crtakespropogandist

[crtakespropogandist]

It's sad to me that Laudna never got to discover the sorcerous origin that made her special before Delilah and would have kept her special without her (some vague interactions with the Matron's clergy don't count imo.) She needed Delilah and Vecna in order to survive and was never presented with a way to approach changing that. She only got to reverse her toxic dynamic with Delilah, never escape it, and her life was never her own. Even if it was her choice to bind herself to Imogen, as a Hollow One she was always going to be real estate for another soul to lease. Laudna also didn't get to see a grave or cenotaph for the Bradburys in Whitestone, and didn't even ask if one existed. When she said "I'm just Matilda" and Delilah hissed, "Matilda is dead!", the narrative sided with Delilah.

Between all of that, Percy apparently projecting a predisposition for "Lex Luthor"-ism onto Gwen the way Ripley projected her own onto him, and Trent ending up in Caleb's personal demiplane after making Caleb regret not killing him, CR has a habit of undermining victims' triumphs over their (literal) torturers.

"You can't live without me"

"We're the same"

"I will come back to teach you a lesson"

Sentiments like this from abusive people irl are usually hot air, but in CR they get vindication, which definitely exemplifies the darker side of the fantastic.

[crtakespropogandist]

Benefit of hindsight pt. 2

Don't resolve Chetney's moon issues with the Gorgynei. Have Ruidus continue to affect him, but more positively than negatively. Differentiate Ruidian lycanthropy with some psionic-flavored werewolf buffs

Have Zathuda approach Fearne and explain their connection way earlier to give her a choice not beholden to the party's sense of urgency

Don't make the M9 and Kiki clueless on the Solstice. Make it so that they knew most of Luda's plan, but were tricked into thinking he would try to get his "sliver of divinity" by baiting Artagan with Jester as opposed to baiting Vax with Keyleth. Let the M9 destroy the Shadowfell key without making them roll

Send BH to different parts of the moon directly after the Bloody Bridge is created, and have the guests (except maybe Utkarsh) play Ruidians that get killed or enthralled by the Weave Mind, so BH can start hating them

Put Devexian on the moon! Put Oltgar on the moon!

Leave Trent to rot and set the EOTS plot in Molaesmyr

Don't force a battle with Otohan right before the Crownkeepers mini arc

Ludinus is supposed to be good at arguing. Don't make him ignore the faults of Aeor. Make him mainly sympathize with Cassida and purport to see the Primes' deaths along with the Betrayers' as a necessary evil. Reveal his true hatred of all gods and exultance of Aeor only on a successful insight check

Make the Matron's Ruidusborn status relevant. What if she were a sleeper agent who subconsciously kept trying to kill Vex because her death would ultimately lead to Predathos's freedom? Between Elaina, Laudna, Vex herself, and that Clasp guy who was permanently polymorphed into a decoy Vex, people who look like Lady de Rolo tend to get got when they're still young. Would explain the origin of Laudna's shadow sorcery, and why Otohan would no longer venerate the Matron when she could venerate Predathos itself

This would also set VM up to fight for Vax's soul, because it'd call the legitimacy of his deal into question

Have the exaltants betray Ludinus for the Weave Mind, and make them all the BBEG for BH

Make Ludinus magically probe Caleb or Essek at some point. Reveal after the exaltants betray Ludinus that he found out about the T-dock, and have him attempt to recreate Shadowgast's work and undo his humiliation by the Weave Mind. Make dealing with him the M9's prong of the final battle

[crtakespropogandist]

Benefit of hindsight pt. 1

I've said previously, and still believe, that Campaign 3 was insurmountably hamstrung by its own premise. But the CR crew had no way of knowing that for sure, because nobody had ever tried to execute that kind of premise before. Actual Play is a relatively new medium, and some pioneers need to die of dysentery for the caravan to proceed. The cast deserves kudos for all the new ground they've broken and the hard work they've done.

However, I do think there were some ways that specifically Matt could have elevated the campaign while altering the plot, setting, and characters as little as possible overall, and I think the hypothetical animated series would hypothetically benefit from a couple of these changes. If I were Matt and got a do-over, here's what I'd tell myself:

Try not to punish players for staying in-character by withholding lore that they don't explicitly look for, but would benefit from knowing (the PCs may not care about why Otohan turned on the Matron or what exactly happened in Molaesmyr, but the players and the audience might)

Switch up introductions/session zero backstories. Instead of pairing Imogen with Laudna and Ashton with FCG, pair Imogen with FCG and Ashton with Laudna. Start the campaign with Orym, Dorian, and Fearne having already met up with Bertrand and established connections in Jrusar

Light a fuse for conflict with the gods by having FCG (and all their baggage) come across Imogen pre-campaign shortly after she's prayed for a friend to help her understand her freaky dreams

Marisha brought Delilah back because she was still interested in her, but nothing new was learned. Give Laudna more dreams for FCG to explore, dreams that led Laudna to travel to Marquet pre-campaign by way of Jiana Hexum's residuum smuggling biz. Give Laudna dreams/visions where she plays out Delilah's earlier, Cerberus-relevant backstory AS Delilah (and projects Imogen onto Sylas when Marisha's character inevitably gets a thing for Laura's)

This is the most step-on-toes change, but make Taliesin choose between Hishari/titan crap and Dunamancy crap, and encourage him towards Dunamancy crap. That way Ashton's build stays the same, they don't have to go out of the party's way to get their questions answered, the party can learn about the Luxon/Predathos dynamic, and at least one PC is firmly rooted in Marquet as opposed to Tal'dorei/Wildemount/Issylra/the Fae Realm/the sky (Aeor, Ruidus, Silken Squall)

Put the Nobodies in the Paragon's Call

Liam loves rping a Sad Queer, and Laura loves reconciling with a bad parent, but "the twins" have both expressed a willingness to expand their horizons. Take them up on it

Liam explicitly wanted to make a supportive character who starts from a place of acceptance and uplifts the other PCs. Give Orym hopeful NPC interactions and regular updates from Dorian in Robbie's absence to keep him healthy throughout his plot-mandated gauntlet of wound-reopening

Go full in on Liliana as an antagonist (not necessarily an evil villain, but someone who opposes BH and never switches sides). Reveal unethical ways that Ludinus got the answers to win her loyalty. For instance, psychic experimentation on criminal Vergessen patients like a certain failed Volstrucker and the woman who saved him

Stay tuned for more bullets!

[crtakespropogandist]

Why Ruidusborn!Essek would have made a ton of sense:

Luda needed a beacon for his master plan, making him more inclined to create an opportunity to nab one than to wait for it, especially since an apogee solstice only happens every 100-120 years

Luda was in contact with the Weave Mind, who chose when to make flares happen and potentially had centralized access to the dreams of any non-elves in the Bright Queen's court

As far as we know, Essek was the first child born to any of the three ruling umavi, who have the greatest access to the beacons, in centuries

Being Ruidusborn imparts a sense of not belonging, which is easy to take advantage of by stoking national tensions that make the people around the Ruidusborn more suspicious and dogmatic

Since we know that the Luxon held a key to defeating Predathos, it would make sense for a Ruidusborn to be innately averse to consecution

Essek is shorter than his younger brother, and flares are known to cause premature births

Ruidusborn are said to be cursed with misfortune, such as the death of a parent soon after an argument

They are also said to be important and/or powerful, like a prodigy in one's field of study

Also, Essek would have made the stealthiest, most ignorant exaltant ever:

Psionics? Professional inquisitor and high-finesse Graviturgist

Scary red storm dreams? Elf—doesn't dream

Emotional catalyst? Chronic emotional constipation

Creeping purple lightning on skin? Entire body is already purple

[crtakespropogandist]

Imo exclusivity exacerbates the disparity in couples with significant lifespan differences. Imagine if your shorter-lived, exclusive partner is interested in an experience that you are not—you have plenty of time to change your mind, but if you do so after they are dead, you'll feel like you deprived them of something you yourself got to pursue. Conversely, if you take that into account and indulge your partner in the moment that you are not interested, you may still deprive them of an experience enhanced by both participants' enjoyment of it, risking unfair mutual resentment stemmed from your discomfort and their disappointment.

Anywho that was the preamble to my silly post about how I hc the various CR couples with lifespan gaps handling a Hot Minotaur Situation:

Beauyasha and Kimallura: The human points out a Hot Minotaur to their partner and they approach together to propose a Minotaur a trois

Shadowgast: Caleb hooks up with a Hot Minotaur, uses magical protection, and brings it up later if something he thinks Essek would find funny and/or interesting happened

Perc'ahlia and Fjorester: Avoids the problem bc the Laura Bailey PC is totally down to fill the role of a Hot Minotaur herself with whatever magic suits her

Gilmore/Darius: Avoids the problem bc Gilmore had the foresight and opportunity to get the Hot Minotaur out of his system before he started seriously dating above of his lifespan

[crtakespropogandist]

My hottest take yet: Beau's dickishness early in the campaign is blown out of proportion by Reddit/YouTube commentary. Certain people who found her *insufferable*, even if they eventually warmed up to her and appreciate her character development, might've just been projecting too hard to find entertainment in her flaws as a subversively belligerent monk. Beau was many things, but she was never the female jock that bullied you in middle school, guys.

[crtakespropogandist]

Me the first 25 or so episodes of CR3: I don't ship Imogen and Laudna, they give off more of a Nott/Caleb vibe to me

Erika Ishii: Hold my changeling

[crtakespropogandist]

Potential canon explanations for why Essek didn't butter Chetney up to wrangle a gift for Caleb out of him when he had the chance (that are funnier than "stress"):

a. Essek has no idea about CPOP because his particular affinity with Dunamis insulated him from Morrigan's fate shenanigans, leaving him wondering where tf that basket of toys in his bedroom came from and why tf Caleb acts like it's been there the whole time

b. Essek vaguely knows about CPOP, but doesn't know how big a fan Caleb is, because whenever it comes up in conversation Essek takes "woodworking" as a euphemism and Caleb is not inclined to correct him

[crtakespropogandist]

As fun as clandestine squats or air pedals sound for preventing chicken legs, I love the idea that a combo of court posture, changes in direction/elevation, and whatever Essek is wearing/carrying makes floating also a little balancing act. He (dex 16) tried to teach Caleb (dex 12) at one point only for Caleb to flail around like an inflatable tube man.

[crtakespropogandist]

Can the MDZS fans hop in here and explain that the self-sacrificing bisexual who sheds corvid feathers doesn't have to stay dead for his story to be sad? And that the character development of his slow-aging, principled love interest doesn't depend on moving on after a certain threshold of time passes?

If Critters crave some endgame-tragedy about a woman who grows flowers and her lover's bargain with a featureless entity, Bly Manor is a beautiful show. Highly recommend (I bawled).

[crtakespropogandist]

Just thinking...no matter what subrace of aasimar Vesper Elaina is, it had to have been so complicated for her parents while she was growing up. Especially given Percy's relationship with the Dawnfather.

If Vesper is a scourge aasimar, it means Vex was transformed into a red dragon to earn the blessing that gave her daughter—named for Vex's mother, who was burned to death by a red dragon—an ability that "threaten(s) to char" her.

If Vesper is a protector aasimar, it means she gets temporary wings that fade after a minute. Not only did Vax also have wings, but Percy's older sister—Vesper's other namesake and a worshipper of the Dawnfather—was thrown from the castle roof to her death.

If Vesper is a fallen aasimar, it confirms both parents' fear that the darkness of their pasts is inherent to them and will taint their family's future no matter what they've overcome together.

...Ouch.

[crtakespropogandist]

For Valentine's Day I wanna ramble about my favorite CR romance: Percy/Vex!

Tbh it might be my favorite romance in media, period. The medium of actual play really shines when it comes to romance, because the best romances involve two fully realized characters. It's hard for an author to write a couple and not end up tailoring one character to the other at the expense of their individual potential. It's also common for authors to depict lines being gratuitously danced on if not crossed for the sake of "spice".

Being roleplayed by two friends who prioritize their table's fun, Percy/Vex proves that a well-maintained foundation of mutual respect and individuality can lead to plenty of spice and angst and all that good stuff. Percy's and Vex's respective character arcs naturally entangle with every new moment of vulnerability. The chemistry generated from those moments, and from Laura and Taliesin's improvised banter, is off the charts because it is them expressing their platonic love, only reflavored by the little fictional people on their graph paper who want to jump each other's bones. I think that's beautiful *wipes tear*

[crtakespropogandist]

Essek takes the most flak for the War of Ash and Light, to the point where a subset of fans think he wasn't redeemed and find each other by virtue signaling about it whenever morality comes up in discourse. Essek's cold priorities at the time are one thing, but disregarding interiority, how much blood is on his hands for "inciting" a war that he didn't have the power to make? What part of the Shadowhand's job description gives him the right to declare war and draft people into fighting said war? Monarchs are not forces of nature; Essek being able to predict that the Bright Queen would leapfrog diplomacy doesn't negate her active decision to do so. She chose to order the attacks on both Zadash and the Ashguard Garrison. In response, King Dwendal also eschewed a diplomatic solution to declare war. We know there weren't reasonable negotiations because King Dwendal wasn't aware of the beacons' significance until M9 brought it to his attention.

Ludinus didn't make a real effort to hide that the Empire had the beacons, and pretty openly expressed the belief that war was inevitable. Of course Essek would take the Archmage of Domestic Protections at his word there, especially since the conflict had been brewing for Essek's entire life. It was probably the reason Essek's talents were utilized for torture, execution, and espionage when he was otherwise too young to be taken seriously. Neither Ludinus nor Leylas could say the same, and they both had first-hand experience with the bloody consequences of war in a way Essek didn't.

And finally, whoop dee doo, Essek's reasoning for trading the beacons in the first place was somewhat vindicated right after he did it—the Assembly uncovered a beacon of their own, and if it weren't for Essek's actions, everyone would have been blindsided by the results of the Assembly's experimentation because they wouldn't have known that it was happening.

What I'm saying is free the man from his War-Crimes-Time-Out corner if you don't bring the same energy for Leylas Kryn. If you die on this particular hill because you've got a bone to pick with fans that annoy you...I doubt it generates the satisfaction you tell yourself it does.

[crtakespropogandist]

It's buck wild to me that it's so popular to imagine a Bren-who-didn't-break in a romance with Essek, or in a version of the Blumentrio where Astrid is the worst influence.

When Liam said Shadowgast Killing Eve AU, he wasn't talking about Villanelle and Eve parallels, and he definitely wasn't talking about Darth Bren. When Liam explained Caleb's instinct to manipulate Essek, people somehow took said explanation to mean that Bren was specialized in honeypotting/seduction, which, no. Bren the Volstrucker would be way more inclined towards a different kind of heat.

In the "Waldhexe" narrative, which Liam confirmed was analogous to Trent and the Blumentrio, Astrid lost one eye, whereas Eadwulf lost "much of" his brain, and Bren lost his whole heart. Astrid shared a final meal with her parents, whereas Eadwulf gave his a confrontation, and Bren killed his parents without entering the house, no thought spared for the family cat. Astrid defied Trent during the final battle, whereas Eadwulf had to be neutralized, and Bren would have killed Trent in his sleep for not abdicating to him soon enough. Every bit of content screams that Astrid is the best influence on Volstrucker Blumentrio, ambition and all. Without Caleb's new perspective, Astrid's view of the world is the most nuanced, and she is the most open to change.

I know it's not comfortable to imagine one moment capable of consigning Caleb's character to heartlessness, especially when that moment was sprung on him as an abused child. Especially when Astrid and Eadwulf's experience of that moment didn't define their respective capacities for redemption. Especially when Essek, having committed worse sins under less extenuating circumstances, is easily saved.

But the reality of a disordered mind is far from comfortable, and Caleb's struggle, as per Liam's comments, is one I know well. Caleb's OCD is much milder than mine given how he's now plenty functional and happy ohne Drogen (idk German), but one of the hallmarks of the diagnosis places Caleb "Magical Thinking" Widogast amongst the multiple CR PCs who are also puns*.

"I was so sure, until I wasn't." OCD made it impossible for Bren to tolerate that whisper of doubt the way Astrid and Eadwulf could. The implications were universal to Bren, all encompassing. He had to embrace that doubt as valid, or reject it as impossible. His mind failed to do either right then and there, and it broke him. When he was restored, that whisper of doubt was confirmed, and an OCD spiral of rumination entrenched in soon-to-be-Caleb the conviction that he is Bad and he deserves Bad. Nothing he does can ever reflect well on his true self, but cognitive dissonance sure rears its head when he joins the Nein, because Caleb is very smart despite OCD not caring about that.

OCD, like the Sith, only deals in absolutes. Bren the Volstrucker would not be among the jaded-but-resigned, morally grey operatives Astrid and Eadwulf became. Bren, having rejected that whisper of doubt, would rationalize away anything incongruent with the conviction that he is Good and he deserves Good. Nothing he does can ever reflect poorly on his true self, and cognitive dissonance would be kept at bay by well-articulated justifications that seamlessly build off of Trent's core teachings, because Bren is still very smart. Essek isn't still that hot, though. Cricks are enemies, and enemies are disgusting. The OCD, however mild, is stronger than the peen.

*Fjord "Texblade" Stone, Jester "Blue Healer" Lavorre, Ashton "Punk Rock" Greymoore, Fresh "One" Cut "Eyed" Grass "Monster", Imogen "Imagine Tumult" Temult

[crtakespropogandist]

CR 3 finale dump pt. 4 - Final (aka cheering myself up with the good)

BH faves Imogen, Dorian, and Chetney are great as usual. Neither the Matron nor I myself blame Imogen "we had no choice" Temult for the fib. Anyone sane would have claimed that (Disclaimer: Matt didn't ask for a Deception check, so this might be cope on my end. Still like Imogen though). Robbie repeatedly breaks and mends my heart with Dorian, what a breath of fresh air (genasi). When Chetney finally dies it will be hilarious. Wholesome Chetney funeral one shot when

VAX! KEYLETH! VM IS WHOLE AGAIN AND IT FEELS RIGHT (See my first ever blogpost) I cannot wait for Vax to meet Sprinkle

Shadowgast + Ashton dynamic (Fearne I stg let that human keep his egg. He only has a few more decades and you owe Essek twice over now)

I love the idea of Ashton 3rd wheeling and bringing Essek cursed artifacts like a cat brings its owner little dead animals

Ashton's response to Fearne

Beauyasha kiddos at the wedding oneshot would make my eyes leak

They didn't forget Ryn

Braius's evil baby paranoia contrasted with Opal's evil baby enthusiasm

Braius being art buddies with Jester

Jester's ever-growing bridal party

Just the solution with the gods becoming babies in general is pretty dope to think about

For people peeved about Divine Intervention: I was rolling my eyes too, but then I remembered that the gods still have lil celestial secretaries wardening their domains

(The real travesty is Lieve'Tel using DI twice in the same week)

Grand Poobah de Moon

The VM Gnome-to-centaur pipeline

[crtakespropogandist]

CR 3 finale dump pt. 3 - Putting my finger on it

I enjoyed the campaign while I was watching it for the most part, because the cast's antics and chemistry always make me smile. But I invariably engaged the most during the tie-ins and cameos bringing back the PCs and NPCs from previous campaigns, and I couldn't summon the same investment for this one. I was ruminating on why that was, and here is what I came up with:

Campaign 3 didn't "work" like the other two because the characters, the plot, and the setting were not integrated. Matt had an epic storyline in mind that could dramatically change Exandria. He also had two lovingly designed settings, Marquet and Ruidus, the fruits of great collaborative labor that he wanted to show off. Finally, he wanted to let his friends have total control in conceptualizing their characters. The result is that the players and Matt seemed really afraid of stepping on each other's (and the other creatives') toes, and the narrative hurt for it.

Character hooks led away from the plot and setting. Setting hooks led away from the plot and characters. Plot hooks led away from the setting and characters. The cast ultimately had to follow the plot, leaving PCs uninvested and locations underutilized along with all their resident NPCs. Freaking Vox Machina had stronger relationships with Marquesian NPCs.

Yet Matt was still discouraged from taking time away from exploring new places and meeting new people for a deeper dive on Delilah Briarwood. Why didn't Ludinus give Tal'Dorei a heads up when the Briarwoods became fugitives? Did he help them in exchange for residuum? Did they steal his obsessive research on the Matron's ritual for Vecna to use? Maybe Jiana Hexum knows something abou...oop BH left Jrusar and forgot all about her. Matt was also discouraged from leaving shiny new Marquet any earlier for Aeor 2: Electric Boogaloo, which left FCG high and dry. The self-imposed balance between the three key story elements was impossible to maintain in a satisfactory way.

VM and M9 are native to their campaigns' respective continents (except my boy Tary ofc), and the plot evolved organically from personal stakes intrinsic to those settings. Moments like "I am no friend to the empire" and "It's Lady Vex'ahlia" are off the table when the party is Oops! All Transients. The worst irony is that Matt undermined the players' autonomy by unilaterally deciding that Caleb and Beau utterly fumbled the task Liam and Marisha set them to in their C2 epilogues. Liam's frustration at the Key scene was palpable. My fellow viewers who only hopped aboard on Campaign 3 can get weirdly defensive against C2's "encroachment" and C2 enjoyers (also fellows of mine) wishing it would "encroach" more. Ludinus was introduced in C2. The ruins of Aeor and Molaesmyr are in Wildemount. Dunamancy is centralized in Wildemount. The Nein spent time in Aeor, in Uthodurn, in the Dynasty. The Nein have gods. What experiments did Ludinus conduct in Vergessen? What are the specifics about what Ludinus did in Molaesmyr, what he's done throughout his life of scheming? It's pretty safe to guess that the Nein would have found out given another chance. Could you imagine how Campaign 2 might have panned out if Beau and Caleb reeeaaally grilled Demid Sunlash and followed up on where he went? (Also Ruidusborn!Essek would have made so much sense I'm vibrating) (Also also d'ya think Eadwulf was always supposed to be a real Matron follower, or could he have been set up as a Paragon's Call/Vanguard type reporting to Ludinus?)

Even as someone introduced to the stream via BH, I can't help but agree with Beau's "Why not us?" comments. Why not give the Wildemount party the Wildemount BBEG? Why not give Bell's Hells the kind of story that encourages them to be little NPC-coded freaks pushing each other's big red buttons just to see what happens? Why not give Marquet a party that calls it home?

The answer is because we got this instead, and I'm kinda sad about it. If BH gets animated, that show is a lost cause if some fundamental changes aren't made.

[crtakespropogandist]

Is it just me, or is fanon Essek often some unholy combination of the Yuri!!! on Ice protagonists if skating was wizardry? There's a line straddling projection and perversion that netizens sure love to crab-walk, and I wish I could cover tiny histrionic femboy Essek with a sheet

(Ofc ppl do whatever makes them happy. This isn't a judgement so much as a cry for validation from anyone else whom this does not make happy)