#Most of the top posts were TLoVM liveblogs

[thessalian]

I posted 9,135 times in 2022

422 posts created (5%)

8,713 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@sithiegoodness

@hyenagamer

@kindlejim

@cabbage-but-angry

@joasakura

I tagged 1,361 of my posts in 2022

#emergency cute supply - 294 posts

#things i will never not reblog - 208 posts

#hyperewok1 - 74 posts

#thess has a day job - 64 posts

#thess on politics - 62 posts

#boys will be boys - 60 posts

#thess on gardening - 41 posts

#thess liveblogs dragon age - 39 posts

#thess plays video games - 33 posts

#thess vs the monarchy - 31 posts

Longest Tag: 108 characters

#weekends with dad were like 'yeah that's nice but can i go home to the parent who cares about what i'm doing

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Thess vs TLoVM Ep. 5

And now time for Ep. 5!

“I can get some things at Gilmore’s”, you said, didn’t you, Vax? Guess you forgot about the fact that the guards didn’t get the memo from Jarett yet.

Did you idiots really not think Gilmore had a security system?!? I thought they were going to, like... Yeah, actually at least leave an IOU!

Vax, Gilmore, get a roooooooom. I really do have to wonder if they always just flirted or if they ever got it on. Just the once. Just a little canoodle. You know, for a treat.

“I have a magnificent bitch face.” Well, I guess they haven’t got to the “the arrows were totally flirting” part yet? Well, given he couldn’t make the explosive arrow ‘cos of a lack of Victor...

“Zippertwat”. Yeah, not an image I needed either.

Grog doesn’t get metaphor, does he. I wonder if some of the writing with Grog being a bit infantalised was them allowing for Grog to ... not have Pike to lean on and have to grow up a bit?

Of course the fucking creepy wood is full of pitcher plants. And... Nonono nothing that sounds cute and helpless is going to be in-- yeah. Yeah, okay WHICH OF THE ANIMATORS HAS BEEN PLAYING TOO MUCH SILENT HILL?!?

Keyleth vine-bridge NICE.

“Did you just ‘HYAH’ me?!?” Yeah, they talk like a D&D party.

Wow. Kiki goes proto-Minxie! COOL.

SCANLAN YOU FUCKING TROLL! Another one where I was wondering why this tiny snippet was on the soundtrack.

Yeah, but ... okay, the holy water’s a lost cause, but what about the scrolls and arrows and stuff? Couldn’t you find a way down the cliff and-- OH THAT IS JUST NOT FUCKING FAIR. Also someone really has been playing way too much Silent Hill. Like, way too much. All of the too much. (There might be a tiny bit of envy.)

Wait. Wait, why are they being so nice to the little blonde-- Wait, that’s a symbol of the Everlight-- oh. Oh no. Wait, those people have to be from out of town or they’d have been way more scared. Then again, wouldn’t they have been pretty scared just walking through town, if they didn’t know it well? I get why they had to show us it, and I get they wanted to yank the heartstrings, but that moment - the moment this is foreshadowing - yanked the heartstrings enough without Adorable Little Girl stuff. Or at least instead of guileless innocence, she could have been scared and have Delilah try to put her at her ease. Let’s see ... written by Jennifer Muro. Looking at her back catalogue, I guess I can see why she’d go that route, but ... I think it was a tiny bit ... much. I mean, I can run with it? But it might have been more powerful if it had been “scared little girl put at her ease by the woman who was going to betray and murder her later”. Nice echo of her getting close to the de Rolos and ... well, later de Rolo-related situations.

This is how he’s going to go triceratops?!? AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ah, flirting, sibling jealousy, drama. The classics. And a good set-up for the relationships that we haven’t had as much time for as we might have liked. It would have been nice to see them in the keep more for that very reason, but they have a set number of episodes, so this’ll do.

Ooh! Bonding over kills! Hi, Hotis! Hi, poor duregar! I ... vaguely remember Grog doing something like that but I don’t remember what he did it to. Oh gods, Scanlan! I’m not as horrified about what she did as I am at what he didn’t do! You don’t just lie there and let the woman do all the work! You’re tarnishing your reputation as a lover! ...That aside, this is a nice way of not only giving some indication of the things they’ve done but to throw in the whole Hotis-as-Gilmore nightmare in later seasons. Or season. I don’t see them cancelling at the end of the two contracted seasons, but ... y’know.

It’s really a shame that there aren’t names on the-- Oh. Oh, there are the names on the Pepperbox. I guess I figured they were more ... obvious than that. Still, dramatic reveals.

Aw, Percy, you’ve got people at your back and are accepting them... aaaaaaaaaannd given how hard seeing your home like that would hit, not before time!

“Big thing there; there, big thing” TOOK THE WORDS RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH, Scanlan! That was a glorious shot. (Look, I did Film Studies and TV Studies; framing, mise-en-scene, mise-en-place etc are my jam. This thing has some beautifully framed scenes.)

Also, I did enough music lessons to consistently catch the important leitmotifs. I admit a part of me had kind of hoped that they might hire on Colm McGuinness, because a gig like that would set him on the map, but Neal Acree has got it going on. He fits so well with the overall narrative and visual structures.

...Oh. They did it. God, that scene has never left me. It’s ... somehow more horrible seeing it. I mean, Matt’s description chilled me to the bone, but ... seeing it is worse.

“It’s us.” On black. Perfect. I mean, horrible and horrifying and grimdark and all that, but narratively perfect.

And yeah, I think I’m going to wait until there are more episodes in the queue before I move on to ep 6. That’s ... the place to pause. Besides, I want to watch these ones over again to make a more thorough dissection. Look, I was lucky; people who study this stuff in school - how to tear apart a piece of media like a necroscopy specimen, I mean - either hate it and refuse to ever do it again if they can avoid it (even if they do often wind up saying “praise the meta” more often than a person who really just wants to take a work of art in its entirety without doing some digging), or they love it and make it serve their love of the piece ... if the piece is worthy.

This piece is worthy. I want to understand it. That means poking at it lots.

...Of course, now I’m wondering if I should do this with Arcane, too. I have thoughts about Arcane.

35 notes - Posted February 5, 2022

#4

Thess vs TLoVM Ep 2

Here we go again...

Of course they go for the obvious creepy dude. Nice to know we’re still living the stereotype. (No, seriously, that particular trope has its place. But if they did the tiniest bit of research on what kind of intelligence blue dragons have, they might rethink that. But that’s audience talking and they don’t have access to the Monster Manual. Given the attempts at appeasement suggested, I totally get why they went there. Which is better than it being just because he looks creepy.)

Gilmore is allowed to be glorious with a paunch! THANK YOU!

Oh, the innuendo! I am living for it.

“It’s just a damn door!” Yeah - liked it when it was a preview snippet, still like it now. Most parties have that problem, Vex; learn to live with it.

I guess no one’s figured out that Favoured Prey means you sense the actual prey, not people working for the prey.

Not sure what I’m more amused about - the Tiamat carpet, or the painting of a red tiefling woman who’s almost certainly the Ruby of the Sea. I mean, at least “Tiamat worshipper” is a possibility for Krieg now but I still want to know how they think Vex is sensing ‘some dragon’s flunky’. Still, I guess they don’t have the PHB.

“Did he just say ‘we’?” THANK YOU, PERCY.

That is a pretty good transformation sequence, gotta say.

“A tickle. Let me return the favour.” YES. THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT. DAVID TENNANT YOU MAD GLORIOUS BASTARD.

Nice lead-up to the dragon’s weak spot! And kudos to the animators for making that particular weak spot something we saw from the very beginning!

Also, for those who complain about the animation “not being that great”? (Because, unbelievably, I have seen a few.) Dudes, have you seen basically any anime? Or, hell, most cartoons of the 80s and 90s? Animation is a lot of work and this took way fewer (or at least way less obvious) shortcuts than the animation of my day. Yeah, fine, I’m old, but you know what that means? That means I actually appreciate this kind of thing. Just go actually sit down and watch an original episode of Transformers or GI Joe or something; look at what I grew up with. Then tell me they didn’t work hard enough. Also, if they’d drawn every single frame from scratch, we wouldn’t see this series until 2030. STOP ASSUMING THAT ART IS EASY AND FAST. IT IS NEITHER.

They actually kept “I would like to rage!!!”? In character?!? AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah. Yeah, that was a D&D combat. No question.

Hi Matt. I know a lot of people were holding out for Matt voicing Gilmore, but a) it’s nice to have a POC voicing a POC (hell, it’s nice to have POC voicing white people for a change, when it’s so often the other way around) and b) ...honestly, no one but Matt could do Sylas Briarwood justice.

I ... almost want to wait for Episode 3. Just because this feels like a better pause point between the ‘session zero’ episodes and the Briarwood arc. I mean, I get why they released it this way - cliffhangers are a thing, and there are a lot of people, some who’ve even watched Critical Role but missed Campaign 1 for some reason, who have no idea what’s coming - but for me, who actually knows what’s up? I think I’ll wait. Unless I don’t. Honestly, I just need a comfier chair. Or, like, the sofa. I should probably invest in a Kindle TV stick or something so I can watch from the sofa.

42 notes - Posted January 29, 2022

#3

Thess vs TLoVM Ep. 4

Okay, here we go, Ep 4. ‘Cos this gives me nightmares and ideas all at once.

(Pity my players.)

I like Allura intervening, but not intervening too much. I mean, it is weird, isn’t it, if you actually are capable of thinking about it? How yeah, they’re uncouth, unmannered and yeah, there was a fight, but ... you’d think that if Vox Machina were the instigators, they’d have sustained somewhat ... less damage.

You’re putting Vox Machina under house arrest and expecting them to stay there? I hope she’s got good guards for this...

See? SEE? I told you the book-stealing was going to be a thing! When Sylas Briarwood is grinning like that over “the means to get them back”, it’s going to be horrible. ...in that “my wife is a powerful necromancer and priestess of the Whispered One and everything she does is wonderful especially when it makes people scream in torment” sort of way...

So they took all the weapons - including Percy’s unique ranged weapon ... and they left his workshop. They’d have a way harder time carrying shit out of there if they’d taken every means Percy has of making a weapon. ...Also, Pike’s issues notwithstanding, MAGIC IS A THING. At least they took Scanlan’s lute, I guess?

This was an actual thing, wasn’t it, Pike’s trying to get the Everlight’s blessing renewed? It was similar to this, but not as ... heartbreaking. Though given what I was saying about casters, this is one of those moments where Keyleth’s going to be put under pressure to shine.

“...I withdraw the question”. I mean, funny, yes, but even funnier when remembering that vampirism was on the cards for Vax if the others had been even the slightest bit slower.

I noticed this in the comic as well, but I’ll say it again, ‘cos it’s carried over: Sam played Scanlan largely for comedy for so long, or seemed to, that it’s easy to forget what a bard is ... or more specifically, what a bard has. Both the comics and this series remember that a bard has Jack of All Trades, and a Lore bard (which Scanlan is) tend to lean into that on the ... well, lore side. In the comics, it was figuring out that their attackers weren’t from the Clasp because of a lack of distinguishing mark. In TLoVM? Translation. (Also if we’re looking towards the Vecna arc, puts him nicely in line for the blessing of Ioun. Whatever they’re calling Ioun in this series.)

One thing the writers did right is the Sylas / Delilah relationship. Now that we’re seeing things the players don’t, we have to really understand the “I broke the world for us” thing, and ... yeah. Also, graveyard. Necromancy weirdness. Oh shit. WHAT DID I TELL YOU?

(Wait. Given creatures of the night and all, how literally is “Keyleth’s time to shine” going to be? I mean, I do recall Marisha’s “I want to make him eat a bag of holy dicks” moment...)

Keyleth unable to cast Daylight in a time of minor inconvenience but not great need. That’s a set-up to “Keyleth calls Daylight at pivotal moment”. (Look, I don’t remember if that happened on stream; I just know my narrative beats and I appreciate when they can be leaned into like you’re ticking off a TV Tropes checklist and still have it be epic when it happens.)

Remember when I hoped Allura had very smart guards? I should have taken into account they take their orders from Allura. That gives them a +3 to any and all INT-based rolls.

Okay, fine, that’s a staple of all good horror movies, the lights going out and strange noises and shadows in the corner of the eye... But they still made it terrifying.

“The ashes of my ancestors.” ...oh fucking hell, Grog... I mean, okay, he makes up for it. Eventually. I mean, like, really eventually. I remember Grog being ... at least more emotionally present than this!

Was Matt just every single one of the guards except for Jarett?

Also THAT IS HORRIFYING JESUS CHRIST.

You locked Percy in his workshop? Well, I guess even with the Allura bonus, you can still critfail.

...Yeah. Yeah, this is “SUMMONS SUN AT CRITICAL MOMENT” set-up dialled up to eleven. Still touching as fuck. Also ... is he building Bad News? *looks carefully* YES. YES HE IS HELLO BAD NEWS. (Wait. Does this mean they’re gonna have the bit where Scanlan throws Pepperbox in the acid? YAY!)

Yes. Matt voiced every single guard except for Jarett. Also, when the bear is upset and it’s not at you, and given what that bear has seen? PAY ATTENTION TO THE BE-- okay, no, never mind.

The next person who complains that the animation “isn’t all that great” is getting slapped. By me. GODS THIS IS AWFUL. Somehow it’s worse with animation. It’s more immediate when everything is on the same ... wavelength, I guess? There’s no fake blood on real skin; it’s just all the same thing. It all being ‘fake’ means that if you’re invested enough, it’s all real, with no juxtaposition between real and not. Also, yeah. Nightmares and ideas. WITNESS ME.

“They want the book!” Your brother took it out of a portable necromancy shrine, and these are light-hating undead. The word I have for you, Vex’halia, is “DOY!”

Dude. You can see the light streaming from the eyes of these things as they come down from the ceiling NO ONE SAYS ONE BAD WORD ABOUT THE ANIMATION EVER AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME?!?

Rabbit. Plus antlers. JACKALOPE KEYLETH!

“A trigger? Ew.” Well, you get over it fast, I’ll give you that, Ms Ballistics Snob.

Okay, when’re they going to sneak in through-- *thump* AAAAAAAAA! I have no other words for the Keyleth Exorcist moment. HOLY FUCK.

“WHY. CAN’T. I. HIT YOU?!?” Now see, that’s Grog.

Pike spits at these spectre-things. Nice set-up for her basically threatening gods in defense of her friends.

GO JARETT!

See the full post

47 notes - Posted February 4, 2022

#2

So ... basically Squeenix is turning away from the players who play to have fun (they put it in scare quotes, guys), in order to cater to people who are perfectly happy to farm crypto for them. Among other scary things.

I know the last FFXIV patch was exciting for everybody, but you might want to take a good hard look at what Square Enix is doing right now and side-eye their upcoming offerings really fucking hard. Because this? If people don’t foam at the mouth about this coming from Square Enix, how far do you think companies like Activision Blizzard and EA will take it?

362 notes - Posted January 4, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Only Tumblr could see a mistranslated bit of Russian on a shoe about a nonexistent Scorcese movie, proceed to make almost every bit of evidence that the movie exists, and then engage in convincing cinema discourse about it to the exclusion of almost everything other than “Man, those Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel do the City Guy dirty”.

No one will ever make an actual algorithm work on this site, because the list of things that we will hype without so much as a nod to The New Hotness existing so far goes:

Sea Shanties

Old Edgar Allen Poe stories

Pre-serum Steve Rogers cooking weird old recipes on TikTok

Loony Tunes Gender Discourse (like, literally gender analysis of Bugs Bunny)

Unsung Historially Important Women

Some guy selling shitty copper in 1750 BCE

A movie almost no one went to see

Hallmark Christmas specials in general (seasonal)

And now we’ve added:

A movie that literally does not exist.

An algorithm wouldn’t stand a chance here. Any attempts at coding one would puke radioactive on first contact with this weird, wonderful website.

2,596 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

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