#I'M GONNA HOLLER

[rollforjackass]

have not seen nearly enough people talk about the part in the book where crowley seriously considers bypassing the whole apocalypse by swinging the antichrist’s basket around as fast as he can Immediately after getting it

[spacebeyonce]

🌙

[essektheylyss]

I know you said you need to stop screaming first but I am EAGERLY awaiting your thoughts on Essek in the teaser

OKAY OKAY HERE GOES.

The thing is, there's no real reason to include him.

Yes, he's very popular, but he has never historically been included as a default, validly! He occupies a very interesting space mechanically and narratively, but he is still not a PC. Yes, he's part of the Mighty Nein as a group, per canon, but not until the end, which in theory would be well beyond the first season, and so is Cad, who is not present in this teaser—presumably to preserve the mystery around [INSERT MAJOR SPOILER WARNING HERE].

I would imagine that Cad is not present because having Taliesin's voice twice is too much of a tipoff for anyone watching LoVM but not the campaigns, whereas simply having Matt voice someone is not.

HOWEVER.

There are a decent number of lines that you could choose for Essek that are about the Nein—personally, my favorite, that I've thought previously would make a really stellar trailer line, is from 124: "You certainly carve a unique destiny, don't you?" Everything down to the way Matt delivers it (which you can see here) would make it a really viable option.

But the line they went with isn't about the Nein—it's very much a line about Essek himself. "I want to unlock these mysteries. I want to dive as deep as I can into that ocean of the unknown and see what is possible." It's a line that is very specific to Essek and his actions and goals, even beyond his involvement with the Nein.

And it's placed in the middle of the pack, which frames him on the same level as the rest of the Nein! Someone who is not familiar with the campaign would hear that as simply another protagonist. But of course, he's not—unless there is some serious restructuring (more even than the restructuring present in LoVM, which, aside from introducing a few of the initial less plot-bearing aspects later, like the Slayer's Take, it's thus far structured in order), he won't come into the show for quite some time, and almost certainly not in the first season.

But we don't really have any idea how this show will be structured. There are different comments on the beginning from different sources; notably, Gizmodo mentions Calianna being present in some way initially, while no one else does. The logline most outlets are reporting revolves the Nein "prevent[ing] the kingdom from plunging into chaos when an arcane artifact capable of reshaping reality falls into the wrong hands," presumably the beacon (my beloved).

So it makes sense to mention Essek, for, you know, the obvious reasons, as comment on the beacon itself. (I'm going to guess they're simplifying it to one beacon, per the press release, for ease lol.) But this line, while about dunamancy as a whole and the powers of the beacon, is not about it directly. It's still about Essek's interest in it. It is an excellent line, and on its face, it has nothing to do with the Nein or the plot of the first fifty episodes of the campaign.

There's plenty of speculation to be done about how this might be structured, and I'm sure I'll do plenty of it because, let's be honest, I do not shut up about adaptation and translating stories between formats, it is one of my absolute favorite subjects, and this is the Nein, babey!!!

So my point here being: I think there is a lot of room with the nature of Wildemount politics to get a little wild with structure in the translation from D&D game to TV show that, while not impossible in LoVM, wouldn't really have added anything to the story, and honestly, might've taken away from it. Because the point is to watch Vox Machina become the big damn heroes! We do see tidbits of Brimscythe and the Briarwoods beyond the purview of the heroes, but mostly in ways that feel very '80s cartoon villain cameo' which fits the feel of the show perfectly.

But there are a lot of political players and forces in Wildemount that the Nein navigate whether they're aware of them or not, one of whom of course becomes a member of their party, and that's part of what makes their story so interesting. The Nein are the heroes that no one knows, who are always playing within and against the system and are hyper aware of that, and I think expanding how much of that we get to see now that the format allows for it (not necessarily a lot, not to the point of adding whole plotlines, but at least some of it) would only add to the tension and stakes, and Essek's presence in the trailer makes me wonder if they will.

[glittergoats]

Although I'm a couple days behind, I've been participating in Cringetober and it's been a blast! Here's the first four days I've done!

[vynnyal]

Unga bunga these take 3 hrs to make

[hannie-dul-set]

good morning i have not slept. i went a little cazy. nabi is now at 30k.

[graviconscientia]

>You asked Darkleer for one more light. A particular reason, you said, that you would be happy to explain to him. A torture for the both of you-- to wait to see each other any amount was always too long-- but you needed the timing to be just right.

>It has to be a Sunday night, now. And then, you will have him Monday, too.

>Stupidly, selfishly, you hope this does what you want it to. You are not trying to replace memories, or trade one love for another, or ignore the happiness you had so many sweeps ago. But your heart is broken, and this might help with the pain for the time being. And in this, you promised you'd tell him what is on your mind, what is weighing so heavy on your heart. The promise is always to be honest. And so, you will tell him about everything swirling in your mind. You miss being a mother. You want children again. You were so happy doing legislaceration again. You can't ever go back to it. You are more frightened of your fate than you've ever been before. You miss Rufioh. You miss Theodore. You feel lost. You wish that none of these issues were present. You wish that you could be better for him. You're trying to be better.

>It's not fair. You think this often, when you ask him for comfort, when you make your desire known, when you try to catch his attention… One day, this will even out. One day. But for now, you take, and you take, and you take. You know that bringing him red velvet cookies baked with care, and brandy, and blue hydrangeas will not balance anything, but it certainly can't hurt. A peace offering, a token of your affections. All you can offer him, all you can do for him, you will.

>Before you go, you sit at your vanity, curling your hair, painting your lips red, making yourself as beautiful as possible. But this time, you dress yourself in blue.

>You don't wait for a message, choosing to send yourself along as soon as you're ready, and when you see him, when you find his warm gaze with your own, when you realise his arms are outstretched for you to fall into, you set everything on the ground before you run to him, arms flung around him as you bury your face into his chest.

>This is part of the promise to be honest. You love him, you love him, you love him, and you will tell him that a million times over. You will hold him close until neither of you can stand it. He will feel your heart, your love, for the rest of your lives. Every light, you think. Doesn't matter which one. He will have love in all of them.

[inkblot-inc]

So my writing blog is and always has been a chill space for me to write want I want to read from my own brain, shoot the shit and share thoughts with peoples, and just... Be a fuckin respite, but I want to make something crystal clear:

Don't turn a blind eye to Palestine.

Don't turn a blind eye to Congo.

Don't turn a blind eye to Yemen.

I go about my day to day life the best I can, but if I sit and think about the state of things in the world for too long it fucking SHATTERS me. And it disgusts and freaks me the fuck out that people can disregard human beings going through crisis after crisis and LITERAL GENOCIDE with fucking platitudes, clutching to ignorance, and circlejerking apathy.

You don't have to be mother Theresa, but it costs you nothing to actually give a damn about humanitarian crises happening around you and to know that it's wrong and fucking abnormal.

I've been taking a simple break from writing mainly unrelated because I just wanted some time to myself regardless, but also because I couldn't just immediately go back to lighthearted shit with everything going on.

People with common sense would understand and probably wouldn't even question that, but hey, common sense isn't that common and people are fucking weird.

I'm not gonna stop writing, but I need y'all to understand that I'll post what I want on my own time and I'll have a fuckin heart first. Some of you should learn that lesson too.

I'm not mentioning anyone cuz at the end of the day I'll side eye whoever I want and I'm not the Morality Police, but what'd Renee Rapp say that one time? "If the shoe fits, lace that bitch up and run."

Not a single person free until we all are, it's that simple to understand.

[gaywatch]

Hi Brittany,

How are you? Hope your sleep is getting better these days.

I dunno if you like ballet, but thought you might find this interesting. Seems hella gay and morbid.

You were like "seems hella gay and morbid" and I went "oh it's the Frankenstein ballet" and lo <3

I reeeeeeally need to actually watch that omg

[acatpiestuff]

every year my sona turns more and more into a fursona

[sympolite]

honestly, i never put any of my art through, like, glaze or nightshade or whatever because i don't care if some stupid algorithm """plagiarizes""" me by doing 5d statistics on how i draw the weird shit i'm into.

i'm still drawing that shit and i love it and i don't care if something imitates me or not. i'm still me! i've learned to do art because i fucking love vomiting my rancid and heckin' aweshum ideas out onto paper. i'm not a small business owner who believes in "style theft." half of what i do is my adhd brain misremembering and imitating and fucking up all the shit i like, anyways, LOL.

[voidfragments]

donghua qr was a mistake actually bc now i have to see people's opinions about him more than i did before

[neverwalka1one]

There's going to be a LotR stage musical. Starting in Chicago, then starting on an international tour. Evidently it first came out in 2006, but I was in grad school then so I was under the most giant of cultural rocks, this is news to me!

I have no idea how they're going to pull this off, but I'm more than willing to spend money to see them try.

[rollforjackass]

i feel like ionesco would have loved hellblazer. cyclical self-destruction wrapped in tragicomedy paper. sharp critique of fascism and the societal norms/behaviors that allow it to fester but it's also wearing an absurd little hat. frank acknowledgement of how much you lose when you take a stand even when it's the right stand to take. feeling like it never ends.

i mean, rhinoceros alone could be a hellblazer story, with john constantine as the main character. berenger and his best friend having a tumultuous relationship but loving the fight just as much as the temporary peace. berenger desperately trying to save the people he loves only to lose them, either to circumstances outside of his control or because he drove them away or simply by their own choice. berenger ending up alone and raving, paranoid and drunk, hiding away from the rest of the world because no one else is like him, anymore, and it's impossible for him to be like anyone else.

[tthael]

Hi! I really hope this question doesn't bother you, this isn't meant to stress you out or make you hurry up! It's just that i really love your indelicate fic (It literally made me enjoy fics as a whole and change my perspective!) and I was wondering if you were planning on continuing it or not. Btw, i love your writing as a whole I think you are really talented

Thank you so much!

In a word: Yes, I plan to continue it.

I've had devastating writer's block since 2020, and I'm just starting to feel myself come out of it. I know how Indelicate is meant to go (I've had my outline in place for quite some time) and I even know how the end of the next chapter is meant to go. (I know it's a bit of a cliche to mention "characters talking to the writer," but I've been stalled out a bit on getting Richie & Eddie out of Ben's house, and I was at work this last month and Maggie Tozier started telling me how the big turning point of that chapter was going to go.)

Caveats: I am feeling less passionate about IT than I was when I started Indelicate. My interest has moved to other fandoms, and I have found myself writing for other fandoms, though I have yet to publish these projects. I also have a number of uncompleted IT Works In Progress in addition to Indelicate, which are currently in my drafts but that I intend to make available on AO3 whether or not I finish them (copperbadge does a sort of fic graveyard each year for unused WIPs and I admire that, especially because I believe that derivative work (fanfiction) should never be behind a paywall. Indelicate is fleshed-out enough that it will never end up in a fic graveyard, but it bothers me as well that I have this longstanding popular WIP that so many people (myself included) would like resolution to. I am also working full-time.

This is such a nice ask and not at all an aggressive way of, say, checking my temperature on Indelicate. The support that I got when I was publishing the chapters in sequence in early 2020 was beyond anything I ever dreamed of, and I still appreciate each and every one of my readers, whether or not they have moved on to other fandoms. And the continuing engagement readers have with the fic means a lot to me as well--the immortal word and all that. I remain open to questions about my writing and I do like to hear from people who like my work.

[downtherabbitholewithlucy]

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