#riz means everything to me

[perfectlyzombiedmuffins]

Finally got to the quote and wanted to draw something for it

[let-me-sleep-or-die]

”yay Riz is so good at Stealth and IInvestigation!”

Riz can hide like no one else. He can basically become shadow the bitch can’t get lower than a 23 if he wants to disappear, he can. He doesn’t have to go away entirely, he can hide parts of himself away leaving the rest visible. He hides how stressed he is. He hides his fears, his sexuality, He hides how close he is to falling apart and almost (ALMOST) no one notices.

Riz is also naturally very good at finding g things. He can find people, find out secrets, he can figure out Mysteries a millennia old. He can knows how to find what people want hidden. Kristen’s not over Tracker, she’s not doing well, she’s worried about her god. He knows this and he’s trying to find a way to make it better, he’s running her campaign telling everyone he meets about ibis amazing friend Kristen who he knows is capable. Fig from taking no classes to three, she’s more stressed than she’s ever been, mostly because she’s actually trying for the first time so if she fails this time it might just mean she can’t do it. He knows that, he helps her with homework and lets her come with him to hunt down clues when they both need a distraction.

Gorgug is tearing himself apart, he’s trying to be two things and the world keeps telling him he’s not good enough for either. He’s doing four years of school in one term and the administration couldn’t care less. He is realizing his parents have parts of their lives he didn’t know about, His teacher doesn’t take him seriously and He’s still listening to his Girlfriends Exgirlfrinds playlist what, 6 months after they broke up? Riz knows this, he sees it. He helps Gorgug study, he makes sure he knows that Riz finds their friendship valuable, they have a joint birthday party, he takes his friend seriously.

Adaine is flat broke, she’s got a crappy job and an unfair schooling system. Her sister is only half taking care of herself, she can’t quite find the right answers. Riz sees it. He will always be there to help her research, always offer a second opinion. He knows how to make money stretch, he’s lived paycheck to paycheck. He can help her all she’s gotta do is ask.

Fabian is alone. He has his doors open all the time hoping someone will walk in and stay. He’s the captain of a team, Star of the school and subject to his fathers legacy. Riz has lived most of his life hoping to make a dad father proud, he knows the feeling. If the doors open, Riz will come, he will sit in a corner and work but he will be there. Any time Fabian feels like he may not be enough Riz is there to tell him he is the most amazing person he knows, and he means it.

Riz is watching is friends struggle, and streaching himself thin, taking on everything he can to maybe for just a second lessen their load. He can easily figure out when somethings wrong so when he does he puts his own life on the back burner. He’s mapped out every one of his friend’s academics. He’s managing a campaign, acting as a personal tutor, a member of every club in the school, a Star student and a damn good detective.

Hes burning himself alive and he’s so good at hiding, (almost) no one notices. If he takes on too much stress, it will literally kill him. I wonder if anyone would even know how much he was struggling.

“Oh Riz is really good at Deception and investigation, FUCK!”

[ellesdoodles]

A Riz who is “not slowing down because if he does, then that is when he will break down”.

A Riz that keeps pushing himself even though he has reached his breaking point days ago just because he doesn’t need rest.

A Riz that feels just a little bit good about himself when the day is over and the exhaustion washes over him in a bittersweet familiarity.

A Riz that doesn’t communicate how much his current situation is weighing on him because he doesn’t want to be a burden.

A Riz that takes stress points for his friends.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

love thinking kipperlilly spends her afterlife looking for lucy in a familiar forest

[rrat-king]

i’m writing pox rn and for a while i couldn’t figure out why i felt like it was so important for riz to be the one to want to stay with kristen, but i just a saw a tiktok about riz and how kristen cured him in the forest and dude. that’s it. she sacrificed herself for him, cured him without a second thought about it and dudes gotta have some residual guilt from that, so of course he’s gonna stay with her when she’s sick

[feelingtheaster99]

EXACTLY! I was just texting my friend that I do not know what I will do with myself without more bad kids content to look forward to

i love the bad kids forever btw. i can’t believe today is the last time we’ll watch them in action for the next who knows how long </3

[unbroken-teacup]

kristen healing riz means everything to me and reminds me of the nightmare forest a little too much, their friendship is so special

[thecutepoison]

This is very speculative, but I'm suspecting Kipperlily is using the Ethereal Plane to spy on the Bad Kids and if I'm right I might have figured how she got found out by the rogue teacher!

First, let me explain my paranoid thoughts about the spying. Since ep 3, we are aware that Kipperlily is hearing their conversations, even if we don't know for sure the extent of it. She, just like Riz, must have a crazy stealth modifier + reliable talent, however I don't think she's relying only on that.

So, there's a scene in ep 4 when the Bad Kids roll for perception to spot Kipperlily. Kristen casts See Invisibility and Fabian rolls a nat 20. Brennan describes, only to Fabian, that although he doesn't see Kipperlily, he feels the "twinge of some kind of sense". Very creepy. That implies that she's there but cannot be seen. She could be invisible, however I don't think that's the case because an invisible person could still be perceived through hearing or touch. Also, Kristen would have been able to see her because of the spell.

With that in mind, the paranoid goblin that lives inside my brain is convinced that she's using the Ethereal Plane to spy on the Bad Kids. The Border Ethereal is perfect for infiltration and spywork, since you pass through physical objects and watch everything in the material plane without ppl there perceiving you. There are a couple of ways to access the Ethereal Plane, with spells or items, but I have no ideia abt the specific method she might be using.

Her being in the ethereal plane explains why Fabian, with his nat 20, didn't notice any physical indicatives of Kipperlily but still felt a presence, like some sixth sense. Now, Adaine did use her Third Eye so she could see into the Ethereal Plane within 60 feet and still saw nothing. But that doesn't mean that Kipperlily isn't there since there's a very easy way to circumvent Adaine: Non detection. This is a third level spell that hides the target from divination magic - for 8 hours they "can’t be targeted by any divination magic or perceived through magical scrying sensors". The Rat Grinders, long time haters of the Bad Kids, are for sure aware that Adaine is a divination wizard, they would be fools to spy on the party without casting Non Detection first. She's the motherfucking elven oracle!

Okay, now about the rogue teacher. In ep 3, Siobhan theorizes the rogue professor is the ghost teacher. I think she's absolutely right! We know most teachers of Aguefort and even if the ghost one was among those we havent seen, the Bad Kids would probably have heard about them if they were teaching something like ranger class. It's plausible that the reason for the party having no ideia who they are and not even passing by them in the halls is that the ghost is the rogue professor. After all, no one knows who the hell they are, it's the whole point of their teaching method. And for a ghost it would be really easy to go undetected since they can travel through the Ethereal Plane, beside the insane stealth.

Indulge my conspiracy theories for a minute. Rogue professor = Ghost Teacher and Kipperlily can wander in the Ethereal Plane, the plane of ghosts. Even with the advantage of being on the same plane as the teacher, it would still be a nightmare to find them since they are a pro rogue. In fact, Kipperlily didn't achive that: the rogue teacher found her.

But how did she manage to have the professor find her? I'm sure it wasn't an accident, she's too calculating for that. So, I started thinking about what would I do in her place and came up with the stupidest ideia. It's utterly ridiculous. But it could totally work and the strategy seems kinda Kipperlily's style.

Remember the Ghost Steak? The one Fig tried to eat when she invaded the teacher's lounge in season one? It's the ghost teacher's lunch, and Brennan reestablished its existence in ep 3 when Adaine used Ethereal Sight, explaining that the school wards are porous enough to allow ethereal travel and other stuff.

So if I was Kipperlily, my dumbass plan would go as follows: invade the teacher's lounge through the ethereal plane and hide inside the fridge. It wouldn't be a problem for me since I'm intangible and can pass through stuff, plus the other professors wouldn't see me even if they opened the fridge. Inside, I wait as long as needed, until the Rogue/Ghost Teacher gets hungry. They finally open the fridge to grab their snack, only to find me looking at them from inside the fridge like a lunatic. Mission complete: got found by the rogue teacher and aced junior year!

It's so mundane and stupid and that makes me more convinced that's exactly what happened. It's too funny to not be true.

[thistlerock]

Bad Kids (partially shameless projection) queer identity headcanons be upon ye

Notable that I think culturally literally anything that is not human has different ideas of gender than us. Some are very close to the point it hardly matters in a discussion like this (like elves and dwarves. It's mostly the same but I do think most elves are what humans consider to be feminine because they have a different idea of masculinity ((grace)). Or like, most dwarves seem masculine to humans for the simple reason that they all tend to have beards. Stuff like that.), but the further away you get from being hey pretty close to what a human is (like orcs or goblins) the further you stray from human understanding of how things work.

What if being intersex is way more common in a race of people, the concept of gender immediately becomes either way looser and less important or important with completely different values. Also I work under the assumption that whatever counts as "humanoids" (which is a very human-centric term but I like to think that's just because our POV is from a language that is inherently human) is a mammal and will generally have two sexes. But like, there's organisms with more or less than that, and in a fantasy world there's absolutely societies of intelligent species with similar characteristics. Imagine a weird hand wave, not relevant to this specific discussion as the bad kids are all human-shaped but it's something I find interesting. What would gender be like in that society if they had it at all? Living somewhere where that concept isn't really a thing (or at least not a thing in the way we understand it to be) sounds kinda awesome.

That said. Solace is a society mostly shaped by human standards and everyone who lives there somewhat conforms to them; and anyone who grows up there is probably socialised accordingly. Also Gorgug is adopted and doesn't seem all that connected to his roots and Riz is a third gen immigrant who doesn't get to see his extended family all that much. What I'm saying is everything I just said hardly matters in the context of the Bad Kids. Yeah. I just wanted to say it. I'm. I'm autistic. Thanks for reading my word vomit you're a real one for sticking through this far here's what I actually wanted to say.

Kristen. Obviously a lesbian. she/her and calls herself a woman but ultimately doesn't really. Care that much? About gender? And would not mind being referred to with masculine terms, it's more a matter of being afab so that's what she's going with.

Adaine I think has experimented with she/they pronouns. Often times she feels like her perception of life goes far beyond whatever societal constructs influence the present and she does not feel particularly attached to the idea of womanhood. I think she's aro spec but probably allosexual? Develops interest in all that a bit later than her friends and even then it's not. The same. She thinks guys are attractive, maybe girls sometimes, but doesn't actually feel inclined to do anything about that? Isn't looking to get into relationships or anything but yeah.

Riz is aroace because yeah. Personally I think oriented aroace because Baron being masc-ish does mean something to me, so he doesn't necessarily say it / find it relevant for other people to know but Riz personally IDs as gay + aroace. He does think some guys are attractive he's just sex repulsed lmao. I think he's the flavour of aroace where he'd happily engage in deep emotional bonds he just really doesn't understand what the fuck romantic feelings are supposed to be and how it'd be different than just loving his best friend(s) truly so much and is discomforted by the societal expectations and restrictions around the concept of "dating". ALSO about gender he's a he and its whatever. Does not care. Gender apathetic in the way Kristen is.

Gorgug isn't particularly attached to any labels, I think. He just likes who he likes, which is several people sometimes because he's also polyam. I think his lax view of his own inherent queerness has a lot to do with how open (and also inherently queer) his parents are. He just never really thought about it. Hit puberty and started thinking guys are hot and went okay this is not in any way special I'm way more worried about my favourite emo band breaking up rn. The only reason he ever came out to his friends was because he asked them for advice on how to bring up that he's polyam with Zelda (who I think was super cool with that and honestly from what we know that might be culturally normal to her), he does not consider it to be particularly noteworthy. Gorgug is similarly not particularly concerned about gender. I think he goes by any pronouns but also doesn't bring that up unless someone asks because he truly does not care or think it's a big deal.

Fabian's entire general person-ness feels queer to me idk. Bisexual and polyamorous. Probably aro-spec but he needs more time to figure that one out. Exclusively finds himself interested in women who are taller than him, this has nothing to do with being queer I just wanted to note that. He's the only one of the Bad Kids where I want to confidently say yeah this is a he/him man and he feels both comfortable in and connected to his masculinity. He ventures into gender nonconformity (starts with painting his nails, then make up, maybe a skirt when he's chilling at mordred manor) more and more as he gets older and more comfortable, I think, but that kind of only reaffirms to him that he's a man and loves being a man? Idk lol. Also for the record this is nonconformity in the context of Solace. For (high-)elven standards he's not like hypermasc dude bro but he's a pretty "manly" guy. Fallinel is like twink nation idk what to tell you. Now whether he's cis or not is a different question, while I personally think he is I do make a little mental cheer every time someone makes him trans.

Fig. They/she/it. She struggles with the disconnect she feels between her and the girl she thought she was a lot and it sucks, but eventually it does lead them to reexamine how they see themself and their identity and stuff. I think she eventually comes to the conclusion that yeah she has some attachment to femininity but ultimately exists in a space beyond the binary. Which is cool. Idk what label Fig would use, if any at all, but maybe something loose like genderqueer.

I know it's very commonly accepted that she's bisexual but like. Honestly. I think that was comphet. I think Fig is a lesbian who had some of the most horrendous comphet imaginable. None of their interest in those (concerningly) older men was genuine and it was all pretending to be someone else to get something and she isn't even sure why she wants that something that she can't quite place. And even though it longs so badly for the validation and confirmation that it's fitting into whatever role it is Fig is trying to emulate, she doesn't ever actually dare to get "serious". That's not actually what she wants. Uncomfortable and deeply concerning desperation for sexuality from a teenage girl who probably isn't a girl and certainly isn't actually interested in any of the men she's pursuing, and is so scared of just having to exist as herself deep down is such a real experience and if d20 wasn't a comedy show this could be the most visceral arc.

[natjennie]

what's weird about the fantasy high drama is that like. it seems to me like people forget d&d is primarily a) a game you play with your friends and also b) luck based.

I mean it's fine to say that "nothing felt like a challenge" and "they just dominated everything and there weren't any stakes" but like. it's not as if they weren't up against huge threats. they lost the mall fight. the last stand was an onslaught of enemies. they fought a dozen dragons from an airship. the fights were hard. they're just really good. they've had very good dice luck in general this season and are all very high level and highly specialized. fig is gonna beat deception and performance checks. adaine's gonna figure out the arcana. riz is gonna succeed investigations. like. for some reason their strategical competence and wisely picked abilities are. a downside? a disappointment?

the thing about d&d that you need to remember is it's first and foremost a game. it's mostly random and it takes you down weird paths and you're playing to have fun with your friends. the dice are literally telling the story that it's their time, it's their year. they've struggled enough. they've trained enough. they're good at what they do. and in my post about the academic/domestic/personal stressors being the focus, d&d doesn't have any other system to work them out than rolling different skills. that's what d&d is. brennan set specific challenge levels for different tasks and the players strategized to prioritize which abilities they were strongest in. the challenges were there. and the players rose to them. they were both smart in their delegation of responsibilities and lucky with their dice rolls. of which, both are foundations of d&d.

don't mistake them being good players and getting lucky with there being no hardship. just because they smashed through the wall, that doesn't mean the wall wasn't strong. they were just stronger.

[blackcrystalball]

This was originally a reblog, but it felt important enough to me that I wanted to make it it's own post.

I have mentioned before how Fabian feels like a representation of some parts of the black experience, and Riz feels like another.

Riz has always felt black coded to me because of how much harder he has to work to be viewed as equal and worthy. How disrespected goblins are in the FH universe, I think about that pirate that threatened him while they were in leviathan all the time. Riz has to be perfect all the time because if he isn't, he'll be viewed as nothing. Everything he has ever done and all the work he has ever put into the things he loves will mean fucking nothing.

Watching Riz and Sklonda interact sometimes feels like watching conversations with elders in our community telling us that we can't be mediocre. We can't be anything but the best. We can't be messy, or scrappy, or frumpy, or unprepared, because every black individual is the face of the black community when we go out into the world.

We're not allowed to have awkward phases because it will make the community look bad. The amount of pressure we live under from the moment the world stops viewing us as kids, even before then honestly, is fucking immense and there is no room for slipups.

I relate to Riz so much and I headcaonned him and Sklonda as black from their first appearance because I saw myself and my own family in them.

I love DND so much because of the stories it allows us to tell, because of the experiences we get to share that people might not see otherwise. I just think that's really beautiful.

This is also the third time a white man has done a portrayal of a character that feels so fucking true to the black experience, without even trying and I think that's hilarious.

[cccakessslicemeee]

Not me immediately thinking about Fig and Riz's relationship and assuming that Fig is the friend who would have to ask "hey are you mad at me?" When she feels like she's done something wrong

In my head I'm thinking after the events of season 2 Fig starts to pull back a little bit from Riz because she feels like she's an asshole for having three cool dads and sisters and then a step brother and more family on the way...but Riz just has his mom. She's amazing and awesome but maybe fig feels like she's usurped Sklonda a little bit? Like damn she's got this big ass family and of course Riz is apart of it but is he mad at her? Is he jealous? She can't even blame him..his dad sounds cool as hell but they can't even see one another because they exist on different planes. Is she a bad friend? Is she ruining another family?

Riz notices the pull back and he's like fuck what did I do? And spirals as he do wondering wtf did he do wrong?

They avoid one another for a little bit but it's still civil until Fig is the first to break. She seeks him out because she has to know are you mad at me?

Fig is on her knees in tears because obviously he must hate her guts for being a piece of shit and sticking her horns in his family and smashing everything to bits. She can't help it, whoops she's really a demon after all. Just like Gilear said she was

Riz is baffled and immediately relieved Fig what the fuck? No I'm not mad at you? Why do you think that? Are you mad at me?

YOU SHOULD BE! IM THE WORST! I stole your mom right out from under you and she's like your whole goddamn world. Your only support. And I already have three dads but I'm greedy I guess and your mom is my mom too now and I don't want you to think that I'm trying to steal your family because I want you in my family too because you're a brother to me and I love you so much. You have to hate me. I'd hate me if I stole my dad's. Like I know it's different but if you dad stuff advice or whatever you can burrow one of mine ? Or all of them for awhile for whatever Gilear loves you almost as much as I do- fig is a blubbering snotty mess as she spills her guts to Riz about how horrible she thinks-no truly believes she's been. She nearly inconsolable leaving Riz speechless.

He's never felt like she's tried to take anything away from him. In fact she's added so much to his life and truly appreciates her friendship. She's so cool and fun and cares so much for their group it's staggering. He isn't so good with talking about his own feelings so he just hugs her and she melts into his chest probably getting snot and whatever all over his fancy clothing and then she has anxiety about that and he's like it's fine my entire wardrobe is the exact same outfit I really don't mind. (Even if it's kinda gross but he can shower it's cool.)

Fig probably says some weird shit about "I could pretend to be your dad and we can throw stones in the river" trying to be sentimental but it's so out of pocket and Riz politely declines. He assures her he's not mad and he's sorry she felt like that..he's not mad and their cool. About everything from day one and the possessed bit. They're all cool.

He knows in her own way she's just showing how much she truly, and deeply cares for him.

Maybe they get ice cream and for once Riz opens up a little bit.

The fucked up thing about beating Kalvaxus is, we won, we did what we were supposed to. Mom and I killed that bastard but my Dad still didn't come back home and there was never going to be a time where he could just... Come back and be here. I know he's okay in heaven doing what he does but...I don't know if saying this makes me selfish or not so I guess I'll just shut up...

Stop being so damn good all the Riz. It's your dad right? You should be selfish about wanting him here. That's so normal.

....I mean... Yeah I guess but he's doing stuff in heaven or hell? Or rather was? And now I'm doing stuff for him since I kinda fucked that up for him... I can talk to him when I find out anything useful for the mission-

That's kinda fucked up... He's your dad. Shouldn't you be able to talk to him whenever you want? Outside of some mission or whatever? Doesn't he want to talk to you?

Well yeah...of course. But I don't want to bother him when he's busy. He's doing important work

You don't think he thinks you're important?

Hard fucking silence

I know he loves me, you weren't there but when I saw him in heaven he opened up a door to the mortal plain for me and I could have just...jumped in at anytime but he asked me to stay and wanted to talk to me about everything. All the stuff I thought didn't matter because I already told him all the big important things at his grave. If he didn't want me there he would have thrown me out or no... He would have just let the devils do whatever...he. I blew his cover...I can't do that to him again he's doing important work.

You ARE important though.

I...yeah okay...thanks

I mean it

I know that

Do you? Do you really?

I have no reason to believe you'd lie to me. At least in this particular instance. So thank you Fig...for that.

Hey anytime. Also have you considered moving into the manor?

Fig. No. Im already there enough.

You should just move in!

And then they enjoy the rest of their day doing xyz

[superectojazzmage]

Watched the Nimona movie last night. Review I guess. It was pretty damn good. Definitely would’ve probably been regarded as Blue Sky’s magnum opus if they’d gotten to release it instead of being fucked over by Disney. Very cute, very funny, very powerful in the right moments. A thing that stuck out to me is that it’s really only an adaptation in the loosest sense of the word. It takes the core premise and beats of the comic but is functionally an entirely different kind of story that does its own thing. And given that ND Stevenson was heavily involved in production, I suspect that was intentional.

The comic was much darker and more downbeat in a lot of ways, plus it was significantly longer and thus could afford to be slower paced. But more than that, it was a lot more meaty in terms of themes and scope. The whole “LGBT allegory” element was there, but it wasn’t the sole focus, the comic was a story about a lot of different things; not just an LGBT experience, but also discussion of fantasy genre tropes and clichés, criticism of other fantasy deconstructions, character study, exploring what it means to be a hero or villain, critique of the glorification of crime and cruelty in underprivileged communities, corruption in governments, peer pressure, the senseless and self-perpetuating nature of violence, the worthlessness of revenge, etc.. And above all that, it was a story about trauma and people’s responses to it, with Ballister representing people who actually deal with their problems and move on while Nimona represented people who let their mistakes and suffering and grief consume their identity, or worse, use it as an excuse to indulge their worst qualities and take out their feelings on everyone around them.

The movie, by contrast, has a much more narrow focus. The LGBT allegory is front and center and basically the entire focal point of the movie, aside from a spattering of themes about the danger of zealotry and rigid fundamentalist thinking. This gives the movie a much tighter narrative and pacing that suits its inherently shorter runtime, but also leads to a ton of changes to the story either to convey a different kind of message or just work better in a different medium. Most obviously in how Nimona is vastly more sympathetic in the movie and essentially really is the silly gremlin the comic fakes you out into thinking she is, scrapping the comic’s twist that she was a genuinely bad person who was completely serious about wanting to be a villain, caring nothing for the lives she destroyed with her behavior and idolizing Ballister because she thought he was the same as her and would thus tell her what she wanted to hear (i.e., that she was justified in killing and destroying everything around her in the name of getting even). And in the changes to the Institution’s history and nature. And all sorts of other things.

All in all, I feel if you go in comparing and contrasting the movie and the comic, arguing which changes are for the better or worse, you’ll be setting yourself up for disappointment in either direction because they’re two different beasts and it’s like comparing apples and oranges. So keep that in mind if you’re a fan of the comic watching the movie or a fan of the movie wanting to look into the comic. I think ultimately I still like the comic better, but that’s purely my personal opinion and there’s plenty that I think the movie did better.

Some other observations:

Riz Ahmed my beloved, thank you Mr. Stevenson for this perfect casting. Literally perfect for Ballister.

Acting in general was very good. You can tell this was a passion project for a lot of people, not just Stevenson.

Only two changes that are objectively bad are Ambrosius losing his awesome Van Halen hairdo and changing Ballister’s last name — Blackheart is a way cooler name than Boldheart and it’s a pointless change, one that I’d argue even hurts the narrative since it makes it too obvious that Ballister isn’t actually a bad guy.

The animation is really great with fantastic expressions, stylish movement, and wonderful aesthetics that perfectly suit the story, but there’s times where it feels a little off. But there are parts where it looks less “movie” and more “cheap mid-2000s CGI-and-Flash cartoon show from France”.

The humor can be a hit and miss, in a “going through the motions of a Hollywood animated comedy for kids” way. The movie excels when it’s either imitating the comic’s Old Internet sense of humor or going hard on the drama, but there’s bits where it seemingly slams on the brakes to do Illumination-esque Twitter humor and those bits definitely throw off the vibe.

Having an actual straight up attempted suicide in the climax was shockingly ballsy. I genuinely can’t believe they went there, but I’m glad they did because the film wouldn’t have felt nearly as raw without it.

I don’t know how they managed to make the Director even more of an asshole than in the comics, but they did.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

soon it'll be dawn again

transcript under the cut ⏬

page 01

Fig: no way? - you're still up?

Riz: Wh– yes?

Riz: Why'd I not be.

page 02

Fig: I me~~ean - that took.

Fig: whole day.

Riz: Yeah?

Fig: 'm beat.

Riz: you should sleep.

page 03

Fig: nah. my guy's still up

Fig: I wanna hang out.

page 04

Riz: That's really nice.

Fig: Hah! - Nobody ever expects an Archdevil rockstar to be nice.

Riz: … yeah. - 's just budget work tho. (the stuff I'm working on) - I've heard it's boring.

page 05

Fig: yeah, but you do it…

Riz: It keeps things going, right? - Nothing happens if nobody sits down and - does the thing.

Fig: That's right… - though. Yeah.

page 06

Fig: sometimes it's someone else who - doesn't want the same thing to happen.

Riz: … - mm.

page 07

Riz (off screen): …It took me a long time to get that not everyone likes doing what I do. - 's probably because you guys are so nice– - or. - kind.

Riz (off screen): to anyone too, not just. - the people you /love/.

page 08

Riz: that's not how it is elsewhere. - The world's– not. hostile. - but 's not like it's kind.

Riz: So I'm doing as much as I can now… 

page 09

Fig: Hey.

Riz: ?

Fig: Go dig some dirt with me.

page 10

Riz: [blank speech bubble] - oh you meant like - actual dirt. (not incriminating information)

Fig: o yea.

Fig: there's clay in the backyard soil. - sometimes when I'm sun deficient or something I go touch dirt for a bit.

page 11

Fig: here u go

page 12

Riz: uh

Fig: now we make a thing! - 'm pretty good at freehanding a bowl.

Fig: I'll show u

page 13

Fig: just– yep, flatten that out as evenly as u can, then–! - actually ur nails'd be so good at cutting out the strip. [larger than usual space] wait. - wait. wait u can carve patterns with them! we HAVE to try

Riz: uh - What. do I carve?

Fig: anything!!!

page 14

Fig: and– yep just seal the inside uh. seam?

Fig: yep that works - okay time's up! all contestant hands up

Riz: [blank speech bubble] - okay - wh. what's next?

Fig: haha - watch this.

(sound effect text): FWOO—MP

page 15

Riz: WH– DON'T JUST DO THAT???

Fig: Now it's fired!

Riz: THAT WAS NOT SAFE

Fig: (actually it's just dry. if u add water rn it'll dissolve)

Fig: ok catch!

Riz: [blank speech bubble] - careful!!

Fig: dw no need haha

page 16

Riz (thought bubble): oh - it's warm…

Fig: now I want you to throw this.

page 17

Fig: u gotta do it - c'mon

page 18

Riz: wh– - It's like 3AM right now

Fig: oh it's not /fired/ fired it's not gonna make a loud noise

Riz: And then just? leave a pile out here?

Fig: pour water over it & it'll be gone I told u

Riz: but

page 19

Fig (off screen): RIz.

page 20

Fig: I've done all this before.

Fig: Can you trust that at least?

page 21

Riz: no, I– - I do. - I trust you.

page 23

Riz: okay what happens now

(sound effect text): glob

page 24

Fig: we do it again!

page 25

Riz: wh. [larger than usual space] What do you mean. (this clay's too wet also)

Fig: see! you're already learning

Fig: [blank speech bubble] - there are flows that are futile to fight. - The world changes.

Fig: Things change.

page 26

Fig: I've learned my lessons with "forevers". - But - as an artist

Fig: I can give you one thing: - You can always do it again.

page 27

Fig: most of everything depends on the rest of the world, - but this. - making new. - that's yours as long as you want it.

page 28

Fig: So?

page 29

Riz: Yeah. - Yeah! - let's make another one.

[ayda-the-wizard]

What is your favourite memory with each of your friends?

This is hard because every memory is worthy of being my favorite. Before I met them I could have imagined having so many to cherish.

Meeting Adaine is my favorite with her. She was my first friend and didn’t care about how hard I am to be around. Without that, I would not be as happy as I am now. She is the best friend I could have asked for, not that I could have began imagine one as good as her.

Every time I kiss Fig it is my new favorite memory with her. It’s like I am reliving our first kiss each time. I am incredibly lucky to have had her see something in me worth being with.

Fabian tried to teach me to dance once. I was not well coordinated. The sheets he had my practice with kept burning. He didn’t get angry with me for not understanding or burning them. He laughed and kept going. Seeing him dance is incredible.

Gorgug made me flame-proof headphones. He needed me around in order to test prototypes, so I studied multiple spells while he worked. We did not speak, but it was not uncomfortable. It was nice.

I helped Riz with a conspiracy board of his. I enjoyed doing the thorough researched required for it with him. We spent a day and a half searching the Compass Points for everything we could connect to his work, then analyzed it all.

Kristen took me on a ‘girls night’ around Elmville. I do not usually like bar crawling or parties, but she made sure to take me to places that were bearable. It was an experience I would never had gotten on Leviathan, especially as I did not attend highschool, and it involved what I have learned are typical high school activities. I am still grateful to her for giving me that in a way I enjoyed.

These are my favorite memories, but that does not mean that I do not have more I value a lot. All the time I spend with them is more valuable to me than I am able to express.

[operationslipperypuppet]

What are your thoughts on fabian and riz's friendship dynamic? I love them sm :')

oh man they’re so fun

Fabian does consider Riz to be his best friend but isn’t as good at articulating that as all his other friends are so he doesn’t really say it. But the rare occasions he does mean a lot to Riz.

As much as the Hangman openly hates when Riz rides on him, I think Fabian goes out of his way to drive past Riz’s office on the way to school and gives himself enough time to go in and drag Riz out if he sees the light is still on. Because he knows Riz hates missing school despite how close he comes to it almost daily.

Since everything that happened on Leviathan, Riz will most often attack an enemy that Fabian is in melee with. He’s still dealing with the guilt of not being there to help Fabian when he needed help the most so he unconsciously (or consciously, I’m not sure) attempts to do that every chance he gets.

They do still use the chat that’s just them and Gorgug that they made for the first time in Boys’ Night. Mostly it’s Fabian saying “Riz could you please explain to me what the fuck Adaine is talking about when you get a chance. I stopped listening for a second and now I’m baffled.” But they do have an insane meme “competition” going where they will send memes (usually edited to be about their specific situations) back and forth and whichever ones Gorgug interacts with are winners. Gorgug is unaware of this rule.