#critical role ep 99

[sweetened-condensed-rage]

Taliesin is suspiciously good at playing an ancient deity

[mollymauksworld]

"That's good because you're apples"

[meadowsofmay]

from time to time i think about them —

i think of a never good enough orphan, a boy who looked like a beast and who was claimed to be a monster — and of a boy who was too good at what he is doing he made himself an orphan, made himself a monster.

a boy who was found at his weakest point by his patron and used by him. and a boy who's teacher, the person he trusted, took his life away from him for the sake of his own gain.

i think of a young man who aquired magic accidentally, knowing nothing about it but willing to learn because magic gave him value. and of an ambitious young man, a prodigy, that hoped to put his arcane abilities to better the future of his home but ended up rotting away in an asylum room for eleven years, only to escape with a hunger for magic beyond the comprehension of even the strongest of wielders.

i think of a need for family in every person he meets. and i think of a need to twist time itself to bring back his family.

i think of control and trust issues entangled with codependence.

seeking of guidance and seeking of redemption.

i think of —

we're so similar but have vastly different backgrounds...

i understand. — of course you do.

and it hurts but hurts so good.

[danwhobrowses]

For anyone else who is gonna struggle surviving the next 3 weeks with the angsty and tense situation of Callowmoore here's a few things from the last 2 episodes that I feel were underrated and will assist in trying to keep me sane/emotionally stable: - Matching messed up hands built for holding - Fearne nervously playing with her hair as she approaches Ashton - Ashton wanted Fearne to be either the last thing they saw if they died or the first thing they saw when they succeeded - Fearne's admittance corroborates Ashley's 4SD revelation that Fearne is in love with someone in the party but doesn't know how to process the emotions - Fearne wanted Ashton to be happy, while Ashton wanted to feel whole so they would be worthy of the Hells - Ashton twice tried to lead a search for Fearne, and instantly clocking onto Chetney saying he followed Fearne - Fearne making herself look as radiant as possible before giving Ashton the cold shoulder - Ashton only rose to Chetney's provocations until he said 'You hurt Fearne' Use how you will

[kouichikimura]

SHE REALLY IS THE RAVEN QUEEN

“Your champion”?? Hello?

[piratespencil]

Caduceus baking a cake for Jester while they’re stuck on their boat during the peace talks bc she wants pastries but they can’t leave… And Jester loving the cake sooo much even though it’s kind of bad bc she’s so happy he made it for her… 🥺🥺🥺 I love Team Cleric sooo much.

[artemis-pendragon]

Time for Dumbgeobs and Drambgons

[beauty-grace-outer-space]

I’m sorry, is that Jon Heder?

[heart-heart-heart]

Spoilers for Critical Role Ep 99+ From Beacon

This time in screenshot form.

ID1:

July 11th: episode 99: Downfall part 1

July 18th: episode 100: Downfall part 2

July 25th: episode 101: Downfall part 3

ID2: Brennan Lee Mulligan

Laura Bailey, Ashley Johnson, Talisien Jaffe, Noshir Dalal, Nick Marini, Abubakar Salim

[hawkingbishop]

I’m so far behind on Critical Role.

I wanna catch up but it’s so fucking daunting and time consuming.

I think I’m on C3E98 or 99? I know there’s only like 6 new eps after that but that’s still A LOT.

I kinda wish they had a similar format to Dimension 20.

I really wanna catch up but I don’t know when I’ll have the energy to. 😅

I think I saw some spoilers so I’m listening to my Imodna fanmix.

I know it’s over 3 hours long. 😅

And I made it with the intention of people listening in track order (like most of my mixes).

I think I’m gonna maybe crunch it down to maybe an hour at most and repost it.

No spoilers, please.

[sweetened-condensed-rage]

As I'm sure the mutuals have noticed, I've been on a critical role binge for the last *checks clock* three weeks.

Which in itself is a daunting task regardless of how far behind you are.

I myself was in the middle of episode sixty eight.

I watched 31 episodes in 21 days.

[mollymauksworld]

Ioun confirmed 💗

[meadowsofmay]

oh noooo, grog being absolutely crashed and heartbroken upon seeing that scanlan replaced him with some guy and called him his best man right in front of grog's face. oh no, this is too much. grog loves scanlan too much and seeing all of this hurt him to the point where he didn't even let scanlan talk to him, picked up a fight with lionel and then spelled «cat» to vax and vex in an attempt to show that he is better. to show to himself, mostly. because he knows he is grog, he is all of these amazing things and he can even read and write now and it's scanlan who doesn't know what he is losing. i am in tears, i am in actual tears.

[sky-scribbles]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤️

This is such a lovely ask, thank you so much! I'll choose:

Gravity, and all that's born within - Critical Role, shadowgast, 163k. Caleb and Essek embark on their promised trip to Aeor, only to find that part of Aeor is awake once more. I... kinda of have to put this at #1. It was a three-year labour of love, and I loved every moment of taking these two wizards through the steps they needed to finally come together. Plus, a subplot about a robot.

funeral - Mass Effect, ~1000 words, some shenko but it's not the focus. Shepard arranges a funeral for her clone, and confronts questions about her own selfhood along the way. God, I wish the game went more into the questions of personhood it raises with Shepard's whole story. So I guess I'll do it. And people's tags on this fic reminded me why I write fic at all. <3

And let me speak to th'yet unknowing world - Critical Role, EXU: Calamity, ~2k. The final scene of Calamity, converted into Shakespearean verse, because I am a nerd. Y'all, I fucking loved writing this. It was so much fun. I'm still reeling from the fact that Aabria tweeted about this dumbass thing. This was a lesson to me that I should always do the passion project that I don't expect anyone to read.

An image of my brokenness - Baldur's Gate 3, Gale/Tav, ~3k. A chance question from a student leaves Gale reflecting on just how much Mystra took from him. I jsut have a soft spot for this one. I want to see Gale get some closure, y'know? And if he can't have that, I at least want him to be told that he's enough.

The scars that silence carved on me - Critical Role, ~9k. Five things that change in Essek Thelyss after the Nein learn the truth about him, and one thing that doesn't. A study of Essek's character development while the Nein are absent from his life between eps 99 and 124. I'm just so proud of his growth! Every time I think about how much he worked on changing while the Nein weren't around, I want to cry!!

I'll tag... @saturdaysky, @essektheylyss, @ariadne-mouse, @greyias and @mllekurtz! <3

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (7-13 Apr 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 If This Is As Far As We Go (BeauRadley) - 124K, stucky no-powers AU - after a year of being phenomenal hookup buddies, bucky ends their arrangement & throws steve into a tailspin - slow burn, angsty, oblivious steve slowly realizing his true feelings, good supporting cast

😊 Bunt! Striking Out on Financial Aid (Ngozi Ukazu & Mad Rupert) - cute graphic novel about art students forming a softball team to exploit a financial aid loophole

😍 Death in the Spires (KJ Charles, author; Tom Lawrence, narrator) - historical murder mystery set in 1905 Oxford - another KJC absolute banger: incredible sense of place, fantastic characters, perfectly done 'whodunnit' tension and a HIGHLY SATISFACTORY resolution. Loved every word

💖💖 +76K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

The Man, the Myth, the Legend (sparklyslug) - Check Please!: gen, 2.9K - Holster's beatboxing skills brings all the a capella groups to the Haus - a short, fun, funny, outsider POV fic

Say it louder for the people in the back (redhook) - MCU: shrinkyclinks, 14K - reread, forever fave - sometimes you just get a yearning to reread the best glory hole fic ever written

In Focus (sparklyslug) - Check Please!: zimbits, 6K - Jack's photography eye knows what's up before his conscious brain does

Entering Orbit (museaway) - Star Trek AOS: spirk, 30K - good post-AOS canon-divergent fic where Jim goes home to Iowa to escape the press & Spock joins him

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Hot Ones - Conan O'Brien

QI - series S, ep 13

Game Changer - s6, e5 {Bingoception}

Um, Actually - s9, e4

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Dawn of Justice" (s21, e14)

D20: Adventuring Party - "We're Running on 200%" (s16, e14)

Death In Paradise - s11, e4-8; s12 e0-8, s13 e0-8

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Working - How to Be Both a Critic and a Creator

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #10: Of the Reaching Green

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep10 "Of the Reaching Green"

Short Wave - How Climate Change And Physics Affect Baseball

Consider This from NPR - Bad Omens Or The Cycle of Nature? How The Ancient World Viewed Eclipses

⭐ Armchair Expert - Anna Kendrick [Rerelease from 1/9/23]

Today, Explained - Is college still worth it?

The Sporkful - Jewish Food Is More Than Matzoh Balls

WikiHole - BEYONCÉ (with Zoë Chao, Nat Faxon and Poppy Liu)

⭐ All Songs Considered - Songs to make you laugh, with 'Weird Al' Yankovic

In Defense of Fandom - Season 2 Episode 2: Putting my theory to the test

Dinner’s on Me - Orville Peck

⭐ Switched on Pop - Chasing old sounds: Djo's "End of Beginning" with Joe Keery

⭐ 99% Invisible #577 - The Society of Ambiance Makers and Elegant Persons

⭐ Vibe Check - A Special Conversation with Ada Limón

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Brown Mountain Lights

Short Wave - The Order Your Siblings Were Born in May Play a Role in Identity and Sexuality

⭐ Code Switch - How Frederick Douglass launched generations of Black and Irish solidarity

⭐ Decoder Ring - Can the “Bookazine” Save Magazines?

⭐ Imaginary Worlds - African Sci-Fi Looks to a Future Climate

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #11: Promises Promises

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep11 "Promises Promises"

What Next: TBD - Does Google Suck Now?

Short Wave - What To Know About The New EPA Rule Limiting 'Forever Chemicals' In Tap Water

Code Switch - Reflecting on the legacy of O.J. Simpson

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Atlas Obscura Live: Two Places And A Lie

Dear Prudence - I Lost a Lot of Weight and Now I Enjoy Being a Mean Girl. Help!

It's Been a Minute - The car culture wars; plus, the problem with child stars

Endless Thread - RIP Lil Miquela

Shedunnit - You Probably Imagined It!

Armchair Expert - John Cena

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - [One Shot] A County Affair: Prologue

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Presenting Bonnie Raitt

Lowrider Oldies

Huge House Anthems

Djo

Classic Soul BBQ

A LA SALA [Khruangbin] {2024}

Presenting Khruangbin

Happy Beats

'80s One-Hit Wonders

Feel-Good Classic Rock

[krispiecake]

hiii tell me about your show pls!!!

1) i love you. we should kiss

2) before i get into this because im #scared ppl will make fun of me, I’m aware that my show is a teen drama and deserves criticism in some areas, i am actually very interested in having long conversations about this criticism bc i think that its genuinely interesting and i have a lot of thoughts about how some themes such as (and especially) class could/should be handled going forward in the final season. However, i also think that it is a very well made show and also very well written (99% of the time lol) and explores very interesting lgbt+ themes and is the first show in a while that ive seen that portrays first/new/young lgbt relationships really well. That is my disclaimer.

3) so. its called young royals on netflix. and its my favourite thing in the entire world. Its a swedish show centred around the prince of Sweden, Wilhelm (diagnosed autistic by me. bc i said so.) Key facts about him are: anxiety disorder, lame, sometimes I wish i could smack him upside the head but with love. Wilhelm is sent to a private boarding school after getting into a very public fight in order to punish/straighten him out (pun intended). At this boarding school we are introduced to Simon (my fave character), who is a non boarder/scholarship student along with his sister. When we meet Simon for the first time its when he is singing a solo in the choir for the prince’s welcome ceremony/celebration thing. During this, Wilhelm basically um. falls in love. Well maybe not love but the boy is down BAD and it’s embarrassing for him. Key facts about Simon: i love him, has never done anything wrong ever, I love him. While Simon’s main ‘role’ as it were is love interest, I believe that the show does a fairly good job and creating depth for him as a character, providing a lot of context and information about him as an individual and as part of a relationship. He has his own plot lines and scenes completely separate to Wilhelm. HOWEVER I would also like this to be explored further in the 3rd season, and I hope we see a more emotional side to him too, because while we do see him express both positive and negative emotions, I still feel like he holds the especially negative ones back and away from other characters like Wilhelm - which is in character, however I personally would like to. see him cry or something idk because he deserves a breakdown. like a proper one with shouting and throwing things.

ANYWAY. We get to see their relationship grow over the episodes and honestly there is a little bit of flip flopping from Wilhelm, bc while Simon is confident in his sexuality, its implied that this is the first time Wilhelm has ever really acknowledged his attraction to the same gender, meaning we watch him learn how to (sort of) accept himself and be comfortable in liking Simon. PERSONALLY I think the way this is portrayed is quite authentic and at least somewhat similar to my own experience in coming to terms with being a lesbian specifically (although i never rlly got to kiss any girls about it so. that sucks). I think a really good example of this is their first kiss scene at the end of s1 ep 2, where we see Wilhelm making the first move when he initiates handholding (im aware of how juvenile the sentence sounds i just couldnt think of another way to put it lol) as they are watching a movie (its movie night so the two main dorms are all present, Forest Ridge (boys) and Manor House (girls). They have a cute little handholding moment until Wilhelm becomes flustered/anxious over people noticing and runs out of the room. Simon follows after a moment and this is when we get the first kiss. Simon is the one to initiate it the first two times and Wilhelm just kind of 🧍. He’s not good at this yet okay. After the second kiss, shocked back to reality by a noise from the movie down the hall, Wilhelm starts with ‘I’m sorry I’m not-‘ and Simon starts to leave, obviously sensing rejection. However, rejection does not come because Wilhelm grabs his arm and pulls him back. He’s clearly very anxious about the whole situation and running through his head is what I assume to be a million different thoughts of ‘am i allowed to want this? is this okay? do i want this? what will my mother say? this would be national news. What would my brother say? am i allowed? i dont think this is allowed.’ Simon does not say anything, allowing Wilhelm to take the time he needs to organise a coherent thought. And despite his anxiety, despite every thought in his head, he pulls Simon closer by his shirt and this time, Wilhelm is the one that kisses him.

I like this scene bc 1) its cute, like rlly cute 2) as I said i think this is a good example of the whole ‘coming to terms with it’ aspect because I remember that anxiety, I remember those ‘what would my mother think?’ thoughts and most importantly, I remember my lesbianism (or in Wilhelm’s case, his queerness and attraction to Simon) winning. I remember the way that once it popped into my head that ‘hey, you might be a lesbian’ it literally never left until i sat up one day and confronted it. And I think that this is a really sweet and probably true to life for some people way of showing this on screen.

Now. I actually have so much more to say about this show Like i could talk/type for HOURS. about it but I won’t. Know that there are so many details about this show and the casting choices and the writing and directing and acting choices that i am OBSESSED with throughout BOTH seasons. All that i typed literally only got us through 2 episodes and i didnt even talk about the other important bits. I really cannot over emphasise enough how much there is to this show. Anyway, I’m gonna leave it there though, but feel free to ask questions/for my opinion on any aspect of it. I will say if you havent watched it and somehow this has convinced you to do so, there are a few triggering subjects such as drug + alcohol addiction/misuse, death and grief, and MASSIVELY child exploitation material from season 1 ep 4 onwards - this is because a, if not THE, major plot point/conflict in the show is that a ‘sex tape’ (as it’s referred to sometimes) is filmed of Wilhelm and Simon (both 16yrs old in the show) without their knowledge or consent, and is then leaked to the public. I have some personal grievances about how this is handled in the show, however, I also dont think its handled ‘badly’, as the way the characters handle it is part of the plot and is ultimately part of what the show is criticising. If you want me to explain this further I can do as well, as i know this subject can obviously be very triggering and its best to know what youre getting into to decide if this show is right for you.