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serenity-lattes · 2 years

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It’s All Coming Back to Me

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Billy Hargrove

Summary: The sauna scene from 3x04 and the scene with El in 3x08 got mixed together with a little ✨spice✨. Billy is flayed and Steve’s on a mission with Robin, Dustin, and Erica to bring him back. And maybe this time it isn’t as difficult as they thought it would be.

Warnings: Mind Flayer’s icky veins, breaking a window and door, attempt to hurt others with a sharp object, choking someone.

Word Count: 1371

A/N: I was gonna wait for Halloween to post this, but I’m too excited to wait. It’s just a little snapshot fic for my C2 square “Let me out! I’ll fucking gut you!” on my @harringroveson-bingo card. As always, thanks to @writer-in-theory for being my beta.

Also, check out this fan art by @valsyngur because it fits perfectly. Jay sent it to me while I was writing it and asdfghjkl I fell in love with it.

Three days. Billy had been fighting for control of his body for three entire days and Steve felt like an idiot because he didn’t realize it until after El told him what she saw in the void. He should have known better, known to call.

Billy didn’t show up to their date. For any other couple, this would normally be a reason to worry, but Steve didn’t. Billy’s home life wasn’t easy, which forced them to tip toe around Neil, making sure to not get caught. Because of that, there were many canceled dates, especially if Neil was home and in a bad mood, ready to take it out on Billy.

Which is why it was killing Steve to lock Billy up in the sauna. Listening to Billy sob was the worst thing he could imagine right now, next to the thought of losing him to this thing. Thankfully Robin was next to him, trying to remind him that by doing this, they’ll coax Billy back into control and force The Mind Flayer out.

“It's not my fault, okay? Steve, please. Please, believe me, Stevie, it's not my fault. I tried to stop him, okay? I did,” Billy cried, rubbing his hands together like he always does when he’s nervous.

Steve sniffled, watching Billy rock back and forth, trying to calm himself down. God, he wanted to open the door and pull him into his arms, but he knew he couldn’t. Not right at this moment, anyway.

“Billy,” he whimpered, “It’s gonna be okay, baby.”

“Steve, be careful, step back,” Robin called out, anxiety growing with Steve’s proximity to the window. Steve turned back, about to argue just before there was a loud crack and pieces of glass clattering to the ground.

Everyone yelped in surprise and jumped back, getting into fighting stances, ready to attack if need be.

“Let me out! Let me out, I’ll fucking gut you!” Billy shouted, swinging a shard of porcelain tile around the window in an attempt to hurt anyone nearby. Steve held up the pool net, hoping he didn’t have to use it as a weapon against Billy. Even if that thing was taking control, it was still Billy, his Billy. He was still inside there somewhere.

It was a good plan in theory, up until Dustin chucked a chlorine floater right at Billy’s face.

Well, shit.

“Steve, we gotta go!” Robin shouted, tugging at the sleeve of his uniform, scared and ready to get to safety. Steve didn’t budge, watching the window for Billy, his Billy, to stand up and ask what had happened. Except… that’s not what happened. The lights were flickering and he could hear Billy thrashing around and screaming gutterly, making his heart wrench. He was struggling, in agony, fighting for control of his body. Billy was suffering and Steve wasn’t brave enough to make his way over to the window to see what exactly was going on, given what just happened last time he approached. Dustin and Erica joined in, begging him to leave but he couldn’t. Not when Billy was in there and needed their help.

Then Billy stood up, veins blackened and raised, and began ramming his body against the door in an attempt to open it. Oh, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Robin gasped and tried pushing Steve away, but he shook his head.

“Go.”

“Are you shitting me?” Dustin screamed, “You’re coming with us, Harrington.”

Steve turned to look at Dustin, eyes glistening with tears, “Go help the others, I’m going to save him.” He wasn’t sure he would walk away from this, but he would be damned if he didn’t try.

Robin knew there was no talking Steve out of this, but she wasn’t so sure he was going to succeed in his plan, either. After meeting his eyes, they shared a minute nod, a silent goodbye. She grabbed hold of Dustin and pulled him away, and just in time, too, as the sauna door flew off its frame, the chain links clattering everywhere.

“Shit, come on, Henderson” Erica finally yelled, pulling him away by his vest, refusing to let Billy hurt him too.

Billy rushed toward Steve, forcing him to swing that pool net in an attempt to get him away, but Billy and this thing were far too strong. Next thing Steve knew, he was pushed against the brick wall, Billy’s hands around his neck, squeezing. Steve grasped at Billy’s hands, struggling for air as Billy began to lift him off the floor.

“Oh, god,” Robin gasped, her and Erica pulling Dustin around to the other side of the fence. They should run far, far away from here, but they couldn’t leave Steve, not yet anyway. Steve had to pull this off. He just had to.

“Billy- this- isn’t- you-“ Steve struggled as Billy tightened his grip around his neck. The man before him right now wasn’t the man he fell for in gym class. He clawed at Billy’s hand, desperate to be out of the chokehold. Billy’s eyes looked into his, hardened and hollow. Steve couldn’t see Billy in those eyes he had fallen in love with. He had to bring him back.

“You-You’re Billy Hargrove, you’re eighteen, and were born in C-California. You graduated from Hawkins High School and got your first job here as a lifeguard. You listen to Metallica after every fight with your dad and lift weights as an outlet. You only smoke Marlboro reds because you say the golds are for moms and the menthols are for old people,” he squirmed under Billy’s grip, terrified that if he couldn’t bring Billy back, not only would everyone here at the pool die, but all of Hawkins with them.

Steve’s eyes burned with tears as he reached up to touch Billy’s cheek, as he had done thousands of times. Billy’s gaze softened, and he slowly lowered Steve back to the ground, hands still around his neck.

“You love to surf and you miss the ocean because,” he swallowed, trying to catch his breath, “be-because it reminds you of your mom. You miss her every day and that’s why you never take off her necklace, so a part of her is always close. We were in your Camaro with the seats down while we ate McDonald’s and you told me all about her,” his thumb brushed over Billy’s cheekbone, careful to avoid the healing wound, “You dropped me off at my house later that night, an-and you kissed me for the first time. When we played basketball the next day, I fell and scraped my knee even after you told me to plant my feet, but you patched it up anyway, then you asked me to be yours.”

Steve smiled at the memory, relaxing as he saw Billy’s eyes well with tears also. He was coming back to him slowly, remembering.

“You are Billy Hargrove, a flawed human being. You are Billy Hargrove, an amazing person who is always trying to be better despite what life has thrown your way,” Billy’s knees buckled and they both fell, Steve catching Billy the best he could given their current position. Billy held himself up by his palms, vaguely aware he shouldn’t crush Steve. Steve cradled Billy’s face in his hands, tears sliding down his face, into his hair, “You are Billy Hargrove and you are the love of my life.”

He leaned forward and kissed Billy with all the love he could muster, not stopping until he felt Billy release his neck and slide his arms around his waist. Steve pulled back to look into Billy’s eyes, the baby blues that he had fallen in love with.

“Billy?”

Billy nodded his head tentatively, still attempting to ground himself.

Steve let out a sob and threw his arms around Billy in a bone crushing hug, thankful he hadn’t lost him forever. He didn’t even care that Robin and the kids were around to see this. Billy was back and they were both alive.

“I’m sorry,” Billy whispered, face buried in Steve’s neck, “I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to- he made me. You know me, I-I would never.”

Steve pressed a kiss to Billy’s shoulder, “I know, it’s okay. I’ve got you.”

MAIN MASTERLIST

HARRINGROVE BINGO MASTERLIST

#Billy Hargrove #steve harrington #stranger things #harringrove #harringroveson bingo

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leclercsbf · 9 months

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was tagged by @charlosgoggles in this “get to know the blogger” type of post, so hey. tagging @sodacrispy, @ocontraire, @nyoomfruits, @c2-eh, and @birdmentality. feel free to do this if you’re down or if you’re procrastinating like i am.

name: jace.

sign: pisces sun. i do know my other placements but only because a lot of my friends do readings. personally i’m more of an oscar than a lando when it comes to my stance on astrology.

time: too early.

favorite band or artist: this is tough. this is very very tough. i honestly have way too many favorites, but i feel like patd is the one that i’ve stuck with the most. i get these spells where i forget to keep tabs on the artists and bands i listen to, but i feel like i’m always sort of in the loop when it comes to patd. that and the gorillaz. fall out boy too. if i’ve been listening to the band since i was a kid, there’s a huge possibility that i’m listening to them even now.

last movie: red white and royal blue. i’m gay, your honor.

last show: i’ve seen all three seasons of the umbrella academy at least five times, but my sister hasn’t even completed a single run so i’ve been watching it with her during meals. we’re currently halfway through the latest season.

when i created this blog: at the beginning of last month. twitter was going to shit with the post limits and all the other elon stuff so my friends and i decided to come back to tumblr. most of them still use twitter and discord more than they use tumblr but willy and i are here shitposting every single day.

other blogs: i have two, but they’ve both been untouched for years.

do i get asks: sometimes. i love getting asks. people can just send me whatever. i’m not even kidding.

followers: more than i deserve. i’m literally just brainrotting here.

average hours of sleep: i want to say four? or five? that’s about as high as it gets. i can function on way less, so sometimes i do function on way less.

instruments: i don’t play any. do i regret doing nothing but read, write, and study as a kid? absolutely.

what am i wearing: this is scandalous. i’m kidding. shorts and a tee. pretty standard for me.

dream job: well. there are a lot of things i’d like to be doing, but if we’re talking minimum effort and maximum profit, maybe streaming. i play enough video games so i might as well get paid for it.

dream trip: greece. i just need to see the parthenon and then i can perish, probably.

favorite song atm: i saw this edit a few days ago and i haven’t been able to get the song out of my mind since then, but other than that... i’d say fall out boy’s cover of we didn’t start the fire.

#🏷️#🚩#today on things you didn’t need to know about jace #this was fun though. thanks for the tag goggles

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best-underrated-anime · 6 months

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Best Underrated Anime Group C Round 1: #C2 vs #C7

#C2: High social anxiety girl has to befriend her whole class

Hitori Bocchi suffers from extreme social anxiety: she faints when overwhelmed, vomits when nervous, and draws up ridiculously convoluted plans to avoid social contact. As she graduated from elementary school into middle school, her best and only friend, Yawara Kai, will be attending a different school. On top of that, Kai gives her an ultimatum: she’ll stop being Bocchi’s friend and sever all ties with her until Bocchi befriends all of her classmates in her new class. Will Bocchi make it!?

#C7: Comedy with high school girls with unique personalities

It’s the first year of high school in an all-girls’ school. All the girls in class 1-A have different expectations for their high school careers: some want to study hard, some want to hone their skills in drawing manga, some want to become biologists, some want to be popular with boys (…that last one might prove a bit challenging in an all-girls’ school…) The story revolves around the unique personalities of the girls in this class - not just the main trio, but the others classmates too - and their relationships with each other, in school and outside of it. So many shenanigans ensue.

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#C2: Hitori Bocchi’s ○○ Lifestyle (HitoriBocchi no MaruMaru Seikatsu)

youtube

Propaganda:

This is a fun and lighthearted show. Watch it if you need something cute to chill out! The art is cute and colorful, the music lively, and the animation fine enough.

As it's adapted from a four-panel gag manga, the story is simple and focuses on the various characters. They all have pun-based names related to their main personality trait, so they're easy to remember if you know some basic Japanese (Hitori Bocchi means all alone, for example). The girls are all adorable and fun in their own quirky ways, and I loved seeing the heroine doing her utmost best to overcome her fears -and other challenges- to befriend them in the hope of fulfilling her promise. That's the power of the Do-Your-Best Fairy! They all care for each other (despite some teasing) and help Bocchi with her monumental task, never pulling her down for her struggles but gently pushing her in the back when needed.

But most importantly, Hitori Bocchi is a very relatable character. As someone suffering the same trouble, I related a lot with Bocchi, from her silliest worries to her escalating panic and weird schemes in an attempt to prevent anything wrong. Anxiety is faithfully represented, mixed with the right amount of laughing to how far Bocchi can get to avoid fearful situations in her very cute ways. It feels good to see a character like me in a such positive light! The struggles are real and acknowledged, and it’s really moving to see our heroine overcome them little by little in a very humanizing way.

This series has become one of my comfort materials, and I come back to it when I need hope and inspiration in everyday social interactions! If you need one last thing to be convinced, listen to that most adorable and silly song that will give you the Power of Motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGoGwlNmZUQ

Trigger Warnings: None.

#C7: Wasteful Days of High School Girls (Joshikousei no Mudazukai)

youtube

Propaganda:

Wasteful Days of High School Girls is fast-paced and genre-savvy, subverting a lot of high school anime tropes in ways that are really delightful even if you yourself aren't that familiar with high school animes. But most of all it is cool in a way that only awkward, weird, realistic teenagers can be. It probably won't make you long for your own high school days (if they are in the past), but that is a good thing, because sometimes only a good comedy can really lay bare what life is really like when you're a teenager.

The thing that makes this show so amazing is the characters. These are anime characters with some real Character with a capital C. Everyone is such a real and unique human personality; not just the main trio but all their classmates too AND the teacher and even the nurse that only appears in like one episode!

This is a show with the lowest of stakes and it still manages to feel like something incredibly significant has happened when you get to the end of it. And something incredibly significant has happened! Life happened! An entire year of it!

Trigger Warnings: Unknown.

If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

#anime #best underrated anime #polls #poll tournament #tournament #anime tournament #animation #animated show #group stage #group stage round 1 #tournament polls #hitori bocchi no marumaru seikatsu #hitori bocchi’s lifestyle #wasteful days of high school girls #joshikousei no mudazukai #hitori bocchi's lifestyle #group c

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letmetellyouaboutmyfeels · 1 year

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Hello!!!! I’ve been following you for ages and I know that you’re a big CritRole fan. I’ve never really been able to get into it, cuz the thought of going back and watching it all from scratch is supremely intimidating. However. I finished all of EXU Calamity in a weekend (and lost my entire fucking mind) and I’m really enjoying TLOVM show. Do you have any tips for watching any parts of C1, C2, or C3 in addition to that? Or would it be smarter to wait for C4 to start and go fresh from there?

Hello dear, lovely to hear from you. I hope you're doing well.

Critical Role is very intimidating to get into. I was fortunate that I got into it early on, roughly a year after they started filming, so it didn't take me as long to catch up. Anyone trying to get into it now is going to feel daunted, that's for sure. Unfortunately, D&D sessions do tend to run long, I know my group's average is 4 hours and we used to run for up to six when we had more open schedules.

Calamity is a fantastic place for any newbie to start. There are other oneshots and mini-campaigns they've done too, like Taliesin's eldtrich horror mini campaign, the Undeadwood campaign, and Marisha's Honey Heist and its sequel. Calamity introduces you to the world and is just. brilliant improv storytelling from all the players. but it's only six episodes for the complete story. So if anyone reading this ask wants to bite into a good tragedy and wants to know what the whole TTRPG craze is about, Calamity is a great one.

When it comes to the full campaigns... you kind of have to resign yourself to the fact that it'll take a while. Campaign four won't start for another year or two, and so you can wait until then, but that is a bit of time to hold out.

I would personally recommend you listen to campaign one. Campaign two seems to be the favorite for the majority of fans, but since you've already watched TLOVM, which is based on campaign one, that'll give you some background info and a baseline to help you get into the swing of things. The first few episodes will be a bit rough, since the cast is getting used to being filmed in a studio rather than hanging in a living room, but you'll be surprised by how fast you latch onto the characters.

Additionally, I think it's just fun to watch the cast journey from being in a spare room at the Geek & Sundry studios, to their own studio, slowly decorating that studio, then moving to a bigger studio, which is where they'll stay for campaign two. it's just nice, in my opinion, to see those little details as the show grows in real-time.

My friend recommends listening at 1.25 speed, and sometimes she speeds up the combat to 1.5 speed. You can also listen rather than watch, as some of my friends have done, so you can listen (either just put the video on and don't look, or they have created podcast versions of the episodes - nothing changed in content, just made it into an audio file to download) while doing other things like folding laundry. I prefer watching, to see facial expressions and nonverbal reactions, but given that this is a popular option among my friends, I don't think you'll miss anything too vital. And you can always supplement with YouTube compilation videos of reactions and favorite moments!

I can also say that it'll go faster than you think it will. You'll be surprised at how quickly you can blow through a few episodes.

So, yes, either wait a year or two, or resign yourself for a commitment, unfortunately that's kinda how it goes. You can't really skip episodes or only do "highlight" episodes since so much happens in each one, you can miss a lot of context. If that still intimidates you I'd really recommend diving into the other mini campaigns and oneshots they've done like Honey Heist, Undeadwood, etc.

Also, if you liked Calamity, then I recommend Dimension 20. Brennan Lee Mulligan is the game master for that crew, just as he was in Calamity, and their campaigns are a lot shorter. So that can also help you get into the TTRPG show groove. Their campaigns tend to run 15-20 episodes and the mini campaigns are around 6.

Again if you are going to dive into a full CR campaign I recommend the first campaign with Vox Machina since you already know the characters and a lot of the plot arcs - and it's fun to watch TLOVM when you've seen campaign one, since you can see how it's a truncated "this is the legend" version while the CR campaign is "now here's what really happened with these dumbasses." But campaign two is the more popular campaign so there's nothing wrong with starting there.

I hope that all this has been helpful! Good luck on your CR/TTRPG show journey!

#mads answers things #pink-lightsabre #I hope this information is helpful to others as well #since I've gotten this question a few times from people wanting to watch #but intimidated by length and amount of content

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pompadourpink · 2 years

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hello mother just turned 21 and started living and I'm OVERWHELMED lol what can I do to be sure that I'm doing the right thing??

Hello dear,

Note: this person added "started living BY MYSELF LOL* in another message.

The first thing I want to say is that finding out what the right thing is for you is going to take a long time, because you're too young and inexperienced at the moment to know who you are, and that makes you unable to know what you want. In the meantime, try to do what feels right (even if it's scary - you will rarely regret your actions but often torture yourself thinking about missed opportunities) and you'll get there eventually. Avoid making long-term commitments before you turn 25, let that frontal lobe develop in peace.

I have come to hate self-depreciation. In my experience, it's a confession. You're not joking, you're asking for validation. But keep telling your brain that you are worthless, and it will start believing you. Take a look at my recent asks, my #malks posts. They're filled with young people apologizing for the stupidity of their questions or their ignorance. They wouldn't need to talk to me if they were C2; of course, they don't know. I get to decide if the question is dumb, and it is never dumb, because it shows curiosity, desire to improve, intelligence, and I can hardly think of better qualities. Treat yourself the way you would treat 8-year-old you, and don't tolerate anything you wouldn't want that kid to go through.

Be also nice to others, even when they don't deserve it. Avoid raising your voice, being rude, gossiping, etc. There are always people listening and tattling, and you don't know when you'll meet them again. (Being nice is not being a therapist, don't allow people who suffer to trauma dump on your head.)

A few recommendations here and there: 1/ When you start something, give it a fair chance, and if you can't seem to enjoy it, drop it. You don't have to commit to finishing the book or the degree, to continuing the relationship or the trip if you are hating it. Value your time. 2/ If you need help, ask for it. E-mail your professor. Go get diagnosed. Reach out to a friend. Your well-being is valuable and you deserve to feel good. 3/ Don't give a second chance to people to disrespect you. The guy who ignores you? Out. The pick-me friend who ridicules you in public? Beat it. The aunt who calls you fat? Scram.

I don't know if I need to mention finances but save as much as you can, only buy what you can afford twice, go for the quality item the first time and don't let brands or influencers tell you what you need. Also, while I do agree that you should behave like the person you want to be, avoid behaving like the person you dream of being but won't become because it's incompatible with you. No heel collection if you can really only survive in flats.

Finally, since you live alone, know how to handle catastrophes by yourself.

Love,

Mum

#ask #malks

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stay-funky-ponyboy · 8 months

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Hi! Uhhh. I see you freaking out about critical role all the time and I'm intrigued. Would you like to tell me a bit about it? And where would you recommend starting to watch (or is it listen??)? Right at the beginning?

Hey! I’m glad my ramblings have gotten you intrigued. Critical Role is a web series featuring a wonderful cast of voice actors who play Dungeons and Dragons (aka D&D). I’m not sure how aware you are of D&D as a whole so I will give a brief intro to that. D&D is a role playing game typically set in fantasy worlds. Dice are used to determine certain actions and their success. CR is set in Exandria, a world created by Matthew Mercer, who is also the Dungeon Master for their games. Essentially, he is the narrator and organizer for the campaigns.

You can listen to it as a podcast, or you can watch their videos on YouTube! Personally, I prefer watching it because you can see their reactions to things, as well as see the maps Matt creates for combat.

There have been 3 main campaigns so far. Each one features a different party of fun characters. They used to livestream their episodes on Twitch and Youtube weekly every Thursday night at 7pm (pacific time). Because of the pandemic, they switched to pre recording them.

They now stream every thursday night, except for the last thursday of the month, since campaign 3 started.

Where to start? There are a few options:

Starting at the beginning with campaign 1 is perfectly fine. When it comes to D&D, sessions can take hours to complete. It's wild to see how long the episodes for CR are at first, but you get used to it.

The nice thing about each campaign is you can jump into them without having prior knowledge!

For campaign 1 (aka c1) there are 115 episodes. Some audio issues are present, and there is one disruptive cast member that leaves pretty early on. Some fans will say to skip to ep24, simply to avoid these early issues. Ep 1 or ep 24, either works.

Alternatively, if the ep count intimdates you, and you like animated series, you can watch The Legend of Vox Machina. This show covers the entire campaign (so far it has covered the first 50 eps) in a shorter format. It's great.

Campaign 2 is where I started my journey into critical role, and it is the longest with 141 episodes. Audio issues are resolved and the beginning is smoother. We have confirmation of it getting an animated series, but we don't have dates for it yet. I will always recommend watching c2 at some point, because it is truly a lovely story. Take your time with it.

Finally, campaign 3 is also a place you could start. It is currently airing, having 70 eps at the moment, so you could catch up the quickest here. This one does reference c1 and c2 a handful of times (characters, places, plotlines) so without context it could feel confusing. I don't think it is absolutely necessary but I know I prefer having context to things. Mind you, I haven't watched c1 in full, only c2. c3 has been very enjoyable to me all the same.

If you do start with c3, I would recommend watching Exandria Unlimited Prime (an 8 episode miniseries, the dungeon master being Aabria Iyengar), and the first season of The Legend of Vox Machina before you get into the campaign. It will provide insight into some of the references you may miss otherwise.

I hope this helps you a bit. If you have any other questions you can message me or send another ask!

#critical role #i wish it was easier to recommend critical role but hey we have over 500 hours of content soooo #good luck anon

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mostlyanything19 · 1 year

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So I’m on episode 46 and Yasha is having storm visions of the past and--

Ashley is there so little during the early Mighty Nein episodes that Yasha is seldom more than a very, very quiet person who fights with them and does little else in terms of interactions, but... man I love Yasha! Every time Ashley is there, even if it’s just for a little bit, she brings such a quality to the character. I can’t get enough of her, she’s so good.

And Ashley’s absences...it was a similar thing with Pike, in that they do inform the character. They can’t not. And Yasha is deliberately built with those absences kept in mind, you can tell. She’s so quiet, anyone can pilot her without necessarily having to roleplay her, which makes it possible for her to at least on paper be around without Ashley being there. Travis or Matt strew in a sentence for her here and there and it doesn’t seem out of character that she doesn’t have more to say - not like whenever Laura is missing and Jester is either weird bc she’s way too quiet or weird bc other people can’t properly play her.

But it also does something with Yasha, and in this episode it shows and it’s just that little bit more heartbreaking. When she comes late to breakfast and grumbles about not having been woken up, and then after a while just says it: You guys were gone six days. I had no idea where you were, I looked for you everywhere in that room and you were just gone, all of you, all at once. And Nott starts in about if she held funerals for them, and it actually after a moment gets Yasha so heated that she blurts something else out: I didn’t know if you were dead or if you had just all fucked off together because you didn’t want me being part of the group anymore. And she hits the same sore spot a second time right after: “I’m glad you’re all okay. For whatever the fuck it’s worth to you.”

So here is Yasha who left the group after the Iron Shepherds, after Molly, and she was initially with the group kind of only because Molly was there, and she joined back up with them in Nicodranas more by circumstance than much else, and has since stuck with them but hasn’t been able, for reasons out of her control (i.e. the fact that Ashley wasn’t there to play her) to bond with everyone as much as they have been doing amongst each other. And ... she felt disregarded and left behind when they all vanished on her. It would hurt her, if they’d leave her, and knowing that it was all an accident only softens the blow in part; following that, she’s still not completely convinced whether they care that she cares. Yasha doesn’t feel secure in her place in this friend group, and that this insecurity is triggered is partly so sad because it’s entirely out of their control. It’s the same as back when Pike would stay behind in Vasselheim or Whitestone and she’d always be so sad, wishing that she could come along, but there’s no out for it, there’s no in-game way to say “hey, just come along then!” - she can’t, she actually really can’t, just like Yasha can’t be anything else right now than somebody who rarely speaks or is spoken to and doesn’t participate in some adventures. But it still affects her.

In conclusion: I love Yasha and I really think she should get a hug or something.

(In other episode notes: Honorable mention to Caduceus, who tells Yasha he can always tell it in his left knee when it’s about to rain or the weather gets cold, and I finally have an answer to why I had taken it for a fact before starting C2 that Caddy has a bit of a limp. Must’ve picked that up from the fandom somewhere, since old injuries are prone to that sort of thing.)

((Honorable mention also to my sister who was half-asleep listening to the Mighty Nein buying food at the mead place and chose that moment to randomly have a brain-glitch and inform me suddenly and decisively that Caduceus was about to brawl in the street, a thing that has no basis in canonical events and never actually happens.))

(And last but not least, shoutout to Marisha’s little face journey at 1:34:30 when Matt narrates the Zuala part and she realizes that Beau might just be not the only lesbian at the table. I wish I had gifs of this it’s great)

#critical role #adventures in cr #c2 #cr2x46 #seems like nowadays my liveblogging has morphed into ''not a word for 10 episodes and then an essay''

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aspiringsophrosyne · 1 year

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Episode 2: Trials of Vasselheim

There is a lot of ground to cover here, so the good and bad are going to be split into two separate posts. This'll be the first, and the good stuff.

Make sure you're in the right theater and you've got your contraband snacks safely in your pocket. Lights are going down, so get comfortable. Show's about to start.

The Good.

The City

God, Vasselheim. Vasselheim!! It's such a lynchpin in the history of Matt's word. It survived the Calamity...there must be so many stories you could tell in a place like this. It's regrettable we haven't seen a Campaign set here or on this continent yet, or more characters who came from there.

And it all looks so...complete. So alive and real. I should've mentioned Arthur Loftis by name before now, but this dude is killing the art better than Grog kills...a lot of things. There isn't anything more to say than that the art is always beautiful, and the art team always does an incredibly meticulous job. Hearing Matt recall seeing Arthur's preliminary sketches of the city ("You mother fucker!!") sums it up nicely. The dude's a gift, and I just wanted to take a moment here to point it out. This city, Emon, Whitestone....they've been so grand, so detailed, and with so much thought put into them if you listen to them talk about it in the Q&As. The show is so lucky to have this dude and all of the art team.

It's so much fun to see nods to the gods and goddesses who are coming to prominence further down the road. (Hi, Cad!) Nice to hear the bidet joke come up since we're not getting it in its original context.

Ooh, look who's still early. Hello again, Matron.

The Take

I'll be sincere with you; I was hoping for some version of the Slayer's Take, even when I had little hope. There's so much fun stuff in the arcs that feature it, and we needed to get Zahra and Kash in there somehow. So not only was I ecstatic to see it included, I ended up being very satisfied with how it was included....at least in this episode.

In the stream, the Take was encountered before the Briarwood Arc. Vox Machina accidentally killed a hydra they weren't supposed to, and they went on missions with members of the Take to pay the debt. Having it just be younger punk-ass versions of the twins swiping the monster out from under Zahra fits well with their characters and folds elements from the stream into this new context rather neatly.

Kash and Zahra

KASH and ZAHRA KASH and ZAHRA KASH and ZAHRA!!!

Sorry, I was just overjoyed to see them. The team's getting back together again!

Will Friedle is still hilarious as deadpan, long dead-inside Kashaw Vesh. I was not surprised to learn from the watch-along and the Q&A that he improvised some great lines for this and the next episode.

And Zahra's just...hot. They both are, but he's a ten out of ten, and she's around twelve. It helps when you're voiced by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. Both of them look fantastic, and I know you can give their players credit for that, as they most likely gave Phil Bourassa notes.

On that note, I can easily picture Laura and Mary hovering threateningly over the animators' shoulders, giving them only one directive to adhere to or fall to their collective wrath:

"Make sure everyone knows these versions of our characters fucked."

Because the pissy exes vibe is so strong with these two, and I am one hundred percent here for it.

Also, now is a good time to point out that not only does Mary provide the voice of Zahra, but she is also the most excellent voice director for this show. She's been doing great...and I almost want footage of her directing herself as a gag.

Nice to see some of the easter eggs at the Take as well.

(Side note, based on Zahra, who had solid white eyes in the stream, I'm going to guess that other Tieflings in the C2 stream who had similar eyes are not going to in the animated adaptation. Probably way easier on the animators that way. Just something neat to think about.)

The Trials

I approve of the spooky and subtle build-up to Osysa's introduction. She stalks around in the dark like a lioness on the hunt long before we see her face. Not only does that not overuse CGI, it feels tenser and more mysterious. Her design is beautiful, otherworldly, and just fun to look at; she looks like a statue that's come to life. Following her reveal, her wrecking Vox Machina so completely without visible direct effort makes her feel that much more beyond them. Alanna Ubach gives a pitch perfect performance. She has just the right amount of weariness and contempt in her voice that you believe her when shes says she's heard many pleas from adventurers over the years that couldn't back up their talk.

The Crucible fight is...Mm! I love getting allusions to the Storm Lord here, and Groon is an absolute monster. Dope monk shit!! Iké Amadi has a chasmic, commanding voice, and with it comes the quality of a teacher; one who's waiting for his student to stop dicking around and start applying himself. His fight with Grog is brutal; it elucidates the difference between mindless brute force and strategic swiftness and strength. Plus, Groon catching Craven Edge's blade and not flinching as it drinks his blood...damn.

The fight also does a fine job of setting up Grog's arc for the season, where he'll figure out what's really important and what his strength is really for.

Also, I appreciate that Grog, of all people, recognized that the situation was weird but still went along.

To say Osysa's story of the Calamity is visually enchanting is just one toothpick worth of a great redwood tree. The style choice, even if it hadn't been so stunning, is excellent. Beyond how pretty it is, it is vague, mythic, and epic, as if to say the finer details of it are lost to or can't be described by even a creature of the Knowing Mistress as ancient as Osysa. This lets us viewers imagine for ourselves just how big an event it was in this world's history; plus, it leaves the CRew room to elaborate on it later. Like, for example, in the next episode.

Well, intermission's starting. If you need a pee break, now's the time. Just make sure you're back before the show starts up again.

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hospitalterrorizer · 7 months

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diary32

10/6-7/2023

back 2 fixing things.

but i'm happy with how these two sound. thinking now: things could be brighter in one, or harsher, and i figured out exactly how to do that i think, i need to peak a couple freqs a bunch, super resonances in the high mids/ super highs, and that'll work really well.

it's fun solving problems and thinking about sound, i was thinking about why some of these riffs are hard to mix, and because some are written pretty low/ with lower notes (2nd octave, around c2 i guess, so not way low, but, like, maybe relatively) there's a lot happening in the mids, bunches of fundamentals there, and so a lot of the texture sits right beside that note information, and the notes coming thru clearly/not distorted feeling enough has been a problem, but i can focus on those ranges precisely, not just w/ the peaking trick but i can like, actually strategically use multiband distortion. but i was thinking about how when you play bass, the high end noises/nonmusical features can end up kind of accentuated, just as the sound happens, there's more space for those to sit, but the smearing in guitar, even simulated, is harder to deal with, plus chords being complicated by all the note interaction or whatever and stuff. i don't know a lot about music really, at least theory, i only really feel confident in dealing with sound, and mostly it's an intuitive process. so like i don't know about anything.

right now i am listening to haruomi hosono's video game music. this stuff is such an intense pleasure. this stuff is genius. the fact that these songs are interrupted by the sound effects in these games, these atonal shots across the tonal field, i feel kinship with it, it knows it's funny, and it's genius. it also reminds me of mario 3, and how my aunt used to play it, that particular kind of sound chip, one of the greatest sounds, to be sure. the kitchen where my aunt played mario 3 while cooking, the kitchen where my uncle made gyoza by hand at times, and where he played world of warcraft, the computer my aunt played mario 3 on being the very computer my older cousins showed me scary maze game on, where i ran from that beloved kitchen shrieking, and where my uncle let me watch him play world of warcraft in silence, and seeing my interest, let me use his account, and at home playing, i had experiences too soon, that i should not have had at 6 or 8. but i did. all of this only makes me love life. that computer changed hands 3 times, from each cousin down, until my nearest in age cousin owned it, that tan tower, the hefty crt, it's all gone now, but i loved that thing, that computer so old, it still used floppies. i love that a floppy disc pc was part of my life, a deep thing lodged in me.

now listening to the pole position track, i really feel connected to this, using simple synthesis and illusions to create the sense that you are hearing something not there, in my case guitars, in this case, vehicles, accidents, and people screaming. hosono is obviously working with harder stuff though, i'm only able to cheat with distortion, he really picked the sounds down to their simplest elements and worked out how to make them feel like something.

and dig dug now, i remember getting this on a plug n play from my stepdad, and earlier, from my stepmom. i had good times with those. dig dug is a game i never got good at, i'm not good at any games, but i loved dig dug.

maybe people would say these old games are clumsy, but tim roger's excessively long video about pac man is maybe one of the most moving things ever, all of this was highly intentional at the start.

now i'm listening to kap bambino and i don't know where my phone is.

today broadly was either nice or really stressful, cooking dinner was stressful, a bag of candy my gf had fell onto all the dishes which didn't get them dirty or anything it was a really inconvenient mess and then an egg rolled off the counter while i was trying to put something back in the fridge and then i made a bunch of smoke happen because i let the lid on while heating oil (why, i don't know, i say it every day now, i'm like actually way stupid, i don't deserve to live i make so many problems) and dinner was fine i think, i liked it even, it was just a lot of stress and frustration in the kitchen, i guess that will make sleep better.

sometimes i wish i had more help in the kitchen, but it's so small, and my gf never really learned about cooking or even learned about helping to cook, so she would be very awkward and probably end up frustrating me when i need to move somewhere or something, and i'm so used to doing everything alone and when i helped my mom i got good at intuiting how to stay out of her way so she wouldn't get mad at me, it's just a difficult arrangement in the apartment. she hates cleaning or getting her hands wet, so she doesn't wanna do dishes. it's fine that i do all of it. i have no job, she makes all the money and stuff. it's just frustrating sometimes i guess. it's stupid though, she pays for my existence, i can do everything else.

and there's some really awful canker sore at the back of my mouth, it feels so raw right now. ugh. a constant sharp pain, i wish i didn't have to be inside of my body right now.

it's crazy how tiny inconveniences can make me want to fall to the floor and curl up and wait until i die.

so anyways, byebye!!

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russett-pots · 2 years

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A Spa Treatment

Kim Dahyun

Tags: Anal

Words: 2.9K

A couple of things first.

1. This is to celebrate the last rawe ceek. Yay!

2. Obviously, the timeline isn't correct.

Anyway, hopefully, you'll enjoy it. I hope @asmodeussoularium would enjoy it too.

Inspiration: Heard some lucky bastard had something like this at Canada 2011.

“Hey dude, are you on? The race is going to start soon.” Your long-time friend on the call is excited about what’s coming up next.

“Yeah, I just got home from getting snacks. It is for Dahyun.”

“I can’t believe you got her to watch the race with you.”

“Ugh Yeah, She promised after I met her parents.”

Finally, today is the day. It is your favorite circuit on the 2021 F1 calendar, Spa-Francorchamps. Why? The long-run down from La source to the fast left-right-left of Eau Rouge to go up to Raidillon before the run down the long Kemmel Straight finally ending at Le-comp. The tricky flat but the almost not left-hander of Pouhon.

This season has been great, with Verstappen challenging Hamilton, the 7-time world drive champion, for the title. Red Bull is fighting for the constructors against Mercedes, dominating since 2014.

This race got exciting even before it started. The entire weekend has rained. Yesterday on qualifying, Verstappen got pole, and your Georgy Boi, in a Williams, lines up on the front row ahead of Hamilton.

“Oh, did you see Perez hit the barriers on the war to the grid? Suspension broke!” The scream of your friend as you turn on the television.

“Shit! Is he out?”

“I think so.”

“Well, Verstappen went out last year in Hungary and he joined the race…”

“Dude, I don’t think it isn’t the same.”

*DING DONG*

“That’s Dahyun. See you at Light’s out.”

“and away we-”

Before going to the door, you drop off the chips and drinks you bought down on the table, ready to be consumed during the race. The doorbell rings for a second time, asking you to hurry up to open it. But when you swing the door, your girlfriend, Dahyun, is wearing her typical casual outfit of an oversized shirt and joggers.

“Oppa, I can’t wait to watch Louie win the race.” as she jumps to your arms.

But you stop her.

“It is Lewis, and I’m a Checo fan.” Pouting at her but her kiss on your lips makes you forget her silly mistake.

“Come on, let’s go and see the race. It is in Holland, right?”

“It is in Belgium, Dahyun, Belgium.”

“Belgium, Holland, what’s the difference?”

Her ignorance of your favorite sport annoys you a bit. But it is your chance to show her what Formula 1 is like. You lead her to the tv room as Dahyun cuddles up on your comfy couch. However, all of your attention is on race. You turn up to the TV as Crofty says:

“There are spa weekends, but there is nothing like a weekend in Spa. Welcome to the Belgian Grand Prix! The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is the longest circuit in Formula 1. It has the largest elevation change of any circuit on the calendar with 102.2 meters. One of the founding circuits of the Formula 1 World Championship. This is the 66th World Championship Belgium Grand Prix at this 4.3-mile circuit or 7 kilometers. Nineteen corners with 10 to the left 9 to the right. The tires this afternoon, well will we see slicks doubt full really, are C4 C3 C2. All drivers have plenty of slick tire compounds to use. Wet weather, and intermediates, they are going to be used. Wets right from the start, as we start the formation lap behind the safety car.” The music to your ears as Crofty does the circuit intro. But your worst fears confirms

Crofty adds in the starting grid announcement, “... P7 Sergio Perez but crashes on his way to the grid. He doesn’t race….” You sigh in disappointment after seeing Perez not starting on the race. But in other news. “Kimi Raikkonen has a pit lane start for changing his front wing for a different specification.”

“Oppa, why are there two empty spaces in the line-up thingy.” Asking as she looks upon you, lying down on your lap, squeezing your cheeks.

“Didn’t you listen? Perez is out, and Raikkonen is going to start from the pit lane because he changed a part of his car.” You try to hold in the slight anger inside you, but you look down at Dahyun’s pretty face. Soon, the irritation goes away.

Dahyun changes her position to sit on your lap, kissing you again. But you try to ignore her and focus on the race as the formation lap is about to start.

“Race control has delayed the start of the race while we try to wait for the storm to go through. Crofty, I have been going to Grand Prix since the 60s, over 550 of them. But I have never seen such consistent miserable weather.” Brundle explains

“Well, I guess there can be too many good things.” you irritated, agitated that the race isn’t going to start yet.

“Yes, we are going to have a delayed start, but the intention is to have Bernd Mayländer and the safety car lead the drivers away and to complete as many laps as possible. Michael Masi, the race director, felt necessary to clear the water and the spray of the track.” Crofty adds.

Dahyun continues to kiss your cheeks, forehead, and down at your neck.

“Come on, don’t you want to do something before the race starts. It is delayed, isn’t it?” as Dahyun’s finger walks up from your chin to your forehead.

“Race is going to start soon. Just you wait.”

Being impatient with you, Dahyun kneels before you and pulls down your shorts as your boxers are exposed. She looks intently while licking her lips at the long hard snack sticking up on your crotch.

But suddenly, you quickly pull your shorts back up. “They’re off to the formation lap.” pointing at the TV.

Dahyun returns slightly disappointed, pouting her lips but her promise to watch the race with you makes her mask it with a façade of excitement.

The 19 f1 cars follow the Mercedes GTR, the 18 on the grid, and Raikkonen from the pitlane. However, Perez is still in the garage. Visibility is horrendous, even from the onboard camera.

“I already cannot see anything behind,” Hamilton says.

“I have to give a little bit more space from the safety car.” Verstappen is telling his engineer and backing off the required ten car lengths.

“It is pretty awful. I can barely see the car in front.” Norris complains

“They are not going to start the race. The start procedure has been suspended.” Croft announce.

The race director decides to red flag the race again as a precautionary measure with all driver feedback. Bringing a massive disappointment on your face, you have been waiting all week to watch the race.

However, Dahyun is going to her other plan. She comes up to you and starts kissing you again; you didn’t even bother resisting.

“Come on, Oppa, let’s have some of our fun before the race starts.” Pushing you down on the couch. As she kneels on top of you, removing her top, showing her braless chest.

“Oppa, I know you want them.” Without saying a word, you move up on her succulent breast and start sucking on them. She moves her hand down into your shorts to stroke your flaccid cock and turns it into a hardened pillar.

As it is now ready, she let go of the grip and cups her hands on your face kissing it, then slowly moving down until your shorts peck the bulge she had prepared.

The excitement of the race now transforms into an itch of having sex. You remove your shirt showing the muscular physic that Dahyun always loves.

She pulls down your shorts, relieving the cock of the tight boxer shorts prison. As it twitches, her hand slowly wraps around it. The long, hardened shaft was ready for her mouth to consume. She gives a few tugs before devouring it. Her tongue is licking in it entirely, her delicate lips encircling your cock as her mouth moves up and down, gently as you slowly release a quiet moan.

But she perceives it as her it isn’t enough, so she ups her pace. The vigor of her motion increases, her hand grips the lower half to aid her. She yanks it unpainfully to stimulate your body. Finally, hearing your excessive moans of pleasure. She sees your satisfaction with her work. The pace now steadies, slowing down, giving you some time to calm your breathing.

As she pops her mouth off of your cock and stands, removing her pants, showing off her tiny, clean-shaven slit. She looks at you with excitement, now knowing it is her turn. The nakedness arouses your senses, resurging your libido—the urge to share the orgasm.

You get comfortable on the couch as she straddles your lap, your cock rubbing against the mouth of her pussy. She leans in, pushing her lips against yours, first gently, then roughly. Your hands move from her tight waist down to her ass in between the cheeks, first touching her asshole.

“Do you want it here?” asking while doing some poking around to stimulate her.

“Not now, Oppa, that can be for later.”

She gets up and slowly rubs the length of your cock onto the entrance of her pussy, teasing both you and her. Slowly, dropping herself, trying to take in the entire shaft inside her tiny hole. Despite the countless times, you have already had sex with each other, your size and her pussy still haven’t fully adjusted to one another. But regardless of the slight pain, she allows your cock to enter, having the pleasure overcomes the discomfort.

Dahyun’s tiny cries for help as your cock fully enter inside her. On her knees and grabbing onto your shoulders, she moves up and down. Her face shows a mixture of pleasure and distress while you give a wide grin. Seeing that, Dahyun ups her pace, her ass cheeks slamming against your thighs. Her gentle skin begins to touch your body. Leaning into your shoulder, she begins to breathe onto you. Her tiny pants tickle your ear.

The pheromones that you emit motivate her to push harder. Your moans scream of pleasure exchange as Dahyun pushes in and out of your cock. You caress her body as she moves around, forward-backward, and all-around your cock. Slapping her ass, leaving a big red mark on her white canvas of an ass. You hold on to Dahyun’s soft white waist to assist her pace. Slowly, making her move faster. Her pussy begins to leak out fluids, lubricating the inside of her walls and coating your cock.

Soon, you feel your legs buckle. Your balls are going to send out the load. The cock is going to spurt out cum.

Suddenly:

Crofty says. “According to the stewards, Perez can take part in the race. If his car can be fixed.”

You throw Dahyun off your almost climaxed cock, with some of her liquid spills out of her pussy. But regardless, your excitement shows as Perez might still be in the race.

Her butt lands on the floor. She shows a face of annoyance caused by you prioritizing the race over her. She sits back on the couch butt naked, arms and legs crossed.

You pick up your phone and text your friend.

“Did you hear that Perez might still race?”

“I heard, but I think it is impossible. I’m not sure if Red Bull can fix the car on time and even a pitlane start. With the time left, I don’t know if I will even get into the points.”

“He has better race pac-“ after hearing a crying sound, you put down your phone, unable to reply.

You look to your left seeing Dahyun sobbing with her hands on her face.

“Dahyun, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong with you?”

“Is that race more important than me?”

Speechless and unable to answer, the only thing you do is to wrap Dahyun in your arms as she settles down.

“Do you still want to have sex? I haven’t cummed yet,” you ask

She looks up with glee; a broad smile runs across her face.

Leaning in and whispering, “Want anal?”

Looking at her, surprised, you pick her up like a baby and transport her to your room and toss her onto the bed, ass facing you. You grab the lube from the desk drawer and coat a layer on your hands and fingers, then slowly insert it in her asshole to give a good feel on what’s about to come. Rubbing some lube around your cock to prepare it as well.

Your cock is ready and excited to see you enter her asshole, also lubricated from her cum from the previous session. Before you insert it, you look up on Dahyun’s face seeing her readiness to take on the challenge; then, she gives the nod to confirm you are allowed.

“Go ahead, destroy me.” Preparing herself

Without care for Dahyun’s wellbeing, you just shoved your large cock inside her tiny asshole. She releases the loudest roar you have heard since your time together. In the first thrust Ignoring her pain, you just press in balls deep. The cries of torture and thrusting of your cock follow the same rhythm. The tiny cunt that gave her the slightest discomfort a while ago is now gigantic compared to what you are fucking.

You continue your movement. Being soft gentle isn’t the priority anymore. You enter your door of the victim of your cock. The repetitive, rough action of ripping her rectum inside her body destroys who is now in front of you.

“Ugh! It is painful!”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No, it is okay. Keep ongoing.”

You flip on her back, making her face you. You swoop down a see a large cave that used to be her ass. It is nothing now but a place to insert your cock. You line up again and start slamming her again.

Her face says it all. The pain on your cock is destroying her tiny hole. But she likes it. The feeling of getting destroyed shows euphoria, especially seeing you enjoy it. Your delight is more important than the punishment she is going through.

The look on her worries you a bit, but she still allows you to continue. You pound her even harder. The slapping sound of her ass smashing against yours is music to your ears. Her loud moans and your groans fill the room, echoing around the walls. Dahyun’s face reacclimates from her pain back to pleasure. Seeing this encourages you to speed up to try to finish yourself. As your legs weaken, you start to feel your climax.

“Where do you want it? Where do you want it?”

Her lack of response didn’t help in choosing where to finish. You try to ask again before it gets too late. Your intentions are maybe different from hers. But you always respect her opinion first. But since she didn’t say anything, you assume you can choose.

You continue running inside her asshole. The cavern inside her fully adjusts to your gigantic cock, allowing free movement. Soon, your legs feel weak. Your knees are ready to give in. The inside is ready to burst.

Before you know it, your cock starts throbbing; you pump harder to speed up again until your entire load gets shot inside her. Instead of her pussy getting filled, her rectum gets filled up by your hot sticky cum. Your cock is pulsating after each round of liquid enters her.

“That….was….amazing, Oppa.” The tired girl tries to speak in between her gasp of air.

Your legs finally give away and collapse by all the effort you gave, which tires you out. Lying there on the floor, exhausted from smashing your girlfriend. Dahyun lays down with you, cuddling.

“What do we do with the cum?” she asks.

“You aren’t going to be pregnant, right?”

You move your hand towards her asshole and touch a bit, feeling the sticky fluid inside.

She just laughs, pulling you up and snuggles with you in bed. “Don’t worry. It isn’t the same hole.”

Laying down with Dahyun in your arms, “No offense, but I should focus on fucking.” you randomly say

“Huh?”

“Oh, nothing, never mind…..”

The following day you wake up Dahyun still by your side, you get out of bed and walk to the living room, and you realize you forgot something.

What happened at the race?!

The TV is still open, but unfortunately, no news about was the outcome. You pick up your phone to call your friend.

“Dude! What happened at the race?!”

“What do you mean? Didn’t you watch it?”

“Umm…. No. I had sex with Dahyun. But what happened?”

“What the hell, bro. Lucky!”

“But what do you mean lucky? Wasn’t it a good race?”

“I wish I was you. We waited 3 hours for nothing. They just did a couple of laps behind a safety car to classify the race. Half-points. Verstappen won, George second, lulu third.”

“Hmmm,” a voice behind you says

You hang up on the phone and look at the bedroom, Dahyun still naked, leaning and waiting at the door.

“Want another one?”

~The end

#twice smut #kpop smut #kim dahyun #dahyun smut

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legoobsessionist · 2 years

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I’ll keep this spoiler-free for those who didn’t, but I can’t imagine a better fan experience than those of us who watched Critical Role campaign 1 are having with The Legend of Vox Machina.

It’s fan service all the way down, baybeee. So many references big and small to the original campaign (and c2), even when the show omits certain details or changes things around.

The way things are rewritten is so damn fun to analyze. Unlike a book or manga this is being adapted from essentially improve, and its a) incredible how close the plot is staying so far, and b) impossible to get mad about changes because they’re exclusively made to improve the narrative flow. There’s a lot of... retroactive foreshadowing? Someone unfamiliar with the campaign may not notice a detail, but we recognize it as something the writers changed/added/emphasized to because it’s going to set up for something later. We can pick up on foreshadowing without even knowing for sure what’s coming next! The best of all worlds!

Unlike other adaptations I’m not worried about the screen version erasing my own interpretation of the characters. How could it, coming off of five years of incredibly diverse fanart, and hundreds of hours of listening to the campaign? But also the screen versions are great!

Seeing the positive reception from people with no knowledge of the campaign - or of D&D in general - is such a treat. I get giddy with excitement seeing them mention liking how dark Percy gets or how they hope X character gets X development and they have no idea that basically all of their wishes will come true. I’ve gone so long that the developed versions of the characters are my default and now I can be reminded of how incredible the journey was too that point, through the fresh eyes of new fans.

Anyway there’s only three episodes out, and two of those were a pretty simple mini-adventure, and I don’t want to get my hopes too high. But they’re pretty high and I’m having a blast.

#the legend of vox machina #critical role #tlovm

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sparring-spirals · 2 years

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So I’ve been slowly losing my mind the whole day, over how Laura Bailey keeps managing to craft these fantastically morally complex characters.

tl;dr: both Imogen and Jester have backstories and context that leave them (or could leave them) with ,,, lets say, loosey goosey moral systems, and both of them handle it and react differently, and I love them both, and I am so excited for Imogen and her instincts and the way she fights them, y’all.

It got... long. Tossing a read more here.

Jester morality is always one of my favorite things, okay. Jester is sweet and kind and loves to make people happy and make them laugh and also she is fine with wiping peoples memories and occasionally doing mild-to-moderately-terrible things if its funny enough, and who is absolutely cold and ruthless if push comes to shove for the things she cares about. Jester grew up with a fey as her best friend and it shows. And through C2, she grows, and changes- but for the most part, that grey morality is extremely Jester, and stays that way and I love her for it. She never feels bad about how she processes the world- or not for the most part. Maybe when people she could be hurting are right in front of her, maybe when things are dark but overall? She believes in her choices. She sticks to them. She’s Jester Lavorre, she loves her friends and family and will kill for them, she’s spreading chaos, and she’s very funny and talented and good at pranks. That’s all.

But Imogen-

Look, we don’t know Imogen yet, so this is all technically conjecture. I’m just going to say that Imogen is kind of a constant ball of nerves (rightfully so), and not always great at lying, and very polite, and I love her-.

(As an aside- my god, hearing other peoples thoughts constantly, like an overpowering wave, deafened by crowds, constantly privy to peoples secrets whether they want you to be or not? The implications! The angst! The character potential!)

And-

Imogen has absolutely zero hesitation about lying, Imogen lies to shopkeepers to get information, Imogen pulls Dorian in and lies to two guards about getting ~too noisy hehe~ with a dead body behind her. Imogen makes a casual offer to pull one over Lord Eshteross.

Imogen has very, very few moral qualms about listening to people’s thoughts- for haggling, for information- even with the pain as the cost, Imogen doesn’t ever really show guilt for listening to the minds of others, speaking into the minds of others, she doesn’t really apologize for what is, arguably, an absolutely incredible breach of privacy.

(But would she see it that way? After who knows how long of being deluged and tortured by the weight of a thousand strangers thoughts that she doesn’t want to hear- does it even register like that to her anymore? She must know so much about how people think and operate and feel. She must be at least a little numb to it.)

And-

She’s so apologetic. She’s so unsure. She’s withdrawn and nervous and she apologizes for when the crowds are too much and she can’t push through the noise and she apologizes for pulling Dorian in if he wasn’t ready (not being considerate, she says). She is unfailingly polite, consistently second guessing, and- if my instincts are anywhere near correct-

guilty. Guilty, or at the very least warring. There’s an instinct there- there’s something there, that drives that, that makes her first tools a little terrifying, a little unthinking, and then there’s a catch- there’s her reviewing her actions after, doling out apologies, holding that regret. Fixing her mistakes. Addressing them.

and I am so curious about that conflict. Imogen is full of so much turmoil and complexity. She’s holding on to so much and holding herself in check and fighting herself and her past and idk, probably a red storm AT LEAST, and I am absolutely pumped to see this conflict unravel, I want to Know.

How does Laura Bailey do this. How.

edit: this is unexpectedly picking up some traction again, so if you're Feelin This, might I also offer this meta :D

#critical role #cr spoilers #c3e3 #c3 #imogen temult #character meta #wow this got VERY long I got very excited I apologize #jester lavorre #I love discussing jester morality so much. I wouldve linked some of yferes pieces in here if I could figure out a good way to weave them #and now... Imogen... SHE IS SO FULL OF POTENTIAL... I AM SO EXCITED.....#Ive been thinking about this nonstop the whole day #thinking about the soft tone and the jokes and the apologies and the lying and the SECRETS and oh my god how laudna plays into this?#and the pain day in and day out from the whispering.... how that factors into everything else.... I'm just *waves arms wildly*#im right back on my bullshit aka random meta word dumps with little warning #feels great :*)#imogen #imogen meta #my meta #i added the meta i always think about for jesters morality #i couldnt resist

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nightowlwriting · 3 years

Text

summary: fjord takes care of the mighty nein. you take care of fjord. (part 4/13 of the kindness series, a thematically connected series of c2/exu imagines)

word count: 2.7k

warnings: mentions of self-hatred, bullying, lack of self-confidence

note: idk why this one took me so long and, honestly, it was almost super nsfw lmfao

masterlist - request - support my work? - ao3

Fjord is a man who appears to know exactly what he needs and when he needs it. You’re not so sure. You tend to hang back when the group talks to people, or finds jobs for coin, just to watch. That’s what you like to do - get information, tuck it away, use it later.

It just happens that sometimes you end up watching Fjord. There’s no reason, not really. He’s the leader by default, no matter how much Nott will say that it’s Caleb. He does most of the talk, smiling all coy and leaning against things to charm the party’s way through whatever Gods forsaken situation you end up in. It mostly works, with some exceptions. There are things you begin to notice in the nights after Fjord has failed to charm someone with a well-placed wink, or a sir or a ma’am. He makes the fire just a little bit larger, stacking logs and kindling and using his flint so that Caleb doesn’t have to use his magic. He cooks heartier food, sometimes even disappearing and coming back with a skewered animal from the forest to add to the pot of simmering soup. He takes the first watch and doesn’t wake anyone until halfway through the second watch so that everyone can sleep longer, even if it makes him crabby the morning after.

You come to a conclusion. Fjord takes care of people when he feels like he’s not enough. He overcompensates in his acts of kindness when something he does fails - but why? To make you all stay? To make sure you know his worth in the group? To make up for whatever he sees as a downfall? Honestly, you’re worried it’s a little bit of all three. You’re not really sure about how the mind works - that would be more for Molly, or Caleb honestly - but growing up in an orphanage with children who pick and prod at your every physical characteristic cannot be good for a person. Especially with Fjord insisting that he doesn’t have a last name, despite the times that he introduces himself and you see it die on his lips before he can say it. There’s something there, but you won’t pry. People deserve their secrets. They deserve to keep something for themselves.

If he wants to keep his last name, that’s fine with you. If he wants to keep the self-loathing inside of him until he explodes, well, that’s not fine with you. That’s why when you realize that he decompresses by making himself useful, as if the group might dismiss him just because a few people were immune to his charms, you decide to do something. No amount of reassurance from anyone will convince him otherwise and the rest of the group tends to shrug away from his slightly overbearing kindness when something goes south. Caleb, Beau, and Molly are just uncomfortable with it while Jester is usually too engrossed in journaling, Tusk Love, or talking to the Traveler. Nott is somewhere between Caleb and Yasha (uncomfortable and straight-up not around to be doted on.) And… Well, that leaves you.

It’s not that you mind Fjord’s constant doting after he perceives something to have gone wrong, but it’s hard to let him in. Your life before the Mighty Nein wasn’t exactly peaches and cream, either, but you know that he needs this. He needs to feel like he’s doing something for someone or he’ll break. You only notice that, though, after a particularly rough, rainy day of trying to get information out of people for a job. Fjord had forgotten something important which threw off the communication and sent everyone you were working with into an angry tizzy. By the time you make it back to the tavern, everyone is soaked to the bone and cranky, even you - and you tried your best to avoid getting out in the rain. What you really want to do is go back to your room and change out of your wet clothes and then go to fucking bed, but you hold back. The group disperses one by one until it’s just you and Fjord left at the bar, and before you can make your leave you see his hands shaking. His hands, which are large and calloused and strong, are shaking like a leaf in the wind. There’s no other outward sign that he’s feeling stressed or upset, and that surprises you. It also worries you. This is not how Fjord acts when something goes wrong. He doesn’t sit at the bar and brood over an ale - he mother-hens his friends until they’re sick to death of hearing his deep, drawling voice.

The combination of these things is probably what makes you pause halfway out of your seat, eyes narrow and trained on him. He makes eye contact for a brief second before looking back down to his drink. You know that approaching and asking him if he’s okay will get you nowhere but you can’t leave him alone at the bar, not when you know he’s stewing on every mistake, every misstep, whether they really happened or he’s just overanalyzing his movements. He’s your… He’s more than a friend to you, despite the fact that he doesn’t know that and you don’t show it outwardly. Fjord means too much to you to be able to let him sit and spiral into a funnel of self-doubt. You know that it will be weird to put your pride to the side and ask for help, but you also know that you don’t really need help.

But asking Fjord for help means that he’ll feel better and you think that’s a very good reason to shelf your pride for a night.

He barely looks up at you when you approach, still dripping all over the tavern’s floors and hesitant to speak. He doesn’t speak, either, just takes another long pull from his ale to bide his time until you leave. (Probably.) You take the leap first and say his name. “Fjord.” He doesn’t look at you. “I know we’ve all had a bad day,”

“You can say that again,” He snorts.

“We have,” You stress, one hand finding the hilt of the dagger on your waist for some sort of comfort. You’re wildly uncomfortable and can feel the urge to run, get away, flee building up in your gut. If you’re not careful, it’ll spill out your mouth and you’ll be forced out of the tavern for the night in humiliation and self-preservation. “It has been one hell of a day today. I do not want to be alone.” Your sentence cuts off briskly and Fjord looks up in surprise. Your face mirrors his - untamed surprise. You had really opened your mouth to ask if he wanted to find a table and listen to your vent but what came out was I do not want to be alone. You blink and think what the fuck? Before Fjord is shaking off his surprise and standing.

“I suppose I can give Molly the room for the night.” He extends an arm towards you but doesn’t look at you. He’s doing a much better job of hiding how strange you’re acting than you are but still, you’re not going to let this opportunity pass. You wrap your own arm around Fjord’s and he begins to lead you toward the stairs. “Anything specific bothering you?”

“Nothing really,” You hum as you respond, hoping that by allowing him past your walls that it will help him, “Today is just a bad day.” Fjord halfheartedly agrees and your nerves shoot through the roof when he leaves you at your door, explaining that he’s going to warn Molly that he won’t be in the room tonight. You nod at him and slip into your own room, leaving the door cracked so that he won’t feel awkward about entering. Your laundry is everywhere and you grit your teeth, doing your best to hold back a scream. God damnit, you’re about to have the man that you have a crush on in your room and today is the day you threw your laundry all over?

It doesn’t even matter that he’s traveled with you in carts where there is no possible way to not overlap on laundry slash unmentionables. You still dash about, shoving your laundry into a pile in the corner and covering it with your weapons and shield just before Fjord raps his knuckles against the door frame, calling your name. You shiver and invite him in, wringing your hands as you stand in front of the unlit fireplace. “Are you okay?” He’s so earnest and it makes you feel… A little bad. You don’t want to say no to having Fjord be with you overnight because his presence is so calming, but it’s also… He’s not in your room because…

Ugh. “Fjord,” You say before you can stop yourself, “Okay, so, you can’t be mad but I noticed when things go wrong you’re really, really hard on yourself and you shouldn’t be. And I also noticed that when you’re hard on yourself you dive into taking care of other people because, I don’t know, maybe it feels like you’re doing something good? I’m not sure, but I really meant to ask if you wanted to talk but then that came out instead but I can’t let you stay in here if you don’t know why I asked.” He stands there, taking in what you’ve said, and then shakes his head. Your room is dark - too dark for you to see whether or not the small smile on his face is actually there or if you’re imagining it. When he chuckles, you’re more apt to believe that Fjord is actually smiling even after the day he’s had. “Um,” You finally cut the silence, “Please say something.”

“You mean to tell me,” He drawls, stepping slowly closer and removing his chest plate. It’s like his mood has gone a full 180 from where it was when he left you outside of your room, “That you looked so awkward and like a li’l kicked puppy because you wanted to help me feel better?” He sets his chest plate on the table, coming into your sight as your vision begins to adjust. You don’t get a good look at what’s happening on his face because you look away very quickly, setting your jaw.

“Well, when you put it that way,” You grumble and cross your arms, “You just like to help people - it makes you feel better.”

Fjord comes to a stop in front of you and sighs, but doesn’t say anything. Your hands begin to shake and honestly, you regret your stupid fucking decision to try and help Fjord out. You wouldn’t be here, standing in front of him and purely humiliated, if you didn’t look at him and notice so much. He finally responds, one of his hands coming up to touch at your bicep and then trails up until he’s cupping your shoulder. “I do like to help people,” He’s speaking more from his chest than his mouth, and you can almost feel the rumble through the grip he has on your shoulder. It’s not tight but it’s there, heavy and comforting. “I didn’t think anyone noticed.”

“I notice a lot,” You supply, tugging your chin away when Fjord tries to use the other hand to make you look at him. It’s only after he says your name in a soft voice that you look. You’re surprised to see that he looks soft… Soft and fond. “Please,” You whisper, uncrossing your arms to grab both of his wrists. You’re not even sure what you’re asking for but the way that you whispered please is the closest to begging that you’ve ever gotten.

“Please?” Fjord says, sounding incredibly confused but soft at the same time. You shake your head, trying again to look away from him. He ducks down, catching your eyes again, “It’s just me, remember? This is why you asked me here, isn’t it? To help you feel better?”

To your horror, you feel yourself mist up. “I invited you here so you could feel better, Fjord. I don’t want you to be so hard on yourself, and the only time I’ve seen you calm down after a bad day is when you’re taking care of one of us. I thought… Even if I don’t really need to be taken care of, that would help you. I just want… I want you to feel better.” He steps closer toward you, caging you into the rough stone of the fireplace but doesn’t speak. You’re almost worried that Fjord is going to cold clock you, but then he does something that you expected even less.

He surges forward and kisses you. Every part of him nearly engulfs you - the hand on your shoulder moves to the back of your neck, anchoring you to him, while he groans deep in the back of his throat. Your hands scramble for some purchase to express your surprise, landing on his hearty shoulders, clenching in the fabric of his shirt. You sigh into Fjord’s groan, and press as close as possible to his body heat. No matter how much you don’t want to admit it, you’ve been craving this: closeness with another person, pressing tight against their body… You’d be lying if you didn’t admit that when you thought of that, of intimacy, that you pictured Fjord. You just didn’t think he pictured you.

Fjord surges forward again, and you feel the soft scrape of tusks against you when he opens his mouth to breathe, keeping his nose pressed tightly to yours. “I didn’t think,” He says, accent thinner than you’ve heard previously, “I never dreamed that you would feel…”

“Oh, I feel,” You tell him, slowly moving your hands until you can intertwine your fingers behind his neck, “I feel so much, Fjord.”

“You never said…” He sneaks another kiss between his words, dropping his hands to squeeze at your waist, “You never even let on that you see me this way.”

“I do a lot of looking and not a lot of showing,” You remind him - it was something he had said to you when you first joined his group. I always catch you lookin’, but you never show. It’s terribly funny because he’d said it while the Mighty Nein were all naked, sudsy, and sharing a bathhouse at Molly’s insistence. The group had a field day with that and still does. The memory is apparently still fresh in Fjord’s head because a blush creeps high over his cheeks and he looks away, flustered. “You’re strong and pretty and beautiful and you take care of us so well. Even when you’ve had a bad day. I look up to you so much, but at the same time I want, perhaps selfishly, to take care of you in ways that you might not take care of the group.” He almost looks surprised at what you’ve said, but then it melts into a look of soft adoration. Fjord kisses you again and then drags his lips lightly over the arch of your cheek before he rests his head on your shoulder where he inhales deeply, his breath tickling your throat. You can feel his hands contracting against your waist, like he wants to touch and feel but is settling for keeping them where they are and feeling the soft give of your flesh. You know your heart is spinning at what feels like a million miles per hour, and you know that he can probably hear it, too. You can’t find anything in you that cares, though, because you’re so close to Fjord. He smells like saltwater, you realize. Not in a way that it seems like he’s been coughing it up again, or in the ocean, but just sort of… Naturally. Like he’s always smelled that way. Like you’ve always known he smelled that way. Like you were always meant to know and to find comfort in it. You pull yourself closer, relishing in the way that you hold each other, and Fjord sighs. You can feel the way that he relaxes underneath your hold and you relax, too.

This… This is the way that it’s supposed to be. This is how you can do for Fjord what he’s done for your team - except different. Except more.

#critical role imagine #c2 imagine #cr imagine #fjord stone imagine #fjord imagine #fjord stone x reader #fjord x reader #fjord stone / reader #fjord / reader #campaign 2 imagine #critfic

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theatre-kids-of-a-cappella · 3 years

Video

youtube

VoicePlay: Hoist the Colours review

Note: I have some musical training, but I’m not an expert by any means. I’m mainly just pointing out things I like. Sometimes I’ll be able to tell what the guys are doing technically, but when that happens it’s usually pretty basic stuff.

0:08 - Cesar’s tone here is so light and ethereal, I love it! Also I was not expecting him to be staring right at the camera with that creepy eye of his 😳 very spooky indeed

0:14 - that low boom sound was SO cool, I’m guessing Layne did it? But idk how?? It genuinely does not sound human, I’m so impressed

0:18 - I love Eli’s tone here too!! I can already tell he’s going to be showing off his rock voice in this one, which fits perfectly with the pirate vibe and is always a treat to hear 🙌

0:22 - the harmonies here are just *chefs kiss*, especially since up until now everything’s been relatively simple and stripped down. (side note: I’ve sat at a piano and listened to this over and over again, and I still can’t figure out what the notes are 😂)

0:26 - round 2 of Cesar creepily staring down the camera, and I’m here for it

0:29 - I LOVE how Cesar drops out before the word “roam”, then Eli crescendos into the chorus. Fantastic use of dynamics, both arrangement-wise and execution-wise!

0:40 - Love how Geoff’s melody is doubled to give it more oomph (for lack of a better word lol). I don’t think VoicePlay often doubles melodies like this - it’s usually just the harmonies - but it sounds really cool! I also love how everyone is swaying back and forth like they’re on a ship, it really adds to the video’s immersion

0:50 - Super cool lighting flash to look like lightning; Eli really outdid himself on this one!

0:58 - Just like before, I love how they’re switching between really simple harmonies to really complex ones! It feels like the simpler parts help emphasize the more complex parts.

1:00 - The moment when Geoff jumps down on the word “shall” gives me so much dopamine (I mean the whole video does lol but This Moment In Particular just hits different for some reason)

1:02 - We’re only a minute in, I am deceased

1:05 - Love the use of rattling chains by Cesar! I think that’s perfect for this section, because it needs some kind of pulse/beat to keep it moving, but the verse is slow enough that I think if Layne were to beatbox it wouldn’t quite feel right (plus Geoff also holds down the rhythm with his bass line). Also, the dm dm dm’s during Cesar’s and Eli’s solos are so tight that when I’m focused on the melody, they all just sound like a keyboard

1:31 - I can’t get over how Eli starts this line with the melody with Jose singing harmony, then they seamlessly switch so that Eli’s on harmony and Jose’s on melody 🤯 if anyone ever asks you what creative genius is, show them this line

1:37 - Beat drop!! Also that transition with the sword?? So awesome

1:49 - the “oo-oo-ooh, oo-oo-ooh” like they’re mimicking the bell’s “sepulchral tones” they just sang about 🙌 idk if you’d call that vocal painting but I love it

2:08 - Love the rest on the downbeat (for everyone except Layne), then everyone starting back up on beat 2! Idk what that’s called but it’s like a reverse pickup beat so that’s what I’ll call it lol. Regardless, great way to grab listeners’ attention and keep the song moving forward!

2:13 - Go off Jose! 🙌

2:19 - Ooh now Eli is doubled!! Since it was just the last word that was doubled, it caught me completely by surprise, in the best way possible 😂

2:26 - Love Eli’s facial expression and hand gestures here, he’s like “yeah we’re thieves and beggars, and we’re proud of it, what are you gonna do about it?”

2:37 - Layne is nailing those C2s, I always forget how low he can go! Also he’s got that crazy look in his eyes again, everybody run

2:41 - Would this count as polyphony (multiple melodies at once)? I’m not sure but it definitely sounds like it, especially when Cesar comes in on the melody. There’s so much happening at once and I’m loving it

2:52 - Nice dissonance on the word “bed” thanks to Jose’s harmony!

2:57 - Go off Cesar!!

3:00 - dID HE JUST JUMP 2 OCTAVES?! *CHECKS PIANO* YEP THAT WAS AN F2 TO AN F4 I AM DECEASED 🤯 One octave jumps are hard enough but Geoff really just went “lol hold my beer” and doubled that. Sir please save some talent for the rest of us

3:04 - I don’t even know what to say anymore, this whole thing is so epic I can’t even think coherently let alone form words

3:18 - That’s a wallpaper right there

3:33 - Go off Eli!! That’s a high belt, even for a tenor, and he held it for 12 whole beats! 👏👏

3:39 - Ah, a trademark VoicePlay ending with an insane subharmonic from Geoff! Never gets old 😁

3:46 - Love the echo at the end, it ends the song the same way it started with the eerie, ghostly vibe!

Overall thoughts:

The costumes and makeup were phenomenal as always!! Everyone looks wonderfully piratey; Rick Underwood (makeup artist) really outdid himself on this one! I especially love Cesar’s eye, it’s very spooky. It also looks like everyone has a “VP” brand on their hand or arm, which is a super cool detail!

Everyone’s acting is amazing! They’re all really engaging the camera (is that the right phrase?) which is really fun, especially since usually they’ll just have a point of reference somewhere behind the camera. I guess what I’m trying to say is it really hits different when they’re making eye contact with the audience lol

This might just be my new favourite arrangement of Geoff’s - it’s so complex, there are so many ingenious details (I probably didn’t even pick up on a lot of them lol), it’s just perfect from start to finish. 10/10, Captain Jack Sparrow would be proud!

~~~~~

If you’ve read this far, thank you!!! This is my first official review on this blog, so let me know if you liked it or if there’s anything I can improve on!

#voiceplay #a cappella #review #hoist the colours #pirates of the caribbean

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