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murkycran · 1 month

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Radiostatic/Voxal Fic Rec List

Welcome to my Radiostatic/Voxal Fic Rec List! ^_^ This will include romantic, platonic, and/or queerplatonic Radiostatic fics (and admittedly probably a couple of Radiosilence fics, too).

I will keep updating this periodically as I read more fics, so feel free to check back every once and a while! I'll reblog it when I update it, plus make a note with the date at the top. Trust me, this is by no means a complete list; there's fics I still want to add to this that I just haven't gotten to yet. I just decided to go ahead and post it anyways, because if I kept waiting until I ran out of fics to rec I'd probably be working on this forever.

These are not in any particular order; I'm going by both my Bookmarks list on AO3 and my memory of fics I forgot to bookmark. I also tried to make notes on what fics were written before season 1 released, but I might have missed some, so keep that in mind.

Please let me know if any links don't work or are wrong!

✨Before you proceed:✨ read the tags on these fics if you decide to read them. Many of them have heavy material - no surprise given the fandom, but still, felt like this needed said. On that note, there's also fics with explicit material and some fics are straight up PWP. Again, read at your own risk/heed the tags.

Fic Rec List Masterpost

Staticmoth Fic Rec List

Misc. Vox Fic Rec List

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Radio Healed the Video Star by Aspiring_Forest_Witch

Summary: Alastor comes across an unconscious and battered Vox while out on one of his strolls. He feels compelled to bring him back to the hotel.

Notes: 98% of this fic was written before season 1 was released, so keep that in mind, because there's obviously going to be inconsistencies with canon. It's nearly finished (at least according to the author's notes in the latest chapters, I think). I suggest pacing yourself with this one - it's nearly 700k words long. I ruined a good sleep schedule staying up to get through it. (So worth it though.) There are quite a few OCs in later chapters, but they're such good OCs. You fall in love with them just as much as the canon characters, I swear. I would die for Verity and the Trio.

Let's Misbehave by joosymango

Summary: Alastor wins a bet against Vox, now his rival must stop pestering him for two weeks. It should be a pleasant break! So why does he miss the idiot?

Notes: Vaguely inspired by Aspiring_Forest_Witch's Radio Healed the Video Star. Also largely written before season 1 release. First fic I read for the HH fandom. ^_^

Safe with Me Series by rillo (rillyrillo)

Summary: Having only ever set his sights on men who treat women with odious disrespect, Alastor never thought he'd take interest in Vox's turbulent relationship with his fiancé and business partner, Valentino. He decides to lend a helping hand in the hopes of getting Vox out of his sticky situation. After all, what are childhood enemies for?

Unfortunately, neither Alastor nor Vox could've predicted the rollercoaster of unsaid emotions and future horrors that are thrown their way. Will they be able to rely on each other and get by unscathed? Or will destiny have other plans for these two?

[HUMAN AU] [There's art included for the human designs]

Notes: It's so, so good. ;-; Heed the tags. There's a prequel consisting of oneshots, plus a sequel (listed below, bc I can't not put it here)! And there's ART! So much art!

You, My Everything by rillo (rillyrillo)

Summary: Some say that love can conquer all, even in Hell.

Vox begged to differ, and he was damn well sure Alastor did too – or at least he would be, if Alastor hadn’t become one big question mark.

Sequel to Safe with Me.

Notes: Only read if you've read Safe With Me!!! Still pretty early in the story but so good. ;-; The angst, I swear...

You're on the Air by rillo (rillyrillo)

Summary: A series of short, daily conversations between a radio host and his avid listener, as the two learn more about each other’s lives over the air. Set in the late 90s/early 2000s.

Notes: Same author as Safe with Me, but not set in the same universe! This one is set up in a literal radio show format; almost entirely dialogue-centric.

Of Candied Pine and Cherried Smoke by rillo (rillyrillo)

Summary: Inspired by x_Arcticfox_x’s fanfiction: Blue Raspberries And Cherry Cola

After overdosing on them one too many times to curb the steadily weakening suppressants, Vox's body rejects them outright. Now with his scent getting stronger, he finds himself struggling to hide his true status as an Omega. In his desperation, he seeks help from the one person that knows his secret: Alastor.

Notes: Omegaverse. Same author as Safe with Me series and You're on the Air!

Blue Raspberries And Cherry Cola by x_Arcticfox_x

Summary: Vox is an omega, that's his biggest secret.

During his life time he hid this fact using suppressants, and counited to in death. One day he runs out of pills and his supplier is out of stock for the time being so Vox is forced to submit to the torture of going through heat for the first time in decades.

Too bad his business partner only see's omega's as mere object's...

But hey, at least Angel found him just in time, right?

Notes: Omegaverse. Currently on hold, but has 14 chapters currently available for reading. :)

Once Bitten, Twice Shy by The_Penny_Tails

Summary: Alastor decides that it's time to claim what is rightfully his, consequences be damned.

Notes: It's not porn but it might as well have been for how fucking intense this scene was. 😳

Dripping Pink by The_Penny_Tails

Summary: Just before an Overlord meeting, Alastor gets infected by an off-market, highly potent, and incredibly dangerous love potion. Nobody realises until it's too late.

Notes: Simultaneously funny as fuck and erotic as all hell. I suffered from so much secondhand embarrassment on Vox's behalf. It's wonderful. :D

Lucidity's Fog by The_Penny_Tails

Summary: Ever since he met Alastor, Vox has been having raunchy dreams about the deer. Those dreams suddenly stop when Alastor disappears. For seven years, he's free of the guilt, of the shame brought on by his unconscious desire.

Until Alastor comes back, and Vox is plagued by a new dream the same day he finds out about the news. This time, however, something is distinctively different about how the deer is acting.

Notes: Author tagged for light angst, but ngl the ending did not feel like 'light' angst to me lol. Hurt in a good way.

Finger Tips and Dotted Lips by The_Penny_Tails

Summary: Alastor has sensitive hands; he finds this out at the most inconvenient time possible. Unfortunately, Vox is the one who ends up paying the price for it.

Having to help a seemingly broken Overlord whilst navigating this new discovery proves to be a little more taxing than the Radio Demon could ever have imagined.

Notes: Alastor is such a troll in this omg.

Thawing Out by Seaside_Dreaming

Summary: Seeing a small crack in Vox's screen nags at Alastor more than he likes to admit.

Vox wishes things were better. Sooner or later, Alastor has to come to terms with the fact he has feelings, in general.

Notes: Written before season 1 release. HIGHLY suggest reading the prequel one-shot. It's not necessary to understand the plot here, but you should read it anyway.

Static by passthevoxcord

Summary: Vox creates a new and improved version of himself to please Val, only to be replaced by it. He is left beaten and broken with no one to turn to . . . except maybe his oldest enemy, Alastor.

Notes: Written before season 1 release.

Hating you feels so good by TwoBitJester

Summary: Vox obsesses over his returned enemy and finds himself a little too wound up

Notes: Very good PWP.

Laced Over Dinner by hazbinhearts

Summary: Vox is persuaded to dress a little differently over dinner for Alastor, but finds it remarkably uncomfortable as the night goes on. Written for VoxWeek21 Day 3: dressing up [appearance, formal, dance].

Notes: Written before season 1 release. Corsets. 😳

Observer by DeviousPossum

Summary: He moved the cursor to click off, when he suddenly heard a very recognizable static laced tone.

Alastor.

What the fuck. Alastor is singing.

Vox unintentionally ran claw marks across his desk, an increasingly common habit for him as of late. He grimaced at his now ruined table and unsuccessfully tried to reel in an inexplicable feeling that could only be described as jealousy.

Notes: Porn with a tiny bit of plot in the first chapter. :3

RadioTV Week 2021 Series by Heliosolar

Summary: Pretty much the title; various prompts.

Notes: Written before season 1 release. All worth reading, though they aren't connected.

Sharkblocking by Anonymous

Summary: Alastor is Vox’s number one rival. Incidentally, though nobody involved is aware of it, Alastor’s number one rival is actually Vox’s pet shark.

In which Alastor is actually a little obsessed back and Vark is the biggest obstacle to Radiostatic short of canon itself.

Notes: VARK!

Control + V by TooManyPsuedonyms

Summary: Vox and Alastor have a... thing. Not quite a relationship, but something. Vox is too scared to define it properly, and Alastor is dead set that Vox will eventually get bored of his lack of reciprocity and move on.

So, Valentino tries to show Vox what he is missing.

... too bad Vox didn't want him like that. ... too bad Alastor didn't know want is a vague word.

Notes: Heed the tags!!! There's currently a sequel; I haven't read it yet, but I definitely plan to. 👀

gift of the magi by vol_ctrl

Summary: "... Although husband and wife are now left with gifts that neither one can use, they realize how far they are willing to go to show their love for each other, and how priceless their love really is ..."

Alastor/Vox established relationship fluff.

Notes: Written before season 1 release. Very sweet. ^_^

the lost tape by vol_ctrl

Summary: There's a NEW ambitious media demon in Pentagram City. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, right?

Notes: Written before season 1 release.

12 Days of Yuletide by vol_ctrl

Summary: A parody of the 12 Days of Christmas traditional tune, as can only be done by Vox gifting to his beloved adversary.

Or, a series of letters from the desk of Alastor upon receiving a series of increasingly elaborate gifts from his insufferably modern foil during the holiday season.

Notes: Written before season 1 release.

Fear makes the heart grow fonder by Graysongirl

Summary: After a bit of inspiration from an unlikely source Vox comes up with the plan that scaring Alastor is the best route to gaining his affections. The haunted house at LuLu World seems like the perfect (safe) environment for a bit of pre-planned scaring...

[Stand-alone staticradio]

Notes: Written before season 1 release. Funny af. "Red! Red!" XD

Cordyceps, King of Ants by spappest

Summary: Vox is tired. Of Valentino. Of Velvette. Of Alastor, and Hell, and everything in between. He can't escape, but he can cut himself off, piece by piece, until he feels nothing at all. Alastor takes exception to this approach and commissions a certain princess of Hell to fix his foe. Now Vox has a hotel of misfits on one side of him, overlords on the other, and Alastor crushing his cage ever smaller.

Clearly, the only way Vox will get any peace and quiet is to just kill God.

Valentino did always tell him that he had no chill.

Notes: Started before season 1 was released. Technically features Staticmoth but it's not the focus as much as Radiostatic (which honestly has a relationship status of ??? not romantic but also not friendship or even strictly enemies...just...Alastor and Vox). O_O I think about this fic on a daily basis.

Russian Roulette by spappest

Summary: Vox and Alastor play a game that Vox is way too excited to lose.

Notes: Started before season 1 release. Take note!!! I'm putting this on the Radiostatic list because it's almost entirely centered on Alastor and Vox's dynamic, but the romantic relationship is Staticmoth. The Staticmoth is just not featured very much.

Vox and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Afterlife by spappest

Summary: Alastor goes into rut.

Vox has a bad time. Then a good time. Then a very bad time. Then a brief vacation. Then a confusing time.

Notes: Background Staticmoth, but Radiostatic is most prominent. Funny af. Alastor and Vox have...a very special relationship. Lol.

Killer Ex by FanGirl48

Summary: Alastor was a serial killer who valued his privacy. So when someone who claims to know what he is tries to barge into his life he can't let them live, his secret must be protected at all cost.

A normally easy task easy task becomes complicated when Alastor's ex-boyfriend is dragged into the whole thing forcing the serial killer to go visit them for the first time in seven years.

Notes: Human AU. Love me some possessive Alastor. <3

Negotiations by FanGirl48

Summary: Vox had no interest in attending a meeting between Heaven and Hell following the failed attack by the Adam and his Exterminators. Alastor's little gremlin caused the mess, so he can go clean it up. Vox had nothing wanted nothing to do with the radio demon, king of hell or heaven.

But that was before Lucifer made the media overlord aware of Valentino's little job offer to his daughter.

Damnit Valentino!

Notes: "And they were roommates!" "Oh my god they were roommates"

Down, Up, and Back Down by CowboyEnthusiast

Summary: Vox dies. Surprisingly no one takes this well.

Or, Vox dies and Alastor tries to drag his soul back from Purgatory.

Notes: Another fic I think about daily... Heavy themes. Heed the tags.

Hold Me Like a Grudge by Rachello344

Summary: Alastor has spent a long time running from Vox. Vox has chased after him almost as long. When suppressants fail throughout the city, they finally collide.

Notes: Omegaverse. Fun fact about this author: all their Radiostatic fic titles are from Fall Out Boy lyrics lol. (I fucking love FOB sue me.) I haven't yet read all of Rachello344's Radiostatic fics, BUT I have them all on my To Read list because I've loved everything I've read of theirs so far lol.

What Makes You So Special? by Rachello344

Summary: With Lucifer’s return to the Pride Ring, the other Deadly Sins were bound to take notice. When Asmodeus stops by the Pride Ring to visit the Morningstars, the Vees are able to make a deal to host a pop-up shop of the incredibly popular Lust Ring establishment, Ozzie’s, bringing it to the Pride Ring for the first time.

When Vox and Alastor both attend the restaurant’s opening night, long repressed sparks fly, forever changing their relationship.

Notes: Because of the pacing of this (sex first romance later), I feel like this is the Radiostatic equivalent of Femalefonzie's Freak-A-Zoid (a really good Staticmoth fic). This is hands down one of the most romantic Radiostatic fics I've read. ^_^

Hold Me Tight (or Don't) by Rachello344

Summary: Alastor and Vox finally come to an understanding, both of each other and of what they each mean to the other. Their relationship evolves accordingly, one concession at a time, until they both get everything they could possibly want: power, companionship, and even love.

Notes: So, so good.

Keep You Like an Oath by Rachello344

Summary: Alastor normally wouldn’t bother with the chore—breaking into V Tower was quite a lot of work, even for him—but he found himself curious about what Vox and his little friends might be working on. Especially since whatever it was had Angel concerned enough to report back to the rest of the hotel about it.

Of course, before he can learn anything, he’ll need to sneak past Vox’s watchful eye…

Notes: God it's just...so good. Read it. Radiostatic reconciliation. One thing I love about Rachello344 writing Radiostatic is Alastor's terms of endearment for Vox. ^_^

To Be Yours by pinegreenapples

Summary: Alastor hears something he hasn't heard in years. He decides to investigate why now, of all times, this frequency has turned back on. Vox is not amused.

Notes: Hurt no comfort. Hurts so good, though. ;-;

oleanders in june by spoondrifts

Summary: It seems like while Alastor was off preying on the self-destructive addictions of desperate sinners, Vox was off getting himself beaten half to death, probably from spouting belligerent nonsense at someone with violent tendencies and a far lower threshold for disrespect than Alastor. Not everyone finds poor Vox’s chatter as charming as he does.

If Vox is unconscious, then Vox is not being entertaining, and Alastor came here to have fun, not play nursemaid.

Or: Drunk on power and itching to cause some mayhem, Alastor hunts down the only person in the city who's always up for anything. Unfortunately, he finds Vox... not exactly in tip-top shape. No matter; he can work with that too.

Notes: ^_^ Very sweet.

equilibrium by curtailed

Summary: Post-Finale. The Hotel finds Alastor right on the front lawn, unconscious and bleeding, still injured from Adam's blade. While he recovers, all of Hell scrambles to find out who his mysterious rescuer is.

Meanwhile, Vox tries not to freak out that he might have accidentally made a soul bond to save that deer asshole's life. All he had wanted to do was to scope out the ruins of Alastor's radio tower. Fuck him for being curious, he supposed.

Notes: This fic has me in a CHOKEHOLD. I love the characterizations so, so much. Manages to fit in humor alongside the angst. One of the best fight scenes I've ever seen put into words. Curtailed really took Vox and Alastor as characters and planned out a cool fucking fight scene using their unique abilities. I automatically love anything tagged with "one fell first but the other fell harder" lol.

candlelight by curtailed

Summary: Despite the #SirRepentious success, Heaven remains skeptical of a sinner's ability to change. Logic gets lost somewhere, and really, what's a better way to show sinners can be marginally less horrible than to stick two Overlords who hate each other in the same living space?

Alastor and Vox play house.

Notes: The comedy of Alastor and Vox being forced to be civil with each other and then unintentionally becoming very domestic together. Lol

wallow by curtailed

Summary: A 2+1 fic. Two times when Alastor and Vox were in a love triangle (hard quote on love, hard quote on triangle), and the one time Alastor had Vox to himself.

Notes: Only 1 (very good) chapter so far, but safe to say pretty heavy already. Heed the tags.

Addicted by Dancingdog

Summary: After the latest argument with Valentino, Vox finds himself at the Hazbin Hotel. An injured Alastor is less-than-pleased to see him, which is understandable considering they are enemies.

But as more and more of Valentino's venom leaves his system, Vox begins to remember his days before V-Tower and he learns exactly why Alastor rejected his offer all those decades ago.

His memories return in fits and spurts - not all of them good. His past with Alastor isn't something he expected and it turns out that he isn't the only one suffering.

Notes: Dude. This fic hurt me. Such good angst.

Radio Made the Video Star Series by songofhell

Summary: Snippets of Vox and Alastor's afterlife, and their journey from strangers to friends to enemies to... something more.

Notes: Pretty much what the series summary says - a series of installments that chronicle the beginning and subsequent evolution of Alastor and Vox's relationship. Very good, has tons of possessive!Alastor, which I die for.

Uneasy by Saezs

Summary: “Something’s wrong with Voxy.”

Velvette’s eyes snapped to the tall moth pimp. “And?” she prompted with a raised eyebrow. As if she needed to deal with two piss babies this close to a show. Valentino shrugged, tapping away on his phone, and walked away to stand threateningly close to her new models. Before she could snap at him, she saw it; his wings were twitching. Barely noticeable to strangers, just under the hum of the building’s lights, he was squeaking with each tap of his fingers. She felt unease and a healthy dose of aggravation swirl in her stomach.

Or: Vox was roofied and sexually assaulted. Velvette tries to be better than her mother. Unexpected connections are formed.

Notes: Heed the tags! Features genderfluid Vox. :)

Five Times Vox and Alastor Danced and One Time They Didn't by Drowsy_Salamander

Summary: “I say, good fellow, what are you doing on the ground like that?”

The voice was perky, cheerful, and bright. It had a crisp mid-Atlantic accent, the kind Vox remembered being all the rage for stage and film performers back when he first entered the broadcast industry. The diction was crystal clear with every sound enunciated separately to maximise clarity, the consonants clicked and the vowels were broad. It was a performer’s voice.

A voice for radio.

Oh shit.

... Five times Vox and Alastor danced and one time Vox and Alastor didn't.

From their first meeting through their friendship, to their enmity and fighting. From infatuation to yearning to animosity. Dancing is a partnership, is it not?

Notes: Each chapter so far has been a different type of dance, which is really neat. Especially chapter 2. ^_^ That said, there's a feeling of impending doom, knowing what happens to their relationship eventually... Not saying that as a deterrent but just a comment on how I felt while reading it lol. It's very sweet, which is why it hurts to think of future chapters. 🙃

Days Long Past by Momo52

Summary: All sinners of hell bore some physical marks of how they lived and died. Some physical manifestations were more obvious while others were subtle. Vox was not an exception to this rule.

While his television head was an obvious indication of his life while on Earth, the mark he bore from his death was far more subdued. Luckily enough, his shame was easily concealed behind a high collar. Unfortunately, he is just as well known in his afterlife as he was in his life. As such, trying to make everyone believe that he is so much stronger than what his death implies is a constant battle. He only wished that he wasn’t the hardest one to convince.

Notes: I think platonic Radiostatic is the endgame here. Still pretty early in the story, but I'm really liking this author's depiction of Vox and Alastor's pasts. Heed the tags. There are heavy subjects such as suicide (very big theme for Vox's pov) and period-typical racism (in Alastor's past) present in the story.

Remote Access by x-UsoTsuki-x (its_not_reael)

Summary: In the aftermath of Alastor and Vox's electrifying on-air showdown, Vox finds himself unusually rattled. His usual suave demeanor is slipping, much to his cohorts' amusement – and concern. Velvet can do little more than roll her eyes at his antics. Valentino, on the other hand, is convinced that all Vox needs to do is get fucked and relax.

or, alternatively...

The tech-savvy overlord manages to snag a virus from a porn site and finds himself in the arms of his worst enemy.

Notes: Fairly certain this is firmly Radiosilence based on the tags (and the direction of the story so far). Very funny, very hot. Vox is pathetic in this one. Lol

Nun-thing Like You've Ever Seen Series by A_Cypress_Coffin

Summary: Alastor, the feared radio demon with more blood on his hands than most of hell combined, wasn't always as we imagine him. There was a time where instead of a dapper suit and smile he donned a simple vow and habit. That didn't last of course, but the journey is quite something.

Notes: This author has a great sense of humor, lmao. I enjoyed the unique headcanons for Alastor's backstory. The tag that hooked me: "Accidentally becoming a better person through bad domming and found family".

Empathia by The_Oblivious_Swallow

Summary: Creating new technology is boring, sex is physically unappealing, the other Vee’s are so annoying, annoying, annoying! Even Vark, his baby, his pride and joy, doesn’t stir the same joy in his heart like he should.

So, Vox had concluded that it had to go. For his sake.

Notes: Contains Staticmoth, but Radiostatic seems like the endgame (I write this as there is one chapter still left). Really interesting idea. I love Vox.exe so much. ;-;

Every Madman Has His Vice by phantasm_png (chibellero)

Summary: “What the fuck do you want, Alastor? Was it not enough to kill me all those years ago? Now, you had to go for the people I loved and the only things I had left in this fucking Hellhole?”

“It was my fault,” Alastor whispers as he approaches Vox slowly, as if he was some sort of wounded animal he didn’t want to scare off. His prey. “Vox, I’m sorry. If I had a chance to redo that night, I would never have hurt you to this extent. I’ll never harm you again.”

“That’s seven years too fucking late, Alastor.”

OR: Seven years ago, instead of Alastor disappearing, it was Vox who left instead.

Notes: I’m so fucking here for this AU. Possessive Alastor, Vox helping with the hotel, Husk is still an Overlord, yessss

Metathesiophobia (Fear of Change) by phantasm_png (chibellero)

Summary: There's a lot that can change in seven years.

But never once had Alastor expected for something like this from his old rival and older friend.

Or, Alastor and Vox start to rekindle their old friendship again after a shocking discovery strikes the deer demon.

Notes: QPR Radiostatic with MtF Vox! Contains a smidge of Staticmoth, but it's in the background and not the focus. Very well written.

surimi and venison by phantasm_png (chibellero)

Summary: A series of short drabbles (500+ words) in an interconnected universe (peep the tags, they're still in hell), centering around Alastor and his new pet fish... shark... television thing. Will (hopefully) update 1-2 times a week. Written as my attempt at a Mermay series.

Notes: Like the summary says, Mermay prompts featuring SharkHybrid!Vox, along with Alastor, who literally saw Vox and decided to make him his pet. Lol.

an arm and a leg, my dear, les yeux d'la tête by phantasm_png (chibellero)

Summary: “I mean, usually when Val gets mad he gets like, super pissy too an’ starts destroyin’ shit ‘round the set and in his clubs, but like, usually Vox can calm him down. Problem is, where the Hell is that guy? I haven’t seen ‘im round the Tower for like, a month or two now. That ain’t normal.”

“What, so you mean he just up and left?”

“No, but like… he hasn’t been seen ‘in public’ for like, two months now. It’s startin’ to get suspicious. Like, I ‘unno if I’m just paranoid or something, but… Vox is like, the fuckin’ face of Hell’s Entertainment District. When he’s not round for a bit, that’s nothing to worry about on its own… but when he’s not round for a bit an’ Val and Velvette are creeping around, looking for his rival…? I mean… the dots are connecting. If Al did something…”

“If Vox was dead, we would know.” OR: Two months ago, Vox went missing. Right now, it seems as if Alastor has something to hide.

Notes: Vox gets attic-wifed and wears a virgin killer sweater. ^_^

we'll go down together in the ashes of our love by phantasm_png (chibellero)

Summary: Glimpses into the Radio Demon's life as he reluctantly navigates parenthood with his co-parenting partner and the demon princess hoisted onto him by the King and Queen of Hell.

Loosely inspired by Spy X Family.

Notes: CUTE! I love domestic Radiostatic.

What Has Been by Tianren

Summary: Vox has never known peace. From being the son of a egocentric cult leader, to being the boyfriend of a self absorbed abuser. Vox has managed to build a pretty sad life for himself. The only spot of sunshine that had ever blessed his existence was when he met an amateur true crime investigative journalist, with a podcast named, Alastor. The man was his only source of unfiltered news and contact to the world outside his father’s compound. But after Vox finally escaped the cult he waited for Alastor. Waited weeks in their assigned meeting spot just to be forgotten. Vox was convinced he’d stopped waiting for Alastor years ago until he meets the man again seven years later at a hotel. What will reconnecting with his past lead to and will it help him escape the hell he’s built for himself?

Takes place in the late 2000s early 2010s

Trigger warning for religious trauma and abuse as major themes of this story. Will add more warnings if they arise as I go on.

Notes: Really interesting human AU concept!

(Fic rec list to be continued)

#hazbin hotel #radiostatic #voxal #hazbin alastor #hazbin vox #fic rec list

114 notes · View notes

nyxcharliechaos · 4 months

Text

so me and @lemonking00 decided to make a tier list...but it's what neurodivergency/mental illness the cast of Hazbin/Helluva have

Explanations/are they medicated?/extra details or thoughts below because this will be a long post if I don't

ADHD- Millie: unmedicated, she just doesn't like it

Vox: medicated but OH BOY DOES HE FORGET, man will go 3 days without it before remembering then he's medicated for 4 days and they he's out of his ADHD medication! and it's ALWAYS when the pharmacy runs out and won't have it in for a few days

Bee: unmedicated she doesn't care she's just having fun

Clara: she's just here because LK said Odette was autistic and we wanted an ADHD/Autism sibling dynamic, I was going to skip them because we don't know much about either, she's properly medicated, Carmilla makes sure she takes her medication

Autism- Vaggie: we're all in agreement on this right?

Alastor: I know he's a sociopath but we've been joking he's autistic for a bit lol

Lucifer: his special interest is clearly ducks, yes he's canonically depressed but the autism is winnning

Sir Pentious: ok so everyone I know agrees with his so, mans got that autistic rizz

Vortex: ...ngl we just wanted him to be the ASD to Bee's ADHD being the ADHD/autism couple dynamic

Millie's dad: as stated by LK "he just seems autistic" and then explained farmers give off autistic energy, LK's the autistic redneck friend so I'll trust him on that

Lute: ...I have no explanation she just seems autistic, and like a homophobic homosexual

Zestial: so initially we put him in the group therapist tier but the autism won so we moved him

Odette: explanation for why she's here above

AuDHD (written as AUDI relating to a series of inside jokes but long story short half our friend group is AuDHD and one of said friends used to have an AUDI)- -Blitz special interest in horses, bad at emotions, he's not medicated, he should be on several medications, he's not on any of them

Charlie: ok hear me out, we all agree on the ADHD yes, but her dads got that tism ok, she would to. she is medicated, and Vaggie reminds her, but it's a gamble whether or not she'll take her medication even with a reminder

Cherri Bomb: ...bombs and just look at here that's my explanation for why she's here, no she's not medicated, there's other drugs, no it's not the same thing she doesn't care

Velvette: she's better about taking her medication than Vox is but she still forgets, always seems to run out around the same time as Vox...when they don't have the medication...being Valentino during that is great/j the two will lock the doors and make him deal with their unmedicated asses till the pharmacy has the medication again

Fizz: I don't think I need to explain why he's here, he's not medicated, he doesn't like the feeling and he likes himself better unmedicated, and Ozzie loves him either way so fuck getting his ADHD medication

Adam: simple explanation, ADHD and Autism is hereditary, so it had to come from somewhere and in the words of LK "it wasn't Eve, idk how but she's neurotypical", Adam doesn't believe people when they tell him he's AuDHD, so no he's not medicated

Emily: I'm not explaining myself, she is medicated and does take her ADHD medication on the daily, Sera will remind her and if she forgets after that Sera will just give her the medication

Depression- (depresso expresso because funny) Stolas: literally cannon, and while also Autistic unlike Lucifer the Autism is not winning

Octavia: I would be too if my family was that much of a mess

Barbie Wire: just fucking, look, no I'm not explaining this

Sera: (just makes gesture like, look at this bitch)

Twamatised- (referencing a joke in Gravity Falls) neither of these need explanations fucking look at the two that are here!

OCD- Moxxie: we actually added this catagory for him, he's just got those vibes

Niffty: I swear I remeber reading something on an old ZP era sketch dump saying she had slight OCD, I might be misremembering, probably, but got those vibes

Group Therapist- (fun fact this was initially a Husk only category but a lot more characters belonged in it then we thought) Husk: (points to episode 4) and yes depresso expresso as well but, I made this category for him so

Razzle & Dazzle, Fat Nuggets, Keekee, and the Egg Bois: all are here for similar reasons they're (basically) pets that bring joy and improve peoples mental states

Ozzie: I don't think I need to explain this one, since it's basically cannon

Rosie: ok so all the overlord are autistic (minus Vox), but they go to the category that takes priority and she's seen being a person you go to for advice so, this is just cannon

Carmilla: quote from LK "mom", that's why she's here, again all overlords are autistic (except Vox)

NDP- (narcissistic personality disorder) Verosika: we actually added this category for her so

Striker: ok this one's debatable but he definitely has a personality disorder of some sort

Valentino (KYS) was added just for Val to tell him to die

BITCH was added for reasons obvious if you look at the characters, no headcannons here we just wanted to call out these characters for being bitches

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thegoober010 · 3 months

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HI POOKIE COULD YOU PLS WRITE BF/GF HEADCANONS FOR ADAM AND LUCIFER AND LUTE OR FOR SOME MHA BOYS PLS I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOUR WRITING STYLE 🫀🫀

OMG YES POOKIE 😻😻!!!!!! ALSO I WAS THINKING I COULD DO BOTH HH AND MHA JUST SEPERATE >:D!!!! SO THESE WOULD BE THE HH HEADCANONS AND IF YA WANT MHA HEADCANONS JUST TELL ME WHICH CHARACTERS ALSO OMG TYSM I APPRECIATE THAT WAAAAAAAA 💗💗

ALSO I SAW YOUR OTHER INBOX AND DW I WILL ADD VOX BUT HES GONNA GET HIS OWN POST BECAUSE ITS IN ANOTHER LIKE ASK SO YUH ANYWAYS TEEHEE TIME FOR SOME HEADCANONS MFS 🗣🗣🗣!!!!!

TW/CWS -> none just SWEARING IG BUT ITS HH SO LIKE-!??!?!?!?!? YUH TEEHEE

GENDER NEUTRAL READER LIKE ALWAYS 😻😻

✞ Adam (aka Dickmaster) ✞

You two first met completely on accident, you were just chilling at an ice-cream shop and as you were walking out looking down at your phone- all of a sudden you bumped into some huge dude. You looked up at him about to say some shit until you realized IT WAS FUCKING ADAM WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!? It was a whole ass jumpscare fr

Notices your shock and asks if you want an autograph or some shit and from there you two just start talking (mostly talking shit about other angels/winners if we're gonna be honest)

You two almost immediately become friends as you talk shit over some good ice cream. And after a while you two give each other's number and hang out often! (he definitely brags about it to Lute as well)

Sometimes yall hang out with Lute or your own friends but most of the times it's just you two! And you both mostly gossip, make plans for the future, or do some stupid shit on impulse (like doing those stupid prank videos and almost committing a crime on accident in the process)

Definitely needs a lot of time to actually get attached to you. After Eve and Lilith he needs to build a lot of trust in order to actually get attached to someone, and in order to fall in love is a whole different story. He closes himself off to long-term relationships, going after mostly just hook-ups, he doesn't want to go through what happened before, in all honesty he's a bit- not scared but mainly hesitant- to get into actual long-term relationships due to what happened with Lilith and Eve. He'd rather chase over one-night stands/hook-ups as he believes they provide a 'good enough service' to fill up that emptiness in his love-life.

You two honestly got along super well, he was a bit surprised about it even, it was much easier for him to get attached to you than it was for well quite literally anyone else. Hell even he was surprised by how close you two got in such a short amount of time!

Oh you definitely have to confess first, it's not cause he's shy, oh hell no this mf is FAR from shy, he would not hesitate to flirt with you in public, but because he mostly doesn't want to risk you not liking him and things becoming awkward since he actually.. valued the friendship a lot, surprising I know, he didn't act on impulse and instead thought before he acted around you. So you'd definitely confess first, but if you 'took to long' in his standards then this mf would just go up to you one day and be like "Oh yeah btw I like you lmao wanna make-out" or some shit like that

Hear me out. Possessive. Like once you two are together this dude is POSSESSIVE AS FUCK. Genuinely, he wants- no- NEEDS all your attention on him at all times. He hates it when you're focusing on something else like some new post your favorite influencer made, or when you're cooking/baking something, he hates it. He's a bit childish in this sense but can you blame him?? After what happened with Eve and Lilith he needs someone who can give him as much attention as he'll give them.

PDA Police are on the HUNT for this dude I swear. He is not hesitant to show that you're his partner, in fact when you two finally make it official this dude announces it to anyone he passes by while walking, like actually some random winner will walk past you two and all of a sudden he wraps his arm around you and grabs the dude and says "Hey did ya know we're together YEAH WE'RE OFFICIAL I KNOW!!" while having the widest grin ever. He definetly enjoys having you around whenever there's meetings with Sera or with anyone else on that matter, he drags you along with him and gives you hugs/cuddles in public, definitely asks to make out in public (I mean what do you expect it's Adam- 😭), gives you pats on the head and sometimes if he's feeling nice he'll give quick kisses on the forehead or cheek. As I said the PDA police are AFTER him

You two have what yall call gossip dates and it's just where you two go back where you first met and gossip, somehow the dates always end up rather romantic??? Yeah gossiping turned to romance I know-. But you two find it super fun

You probably help out in managing the exterminations but don't even THINK about going yourself. After they found the decapitated angel he will NOT risk you going, plus it's not like you even could go since you're not one but just in case you thought about asking his immediate answer is "No??? What???" bro is not going to risk it.

One time he got really drunk. like. REALLY drunk and he took one look at you and went "Damn you're fine asf let me get that number" and you just stared at him before you laughed your ass off "Adam.. we're already dating you have my number" "oh... WE'RE DATING?" and he was in pure shock for a good hour or so before he passed out, you made sure to record everything though and as soon as he woke up the next day you showed him the video (let's just say he wasn't too pleased watching it but he wasnt shocked either or angry)

✞ Lute ✞

You two met while at a party by some winners and it was ment to be some heavenly welcoming party (although what people were doing there was anything but heavenly... anyways!!) While Adam was busy getting girls Lute stayed behind and was sitting on the couch obviously bored until you came by. You were pretty bored too and just sat with her, you two somewhat knew eachother due to you two meeting at other parties but yall never talked fully... until that day

Honestly you two were chill, at first it was quite awkward trying to talk but after a bit you two got along so well it was almost as if you two were best friends or something!

You two bonded over your shared hate for hell-born and sinners as well as how you two were basically at the top of your work force, she never mentioned what she did but there was a point in time where you mentioned being one of the top people at work and she mentioned she was as well!

After that party you both exchanges phone numbers (while Adam was making a huge deal out of it, I mean she does get asked for her number often but irs not often when she actually gives it to someone ya know)

Adam definitely makes her hang out with you, like whenever they have free days hell go out with Lute and try to find you so that you three can hang our and once he finds you he leaves you two by finding some excuse like "Oh yeah uh I gotta go uh feed my cockroach be right back" (jk he won't even make an excuse mf will just go)

Lute and you honestly don't mind yall just chill, and at some point as you two hung out one day you could see she was just staring at you... it was so random too like you just noticed randomly and all of a sudden she just confesses calmly and you're left there like "WHAT????"

Once you two make official just know that she's gonna be around you almost ALL the time. Ya know how she's always by Adam's side?? Yeah expect that for yourself but 10x more. And it's not like yall even have to talk no shell just be there and yall can be quiet as hell its super chill

Not much into physical touch by if you're into hugging and PDA then shell allow it but only to a certain extent. She's more of a gift giver and acts of service person!

Definitely does random work for you even when you don't ask. Oh you mentioned not wanting to do laundry? Boom!!! Done!!! Oh you just saw some donut and really want it? BOOM there ya go donut in your hand!!! Oh just woke up and dont feel like cleaning?? BOOM!!!The entire house is cleaned!!!

She tells you about the extermination and at one point you ask to go with her she'll definitely say no. She is not risking you dawg do not even THINK about begging 😭😭

I dont feel like shes much of a cuddles person but if you begged her to then she'll say yes as long as shes the big spoon

(Ima be fr I don't really have many hcs for the angels theyre a bit difficult for me fr ☹️☹️😔😔)

Lucifer Morningstar

You two met cause of Charlie, you were a sinner at the hazbin hotel, not really because you seemed redemption more like you seemed just a place to sleep in. But hey a member is a member!

You were the one who mainly had to come up to him first since this mf is not good with conversations at all, he's awkward as hell , fidgety, very random, and also he's pretty blunt so if he started a conversation he'd probably say something stupid on accident to you and get you mad or awkward so it's definitely best for you to start it... so you did!!

After what happened with him and charlie and their reconciliation that's when you started talking to him and you two... well it actually took a while for you to get comfortable around eachother but once you were you both were just talkinga bout random shit you like mostly him rambling about his creations, what his dreams were and so on and for you, you mostly jus talked about shoes you used to enjoy when human and such.

Lucifer isn't one to dabble in love as much as he used to. After Lilith and Eve left him he kinda just didn't want to get back into it, plus each one of his relationships not only failed but were with women who had been promised to Adam so that caused a lot of trouble at times within his relationships and also heaven itself. So he'd rather not get back into such mess but after you came into his life and listened to his ramblings and were just so nice to him he couldnt help but fall head over heels!

Oh it is so obvious when he starts liking you, he starts talking to you way more and fooling around, inviting you over to his place and giving way more pats on the back as well as 'jokingly' flirting with you. You quickly inferred he had a crush on you due to his new sudden strange behaviors

One day you just suddenly ask him if he likes you romantically and hes like.. SHOCKED. Like genuinely bro's '😦'. He's stammering and can't even form a sentence before he just nods quickly and you give him a smirk like "lol I knew it anyways i like you too so dw abt it." And then BOOM you're OFFICIAL!!!

Dont expect too much from him for the first week or more, he's still getting used to the fact you like him and is getting used to being official with someone again. He feels all fuzzy and warm inside damn he can't even talk to you without feeling like he about to throw up from happiness while being around you- it's kinda funny sometimes

You help him out a lot with his loneliness and since you two are together expect him to be very physical such as with hugging and cuddling, although at first he's not too into it later he gets really into hugs and such, afterall he's gotta make up for all those years where he hasn't been hugged or really touched in any way whether romantically or platonically bro is touch-starved

Bro his face will start heating up if he gets a small peck on the cheek or lips fr my mans cannot handle such affection without going crazy 😭🙏

He definitely makes you rate his little inventions, usually from a scale of rings like the scale of 1-7 how would you rate his ducks!!

Due to his depression he does have days where he acts rather off, bit you understand its not his fault its just that he's going through things and that's okay plus it's not like you aren't going through some things lets be fr, you two help ecahother a lot whether it's through helping eachother with some trivial home tasks or by helping eachother on your healing journey, you're there for eachother

Bro definitely asks if you wanna get married in the span of 4 months while being together. If you say no then he asks lies some other day until you say yes and he can plan when to do his proposal. But if you say yes immediatly just expect him to start making preparations for the damn honeymoon already 💀💀

You and Charlie become super close like REALLY close after she finds out about your relationship with her dad :)!!

Honestly one of the most healthy relationships you've ever been in fr, least toxic relationship in hell besides charlie and vaggie + angel dust and husk 😭

#Hazbin hotel #Hazbin hotel lucifer #Hazbin hotel Adam #Hazbin hotel lute #Hazbin hotel headcanons #Heazbin hotel fanfic #Hazbin hotel fluff #Bf/gf hcs #Headcanons

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moonlight-tmd · 7 months

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"According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way that a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyways. Because bees don't care what humans think is impossible."

I love that!! I wanna know prowlbee or blitzbee reactions! To both the remaining nubs of his wings and when he gets them fully back! Love the part-insecticon! bee au <33

This was bound to get quoted at some point, why am i surprised-

Ok so, to start this train off:

When Bee was injured none of them didn't knew what Waspinator meant- Bee's back was completely covered in energon and Bee himself had a hard time staying awake cuz of energon loss and pain. They were forced to wait outside medbay- after a long waiting perior Bee came out of medbay with Ratchet following close behind, They tried to talk to him but Bee just quickly retreated back to his room.

They all were really worried about him but what really caught eveyone's attention were the 2 short struts covered in tattered and sooted mesh of some sort hanging from his bandaid-covered back. They only saw it for a short time, standing in shock before Bee turned the corner and disappeared into his room.

"Were those...?" "Wings? Yes,.. or rather what is left of them." Optimus' sentence was finished by Ratchet. They asked few questions, confused and worried.

"All I know is that they've been like this for a very long time now. Beyond repair in my opinion." Ratchet said before telling them Bee was off-duty for the time he recovers and that they don't speak to him about his wings if he doesn't want to. (more under cut cuz long)

Alright, ProwlBee version: (1/2) (Scroll down to skip to BlitzBee)

Prowl was very worried, he always was when Bee got hurt. Whenever they talked about animals that can fly Bee was always a tad bitter- now Prowl knew why. After Ratchet had explained he tried to talk to Bee but he jsut locked himself inside his room and wasn't answering to Prowl speaking thru the door.

The next day Bee was mostly staying away from the group, he had a blanket over his back and shoulders to hide the wing-nubs. He was acting like nothing happened and he was just recovering from an injury but Prowl saw right thru that facade- Bee was hurting and grieving. Prowl pulled him to his room and comforted him- they talked. Prowl eventually asked about his wings- slowly Bee opened up to him, he said basically what Ratchet told them, it was clear he didn't really wanna talk about it but he still did. At one point Prowl asked if he can see them so Bee sat in front of him and pulled his blanket down-

"How did this happen?" Prowl's vox was quiet, unsure of the ground he was treading on right now.

"...You know how i told you i had a bad time at Carequarters?" Bee prompted. At one point of their relationship they shared their sparklinghood stories- Prowl knew Bee had been living in Carequarters before running away and living on the streets- the one Caretaker there was very abusive towards Bee especially, She had punished Bee for any reason- he endured physical or mental abuse, he was almost treated like a slave there. Prowl didn't like where this was going...

"She didn't-..." Prowl stuttered.

"She did...." Bee only said before going completely quiet. They just sat there, Bee's back and wings towards Prowl. Bee just stared at the floor, unable to do or say anything else.

The only thing that broke the long silence afterwards was Prowl's gentle hug and the spot he rested his helm of getting wet by his tears. Bee felt shivers on his back- Prowl let him go as soon as he felt Bee move away in fear he might have accidentally hurt him. They looked at each other and Bee started crying too. So they just sat there in a comforting hug.

Prowl was very gentle with Bee in his recovery. He made sure the blanket over his shoulders was secure and wouldn't fall off. Since Bee couldn't lay on his back or his sides cuz they hurt he was bound to recharge on his chassis, Prowl let him cuddle on top of him when they went to recharge together. He also helped him when Bee had to pick up stuff from the floor. He stayed by his side 24/7 almost.

If Prowl was watching a documentary about birds or insects that fly he's switch the channel, Bee has told him that he can watch them if he wants and that he won't be upset but Prowl insisted that he can watch repeats on his own and right now he wants to watch something both of them would enjoy. It's a small thing but it brought a smile to Bee's face.

So after Bee recovered and his subspace was put back into place nothing really happened. Only like about 2 months later Blackarachnia showed up with her weird bug-robots with acid weapons something did happen- she shot Bee with a dart with some toxin and he started to act weird. He was all sleepy and hungry all the time. Ratchet didn't know what happened- his systems seemed fine but there was definitelly something up. Bee was also getting sensitive to touch, he avoided it almost- one night despite Prowl insisting he recharge with him, he refused and said he just needed to rest by himself for a little.

And that's the night it happened.

Bee was unaware of what was happening- he tossed and turned in his berth, knocking all plushies and covers off. Some weird substance began leaking out of his transformation seams and intake. He rolled in it and slowly, layer after layer a cocoon was formed.

The next day Prowl woke up later than usual, the rest of the team was already awake by the time we got out of his room to refuel. Sari(upgraded), who was at the base, went to see how Bee was doing- they heard a scream and rushed to his room- only to find the metallic cocoon laying on his berth.

Everyone was panicking, what is this, what happened, did Bee die- "That... looks like a cocoon." Prowl managed to break thru the shock and worry and answer their question. He didn't know what happened.

After everyone has somewhat calmed down they interviewed Prowl for answers since he was all about creatures and animals- he already knew what to do in winter when the team learned Bee was part-insecticon. And so, the cocoon was moved to medbay to monitor if Bee's still alive in there- it was tricky cuz whatever it was made of blocked the life signature except for few places.

So nothing has happened and everyone was anxious, then about 3 weeks later when Sari was checking on the cocoon while the team was having a talk in the main room she heard... knocking? She looked closely and saw a crack forming on the cocoon and more scratching sounds.

"GUYS- SOMETHING'S HAPPENING!" She yelled as she flew out into the main room for a moment before rushing back in medbay with the rest following. They all gathered around the medberth the cocoon was on watching as more cracks formed... as the cocoon was almost open, Prowl remembered something particular about insecticons hatching.

"Wait- I don't think we should stand this clo-" Prowl tried to warn them but it was too late- the cocoon exploded open and all the slimy stuff sprayed on Optimus, Bulkead and Prowl. Ratchet didn't risk it so he stood a litte further away and Sari hid behind Optimus just in time.

They had little time to act grossed out before something began to move inside the open cocoon- slowly a little clawed servo appeared at the edge, then another,.. and then Bee's helm with a sleepy expression.

"Ughhh, what happened?..." He said as he blinked open his optics, he looked at his servo. "Why am I all slimy 'n' stuff?"

The others were relieved to see him alive. Optimus helped him out of the cocoon cuz he was stuggling a little- the slimy dripped off of his frame as Optimus held him up and placed him next to it on the medberth. His frame was different- covered in some sort of ruffled- fur? He also had a metal abdomen- or his subspace on his rear. It was all kinda sticky cuz of the slime but it had dried off rather quickly. He was a bit dizzy when the others explained what happened, he didn't even know it was possible. At some point he shook himself off from the remaining moisture and that's when his wings lifted- presenting themselves in their full glory, spread behind his back.

Bee was confused until they mentioned what was on his back- he tried to turn around and get the best look at them as possible- it was... how? He was so joyous and confused and panicked and flabergasted- he did start crying a little his wings fluttered rapidly cuz he was so happy- he almost flew off the medberth cuz of how fast his wings moved.

They spend the rest of the evening marveling at what Bee has become- surpriusingly the insecticon genes only affected his root mode- his car alt mode was completely intact besides having fluffy seats now.

Prowl was actually overwhelmed- Bee was okay and alive, but he also was something different! He was already fascinated by the cocoon and very curious what Bee will look like when he comes out but this was more that he imagined. Especially when Sari made a grand discovery when she hugged Bee after he dried off from the slime- he was soft. Very soft. She literally buried her face in his fluff and wouldn't let go. Prowl has tried to hold off from touching Bee too much- he was still very cuddly when it came to public affection. But BOY once they were all alone getting ready to recharge- Prowl has trapped Bee in a hug and buried his faceplate in his collar-fluff and DID NOT let go even after they woke up the next morning. He helped Bee learn how to hover and fly, Bee would pick him up and they'd fly in circles around the plant all the time. Another thing was that Bee buzzed when he was happy- his wings fluttered and made sound that could be put on same level as purring. It was adorable. His glossa became interesting too- it was oddly long and could act like a straw. Prowl was not amused when Bee decided to leave a long, wet lick on his faceplate as a joke.

Bee was so happy and Prowl was so happy for him- If he thought Bee was cute before then now that cuteness has tenfolded.

Aight so now is the BlitzBee version: (2/2) (this one is a little better in my opinion. So to spare you reading back and forth i will just copy-paste story parts over to this version and make this post longer :3 )

Blitzwing has switched sides a while ago, Megatron and other 'cons have been captured with his help. Everything was fine- then Waspinator showed up and hurt his little hummel. He was anxiously waiting outside medbay, it's been almost 2 hours since Bee got in there all bloody. The doors opened and Bee stepped out, Blitz was quick to rush to him but Bee dodged him and quickly retreated to him room. Blitz was about to call out but the words died in his vocalizer as he saw a familiar shaped struts sprouting from Bee's patched up back. He knew what those were at first glance- and the state they were in was horrifying, even if he saw them for just a short moment. He barely registered what Ratchet said, he went after Bee in amidst conversation.

They were quartered together since the start of Blitz being an Autobot, he had the right to go into his own room- he knocked and called out to Bee, when he didn't get an answer he slowly opened the door and peeked in- Bee was bundled up in the big blanket on their shared, enlarged berth. He came in, closed the door and sat next to Bee. Bee didn't want to talk at first and stayed quiet, but few prompting words form Blitz did the trick and Bee started talking a little. Blitz asked about the wings and why didn't he tell him. Bee told him there was no point in showing cuz they're useless anyway and he often forgot he even had them.

"How long have zhey been like zhis?" Blitzwing has asked soon.

"Long enough for the thing you call "Grounder Disease" to fully develop..." Bee has answered, sadness in his voice always present.

"The Caretaker said that 'Autobots having wings is wrong'... so she burned them..." Bee simply said when Blitzwing asked what made them like this. At one point of their relationship they shared their stories from the past- Blitz knew Bee had been living in Carequarters before running away and living on the streets- the one Caretaker there was very abusive towards Bee especially, She had punished Bee for any reason- he endured physical and mental abuse, he was almost treated like a slave there. Blitz didn't say anything. After a very long silence the only thing heard was a quiet whirl of his faceplates changing as he pulled Bee into a gentle yet firm hug. Bee felt Blitzwing shake, he felt the wetness growing on his shoulder but he didn't do anything except lean into the hug. Blitz was crying- mourning the tragic and unfair loss of the one thing every flier cherished. He couldn't imagine living without his own wings- whenever Bee went flying with him he always marveled at the beauty of the sky and the view from up above. Knowing that Bee could have had experienced such wonders independently and freely hurt- he was robbed of something before he even knew it. Blitz was there, his hotheaded personality silently crying while holding Bee close ot his Spark, the emotions locked inside brewing a storm while the outside stood still.

Blitz was extremely gentle and protective of him in his recovery, often opting to carry the minibot aroudn instead of letting him walk on his own. He spoke to Bee about his wings sometimes, never pushed Bee to talk if he really didn't want to. Blitzwing was the only one Bee would let down the blanket for and let him see or touch the damaged nubs of wings he had. Bee was embarrased to show him- Blitzwing had such beautiful and strong wings and he... he just had those dark, weak things growing out of his back for no purpose. At some point when Blitz was looking over Bee's broken pride he asked if he wanted to regain control over them.

"But what the point? They're useless anyway..." Being Bee's answer. His wings were broken, he couldn't fly so what was the point in wanting them to move?

"Maybe... but knowing zhey are zhere is a very important zhing zhat any flier would tell jou." Blitz said. Bee never responded to that so he dropped the topic- what he didn't know was that this has been haunting Bee's processor for the rest of his recovery days.

Once Bee was getting fixed by Ratchet and it was just them 2, he asked the medic about the Grounder Disease Therapy.

"I mean, i know they're useless and i'll never fly with them... but it still would be cool if i could move them again." Bee confessed then, the tiniest tug on his derma forming a hopeful smile present. Ratchet agreed to help him.

So, from then on Bee's been going to medbay with Ratchet everyday- the others noticed that and were worried but Bee clarified everything was fine. Blitzwing however was near panicking cuz Bee didn't tell him about what was wrong and why he's in medbay so often. As the 2 week mark hit Bee pulled Blitz into their room and locked the door. He was oddly happy having just gone out of medbay. Blitz couldn't take it and nearly yelled at Bee to tell him what is wrong. Bee explained that he remembered what Blitz said about that therapy- he sat in front of him, back facing Blitzwing, his subspace clicked and slid down revealing the sad little wing-nubs. But Bee wasn't all sad like last time, in fact he todl Blitz to look closely- after few small grunts something happened; Bee's wing-nubs have twitched.

Bee was so happy and so was Blitz. He was there every step of the way, Bee's area on the back with wings was always numb but with the therapy ongoing he was beginning to get the feeling in it again. One day after 2 months of therapy when Blitz was chatting with Bee and running his servos along his back to soothe the soreness after therapy , he felt a tickle on his servos. Bee was laughing and if he looked down he would see these 2 little tattered nubs twitching happily.

"Blitz?" Bee asked when Blitz has been quiet for too long.

"Hummel... JA DOING ZHE HAPPY FLUTTERS!!" He began to say before switching to his random face and picking Bee up and spinning with him. "HOORAY FOR HAPPY FLUTTERS! HAPPY BEE GO BUZZ BUZZ!!"

Few days later however, things took a turn- Blackarachnia showed up with her weird bug-robots with acid weapons something happened- she shot Bee with a dart with some toxin and he started to act weird. He was all sleepy and hungry all the time. Ratchet didn't know what happened- his systems seemed fine but there was definitelly something up. Bee was also getting sensitive to touch, he avoided it almost- Blitzwing was very worried, Bee has stopped cuddling up to him. One night Bee just wasn't feeling it at all and said he just needed to rest by himself for a little. So Blitz was recharging on the couch that night.

And that's the night it happened.

Being adjusted to function in the night cycle most of the time, Blitz woke up way later than when Bee did. It was Prowl who woke him up, the rest of the team was already awake. Sari(upgraded), who was at the base, went to see how Bee was doing- they heard a scream and rushed to his room- only to find the metallic cocoon laying on his berth.

Blitz was so scared and confused- he knew he should have not left Bee alone- what happened?? Everyone was panicking, what is this, what happened, did Bee die- Blitz wanted to rip whatever this thing was open and get Bee out but Prowl stopepd him.

In the meantime Prowl and Sari were on a research quest trying to put the pieces together about bugs and insecticons- Blitz was very much panicked and freaked out when he heard that bugs melt inside cocoons- He refused to acknowledge it as true.

"Wait- I don't think we should stand this clo-" Prowl tried to warn them but it was too late- the cocoon exploded open and all the slimy stuff sprayed on Optimus, Bulkhead, Blitzwing and Prowl. Ratchet didn't risk it so he stood a litte further away and Sari hid behind Optimus just in time.

"Ughhh, what happened?..." He said as he blinked open his optics, he looked at his servo. "Why am I all slimy 'n' stuff?"

The others were relieved to see him alive. Blitz helped him out of the cocoon cuz he was stuggling a little- the slimy dripped off of his frame as Blitz held him up and placed him next to it on the medberth. His frame was different- covered in some sort of ruffled- fur? He also had a metal abdomen- or his subspace, on his rear. It was all kinda sticky cuz of the slime but it had dried off rather quickly. He was a bit dizzy when the others explained what happened, he didn't even know it was possible. At some point he shook himself off from the remaining moisture and that's when his wings lifted- presenting themselves in their full glory, spread behind his back. Bee was confused about their expressions until Blitz spoke up-

"Jour vings... Zhey're- switch ZHEY'RE SO PRETTY!!"

Bee tried to turn around and get the best look at them as possible- it was... how? He was so joyous and confused and panicked and flabergasted- he did start crying a little his wings fluttered rapidly cuz he was so happy- he almost flew off the medberth cuz of how fast his wings moved.

"HAHAHA! Don't get too happy now- or jou might fly avay!~" Blitz had joked as he caught Bee mid-air.

Blitzwing was so happy- Bee was alive! And also cuter than ever! Sari made a grand discovery when she hugged Bee after he dried off from the slime- he was soft. Very soft. She literally buried her face in his fluff and wouldn't let go. Blitzwing wouldn't either- he would not stop hugging Bee at all- the whole time they talked Blitz had him on his lap. He was very gentle and considerate towards his wings too. Speaking of- Bee had put them on full display once they were alone in their room. They were so beautiful, the most beautiful wings he had ever seen. Of course Blitz would not have it any other way than to bury his faceplate in Bee's fluff for recharge, Bee had a odd but nice smell to him after hatching it was so surprising.

Blitz helped him learn how to fly and before they knew it Bee was zooming all around the base happily. Another thing was that Bee buzzed when he was happy- his wings fluttered and made sound that could be put on same level as purring. It was adorable. Some time after his hatching Sari and Bee were jokingly teasing one another, she has made a funny face at Bee with here tongue sticking out and Bee decided to mimic it- the look on everyone's faces when his glossa came out 5x as long, similar to Blitzwing's black face glossa. It was certainly interesting... Blitzwing now knew how it felt when he shoved his glossa down Bee's intake in a french kiss. It also acted as a straw for some reason which was a cool feat.

All in all, if he thought Bee was cute before then now that cuteness has tenfolded.

GEEZ THAT IS LONG- HOPE YOU SURVIVED THE TEXTWALL ONSLAUGHT.

#maccadam #tfa #ask box #blitzbee #prowlbee #tfa au #part-insecticon!bumblebee au #long post

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popculturebuffet · 1 year

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Tal'Dorei Travelouge: Season 2 Episodes 4-6: Creed: The True Threat to All of Tal'Dorei

Hello all you happy people! It's week 2 of Tal'Dorei Travelouge, my weekly look at Legend of Vox Machina season 2 as it comes out and this was both popular enough last week and not as much time out of my schedule as I thought despite being utterly swamped. So we're back for this week as we get something close to a beholder, Vax makes a bargin with death because surely those always end well, Keyleth passes through fire, and Scalan sings for a Sphinx and lets us know creed exists in this universe. All this and more under the cut, full spoilers for this weeks episodes.

Those Who Walk Away: So we start with the second half of a two parter.. and while I expected the secret origin of Trinket at some point, saved by Vex by trappers and thus bonded to her for life. What I didn't expect was for it to gut me so much, as not only does Vax have to mercy kill his mother but he watched. That poor baby bear. Anyways this week we more suprises as when they rejoin the party with us.. never finding out what happened in that hallway apparently, Kashaw reveals ressurection magic STILL EXISTS.

I assumed it'd just be sidestepped completely, with any near deaths just being severe injurys, but it's nice to have as , without spoiling when how or why, there are some pretty sizeable death scenes i'd love to see adapted i've heard of one genuinely dramatic, crushing and leading to a fairly brutal payback.. and the other being entirely stupid in the best way possible. That said they impliment it well, in a way that's less dragon ball z "DEATH DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE YOU GET A FREE SUNDAE", and instead "It's possible but VERY unlikely it'll work and takes expert skill to pull off", throwing in the fact that our main healer PIke.. has never done one and only does this one with Kash's help. There's also the fact this one.. very nearly dosen't work until we get a line i'd heard of thanks to some fan art.. and that is utterly awesome "Take me instead you raven bitch". In one act Vax sacrfices himself. And i'd like to , thanks to said world of critical roll book, if I may, share the real world story for this as it's utterly fascenating. So when Liam O'Brian did this.. he had NO expectation Vax would live. None. He wanted to save his close friends character, and figured "Well this is done, i'll roll my next character, it's a big sacrifice but it's worth it". Matt... didn't let him off so easy and instead had her take it in another way: Vax becomes the Matron of Raven's champion. As you can probably guess little good can come from this in the long run but in the short I do like that it gives Vax some new heads up: it gives him visions of the calamity allowing him to figure out where the sphinx is.... and he now has instinctual knoweldge of said events.. he dosen't know how he just does. That dosen't come into play until our third.

This also means he has to do a test.. and at a bad time as Zahara decides to go full on antagonist and dump a legally distinct from a beyonder creature on them, nearly killing everyone, all because she assumes the take should have the Deathwalker's Ward.. despite it MANIFESTING on Vax's chest.

Kash naturally nopes out of this and eventually helps, but it's a very tense, very awesome fight as one by one our heroes fall, and it's left to Vax. Vax's trial is also neat as he fights Perve On ina battle.. only to realize it's one of those "don't fight it" tests, to accept death so to speak. So as a result Vax gets a fuckton of neat new abilities I love> one is a nod to the stream: in said stream Vax had some kickass boots that were horribly broken as Matt didn't think about the fact they basically gave him super speed when he ported them over from Pathfinder. IT's one of the things I loved about finding out more of the show from the book: Even with an expertly crafted world Matt is just as prone to mistkaes. Purvan's name was another one of those. He may still be a genius who fucking crafts entire battlefields with expert percision... but he can still goof up.

So to compromise, the ablities are now part of the deathwalker's ward instead, which makes more sense and thus makes vax a combo of the flash and spiderman, able to dart around, easily dodge the creature, then throw a knife in it's goddamn eye. Just like the green goblin and his famous catchphrase "OH GOD THERE'S A KNIFE IN MY EYE WHY IS THERE A KNIFE IN MY EYE".

Kash and Zahara leave the party, and it's clear Vax feels dammned by this.. and while I didn't notice it at first, his personality changes a lot after this: he's no longer as happy go lucky, snarky ... he knows something's wrong with him, he's bound to death and he can't escape it, and he almost lost one of the two people he can't afford to loose. It's easy to see why he shifts but it's heartning to see a guy who while dour was at least happy so miserable and serious. He also punches Percy in the gut for trying to apologize. Granted it's realistically done: Vax simply says not now and CLEARLY isn't in the mood to accept it and Percy at least means well: he's clearly not trying to justify it he just.. feels terrible he nearly got the woman he loves killed and wants to apologize. It's clear the party isn't in a great place and it's not going to get much better.. well for most of them anyway. It also brings up something I like about this season so far: the character focus. Last season had a few arcs for everyone: Keyleth got a better grip on her anxiety, PIke came to terms with who she is, and Vex realized what a bitch she'd been to keyleth... but Percy was the clear center: the briarwoods were his mission, his purpose and letting go of his vengeance was his cross to bear. This isn't a bad thing: Percy is a great character and everyone still had plenty to do, and they were ultimately limited by the story itself: the first major arc they needed to do was Percy's so he got the lions share of the focus. It was also only two stories really with the pilot being more setup and the rest being the long war between our heroes and the briarwoods and between percy and his desire for vengance.

In contrast season 2 is a bit more episodic: there's still a clear main story in the conclave and the vestige hunt, but each adventure is it's own thing for the most part. Even though the first two episodes are back to back in how the story is they feel like two entirley diffrent stories that build up to the larger one. only the Sunken Tomb and Those Who Walk Away has felt like one huge episode, and that was fair given everything that happened.

And honestly.. I like it. It reminds me of when Final Space did a similar thing with it's second season. The one big story approach isn't terrible, it works for plenty of shows, but to me having little stories within the bigger one allows for more character and world stuff between the bigger plot moments and lets the subplots breathe: we got ample build up to where the twins are now, and plenty of background lurking of Grog and his growing dependance on Craven edge, who continiues to hunger. It allows the season to really build while letting everyone shine. So far we've had major arcs for Grog, Vax, Vex to an extent , Pike tagging along for grog's, and now ...it's keyleth's turn

Pass Through Fire: Pass Through Fire is a great example of this, as while it's an okay episode overall, it really does add to the season. It also shows me the team learned form last season as in hindsight, like I said, the focus was pretty percy shaped, with just enough else for it to not be a problem. So it's clear the team made sure with this season and it's wider scope everyone gets a chance to really get fleshed out.

In this case Keyleth deals with the fact her mom never came back from her armante, and allows it to explain why said Armante.. wasn't at all important to season 1 besides a passing mention: Keyleth has been actively avoiding finishing it as she's scared of both leadership and ending up like her mom. It adds layers to her anxiety, which was already relatable enough to me being someone who also suffers from it: part of it is just being afraid she's not good enough, something I painfully feel all the time. We also get Scalan singing while he thinks Grog is taking a dump and Grog trying to hide his talking new murder friend sword from everyone. It's not deathly important but Il ike the building tension: the sword wants blood and he dosen't care who he gets it from. Which wasn't a problem with Sylas: if his sword got hungry he could just go stab a dude and share a meal with what I now assume was his best friend. Like .. they went on picnics and stuff. He sang at Silas and Delilah's vow renewal. They were tight.

Point is it's nice to see her get this focus and to bring up a valid condrum, as while she considers visting the fire ashari since their close, it goes from a passing curosity they don't have time for.. to a deadly danger they dont' have time for as the volcano their in errupts. And it normally dosen't do that. It also nicely shows how badly Vax is rattled by events as he's so focused on the mission he snaps at Keyleth they don't have time and she storms off.. well Mighty Hawks off

And the rest all give him a what the hell and go to save her. The ensuring fight is decent, though the visuals can get chaotic. Long story short someone opened a portal to hell and Keyleth's dad needs her help closing it. He's of the air ashari, a group of nomads of various races, mostly elves, who help people, each one coresponding to an element. And if your wondering "That kinda sounds avatar the last airbender".. your exactly correct as Marisha was a fan of the show, had just watched through it and wanted to do something like that. It also nicely built in a reason for her character to gradually get stronger.

We also get Kim and Allura and the reunion feels off: i mean the gang being happy tos ee them alive, if baffled is nice.. but they really never bonded or antyhing the way they did with their stream counterparts, so it feels like their just writing them the way that's easier. It does make some sense as the group did save Tal'Dorei. As for how their alive Allura teleported them in time, they investigated this, and as it turns out it's their fault: like in the stream Allura was also part of an adventuring party once with Kima, and they fought Thordak. There's even a nice easter egg of one of the party being a dragonkin, as sir not appearing in this cartoon Tiberius Stormwind, played by Orion Akaba, was an early party member and also kind of a prick, but WAS close to allura, so ti's a nice nod to that and shows that despite how the parting wasn't the best even if it was likely for the best the gang hasn't forgotten where they started.

Point is Keyleth has to as you'd guess overcome her difficulties to pass through fire, that's the title, and gain control of the fire elment, sealing the portal, kiling the fire drakes and saving the day. I don't have a ton to say about this one: Keyleth's character growth is really nice, her new outfit is lovely, and of course i'm always going to support some Vaxleth ship tease and kima and allura kissing, with both planning to head to whitestone.. though we get some foreshadowing as the elven city seemingly.. vanished. And given we're going to the feyrealm next week, there was a sudden vanishing and the twins dad is a known asshole they have some issues to unpack with... yeah I can see exactly where this is going.

Into Rimecleft: This was easily the week's best , and that's not downtalking the rest: Pass Through Fire was fine and Those Who Walk Away was truly excellent. Neither are bad.. this episode was just esepcially good as it went. The starting nightmare helped: Prime Video picked THIS as the preview clip some reason despite not only showing Vex survivies, which isn't a huge twist but still maybe don't tell people who don't know critical roll that, but a fairly brutal scene. Still said scene is effective showing that Grog, despite badly clinging to craven edge, is deeply afraid of what Craven Edge means for him and sees where it could go and the image of PIke reaching out to him wondering why he killed her is TERRIFYING. We then get a nice tonal shift as we go from the deeply terrifying opening, to Pike genuinely trying to get grog to open up.. to one of the funniest jokes in the series as while Pike TRIES to get Scalan's help on this his response is to do his best creed impression and say "Dosen't every man play with his sword a little?" I fucking lost it and I kick myself for not repeating it a few times like Purvan. IT's pure comedy gold, and I didn't expect Sam to pull an OSW, but here we are and it was brillant. I want a full version of that song. I also want to know of Creed exists in Emon. LIke.. Scanlan is basically Eminem, long story, so it's probable but i'ts rife with terriffying implications, like that the infection has spread to alternate planes of existance, that Scanlan might one day form creed, that maybe the dragons shoudln't be the thing Vox Machina wipes out first. Just saying Dragons come and go but creed will linger like a wet fart for a decade unless they stamp that shit out NOW.

Anyways onto the important stuff: Percy gave Vex his jacket. Damn that was cute... not only her taking it but him blushing. percy fucking blushed. I didn't know he was capable. He's so pale and british but it happened. It happened and i'm glad. The real treat of the episode though is Tony Plana as Kami.... i'm using Scalan's nickname on the ground there is no way in whatever Tal'Dorei has that functions as hell that I will be able to spell that correctly multiple times. Plana is one of those actors you see in a lot of stuff but generally not starring, though he's voice acting royalty for starring in a game i'll likely cover at some point, Grim Fandango. At any rate he's gold here as he offers vox machina your usual challenge: defeat 70 death gorgons, survivie the labyrinth of misery or wound Kami once... which no one has ever pulled off. Yeah unsuprisingly our heroes pick the last one, aka the dumbest option.. well okay everyone but grog picks that one. Though what I like is while ti's an obvious trap.. it's also a nice show of how off his game Vax is: While he can be impulsive, normally he's one of the group's cheif strategiests, alongside his sister and percy. But here he's just like "I THINK ONE OF US CAN SCORE A DAMN HIT". The line sounds like him but the actions aren't.

So unsuprisingly it's quickly down to Scanlan, and what he'd do to solve it was blindingly obvious to me: he'd never been wounded, you can't hit him.. but he never said the wound had to be physical. And he just so happens to have a mate he hadn't seen in centuries. What makes this show, this character and this moment special though.. is the how. Scalan singing a song is obvious, he's a bard.. but him singing a fucking power ballad, along with a projection of osisya, and the entire sequence being as stunning as it is heartbreaking, that is what makes this show magic. I also love the heart to heart after, wtih Scanlan admitting he knows romance well enough, but has never actually been in love.. something I painfully relate to, as I do just chasing and chasing it. Kamoji's advice really hit

As a result the rest of Vox Machina are restored, and have a hearty group "the fuck" when they find Scanlan has a new pal. But eh it gets Scanlan a neat new sword, mythcarver and the location of the next two vestiges: one is in the feywild, which Keyleth might be able to get to, so it's no problem. The other.. is in westrunn. And while our heroes didn't know it till now, we've been seeing it ocasionally as Umbrasyl has conquered it and gotten the help of the local goliaths... including Grog's own Uncle.. and what I like is while Pike chalks up his reluctance to face him when he finds out his gauntlets are a vestige as his behavior.. we can tell it's NOT Craven Ed. I won't spoil whu for those who haven't seen the campaign or like me seen campaign spoilers, as we'll likely dive headlong into Grog and PIke's backstory next week. For now instead.. it's time for something series original. See part of that westrunn footage.. was giving Dr. Ripley a bit more of an active roll as she has some sort of magic Jareth ball that allows her to see what's going on.. and thus uses that as leverage with Umbrasyl, getting him to go after vox machina. As such our heroes meet the final boss of the season early and Kamy does his best to help. .but ultimately it's not enough. It' sa great battle.. but our heroes simply aren't ready as they have all of one vestige after Umbrasyl steals Mythcarver and while Kamy does his best.. he's simply not up to dragon level and has a very tragic death saving Scanlan. The entire fight is just brutal and hopeless, with Grog being the only one to put up a fight.. and it's not a good thing as Craven Edge fully posseses him to give him the

But also casues one of the most brutal scenes of the series as Grog FUCKING STABS PIKE FOR REAL, something I was not prepared for..l nor I was the twist of the party getting scattered: Keyleth, The Twins and Percy end up in the Feywild and Scalan, Pike, Grog and Fucking Asshole Sword Man end up in Westrunn i'm guessing, hence forth known as Team Double Date and Team Stabbed in the Gut. What will happen to these valient teams/ We'll find out next week. Thanks for reading.

P.S. I think I forgot to mention it but NEIN NEIN! I'm super excited about this deal as it not only means seasons 4 and 5 are in the bag, but spinoffs a plenty are all but assured, as is The Legend of Bells Hells in a few years when that's finished.

#the legend of vox machina #critical roll #grog strongjaw #scanlan shorthalt #keyleth #percy de rolo #vex'halia #vax'ildan #pike trickfoot #craven edge

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superfrumpkin · 3 years

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WORTH IT.

Read it on AO3

You always knew this day would come. In fact, you knew you had many of them ahead of you. And yet, when your necklace starts glowing, you feel the dread creeping up, the fear of finding out who's turn it was.

As if she could hear you, Pike's broken voice comes through in your mind: "Kiki, it's Grog. Please, come to Whitestone".

As quickly as you could, you let your father know, open up a portal, and you're out of the Sun Tree. Vex'ahlia, tears in her eyes, and Percy, holding her by the shoulders, are waiting for you there.

You hug them both tight, and you head to Sarenrae's temple, where Pike and Scanlan are standing beside a lifeless Grog.

He looks peaceful. His hulking form isn't menacing with his eyes closed, and his mouth so relaxed. It was time.

You let a few tears fall, hold the gnomes, and you have a small service for the goliath.

You then head to a tavern and drink his beloved ale in his honor, reminiscing of all the good times.

"To Grog Strongjaw, Grand Poobah de Doink of All This and That" a slightly drunk Percy shouts "a great fighter and an even greater friend!"

"To Grog!" You all cheer.

Just as the day begun, it comes to a close. You're all tipsy, and teary eyed. You say your goodbyes and head back to Zephrah, your heart a little heavy.

You carve a space for a cup of ale next to the shrine to the Raven Queen, and head to sleep.

A few years go by, you visit Whitestone from time to time, get to see all the De Rolos grow up, share a knowing smirk with Percy when Cassandra finally introduces her girlfriend to all of you.

You participate to all the great events, the weddings, the births, the tearful final goodbyes to your allies.

Allura introduces you and the Tal'Dorei council to a group of colorful individuals from Wildemount, called the Mighty Nein (but there's eight of them? No one says it but you all think it), who apparently had saved the World and managed to let it go undetected.

You recognize them from your mother's stories, they are the ones who brought her back to you.

You thank them profusely, and you catch the redhead wizard blush as the white haired drow next to him smiles and rubs his shoulder, and stifle laughter knowingly when you see the dark skinned woman, the pale and tall one who was holding her hand and the blue tiefling all looking at Vex with their mouth open. The yellow clad halfling smacks them subtly as their half orc friend politely smiles at all of you.

It's funny, you knew the feeling of being caught staring at Vex'ahlia very well.

You see Percy grow a beard that makes him look older and cheer loudly alongside Vesper when with an excited "Auntie Keyleth, look!" she druidcrafts a snowdrop in her hands.

A few years later, as you're tending to the needs of your people, the necklace pulsates again. You have a suspicion this time, and your heart clenches.

Coming out of the Sun Tree once again, you can see the whole atmosphere is somber. Black flags with the Whitestone crest glowing gold wave in the breeze, falling from the Castle's large windows.

You lean against the Tree that's become like a friend to you.

"Hey, Keyleth. It's quite the sad day. I can feel the grief of the whole city in my roots."

Tears fall and you ask what you already know.

"It's Percy,isn't it?"

"It is. You might want to go to Lady Vex. I know she might need you."

You find them once again, gathered in the temple. The De Rolos are surrounding their mother, who's sobbing loudly. You'd seen her this broken only once before, for her brother.

Only this time, it was your brother, laying limp and quiet, with Pike performing the last rites.

You see Taryon held by Lawrence in the large crowd, but you make a beeline to Vex.

"Mom, aunt Keyleth is here," Vesper whispers.

Trinket is next to her of course, whining in pain too.

Vex'ahlia opens her bloodshot eyes, looks at you briefly and runs into your arms.

You feel her pain, all of it. You try to convey everything you can in that hug.

I'm here. I know. I feel it too. I've felt it too. She holds you like you're the last thing keeping her standing. And you hold her like she held you many years before.

Drinks are had, words and stories are shared. You decide to stay at the Castle one more night, you let Korrin know through Pike.

Everything goes quiet. In the dead of night, you hear a knock at the door of your guest room. You already know who's going to be on the other side, and yet when you open it and the dim candles show a shattered Vex'ahlia, her cheeks wet with tears, her eyes sunken with exhaustion, your heart aches.

"Keyleth..." she says with a barely audible whisper.

No more words are needed. You let her fall into your arms, and hold her through the night, let her sob in your arms until she passes out.

Eventually, you fall asleep too.

Vex gives you the raven skull you made for him before you leave, and you make sure to place it next to the mug of ale, with a pocket watch.

Years keep passing by, you see Vesper's magic thrive and see the proud look in her mother's eyes. You know you must share that same look. You see her become every bit of the leader Percy was, with her mother's wits and her father's strong willpower.

Eventually you have to go to Deastock and say goodbye to Taryon, that's another hard hit on Vex. He was her best friend.

This time you carve the logo of his Brigade in what has become the Vox Machina tree in Zephrah.

You and Vex grow closer. She reminds you of him in so many ways, and yet she's so different. A few wrinkles are starting to appear near her eyes, but as you keep observing her, she's never been more beautiful.

Many things start to become usual occurrences, like you visiting the Castle, and her coming to Zephrah with the help of her daughter.

Everytime you see each other, it seems like the pieces start falling back together.

One day, as regular as any other, you're watching the sun setting on your tribe and you catch her looking at you intensely.

"You're so beautiful, darling."

You're taken aback. She doesn't give you time to reply. Without even being able to register it, her mouth is on yours, and her hand is in your hair.

You'd lie if you said you hadn't ever dreamed of this.

Suddenly, she stops, touching her lips in shock "Keyleth, I'm so-" this time you cut her off, shaking your head and catching her sorry with your mouth.

You're not sorry. You're glad she did that. You would have never had the guts to make the first move. And Gods, her lips are so soft, her hands tangle in your hair and you don't know what to do, but bask in the comfort her body pressed against yours gives you.

She must be feeling something similar, cause her breath becomes shallow as she whispers "Key" in between kisses.

That night you make love and it's sweet, and calm and slow, nothing like you thought Vex would be. You both needed this so bad, you know you've loved her for a long time and if only an ounce of her felt the same, you'd be happy with it.

Waking up next to her is nothing short of magical. She's peacefully sleeping, her dark, naked back warmly lit by the sunrise creeping in. You softly brush your fingers along her spine, and her eyelids flutter to reveal warm hazel irises, looking at you with a small smile. Your breath catches.

"I love you," you whisper, unable to keep it in anymore.

Her smile widens. She kisses you and your heart races fast when she says "I love you too, Keyleth," brushing your noses together.

You feel happier than you've been in a long time.

Life goes on between Zephrah and Whitestone, you both have responsibilities you can't run from.

You say your last goodbyes to Allura, and shortly after Kima, who are buried together as they always asked.

Once Vesper is ready to take the helms of Whitestone, Vex decides that it's maybe time to leave, not without hesitation.

"Mom, go. I get it,okay? We will visit all the time, you won't even have time to miss us".

Vex gives her a teary laugh, kisses her forehead, and with an "I'm so proud of you" she comes to Zephrah with you.

Korrin and Vilya treat her like their own, and you look at her in adoration when she tells you they're like the parents she always wanted.

Vesper keeps her promise, and the De Rolos come visit all the time. You don't catch when Percy IV, their youngest, calls you mama, but Vex does and maybe sheds one little happy tear.

Zephrah is always buzzing with life, thriving under Keyleth's leadership, and Vex's advice.

Their necklaces glow once more, and they know it's time to say goodbye to Scanlan this time.

Kaylie plays a sorrowful piece in honor of her father, as you and Vex hold Pike. They both know what it's like to lose a soulmate.

As always you gather in the tavern and share stories of Scanlan the bard.

"He died as he lived," Kaylie raises her cup "hard and fast!"

You all share a teary laugh and get drunk as you say goodbye to another friend.

You show Vex the Vox Machina tree for the first time in years, as you carve a space for a miniature shawm.

She holds you as you both look at the Raven Queen's shrine.

"I hope they're all together," Vex whispers. "I hope he doesn't hate me for this," she chuckles and kisses your cheek.

Just as she says that, as if out of nowhere, a large raven lands between you two on Vex's shoulder. It nuzzles her.

"I guess you have your answer," you smile and scratch the top of the raven's head. It leans in your hand.

Life goes on, the kids aren't kids anymore, Vesper leads Whitestone fiercely, you say goodbye to Gilmore a couple of years after Allura and Kima, but you have each other to lean on.

One day, Vex feels too tired to get out of bed and Trinket lets out a long groan.

You quickly message Pike, who comes to Zephrah with the children.

She does a quick scan of her body and confirms what you already know.

There's nothing wrong with your Vex, nature is claiming her. It's time to say goodbye.

A sob wracks your body, you knew it was coming. You saw the wrinkles getting more prominent and her hair going gray with the passing of years, but it still hurt to know.

You can never be ready.

You let the kids say their goodbyes, not wanting to intrude on such an intimate moment.

When your turn comes you try to be strong, but your heart is in too much pain.

She lays a hand on your now wet cheek, and strokes it with her thumb, wiping away some tears. "Kiki..." her flebile whisper is full of love.

"I don't know if I can do this without you,too".

"Of course you can. You're strong, and caring, and kind. Your people rely on you. You don't need me to succeed. I will always love you, Key. I will always be with you. Far, but never gone, remember?"

You kiss her hand.

"I love you. You're every bit as beautiful as the day I first met you."

You lean over her to kiss her lips, and with a smile, she lets out her last breath.

You can't help but hold onto her a little longer.

Trinket plops down next to you and lays his head on Vex's stomach, breathing heavily.

You know he must be close as well.

You clutch his fur, as he breathes one last time, too.

All the kids and Pike kneel down to hold you, and together, you mourn the loss of Lady Vex'ahlia.

You take her blue feathers, tie them on your staff, with the black ones you had from Vax.

In the tree, you leave the tip of an arrow, and one of the pink bows you and Vax once put on the bear.

The De Rolos go back to Whitestone, Pike spends some days with you.

It will take a long time to heal, but you have plenty of that.

You'll outlive them all, it's your tragic destiny, you signed up for it. It doesn't hurt any less.

Pike is of course the next one to go, the worshippers of the Everlight all gather to say goodbye to her Champion, you look around and see just how many lives Pike's kindness had touched. It's beautiful.

Your tree has another spot, with the symbol of Sarenrae and a miniature mace.

You carve one last spot on the tree, that you know won't be filled for many years still.

You leave instructions for your antlers to placed there.

You're thankful to have your parents by your side, as the days blur together.

Eventually you feel happiness again, when Vesper brings her firstborn to you and you get to see new life blossom in every corner of your tribe, the Ashari growing and leaning on you, the love on your mother's face and the pride on your father's.

Years, and years, and years pass but you never forget them, not once, not for a second.

Vax'ildan, with his smirk and his daggers, and his wings that held you in safety. Your first love. Forever and ever and always.

Vex'ahlia, matching smirk on softer lips, the best of hagglers, witty and beautiful and quick with her arrows. The lover you got to keep. The lover that got you through.

Percival, your very best friend, your brother and partner in crime, a quick draw, the smartest of you. A loving husband and father, a fierce leader.

Grog, big and strong with a heart of gold, with his smile and fun in fights and taverns, his gentle hands with small creatures. Not the smartest, but still one who thought you so much.

Scanlan, the embodiment of fun and laughter, always ready to pick everyone up and help out, cheering and inspiring with his voice and his charm.

Pike, the kindest of spirits, her heart bigger than her small frame could ever contain, sweet and loving like a mother to all.

Taryon, flamboyant and fun, with his desire to be accepted and his mind full of ideas, always accompanied by his thousands versions of Doty, faithful companion.

Trinket, friend of Vox Machina, her Vex's best friend, as much of a member as everyone else.

You never forget any of them. You feared it would happen after meeting Sprigg, it felt like looking in a mirror of your future.

But you keep them in your heart until you're old and gray, tell your stories to your tribe, make sure they are spread across the world so that Vox Machina may never be forgotten.

As you close your eyes for the last time, you dream of them and hope that the Raven Queen will be kind enough to let you see them once more.

On the other side, what you see surprises you. It's them, all of them. Vax, with his wings spread, in the middle, smiling bright. Vex is next to him, looking like the day you met. None of them is old and gray. Percy's hair is even black, rid of the stress and weight of the world.

Pike's hair is black as well, like the day you first called her to help you with Grog.

Everyone looks young, and happy. You feel yourself crying. As you look down, you notice your hair are long and flowing, a fierce red.

"You did so well, princess." Vex'ahlia winks at you, and you suddenly feel surrounded by all your family's arms.

You smile in the cuddle pile, think back to your adventures, and realize that everything was worth it, after all.

#vox machina #vexleth #i made some people cry on twitter and thought #eh why not do it on tumblr too #vex'ahlia #keyleth #critical role #cr fic #vm fic

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simmonsofshield · 3 years

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hi! I'm still alive!

I haven’t been around because I happened upon a new hyperfixation last fall. in September, I started watching critical role, a d&d show. it became the only thing a thought about and engaged in (fandom-wise) for....well....almost a year now.

of course I still love marvel, it just kind of went on the back burner. I promise I'm still working on broken, mended.

long story short, despite it not being marvel, I wanted to share a snippet since it’s what I'm writing at the moment. (this is from the middle-ish/where I'm currently at in the wip, not the beginning) I also have an ao3 now and will be posting stuff - or at least this fic - both there and here.

Morning comes quicker than expected. You thank the inn keep again and, Dagger at your side, take your horse from the stables, walking through the city. Exiting Deastock proper, and walking along the treeline, you come upon a very nice looking estate. The sign outside it said Darrington Estate: Home of the Darrington Foundation and Darrington Brigade - lead by former member of Vox Machina, Taryon Darrington

Squinting trying to understand the string of words in front of you, a voice come from your left, “Hello! My name is Taryon Darrington. Are you loo- oh my, you look a little worse for wear.”

“Quite the greeting,” you say with a roll of your eyes.

“Sorry,” he replies with an awkward chuckle, “do you need a bed or anything? Wraps for you wounds?”

“What is this place?”

“Well, that’s quite the story,” he beams, flashing a bright smile.

His mouth opens to begin and you quickly stop him, “short version please.”

“Right. This is simply a temporary home for the less fortunate and hungry, and the headquarters for the Darrington Foundation. I also lead a not-for-profit adventuring group called the Darrington Brigade. Well, more oversee. I’m not as young as I used to be,” he shrugs, smile still on his face, “you seem like the adventuring type, interested?”

“Thank you, but I would like to earn some coin actually. I’m quite low at the moment.”

“Understood,” he nods and motions toward the house, “why don’t you come in and we can bandage you up a little, get you some water. The horse and uh...” he takes a step back, seemingly just now noticing Dagger, “wolf will have to stay outside.”

You nod and tie up the horse and pat Dagger on the head, telling him to keep watch. You follow Taryon inside the estate, seeing many of the large rooms on the lower floor converted to temporary bedrooms, filled with cots and bedrolls. He walks over to another man, saying a few words and kissing him on the cheek. Continuing to follow, you go to one of the less filled rooms where he motions for you to sit on one of the cots. You do and wait patiently as he walks away. A few minutes later, he comes back, bandages and a small plate of food in his hands.

#not marvel #critical role #caleb widogast #Caleb widogast x reader #Caleb x reader

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your-turn-to-role · 4 years

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said i was gonna write a meta centered on this conversation and this is where my head's at, so i wanna talk about the fact that vax and gilmore do have a lot more in common than most people realise? (at least more than most people talk about)

(as a disclaimer, this is not a ship war post, i love vaxleth just as much as vaxilmore, but also it's easier to see the reasons why vax and keyleth like each other because they're both player characters and we know them very well, gilmore we see a lot less, so a lot of his character and motivations you have to piece together afterwards. but matt still puts a lot of thought into who gilmore is and why he does what he does, a lot more than we ever see, so there's definitely more to it than the "he's pretty" gilmore likes to tell people)

on the surface, they're very different people, sure. vax doesn't understand shit about magic, magic is all gilmore does, vax wears his heart on his sleeve and if he has a problem you're going to find out about it, gilmore is all about emotional masks and a jovial front as a means of protection, even just in appearance and attire, gilmore's very colourful and deliberately so, while vax's main colours are black and more black. but when it comes to where they came from, how they approach problems, what they find fun and interesting, they're extremely in sync

both have a complicated relationship with their (surviving) parents, never really feeling fully loved by them - vax was entirely neglected and shunned by syldor, and when we meet gilmore's parents, though they're nice on the surface, they also don't believe vox machina about gilmore saving a city, gilmore left home and never came back to visit despite being able to literally teleport there at any time, which says a lot about how tense that relationship has been. related to that, both have biological reasons for being an outcast, vax as a half elf, gilmore as a rune child, two things the book itself say are often shunned in most societies, and definitely things they've both faced consequences for being. (we don't know what those consequences were for gilmore, but, there's a reason he hides it)

they're both rebellious, they both still have a bit of something to prove, they both do their best to live in the moment and get past problems by distancing and refocusing, both would do literally anything for the people they love, and neither will ever leave a person in danger. their chief philosophy is "life is short so take what you want, trust those around you, love recklessly. don't waste time on regrets or wishing for things you can't have". they're both fascinated by magic and drawn by things that are fast paced and unknown and exciting, things are always more interesting when they're fun

in a way it's easy to think of vax as the reckless one of the two of them? because gilmore runs a shop and vax is vax, "runs headfirst into danger with no backup at least once a week" vax, "this bird can fly 480ft a round and there's nothing you can do about it" vax

but this is also "ran in to fight thordak with no backup in case vox machina were in danger" gilmore, "spent well over 1000 gold on a heroes feast because vox machina were hungry and didn't feel like going home" gilmore, and, of course, "pushed vax off a cliff with no warning to show him he has wings because despite the fact that we're still in an awkward post break up phase and despite the fact that less than an hour ago someone who looked like me almost killed him, i know he'll still trust me and this'll be the best way to show him" gilmore

and he was right, because they do understand each other on that level no other character quite reaches. and vax knows it too, and knows him

and this exchange, i think, is one of the most telling of that

just vax's slightly mournful "that guy'll be fast" and gilmore's joking-but-serious "he'd better be", like as much as it's a joke it's also them both acknowledging what worked here and what didn't

anyone who knows vax knows speed's his whole thing. his boots of haste are canonically his favourite possession. the first time caleb used expeditious retreat in campaign two everyone joked that vax was back (though he didn't get nearly close to vax's top flying speed of approximately 55mph). vax thinks on his feet, gets bored easily, hates when things are still.

it's not a trait often praised when it comes to romance tropes? speedy characters are also flighty, moving too fast is a sign of not thinking, even when both partners are that way, any romance they end up in will end with them settling (and slowing) down or it'll end in disaster.

and in a way this falls into the same pattern as well, because obviously things didn't work out for them, but the biggest difference here is that that isn't a bad thing. vax isn't wrong for being vax, and gilmore's the same, and wants the same thing, would be happy with the same thing. (really what doomed this relationship as a romantic endeavour was just luck of the draw, liam's said the only reason vax decided to be with keyleth was the fact that he was around her every day, whereas he only saw gilmore every couple months, so what would have been the same feelings towards both of them had the chance to become a lot stronger for kiki, if their places were reversed he would have been just as happy with gilmore, and obviously gilmore would with him)

(which is why even after everything, they remain friends to the end, and we know they talk sometimes for hours about their lives, because even if they can't have that connection as a romantic one, having someone around that gets them like that is a huge help)

people get up in arms easily about defending vax vs defending gilmore, especially when it comes to the breakup and whether vax acted like an asshole or not. and honestly believe what you want about that, i'm not gonna argue it. but this conversation, they're both telling the whole truth. yes, this was sad, and yes, this hurts, but that's life. they've been through far more painful things for less. and yeah gilmore's gonna move on, because that's in both of their nature, but they both know whoever he's gonna end up with is gonna have those same qualities. maybe another adventurer, maybe not, but someone who sees the tragedy in the world and refuses to let it continue, and someone who sees the excitement in the world and refuses to let it pass them by

and they know no matter what there's still love between them. (they both make it clear, constantly, how much of that there is, far more than either really knows what to do with). and while, ultimately, vax was right in this conversation, it wouldn't be long before they faced a battle he wouldn't walk away from, gilmore was right too, in that life is unpredictable, and all you can do is make the most of every moment in front of you. (and no matter what happens to gilmore after the story ends or wherever and whatever vax is now, they're never gonna forget each other)

#do you ever think about matt on talks confirming that post canon gilmore made a vax inspired line of magic items?#bc i do #constantly #surprising absolutely no one i just really love vax and also gilmore and i wanted to get at least one of my feelings about them down here #cr1 #critical role #cr meta #vax'ildan #shaun gilmore #vaxilmore #text #meta #cr thoughts #vax'ilmore

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letterboxd · 4 years

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Horse Power.

The Nest’s writer-director Sean Durkin talks about creating atmosphere, watching films without judgment, and the best movies of 1986.

Downfalls in Hollywood movies tend to be chaotic, dramatic and a lot of fun along the way. From Citizen Kane to The Wolf of Wall Street, outsized ambitions are realized on screen in castles, exotic holidays, wild parties, sweeping us up in the extravagance of it all, before the inevitable crash. The Nest takes a slower, far more British view of ambition and its effects on family—or, as Charlie writes, “this movie is a reminder that people who call themselves entrepreneurs should instead be stay-at-home dads”.

The new film from writer-director Sean Durkin, the brain behind cult-survivor slow-burn Martha Marcy May Marlene, is less “strap in and enjoy the ride”, more “slow disintegration of all sense of sanity”—a tense psychological drama focused on the person who usually gets hurt the most: the wife. And that horse-lovin’ dream wife Allison, as played by Carrie Coon, is a character to behold (and the subject of many obsessive The Nest reviews on Letterboxd).

Just as Durkin takes time to carefully explore Martha’s vulnerability in his earlier film, in The Nest, he closes in on Allison, as she and their children adjust to 1980s life in an English manor, far from the comfort of Allison’s American home, while wheeler-dealer husband Rory (Jude Law) chases a new opportunity.

There are thematic similarities in both films; a case to be made that ambitious men wreak a comparable mental destruction on their families as cult leaders do on their followers, breaking them down with charm, persuasion, false promises. There’s also something about the juxtaposition of periods in the film—the fifteenth-century manor vs the ’80s bangers on the soundtrack—that adds to The Nest’s unnerving atmosphere (other parts of the soundtrack are composed by Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry in his first film-score credit).

Keen to understand more about Durkin’s influences and memories, Jack Moulton put him through the Letterboxd Life in Film interrogation.

Carrie Coon as Allison O’Hara in ‘The Nest’.

The Nest feels like a very personal film. In what ways are the emotions of the premise personal to you? When I was making Southcliffe in 2012, I was back in England where I spent my childhood and I hadn’t been back in close to twenty years. It really struck me how London and New York felt very similar now but they didn’t when I was a kid. I thought maybe I wanted to make a film about a family that moves in that time and how a move can affect a family. As I wrote the script, I became a parent, so it became as much a reflection of modern adulthood as it did about my childhood in the ’80s. Although it’s a period piece, I wanted to make it feel very close to today to look at the celebrated values of the time and how those are still very relevant.

The mansion the family moves into is the titular ‘nest’, and the use of space and atmosphere contribute so much to the film’s subtext. What were you looking for when location scouting for the house? Was it an easy or difficult process? Yeah, it was difficult. It was like doing an open casting call. I had a very specific idea in my head but [my production designer] was able to put it into actual architectural terms so we were able to find a house that a successful commodities broker would live and commute from in Surrey. We needed something beyond that, but if you go too far, you get small castles. Once we located the right exterior, there were a bunch of [houses] that would’ve been great, but when we got inside, there were no open spaces. I wanted to have long hallways to be able to see through multiple rooms to create that isolation—the opposite of the cozy American house that they were living in before, to really highlight the good life they left behind.

Carrie Coon and Jude Law in ‘The Nest’.

We love the soundtrack; not just the choice of songs but the way that they’re mixed. Can you give us some insight into the song selection? When writing, I build a playlist that I write to. This one was a mix of personal memories from childhood—like Simply Red, which takes me back to falling asleep in the back of my dad’s car—so there’s a way into writing there on a sensory level, and then I build upon it with songs that I love from the time. I was listening to Richard Reed Parry’s Music for Heart and Breath album a lot and he ended up being the composer of the film, so his music was always part of the heart of the movie as I was writing it.

I would spend my drives to set with my assistant talking about music and he would turn me onto some stuff that would make it into the movie. It was a mix of a long-running preparation and things that I pick up in the moment then making that all work at the right level so it feels of the world. Like with The Cure, we actually played that off a tape cassette when Allison walks into the room.

Since your debut feature in 2011, you’ve had a prolific career in television and as a film producer; you’re a founding member of Borderline Films with fellow directors Antonio Campos and Josh Mond. Do you see yourself more as a producer who only occasionally directs films yourself? No, I don’t really consider myself a producer. I’ve produced movies for filmmakers and friends and I help people where I can. I’m not someone who’s out getting properties and thinking about how to put together a film, I’m only thinking about my own work as a writer and a director. Between finishing Southcliffe in 2013 and The Nest in 2018, I had a five-year gap where I was developing lots of projects one after the other—two features and a television show—that were both so close to [being greenlit] but something fell through, which was really bad luck.

What film made you want to become a filmmaker? The Goonies and Back to the Future were those movies as a kid that first made me want to make movies and tell stories, but the moment where I realized what filmmaking is was seeing The Shining. I saw it for the first time when I was eleven or twelve and a friend showed it to me because his older brother had the VHS. It was my first time understanding atmosphere and direction and I just had a sense that I could do it too. It was a really crucial moment, and I kept that thought to myself for a very long time.

Cinematographer Mátyás Erdély shoots Carrie Coon in Soho.

What’s your scariest film that is not technically horror? AKA, your area of expertise. Oh man, scariest? Something I’ve watched recently is The Vanishing and it’s probably one of the most unsettling films I’ve ever seen. It was incredible to rewatch it because I’d last seen it when I was in college—I watched everything back then—and I’d also seen the American remake, so when I watched it this time, I was trying to remember things [that were different] from the remake. I was like “he’s gonna get out, right?—oh no, that’s in the American version!” I find it an astonishing movie. There’s a real human element to the pain of the killer.

Let’s nerd out: what’s your top film of 1986, the year that The Nest is set? [Laughs] I’ve no idea what came out in 1986. Can I look up a list and I’ll tell you? Let’s see, films of 1986… This is fun! Alright, “popular films of 1986” I’m seeing: Blue Velvet, Short Circuit, Stand by Me, Platoon, The Color of Money, what else have we got here? River’s Edge… Pretty in Pink… Ferris Bueller’s Day Off—Ferris Bueller’s gotta be up there. Big Trouble in Little China! That’s it! I’m sure there’s other things, but from my quick search, I’d say Big Trouble in Little China. That was a movie that was always on in my house because it was one of my dad’s all-time favorites.

Which is Jude Law’s best performance? I love The Talented Mr. Ripley so much. I constantly rewatch that movie—it’s perfect. I also loved him in Vox Lux recently.

Sean Durkin and Jude Law on the set of ‘The Nest’.

What is the best film about marriage and why does it resonate with you? Shoot the Moon was really influential for me. I’d say it’s a bit more about divorce and family than it is about marriage but [it depends on] if you take the ending to mean that they’re going to stay together—I kind of do. You could say a separation is part of a marriage. I love that movie for how it finds light in humor. Albert Finney is struggling with his masculinity where, even though he’s the one who left, he still thinks he owns it all, and Diane Keaton is quite liberated by this scenario. It’s like their journey to find language again. I find it very beautiful.

Which film was your entry-point into international cinema? I’m trying to think back to what I would’ve seen, there certainly wasn’t a lot growing up. In college I really discovered Michael Haneke and Michelangelo Antonioni. L’Avventura made a huge impact on me. I think [because of the way] the mystery kind of dissolves and it’s about the journey, not the solution.

What film do you wish you’d made? I don’t. Filmmaking is personal and it’s so much an expression of perspective when done with care and love—though obviously, there’s stuff that’s just churned out. I never see something and say “I wish I made that”. One of the things I find hard is when people critique films and say they would’ve done this differently. I’ve become very sensitive to that over time because every choice you make as a filmmaker is so specific and thought out. I try to consume movies without knowing anything about them or making any kind of judgment. I just let them be what they are and wash over me.

Which newcomer director should we all keep our eyes on? I don’t think I’m looking out for new stuff necessarily. Once I get to see something, everyone else already knows about it. One person I would say is Dave Franco, who I just worked with on The Rental. I was an executive producer and I was a creative bounce-board for Dave through the process. It’s his first film and it’s astonishingly directed. We were getting dailies from the first week and we were like, “This is his first movie? This is insane!” I think he will do some exciting things.

Finally, what’s your favorite film of 2020 so far? I was absolutely blown away by Eliza Hittman’s film Never Rarely Sometimes Always. I miss having retrospectives at local theaters, which I’m always keyed into no matter the city I’m living in. I’ve started watching a lot of Criterion Channel and I watched a movie recently that’s taken over my brain: Variety, by Bette Gordon, from 1983. It’s set in New York City around Times Square, and it’s this incredible journey that this woman goes on that captured my mind.