign!Pike would’ve gone through, even IF Ashley was full time at the table. It weirdly almost feels like ground building for the current Bells Hells/Downfall/Calamity takes on the Critical Role gods as opposed to how Pike would feel about her deity, specifically. I did enjoy her relationship to Scanlan in the season and her support of Scanlan building a relationship with his daughter, it felt like a nice connection to Scanlan asking Pike to be Kaylie’s person if he died during the campaign.

And Scanlan. Oh, Scanlan. Just… confused, is all I can say. The show has had Bard’s Lament seeds for multiple seasons, including in S3 itself, and then just doesn’t go through with it. I simply don’t agree that it couldn’t work in the medium- what it feels like is that this is the more palatable story to tell. The resentment is so important to his character development. The show makes this all about Kaylie and fatherhood, which is of course a huge part of ABL, but the lament is also about Scanlan himself (in fact, I'd argue that Kaylie is more of a loose factor in it; his promise to kaylie [another egregious cut in the story] being a spur of the scene and Percy calling him out changing the trajectory of what Scanlan leaving actually was. it's about Kaylie, but it's kind of not). It's about feeling neglected or undervalued. There are scenes in TLOVM throughout alluding to this (a couple with Vex in particular I can think of in 1, 2, AND 3) but then no payoff? That part of the character development is completely swept under the rug for both Scanlan AND those around him. Pivotal moments in the campaign have been honored in TLOVM, even with shifts in them (the arrows in Ripley's heart and mouth, Keyleth stands up to Raishan, "My heart is yours"), but when the defining campaign moment is Scanlan's, it's completely changed. I simply think this is too far outside of the original intent and character beat to pretend it's honoring the moment.

So, yeah, I really don’t care if Scanlan just goes down instead of gets fully resurrected. Or that the fire plain and the trek to the city of Dis is combined into one journey. Those are just plot points.

What gets me is that these character beats, the meat and heart of the story, are getting shifted dramatically and not in ways that I feel are aiding the narrative.

ALL THAT SAID, this is going to sound a lot more negative and hatery than I really feel. This post is mostly of summation of criticisms, when there were of course, many highlights in the season. TLOVM continues to be a beautiful, well done show and would not keep getting renewed if it was a flop. But there are certainly things that I think could be done better.

#tlovm spoilers #not main tagging cus duh #one thing that didn’t make it in this post is my sadness about the modification of Ripleys death #I do get it #but the emotional significance of VM systematically killing Ripley together #and that not being present.. yeah it’s sad

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vikenticomeshome · 2 months ago

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A Compilation of Official Cyberchase Polls (part 1/?)

Hello all,

While I was digging around in the Wayback Machine for old versions of the Cyberchase website, I was able to dig up some old polls that they put out for Earthlies. There are a few distinct eras of polls that evolved as the website evolved.

The first format features Dr. Marbles and some bar-graph based machine. I was only able to get two of them to load from this area, though the Wayback machine suggests that there are more archived.

The earliest archived instance that I could find was from February 2, 2002.

Who is your favorite Cyberkid?

Inez

Jackie

Matt

Here's one from June 21, 2002.

Why do you think Hacker is so mean?

His hardware is buggy

He's a cyborg

Nobody loves him

He was just born that way

Ouch. This was from the days of the "How It All Started" webcomics, where The Hacker decided to conquer Cyberspace shortly after his birth. So, of course, this poll wasn't going to be sympathetic or nuanced.

This format was changed when the site was updated to use flash. Here's the earliest version that I could load from this era. It was from January 19, 2009.

What is your favorite breakfast?

a) Eggs b) Pancakes c) Oatmeal d) Cereal

We got this one May 8, 2009.

What will you give your mom for Mother's Day?

a) A card and flowers b) Breakfast in bed c) A homemade gift d) Write a poem or story for her

I haven't found a way to access the poll results from the first two eras. The third era of polls claims that 368 different questions were asked. Many of the poll questions have been archived, though not all of them have the answers archived. Here are a few of my favorites.

This one is labelled poll #1, so I suppose it was the first one that they asked. They started off with a bang.

If Hacker accidentally left his wig at your house, what would you do?

a) Throw it in the trash b) Let your pet play with it c) Mail it back to him d) Wear it to school

My first question would be "How on earth did he get into my house?"

This one actually has preserved results.

Throw it in the trash: 125,483 votes 50% Let your pet play with it: 65,779 votes, 26% Mail it back to him: 27,690 votes, 11% Wear it to school: 34,341 votes, 14% Total 253,293 votes, 101% I am amazed that over 250,000 votes were cast. I don't know whether the site had a way to stop people from voting multiple times, however.

Here's poll #166.

Why does Hacker want to rule Cyberspace? a) He needs lots of attention b) He has no hobbies c) He thinks it would be cool d) He likes to be the boss

Unfortunately, this one doesn't appear to have its results preserved.

Here's poll #90.

What's your favorite Jackie show?

a) EcoHaven CSE b) And They Counted Happily Ever c) A Day at the Spa d) Eureeka e) Problem Solving in Shangri-La

The phrasing is interesting on this one. Would you consider these to be "Jackie shows" specifically? The kids all contribute to the problem solutions. I could see an argument for the Shangri-La episode, since she goes away from the others and discovers the poison numbers to win the game of Nim.

EcoHaven CSE: 1,516 votes, 13% And They Counted Happily Ever: 1,595 votes, 12% A Day at the Spa: 5,522 votes, 42% Eureeka: 1,493 votes, 11% Problem Solving in Shangri-La: 2,893 votes, 22% Total: 13,019 votes, 100%

Okay, here's one more.

Should Hacker ever win an episode? a) yes b) no c) only 1 episode!! d) never!! This one is fun to think about. A lot of fans love the shocking ending to the first part of Snelfu Snafu, where The Hacker takes over Cyberspace. Alot of fans also love the Transformatron Arc. While the kids were able to save some Cybersites during that arc, the episodes ended with The Hacker slipping away with another part to his infernal machine.

Unfortunately, this is another one where the results weren't archived.

I may post more of these later. I may even turn some of them into Tumblr polls.

#cyberchase #2000s #nostalgia #cartoon #pbs kids #2000s childhood

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browniefox · 1 year ago

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The Very Best Fics - 2

I am making a second 'best fics according to me' because it is very long. You can access the previous post from here.

On this list is: Daredevil, Disco Elysium, Trigun, Psych, Mob Psycho 100, Undertale, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VII

Daredevil

My Guardian Avengers (Can I Get A Refund?) - prettybirdy979

Daredevil needs to protect a certain law firm in Hell's Kitchen. He's a little slack about protecting this Matt Murdock fellow though, and the Avengers are only too happy to step in to help. Matt is SO not okay with this. (Shut up Foggy, so what if it's his own fault!)

Prettybirdy979 has done 'Daredevil meets the Avengers' like ten times, and you know what? they hit it out of the park every time. Hell yeah! This one is just as fun, and it's always nice to read a new (uh, new-ish) fic from an author you love :D

Disco Elysium

Excerpts from the Case Notes of Kim Kitsuragi - Hosekisama

Excerpts reference Lieutenant Double-Yefreitor Du Bois' belief that he can (and does) "reload" his own life after failing, like some kind of video game character.

Disco Elysium plays with so many fun video game mechanics, like the 'jamrock shuffle', so honestly the idea that Harry would think in terms of 'reloading' is way fun! I love the ambiguity of whether or not there actually are saves or loads.

Trigun

Start here - AsterAspera ( @aster-aspera )

The first time he wakes, he is in a room. Heavy curtains hang over dusty windowsills and there are crumpled sheets on the bed and crumpled sheets on the floor. The world is quiet while his body screams. Every soft, fleshy, vulnerable part of him is on fire, writhing and roiling in unbearable agony. He wants to move, get away from the mattress that digs into his skin like fingers, like knives, like roots, but his body is frozen without his consent, time stretching endlessly around him as he fights an ocean of pain. And suddenly there are hands on him and worried grey eyes and he wants to scream but his throat is already scraped raw.

We love QPR Vash/Meryl/Wolfwood, and we love stories that drop you into something and you have no idea what's going on. Such a good and interesting fic that drops ideas of what has happened, but also you're not totally sure, and it really puts you into Vash's head for the fic.

I Just Want To Slow Dance With You by easternCriminal

"Wolfwood swears at the radio, and then finally the static parts like the sands after a storm and the warm, slow sounds of a guitar comes out from over the dunes and fills the small room." oOo A soft domestic moment, inspired by Start Here by AsterAspera

Inspired by the fic above, a scene between Meryl and Nicholas (and Vash) as they try and figure out what their dynamic is now. Wonderfully domestic.

Rinse and Repeat by easternCriminal (@the-east-art)

Somehow, Meryl can head the monotone flatline of his heart. And she wakes up again on the road. Meryl starts to realize what is going on.

Time loop, time loop, time loop! Time loops where you're trying so despeartelyl to save someone! Time loops where you start realizing some sacrifices have to be made! Time loops that make you hate and love someone like you never have before!

Press my Corpse against the Wall by Rayawastaken

Meryl kept thinking back to Tonis, small and still so young in his mothers arms. She kept thinking about the fact that if she held onto him a bit stronger, if she had more conviction, he might still have both of his arms. And about how if she had any less of it, Wolfwood might have not woken back up again in that bar. Surely, getting a bit scratched up was worth saving someone’s life. But that’s not how Wolfwood saw it. To him, she’d forever be just some defenseless little thing that stumbled around helplessly and had to be protected. And for all that he complained about Vash having a self-sacrificial streak, he'd rather bleed out on the floor than admit he had needed help. - Wolfwood almost dies, Meryl saves him and gets hurt in the process. They have a fight about it.

I love Mashwood, but the dynamic between Wolfwood and Meryl is often under represented. I especially love this fic's exploration of the fact that Meryl, of the trio, is the most human and the position that puts her in a lot of the time.

CHANGING NATURE (‘TIS THE SEASON) by ainosyn (@tristamp-gunpede)

“How could anyone kill you without killing a part of themselves?” and “I can’t help it, it’s my nature.”

An exploration of all the different ways the story of Trigun could have gone, or could have been told, and about what is inherent to someone's nature. I love this, such a great character study of Knives and Vash.

Never understood a single word he said by aboxthecolourofheartache (@aboxthecolourofheartache)

Meryl drums her fingers on the steering wheel, and Wolfwood gets the sinking feeling of spotting bullshit at a hundred yarz and being unable to do anything about it. “Is it really buried treasure? I don’t believe you,” Meryl sniffs. “You’re stalling or something.” Vash’s lips curl up at the corner and, yes, there’s that mischievous little dimple that heralds doom. “Only one way to find out. If it is buried treasure, next night at a motel is on me. What do you say?" “Hot showers and everything?” Meryl squints at Vash sidelong, she the very picture of suspicion and he of innocence. “Cross my heart,” Vash vows, making a solemn X over his chest. ~~~ A detour turned nightmare, water from the rock, Three Dog Night, and unconventional gestures of trust.

MUST READ MUST READ MUST READ!!!! Best Trigun Fic I think I've ever read, with perfect characterization of Meryl, Vash, and Wolfwood that all feel distinct and accurate, a lot of fun interactions, and just a hint of the good good 'Vash isn't human' stuff I live for.

Psych

All We Are by jumpfall

"I want eyes on Spencer ten minutes ago!" Shawn thinks that maybe another hostage situation is just what they need to bring the team together again.

Love when you find a fic that captures the vibes of the canon so well! The team-as-family in psych is so good and fun, it's what makes it all worthwhile, you know? The characters in Psych are really good, and I'll be honest I live for the times that Shawn manages to actually be selfless and care about others.

the robbed that smiles steals something from the thief by EclipseWing (@shadow-of-the-eclipse)

That one in which Shawn is a con-artist, a liar and a thief.

Hell yeah, EclipseWing, all my homies love EclipseWing! This one is so fun! It's nice to see a Shawn who doesn't get into crime solving but still needs to find something to preoccupy him becoming a theif instead, it's so in person I love it!

Mob Psycho 100

Come Morning Light by NotHereForIt

Reigen is standing in a world that exists, but doesn't, in front of a house that is Mob's, but not, with a man that's dead, but isn't. In which Reigen thinks he's dreaming, and he very much is not.

Dream walking time, hell yeah! In which Reigen helps Mob through is dreams. Poor Mob has PTSD, but at least he's not alone.

knife trick by ruthwrites (@ruemilley)

There wasn’t a rule, exactly, that said that Ritsu wasn’t allowed to spend time with his brother. It was just something that was understood, like how Ritsu understood he wasn't supposed to press his hands along the sharp edges of his mother’s kitchen knives. (or: an age swap where only Mob and Reigen's ages are changed. Shigeo asks his little brother if he wants to walk him home after school. Ritsu should say no. Ritsu does not say no.)

The ending of this one sticks with me, ugh it's so good. Swap au's are so interesting, and I love the way it's done here, especially with Mob and Reigen being swapped, but Ritsu still being the same age.

citrus by orphan_account

He can just barely see Reigen pacing, purposefully quiet. He’s not smiling or laughing like he usually does on the phone. He looks sad. No, he looks upset. Shigeo doesn’t get a chance to wonder why before Reigen is walking back out, eyes carefully trained on his phone before he flips it shut. “Mob, we have a client to go to. I would have taken you home, but your parents aren’t there.” “Why would I have to go home?” Reigen goes quiet for a moment. “We aren’t dealing with a spirit.”

Reigen getting to deal with big problems through his job, and baby Mob learning important life lessons, what more do you need?

I know who I am when I'm alone by RedWritingHood

I'm something else when I see you. The world revolves around the suffering of Kageyama Shigeo. It fails to anticipate the determination of the Greatest Psychic Detective of the 21st Century.

In which Reigen is in Mogamiland and is as stubborn as a mule - even if he doesn't know what he's fighting against or for. A great moment of Reigen being able to comfort Mob - more or less. There are struggles that come with trying to accomplish that.

Undertale

Second Contact by Ononymous

To the participants, monumental days in history rarely feel very monumental when they wake up that morning. A young man at his summer job in the middle of nowhere was about to learn this the hard way.

I love this fic, of Asogre and Frisk meeting the first human outside of the Underground, told from outsider pov. It's a fun continuation of the story, and of how a poor service employee has to be the one to deal with the mess first.

What Little Monsters Are Made Of by Mangaluva

Nobody understands why you keep Flowey. You're not always sure why you do. But you found a way to save everybody else.

A story about love, and a story about believing in someone or something, and about how it's never too late. Post-Game, exploration of the relationship that builds between Flowey, Frisk, and the rest of the monsters over the years.

Kingdom Hearts

Scar Tissue - mimiplaysgames

Terra doesn’t remember certain things. He’s not in control. Even after everything they have been through, he still has the Guardian to contend with.

A little confusing to read sometimes, but super interesting look into after effects of having one's heart stuck in various places, and how it impact Terra without him even knowing it. At the end of the day, Terra is a guardian.

Umbra, Penumbra - end_alls

Roleswap where Vanitas is the one raised with care and compassion in the Land of Departure, and Ventus… is not

A fun and interesting role reversal. In general, the concept of 'too much light' is not explored enough in Kingdom hearts, so a fic that goes into how Ventus is left so incomplete without Vanitas is great.

Affecting Eternity - b-na_hime

One new Keyblade Master. Two new Keyblade wielders. Three thousand ways it could go horribly wrong…

Riku trying so hard to train Lea and Kairi when he's never been formally trained either. Great relationship building between them and how each of them feels about being a keyblade wielder.

reflections, refracted. - vvingblade (@vvingblade)

It's been ten years since then. Time has passed, and wounds are slowly healing. Ven thought he'd moved on, that the memories no longer bother him. All it takes is a single muddled spell to prove him wrong.

Ven has some serious PTSD and it rears its ugly head. Also, Ven can kick ass when he believes his life depends on it. Great Ven characterization that fleshes out Ven a bit more than he usually is.

Final Fantasy VII

The Fifth Act by Sinnatious

Cloud has an accident with a Time materia, and finds himself in the middle of the Wastes at the start of the Wutai War. There are people to save… and for that, there are three people who need to die.

My favorite time-travel fix-it for FFVII I've found so far. Good characterization, fun interactions, and I love how much it grapples with the question of 'should Sephiroth die, when he hasn't done anything'.

A Feather's Edge by Boomchick

Rescue arrives for Sephiroth while he is still a child. It arrives in the form of a blank-faced blonde-haired hero who cannot look at him; Who tends his wounds, and speaks kindly, but whose eyes are filled with hate and fear. If only Sephiroth knew the rules of this world outside the labs, maybe he could figure out how to stop making Cloud so angry...

An interesting look into, even if Sephiroth was saved, how messed up he is since childhood and how that impacts how he views people, sitautions, and relationships with other people. Kinda wish it was a little longer, but also I think it ends where it needs to end, if that makes sense. Really love Cloud trying to grapple with being a good adult for a child while battling his PTSD over said child.

In the Woods, Somewhere - DoveFanworks

On an ordinary day, two against one would hardly feel fair. But today was not an ordinary day, and Gods damn if this man wasn’t proving to be worth every bit of their combined effort. It was ludicrous. Unheard of. Before today, he would have thought it impossible. But somehow, someway, this man, this stranger who had come from out of nowhere, was fighting off two of the most powerful fighters in the world. At the same time.

Unresolved Time Travel au where Cloud takes on the three Firsts and kicks ass! I love how thought out the fight scenes are, taking into account the abilites of everyone involved and what they're capable of. Wonderfully orchestrated, wonderful to read.

Rebound - emrald_writes

Genesis knows the moment that they step into the little town that whatever it is plaguing them it isn’t a curse.

I Love fics that have surprisingly in depth worlds that makes you feel like you're looking into a world so much bigger and more thought out than you expected. Such an interesting magic system and a fun mystery to boot. I will say, the ending feels a little strange, but the rest most than makes up for it.

As They Bask in the Material World - Traxits

Every year, Reeve tours the outer reactors. This year, Veld is unable to escort him, so Tseng gets the job. It's just his luck that the car breaks down, and perhaps the best idea was not to spend the night in Cosmo Canyon…

Hi welcome to the beginning of the 'brownie falls in love with reeve' section of this. Anyway, great and interesting relationship between Reeve and Tseng, and EXTREMELY cool take on how young Reeve would react to Cosmo Canyon.

Before She Hangs Her Head to Cry - Traxits

Reeve had been reasonably certain that no one was in his office. It seemed like a logical assumption to make, given that he was not there and that no one short of the President had a key. One day, he would learn to stop assuming anything when he counted the Turks among his friends.

Not enough people talk about Reeve and kidnapping Marlene! Love the backstory that is hinted at for Reno here, getting to see Reeve's thoughts and such, and how Marlene's upbringing shows up throughout her actions. The characterization is just, *mwah*, beautiful.

Little Birds by katineto

Marlene's Papa is gone, and she is scared—or, the kidnapping, from Marlene's perspective.

Reeve is terrible with children. I love seeing Marlene's POV in the whole mess, trying to make sense of what is going on and feeling so scared.

Through Another's Eyes by CorsairOriginal

Elmyra Gainsborough had only wanted to live a life in peace, but war keeps coming to her door. She had only wanted her arrangement with Marlene Wallace to be temporary, but now that she's a part of Elmyra's life she has to face the consequences of that decision. Director Reeve Tuesti didn't choose to become a spy, but orders from President Rufus Shinra are not to be refused. He didn't choose to admire a group of renegades, but now that they're a part of his life he can't walk away so easily. ~ "Through Another's Eyes" is an in-depth view of the major notes of Reeve's story in Final Fantasy VII, starting from Marlene's abduction by Shinra to the end of the original game--rewriting some concepts and adding elements from the Compilation of FF7, including Before Crisis and FFVII Remake.

THE PINNACLE OF REEVE FICS. So so so good! Great relationship of Reeve with everybody, and how he deals with the events of FFVII. The moment at the end when he finally meets everyone? FUCK YEAH, that's what it's all about baby! Fic that got me hooked on the inspire!Reeve characterization.

I'm Fine - WinterEvenings

“Cloud!” His eyes snap open, but it doesn’t do much good. All he can see is darkness anyway. They were trapped. It was his fault. It was all his fault.

Cloud is so fucked up as far as priorities and his own health is concerned. it's terrible and wonderful at the same time. Gotta love a good dose of whump.

#ffvii #final fantasy 7 #ff7 #kingdom hearts #disco elysium #daredevil #psych #mp100 #browniefox speaks #ficrec #fanfiction #fic rec #masterpost

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roseposts-stuff · 5 months ago

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hello hello!! its time for the doctor who rankings again, today it's time for series 8!! really like this series guys not gonna lie :D again, these are my opinions and also just. mostly for my benefit but i post them here in case someone else is interested in my thoughts???

1. Listen (8x4) - oh how i love this episode guys, i love the opening already, peter capaldi was MADE for stuff like this, i think. i like the idea of a creature that has perfected hiding, i think that's interesting, and i love the ending with clara talking to the doctor as a kid, i love how we kinda still left it ambiguous whether this creature exists or not (i think it does, the creature that was on danny's bed didn't look like a human, even though we didn't see it clearly, but it's not 100% sure this creature is actually real). always love it when doctor who goes horror

2. Mummy on the Orient Express (8x8) - SO good, love this episode, i love the mystery of the mummy and i think a morally grey doctor was written well in this, i liked perkins a lot and kinda wished he had become a companion, and i liked the story. also the "are you my mummy" heritage still going strong lmao

3. Flatline (8x9) - SO GOOD!! i love the idea of creatures that are in 2D that's interesting, i like clara and there are so many hilarious things in this, personally i died permanently when clara just pulled the hammer from the bag and went "apparently they're in the walls", it was so funny to me lol, yeah, brilliant i think

4. Deep Breath (8x1) - does the beginning with clara feel a bit weird considering she has literally seen every regeneration of the doctor's and knows how it works? yeah. but i get where they're going with it and why it is there, because the audience has just lost the previous doctor, who is this new guy here why is he so different, how can he suddenly be so old?? the kids who might have started watching with matt smith might say, and i get that clara is now acting as the audience, i don't mind it. and i like the scene with vastra and clara. and the second half of the episode is brilliant, i love clara with the robot. guys. i don't remember if they had a name sorry guys lol. but she was great. i really think she's so much better in this series than in series 7. and this episode also has some really funny moments, i had so much fun following the doctor's adventures, and i love jenny, vastra and strax as people might notice from the previous posts. i LOVE them. miss them every day i want them back i hate that this is their last appearance on tv :( but yeah, a great introduction to the new doctor, dare i even say better than the eleventh hour are we ready for that conversation??

5. Dark Water/Death in Heaven (8x11/8x12) - always love meeting kate even if she's in a small role, live laugh love kate lethbridge-stewart if she got no fans i'm dead. anyway, i like finally meeting missy properly, she's great and i enjoyed the doctor and her together. i think the cliffhanger is good and i personally am a danny pink defender, i was sad that he died, he wasn't my favourite character but i didn't hate him like most people seem to do lol. i also think the cybermen are alright and the nod to the brigadier and the doctor saluting him is really nice i think

6. Time Heist (8x5) - it's a nice story, i like the concept and the teller is an interesting creature in my opinion, i like the time travel heist stuff and i like psi and saibra, i think it's great and seems a bit underappreciated in the fandom? or have i just not seen people talk about it? i don't know

7. Robot of Sherwood (8x3) - this was actually pretty good fun, i laughed so many times watching this, and even though the story isn't the best in my opinion, i think this is still very fun and enjoyable and i had a great time watching it. robin hood and the doctor's dynamic was actually pretty hilarious

8. The Caretaker (8x6) - i must say, this made me laugh a few times, i think it's fun, and i like clara and danny's relationship stuff here, i think the dynamic between the doctor and danny is interesting, but the story itself isn't the best and i don't think it's anything special

9. Into the Dalek (8x2) - now i get what this story is going for and how we start exploring the question of whether the doctor is a good man or not is great, i like that theme, and i personally like that last excange with the doctor and the dalek, how the doctor says that hatred isn't victory and the double meaning of "a good dalek". but even though steven moffat is 100% one of my favourite doctor who writers, something i must say that he doesn't get right are the daleks, i don't think he gets them. i think he sees them just plainly as evil angry tanks, which they're not, yes they're obviously evil, but they do have sort of personality, they're occasionally sassy and think themselves to be cleverer than they are, and i don't think moffat gets their characterisation right

10. In the Forest of the Night (8x10) - i don't hate it but it's not good either. it's pretty boring because our characters are just randomly running around a forest, which i do think can be done well, but this wasn't. i found clara and danny's relationship stuff to be okay and i think it was so sweet the kids shipped them lol, and i do think that the fact that this had so much of them being kinda happy makes danny's death in the next episode more sad. and i did 100% pick up on the message about protecting trees, which is indeed important, and i liked that the trees were protecting the earth and that children made the message to everyone like young people do today with the climate change, i think that's something that's good about this story.

11. Kill the Moon (8x7) - i don't completely hate it, it's got a few kinda funny lines and i think it did the morally grey doctor thing well, and i love the ending with clara. but the anti-abortion message is not it, and you know i'm giving the writer the benefit of the doubt, because i can 100% see an another way to interpret the story, that humans want to destroy things that they don't know about and we should instead give them a chance because it could be a good thing, but the way some things are worded in the story are just giving anti-abortion message. and i personally wasn't a fan of the random astronaut and the story as a whole just wasn't for me. though i think the morally grey doctor is done well, it feels kinda weird that he just. disappears mid story, i don't know, but yeah, not a fan

there we are, i liked this series, lots of great episodes i think, and peter capaldi is fantastic of course :D

#doctor who #rose's doctor who ratings #dw

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eyeofthebrainstorm · 7 months ago

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Maybe I'm ready to talk about it. Ok. listen, honestly, whatever happens it can't go wrong because it's going to be narratively very compelling.

On one end we have Sam who we know likes to mix things up with characters so there's a good chance he wouldn't want fcg's soul to go back. (I think especially if it's reincarnation - and while it's a very peculiar and interesting situation - I think it's my least favorite outcome).

At the same time though, there was so much more to fcg's story and it's a real pity to let it all go. I think Sam is very curious about that and might come back to see it through for himself and for all of us. Because he cares about critters a lot too. There's a chance Matt and the others will pursue FCG'S backstory without him anyway, but this campaign is so intense and time sensitive that I don't see them taking time off just randomly to go find D (although they might need D for plot reasons, because of the Aeorian technology). I read a post that talked about how resurrection is part of the DND game. It's not cheating or a cheap move, it's something that can be done by the rules. And Matt's homebrew ritual makes it even more relevant so I don't think it's a bad scenario.

I think Sam is going to make a new character. That's the most Sam thing to do. He has to have the most action figure of all (Scanlan- Tary- Veth - Nott ... he has to keep them a even number at this point)

But, maybe he will take some time off and step away from the campaign until the rest find the right way to bring him back (just like Travis and Marisha).

In that case I would love to see Deanna and Frida to come back somehow and get a chance to mourn FCG in game. Also that juicy conflict of Deanna opposing to FCG resurrection because of her personal experience and Frida pushing for it because they want their boyfriend back. I would love to see that.

Or, maybe Dorian comes back for a while because he's an OG Bell's Hells and ORYM DESERVES IT.

But finally, if Sam actually brings back an old character (and I think that's very unlikely): it's not Veth, she's done adventuring we know that from the special, it's not Tary ( it would be incredibly funny but just for like 2 minutes) he's too old and married and stuff. It could be Luc ... But I don't know, I don't think the M9 would allow it.

What I would really love to see is Scanlan Shorthalt. And not just because I love him and miss him everyday. But because it would be crazy to have a Sam Rigel character convince the party not to bring back another Sam Rigel character. Because Scanlan knows about dying and coming back in a way that's not right.

#critical role #fresh cut grass #fcg #critical role campaign 3 #cr 3 #cr campaign 3 #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #i don't think what i wrote makes any sense #but i needed to let it out

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danganronpa96 · 1 year ago

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Why didn't Ayano kill Chapter 4, since well….Senpai is her motive and well, I think she'd figure out pretty quickly that it's Senpai without having to see it?

What if there was a triple kill Chapter 5? Like dynamics wise and the trial itself? (DR69)

How would Yoshi likely react to the death of Mario, assuming Mario had Yoshi had a pet and all that?

Would the idea that after the explosion, the little killing game in the church would actually somehow continue but turn into a full blown killing game in the city?

How would the participants had reacted if Yuri had committed a murder?

Also, the Smiling Friends artstyle you managed to a T. It's really good and Pim looks so cute in it.

What if the entire cast was just Yuri cloned 16 times. What if Kaidou and Yuri have survived? How do pets work in a world of anthropomorphic animals? How did the participants not freak out that there were two anthropomorphic animals? Why do I have so many questions?

Anyways um, York again, loved Chapter 4. Sorry for the horde of questions again.

Hello 101 questions /lh

1. This one is pretty obvious. Ayano made a promise to Luigi in chapter 3 she would try her hardest to get the trust of others and help them out. She even showcased this during the chapter 3 trial when she was being falsely accused with her secret exposed. Ayano went onto be distrusted regardless, but remained determined to keep herself in line. She knew her Senpai would be the focus of any motive featuring loved ones, but that wouldn’t stop her from her promise. After all, trying to kill a situation like this always pertained the possibility of herself dying, and in that scenario she would not be able to protect her Senpai at all.

2. I don’t know, it depends who would die. I could see Parappa getting involved somehow, but not anyone else (unless Ayano decided to go to the 5th floor too). So it’d either be Fluttershy/Parappa/Ayano or Fluttershy/Parappa/Brian. I think the trial would become more complex, but also since three bodies would leave three times as many clues behind… it could go either way.

3. The Yoshi would be very sad, but I’m sure Luigi would go onto adopt it for Mario.

4. Not really. That wasn’t what I was going for in the story. The whole ‘new killing game’ was just meant to be a cop out to a) introduce Matt into the gang and b) introduce Gumi and how I wanted to portray her character. But it does sound interesting regardless.

5. The majority of them wouldn’t be surprised. Natsuki would feel upset and betrayed Yuri went the full way with it. Although, I’m not sure she would consider it as most people would suspect her in a trial (unless this was before she revealed her philosophy).

6. Thank you!! I think I can draw Charlie a bit better than Pim but I’m happy to hear you liked how I drew him too ^^

7. a) The Yuri’s would be very freaked out. One would snap first but you can’t ask me to identify who because, you know, they all look the same.

b) Kaidou may do a similar thing I described in this post (and by that I just mean from the 3rd paragraph about the bandages and down, as a sign of maturing). Yuri on the other hand would become like a typical DR antagonist, who’d have some moments in the trials but ultimately tries to skew things in the wrong direction in order to help let the killer win.

c) You ask the Bojack Horseman universe the same thing because I have no idea. Or maybe ask the MLP universe because it works with Fluttershy. I guess it depends on the theme of animals (if they’re all different animals then no pets).

d) Well Hayasaka and Kurumada did get a bit concerned at Retsuko at first, but just went along to accept it come meeting Bojack (slightly) because they all woke up on an island with no recollection why at this point they could start levitating and assume it’s all one big group hallucination or social experiment.

e) man I don’t know holmes you tell me

Hello again! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed ch4!! And thanks for the assortment of questions lol

#definitely what you may call a mixed bag #more on 7d #some characters like Saiki would just accept it knowing what he’s seen #and Jesse just assumed he’s high at first #Natsuki probably mistook Bojack for an actual furry in a costume at first #but once they met Monotora it really was all jover for those ideas

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alightbuthappypen · 11 months ago

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twenty questions for fic writers

As a treat entirely for me I get to do a meme. I wasn't tagged and I won't tag anyone but invite anyone who wants to do it to treat yourself too!

How many works do you have on AO3?

33, though 3 of those are posted anonymously (2 RPF that I'm not wholly comfortable having attached to my name anymore, 1 based around a Problematic Trope that I'm too chicken to own up to)

That's like an average of just under 2 fics per year I've been posting to Ao3, ha.

But I probably have about 20 wips for CQL alone, you know how it is

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

92,993 apparently.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Pretty monogamous at any given time - obviously CQL right now, though I did slip out that cathartic Good Omens thing earlier this year.

Previous big hitters (by my standards) were Dragon Age and The Musketeers (BBC version, yes I know)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

From Now On (陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) (1,013)

The Look You Give (陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) (995)

Retrospect (陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) (552)

In the Quiet It Will Grow (陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) (507)

A natural liking (Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (TV) (487)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I go through phases...I think it's polite to, and I do try, but also when I comment on a fic I don't actually expect a response from the author (though it's always nice!) so I don't angst about it. I obviously LOVE comments, it's not for lack of caring.

When I don't respond it's always because I end up overthinking what I should say, like does "thank you! <3" ten times in row look insincere.

Sometimes I go on a reply binge and start responding to really old comments, and that probably looks weirder.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I think I gravitate towards bittersweet or melancholy endings generally, though not usually real downers. Stories that take place within an angsty point of canon are good for this, like

A Promise (X-Men: First Class)

A Kind of Cruel (BBC Musketeers)

Probably angstiest of all is the very short For the wounded (Dragon Age: Inquisition) which is set in a Bad End post-canon.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I feel like "happy endings" suggest some kind of narrative arc and most of my finished fics are too oneshotty to really have that. But I'd say my fluffiest, most angst-free are probably:

Safe Keeping (Dragon Age: Inquisition)

Nights Bright Days (Good Omens)

A natural liking (Good Omens)

In the Quiet It Will Grow (The Untamed)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I don't think I've ever got a hateful comment? If I have I've repressed it. I've had a couple that I wasn't sure what to make of, or which I felt misinterpreted what the story was about, but nothing mean.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

DO I. Smutty oneshots my beloved.

In terms of like, sex acts, pretty vanilla, though I think some of my favoured tropes could be considered Problematic (a bit of dubcon, Cloud Recesses arc smut). Whatever it is, it has to be extremely emotional. If the participants aren't experiencing heightened emotions of some kind and having them described in long introspective paragraphs it's not me.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No, my tastes are deeply boring and I have zero interest in crossovers or most AUs.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

In the Quiet It Will Grow was translated into Brazilian Portuguese with permission, though I didn't realise it was going on wattpad and didn't think to ask (it's fine, but I do prefer the Ao3 "inspired by" function). A bit random, but still, flattering.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, I kind of like the idea but I think I'm too precious about the process and have too specific an idea of what the final piece should be.

I do love the collaborative storytelling of D&D, but prose is a whole different matter.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Surely it's whichever one you're into at the time of asking? So obviously right now it's wangxian taking up most of my brainspace, but really most of the serious ships I've had I still have affection for. But wangxian is the only ship I've done both art and fic for, and overall feels like the deepest cut.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

SO many unpublished wips, but Against your will is one of my two published wips and for that reason I would like to see it finished, but unless I get back in and refamiliarise myself with the canon again I don't think it'll happen.

Also I have all these other wangxian wips that are like...look at them, they're everywhere, spilling out of my pockets, strewn across the floor of every room

16. What are your writing strengths?

My method is usually to overwrite then trim back to the bare bones so I think my finished prose usually feels quite..."clean", and to the point. That might not count as a strength to everyone though!

In terms of things I most commonly get good comments about: characterisation, emotion, and clear description of action (people can easily picture what's happening)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue, maybe? I hope it doesn't feel weak in the finished story but it's definitely the thing I find hardest - I'm very conscious of dialogue feeling right for a character and it's usually the part I rewrite the most.

Also actually sitting down and drafting stories in the first place. Obviously.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I mean, I don't speak any other languages and dialogue is hard enough so god, no, unless it's a word or expression that is used by the characters canonically.

I don't mind it in fic as a reader but if I'm having to copy-paste paragraphs into google translate just to figure out what's going on I'm probably not going to persevere.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Oh, you mean the Buffy self insert fics I hand wrote in a notebook 14-year-old me kept under their pillow.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

This is hard because...I'm pretty happy with most fic I've published. I can definitely see flaws but overall if I've finished something and stuck it online I like it, and I've reread every one at least once (I am my own target audience).

Secondly, I think my favourite fic is usually the one or ones I'm in the process of writing. I'm always trying to improve and like to think the next one I finish will be the best I've done (unrealistic I know).

That said,

Keep Burning (Dragon Age: Inquisition) is a fic I'm still really proud of. It's far from perfect and I remember it being a tough experience to write but it came out mostly how I wanted in the end. It still feels like one of the most emotionally...honest things I finished. Also I know it made people cry, and I don't know if anything else I've written has done that.

Also There Grew Between is probably the CQL fic I'm most satisfied with, I just think the pacing and structure work really well and it's the one fic I wish got more love because I like so much how it came out.

#meme #writing

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forabeatofadrum · 9 months ago

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WIP ASK ME GAME

Thanks @bitbybitwrites for the tag. Like many, I am always down to clown about my WIPs.

I just have so many of them, so I am only going to talk about the ones I am focusing on. RIP to the many others who are in the far away ward in my WIP Hospital.

Under the cut because I ramble:

Partially published WIPs:

February Friday Event 2024 - Radio Silence (Alice Oseman)

Only one chapter is up. This is just a collection of 4 short fics that are set in post-canon of Radio Silence. They're based on the prompts from the February Friday Event. 2 of the 3 remaining chapters are partially written, but not finished. One will be about Carys and her thoughts on Universe City. The other is about friendship, but Carys and Aled are once again reminded by how badly their childhood was for them.

Ljubili se - Glee

MY BABY. This is the sequel to Ljubim te, the fic where Kurt and Blaine meet in Ljubljana. Now they're back in America and long-distance, with Blaine being in LA and Kurt in NY. My main reason for being stuck is admittedly that it's getting too ambitious and I need to figure out how to tell a coherent sequel. It's quite difficult, because Ljubim te was written without a sequel in mind and without much space to do more, but I love this world I made so here I am anyway.

Dancin' on that bamboo ceiling - Glee

A series of standalone fic that explore Asian identity and casual racism in glee. I've been working on and off on it for years and I have published some. But I really want to finish more. Right now I have a story about traditional dress and feeling removed from your heritage in my mind.

The Sarah Jane Adventures Extended Universe (SJAEU) - The Sarah Jane Adventures

Yes, my SJAEU is back on my mind. It's a spin-off of the Sarah Jane Adventures (which is in itself a Doccy Whomst spin-off) and it focuses on Luke after he left Bannerman Road and well, my unofficial title is Luke's Big Gay Oxford Adventures. The thing I posted is an overview of the AU, but I have been cooking up actual fics that are set in this AU since 2017 and they're simmering again.

Not published WIPs:

Just Some Guy - Carry On

Also known as MCD! It's the seven years of Simon and Baz's rivalry (and eventual romance) from the perspective of an outsider who has absolutely nothing to do with it. After all, it must be fucking wild for Watford students to see this wacky enemy to lovers. Matty Chris D. is the blandest person you'll ever meet, which is also why I am stuck. Go Matt, give us nothing.

Untitled TOTK-inspired Snowbaz fic - Carry On

This was marinating in my brain recently. Not sure I will get back to it soon, but hey, it's on my mind! As the "title" suggests, it's a Tears of the Kingdom inspired Snowbaz fic, which takes place after Wayward Son. The gang is back from America to find floating islands in the sky of the World of Mages. 7 years after their return, and 7 years after Simon went missing, Baz decides to find a way to the sky islands in order to find Simon. I don't wanna brag, but this idea slaps and I should get back to it.

Glee x Sense8 crossover idea - Glee and Sense8

I came up with a Glee x Sense8 crossover years ago and this is also back again on my mind. Just like the SJAEU, it's more of a concept with some overall thoughts than an actual coherent fic. It's back in my 2024 vision because, hey, I posted the SJAEU, I could possible post my Glee x Sense8 AU on AO3, because I think it's pretty cool. And yes, it's a crossover, not an inspired by thing. The Glee part is entirely an AU, but the Sense8 part is post-canon where the BPO has reformed, so that the sensates can figure out their shit in peace. And also, Puck from Sense8 will show up at one point. Two Pucks in one fic (because Puck from Glee is one of the sensates).

Anyway I have many more WIPs, like the Zimbits time travel one, or the Glee x Carry On crossover (begone Klaine and Snowbaz, Blaz OTP!) and UGH so many WIPs. If you wanna send me an ask about any of these WIPs, feel free.

Also, I think @bitbybitwrites already spread this in the Glee world, so let me spread it to the Carry On world by tagging @cutestkilla @artsyunderstudy @wellbelesbian @martsonmars @larkral @nightimedreamersworld @blackberrysummerblog @bookish-bogwitch @facewithoutheart

#tag game

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sbrn10 · 11 months ago

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More post-e80 thoughts:

Two general things I just want to throw out there in the wake of having the shard/feywild arc largely wrapped up (although I hope there is more to come next episode in terms of the characters processing what happened).

(And of course I started writing this down as "two minor points" and it got stupidly long so I had to change the first sentence and now I guess I'll cut for sanity. The curse of being a verbose mfer.)

I think "but they didn't trust each other at all???" re: the trust trial is kind of a weird take.

Given the setup, the central question or task in this trial isn't really "can you trust each other and thereby achieve your goal," it's "can you correctly identify the imposter(s), if any (and by implication, do you know each other well enough to do so) in order to achieve your goal." To phrase slightly differently, knowing each other and/or trusting that you know each other enough to identify each other is the point, because when you don't know whether the person in front of you is actually your friend, whether you do or do not trust your friend is irrelevant. But, if you can interact with someone who may or may not be your friend and come away confident in your judgment of whether it is them, that is at least by proxy evidence of a reasonably solid relationship. And, although opinions may differ on how solid the process was (most notably, whether attempting to use Detect Thoughts means there is a lack of trust, which I disagree with but this is long enough already), they did end up correctly identifying that nobody was an imposter, which means they did succeed at the challenge given to them.

Also, given that this game was really half in character and half out (as in, it was as much the players observing each other out of character as it was about the characters observing each other in character, which, you can be happy or unhappy about, I guess, but it would be weird to ignore it), I found it to be both fun to watch and about as good an outcome as could be expected.

One thing I've pondered before is that BH, while made up of various flavors of ticking time bomb characters, are actually very different. Chetney's werewolf, FCG's circuitry, Laudna's relationship with Delilah, Imogen's mind-reading and Ruidus-adjacent powers, Fearne's relationship with the shard and/or Dark!Fearne, and *waves vaguely* Ashton's... all of that are all really different kinds of problems. (Orym's grief/trauma is not included, because that's just bog-ass normal human emotions, not supernatural/magical/fantastical bullshit.)

There are parallels that can be drawn between these problems, of course, and the ways in which they try to look to each other for guidance is fascinating to me (like, I think Chetney's constant advice to embrace their problems the way he embraces the wolf is incredibly inapplicable to some of the characters but it's also so understandable why he would say so, and that's delicious), but as outside readers, some care should be taken to understand all of them individually.

Further, there are obviously ways to examine each of these issues as metaphors for real human issues -- like chronic pain, anxiety/other kinds of mental illness, abusive relationships, substance abuse/addiction, etc. (side note: I mean, I thought the addiction metaphor for Delilah was way off, but Matt threw it out there, so??) -- but to be too focused on that kind of metaphorical reading is, I think, limiting, because this is... you know. D&D.

For instance, to argue that Imogen taking off the circlet is "going off her meds" or that Imogen considering giving into the Ruidus connection is self-harm is a valid reading, but Imogen's powers are NOT actually mental illness. They come with defined mechanical benefits and potential story that I assume Laura as a player trusts Matt to have devised and which presumably can be used (or at least explored) as a real weapon and strength in the overall narrative. Whether leaning into her powers will ultimately be something that hurts her or empowers her is yet to be written.

On the other hand, while obviously there are mechanical/narrative benefits to, e.g., Fearne accepting the shard, it's also perfectly valid for Fearne as a character to either a) not want that power, because she's happy with who she is today and doesn't want to become something different or b) be afraid of that power, because she hasn't grappled with how or why she would go down the path to becoming Dark!Fearne, and that's also all stuff that can be explored and written further. But that story would obviously be very different from Imogen's, since the shard is not innate to Fearne.

And I think smushing all of these nuances into "yaaaassss taking ownership of what others think is a flaw/disability and turning it into strength!" OR "wow they're all making each other worse / egging each other into more self-destructive behaviors" is just kind of... flat on both ends of the spectrum. It can be all of those things! There are different layers and lenses! I think it's a lot of fun that we get the room to make these connections and interpretations and the interplay between them!

I mean, I guess the conclusion to this weird mini essay is 1) I am having so much fun, and 2) I don't think think any of them are in an incredibly dire place as of the end of e80. I mean, Laudna's not doing great, so I'd like to see them deal with that! but also, it could be so much worse! I'm cautiously optimistic! And Fearne should probably talk about her feelings on the shard, but she seems pretty excited about it, you know?

#musings: cr #critical role #cr3

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dearestaeneas · 2 years ago

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resisting the temptation to ask you every one of the questions from the writer ask game and instead asking: 2, 3, 7, 13 (i'm guessing i know the answer to this but consider this an open invitation to share some fun lore), 26, 29, 30

kicking my feet and writing your name in hearts all over my dream journal

2) my two newest ocs are Matt + Justin! i was working on a thing for a zine i want to submit to, and the theme was 70s/80s/90s campy horror, so i picked just two lame ass 90s boy names. it's a silly little queer slasher story that i didn't expect to go so in-depth on!

3) uhhhhhh. my biggest self insert is probably that John Dearheart character i post little blurbs about sometimes. i realized i'm probably gonna need to change his name if i post more about him, though, because i completely forgot he's a Discworld character. i've been rereading Going Postal lately and while i was waiting for the library loan to come in i was scrolling through its tumblr tag and got whiplash seeing his name. it is deeply humbling thinking you had an original name and not only seeing its an already-established character, but an already-established character from a BOOK YOU'VE READ BEFORE. outside of him as my vent character, i put myself into all my characters! i'm very vain! Branwen and Ardan are my two biggest ones from hh, and lately its been Branwen more just for the sake of story themes :3

7) Celeste and the Old God is actually one of my favorite pairs to write about, and it's wild to me that i don't have them interact more. i think what really gets me about them is that Celeste's entire deal is that she's...normal. she has a "normal," healthy relationship with religion, and criticizing it is included in that, i think. and for that reason, those two are the closest to being equals. having one character be a devout believer/her religious trauma being something you actively get to see be established throughout the story (branwen) v. another character who's extremely cynical to the point of numbness who doesn't believe in anything (ardan), and in a context where branwen is genuinely helpless vs. ardan having more control than he realizes/freaks him out when he does realize it, it's so fun to write Celeste as being on equal playing ground. it's important to me that her entire deal is "actually no fuck you, you need me just as much as i need you." and i think that equal playing ground is why they have kind of a begrudging friendship.

i also like writing branwen and ardan together because they are bisexual.

13) not really any of them i don't do that kind of stuff<3*

26) American Gods!!! And Slaughterhouse Five. those are the two i always automatically say when asked! i read If We Were Villains sometime last year and it rewired my brain, also. i found it because of The Secret History, which also rewired my brain. Both of those books fundamentally changed my brain chemistry, but secret history did it derogatorily, if that makes sense. great book. i never think i have feelings about it until i start talking about it. Donna Tartt i am nearing your location. (also Piranesi!<3)

29) probably Harry Potter? unfortunately? (also, sucks that i have to say 'unfortunately'. like most people, those stupid books were very important to me at one point in my life! mostly because of the stuff i did with my friends because of it! go fuck yourself, Joanne!) i deffo wrote fanfic, though. i had a huuuuge fic i handwrote with a bunch of my friends

not my first fandom, but i thought you'd appreciate: i was also a huge percy jackson kid. obviously. probably more so than harry potter. i took latin in middle school, and one year we had this pretty big multi-part project where we could pick different prompts for different parts. super cool and fun, had i been the person i am now who actually like, cares about things and puts effort into them! but i suffered from the disease of all middle schoolers where i Fucking Sucked. i didn't realize one of my parts was due one day, and during the lunch period i speed-wrote percy jackson fanfiction that i had to Read Out Loud To The Class and then hand in for a grade. i got a 100, but only after reading it out loud, having what i believe was my first out of body experience, and then going back to my seat where one of my friends leaned over and said "was that the fucking plot of Mark of Athena"

30) good!!!! we're actively getting a snowstorm and i'm hoping it keeps up so work is cancelled tomorrow! who knows how lucky i'll be but i can hope!!

*if i was normal i could have left 13 at that and just let myself be funny, but i am nothing if not verbose. obviously hh! in taking up your offer to share fun lore, there's one character who i have been avoiding talking about because i think everything about him is so integral to the plot that like, making goofs about him would be a spoiler (is that...full of myself to say? it would be, though). that said, since the idea of "equals" is so relevant throughout hh, he's been fun to write because he technically falls on the Celeste end of the spectrum, but he's using it for evil. literally. a lot of his deal is unintentionally "what makes a god a god" and how he's this sort of nebulous figure because no one can agree what his deal is. he is accidentally my Odysseus character, and it kills me to admit that. little pansexual freak who wants to kill god.

#thank you!!!!!!!!!#my beloved!!!#mwah!!!!#sorry its so very long!!!!!!!!!

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utilitycaster · 2 years ago

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absolutely no pressure, but when you have time, would LOVE your thoughts on the Adventuring Academy Dropout posted today with Matt and Brennan - they talk a bit about spotlighting and when it’s important and i would love to hear your take

So, I just watched it because I was not yet in the mood for Neverafter.

I think it was overall a very good discussion, and while I don't think it always comes out perfectly in practice on their respective shows, for the most part I can't fault them on that because that's how D&D goes; a DM plan never survives contact with the players.

I think to hit the high points:

Brennan's point of "we have 6 PCs and 2 hours so everyone gets 20 minutes would be an absurd system" is extremely correct and it's one I think people would be well served by remembering

The discussion of Caduceus, Ricky Matsui, and Orym as characters who explicitly do not have an internal darkness and whose role is by design one of party support (either mechanical or RP) is also a very good one; basically, if a character doesn't have much internal conflict, that's totally cool! Just make sure the player is aware that this will put them in a particular position within the narrative and that they won't usually have a huge big spotlight but will have other crucial opportunities in the story because they don't have that inner turmoil weighing them down. (And of course Matt and Brennan's praise for Taliesin and Zac was extremely well-deserved).

The talk about the Briarwoods arc and also the art devil fight in The Unsleeping City were both excellent, namely, it's ok and even good to have a character who is particularly in focus for an arc - even a long arc - provided other characters still have plenty to do that's not just surrounding the focus character, and also it's normal to have multiple characters in focus. I've said this before about Briarwoods and Pirate arcs but truly, I can name absolutely crucial moments for every single C1 and C2 character present in those arcs.

Brennan's statement of how a good player could diffuse even the most lopsided spotlight is a very worthwhile one. Not to get corporate but some of you have never had to work around a shitty but not actually fireable offense-type manager and it shows.

The final point of table trust and the fact that both the DM and the players should, and indeed must communicate, is key. I think there is an unfortunate mindset that exists in some D&D spaces that you shouldn't have to speak up if things aren't to your liking and REAL FRIENDS NOTICE. This is wrong, and bad, and an undue burden on everyone around you, and frankly assumes that you (or the person you feel is being wronged) is in fact the main character of the universe, and explains a lot of other bad opinions in actual play spaces, but anyway. Speak up! If you feel another player is getting all the time, either because of them or because of how the DM has structured the game, speak up, and as Brennan said, also ask what you can do!

One last personal takeaway, which is that Brennan as a tiny sidebar (in discussing Ricky) mentioned that playing a character who isn't in some way in internal conflict can be difficult, and referenced Superman as an example. I think this is actually the key: to be a truly great player, who builds characters who are genuinely interesting and who can carve out a spotlight in every story, you do either need to understand your character's inner conflict such that you can generate story from that; or you need to be able to look at Superman and understand the inherent conflicts that must have existed to bring him to that point. Honestly, because of the earlier context on worldbuilding and continuity/narrative's importance in good worldbuilding, I had that in mind, and the same applies to character. If your character is tortured, why? If they're not...why? Because if you can't answer those questions there's a reason the spotlight's not on you.

#answered #megabees #adventuring academy #critical role #long post #dimension 20

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thequeenofmyownscreen · 2 years ago

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Nineteen things I noted about CR2E109 “Frigid Propositions” and the Talks Machina about it :

I know, it's long, but you know why ? BRIAN IS OUT OF HIS CAGE

A wild Brian appears !!!!! At last !! He pushes Ashley while saying "pardon me, you beautiful yet dangerous woman", and, yeah, fair.

Yeaaaaaaah YASHA GETS A TATOO !! "It's been a long time since you've allowed yourself to be an canvas for beauty" I'm crying at those words.

Yasha and Fjord going shopping are the most socially awkward team ever. Even Caleb can do better (because he knows what he wants : high-quality paper & ink).

D&D is high-fantasy. For example, in 2020, you could go to the restaurant and eat ceviche in your D&D game.

HAHAHA ASHLEY REFERENCING THE INFAMOUS REN FAIR COIN STORY. Travis : "Oh, fuck ! No ! That's personal. Don't you bring Ren Fair into this !" I love her

The shop is amazing, the oops stone and the celebones will definitely serve for fuckery. Also love that Matt didn't realize he described what reeeeeally resembled an invisible dildo until he looked at Laura and the others started giggling.

They just bought the entirety of this shop's oops stones and celebones stock ; that plus Beau's entire cart of fireworks... they're set to go to the North, babyyyyyyyy !!

Now it's Beau and Jester talking about loves, awww. Beau really has lots of people concerned for her love life.

WHAT ?? Yasha's hair is changing too ??? She's going back to white (which is SO HOT)

Caduceus : "Patience is fine, but it can curdle into apathy."

AEOR LORE MY BELOVED these wizards tried to kill the gods and the gods said "you pissed off us so much that we will bring you down and it will take 3000 years for historians to find your traces". Hearing all the lore after ExU Calamity is so much fun. Also I need to rewatch ExU Calamity

LAVAAAAAA !!! VINDICATION FJORD FOR BUYING THAT RING :

Oh fuck, they're in town for 2 seconds and Trent Icky Thong already clocked them

The winner of cosplay of the week got the honor of Laura commenting "Not gonna lie : that's hot !" and she was RIGHT, hot damn !

Awwwww, Matt saying Vilya coming home to Keyleth was kind of a gift to Marisha made my heart melt !

I have missed Dani's sighs of suffering : "Brian..."

Oh fuck, the revelation that Matt was thinking Caleb or Jester for that Disintegrate spell that Vokodo did not avoid... That would have been HORRIFYING. I agree with Dani, the rest of the Mighty Nein would have murdered Artagan on sight if Jester had died with no real immediate possibility of bringing her back.

Two questions Dani asks Marisha after every game : "Did anyone died ?" and "Did anyone make out with anyone ?". Like Laura says, these are the important questions !

Gotta say, I missed Brian & Dani so much ! The lack of background music is weird, I hope they fix that in the next Talks. The editing team is having so much work to do, with the green screen and the post-prod ads, but the spirit of Talks Machina is the same, and that's all that matters.

#my thoughts #critical role #cr campaign 2 #CR2E109

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mareastrorum · 1 year ago

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The Fool and the Soldier: Chapter Commentary

Chapter 4: Moon & Mirror

On off weeks, I’ll be posting some commentary on the prior week’s chapter. Since this is a longfic, I expect that it will be helpful for keeping track of stuff, plus I might mention something you missed. Of course, this will include spoilers, so continue with that in mind.

These aren’t meant to be comprehensive! There is so much more going on that I’m not saying. Feel free to ask questions too, either in replies or asks. If it’s too spoilery, I’ll let you know. I’ll add them to the body at the bottom as I receive them.

See the directory for other meta posts.

Moon & Mirror

After reading the chapter, at least one of the reasons for the title should be obvious: Molly had a dream of the card featuring both elements. The Moonweaver also makes an appearance, as does her counterpart in the story.

The card itself has a deeper meaning throughout this chapter. Moon signifies a glamour, a beautiful story the truth wears, and an illusion. In contrast, Mirror is a reveal, a bitter truth, something hiding in the shadows. There is a lot more plot development than the readers caught going on in this chapter, and it will make more sense if they continue reading with a key issue in mind: this story was almost titled Moon & Mirror. Do not forget that.

Fastidan

I think Fastidan was the second Somnovem that I fully fleshed out. The Latin root is presumably fastidium (Matt never confirmed these), which has three meanings: (1) loathing, disgust, disdain; (2) squeamishness; and (3) fastidiousness. I figured squeamishness probably suited Timorei more, but the first made sense for the emotion Fastidan embodies and the third made for a good personality trait.

Of course, first things I decided were the sensory perception and school of magic. Focusing on disgust, I felt that smell was probably going to be the most vivid sense to connect there. There’s so much potential with it. As for schools of magic, necromancy was the first thing that came to mind, and it just fit too well. In D&D lore, the Player’s Handbook gives a blurb:

The School of Necromancy explores the cosmic forces of life, death, and undeath. As you focus your studies in this tradition, you learn to manipulate the energy that animates all living things. As you progress, you learn to sap the life force from a creature as your magic destroys its body, transforming that vital energy into magical power you can manipulate. Most people see necromancers as menacing, or even villainous, due to the close association with death. Not all necromancers are evil, but the forces they manipulate are considered taboo by many societies.

I also looked at several necromancy spells individually to get a feel for how they fit that lore. (I’m not relying too much into particular D&D setting lore—Forbidden Realms, etc.—because Matt’s been building his own version, but spells help to fill gaps.) Astral Projection is a necromancy spell that doesn’t involve taking/consuming/corrupting life; it sends the astral form of someone to the Astral Plane and leaves their body in suspended animation. There’s also numerous spells that manipulate souls: Soul Cage, Magic Jar, and the various resurrection spells. Thus, I decided to lean heavily into manipulating the soul aspect (rather than the vague “life force” term), since that seemed to be the common denominator for several issues. There’s corruption of the body too, but that’s not as unique or interesting. Transmutation handles that in much cooler ways.

Regardless, the people that become powerful necromancers need to have some level of psychological disconnection from others to be able to manipulate life in this way. Of all the emotions, hatred seemed the most apt for that school (even if other schools might mesh well with hatred or disgust). Thus, Fastidan was the necromancer.

After EXU, I figured that most of the Somnovem were not purely political leaders, but powerful people from the Cognouza Ward that led the research into dreams. I also drew a lot from how Matt designed the Cerberus Assembly on this; each Archmage had their specialty for a role in governance, but they also had their own personal and group research that they pursue. Of course, they relied heavily on assistants and staff to do the more boring administrative work. Thus, I decided the Somnovem probably worked the same way. So they need jobs!

Fastidiousness is a trait of being well organized, attentive to detail, etc. The adjective can be used as both an insult and a compliment. Since the emotional tie was loathing and disgust, and it had to be an important job like something in government, I thought: what is the job that would be the most corrupted or tainted by a necromancer who is defined by hatred?

A judge.

Aeor is not a good place, guys. They made assassin therapy robots to take out rivals abroad and mage-killing anglerfish bioweapons shaped like giant babies. A fucked up necromancer judge is par for the course.

I was initially going to use he/him pronouns for Fastidan, but I wanted one of the more aggressive Somnovem to use she/her as well, and since I imagined a role for her as a judge, I wanted to push against the IRL gender issues in law. The other ones will be obvious when they’re introduced.

When I first drafted the Somnovem scenes, I included a lot about how they talk, but that didn’t last once I corrected that for the fact that they don’t actually speak. I didn’t want to emphasize that when it was supposed to be other characters’ interpretations of how the Somnovem communicate. While that was cut from most, I kept some of it for a few specific members.

Fastidan & Lucien

I actually edited this scene after posting! I initially had her “voice” with some bolded letters with the intention of showing how it was unstable, but a few readers thought it was related to the Pattern, so I switched it so that those parts weren’t italicized. I’m glad readers are paying such close attention though! I want the motifs to be consistent so they can figure stuff out ahead of time if they’re paying attention.

Once I had decided Fastidan was going to be the Somnovem that specialized in necromancy, I figured she also had to be the one to send Lucien off during the first summon. It also served to show that even with Elatis’s mind fuckery, she didn’t change Lucien’s hatred for the Somnovem. Elatis did something, but not that.

Summoning

This scene was fleshed out in a several rounds of edits as I began to sort out some big plot points. Things happened a certain way for a reason.

As a hint: there is a color motif that has occurred enough times by now that I don’t mind confirming that it is intentional. It is also something to track.

Cree did not know how to Create Undead because I doubt that the Claret Orders would have taught that to their clerics (because of the Raven Queen’s tenets against undeath) in general, but especially not the branches in the former Julous Dominion that were wrongfully blamed for the masses of undead and fiends unleashed in the Marrow Valley. Maybe higher ranking clerics, sure, but Cree wasn’t one of those.

I am being as particular as possible with spell components. If you read a character casting a spell and it doesn’t use the components you expected, there is a reason for it.

This scene is Cree casting the spell that the Somnovem taught her to bring Lucien back as an undead, but she wasn’t quite aware that was what she was doing. Regardless, I wanted it to fit the flavor of her Blood Cleric subclass, and I wanted it to make sense with Exandria’s lore about this sort of magic. The Blood Cleric flavor text partially reads:

The power of blood is the power of sacrifice, the balance of life and death, and the spirit’s anchor within the mortal shell.

I took that to mean that blood is the anchor of the soul in the body. Which we know isn’t wholly accurate because of FCG, but we can infer that blood is usually the anchor absent some sort of core for aeormatons and other artificial bodies that host souls. Thus, Cree uses Lucien’s (Molly’s) blood to do the summoning—an anchor pulling his soul back to the Material Plane. She also used holy water as a component, similar to how she did her Commune spell. The flavor text for holy water as an item partially reads:

A cleric or paladin may create holy water by performing a special ritual. The ritual takes 1 hour to perform, uses 25 gp worth of powdered silver, and requires the caster to expend a 1st-level spell slot.

I figured Cree would keep a stock of holy water handy at all times because it’s used in a few cleric spells that she would probably prepare each day. There’s another reason for that material, and there’s enough here to sort that out, so that’s all the hint I’m going to provide. :)

The rest of the spell happens in a very specific way. I didn’t choose those details just to be fancy.

You are going to come back to this scene.

Dream: Moon & Mirror

This dream was initially brainstormed as a scene of Molly meeting Lucien through a mirror to match The Devil & The Madman, the title that I had previously intended to use for the story before Critical Role began selling the Moon Oracle deck. That card was going to have Molly looking away from a mirror in a pose similar to that on The Fool tarot card, and his shadow was going to extend into the mirror to form Lucien, whose pose would not match Molly’s, implying that he is not actually Molly’s shadow. However, once I changed my mind about the story and chapter titles, I reworked that dream into this one.

Molly had a dream of his card! And met the Moonweaver! No big deal.

Very big deal.

There is a ton going on in this dream that is not necessarily obvious. Some is symbolism, and some is literal. I don’t want to point out much because it would spoil big plot points. This scene is very important.

However, it should be clear that Sehanine gave Molly a boon: he has a form of Truesight in his dreams, if he wants to see things as they are. Of course, there is the difficulty that Molly doesn’t like the truth, and he has to remember to invoke it. She could have imposed it on him so that it would be constant in every dream. However, her tenets have a heavy focus on agency, I didn’t think she would do that, even if she gave him the chance to decline.

One of the whispers was a tenet of the Moonweaver: “Let the shadows protect you from the burning light of fanaticism and the absolute darkness of despair.” I could have used the version in the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, but I felt this language from Tal’Dorei Campaign Guide Reborn was more apt.

Sehanine also told Molly he could find some protection in the moonlight and in shadows. In the dream, we saw Molly flee from light via shadows to a boat. So what would moonlight protect from?

Just a few things to keep in mind.

Caduceus & Molly

I’ve done a few scenes with Caduceus and Molly now, and it’s mostly because I need to spend a little more time fleshing out their relationship compared to the other characters. They never met in canon, so every aspect of their friendship is going to be something new. That’s a lot of content. Once they’ve settled into how they deal with each other, those long interactions won’t be quite as common.

As noted in a comment by @captainsparklefingers, Caduceus also recapped some worldbuilding stuff about Zadash and Shadycreek Run. Part of it was to compare how much the government of the Dwendalian Empire controls its people and the land in comparison to the government-less town of Shadycreek Run. There’s going to be a lot of comparisons of the different locales as we go. I’ll get more into those in separate meta posts down the line.

Molly doesn’t like to deal with anything that makes him anxious, but I expect that he would have taken a dream about the Moonweaver seriously enough to consider asking someone else for their opinion. He was also pretty suspicious of the Traveler, so I doubt he would have gone to Jester. None of the other Nein are particularly religious except Yasha, and she wasn’t there. Thus, even though Molly doesn’t know Cad quite that intimately, he was the best match, both because he’s a cleric and because of the process of elimination. In addition, Molly’s known Caduceus for about a month now, which is almost as long as Molly had known the rest of the Nein when he died. So Molly wrestled with it a bit, but he asked eventually—even if he didn’t tell Caduceus all the details.

The Gates of Zadash

Cree is going through some shit. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have anyone she can actually talk to about any of this. Otis is Otis, and Lucien has stuff to get done so that he’s not undead anymore. Cree also has a fairly unique view of the undeath business because she’s a former cleric of the Raven Queen. Thus, we get a scene of her navel-gazing a bit while she gets ready for the ambush.

She’s also realized that things aren’t quite adding up, though there isn’t anything she can do about that just yet.

Surprise Round to Round 2

I wanted to kick everything off with Molly’s POV because I figured he should be able to sort some things out right off the bat, especially after his research into Ghostslayers. To give that reminder, I included the flashback to the Archive. I also wanted to drop that he and Fjord are on better terms now that they’ve both had some time to themselves and Fjord’s talked about what he wants to do.

For these fights, I got all the character sheets and rolled the combat as if it was an actual encounter. The story doesn’t follow precisely how that pans out because of the third-person limited perspective. I chose the POVs that would see the key parts of the fight, provide interesting analysis or commentary, or have an important character moment.

In this combat, I tracked 10 guards that were nearby (4 at the line, 4 at the gates, 2 on the wall with crossbows) throughout the fight. The initiative order was Nott (22), Fjord (19), Caleb (18), Otis (17), Lucien (15), Guards (14), Beau (13), Cree (12), Molly (11), Jester (9), Caduceus (3).

Cree and Otis had to rely heavily on their spellcasting from cover. Both had a level of exhaustion, but that only provides disadvantage on ability checks, so it didn’t affect them much because they were hanging back. I also set DCs to detect Lucien’s possession, either by recognizing the strange behavior or the red/silver in the host’s eyes. The guards didn’t detect him, but Molly did.

I intend to do separate meta posts on the Tombtakers’ character sheets and Lucien’s stat block, so I’ll save the more detailed breakdown of their abilities for that. However, the key thing for the reader to know now is that ghosts have a Possession ability that is an action. Because Lucien was based on Azazel from Fallen (1998 film), his Possession ability is simply part of his movement. As long as he has movement left, he can continue to possess people—there is no recharge element. This was a key reason that Azazel was so formidable, and it made Lucien dangerous enough that I didn’t need to tweak the ghost stat block too much for this initial fight. Even worse, the only ability anyone in the Nein had to end possession at this level was Turn Undead—and they only have 4 casts between the 2 clerics. Otherwise they’d have to beat the host unconscious, and with how easy it is for Lucien to switch hosts, that’s only a few opportunities to kill him before he kills Molly.

I won’t detail every single roll, but since some of the stuff was omitted from the chapter, here’s a summary of what might not have been obvious. I did track everything!

In the surprise round, Otis held an amplified blood curse of binding to use on Molly if Lucien’s attempt to possess Molly failed. It’s DM discretion whether people can hold bonus actions, and I felt it was fine in this case because it’s a surprise round—their opponents aren’t aware combat has started. The curse locked Molly in place for 1 minute until he could hit a DC 16 strength saving throw at the end of his turn. Lucien used the guard’s stat block while possessing, so he had a multiattack with a greatsword. Cree was really far back, so she cast a slow on the Nein, but everyone saved except for Fjord and Nott. It made narrative sense too, since it’s a wisdom saving throw and the rest of the group has pretty good wisdom.

In the first round, I figured that Nott and Fjord probably would have waited to see one of the others attack first or tried to talk down the guards, but since neither can take reactions, they can’t hold an attack, so they each lost turns. Neither made their save to break out of the slow. Otis used an action to hide, which isn’t very productive, but they couldn’t risk getting seen quite so early. Cree had to use her movement and action to hide in a closer position for her spells. Everyone else’s actions were pretty clear in the scene, and the round ended with Lucien forced out of the guard.

In the second round, Otis used a curse of the eyeless of Caleb to impede one of his scorching rays against Lucien. They hid again to avoid detection. Lucien then used Horrifying Visage, which Caleb and Jester failed to save against, but they were still within 5 of the DC, so they didn’t age. A few of the guards failed badly and did age, as did some of the crowd, but it wasn’t a narrative point I wanted to emphasize, so the Nein didn’t realize that had happened to anyone. This POV ended with Lucien possessing the other guard and triggering an ability that’s surprisingly similar to his crimson rite…

Rounds 2 and 3

I chose Beau’s POV next because, as in chapter 1, she has good awareness and she’s an experienced fighter, so she’s great for figuring out what’s going on. The problem was she wasn’t very experienced with undead, and the fight was confusing anyway. I thought this was apt for the scene because all of the Nein would be caught off guard by this, especially because Lucien wasn’t a typical undead.

Continuing with Round 2, Beau moved into position and held an attack in case Lucien was expelled again, but Cree used Blood Puppet to force Beau to attack Molly. Jester’s second Turn Undead failed, but she saved against her fear. Everyone who had been holding an attack on Lucien got to use it once Caduceus expelled Lucien.

In Round 3, Nott failed her saving throw again. Caleb would have probably finished Lucien off with a Magic Missile, but Otis counterspelled it, then beat the shit out of Molly (about 1/3 of his health between Eldritch Blasts and a crossbow bolt). Because they’re the worst. The attack Lucien used against Molly was withering touch, which does a nasty amount of necrotic damage and gave a chance for a fun visual.

Then Lucien possessed Beau. I wanted his possession ability to be a mix of Azazel’s version (which hosts don’t remember) and the D&D version (which doesn’t deprive awareness). Thus, Beau is partially aware of what is going on, but Lucien is able to dig through her head without resistance. I felt this was a good mirror for what Cognouza’s hive mind was like. However, Lucien did not have access to class level abilities; he couldn’t make Beau fight like a monk, though he did get to use her stats and weapons.

Rounds 3 and 4

Jester was next because I wanted to clue the reader into what she had experienced (the fear, the turn undead) and explore her healing versus fighting mentality when faced with this shitty situation. Things are going a little differently for her when faced with an opponent that’s specifically trying to assassinate one of the Nein!

Continuing with Round 3, Cree used Dominate Person on one of the guards, who then knocked Molly unconscious. The periapt stabilized Molly on his turn. Jester’s panic to run to Molly and slap a Cure Wounds on him was the right decision! Caduceus then expelled Lucien with his last Turn Undead.

In Round 4, Nott still didn’t make her save, but Fjord got the killing blow with an Eldritch Blast before Lucien could possess someone else.

The fight was really close! Altogether, it lasted about 30 seconds (including the surprise round).

I had initially planned some dialogue with the guards after the fight, but it honestly wasn’t important enough to keep. I wanted to keep the focus on the Nein, so I skipped that part of the outline.

Otis & Cree

Otis is the worst. Even their pep talks are terrible.

This short scene was mostly to let the reader know what Otis and Cree plan to do next. Plus, it’s a quick window for the reader to see that Cree was not okay. She has a lot of nasty spells as a blood cleric, and none of them do any good when she can’t be the one to finish the job. Otherwise she’d have absolutely thrown a blight or harm spell.

However, as we’ll see later, Cree was also indirectly attacking someone in Lucien’s body—that was not easy, though it wasn’t something to address quite yet in the story. It will be dealt with later on, I promise!

Picnic

For the debrief scene, I wanted a POV of someone who would choose a pragmatic cope: the Nein did what they had to, and any moral points are moot. That was going to be either Fjord or Caleb, and I went with Caleb because of his backstory. As a Volstrucker, he killed people that he thought deserved it because it was for the greater good. It’s a dangerous mindset that he hasn’t shaken completely. He’s questioning it, but it’s still his initial framing. Rather than reach a conclusion, he avoids it because he can’t change the outcome. He’s got a while to go.

That said, Caleb’s also doing a bit better. He helps to cheer up Jester, so he’s getting gradually more comfortable with expressing his concern for the Nein, as indirect as it is.

This is Someone Else’s Body

Existential crisis time! Oh no! Molly’s usual coping mechanism of denial is not working, and it’s because it’s entirely too much to ignore. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know enough about what’s actually going on to reach any closure. There’s too many unknowns for him to feel secure in a conclusion.

Molly is also rightfully concerned that the events didn’t match the dream. That was intentional.

I chose Jester and Caduceus to snap Molly out of it because none of the others were really in a position to do it. Caleb isn’t the best at comforting people at the current point of his arc. Fjord and Nott wouldn’t know what to say, and with their terrible insight, they’d probably make it worse. But Jester’s probably the closest to Molly in world views, and Caduceus likes to help people, so they’d be experienced and understanding enough to distract Molly from his worries.

Dream: Butterflies

The introductory rhyme is another Irish blessing. I think this was one of the first ones that I wanted to incorporate into the story, and that eventually blossomed into the idea of using rhymes at the beginning of each dream. I’ll get more into that in another meta post.

This was one of the earliest dreams I drafted. It’s mostly the same as the original version! I wanted to juxtapose the harshness of growing up on the streets with innocence of childhood. The earlier dreams were meant to ease the reader (and Molly) into these backstory scenes, so they weren’t as harsh as they could have been. That is not going to persist much longer.

I chose the Peacock Butterfly for several obvious reasons: it’s named after a peacock, it’s native to Ireland, it’s red, it’s got eyes, the eyes are GOLD and BLUE, the caterpillar is black and spiky, etc. Perfect butterfly for this dream.

The rhyme in the middle of the dream is an Irish children’s song about butterflies.

The Feed and Mead

The small section about the traveling papers was briefly mentioned in canon, and I wanted to include it here as a reminder of how controlling the Empire is of its populace. Agency versus control is a big theme, and I didn’t want those aspects of canon to get lost along the way.

The part about “The Scorpion and the Frog” had been in my mind for a long time before I drafted this scene. Molly referenced “The Scorpion and the Turtle” in episode 13, and I’m not sure if Taliesin and/or Molly meant that reference sincerely or if it was off the cuff since the frog is the more common version. Both stories exist IRL, but I thought it would be funny if someone pointed out the little plot holes in Molly’s story. Plus, I’m sure some of the other carnies taught Molly some bullshit too, if only to mess with him.

The dick conversation happened in canon, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to have it happen again with Molly in the group. However, I thought it’d be funnier if he missed the conversation itself and found out afterwards.

The Bit Continues…

Each of the little scenes after the Nein’s drinking was originally meant to be a silly continuation of the dick joke. In the larger scheme of things, it brings the tone back to the typical comedic adventure that most episodes focused on.

Fjord rolled badly for deception and Molly has decent insight, so I rolled a die to see how skeptical he would be of Fjord’s explanation. I ROLLED A NATURAL 1. THE DICE GAVE ME PERMISSION.

Jester was still really obvious about her crush on Fjord up through the Darktow arc, so I thought it’d be fun to point out to her the ramifications of what she said. But it also shows that Jester doesn’t base her crushes on that sort of thing either, which matches her canon characterization that romance is a big deal, not sex.

Last was Caduceus, Caleb, and Nott. Before he snapped, Caleb had been part of a polygamous relationship with Eadwulf and Astrid. He’s not the type to be shy about dicks or sex. However, he did show some interest in Molly before episode 26, and he had gotten over his initial disagreements with Jester, then eventually developed a crush on her. So this is not a scene about Caleb being a prude. This is a scene of Caduceus thinking he knows what’s going on based on incomplete information and Nott thinking she knows what’s going on because she presumes Caleb is insecure. And Caleb recognizes that his reaction would tip people off about what is actually on his mind, so he tries to shut it down immediately.

However, I also wanted to end the chapter with a tie back to the main plot. Caduceus is an inexperienced adventurer, but considering his family’s specializations, he would be pretty knowledgeable about undead. Thus, he would have caught on that Lucien was not a normal ghost. However, he doesn’t know enough to be able to make any conclusions, and with how stressed the Nein were, he wouldn’t want to unsettle them over a “maybe this isn’t over” without something else to add. Altogether, that lays out a lot of the Nein’s reactions to the situation and shows that they think it’s over—except for Caduceus.

#TF&TS #TF&TS meta #chapter commentary

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