#and luc!!!! aaahhh!!!

[relenafanel]

Aaahhh I’m so excited for Rosaline Palmer bc I JUST finished Boyfriend Material and that book broke my heart in certain places and built it back up by the end!! It was beautiful and I’m sure this will be too.

BOYFRIEND MATERIAL WAS SO GOOD!!

(some mentions of spoilers ahead)

I think in a way my heart is still broken over it because the portrayal of friendship in that book was so ride-or-die even though Luc was depressed and wasn't participating as much in the friend group and I just... fuck. I've felt this gap since finishing it like I need to make a queer ride-or-die friend group.

Rosaline Palmer is really good in different ways. It's a 5-star book imho, but Boyfriend Material fucking punched me in the face with how good it was and how much it spoke to me specifically, and there are aspects of Rosaline Palmer that aren't really me (the single mom bit specifically, I'll be open about that. also i'm not a fan of baking shows??)

Sidebar: did you hear Boyfriend Material will be A SERIES?!!?!?!?!???

[cadaceus]

C2E141

One last time, y’all. This campaign and these characters have meant so much to me, and this seven hour finale was definitely an emotional rollercoaster. (Yes, I shed actual tears at one point, which rarely happens to me with media. But this is a special occasion.) These liveblogs are nearly as long as the episode itself, so grab a snack! With that being said, here are my very last liveblogs for Campaign 2 of Critical Role. As always, major spoilers below, so beware. 

- Veth taking a level in Wizard, god I am really gonna cry ten minutes into this thing...  😭

- We got our first “stay with us” to Essek, I am emo...

- I was fully not expecting to say goodbye to Frumpkin, but now I’m on the verge of tears... farewell dear fey friend (Marisha saying “that wasn’t supposed to be what broke me” me too me too)

- “You’re a good person.” “I could be.” “You are.”

- “I think you’re a good person” I never thought that I’d hear Beau say that about Essek and this genuinely might be what breaks me... she thinks he’s a good person.... redemption is possible.... maybe love is real....

- If I end up crying over wizards, look away

- Jester lifting up Fjord’s arm to snuggle beneath it made me say “awww” out loud  🥺

- VETH GOING FOR A DIP IN THE POND, I AM GENUINELY SO PROUD OF HER

- “Aahhh!! It’s me! Your wife!” I am going to miss Jester’s sending so much

- Okay that accent bit was so funny, I am going to miss all of them so much

- REAL MOLLY IS BACK REAL MOLLY IS BACK REAL MOLLY IS BACK

- Oh but he doesn’t remember them... and Yasha is trying so hard to help him remember, it’s so so sweet 

- Something about the way he said “Tealeaf’s nice” made me tear up... I was neutral on Mollymauk early campaign because I went into things knowing that he passed away, but this whole conversation with the Mighty Nein is So Much. Also “Kingsley Tealeaf” 

- “Everyone should have a brother” as someone with three of them, I vouch for this  🥺

- a) I love Marion Lavorre (and Jester ofc!) so very much and b) I can’t believe that Jester’s parent trap actually worked??

- “I do not think Exandria is ready for how you’re going to change it” got to me... and it’s also so true. jester has already changed the world just by being kind.

- Good bye Marion... I love and will miss you so much! (And many thanks to Laura and Matt for creating an agoraphic single mother who raised a wonderful child <3)

- Beau and Jester teasing Marion for having a complicated relationship with Babenon reminds me of Caleb saying he has a complicated relationship with Essek...

- LEAVE CALEB ALON E FUOIKJLKGKNL 

- THIS IS ....... SO MUCH WORSE THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE.

- Caleb’s biggest trauma(s) coming back to haunt him, I am genuinely going to cry I’m not ready for this I’m not okay

- Beau saying to Jester “Thanks, cutie” I love themmmmm

- INITIATIVE AAGJASKHDKJ AAAAAHHHH

- Essek’s Gravity Sinkhole did nothing? uhhhhh Mr Stark...

- EADWULF???? HELLO?????

- Essek using his entire turn to save Caleb last battle 🤝 Caleb using his entire turn to save Essek this battle

- ASTRID???? I TRUSTED YOU??? WE ALL TRUSTED YOU????

- Another Counterspell chain sdfdghjkdl wizards !!!

- “It’s just business” is literally the Neutral Evil line, it always gives me chills when any character says it

- This hurts more after Liam confirming on Twitter that Astrid/Caleb/Eadwulf were all three a romantic item... please stop hurting Caleb, you loved him  😭

- THE FJORD VS EADWULF SWORD FIGHT IS SO CINEMATIC I LOVE IT HERE ACTUALLY

- Essek taking every opportunity to pull Caleb to safety makes me so emotional...  😭

- “You’re not the first student I’ve had to put down” I am burning with my anger for you, old man 

- THE DISPEL WORKED LET’S GO CALEB.....

- Remember when Matt said that Essek doesn’t openly show concern/emotion? And now he’s saying “I’m scared” in front of his closest friends and his worst enemies.... growth my love.....

- BEAU AND VETH LETS GO CHAOS CREW LETS MF GO BABEYYYY!!!

- FJORD COUNTERSPELLING THE DIMENSION DOOR..... and Matt having him describe it.... is this taking the place of a “HDYWTDT” *eyes emoji*

- CALEB GOING DOWN NO, THANK GOD FOR THAT DEATH WARD

- Veth’s illusion of Caleb’s parents flanking Caleb in the flames.... that got me too, Liam

- “Stay down.” yeah, okay, that was sexy

- ASTRID BEING THE ONE TO ACTIVATE THE COLLAR IS LITERALLY POETIC JUSTICE... Trent being beaten by the student who stuck with him longest I love this so much, she deserved that moment honestly

- Break Time, AKA Emma Makes Her Weekly Mug Brownie Interlude

- Sometimes I feel like “death is too good for you” is a copout, but in this case it fits so well, I want this mf’s reputation destroyed and the entire operation exposed and overthrown let’s goooo

- “I loved you both so much”.... Astrid and Eadwulf walking away.... oh, Blumendrei... I know this is not the end of your story. What’s past is prologue, loves

- The Empire Siblings are gonna burn down the whole system because it’s the system that enables individual corruption... I am so fulfilled by this, god i love them

- “I love you too” OH MY GOD I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, FJORESTER ARE THE CUTEST FOR REAL

- Jester and Essek’s friendship still means so much to me btw just in case anyone wanted a check-in

- Veth giving the flask to Kingsley!! Good for her, good for her!

- OH Blumenduo are back already! I truly thought that was going to be their last appearance of the Campaign, why is this taking me more by surprise than Trent’s appearance

- “[Caleb] notes how similar Eadwulf and Fjord are” this is Widofjord adjacent... this episode we have gotten Widomauk-adjacent, Widojest-adjacent, and Widofjord-adjacent (and Blumentrio ofc), now come through Shadowgast and we can get a full Bingo on the “Bisexual Maelstrom” card

- Speaking of relationships, I am lowkey into the Fjord/Jester/Kingsley dynamic LOL no one look at me I’m in hiding

- I’M NOT READY TO SAY GOODBYE TO VETH AND CAD 😭 It makes sense and the fact that they have their families back is beautiful but also consider this: I’m sad and I will miss them 

- The goodbyes to Caduceus..... I am going to cry aren’t I?

- “If he’s anything like his mom, you won’t see him until it’s too late” Okay that made me giggle, I love Veth and I love Luc and I love their little family

- IS ESSEK LEAVING TOO? THAT’S GONNA BE WHAT BREAKS ME ISN’T IT

- If Essek leaves and we never see him again, getting a triple whammy of goodbyes I will be so incredibly sad, I cannot do this  😭

- If anyone is interested, no I am not doing well

- I was lowkey ready to get an Essek’s feelings for Caleb confirmation tonight, I guess it makes sense that we didn’t but I hope that this is not the last time we see Essek... I want to write another emo post about him and about how much he means to me but I will refrain

- CALEB BEING A TEACHER IS THE ENDGAME I WANT FOR HIM PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

- Wow, I really was not ready to see Caduceus and Essek go for some reason... I really wanted this Campaign to end on the image of the Mighty Nein together as all nine of them... I’m feeling so numb right now having to say goodbye  😭

- Oh, we’re in the epilogue now!

- When Fjord said “[the sea] is my favorite place to be” I genuinely felt that on a spiritual level... the ocean is home, it truly is and always will be for me as well

- “I CAST MODIFY MEMORY” FJORD LMAOOOOOOO

- Okay, that Widobrave ending is what made me shed tears for the first time this episode... not to be Personal but my biological brother graduates High School tomorrow, and for some reason this conversation just reminded me so much of me and him and now I’m emotional

- NOT THE SYPHILIS BANDITS DSYUHDFJKLSFJ;DS OKAY I NEEDED THAT LAUGH

- “I’d like to hear about your friend” Kingsley aww

- Beau giving Kingsley her first diary to help him realize who they all are is actually so perfectly fitting, I love that!

- “The other eight and I, yes” Caleb counting all nine of them again  😭

- CALEB BEING OFFERED AN ASSEMBLY SEAT WTF AAAHHH

- Oh shit, Astrid took the Assembly seat... I’m not sure how I feel about this, I feel so bad for her for having to stay in the system that abused her for so long and I would have loved to see her burn the whole thing down, but I hope that she at least has a sense of contentment with this title

- “I go where you go, baby” Beauyasha.... my darling loves....

- Beau’s dad??? But also Beau being the one with power over her father is so Good, I’m glad that she got justice on that front as well!

- This talk with Artagan... “I didn’t want you to be a god. I wanted you to be my friend.” and in the process my love you created divinity... maybe divinity is the friends we made along the way

- OH SHIT WE ARE GETTING ALL THE VANDRAN LORE TONIGHT I’M READY LET’S GO LET’S GO

- VANDRAN AND AVANTIKA WERE AN ITEM???

- Wait crack theory: Sabian was a half elf right? Could he be the son of Vandren and Avantika? Or is that too much of a stretch? 

- Vandran going with them!!! Also I feel like that moment between Fjord and Vandran was lowkey a tease to a post-campain Uk’otoa one shot and I am ready for it already 

- THIS BEAUYASHA MOMENT... “i’ve never known anyone as deeply as i know you” & “explore every bit of you in multiple ways ;)” & “your past doesn’t scare me, it only makes you beautiful” .... this is so much they are so much i love them so much

- “I will have you and then some” Beauyasha   😭

- I’m torn between “oh my god there’s still half an hour left?” and “how is there only half an hour left??”

- “You will let this Skyspear live at least?” oh my god so Yasha killed the last Skyspear then? Oof...

- YASHA GIVING ZUALA(’S GRAVE) THE BOOK OF FLOWERS, OH DEAR HEART

- And Beau’s talk to Zuala about being the luckiest woman alive and sacrifice.... 😭  

- PLANTING FLOWERS AT ZUALA’S GRAVE... “NO BETTER GRAVE MARKER” THIS IS MAKING ME SO EMOTIONAL, I KNOW I’VE SAID THIS A LOT THIS EPISODE BUT THIS TRULY IS SO BEAUTIFUL

- So... I may or may not be crying again

- Shadowgast with a steel chair??

- Caleb’s plan for saving his parents... it’s clear he has thought of this so much, oh my darling love  😭

- Caleb burning down his chance to change his past is so symbolic and something he really needed to do, it does make me emotional though

- The other book was him writing to his parents?? Oh bby boy  😭  

- While I would have loved for Caleb to open his own magic school (especially with Essek, or the Mighty Nein, or someone else as well), I am so pleased that he stays with Veth and that their friendship continues for the rest of their life because again: they mean so so much to me, and in a way they remind me of me and my biological brother (which I never realized before this episode) and yeah. They just make me Emo

- Also. Caleb being a professor was my Number One Endgame Hope for him and the fact that it came true is just so surreal in the best way possible. I’m so used to being robbed of happy endings. The fact that the Mighty Nein all got theirs makes me incredibly happy. A story does not have to be sad to be impactful. Happy stories and happy endings, especially during a time period of tumultuous real life circumstances, have just as much value and meaning and they always will. Caleb is teaching the next generation magic, and he is teaching them to be Good, and he is nurturing them, and that just means so much

- MATT CRYING IS GONNA GET TO ME

- “Let’s do it again” Please, let’s.

- Okay, everyone. I made it all seven hours in one piece with surprisingly minimal tears (though who knows, this might all sink in tomorrow.) I already wrote my thoughts earlier today about how much the Mighty Nein mean to me and how much this show and these characters have kept me holding on during quarantine and today... I’m still not ready to let them go, but I know that I can always revisit to say hello and to say thank you for changing me. Until then though... I love you all more than you could ever know. And for the last time of Campaign 2... is it Thursday yet?

Good night 💗

[ayzenigma]

Unrelated CR thought that won’t leave me be: every time Veth goes back to see her family, I keep expecting the Night Hag that cursed her to have taken them and done bad things in order to get back at her/M9 for tricking her into releasing the curse. Literally every time I’m holding my breath waiting for the horrifying reveal. Thoughts?

oh, oh my,,, I had honestly mostly forgotten about Isharnai and now that you’ve planted this seed of worry? oh boy. the Fear plant has started to grow aaahhh

I hope you sent this ask being at least vaguely aware of how much of an angst monster i can be, because i’m about to go down a hole. so be warned!

(also this got longer than I expected so i’m sticking it under a read more!)

why stop at just the brenattos? sure Veth was the curse the m9 were trying to break on, but it was Jester who did the memory modification and actual trickery, and if I were a hag with a grudge well. what better target?

and where are yeza and luc staying right now? Nicodranas! and who else is in nicodranas? Marion Lavorre, jester’s lovely mother!

If isharnai wants to get back at veth or jester of the m9, well nicodranas would be the obvious place to go, scooping up both the brenattos and marion for Extra Misery and Bad Times x2!

Now, the possible plus(-ish) side is that if Isharnai kidnaps brenattos + marion or something, the m9 would simply go after her, and they’d have a nice fun and intense combat! dangerous? probably, but overall fairly straightforward and easily enough accomplished mission. not many intricacies to navigate (beyond some much needed trauma therapy for brenattos + marion afterwards)

But! if we want to go more complex and extra suffering? well. I’m sure there’s some people who would be happy to get their hands on yeza (again) and the others, and also have a hold over the unpredictable and no-clear-allegiances mighty nein: namely, the Cerberus Assembly.

and that would be a Difficult and Complicated situation to navigate, because the assembly is Powerful, not just magically but also politically, and that’s not something they can just barge in and mess with easily. it’ll be a matter if the nein know the assembly have the brenattos and marion, or if they have to figure it out first (maybe with a visit to isharnai if they can figure that connection out. which might involve another deal or a fight or whatever!), and then they’d have to decide on / make a plan: try to sneak them out, or make a deal, or whatever. would also depend on how the assembly wants to play the game, whether they keep it a secret in their back pocket or use it as direct leverage. loooooots of fun possibilities! and if it gets to political navigation they can call essek and ask for advice or aid. jkjk (mostly) i just miss the floaty purple boi either way, more m9 navigating politics and dealing with the assembly yay!

ooh bonus (much more cracky) possibility: isharnai and uk’otoa team up XD. after all, nicodranas is a coastal city... and a certain leviathan/demi-god of the sea does also have a grudge against the nein....

now, do i think all this is possible? there’s always a possibility! do i think it’s likely? i... am not sure honestly. like, isharnai definitely is a loosely tied up end that i’m sure is slowly unraveling and coming undone and might just come back to bit the nein in the butts, but it’s hard to say in what form that might take! there are many many ways of dealing in misery, curses or no, so lots of possibilities (like restarting the war the nein worked so hard to stop! bonus that was what veth kind of offered, so arguments can be made that she’s just taking her due, without memory modified trickery of a deal not actually made)

there’s also the matter of how it would fit the story, specifically veth’s story. one of her biggest conflicts right now is figuring out how to balance wanting to stay with yeza and luc and wanting to adventure with the nein. a (seeming) choice between two families if yeza and luc are kidnapped and otherwise in danger? well that’s one less choice, for a while, because the two would align into “adventure to save the brenattos,” similar to what led the nein to xhorhas in the first place.

and this would be interesting to see, because it’ll come with it the ways in which veth’s adventuring is dangerous, not just to herself but also to luc and yeza! which just adds more delicious layers of angsty confliction to all the things veth has to consider.

tl;dr: i am LOVING the angst potential and gosh now i will join you in nervous anticipation for if/when anything with isharnai happens, and if/when anything happens, it will definitely be Big and Worrying and aahhhhhhh delicious story really

[lacetrekmusings]

TNG liveblog: THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS PART 1 and 2: THE PENULTIMATE TNG TWO PARTER. i really shouldn’t be doing this so late but sleep is for the weak.

borgborgBorgBorgBORGBORG

Question, do away teams ever feature non-important officers? like? I feel like away team situations shouldn’t be handled by lower raking officers haha

damn the colony is just fucking GONE

There’s no stopping the borg man

I LOVE PICARDS TEASET

Riker just keeps getting offered ships and he’s like “LOL NOPE NO LEAVING THE ENTERPRISE”

Shelby’s gunning for Riker’s job lol

awww Wes gets to play poker with them now that he’s an ensign. He has an awful pokerface

lol PLAYED WES

Shelby you’d best quit stepping on everyone’s toes. Why the fuck wouldn’t you tell Riker you were going down?

CONFIRMED BORG (like I didn’t already know haha)

Picard is looking out for you Riker

Riker we all know you’re not gonna leave man

Deanna’s like ‘you just have to make up your mind dude.’

Shelby needs to chill, not everything is a challenge lady.

Shelby... get out of Deanna’s chair.

THE CUBE IS COMING

There she is. she’s beautiful.

WE HAVE ENGAGED THE BORG.

THEY WANT PICARD

Shelby, lady don’t roll your eyes at Riker mid-battle

They’re going straight for engineering this seems bad

Yes RUN RUN FOR YOUR LIVES

I love the ol’ hide in a nebula trick

SHELBY SERIOUSLY??? WHAT IN THE FUCK

Shelby you are a fucking twit. You’re gonna get assimilated

The borg really want picard. do we ever get an in-universe explanation for their curiosity?

GUINAN. Every conversation with Guinan is a gift

Guinan that was a great pep talk but SHE LOOKS SO CONCERNED SOMEONE HUG HER. she’s already lost everything to the borg

DRONE!

they’ve adapted

THEY NABBED PICARD! And jabbed him with nanoprobes

HEADED TO EARTH

THEY SAID THE THINGS

Aaahhh they wanted Picard as their spokesperson lol

Shelby don’t look so smug like now is not the time holy shit.

heck yeah beverly getting to be brilliant and clever.

WOLF 359 OH NO *cries about Jennifer Sisko*

Damn it was just his clothes not Picard.

I like that borg stuff looks like it’s just barely holding together but it’s fucking nigh indestructable

Welp now the drones have noticed you lol

PICARD HAS BEEN BORGED

SAD MUSIC. Worf is so upset

Riker is right guys this is your one shot to get them.

I AM LOCUTUS OF BORG RESISTANCE IS FUTILE

ONTO PART 2

Ittt uuuhhh didn’t work guys

all that drama for nuthin’

I really appreciate that they gave Locutus a red laser pointer taped to the side of his head so I can tell which borg he is at a distance

OKAY SO TUMBLR FUCKING CRASHED WHILE I WAS LIVEBLOGGING SO A BIG CHUNK OF MY LIVEBLOG IS NOW MISSING BUT HERE’S THE REST

Yes time for the dramatic separation of the saucer section. It’s always super dramatic when they do that

I love the green Borg weapons

Locutus quit pointing your laser pointer at the camera it’s really hard on the eyes.

Haha worf and data snuck aboard

Hahaha got Picard back bitchessssss

I know you guys are trying to help Picard but bringing a Borg onboard is always a bad idea

Lol nm he’s just wondering around. Every other borg would have assimilated half the ship by now

I love that data has his own fancy lab. jus cuz he’s data. he doesn’t even seem to have to share with anyone.

Borg cube just swatted those ships like mosquitoes.

Use the force to reach him data

Whop Locutus woke up

Aw it’s jean-luc

He’s still fighting *tears up*

Lol I would go with them command ‘go away forever’. would have saved us a lot of trouble.

Wes looks at Riker like 'I don’t want to die what the fuck’

Oh yes put them all to sleep, brilliant. GOOD PLAN JEAN-LUC

Hahaha it worked

I love it.

Naw man let them blow up I’m with Riker lol

'Almost human’ awwwww

Good luck jean-luc this will haunt you for the rest of your life

Picard poor baby. He is so fucked up after all this

Yeah babe they are still out there. MORE ARE COMING

welp that further cemented my love of the Borg. they really are great episodes. i understand the accolades.

[trustlup]

Fuck fuck fuck homie your stress about the end of the stolen century is giving me so much stress. (And like, I'm p sure there will be a divide eventually which makes me sad) but I am desperately hoping that once they all remember and face the hunger, after the final lunar interlude, that they will reconcile. Like I gotta believe that Griffin wouldn't do us like that

(Aaahhh I don’t want that!!!) although I do wanna point out that I’m pr sure it was Lucretia who went rogue, if you’ll remember she reminisced about how she made a decision that she knew would have major impacts and because of that she lost many friends

(I’m putting both your things together I hope you don’t mind!!) 

i am so sorry i am spreading my stress!! i am just so worried so bad because we have to go from the team doing a happy huddle to a dead barry being thrown from the ship?? and like?? how do we get there?? and i’m almost certain it is luc (or davenport) who kills barry because they seem to have the biggest beef and can you imagine how that fucking goes with lup and taako (and i’m sure mags and merle will also be v up in arms too) and i just have a feeling that it is because lup (taako too considering he’s the first one to try and make stuff with the light?) and barry team up to create the relics

but then like how does lucretia go from a relatively completely objective member of the group to going rogue? 

like i have no idea how griffin planned on the stolen century to take only two eps and i am so thankfully that he’s spreading this out

and if Griffin McElroy does not give me my good family coming together at the end (with Lup!!!!) then he will have to pay me (me) personally $15 for Lup