it's 3 AM and the moonlight's testing me

Not my usual gig, but this made my jaw drop so hard, I had to cover it. And there are likely many, many people who won't entirely get this, but...it must be said.

So I'm fairly behind on Critical Role, which is an online show featuring a bunch of professional voice actors (and at least one child actor turned adult) being filmed while playing Dungeons and Dragons.

But I'm up to Episode 78 of Campaign 2, and...let's pause a moment and explain Sam Riegel.

...

There's no explanation for Sam Riegel. Let's just sum up what he's doing here. For the...two years? Two years! Critical Role has been running (at the time of ep. 78, at least), Sam has been doing on-the-spot comedy promos for DnD Beyond, the official digital support program for keeping track of character sheets, spells and the like for paper gamers.

In this episode...he went...well, his version of goth. And as the "Web Weaver", he essentially did a surfer dude's take on what goth culture is. Taliesin's face during this...abomination...was intense.

Now, that video gives you the exact play by play, but I wanted to pull out a few screen captures to focus on.



But Sam, Sam, Taliesin is right there! His Twitter handle is @executivegoth, for the love of all things! How can you say that?



Because what else would he say? It was a staggeringly disconnected statement from Sam's everyday reality, which includes a goth person.

Sam retorted in response, that Taliesin seems so normal, and:



I bet. After Surfer Goff Emo Boi...



It was indeed. This would be a shock of cold water to the gothic soul.



Anyone would.



AND THIS WAS THE BIT THAT BROKE MY BRAIN, because--



They were all at a live show of Critical Role in Indiamapolis! In August!



EVERYONE made the choice to go goth for the live show! So Sam...Sam...YOU SAW TALIESIN'S GOTH SELF! How can you have forgotten from August to October??



How could you have MISSED this, Riegel??

I'm baffled. It's baffling.

I...I have no words.

I gotta go and make it OK, things are getting weirder

More demos! More demos!



So, apparently, Just Magnetized's offerings are just...hairbases? System and mesh, it looks like? Not sure.

Okay, no. It's an applier in the box. "Sleek Hairbase - set 01" covers black and blonde hair (yes, only) for hairbases, and is designed for Catwa, and Omega. But they say the hairbase can be retinted by using the HUD for the mesh head in question? Either way, this is the "Sleek Hairbase - set 01 / L / v1 DEMO".



This is "Sleek Hairbase - set 01 / L / v2 DEMO"; right, the blonde version.



And rinse and repeat--this is "Sleek Hairbase - set 01 / R / v1 DEMO".



And finally, "Sleek Hairbase - set 01 / R / v2 DEMO". I don't know why I expected anything else.

You can find Just Magnetized on the Blonde sim.



Now up to KMH and their offering for Hair Fair, "F115". Why, just why. But it's a pretty style, for all it has a completely empty name, and I'm showing it in size M, and color 25 from the Natural HUD--with the attached bangs, which cannot be adjusted on the demo, but hopefully (being unrigged) can be adjusted in officially purchased copies?



This is "F116", shown in size M again, and in color 27 from the Color HUD.



This is style "F117", and both it and "F116" desperately need alpha layers, but it's late (when I'm actually taking these pictures), so I cannot be arsed to dig one up right now if they didn't see fit to include one. Frankly.

This one's in the one size, Unrigged, and in color 4 from the Natural HUD.



The last one is "U102", and it's again Unrigged, and shown in color 16 from the Color HUD.

You can find KMH on the Redhead sim.



Next up is Lock and Tuft, and this one's pretty wild--all their styles for Hair Fair are homages to Critical Role. For anyone who doesn't know, they're a group of fairly well known, and very talented, voice actors who, once a week, stream a game of Dungeons and Dragons.

This is Beau the monk's hair, appropriately self-named, and I'm showing it in color 15 from the brown and red HUD. No hairbase was included.


This is Cadeuceus the cleric's hair, and I honestly don't know if it comes in another color beyond brilliant pink--on the show, the description has him with bright pink hair naturally.



This is Fjord the warlock's hair, and I'm showing it in color 7 from the Funky color HUD. I think ideally, it should be a darker green-to-black hair, as Fjord's a half-Orc, but this will have to do.



And finally, Jester's hair. She's a Tiefling, and while the Natural and the Tuxedo HUDs were included in the box, I'm keeping it in her token forget-me-not blue shade. The hairstyle comes with the horns, which I'm showing in the aged black from the Horns HUD.

You can find Lock and Tuft on the Redhead sim. And just so we're all on the same page, keep in mind that like recipes, hairstyles cannot be copyrighted. They can be trademarked, as part and parcel of a company mascot, for instance, but the exact style alone? This is not copyright infringement, that's an entirely separate issue.

Sorry about that, I caught it after a few hours. All the pictures should work now. And all pictures taken at the Free Photo Studios in Sora.

put your fate in your hands, take a chance, roll the dice

Oh, I have to do this, but this is only going to make sense to those who watch Critical Role.

This list was originally posted on disaster-tiefling's Tumblog, but it was reblogged from questbedhead's Tumblog.

Beau: Life-long jock slowly coming to terms with the fact she’s a closet nerd.


Beauregard by TheAleksDemon; Twitter linked only because I can't find the image on any of the other social media links on which Aleks' name turns up. May or may not be available as a print? Not sure.

Nott: Hard-working mother struggles to balance family bonding with burgeoning love of crime.


Nott the Brave drawn by ae-rie No mention of a shop for prints, but feel free to ask.

Caleb: Black Widow, if Black Widow was also a feral wizard.


Caleb by Ornerine/Ari. (I couldn't track down where she posted this exact image beyond the Critical Role wiki, but that at least will let you get in touch with her if you want information on how to get a print.) Also this is a perfectly apt description of Caleb.

Jester: Lovable scamp patiently waiting for it to be her turn to have a mental breakdown.


Jester Lavorre by LeopardMask79. Also see Ginny Di's amazing videos. I'm linking "When She Cheats" as an example of the level of cosplay.

Fjord: Local man would rather 1v1 eldritch demi-god than inconvenience friends.


Fjord drawn by Anna Janiszewska. She has no prints yet, but I think there's nothing wrong in asking.

Yasha: Buff angel just wanted to be gay and eat spiders in peace.


Yasha Nydoorin drawn by atutcha.

Mollymauk: Flamboyant amnesiac still sure he knows more than you.


Mollymauk Tealeaf drawn by Amber Harris. Also see this amazing cosplay of Mollymauk and Caleb from Hollaback Nerds.

Caduceus: Babiest sibling left unsupervised, wanders off with first strangers he meets.


Cadeuceus Clay drawn by Tess Fowler; you can buy prints of this image on her StoreEnvy page.

Obviously, all rights reserved to original artists, do check out their work.