#i still love vm but tm9. my loves

[hazardsoflove]

LET’S GO MIGHTY NEIN

[alphapockets]

Discord: New Message Infodump

Yes this is not getting put in the widofjord tag because I don’t like filling up others’ searches with something that is not “directly” linked. *jazz hands* anxiety. BUT here is all I could think of and a sprinkling of things I have seen asked about or mentioned in the comments! May this and the last chapter hold you over <3

Q: Why a text fic?

A: Honestly? I have only ever seen one from VM (there may be others, but I don’t read many fics out of my niche sections?) that was between Grog/Vax (I don’t ship it but when it’s a bar shift #3 in a row that’s 14 hours long, you need entertainment). I had read also Call Me, Beep Me from the VLD fandom as well as Misuse of Stark Technology and thought that it was a strong platform for conversation and storytelling that shows multiple perspectives at once without the constant POV whiplash that can happen otherwise. And with the strong and chaotic personalities of TM9 and the diverse ways the NPCs interacted fit in, I hoped it wouldn’t be that hard to pull off.

I’ll be honest, I was not sure if it would work out or catch on as it is not the most popular form of storytelling. As many people said in the comments of chapters 1-5, people generally don’t enjoy texting fics and skip past them. I am glad I took the risk and that everyone has with me.

 Q: Is it true you have not watched past Ep. 40?

A: Yes. Campaign 2 came out just before I started school, and I decided school deserved my full attention. I was also not as attached at large with the cast as an ensemble as I was with VM. This combined with having anxiety and needing something to be finished before I can enjoy made it difficult to get back into C2. I was lucky that I started Campaign 1 a few weeks before that ended. I will probably watch it when everything is over, but I mostly follow through spoilers and Arsequeef’s gifs.

 Q: What are some of your influences for this?

A: I have seen a lot of people loving the realism of the conversations. I don’t watch TV or movies, but I watch streamers mostly, especially group streamers. Because of this, I tend to hear nothing but natural conversations. I also have been in group chats since the old AIM days and was a bartender for 6 years, so I have pulled from interactions that I have experienced around me. Often when something perfect happens in a chat with my friends I screen shot it for use later (the look spam and how do you uwu are both examples).

 Q: Why that area?

A: I like to use locations I know well if there is a lot of real-world interactions. I am from Massachusetts and I had used Savannah, Ga., for Here’s To Us, where I lived for 4 years.

 Q: Will the chat be renamed to The Mighty Nein or something similar?

A: No. The chat existed before Caleb as that and was set up originally by Fjord and Beau with Molly, Bryce, Darrow, and Yasha. It’s been the Game Hoes for too long in their life to change. There will be some side chats that appear and disappear.

  Q: Didn’t Veth work with Caleb?

A: Originally that was the plan, but halfway through the first chapter, I decided to space everyone out better and missed her name in one paragraph at the beginning of the chapter. I wanted them to know each other but avoid the trope of “direct connection” with strangers to lovers and text fics.

  Q: How tall is Fjord (and the rest of them by proxy)

A: I changed the heights because Caleb is canon “Average height” which in DnD is different than the US. So, he was given a few extra inches to put him at 5’10”. Fjord was scaled up because we love height differences to 6’3” because of that. By order of height:

Veth- 4’11, Kiri- 5’, Keg and Yeza- 5’3, Jester and Rissa- 5’4, Astrid- 5’5, Bryce, Beau, and Wulf- 5’9, Beau, Caleb, Molly, and Ava- 5’10, Yasha- 5’11, Darrow and Essek- 6’, Fjord and Gunther- 6’3, Cad and Enzo- 6’5.

I’m probably forgetting some people.

  Q: Why did Enzo’s arc allegedly end that way?

A: I’m not sure I’m done with him just yet, but the reason it had to be let go like that is simple: legality. Real world consequences to acts would have kind of thrown a wrench in how this all unfolds. And Molly was the character who I felt could bounce back the best from getting a solid ass kicking.

  Q: Why was Astrid faster at accepting than Wulf, and why is he so possessive?

A: Wulf was Caleb’s first real friend and that meant he was the redhead’s world. Astrid came second and she realized how quickly jealousy can sour something. Wulf’s jealousy fed into the break-up. So, despite the awkwardness, she wanted to show Caleb that she meant it when she said they could still be friends.

Wulf was Caleb’s first friend, and he has that sense of seniority in his mind and has a hard time accepting he is not being replaced when new people come around. And as a more dominant person, it was hard for him to have the normally docile friend speak out against him. He is still immature and needed to grow, but has a hard time seeing that is okay right now.

  Q: Where does everyone attend?

A: Amherst College- Astrid, Caleb, Essek, Wulf. Boston College- Cad. Emerson- Beau, Gunther, Enzo, Fjord, Keg, Molly, Rissa, and Yasha. Princeton- Bryce. Hofstra- Jester and Kiri. UConn- Yeza (Graduated). UMass/Boston University/Tufts- NPCs not brought in yet.

**Caleb has stated Jester lives in the City early on because Jester has all her locations on social set to NYC

 Q: Any reason why you picked those schools?

A: I’m a BC fan (and Providence College), my childhood friend went to Emerson, and I was accepted to Hoftstra before I joined the military instead. Amherst was a perfect “nearby” city that was another college town/I am maybe looking at Amherst for a PhD. Program.

 Q: Where is Darrow stationed when not crashing Bryce’s life or deployed? What does he do?

A: Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was attached to the 26th MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) that goes through the Mediterranean. He currently is on hospital duty as a temporary “relaxation period” for people who are deployed often. As he is a paladin, I thought it’d be a nice touch to have him as an FMF Corpsman.

  Q: Where is everyone from? The holidays showed people all over and it’s mentioned some people were not born in the US or where they were located.

A: This is where that spreadsheet I made comes in handy. Most of the people either grew up in or intend to stay in Massachusetts for a long while. As there are some of the major schools in that area, obviously people would be out of state.

Boston TM9 Party

The Clay Family is in Jamaica Plains, which is just outside of Boston proper. They are from there, minus Toya who is adopted as well and from Maine.

Molly was the godson of Cad’s mother, who is from England and his father had been stationed in England for some time, so when he was essentially orphaned and given up by the indirect family, she put through the paperwork to take him in. Fjord and Yasha stayed with them.

Fjord is originally from Texas, outside of El Paso. After he joined the Navy, he never intended to move home as he hated it there. He fell in love with New England when he was sent TAD (Temporary Assignment of Duty) to the naval base in Newport. He stayed and continued his education at Emerson.

Yasha is from Jamaica Plains as well and went to school with Molly and Ornna, who is the same age as them. Her dad is from South Carolina and her mother is from Okinawa. They moved up north for her dad’s work.

Beau is from Kentucky and her family is unreasonably wealthy. She decided to go to school someplace as un-Kentucky as she could fathom and was stuck between Berkley and Emerson but chose the former because the weather meant her mother would never visit.

The Amherst Crew (Astrid and Wulf) are all from the area except for:

Caleb, was born in Poland to a Polish/German family. They moved and when his family died in a fire (he was at a sleepover at the time) his grandparents took him in. Wulf was still there with his large family and

Essek had returned home to California for the break.

Astrid and her family spent 10 days in Key West for the holidays, which is why she missed the New York trip. Wulf stayed locally for winter break.

The Conn/NY/NJ Groups are pretty straightforward.

The Brenattos stayed in New Haven, where they moved when Luc was born from Amherst. They had moved so Veth could start fresh.

Jester was surprised by a visit from her mother on Christmas Day and spent it with her. It was the first time her mom came from the Ukraine, as Jester’s dad is the one who she moved with. She lives on Long Island not far from her school.

Kiri is from upstate New York and was home for the Holidays.

Bryce drove down to Louisiana. They and Darrow are from Marietta, but they were at their grandmother’s place in Lafourche Parish. Darrow returned to Jacksonville NC.

Others Keg and Gunther were in Rhode Island but separately, where they are both from, Rissa is from Maine and went home, and Enzo was in jail (he is from Lynn, Ma).

  Q: How old is everyone?

A: 5- Luc. 19- Kiri, 20- Jester, Rissa, Keg, and Enzo, 21- Beau, Molly, Yasha, Essek, and Astrid, 22- Caleb, Cali, Reani, and Wulf. 24- Cad, 25- Fjord and Bryce. 27- Veth and Darrow. 28- Yeza.

  Q: If Fjord has the GI Bill why does he live on campus or have a job?

A: For those who don’t know how the GI Bill works, the government pays for education and sends some money based on housing in the zip code of the school. Boston is insanely expensive and student living is easier. Essentially, he wanted the “college experience” and it was cheaper. He needs the job more because he knows better than to let himself get idle. If he does, he won’t focus on school. Like Travis, my Fjord has ADHD.

  Q: How did Veth and Caleb meet?

A: In a Juvenile’s in-patient program for at-risk teenagers and those suffering from mental health issues. Caleb’s depression and anxiety following the death of his parents and the constant bullying for numerous things and previous attempts or ideations had him labeled “at risk” for self-harm. He was in for 3 weeks. Veth was in for her kleptomania and possible signs of disruptive BPD or other developing personality disorders but aged out of the youth section when she turned 18. As most diagnoses cannot be done for those until adulthood, she was being watched for early onset signs.

  Q: How did Jester/Veth get into the group?

A: Jester met Beau, Yasha and Molly at NYCC two years’ prior in line for a panel. They met again at Anime Boston after exchanging Twitter handles a few months later. Jester had worked NYCC a year ago and helped Veth to a quiet room for Luc, who was fussing, then stayed with her as she was on break soon. She invited Veth to play a few games of Don’t Starve Together with her and Yasha before she was brought into the main group.

  Q: This is a really diverse cast. What is everyone and why?

A: Some were obvious choices such as Caleb being from Germany, Jester being from Eastern Europe (Ukrainian), and Molly as Irish (and English).

Others I did to flush out to make a group in a major city make more sense. Wulf and Astrid both have French/ Germanic backgrounds because in canon, they were raised in a similar way. Astrid is Jewish along with Caleb to hint at why it may have been easier for them to date if her family was stricter than his.

Fjord and Yasha faced some racial issues early on in the show (Yasha from where she was from and Fjord for being a half orc), so I wanted them to be people of color. Yasha is half Japanese because of her name and because US troops often marry someone from Japan when they are single and stationed there. Her father is Jamaican in decent. Fjord’s dad he figures is Black but they’ve never met, as his mother’s side are Mexican. I chose that because I wanted to keep the Texan because a lot of people in the service are from Texas. Also, as previously stated, I had too many naturalized or foreign students already and needed to not stress over how they would be around for the breaks.

Cad is English, Norwegian, and Swedish because Cad is a god, who why not make him a Norse god? Veth is half Cambodian partially because there is a decent population size in Massachusetts. Beau is the not white-passing cousin of her family which will come in later because rich families have secrets, yo. Her family has some Cajun/Creole in her like Darrow but it shouldn’t be there according to her family lineage. 

Essek is Persian, Rissa is Puerto Rican, Bryce and Keg are “Confused American Mixes” of everything. Cali I have not decided yet, but will probably have some English in her, Reani I have decided on Moroccan. Kiri is Korean. 

Enzo is an asshole (he’s also mix of random European heritage.) I feel like I missed someone.

  Q: Is Widofjord the only pairing we will see?

A: There are some others forming, including BeauYasha, which was one of the possibilities when I started. Molly/Essek/Astrid were a shock and some others I won’t spoil just yet are starting to bud as hopefuls.

  Q: Do you have an end game in sight?

A: Honestly, as this whole fic has taken on a life of its own, not entirely. It was originally mapped out to be 12 chapters long and have much of this condensed down with all the side characters removed, no Enzo or hockey games, and the extra fluff cut out. As I wrote it, I found I enjoyed that almost more than the Widofjord specifics. So, this has really evolved away from a Widofjord ONLY fic, I am aware. Endgame wise, when I feel the story is told, I will wind it down, but there are more elements evolving with every chapter and I want these characters to get the moments they’re aiming toward. I also don’t want it to drag on too long, so I know that this will eventually come to an end.

 Q: Did anything change relationship wise while writing?

A: 100%. Beau and Jester were originally who I expected to pan out, but my Jes couldn’t seem to devote to that because she had developed more attraction to Molly and Fjord than I expected. Beau and Yasha just clicked better. Molly was the next option for Jester, but then I decided to make Essek and Astrid actual friends with the TM9 and we see how that went.

 Q: Is Jester going to find something happier? It kind of sucked seeing her so down and withdrawn these last few chapters. And where is Nott’s role now?

A: I am trying with Jessy. I am. Here’s to hoping she behaves? As for Nott, she is shining as the mom friend, but her coming into the fray more means bad things are happening. And yes, that is on the way.

 Q: You keep hinting at something in both Caleb and Fjord’s pasts. Are we ever going to see that?

A: Yes. I am trying to space out the angst as much as possible. This was never meant to be a hurt/comfort type story, but people have mental health issues and those because pivotal to the story more than I intended. Maybe the curse of having complete access to everyone’s conversations? But they will be coming out.

[annakie]

I was traveling Thursday night until this afternoon, so I just finally finished the Dalen’s Closet Oneshot.

Want some thoughts?

Unfortunately, I was traveling for not-happy reasons (saying goodbye to a relative who is very ill) so CR wasn’t really in the forefront of my mind, and I also already had the plans to travel for a couple of weeks.  I was in the air when the oneshot started airing.  As soon as I landed I pulled up Twitch for a few minutes while waiting to deplane and walking through the airport.  I basically saw the minute or so before Scanlan sang the Boring Ballad of Derrig (which was kind of nice because I got a crash course in who Liam was playing) and then the entire Sylas reveal until he threw them off the cliff.  Then I walked out of the airport so I turned off Twitch.

I was staying with my parents in their big, nice RV but had bad internet on my phone, so even after they went to bed I didn’t spoil myself.  And then the next morning I was waiting for them to wake up I was scrolling through twitter, saw a bunch of mild spoilers and went “Fuck it” and read the CritRoleStats for the last half hour or so of the show.  And I cried.  At tweets.

Friday and Saturday I managed to watch up to the last hour in bits and pieces, when it was appropriate (before bed, waiting while said relative was sleeping, etc.)  I stopped myself when I could tell the battle was starting to get close to ending.

Got home this afternoon, and after eating and settling in I was ready for the end.  Went to bed and finished it on my laptop in the dark with a big pile of tissues next to me for the ugly sobbing I knew was coming. I was right.

So there were three acts to it, the pre-rehearsal dinner, the dinner and fight, and the wedding. I thought so much about everything was so great and perfect.  I LOVED seeing Tary again, I missed that asshole so much, and Sam did great falling right back into him (I mean we’ll probably get to see him very soon in the Darrington Brigade oneshot which will also be great, can’t wait for that) but I’m so glad he was so included in the wedding.  

My heart was full seeing Kima and Allura and Gilmore again, even though we didn’t get to spend much time with them.  And getting to check in with Kaylee, too!  I’m a little sad that apparently they forgot about her going back to school, but hey, hopefully she does well with Bitcoin. :)  Keyleth as the best-man-zilla was fantastic, and I’m so glad they found “jobs” for all of Vox Machina, so they were all a part of the party.  

Both Keyleth and Tary’s speeches were SO good.  I cheered a little at the Lionette wines namedrop, neat to see a just a teensy little TM9 in our VM oneshot (is Beau alive yet?  She’s older than 19, right?  I’m kind of wondering if that is foreshadowing or just a cute detail?)  

Everyone grilling Derrig about his “intentions” was great, I wish we had a bit more time with him.  Obviously Derrig isn’t an option here, but I do hope that SOMEDAY, maybe not yet, but someday, Keyleth moves on and finds love again.  She deserves love, if she wants it.  I love that he was a VM fanboy and knew about them and was a little dorky about it.

In the battle, once again we just saw the absolute might of Grog.  Staying fine during the wine, barely being bothered by being poisoned, tanking multiple high-level creatures and not dropping under 100hp.  Yeah he doesn’t have the magic others do, but he’s got the staying power and he’s amazing.  

I was 100% not surprised by the Sylas reveal, it felt very obvious to me that he’d be the one to fuck things up, but it was still awesome.  I felt so bad for Percy and Vex, Percy had nothing but bad choices and I think he did the best he could with almost no resources.  It sucks that Vex died *again* and on her wedding day but even he knew that Pike would be there for her and I think he thought she’d last longer than she did.

The rest of the fight was an unfortunate lesson in splitting the party for half of the players, but everything worked out OK, with Grog basically being the shining star.  It was nice of Matt to let Pike’s spiritual weapon bow work for Vex since that is definitely not Rules As Written, but yay for letting Rule of Cool win out, especially for the bride that you just killed after ruining her rehearsal dinner.  At least everyone got to do something cool.

OK and then the wedding.  The vows were beautiful, and I started crying pretty early on.  It’s gotta be a little weird telling your friend you love him and saying wedding vows when your husband is 4 feet from you but wow, both Vex and Percy’s vows were thoughtful and perfect.

Then of course Sam fucking Reigel comes in and just... destroys everyone emotionally.  Because that’s what he does, and it was perfect.  Like I can’t even... what... how... wow.  I would love to know if Sam talked it over with Matt and/or Liam ahead of time.  There was also a moment you can see Liam shift into Vax and it sent chills up my spine.  I loved that he played Vax just... more alien?  Less connected to reality?  It felt so true to the character.  And I felt like this was the closure that both Vex and Keyleth needed.  I love that Vex WANTED Keyleth to have that moment, as well.  It felt like both of them, and really all of them, could finally accept it and be at peace now.  Or hopefully can be, in Keyleth’s case.  (Also, Marisha’s outfit?  Amazing.  They all looked great but wow.)

Anyway, I went through like ten kleenex from ugly crying.  And I don’t know if they’re planning on any more VM oneshots (I know there’s the “VM vs TM9″ thing happening, whatever that is, but this could be the end of the actual story?)  I hope it’s not the end.  If it is, I can accept it (I mean, we do have the animated series coming up but that’s, you know, a prequel).  It feels wrapped up now.  But I do still hope just every once in awhile they get together and we get to see it.

I hope that Scanlan catching the bouquet at the end hints that we can eventually get the Pikelan wedding, though we don’t need two wedding oneshots in a row.  The ONLY thing really missing for me in this oneshot (there are a few smaller quibbles / “I WANT”s) like the one actual hole was... a serious lack of Pikelan, since that’s my main ship in this fandom.  I have some thoughts about their separate bedrooms I think are more deserving of their own post, but there was so little Pikelan in this oneshot that it was like a 9.5 instead of 10 for how much I loved it.  But hey, we know what WILL happen.  And they’re gnomes.  They got time to make it happen. And we did get a lot of Pikelan in the Search for Bob at least. 

Anyway, that’s enough rambling.  I just had to type out a lot of feelings about SOMETHING, and this was the best place for those feelings.  

Can’t WAIT for this week’s episode and seeing Palock!Fjord in action!