#canon d*luc is fine honestly i just

[zettaiunmeis]

nothing pisses me off more than this fandom’s need to ignore every characters meaningful relationships to dickride for angsty paleskin men yes this is specifically about diluc and the excessive amount of uwu diluc and the mond kids content ive seen w the new mond event im about to start finding people, sneaking into their homes in the middle of the night and filling their ear canals with ketchup and ranch.

[autumnslance]

This is a very silly ask (and feel free to ignore it completely), but do you think any of your OCs would be friends with characters from other franchises? (Fun fact, this was inspired by a piece of fanart that made me believe that Thancred and Leon Kennedy of Resident Evil fame would absolutely be friends. Or at least drinking buddies.)

Hrm, I don't often think in terms of crossovers and mashups anymore--which is funny, as one of my earliest online RP experiences was a multiverse setting where OCs from any and all settings--franchise, gaming, original, etc--could co-exist. Normal mortals teaming up with demigods from novel series and mega-damage users from RIFTS and an array of fantasy and sci-fi and horror characters in between.

I sometimes think about how my OCs in various settings would interact together; how my WoW OCs would get along, or not, with the FF14 crew, or the FF14 OCs with my D&D characters. I tend to lean into certain archetypes (bards and paladins/clerics/priests are favorites), so there'd be some overlap and things in common, and also some frustrations at similarities that grate and clash.

So I don't think too much about how they'd interact with canon figures from other settings, but any OCs I'd have in that realm instead.

Well, the adventuring parties of Actual Play shows like Critical Role (and its animated series spinoffs) is pretty easy; Vox Machina, the Mighty Nein, and Bells Hells are all as chaotic and as helpful as adventurers tend to be, for good or bad. So there'd be eye rolling and irritation, but also understanding and diving in alongside, forming friendships with the weirdos cuz well, adventurers are Like That. They're RP characters too though so might be cheating, or at least easier to figure out for me.

Vax has that sort of noble rogue energy that'd make Aeryn fond of him, while Vex would initially drive her up a wall until they reached an understanding. Scanlan's annoy the heck out of her until they got to sit down and talk for real and she saw under the vulgar exterior. Percy'd be tolerated as Insufferable Noble Trying Too Hard. She'd be patient with Grog and enjoy his overlarge childish glee at everything. And who doesn't love Pike? Literal angel with a chaotic bent herself, she adds a bit of calm when not engaging in sibling shenanigans with Grog. I think Aeryn'd relate most to Keyleth, funnily, and they'd get along decently. Tary, too, would get a lot of sympathy concerning expectations, and also nerding around with his crafts, and may make dealing with Percy a tad easier.

Of the Nein, Caduceus is a spot of calm, aroace energy. Not as right as he thinks he is about many things, but he means well and tries, and that counts for a lot. Aeryn'd have tea with him any day. She'd also be drawn to Beau's bravado and brashness and they'd get into trouble together. Same with Fjord and Caleb, really; there's a level of familiarity in how they approach things with 'let's poke it and see what happens' but also the care they have for others in general. Same with Yasha. Jester's a bright light ball of energy and oh gods her and C'oretta in the same space would be exhausting. Nott/Veth is a bit more complicated; probably depends on when in the campaign, is it before or after Veth's reunited with her family, as she undergoes a shift emotionally once she has her original self back as well as her husband and son. Molly would aggravate and charm Aeryn by turns; Kingsley she'd be sympathetic to and understand too well that living in another's shadow aspect. Essek is fine; he's a wizard to talk shop with, learn from, mess around with spellwork. Luc is a brat also in the shadow of his accomplished mom and adventuring family, and needs mentoring and guidance and a lot of patience oh gosh.

A lot of the Hells would honestly be irritating, especially Imogen's propensity to just use telepathy intrusively; girl needs a lesson in why you don't want to poke around uninvited or casually to get your answers, and a WoL's head is wilder than most. FCG needs mentoring and guidance like whoa. Fearne's also an agent of energetic chaos; fun in doses. Laudna's not so scary, very sweet and fun and sad and likely needs help she doesn't know how to ask for. Ashton's grating in his arrogance and rebelliousness for rebellion's sake (though that may shift given recent things...). Chetney's surface attitude would be annoying, but soon enough he'd be a safe and calming point, given his perceptions. Orym's also just calming and reasonable; maybe a little too much sometimes, and needs to be reminded to cut loose now and then, it's good for you (and your friends).

Dark rolls with it all; she's very easy to get along with. Iyna wouldn't be able to stand most of them. C'oretta would get along well with most everyone but lord her and Jester and/or Fearne in the same place...Terrifying!

That's one off the top of my head, after a long holiday weekend thinking about it off and on, anyway!

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E113 (Oct. 27, 2020)

Good evening and good night, lovely people of the world! We’re on the internet and ready to go. Tonight’s guests are Travis Willingham and Sam Riegel. This will be calm, controlled, and sane, I can feel it. Brian points out it’s been seven months since either of them were on Talks. Oof. (Sam asks if it’s been going the whole time without him. Bigger oof.) Travis keeps sneaking bites out of an acai bowl or something and tries to look sneaky about it, and I laugh every time because he’s just...so big. He’s such a big person.

(Brian is wearing a lobstrosity shirt. He and Travis talk about Dark Tower for a bit; then Sam tries to get into the conversation: “Is that the thing from It?” Brian: “Is what the thing from It?” Sam: “Is that lobster the clown from It? I’m not very literate. Is that a Langolier? Is that a Shawshank?”)

Announcements: none! Maybe they just forgot. We’ve been talking about Sam’s spooky skeleton decorations for like five minutes. Brian suggests taking them to Travis’s house. Travis: “That’s the fastest way to get to the smell of burning plastic.” Brian: “Speaking of your girlfriend...”

On Avantika: Fjord wouldn’t call it a relationship as much as a casual sexual interaction. Not official! Super not official!!

The first sea voyage wasn’t great for Fjord, but he tried to be thoughtful about preparing for this one before they left: praying, kneeling at the bow of the ship, etc. He’s a little disappointed the Wildmother didn’t even throw him a “yo, fam” heads up.

They weren’t sure how to resolve the conflict at first, since Avantika went for Fjord rather than the crystal. No one expected it to get exposed in that way. Travis thought the necklace was a pocket dimension and was alarmed to learn it wasn’t. Travis wants it destroyed along with the third gateway, so until they are he won’t rest easy.

Everyone enjoyed watching them all fail on the battlefield again. (Sam: “You used [Counterspell] so effectively!”) Travis thought he’d said Thunder Step, which would imply Avantika was running, rather than Thunder Wave. Sam says it’s fine since none of them have that spell and he wouldn’t know it anyway.

It’s very difficult for Veth to find reasons to stay with the M9. She loves the adventures and making a difference, but she also wants to come home and have weekends and have a husband and life. “She’s a career girl!” He’s very excited about the possibilities of Caleb’s transportation effectively creating an easy commute for her. He also, as a player, doesn’t want to be the person who’s always leaving the party. “My characters wanna roam!”

Travis was fully tilted that Avantika might have gotten away right before the break. He doesn’t think he could have focused on Vess DeRogna’s task knowing Avantika had gotten away; he was seriously working out how Fjord would leave the party to go make a last stand at the third gate if she’d escaped.

Sam looooves how Matt plays Yeza, but it honestly makes him feel a little worse at how encouraging he is for Veth to chase her dreams. “He’s always like - go shine! Go blossom!” He wants to have the conversation about Yeza feeling a little ignored. It’s fun to share the tales of adventures with Luc & Yeza. 

Travis says there’s no way it’s Molly--it’s all Lucien. They don’t know if it was a resurrection, if he’s undead, possessed, etc. Everyone--everyone--rags on Taliesin’s accent work. Brian surreptitiously claims Ashly was brought on to relieve him of the burden of the accent. Poor Ashly, ha!

Initially, Travis landed on the Oath of the Ancients, but it had more nature & pacifism in it than he felt fit Fjord very well. Many of them also had a focus on good & lawfulness, which also didn’t feel quite right; he also wasn’t that vengeful for some of the others. He & Matt got together and discussed options. Matt asked what Travis liked about Fjord; Fjord’s love for the ocean was a huge part of it, since Travis himself also loves the ocean & scuba diving, and so Matt created a custom oath for him. Travis does not plan to post its details, but he thinks Matt will at some point.

Cosplay of the Week! a lovely Scanlan by Air Bubbles Cosplay! Sam tells us the “canon” Scanlan cosplay was actually borrowed hodgepodge, and the boots were falling off all day.

It was really cool to see how Yeza & Luc have made a home in Nicodranas. Felderwin was okay, but kind of your basic D&D fishing village, and she likes the Nicodranas is much better. She’s confident & comfortable knowing her family is safe and sound.

Why is Fjord so interested in finding Sabian? To him, post-orphanage, his time with Vandren was the best of his life & the most love he’d ever received, because he mattered & had worth. It was taken by someone he’d known basically his whole life, so Fjord is not going to let that go. “That fuckin’ bill needs to be paid, my friend.”

Sam acknowledges that he should NOT have looked at his phone in re: the Vilya reveal, but it was pretty surprising! He can’t believe none of them recognized it! Travis points out the M9 had never met, heard of, or known anything about Vilya, so it’s not that surprising. Brian points out Matt has also done a really good job keeping the two campaigns separate, so any references were tasteful. Sam marvels that it was so well done: it was tasteful, had emotional and story impact... “That Matt. He’s getting better!”

Liam texted Sam back something like “oh SHIT.”

Knowing Veth had a chance to help someone else return to her child made Veth feel almost karmically forgiven for being away from her kid, but it also made Veth a little guilty--”this lady wants to desperately return home, shouldn’t I want to go home too?” Caleb’s teleportation spell couldn’t have come a better time.

Sam wants Caleb & Astrid to get back together (well, he says “hump each other”), and Dani’s eyebrows climb off her forehead. Veth/Nott really thinks Caleb needs to have a roll in ze hay, and feels like after meeting her that there is a kindness or vulnerability to her that could be worthwhile. Travis thinks she feels like someone tethered, that it feels like she has a bomb or something in her chest that’ll explode if she tries to leave. Sam thinks Eadwulf is super cool. None of these names are spelled like I think.

Travis found the dinner super frustrating, because he felt Caleb was trying to walk a diplomatic line and he just wanted to backhand Trent. 

Fjord is still coming to terms with his feelings for Jester, and the feelings are definitely real, but there’s a lot of timing that he’s considering and he also wants to figure out what the relationship is like outside of constant tension and battle. Fjord is also having trouble figuring out how to exercise the ability to display affection as well since he’s never received them, and is feeling out how to give and receive them. “It’s fine now, because he’s feeling it, but once you say it out loud, or once you come to a point where you make it known to the other side, then what happens? It might be ruined. It might be broken. Or it might not be!” The moment with the porcelain unicorn was too good not to try. Travis also sighs that he’s not a romance D&D guy, “but now I am! Fuckin’ Laura Bailey!” He’s definitely feeling it out and will see how it unfolds in the game.

If Jester hadn’t let go of the Traveler, Fjord would have either attacked the Traveler or the Moonweaver and tried to kick them both off.

Sam doesn’t think the Traveler’s realized yet what a dick he is. Brian thinks it may not happen in this campaign, but agrees the full weight of what he deserves hasn’t been felt yet. Travis: “Yeah, he came to the edge, but it didn’t cost him anything.” Brian: “Yeah, he’s a real edgelord.”

Fanart of the Week! a beautiful portrait of Molly in the snow by @claygryphon on twitter.

Veth acknowledges that they work for shady people with shady pasts, so Vess DeRogna isn’t her first rodeo, but this time it’s personal. It’s Jaws 2: Electric Boogaloo. Sam can’t commit to actual actions, since Vess is like level 20 or something, but “I will get some kinda revenge. Be it petty or significant, I will get revenge.”

How are they feeling about being in Eiselcross? They’ve only just landed, so not sure yet. The cold is intimidating. They’re excited to explore a new island that’s part of Wildemount, especially with the river of lava running through it. “It’s icy with lava? Sounds like a Dairy Queen.”

There’s still a ton of unknowns regarding the Tombtakers, Vess, the nature of their job, and who’s here on whose orders. They’re excited to see how it’s all going to play out. Travis laughs that he doesn’t take notes, he’s just here to fight things. It just washes over him when Matt starts talking about names and places. “It’ll reveal itself in time. [...] I don’t write those notes down. I don’t even know how to spell it off the bat.” I have never identified more with Travis. Sam actually does pay attention and take notes and was really impressed by Marisha’s dive.

Veth became interested in branding her own spellcraft as soon as she saw Caleb doing it. “That’s what the influencer agents are gonna be looking at. It would be nice to leave the world better than we found it, but also with some branded spells.”

What were Fjord’s thoughts on dropping so much money on the ring & the Ioun stone? It wasn’t about money for Fjord, it was about a cool thing to acquire. It’s why he saves money in his campaign. Caleb needs “as much of a flak jacket as he can get.” He also REJECTS the idea of buyer’s remorse on the ring and touts the effectiveness it’ll have on the lava river.

Travis talks about his old coins - a 340AD coin he bought at a ren faire and a 120BC coin that was a gift from a friend.

Sam marvels at the love and thought that Caleb put into the tower. Sam points out they forgot to go to the top two floors altogether. Travis: “Did the mansion get as much careful planning from Scanlan as the tower did from Caleb?” Sam: Absolutely not. But they were still thinking small in C1, figuring out how things went, and they didn’t have as much detail in their heads yet.

And that’s all the time we have for tonight! We end on everyone whispering way too close into their mics and tapping fingernails on mason jars. A fitting end to this crazy episode, I think.

Is it Thursday yet?

[kae-karo]

I'm sending you two of these bc I can so for the ship part of the ask, chiluc please!!!! :D

THANK U EPI i was hoping i might get some ships soon lmao and we all know how much i adore chiluc >:}

when I started shipping it if I did:

i actually saw this post (x) by @samijen (wonderful artist u should all be following them!!) that turned me onto it and then this post (x) which turned me onto childe calling diluc 'firefly' which is now up there as one of my fave hcs lmao. i rb'd the first post from them back in early feb lmaoooo

my thoughts:

love love love it's the enemies to lovers spice but i especially like the flavor of 'one of them is absolutely fascinated with the other, one of them detests the other with a burning passion (literally lmao)'. so much fun to write and work through how exactly they'd ever come to be romantically involved, and they're both individually such complex fun characters to play around with that it makes the whole thing more interesting

What makes me happy about them:

honestly i just love childe being all moon-eyed over diluc, thinking he's the prettiest thing he's seen since the first time he laid eyes on a weapon, fully love at first sight. and i love diluc's begrudging kind of love (hi i'm working on a ch(aeya)luc fic rn so this is something that's been on my mind lmao). like, wanting so badly to detest him only to find the pieces of him that are much softer, much gentler, that are earnest in a way that he can't help but appreciate, that are deeply caring even if the way he expresses it either pisses diluc off or sets him on edge. it's the progress and healing of it, i think?

What makes me sad about them:

they'll never have a canon interaction 😭 nah i mean that's fine lmao but i'd be interested to see how the creators would set that up and/or execute it lmao. but truly what makes me sad, esp right now with the story i'm working on, is that there is probably a grain of self-deprecation that lives inside childe for a very long time - that he is fatui, and diluc will never care for him the way he cares for diluc (if he's self-aware enough for that) or just the painful pining, the knowing that he's...broken, in a sense. that he's not built right, that the abyss messed him up, so maybe diluc is right to hate him, or at least not to love him. and for diluc, it's probably selfish. warring with the idea that he should hate the fatui, especially this one. a harbinger. maybe even hating to see the world in shades of gray, that childe could have bloodlust alongside doting on his siblings. it's definitely an intense process for them to get together no matter which way you slice it

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

i actually don't think i've read chiluc much? so i can't say anything on this front lmao

things I look for in fanfic:

again, haven't read much, but maybe i'll talk abt more just what i like when i'm writing then? i really do like childe being almost a little ignorant in the same way he is in canon? like oh yeah i tried to kill you but we're still besties right? that energy, but directed at diluc. and i like diluc fighting a bit with his feelings, for sure. finding childe annoying definitely lmao

beyond that, i think they're very kaeluc in the sense that they could fall into a super emotionally intense but totally teen-rated sort of fic or go full smut and i'd be happy either way

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

kaeluc and zhongchi!

My happily ever after for them:

diluc has already acquired vigilante status, just needs to drag childe into the mix. i could see a 'offloading my morals to my husband' scenario, where childe accompanies the darknight hero and is just like 'can i murder them, firefly?' 'no murder' 'just a lil scratch, maybe?' '...fine' like that would be some chef's kiss content - mostly cause i think diluc would never be happy trying to fully settle down. he'd have to be actively working to protect people to be happy. and i think childe would get restless as well, though his is more just a bloodthirsty need-to-fight kind of restlessness

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

childe is very often the caretaker in his family so i imagine his default is big spoon, and diluc rarely gets taken care of At All so i'm sure he's startled but begrudgingly agreeable to being the little spoon. that said, there are almost definitely nights where the dynamic is switched, probably bc childe had some kind of abyss-related nightmare or something to that effect

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

sparring for sure. childe keeps diluc on his toes, makes him work to hold onto his skills and improve them, which like...frankly most people can't keep up with him, so it's a refreshing thing for him. and childe is just THRILLED to get to fight, even if he promised no bloodshed. it's a win/win for them both, especially when it ends with one pinned beneath the other and out of breath and- well, you get the idea

send me genshin ships/chars to talk abt or rank!

[baereaved]

well I'd best ask you for all of the OC questions then, if you're going to answer 'em anyway :3

the tru way to my heart

link to the oc question post~

1. Which OC is the most likely to break the 4th wall?

u know how the stereotypical ~crazy~ one always breaks the fourth wall? that’d be hendrik, here, so maybe him. tho honestly i feel like shiv totally would, like, he’s one of those stereotypical characters who’s calm and always has their eyes closed (e.g. gin, ling) and i feel like he’d just be sitting under a tree chillin & dessa would say smth & he’d just open one eye and look at the camera like ;3

2. One OC will protect you, and the others will try to kill you. Which OC would you pick to be your defender?

probably opluxx or shiv, bc they’re both fucking tanks. i never thought i’d need more overpowered ocs. aurelio, maybe. i feel like having the literal sun fight for me would probably work out

3. Would you rather live in your OCs’ universe or this one?

for the most part, my ocs’ universe and this one are one & the same, and the exceptions aren’t, like, great for me. cielle is a dgm oc. does that count. can i go live in dgm

the rest are under the cut!

4. Your OC finds out that you are their creator. How do they react?

already answered!

5. What is your noncanon nickname for your OC?

kairos was always “key” and was also one of the many inspirations for me using “keystone” as a username once. for the most part tho, they all either don’t have nicknames or have ones that are canon or would be believably canon bc they’re so common (morgs, luc, etc.)

6. What is/would be the fandom nickname for your story?

what does this… mean…(do they mean, like, for example, shortening the name a la d gray to dgm or do they mean, like, hiatus x hiatus. either way, i haven’t come up w/ names for any of my stories, sadly, so. well. or do they mean what i’m addressing in the next question. i still dunno what any of them are called)

7. What is/would be the nickname for a fan of your OC?

is this referencing, like, fan nicknames such as superwholocks or beliebers bc if so i can only pray no one would ever enjoy a story of mine that much

8. Which OC is most likely to be called “son”/ “daughter” / “child” by fans?

already answered!

9. Which OC is most likely to be called “husband” / “wife” / “spouse” by fans?

undoubtedly, pollux & olivia. probably also ekundayo, olivia’s wife. i feel like not jo or reese, tho. or. i hope not, at least. i know fandom would probably love reese & that makes me very, very sad.v v few of my charas are actually adults so this is actually a harder question than i anticipated

10. If you could tell your OC one thing, what would it be?

are you kidding me? i don’t want to talk to any of them. they’d all hate me

11. What kind of advice would your OC give you?

i feel like half of them would be like “just don’t leave your house bc the world is horrible & full of suffering” and then the other half would be like “~convene with nature and let go of all things~” so

12. Which OC is/would be “woobified” by the fandom?

i think this is in the “pretending a horrible character is totally forgivable & innocent” sense but it’s been a while & the tropes page there doesn’t helpin any case, like i mentioned above, fandom would probably love reese in this way & it would make me very sad bc he is a relentless child abuser but he’s pretty & young & white & bipolar so, like, i wouldn’t be surprisedany of my main four slavedrivers would totally be subjectable to this, tbh, tho naturally olivia is least likely. pollux is about as likely as reese to be woobified bc he’s even prettier and has a kid sister. i make it too easy for them, really.ooh, hendrik. absolutely hendrik. he’s just an outlast oc & may or may not ever get a story of his own but you know how much people love to protect mentally ill horror charas bc they think it’s good somehowgod, hendrik would totally be a komaeda. i’m so sadhopefully they’ll all just latch onto the actual woobie charas instead bc. hoo boy. there’s too many of them. i need to Stop

13. What song would you sing to audition for the role of your OC?

i’m not pretty enough to be any of my ocsbut. i really should give them all theme songs. maybe i could be kairos. like, after he loses all his flesh. i feel like i don’t have any song ideas for that, though

14. Your OC finds themselves in your universe and you are their only contact. How well do they handle the adjustment and how would you try to help/hinder/contain them?

most of them would do fine, since. y'know. realism. the ones who wouldn’t (e.g. hendrik, santa, opluxx, cielle, princess rebellion) i’d probs just. toss into some nearby woodlands & hope for the best. at worst they’d be a new cryptid, so

15. f/m/k: OC edition

i don’t want to fuck my childrenhm. fuck shiv, marry santa, kill, idk, pollux, probablypollux is an asshole & shiv is hot and has blue hair & santa could probably make good money w/ his looks or, idk, maybe he could pull off the artist thingi kinda regret not making any really rich characters now bc i have no rich assholes to marry

16. Who would you cast to play the part of your OC in a TV show or movie?

i don’t know enough child actors to answer this question. or poc actors. or actors in general. i feel like i don’t know any actors except terry crews and the rock

17. If you could choose to meet one of your OCs in person, who would you pick?

enlil bc he’s beautiful and i really wanna meet a ghost, also

18. Which OC would you absolutely NOT want to be a real person?

i know i should probably pick like, someone seriously bad, but. rien. he’s just ur typical internet mansplaining douchebag & we already have enough of those

19. What is your dream medium for your story (book series, video game, comic, movie, cartoon/anime, etc)?

already answered!

20. Which OC is the most likely to become a “mascot” for your story?

i feel like morgan, the mc, should be the obvious answer, but i also feel like i’d probably want to make it jesús, bc he’s beautiful & also i love him. maybe i should make an actual mascot character. what if morgan found a cat