#TRAVIS AND LAURA ESPECIALLY LOOKED SO HOT | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

falsemortal · 1 year

Text

Pink & Burgundy (1/2)

Laura assumed it was a done deal when she had asked Travis if they could try something new in the bedroom. Especially with the way he had become downright shy at her particular ask.

Laura had been with very few men in her life who agreed to do that with her, while almost all of them shut it down almost immediately after it came out of her mouth. She doesn’t want to say that those relationships didn’t last all that long because of her want to try new things, but she knows that’s ultimately what it was.

With her previous relationship with Max, he had been.. pretty vanilla, but like the people-pleaser he is, he’d try everything at least once, especially when Laura asked.

But that is dead and gone now, they’ve still remained friends but.. it’s awkward now, especially since.. she’s with Travis.

Laura needed someone that would take on things as they came at them. Who thought on their feet.

She, however, was not expecting Travis to tell her he’d think about her request.

Nor, did she think they would ever be in a sex shop in the middle of nowhere with him in front of a showcase of different styles and sizes of dildos that could be hooked up to harnesses. (Of which, she’d already picked out a simple black one that had a nice feel to it.)

The shopkeeper kept her eyes on the two of them, and Laura already knew what she was thinking. As soon as Travis wandered a little ways away after spotting something, she swatted her hand on the counter, “He’s my partner, and no he’s not my sugar daddy.”

“Ah, no offense,” The lanky woman replied, smiling, “I’m used to the younger ones being more.. surprised at the shop, not the older.”

“I’m breaking him out of his shell,” Laura squinted at her, feeling a tiny bit apprehensive talking to her, but really, this woman has probably seen a lot working in a city sex shop, “He likes to be restrained, but that’s as adventurous as he has let me see him get.” She gestures to the packaged harness in her hand, “This is.. new for him. Do you have any recommendations on.. size? My previous experience with this was with someone younger than him, and we were kinda.. naïve on that part.”

The woman looks to be in thought for a moment, before coming around the front and guiding Laura to a display she hadn’t seen yet. “If it’s his first time, maybe go for this one. It’s not too large, has a flesh-like feel with a tiny bit of texture for his pleasure.”

“It’s neon pink,” Laura bites her lip to hold in a laugh, she tilts her head slightly, watching the light bounce off of it, “And it’s sparkly? I have to have it.”

“It seems proportional to your body as well,” She eyes Laura, “Not that it matters, sometimes people have hidden surprises.”

Laura grins with a slight blush to her cheeks, “Yeah, exactly.”

The woman seems pleased with herself as she unlocks the case and grabs a packaged one for her. “Now, what about lubricant?”

“We have some at home,” Laura looks at Travis as he awkwardly meanders around the shop, but he seems to have picked up something and has it under his arm, “But it wouldn’t hurt to get something new. But also, I don’t want to hurt him or ruin this experience for either of us. I’m still.. surprised he agreed.”

“Teaching an old dog new tricks,” she smiles again, “Have you two experimented with using a warming lube? That might ease him into it a bit.”

Laura can’t stop the laugh that escapes her this time, “We have, he didn’t like it because he swore it felt like icy hot on his dick-“

“Mm,” she hums, looking through the shelf until she picks up a shiny bottle, “For this toy, and for any others you may have, you’ll be wanting to use a water based lubricant. He is.. much larger than yourself, so be very liberal. When in doubt, use more.”

“I will, I think we are ready to check out, but let me get him,” She watches the woman take the bottle and place it with the boxed up sparkly pink dildo. Laura hands her the harness and goes to where Travis is, “Hey, you find something?”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” he licks his lips, extending his hand to show her a bundle of red rope, “New cord.”

She reaches out to touch it and it feels like silk, she smirks,“This for you or me?”

“Either,” he returns a similarly smug look that drops quickly, “There is.. a lot here.”

“There is,” she smiles and takes his hand, “I’m ready to check out if you are ready. Or, y’know, we could always go look at the lingerie.”

He blushes and looks past her at the wearable section, she is practically purring as she continues, “You can pick something out for me.”

He wets his lip, “I, uh, I did see something earlier.”

“Yeah?” She smiles softly, touching his chin to get his attention, “Why don’t you go get it and we’ll go check out?”

He nods, catching her gaze and returning a soft smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

She playfully swats his ass as he quickly goes over to the lingerie section, and returning with something burgundy that he hides from her.

“No peeking,” he chuckles lightly, which makes Laura’s eyes sparkle as she grins back at him.

“I like the color.”

He nods, looking away shyly. “I do too. I.. I really like you in red.”

“Do you now?” She kisses his cheek and takes his hand, “I’ll make sure to add some more red to my closet.”

They walk up to the cash register, where the woman has already bagged up Laura’s things into a dark green velveteen bag. The cord and crumpled up pieces of fabric get set on the counter and the woman scans and adds them to the bag with a smile before folding and stamping it shut. “That all for you folks?”

Laura smiles, completing the transaction before Travis can even pull out his wallet, “Yep, thank you so much for your help today.”

“No problem, dear,” she nods to the two of them, “I wish you two luck and to have fun with it.”

Travis blushes brightly, his grip tightening on Laura’s smaller hand. As soon as they’re out of the shop and back in his truck, panic in his voice, “What.. what did you two talk about?”

“Don’t worry,” she cups his cheek, “She just gave me some recommendations, nothing to worry about.”

Some self-conscious thoughts roll back and forth in his mind, but doesn’t speak them as he turns his face and kisses her palm, “Okay, sweetheart.”

––

They wait until the weekend.

They’re on the couch, relaxing. Laura’s scrolling on her phone while leaning on Travis’ chest, who had been reading one of his romance novels. It was a comfortable silence between them, with Laura giggling occasionally and getting his attention to show him something on her phone screen.

She hadn’t noticed him slowly close his book and set it on the side table, but she did feel his hands slowly walk their way up her stomach until he was caressing her small breasts, she smiled as she stretched her neck to the side and felt his soft kisses. “Something good happen in your book?”

“Mm,” he hummed, nibbling at the juncture where neck hit shoulder, “The prince confessed his love to the servant girl, but she told him off and ran away with the queen’s chambermaid.”

“Which one were you rooting for again? The chambermaid, right?” Laura sighs softly, adjusting against his chest.

“Mm, yeah,” He gives her a soft squeeze, “Thea deserved better than that royal rat Benedict, glad she got away with Katrina.”

Laura smiled, she loved listening to him talk about the stories he read. A majority of them were romance novels, usually shitty ones that made them both laugh at the nonsense, but occasionally there were some that had good plot.. and some really got Travis in the mood.

“Yeah?” She sat her phone down on top of his book on the side table, “What was going on before you closed the book?”

“Some touching,” She heard him lick his lips and his small inhale, felt his hands cup and hold her breasts up, his voice low and in her ear, “Some stuff that I want to do to you.”

“What kinda stuff? She smiles, putting her hands over his and teasingly shifting against his growing erection, “Use your big boy words.”

A low growl from his chest, “Laura-”

“You can do it,” she purrs, turning her head to graze his jaw with kisses, “I’ve heard you say things to me before; flattering things that make me blush and laugh, kind things that make me want to kiss you for all eternity… and especially those naughty things that make me wet only for you.”

“I..” He sighs, grumbling against her golden hair before speaking softly, “Wanna taste you, darlin’. You’re the sweetest thing I've ever tasted and I can’t ever get enough of you.”

“Good boy,” she grabs his chin and pulls him into a short kiss.

He moans into her mouth, shivering at the endearment, “I.. I also.. wanna.. try..?”

“Try what, Trav?” Her heart thumps, knowing what he’s asking, but she just loves to tease him and get him to open up more, she presses soft kisses to his chin and jaw. “You don’t have to be shy, it’s just me.”

“Laur, if only you knew how much you affect me,” he sighed dreamily at the kisses he received, “I.. I want to.. Y’know.. Try..”

Laura kisses his cheek, waiting.

“T..take me,” He looks her in the eyes, “I want you to take me.”

–

“It’s okay, baby,” Laura shushes him, threading her hands through the dark hair that leads down his chest to his cock, “We’re going to take this nice and slow, and if you don’t like anything, tell me and I’ll stop.”

Travis whines under her soft touches, especially when she plays around with the hair on his stomach. “Laur..” “I want this to be good for you, since you’re always taking such good care of me all the time,” She presses kisses to his chest, “You’re always such a good boy, making sure that I get off before you do.”

“S’what you deserve,” he chokes, “Since.. since I can’t really.. recharge as fast as I used to. Don’t want to disappoint you.”

“Hey, hey,” she smiles sweetly, “You never disappoint me, so don’t ever think that, okay?”

His lip wobbles as he smiles back, “Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m going to start off small,” She wiggles her fingers for emphasis, “Go ahead and lay back on the pillows. Gonna talk you through it so then we can enjoy ourselves, yeah?”

He nods, moving back on the bed until his back hits the pile of pillows Laura had set up for him. He watches her grab the bottle of lube and squirt a hefty amount onto her hand. “Y-yeah.”

“Let’s widen your legs a bit, okay?” She smiles, nudging his knees further apart, “Move back a little further on your pillows, baby. You’ll be more comfortable and I’ll be able to make you feel wonderful, I promise.”

He does as she says, flushing brightly at the angle he has to look at her from. “Are you sure about this? I’m.. I’m not much to look at-”

“Travis,” she shifts to sit on her knees, she pulls his legs up with hidden strength and positions them so that he’s presenting easier for her, “I love every inch of you and I want to do this.”

He gasps, blushing heavier, he squeezes his eyes shut.

“Hey, look at me,” Laura’s voice is soft and calm, “C’mon, you know how good it feels to have my eyes on you when you’re touching and tasting me. I want that from you.”

“Y-yes,” He slowly opens his eyes, trying his best to look at her in the face. “I’m trying.”

“It’s okay,” Her hand slides down to his half hard cock, which jumps when she caresses him. Smiling at the small moan she receives as she travels lower over his balls, she feels his knees flinch and squeeze around her as she inches her finger closer to his entrance. “You ready?”

He nods, his eyes filled with love and adoration for her, “Go ahead.”

She slips her lubed finger inside, down to her first knuckle. She hears him groan and she slowly starts moving her digit around, “You good? Speak your mind.”

“S’okay,” He mumbles, his body quivering.

“Can I continue?” “Yes,” He nods, and she adds another finger as she goes deeper, making him gasp out at the same time his cock twitches against his stomach.

It feels like lightning going down his spine when she gently taps his prostate, “Fuck, Laur-”

She’s shocked when he pushes onto her hand, making her smirk as she continues massaging him from the inside. “Jackpot.”

“Laur-AH!” He makes a noise that warms her gut, and it keeps repeating every time she touches that spot. “M-more.”

She adds a third finger, stretching him more. She watches his cock bob and a small stream of precum dribble down. “Look at you, baby, so sweet and leaking for me.”

Travis moans, eyes rolling back as she moves her hand a little rougher, his voice is a hoarse whisper, “For you.”

She leans forward and kisses up his shaft, licking a small swipe of his precum from his sheathed head before she pulls away. She removes her fingers one by one, making sure she doesn’t leave too quickly. “I think you’re ready for me, Trav.”

“Laura, fuck, please-!” He squirms, his hips snapping up, “Feel so empty, need you, fuck-! I need you.”

She smiles, “I have to go get ready, baby, but while you’re waiting, why don’t you keep yourself open for me?”

She takes his hand and the bottle of lube she used earlier and pours a generous amount onto his palm, she kisses his cheek, “Just mimic what I’d been doing, and you’re golden.”

“Laura-” He pouts, downright pouts and she’s awestruck by him so she leans in and kisses him on the lips, slotting them together for a brief moment. “Be a good boy and don’t cum yet, okay?” She smiles at him, only a breath away, “I’ll be gone five minutes tops.”

He nods, watching her leave. Travis stares at his lubricated palm and ever so slowly gets his fingers slicked, he tries not to think too hard about what he’s doing as he starts to finger himself, but he gets lost in the haze at feeling his own larger fingers inside. He doesn’t dare touch his cock, even the slightest pump might send him over, so he keeps his other hand up on his chest, pretending that Laura is the one stroking his chest and pinching his nipples just right.

So, he slicks one finger inside, which turns to two, which turns to three and that’s pushing it as he writhes on his hand, massaging and throttling his prostate with little taps and scrapes. While the size of his own fingers feels slightly better, he misses Laura’s smaller ones already. She’d been able to finagle herself at a much better angle than he could at the moment.

He hardly notices Laura standing in the doorway watching him until she hears her moan, his eyes snap to her and see that she’s moved the harness to the side and she’s furiously rubbing her clit.

“Don’t stop, Trav,” she bites her lip as she moves closer, his eyes tracking the bright pink dildo as it moves on her harness, “I quite like this show, it’s hot.”

A watery chuckle escapes him, his half-lidded eyes looking her over as he slows down his pace, “Look at you, you’re packing, sweetheart.”

She grins, saddling up to the side of the bed and pushing back some of his hair that had fallen onto his forehead. She pressed a soft kiss there, “Mmhmm, do you want to get acquainted with her?” He licks his lip and looks up to catch Laura’s eyes, “Yes, ma’am.”

“I want you to be comfortable and get used to it, so,” she gently takes his hand that he had splayed on his chest and puts it on the tip of the dildo, “Go ahead, baby, she’s all yours. I think you’ll like her.”

He moves his palm down the silicone shaft, feeling every inch of it. He squeezes lightly before letting go and palming her ass, “C’mere.”

She’s confused for a moment as he guides her to straddle his chest, but realization sets in when he kisses the tip of the dildo. He looks up at her through his dark eyelashes, tentatively taking her in his mouth and sucks, moaning around the toy.

Laura shudders, hesitatingly rolling her hips after getting a soft pat on her thigh. The way his eyes are drilling into her is making her feel powerful, but also makes her realize how wet and slick she is when he finally pulls off and she sits gently on his chest. She shimmies down, letting his cock rub against her molten slit as she curls her hands and fingers through his hair, “Such a good boy, Travis.”

“Laur, fuck, please-” He moans, rolling his hips up against her, “I’m…”

Laura grinds down on him, “You’re what, baby? Do you need something?”

“Want you..” he palms her hip, still working his fingers in and out of himself, “I need you.”

“Travis..” She smiles bigger down at him, her voice somewhat singsongy, “Use your words.”

“Laura, darlin-” The man pants under her, eyes fluttering and trying to focus on her, “I want your cock. I.. I want you to fuck me.. Make love to me, sweetheart.”

“There he is,” she leans down and captures his lips, gently tonguing her way in and moaning against him, she pulls away and whispers, “I will make this good for you and I want you to let free, my beautiful ray of sunshine.”

He bites his lip, nodding. His whole body feels like it’s radiating warmth and just pure want for his girl.

“Okay, my sweet boy,” she pulls away, “I’d love to look into your eyes for this, but this’ll be more comfortable for both of us if you go ahead and flip over, alright?”

Travis slowly and surely turns over, groaning as he gets on his knees. Laura makes sure he’s comfortable by gently running her hands down his back, massaging wherever she touches, and pressing little kisses down his spine. “Gonna take you nice and slow, baby,” She palms his ass and squeezes, enjoying how red his skin got from her hands.

He shivers when he feels the bed shift and hears the click of the bottle of lube followed by the liquid slick of Laura working the lubricant all over the toy. “I’m going to start, Trav,” Her fingers gently touch him, prodding him open, “Going to warm you up for a little bit and then I’ll warn you again, okay? Be vocal, please.”

“Yes, ma’am,” He licks his lips, his answer seems to please her as he receives a kiss and a nip on his right ass cheek, “I’ll.. I’ll try, sweetheart.”

“Good boy,” she smiles as she sticks in a third finger, stretching him nicely and loving every second of him moaning and shifting back onto her hand in pleasure. She continues going, her other hand reaching around and cupping his balls, feeling how tight they already are, “Baby, you ready?”

“Y-yes,” he stills, feeling stiff as a board and almost hitting the edge when her dainty fingers trailed up and down his shaft lightly, not applying pressure, but just touching.

She leans in and kisses the center of spine once before taking another good handful of lube and spreading it over the neon pink silicone. She positions herself, lining up and gently pushes only to meet resistance. “Hey, hey, you’re okay, you just need to relax, baby.”

Travis inhales and exhales, shifting to put most of his weight on his forearms, trying to ease himself, “Trying, sweetheart.”

She moves back, massaging his cheeks before trying to push back in, she goes further this time but doesn’t move, letting him get used to the feeling. “You’re doing good, baby boy.”

Travis’ mind is flying faster than he can vocalize, the only thing coming out was a loud moan and a heavy stream of precum trailing down his cock. The sensation is foreign, new, and there is no one else he’d rather do this with. And when she starts to move, he loses it. She’s gentle, way too gentle, so he picks up the pace and pushes back against her. His thighs shaking with pleasure with each brush against his prostate. He knows he’s making a mess of himself and their bed, he chances a glance and moans even louder at the growing wet stain on the sheets below him. He’s also hypnotized by the slap and pull of Laura, the rhythm they’ve made has him almost to tears as he watches her from the awkward angle from over his shoulder. “You feel so good,” she smiles after sinking into him, “You’re taking me so nicely, Trav.”

He babbles something affirmative all while thrusting back against her, needing her to move. He’s in pure ecstasy and his brain to mouth function was not working properly. He’s only been able to get moans of Laura’s name out and small growls of ‘yes’ and ‘more.’

“Who’s my good boy?” She pulls his hips towards her, rocking into him as deeply as she can, she’s left some scratches down his back during their session, the majority of his skin already a beautiful pinky red. “C’mon, only good boys get to cum.”

Travis’ back arches, feeling impossibly stiff and tight, he fights through his daze at the mention of being able to cum, “I.. I am.”

“What was that?” She hammers into him a couple more times, yanking him up to the hilt, making him yelp into the mattress. “I am!” His whole body shudders, his skin feeling like it’s on fire and electric running throughout him, “I’m your good boy!”

Laura grins, feeling sweat beading up on her back as she slows down and rolls into him, “Cum for me, baby.”

“Laura, fuck-“ Like a dam breaking, he felt himself surge forward, felt Laura’s hand wrap around him and milk dry him for all he’s worth. His load splatters on the sheets below him, as well as bouncing back up against his stomach. His limbs feel drained and heavy as he starts to droop, “Sweetheart.”

Laura quickly exits and helps maneuver him onto his back, her hand splays on his stomach as she kisses his slowly softening cock, suckling the tip, and essentially cleaning him up of any semen that didn’t go on the sheets.

Travis moans, seeing white around his vision at the slight overstimulation. “Laur.”

She removes the harness and gently lays on top of him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him slowly. “You were perfect, Trav,” she kissed his neck, “Absolutely perfect.” He sighs into her skin, his body buzzing.

“Did you like it?” She smiles at him, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“It.. it was different,” he breathes out and continues, “I.. yes, I did like it and no, it didn’t hurt.. At the beginning it did, but.. You were good, sweetheart. I don’t think I’ve finished that hard before.”

She giggles, kissing his neck again, “Now you know I feel, well kinda.. Y’know, they do make squirting dildos.”

He moans as he slides his hands over her back, smoothing the soft skin until he gets to rump of her ass where he squeezes. As Laura nibbles and kisses his neck, he quickly inserts a finger into her depths, feeling how wet and hot she still was.

“Trav-“ she gasps against his skin, “You don’t have to, tonight was all about you.”

“Want this,” he grumbles into her hair, “Still want to taste you too.”

“Take what you want, baby, “ she licks at his adam’s apple, “You were a good boy, so you get whatever you want.”

His fingers twitched at that, then surged at a rapid speed that had her gasping and crying out loudly. “Can’t get hard enough for that right now, sweetheart.”

Laura giggled breathlessly, taking him easier now, widening her straddle for him. “That’s okay, we have plenty of time if you want to get me back later.”

He growls at that, he pats her thighs, looking hungrily up at her, “Up.”

She shifts, her legs quaking as she hovers over his face. “You sur-“

She doesn’t get to complete her sentence since he wraps his arms around her thighs and pulls her down onto his face. His nose rubs against her clit as he feasts on her, making her mewl and roll into his mouth. She knows he’s very talented with his tongue, but after what they’ve gone through earlier, she thought he’d be exhausted.. But no, man’s hungry for his girl.

He growled and grumbled when she threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled, alerting him that she was close. Instead of coming up for air, he dug in deeper, desperate as he also tried to catch her eyes as she came openly into his mouth.

“Oh,” her eyes flutter, her grip tight in his hair, his name comes out as a ragged breath, “Travis.”

His grip on her lessens, letting her sit back and off of his face. Before she’s fully off of him, he places a soft kiss on her mound and looks up at her. His voice hoarse, “Sweet as always, Laur.”

Their chests heave in unison as they fall down from their high. The sound of the air conditioner rattling in the window, relieving their entwined bodies with the cool breeze. They stay cuddled up for much longer than they thought they would, but nothing in the world felt better than these soft moments together.

Yes, the sex was great, but afterwards? The care and tenderness? That’s where it was at. It’s what they both wanted, no - needed at their core.

They don’t get up for at least an hour, both of them grimacing at the mess they made on the sheets as they stripped the bed and tossed everything in the washer before getting a shower themselves.

Once they’re clean and the bed’s made again; fresh and warm from the dryer; Travis pulls her against his chest. “Too bad we didn’t get to use the new cord, or your pretty little outfit.”

Laura grins up at him deviously, “Oh, we will.”

That look makes Travis sweat slightly, “Yeah?” “Yep,” she squeezes his middle, sighing into the subtle softness there, “Might have to wait till next weekend for that.”

Travis clicks his tongue, “Whenever you want, sweetheart. I’ll be ready.”

#sorry didn't have the patience to do my color coding of dialogue #hackearney #travis x laura #travis hackett x laura kearney #hackearney ficlets #my art #THE ART IS CENSORED I SWEAR

19 notes · View notes

cellard0ors · 1 year

Text

The next night Travis finds her at the shoreline.

She's there and she has legs.

Her hair is still damp, but otherwise she's dry and she's tucked into the long grass and brush near the water's edge so as not to fully expose her nakedness.

She looks at him with accusatory blue eyes, "Did you bring clothes?"

Travis nods dumbly and draws out a dress from his pack. It belongs to his mother, so it will be big on her, but better this than nothing.

He holds it out and she takes it before shooting him a look that says he should turn around so she can have privacy. He has absolutely no trouble doing so, his whole face hot and red just from seeing her bare legs.

Even though his back is to her, he speaks, "Is Laura okay?"

"Laura?"

"As a name...can I call you Laura?"

It's quiet for a minute and he can hear the cloth of the dress ruffling before he gets a muffled, "Yeah.. Actually sounds pretty close to my actual name."

Travis grins, pleased at her response. When she gives an 'okay, you can turn around now', it's hard not to laugh, because she's pretty much swimming in the dress he managed to sneak out.

Still, she knows all about swimming and she manages to make it work as she seats herself back on the ground, "Did you bring the shiny thing?"

"The shin-?" Travis starts and then, remembering the slinky he quickly sits across from her with an, "Oh yeah!"

He pulls out the toy and hands it to her. Laura fiddles with it, clearly finding it interesting, which is fitting considering Travis finds her interesting, "So, ah - you have legs?"

Laura nods, but her attention seems fixated on the slinky, which she moves back and forth with an absorbed fascination. Travis clears his throat and she seems to pick up on the nuance of how that means she should continue.

"I do when I'm dry. All our people do."

Travis doesn't even know where to start with that one, but luckily she seems more than happy to continue as she plays with the toy, "Mers are all over the world. We inhabit all types of water. We can only turn our legs into tails in our home waters though."

"Oh! Neato!" Travis returns brightly, because it truly is. Laura just smirks, "Home waters can change too - depending on what you choose when you reach The Embarkment."

"The-?"

"It's a coming of age for us. We go through several of them. The first is after your twentieth wave, then thirtieth and so on."

Travis takes that to mean their ages and nods as if he understands, which he's pretty sure he does. Laura suddenly looks a little sad, even with her dedication to the slinky, which she's currently trying to unravel, "My mother hit her thirtieth recently...she chose to come to shore."

This gets a frown from him, confusion clear on his face, but Laura - while clearly sad - seems to like having someone to confide in, "That's why I was here a few nights ago. I was hoping she might come back."

Laura sits the toy down and looks at him sadly, "I should have known better though. She's made her choice. She'll be here for the next ten waves, then reevaluate. She might continue to choose the land. She might not. Either way..."

There's a slim shrug from her, but Travis is horrified at the implications of her words, "You're saying your mom just left?!?"

A nod and Laura looks at his pack thoughtfully, "Didn't you have other things in there?"

Travis nods and pulls out his other toys, but he feels awful. His parents might not love him, but at least they're around. They didn't just abandon him. Laura must sense his thoughts because she gives a small smile, "Don't worry. My father is still with me. He says the currents were simply too strong for her to ignore. That's all."

While Travis doesn't think that's a legitimate reason for abandoning someone's family, he is glad to hear she's not entirely alone. Especially out there, in the lake, and he looks at it in wonder - how many of her people are down there?

How many mystical and magical things are there in the world? The idea of it makes him feel light, happy - makes him feel as if what he endures at home is worth it. Because wonderful things are out there!

And the first wonderful thing he met is her and he looks at Laura with a lopsided grin, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm glad we got to meet one another and become friends."

"Friends?" Laura blinks, "Is that what we are?"

Travis audibly swallows and suddenly feels like a real big dummy, only for her to gives him a huge grin as she reaches out to shove at one of his shoulders, "I'm kidding!"

"Y-you are?"

"Of course! We can be friends!" Laura picks up the eight ball and rolls it around in her hands, "It'll be fun! Not to mention it's good for me to learn about the land - especially if my mother ever returns."

Travis sees the logic in this, but he's more stoked at the idea of having his first ever friend. Especially one so unique and, as if sensing this, Laura suddenly looks at him, her expression very serious, "You can't tell anyone about me though. Not ever. Do you understand?"

...the only way she says it...with such serious gravity...

But Travis does understand and it's not as if he has anyone to tell anyway, so he nods and holds out one hand, "Okay! It's a deal!"

Laura looks at his hand in confusion and he sighs, "You shake it."

Laura takes his hand by the top of his fingers and shakes it. He laughs and gives a little 'Oh no, not like that! Like-?' and he shows her how they should hold one another's hands and shake.

They do so and the moment seems almost electric. Momentous in a way Travis can't describe. But it feels good, too and for the first time in a long time, Travis is happy.

Very happy indeed.

#hackearney #my writing #the quarry #travis x laura #fin

37 notes · View notes

dlasta · 11 months

Text

For the last three weeks I’ve been playing The Quarry. It’s an interactive drama horror game with nine playable characters and 186 possible playthroughs. You can’t skip anything which should be a chore but since there are so many options somehow the more you play the more fun it is. You will get emotionally invested the more you play.

Things I liked (without spoilers):

-Swearing (and not swearing when it’s funny).

-The characters are likeable and human with their own personalities and quirks, which is a problem when you should be trying the ‘kill all’ ending. (I can’t kill them which is why my third run is now ‘infect all’ instead of kill all.)

-Great mood and setting. Not scary as such but it will make your heart race.

-The visuals are stunning, it just looks and plays great. I was very surprised by the quality.

-You can choose how hard the game is to a point where you can just watch a movie if you want. I would call it very disability friendly, since my hands can’t take playing most games too long but this one is a breeze. (This doesn’t sound like much but I tested Star Trek Prodigy last night for under an hour yet I feel it in my fingers now.)

-Ted Raimi being weirdly hot in his fifties. (It’s not just me, the internet agrees with me.) Also, I do remember quite a lot of the lyrics of Joxer the Mighty still.

-Queer characters, whoo. And you can make them kiss, which is important.

And the spoilery likes/dislikes under cut, just in case.

The characters are *really* something special. While you can choose things they say (or the tone) and some of the actions, they are clearly distinct from each other and the balance of the group is just fucking delightful. The relationships have layers and characters have preferences like in real world. You will love some of them more (me: Laura&Max, Dylan, Kaitlyn, Jacob) but they all resonate in some way. It’s a very hard thing to do in a movie or a tv show but in a game that’s an actual achievement. You will be left wanting more at the end. (There is fanfic, some of it even good. For some reason not a lot of people ship Kaitlyn/Jacob which is weird to me. Especially since Laura/Travis is somewhat popular.)

-The ugly ass werewolves. I did not know I needed that but a fresh take is a fresh take. This game is not furry friendly.:)

-Laura&Max as a THE couple and the reveal of Laura as the most ruthless hunter willing to go extremes for her guy. You just get them being *them*.

-Most of the female characters are kind of dominant and very capable yet it’s not them being fearless or superhuman just casually able to do shit when necessary. All according to their personalities and differences too. For the contrast the guys are softer and more emotional than you’d expect. It’s very neatly done and feels intentional.

-The costumes in general but especially Max’s final outfit, and the way you can add the hat to it. Jacob running around almost the whole game in his undies. Choices. Loving details.

-The way you slowly understand why Travis is the way he is when you get to meet his family. Why it’s all happening, what’s wrong with the Hackets. Why it’s so easy to get him to respect Laura if you try even a little bit.

-The way Emma is with Abi. Not just because it comes off bisexual, but because it contrasts to Jacob who she was sleeping with. Abi seems to get through to her in ways Jacob can’t and it’s not because Emma allows that sort of thing. It just happens and she’s doing things to push her towards Nick to counter it. (But also sabotaging them?)

Emma’s characterization in general is really important to get right. It’s too easy to see her as the bitch because she is kind of careless with people. Her problem is not leading Jacob on but reading Jacob wrong to begin with. Jacob seems dude bro but is actually a himbo. He feels all the things and is not capable is summer fling no matter what he says.

-Dylan being ‘smooth’ with Ryan. Again, some characters are especially fun together.

-No love triangles even when there is kind of a possibility for it. It just doesn’t happen.

-Eliza making me feel guilty for not bringing her tarot cards. :) I tried ok! I tried a lot!

Things I did not like:

-The ending should be longer. The podcast is fun concept but considering everything we should get to see them together again and to know more what happens next.

-I hate that I don’t have all the clothing options because my game is the basic one from the library.

-It’s too easy to miss clues/tarot cards because you walked too fast in the wrong direction and the plot moves along. Some warning would be nice.

-Still not a fan of Ethan Suplee. I know it’s a small part but anyway.

-You need to adjust the brightness a lot. There should be an outright option for making things less dark for games like these. I literally adjusted the game and then my tv and then the game again. (ps. fucking smart tvs.)

-OK, fine, I don’t care for Nick. And I do feel bad about it.

#the quarry #horror games #video games #I'm breathlessly impressed #this is a rec #officially

17 notes · View notes

lovesomehate · 2 years

Text

hackearney cell escape kiss

disclaimer: i wrote it in the middle of the night and hurried a bit sooo... please don't expect anything good^^'

Chapter 1:

This was the moment they had been waiting for. A chance to escape from this hellhole, perhaps their only chance. Everything had to be perfect. Laura’s heart was pounding. She was lying on the floor, groaning and moaning, seemingly in pain, trying her best to listen for any footsteps approaching.

“Hey! HEY! Help her! Laura needs help!” she heard Max yelling. The door to the cellblock swung open. She grunted again, hoping that the footsteps she was hearing would increase in pace. They did. “Laura! Laura, you okay?” Max’ voice didn’t give anything away. Wonderful! Travis’ keys rustled as he hurriedly unlocked Laura’s cell. She yelled in pain. “Goddamnit.” Travis stepped inside as she kept groaning.

A hand was softly but firmly put on her arm and her hip, and Laura flinched, crying out in agony. Or so it sounded to Travis. While it certainly wasn’t agony she had been feeling in that brief moment he had touched her hip, Laura was never going to admit that. He quickly walked around her, and she heard concern in his voice as he asked her, “What the hell is going on?” As Travis got down on his knees to look for injuries on her, Max yelled her name again, and Laura prepared to stab Travis with the syringe she had hidden inside the small opening behind the loose brick. Now or never!

Laura raised her arm, ready to stab her captor with the syringe, but Travis caught on to her plan and hit her wrist just in time to send the syringe flying into the opposite direction. It landed somewhere out of reach with a loud clacking sound. No, no, no, this couldn’t be, they had to get out of here!

The gun! Travis’ gun was the only option left, so she made a desperate attempt to reach up to him to grab it. However, Travis was on edge now, and he caught her wrist before she managed to snag the gun from his belt, securing it with his right hand as he yanked her up.

“Up! Get up!” Travis was positively mad. Damn, he was hot when he was seething with anger. “You picked the wrong night to fuck with me, kids!” They stood in front of each other and he drew his gun. Was he going to shoot her now? Had this been the last straw? Well, she was not going to go down without a fight. Laura lunged forward and quickly snatched the gun out of his hands, pointing it at him. He could probably see the insecurity in her eyes, yet he raised his hands and rolled his eyes in frustration and exasperation. Hadn’t expected that now had he?

They stared at each other for a moment, neither daring to make a move. All of a sudden, Travis leaped forward to take the gun off her again, but Laura dodged him. Travis raised his arms again and rolled his eyes in annoyance. Nice try, detective Dickwhippet. “Give me the keys!”

“You don’t have to do this,” he tried to reason with her. Although it was doing something to him to have her hold him at gunpoint while looking absolutely badass, he really didn’t want to die by a bullet in his head. Especially not in this particular situation. It would be far too embarrassing to be found dead like this, a bullet in his brain and that slight erection that was beginning to form. He’d much rather keep this memory and her sight for later when he was alone with a couple of tissues or so.

“I’m sorry… but I do.” There was that uncertainty in her voice. Maybe there still was a chance to stop her. “Let’s just talk about it-“ Well, now there was uncertainty in his voice. “You had your chance to talk. Keys.” Travis breathed out quite audibly. He was stalling. There had to be some way. Laura, however, wasn’t having any of it anymore. She raised the gun a little, and it seemed to work. Finally!

“Okay. Okay. Fuck” Travis’ voice was slightly shaky as he slowly took the keys off his belt, careful not to direct attention to anything going on below it. He kept his eyes fixed to hers as he nodded and threw the keys in her direction. Laura caught them without breaking their gaze – catching his eyes quickly wandering down her body - and slowly walked backward out of the cell, gun still raised at him.

As Laura locked the cell, she still felt his eyes on her form and tried to ignore that unmistakable feeling that had quietly crept into her body. Mainly lower parts of her body. Lower than the parts Travis was now unashamedly staring at. She knew that the only things left to do on her list, separating her from freedom were to walk over to Max’ cell, open it, and then leave this place and this cop behind, never to look back.

Something stopped her though. That something was said cop now approaching the bars to try to talk her out of this somehow, or to at least let him out of the cell. As he was walking toward her, Laura noticed what he had to have been trying to hide before, as he was straining quite visibly against his trousers now. Seemed like detective Dickwhippet hadn’t had any in the past six years hunting werewolves. She remembered then that she, too, hadn’t had any in the past few months. She was aware that he had turned off that one camera in the room leading to the showers when he brought them in here, judging from one monitor in his camera system showing only a white noise image, but she surely wasn’t daring to take any chances for sergeant Littledick to get off on her having some fun during that small time period when they were allowed to shower.

Well, maybe sergeant Littledick was not really an accurate nickname for him. Laura cocked an eyebrow as she slowly let her eyes wander up his body until they reached his face. Pupils dilated, mouth slightly opened, breathing quite heavy. Damn, if Hungry Eyes from Dirty Dancing was a person, it would most definitely carry the name Travis Hackett... No, eyes on the prize, Laura! Max was in the cell at the end of the corridor. She just had to walk away from the bars to Max’ cell and unlock it. This was very, very easy to do. She knew exactly what she had to do, and she knew exactly what she wanted to do. So she did just that.

Travis didn’t quite know what hit him as Laura suddenly grabbed his tie and practically yanked him toward her. “What are you-“ He couldn’t finish the question as she pulled him down to her by the tie. His surprised gasp was muffled as her mouth crashed into his.

Laura closed her eyes as Travis put his hand on the back of her head to bring her closer, pressing his body against the bars and almost trying to grind on her. They both moaned as the kiss deepened. The hand on her head wandered down her side, worshipping her curves and ending up on her butt, where his other hand soon followed, squeezing her firmly. “Need more!” His voice was hoarse. Laura felt like she was on cloud nine.

Their little much needed and appreciated French-kissing session was interrupted by the sound of someone long-forgotten yelling Laura’s name, and by keys slipping out of Laura’s hand.

As soon as Travis snapped out of it thanks to the loud clack of the keys, he realized what they had been doing and stumbled backward, staring at Laura with a surprised expression. Both their faces were flushed and their breathing was ragged. Laura stood there for a few seconds, eyes wide with shock, before she quickly took the key and ran to Max’ cell to open it.

Max seemed to assume that Laura’s face was beet-red due to their wrestle for the gun and the key, and after they had hugged, they hurried past Travis’ cell. “Laura… Please think about what you’re doing.” Before she could answer, Max was at the cell door and pretended to take a swing at him. Travis’ quickly backed up, and Max was triumphant, “You’re not so tough. Why don’t you take some time… think about why you’re in here.” They shot deadly looks at each other before Max turned and hurried away. Laura kept standing by the cell door, unsure what to do. One could not simply forget about a breath-taking kiss full of longing and lust like that.

Laura wanted to apologize for tricking and trapping him, but she hesitated as they once again held a gaze for what felt like an eternity. She swallowed and his eyes wandered to her lips again. Max returned. “Forget about him. We gotta go!” He softly pulled on her arm and led her outside. Travis simply stood there for a while.

When he couldn’t hear them anymore, he took a deep breath and groaned in frustration. “Fucking damned fuck!” What to do now? Get rid of his current state? Or should he immediately call for Bobby’s help through the walkie-talkie? Bobby wouldn’t check the video tapes from the cellblock cameras anyway, so he would be able to just delete them before anyone would see. It wouldn’t take long anyway, Travis decided, and slowly unzipped his trousers. They were getting far too tight.

Chapter 2:

Travis had heard the loud crash and – armed with his silver-bullet gun – hurried into the direction of the sound. He entered the room slowly and carefully scanned his surroundings. There were Ryan and werewolf-Chris to his right, and behind them stood Laura, murmuring something as her voice started to sound somewhat metallic. He couldn’t take his eyes off her as he crept closer until she suddenly violently burst in an explosion of blood.

Then everything happened too quickly to comprehend: Laura was on him, she smashed him into the mirror, he realized it was made of silver, and yelled at Bobby to get the gun. Bobby was attacked by werewolf-Chris as Laura lunged at him, trying to bite his neck as he tried to fend her off holding a silver mirror shard while trying not to hurt her. Ryan somehow got his hands on the gun, Bobby lost consciousness after being beaten up by his werewolf brother, and was thrown across the room. Ryan aimed at werewolf Chris as Travis was still trying not to get murdered by werewolf-Laura, who had his arm in a firm grip with her teeth. There was a gunshot, and Chris fell to the floor. There was a bloody explosion, and werewolf-Laura was only normal Laura sinking her teeth in Travis’ forearm.

When she came to her senses, she stumbled backward with a panicked look. Travis realized that he was still holding the mirror shard, and swiftly discarded it. As so many times before, they just stared at each other for a short time that felt like an eternity to both. Laura broke the gaze and looked around to take in what had happened. It was only then that Travis noticed her state of undress. He certainly wasn’t complaining. His current thoughts were not at all suitable for the current situation, but he couldn’t help looking her up and down, taking in every detail of her body. Still he craved more.

“Thanks… for uh… not killing me.” Laura was out of breath and her eyes flicked to different interesting parts of his body. Eyes with dilated pupils, open mouth, wound on his neck, chest rising and falling quickly, wound on his arm, very nice arms, very nice hands, legs open wide, crotch very visible – and also quite interesting to her – and back to his face. “Yeah… Likewise.” Travis wasn’t even trying to conceal his lust as his eyes kept roaming her body. Ryan felt highly uncomfortable.

After they had agreed to work together to find Silas, Laura asked for some clothes. She was feeling a bit cold and a bit too vulnerable. Travis averted his gaze immediately and checked if Ryan also had this common courtesy. He did. For whatever reason, this made Travis feel a bit relieved, though he wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint the cause for that. Probably best not to dwell on that. Travis offered to retrieve some of his mother’s clothes for Laura, and they walked off together to her closet as Ryan, Jedediah and Constance looked after an injured Bobby.

Although Constance wasn’t too happy to lend any clothes to the woman who had murdered her beloved granddaughter, Travis had stood up to her, and was finally backed by his father, to give Laura a dress. Perhaps Constance had also noticed the way Travis stole glances at Laura’s ass while they exited the living room covered in blood, and disliked that. No matter the reason, Laura was oh-so kindly allowed to help herself to Constance’s wardrobe, their short conversation dripping with sarcasm.

As soon as they were alone in the room, Travis closed the door behind them. “Laura, we need to talk.” Such a raspy voice. She liked that. A lot. “Oh… Do we, sheriff?” Laura grinned as she heard him draw in a sharp breath at the suggestive note in her voice. He pressed up against her. His hands went from holding her hips to cupping her breasts to just touching her wherever he could, relishing in the feeling and in the sounds she made. She tried to grind against him as she whispered his name. “Travis… Please… I want you.”

In one swift movement, Travis had turned her around and kissed her again. He pulled her up into his arms to carry her over to the nearest surface. As Laura fumbled with his zipper, he started undoing his buttons. “No, wait!” He froze. “Keep the uniform on please, you look so fucking hot in it. I need you to take me like that.” This earned her a contented groan. She palmed him through his trousers and he undid his belt as they shared fiery kisses again.

It didn’t take too long for them to return to the others, faces flushed and a little breathless but both with relaxed yet determined looks on their faces. On one hand, it was due to both being a little touch-starved after some time of getting no action, and on the other hand, they were well aware that time was not on their side. Laura was wearing one of Constance’s dresses. The final trio was ready to take care of the white wolf.

#submission #OH MY FUCKING GODS YES #ANON THIS IS AMAZING WHAT THE FUCK #fics #hackearney

10 notes · View notes

loquaciousquark · 4 years

Text

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E91 (Jan. 21, 2020)

Good evening, everyone! Sorry about missing last week; @eponymous-rose was out of town and I had some other commitments. Regardless, here we are! Brian is looking handsome and cold, as are Sam & Travis on the couch. Everyone is wearing coats. Is the heat broken?

That said, tonight’s guests are Travis Willingham & Sam Riegel.

Brian starts us off asking Sam if he’s remaking the Wire in Beverly Hills. Sam basically embodies that hello fellow kids meme tonight in a hand-knitted beanie from his wife, a bomber jacket, a yellow tee, and skinny jeans. They quickly photoshop in smoke trailing out of his mouth. We’re just a few minutes in and this is off the rails already.

Announcements: The next issue (#5) of Vox Machina comics comes out Wednesday, Feb. 19! It’s also available online at Dark Horse Digital and Comixology. And that’s it! Huh.

Episode 91: Stone to Clay

Brian tells us this is the first time ever to have Sam & Travis alone on Talks. I’m stunned and so are they. Sam says, “between me, Brian, Dani, and Travis right now, there’s four tens on this show right now.”

We’re already into questions less than ten minutes into the show. Truly this is a remarkable night.

63 in game days and 21 episodes passed between Caduceus’s first mention of Stone (episode 71) and Fjord connecting the dots. Travis blames the internet connection and his really bad ADHD night, as that was the night he and Laura remoted in from the hotel.

Brian tells us that when Ashley used to skype in, she could only see Matt & couldn’t see or really hear anyone else.

Travis says there was a huge delay for him between mouths moving and the audio coming through, and then that audio was pretty distorted. Laura could handle it okay, but Travis just heard a jumble and couldn’t parse it.

Sam took a CBD bath the other day and found it exactly as relaxing as a normal bath. Sam & Travis commiserate about taking baths only to have their knees pop out of the water. Tall people problems smh

Caleb & Nott completed the spell in less than a week, including dealing with the Angel of Irons & brokering peace treaties. Travis though the laughter was going to be Helas.

Travis says he definitely didn’t hear the name the first time (he remembered dust but not stone from the lava pits). “Look! Yes! No, I was not listening before! Thursday nights are my times to enjoy my friends and food! Marisha is an amazing note-taker; why would I ever take my own? This is how I got through college!”

Sam says he keeps a mission checklist in his head and has for ages. He has a page in his notebook labeled “To Do” that includes things like visiting Kiri or Shakaste, in case they have downtime and need ideas.

Travis asks if he continues writing in his (apparently) very small handwriting, and Sam says he has to leave room for Laura to draw all her dicks. They all marvel that she is actually a very good artist.

Travis honestly still thinks the Stone name is a huge coincidence, especially since Taliesin didn’t have access to Fjord’s last name when he created Caduceus’s last name and backstory. Sam challenges Travis that even if that were true, doesn’t he think Matt will find a way to tie it together?

Travis says Fjord doesn’t want anything to do with the last name and it’s not even his real name. He’s not convinced this isn’t a coincidence.

Travis did a lot of research into orphanage naming conventions when coming up with Stone. He does have a backstory as to how the orphanage manager picked Stone as his name.

Travis thinks Matt would have emphasized the Stone name more sooner if it had been a true connection and not coincidence.

Brian: “He does like to take credit for coincidences, doesn’t he?”

Nott didn’t think there was a catch in the ritual; Sam was more surprised they were allowed to achieve the milestone at all. He was shocked it happened so soon in the story and that the spell is relatively easy to cast.

He didn’t know it would fail, but there was a moment when he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go through with it. Travis agrees everyone was shocked when it didn’t work.

Fjord’s current stance on faith and destiny hasn’t changed since the last time he discussed it. Faith is a slow thing for Fjord and he really does think the name is a coincidence.

Sam as a player is excited to see what comes next for Nott; “if she had been transformed into Veth at that moment, I would have been excited to see what comes next. The fact that it’s still Nott makes me excited too. I’m excited to see more of Nott since she’s the best character in the M9.” He also confesses he was a bit relieved, in part because it’s delayed the inevitable. At some point she must decide if she is going to stay or go with the M9.

Cosplay of the Week: @kajicosplays on instagram of a lovely lady Percy. Brian: “Isn’t it fun when Taliesin’s characters live?”

Deep down, Nott knows she will do the transformation at some point, but at that last moment where she had to make a decision she had to check in with herself to make sure she was ready. Sam Riegel as a D&D player also knows that you have to trust your DM and make choices.

Brian misreads the word “ribbing.” Sam teaches Travis what rimming is. We all learn a lot about each other.

Sam thinks Fjord can realize when the time comes to set jokes aside. He thinks Fjord was very respectful. Travis has honestly forgotten that the conversation took place.

Travis has Dani answer from Fjord’s perspective. It’s actually pretty insightful, talking about how Fjord recognized someone hesitant to give up these newfound powers that have become intrinsically tied to self-worth.

Fjord has always been loyal, and Travis sees his protectiveness of the M9 as a logical extension of this.

Right now, he has found some agency & self-direction and is hopeful to share that sense with everyone else (he especially mentions Yasha).

Sam & Travis start quoting from Half-Baked. This is chaos.

Nott does want to stay with the M9, but she also wants to go home for sure, both of those things. The kiss with Caleb wasn’t necessarily a goodbye; it felt like the closing of a chapter. It felt like something to mark the end of the experience.

Now they’re quoting Beverly Hills Cop. Oh, boy.

“You look like you wrote Pitch Perfect.” When did this turn into a roast?

Fjord has no memories earlier than the orphanage (The Driftwood Asylum). There were a couple dozen kids there aside from him; Travis thinks some of them might have been named Stone. It also operated as a small child-labor workshop for carpentry & woodshop stuff. “It was a terrible place all around.” He has no images of parents or being dropped off.

Sam thought the Nott transformation would be more endgame, though he feels it makes sense that it’s not. “While Nott transforming into Veth was my original goal, what’s great about these long games is that your goals can change two or three times before the end. Now I can explore all these other things: does she want to go back and be a housewife? How does she rectify her obligations to her husband and child to the life that she’s made with the M9? It’s so exciting and interesting.”

Brian asks a hypothetical: if she could transform back but lose all Nott’s memories, would she do it? Sam: “Oh, that’s tough. I don’t know.”

Fanart of the Week: a lovely piece by @pen_draws with everyone in the hot tub.

Travis is very trepidatious about returning to the open ocean after rejecting Uk’otoa. He wants to make sure the third temple is sealed. It feels like it would be too easy for someone not to come and try to collect the job he left half-finished. He also wants to go back to Darktow.

Sam doesn’t know if Nott is still in love with Yeza, although she definitely still loves him. He’s playing with the idea of a high school sweetheart being exposed to the world and then going back home. But Yeza’s amazing, a great guy, perfect. “I guess we’ll find out when/if she turns back into Veth.” Sam feels guilty talking about him. “He’s a fictional character and I feel guilty that he might be watching the show.”

Neither Nott nor Fjord trust Essek. Travis: “He just went from being cold and aloof to being really warm. I know there’s been time and he’s lived an isolated life, but...time will show if he’s being genuine. All of our haunches were up. All of us were on level five alert.” He’s being so helpful that Travis doesn’t trust Mercer with him.

Fjord never ever considered becoming a paladin of the Traveler. “No. Fuck no!” The Wildmother reached out and directly intervened to save him. Travis gets super creepy bad vibes from the Traveler’s relationship with Jester (Sam agrees).

Nott feels more pressure when her own problems become the focus. It’s hard for her to open up and talk about her feelings. She’d rather pick up on other people’s problems. Sam also acknowledges it’s more pressure on him (and anyone) as a player when the whole table is looking at you.

And that’s that! Is it Thursday yet?

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long post for ts

463 notes · View notes

tabloidtoc · 3 years

Text

OK, December 21

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Queen Elizabeth cancels Christmas

Page 1: Big Pic -- David Beckham in an ad for Haig Club

Page 2: Contents

Page 4: Bella and Olivia Jade Giannulli -- life on their own -- find out what Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli’s daughters have been up to while their famous parents sweat it out in prison -- Bella has been so stressed out and felt she deserved a trip with her buds so she went to a luxury resort in Santa Barbara over Thanksgiving weekend

Page 6: It’s been a little over a year since Felicity Huffman was released from prison after serving her time for role in the college admissions scandal but she is finally starting to get her life and career back on track -- initially she was nervous about working again given the controversy and everything that went down and she seriously wondered if there would be anything out there for her material-wise but she shouldn’t have worried as she landed a part in an upcoming pilot in which she’ll play a recently widowed owner of a Triple-A baseball team and she’s really excited about the show

Page 7: Kristin Cavallari is fed up with Carrie Underwood’s meddling in her divorce from Jay Cutler -- after Kristin called time on her seven-year marriage Carrie and her husband Mike Fisher who used to be Nashville couple-friends to both Kristin and Jay have taken Jay’s side and since then there’s been some snide stuff said that’s made it clear how Carrie really fills about Kristin -- while Jay spent Thanksgiving with Carrie and Mike, Kristin filmed a wine-fueled Instagram Live and Carrie finds this type of thirsty behavior on social media incredibly lame and she’s saying it’s obvious Kristin cares more about upping her profile than making any type of family peace

* After nearly 60 years in showbiz Cher has a different aspirations -- since traveling to Pakistan to help a mistreated elephant from a local zoo be relocated to an animal sanctuary she’s saying this is her new mission to help endangered species in third world countries and campaign for other good eco causes -- Cher spends much of her time cooped up and bored in her Malibu mansion and her trip made her realize there’s a world out there that needs her help

* Mark Harmon of NCIS is all work and no play these days and nearly two decades in the same TV gig as Leroy Gibbs has only made things worse as the responsibilities of the show seem to wear heavier on Mark by the year and even on a break you can’t get him to crack a smile or tell a joke; he’d rather go lie down in his trailer -- off set Mark and his wife of 33 years Pam Dawber get along because they’re such homebodies and Mark can usually be found working on his cars in the garage or relaxing in the yard and he cherishes his quiet time but people have stopped inviting him out because he’s known as Mr. Boring

Page 8: Dolly Parton is spreading Christmas cheer far and wide with a new TV special and album and Netflix movie but at her home in Tennessee the holiday spirit is decidedly lacking because Dolly is forgoing her favorite 40-year-running traditions which are filling her house with trees and driving her nieces and nephews and their kids around her farm in golf carts dressed as Santa and handing out presents because of her concern for her husband Carl Dean who has Alzheimer’s disease and he’s in a high-risk group for coronavirus so she’s restricted the property to just them and two staff members -- it breaks Dolly’s heart to have to cancel her big annual celebration and she’s still decorated her home to the nines but it’s a lonely feeling knowing the family won’t be there to see it

* Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton are proving themselves to be perfectly postmodern parents by raising their kids Prince George and Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis with firm rules for TV and electronic use -- Kate who recently revealed she’s fielded her share of temper tantrums actively attempts to stave off meltdowns with a strict rewards chart and the kids have to earn screen time -- Kate prefers to keep them busy with activities like board games and hikes and baking which the children enjoy anyway

* After spending the last several years living a relatively low-key life in his native England Russell Brand is desperate to have a bigger presence in Hollywood but his wife Laura insists he stay put -- Russell’s craving SoCal living and the copious acting jobs and event invites that came with it but Laura prefers their British life outside the spotlight with their young daughters -- while some work has come to him in England like the upcoming Death on the Nile if he had his way he’d make a more aggressive career push in L.A.

Page 10: Red Hot on the Red Carpet -- stars stand out in festive green dresses -- Carly Pearce, Angela Bassett, Zendaya

Page 11: Jodie Comer, Adriana Lima

Page 12: Who Wore It Better? Melissa Gorga vs. Jennifer Lahmers, Abigail Spencer vs. Hailey Bieber in Max Mara, Olivia Culpo vs. Aurora Culpo

Page 14: News in Photos -- Brooke Burke with Christmas ornaments that will be auctioned by non-profit Operation Smile

Page 16: Audrina Patridge brought along her daughter Kirra’s favorite toys for a picnic in Beverly Hills, Padma Lakshmi visits The Vitamin Shoppe in NYC, Brandy at the BET Soul Train Awards

Page 17: Kelly Rutherford felt the love from her dogs in L.A., Shawn Mendes out for a walk in Miami

Page 21: Robin Wright and husband Clement Giraudet held hands while riding their bikes in L.A., long-time friends Gabrielle Union and Snoop Dogg unpacked ingredients delivered by Shipt

Page 22: Josh Duhamel on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Karlie Kloss on her new Adidas collection

Page 24: Vanessa Hudgens snuggled up to her beloved pup Darla while at the park in L.A., Jay-Z taking a walk around the island in Hawaii

Page 25: Kimora Lee Simmons and her children handed out food to residents of a housing complex, Prince Jackson safely helped a community church distribute food to those in need

Page 26: Inside My Home -- Ariel Winter’s stylish setup

Page 28: Like most Garth Brooks and wife Trisha Yearwood have had a challenging 2020 but their 15-year marriage was put to the test this past summer when the country superstars’ daughter Allie tested positive for Covid-19 -- they were worried sick and had to go into quarantine themselves and not being able to hold Allie’s hand was terrible for both of them but fortunately Allie’s case was mild and Garth and Trisha’s tests came back negative

Page 30: Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott who have amicably coparented their daughter Stormi since their split last year and recently spent Thanksgiving together as a family are drawing up plans to have another baby together in 2021 because both of them want to give Stormi a sibling ASAP and neither can imagine going through this process with anyone else -- the exes are figuring out a contract to specify their family plans that will protect Kylie’s money and outline coparenting terms more formally and give them each an agreeable share of custody if things don’t stay as rosy down the line

* They’ve costarred in five films and have proclaimed they’re each other’s work wives and are finally single at the same time so pals of Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis are urging the longtime friends to give it a go romantically especially now that Jason has split from Olivia Wilde -- Jennifer always says Jason makes her laugh the way no one else can -- while Jason’s primarily focusing on coparenting his kids he’s long harbored warm and fuzzy feelings toward Jen and he would love to ask her out but the only thing holding him back is the potential to ruin their solid friendship

* Love Bites -- Johnny Galecki and Alaina Meyer split, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky dating, Jonathan Bennett and Jaymes Vaughan engaged

Page 31: Matthew Perry’s loved ones are worried the Friends star has made a rash call by suddenly getting engaged to literary manager Molly Hurwitz -- the on-off two-year romance between Matthew and Molly has been dysfunctional from the get-go and Matthew’s way more into this than Molly who seems to love him more like a brother

* A rough year for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle including inter-family strife and a move across the pond and a devastating miscarriage has only strengthened their bond -- after Meghan revealed she and Harry had miscarried in July the two were quite overwhelmed by the outpouring of compassion and the response not only validated their decision to go public a thousand times over but it also helped them grow even closer -- they’re determined to put this behind them and try for another baby at the earliest opportunity but more than anything else it’s really underlined how they belong together as soulmates

Page 32: Cover Story -- Queen Elizabeth’s holiday shake-up -- inside the monarch’s heartbreaking decision to call off the family’s annual Christmas celebration -- the queen will celebrate the holidays at Windsor Castle in Berkshire for the first time in more than three decades -- while the queen is upset not to have the company of the younger royals this year she has to think about her and Prince Philip’s health

Page 36: Katie Holmes’ season of joy -- how Katie is spending the holidays with her new love Emilio Vitolo Jr.

Page 38: Mistaken Identity -- with these celeb look-alikes it’s deja vu all over again -- Carrie Underwood and Reese Witherspoon, Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood

Page 39: Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon, Amy Adams and Isla Fisher, Lucy Hale and Selena Gomez

Page 40: Interview -- Tommy Lee’s new beat -- the veteran rock star opens up about his latest solo album and his new fan base

Page 42: Gal Power -- how Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot gets into superhero shape

Page 43: Fight Club -- these buttkicking superheroines pushed themselves to new limits -- Brie Larson, Scarlett Johansson, Danai Gurira

Page 46: Style -- Zendaya for Lancome’s new mascara

Page 48: Sleek activewear from celeb-loved label Gigi C Bikinis makes it easy to look like a star when you work out

Page 49: 5 minutes with Adrienne Bailon

Page 54: Entertainment

Page 58: Buzz -- Disney Holiday Singalong featuring Ryan Seacrest, Katy Perry, Pink and daughter Willow, Ciara and her kids Future and Sienna

Page 60: Sound Bites -- Nelly on feeling disappointed with placing third on Dancing With the Stars, Kaley Cuoco on husband Karl Cook’s social media presence, Megan Fox on first meeting boyfriend Machine Gun Kelly

Page 61: Paul McCartney on why he doesn’t like taking pictures with fans, Cardi B joking about how her 2-year-old crashed her selfie video

Page 62: Horoscope -- Sagittarius Vanessa Hudgens turned 32 on December 14

Page 64: By the Numbers -- Dan Levy

15 notes · View notes

groves · 5 years

Text

anyway i’ve never been to a con before this weekend, but i had to go see the critical role cast. i kind of tend to avoid meeting celebrities bc i feel like its usually disappointing but every. single. member of the cast was so kind and gracious.

Travis gave me a high five and said “SUP JOCKS” in this big booming voice when i first saw him, and freaked out when he saw a dog in line and both he and laura came around the table to cuddle with it

Laura was all smiles until i was an idiot and said “also your nadine voice is hot” and she looked at me, completely serious, and just said “isn’t it??” and then told me to close my eyes while she rifled through my book. I found her note later.

Liam was incredibly soft spoken and sweet, and just clutched his heart and smiled when i showed him my Vax tattoo. the staff made that encounter more rushed but he was still very kind and gentle overall.

Matt was also a bit rushed since it was a photo op, but he shook my hand with both hands and when i told him how much i appreciate his unending kindness he just kept holding my hand and then also touched his chest and smiled and said “thank you so much” very earnestly. I also saw him giving great DMing advice in his autograph line and really doing his best to spend time with each fan.

Marisha was funny and fabulous and gave me a high five and when I told her how much what she said on her Between the Sheets interview meaned to me, especially the part about just bc she (and I) can handle shitty people doesn’t mean everyone can, she leaned over the table and hugged me and said we’ve got to stick together.

Ashley was my favorite encounter of the day. I got into Critical Role because of her and Ellie and I told her so. I told her how much Ellie meant to me, especially when it was revealed she was gay, and how having a character like that when i was that age would have meant so much. I also told her how much I appreciate that she chose to make Yasha have a wife as well when thay character was hers to do whatever she wanted with. She got teary eyed and emotional talking about Ellie and how special that character is to her and how important representation is to her and how excited she was for what they did with Ellie and her storyline in TLOU 2. She also saw my Vax tattoo and loved it and got really excited when I told her I was planning on completing that sleeve with a variation of Ellie’s tattoo. She also finished her spiel about representation with “besides....everyone’s kinda gay.”

TLDR; everyone in the cast is amazing and sweet and I honestly feel a little better for having met them.

#i unfortunately didnt get to see Sam or Taliesin #but sam was wearing YET ANOTHER shirt with his own face on it #and taliesin was wearing a shirt with the rainbow d&d symbol and was giving out hugs left and right #anyway #critical role #critical role cast #dpcc #my face #i have more pictures but i look the best in these ones lol

191 notes · View notes

princessamericachavez · 5 years

Text

Fjorester in Episode 43

I watched this ep live which means it was 4-7am to me and I might have missed stuff, but here’s what I remember

When Jester wants to start a bar fight and Fjord knows she’s going for it, so his first comment about it, before she even says she wants to fight is “No killing, Jester.”

And then the others keep trying to talk her out of it but the only opinion she asks is Fjord’s saying “Tusktooth?”

But, like, Fjord (as I’ve yelled about so many times before) enjoys Jester’s shenanigans even when he pretends to be frustrated by them, so instead of talking her out of it, he pretends to be chugging on his ale, which Jester correctly takes as a “go ahead”.

heart eyeeeees

“One gold on the blue one!” Awesome callback to their fight in the Gentleman’s speakeasy, further proof that Fjord is just a chaotic prankster at heart and a reminder that he’s constantly in awe by how badass Jester is.

Fjord’s soft-ass smile after the fight when Jester excitedly declares “Hey, I made a friend!” “Yeah, you kept all your teeth!”

When they are talking about the Divers Grave and they are discussing what kind of monster might be in there and then Jester says “It’s an underwater banshee, for sure.”

“Is that a thing?”

“Yeah.”

*knowing full well he’s being fucked with* “Hmmmm.”

I don’t know why that exchange feels so flirty to me, and like the fact that they keep zeroing in on each other during group conversations like they live in their own little bubble, kills me.

The Caleb and Jester talk!!!!!!!!

(I will make a whole separate post dissecting this conversation later)

“Really, none of us like it here but Fjord” “I don’t even know if he likes it a lot”

Yes! Give me Jester picking up on Fjord’s general discomfort with the situation and how stressed and uneasy he is with how everything’s gone down!

For real though, if I have to see one more post talking about how Jester doesn’t actually care about the real Fjord or how he feels about this whole situation, this talk is one of the very many scenes imma shove on their faces passive-aggressively.

“Well, there’s parts of it that he likes.” “Like Avantika” “I don’t know”

Rip my heart out, Laura Bailey, why don’t you!

“You’re sweet on him, ja?” “I don’t know...” “Yeah.” “It feels funny.” “How do you mean?”

THIS WHOLE THING WAS SUCH CALL BACK TO VEX AND VAX TALKING ABOUT PERCY THO

“Well, you know when you really like somebody but then you start to know them and you go ‘do I like them, or do I like what I thought they were’? And you don’t know.”

Mfking laura bailey giving us that character growth arc with sheltered naive Jester who believes in love at first sight and the romance all her books talked about and is now beginning to realize that real deep feelings are much stronger and complicated than all of that.

Like the way she says it “feels funny” really says so much.

And I know some people might take this as “oh so she never liked him for real” but I think that would mean taking this conversation entirely out of context.

This whole arc, Fjord and Jester have had some very big moments together, and I think Jester’s confusion does not stem from being disillusioned with Fjord...

I think the fact is that she’s feeling more than she expected, she’s discovering she likes Fjord in a way she has no words for, in a way that makes her hurt when he talks to Avantika, that makes her confused about their interactions, second guessing his intentions and whether he’s fliriting back with her or not, overanalyzing what his gestures mean, like the kiss...

Jester is in Love with capital L and none of her mother’s teachings and experience have prepared her to handle it.

What I want to talk about here, though, is not about Jester’s confusion per se but how Travis and Matt react to this. Since if anyone is aware of what Fjord feels about this it would be the two of them.

“Do I like them or do I like what I thought they were?”

This is the face of a man who just realized his wife is taking her funny character’s crush and turning it into real feelings and he’s going to be fucked.

WHAT IS THAT LOOK YOU TWO. I CAN SEE YOU. WHAT DO YOU KNOW.

That is the face of a DM who is ready to take the most advantage of this situation in the future.

Bonus: Taliesin “I’ve been in the receiving end of this” Jaffe is enjoying this too much. He is just shaming Travis/Fjord for his bad choices.

“And then you think they are flirting with you but then you find out they probably weren’t, you know?”

Travis’s blush just tells me that there was flirting (which was pretty obvious, and Laura knows it)

“And you feel kinda sad about it and maybe a little stupid?”

LOOK AT THOSE FACES

Travis after that talk contemplating his life choices.

But for real, what kills me about that talk is how familiar it feels, and how confused Jester seems by Fjord’s hot and cold attitude, but she’s not ever blaming him for not liking her, or not living up to her fantasy standards, not even for leading her on, instead, she’s blaming herself and feeling stupid for not comprehending right away all of these complicated emotions.

Caleb: “Tomorrow we get sorted out, we help Fjord figure out his shit.”

Jester: “Yeah, that’s important to him.”

TELL ME SHE DOESN’T CARE YOU DEMONS I’M WAITING

Also, thank god that Jester talked to Caleb about this because he’s the one person who gave her some sensible advice: let’s focus on surviving and once back on main land you can take your time to figure your feelings out.

He also brings up that this is important for Fjord, which she agrees on. So no matter what, feelings or not, they will support him through this as best as they can.

Which brings us to Caduceus’s an and Fjord’s talk.

I love this conversation in light of what Tal’s said about Caduceus’ point of view during last weeks Talks: he’s aware of how Fjord’s decision to sleep will Avantika will create friction within the group, especially with Jester.

C: “I think this place is dangerous. She is dangerous.” F: “That she is.”

And Fjord tries to avoid the subject, but now that they are there, you can see Caduceus scrunch his face and take a stab at the subject:

C: “Fjord, you know why everybody is doing this, why we’re all here, right?”

And Fjord sighs heavily because, to a degree, I don’t think he understand the answer is “because we care about you and want to help you”. To Fjord, the answer is: “this is your fault, your responsibility”

F: “Yeah. I mean, I think.” C: “I think you know. I just wanna point it out ‘cause that woman, she doesn’t care what any of us want. I’m sure she’d be interested, but it’s way low in her priorities and I don’t trust anybody who keeps other people’s needs that low in the list. You should keep in mind all that, while you’re getting in bed with her, so to speak.”

Fjord: *panics*

Fjord: *desperately tries to convince Caduceus to keep this knowledge to himself*

And I think, Caduceus with his high AF perception, can tell why Fjord cares so much that this is kept from the others. It’s not like it’s something bad, it’s actually beneficial for their group as a whole (as iffy as that makes me because of the unequal power dynamic), and it has been suggested multiple times.... so what reason does Fjord have to keep it so fiercely in the down-low?

Friction.

“I think I get it. I’m not gonna talk out of term. I trust your intentions, so...”

And here’s a good part:

C: “You’re asking if I can tell that you’re conflicted?”

F: “No, I think that’s pretty clear.”

C: “You would be amazed, but alright.”

Because Caduceus knows that not everyone in the M9 —cough, Jester, cough— is convinced that this is all just a play on his part.

Fjord goes on to reaffirm that he’s trying to keep Avantika close for the party’s good.

okokokokok

MOVING ON

LET’S TALK ABOUT VERA’S TALK GO JESTER

LET’S TALK ABOUT VERA AFTER KNOWING THEM FOR LIKE 2 WEEKS SINGLING OUT JESTER AS THE PERSON WHO LOOKS AFTER FJORD

LET’S TALK ABOUT VERA TELLING JESTER TO LOOK AFTER FJORD BECAUSE AVANTIKA WILL HURT HIM

“He would not be the first she’s left in ruin. He would not be the last. I would take care of him, if he cannot.”

i am so frustrated that Laura/Jester seemed to misinterpret Vera’s warning help me god someone please bring it up on Talks or something because it will bother me forever

When they are planning:

Caleb: What if Fjord keeps Avantika busy...

Beau: Do we need to have him distract Avantika? Can’t we just go now?

...

Beau: And we can have [Caleb] make sure that [Fjord and Avantika] are busy. If you [Fjord] are comfortable with that. You don’t have a lot of a choice.

FJORD

JESTER

*Nott keeps planning*

JESTER

J: Well, Caduceus is very perceptive.

F *having flashbacks of Jester going down in the jungle*: THE TWO CLERICS ARE NOT GOING ON THE MISSION TOGETHER.

J: So we all wait until Fjord starts boning....

Fjord’s face journey tho

he is so confused help him

when your crush who was jealous is suddenly ok with u sleeping with someone else

wait i thought she liked me

Fjord’s worried overprotective mode ON as soon as Caduceus casually mentions that two guards stabbed each other and probably everything is pandemonium

Jester saying they should frame Vera was clearly rooted on her misunderstanding Vera’s warning, but I really like that as soon as she thought someone was a direct threat to Fjord she was like “nope gotta get rid of them”.

Avantika’s notes talk about her having dreams about people who were close to her “chaining her back” and how she had to get rid of them...

...and we’ve seen hints of that with Vandrin and Sabien in Fjord’s dream the other time....

...but I’m calling it that we’ll eventually see Uk’otoa try to pit him against the M9 and the one he’s closest to is Jester by far and I’m sure we’re gonna get some dramatic moment out of it I can’t waiiiit

*After reading the journal*

J: Fjord, as you as crazy as she is? Because holy shit.

Fjord:

I LOVE THEM GOOFING AROUND PLS MAKE EACH OTHER SMILE IN THIS TRYING TIMES

and likek

thanks i love them

anyway

in two weeks

if they don’t die

tune in to see me keep screaming about this two, and cross your fingers for a one on one talk if they manage to get a breather away from Avantika

#fjorester #critical role #fjord #jester lavorre #sofia's nonsense

449 notes · View notes

gokinjeespot · 5 years

Text

off the rack #1283

Monday, October 14, 2019

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to one and all. Thank-you for reading this. The Jee Gang gathered for a turkey dinner yesterday with the littlest 2-month-old Ashton being passed around like a hot potato because he was tired and cranky. His mom got him settled but you couldn't hear his tiny cries for the raucous noise from his cousins. The kids took over the larger formal dining room now that they outnumber us old folks. It was a nice big family affair.

Gwenpool Strikes Back #3 - Leah Williams (writer) David Baldeon (art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Gwenpool tries to save herself from cancellation by holding a "Contest of Champions" in this issue. Guest stars galore. This thing is so much fun.

Catwoman #16 - Joelle Jones (story & art) Laura Allred (colours) Saida Temofonte (letters). I'm glad I checked the credits on this issue since I said that I was going to let this cat out after reading last issue. I will always read a book by Joelle Jones even though this one had me befuddled with some jumping back and forth in time and the added "Year of the Villain" thing. I am curious to find out Catwoman's decision.

Loki #4 - Daniel Kibblesmith (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (pencils) Oscar Bazaldua & Victor Olazaba (inks) David Curiel & Carlos Lopez (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). I love a good trickster. Loki uses a good one to defeat Nightmare. I like this Loki.

Detective Comics #1013 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Doug Mahnke (pencils) Keith Champagne & Christian Alamy (inks) David Baron (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). It's Batman versus Mister Freeze as the super villain tries to resurrect his dead wife. Batman's flame thrower costume is a cosplayer's wet dream

Doctor Doom #1 - Christopher Cantwell (writer) Salvador Larroca (art) Guru-eFX (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This was a pleasant surprise. The art caught my eye but the story is really good too. There's no sign of the good guy Sorcerer Supreme from a while ago. Just good old fashioned arrogant Victor. He scoffed at a new technology to reverse global warming and is accused of being jealous of it because it was invented by Reed Richards and Tony Stark. When disaster strikes, Latveria is blamed and Doctor Doom sacrifices himself for his country. The mystery is who framed him and I will keep reading to find out.

Web of the Black Widow #2 - Jody Houser (writer) Stephen Mooney (art) Triona Farrell (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). What the!? Two Black Widows? Doctor Doom isn't the only one being framed for murder. I liked the clever cut-out on Nat's bathing suit.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #11 - Saladin Ahmed (writer) Ze Carlos (art pages 1-8) Ig Guara (art pages 9-20) Dono Sanchez-Almara with Protobunker (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Miles must solve the super hero's dilemma of saving a family member or a stranger's life. His decision leads to a confrontation with the Prowler. Is it Uncle Aaron? I can't wait to find out.

White Fox #1 - Alyssa Wong (writer) Kevin Libranda & Geoffo (art) Israel Silva (colours)

VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Another Agent of Atlas super hero gets her origin story told. She's based on Korean folklore. It was very well done and almost makes me want to read the new team book. There's also a peek at the Future Avengers by Alyssa Wong (writer), Ale Garza (art), Dono Sanchez-Almara with Protobunker (colours) and VC's Joe Sabino (letters). They're an Asian version of the Young Avengers but these guys used to be Hydra agents in training. Read on if you're wondering what turned them into good guys.

Age of Conan Valeria #3 - Meredith Finch (writer) Aneke (art) Andy Troy (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). I wish the art inside was a nice as the Jay Anacleto cover.

Marvel Action Spider-Man #9 - Delilah S. Dawson (writer) Fico Ossio (art) Ronda Pattison (colours) Shawn Lee (letters). The Black Cat gets caged as the kids finally work together and start to treat each other with respect. Next, things get even darker as Venom attacks.

Batman 100 Page Giant #1 - There are five superb stories in this $4.99 US one-shot and you'll feel like you just read five $3.99 comic books when you hit the last page. The only story that was disappointing was the Batwoman story mainly because she was fighting a lame villain named Lord Death Man. It was written by Steve Orlando, who has never impressed me. The other four stories more than make up for it though, especially Scott Snyder's lengthy contribution. This book is a steal at twice the price.

The Amazing Spider-Man #31 - Nick Spencer (writer) Ryan Ottley (pencils) Cliff Rathburn (inks) Nathan Fairbairn (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). More hints are given to the secret identity of the super villain Kindred. Definitely related to Norman Osborn. That mystery is the only thing keeping me reading this book. As if the waters weren't muddy enough, the guy in the straight jacket isn't even Norman. I hope we don't get strung along too much longer because there will come a point where I say screw it, I don't care anymore.

Batman Universe #4 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Nick Derington (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Josh Reed & Tom Napolitano (letters). I don't mind this time traveling if it means that we see Batman and Green Lantern team up with Jonah Hex. The chase is on as Vandal Savage gets his hands on his prize. I know I've said that I don't like time travel and Vandal Savage, but this is a Bendis book and I'm a sucker.

Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy #2 - Jody Houser (writer) Adriana Melo (pencils) Mark Morales (inks) Hi-Fi (colours) Gabriela Downie (letters). I think the Floronic Man chowed down on Swampthing and Ivy is next on his menu. Well, it's Harley to the rescue and the girls seek help from a fellow super villain to see what's wrong with Ivy. I'm reading this because it looks so pretty.

Powers of X #6 - Jonathan Hickman (writer) R.B. Silva & Pepe Larraz (art) Marte Gracia & David Curiel (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). The house is built and the power has been connected for a new X-verse. Jonathan Hickman has managed to make mutants relevant again for me. There are a half a dozen new mutant books coming out in the next six weeks starting with X-Men #1 hitting the racks October 16. I'll be reading them all to see how I feel about them but I can't imagine that they'll be all worthwhile.

Event Leviathan #5 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Alex Maleev (art) Josh Reed (letters). I'm curious to find out who Leviathan is but it's not going to have a big impact on me since I'm not a huge DC fan. I'm sure DC fans might be able to suss out the secret given the Manhunter clue in this issue but I'm going to have to wait until next issue when all is revealed.

Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity #1 - Kami Garcia (writer) Mico Suayan & Mike Mayhew (art) Richard Starkings of Comicraft (letters). I love new and different takes on iconic characters and this one is a killer. Harleen Quinzel is Doctor Harley Quinn, GCPD profiler, who is working a 5-year-old cold case of the murder of a hospital employee. Meanwhile there are other new murders landing on her desk. The writing is tight and the characterisations are vivid, helped by the beautiful art. Mico's black and white art chronicles the present while Mike's gorgeous colour art handles the flashbacks. DC's Black Label imprint is well worth checking out if you're a mature reader. This mystery not only looked good but made me feel good after I finished reading. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Contagion #2 - Ed Brisson (writer) Stephen Segovia (art) Veronica Gandini (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I know I said that I wasn't going to read any more of this 5-issue mini but this was on the racks with the awesome Power Man and Iron Fist cover so I snagged one after I finished reading all the others for the week. This issue was better thought out and the story flowed smoothly. Ben takes Sue, Reed and Johnny to Doctor Strange for help and the two of them go back to Yancy Street to contain the infectious bad guy. Danny and Luke are there helping the first responders and a couple of surprise super heroes show up too. The villain is briefly subdued but Doc Strange and Power Man succumb to the disease at the end. Uh-oh. The next issue teaser has Jessica Jones so that's reason enough for me to want to read it.

3 notes · View notes

wren-hawk · 5 years

Text

Campaign 1, Episode 55

A first time watch and live commentary three years too late.

tl;dr: Vax and Scanlan manage to not be digested, no one plummets to their death, Shale is old and awesome, and Grog fulfills his destiny.

Laura actually forgot her dice. Truly we are on the edge of total collapse. Awww, Travis being the good husband and going to find them/enabling her addiction. Remember this moment three years from now.

Travis is doing the ad read?? This is so wrong. Oh thank God, Sam is here just in time. Dodged a bullet. The bullet being actually hearing about the sponsor.

I can shorten that recap for you Matt: Everything was great. Until it wasn’t.

12, 13, and 13. Great initiative rolls guys. Really boding well for the night.

Oh god, is Umbrasyl trying to shit them out?! Oh no, he’s just going to puke them out and eat them again. Like a dog.

Scanlan as a snake is trying to go into a wound. There’s something really wrong with that and I just can’t put my finger on it.

“Oh, did you want to chase after them?” Really Matt?! That’s a question?! “Eh, fare thee well comrades. We’ll meet again some sunny day.”

Air is queefing out of the slit opened in the dragon. Is this the origin story of Arsequeef?

“I would like to fist the wound.” Amazing. Matt’s face is a landscape of both hatred and giddiness at the same time. I feel like that is a common experience with DMs. Are you fisting or fingering though Sam? Get it right!

Travis’s Nat 1 failure on the chain of returning a turn ago might have saved his life.

Taliesin’s face when he remembers he lost Hex:

Vax is trapped in the wound. My visual is essentially a baby halfway through being birthed.

Well, Scanlan fists the wound once more creating a whole that he leaps through as Bigby’s hand catches him. My favorite thing right now about watching these old episodes is imagining what these scenes could look like animated some day. This whole episode has been a real visual so far.

Travis with his whole bro look this episode talking about his love for Harry Potter fills me with joy.

And now they’re plummeting out of the dragon. Sophie’s Choice for Scanlan. Sophie chooses Grog.

HAHAHAHAHA Grog is smarter as the eagle. That’s amazing.

Good job Keyleth. Way to be on time to the party as she finally is able to gate stone to the party. Marisha is now debating about whether or not to take the fall damage as an earth elemental... Guys, I think we should have seen the Keyfish incident coming.

Chris Perkins! I like that he’s playing an older woman, we don’t really get to see older characters in TTRPGs unless they’re a magic class )or a monk). Probably for obvious reasons as you probably don’t have a long lifespan as an adventurer.

Vax is still tiny. I still don’t understand what the reasoning was for that.

Matt is a liar and a bringer of death and he smiles at you while he does it.

Seriously Travis, you’ve got it at least half damaged, Chris Perkins is here judging you, saddle up chosen one.

Thank god for Pass Without a Trace. These are some low stealth rolls even with that +10.

Pretentious asshole Percy. Schmutz him up Vex!

Only men name their weapons. Testify Shale. Testify.

Shale whacks Vax. I love her.

Vex bemoaning the lack of a plan. To be fair though Vex, your plans fall apart in 2 seconds anyway, so what’s the diff?

Old rocks, as old as Shale. None of those rocks (or magic) you learn in a hoity-toity tower that those damn millennials are so obsessed with.

“He’s a mad little one isn’t he?” Shale says as Vax runs into the invisible Umbrasyl.

Oof, a 20 and a 1 as Percy’s other gun breaks. Bad News broke earlier and Percy right now is kind of screwed.

Oh god, acid bees! This is the worst!!!

“Oh shut up you flying suitcase.” Shale is my old cantankerous French grandma and I love her.

Second Vax/Vex screw up of the night. Sam plans to roll Vix as his next character; I hope Vix is an some sort of weird aunt to Vax and Vex that sells some weird merchandise that’s super eclectic and only 4 people in the world are interested in like fossilized faerie farts or something. Maybe that’s my first ever D&D character.

Ah ha you stupid dragon, I hope you vomit your guts out due to Stinking Cloud farts.

Wow, Sam actually advocating for Trinket to get an attack. We’re in new territory here.

Nat 20 on Pike’s anal probe on the dragon! Spiritual Weapon is good too, but I’m so used to Jester’s chainsaw lollipop that a meathook just doesn’t measure up. Sorry Pike.

Faerie Fire! Yay Keyleth! Underrated spell.

Grog! 64 points with 1 round! Awesome!

Scanlan fingers the wound again. I have closed captioning up and I did originally read it as “anally jams the finger back into the wound” so there’s that.

“Have you ever had sex?” Super awkward pause. Let’s just let that hang for as long as possible.

Holy shit Percy, go to fucking town with this sword! 172 points of damage John Wu style! That’s hot. Even with the smoke. (Especially with the smoke?)

I love when everyone starts to sing along to the inspiration songs. Or in this case, chant the ‘who? who who who?’ for ‘who let the Grogs out?’

Ugh, eye stuff, eye stuff! This sucks!

Everyone is starting to look so tired. Kill this guy!

“Did you add Sneak Attack? Oh no, because nothing hit.” Way to rub salt in the wound Matt.

Just as everyone reminds Laura about Hunter’s Mark, it’s nice to see her reminding Travis about necrotic damage.

Yes!!! HDYWTDT!! And Laura’s reminders about necrotic damage pay off! Jesus, Travis is a poet with these finishing blows.

Good job recovering from that horrible position of last episode. 1 down, 3 to go!

#critical role #vox machina #cr1 spoilers #cr1e55

9 notes · View notes

theskyexists · 5 years

Text

cr 39

‘and yasha just, winks at beau’

TRAVIS! you’re such a shipper!!!!

‘oooohhhh. that’s not good’ HAHAHA i didn’t realise it was actually MATT saying that.

i love how Matt loves to play hot women opposite Marisha especially so that Marisha can play Beau super gay hahahah. like how Avantika saving her awesomely from a snakeperson makes Beau go: ....djslfjskf fuc k yeah

OH MY GOD TRAVIS ‘don’t touch her’??? YOU DAMN SHIPPER

it was weird that they didn’t get an initiative roll for the vines

‘he almost looks like he’s meditating, like i did that One Time’ hahaha oh beau

sam is SO GOOD at playing high Nott hahahaha

‘im a monk! i got fists! that’s all i got!’ haha tru

hoooooly shit how are they going to get out of this??

wow it’s going well!

it’s not going so well!

cauterise the fuckin ghead!!

thank god for Matt being like: pay attention the heads are growing back!

they are fumbling quite a few rules here. Beau is barely experiencing any advantage from haste. jester is not using the low wis stat for toll the dead - in fact her actions so far have not done much (on the other hand, she’s getting tough rolls!). they’re also focusing on the hydra for SOME reason??? finish up the abomination??

i miss ashley but travis does a good job

i like taliesin as what he seems to be as a person, but i just....don’t enjoy his approach to playing this game - like he doesn’t seem to think about what he’s going to do before his turn??

caleb should be focusing on fire tbh. if he hadn’t cast slow, but just fired, they’d only have four heads to deal with

why is nobody going, HMMMM , fire????

Sam is really fuckin - not good at fights lol? THANK YOU laura for telling him to save beau!!! jfc you idiot. Nott could have killed this guy five rounds ago lol (and it would have helped with the Hydra slow). but he does then roleplay that out well maintaining his focus on the keg

why the fuck would it have three fourths cover?

how can all the magic bolts miss at 2 metres distance. that disadvantage doesn’t make any sense

Laura just saved Marisha’s character twice. ‘that’s all i got’ awww

they ALWAYS go UGGGHGHGH when the game is over ahhahaa

#djsdfaj #dsfjajfd #jdslafj #jdlkajkds #jdsajkdfl #jdsafj #cr #my stuff #vidi

1 note · View note

cellard0ors · 2 years

Note

I don’t know if anyone asked you yet but I’ve seen others ask everyone else. Soooo… your top Hackearney fic reqs… pls? 🥺

I HAVE been asked this and I've sworn up and down to do this, but I've just been lazy as f*ck. HOWEVER today is the day!

So, strap in, y'all here are my hackearney fics recs!

Keep in mind, the authors here all have MULTIPLE works in this fandom/ship that are good, I'm just picking the ones I've specifically bookmarked and read.

There are also some I've heard are good and just haven't read yet (looking at you, Garden of Moonlit Grief) and there are others that I'm sure are fantastic, but are not my cup of tea (ie, noncons, fics that might be TOO dark, etc)

In other words, if I don't mention you and we talk I don't mean to hurt your feelings I love all of the Hackearney hivemind omggggg...

(these are also listed in no type of order)

Every Single Edge - E - Skymasters - A week after the events of The Quarry, Laura can't get a certain sheriff out of her mind. She pays him a visit.

So, this was the first fic I ever read with them and it was in character and super hot. It's also one of those fics I envy, because I wish I could convey things this insightfully in a one shot fic as opposed to the Tolstoy novel-length fics I write!

Late Bloomer - M - FanFicReader01 - Travis’ heart felt heavy. Sometimes, it felt like he was the only sane Hackett left and that could be seen as a stretch.

Another one of the first fics I read fics, I found this idea incredibly romantic and creative, but also very sad. It's not a happy ending kind of fic, but it hits well and I enjoyed it a great deal.

I Will Spin You Rose Evenings and Gold Mornings - E - TheWeirdDane - Laura Kearney is at the end of her rope when it comes to managing her finances for vet school. Contemplating various ways to earn some extra cash, she eventually turns to sex work, and goes on to meet with an older guy who will pay for her time and intimacy.

There's something about Sugar!Daddy fics. Rhink got me into it and this fandom is pushing me into it further. I really enjoy AUs - especially ones where Travis is softer but still a firm disciplinary - noice.

Werewolf Bites and Hot Summer Nights - E - winterlilyflowers - An AU in which Laura and Max can’t find Hackett Quarry and end up at the Harbinger Motel, before becoming camp counsellors for the summer. Max is moody and secretive and Laura keeps bumping into the grumpiest sheriff with the cutest puppy dog eyes, and when he gives her his number ‘just in case’ a girl can’t help but drunk dial him one night. Cue overprotective and jealous Travis. And shouldn’t the officer get a birthday kiss? An unlikely start for a badass werewolf fighting duo, but a hot one.

Listen, if you're part of the fandom and a shipper and haven't read this, I don't know how to help you. It's so damn good. I re-read one, ah, scene in particular...it involves Travis's cruiser and being outside and...yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaah. 👀

I LEGIT re-read that scene last night! but the entire fic is good. Again, I'm a big AU fan and I like the idea of how the game might have gone with little changes, so, this one fits that bill and then some. The Travis/Laura snark is also there as well, so - love it,

Caged - E - Gaqalesqua - Laura Kearney did not expect to spend her summer locked up by a creepy cop. Travis Hackett forgot that human beings have needs even when they're in prison.

This is one of those fics that has no right to be as hot as it is. I felt like the author really nailed Laura's voice too - they also get Travis, but since a lot of it is from Laura's POV, it's just really spectacular to me how well they got inside her noggin.

Also have to admire a fic that starts out just hot and then gets deep and makes you emotional.

Family - M - Tianasina - Laura sat on the edge of her bed and stared at the number on her phone’s screen. Her hand shook as she held her phone. She glanced briefly at the object clutched in her other hand. She sucked in a panicked breath and looked back at the phone, pushing her other hand out of her vision. Her thumb hovered over the green dial icon before shakily pressing down upon it. Dialing Travis…Laura needs help, Travis is willing to help.

I was legit surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Maybe I shouldn't have been, considering how domestic it gets, but honestly - not usually a fan of baby fics. But Travis with a baby is heart melting and I like how organically his relationship with Laura grows. A fun sweet read.

No Hard Feelings - E - Professional_Creeper - Travis had been having trouble staying hard while masturbating, but it was just stress from dealing with the curse. It was just because his hand wasn't exciting. With a woman as beautiful and alive as Laura writhing beneath him, he would be fine...

Listen, someone was GOING to have to write an ED fic for this ship and I'm glad this person did, because they nailed it and made it so genuine and heartfelt but also still sexy as fuck??? I couldn't pull this off - and I always admire those who can do what I cannot. And boy did they do it with gusto - this is like, give them a prize! fic. I would if I could!

Love Me Under The Neon Lights (If Only For The Night) - E - @spookyscaryscully - Travis could think of a thousand different places he wanted to be on his night off. A strip club was not one of them. AKA: The Hackearney Stripper AU.

Someone who has a LOT of irons in a LOT of AU fires and they're all burn hot, but I'm choosing this one because I just really love the whole solid idea of it. And, again, sucker for a soft!Travis!

There's just a lot of great work here - this idea could have just been sold as a silly thing but instead there's some distinctive depth. Love it.

Warmth - M-False_Mortal - A litter of kittens and their mother were dumped in front of the police station. Travis takes them in because it’s snowing and he maybe has a heart. Laura is a veterinarian assistant at the local shelter, where she sometimes works the front desk.

Travis, Laura, Cats - all things I like and in one place. SOLD. It's also just heartwarming and cute, but still with delectable sexytimes. Also, again, an AU and I adore AUs!!

Dear Friend - M - lovemeforallmyfaults - A new substitute professor settles in at her new job, with the help of a friend she meets in the college forums. A tenured professor tries to open up to someone other than his close relations. (aka - the You’ve Got Mail Set In College AU absolutely no one asked for)

Um - I think EVERY fandom should have a You've Got Mail AU?!? And luckily this writer rose to the challenge! It's fun to see Travis and Laura spar in a completely different environment but still feel like them. Not to mention, I again adore the whole concept of letters and not knowing it was you and so, yeah - love this!

Pass Me The Shotgun (And I'll Hand You My Heart) - E - @norrington-hell - Sometimes the best way to deal with your trauma is to see a therapist. And sometimes it's to find the surly bastard responsible and rock his goddamn world. Laura knows which option she prefers.

I already did a whole post about this, but - shut up. THIS FIC. I both love it and hate it. THIS IS NOT A BAD THING. I love it, because it's probably one of the best written things I've ever read. I hate it. because when I read new chapters or re-read it, I feel this overwhelming seething jealousy towards Norrie and her talent, when I know I should be a good girl!

I - for the life of me - have a hard time writing conflict and super!mean Travis and bratty!Laura and Norrie just strolls up to the bar and is shooting bullseye's left and right and blind folded for it like it's no big thang.

Her world is so rough and real and not at all sugar coated. It's not easy, so, when things go well for these two, it feels so EARNED. UGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH! Take me out of this club, I'm DYIIIIINNNNG.

...in conclusion, I will always recommend this fic forever and always and it's probably a staple of how you should approach writing them.

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo yeah - here you are anon and anyone interested! If you follow me and one of these fics are yours and I didn't know your tumblr name because I'm smart-like-that (tm) please let me know so I can tag you properly!

#hackearney #travis x laura #long post #fic recs

33 notes · View notes