#tag stealing for fun

[medstudwatson]

Wow hi followers! 👋👋 I am shocked every time I load up.

[keferon]

Don’t mind me I just like to see him go bananas about cartoonish Autobot rules

Maaan…..if Prowl was in tfp he would spontaneously combust at least once a day

[tehcherrya]

For those of you who never knew as it's a detail one can easily miss (especially depending on which aspect ratio you're viewing in) but a lovely detail at that: Pippin was in the hobbit band in the background!

He's the one playing the banjolele!

These shots I have of the scenes where he is most visible are from the Fullscreen edition (A DvD I own and often watch for the different viewing experience). I believe in the Widescreen edition their heads are cut off by the aspect ratio-- so it's easy to miss!

And for those of you who haven't put it together already, yes! That is our beloved Merry standing next to him as they both watch Frodo dance.

Mind you, Merry is not in the band. A few scenes prior he was actually along the precession line of bringing in Bilbo's Birthday cake. He probably came up to the platform to talk to Pippin, give him a mug of something to drink and inevitably snatch him away for some mischief. Because after this brief scene, Pippin is then absent from the stage-- he and Merry are going to go swipe some fireworks!

[bunnyboy-juice]

handsome heartthrob femmes anyone?

[halflifebutawesome]

genuine question am I the only one around here that sees the gman as actively antagonistic or am I the outlier

[inkyrainstorms]

this is me realizing I never posted the doodles I made after my second read-through of Fisherman’s Knot by Scribefindegil on Ao3 (if anyone knows their tumblr pls lmk) (I’d @ them otherwise)

[rinksrats]

hockey screencap 2/???

[ch3rr13zk1n]

Lamperty hfjiONE

I also have multiple alternative versions of this image since i never know which version i like more!! (I have a problem please help)

Like and reblog or i'll force you to like Gnarpy or smth

[mareastrorum]

I’m working on a post that compares the main villains of C1, C2, and C3, but it made me think that perhaps one of Matt’s weaknesses as a DM is portraying recurring opponents in pursuit of the party.

Narratively speaking, a villain (as opposed to an antagonist) carries significant weight for the story themes (that’s why they’re the villain!), so every time they make an appearance, they should be doing something that develops the themes over time, especially in a long-term story. Villainous organizations might have several unique members that each highlight different aspects of the same theme, or maybe they each have their own, but that same principle applies. This can get challenging for recurring villains, but it’s not impossible. It’s just that their appearances and confrontations should clearly involve a reason that this specific villain is there instead of a nameless mook.

In C1, there weren’t many characters who actively pursued any of Vox Machina.

Hotis (the rakshasa) had a grudge against Vax for killing him in Vasselheim. Hotis simply wanted revenge. When he reconstituted in the Hells, we got an amazing reveal that Hotis (disguised as Gilmore) had lured Vax to a balcony to attempt to assassinate him. There wasn’t any deeper narrative meaning to it; Hotis was simply an antagonist with a grudge, no real time limit on achieving it, and a devious threat that would come back until he was stopped. It made for some great tension and gave an excuse for Vox Machina to go to the Hells, but that’s really as deep as it got. Good fun on a game level, and not much else.

The Briarwoods hunted Vox Machina during the final arc, but only once Vecna discovered that the team had infiltrated the undead earth titan carrying his city (which had been obscured by Vex’s magic ring). This wasn’t a recurring pursuit so much as acting in defense of their master’s base.

The other villains never really sought out Vox Machina in particular; the team went to them instead, or they happened to be where the villains were up to no good. But man, that Hotis thing was fun! I could see why Matt would want to recreate that.

In C2, we didn’t really get many persistence hunter opponents either—but not for a lack of trying. Lorenzo was supposed to be a persistent threat, but the Nein fried him at the Sour Nest before he could escape. Lucien was supposed to be a persistent threat, but Molly died, so that never even began. Caleb was worried that the Assembly was hunting him, but given how he was treated in Rexxentrum after the Angel of Irons arc, it’s hard to say whether that possibility was actually on the table. The Nein had also done a good job at avoiding Empire attention and territory, so there wasn’t all that much opportunity even if Matt had planned for it. Avantika returned as an undead to steal one of the Cloven Crystals from Fjord, but she was dispatched and the crystal was retrieved; there wasn’t any repeat after that. The Tombtakers chased the Nein once they stole a threshold crest, but they stopped bothering after the forced avalanche (and it wasn’t like the Tombtakers had a serious chance of catching up without something like Polymorph). The Nein were chased by Trent Ikithon after the Vergessen heist, but it was short term, and then the Nein avoided him until they were tracked down at the Blooming Grove. All of the possible ongoing chases ended after 1 full encounter—if they even got a full encounter.

The one entity that could arguably be repeatedly hunting any of the Nein is Uk’otoa, but it wasn’t that really an ongoing chase. After all, it’s sealed away. The whole point of the Cloven Crystals is to release it. There was definitely narrative significance to having Uk’otoa and Fjord interact, but it’s a different circumstance than what I’m addressing here, particularly because Uk’otoa loyalists were the ones after Fjord. (An alternative to the main villain doing the chasing, and a good decision IMO.)

In C3, we had numerous people hunting various members of the Hells, and it didn’t really work out well for the narrative.

Otohan Thull was a good antagonist (terrifying, powerful, strategic), but an underdeveloped villain. The Hells never got her full story, so the most we know about her is that she loves violence, she wanted the glory of killing powerful enemies like in the Apex War, and working for Ludinus got her that. Unfortunately, that personality doesn’t work well for instigating audience thought about any themes; it’s a straightforward assessment that “hey that’s a bad way to be,” and there’s no new facets to explore in later appearances. Her death due to FCG’s sacrifice worked out well as a foil to the PC’s journey, but it was pure happenstance that it worked out that way. After all, Otohan was chasing Imogen, not FCG, and the timing was that Sam needed to step away from the show for medical reasons, not because this was the best time for FCG’s arc to end. Great improvisation! But Otohan didn’t carry much narrative weight even with how much she harried the Hells. Why should we care that it was her other than the fact that her stat block and items were intimidating? The answer is that we shouldn’t. That’s disappointing.

Fearne was being pursued by several factions, and none of them were very good at it. The Summer Court didn’t send anyone after her, apparently, and it was never clear why they wanted her in particular. The Unseelie Court had an eye out (presumably on behalf of Athion Zathuda), but Yu Suffiad was more interested in the crown than Fearne, so it was only info that she was alive… and then nothing happened for dozens of episodes. Like, divination magic is a thing, so why didn’t anyone other than Zathuda do anything to find her if she’s so important? Zathuda nearly succeeded in a kidnapping attempt, but a short time later, the Hells killed him (comparatively easily, I’ll add) and his lieutenants. This was all without us knowing much of anything about Zathuda other than that he’s ambitious and intended to backstab Ludinus. The only meaning it had to Fearne was the exact same questions she had addressed upon finding the Calloways: did they care about their daughter? Why did they leave? Was she a person to them or just a tool? So what was Zathuda supposed to mean to the audience that hadn’t already been resolved? This bone had no meat on it; just strings of fat.

Ludinus appeared to the Hells several times (either as himself or as Simulacra), but he never really pursued them… which is very strange given that Imogen and Fearne were both potential vessels. There was motive to do it, but Liliana’s work to hide Imogen’s strength from him also worked against that Watsonian justification. Ludinus’s choice to do so much himself (and therefore provide other, less threatening reasons for the Hells to encounter him) also didn’t make sense; this guy has lived for about a thousand years manipulating entire countries, and he can’t get lesser villains who can do stuff on his behalf? And the Hells repeatedly didn’t care what he had to say beyond figuring out what he was up to. We didn’t have a narrative, above-the-table answer to “why are you here?”—so it shouldn’t have been Ludinus. (The Uk’otoa method would have worked better, I think.)

Hunter opponents can be a great tool to steer protagonists back to an ongoing thematic question, but Matt has never really used them that way. Like, on a RPG level, it’s lovely to have tension that a terrifying entity is after you. But for a story, there needs to be some purpose beyond just scare tactics. The theme needs to be sufficiently complex for these multiple encounters to feel like we’re not just playing a song on repeat. Has something changed? Is there new information that makes this feel different? Are the PCs trying a different goal? None of those questions are really addressed. It’s just the same thing again, and this time the PCs are a higher level with more items. And a different map. :/

I’d rather a bone with meat on it. I want narrative significance to chew on.

[newdestination]

[brain-deadx0]

I love the show The Librarians but I never can forgive the writers for making an entire episode about Ezekiel Jones going through trauma after trauma, learning so many things and growing so much as a person as he fights through a time loop looking for some way to save everyone, having him succeed in saving everyone but himself, and for his fellow Librarians who only know the last loop to bring him back BUT HE HAS NO MEMORIES FROM HIS TIME IN THE TIME LOOP!

Just a character reset and I was so pissed. They didn't even allude to him actually remembering but pretending not to!

[starry-bi-sky]

how do you clone a fey? that's trick question; and fey love those!

@the-navistar-carol (<333) brought up a good point while I was talking about my changeling danny au with her -- Dani! How would she exist in this au? Danny's a changeling - a fae. How would Dani, a clone of him, be created? How do you make a fey? Not through any means that Vlad is doing; you can't make a fey through unnatural means, considering the Fair Folk are nature. And Vlad's not a fey himself -- he's a halfa, even if he could make a fey, it's not in his best interest too. He's a powerful ghost, but even the weakest fae can overpower the strongest ghost. He won't want a clone of Daniel to be more powerful than him.

(In a three tier hierarchy it goes Ancients -> Fae/Mythos -> Ghosts. They all live in the Infinite Realms, but on different Planes. The fae live above the Ghost Zone in the Fey Wild, while the Mythos live beside the Wilds or down in the ghost zone depending on where they are. Places like the Frozone, the Athens Acropolis, and other such large islands climb throughout all three Planes.)

(While Ghosts can travel into the Fey Wild, its generally advised against as the ectoplasm tends to manifest differently there due to close contact magic. It can make it rather disorientating for a ghost, and as human spirits, the Fae living there would jump them faster than they could blink. So unless you're willing to play mind games with 'steal thy name eat thy face' fae, most ghosts keep out of the way of the Wilds. Fey can travel down into the Ghost Zone, they just don't bother.)

That's of course, not taking into account if Vlad even knows Danny's a fae himself. Vlad doesn't ring me as someone who really cares much about ghost culture or the going ons of the GZ. He might be aware that fae exist, but the moment he realizes he can't use them for personal gain he just doesn't bother with them. The risk is greater than the reward, and he'd rather not get eaten. But lets assume he's aware by now that Danny is fey, and has to take that into account while cloning him.

So, how does Dani exist? Good question! Honestly; i'm not sure. She might not exist at all, or if she does, she's more halfa than fey. Vlad would need a lot of human dna and ectoplasm to balance out all that fae magic. He manages to steal DNA from Jack and Maddie to do it, and since Jack's fey ancestry is very dormant its much easier to use alongside Danny's DNA.

In turn, it results in a little girl whose more human-ghost hybrid than clone. With that little extra boost in fey magic making her not a fey, but still relatively powerful. Dani is less of a clone and more of a lab-grown little sister. It's a rather tedious, complex process that has Vlad tearing his hair out trying to figure out. But he does eventually figure it out.

[angelbitezzz]

Whoops more spicy art incoming

THIS is canonically set before this post so that's why he went a little overboard in that one HAHA

[local-loser-clown]

Garp showing Roger his kid

Dragon liked Roger just to spite their dad

[hitorimaron]

A bunch of outfit ideas for Niragi, all dreamed up by my wonderful mutuals! He’s never looked more stylish (or more loved!)💜

[foxyfexyll]

crack theory that 100 days in the end barrens is wato’s inner mental state while he had the omz mask on. ken being with him in the beginning is a remnant from when he was infected. and yk death is the cure