#oh one thing I did like: MORE RIPLEY BACKSTORY

[anakinh]

my personal lovm review so far is that I don't mind most of the changes they're doing and I even like a few BUT that they have (so far) done my girl Raishan so dirty. I wanted to see her fight Thordak, goddamn it!

(also Vex was the one who came up with the idea to use Yenk for a vestige and they should've kept her doing that! establish her as a leader! smart! strategic! why is grog doing the planning asjfjsd I made a joke about how it's Travis Willingham breaking through Grog during a typical analysis paralysis section but man I wanted Vex doing it)

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Legend of Vox Machina: Cloak and Dagger (3x07)

My heart hurts! I've been waiting to get here!

Cons:

Small thing: I feel like I haven't heard anyone calling Keyleth by her full name all season! It's like... always Kiki. I liked that better when it was an occasional thing.

Big thing: What was that song at the end, when Vex is running to Percy? Like... that is the first time the music on this show has missed hard, and it's such a bummer that it happened over such an intense moment. I was scratching my head wondering how they could have ended up with such a tonally awkward and lyrically basic song here. They've always been so good about the music in the past! The song felt symptomatic of something I was noticing throughout this episode, that the dialogue was a little too on the nose and didn't allow for the audience to come to its own conclusions. Everything with Ripley and her motivations, and Percy choosing mercy over vengeance, it just felt a little more one-note than I would have expected, and that song was the capstone to it all in the worst possible way. It may be the single thing in this entire show so far that I've liked the least. A big, big miss in my opinion.

So like, there's this category of "criticisms" that I think everyone has about this show that isn't actually "this was bad" but more like "there was a very specific vibe or moment from the campaign that I loved, and this new version means I won't get to see it." And it's all a personal preference thing. There are a million little moments that weren't particularly precious to me, and so seeing them get altered didn't faze me in the slightest. But to someone else, that particular character beat might have been one of their favorite moments. For me, I think the big thing about Percy's death that they changed isn't a bad narrative difference for this particular show, but I do have to shout it out. I miss this being more of a group vibe, a group grieving, a group effort against Ripley. I will always remember the "Vox Machina, how do you want to do this?" the solemnity of Matt's voice, the way the group took on that mantle of vengeance from Percy in order to avenge him, because he was their friend and they loved him.

Now, we may still get that in some way, seeing as Anna is still alive? But the entire vibe of Glintshore, the stakes and the combat with the area of effect spells and the entire group unable to take her down in time to stop her from going after Percy... it's really just one of my favorite combats that the campaign ever did, and I'll never forget the way it made me feel to watch it! So again, this isn't a "what the show did was bad" complaint, it's a "this was one of those episodes in the campaign that I would have loved to see play out the way it always is in my head, from back in the day, and I don't get to have that. Oh well."

Pros:

But honestly, setting aside that weird as fuck song choice, I did still think this episode kicked some major ass. These people know how to make good TV and I cannot deny that.

Anna Ripley's backstory to start things off was I think a really smart move. Not just in the sense that giving villains a tragic backstory is the only way to make them more complex, but specifically as a way to underline the Percy and Ripley parallels. This could have been Percy. This was the life path Percy was on. His family dead at the hands of mages, and a burning desire to make the people who hurt him pay for what they've done. Orthax, the invention of fire arms, all of that: it comes from a place of deep bitterness and resentment. How is it fair that some people get to have all the power in this world? Why not make the playing field a little more even? It's not a good idea, but the perspective is totally reasonable and you understand why Anna would be seduced by this life, and why Percy, if he hadn't met Vox Machina when he did, might have become the same thing. Also! Was that a Trent cameo?? Man, I'm excited for the Mighty Nein show.

This season has been so focused on the romances, which I love, but I'm glad that we still get little beats of friendship and other relationships tossed in here. Since there's not a lot of time in each episode to cover the extensive plot and all the character beats, the show leans on very small indicators of this group and how their banter and friendship operates. We have Pike being a little dork about the investigation stuff, and Vax saying how cool it sounded. We have Vax with the nicknames, always. And then we have the more angst-y stuff. I really liked that even in the midst of a Percy/Vex focused episode, when Vex was first influenced by the mind-altering gas, she's hearing her mother, and she's calling out for Vax. Vax is her person, and has been for a long time. We get these hints of sad twin backstory here that I think are important setup for what's to come with the dragons, but also continue Vex's thread of being afraid that her love is dangerous. And then more angst when Pike wakes Grog up from his hallucinations and she's weakened by using her magic, and Grog says "Pike? Did I hurt you again?" Like... rip my heart out, my dude! That was so sad!

What is going on with Pike, though? It's so interesting to have this new plot thread just completely added to the story and weaving in with all these moments. She's got her Vestige, but now when she reaches for the Everlight, it's... something else, coming forward within her. She ends up using some sort of... devilish red spell to wake her friends up, something we're meant to understand in contrast to her usual Everlight healing magic. Also, got to see Zerxus being a sinister reminder of all that we do not yet know about Pike, so that was really cool!

But let's talk about the Percy and the Vex of it all. I love how just utterly and completely down bad he is for her, and how much he wants to find a way to make both of them happy. It's so interesting, because you'd think Percy would be just as angst-y and avoidant about love as Vax has proven to be this season, but on the other hand, this trajectory gels more with what we saw in the campaign. Percy knows his darkest inclinations, he knows the kind of man he has been and might become again. But he also knows he wants to be better, he wants to be happy, and he's not afraid to lean into the things that are helping, the things that make him grounded and successful at keeping that darkness at bay. It's refreshing for such a character type not to go ten rounds being too miserable to allow themselves to be happy. That's what we have Vex's insecurities for, in the end!

That "I'm in love with you" scene, with the sunlight washing over Vex's face? Contrasted with her broken cry of "No!" as she runs to Percy and cradles him in her arms... I mean, some A+ acting from Laura Bailey and some A+ work from the animators. They really sold me on Vex's whole messy avoidant deal. Every word out of her mouth in this episode was such delicious irony for those of us who knew what was coming, as she's talking about how Scanlan will tease her, Keyleth will call her a hypocrite, and Vax will... well, the implication is that Vax will beat up Percy for being with Vex, which is SUCH a fascinating little detail. Because, well, Vex has to know that's not true! She's banking on an earlier and incomplete version of their sibling relationship, this idea that her protective brother Vax will always stand in the way of other people's interference in their lives. But Vax has grown past that, and Vex is well aware. And then Percy is probably just sitting there going... "but in that very awkward hot tub scene, Vax basically gave me his blessing!" I loved the beat where the rest of the gang is looking on at Percy and Vex and rolling their eyes about how obvious it is that the two of them have been hooking up. Even Grog has not been fooled in the slightest.

Percy really gets to complete a journey of self-actualization here as he rejects Ripley's offer and then refuses to kill her, really cementing his turn away from vengeance. He wants to do the right thing. He wants to prove to himself and to the world that recovery and redemption is possible, even after terrible harm. It's so beautiful because in the last episode Percy was talking about how all he wants is to have a life in Whitestone, and then Whitestone is razed to the ground. And then here he just wants a chance to keep growing and changing and getting better, and that is seemingly stolen from him as well. But Percy is a good man and he's brave and he'll keep fighting for what's right, even when everything goes wrong around him. We love him for that!

Combat-wise, we have to talk about what a COOL battle sequence the Ripley (and Orthax) vs. Percy showdown was. I love the steam-punk-y vibes of these characters, I loved the red and black, I loved seeing Orthax taking over Anna the way we saw him taking over Percy in season one. I loved Percy jumping and tumbling around to escape from things and saying "Vax makes that look so easy." I loved him using his gauntlet "Diplomacy" to turn a handshake into an attack - that's the most Percy thing I can think of. And I love that he gets to be a bad-ass, he does the trick with the black powder, and then... No Mercy Percy does just the opposite of what his name implies, and he tries to offer Anna another chance.

It's such a tragic and poignant moment, and despite my personal mourning for certain aspects of Glintshore that didn't play out like they did in the campaign, I thought this was a wonderful moment of storytelling, and a truly tragic ending to the episode! Percy combines his true genius and cunning with a radical type of openness and hope. He truly is a Character of All Time for me.

So... yeah, this might be an episode that has some polarizing feelings from fans. I can imagine a lot of people a tiny bit outraged that Anna Ripley is alive and gets away again here at the end of the episode, which was frankly very much not what I was expecting. As for me, I had a great time watching this episode, and I will just do my best to forget that weird song at the end ever existed.

8/10

[nochi-quinn]

legend of vox machina season 3 episode 7: cloak and dagger OR cool backstory still murder

it's....ripley's turn for a traumatic flashback cold open?

THESE motherfuckers

that one motherfucker in particular

literally not one thing about this was necessary

maybe random but it is nice they got another east asian actress (kimiko glenn) to voice baby!anna (adult!anna is kelly hu)

has anybody here learned anything about going after people for vengeance reasons (no)

b i l l i a r d s

(that was for me and like six other people)

"trinket, I'm leaving you behind because the animators refuse to animate you for a second longer than they absolutely have to"

"allura can't teleport us because we might end up in the ocean" I understood that reference

"I'll ancient ruin your bend"

percy COULD tell her that vax already knows, but that would require acknowledging that vax already knows

little leafcutter ants!!

angry fruit chomp

me setting off the traps in the hag's lair in bg3

just throw a pair of boots in the gas hole, it's fine

"I just always wanted to say that" "well, it sounded really cool"

DRAMATICALLY LIT LOVE CONFESSION MY BELOVED

VEX SYMBOLICALLY STEPPING BACK OUT OF THE LIGHT MY BELOVED

speaking of gas holes

aw, xray didn't tell me who voiced elaina, I gotta wait for the end credits

I don't think you can Diplomacy two people at once, percy

where'd she get a scryball

"I was going to be a clockmaker, once"

oh, she's crazy crazy

'CAUSE SOME SCARS NEVER FAAAAADE

this is just. this shot. chef's kiss, etc

mala: joy buzzer, JOY BUZZER

oh fuck off zerxus

"the truth is in your blood" hey what the fuck does that mean

"vax makes that look so easy"

the double orthax hand is so cool and I hate it so much

this is greater restoration, ig? but with her blood?

I reiterate: what the FUCK does that mean

"did I hurt you again?" I missed that the first time, now I'm gonna cry

not his coat

I guess he'll have to replace it with a cloak of some kind

NERD used BASIC CHEMISTRY! it's SUPER EFFECTIVE!

y'know I think percy could have one more vengeance. as a treat.

ripley says fuck your redemption arc

I think the instrumental version of this would have been better, it's a beautiful melody but it didn't need lyrics

like even with lyrics it's a good song but not here

or maybe I have APD and hate dialogue overlapped with lyrics

anyway everybody thank marisha for the emotional damage

no elaina credit but the wiki says it's laura so I'll believe them

mark strong as "assembly mage", bc you get definitely get mark strong to play a one-off character with one line

it sounds like a filk, is what it is, lyrically it sounds like a fansong and it's off-putting as hell.

being the executive producer's brother-in-law means you get your filk put in the show

[rjschoicesstuff]

i see your joy at art requests, and i see your attempts to go one day without drawing the ID gang -> soI'm gonna come on in here and complicate matters by offering you my beloved little disaster: my ID MC Luca 🖤

I'd love to see your take on them if you want to!

I hopeee I did them justice aaa

This prompted me to finally start reading SICSIG when I got the request, because I've been meaning to! And this was a good way to get to know more about Luca before drawing them, I thought. I'm an Extremely Slow Reader but I'm at chapter 14 now! More thoughts and stuff under the cut cause it's unrelated to the request lol

Ok bear with me cause I'm not a good with words and usually my feedback on things doesn't go further than 'yay I love this' because of that + shyness haha 😭

I've really been enjoying SICSIG aaa, I've read ID a lot of times to the point where it didn't Hit The Same Anymore I guess. And this was such a breath of fresh air cause I don't know what's gonna happen and stuff lol. I love that it's like a retelling of the og ID and it's been fun comparing it to my own headcanons and what's like similar and what's different and how Luca reacts to stuff vs how canon mc and Ripley do. And I love that a lot of the side characters also get more personality and backstory and that there's more explanation about how the hunting is done and stuff (and I also like your take on that) + also just new, different lore like the vampiric gifts and stuff, which is rly cool. I'm really excited to see the direction it'll all go!

I loveee ID sm and I love seeing people's versions of the story and mc and their relationship with Cas and Gabe and how everyone still really manages to do their own thing with it. I really like Luca, I like how he interacts with Cas and Gabe and he's funny! And how they can stand up for themselves. And I always have a bit of a soft spot for characters with ADHD cause same lol. And Ripley would like them too, probably haha.

Oh also a funny coincidence I noticed is that, taking Luca's birthday in account, SICSIG takes place in 2015-2016 (if im doing the math right idk) and I imagine my version of ID taking place in 2016-2017. And him and Ripley almost have the same birthday, january 5 1997 for Luca and january 9 1998 for Ripley, I hope me comparing stuff isn't annoying haha 😭

[slothpower-central]

Oh yeah remember when I posted about my fan branch for Limbus from like.... a while ago? Yea, they have advanced. I have many more sinners to show (In various degrees of being finished) So I wanted to show off some of the new crew, as a refresher, I showed off the manager, Dorothy, Chaplin and Judy and mentioned Kane and our guide Glinda...Well, I slightly updated Chaplin and Dorothy's art(Mainly just background and doodles but whatever) I'm working on redrawing Judy tho and Kane is uh.....Still not done(He is giving me a damn battle in the art department because I am not good at drawing men) I still don't have things like weapons done for most of the sinners but I just wanna share the lil guys

And I've officially drawn Glinda! She's the guide of the branch and she's a color fixer. She's pretty hands off and is pretty apathetic to a lot of the City and the cinema branch since her "Very good friend" was killed... too bad Glinda has no idea who did it tho.... Glinda has elements of both the Wizard of Oz and Wicked for her character, so I have a bunch planned for her. Here she is, I mainly took inspiration from her Wizard of Oz design while incorporating some stuff from Wicked and Oz: The Great and Powerful in there too

Next up we have our Bus Driver, Maria! She's based on Maria from the Sound of Music, she's an ex-Deici association member who has way too much positivity, like toxic levels. She's probably one of the like, actual nice people on the bus. Her outfit is very much based on the beginning of the movie. She may not have the Von Trapp family to take care of, but she has the idiots of the Cinema branch to drive around.

Next up I'm we have Norma, based on Sunset Boulevard!! She's a fixer who used to be like, big in the limelight but fell to obscurity, she's now extremely delusional that her fans are waiting for her to make her grand return to the world (spoiler: No one remembers her) I may redraw a few aspects of her but here she is!

Okay next up we have quite a few sinners who I don't currently have any reference images for since I'm either drawing them or in one case, I am fighting the good fight at thinking of a fun way to adapt the source So next up is actually my Sinner based on West Side Story! I couldn't tell ya much about them because i don't know who the hell it is, I went with Tony initially but then I didn't like it so I'm changing it up

Sinner #6 is Truman based on the Truman Show! This is the first of my sinner sources to be based on a movie that wasn't in my film class. In the branch though unlike the movie where Truman is a guy who is unknowingly living in a TV show, Truman sees the world as a TV show, everyone dying? nah that's special effects. Why is this the case? you'll just have to wait and see (I know why but I'm not telling you) His design isn't done yet so no art for him

FINALLY, a sinner with art and an actual weapon decided. I'm gonna be so for real, this is probably my favorite sinner of the bunch I absolutely adore her. Sinner #7 is Ripley based on Alien! Basically, I mixed the plots of the first two Alien movies to make her backstory (I'll make a bigger lore post on the cinema branch later) Her weapon is a flamethrower, based on the first movie. She's pretty wary of the company and she definitely has her suspicions that her crew is expendable just like her last job where she was the only one to make it out. She's overprotective of the manager and she slowly forms bonds with the crew (Her and Judy have something going on) Oh and how could I forget she has an ESA in the form of Jones! Yes, based on the cat from the movie

Sinners 8 and 9 are a pair, since they both come from the same source! Sinners 8 and 9 are Thelma and Louise based on Thelma and Louise. These two are basically on the run from one of the high up groups in the City and are laying low in Limbus since no one knows they committed the crime that caused this mess. I'm being vague since I'm not quite done with them, yet I only have like, Thelma's design done but not Louise's, so I'll wait till they're both done.

Sinner #10 is Princess Ann, also known as Anya, based on Princess Ann from the movie Roman Holiday! She's the daughter of a CEO of a wing and she runs off one night from all the pressure and joins Limbus to go on an adventure and see how life is when you're not y'know a sheltered little princess. I actually have to rewatch this source so she's definitely no done, though I am almost done with her design.

Finally, Sinner #11 is Satine based on Moulin Rouge! Interesting choice I know but I think she would be fun. I have nothing to give you right now for backstory because I am majorly changing up the plotline for her. I will say she is interesting in the way of being my one chronically ill sinner. Satine, like in her source has Tuberculosis meaning Manager Dorothy is the only thing keeping her from death. Her design is like mostly done, done enough to show at least.

And That's everyone for now! I know most of them aren't done yet and I have like no weapons for anyone, but I just wanted to show off how far I've come since the original idea. I love my lil guys and I'm gonna keep working on them since I love thinking about them! So yea I hope you enjoyed the Cinema branch update

[essayofthoughts]

I was tagged by @rightpastnowhere over Here (and for once I’m getting on it in a reasonable time; other people who’ve tagged me in things... I’ll get there. I promise.)

rules: post the names of the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! tag as many people as you have WIPs! 

Because of the sheer bullshit number of WIPs I have, I’m gonna be limiting this to my Critical Role C1 fics. My pinned WIPs list is not even the half of it.

I am also not tagging anyone, firstly because Too Many WIPs and secondly because No. I am where tag games go to die.

ANYWAY. On to the ridiculous number of WIPs.

CR VM Rock Band AU for Nell

Desmond-Cass Fic

Emon is Burning

Niamh - Perc’ahlia Kidfic

Percy-Ripley Hatesex Oh God

PercyVex Stargazing

Piercings Percy for Hannah - Modern AU

SYLDOR ISNT A SHITTY DAD AU

Vampercy Canon AU

CR Daemon AU

Elaina Survives

Eros & Psyche AU

Eventual PROGIA smuts thoughts

Masc!Vex AU

Modern Fake Dating AU I Guess

Perc’ahlia Noir AU

Zahra & Kash Things

Alternate Soulmate AU of Moar Angst

Corrupted Tiefling Percy AU

CR Hogwarts AU

CR Uni AU

Perc’ahlia Sonnie’s Edge AU

Perc’ahlia Witcher AU

Sylas Briarwood gets to live bitches. Like live live. as in not undead, live.

Murder on the Exandrian Express

Happy AU - No Briarwoods Yet AU

Magnus Archives AU

Percy/Vex Twilight AU

Six Swan Brothers but it’s Wolf Siblings AU

Fem!Percy AU

Perc’ahlia Beauty and the Beast AU

01. Teacher Ripley - Percy-Ripley Adopt Kids Spinoff AU

02. PercyRipley Cabin Out In The Woods Spinoff Idea

03. What If More Kids AU of Delia AU

Fic: PercyRipley Alt Briarwoods Escape - Dream Based

Charlie The Bear

Kash backstory writeup

Parent Elections - Gwen & Trinket

Percy dies...

The Little Things - Percy Mourning His Siblings

Vesper Notices...

Werewolf’s Soulmate AU Pt3

Zahra POV

00. Ghost Cass - Kraghammer Arc

01. Ghost Cass - Briarwood Arc to End

PercyVex Soulmate AU

AU of an AU, for Hannah

[REDACTED] (I aint sharing the WIP title of this one because it’s a massive fucking spoiler)

01. FIC DOC - Delia AU - Ripley’s Daughter

02. Arcs 2&3 - Delia AU - Ripley’s Daughter

*stares at the number*

Jesus fuck, when did that happen.

ANYWAY. If you want to ask about any of my WIPs, feel free! I am always happy to ramble about any of them and good odds it’ll make me write more.

[denimbex1986]

'In early March, as the collective obsession it spawned was at its height, I had the chance to ask: Have Andrew Scott and Dakota Fanning seen the viral TikTok series “Who TF Did I Marry?”

The actors were seated in a sparsely decorated holding room at a Hollywood screening venue where their new series, “Ripley,” was about to be previewed. Nearly seven decades after Patricia Highsmith’s novel “The Talented Mr. Ripley” first introduced the world to its titular grifter, Tom, the story of one of pop culture’s most infamous pathological liars is now getting an eight-episode treatment on Netflix. And the 50-part social media saga by Reesa Teesa (real name Tareasa Johnson) about a walking red flag — an ex-husband who allegedly made up family members, faked phone conversations and, in their search for a home, duped her with fake bank statements that turned out to be screenshots from Google Images — was further proof that stories of scammers and fraudsters never go out of style.

“Oh, my God, I know!” Fanning said, her eyes wide with excitement. “I wanted to watch that, but haven’t. There are a lot of videos, right?”

“What is this?” Scott asked, curious to understand the enthusiasm.

“It’s this woman who got scammed by her ex and made these videos where she is like filming in the bathroom or her car and telling the story,” Fanning said.

“Oh, wow,” Scott said, brows furrowed.

The cunning con man who’s brought them together has left a more lasting impression, inspiring the 1960 French film “Purple Noon,” the 1999 vehicle for Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law, and now “Ripley.”

Developed for television by Steven Zaillian (“The Night Of”), the series was originally set up at Showtime before moving to Netflix, with production spanning from summer 2021 to spring 2022. The lavish thriller, which is shot in black and white, stars Scott as the eponymous scam artist; Johnny Flynn (“Emma”) as Dickie Greenleaf, the wayward heir to a wealthy Manhattan dynasty with whom Ripley becomes obsessed; and Fanning as Marge Sherwood, Dickie’s girlfriend, who is suspicious of the new man in town.

The dark, subversive antihero saga begins as Tom is enlisted by Dickie’s father , who mistakenly assumes Tom is a friend of his son , to venture to Italy to cajole him into returning home. Tom becomes infatuated with Dickie and his lifestyle, then kills him to avoid being deserted — and the cover-up spirals from there. It’s an apt parable for the social media age, in which the carefully crafted image can be seductive to a damaging degree. But Zaillian didn’t embark on the adaptation with that in mind.

“It had nothing to do with now,” Zaillian said by telephone. “The big draw for me was to spend more time with this particular character. ... I think there’s a lot of things about him that are like all of us. He has aspirations, he has envy, pride — he might have more than we have, or he’s just willing to go further to get it. I think one of the reasons that he’s endured as a character so well over all these years, is because we do relate to him.”

While Dickie is the person Tom becomes fascinated by, the dynamic between Tom and Marge brings the tension.

“Their relationship changes,” Zaillian said. “From the moment she meets him, Marge is suspicious of him. At a certain point, he appeals to her vanity. She starts to think, ‘Well, maybe he is OK,’ because, frankly, she’s gonna get something out of it. And so it kind of goes back and forth. Her opinion on him constantly changes.”

Scott and Fanning talked about their own experiences being duped, why we can’t get enough of con artists, and climbing all the series’ stairs.

What do you think it is about con artists that audiences stay fascinated by?

Scott: We talk so much about backstory when we’re talking about characters and I sometimes think that’s just mythical, because when you’ve got backstory about somebody, you have power. When you don’t, [the character has] all the power. It’s more sinister.

Fanning: I think Tom Ripley is the original catfish. Also, what kind of separates it from other interpretations of con men, or whatever you want to call it, is you kind of get to see how he does it all, in pretty gripping detail. Sometimes some of those details are glossed over; in this, you’re on that ride of how it’s all done and I think that makes the particular character of Tom Ripley even scarier. Also, you start sympathizing with him.

Scott: And you see his mistakes.

Fanning: I should want him to get caught, but I don’t.

Scott: I was always like, “I want to be able to feel what it’s like to be him, not necessarily be a victim of his” ... “What would I do if I was him in these moments?”

“The Talented Mr. Ripley” really asks the question, “Is it better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody?” And it grapples with the cost of buying into the life you’re fed to believe is ideal. What did you find interesting in exploring the complexity of those themes against the social media era we live in?

Scott: It’s about somebody who’s literally not being seen by a lot of people. Really just lives in the undergrowth. What I find moving about it is that I think he’s got a great appreciation for all the stuff that Dickie Greenleaf just takes for granted. He’s really brilliant at what he does. Dickie and, to a certain extent Marge, are not great artists, but they have that totally at their disposal. There’s a theme of who gets access to the arts, and who is able to go to these beautiful locations and educate [themselves]. Tom, as he’s doing all these extraordinary things, is actually falling in love with Italy, painting and food and clothes and just the beauty of the world.

As an actor, your goal is to make an audience believe that you’re somebody else and you will go to your own lengths to do that. Did it give you insight into what’s driving Tom or how far he’ll take it?

Scott: He’s not a natural-born killer. He’s not going over there with any of this in mind. He’s trying to survive.

Fanning: Somebody approached him.

Scott: Exactly. Somebody approached him. He didn’t do anything. Then he caught some feelings. Then that happened. All these extraordinary places he goes to aren’t because he’s going, “Oh, I always wanted to go to Venice.” He goes there because he has to.

Maybe not to the extent of what we see in this series, but have you ever been duped?

Fanning: The feeling that I hate the most is being tricked and duped — even in small ways when you feel like everyone else knows something that you don’t know. I hate that. It’s awful.

Scott: I will give you a specific example that happened to me last week. I arrived to Los Angeles. I was really jet-lagged, it was about 8 o’clock. I thought: OK, I’m going to go to the gym to keep me alive. And it’s a well-known, good gym. Went to do my workout and put my stuff in the locker. When I finished and went to take a shower, I thought, I’m not gonna put my trainers into my locker; I’m only going to be in the shower for five minutes. I come out and someone had stolen my trainers! There’s just one sock there. I was like, “What the f—?” You just feel so violated. And I’m thinking, “I have to go home. My shoes are gone.” So I had to wear these extraordinarily massive flip-flops from the spa. I still can’t believe someone stole my trainers and one sock. But it is a really weird feeling to be stolen from. I know you can be emotionally conned. I’ve experienced that before as well, with one of those bank fraud things. You do feel something has just been ripped from you. It’s a horrible feeling.

Tom is always paranoid about being watched. You both are public figures. Can you understand that paranoia?

Fanning: It doesn’t just have to do with being an actor or a celebrity anymore. I try and keep everything together. But there was one time that I was learning to drive and I was with my mom. We didn’t have a destination; I was just practicing. And there was paparazzi following behind me every turn and watching me park. I finally got out of the car and I was like, “I am trying to learn to drive. I am not going anywhere. You’re going to be going up and down this hill all day.” He was very nice. One time, I was moving into my house and my garage and he — it happened to be the same man — was parked nearby and I was like, “Please don’t film me moving my personal items into my house.” But in general, I think now everybody worries about being surveilled in some way.

Andrew, do you notice when it’s happening to you? When someone has their phone positioned a certain way?

Scott: Absolutely. And my real feeling about it is: just be better at it. Be better at disguising it! Not for anything to do with what my job is, just as a human being. It’s the fact that you think I can’t notice how obvious you are making it. Recently, I was on the tube in London, it was this relatively empty tube, and this girl [mimics person pointing phone in his direction] and she very badly took a photo and the flash went off. And I turned and was like, “If you want a picture, please just ask me.” And she was like, “I didn’t take a picture of you.” Somebody from down the car was like, “Mate, we saw it. You did. The flash went off.” So then she got up and got off at the stop. The shame. She was Tom Ripley! She was just lying to my face.

I want to talk more about the Marge-and-Tom dynamic. Unlike the 1999 adaptation, where Marge is more warm and welcoming to Tom and wants him to fit in, in the series, like in the novel, she’s skeptical of him from the start. How did you map out the pacing of her wariness?

Fanning: The interesting thing about the novel and the scripts is that they’re written from Tom’s perspective. The other characters have to fill in a lot of blanks. At first, that felt overwhelming. But Steve’s gift is his precision as a writer and as a director and the fact that he, whether it’s what you want to hear or not, knows exactly what he’s looking for and what he wants. I think my instinctual interpretation of Marge he was happy with, which was a relief to me. But we definitely played with it, like, “Let’s do a take where she doesn’t believe him” or “Let’s do one where she isn’t so skeptical.” And then he would figure it out later — what Marge knew, what Marge didn’t know. It was a little bit of a puzzle of keeping track of the timeline of her skepticism. But I was thrilled to play a character, a woman, that wasn’t completely duped. I love that this Marge is quite skeptical from the beginning and we got to have fun with that.

They’re very much a mirror of each other.

Fanning: And her background is also not a privileged background. The jealousy of her is, “You and I are alike, but you have it and I don’t. And you don’t deserve it still.”

Scott: They see through each other. They’re threatened by each other and you dislike about other people what you see in yourself. But I really believe that Tom loves Marge. I think it’s too easy to think: “Oh, he hates her.” I think he finds her inconvenient because she, of all people, might mess it up for him. And Dickie is a little bit more trusting or maybe just not as emotionally intelligent.

Fanning: They’re frenemies.

Sexuality in Patricia’s novels is sort of up to interpretation sometimes; it’s subtext. Andrew, what discussions did you have with Steven about how you wanted to approach that part of his identity?

Scott: I suppose it was something that I thought about a lot myself; it was very important to me to not label him too much. I did have some brief conversations with Steve about that. ... We’re very concerned with labeling in 2024. I feel like he’s a character with a lot of secrets. And talking around it too much, I feel I’ve got to protect that character. I think you have to dramatize asking the questions rather than drowning the character in giving the easy answer to appease certain people’s ideas. To my mind, he’s a character who is Other. I feel like he wouldn’t be comfortable in a gay bar; I feel like he wouldn’t be comfortable in a straight bar.

Sometimes I think his sexuality or sensuality comes out of his relationship with things — art, clothes, props, music. I love the fact that we don’t know. I think there’s a lot of people who can relate to that. I enjoy the idea of pushing that — for him to be flirtatious with a man; for him to be flirtatious with a woman — and not diagnose him too much and not to impose too much of a sexuality. And I applied that to everything about him, not just his sexuality. He’s the hero, but he’s an unreliable hero.

In the book, the three characters are very clearly telegraphed as being in their early to mid-20s, fresh out of college. How does a version of these characters who are somewhat closer to your age change your understanding of their behavior?

Fanning: I didn’t think about it. I feel like everyone is almost ageless in it. Obviously with Marge, you can tell she’s somebody who is kind of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and finds herself in this place and hasn’t had a lot of experience. She’s not a world traveler. This could be her first time out of the country. If I was thinking about age, I was thinking this is all still kind of new for her.

Scott: It was a concern because, obviously, in the book, he’s younger than I am... But that’s not what [Highsmith] concerns herself with too much. Again, the sort of slipperiness of watching their behaviors and not caught up with: “What’s the age difference here?” We’re not playing something like the evolution of teenagers. That’s not what the theme of it is and, so, it isn’t really something that we thought about.

Fanning: Steve didn’t care, so we didn’t care.

Andrew, talk to me about the stairs. You had to endure a lot of stairs in the series.

Fanning: Oh God.

Scott: There was a lot of stairs. We got a lot of coverage ... of a lot of stairs.

I can’t tell by the tone if he’s really upset by the memory.

Fanning: [laughs] No, he’s not upset. It’s just the truth.

Scott: [laughs] It’s just the truth. That’s the thing — it’s very evocative because when you go [to Italy], you’re going up lots of stairs. There’s no choice. To see what it’s like for a person from New York, who’s experiencing this for the first time and has no money, and he’s making mistakes, he can’t speak the language. But yes, there’s a lot of those stair scenes where he’s got up and life is just tough. Steve isn’t a one-and-done guy, so we certainly had a lot of takes with the stairs.'

[aq2003]

actually i will expand on this a little bit. the reason i prefer ripley as a more one dimensional villain is because she is so clearly a monster and percy keeps comparing himself to her, insisting that she's his creation rather than the other way around. and this is crucial to percy's character. his "forgiveness" at glintshore is not because she deserves it in any way, it's to free the last bit of weight off of his soul. i think it would be interesting to see ripley justify her actions with a tragic backstory, but showing that backstory feels like a waste of precious time the show could spend doing anything else because it doesn't change the fact she uses that as an excuse to cause mass death and destruction. and the show kind of implies "oh, percy did the right thing forgiving her in the end bc she's just a hurt little girl deep down" rather than "percy forgives this completely unforgivable monster that's tortured him over and over bc he blames himself for her and has, somehow, more compassion for her than he has for himself"

showing ripley's backstory is kind of desperately cliche lmakdjfhshshd i think i prefer her a lot better without any tragic backstory

[xxsovereignsarayaxx]

New Series: Video Game Locations That Raise My Blood-Pressure.

I have a love hate relationship with horror title video games. I find the backstory and lore absolutely fascinating however I’m the biggest chicken shit you’ll ever meet. So for your entertainment I present to you. “Video Game Locations That Raise My Blood-Pressure.” *Title Pending* 

*SPOLIER WARNING*

Now to start of this list is a game I recently revisited, was I playing absolutely not! I let the pleasure of this ‘enjoyable’ experience to my significant other. (He’s a good egg.) 

Alien Isolation -  The Sevastopol

Well, what can I say? The description for this delight says it’s a survival horror game. More like let’s see how high your blood pressure can go simulator. You as the protagonist Amanda Ripley, board the Sevastopol set out to find the flight recorder from the Nostromo. (So she can find mummy dearest.) But as soon as you’re on board things don’t seem to go to plan… The place is decommissioned and deserted, the remaining human population seem to only look out for themselves or waive their gun and aimlessly shot at people they don’t know. Personally I’ve never played this because I already suffer from high blood pressure and I don’t need it going any higher. However I watched my partner play this and my god I could feel my blood pressure spiking. Not only is this place creepy as hell. But to make matters worse you have the delightful Xenomorph stalking you ever moment you get. I’m glad we don’t have a Xbox Kinect because I later found out that if we did, any noise made would attract the Alien and we would be treated to a wonderful array of different death animations. But Sovereign I hear you say. What about the Synthetics? Those glowy eyed motherfuckers can go to hell alongside the Xenomorph. “You are becoming hysterical.” Am I bollocks! All you seem to do is scare the living daylights out of me and make me decide that crouching is going to be my new favourite past-time activity… Moving on! 

Resident Evil Biohazard - The Baker House 

Now this one I am proud to say I am fully qualified to judge this as played a grand total of 10 minutes in VR might I add! So we play as Ethan Winters he gets a suspicious video email from presumed missing wife Mia. I mean come on man, she’s been missing for 3 years move on for Christ sake. But no gullible Ethan goes to said location. Another run down house with an unkempt garden. Gates are locked, any normal person would accept there loses and can’t get any further best thing to do, do a u turn out of there. But remember folks this is a video so what do? Trespass and carry on going into this swamp infested hell-hole. But what’s that in the distance? A creepy-ass figure just having a mooch along, do we call out to them, apologise for being on their land or ask for their help? Nah… After rummaging through an out-house we see a hand bag. Plot twist it’s got Mia’s driving license. Now if it were me I’d call the police. But alas we continue. After getting knocked out but the man of the house. Experiencing the dinner party from hell. Finding Mia and trying to es-cape out of there. I’m thinking this bitch has developed problems over the past 3 years, but I hear you say people can change. Not to the fucking point where she takes multiple bullets to the face and attacks us with a frickin chainsaw and we lose our hand. But in video game logic we staple the fucker back on. In my mind, Ethan divorce this bitch and move on with your life you could do so much better! Oh also Jack Baker has no regard for any structural integrity. Next!

Mount Massive Asylum - Outlast

I mean come on what was I thinking when I bought this one at the young naïve age of 17? Ok Red Barrels what on earth where you thinking ok? Survival Horror Game? More like have your pants yanked down having a stiffy shoved up your arse at every beck and call. Miles Upshaw bless his poor soul tasked to investigate the Murkoff Corporation. He gets his camcorder and wanders in the courtyard. Seeing a shadow he scribbles down something in this notebook. Scribble in your notebook? Mate I’d throw it to the ground and leg it out of there. But no this dumb-ass does a bit of parkour and hops in through a window. Again with the trespassing. Must be a thing. Tensions arise as the lights go out, so night-vison mode activated on the camcorder. Continuing to wander aimlessly through this nightmare, squeezing pass furniture. When I attempted to play as soon as I saw the brain-dead patients staring at static I knew I was in for 6 months of sleepless nights. Creeping past these lot, you press on, opening doors having a Charles Xavier wannabe leap out of his wheelchair utters pure nonsense. Being tempted to slap this bitch a few times but instead you just yeet this guy like he’s nothing. But two events that take the biscuit, the poor soul ready for a spit-roasting as his is impaled on a pole. Oh and being thrown of a balcony pretty sure through a window if memory serves me right, and passing out and having the pedo-looking priest saying I’ve been sent by God and that I’m an apostle. Outlast I think not.  

Stay Tuned For More!

[sarcasticace]

TLovm reaction/thought dump, ep 7, 8, 9 let’s go!!!

- i like the flashback at the beginning of ep7. it really develops these character who were really... not much more than names previously. even if ander’s motivation is a bit on-the-nose. but he doesn’t really need to be deep. he’s just a regular guy who did a horrible thing because he’s a horrible person

- which is also why i still don’t like that stonefell was made into... the wiki says duergar. presumed of course. but they’re still considered an “evil” fantasy race and tlovm plays into that. idk why the change was necessary. just make them a regular human, elf, elc etc. 

- i know where vax’s anger is coming from, but that “i will not hesitate. I WILL kill you” sounds forced.

- ohhhhh the backstory behind the pepperbox is SO COOL in animation.

-”who’s the sixth barrel for” and the fucking shadow!!!!

- not that i dislike the thing vex, vax, and keyleth have going on, but can we also give grog and scanlan some more serious moments that aren’t comic relief.

 - i find it interesting how tlovm and the original campagin have two different takes on scanlan’s solo raid on the mansion. because originally scanlan is a badass bard who is disrespected by the likes of vex. he has moments of seriousness and strategy. his raid of the mansion is all panic and improv. tlovm kinda depicts him a bit of a clown. but also an underdog trying for respect. and his teammates do respect him to a degree, but only behind his back and in moments of hardship. both versions have the same endresult, but they are also kinda different characters. like tlovm’s scanlan seems like a younger version of C1 scanlan.

- im not the biggest fan of how much of a leader vex is depicted as. i mean, if it’s anyone, it should be her atm. but vox machina has one brain cell and she does not have custody of it that often. girl wanted to storm whitestone originally. 

- “never listen to me again” stop talking then.

- “let’s not be rash, percy” she says after assuming the worst of scanlan five seconds ago.

- im tired... of constant comic relief grog. pls i just want my goliath barbarian back. the scene with him turning on his friends is good and dramatic. i just wish they made him more serious more often. because i feel like... if i watched this having known nothing about critical role, it loses something. he’s only serious moment has been with pike (and that one short moment with vax). the rest of the time he’s just the big dumb idiot who wants to kill things played for laughs.

- i love everything about keyleth trying to heal cass. from her spell components, the mutterings under her breath, her surprise and excitement then rushing in to help her friends. marisha is really bringing her A game too. and then cass just passes out. 

-”you’re the face i saw when murder entered my heart.” holy shit taliesin. oh and the eye during the gunshot flash. there are so many screenshot worthy moments of percy. id love some background wallpaper of some of these scenes.

- you know, i wasn’t sold on cass’ design originally, but it’s grown on me. especially that single streak of white. and i love her VA. the deliver is really good. her soft voice, the sadness behind her words. it just really adds something that makes me love her more.

- i absolutely love pike’s arc. love how delilah’s attack was sort of the excuse for her mind to bring her issues forward. it’s not explicit, but i got the feeling this doubt was always there in the back of her mind. the broken holy symbol was just when it started coming forward.

- god it’s like... every other scene they gotta pause to give us more vax|eth moments. pls, im begging you, give us some bonding time with any couple involving keyleth that’s not vax. 

- PIKE PIKE PIKE!!!

- archie’s death actually kinda hit me. i wasn’t expecting that. i mean, i knew he was gonna get killed off for character development, but idk just the... brutal way what’s-his-name just bisects him. it was effective.

- ANNA RIPLEY CLIFFHANGER. 

[mourningbirds1]

Beloved amazing Clare!! <3

You already know how obsessed I am with your writing, and how unique and individual your voice is in a way that stays with me like few others do.

I saw your earliest post about authors who has influenced your writing the most and am already putting a bunch of items in my amazon basket. It made me curious, what would you say are your top 5 (or more if you have the energy <3) books that you feel have influenced your writing or you would recommend others to read for a beautiful and unique writing prose?

Dear CiCi, thank you for sending me this ask on Friday night. It was much much appreciated. I am always excited to see you in my notifs because I know I am in for something that is going to make me grin with how hilarious and charming and entertaining you are, or make me soft cause of how very kind and thoughtful you are to me and to others. I hope you’re having a happy weekend, eating good things and having some quality Ripley time ❤

Thank you for asking me about book recs - my fav subject. However, I feel a bit embarrassed to recommend some stuff on here because I have kind of weird, old-timey taste in books. I have put asterisks next to the titles that I think might not have such a broad appeal and I hope people proceed with caution before spending their money on them. But I still want to include them because they mean a lot to me.

*Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky – Patrick Hamilton, 1935

Absolutely one of the most underrated novelists out there. This is a collection of three novellas about the characters in a London pub. His prose is chef’s fucking kiss oh my god. The way he describes characters makes you feel like you can see them standing right in front of you. A couple of his earlier novels are a bit clumsy – I think he was still honing his style - but he really hit it with this book.

For Esmé - with Love and Squalor: And Other Stories – JD Salinger, 1950

My favourite things about Salinger are his dialogue, which is very entertaining - he commits 100% to the speaking style of each character so everyone feel authentic and like a real person. And also how good he is at the whole “show, don’t tell” thing. I love the way he opens stories in the middle of scenes, without giving you any exposition – all the backstory is there within the context of the action. It is so clever. I attempted to imitate this in Gresham House. Also he describes action (even just someone picking up a pack of cigarettes) in such a lively and elegant way. I would like to learn how to do this!

*The Good Companions – JB Priestley, 1963

This is about a travelling theatrical group touring England in the 1920s. It is a lovely, entertaining romp and has major found family vibes. I guess JB Priestley is best known for his play An Inspector Calls, but he was a brilliant novelist as well. I’d give anything to be able to write prose, characters and dialogue like he does. His writing is very cosy and comforting to me. The characters in this book felt like friends and I was so sad when I had finished it and had to leave them behind. The way he opens this book – setting a scene and then having the characters walk onto it, as though it is a stage – was what inspired me to open Don’t Look the way I did.

Perfume – Patrick Süskind, 1985

Set in 18 century Paris, about a man who is born with a super-human sense of smell, and the dastardly way his uses this talent. Süskind is a genius at describing locations and atmosphere, and of course smell, in an incredibly visceral way. This book is so immersive and gripping.

Fingersmith – Sarah Waters, 2002

A wlw Victorian gothic mystery. This book made me gasp and my jaw drop many many times. I recommend not reading too much about it because you will enjoy it more if you go into it without knowing anything. I love everything Sarah Waters has written and I think this is her best and cleverest story. I really like the way she adapts her prose style depending on the era she is writing in. This one is all Dickensian style which I am nuts for…

David Copperfield – Charles Dickens, 1850

Sorry this is not exactly a ground breaking recommendation but I have to mention it. I have so much love in my heart for this found family story. It’s so warm and gentle and funny and is full of love. It made me cry so much.

Okay that was 6 books, not 5, and I could definitely go on. I didn’t even mention PG Wodehouse… Maybe I will do a part 2 if anyone wants it.

[anakinh]

Okay I finished LOVM and this is my coherent review.

I... hmm, I'm having a hard time staying objective since they changed so much and tbh I prefer the steam (mostly for Raishan), so I'm constantly thinking of things missed. Plus I know I tend to skew negative so here are my complaints and an equal number of compliments, starting with the negatives:

they made Ripley cooler, but they also gave her this sympathetic backstory of trying to make the world safer. The problem is that Percy's been gone half the season and his guns did less against dragons than Vax's magic knife, Vex's magic bow, and Keyleth's magic magic. In the end Ripley ends up looking like an idiot or a liar. Hell, even during her fight Cabal's Ruin did more to make her dangerous than her gun. Anyway it would've been cooler and more interesting to make Percy more effective or his guns more OP to actually reinforce her point.

So Keyleth had a whole realization(TM) that her strength comes from her companions and then she... 1v1ed Raishan and won? Without needing her companions? I mean I know she mentioned an anchor but damn, not even a flashback of Vax? Am I the media illiterate one? I think the mention of the anchor needed to harness disease is what took my reaction from "come on" to "i GUESS" but come on

God they did my girl Raishan so dirty

Honestly I didn't like Keyleth's arc here and I think it's probably fine, story wise, and it's mostly because I didn't like the tropes and also THEY DID MY GIRL RAISHAN SO DIRTY I seriously cannot separate Keyleth's arc and my salt at the Raishan thing there's no way I can enjoy it. sigh.

In the stream the Matron was fine with resurrections if they were taken before their time and the Percy situation is the perfect example of it (sucked into a demon gun!) Why'd they go for the C3 gods bad discourse? I'm so sick of this goddamn discourse they could've AVOIDED IT

Okay, positives:

oh my god Laura Fucking Bailey. I love Vex so much. Laura Fucking Bailey you did it again and you never fail to impress why are you so good at voice acting I love Vex/Percy so fucking much asjkfjsdkfjkjs

The Anna Ripley backstory (and Trent cameo) is great. She was an incredible villain overall, unlike [criticism redacted]. The backstory was a very cool cameo and insight into her backstory and motivations, although again [criticism redacted]. THEY DID GOOD AND THERE'S SOME SPACE FOR IT TO BETTER BUT IT'S STILL GOOD

Zerxus cameo! Love him. Love the Calamity stuff

Cute easter eggs still (like Velora reading der Katzenprince). Also I do like how cute they made Velora in preparation for [spoilers redacted]. And I like the Vex and her father interactions. Honestly I love Vex's entire narrative here, it's so amazing. Imagine being soft and kind and sexually assertive and a very dangerous killer? When will your fave ever

Fucking Yenk and dragon kaiju battle. Did I ever mention I love kaiju battles? Yenk fucking slammed an icicle on Vorugal's head. God.

One more since I complained a bit in point 2: I love army gathering sequences. The part with Earthbreaker Groon and the Storm Lord? Amazing imagery. Animation was overall very good.

There's a bunch of smaller stuff that were deviations from the stream that I'm not gonna comment on. Plus I know that lots of people were talking about Bard's Lament... honestly I don't have an opinion on that change, even though it's a major change. Anyway 7???/10 I really liked the first half and then I liked it less with each new episode as it became obvious that the Raishan relationship was going to be very different and also I didn't even get a good [criticism redacted]

[artreider]

Daughter is down for the night, let's see if internet will allow me to watch and live blog the next episode.

Travis is so hurt and that just hurts me. I'm glad we are getting his backstory with Michael.

Okay so if Michael died in 2016 and it was 2009 at the start of the episode, then they were together for at least six years. So travis has been a firefighter at least 11 years at this point in the series. So what station was he at, and how did he and Michael meet. Im just curious because theo calls his buddy michael probie and then doesnt say travis name. Travis tells him name and instead of calling probie as well making me believe he had been either a firefighter for a bit longer than Michael or he is from a different station, because surely if they were all at the same station he would call him by name or maybe travis is from a different shift at the station.

I love this episode but it still left me with questions.

Also so i didnt even make it five minutes in, thanks internet let's restart it.

Also are they all in the same academy class because it sounds like it.

I'm not okay with travic being not a dynamic duo at the start, i love their friendship.

Hey look the captain has returned lol, also this sushi conversation i have had with my coworker. Leftover sushibis just wrong, fight me on this. Im glad maya agrees. Also i agree with sulluvan its from the grocery store, i dont eat my sushi from anywhere but a restaurant thats gross, and making it day old is worse.

Of course travis agrees with the sushi talk, they are truly two peas in a pod. Im surprised vic didnt ask to stay at maya and carina's for a few days.

I like theo and jack this episode.

Vic looks tripped out by travis showing her his scars lmao. Travis and this scar analogy is fantastic and makes me giggle, so dramatic.

I still dont know how i feel about these two drug addicts.

First commercial and i just want to add that the sushi scene i love, the family feel is wonderful.

Michael and travis are so cute. Also how long was theo a captain before michael died?

Listening to libby you can tell how troubled travis is by the look on his face. Its like he's thinking what if something were to happen to Hughes and we weren't in a good place.

Im glad jack came to talk to theo. It's good for them both.

Emmett you cutie. Im glad he is speaking truths to travis.

This proposal is so cute, the double proposal makes me so happy.

Travis needs to become a dad, he so wanted that future with Michael.

Its so cute that theo was there for the proposal and his best friends. Who stood up for travis at the wedding and who married michael and travis? Im headcanoning theo marrying them.

I totally get travis's feelings about theo in light of Michael's death but with how involved he was with the two i wish travis had found some way to heal with his friend sooner.

Vic trying to discuss Emmett, oh i love you.

This scene by the trees is so tough.

I bet they had so much fun shooting this even if it was difficult material.

So travis is in a apartment instead of his house with michael, howd that happen.

The things they are saying to each other are so hard. Everyone grieves differently.

Okay how long was theo a firefighter before he became captain. They were possibly in the academy in 2009, he was training for lt in 2010 and in 2012 he was put up for captain. So it seems he was on the fast track like maya. Okay he was only at lt for 6 months with may he a bit longer than maya.

Though she definitely made better decisions as captain. Also i love that ripley put up for it and ripley is who told maya to become lt and that she'd be a good captain.

Theo's joke about dying in a fire is just wrong.

Theo did make a bad call like travis worried but his being green should be a reason to find forgiveness for him.

Im glad michael stood uo for his friend. Also travis asked if it was a good idea theo being michaels captain, not ours. That further leads me to believe that travis was at a different station. I really cant shake the thought that he was at station 19 by this point for the simple fact of capt hererra saying he hand picked all of them.

Its nice that travis is finally talking to vic about his anger and sadness over michael, his grief and apologizing for his comments about ripley.

Okay so based off the past episodes for the characters, gibson and miller have been at the station longer than andy and maya and it appears travis has been as well. So that just has me questioning how long hughes has been, did we get dates when we learned how she became a firefighter, i cant remember.

Who notified travis that Michael was gone? He wasn't on scene otherwise he'd already have seen theo.

Theo was so good to own up to his mistake to the higher ups and travis.

The house vs apartment thing bothers me about station 19. Like maya's apartment always felt like a house and then we see its an apartment. Travis lived in a house with Michael and now has an apartment filled with Michael's things. Then Jack had an apartment or something in season 3 and now lives with martha and co. Then vic is basically homelessx had an apartment then jumped from friends homes. I dunno why i bothers me so, i guess it just feels so inconsistent, i dunno if that makes sense.

Ugh the ruiz and Gibson scene here is so good for them once again and im glad it helped marcus. Im sad marcus wont be a part of jacks life anymore.

Theo why did you decide to talk to vic about ripley? Not that it was a bad talk just curious what sparked it.

Travis im so proud of you, this talk here is so important for your healing. Vic i love your joke. Yay my travic is healing.

Okay so hughes was probie in 2016 after michael died. Ugh i need to know more about travis time at station 19 before during or after whatever michael died. Also when did andy and maya graduate im blanking on the year.

Travic's first scene at the station together is so lovely.

Ugh travis's phone call is so rough.

So travis cant vacation very well either, no wonder he told maya to enjoy her trip with carina in sesson 3.

The station 19 actors are so phenomenal. Such a wonderfully acted episode.

So as im sure my followers and anyone else reading this has gathered, i decided to do this live blog as one whole thing since the anon was upset by my previous posts. If you hate this and think i should go back to the other way let me know or if i should take their suggestion and creatr my own tag let me know. Basically if you are interested in my live blog please let me know what you think.

The anon has been weighing on me leading me to almost not want to finish my live blog of the series.

[definitely-not-gremlins]

hi for that ask thing ,, 1. critical role / 2. shadowgast / 3. caleb & essek respectively

Hell you’re just going right for the jugular. 

001 | Critical Role:

Favorite character: Caleb Widogast but all of the M9 are absolute wonderful, vital and irreplaceable and I would murder for all of them. From c1 it would be Percy but again the whole dynamics in-between characters  in both the M9 and VM are what really makes the show great.

Least Favorite character: I want to say Trent Ikithon because I mean. Duh. But I find him interesting and I want to know what his angle is on several things. I have a seething hatred for Ripley, though.

5 Favorite ships (no order):

Shadowgast 

Widomauk

Beauyasha

Percahlia 

Scanlan/Pike (i dont know their ship name and im too lazy to look)

Character I find most attractive: Beau, Caleb, Percy

Character I would marry: hhhhh idk

Character I would be best friends with: Frumpkin. 

a random thought: I will never get over how cute Pike & Grogs friendship was it always makes me smile.

An unpopular opinion: Discourse! You can’t really compare Caleb’s & Essek’s guilt with the info we have. Or you can but not draw a definite conclusion.

My Canon OTP: Percahlia

My Non-canon OTP: I guess Shadowgast but like I’m cool if it never becomes canon and stuff.

Most Badass Character: All of them have moments of badassery so I don’t wanna pick one.

Most Epic Villain: The Briarwoods. 

Pairing I am not a fan of: Hhhh I dunno.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): None. Helps that for each main character there’s someone responsible just for them. :D Though Molly got really screwed over tbf. Haha.

Favourite Friendship: NO I CAN’T PICK JUST ONE AND YOU CAN’T MAKE ME. 

Character I most identify with: Oof. I don’t really know, to be honest. 

Character I wish I could be: None of ‘em have you looked at their backstories? 

002 | Shadowgast:

When I started shipping them: Episode 91. YEAH I HELD OUT LONG.

My thoughts: Though I see the probability for them becoming canon to be very low as of right now, I’m very curious to see where it will go. Even as a platonic relationship their dynamic is just super fucking interesting and I can’t wait to see what happens with it. Just kinda hope they don’t kill Essek off before it can go anywhere.

What makes me happy about them: The whole ‘kindred spirits’, common ground vibe

What makes me sad about them: Aside from the canon problems, I always get sad when I remember their different lifespans. I know that with consecution and Transmogrification there are ways to make it better but still.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: Those are all more Caleb-specific than ship specific. I can’t think of any specifically for this ship though there’s probably some.

Things I look for in fanfic: Oh I’m not that picky, I think. And it changes with the time of day. I just like seeing interpretations of them in general. Oh wait I forgot. Angst. So much Angst. 

My wishlist: For the M9 to find a way to deal with Essek that doesn’t end up in his death.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Essek I would find absolutely weird with anyone else to be quite honest. As for Caleb, as long as it grows organically I’m fine with most anyone. Yes, Jester, too.

My happily ever after for them: Essek resigns and leaves his Den and the Dynasty. When the Nein are done adventuring and Caleb survived all of this they settle down somewhere and do research forever and put their joint names on many a spell. Caleb becomes a teacher. Essek can be one too. I haven’t given this a lot of thought but their Happily Ever After is SOFT okay.

003 | Caleb:

How I feel about this character: I love him, find him interesting and love to see his journey and his backstory.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Primarily Essek, recently also Molly (sads) and a little bit of Jester

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Here’s the thing. Caleb has great platonic relationships with everyone in the M9 and with Essek. So. Hm. Maybe Empire Kids.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I really don’t like it in fanfic when people retcon his backstory relationship to have been with Eodwulf instead of Astrid for absolutely no reason.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: That Jester-Insight Check, man. That should have FAILED. Other than that I really can’t wait for more brushes of him with Trent in some way.

Favorite friendship for this character: See above for ‘non-romantic relationship’

My crossover ship: Not a fan of crossovers.

003 | Essek:

How I feel about this character: Love him even just as a fascinating character. Hope he will see that he did a bad and try to do good but he really needs to not be indifferent to the consequences of his actions. We’ll see!

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Caleb. 

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: ... Caleb. And the M9 as a unit.

My unpopular opinion about this character: See above in 001 “Unpopular opinion” i think it counts.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish Beau hadn’t tagged along to walk him home. No hate on her it was top tier sibling energy but still. In the future, hope he keeps his head on his shoulders for a while.

Favorite friendship for this character: See above for ‘non-romantic relationship’

My crossover ship: Not a fan of crossovers.²

THANKS FOR THE ASK SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG.

[snarkandsarcasmftw]

I’m gonna go with “Killer Queen”. It happened to come on.

SO... I feel like personally, I went waaay too overboard with backstory and set up here, but.... I also feel like maybe I haven’t written the last of these two and I love writing cocky / fighty Pete Dunne, so it was kind of a win. It was so much fun to write this, thank you for sending it to me!! I only hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have writing it?

more fake fic titles here > YOooooo... if anyone wants to be tagged in my writing, just shoot me an ask or a DM stating what fandoms / couples / characters you want to be tagged for, I’ll happily tag you.

Tagging: @rampagewriting @andie01 @calwitch @vonschweetz @kittysilver86 

The past few months had been a real eye opener for Eileen if she had to be perfectly honest. For starters, she learned that a lot of people she previously thought gave a damn were actually only using her because they knew she was easily taken advantage of, the biggest being her boyfriend.

Throwing his ass out after catching him balls deep in one of the hair and makeup girls she worked with who’d been ‘crashing on her couch’ while she sorted out her own mess of a life… That had been the first step to Eileen taking control of her own life back. Since that night, Eileen hadn’t really… Stopped. She’d gotten that much poison out of her system, why not continue?

Don’t like your weight? Join a gym, start jogging like you used to back in high school and start doing Pilates. Get Rollins to let you come to a few Crossfit sessions.  Talk Matt Riddle into teaching you the basic finer points of MMA.

Friends always using you but hiding it? Ditch them all. Who needs friends like that anyway? Just stop reaching out, stop jumping to return texts not even a second after they’ve been sent to you. Take that cruise during downtime and paint it all over your Instagram.. Do it alone. Start finding other ways to fill the time they previously occupied. Hell, Eileen had even taken up painting and photography again as of late, and she’d been doing quite well at it. She barely noticed when a few weeks slipped by.. Then a month.. And then two.. And then, one day, while waiting on the show to start for the night, Eileen found herself going through her phone and deleting all those so called friends. And then going out for drinks with some of the women on the roster when asked.

It had surprised her they even bothered. For the most part, she was used to just being hair / makeup / special effects makeup backstage. Nobody really knew her. Nobody seemed to care to, either.

That impromptu night out lead to a shopping spree in Florida next time she and Carmella both had downtime at the same time and that is how the new wardrobe and her, being talked into doing something that prior to then she’d have never even considered… Dying her hair and chopping about two inches off the length, even going for curtain bangs because she’d always wanted them. She ditched the glasses shortly after in favor of contacts, because a few drinks with the girls one night led her to realize that everything about her before had been a safety net. 

Defense mechanisms, so to speak. She’d been hiding herself away on purpose.. Because years of rejection and feeling like the outsider left her thinking it was the only way to go, the safe way to go.. Left her frustrated, hating herself and blaming everybody else around her for her own situation, created by her. 

And now, here she was.. About to go way out of her comfort zone, crammed into an SUV to go out to a nightclub for some Halloween party. Before?

She never would’ve believed that the women she worked with, the ones who intimidated her so much before, would have ever even given her the time of day, much less call and skype regularly to check in, inviting her for drinks, tag her in random things they saw that made them think about her on Instagram or Twitter..

But here she was. About to go to a party that before, she never would have thought she belonged at and she would have chickened out of going to.

In a costume that before a few months ago, she never would have been caught dead in, she’d have felt ugly wearing. Now it didn’t matter, because she didn’t care what anybody thought. She liked the costume and wanted to wear it, therefore, she was wearing it.

Rhea Ripley saying her name bought her into the conversation and out of her own mind. “Hey, is it true? What you told Nadine today about Karma?”

Mia turned to stare at Eileen intently and Eileen giggled, nodding as she shrugged. “ All I told her was that it was Karma. I mean what did she really expect, hooking up with the guy who screwed around on me, with her?” 

Mia burst into laughter and nodded, adding her input, “ Phew.. talk about a bullet dodged. That was a huge one you dodged, girl.” 

“Oh god yes. I really did.” Eileen smoothed her hands over the black velvet dress and took a deep breath. She was nervous, but in a more excited way than an anxious one. It felt good.

For the first time in a long time, Eileen was actually enjoying her life instead of just letting it pass her by.

“Thanks for inviting me tonight.” she leaned in to tell Rhea quietly. Rhea shrugged and smiled. “Thought ya might ‘ave fun at this.”

They were parking the SUV when Eileen caught sight of her ex nearby, dressed as a pirate, complete with stuffed parrot on his shoulder and to her surprise, she didn’t immediately want to get back into the SUV and demand to be taken home. Not even three weeks ago, she would have either been really hurt, seeing him out and about or really down, ready to slip back into her age old holding pattern of blaming herself and putting herself down.

He cheated on her because he was a dog. Because he didn’t give a damn about anyone but himself, she reminded herself mentally, taking a deep breath. Candice LeRae seemed to pick up on her being aware of her ex and she nudged her, nodding in his direction as she said quietly, “Don’t let that piece of toxic crap get to you. He’s clearly not worth it.”

Eileen nodded and to her surprise, when she opened her mouth, all she had to say on the matter of her ex being present was, “Oh trust me, I’m well aware.”

They made their way past, getting brought to the front of the line because Rhea was apparently best friends with the bouncer and just as she went to step through the red velvet ropes, her ex Sean called out to her. “Lookin good, Eileen. Sexy bunny… Really suits ya, baby girl.”

“That’s honestly more than I can say for you, Sean. Nice costume.. I’m assuming they were all sold out of inflatable dick costumes?”

Rhea smirked and Candice nearly choked on her laughter as Mia gave Eileen a high five. Eileen took a deep breath and turned away, slinking through the doors, leaving Sean to watch her intently.

She never would’ve even dared to wear a dress like the clingy little black velvet number she just pranced right past him wearing when they were together. She also never would’ve mouthed off, she never would have even bothered coming to a party because he tried a thousand times to get her to go out with him before and she always politely declined. He dragged his fingers through his hair and shook his head, confused.

The last thing he expected was to see her here tonight. His date sidled up, pressing against his back and he turned to look at her. Suddenly, she wasn’t nearly as appealing as she had been months ago.

Not looking at what he threw away to get her.

“Babe?” Nadine knit her brows, looking at Sean as he stepped away, staring at the door. Nadine glared, a hand on her hip. She’d seen Eileen get straight to the front of the line. She’d heard Sean call out to her. To say she was jealous was probably under-statement of the year. 

“That bitch, seriously? You said she wasn’t any fun.” Nadine was in full blown pout mode and while normally, Sean would have found it cute, tonight he just found it annoying. He hadn’t seen Eileen in months. Seeing her for the first time since she threw him out tonight.. Looking happy. Looking confident for once. Knowing the things he heard their old friends saying about her in the months since the breakup between him and her… Sean was having his full blown moment of truth.

By the time the bouncer finally got around to letting the crowd gathered outside the club into it, Sean was contemplating just ditching the party, but parts of him were curious.

It had to be an act, right? There’s no way she was hiding the real her for the entirety of four years they dated.. He made up his mind to watch her, to see how far she’d carry this act of hers. He smirked to himself and pulled Nadine against him, dragging her towards the dance floor. 

“Sean, you’re dragging me.”

“Don’t you wanna dance, baby girl?”

Nadine glared up at him, following his gaze as soon as she realized that it wasn’t fixed on her. “If you want her, go ahead. Doubt she’d have you.”

“Oh? She’d be glad to have me back, Nadie.”

“Right…. That’s not what she said earlier tonight.” Nadine smirked as her words hit their mark.

Across the club, Eileen felt the sensation of being stared at and as soon as she turned to find Sean staring at her, she rolled her eyes, taking the shot from Rhea’s hand, slamming it back and shaking her head as the burn of the liquid made it’s way from throat to stomach. Rhea followed Eileen’s eyes and snorted in derision, rolling her eyes at Eileen’s ex before stepping between them.

“He’s just tryin t’ get to ya.”

“It isn’t working, actually. I can’t believe I ever found… That… attractive at all. He’s got the iq of a flea and the personality of a doorknob.. Or maybe he’s a doorknob on both counts.” Eileen waved the bartender down, ordering herself another round and she started letting her eyes roam the crowded nightclub, leaning in to nudge Rhea, “Weren’t they having a costume contest thing tonight?”

“Mhmm.”

“I think… I wanna enter it.”

Rhea high fived her and Eileen gave a bit of a smirk, giggling softly to herself as the liquor in the shots took effect and she started to feel almost giddy. Rhea snorted. “Don’t tell me yer an easy drunk, woman.”

“Wouldn’t know.. I really haven’t drank much until recently. Don’t do it often enough to know for sure now.” Eileen admitted, Rhea snickering and shaking her head as she told her, “This is goin t’ be fun then. C’mon.” as she grabbed hold of Eileen’s hand, half dragging her through the crowd and straight towards the back… Where the dart boards and pool tables were.

“Rhea, what the hell?”

Rhea held her fingers to her lips and gave a playful wink. “Just wait. Got a surprise for y.”

“Rhea….” But Eileen got the feeling that either way this went, Rhea was going to do whatever it was that she had on her mind to do. And rather than be a stick in the mud, Eileen laughed softly, smiling. “Okay, alright. Let’s see this surprise.”

They stopped near the dartboard that the members of British Strong Style were all gathered around. Eileen found herself kind of momentarily shying towards the back, behind Rhea.

Tyler Bate looked up and promptly choked on the drink in his hand, nudging Pete Dunne.

“Someone brought y’ a present, Dunney. Might want t’ turn around.” Tyler was barely hiding a grin as he nudged his friend to get Pete to turn around.

Trent chuckled, watching it unfold with interest and delight, because it wasn’t a really big secret, Dunne was always watching the quiet brunette whenever she worked hair and makeup for their roster. He’d almost gone to war with at least one of the men on their roster over her, on more than one occasion.

If you asked him he’d just say the brunette in question was cute and drop the matter, giving a death glare as he did so. But Trent and Tyler weren’t stupid, they knew there was a lot more to it than that.

And if something wasn’t done to address it, Pete Dunne was practically a ticking time bomb.

Pete turned, scowl at the ready. That scowl turned to a smirk as he eyed the brunette with the sagging bunny ear headband standing behind Rhea Ripley. Rhea smirked at him, giving a teasing wink that had him glaring at her.

“Pete, Eileen. Eileen, I believe you know Pete? Pete, I know you know Eileen.” Rhea gave a teasing smirk at Pete and Pete glared at her in warning. Anyone who knew him knew full well by this point not, under any circumstances, to bring up his not so hidden feelings about the new hair and makeup artist.

Eileen’s mouth opened and closed as she tried to get her mouth and brain to work together, failing at it miserably. She cleared her throat, her hand raising, tangling in her hair as she stared up at him.

“I don’t, I just… Saw matches. And the one time I had to cover the bruise..”  - Christ, Eileen, snap out of it… He’s just a man. 

…. Just a man you happen to have a huge attraction to… you can’t even form words properly whenever you’re at NXT backstage and you see him around….

Pete chuckled, rubbing his chin as he continued to let his eyes roam slowly. He stepped a little closer, staring down at her. “ Y’ watch th’ matches, hm? Wouldn’t ‘ave taken y’ for a fan.”

“I...I…” - okay, I am totally out of my depth here, abort! Why the hell did I let Rhea drag me over here? Oh right.. Trying new things. Look how amazing I’m doing with that… Eileen’s mind was in overdrive as she bit her lip, meeting his gaze.

She’d come too far to simply be reduced to a hot mess by the likes of him. She wasn’t about to let it happen, either. One way or another, by God, she was going to salvage this whole introduction.

Pete eyed her, waiting on more of an answer. He remembered her being shy, which honestly didn’t track with the way the little black velvet slip dress fit her like a second skin. Rhea smirked to herself. Satisfied that her good deed for the year was done, she turned and walked away, calling out to both of them as she went, “Have fun, you two!”

“Dunney, it’s yer go at th’ board.” Trent cleared his throat, breaking Pete out of his slight dazed moment. Pete smirked and nodded to the dart board behind them. “Y’ play darts, Eileen?”

“Not very well.” Eileen answered, swallowing hard as Pete nodded to the board again. “I can show ya.”

When he stepped up behind her, those big and rough hands wrapping around her arms to help her aim the dart at the board, his chest pressing into her back, she bit her lip and listened to him, eyeing up the dartboard. 

Her first attempt fell short of the board and Tyler picked up the dart, holding it out to her, chuckling. Pete was pressing into her back again, his arms around her, his hands around her wrists as he raised her arm. “ Helps t’ imagine somebody standin ‘ere.. For example, if it were me? I’d imagine ‘at prick Riddle.”

…. And I did the entire night we were playing after I found out he was teachin y’ MMA…. the thought crept it’s way into his mind and he tried shoving it out.

Eileen gave a nod and stared down the board intently. Picturing Sean standing in front of the board gave her enough annoyance to get the dart closer to the board, but not close enough for the dart to stick to the board. She sighed and shook her head. “You do it. I’ll watch. I don’t want to mess up your score.”

“Y’ got closer that time.”

From behind them, a throat cleared. Eileen growled to herself and rolled her eyes, muttering “And here comes this motherfucker.” in a quiet tone that Pete immediately picked up on as his gaze settled on the man dressed as a pirate.

He’d seen him around at shows. Mostly flirting with the women on the roster or hanging out in the parking lot after like your typical fuckboy with no actual life. He honestly thought the guy was something of a male ring rat, and he’d said as much to Trent and Tyler on occasion.

“Who are you?” Pete stared the man down, stepping close to Eileen in a possessive move that neither Trent nor Tyler missed as they shared a smirk right after he’d done it.

“This Pete, is my ex. And he’s in the wrong costume.. But... if he wore a sign that said fuckboy or douchebag around his neck then he wouldn’t get laid, I suppose.”

Trent and Tyler snickered, nudging each other as they exchanged looks. Pete was in prime arrogant prick mode now, and that possessive side that he normally kept reigned in was starting to shine through on top of it.

“Babe, c’mon. It was a mistake.”

“You’re the mistake. Fuck off, Sean. And stop lurking and watching me. I know you’ve been doing it since you saw me outside. I came to have fun. You’re not going to stop me, nor do I give a fuck about you.”

Pete smirked from behind her. His hand went to her hip and as Sean stepped close, Pete stepped out from behind her. “She’s got no use for y’. Get fucked, Sean. Because if I see y’ around ‘er again tonight, yer goin’ to regret it.” Pete stared him down, both men squared up and ready to go at any second. Sean scoffed at Pete. “You think I’m scared of you? If  I want her back, man.. She’ll come back. We’ve got history. You’re just some pretty boy she’s flirting with to get under my skin.” his gaze turned to Eileen, who was seething by this point, her teeth gritted, her eyes blazing with anger.

More anger or emotion than she’d ever really shown before.

He gave her a hurt look that he knew worked well on her on many occasions before. “It’s workin, baby girl. I never woulda thought you’d turn yourself into a glorified fuck toy for one of the assholes you work for.”

Honestly, Eileen was about to step around Pete and just throw her drink right in Sean’s face, but before she could even think about doing it, Pete had Sean against a wooden column nearby, holding him by the collar, sneering at him. As calmly as possible, he leaned in and muttered quietly, “If y’ even breathe around ‘er… and I find out about it? I’ll break yer fucking neck. And I’ll enjoy every second of it.” before loosening his grip, letting Sean slump to the floor.

Eileen stood over Sean, her drink in her hand. “ If anyone’s a slut, Sean, it’s you.” she poured the drink over his head and turned, slinking away, back over to where Pete stood gathered around the dartboard with his friends.

Pete chuckled and shook his head, staring down at her. “Just couldn’t let it go, could y’?”

“Hell no.”

“Oh, I don’t think he’ll be botherin y’ again anytime soon.. Not unless he wants his arse ‘anded to him.”  Pete mused, stepping closer. He wanted no one around them to make any mistakes about it. She was leaving with him tonight if he had his way about things.

A slower song came on and Eileen bit her lip, torn between wanting to ask him to dance and thinking he’d probably say no.

To her surprise, Pete pulled her against him, slipping both arms around her as he turned the baseball cap he was wearing to the back so it didn’t bump her in the forehead. He chuckled and smirked down at her.

“Lucky I like y’.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t dance.” Pete muttered, leaning down, lifting her up slightly as he pulled her into a slow, rough and deep kiss….

[thewolfisawake]

Critical Role

Favorite character:

In CR1, Percy and Scanlan. And gonna sound so hipster but I did legitimately like Percy prior to the Briarwood arc. I liked his place as the more subdued person that didn’t need fanfare for his support. And then I was scared and intrigued when he was more...forthcoming in that arc since he was quieter before (I think I read this was also because Taliesin was bit shy starting out but got comfortable). And Scanlan, was the man I shed tears for because I kept crying ‘oh god, someone please notice. Someone HELP HIM.’ They both had some serious gut punches and their stories did shift the dynamics (of the story and the party respectively) permanently. They are also great support and yet also had some amazing solos. 

In CR2, Caleb and Fjord. I just like me some sad boys apparently. I think Caleb’s bumbling and trying to do right but struggling with doing what’s good for you so painfully relatable. As of writing this, I haven’t caught up yet but I’ve seen him make such leaps and bounds in terms of letting people in and being a support to others. I also think mechanically he’s a show of how the drawbacks like his fear can make for good moments. As for Fjord, he’s just in general how I think a moral compass or herder character can be done without irritating both the player and viewer. I mean morals of this cast is more wonky but in general Fjord seems to put forward a general ‘we all get through this’ and respect towards the team. 

Least Favorite character:

In CR1, Keyleth. And no, it’s got nothing to do with Marisha. She’s cool. I honestly felt bad for her because Keyleth had to pick up the moral slack whenever Pike wasn’t there, which was often. Some of her best moments were when she had to draw the hard line. But it was far outweighed with having this moral high horse for some reason even though they promptly do something just as low down as the ones she looked down on. Also, I feel it’s hard to do a character that is naive but also very likable so again, sorry for Marisha. 

In CR2, I like so many but I’ll go with Mollymauk. And it was a bit of a shame because he was like the one person I heard so much about. I did like that he was the one that tended to push into some of the best shenanigans I’ve listened to. However, he was just fine. There wasn’t much to push him into love him so much nor much to say I dislike him. I’m a little disappointed of not being able to know what his deal was I guess was what I would choose if I have to say what made him least favorite. 

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

Vax’limore - Their interactions just oozed banter and playfulness. There was no intro to how that this happened, it just jumps into their flirtations. And it was that cute banter and the real ‘I’d do anything for you, my friend’ that ended up hurting seeing Gilmore have his heart strings pulled as they did. Like if you love him, let him go. For real. Don’t dangle it in front of him like that. 

Pike/Percy - Weird thought but I thought it was pretty clear that Pike liked Percy. Everyone sees her as a stalwart beacon but she still has wants and falls off from time to time. But she tries. And she saw something within Percy that was dark and I don’t think it was necessarily ‘I want to fix him’ but ‘I want to save him.’ And Percy find a light in Pike like many do but also seeing her as just Pike.  

Perc’ahlia - I mean, it’s canon. Thing is that I can’t pinpoint a moment when it began. Just that it happened and that felt okay. I think they’re both maniacs in their own right and it’s kind of cute how they indulge each other’s passion/excitement. Gifts feels like Percy’s love language and he shows it so much in how he tinkers for Vex and her glee in what new way she can fuck shit up is enough for him. And also it’s really delicious the parallel with them and the Briarwoods and Laura has stated that if Percy had died died, that it was possible Vex end up the same kind of menace Delilah was. 

Vex/Zahra - In some other life, they would have been the femme fatale couple. All of their interactions were enjoyable and they so clearly enjoy each other. Just looking over and it’s the eyes with them.

Widobrave - Partners in crime. I think that their dynamic isn’t simple and that’s what’s so interesting. They see each other as someone to protect and don’t exactly see how the other views them as the one to be protected. And they have ‘without question’ sort of trust in each other and are genuinely awed and so happy when they witness one do something great. It gets sad with more of their backstory. And it gets me that both immediately felt guilty for keeping it a secret from them. Not the entire party, their partner. They both have seen past appearances and see the strength, the zaniness and the brilliance the other possesses and I can’t wait to get to more of their moments. 

Character I find most attractive:

CR1: Gilmore. My god he was gorgeous. Vax why did you just walk away from that? Raishan. Look, she was hot and smart and even if she fell eventually, she made the most of when she was there. 

CR2: Cali is so frickin’ adorable. Like she’s so cute and hey, if not for the whole cult chasing her thing, it’d be nice to stick around and sightsee. I am also a ‘Jester is really cute’ person.

Character I would marry:

I don’t really think there’s anyone I’d actually--well, I think maybe Pike because stronk lady that can get into mischief with but at the same time just be able to be content with.

No one in this campaign so far. 

Character I would be best friends with:

I would LIKE to be friends with Cassandra because everyone continues to ignore how this woman has been tormented and then thrust into very important position. All while harboring guilt for what she had to do to survive. The girl needs a break and I’m here with a blanket and some tea.

I would like to be friends with Nott actually. She’s really cool and I think it’s fun to let her be her zany self. 

a random thought:

So who is really credited as the inventor of firearms, Percy, who did technically make it, or Ripley, who is the one that sold the schematics to make them mass-produced? 

Is there just an abundance of mysterious magic ladies in Wildemount or what? 

An unpopular opinion:

Scanlan deserved his anger and feelings of being unappreciated. Even if he was brought back, it does not lessen that there was uncertainty nor the lack of respect towards his body. Vox Machina had gotten cocky and it drove one of their members away. Vex and Vax were the only ones that took Scanlan’s frustration to heart and did not mess up with Tary for that reason. Also Tary was a parallel of the worst of the party, which is why most of them couldn’t stand him. 

The small races are not fucking children. I don’t get why they get called children or thought of like that. They’re just short, goddammit!

My Canon OTP:

CR1: Perc’ahlia for above reasons.

CR2: None to be seen so far?

My Non-canon OTP:

CR1: Because I’m hella fucked up, I am enamored by the thought that Percy had a crush on Ripley. Because she paid attention to him, one of the younger and less interesting of his family. And to him she was brilliant and she took advantage of that, which is how he survived or why they got in. And Percy never forgot or forgave her. 

CR2: “And they were roommates” “oh god they were roommates.” * whispers * I kind of liked Fjord and Molly. They felt like foils that were amicable with each other aaaaannndddd actually had nice interactions? 

Most Badass Character:

CR1: NO MERCY PERCY

CR2: Shakaste is pretty awesome and Khary Payton is awesome. 

Most Epic Villain:

CR1: Raishan. Like I wish she could’ve been a bigger villain but alas the dice were not on her side. I think her arc was the most interesting as she was the true threat in the party’s eyes despite there being a dragon terraforming their home. 

CR2: At this point? There hasn’t been a major villain for the party.  

Pairing I am not a fan of:

I don’t really have anything I can’t ship in this one.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

Can’t really say anyone ‘screwed up’ since this is a lot of improv and all that. So I guess miss chances I think would only really be Molly since y’know, he’s dead. 

Favourite Friendship:

CR1: Pike & Grog - They’re Best Buddies, y’all. I can’t get over how much they just pal around like that’s just the usual for them. And technically it is. They can go get wasted together and then kick ass after. It’s just the casualness of their relationships and how much respect and lack of reverence that I like. Pike is just Pike to Grog so he finds no reason to hold back or hold her as a light unlike the rest of the party. But he does want to do good by her because she’s his friend and he doesn’t want to disappoint her. And Pike never insults Grog’s intellect and actively works to help him improve and deflects the party’s remarks of how he is. 

CR2: Empire Kids - They’ve come a long way from their seats of mistrust and standoff-ishness. I think there was a post that put it best that they’re ‘learning how to human.’ And because they both are at the same point of it, they are struggling together. As a result they’ve come to lean on each other to keep themselves from going to far. They’re not perfect but they’re trying to keep this found family of theirs together. 

Character I most identify with:

CR1: Keyleth. Being the one to try to keep people together or on the straight on narrow isn’t easy. It sucks and I’m not usually the person that should do it but here I am.

CR2: Caleb. I am very off-beat and odd but I do want to have friends and the like....just not stellar at showing that...

Character I wish I could be:

I mean, this is D&D where awesome shit goes on all the time. So anyone I guess?