#what IS it with Liam and the mlm characters??????

[oddthesungod]

sliding in huffing and puffing as i catch up to ep17 of campaign 3 like: ORYM HAD A HUSBAND???????????? LETS GO MLM KING LETS GO???????????

[utilitycaster]

I was asked by several people to elaborate on why I thought people hated Essek and specifically treated him as some spontaneous disruption rather than a choice driven by cast members, and so here it is.

An overarching theme is this: Matt, the creator of Exandria and DM for Critical Role, created Essek. The entire cast of Critical Role likes him. Liam O'Brien, as Caleb, chose to romance him. Now, none of this prevents you from disliking him, but I think people pile their hate on Essek because they don't want to admit they are upset with choices the cast members have made. (For what it's worth, this is why I think it's healthy to be able to express that you are frustrated with a cast member's character choices or with developments in the campaign or creative choices generally, and treating expressions of dislike as taboo or worse, inherently problematic, ultimately makes for a far more toxic fandom than one in which people can comfortably say "I don't like this"). Essek is an NPC, and as the post that led me to write this up states, he is a character who represents Matt's narrative decisions and the cast's choices in Campaign 2. To be mad at him is to be mad at a puppet because for whatever reason you are unwilling to admit a dislike for what the puppeteer is doing.

Now: why Essek specifically?

People who shipped Caleb with Jester do this a lot. I'll admit to my own biases re the C2 ships but I do reject this being pure fanwank because people who shipped other Caleb ships and were still around in the late campaign either mostly acted like adults, or just kind of threw Essek into the mix. The thing really is that a lot of people who shipped Caleb and Jester are very big fans of Liam specifically, and Liam and Laura's dynamic, and are loathe to say that Liam decided not to have Caleb significantly pursue the relationship; that Laura chose to have Jester act utterly unaware of the relationship; and that Liam decided, instead of having Caleb pine endlessly, to pursue another potential romantic interest. I also suspect that some abuse of power in specific fandom spaces gave people false hope and inflamed resentment. A lot of these people also hate on Fjord but tend to be quieter about that because it's harder to pretend a PC isn't deeply tied to a cast member.

There is a subset of fans who treat mlm ships and wlw ships (or male and female characters) as locked in some kind of zero sum game in which the existence of one dims the light of the other. This is preposterous. I cannot imagine a more wretched and unhappy fandom experience than miserably tallying up fics and art and judging success not by quality and enjoyment of what content there is but rather whether there's more for your ship or more for other ships. I have joked that when my favorite character is popular I enjoy that they're popular, and when they're not, I enjoy that I clearly have refined and superior taste and I recommend others adopt this mentality. I also have half-joked that it would be fascinating to do a survey tallying the quantity of posts complaining about, say, Caleb and Essek's relationship someone has made, vs. how many posts they've made about (for example) Beau and Yasha's relationship, because a lot of the time the energy spent complaining, or worse, harassing others over their preferences could have addressed the problem had it instead been devoted to creating fanworks for your ship of choice.

Also very generally, while it's true that there's no shortage of annoying fans of Essek, I promise, there's no shortage of annoying and shitty fans of basically every character and ship including the ones you like.

For his appearance in Campaign 3 specifically, I think people are blaming Essek for the fact that this is the Chickens Coming Home to Roost, Avengers Assemble campaign. If you take issue with the characters of Bells Hells being overshadowed by those from past campaigns, the time to make that complaint was when Laudna and Orym showed up as PCs with strong ties to Delilah and Keyleth, or at the very least when Keyleth was brought in as a ringer to help resurrect Laudna (and, as someone who did make those complaints at the time and has since accepted this is the Past Campaigns Campaign...this has not been the case). Multiple party members (as played by cast members) expressed interest and excitement in Aeor before Essek (even as Seth) was mentioned. Bells Hells (as played by the Critical Role cast) want to go to Aeor. You do not have to like it, but this is not Essek's fault, as he is an NPC as part of the story driven by the cast's choices.

I've said this before but it bears nonstop repeating: when the CR cast says it's their table, it does not mean "it's their table and above criticism." It means "they are making the choices they make to play a game that they will enjoy." You can and should say that you're not enjoying it. It won't change what they do, but you'll feel better. But Essek isn't a real person with real agency. If his appearance is upsetting you, you need to attribute that to Matt's choices and decide if this campaign is still something you wish to watch and if this fandom is still something in which you wish to participate. Acting like Essek is some kind of horrible natural disaster ruining your lovely picnic and not a very deliberate choice by Matt is a transparently absurd denial of reality.

[captainofthetidesbreath]

This is a genuine question, but idk if I just follow good people or don't scroll through the critrole tag enough, but where are you finding biphobia? Or I guess, if I could phrase it another way, in regards to what are people being biphobic? I'm not looking to start shit, I just haven't seen any or am horrifyingly ignorant on how it's presented

I just open the tags or, more often, finding a blog that was reblogged by a blog in my activity. Stuff that I've seen this month alone have included:

referred to Chet, who has flirted with people who are not women on multiple occasions, as the token straight

insisted that Imogen and Laudna are specifically lesbians / assumed that Imogen and Laudna are, by default, lesbians — some people get real aggressive if you mention interpreting Imogen or Laudna as bisexual but a lot of it is subtler than that

surprised that a woman who is married to a man can roleplay a woman who is pining for a woman in a meaningful way, as if the two are exclusive to one another

acted like Laura has never played a queer character before when Vex is bisexual

dismissed Vex as not counting bc she ultimately married a man

"joked" that Fearne is wasted on men

referred to Fearne as a lesbian (this is uncommon, but it usually happens in "jokes")

referred to Allura as a lesbian

refused to count Liam as playing a queer PC every campaign

This is not even the most egregious stuff historically, but this is some of what I've seen in the past month.

The biphobia problem is recurrent in this space—just as it's recurrent in any other space I've been in. A lot of it is outright dismissal of queer characters when they're attracted to other genders or downplaying that attraction, acting like that attraction is not as important, or even erasing that attraction to other genders. There's a lot of diminishing characters who are attracted to other genders as being not as important or as good / shiny / meaningful, sometimes outright dismissing them as not counting or framing them as placeholders for "more real" queer characters. The idea that wlw are by default lesbians and mlm are by default gay men is a big but subtle one. That's all just to name a few things.

A lot of it is more indirect than people expect, but it is pervasive in most fandom spaces, and this fandom space is no exception despite the number of bisexual characters.

[thotpuppy]

✨Bidding Now Open!✨

I'm a bit late in making a promo post, but I just wanted to share with you that I'm offering both a Teen Wolf fanfic AND any fandom fanart for @fandomtrumpshate this year! It's my first year participating. I think it's a really cool project, and I'm really happy to be a part of it. (:

My Offers:

(long post including art examples)

DoughritoArt Auction #1 (^ click to see listing!) Organizations this auction benefits: Bidder's choice of any of the listed groups (See full list.) Type of fanwork: Fan art Subtype(s): Banner, Book cover, Drawing/painting/etc., Photo manip Fandom(s): Any Length/scope: Minimum bid is $10 for simple edit, eBook cover, or plain illustration. $20+ full book layout or more complex illustration. $40+ willing to do complex painterly illustrations. Basically, the more you donate, the more complex and detailed the result. Fan art details: High Resolution/print quality Illustration, Banner, or Book Cover. Willing to do full sleeve book cover (Cover, Spine, and Back [including text]) as well. Comfortable with Edits or Illustration, capable of using commercial use assets, happy to discuss specifics. Especially interested in: I am particularly fond of stories involving queer romance, trans characters, and occult imagery. I am fond of both historical and modern fantasy. I really enjoy working with Original stories, but I also like 'underrepresented' fandoms, older fandoms, and superhero media. Unwilling to address: No extreme gore (i.e. Splatterpunk), no graphic horror (mild horror is okay), not super fond of extreme musculature. Struggle with illustrating of anthropomorphism, mecha/machinery, scantily clad/nude women. Other notes: I would like to have a very direct communication with the bidder. I want to make sure I am able to tailor your art to exactly what you want. I would like a lot of input at the initial stage, so I have a good idea of what direction to go (i.e. illustration vs edit and what subject matter), and I would like feedback when presented with multiple options. Special interests: Poly ships, Canonically trans or nonbinary characters, Trans or nonbinary interpretations of canon characters

ThePurebloodPrat Auction #1 (^ click to see listing!) Organizations this auction benefits: Bidder's choice of any of the listed groups (See full list.) Type of fanwork: Written fanwork Subtype(s): fan fiction (new) Fandom(s): Teen Wolf Highest rating: E Length/scope: Depends how much the bidder contributes. Bidding starts at $5 for 2k+ words. Every $5 adds 5k words, i.e. $10 = 7k, $15=12k. Maximum word count minimum is 25k. Minimum Bid: $5 Especially interested in: I am most interested in Sterek, Stackson, Scallison+Stiles, Jydia+Stiles, or other main MLM pairings. I am very open to poly ships. I enjoy some dark themes, but typically prefer to write main pairings in healthier relationships while the dark elements are external in longer plotfics, I don't mind the main pairing featuring dark themes from a kink-oriented perspective. (i.e. if you'd like 5k of a character getting nonconned, I'm cool, but 20k of yandere!character stalking their partner, I am less cool.) I enjoy transmasc characters. fave tropes: creature!Stiles (werewolf, raven shifter, vampire, otherwise supernatural), magic!Stiles, mpreg, Omegaverse, canon divergent, med.fantasy, college au fave characters: Stiles, Derek, Jackson, Lydia, Peter, Erica, Isaac, Allison, Scott, Parrish, Finstock, Sheriff, Boyd, Liam, Corey, Danny I enjoy writing complicated people and complex relationships. I enjoy creative world building. I tend to write very introspectively. Noncon, underage: OK Unwilling to address: Not super into Bad!characters, but willing within reason. No Scat, no bugs, no necrophilia, no Major Character Death, no genderbending. Less extreme, I am less fond of: All human/no wolves AU, Post Apocalyptic AU, Time travel Other notes: I would like to have a consistent communicative relationship. I tend to go weeks without working on something and then binge write a whole huge chunk at once. I would love to be able to shoot a few ideas at you randomly and have you respond in a day or two, to make sure you like the direction I'm going. Special interests: Poly ships, Trans or nonbinary interpretations of canon characters

Here are a few examples of cover art and illustrations I've done:

[slytherinnbitch]

Okay yes the movie was great! I agree. But why is no one talking about so many missing characters???????? Where is June? I NEED HER. ONE ELDER SISTER AINT ENOUGH I NEED BKTH IF THEM TO BE FULLY FUNCTIONAL.

That being said, where is Henry's mom? She was supposed to take stand and how did the QUEEN BITCH OF ENGLAND suddenly turn into a King? Who idk sorta resigned to the fact that nothing can stop Henry even though he kept trying? Like where is that cruelty and hatred and disgust? Where is the dinner and Bea spilling juice? On Phillip and making him leave?

Also Ellen is shown to be happily married to Oscar? I mean WHAT????? Also where is my trophy husband Leo? I want him 😭😭😭😭😭

So many scenes are missing and I get it that it can't be all like the book but still.

Alex knowing he is bi?????? Where is his gay crisis? I wanted panic where is panic 😭😭😭😭😭 He just had two mlm relations and what?? My baby was supposed to panic!!!!!

Where is Liam and Luna???? I love Luna, man. And who is this Miguel and why? Why is he the one to post everything, it was the RICHARDS.

The movie was amazing, it had all the main moments, of Paris, of the museum, of Austin (altho it was supposed to be the middle of the night) and what not. And Ellen winning election teared me up just like always. I am just so sad that it wasn't what it was hyped up to be.

Also idk they just shat on the history, huh? Moment and really all I wanna do is crib all night long, which is unfortunate because no one here is into rwrb!!!!!!!!

[bluedalahorse]

So I wrote a little something about the RWRB movie, particularly the erasure or diminishing of some other queer characters’ (not Alex or Henry’s) identities. I’m cutting it so you don’t have to read it, but of course you can if you would like to. Not going to tag it for now, just for peace of mind.

So overall, there were parts of the movie I found charming and enjoyable, and I think things really picked up in the second half. I did find the whole thing kind of uneven on a writing level. I know changes have to be made and things have to be cut when you go from a novel to a two-hour movie, and I sort of like looking at how the adaptation process works. After a second watch I can probably pin down some of the writing issues and appreciate what did work. I don’t know if I will or won’t post about it.

Really, right now, the thing on my heart that I want to discuss, is the representation issue.

I actually think they did a good job representing Alex and Henry’s relationship mlm onscreen, once it got going. The tender moments were tender, the spicy moments were spicy. You didn’t get actors looking at one another like “oh god I have to be in love with a man now” and we didn’t cut away from the intimacy scenes like we were ashamed of them.

But—sigh. The way they cut or diminished every other queer character in the story. Obviously I knew Luna and Liam had been cut out, so I was ready to adjust my expectations there. I’m glad Amy was played by a trans actress, although I also wish we like… knew Amy was trans and sapphic? Maybe there was a line about Amy’s wife that I missed, but I don’t remember one. 

My biggest feelings of frustration, though, is how they handled Nora, who is very much bisexual and Jewish and a statistical analysis nerd. I get combining Nora and June to streamline things for the movie, but I do not understand why you wouldn’t make Nora bi? You can keep roughly the same number of scenes with her and Alex, and just rewrite their interactions to sound like two queer friends talking instead of a protagonist and his Black Best Friend archetype the protagonist says things to because he needs to say his internal monologue externally. Rachel Hilson did bring great energy to the role, so I liked seeing her onscreen. I just wish the script gave her more to work with and didn’t erase her bisexuality. Like there’s a certain audacity to the script saying that the B in LGBTQ isn’t silent (an important line to have!) when the film is either very much silent about a key character’s bisexuality or has written it out completely.

(Although, the part where Nora was obviously playing a drinking game over political debates? Loved that, excellent example of DC behavior right there, I did cheer at that scene. I am 100% serious.)

Also. There’s just… something. About implying that the gay Mexican journalist character was the one who leaked the emails, instead of the Republican Party. There’s something about writing that storyline in an America where gay people, Mexicans, and ~the media~ are regularly demonized. At a time when the actual Republican Party IRL is literally out here trying to do a genocide on trans people, and Florida’s Don’t Say Gay ban is on the books, and everything. I get that Prime was probably trying not to piss off the actual GOP and draw their ire, but like, conservatives are not going to watch this or like this anyway? I get changing the antagonists, maybe, but maybe we need to go in another direction with that. Hm.

One more thought, as far as overall vibe. Washington DC is statistically the city in America with the highest LGBTQIA+ population. Queer rights are visible in our city’s culture—maybe in a nerdier way than some of the more “hip” US cities but it’s still there if you know where to look. The West Wing/federal government are a bit removed from DC’s broader culture, depending on the administration, but Ellen Claremont is a liberal Democrat with a diverse staff, so she’s more likely to have an open relationship to DC’s queer culture than say, a conservative Republican president. So… idk. Let Alex move through scenes that reflect this culture, is what I’m saying.

Tl;dr I think the RWRB movie worked as a gay romcom in the Netflix Christmas movie sense. It reflected an mlm relationship and did it well enough. At the same time, Casey McQuiston writes books about queer community, which has always been one of the reasons I gravitate toward their work and come back to it. I feel like this movie chose queer individualism over queer community, and that makes me sad. It especially makes me sad in a time where we’re getting tons of mlm-themed things released but every other aspect of LGBTQIA+ identity has been ignored or diminished.

For comparison, RWRB is about the length of half a season of Heartstopper, and even half a season of Heartstopper depicts a range of LGBTQIA+ identities and knows how to write queer community, even when centering the story on a main mlm relationship. And yes, Heartstopper is different, different things need to be considered and so on. I do think the People Who Make Heartstopper looked at what the comic said, went “oh, one of the things this comic is about is about is queer community” and created a show that reflected that, even if they couldn’t adapt everything from the comic. I wish the People Who Make RWRB had looked at Casey’s book and done the same.

I hope we can simultaneously hold the competing truths that like, 1. it’s okay if the RWRB movie isn’t groundbreaking art, because some LGBTQIA+ movies are just allowed to be mid romcoms, but also 2. it didn’t do right by the queer community themes in the book, and it erased the queer women especially, and this feels like part of a larger pattern when so many mlm releases are happening all at once.

Anyway I’m done, for now. More thoughts later? I mean who knows.

Who’s looking forward to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe?

[anonself]

Jamie’s important stuff

Hi, I’m Jamie/Maxie/Liam! I run two other accounts (that I’m not really active on) @anonsleap (for danganronpa fans) and @anonslash (for MLM slasher fans) also @anonswires but that’s an objectum/suggestive blog so mdni also I genuinely could not give less of a fuck what you think abt objectums do not bring discourse to me

I might write some requests here but only for f/o’s of mine and mostly for male readers. I won’t write nsfw and that’s pretty much my only rule for requests.

Also feel free to gush about your F/O’s and self inserts to me! I’m also fine with sharing most f/os (except for ships with other canon characters with a few exceptions)

Racists, terfs, zionists, homophobes, ableists, maps, true crime fandom, queer exclusionists dni.

Blue hair and pronounce:

https://en.pronouns.page/@Anonself

My main f/o’s:

(Any two characters on the same line is usually a polyship, ship tags are in italic, but some I don’t have yet)

Eddie Gluskin (Outlast) | Bug selfships: Lovesick Grooms

Val (Outlast 2) | Bug selfships: Your body my temple

Amanda Young (Saw) | Bug selfships: make your choice

Dwight Fairfield (Dead By Daylight) | Bug selfships: Love me normally

Morgan Banks (Outlast Trials OC) | Bug selfships: Rattlesnake

Kantera (End Roll)

Dogma Toscarina (End Roll) | Bug Selfships: The Garden

Tabasa McNeil (End Roll)

Dale Vandermeer (Rusty Lake)

Also !! I have a carrd now! Everyone else is in here it’s a long ass list and very ugly

https://jamieselfship.carrd.co/

[ratsetflummi]

Hey I'm just a rando in the ship war trenches! I've never met anyone who simultaneously hates Caleb and loves Essek. I'm so curious what your perspective and opinion of Caleb is as a character, genuinely, this is not some bizarre and pointless argument fuel. Thanks for your time if you answer, and happy ship warring ⚔️

honestly there's various reasons that come together for me to not particularly care for caleb, and none of them are really directly caleb's fault

one thing is that i just generally do not vibe with liam's characters. which is weird, because i am perfectly fine with liam himself, but there is something about the way he plays his d&d characters that i just don't enjoy watching

another thing is that i'm kind of resentful about shipping stuff from campaign one, where i was pretty invested in the vax/gilmore ship that liam decided against, but now suddenly he can go for the mlm ship

there is also the in-game situation where for a bit it looked like caleb was trying to lead essek on to get favours out of him, and as an essek stan i have to condemn that

then there is the part where essek kind of made some comments that made it sound like he could be aroace, and that was the first time i was excited for a character to be aroace, and then caleb had to start dating him, ruining that headcanon

and lastly i generally enjoy essek's interactions with all of the mighty nein (particularly jester because of sending shenanigans), and it kinda feels like caleb keeps butting in, like we would have gotten more interactions between essek and other characters if they hadn't been going down the shipping route (which probably isn't true, but feelings are rarely objective)

so, in summary, i kinda dislike caleb for very subjective and petty reasons, some of which are specifically because i like essek

[imhidingonceagain]

I find it very funny when thiam fans write in fanfiction that Theo is a lot taller than Liam when in reality they're like 2 inches apart.

And you know what? I like that there's not much difference between them. I like how they can easily change their dynamic and be vulnerable in front of each other. Sometimes Theo protects Liam, sometimes Liam protects Theo. Of course they have their issues but they don't seem to have an unhealthy dynamic either in fanon or canon like other Teen wolf ships do (not gonna name them).

I need to clarify:

I don't necessarily believe that one character being much more taller than their partner brings necessarily an unhealthy dynamic, but after reading fanfiction for about ten years I've found that a lot of people highlight size difference (not all people and if you're not one of them please know that I'm not talking about you) usually in two scenarios that have nothing to do with appearance: When they have a couple where there's clear toxicity/violence/power imbalance.

Or to feminize the smaller/younger character in mlm ships (nothing wrong with femininity but I feel like they do it so the same sex couple fits heteronormative roles).

Most of the time I think writers don't even notice they are doing it.

Again. It's not the case all of the time. Some people find it cute and that's all (I myself am a fan of some ships where there's a size difference) but it weirds me out (and it's very obvious) when people use it for reasons that have clear violent or sexist roots (that writers end up romanticizing)

I like that Theo and Liam are basically the same size. I like that there's not a big age gap between them. I like that they both have personal issues that are different but somehow those issues allow them both to understand and rely on each other.

I respect if you headcanon Liam being much smaller than Theo, I just hope you're not thinking about him in that way for the two reasons I explained before. If you headcanon that just because you find it cute that's totally fine <3

Ps; English is not my first language, sorry if I didn't make sense.

[queer-and-dear-books]

Title: You’ve Reached Sam

Author: Dustin Thao

Genre: YA Fiction | Romance | Friendship | Drama | (Low) Fantasy | LGBTQ+

Content Warnings: Death | Racism

Overall Rating: 9.9/10

Personal Opinion: There are a lot of books out there that start with a significant character already being dead. Whether it be a sibling, a parent, or a lover. They leave an impact on those the left behind and it colors the entire story. I’ve read a lot of those books and a lot of times, I wish I got closure. Answers to questions that were left behind. In this book, I get that and I love it. Sam Obayashi is dead, but that doesn’t mean he can’t give closure to the ones he left behind. The ones that loved him and the one that can’t seem to let him go. Not yet.

Do I Own This Book? No but I will one day.

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- I really enjoyed this story on a lot of levels. It’s such a real and heartbreaking look into grief and moving on from the person you loved more than anyone else in the world. And unlike in The Ghosts We Keep, we get some closure from the person that died too. Sam was able to say his goodbyes and make amends to those that he hurt by leaving. He allowed his girlfriend more time to absolve her guilt, he made his cousin Mika realize that people won’t ever forget him, and he was able to tell his brother James that he didn’t mean it when he said he hated him. Obviously, when a person dies in real life, we can’t get that closure. But I think we got to see it in Oliver. He was devastated by his best friend’s death but he grew from it too. He embraced his identity more and became friends with the girl he once envied. There are such good characters and such good friends in this book and that’s what I look for above all else in a story. Good characters.

- Yuki is such a good friend for giving that crystal to Julie and telling her she doesn’t need to let go. Tristan is such a good friend for inviting Julie to the film festival and connecting her to an amazing professor at the school she wants to work at. Mika is a good friend for just beating the shit out of men who harass teenagers and bullies that tarnish Sam’s memory. And Oliver is a good friend for being by Julie’s side when she came back to school and felt isolated. He, Jay, and Rachel all did that.

- Honestly, the bond that had blossomed between Oliver and Julie is one of my favorite things. I think she was the first person he came out to since it sounds like he was too afraid of losing Sam by coming out. And I love that Julie wasn’t the least bit surprised by his confession. It was so obvious. He said only she understood how broken he felt, he remembered the way Sam had smelt, he tried to be with Sam as much as possible without Julie. It would’ve been so easy for him to blame Julie for what happened like Taylor and Liam did but he didn’t. It’s a testament to the fact that he truly loved and understood Sam and how he felt about Julie. And it’s a testament to the fact that he’d been Sam’s best friend and not Taylor. 

- Also the fact that Oliver and Jay are apparently implied to be together is so cute! Jay is a Thai guy who modeled so obviously, he’s hot. He also cares about the environment and he stood up to Liam when he was being racist. The guy is an A+ hottie in my book and I love that he’s MLM! And the fact that Julie teased Oliver for wearing extra cologne and buying a new shirt before his date with Jay is perfect best friend banter! She even told him to tell her everything later that evening. That’s so cute!

- Another of my favorite scenes was when Oliver said that ice cream would be on him and offered to buy Julie two scoops and then it immediately cut to the ice cream shop where Julie proceeded to order three scoops and a fuck ton of toppings. Boss move. Seriously though, I love their friendship. I love their mutual love of musicals and their mutual love of Sam. But most of all, I love how they were able to grieve together even if Julie wasn’t doing it in quite the same way as he was.

- Julie tripped a lot through the book. The first chapter really made it hard to like her but I get it, she was depressed and lonely. But I love that she tried so hard to amend things with the people she hurt. I love how she wanted to spend dinners with her mom when her mom pointed out how little they hung out recently. I love that she decided to tell Mika about her phone calls with Sam because it was definitely the best choice in that situation. I love how she wanted to make things right for Mr. Lee and realized that her jealousy of Tristan’s success was unproductive to her own growth. She learned and grew and I respect the hell out of that. Especially when she got the courage to say goodbye to Sam. The way he left a voicemail for her too in the end just about made me sob.

- Mr. Lee is the best. He’s an enigma. He talks to the books, he’s so kind and patient to his employees, he snuck into the film festival’s after party somehow which I think is hilarious. I just like picturing an older Chinese gentleman living a simple and quiet life while also supporting the dreams of the youth. He even gave Julie a journal for her to write in! God, I wish I could find an employer like him someday.

- Julie and Sam have a lot of chemistry together. The Before scenes really showed just how in love they were. In particular, I love the scene where Sam had to sing at a wedding and he was so nervous that he was messing up. But then he saw his girlfriend dancing with his friend and he became brave and sang his heart out because the love of his life was supporting the hell out of him. I could feel the love from them and I wish Sam could stay.

Dislikes:

- Fuck Taylor and Liam bruh. I’m glad Mika beat the shit out of the two of them but I can’t believe she still had to suffer a purse to the eye from one of Taylor’s friends. How dare they even call themselves Sam’s friends too?! They were nasty to the Asian exchange kids and Sam is Asian for fuck’s sake! They also get so nasty with Julie too. I bet they thought she was making a move on Sam’s best friend well how fucking stupid did they feel when they saw Oliver with Jay? No but seriously, I wish I knew their reactions to Oliver coming out. I would’ve loved to read about their jaws being on the floor. But also, fuck them for being bigots. That’s the part I don’t get. Why was Sam even friends with them at all? I guess it’s because they all grew up together but like, he could’ve made new friends with Julie and the Asian exchange students. I sort of get why Oliver stuck with them though. I’m guessing he thought that they were his best way of keeping Sam for himself for longer. But he realized that Julie would be a much better friend than they’d be because Sam was always telling him how great she is. But yeah, Taylor and Liam are the only reason this isn’t getting a perfect score. Because why did Sam stay friends with them???

- Sam shouldn’t have left that party. He also shouldn’t have forgotten to pick Julie up. In fact, he shouldn’t have gone to a party thrown by that bigot Taylor. That is all I’ll say on the matter. But also, the fact that an Asian dude in a small white-dominant town had two white people in love with him and one white girl crushing on him is impressive. Go Sam.

- I don't really have much else to vent about. I guess I’m curious as to how the afterlife works in this world but I also don’t want to know? I think it’s actually better that it doesn’t get explained because it doesn’t need to be. It’s magical. The one thing I’m really curious about is whether or not Sam knew Oliver was in love with him. I do like that he was able to casually say he loved Oliver. But did he know Oliver was in love with him? I get why Julie didn’t clarify though. Even if that was the last thing Oliver wanted to tell him and even though Sam is dead, outing her new friend to the guy he loved would not have been cool. You know, in case Sam didn’t know. But mmmmmm, I wish he knew and I wish he would have confirmed for us that he still would’ve wanted to be best friends with Oliver regardless of Oliver’s sexuality.

[snoozette]

Things I would love love love to see in campaign three (most of them highly unlikely but one can dream...)

- bringing back guest characters

- Laura playing a Barbarian or Warlock

- Taliesin playing a wizard

- an openly gay (mlm) player character

- a chubby, openly sex-positive female-presenting player character

- a player character with intact family with no problems (the main issue of backstory then obviously lying somewhere else to have drama)

- a trans player character (however this might in itself be problematic with the fans as the cast arent themselves trans)

- Matt romancing someone other than Liam via his NPCs

that's all =w=

what are your wishes? or expectations? or fears?

[rosemarydisaster]

So, about Bi Caleb

Warning: very long post, discussing bi representation and biphobia.

*Sorry for spelling errors, English ain’t my firts language.

I can’t believe I have to tell you guys, but anyways: Caleb is bi whether he ends with a male character, a female character on a non binary character. That’s what bi people do, you know? they experience atraction for all genders. Saying that a bi character that ends with someone of the opposite gender is straight and queerbaiting is incredibly biphobic.

Yes, Vax was bisexual. Yes, he ended up with Kiki. Get fucking over it.

Now, I can understand why LGBT+ fans may feel disappointed when they tease a “gay couple” but the “straigth” couple ends up being endgame. Notice the quotation marks because there’s not such thing as a straight or gay couple for a bi person. They are bisexual in both situations, but I can see where the problem comes from. I’ve been queerbaited to hell and back by a lot of shows and it really hurts. It feels like they are laughting at you for caring. But I want those fans (whose feelings are totally valid, don’t get me wrong) to consider a few things when it comes to Critical Role, the first one being: it’s a D&D game.

Let me explain, because I know a lot of CR fans haven’t experienced what D&D is like in real life (and that’s absolutely valid, you don’t need to play D&D to enjoy CR). This is an improvisation game, not an scripted TV show. In a Tv show you can plan ahead of time what ship is going to be endgame, what themes are gonna come up for each character and it’s easier to deeply explore sexuality and gender as different planned arcs. In D&D you character’s sexuality may or may not come up depending on how you play it. Take for instance how other CR character’s have stated their sexuality:

Beau: overtly. Very *In your face* kind of lesbian. Marisha said “fuck it, I really just want to romance girls and be bad ass”

Yasha: openly, but not as in your face. Ashley Jhonson wanted to drink from that WLW cup while also being a shy disaster. Seafood market is her favored terrain.

Caduceus: Our Ace king has never hidden his sexuality, and yet he didn’t mention anything about it until chapter 114. He didn’t had the need to either hide it or state it. He was simply vibing.

I think Liam is going that route with Caleb. He’s flustered by Essek and Edwulf (Come on you guys, he always asks Matthew if he’s still hot). He also had/has a thing for Astrid and a think he might have feels for our favorite Tiefling gal. I know we are all too used to characters being teased as gay/bi only to have execs pull a “haha jk they be straight”. But this is not Sherlock or Supernatural. This is a show that not only has queer rep, but also supports queer organizations and creators. Hell, I’m sure some of the cast members are LGBT (but I’m not here to speculate on real people’s sexuality). If Caleb shows attraction to men he is not just queerbaiting, doing it for fanservicing or tricking the fans in any way shape or form: he’s just portraying a bi character. The thing is, since this is not a TV show, he is not doing it por woke points or to send a message. He’s doing it because he wants to play a bi wizard with depression.

So maybe there will be a point in which he can explores his sexuality more deeply, but remember he is playing a game. And his character is one that has a lot of trouble opening up to his feelings. Caleb is not someone that makes sexual jokes or flirty remarks. He is shy, awkward and has developed a really fucked up sense of love that he is now slowly fixing. Hell, in the same Talks episode Liam explained that Caleb was trained on Honey-pot tactics. Which, for those of you who can’t stand Bond films, means seducing your enemy/target to get information, manipulate them or assassinate them. WHICH IS A REALLY FUCKED UP THING! Let’s remember how he was the one to push Fjord to sleep with Advantica so they could spy on her. That boy has Issues when it comes to relationships. So if we don’t see him being as overtly gay as Beau, Molly or Yasha, well maybe it’s because that’s the way Caleb is. Bi people don’t owe you flamboyance, or dating both guys and gals for your approval. I wouldn’t make a post if it was only that, because I do feel the people who are aching for good bi rep and would love some more explicit confirmation. But Vax exists, so I know we can’t have good things down here.

VAX EXPLICITELY SHOWED ATTRACTION TO GILMORE. AS EXPLICIT AS IT GETS. HE FUCKING KISSED HIM. THEY WERE PRACTICALLY DATING. AND YET SOME OF YOU FUCKERS CALL HIM QUEERBAITING. AND I SAY: NOT ON MY WATCH! NOT ON MY FUCKING WATCH!!

How come a character can have canonically kissed another character in a romantic/sensual context and still be called straight? I know fucking Sherlock traumaticed y’all into having trust issues but believe me when I tell you: I’ts not that deep. This is not a “Haha I love u but in a no homo way bro”. It’s a “full homo darling, but also we’re gonna break up because I like someone else”. This is the opposite of queerbaiting. Instead of keeping a charade he was honest with Gilmore because he valued his feelings and realized that he couldn’t reciprocate them at that moment. And if you try to tell me that Vaxleth was forced and didn’t have a reason to exist except queerbaiting, let me tell you: you are wrong.

Vax saw Gilmore once or twice monthly while he spent a heck ton of time with Kiki. Sure, they didn’t had the kind of camera chemistry Gilmore and Vax had because Keyleth is not charismatic. She’s really awkward, and her relationship with Vax was more on the adorable and dorky side of things. I bring this up because I’m predicting something similar may happen to Shadowgast.

Trust me, I ship the hot wizards as much as any other critter (even though I’m a multishipper). But they haven’t talked to Essek in centuries. I think it may have been almost a month in rol and quite a few outside. And you have to take into account out-rol time to because they are humans (except Tal) playing a game and they forget about stuff (except Marisha and Matt). So Shadowgast may not happen because sure, they had really good chemistry for a month a month ago. People have crushes that die down over time All The Time. So maybe don’t be so butthurt about your ship not being canon that you accuse an ally of homophobia. 

The cast of CR put forward such an amazing representation for the LGBT+ community and it really hurts me that you gets stuck on the one thing that isn’t canon. Matt has created a world in which coming out is not necessary because no one assumes your sexuality. A world in which people respect pronouns and orientations (except Tary’s father, who is a villain). A world in which Cad or Caleb don’t need to explicitly say “I’m ace/bi” unless it comes up in conversation. A world in which his friends can be whatever they want to be without pressure or reprecusions. A world in which they get to explore different gender identities and sexual orientations with full freedom. Let’s not interfere with that (unless there’s missrepresentation), and let them play their game. If you really need mlm or wlw canon couples or more outwardly LGBT+ people you have plenty examples among NPCs and other cast members (Allura and kima, Yasha, Beau, Dairon, Keg, Reani, Tary, Molly and Vax among others).

There’s way worst shows taking LGBT+ cred for barely doing nothing. Fucking Supernatural is the most recent example! Critical Role works towards showing an honest portrayal of LGBT+ folk and accepts valid criticism from their fans on the subject (when they changed J’Mon Sa Ord pronouns from it to they/them). They don’t owe you making your ship canon or portraying their characters the way you want them to (again, unless when it’s constructive criticism). Stop being so Fucking entitled and enjoy the show for what it is

,Respectfully~

*Edit: I´m tagging Caleb’s ships into the post because most hate comes from shipping wars. Most Shadowgast fans are respectful of the cast’s decisions, even if it disappoints them. But since I’ve already seen people accusing Liam of biphobia in that tag and since I’ve already seen this shit with Vaxmore I’m tagging the ship. If you want to read my long ass post do it, if not, ignore it. I’m not forcing you to read it. I’ve also tagged it with biphobia so people can avoid it if it’s triggering. I’m sorry if it makes you mad that your ship is not canon, but that’s not an excuse to be toxic to the cast. Those of you getting mad are the ones that need to read this the most. Like I’ve said in the post: you’re allowed to be disappointed, you are allowed to want more, but you can’t force the cast to give you exactly what you want. And most certainly, you can’t accuse them of  some very serious stuff like biphobia and queerbaiting when it’s not the case..  

[mircallablue]

So according to my dash and all of the asks I’ve been sent, CR really did go for the darkest timeline ending for literally every character.

Jester starts to lose touch with Artagan and ends up following Fjord around, without him ever once asking what she wants, basically becoming a background character in his happily ever after.

Caduceus ends up being basically forgotten by the Nein, travelling alone.

Veth goes back to being a housewife, which she has previously said wouldn’t be enough for her anymore, and the detective agency doesn’t end up happening.

Turns out, they didn’t actually get Molly back.

Caleb and Esseks relationship is kept incredibly vague, without confirmation of whether or not it’s romantic, typical of Liam with mlm relationships, but people are desperately grasping at straws anyway. Also Essek has to spend his entire life in hiding.

We get absolutely no hint as to what the rest of Beau and Yashas life looks like. Yasha has absolutely no plans or interests except following Beau.

Talk about going out with a whimper rather than a bang,

[fairymonk]

Alright after having slept and thought on it a bit I have my feelings about shadowgast. I'm actually feeling really good about it now!!

I was originally pretty upset that the mlm couple was left so vaguely open that so many people are still left wondering if a relationship ever even happened. I think the fact that Liam was even asking if Essek was open to it means it was more than friendship, at least for a time, but it was still the fact that so many were or are questioning it (I was originally!!). I thought about it and they were wrapping up the end of a 7 hour session and were trying to get their last thoughts in so not as much detail was gotten into on A LOT of things. Yes I wish it would have been a little more concrete and danced around less, but the openness is good!! It's were such great fan fic come from!!

I acknowledge that them having a romance for at least the rest of Caleb's human life, is what I wanted. I still think it's absolutely beautiful and love so so much that they were life partners and deep friends with each other all of Caleb's life. They do deeply love each other and chose to be together as much as their lives allowed, and I'm ok that it wasn't always romantic love. I love that they are just so deeply ingrained in each other's life and that it felt so true to character. Oh! And I love how quickly Matt said Essek was very open to it. He loves Caleb so god damn much 🥺

Anyways I don't think their relationship needed to be romantic for it to be as beautiful or important!!! Their love is still good and true.

[gaawachan]

Discord Convo: Yasha, Essek, Culture, Shadowgast Ramblings

Me: Man I wish Essek and Yasha could have - nvm I'll finish that thought later.

Sibling: I KNOW. I ALREADY KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SAY AND I WISH YASHA HAD BEEN MORE PRESENT IN THE STORY

Me: Stop doing the hive mind thing. it's invasive. i feel violated.

Sibling: I can't help it.

Me: But yeah Essek and Yasha. I find it very interesting because there's actually a lot of crossover in their temperaments, but in terms of physical presentation, they couldn't be more different. They both came from completely different sub-cultures in Xhorhas, and it's like... that temperament among the Rosohna Drow. It makes me think that they learned how to like... Okay hang on this is hard to put into words... Right so from a meta perspective, it reads like Matt took Yasha's basic temperament and applied it to other people of Xhorhas.  Like Yasha was a broader expression of typical mannerisms of Xhorhas (except that Yasha was no longer bound by the modesty of the cultures there, and having been exposed to Molly, was freer with her sexuality after it was stifled in the Wastes in her youth). Right? So with that thought in mind, look at Essek. Essek doesn't have the same trauma Yasha has so he doesn't have the same sort of dysfunctions, but when you first meet Yasha, she does display a casual arrogance/confidence about her power, and Essek has the temperament, but what he lacks is the freedom from modesty. He's extremely withdrawn.

Sibling: Are you saying he's going to become an e-boy? Because there's no promises that under that cloak, he isn't already one lmaoooo

Me: Well, I think it's interesting because this is actually one underrated area where I think Caleb would actually be really good for him and vice versa. It also says a lot about the odd intersections of culture in Xhorhas, because in old drow society, sex was uh... you know, let's not go into that.

Sibling: Just all of the nasty tags from AO3

Me: but my point is that it makes sense that the Kryn dynasty would be heavily influenced by and adopt a lot of the mannerisms and cultural relations from the people of Xhorhas because... they would be trying to distance themselves from the violence of their past by integrating stuff from the cultures they colonized. It makes sense that maybe the nomads of the wastes would impact their mannerisms and dynamics, though you can see echos of old drow culture in the dynasty, of course, with the dens and all.

Sibling: They're doing what the pirates from Wind Waker did once they found New Hyrule lol. "Yes, oh yes. We love technology"

Me: Yeah. So anyway, Yasha and Essek would have been interesting to have more interactions with.

Sibling: I mean, both are good characters? They just didn't have a lot of screentime, and it didn't really seem like Ashley was super interested in exploring her past. It doesn't help that Yasha was essentially silent for all major character interactions lol.

Me: They are both socially awkward, with casual confidence in their skills, and somewhat similar mannerisms, but Essek is very modest but manipulative, and Yasha is very upfront/blunt, and both of them have the guilt thing going on. Going back to Essek and Caleb. I think that their immediate positive effects on each other are obvious, but on this topic specifically... Caleb's only ever hesitant with his affection because of his trauma, really.  You get the distinct impression that he used to be a lot more touchy feely (just look at his early game dynamic with Nott), and while he is usually very polite, he has no problem with being blunt about his sexuality when he thinks he can get away with it. At the same time, Caleb's history with sex and relationships is really twisted and complicated, so he needs a partner who is respectful of boundaries and willing to check what is going on at any given time. In other words, he needs someone who is not like Molly (no offense to widomauk shippers).

Sibling: I mean, that was the primary problem with Molly. They had no sense of boundaries and that was good for someone like Yasha. Not so much for people with trauma related to lack of boundaries.

Me: (text dump) No, Molly DID have a sense of boundaries; they deliberately crossed them in order to make people uncomfortable. THAT was my biggest problem with Molly. Molly knew exactly what they were doing. Taliesin said as much. It's why I never shipped widomauk, because it’s yet another relationship where casual disregard for Caleb's comfort is present. It's why if I had shipped Caleb with anyone other than Essek, it would have been Fjord or Caduceus (but he's a disinterested ace and I respect that) or Yasha (but she's gay and I respect that) simply because they were clearly the ones who appeared most cognizant of Caleb's social comfort levels and such (so basically widofjord is what I'm saying, lol).  This isn’t a widomauk hate thing; it’s just not to my taste because I relate too much to hating having my personal boundaries deliberately treated with disrespect. That's going off on a tangent, though.

Essek, in contrast, needs someone who he can let his hair down with comfortably. Essek seems to only really feel that way around Caleb and Jester. Caleb's the only one Essek really initiates touch with. Caleb's the one who gets Essek to swear for the first time, like Caleb swearing gave Essek permission to do the same just for the hell of it. Caleb and Jester, more than the others, made it clear that he's allowed to be goofy when he's with them.  The two of them joking around with Immovable Object (and Caleb openly participating in that clownery with Seeming and such when he and Essek have so much in common) makes Essek feel comfortable with exploring not having a stick up his ass 24/7, which is exactly what a clearly extremely repressed person like Essek could benefit from in a partner, a person who he can relax around and vent with, because he's very obviously never had that before, or at least not consistently. And how did he get to that point?

It's from a thing about Caleb that is extremely underrated. Caleb, be it from his natural personality or that coupled with his training, knows the value of being openly vulnerable.  It's very clearly NOT something that Trent specifically taught him.  Caleb recognizes that the best way to manipulate people is to be sweet and earnest and awkward and TRUTHFUL about his beliefs and vulnerabilities, but this pays off in ways unintended. Caleb expects it to just be transactional, but people end up genuinely forming bonds with him because of it, and what's more, that he does that with such regularity results in other people responding in kind (which is the goal).  Someone as reserved as Essek could only stand to be vulnerable BECAUSE Caleb made HIMSELF vulnerable first. I think the best thing Liam ever did for Shadowgast was make it clear that everything he said to Essek may have been manipulative... but every word of it was also true, because Essek is clever enough to recognize that honesty.

The most underrated line in Essek's growth as a person doesn't even come from Essek, and it doesn't come from Caleb talking to Essek. I think people forget about this, but during the final conversation with the scourger, which Essek was present for... the scourger asks Caleb why he's bothering with her. And Caleb says (paraphrasing) "I think that I hoped if I could see one hint of change from you, I could believe that we aren't both damned." Imagine being Essek and hearing that. It recontextualizes everything about Essek's growth. The rapid change between the boat scene and Aeor isn't just because Essek wants to be a better person. It's because he wants to prove to Caleb that Caleb isn't damned, because no one has ever done that for Caleb. Caleb is so obviously drowning in his past during the Aeor arc. That sort of hope is something he desperately needed. It's one of the few things about the Aeor arc that isn't botched by the rush to end the series; Essek's consistent determination to be a positive influence on Caleb, for Caleb, was gold from start to finish. Remember too that by the time of the boat scene, Caleb had already met with Astrid and had that disheartening conversation. Essek's efforts to become a better person feel like he's trying to almost unknowingly undo the damage that the recent interactions with Astrid and Trent had done to Caleb's psyche.

... tldr, Caleb is going to teach Essek how to be a manslut... in private... jk but not really.

Sibling: I SAID THAT EBOY ESSEK LOL! Ugh... that final epilogue screwing over my favorite MLM ship... It's not canon. They went and made their own school, and lived forever in disguises to keep the scourgers coming after them.

*That was the end of this part of the conversation.  On reflection, I ought to have noted that Essek’s modesty might not be so much a cultural thing as it is an “Essek trying to keep people away from him like a prickly porcupine” thing, but you never know.  If it is cultural, that may be the result of the dynasty trying to distance themselves to the practices of those who worship Lolth, but I don’t know that Exandria lore has ever said anything about this?  And if it is a cultural thing, is it limited to the nobility, like Essek? One could also argue that the cultural practices of Yasha’s people, with the arranged marriages and such, may have influenced the dynasty’s own cultural formation, but I feel like I didn’t make that clear enough?  Anyway, that’s why it’s a ramble.

[beetlemancy]

You know, one thing that pisses me off about the Liam "queerbait" crowd is that like... In C1 the problem was that the relationship was explicitly canon but not endgame. In C2 the problem is the relationship is endgame but not explicitly canon enough (in game anyway). What do these people think Liam and Matt aren't willing to do? Have a clearly canon mlm romance? Cause that happened last campaign. Have an endgame mlm romance? That happened this campaign. It just has to be everything or else it's not enough, who cares if the resolution makes sense for the characters, am I right? Who cares if both parties have always been extremely guarded and kept things vague and ambiguous? If they don't kiss at the end and start dating immediately then it was all for nothing. It's like all the romance and meaningful time spend together up until the very end, canon Shadowgast or not, means literally nothing to some people. If it isn't exactly the type of classic romance you want then it doesn't count? People just aren't as willing to be open to different kinds of relationships for queer people as they are for cishet ships and it makes me sad. It's more important for there to be a mlm relationship (to the exact measure you wanted) than for it to be natural and make sense. And somehow they're the same people who talk about rep points. Doing it for rep points, to me, would've applied more to sacrificing the characters' personalities and still ongoing development to be able to say "look, they kissed and are dating! We have a mlm romance on the show!" than what actually happened.

This is already a show full of rep everywhere, of all kinds, handled with care and respect. If it's not someone's kind of rep, fine. If you need flashier, more explicit, clearer, absolutely fine. But this isn't a show for general audiences that's airing on television. The cast don't have a moral responsibility to rep anything explicitly (or at all for that matter. They never even promised Shadowgast would happen, and if it hadn't that would've been well within their right), to normalize anything for the audience. This is a webseries for adults, played by people with their personal issues, interests and needs they're working through, through these very personal characters, that people decided to watch and I would expect them to be able to accept and respect the subtler representation even if it isn't what they personally needed or wanted. But alas, it seems some people can't do that.

Sorry to bring more disk horse to your askbox, you don't need to answer this if you don't want to of course. I just felt like venting cause Shadowgast is my otp since I laid my eyes on them and I never wanted them to get together right away at the end. And I knew that this would be the response when it inevitably happened that way, cause that's how these two characters have always been built, since their very first appearances.

Don't apologize, this is .. basically every Thought I've had as well, but written down more precisely than I can right now <3 I don't even have much more to add. Just,,, T H I S. So much this. And, I hope its okay that I did publish because so much of what you said is so on point!

Especially this: "This is a webseries for adults, played by people with their personal issues, interests and needs they're working through, through these very personal characters, that people decided to watch and I would expect them to be able to accept and respect the subtler representation even if it isn't what they personally needed or wanted"