#sam & liam: you could make a character moment out of this! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mrsstruggle · 1 year

Text

The Lost Child - Chapter 34 // Teen Wolf x Marvel AU

Summary: Y/N Stark was taken from her family when she was three years old. It's fifteen years later and her family believes she is dead. Then how is she living in Beacon Hills?

Warnings: Language, Mentions of Death/Injury/Grief/Torture, Possible Grammar Mistakes (please let me know if there is anything else)

Pairings: Derek Hale x Reader, Steve Rodgers x Bucky Barnes, Bruce Banner x Natasha Romanoff, Vision x Wanda Maximoff, & More To Come

Previous Pairings: Tony Stark x Pepper Potts, Scott McCall x Allison Argent

Words: 5.5k

Note: Sorry this is so late!

Additional Note: While this is a Teen Wolf x Marvel AU, not everything is true to the shows/movies/comics. I had to change things for the story.

One Last Note: Y/N was adopted by Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. I did this so more people can see themselves in this story.

***I do not own Teen Wolf or Marvel or any related characters. This is a work of fanfiction and is meant for entertainment purposes only.***

Masterlist

The Lost Child Masterlist

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone was quiet as they made their way through the woods toward the hunter’s safe house. The only sound that could be heard was the crunching of leaves and sticks beneath their feet. Y/N knows it’s wrong, but she wishes she was Allison right now so she wouldn’t have to deal with everything.

Stiles doesn’t like the silence but it’s taking everything in him to break it. He’s worried that if he starts talking then he won’t be able to stop. He’s also not sure if he wants to accidentally piss off anyone who’s in charge of protecting his life.

As much as he’s annoyed at everything that has happened and that has come to light, he also can’t help but have a little fanboy moment inside his head. He’s about to head into battle with the Avengers. The last time they stormed a place he had been sidelined. Now, he’s walking through the woods, about to go into a little war with the hunters, with the Avengers suited up next to him. It’s like a dream he always had but also mixed with a nightmare he always had.

He watches Y/N from the back of the group as she and Chris lead them to the safe house. He doesn’t like that he’s been paired with Liam and Peter but it could be worse. He could be paired up with Peter Hale. He definitely wouldn’t make it out alive if that were the case.

“Are we almost there?” Peter Hale asks.

“Why? Do you have somewhere better to be?” Scott questions.

“Yes. I was thinking about asking your mother out again.”

“Wait, what?” Sam looks between Scott and Peter, confused about what he just heard. How old is this guy and why does it seem like he only hangs out with teenagers? He knows Peter is Derek’s uncle but he also dated one of these kids' mothers?

“Ignore him.” Derek rolls his eyes at his uncle. He just wants to get this over with. He’s tired of having to deal with the Argents and the Avengers. He wants to go home, wrap Y/N up in a warm blanket, and not leave their bedroom until they have to. This past week has caused him too much stress and he’s over it.

Y/N comes to a stop and waits for the others to stand around her, “We’ll split up here. Remember, Sam, Bucky, and Malia, you’ll take the right side. Kira, Natasha, and Wanda, you’ll follow them but then split off to the north side. Scott and Steve, you’re going to the left side. Stiles, Liam, and Peter, you’ll follow them. You’re in charge of killing the Anuk-ite, so good luck with that.”

Chris takes off his backpack before unzipping it and holding it out to everyone, “Everyone take a walkie-talkie. I’m sure these aren’t as advanced as some of you are used to but they’ll do. I’ve already set them to the correct channel but it’s channel 7 if you mess it up.”

“Radio in if you feel the Anuk-Ite so Stiles and them know where to go. He has the mountain ash to kill it so don’t try killing it yourself,” Y/N says while everyone grabs a walkie-talkie. “Also radio if you need help. While we have an idea of what we’re up against, there could be more and some of you have never had to fight these types of creatures before. They are very different from your space aliens.”

“Anything else?” Stiles asks.

“Yeah, don’t die.”

“How are you not a motivational speaker?”

“Okay, let’s go before they do this for another twenty minutes,” Scott says, walking away from the group to the left where Y/N told him to go. Steve presses a quick kiss to Bucky’s lips and murmurs something under his breath to him before following Scott.

“Radio in when you’re in place!” Y/N yells out to Scott.

The rest of the Avengers watch as Y/N and Stiles lock their pinky fingers and promise each other they won’t die. Y/N doesn’t know it but she’s done that since before Pepper gave her away. Anytime they’d go on a mission she’d make them promise they were going to come back. She believed that pinky promises were a binding promise and that there was no way you could break them. It’s little things like that that let them know that the girl they knew is still there, just a bit different.

“One last thing,” Y/N sticks out her hand toward Chris. Chris pulls out a bulletproof vest from his backpack and hands it to Y/N. She quickly pulls it over Stiles’ head and straps it around him before he has a chance to protest. “Just in case.”

“Why have I never been given one of these before?” Stiles scoffs.

“Just be grateful you’re getting one now. Now go.”

Chris, Derek, Peter Hale, Tony, and Y/N watch as the others run off to where they’re supposed to be.

“What else do you have in that bag?” Derek asks, eyeing the backpack in Chris’ hand.

“You don’t want to know,” Chris zips his backpack up and puts it back on his back.

“We’re in place.” Scott’s voice rings out of their walkie-talkies.

Y/N sighs as she tries to mentally prepare herself for the fight ahead, “I think I could sleep for a week after this. I’m surprised I haven't gotten a call from my boss yet saying I’m fired for being gone for so long. I swear I didn’t have this many vacation days.”

Derek moves to stand in front of Y/N to meet her eyes, “I’m sure they’ve seen the news and will understand why you haven’t been in for a while. Scott said Melissa was covering for you so I’m sure it’s fine.”

“I’ll have to get her something nice for covering for me this long.”

“And she’ll tell you that you don’t owe her anything.” Derek pulls Y/N close and presses a kiss against her forehead. He knows how stressed she is about everything because he’s also stressed about everything.

“We’re in place.” Bucky’s voice rings out from the walkie-talkies.

“How do you want us to get into the house?” Y/N turns to Tony at his question. She almost forgot the others were there with her and Derek.

“We need to wait until everyone has lured out as many hunters as possible then we fly in,” Y/N says.

“You can fly as well?” Tony’s eyebrows shoot up in shock. Did he miss something in the files Hydra made about her? Can werewolves fly?

“No, you’ll have to either carry me or I can get on your back.”

Tony goes to respond but Kira’s voice cuts him off as it rings out through the walkie-talkies, “We’re in place.”

“Okay,” Y/N looks around at Chris, Derek, Peter, and Tony, “you ready?”

Chris tightens the knife holders on his thighs and double-checks the gun in his hand, “Ready.”

“Ready,” Tony says as his suit builds around him.

“Can we finally get this over with?” Peter asks, inspecting his claws.

“I’m going to climb up into a tree until I think it’s time for us to hit the house. You should do the same.” Y/N says, looking at Tony. “I’m their biggest target and if they know where I am then they’ll forget about the others. We’ve got to hide a bit first.”

“I’ll follow you,” Tony replies.

Y/N looks back at Derek, “Be safe and kick some hunter ass. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Derek says before pressing a hard kiss on her lips, as if he’s scared he won’t see her again.

Y/N pulls away and walks over to the nearest tree, “You know what to do babe!”

Derek, Chris, and Peter watch as Y/N starts to climb up the tree and Tony flies up into the one next to her. Derek waits until he can no longer see her figure before transforming into his beta form.

“Now we can get this over with,” Derek says, letting out a loud roar to let everyone know it’s time to go and to let the hunters know they’re here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve tightens the shield around his arm before looking up at the sound of a roar.

“What was that?” Peter asks, looking around making sure nothing is coming at them. He’s dealt with a lot of weird things being in the Avengers but he’s never heard something like that before.

“That was Derek,” Stiles states.

“You stay here and wait for someone to radio you,” Scott tells Stiles, Liam, and Peter.

“Where are you going?” Liam asks.

“We’re going straight towards them. Let’s go.” Scott nods at Steve to follow him.

Steve huffs a bit in frustration as he follows Scott. He doesn’t enjoy being told what to do from a teenager. If it was Y/N here, he would follow without question. She might have been for 15 years but he’d still trust her with his life.

Scott slows as he gets closer to the safe house. He can already hear a few hunters loading their guns and sharpening their knives. He listens to their panicked voices as they talk about the roar they heard and how they know they’re being attacked. If he focuses hard enough he can also hear Stiles, Liam, and Peter bickering behind them.

“Let’s stop here. We don’t want to get too close.” Scott says. “We need to lure them out here.” Scott tries to count the number of hunters standing outside of the house in front of them.

“I got it,” Steve states, throwing his shield out toward the hunters. The shield hits three hunters, knocking them to the ground, before coming back to Steve.

“That’s one way to do it,” Scott mumbles, watching as the hunters look their way. He quickly ducts behind a tree as the hunters slowly make their way towards them.

Steve ducts behind another tree as they wait for the hunters to come closer. He can hear the ground crunch behind him letting him know where they are. He waits until he can see the end of a gun before jumping out and knocking the hunter back into two others.

That’s when all hell breaks loose.

Scott jumps out from where he’s hiding as all eyes are on Steve, throwing the hunter closest to him into a tree—knocking him out. Bullets start to fly as Steve and Scott attack. Scott’s surprised he hasn’t been hit by any bullets yet as knocks out another hunter.

Steve throws his shield toward the hunter's legs, the vibranium-metal breaking their knees and shins as it hits them. He quickly knocks them out as they hit the ground one by one. It’s not long until they’ve taken out all of the hunters that attacked them.

“Is that it?” Steve asks, knocking out the last hunter.

“I doubt it. The others must have the rest of the hunters distracted or the rest of them haven’t left the safe house.” Scott says, looking around for other hunters.

“We should move in,” Steve says, moving towards the safehouse before Scott sticks out an arm to stop him.

“Not until we’re told too.”

“There’s no one over here. We should move in.”

“Not until Y/N tells us too.”

Steve doesn’t understand why they can’t just move in. They easily took out the hunters. He doesn’t understand why they were acting like they were going to be a challenge. The hunters are down on their side and they have a clear shot toward the safe house.

Scott’s head quickly turns as he starts to smell something in the air, “Do you smell that?”

“What?” Steve doesn’t know what Scott’s talking about.

“It smells like…” Scott’s voice trails off as his eyes widen as he looks behind Steve.

Steve quickly turns around to see four large creatures standing behind him. They look like men wearing bones and an animal skull for a mask. “What am I looking at?”

“Berserkers.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam and Bucky are standing back-to-back as they fight off the hunters around them while Malia holds off more of them.

“How many of these guys are there?” Sam asks, slamming another hunter onto the ground.

“I don’t know but they’re pissing me off,” Bucky says. His arm comes up to block the bullets being shot at him from a hunter on the ground. He rips the gun out of the hunter’s hand and knocks him out with a quick kick to the face.

Bucky turns to find another hunter to attack to see the hunters fleeing from them.

“Why are they running?” Sam asks.

“Something’s coming,” Malia states, her eyes closed while trying to listen to her surroundings.

Bucky tries to listen and see if he can hear what she hears. He closes his eyes for a second. It sounds like something is running toward them. He opens his eyes and looks into the woods in front of him. Something is charging at them.

“Get down!” Bucky tackles Sam to the ground as a deer jumps out from the trees and almost tramples over them. It runs past them almost as quickly as it appeared. It looked rabid.

“What the hell?” Sam mutters, staring at where the deer ran off.

Bucky looks down to where Sam is in his arms from when he tackled him. Disgusted, he scrambles up off the ground and away from Sam.

“Did you smell that?” Malia asks.

“Robo boy’s cheap cologne? Yeah, I smelled it.” Sam says, wiping the dirt off his suit as he stands up from the ground.

“No, the deer. It smelled like fear.”

“Fear?” Bucky asks. He thought that something was running at them but what if it was actually running away from something? He slowly pulls out his walkie-talkie while his eyes dart around. “We found the Anuk-Ite.”

“On our way,” Stiles’ voice rings out from the walkie-talkies.

“Are you sure?” Sam questions Bucky.

“Yeah, I’m su–” a pained scream from the woods cuts him off. He pauses, his head whipping toward the sound.

“Bucky! Buck!” someone is screaming out for him. He moves to run into the woods but Malia moves in front of him to stop him.

“What are you doing?” Malia asks.

“Do you not hear someone screaming?!” Bucky yells, angry that she’s preventing him from finding whoever’s yelling for him. He swears it almost sounded like Steve.

“The only person screaming right now is you,” Sam says.

“What?” Bucky looks between Sam and Malia. Can they not hear what he’s hearing?

Sam stares at Bucky for a second before realizing what’s happening, “Close your eyes! Close your eyes now!”

“Why am I closing my eyes?!” Malia yells, her eyes now shut tight.

“It’s the Anuk-Ite. Whatever happens, don’t open your eyes.”

Sam, Bucky, and Malia stand still as they wait for something to happen. They’re hoping Stiles gets here soon to kill the thing.

“How could you?” Bucky quickly whips his head around, his eyes still shut tight, as Steve’s voice whispers in his ear. “Why?”

“I don’t understand…” Bucky whispers, confused about what's happening.

“I told you to finish him.” Bucky’s head whips around again. He knows that voice. It belongs to the man responsible for turning him into the Winter Soldier, Arnim Zola.

“Buck…no,” Steve’s voice whimpers. “This isn’t you.”

“You have your orders, soldier! Kill him!”

“No!”

“You can’t stop him, Steve. He’s no longer the boy you used to know. He never will be. He has always been the Winter Soldier, and he always will be.”

Bucky’s closed eyes tighten as he repeatedly mutters to himself, “This isn’t real. It’s not real.”

“Buck…” Steve’s voice is quiet. Bucky can feel a soft hand caress his cheek. It feels like Steve.

“I’ll do it.” That sounds like Y/N’s voice but harsher. It sounds like when she was pretending to be under the hunter’s and Hydra’s control.

“Ah, my perfect soldier. Always ready to do what you’re told.” Zola’s voice sounds closer than it was before.

“She’s not your soldier,” Bucky growls. Y/N will never be Hydra’s soldier.

“I think you’re forgetting who you are. Let me remind you. Longing. Rusted. Seventeen. Daybrea–”

“Shut up!”

“It’s who you are! Now, finish your mission!”

“No!” Bucky is trying to remind himself that this isn’t real but it’s getting harder too.

“Let me.” Y/N’s voice is now coming from in front of him. “Just admit it. You couldn’t save yourself, you couldn’t save me, and you couldn’t save Steve.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

It goes quiet. Maybe it’s over?

As Bucky brings a hand up to his face to wipe away the overwhelmed tears that were slowly falling from his eyes, he hears the sound of someone being stabbed in front of him. His body goes rigid as he hears someone start to choke—possibly on their own blood.

“Hail Hydra,” Y/N’s voice whispers in his ear.

Bucky quickly opens his eyes toward the ground in shock and confusion. His eyes move slightly in front of him to a knife sticking out of someone. Not just someone. He’d recognize that uniform anywhere. Steve.

Bucky’s eyes shoot up to Steve’s face only to be met with the glowing purple eyes of the Anuk-ite. His body immediately turned to stone.

“Buck, you still good?!” Sam calls out, unaware of what just happened. He can’t hear Bucky but he can hear Malia. She sounds like she’s apologizing to someone until she goes quiet. “Malia?”

“Malia?!” Sam can hear someone yelling for her.

“Uncle Sam?! Uncle B?!” Peter rushes into the area where Sam, Bucky, and Malia are. Liam and Stiles run in behind him.

“Oh my god…” Stiles stares at Malia’s frozen figure. She looks like a statue from Medusa’s lair in the Percy Jackson movie.

“Please tell me you’re real?” Sam asks.

“The Anuk-Ite’s gone,” Liam says.

Sam opens his eyes to see Peter staring at a Bucky statue. Stiles and Liam are also crouched down next to a Malia statue.

“What happened?” Peter turns to look at Sam.

“I-I don’t know. One second it was here and now it’s not. I’m not even sure when this happened.” Sam gestures to Bucky. Why didn’t the Anuk-Ite go for him? He could hear Bucky talking to someone—most likely whoever the Anuk-Ite wanted him to talk to—and he could hear Malia, but nothing ever happened to him.

“Now what?” Liam asks.

“They still need people attacking on this side,” Stiles says. They need people to weaken the hunters from every side.

“I can still do it but I don’t know if I can do it alone,” Sam states.

“I’ll stay,” Liam volunteers. “I can help on this side while you two get the Anuk-Ite.”

Stiles looks hesitant but agrees, “Make sure nothing happens to them.” Stiles looks between Malia and Bucky and wonders how much longer he has before their current state is permanent.

“Where do you think it went?” Peter asks.

“I don’t know.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What the hell are these people?!” Nat yells out, barely missing the edge of the blade that swipes at her.

“They’re Oni!” Kira yells back. She’s trying to hold off four Oni while Natasha and Wanda fight the other three.

“I thought we’re supposed to be fighting hunters?!”

“I thought the same thing!” Wanda yells.

Natasha ducks as one of the Oni swings their sword at her. She’s able to remove the sword from the Oni’s hand as the sword lodges itself in the tree next to her. Nat quickly pulls the sword away from the tree and watches as the Oni pulls another sword out of nowhere.

“We’re going to die here.” Nat mumbles, readying herself to continue fighting.

As Kira blocks the Oni’s swings, she can see the glint of a weapon coming from within the trees behind them. “I think the hunters have finally decided to join them!” She hears the sound of something firing.

Wanda and Natasha turn to see several hunters running toward them. Most of them seem to be carrying guns while the others seem to be holding knives. Nat can count about thirty hunters.

“You guys take the hunters! I’ve got these guys!” Kira yells at them, her eyes starting to glow.

“You sure?!” Nat asks.

“Go!”

Wanda and Natasha break away from the Oni and charge toward the hunters. Nat throws the sword in her hand on the ground and pulls out her Glock 26s. As the hunters start to shoot at them, Wanda uses her powers to rip a tree out of the ground and throw it through the group of hunters—knocking several to the ground.

Nat ducks behind a tree as bullets fly past her. The bullets slowly come to halt as she reloads her guns. She can hear footsteps getting closer to her. It sounds like five different people are coming toward her. Nat puts one of her guns back in its holster as she takes a deep breath.

As the tip of a hunter’s gun comes into view, she grabs the front of the assault rifle while throwing her elbow into the hunter’s face. He lets go of the gun as she knocks him out with the butt of her Glock. Adjusting the assault rifle in her grip, she turns and shoots down the other four hunters.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to kill any of them?!” Wanda yells out to Nat.

“I don’t remember agreeing to that!” Natasha yells back.

Wanda throws another hunter back as she watches Nat take down more as well. Looking back at Kira, she notices a glowing figure around the young girl as she fights off the Oni.

Kira can feel her anger and frustration growing as she continues to fight. She can also feel her control starting to slip. The fox spirit around grows bigger and bigger the longer she fights.

As she feels a blade cut through her right thigh, her fox quickly grows before launching itself at the seven Oni. A blinding light shoots out as the Oni are killed, hindering the hunters. Kira can feel her fox getting more powerful with each Oni it takes out.

With her back facing the light, Natasha uses the distraction to shoot down the rest of the hunters. Looking over at Wanda, she can see her crouched behind a tree blocking the light with her hands. As the light disappears, she turns around to find Kira kneeling on the ground and no Oni around her.

“What happened?!” Nat yelled toward Kira.

“I killed them!” Kira yells back, pressing down on the wound on her leg as it starts to slowly heal.

“Why didn’t you do that earlier?!”

“I don’t really have control of it!”

“Did you have to kill all of them?” Wanda asks Natasha, looking at all of the dead hunters behind them.

“Did you want me to wait until they killed one of us?”

Wanda rolls her eyes at Nat’s response. She could’ve put them all to sleep but it’s too late for that now. She walks over to where Kira is now sitting on the ground.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. My leg should be good in just a minute.” Kira replies.

“I wonder if everybody else also has to deal with more than just hunters?” Nat mumbles, sitting down next to Kira.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sitting up high in a tree, Y/N watches as Derek, Peter, and Chris battle the hunters down below. She can hear her radio go off and Scott’s voice asking for help. It takes everything in her to not jump down and help after one hunter’s knife gets a little too close to Derek’s throat.

“Is this what you deal with here in Beacon Hills?” Tony questions, watching as more hunters seem to come out of nowhere.

“Yeah, but hunters have always been the least of our worries,” Y/N replies, her grip tightening on the tree in anger as more hunters appear. She could easily use her powers from here and take them out but then Kate would know where she is.

Tony feels at a loss for words. Watching the hunters down below, he can’t believe this is what his daughter has been with. He doesn’t know why this didn’t hit him before. He was so caught up in everything else, he hasn’t taken a step back to notice how calm she and her friends seem to be about everything.

Since the Avengers have been in Beacon Hills, they’ve dealt with hunters, Hydra, and more. He knows to an extent what Y/N dealt with when she was with Hydra, but what else has she dealt with?

Friends of hers have apparently died and he has no idea why. Was it because of hunters? Was it because of something else they’ve faced? Or was it something that has nothing to do with this little world she lives in?

Tony stares at Y/N as he thinks of something to say. He has so many things that he wants to say and so many questions he wants to ask but now is not the time.

“I can practically hear you thinking from here,” Y/N looks up and locks eyes with Tony. “I know you have a lot of questions and so do I. I don’t really know how long you’re going to be here in Beacon Hills but I’d like to start over after all of this is done.”

“We can stay as long as you want. You can come back with us too…i-if you want. I-I mean I know you’re a lot older now but we kept your rooms the same as you left them. Well, we have a cleaner that cleans them once every two weeks.”

“Rooms?”

“Yeah, one at the compound and one in our old home. We haven’t lived there since you…disappeared. I still kept it though just in case.”

“Even after you thought I was dead?”

“You’re not the only person we’ve known to be presumed dead to still very much be alive. I didn’t want to give up hope. No matter how little it became.”

Y/N doesn’t know what to say to that. She looks back down to watch the others fight off the hunters. Most of the hunters are down so now is a good time to get to Kate.

“We should go now,” Y/N looks back at Tony.

“How are we doing this?” Tony asks, not sure how to carry Y/N.

“Can I just get on your back?”

Tony flies off the tree and hovers in front of Y/N with his back turned toward her, “Let’s go.”

Y/N pulls herself away from the tree and climbs onto Tony’s back. A small smile appears on her face as it reminds her of the piggyback rides her dad, the sheriff, used to give her all the time as a kid before they lost her mom. As Tony takes off toward the safe house, she wonders if Tony or the others ever used to carry her like this when she was younger.

Y/N holds on tighter to Tony as he crashes into the middle of the house. Once Tony has landed on the ground, she hops off his back and surveys her surroundings. They landed in what appeared to be the living room but there was no one around. There’s no one shooting at them, charging at them, or even watching them. They are completely alone.

“Why is no one here?” Tony asks, his blasters ready just in case.

“I don’t know…” Looking around Y/N can see weapons and ammo everywhere. On the wall, she can see pictures of herself and all her friends. There’s even some of the Avengers. There’s a large blood stain on the floor but there is nobody. Whose blood is it?

It’s also quiet. Too quiet. If she listens in she can hear the others fighting, but it’s quiet in the house. Kate must be hiding somewhere. If there’s one thing Y/N knows about the Argents, it’s that they love a good basement moment. That’s probably where Kate is hiding out. And if she’s hiding then she knows she’s outmatched. She knows they’re losing.

As she turns to look at Tony, a body flies through the living room window. Y/N jumps back and is ready to attack until she notices who it is.

“Isaac?”

Isaac groans in pain but makes no move to get up off the floor, “Hey Y/N.”

“H-how? What?”

“Scott told me everything so we came to help.”

“We?”

As Isaac goes to answer, a girl with a crossbow steps through the broken window, “Isaac?!” She starts shooting toward something Y/N can’t see.

“Braeden?”

“Who are these people?” Tony asks Y/N.

“He’s a friend and she’s…” Y/N pauses as she thinks of a way to describe who Braeden is, “she’s a friend of Derek.”

Isaac snorts, “Yeah, a friend.”

Y/N kicks Isaac’s arm at his comment, “What’s happening out there? How’d you go through the window? Why haven’t you got up?”

“I can’t really move.”

“What do you mean?” Y/N crouches down next to Isaac in concern.

“We aren’t the only ones who know a kanima apparently.”

Y/N rolls Isaac onto his side and looks at the scratch on his neck. She can see some of the venom still dripping from the wound.

“Who else has been affected by it?” Y/N asks, laying Isaac back down on his back.

“Scott was protecting a guy on the ground with a shield when I found them,” Braeden replies, walking over to them.

Tony curses under his breath, “Should we help them?”

“Kira and two other girls are currently helping Scott.”

Y/N turns her head to the broken window as she hears a loud roar. It sounded like Scott but she’s not sure.

“Is it just the kanima they’re fighting?” Y/N asks.

“No, there’s Berserkers as well. Four of them.”

Y/N stands up and looks at Tony, “Stay here and help them. I’ve got Kate.”

“You’re not going alone,” Tony states. He’s not going to abandon his daughter. He’s here to protect her.

“They need your help more than I do. If the Kanima takes more of them down, they will all be dead. Help them.”

Tony hesitates for a moment before agreeing, “Fine, but then I’m coming back to help you.”

“Fine. I’ll probably be in the basement. At least that’s where I'm assuming she is.”

Tony looks like he’s going to hug her for a moment before flying out through the broken window. Y/N can hear when he finds the others.

“So that’s your dad huh?” Isaac says with a small smirk on his face.

Y/N rolls her eyes and huffs, “Shut up.” Her radio sparks to life and she can hear Chris Argent calling for Stiles. The Anuk-Ite must be near them. Y/N turns to Braeden, “I’ve got Kate. Make sure he stays alive.”

Y/N flicks her claws out as she checks all of the doors to see if any lead into the basement. When she opens the fourth door, she sees stairs leading down into another room. She walks down slowly until she reaches the bottom.

Looking around, the stairs seemed to have led her to a hallway instead of a room. There are four different doors and she doesn’t know what’s behind any of them. There’s a long ugly rug that runs throughout the middle of the hallway. It looks out of place in the modern-looking hallway.

She’s about to open the first door when she notices the end of the rug is flipped up as if someone tripped over it. That’s when she notices something behind it. Moving the rug with her foot, she finds an escape hatch.

Y/N bends down and opens the hatch. Not seeing anything dangerous, she jumps down into what seems to be a tunnel. Looking down at the ground, she can see a single set of footprints leading away from her.

She follows the footsteps until she gets to the end of the tunnel. She notices a small ladder leading up to another hatch. Y/N climbs up the ladder and slowly opens the hatch. It takes her a second to realize where she is. She’s next to an old lake her mom used to take her and Stiles to during the summer.

Climbing out of the tunnel, she looks around for Kate. She knows she’s here but she can’t seem to see her.

“Kate! I know you’re here!” Y/N yells out.

As she moves to look around, a bear trap snaps around her right ankle. Screaming out in pain, Y/N falls to the ground.

“I was wondering when you would show up, but I’m surprised you showed up alone.” Y/N whips her head around to see Kate slowly walking up to her with twenty other hunters and two Berserkers behind her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@vicmc624 @mrspetxrs @freyathehuntress @fheresm @stefans-wife @llamaproblem @taketimeandappreciate @youralphawolf72 @ornella0910 @shedsblood @ts1mp0ne @beautifulgrungekid @emily-roberts @danielle-leah1997 @itmejado @me-unitentionally @iv3t @james-bucky-barnes-bitch @learning-howto-be-myselfx3 @darkenwolfie @inyourmomsworld @lokiandbuckywife @xx-narcissa @elite4cekalyma @thecrazytealady @ladyjenjay @misshale21 @cevans-winchester @fayhay14 @wtfcas @spencerreidsbookclub @depressedsleepysloth @hinata7346 @randomhoex @mirakeul @n1ght5h4d3-24 @allthingsavenger-y @belovacc @speedy-object-dream @pepelachanel @dark-night-sky-99 @missnyxsblog @xoxoloverb @ilearnedthatfromethepizzaman @kingshitonly @isnt-itstrange @twsssmlmaa @navs-bhat @zealouspostwitch @saahmi @distantsighs @jayxxace @a--1--1--3 @cutelittlepurplesouls @mermaid--dreamer-blog @maliagurl @peterpangirl21 @kneelforloki @slutformaddyperez @teenybean @small-town-wayward-daughter @labellapeaky @dabria14 @geeksareunique @emma-is-a-nerd @teen-wolf-fan @zzsloth @burn1ngw00d @esposadomd @natashamea18

166 notes · View notes

thisisnotthenerd · 7 months

Text

i think this could have gone a lot of ways. having a hard time with some thoughts atm. c3e77 spoilers beware.

there were some clear narrative tags pointing at fearne that others in the party picked up on, and i think that increased the tension of this moment. watching travis, marisha, laura, and liam? almost worse than the solstice with the vax orb. ashley and sam were in panic heal mode, but the others were primarily observers. the fallout from this is going to be a major narrative catalyst, no matter where it goes.

there are also strong narrative reasons for fearne to not want the shard. she doesn't want to become the dark version of herself, and right now? i understand ashley not wanting that for her character. she's one of two people in bell's hells who are making the big moral decisions for the group. orym is grieving and constantly traumatized, but still a moral core. fearne has been made the critical decision maker twice now. the chaos from her has been decreasing as others lean into it, and i think this is the kind of scenario that involves a priority reevaluation.

everyone else currently has a dark side evolution. chet dealt with his werewolf issues, but we don't know how being on the moon is going to affect that. imogen has gone nuclear before and might again depending on how moon conflict goes. laudna just had a full convo with delilah. fcg is probably hovering on the edge of stress points esp after this incident.

and what i think we've discovered with ashton here is that they have come out of self-preservation at all costs, but still make deeply selfish decisions. martyr complex? sure. but he's looking at an ancient druid and saying fuck you, i'm going to take on an unprecedented power because i believe i'm making my own destiny. despite having gone through a transformation of the type that they have fully forgotten. despite living with constant pain from already having two conflicting entities in his body.

the callowmoore talk, attraction acknowledgement, kissing and whatnot? while it was fun to watch in the moment, it still feels like just another way of convincing fearne to go along with the plan in game. he almost died in front of her. this is the kind of conflict that can permanently change/fracture relationships. i'm sure ashley and taliesin talked before about a vague plan. but seriously, mamma mia that's a spicy meatball to come back to.

what i'll say is that taliesin has been consistent with this development. ashton came out of the party split looking for the hishari, looking for their history, looking for power and a way to protect people. i do think he'd have let fearne have it if she wanted it. but the conversation around how they would do it? it felt like deeply wanting power. whatever the reason.

granted that's my read. i might have to write fic about it later. it's still their game, and they make the choices that they make. this was the culmination of several weeks of development, and no matter what the story will go on. next month's 4sd is going to be insane if taliesin or ashley is on.

#critical role #cr spoilers #cr discourse #ashton greymoore #fearne calloway

20 notes · View notes

nochi-quinn · 6 months

Text

candela obscura chapter 3 episode 1: oh god everybody's fucked up

I'm here, I fell asleep and missed the start but I'm here

lmao the immediate note-taking

ur really committing to that voice huh liam

marisha made an older character and liam said hold my dentures

STEAMPUNK JAZZY

heyyyy someone else makes the joke I picked up from a stargate episode 20 years ago

liam what was that look

absolutely love ashly's wig

sam looking like he got hit with a cattle prod

what's a sam reigel

why are we getting oscar's CV

"are they hot"

listen I saw the trailer he 100% uses that chain to beat people with

"no one calls you carey, oscar"

oh no he's hot

oh he's kotallo, that's why

the flat cap does look good on sam, I can't lie

y'all that's gay

I like cordelia's little halo

eloise best character

(maybe that's the look liam was giving ashly, eloise vs elsie)

elsie's a werewolf calling it

yesss the old people guilt trip

liam

oscar: I'm gonna punch a ghost

"you're wearing a ball gown. it's the morning."

the maw??

haha it took me until literally this moment to remember ashly is aloy, my ship is reunited

"I'm using my bullshit detector" did you get that cleared with the gm

I like the term "blood and guts doctor"

I've been watching S1G play Slay the Princess and the more they describe her the more she sounds like a Princess variant

oh no lights

liam you did that on purpose

oh Aadtika (?) is a very pretty name

"lung, heart" liver, nerves

"you have an extra house?" "you don't?"

rajan

"you slick son of a bitch"

he IS a slick son of a bitch

oh sam's being THAT character

prepared to spend three episodes threatening to punch oscar in the head and throw him in the pool

("nochi nobody read your free! livetweets" well maybe they should have)

sam doesn't watch the product

liam always wants to roleplay fish and chips

[picks elsie and raj up and shakes them until backstory falls out]

"I'll be as subtle as I can be" smash cut to him beating someone to death with a chain

the docks seems like a terrible place to play baseball

sam

did they do a dndbeyond for candela?

they did!

sam forgot he was short

"high stakes not for harm" but bc it's funny

rajan: oh I am NOT involved, you made that VERY clear

"don't waste that on me" "I agree"

I'm being gaslit bc I've always pronounced "copse" like "cope" with an "s" in it

shades of the old man at my previous psych office yelling about obama's secret weather machine

"I help by SCREAMING"

grandpa's making a wheel for it

[mabel pines voice] grappling hook!

the way sam rolls dice STILL kills me

oh good, everyone else also thinks they should fuck

"why can't we just be friends? oh right, because I don't like you."

what the fuck's a flashlight

"yeah! temperature play! :D" aabria

"do you go down my little hole" "of course!" aren't y'all divorced

oh no an ot3

don't say degloved that means something else

oh I dig that

werewolf!

lights!

were….thing!

oh no aabria's doing the voice

everything goes black, and you die

l…lights?

breathing?

how could crcw not have prepared me for this

immortal asshole oscar grimm

EXCUSE

oh he's an asshole because he gave up the non-asshole bits to bargain with death

hey sam what the fuck

oh hey ashly. ow.

thump thumps? why?

loud??

imagine if oscar coming back just freaked elsie right back into beast mode

there's another hour left of this wtf happens

yessssss "I'd take a bullet for him but I wouldn't go drinking with him" my beloved

local woman realizing that everyone around her is an absolute freak

liam's startled old man noise

"ohhh I'm not good at that"

ACTION GLASSES

wait I don't understand what he just did

oh he did a drug

little bird ;-;

his WHAT

chairsword!

it glows blue when there are nuns nearby

where's that one digital devil saga monster

I desperately need an artist's rendition of this orca-mantis-thing

excuse me

I keep missing the spelling of his sister's name

"oh god everybody's fucked up"

A WHAT built in his WHAT

augh eye stuff no quiero

is noshir lefthanded?

I kind of half-called that

"that felt like twenty. that was a season."

BEEKEEPER

"do you know you're covered in bees?"

I like my women like I like my coffee

"because yours is super chill"

liam you can uncommit to the voice

(he will not)

"drop the skincare routine"

#candela obscura #critical role #spoilers #liveblog #reaction post #candelatag #crititag

12 notes · View notes

wistfulwatcher · 2 years

Text

the critical role cast as fic writers

matt: years-long canon-divergent epics with amazing plot, well-developed ocs, beautiful writing, and emotionally fulfilling narratives. world-building is spectacular, and elevates the existing canon with deeper history and lore. canon characters are a little ooc, but the rest is so good you can deal with the occasionally off line.

sam: humor fic that makes you cry with laughter, but also has surprisingly strong character development. lots of tongue-in-cheek character bashing. very obviously who his least favorites are.

marisha: purple prose and occasionally cringey dialogue but when she hits emotional moments right they fucking hurt. multiple comments call her ocs mary sues, but they are actually just badass and interesting. plot consists mostly of interpersonal and internal conflict.

travis: unoriginal plot and gratuitous concepts but very well executed. perfectly timed humor. no plot holes, excellent attention to detail. turns a character you previously ignored into your blorbo.

taliesin: bnf with devoted followers who ask for headcanons and commentary daily. writes only 100k+ dark!fic that is updated every few days. his readers demand whump and he supplies. dialogue is fucking SHARP, and you get chills days later. everyone has a terrible backstory. you need a cuddle after.

liam: 100% character studies, even if the summary suggests otherwise. sucks you in quickly and does a phenomenal job of exploring really complex character psyche, but goes on probably 30k longer than it should. characters make a lot of dumb mistakes that could be easily resolved but the complicated resolution is just engaging enough for you to hang in there. you are both sad and relieved when it's finished.

laura: that author. writes beautiful slow burns that are romantic and adventurous. peripheral relationships are fleshed out and meaningful, especially the platonic ones. tropes everywhere and some scenes are on the cheesy side, but you don't mind. writes the fandom classic au for the pairing and turns it into an original novel.

ashley: 3k fluffy one-shot pwps and hella cracky crossovers that you just have to try. rarely writes a pairing more than once. her list of works baffles you and you only recognize half the fandoms, but you end up reading them all because they are so unique and so well-written.

254 notes · View notes

moefling · 11 months

Text

ok i’m gonna talk about the RWRB Movie...

SPOILER: i’m gonna be negative and i’m not planning on watching the movie (i guess that means ppl are gonna block me??? idk why ppl are just mass blocking because of this but whatever) (edit: per a suggestion I swapped the tag on this post so it isn't tagged under "rwrb movie")

so i’m gonna start by saying that i’ve watched the trailer a few times and honestly i love the vibes, it makes me smile ever time.

-the kiss is great

-the butt slap is everything

-Henry’s facial expressions *chefs kiss*

-the visible chain around Alex neck. yes

i’m also gonna say that its great that people ARE going to see the movie, we need more queer movies and the only way for that to happen is if ppl watch the ones that are being made now.

so the bad.

honestly i could deal with a lot of the little things. like they make my eye twitch a little but i do actually understand that you can’t 100% remake a book into a movie.

BUT

it’s June that i can’t forgive.

if i’m wrong and she is in the movie than amazing and i redact everything but it doesn’t seem to be that way.

removing June makes me SO angry. its like removing Alice from Twilight or Sam from Lord of the Rings. if Main Characters are just the romantic leads (Alex and Henry) than June defiantly falls into secondary tier - all the Super Six kinda do (Bea would be the most removable for me but is is also necessary for Henry’s development as much as June is for Alex.

June balances Alex out. the book even specifically states WHY all of the White House Trio are needed (page 28: “Alex pushes them. June steadies them. Nora keeps them honest.”) She keeps him sane and she put her life on hold to watch out for Alex, and Alex knows this!

the idea of Alex being an only child is terrifying. he is already kinda selfish (i say that lovingly) and “a little shit” without growing up with an older sibling to shut him up he would be a monster (and Nora doesn’t count because first they don’t actually meet until Ellen is running with Mike as VP and second Nora’s personality is to “go with the flow” to really steady Alex)

June also has some important moments that happen in the book! like it doesn’t really work to have Nora be fake dating Henry for the like 2 days that that happens and no June means no Magazine moment (i know that isn’t really directly in the book but its a fav for everyone). no June also really changes the tone of the Lake House....

ANWAY, moving away from June here is some other things that i don’t like (because its my rant and i want to, feel free to change my mind)

- the height difference (i did love the lifts comment in the trailer but idk if they’ll be able to keep that up in a way that makes since - that means that if they are every barefoot Alex would have to be shorter *cough* like swimming)

-the actor for Alex is to old. i know ppl are really split about this but the actor feels put together and like an adult to me (vs. book Alex feels very young - or he honestly acts his age of 21/22). i think the polo match scene says a lot for me in the postures of the 2 actors, Henry is ok (tho honestly i think he wouldn’t have the loose posture once he rejoined ppl but its cute so pass) but Alex is to stiff, he should be almost bouncing as he walks.

-WFT is Ellen’s accent in the trailer???

-i heard a rumor that Raf and Liam are merged and redone. Gross and big no.

-King instead of Queen. i understand why this was done but the tone changes a lot in my head of abusive Grandpa vs. Grandma

-Zahra. don’t like, the vibe is off with the actress... can’t explain why except the smile in the photos and the bow in the trailer

-i feel like some of the scenes feel still (this is 100% my opinion and i could be reading this VERY wrong so ignore this if you interpret it differently)

i really wanted to like the movie but realistically i probably wouldn’t watch the movie anyway because i have issues with that so..... i guess it doesn’t matter.

i hope ppl who watch it enjoy it and please separate tags of movie vs book, thanks

#rwrb #RED WHITE AND ROYAL BLUE #rwrb book #red white and royal blue book #rant #rwrb movie negativity #first prince #books to movies #red white and royal blue

15 notes · View notes

walker-extended-universe · 8 months

Text

What are the odds?, Chapter 1

Tags/Warnings: Major Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Amnesia, Confusion, Explosions, Burns, Injury, Injury Recovery, Family Feels, Hurt/Comfort

Summary: A strange coincidence leads to a mix up that our heroes may never recover from…. Assuming anyone realizes the mistake.

Or: in which Cordell dies and Sam gets mistaken as a Texas Ranger

Written for @whumptober Day 9: Mistaken Identity

Taglist: @theladywyn, @ihavepointysticks, @klaatu51, @itsjessiegirl1, @neptunium134

-0-

The Walker family didn’t know what to think when they saw the explosion on the news. They knew he’d been there. That morning he’d warned them he had a big job that day and he might be out late. “Things could get messy. Just keep an eye out, alright?”

None of them had expected “messy” to mean “massive explosion that took out most of the people on both sides of the confrontation”.

Seeing it on the news had been terrifying. Waiting on the call to tell them if Cordell was among the dead was agonizing.

Liam could hardly believe it when James called and told them he was alive. “He’s not in the clear yet though,” he warned. “He has a lot of severe burns, broken bones, the works. The doctors aren’t sure he’ll pull through or what it’ll mean for him if he does. Just- temper your expectations, alright?”

Despite the grim report, Liam couldn’t help but feel optimistic. As long as Cordell came home, they could deal with whatever he could throw at them. It made the long hours of silence in the waiting room just a little more bearable to think that way.

—-------------

Earlier that day…..

Just one more case , Sam promised himself. One more case, then your own. Find a girl, a dog, white picket fence, two and a half kids, the works. Just like you promised.

Sam had never lied to himself when he said Dean was the one that made hunting worth it. All the blood and guts and death were damn near unbearable without his brother by his side. But he still felt a duty to help people and it was hard to break the habit of gearing up when he saw a strange death in the paper.

He was sure this was a djinn case. He’d scoped out a few other places in the area but didn’t find any sign of a nest there. This old warehouse was the last place on his list within a 25 mile radius. If he didn’t find a nest here, he’d have to expand his search.

When he heard voices, he thought he’d struck gold. When he saw the guns, he knew he was in trouble.

No one saw him. He could just sneak away and-

Boom

He didn’t have time to react before everything happened. One moment he was sneaking for the door, the next he was stuck under a pile of rubble from the concrete ceiling. Fire was all around him, not that he was aware of it as one of the pieces hit his head.

He also wasn’t aware that on the other side of the lot, a man that could’ve been his twin was dead and buried even further under the rubble than he was.

When Sam Winchester was found and Cordell Walker was left behind, no one on the scene was aware of it.

—------------

“Family of Cordell Walker?”

“Yes- Here.” Liam was the first one up and he heard the rest of his family gather anxiously behind him. “Is he okay?”

“He’s stable,” the doctor saud. “We believe he’ll make a full physical recovery. He sustained some very severe burns and multiple broken bones but it’s nothing we can’t handle. Our concern is his mental state. He suffered a very severe head injury during the explosion. He is awake now and we’ll be running some tests to gauge the full extent of the damage but as far as we can tell he’s dealing with amnesia and limited cognitive function.”

Liam swallowed hard. “Amnesia? How- How bad?”

“Like I said, it’s going to take some time until we know for sure how bad it is. So far the only thing he’s told us is that he wants to see his brother. You can see him now if you want, but we will be limiting his visitors until we’ve gotten the full scope of his condition.”

Liam nodded. “Yeah. No, we understand. I- I’ll see him now.” He had to know Cordell was okay, or at the very least alive.

“Of course. Come with me.”

The doctor led him down a series of hallways into the ICU. When they reached his brother’s room, the doctor let him go in first.

Seeing Cordell like this was difficult, though it wasn’t as bad as he’d feared. He was bandaged all over and had a cast on one arm and one leg. Considering how close to death he’d come, Liam couldn’t help but be grateful even if Cordell wasn’t that comfortable.

“Hey, Cordi….”

His brother’s head snapped around to look at him and his brow furrowed. “...Who are you?”

Liam’s heart sank but he tried to keep his smile. “I’m Liam. Your brother. You were asking to see me, remember?”

Cordell nodded. “Right. Right. My brother. I’m sorry, I just- I don’t-”

“You don’t remember. I know. It’s okay.” Liam came over to the bed and sat on the edge. “There’s a lot of things you don’t remember. But that’s okay. Me, Mom and Dad, the kids, Geri, we’re all going to help you remember and get back on your feet, okay?”

Cordell nodded but he still seemed confused. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. I- Thank you. It’s-” he broke off in a dry chuckle “- It’s just weird. Hard. Scary. Not being able to remember anything. I mean… Even my name doesn’t feel right. I mean… Cordell Beauregard Walker? Do our parents hate me or something?”

Liam chuckled. “It’s a family name, for the record. And it’s good to know your sense of humor is still intact, even if we all have to suffer from it.”

Cordell rolled his eyes. “Whatever, jerk.”

Liam laughed. Cordell looked at him like he was expecting something else but moved on anyway. “So…. Mom and Dad and kids…. You should probably fill me in on them before they come in and get upset I don’t know them.”

That was probably a good idea. “I’ll try my best. Maybe I should make you a set of index cards….”

“Yeah, yeah….”

#whumptober2023 #no.9 #mistaken identity #walker #supernatural #fic #explosion tw #amnesia tw #injury tw #hospital tw #walker fic #walker fanfic #my writing #my fic #crossover #au

8 notes · View notes

weaveintheends · 2 years

Text

More reasons I love Caleb, love Beau, and don’t super love Molly—C2, E13

The argument with Nott, trying to convince her to keep Caleb in check. 1) Beau is a bitch, but she is so smart, and you can absolutely feel it in this moment as she ignores the chaos that is Molly’s complaints, and puts her points out into the open. Her arguments aren’t as smooth as Fjord’s, but they’re succinct, get to the point, and make so much sense. Don’t fuck me over or I will kill you. I don’t care if you want to steal. I will help you do so, as long as it’s part of our previous agreement.

Molly is hard to listen to in this scene because he’s just noise. He never comes to a proper conclusion, and he just wants to rant and rave and be angry at what he perceives as a slight. Always jumping around and never landing on anything definitive. Just that he doesn’t want Caleb to steal. This was a scene that made me really dislike Molly on the original watch through. But now that I know what the cast was aiming for their characters… it’s just another moment where I ache to see who Molly could have become.

And then there’s Caleb. After a full conversation about him that cumulated in Nott claiming Caleb as her child, Liam not only played off the meta end making Caleb clueless to what was talked about, but he made himself smaller. Quieter. Allowing himself to be cared for by the little goblin, leaning into the image Nott had painted in such a distinct way. It’s a shout out to Sam and the way he implemented the last scene into the way Nott dove into the conversation with Caleb, but also to the way Caleb was played and all of it just feels so fleshed out and incredible.

#dnd #critical role #caleb widogast #nott the brave #beauregard lionett #mollymauk tealeaf #cr c2 e13

58 notes · View notes

adventures-of-the-creeping-bam · 2 years

Text

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 37

Matt Mercer instantly fumbles the intro ...

No more Gorgeous Lady Fingers? Oh no ... honestly though, it was maybe A LITTLE too suggestive. That said, to an extent this whole skit could be considered a little too innuendo-y ...

Ashley ... WHAT?!!! I'm with you guys, that was ridiculous ...

The Thumb? Thicc with 2 Cs, apparently. I love how pissed off Laura is at how pathetic her character is.

Bells Hells logo ... ooooooooooooohhh ... and it's chiselled in wood! Travis, as Chetney: "That's superior craftsmanship."

Matt: "On that note ..." wow, he looks SO DONE already ...

Oh man ... Matt's recap gives me TOO MUCH foreboding, I can't stand it!

Chetney just wants to leave immediately and I really can't blame him. This place is FUCKED.

Whoa ... so, what? What does THAT mean? Who sees what? Orym: "We're in hell." Yup, there we go.

Ah, so the whole place STINKS of necromancy. Yeah, that's about right. Delilah MUST be here.

Imogen wants to get berets. Hmmmmm ...

Vex ... Imogen: "Yeah, I think that was her name." XD

Stealth check ... Laura rolls a Nat 20 on the Whitestone dice. Whoa ... looks like it's pretty sweet rolls across the board. Nice.

So ... EVERYTHING'S made out of the same creepy stone shit ... okay ...

Liam rolls a Nat 1 ... oh yes, that classic Halfling Luck, he gets to reroll that one. 17! Yay!

When is a door not a door? When it's in THIS fucked up place ... okay, so FCG suggests they use a SWORD. Yeah, that'll work ... Ashton decides to use a WINDOW instead. Much better.

The window us ALSO bullshit. Yeah, that's about right too.

Sam has put a spiritual cord on his flask. Hmm ... Liam: "Very Chekov."

So now things are MOVING. Paths are shifting on them as they go through the city ... not good. Matt says this is going to require a SKILL CHECK ... four successes? What happens if they fuck THIS up?

Travis starts singing Thriller. Matt: "This city does not seem to like classic hits."

BONES ARE SHOOTING UP OUT OF THE GROUND!!! NOT GOOD!!!

Orym tries to Flea Jump over it. SERIOUSLY, dude? Oh, well at least he gets a decent view ... fuck, this shole place is just ALIVE, at least after a fashion.

Okay, the tree is EXTRA creepy. And there's A LOT of nooses on it ...

Liam rolls a 23 on dexterity, which means Orym DOESN'T cut himself to shreds getting over this mess.

Sam: "Bones are the wood of man." Travis starts grinning.

This stuff is REALLY BONE. And now it's BLEEDING. Yeah ... seriously, you wanna KEEP that shit?

Travis: "Roll a house-handling check."

Oh, so now all of this hinges on how good Liam does ... no pressure then ... DAMN SON!!! Killer rolls!

Orym is going to ATTACK THE BUILDING to stop it from cutting them off. And now it's BLEEDING ... although that does seem to have worked. And now he's having to run for his life. Nice escape, Liam!

Creepy little boy apparition!

Mathilda? WhoTF is Mathilda?

Wait ... IS THAT who Laudna used to be?

Oh shit ... this is totally sounding like some seriously fucked up traumatic moment from Laudna's childhood and I hate it. And I was totally right. That is just unpleasant.

Creepy apparition now sounds DANGEROUS to me. Let's not fuck with that.

Tracking Laudna ... please make this work. Oh ... sweet, Imogen, keep doing that!

The barn is USUALLY outside if town, but not today. Okay ...

Little girl Laudna/Mathilda seems quite adorable, actually.

Find the barn! Ah, there it is ... destination spotted! Now they just gotta get there. Oh! Second success! Nice.

Big tall thing! Beat the city! Roll good!

Travis: "Whoa, why can't we roll like that when we're actually fighting?"

STAGE WHISPER!!!

Crazy shark fin bone thing becomes THE CLAW!!! NOT GOOD!!!

Narrow escape! 15 foot tall skull. Cabinet of Dr Caligari? Damn, I never actually saw that ...

Okay, they're in the barn. Into the hayloft ...

Weird little makeshift toys ... yeah, that's our girl, definitely.

Little Laudna/Mathilda again ... okay ...

So jf they get her away from Delilah ... could this work?

Hey, they're a little child's drawings, you can't say they suck!

Ashton Greymoore, child psychologist. Awwww ...

Whoa ... so it's a trap. AAAAAAHHH!!!

Ashton: "I don't know if threats work here, but I'm gonna make one."

Wood or stone? Ask Chetney! "The tongue never lies!"

Wow, this is starting to look like that super scary bit in the pit in The Ruins! They need to get out NOW.

Cutting some holes, small medium and large! Not really working. Chetney tries fire while FCG does a secondary sawblade with Spiritual Weapon. Works A BIT better ...

Oh, so that shit REALLY doesn't like fire, that might be a clincher ...

Constitution saving throws? NOT GOOD!!! They lose one hit dice?

Chetney has DYNAMITE?!!! SERIOUSLY?!!!

Ashton: "It didn't work?" OF COURSE Matt chooses THAT moment to make it blow up.

Imogen bruises her bottom.

Structure Frogger.

Not that way, FCG!!!

Ooooh, a clue! Follow the firelight!

Teenage Laudna spirit: "I'm a little busy now, I'm getting dressed." OH SHIT!!!

Ashton removes the necklace from the doll. The doll IMMOLATES. Hmmmm ... necklace might be a good clue, though.

Orym: "The barn tried to eat everyone. I'm just saying." Ashton: "But we got a necklace."

Whoa! Laudna's home, back in the day! Oh fuck ... and they're getting ready to go to the dinner ...

Yeah ... this is starting to feel like another trap.

Imogen, to teenage Laudna/Mathilda: "When it starts to get scary, just come find us." Oh man ...

Oh wow ... so Laudna was her MOTHER'S NAME!!!

They're not her parents! Imogen: "Remember us!"

Okay ... one FAILURE!!! NOT GOOD!!!

Imogen: "Delilah, we're coming for ya. We made a promise ... bitch!"

Oh shit! COMBAT!!!

Sword Burst! Nice!

Fearne's not REALLY gonna try Speak With Animals on these things, is she? Oh, Poison Spray ... against spirits ... hmmm ...

ROLL INITIATIVE!!!

Orym + magic sword = badass.

Ashton gets rough with his hammer ... Chaos Burst! Sweet! And a Nat 20! DOUBLE sweet!

"Theatre ... of the Mind!"

14 points of Thunder Damage! Travis: "Whoa!"

Ashton: "Feels really good to hit somebody's parents."

Sacred Flame! Nice one FCG! 8 points of Radiant damage.

Sam uses his bonus action to plug D&D Beyond.

One of these things BURROW INTO FEARNE!!! Wait ... no effect? That's fucking WEIRD. Fearne is a BADASS.

Chetney gets the HDYWTDT, and STILL finds time to flirt with Fearne. Now THAT'S classy.

Okay ... looks likevoing to the tree is just an inevitability at this point. And now the path WANTS them to go there ... that can't be a good sign, can it?

Oh, that's right, if anybody hits zero hit points they're OUT! Heal them! Heal them!

Chetney and Imogen chug Potions of Possibility. Here we go ...

Taliesin, to Sam: "You're saying 'pump' far too much." Sam immediately starts saying it TWICE as much. Cue Arnie "pump it up!" impressions from Liam. (Because it's ALWAYS Liam.)

Fuuuuuuuuuuck ... it's Delilah! "Ah, fond memories."

Matt: "And we're gonna go to our break!"

Ashton and FCG dice guardians! Nice!

TLOVM season 2 sneaky peak! The Chroma Conclave attack! Fuck me that looks awesome ...

Ashley: "I stab you AGAIN!!!" Liam: "Oooh! That's two!" I love this Bard College of Tragedy skit! Ashley: "Just DIE already! Googe! Googe! The rest ... is SILENCE."

Okay ... here we go again ... showdown time!

What the fuck ... Sam, what yhe hell are you wearing NOW?!!! Gods, that's gonna be distracting ...

Whoa ... tree cage? That's GOTTA BE where Laudna is.

FCG tries to reason with Delilah. Delilah: "So you've ... come to give me THERAPY?"

Delilah calls FCG a "strange metal child". Ashton: "Aren't you technically OLDER than her?"

Chetney, no! Don't try to make a DEAL with this evil bitch! Delilah's not having it anyway.

Come on, she's lying her arse off ...

Oooh ... Travis gets some whispers, and Sam hasn't ad to plug now! XD

Imogen tries to communicate with Laudna, but Delilah's BLOCKING HER.

Know Your Enemy doesn't work here, not on a spectral being. Liam has to roll an insight check, instead.

Chetney: "We might be able to give Laudna back some life, although with her that's very much an air-quote."

FCG's actually ASKING Delilah how to break the bond. Okay, is that actually gonna work?

Delilah's actually giving them some proper exposition. I love how Ashley's full on LEANING INTO IT, she's SO fascinated ...

Ashton gets in a free dig at Percy as he's stating his case. XD

Delilah admits she finds this all terribly boring. Travis starts laughing his arse off.

Imogen tells Delilah she knows she's fading. Delilah: "Do you know where I'm fading to?"

Okay ... Chetney's TOTALLY bluffing Delilah just so he can get her to bring Laudna out. Roll deception check ... TRAVIS ROLLS A NAT FUCKING TWENTY!!! But Delilah rolls a 26 ... hmmm ...

Oh wait ... she's going for it anyway?

Laudna is revealed ... MARISHA IS COMING INTO THE STUDIO!!! Eventually ...

Matt is now directing this directly to Marisha as she's IN HIS CHAIR!!! This is STRANGE.

Laudna is very trapped still ... and now the branches are closing again and HE'S SENDKNG HER AWAY AGAIN!!!

Imogen just loses it and ATTACKS DELILAH!!! ROLL INITIATIVE!!!

Another sweet battle map!

Sam's right, they've totally forgotten what Delilah's actually capable of in a fight ...

Initiative order ... Travis, in DEEP Chetney werewolf voice: "FEAR ME ... Natural 1." Everybody cracks up.

Laura: "It's mental." Cue everyone saying "mental" in Sid Vicious style ...

Holy fuck ... raging, Ashton is gonna LAUNCH ORYM AT THE TREE with his hammer! This is either gonna be spectacular or bloody AWFUL.

Liam rolls beautifully ... and Taliesin blows it BIG TIME ... but Orym is STILL gonna make a run for the tree anyway.

There are two different conversations going om at once and I'm finding it VERY hard to follow ...

Oh dear ... Ashton takes 23 points of Necrotic damage!

Lair Action? NOOOOOOO!!!

The Nega Sun Tree! Sam's vocalisations are sending me big time. XD

Aaaaaaaaah! Stabby stabby! And most of it's aimed at Imogen ... but she has a Mote of Possibility! Yes! Only HALF damage!

Delilah blows them a kiss ... and summons skeletal warriors! Gah! Children of the Dragon's Teeth!

Chetney tears off the bottom half of his body to wolf out! XD he just SHRUGS OFF that damage ... and CHUCKS his chisel at Delilah! AND he hits her! Holy fuck!

Weird symbolic white wolf going awooo! Nice ...

He picks up his chisel and CHUCKS IT AGAIN!!! 21 TO HIT!!! 12 points of damage ... wait ... no, the Sun Tree is SOAKING UP the damage? Really?

FCG does Turn Undead! Nice! And ... yes! He vaporises FOUR if the skeletons!

Bonus action ... Travis: "Bone-us action?" Urgh ... I just took psychic damage from that ...

FCG casts Spritual Weapon ... and it lookes like Pate! Awwwwww ... 6 points of Force damage. The shield dissipates and Delilah actually TAKES DAMAGE!!!

Fearne sends Mister to find Laudna in the tree ... but first throw some flaming shit! XD 9 ... yeah, that's a miss ...

Whoa ... Fearne uses her red thread to STRANGLE Delilah and pull her to the ground! Nice!

Sam: "You remember when Marisha came back to the studio for 10 seconds?" Travis: "And she had, like, NO IDEA what was going on?" Sam: "She just looked terrified for all if us."

CALL RUIDUS?!!! WTF?!!! Liam: "Secret moon shit!"

Holy fuck, that shit was BADASS CUBED!!!

Orym parkours like a mad mother! And rolls a 13 ... balls. He tries again ... 17! Yeah! Not close, but he's up there now! Orym: "We're coming! I promise we're coming!"

Ashton just POWDERS that MOFO with his hammer. Then guns the Potion of Possibility.

Gah ... Lair Action again! Everybody but Orym!

The roots burst out so intensely they BUST MATT'S BRACELET!!! XD

Taliesin rolls crap and Ashton gets DRAGGED.

Sam, singing: "Huuungry vines!"

Orym, Ashton and FCG all take bad hits ... Ashley's panicking! Wait! Taliesin uses the Mote and lessens the damage ...

Liam has to roll to see if Orym holds on ... NATURAL 20!!! The group goes wild!

Oh fuck! FCG drops to 0 hit points ... HE'S GONE!!! FCG IS OUT of the Spirit World! Sam leaves the table to go join Marisha ...

Chetney uses FIRE!!! Burns some bad guys!

This is getting bad ... Liam looks SO STRESSED right now!

Mister chucks some vlzming shit at the Sun Tree ... because it's A TREE, it burns. A LOT.

Fearne starts using fire on it as well, aims for the roots. Cue the group chanting: "The roots, the roots, the roots are on fire!"

The tree is REALLY burning now, people!

Fearne fires her third fistful of fire at the tree and she's LOOKING RIGHT AT DELILAH while she does it! So badass ... "Oh I'm sorry, is that hurting you?"

Yes. Yes it VERY MUCH IS.

Laura debates whether to hit Delilah or the tree. Liam: "Don't worry, only a beloved character hangs in the balance."

Fucking Legendary Resistance ...

Liam takes another Acrobatic check ... NATURAL 20!!! Matt: "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!"

Orym tries to cut through the cage ... the tree's already fucked up, so IT WORKS!!! Wait ... Laudna's been drawn deeper ... but the tree loses one of its Legendary Actions!

Delilah is fuvked up ... and she turns into a crazy evil THING!!!

40 points of Necrotic damage on Orym?!! Fuck ... wee man is GONE!!! Liam leaves the table too ...

Ashton chuvkd dynamite into the Tree ... BOOM!!! 3 D6 damage ... 12 points!

Gah ... fucking Lair Actions again ... she's shielded! Fuck! She casts Blight on Imogen, Laura has to save ... Nice roll! Wait ... HZLF damage us 21 POINTS?!!! Fuck ...

Chetney's up ... Travis, singing with frustration: "Ooooh ... nipples oh a hoooooooorse ..." casts Inflict Wounds! Rolls 15, uses the Mote and rerolls ... NO!!! NATURAL 1!!! ARGH!!!

Taliesin and Laura are whispering furtively to each other ... what are they thinking?

Fearne is really fucking the tree up BAD with fire now ...

Ashley: "All fight, D4, where are you ... WHERE THE FUCK?!!!"

Mister chucks his poop, snd Matt does his monkey impression ... gods, I really love it when he does that. XD

Delilah attacks Imogen ... she uses the Mote to force her to reroll ... Laura tells a NATURAL 20!!! AND MATT ROLLS A NATURAL 1!!! ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!!!

Oh dilemma ... use her last spell or save it to contact Pike? Everybody else: "EMPTY YHE CLIP!!!"

35 points of Lightning damage on the tree, she splits it open ... HOW DO YOU WANT TO DO THIS!!! Everybody LOSES IT!!!

Holy fuck ... Ddlilah just got DISINTEGRATED!!!

Everybody wakes up back in Pike's home ... Matt: "And THAT'S where we're going to end tonight's episode!" The whole (remaining) group goes NUTS!!!

Wait, so ... what does that MEAN?!!! Did they win? Is it over? Did they save Laudna? Is she back? Gods DAMN IT, Mercer!

#critical role #crit role campaign 3 #campaign 3 episode 37 #campaign 3 spoilers #matt mercer #marisha ray #laudna #travis willingham #chetney pock o'pea #laura bailey #imogen temult #liam o'brien #orym of the air ashari #ashley johnson #fearne calloway #taliesin jaffe #ashton greymoore #sam riegel #fresh cut grass

23 notes · View notes

cadybear420 · 6 months

Note

which choices scene lives in your head rent-free?

Literally every scene with Aiden lmao. But here are some particular favorite Aiden scenes:

At Brian's party where MC can show Aiden "some sexy moves". A bit of an awkward scene I have mixed feelings about but I headcanon Aiden eventually tries to learn some of those kinds of moves to impress MC. And when he actually shows them off to MC it just stops them in their tracks lol.

The scene where you can listen to Aiden play piano. That was the "no going pack, point of no return" moment for me, where I knew he was the LI I wanted to pursue in HSS.

When Aiden shows up to MC's door to ask them to homecoming with a violin tune he composed solely for that purpose.

And then when he has the audacity during the carriage ride scene at the carnival to go "I wish I could plan stuff for you" as if he didn't just compose a whole ass song just to ask MC to homecoming with.

When Isa tries to make Frank escort Aiden from the basketball game and you can have your MC stand between them to "defend Aiden's honor".

When you explore the basement with Aiden and you find out Isa wants to expel your MC and Aiden gets all like "I'll do everything in my power to make sure you're not expelled."

When MC and Aiden become official and Aiden straight up cheers and jumps in the air when MC says yes.

When they dance together to a Singin in the Rain song at the Golden Griddle

The scene where they walk along the beach at Caleb's party

Aiden's entire promposal CG

Their post-promposal cliffside picnic scene

MC and Aiden confessing their love for each other at prom

Many of the moments in their scene on the balcony, but especially when you can choose to shout the Circle of Life song to make an echo and how that eventually leads to MC liFTING UP AIDEN !!!!!

And as for non-Aiden scenes...

Kamilah saying "I'm her queen, and she's mine" in the climactic scene of BB book 2

Getting to spin Tyler in MAH in the scene where he and MC dance on the football field

Getting to defend Tyler from asshole jocks in a MAH premium scene

ROE Newlyweds where you have options to choose how MC and LI go into their new house together. Either having them walk in at the same time, having LI carry MC in, or having MC carry LI in. Obviously I chose the 3rd one and it did not disappoint. For the record I think all romance scenes in Choices should follow this kind of formula whenever possible.

[NSFW warning] TNA 3 was a trainwreck, but the smut scene in Ch1 gives you an option to play with Sam's ass and they describe MC slipping a finger between his cheeks. It was a very small scene, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time in PB history that a female character was allowed to get into her man's bootyhole and I was very here for it.

In a premium scene with Tom in Ch1 of ILB, you can choose to say this lil flirty compliment to him and he just jumps and scatters stuff on the boat everywhere.

All the moments in the Imtura/m!MC route where it's just so shamelessly r/RoleReversal. Like when she picks MC up, or lifts him and spins him around when they dance, when he wraps his legs around her waist, the numerous times they draw attention to Imtura's flexing biceps, etc.

Estela going "Do. Not. Touch. My. Husband!". I haven't played her route yet but this moment's mere existence is why I need to do an Estela x m!MC route immediately.

ES Book 3 Ch8/9? when they're in some cave/dungeon thing, Craig sees Zahra's decoy skeleton with the streak of maroon hair, and just screams and breaks down. Those two were easily my favorite relationship in that series and this scene cements it.

Drake's swimsuit CG in TRR 1. One of the few rare times where a male character wears an actually flattering swimsuit lol.

The premium scene in TRR 1 Ch1 where you can take Liam on a boat ride to see the Statue of Liberty. Fun fact, TRR 1 was the first Choices book I ever started, right when I first downloaded the app. Once he started talking about how much he appreciated my MC for that boat ride he won my heart almost instantly.

HSS:CA Book 2 ending where Ajay calls my MC "janu".

Val Greaves referring to empress Azura as "She Who Craps Lightning".

That one CG of the stripper running in BP.

Man I'm sure there's more lol.

#choices stories you play #choices #choices game #choices stories we play #choices stories we play fandom #high school story #hss #choices hss #aiden zhou #choices high school story #hss aiden #aiden x mc #mc x aiden #high school story aiden #I'm not tagging the rest of these books #can't be arsed #lol

2 notes · View notes

peach-the-owl · 2 years

Note

Could you please, if it's no trouble, perhaps do a Crit role cast with child reader where child is a regular pc during C3 and falls asleep at the table one Thursday and everyone is like don't wake them up. Just cute and fluffy. Please, and thank you.

I know it’s been about a month… I think, since my last post, and I’ve got plenty of other drafts stored away that need to be finished. But I just couldn’t help write this one when I saw it pop up in my inbox. Keeping it short and sweet, I hope you guys enjoy 😁

Sleepy Critter

Crit Role Cast & Child!Reader

You were trying so so hard to keep your eyes open right now, sadly you hadn’t been able to take a nap earlier in the day like you usually do every Thursday so now you were much more tired then you wanted to be. You try rubbing the sleep from your eyes as you listen to Liam and Ashley role play their characters, it doesn’t help, if anything it makes you more sleepy. Well… if we’re being honest, nothing too important was happening just some bonding with everyone’s characters after all, it wouldn’t hurt to just close your eyes for a minute…

Taliesin was the first to notice you’d dozed off, though it was pretty easy to tell when he felt you lean into him, fast asleep. He doesn’t say anything at first, not wanting to disturb you, so instead he carefully adjusts himself to be in a more comfortable position for the both of you. Liam, having not noticed yet tries to whisper something only to be quickly shushed by Taliesin.

“What was that for?” Liam asks, feigning shock.

“Not so loud, you’ll wake them up.” Taliesin whispers, pointing to your sleeping figure. Liam gives a soft smile and a thumbs up then leans over to Laura and whispers something in her ear before focusing back on what Matt was describing. Laura looks over at your sleeping self, a smile of her own forming as she pulls out her phone and snaps a quick picture and showing it to Ashley who aww’s at the adorable sight.

The next ones to notice you was Sam and Marisha, both having noticed the bottom table go a little extra quiet all of a sudden. Marisha then proceeds to elbow Travis who’s about to scold her for it before being directed to you, he chuckles softly in amusement. With everyone making less comments or quieter ones is finally what tips Matt off to notice that you’d fallen asleep.

“I think this is a good time to go for break.” He says, giving the staff a moment to put a pause on their recording. Now free to move, Travis comes over and helps Taliesin carefully lift you off of him.

“Awww, poor (y/n) must’ve been really tired. They’re out like a light.” Ashley coos quietly, gently shifting some of your hair out of your face.

“You should lay them on the couch so they’re comfier.” Liam suggests. It had already become a silent agreement between everyone that by no means were they going to wake you up, you deserved a rest after such a long day, Matt could easily take charge of your character for the rest of the episode. Travis sets you on the couch and Matt wraps a light blanket around you and when Henry (being the goodest boy he is) joins you and you snuggle into the dog, they couldn’t help but take a few photos. Soon enough break was over and everyone hurries back to their place at the table…

You wake up, still feeling very groggy, your first instinct to give Henry a nice scratch behind the ears then sit up with a yawn. When did you fall asleep on the couch? What time was it? How long were you asleep for? Some shuffling pulls you out of your thoughts, seeing Matt walk into the room.

“Hey kiddo, you sleep well? We were just finishing wrapping everything up if you wanted to join us back in the studio.” He offers. Still feeling sleepy you let out a soft hum and nod, reaching over to take his hand and walk back to the recording room together. (Do I know what each room is called? No. Do I care? Also no.) When you walk back in they had already turned off the cameras and were packing up for the night, the group make their way over once they see you enter.

“Hey, how you doing?” Sam asks, kneeling down to match your height.

“I’m still a little tired…” You mumble, your voice trailing off for a second. “I’m sorry for falling asleep on you.”

“There’s no need to be sorry, it’s all fine.” Taliesin reassures you with a pat on the head.

“I say it’s about time we take you home and put you to bed, yeah?” Marisha says lightly pinching your cheek, earning a quiet giggle from you. With that you say you byes to everyone, make your way out of the studio and end up falling asleep on the way home.

Bonus:

When the episode was finally broadcast onto Twitch and YouTube it didn’t take long for the critter community to recreate fanart of you falling asleep on Taliesin, both of you as your C3 characters respectively, and of course the rest of the cast posted those adorable pictures of you and Henry on Twitter.

#critical role #critical role & reader #bells hells #bells hells & reader #nothing romantic here

46 notes · View notes

utilitycaster · 3 months

Note

If this isn’t something you’re interested, feel free to ignore this, but I really appreciated your thoughtful exploration of player approach/ play-style of the CR cast.

I’d love to know any similar insights you have on the playstyle of main-season D20 players, or any other actual play group you feel like writing about.

Again, totally understand if that’s not something you’re interested in delving into, just thought I’d ask!

Thanks! (For those wondering this is in reference to this post; this follow-up may also be relevant, and ignore what November 2023 me said, feel free to ask if you're confused). The only other show I could really attempt to do this for is NADDPod: it needs to be something longform (discounts D20), across multiple campaigns but in a similar system (discounts RQG and BCBP for only being one campaign and TAZ for doing a lot of system hopping - TAZ is also just tough because I came into it via MBMBAM so I already had very non-Actual Play perceptions of the McElroy brothers), and have a pretty long body of work (discounts Worlds Beyond Number). D20's explicit genre requirements also make this very difficult, because some of this is informed by the types of characters they make in a similar setting.

Also, and you will see this with NADDPod below: an explicitly comedic vibe (D20, TAZ) makes it harder not because it's not a good way to run an actual play show, but because if you set those genre expectations, I think people gravitate to a different style. For example, everyone in D20 will do Big Red Button stuff because they're comedians; and no one is terribly naturalistic. This is also why incorporating shorter form shows is tough: for example, Sam and Laura went hard in Candela Obscura (and Sam in EXU Calamity), to great and fantastic effect in my opinion, despite being relatively cautious players in the main campaigns; Marisha and Liam, who tend towards big moments, have both shown some wonderful reserve and played background support roles in Candela and in their EXU series.

NADDPod is still tough because the roles one falls into in a three person party are a bit more rigid. Emily, Caldwell, and especially Jake tend to have pretty strong preferences and that informs a lot, but I am going to attempt it:

Emily and Caldwell are rules optimists; Jake is a rules realist. Murph is also a rules realist. (actually, I can answer this specific one for D20 since it's not arc-dependent - Ally is an optimist, Siobhan is like, a realistic optimist, Zac is a realist, and Lou is a realist but he WILL razz you extremely hard if you say he can't do something).

Narrative is tough because with a three person party, everyone has a LOT of screentime. I also think that fundamentally, Murph runs games where everyone has a clear investment in an overarching plot, which is much easier to do in a natural way with three players than with seven. With that said Emily is all over the place - I think Moonshine and Callie have very internal and more background arcs compared to Fia who is much more milestone. Caldwell bounces between Big Red Button and Milestone in that like, as a result of a milestone he will then press the big red button and do something wild. Jake is very big red button to me.

Acting style is particularly difficult here because like, most comedians are going to ham it up on occasion. Caldwell is definitely the most dramatic-leaning and Jake the most naturalistic with Emily in-between.

Themes:

Emily: responsibility especially re: family/mentor expectations; determining what she wants rather than what others want (tied into the above); romantic relationships

Caldwell: also family/mentor relationships; identity but not in an "am I the mask way" and much more in a coming of age/figuring it out way.

Jake: ALSO family/mentor relationships; the mask/insecurity; letting go

#answered #pawthorn #naddpod tag #d20 tag

12 notes · View notes

captainsspnanon · 1 year

Text

C2E68 - Reflections - rewatch

My brain is skipping around a lot today and this episode is once again encounter heavy, let’s see how far I can make it in before my head shuts down.

Did I literally have to look up how to search for things on twitter to see if Sam actually live posted? Yes. Did he actually live post? Not according to what I could find via searching. I’m disappointed, he could have copy/pasted to do them! If he DID do them and they just got removed or didn’t show via my searching, I’m even more sad.

Wait no they’re reacting like it’s real? Did they get taken down? Just not show via search?? OH WAIT I’m looking at the day the episode posted, June 24 2019! But it would have been June 20th! *researches* AH HA!!! I am now pleased. It does seem like there are still a few that are ‘missing’, unsure if not actually sent or if somehow lost to easy searchability. Had to snip these together, the search had them all out of order.

As Nott and Yasha keep watch, and Nott introduces the idea of thinking of what’s the worst thing that could happen, I did not put it together originally that as Yasha discusses being tortured and chained up and dying that way that it’s essentially what happened to her with the Iron Shepherds. (...she doesn’t have a lot of luck with people whose names contain ‘Iron’, does she?)

As I started this scene, I was thinking about how much I love the tower and wish that they had it for more of the campaign so that we could have more scenes in it (I will never get enough of the tower), but episodes like this really wouldn’t have such poignant and important moments if they had the pretty-much-guaranteed safety of the tower. In a sense, the dome actually is much more meaningful to the Nein, simply for how long they had it, and how it provides a relative safety while still needing watches due to uncertainty, whereas watches in the tower are usually unneeded. ….now I’m doing my Mansion = VM, dome = M9 thing where they are more scrappy and living rougher. I really wonder if I would like VM more if I was able to watch a lot more of their earlier play. I don’t think so, because the group really needed to grow in terms of home-game-antics versus live-show-antics, but I miss the fact that we didn’t see the early days of VM the same way we do with the Nein. ...I just live the Nein so much you guys. SO MUCH.

“What do you mean Caleb killed his whole family?” THIS. ENTIRE. SCENE. Chefs kiss, a million out of ten, no notes at all. Sam is doing a lot of heavy lifting but Ashley is coming in with some GREAT punches “I’ll be sure to use it in front of the entire group, I’ll sound trendy”. And of course, all of this capped off by just watching EVERYONE die repeatedly in the background. CONTINUOUSLY.

In all serious, this is by far pretty much the best moment of showing how, in all three campaigns, sometimes people forget who knows what – just because it’s been so long that they’ve been playing. Liam, by all rights, could have been annoyed with Sam from dropping a huge plot point of Caleb’s background, especially just completely offhand and with no way for Caleb to even take control of the narrative for a moment. But he doesn’t. There’s such a give and take, trust and understanding at this table that I think viewers repeatedly forget. Bowlgate would never have reached the level it did if people didn’t think that Marisha and Liam were actually upset at each other over it. I remember an argument in C1 between Keyleth and Percy where the fans were TEARING Keyleth/Marisha apart, and then in the Talks after Marisha and Taliesin were talking about how funny it was because they, out of character, were completely agreeing with each OTHER’S arguments and not their own. So when accidents like this happen, there are no hard feelings and fights off camera. MAYBE, at most, Liam may have reminded Sam ‘hey that’s kind of a big thing, can you make sure you don’t bring it up with anyone else until I do, in game?’, but I very much doubt that conversation was had. (plus it’s pretty damn obvious to anyone with eyes that Liam is clearly enjoying this more than anyone else with how hard he’s laughing the entire time.)

Even better is the whiplash from such a funny scene into Caleb and Beau discussing what comes after death. This is something where I wonder if Liam had wanted to have this conversation with Beau, or if he knew it would work very well after such a funny bit to immediately move into something very dark. Interestingly, Caleb never felt to me like a PC that really ruminated on what comes after death. I can see him thinking about it more once he finally lays to rest the idea of turning back time to save his parents. I wonder if this was an early moment where he started thinking about maybe not actually taking that final step and then having to think of an after life where his parents weren’t saved. Liam was so unsure of what he would do if presented the chance, even all the way towards the end of the campaign. We never really get a resolution of if Matt would ever have let it happen the way that Liam/Caleb planned, even if it was all nat 20s, and I honestly think that’s the best for the story. Let us not know, the same way that Caleb doesn’t know. It’s the most narratively satisfying to me – I would not enjoy a story where he failed and despaired for failing, and I don’t know how Caleb would progress in a story where he succeeded and then all of a sudden it’s on Matt – do his parents forgive him? Hate him? Where do you go from there? Ending with him accepting himself, accepting his grief and responsibility as well as his lack of responsibility, it leaves much more for Caleb after the campaign ends.

Omg I forgot Caleb talks to Beau about how he’s feeling so awkward with the situation with Nott!!! I’m not saying I ship Widobrave and I’m also not saying that I DON’T ship Widobrave, but the Caleb and Nott dynamic is of the best pairing dynamics in all three campaigns bite me. (I was about to say that the only one that came close was Vex and Vax, but then I’m like wait what about Caleb and Beau, and Beau and Fjord?? So okay, I guess THOSE are my top four dynamics) It’s fun thinking about how much Beau and Caleb hated each other at the beginning of the campaign, and now he’s asking for relationship advice. THE BEST.

For all of the fact that the Fjord and Caduceus dynamic is amazing, they actually don’t have a ton of scenes together that I remember. This one, acknowledging fear with a very small mention of the gods, was very sweet.

Wait wasn’t Frumpkin a cat? ‘Cause he explored the tunnels leading in? ...Yes! Because Caleb turned him from vulture to cat when they were staying at the store place! Eh, it happens occasionally. That’s how we got a flying spider back during the Iron Shepherds bit. (goddamn it I ALWAYS want to type ‘shephard’.)

Aww!!! A C1 reference I missed the first time around, as they’re talking about being very quiet on the metal bridge they make a few ‘clang clang clang’ references to Pike.

I actually really like this part of the Gibbering Mouther encounter because while it’s just continuously rolling stealth, it provides tension without really dragging down the game. It helps to have the physical bridge there but only seeing a part of it at a time. The group doesn’t know how many times Matt’s going to keep laying out maps, but it’s also not an interminable time with theatre of the mind.

(Liam going ‘where are you Vax?’ and Marisha going ‘dead.’ 10/10)

“Laura’s calling” I love this so much

Solid credit to Matt for planning this encounter. He was reasonably able to assume pass without a trace would help them get across easily enough, so there’s disadvantage when they are at the center of the bridge, there’s a rusted out plank (I wonder if that would have existed if Nott hadn’t been searching for traps, or if it was credit for the high roll), there’s a roper ensuring that some noise would be made just due to natural combat, without penalizing any players for their actions, Matt designed this so that there would HAVE to be a multitude of wisdom saves. Plus, while I’m not sure what the rolls are, either Matt is consistently rolling ‘bad’, or there is a higher chance that a PC just loses their turn, rather than leaps off the edge or attacks someone, so it also doesn’t feel super targeted. Out of the five build-up encounters of this area (spiders, lightning, zombies, this, and then mirror people) this one is my favorite. (though in all fairness I also completely forgot about the mirror people until I saw them on critrolestats, so….)

Interesting with the conversation with Liam about holding a spell as a reaction, I thought you could use a different spell for your reaction but you’d lose your held spell. I can’t find an easy answer on google though, so who knows. I’m pretty sure he wanted to use feather fall. Whether it’s accurate to rules or not, I think I would have ruled that he could cast feather fall, but lost the slow spell including still losing the spell slot for it. (then again, Matt consistently rules that you can’t move for a held action, but RAW you can, from what I can tell) Also I feel like he’s ruled differently about this later on. Ah, mechanics. So not my forte.

*later*

*grits teeth* I must not scream about my bullshit coworkers. I must not vent about my coworkers online where, even though this is an anonymous site, there is always the slight possibility that they will find the posts. I will ONLY say through teeth clenched so hard that they might crack, wonderful to know that you can take a month and a half to get me information that I needed (which other people were getting on my back about not being completed and I had to keep reminding them that I cannot make the decisions you make), but now that you need information from me – in a SIGNIFICANT amount of detail – you’re getting all pissy that I’m saying it might take me a week to do. You know, after all the shit that I have to do with my regular work, PLUS the fact that you only just got me the info *I* needed, and updating what I need to do will take time! But no, you get to send multiple high importance emails and give me shit that I can’t get it to you fast enough.

*screams*

Okay, with that vent done and to deal with all that shit tomorrow at work, time to get back into an awesome encounter. Which I think is almost done? Just time for the Laura/Travis/Matt interaction about player agency that I will talk about once it hits.

And there it is! In fairness to Travis, the message from Laura was not ‘do this’ and he was saying no. It was preceded with an ‘if’ (though the wording details are of course unknown). While him refusing to do something that Laura tells him directly to do is a sheer dick move, the fact that in the moment he is uncertain about if the ‘if’ factor qualified, or if her plans would have changed, the fact that there was a delay, I can understand his motive. Especially because he didn’t have Jester do something else, he had her hold her action, which then, assuming Laura clarified, he could then ask Matt to do whatever it was.

On the other hand, once again, fantastic table. Sam gets clarification multiple times that Travis is not doing what he was requested to (done in a humorous and exaggerated effect, but also still clearly checking in and bringing it to attention – likely that this was a choice he disapproved of but didn’t want to come right out and say it). After Sam does his spiel (I SWEAR that word should have an H in it somewhere, fuck spelling), Matt, having very clearly picked up what Sam was putting down, gives Travis another opportunity for clarification. Is Travis, being given clear instructions, disregarding a player’s agency because she was not there. And this is the moment that Travis clarifies the ‘if’ that Laura had originally given him.

Now, I’m not one to over analyze microexpressions (I mean, yes I kind of am, shut up), but when Sam starts his bit, you can visibly see Matt 1) turn to completely face Travis, 2) get a more serious cast to his face, and 3) start to open his mouth, only to allow Sam to finish before he goes to Travis for clarification. There’s a lot of situations at the table where I wonder what would have happened if a moment went differently, or what a conversation would be off screen, but here, I don’t really need to imagine much. If Travis had refused, if he hadn’t clarified the ‘if’ statement, I would lay solid money down that Matt would have told him that Laura’s judgement ruled, regardless of what Travis wanted to do. It wouldn’t have been mean, hell it probably wouldn’t even have been Uncomfortable, but I cannot see Matt do anything except put his foot down in this moment.

Luckily, all that ends up being not needed because the delay was enough time for Laura to text back and confirm that it was no longer an ‘if’, she wanted to do the action, and Travis IMMEDIATELY went along with her choice. This is also why I don’t really consider this too much to be Travis trying to take away player agency or anything like that. As soon as there was the confirmation he instantly and without hesitation had Jester do what Laura said. The only reason he even hesitated in the first place is because he was still unsure of what she wanted to do.

Huh, something I missed on the first watch, why does Matt have the mouther try to bite Jester? I think he just forgot that it wasn’t it’s turn, unless it’s got a reaction which allows it to make an attack whenever a creature comes within range? I’m usually not nitpicky about Matt’s DMing, I’m surprised that I’ve got a few things poking at me this time.

(Sam having written dumb things about Laura or said by ‘Laura’ on his flask, only to update it to super nice things once Jester saves Nott. Sadly critrolestats only has one image, but it has “Sam is a genius” “I eat farts” “Laura Buttley” and “I heart thick ass tentacles”. Rewinding a bit to count bridge sections, there was also mustace and beard, “ass without a trace” and I THINK “dicks are dumb”, “Travis you motherfucker”. Sadly, youtube comments don’t have them listed, and Flando’s comments were more general. LOL never mind. Coming back here from the second half of the episode and it’s all gag stuff again. Drawing of a penis, the traveler wuz here, other stuff I can’t make out.)

“Thankfully, Nott and Jester didn’t spend enough time in the chasm’s grasp to experience its blinding spittle, which does exactly what it sounds like. Had anyone dropped to zero hit points by being bitten by the chasm, they would have dissolved into the chasm and become another set of eyes and whispering mouths amongst it.” HOLY FUCK CRITROLESTATS. I did not know that, and I feel like I didn’t need to know that. Holy shit we could have gotten a permadeath! I mean, unlikely considering that it didn’t do too much damage and the party had a billion ways of getting out of there (dimension door, misty step, thunder step, polymorph anyone into something that flies, etc. etc.) but still! COOOL AF.

Once again, giving full credit to Matt for the design of this encounter. He has Jester and Nott end up one segment of bridge down at the end of the bridge, so the encounter is almost finished. But! The players were technically in the ‘center’ of the bridge, and I just went back to review. It took five bridge segments for the players to reach the first ‘center’ of the bridge, and then the one that they are on right now is the sixth section. By all accounts, there should be five more sections of bridge that they have to travel along. But, in terms of interesting encounter, five more sections with a banished roper and just continued stealth rolls AFTER the badass moment of Jester jumping down and dimension dooring? Then it can just become tedious, with more of a desire to just finish up the section and move ON, rather than actual tenseness from the encounter. So Matt, by having such a flexible design, allows the encounter to end significantly earlier which feels good both for viewer and for player.

Oh hey the whip! Don’t they give that to Fjord when he loses his powers?

AH! I’d forgotten about this speak with dead moment so figured it wasn’t important (why do I do that, I’ve clearly forgotten very awesome moments and things) and it’s when they first get the name of the Laughing Hand! Very specifically also mentioned to be The Undying too, nice foreshadowing there. Once again, Sam being way more in tune than he likes to portray outside of the game, immediately recognizing the relationship to the King.

Caduceus/Taliesin asked very good questions here (and Matt is generous with allowing a redo for a question that didn’t quite work), but a tiny part of me wishes that he’d used the last question about asking about Nott’s flask. Granted, asking how to survive the mirror chamber and being told ‘don’t continue’ is AWESOME AS FUCK and incredibly atmospheric, but imagine the laughs!

Interesting that they do find footprints which I am assuming to be Obann, because I thought Obann essentially ended up tricking them into clearing out the tombs for him. Hmmm, I guess not. Wiki doesn’t specify it at all. Maybe the party mentions it as a concern that they had and I took it for fact? Or I’m mixing up facts from a different section, or possible different campaign entirely XD

Thought I was gonna finish this today in a shockingly fast two day rewatch, but with an hour left my focus is shot. Let’s see if I can finish it tomorrow and have a three day turn around!

LOL nope instead I had a week from hell with basically no sleep so now my sleep schedule is all fucked up. AND I started getting pain in one of my teeth yesterday, so I probably have a cavity. T.T But at least I’ll finish this today, so still technically only three days of watching? Just….with a week break inbetween XD

I wonder why Fjord was able to touch the mirror and only see a glimpse of movement, whereas Yasha touched the mirror and was immediately pulled through? I mean, in game reason. I’m pretty sure the Doylist explanation was that Matt was building tension (and very successfully!). Perhaps the creatures were waiting to see what happened?

This map is truly amazing. Once again, it’s technically a ‘simple’ map, just walls at weird angles and then mirrors, but because of that simplicity it makes it distracting and jarring with all the reflections. Definite proof that a good encounter doesn’t need a fantastic map – with this one so simple and the other one literally just chunks of a bridge at a time.

While the concept of this encounter is very fun, especially with the additional puzzle aspect, I don’t find it as engaging as crossing the bridge. The creatures make look like the other PCs, but there’s no mechanical benefit to the deception, which would have been fun. I think my ranking would be bridge, lighting chamber, zombies, reflections, spiders.

Ah! I forgot about the music trick to get through the door! Very very clever! I wonder if Matt would have still had that as a requirement if they’d never heard the music through the statues. I’m assuming not, and he would have a different method of getting through.

Always a fan of the little after-conversations before the streaming wraps. Especially when Travis tries to weasel information out of Matt. (Oddly, I find in C3 that Matt is more willing to share information after a session.)

#cr c2 rewatch #critical role #the mighty nein

5 notes · View notes

dragonknightofsummerset · 2 years

Text

I’m Only Human

Okay, so I've been trying, ever since I finished my first (& only lol) playthrough of Andromeda, to write a fic about Reyes and Ryder, but I cannot for the life of me be satisfied with what I write (except for like the 1 scene I wanted to base the whole thing around lol).

I thought I would instead try to explain what I like about Reyes & the romance with him, which was supposed to be a key factor into the whole fic that will never see the light of day (rip). I'll put it all below a cut, cause 1. I don't want to be perceived & 2. It's just going to be more of my rambling & opinions & it's long :3

*Small note: Sometimes I write, “we”, “you”, and It’s because I’m referring to myself, & any readers, as the players, and I tried to distinguish between Ryder and the players in that regard, so sorry for any confusion.

We know that Ryder's father, Alec, gave his life for them during the events of Habitat 7. When he did this, he also linked SAM (pretty much bound SAM) to Ryder's brain which technically killed Ryder (SAM says they were clinically dead for 22 seconds), & there is no way of removing SAM without risk to Ryder's life. I don't want to go on a rant on this, cause that's a whole other bag of emotions that didn't start setting in until a few days prior to starting this, when I realized I never processed this while playing the game (& it ties into what the Ryder twins find out about their mom later in the game which is just...a mess.) Anyway, here are a few images for proof about the SAM thing:

Anyway, Ryder is then told that they're the new Pathfinder, and from then on, Ryder just doesn't catch a break. They meet the ones in charge of the Initiative, after arriving at a dark & outdated, Nexus station, further showing how nothing is going according to plan for the Initiative; and Ryder is heavily scrutinized by Addison, as well as having to carry the burden of having everyone else's hopes that the Initiative will work out still, on them. Addison claims it isn’t personal, but the way she interacts with Ryder is just very...no.

Of course, this is par for the course for main characters in many games, but I feel like Ryder is never given time to process their father's death (no matter how estranged they are), or to have a proper freak out about being Pathfinder other than when they're first told, and with a few moments when talking to Cora, where she offers her support.

But then there's like the whole thing where the game didn't seem to take itself seriously. The problem with this was, as funny as the meetings could play out, no one on the crew seemed to respect or take Ryder's role seriously because...I'm not sure why tbh. Was it because they didn't present themselves in the same way Alec did? Was it because they were young & had no training for the role of Pathfinder? Like I literally don't know, talking with the crew you don't get the idea that they don't respect Ryder; some of them don't trust Ryder yet or aren't ready to talk about themselves but that's separate from what I'm referring to (& also okay cause it takes time to open up to someone, if they even want to). It just seemed to contradict the bit of conversation we can overhear between Peebee & Liam, where she points out that Liam stays close to Ryder when they go out on missions together, and Liam explains that it's because Ryder is the Pathfinder (someone important who needs to be protected because without them they're essentially screwed). And as much as I love this bit of information, it just doesn't make sense with the way the crew acts at the end of meetings when they know, & have said, how important Ryder is to the Initiative; especially for Liam & Cora to behave the same way when they know what happened on Habitat 7, & they know how Ryder feels about being forced into the role of Pathfinder, because they get to hear their response. (Also, I need to clarify, I know Ryder's crew does care about Ryder, beyond their Pathfinder role, but I feel like it's important to point out how they bring up Ryder's importance and tie it to their Pathfinder role, while also not taking their leadership role seriously outside of 1 on 1 conversations.) And don't even get me started on how little acknowledgement there is for the 2 times that Ryder dies; I feel like it should have been questioned more when it happened the second time...but I digress. I wanted to bring up these things Ryder goes through, and how it ties into the fact that Reyes is so good for them (for my Ryder btw, I understand this isn't universal).

Reyes is a bastard, but I love him & there is more depth to him than some people care to admit. Unfortunately, his romance is tied to Kadara; he isn't a crewmate, so Ryder's interactions with him are limited to Kadara's main missions, emails, and a very short conversation at the end of the game. (I guess if you want to count the wink after the final fight but like, the game could've done better.)

Upon meeting him, Ryder deduces he's a smuggler, and we can pretty much guess he doesn't like Sloane & doesn't want her to be in charge anymore based on his comments about her & how she runs things, in follow up conversations with him. Reyes then offers to help Ryder, granted this is if you decide to work with Reyes instead of Sloane, and tells them that they can come to him for anything they may need while on Kadara.

Key things I really loved, or that made me love Ryder's and Reyes' relationship more:

Reyes laying it on thick with the charm but somehow turning it up when Ryder flirted with him

the fact that his heart eyes at Ryder seem to start once we uncover who's behind the murders (with consistent flirting btw) I mean, hello?? "Careful, I might start thinking you like me" "would that be so bad" "depends..." like damn okay

The mission where Ryder helps him out & there's a chance to say, "Reyes is a better man than you think" & Reyes being genuinely thankful that Ryder said that about him

His emails, I shall link the post with them <3

"Night on the Town" quest, peak perfection of a quest that serves to further the romance, if you choose it. Hear me out:

Reyes invites Ryder to a party, he is ok with whatever Ryder decides it'll be (a date or strictly professional), we meet Keema who tells us, "you're all he talks about lately", then we get ditched by Reyes and when we find him later we learn he was using Ryder to be able to look through Sloane's things & we have the option to call him out on his empty promises, what follows is a, "quick we need a distraction" kiss (again if you've been consistently flirting), before running out of the party together, holding hands, once Reyes manages to nab a bottle of whiskey, then at the end of the quest, 2 things: we find out why Reyes came to Andromeda, and Reyes & Ryder kiss for real.

Reyes' reason, "to be someone" & Ryder's response, "you're someone to me" are so, so good.

*Side note: I saw some wack theories about Reyes being connected to cerberus and I was like huh??? Yawn, moving on- I love the idea of Reyes having been a nobody back in the milky way; someone who had a simple job, seemingly unimportant in the grand scheme of things, and whether or not he had family, or other relationships, he just was left feeling like he could be doing more, that he could be more. Which is why he decided to be a part of the Initiative. There's a chance that if the uprising on the Nexus didn't happen, he could still have been a nobody, just in a new galaxy; but because of the uprising, he was able to become someone, The Charlatan, even if most people don't know that they’re the same person.

AND THIS IS WHY RYDER'S RESPONSE OF, "YOU'RE SOMEONE TO ME." IS SO GOOD!!!!

Reyes is someone, but hardly anyone knows it, and like he tells Ryder during the dance scene, his survival has depended on secrets ever since he left the Nexus. At most, he is at least known to be a good smuggler, enough so that other smugglers want to kill him, but a name bigger than "Shena", his smuggler codename, is the Charlatan's; and even though they're the same person, only a handful, if that, of people know, so is he really someone?

I'd also like to point out that when Reyes introduces himself to Ryder, he tells them that they can call him "Reyes" because he hates codenames. This is way more of a personal headcanon, but it makes me think that Reyes wants to be known as Reyes, not as these other codenames, but because of what he does, it's easier to operate with these codenames, and with hardly anyone knowing who he actually is.

Looking at his face when he admits to Ryder why he came to Andromeda, it looks solemn, like he's either remembering his life before the initiative, or he still feels like a nobody because as far as everyone knows, the Charlatan and Reyes are 2 different people.

But then there's Ryder, they don't know Reyes' secret yet, there is a lot they don't know about him, even so, Ryder seems to relieve Reyes of whatever thoughts plagued him in that moment with their genuine response of Reyes being someone to them, not the Charlatan, not "Shena", just him, Reyes.

And then the kiss, it's so cute & soft & of course Reyes would tease Ryder before doing it, but his face!!!! He is smiling so genuinely as he goes in for the kiss, he might have been pleasantly surprised by the distraction kiss earlier, but with the real kiss he is smiling!!! It's like a part of him wants this to work out, he wants Ryder, he doesn't want to disappoint them. During the kiss, it's just Reyes and Ryder. No Pathfinder, no Charlatan. (*I'd also like to link this song that I associate with them, specifically cause of this scene. Song. English Lyrics.)

Which brings me to the duel, I will refrain from commenting on the wack takes I've seen about this scene & skip ahead to Ryder's hurt surprise in finding out Reyes is the Charlatan, and Reyes attempting to reassure Ryder during the confrontation with Sloane, that they know the real him, that although he lied about who he is, he didn't lie about the feelings he showed Ryder. I believe that Reyes is terrified of what will happen after the duel, between him and Ryder. He has been lying to them after all, and to him, there's a chance that whatever real moments they shared, wouldn't matter anymore. Which brings me to the part where Ryder can potentially break up with Reyes. (Reminder that this scene only comes up if you DON'T save Sloane.) I am so upset that we couldn't have a longer conversation about finding out Reyes is the Charlatan, and what it means for their relationship. What we do get before the cave make out scene, is good though, especially if you think back to what Zia said about Reyes. In the cave, after the duel, Reyes admits that he liked the way Ryder looked at HIM, he didn't want that to change.

~ Ahhhhhh, I need a second, I am going feral over this. ~

Okay, so when we meet Zia a few missions before, she calls Reyes selfish and says it's why he doesn't have friends, Ryder then says, what I'm sure turned the tables on their relationship with Reyes, that "Reyes is a better man than [Zia] thinks", when she threatens Ryder, Reyes threatens Zia to leave them out of it & even Zia notes that Reyes must "really like [Ryder]". And this is so important for their relationship, like idk if I can put it into words but I'll try:

At this point in the game, Ryder knows Reyes is shady, but even still they see something in him that makes Ryder want to defend him, because they believe that at his core, Reyes is better than what he lets people see. Another personal headcanon, is that there was potential for Reyes to lose the good he had and to turn out no better than Sloane and the other exiles wreaking havoc; what changed was having someone believing he was good. And he liked that Ryder saw him like that. Despite the little Ryder knew about him, and what they did know was morally questionable, they still looked at him like he was a good person or trying to be one at the very least. Which is why when he admits to Ryder that he didn't want that to change, it hurts 😭

I'd also like to point out that Reyes neither confirms, nor denies, his trust in Ryder, which makes me believe further that it wasn't about trust but instead, it was exactly about what he said, that he liked how Ryder looked at him. I mean, we find out later, if we talk to Keema again, that he DID WANT to tell Ryder about how he's the Charlatan, he was agonizing over it, (she found it adorable).

Then there's the follow up scene after the whole cave scene, Reyes admits to neglecting Ryder on their first date and offers to dance with them in that moment, as a way to make it up to them. If you accept, Ryder comments on how they "didn't know [Reyes] had a romantic streak", which Reyes responds to with, "there's a lot you don't know about me."

Reyes continues the conversation by saying that his survival, after leaving the Nexus, has depended on secrecy; but he doesn't want any more secrets between them. What follows are 2 good responses from Ryder & unfortunately we can only choose 1.

We can have Ryder remark that Reyes is the encrypted one, which earns such an endearing chuckle from Reyes before he responds with the cheesiest line, "Consider me hacked." *cough* my blog title *cough* Although it's cheesy, and Ryder proceeds to make out with him to get him to stop talking, I love that it suggests that Ryder has full access to Reyes, he would tell them anything if they asked.

Almost equally, I love the other response where Ryder answers a bit more seriously, saying that Reyes is someone who will always have secrets because it's who he is as a person, and for him to just not lie about the big stuff. Reyes proceeds to thank Ryder for accepting him as he is. And you guys 🥺 it's just so sweet knowing these are the 2 responses, like I need a moment every time I think about them & I wish we could choose both cause guhhhh

Anyway, now that I've essentially covered things about Ryder, Reyes, and their relationship, let me get down to the core of the fic I had wanted to write. So this part is all headcanon, not something brought up in the game (T.T)

Ryder needs a break, as important as outposts are, they go through so much with little time to recover or process certain events. Reyes comes accross as someone who will make sure his partner isn't overworking themselves and is taking proper rest. He becomes a place of peace for Ryder, somewhere for them to just be & not feel the weight of the Initiative on their shoulders. Ryder is able to sleep more when visiting Reyes due to his comforting presence. Sometimes he'll find them asleep in his room and he makes sure they're not disturbed, allowing them to sleep, while he works silently next to them. And on rare occasions, Reyes will fall asleep while resting his head on Ryder's lap. And both of these scenarios lead to a lot of picture taking of each other lol.

Meanwhile, Ryder is someone who keeps Reyes grounded. They have a way of bringing out different sides to him, that he doesn't show anyone else; for example, protectiveness, fond/genuine playfulness, a romantic side, vulnerability, and so on.

Both of them are busy people and I like to think that they make sure to make time for each other & make sure they don't get bothered when they are together. Considering Reyes is mostly on Kadara, and since Ryder is out and about all over Andromeda, they have a lot to talk about and catch up on whenever they meet up.

Anyway, this is pretty much what I have to say. I'm not sure how to end this, but again I'd like to state that these are my opinions; and although I referred to Ryder as they/them, I wrote this with my Pathfinder, Alma Ryder, in mind, so I understand these feelings are not universal. Also, as I mentioned before, some of what I wrote, are headcanons and just how I interpreted Reyes' character and his relationship to (my) Ryder.

#mass effect: andromeda #reyes vidal #reyes x ryder #i say i cant write a fic and instead write a whole ass essay 😭#to be fair its a bit easier to write down my thoughts & feelings about something than it is to write a fic when i only have 1 scene in mind #i was initially going to include more images. especially when discussing the reyes romance but that would have been too much lol #either way. i made sure i double checked on the dialogue & i didnt include anything i wasnt sure about #*oh yeah. the title is just referencing the game in general. and my brother said he'd read the whole thing if i title it this #ah before i forget. the ss i do include is of my newest pathfinder & not of alma #and sorry if the links dont work. i tried (T.T)

15 notes · View notes