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I know there’s been a few posts on it already, but godsdamn Travis was clutch in last night’s game

Not Chetney. Chetney didn’t do shit. (jk)

But Travis Willingham. the player. the CEO. the fan.

He got his shit absolutely ganked in round 1. Fully dead. Before he got a turn. I’ve seen players rage quit after that. Hell, i’ve been a player that rage quit after that.

And he hung around, making jokes and talking strategy until he was like “ooh, a burger” and got his noms on until he was brought back up

When a TPK looked imminent, he told Matt it was okay. He knew they could move on, even from that. He was a calm and comforting presence at the table.

when Sam pulled the hail mary, he was the only one not yelling, crying, or both. He, in the moment, let his appreciation for the big move and the killer story beat shine through.

Travis did a hellova job last night, and it was easy to see why he captains the ship, and he’s someone i strive to be like as a player, a gm, and a friend

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yup thats right folks. its my monthly jay analysis post.

But now!!! Its about Prime Empire.

Ok guys look. Prime Empire is a terrible focus season. Jay had absolutely no character development and no power development. Nada. Nothin. Its just a “focus season” because he came up with the plan to make the villain good again and had more lines than usual (plus his little “abandoned” speech.)

HOWEVER!!! The Prime Empire shorts do say something. So, as we know, the Wildbrain seasons tend to poopoo on Jay’s character and boil him down to the funny cowardice character who is the weakest of the team. But something the shorts do attest to is the fact that Jay is STILL a ninja! The MOMENT he went into Prime Empire and saw something unjust he stood up to it. He tried to warn people. His desire to protect people goes beyond his job its his identity.

(i'm so sorry for the crappy captions. Youtube's gonna youtube.)And like the meme I posted earlier, he handled himself pretty darn well without the others. He didn't even complain about being alone. He accepted his situation pretty quickly and was already starting to fight against Unagami before the ninja found their way in. (Which you could argue could be because he is experienced with the situation in Skybound.)

And about the League…everyone makes fun of it but i beg yall to think about it for a hot moment. Who all was in Prime Empire?

Thats right. Kids.

When Jay fights the red visors in the shorts, you see the squeals of a bunch of players once they recognize him. Its very childlike and you have to realize that these people are just avatars.

All the people we saw get sucked into the game were kids. Of course theyd flock behind a ninja! And Jay had no problem taking them in and entertaining them and keeping them safe because that was his job! And they all dressed up like him and acted like him because he was their idol!!! And Jay wasnt complaining lol.

Jay acts all unsure of himself most of the time, but Skybound and Prime Empire make it canon that he is a great leader! And an even greater ninja! Sure, compared to Cole he's not as strong. Compared to Nya his personality might not stick out. His power isn't focused on like it is with Kai and Zane...and he isn't the main character chosen one like Lloyd. But these small scenes in his focus seasons remind us that he still was chosen to protect people and is very gosh darn good at it!

I mean, look at him kick red visor butt without even an OUNCE of a complaint about being without powers. (WHILE LOOKING LIKE A SOPPING WET CAT THIS MAN) But yeah appreciate this fight scene please.

Anyways, Jay doesn't get enough credit as a ninja. We forget he was trained for longer than Kai, has one of the most dangerous and powerful elements, is the reason the team can handle intense situations without freaking out, is the master of not one--but TWO chained weapons (known to be one of the most difficult types to master!), and is the ENTIRE REASON THE BOUNTY FLIES??? without ever being acknowledged for any of these! Cut him some slack guys he's awesome. Prime Empire does him so so so dirty.

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Happiest of birthdays to Taliesin!!!!🎊🎉

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tfw the perfect human ashton faceclaim is literally taliesin jaffe himself.

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ashton needs to hurry up and get those aasimar wings so they can stop worrying about falling off stuff all the time and/or save someone else from falling all heroic-like

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A difference between Ashton absorbing the Spark and Fearne absorbing the Spark that I haven't seen discussed is that Fearne had the ability to ripcord out until the end of the 6th round/start of the 7th round while Ashton only had to the end of the 1st round.

Now by "ripcord out," I mean they could have halted the absorption process by either removing the Quintessence Array or potentially pulling the Spark out of the Array's funnel. Essentially, the Spark's crystal vessel had to still exist and be a separate receptacle, much like how the Quintessence Array cannot fully transfer a creature's magical essence without proper absorption time.

For Ashton, the Spark's crystal crumpled to nothing by the end of the first round via CON Saves (Ashton's early rounds were weird in that Matt rolled multiple damages against him instead of just one, especially the second CON Save round). All they had were those initial moments where it didn't seem impossible, didn't seem like anything they couldn't handle, to back out. 36 Damage and unaware they had to go for 9 more rounds where one pulse of Damage could do up to 60 Damage.

Fearne, on the other hand, besides having a much gentler time of it with zero CON Saves and able to use her own magic to help keep herself up from lower Damage rolls, had until the end of the sixth round or the start of the seventh round before the second Spark crystal finished crumpling into nothing. She had time to assess if it would be too much for her to finish, time to say "No, this was a bad idea. I don't want it."

I'm sure part of that difference is Ashton jumped in on a bad idea and was being forced to deal with the Consequences while Fearne's was a much more measured decision and the "safe" route. You know, game mechanics and penalties.

But consider it narratively.

The way I read it, one of two things happened: Ashton's body is so attuned/ready to be a vessel of great powers that it just slorped the Spark right up, no hesitation. Or, Rau'shan was so eager to move in with his old partner, that he jumped right in (and later backed out because it was too crowded to be tenable). And honestly? Both have interesting implications.

If Ashton is just a higher power absorbing machine, that can mean some interesting things for how he ended up with the Shard of Ka'Mort. Like that the Hishari ritual wasn't meant to bestow the Shard to anyone, but through whatever fuck up happened, Ashton chomped it up. Or that it was about bestowing, but Ashton was such a better vessel that it fucked up the ritual. And the Potion of Possibility giving them a half-beacon brain just happened. There's no explanation as to why it didn't just give him a Mote of Possibility to essentially reroll a Death Save into stabilizing himself rather than die, which makes sense with what the Potion does. Instead it made Ashton a permanent well of dunamis. Maybe that happened because Ashton is titan-blooded. Maybe it's because they are uniquely suited to being a vessel of great powers, that they possess a body hungry to hold more power.

On the other hand, if Rau'shan wanted in to reunite with Ka'Mort with all haste, that makes Ashton his first choice of vessel. Then Rau'shan backed out because three's a crowd and a quality vessel does no one any good if it breaks trying to use that power (because Ashton did manage to contain it all). And maybe he goes a little slower when a second vessel attempts to hold his Spark, just to make sure she's not going to blow up on him.

Or even Fearne just doesn't have the same draw for the Spark as Ashton, so it crumbled at the rate the Quintessence Array drained it at instead of being sucked straight through to it's new home.

I'm just saying, it's a very interesting difference that didn't need to exist to show how much easier absorbing the Spark is for not-Ashton.

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Hot take, apparently, but

a) Percy's hair in TLOVM isn't that bad. It's simple and effective and the built-in shading really helps give dimension to his head. And, more importantly...

b) consider that in the earlier concept art, he does have cool hair. So the hair he ended up with was a conscious choice by Taliesin and Phil Bourassa (and any other artists involved in the process).

Look. He went from this...

... to this:

It doesn't seem all that easier to animate (and if Percy being a pain in the ass was an issue, wouldn't the simplified coat/etc. already accomplish that?), but the main thing that stands out is how much younger it makes Percy look.

Which, y'know, is important, given S1 focuses on his trauma suffered as a teenager. Which was not all that long ago.

He is young, the second youngest of Vox Machina! And a core part of Percy's character is that, despite thinking he and Vex are the only adults in the room, he is not nearly as mature as he thinks he is. Which is also apparent in his more silly moments in S2, which are also complimented by the more boyish hairstyle.

Percy shouldn't be taken too seriously, which I think is emphasized by how much Taliesin makes a point to underline his flaws and bully the character when he can. With the gunslinging and shock-white hair and cool coat and shadow demon and a castle to put it all in, he's already bordering on too cool; making him look like a stud when he's really just a nerd would make it harder to pull off comedic moments with him. On top of emphasizing the horror of what happened to him at the hands of the Briarwoods and Ripley; he's still so young.

And as an audience we need to be reminded of that when he's pulling off a cool pose or trying to flirt with Vex or getting all raspy with the Orthax voice.

Anyways, art is subjective, but Percy as a character walks the fine line between 'coolass anime protagonist' and 'cringefail nerd' and I think the artists and Taliesin knew what they were doing refusing to let him be too #badass or #hot when he's an early-mid twenties nerd wailing that he's very flammable and sniffling pathetically after giving a girl he coat.

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I'm happy imogen apologized for making ashton feel like him feel they had to hide his plan for the shard, but part of me feels she and the others still have more apologising to do for the hard time they all gave them. honestly we just need a whole circle of apologies to a bunch of people in this group, for the love of god please talk about your feelings

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I can seriously not wait for season whatever of Critical Role’s Legend of Bell’s Hells to see this scene animated holy shit

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CW: mention of suicidal ideation

I don’t know if it’s because I have a decades worth of experience comforting friends battling with severe depression and suicidal ideation but does it bother anyone else that none of the other members of Bells Hells have really ever made THAT much of an effort to console Ashton when they have divulged their feelings of that nature?

Like I know that Ashton was alone when they had that panic attack after the Hishari lore dump but I was so surprised that none of the other characters checked up on them afterwards.

Ashton has since made numerous comments that would have set off my alarm bells and sent me into support buddy overdrive, but no one consoled them when Ashton said they wished they had died instead of hurting Fearne??? No comment was made??

I mean I know they were likely all just braining out from the stress of the encounter but geez. I do hope Ashton ends up getting a bit more support because I don’t trust that they’re at a place yet where they will seek out said support on their own.

Granted, I know it’s a week between games and the cast’s attention is justifiably divided, but I would have thought that mental health issues of that degree would be highlighted as a priority to address idk

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Okay maybe, but that can still be adressed AFTER reassuring him they don't want him dead

Also the statement was HIS truth, I love him but he is just so messed up in his mind that he doesn't recognise it

Friends shouldn't ignore it when someone offers them their feelings, even IF they are a bit manipulative (not saying they are)

I'm sorry but why did NO ONE react to Ashton saying he wished he had DIED instead of hurting Fearne?!

Yes, the cast gasped, but the characters just glanced over it like nothing was said? Not a word of comfort or even a "we're glad you're alive"?!

Give my rock Ashton some love dammit...

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They reacted more to Chetney's "I don't want to get close to people because I fear they will leave me", which is not that different from what Ashton told them before.

I love Chetney don't get me wrong, and I had the same "poor old man" reaction, but the cast/characters seemed more invested in sth that they have heard before versus someone telling them he wished he was dead...

Idk the whole thing just doesn't sit right with me, and I can't really blame Ashton for not calling them out on it, because I would do the same (just seeing the fault in myself and keeping quiet because you don't want them to abandon you)

I'm sorry but why did NO ONE react to Ashton saying he wished he had DIED instead of hurting Fearne?!

Yes, the cast gasped, but the characters just glanced over it like nothing was said? Not a word of comfort or even a "we're glad you're alive"?!

Give my rock Ashton some love dammit...

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I'm sorry but why did NO ONE react to Ashton saying he wished he had DIED instead of hurting Fearne?!

Yes, the cast gasped, but the characters just glanced over it like nothing was said? Not a word of comfort or even a "we're glad you're alive"?!

Give my rock Ashton some love dammit...

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I NEED an Ashton Greymoore Origins comic!!

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I wanted my parents. I wanted my family

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sometimes all it takes for a party to get some really interesting dynamics going is for a taliesin pc to die in front of them

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Something that’s been gnawing at my brain since the latest episode aired is that no one in game has talked about the kiss. And obviously it’s because they have more important things to focus on (betrayals of trust, deep-cut family and abandonment issue, finally-boiling-over anger, DELILAH) but I can’t help putting the callowmoore glasses on and thinking about the angst and potential of it all!!

Imagine: it’s further down the line and maybe (after so much apologizing, after so much groveling, after so much trying and working towards earning everyone’s trust back) Ash and Fearne are okay again.

And maybe sometimes, even though he’d be too embarrassed/shy to admit it, they think about that kiss again. A quick, very awkward, kind of uncomfortable, and very not-smooth attempt at returning that stolen kiss from the airship all that time ago. A kiss that may very well have been their last because god the shard thing was really fucking stupid.

And maybe he thinks about how Fearne deserved better than that. Deserves better than that. And he seeks her out one day, in a quiet nook, or an empty hallway, or maybe he’s brave enough to even seek her out in her room, and he stumbles and stutters his way through asking for a do-over.

And maybe she’ll laugh or be confused, or, if they ever reach that point again, she’ll tease and prod and take joy out of the awkward, floundering mess of a titan in front of her.

And maybe, she lets him, and they kiss again but this time, he kisses Fearne Calloway the way she deserves. Because she is lovely, and caring, and full of so much life and love and wonder, and he fucked it up the first time but now theyve got a second chance and they won’t fuck it up.

And maybe they don’t. Maybe they kiss her like she’s everything, because she is. And maybe, by some miracle, they end up being more than okay at the end of their journey, wherever it may lead afterwards.