#the only thing matt mercer has on him is the voice acting

[taleweaver-ramblings]

D&D Story: *excited internal panic* (Or: The Fourth Time the Lightbringers Met a God)

Hello, I have another Rise of the Shadowmaster story, and y'all are not going to believe what happened in today's session.

First, though, a follow-up from my last post:

We successfully defended my character's at-home family from the attack, and while a couple of Dea's siblings did very briefly go unconscious or die, we were able to revive them and everyone's ok now. You know, aside from the trauma.

Our sorcerer beat a young blue dragon in a one-on-one fight (well, one-on-one on our sorcerer's side; the dragon brought in orc reinforcements at one point because he was scared).

We learned that one of Dea's sisters had vanished the same night as her father died. Dea, another of her sisters, and our cleric went to find her . . . and discovered that she'd killed their father because he was . . . not a great dad, in that he was pushing them into adventuring careers and how much he showed love tended to be dependent on how much the child in question was doing what he wanted them to do.

Dea and the non-murderous sister realized that murder sister, while wrong in her actions, had a point and made a plan for how they could bring their dad back while also giving him no choice but to change (or else lose the rest of their family).

The party went to hell and killed Ralak-Shas a second time. He hadn't fully regenerated; pretty much all he could do was monologue. I gave him/the DM a few minutes and then stabbed him with my Holy Avenger.

(Because yes, I have a Holy Avenger. It's cursed, though, and gives me disadvantage on INT rolls. Or, rather, it was cursed . . .)

Ok. So that brings us to tonight. We knew we needed to un-curse my sword. We'd gathered some of the items we thought we'd need in order to lift the curse, and we'd learned about a particular location in the Feywild where we'd be able to find help with lifting it — a place made holy by the followers of some deity. So, we enlisted the aid of a hag shopkeeper friend and set off for the Feywild!

The trip to the Feywild and to the location, Laerius Faul, was surprisingly uneventful. Our rogue did decide to gamble with a satyr, but the satyr was surprisingly easily satisfied. And we did run into some displacer beasts (!!!!! my favorite D&D monster!!!!) and meenlocks, but we dispatched those pretty quickly.

At this point, our hag friend split off from our group, saying she wanted to see if she could find some old friends of hers who might have helped our rogue at one point. She was acting a little strangely, but we were all focused on our objective, so after she refused our offers of company, we parted ways and set off for our individual objectives.

We found Laerius Faul without any more trouble, and my Divine Sense showed that it was indeed a hallowed place. We were welcomed in, and one of the people said he'd set up the necessary meeting and would we wait in the courtyard while he did that?

("Do you know why we're here?" we asked him. "How do you know who we need to meet with?" Oh, if we'd only known!)

So, we waited. And then the door to the building at the other side of the courtyard opens and what looks like an ordinary human woman steps out . . . except, our group's been around deities, and Dea has divine sense anyway, and we can figure out quickly that this is a goddess, not a mortal (not a mortal anymore).

But she was mortal, once. A mortal from the same land as Dea. And on this plane, there can be no doubt as to who she is.

Dea falls to her knees in the presence of Lyf, Goddess of Renewal, the lady she's served all this time but never truly expected to meet.

Lyf tells those kneeling to rise. She knows why we're here. Dea's prayed about it multiple times. But she can also see that Dea is freaked out, and counseling and insight (and therapy) fall under the umbrella of renewal, so she invites us to come in for tea and a chat.

(Dea cannot quite believe that a goddess is serving her tea. But tea is familiar and a ritual from the temple where she trained, so it helps.)

They talk about the recent events. About the choices Dea had to make about her family and the way in which she made them, about Dea's hopes that her father can change and be renewed along with the rest of their family. About the calamities that have befallen the world, what they mean and how Dea feels about them and sees in them.

(Lyf also dropped a bombshell about our sorcerer's dragon deity, about how she and her siblings had been the ones to cause the Relentless to relent and side with humans and humanoids instead of other dragons. That's beside the point, but it will make for some interesting RP in later sessions.)

And then comes time for what we came here for — time to lift the curse on Dea's Holy Avenger. Dea got the weapon from the horde of an ancient aberrant dragon, one of the ancient dragons whom the gods fought before their ascension, who had merged with an aberrant being from the Far Realms. Exposure to the evil and chaotic magics of the aberrant dragon had corrupted the blade, and though it still blazed as hotly against evil as ever, it had a way of clouding the wielder's thoughts.

Lyf took the party back out to a holy pond behind her home and commanded Dea to lower the sword into the water. Then she asked two questions: What will you do with this sword? And why are you on this quest?

And Dea, after a moment, answered her, her words clumsy but her conviction sure. What would she do with the sword? She would end the war and the calamity. She would help our sorcerer make the dragon alliance into what it was meant to be — dragons and humanoids working and living together, not as enemies but as friends. She would try to help the drow change their society, too, change it so perhaps they would no longer be at odds with the surface and so people like the one drow girl she befriended could follow the paths they wished to follow. She would protect, and she would fight evil while seeking to preserve the good that came out of that evil.

And why her? Why not someone else? (Why not one of her siblings?)

Because the Lightbringers didn't need another warrior. They didn't need another adventurer or leader or ruler, not another schemer, not a dealer of vengeance. The world hadn't needed those things. They needed someone who fought to protect, who fought for her family. Who fought to make things better than they were. And they needed someone who had been in a not-great family situation, who saw the problems in that situation (even if she didn't want to acknowledge them as much as she should've, even if she didn't do as much as she should've) and who could sympathize with others in such situations. They needed a protector and a counselor. And so here one was.

With those answers, Lyf was pleased. The curse lifted, and the sword was remade, renamed, so it bore Lyf's symbol and Lyf's blessing and Dea's purpose.

And Dea looked at her goddess and knelt as a knight kneels before her beloved liege. She said then simply, "Thank you. I won't forget."

(She won't.)

~~~

We have one last thing to do in the Feywild before we leave, a mission given by Lyf but also kind of brought on us by ourselves. Remember our hag friend? Turns out she used to be much more powerful, much more deadly, before she left the Feywild and lost half her memories in the process. She's regaining those memories, remembering her power. If she returns to the material plane with all that intact, we'll have a supervillain as bad or worse than the Shadowmaster on the loose.

We're not going to let that happen. If we're lucky and successful, we'll mess with her return just enough that her memories stay in the Feywild where she left them the first time. If not?

Well, dealing with world-threatening magical threats is what we do. And we'll do it again, even if we'll mourn that we have to do it.

But that's a problem for next session . . .

~~~

(My remade sword is so cool, by the way. Obviously it's a storming Holy Avenger, which is awesome in and of itself, but having a literal deity break the curse means it got an upgrade, so now I have advantage on Insight checks and, most exciting, I get to heal any time I use a Divine smite — however much radiant damage I deal, I heal someone in my aura for that much. It's the coolest, and I'm super hyped.)

[utilitycaster]

i've never had to 'curate my internet experience' with the speed i have today, blocking so many bad-faith takes on mercer and cr as a whole. When I saw one arguing cr fans shouldn't be surprised, because the 'big dog' is always hated, then actively compare CR to both the yankees and star wars in terms of size and vibe of the fans, i had to let it go. Apparently cr is made up 'wildly successful voice actors' like ah yes. the clout of the VO. Gonna silo myself for this damn show, too old for this!

Hey anon,

I completely support doing this if it's right for you but might I recommend laughing at the bad faith takes? Because here's the thing. The vast majority of what I've seen is from two specific places that are probably directly next to each other:

Former CR fans who are really mad that Beau got into a relationship with Yasha, and decided this meant Critical Role was homophobic, sexist, and racist for having an interracial lesbian relationship because [footage not found] and left for Dimension 20. Unfortunately, they forgot that Dimension 20, which had Matt in the very first sidequest as well as "Sidequest for which we need people who we know are talented, dependable and very comfortable with D&D Actual Play because it's our first remote filming", does not as an institution hate Matt Mercer in the slightest, and in fact likes him. Anyway they're throwing a hissy fit because in the end, this was always an extended hissy fit. Would you like some popcorn bc I personally prefer Chicago style with the mixed caramel and cheese.

Some absolutely bonkers tiny circle of people who are fixated on an unconfirmed ship between an NPC and the character she killed two decades before the narrative. Anyway they say they're mad because Matt isn't plugged into the fandom but the thing is most of the D20 fandom was also not plugged into this particular circle, which is but a speck of dust in an uncaring universe. So they're actually secretly DELIGHTED Matt is DM-ing because they can hide their entitlement behind the fact that they can call the DM of a very popular show an interloper, but they're also terrified because Brennan does still exist and is in fact playing the character most tied to the NPC in this ship, and like...if Matt contradicts their fanlore, that means Brennan did not confirm their fanlore, which means not only is it debunked now; it was never canon to the world in the first place. Which you'd think would be fine because fanlore has no need to be canon, right? It's fanwork! Go nuts! Except these people are kind of dumb.

Anyway for what it's worth I'm neither a Yankees nor Star Wars fan but also I acknowledge that most of the time when people are mad at the popular thing for being popular it really is kind of a "you want to fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid" sort of situation. They desperately want their thing to be the biggest fish in the pond except they'd also hate that. They are a big orange cat stuck in a cat flap and they're acting like it. And as with a big orange cat that doesn't belong to you stuck in a cat flap but ultimately unharmed and perfectly capable of getting out on its own, I recommend taking a picture of it and laughing about it on social media.

[one-vivid-judgment]

can we get some headcanons (sfw and nsfw are cool) for Kuroiwa? I need him so bad

I desire the raincoat psychopath so much, oh God you don't even know. "I could fix him" this, "I could make him worse" that. Well, I see the man and realize he cannot be fixed and that's actually great cause the murders are what makes him sexy to me. Also, Matt Mercer's voice, but that's just me being a simp LMAO

Congratulations on being the only person this man likes! You don’t even know how exactly you did it. You were sure he hated you like he hates everybody else, really. And to be fair, absolutely nothing about his behavior changed when he noticed he liked you like that, so how were you supposed to know? Well, actually no, something did change: he smiles now. Teeny, tiny smidges of a smile, but genuine ones, unlike the ones he puts on in front of his coworkers.

He is not about to call you cheesy pet names or wax poetics. What he will do is show you off. All his coworkers know you, if only because he insists on making it pretty clear that you are his and no one better try anything funny on you. God knows what he will do if anyone does, especially poor Ayabe. Yes, he is a possessive son of a bitch, sue him. He never claimed to be the opposite.

Good thing is: as long as Kuroiwa is with you, you are safe. An asshole trying to hit on you? Annoying barker trying to recruit you and won’t leave you alone? Or, God forbid, worst case scenario, a pervert tries to feel you up or anything worse? Not around him. Hell, even if Kuroiwa is not around, he will find out somehow, and with his track record, those people are not safe. Then again, it was deserved. You hurt someone he loves, you get what’s coming to you.

Dom, dom, dom, dom. Never will he ever be a sub. Oh, you can try, but that will only make him more determined to punish you. Kuroiwa expects nothing less than absolute obedience. Unless you need to tap out, he doesn’t want to hear anything that isn’t ‘yessir’. Act defiant, get a punishment. Not even necessarily a spanking either; he prefers a belt for that, but he may also just fuck you until he comes, then leave you to take care of yourself with a toy. Not about to give a brat an orgasm if they don’t deserve it.

A huge masochist, oh God you don’t even know. You can scratch him until it draws blood, chomp down on his shoulder, yank at his hair as hard as you can and it won’t faze him. If anything, the pain will turn him on more. Honestly, he’s probably had to endure worse than that, so anything you can do to him is most likely child’s play in comparison. Also, considering how he didn’t drop dead at the end of Judgment until he had been shot MULTIPLE times? He can handle it, he’s fine.

Has probably called you up to his office more than once to fuck there. Bending you over on his desk or getting a blowjob under it, he doesn’t mind. He probably has a bit of an exhibitionist streak, let’s be honest, that’s why he does it. That’s also why he has suggested having sex in back alleys a few times; to be fair, you were both a bit tipsy and he had been pent up for a while.

[thegeminisage]

i wanted to liveblog the trailer but there was too much too fast there was no fucking way so i am going back through with my initial impressions for posterity while theyre still fresh:

opening music instantly causing me to well up. cried one perfect tear when the logo came in with the main series theme. then transitioning into the botw theme the moment he hit the ground? buttery smooth. i was a mess before we started

btw the little constructs milling about is the PERFECT opener

PEOPLE! i feel like i have been talking about how we havent seen any PEOPLE in these trailers...i was so surprised to see them and see how hateno had changed, AND THE TENTS...people are coming back to the castle...nature is healing...except no it isn't

changed geography was cool, i'm always shocked when i don't recognize places in the trailers

WHAT is that big stormcloud thing...it's Gotta be a dungeon

a single shot of the gerudo desert had me in hysterics and then when they transitioned to ganondorf's theme as the castle rose into the sky i gave up on texting my brother with my jaw on the ground

DEMISE. RIGHT AFTER THAT. it's NOT ganondorf. look at his hair glowing. his buffness. HIS SCALED ARM. his striped clothing. THAT IS DEMISE!!!

THAT

IS

DEMISE

reader, this is where i let out my first scream.

the shot of the big internal area under what i presume is the desert (where the sand is flowing) HAS to be a dungeon

WHAT IS THIS FLYING BOAT THING THAT LOOKS SO COOL?

the various montages of puzzles and combat with ganondorf's rising theme i'm pretty sure gaveme palpitations

IS THIS HYLIA? or a monster. the thign with the pointed head and the necklace. WHAT IS THAT? WHO IS THAT? it looks too humanoid to be a run of the mill monster but it doesn't look humanoid enough to be hylia...this was my second scream

TIME TRAVEL?? WE SAW PRISTINE HYRULE CASTLE IS THIS TIME TRAVEL??? i did gasp out loud

AND THEN VOICE ACTING??? my mind was ALREADY BLOWN, NINTENDO!

WHO IS SPEAKING TO ZELDA? WHO IS THAT??? i know there's absolutely no way it's rehydrated ganondorf but let me believe. they both kinda sound like matt mercer, even though i don't think either of them actually are

like WHO IS IT that puts the hand on her shoulder...some zonai priest or something...he has the same fucked up hand that link has

FINALLY a shot of zelda's face...she is so beautiful i could cry

is it just me or does zelda ask who link is? "our last line of defense will be link." "link?" WHAT IF SHE HAS THE AMNESIA THIS TIME. I'LL SCREAM.

these next few shots...the timing of the blow with the music...the big scenes and the escort mission and the totk theme coming in full for the first time...i could only just sit there with my face doing like: O O

i mean honestly. ROCKET LAUNCHER. MINECART RACE. LASERS. BOSSES. there's no SHORTAGE of variety in this trailer. y'all are not gonna see me for a month. i will become nothing but a conduit through which zelda tears of the kingdom flows

zelda is remembering she's hylia i think but HAS SHE FORGOTTEN LINK?

i totally missed the shot of dehydrated ganondorf first time it's SOOO fast but wow <3 him <3

like, HIS THEME coming in like that? i was shaking. and then HIS REHYDRATED SELF AFTER ALL THIS TIME? the iconic yell??? scream #3

shocked by voice acting from minor characters.

WHO IS THE BLONDE GIRL? she's wearing the same earrings and head thingy as zelda and she was wearing the tear zelda was holding too. my brother thinks that if the humanoid monster is hylia this could be a PREVIOUS ZELDA??? dis she blast those enemies??

RIJU DOING URBOSA'S FURY! i hope this is how we get champion abilities back

the tiny group of people one with a bucket on his head...link has made friends and CONNECTED people 🥺🥺🥺

link FIGHTING ALONGSIDE SIDON...

is the voice right there "but you are not alone" the blonde girl?? ohhh i love her

WAHHH zelda holding the sword again!!!!!

"you must find me" GIRL WHERE ARE YOU? I THOUGHT YOUVE BEEN IN A CAVE FOR 8 MONTHS

and then zelda's lullaby coming in at the end. i definitely shed another tear. and now here i am

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[eponymous-rose]

A Critical Role Campaign 2 Mechanics Primer

Got a request from a new Critical Role viewer for some clarification re: rules and characters, and dang, yes, there’s so much stuff to deal with as a new viewer at the moment. So here’s an attempt at clarifying some stuff!

How does D&D work?

Fundamentally, one person (the DM) sets the scene and the players riff off that scene by acting out what their characters would do in response. Whenever a player’s actions would lead to an uncertain result, the DM can call for them to roll a die and try to hit a predetermined target number to see if they succeed. The players’ individual characters have abilities that boost certain categories of rolls and penalize others; a very strong character is more likely than a scrawny one to be able to open a jammed door, but they could still have an unlucky roll. It’s the DM’s job to incorporate the sometimes-absurd results of those die rolls into a coherent story.

Combat is the most “gamey” D&D gets, where everyone has a turn set aside to act (with an order determined by the “initiative” roll that starts combat). This is where character classes come in handy: magic-users cast spells, fighters jump in with their weapons of choice, and so forth. Each character has a set of hit points, and once those reach zero, the character is unconscious and possibly dying. But combat ain’t just hack-and-slash: there can be conversation, strategy, manipulation, collaboration, and all sorts of weird subtleties going on. Fundamentally, players’ actions are limited only by their imaginations.

It can be super weird getting into a D&D show even if you have played a bit because everyone plays the game a bit differently. Critical Role’s gameplay leans hard into roleplaying and character beats (there are episodes with basically no dice rolls) but also leans hard enough into the rules that a random bad or good roll can completely derail the story; rolls aren’t fudged or handwaved for the sake of a predetermined narrative, which means nobody playing (including the DM) knows how things are going to end up. This makes for a viewing experience that is a cross between dramedy improv and live sports; the cast plays out long scenes of conversation, but their characters could also permanently die at any time, adding to the high stakes. It’s also totally unedited, which accounts for the absurdly long runtime. 

If any of that isn’t for you, there are a lot of great D&D podcasts out there (often labeled “actual play”) that run the gamut from silly with minimal rules to mechanically involved but edited down. It’s a cool time to get into D&D!

Okay, so how exactly do these characters do their thing?

One of the more confusing aspects for new viewers of the second campaign of Critical Role is that they’re using a fair amount of content that’s not in the baseline ruleset - some character races and classes are coming from expansion content, and some are from Matt Mercer (the DM’s) homebrew. Here’s a quick summary of what each character has going on at the start of the campaign, moving from left to right in the first episode’s seating arrangement.

Fjord (played by Travis Willingham)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Travis is the big guy who looks like he could throw a football real far. If you’re listening to the podcast, his character voice has a Texas twang.

Fjord is a half-orc warlock. A half-orc typically has green skin and tusks but otherwise looks fairly close to a garden-variety human. Warlocks are magic-users who gained their abilities from a bargain with a mysterious (generally somewhat malevolent) being of great power. Mechanically, they rely a lot on what are called cantrips (spells that can be cast an unlimited number of times a day) since the number of more powerful spells at their disposal is very limited. However, unlike most other casters that have to get a full night’s sleep to regain their stronger spells, warlocks just have to rest for an hour or so and they’re good to go. More specifically, Fjord is a hexblade warlock. Hexblades are warlocks who have a particularly strong bond with their weapon of choice and can summon it from nothing.

Beauregard (played by Marisha Ray)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Marisha is the woman who often perches on her chair like she’s about to take flight. If you’re listening to the podcast, her character voice is a bit gruff with a sarcastic drawl.

Beau is a human monk. Both humans in this campaign use a variant version of human that allows them to pick a feat at the start of the campaign: Beau has some extra expertise in investigative and athletic abilities. Monks are preternaturally powerful martial artists; what some classes do with magic, they do with unarmed combat. Mechanically, they rely on an ability called ki points, which are a stockpile of points that can be used for extra-powerful abilities such as being able to hit extra times on an attack or being able to stun an enemy. More specifically, Beau is a Way of the Cobalt Soul monk, which is a homebrew from Matt and means she’s essentially a warrior-monk-librarian whose key abilities center around rooting out useful information.

Caleb (played by Liam O’Brien)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Liam is the guy who perpetually looks like he’s about to launch into a Shakespearean monologue. If you’re listening to the podcast, his character voice is soft with a German accent.

Caleb is a human wizard. His variant human feat gives him an eidetic memory and the ability to always know what time it is. Wizards are magic-users who got to where they are with careful study; Caleb has to keep track of his spells by transcribing them into a spellbook. He also has a familiar in the form of the cat Frumpkin, although Frumpkin can also change forms. Mechanically, wizards can pick up spells from a lot of different sources to learn them, but again, the cost in time and materials of transcribing them into a spellbook can be substantial. More specifically, Caleb is a transmutation wizard, which means his wizardry focuses around the act of transforming one thing into another.

Nott (played by Sam Riegel)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Sam is the guy with an alarmingly big smile and a comically oversized flask. If you’re listening to the podcast, his character voice is high-pitched with varying levels of Cockney accent.

Nott is a goblin rogue. Goblins are small and quick, and may or may not be well-received depending on the location. Rogues are sneaky individuals who do best when striking from the shadows or scouting ahead to investigate potential traps and unlock doors. Mechanically, they get a huge bonus in combat if they attack when unseen or when an opponent is distracted by an ally. They’re also very good at avoiding attacks and at hiding from view. More specifically, Nott is an arcane trickster rogue, which means she also dabbles in magic related to illusions and enchantment.

Jester (played by Laura Bailey)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Laura is the one who may or may not be instigating every round of giggles at accidental innuendo. If you’re listening to the podcast, her character voice is bubbly with an Eastern European accent.

Jester is a tiefling cleric. Tieflings essentially look like brightly-colored humans (Jester has blue skin) with horns and a tail; they’re the result of infernal ancestry and also may or may not be well-received. Clerics are magic-users who derive their power from the blessing of a deity or other extremely powerful entity. Jester’s divine patron is the Traveler, a mysterious trickster with an affinity for phallic graffiti. Mechanically, clerics have a massive stable of spells from which they can choose a subset every morning; their abilities range from healing wounds to causing devastating harm. More specifically, Jester is a trickery domain cleric, which means her spells have a strong focus on illusions and pranks.

Mollymauk (played by Taliesin Jaffe)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Taliesin is the one who looks like he may be some sort of ancient fey creature who’s come to our realm to play D&D. If you’re listening to the podcast, his character voice has an Irish accent of varying intensity.

Molly is a tiefling blood hunter with purple skin. Blood hunters are a custom class Matt created that can use their own blood (in a process called hemocraft) to augment their combat abilities. Mechanically, blood hunters are high-risk high-reward; they can perform devastatingly brutal attacks, but often only at the cost of shedding some of their own blood to do so. More specifically, Molly is an Order of the Ghostslayer blood hunter, which means he’s got an affinity for things relating to the moment of death.

Yasha (played by Ashley Johnson)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Ashley is the one who isn’t around for a little bit (she was splitting her time with a TV show on the opposite coast) and then SHE’S BACK AND I’M STILL SO HAPPY ABOUT THAT. If you’re listening to the podcast, her character voice is soft with a faint Scandinavian accent.

Yasha is an aasimar barbarian. Aasimar are the semi-divine counterpart to tieflings, although Yasha is a fallen aasimar with a fairly different aesthetic. Barbarians use their rage to enhance their already fierce battle prowess. Mechanically, barbarians in a rage take less damage and deal more damage, and also embrace a high-risk high-reward playstyle as tanks in the middle of the fray. More specifically, Yasha is a Path of the Zealot barbarian, which means her battle rages are fueled by the influence of a divine being.

Interested in watching from the start of campaign 2? The show has a YouTube channel with each episode posted in its entirety, and all episodes are also available in podcast form (they did jump channels partway through, but you can usually find a playlist that has them all). If you want to delve into campaign 1, I highly recommend it, but be aware that they’re still figuring out tech stuff and you’re also jumping in partway through the game they started years earlier at home. Campaign 2 starts 20 years after campaign 1 on a different continent of the same world, and is intended to be an appropriate jumping-on point for new viewers.

Interested in catching up faster so you can watch live with friends? Search Critical Recap for a series of recap videos on YouTube, which then becomes a series of written summaries on the CritRole website after episode 88. There are also great summaries on the Wiki, and many people have put together catch-up guides for new viewers. 

There’s A LOT of content out there. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad for skimming the early stuff if you want to get in on the new episodes sooner. <3

Episodes air at 7 PM Pacific every Thursday on Critical Role’s Twitch and YouTube channels; the VOD goes up for free on YouTube the Monday after. In the last few months, the cast has been distanced at the studio (all on separate cameras) and episodes have been pre-recorded several weeks in advance; normally, the show is streamed live and everyone is around the same table.

Hope that helps! If you have any questions, let me know. This is a fun show to get into, and a great all-consuming massive body of entertainment if you have the time for it.

[khadij-al-kubra]

Storytelling, Fate & Happy Endings

I’m still processing last nights episode (CR C2 Ep140), and much like every critter I’m SUPER emotional about it. But something about last night’s events and how they played out really got to me, not just as a fan but also as a storyteller. And even the day after, i was actually crying (still am crying in fact) more than i did last night watching it happen. At first i thought it was because i’m a fairly new critter and this is my first time watching a campaign come to an end. But the more i think about it and process, the more i realize that’s not just it. This effected me as someone who deeply believes in the power of storytelling and how it can not only effect but reflect the world around us. And because I have to get them out of my head, here are my thoughts on why last nights episode was so important, not just for CR fans but also as a an important narrative for right now.

...Yeah that’s a bit vague, isn’t it? Okay, let me explain. If you’re willing to take the time to read fellow Critters, I greatly appreciate it in advance. ^__^

WARNING: Major spoilers for CR Campaign 2 Episode 140 ahead. Also it’s gonna get kind of meta. And long. Because i have a lot of thoughts & feels.

So I think it’s fair to say that, as much as we would’ve been devastated by any of the M9 perma-dying in the last battle, part of us wasn’t expecting them all to make it out of there alive. Not even the players, I think, despite how much they likely didn’t want that to happen. Just look at the half-resigned way Liam talks about Caleb in the last few Talks Machina episodes. Or how, in game, Jester was fully prepare to die trying to stop the city from coming back. And for a while there, it seemed like some of them might not survive.

But then they did. Despite so many crappy rolls throughout the night they stopped Lucien, set free all the souls trapped in Aeor, saved Exandria, and brought each other back from the dead. Not only that, but they also did the impossible: They saved Mollymauk. Their lost friend who had such a deep impact on all of them even after his death. The delightfully charming asshole who was so full of joy and life and who, despite how the world treated him, was happily determined to leave every place better than he found it. Moreover, they almost didn’t succeed! But then they did, all because of teamwork, love and one last minute ditch effort ‘what-the-hell-have-i-got-to-lose’ dice role that none of them saw coming. And now they get to go home together, truly as The Mighty NINE.

Just this once, everybody lived! We got a happy ending!

And that’s HUGE in game...but also think for a second how that reflects outside of game too. Do you realize what a story like that means to people, especially given the year from Hell we’ve all had?

Think about it. This past year the world has suffered. We’ve all been impacted by the pandemic in some way shape or form, either on small levels or large. Our world has been at war with a virus that effected everyone and everything: Our sense of safety. Our health. Our economy. Our families & friends. Our freedom. (in the sense of our ability to travel & just be in close proximity to people without fear, but i digress) Deeply imbedded social and systematic diseases have been brought further to light in the past year and a half largely because of this virus. Some of us have lost people we love. Hell, the pandemic even effected the way that the latter half of Campaign 2 played out because of social distancing protocols. If you further compare this to Campaign 2, the world of Exandria was caught in the middle of a war that started because of social & systematic corruptions that had been rooted in two opposing kingdoms for years. And so many suffered and died because of it.

Then the Mighty Nein comes in. This ragtag group of delightful assholes with nothing to lose; these flawed but inherently good at heart and deeply human adventurers, broken and lost in their own ways, trying to make a home and family for themselves in a world that took advantage of them or left them alone or said they weren’t good enough...and they changed things. 

They grew. They fought back. They found moments of silliness and peace and joy and fun amidst all the strife and sometimes grief. Most of all, they tried. Sometimes out of necessity, sometimes out of spite, sometimes even out of compassion, but mostly just out of love. And in the end, not only did they help people and stop a war for the sake of their loved ones, but they also saved their world from being destroyed by a rotted perversion of life from the past that threatened to consume everything they cared about. AND they STILL managed to bring everyone in their found family back to life. Does it erase the bad and sad things that happened to them? Hell no! But those things don’t negate the fact that in that moment, they made it out okay. That this was a victory and they won!

Think of what a story like that means to people right now.

I’m personally a pretty spiritual person, and much like our favorite clerics, I also believe in a higher power. But whether or not you also believe in a Divine being, the Universe or whatever, every D&D player believes in one thing: Fate. Luck. Call it what you will. But it was fate that made those dice rolls that saved everyone happen. It was fate that not only stopped Cognoza from returning, but also brought Jester and Caleb and Molly back to life, even when it seemed like it wouldn’t work. (and holy shit that gave me emotional whiplash!) 

After everything they went through, both individually and together, the Mighty Nein defied the odd and demanded that Fate let them save their loved ones. They demanded that the world give them back their friend; That they deserved to have their happy ending & get to go home alive together. Just. This. Once.

As a writer, I know firsthand that there are some stories we find and create ourselves, but then there are stories that have a way of finding us. Sometimes a story or world or character from somewhere in the Aether will pop into our minds one day and say, ‘I need your voice to tell my story.’ Maybe this is just me getting carried away with the meta brain again. And like i said, i’m a spiritually inclined person, so I believe in things like Fate and a Divine Higher power writing out the stories of the Multiverse. If you’re reading this (and thank you for taking the time to do so) maybe you do too. Or maybe you don’t. Either way, if you’re a fellow critter, then you’re clearly a fan of good stories and/or playing Dungeons & Dragons. So you know how fate/dice roles have a big impact on the outcome of a story, regardless of how tightly written a setup the dungeon master makes. Given all that and how organically stories tend to play out in D&D, I genuinely believe that Matt Mercer and the whole CR Team were meant to be conduits for a story where the flawed heroes save the world AND all make it home alive.

And I think Fate knew that we needed last nights battle to end like this. After all the crap we’ve been through this past year, we needed this happy ending, deserved it even! Not just us critters, the CR team too. As much as we all like to joke that Campaign 2 was secretly scripted, we all know that’s not true. Yes, the setup storyline and world were brilliantly crafted by Matt, and the character roleplaying is beautifully acted out by the team. But the twists and turns, the direction it goes, and how the game plays out is all up to fated dice rolls just like any other game. And something, some kind of force of luck, some force of fate, some Universal Divine DM out there made the roles happen the way they did last night.

It gave us a happy ending.

I believe that this was meant to happen; now of all times with everything else going on in the world. Amidst all this darkness and rot, both in game and in the real world, in the end of it all there was light and life. A reminder that sometimes people do live. They do get second chances. They do find a new family or reunite with old ones. That sometimes the world can be saved for a time, and happy ending do still exist. Even if it’s not broadcasted on the daily news amidst tragedy reports, or even tragedies that don’t get reported (which sadly are a lot, but again i digress).

Because the thing is, like Beau said, no one else will probably know they were heroes. No one will know what the Mighty Nein sacrificed to save all of Exandria. But they don’t need to know that for it to still be true, for life to happen again, and for a found family of nine broken people who love each other to go home together safe. It doesn’t invalidate that the good things happened. That at least for today everyone was saved. That flawed people were still able to do good because they tried. That they left the world better than they found it and got their own small but satisfying happy ending. Even if only for now, because we don’t know what’s gonna happen next Thursday. We don’t know what the future will hold for the Nein or Exandria when the Campaign ends or even when (hopefully) some loose ends will be tied up in later oneshots. But neither that nor the bad and sad stuff that happened beforehand in the game and in the character’s lives invalidates the fact that tonight they won. They lived.

So why can’t that be true for us in the real world?

I said earlier that, as a writer, I believe in the power stories have to not only reflect but also shape our world. This story is an example of why, but especially this episode, and that’s why i was so euphoric about the outcome. It wasn’t just a game for me, and i’m sure for others too. It was a much needed reminder that happy endings can still happen in real life, just as much as they can in stories. Even when everything seems dark and corrupt and rotten and hopeless, we can still keep fighting. We can keep trying. We can make new families and start over and be heroes in our on little lives in small ways. 

We can leave the world better than we found it. 

And maybe, with hard work, imagination, luck and a little Divine intervention...we can also get the happy endings we deserve.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 37: Shigure the Disney Princess

Paralogue 3: Surprise Duet

While the group is sailing to...somewhere, Azura’s sky knight son Shigure arrives, injured. Shigure explains that he is being hunted by the spooky ghost dudes we keep running into. His entire village was destroyed by the ghosts. Azura, being mysterious, says that the ghosts are hunting him because he’s her son. She doesn’t explain why, because Azura never explains anything in this path. Shigure leaps into battle to avenge his fallen friends.

This is a fun chapter. It’s split between three boats and which ones are connected changes from turn to turn as they move. After the battle, Shigure has a breakdown over the deaths of his friends and sings the only song anyone in his family knows to mourn them. Shigure, not wanting anyone else to die protecting him, joins the group so he may become stronger.

Shigure

I genuinely forgot how cool of a character Shigure is. His mourning of his fallen friends and desire to grow stronger give him a lot more depth than most of the portal babies. All I remembered were a bunch of Supports about art and singing. His design is very reminiscent of his mothers, in concept if not actual pieces of clothing; he also has armored shoulders that look weird but also establish that he’s more combat focussed than Azura. His blue hair covers half of his face, which I’m not sure I like. His personal skill, Perfect Pitch, gives him a custom Rally command that heals nearby allies. I actually think I’ll like this character.

Hey, something I noticed while writing this update: Corrin has two Supports for each portal baby. Or, because Corrin can be a parent for each portal baby, three Supports. The point is, male and female Corrin have different Supports with the kids. For some reason.

Support: Lady Corrin/Shigure

C: Corrin finds Shigure singing the magic song that caused his mom to die. Shigure is singing this song while riding on a pegasus, because he's shy, something that would probably be hard to do.

B: Shigure takes Corrin on a pegasus ride.

A: Shigure takes Corrin to a beautiful waterfall with a rainbow.

S: Shigure takes Corrin back to the waterfall and proposes. Corrin, being a propper, accepts this opportunity to marry a much younger relative.

Review: Fine, but a bit shallow.

Support: Lord Corrin/Shigure

C: Corrin finds Shigure drawing.

B: Shigure shows Corrin his drawings of his destroyed village and slain guardians, which Shigure says helps ease the pain.

A: Shigure shows Corrin drawings of a place he sees in his dreams, a strange world where everything is floating.

Review: My god, a Support conversation that foreshadows plot elements. That alone makes it great. Although, now that I think about it, it is entirely possible for you to get this foreshadowing of a mysterious world of floating islands after actually visiting that place, which is odd.

Support: Azura/Shigure

C: Shigure and Azura sing together. Unfortunately, Shigure, who apparently just hit puberty, can't sing along properly.

B: Azura rewrites the song, you know which one, to be a harmonized duet. Shigure acts really shocked at this obvious solution.

A: Shigure says that he isn't as good of a singer because he doesn't have the same magic. Azura explains that her magic comes from her pendant. When Shigure asks to use it, Azura explains that the pendant kills the user. Shigure freaks out and begs his mother to let him take on the responsibility. Azura tells him no and asks him to throw the pendant into the lake if she ever dies.

Review: This Support line has a fantastic A-Rank that does a lot for Azura and Shigure as characters. The other two conversations are just kinda mediocre, though. Side note, how old is Shigure? Because this Support implies his voice only recently dropped. I was operating under the assumption that he was one of the older portal babies, perhaps even as old as twenty, but that implies he’s very young.

Support: Shigure/Father

C: Shigure's father finds him painting and says that Shigure's unseen art is really good. Shigure's father decides to set up an art exhibit, despite Shigure pointing out that a war is going on.

B: Shigure is anxious over being unable to finish a special painting he's making for the exhibit.

A: Shigure shows up to the exhibit late, having spent the entire night painting a portrait of his parents.

Review: Kinda mediocre, all things considered.

Support: Shigure/Sibling

C: Shigure's sibling finds Shigure singing in the woods, surrounded by wild animals like a goddamn Disney princess. The sibling accidentally scares the animals away. The sibling asks to hang out with Shigure and he says no.

B: Sibling scares off the animals, again. Shigure tells his sibling that the animals aren't comfortable around them because they can sense their negative emotions.

A: The sibling admits that the animals got scared off by their jealousy of Shigure. Shigure helps his sibling pet a rabbit.

Review: The fact that I’m keeping this vague made me write sibling a dozen times. Setting that aside, this one is decent.

I don’t talk about the voice acting in this game very much, mostly because I don’t know too much about the VA industry. The Fire Emblem series recycles VA’s a lot. For example, Matt Mercer, who you know for appearing in everything, voices four different characters in this game.

He voices Chrom, one of the main lords of Awakening who reappears in a DLC chapter. He also voices Ryoma. Now, this makes sense, Chrom and Ryoma are both noble, heroic princes. Mercer also voices Shigure, who is very different than Chrom and Ryoma, but is still a royal and still a heroic warrior.

The last character Mercer voices is Azama.

[finnskeeper]

Critical Role - Campaign 1 (Thoughts Machina): Episodes 81 - 93

AKA: TYING UP SOME LOOSE ENDS

Laura breaking character to yell at Travis for almost tossing a Deck of Many Things is SENDING ME

LIAM'S REACTIONS ARE GREAT TOO OMG

OH GOD HE PULLED A CARD

ROFL Everyone is sweating

Well, that could have been much worse

ROFL poor Ker

I love that Liam randomly takes time outs to announce that D&D is, in fact, the best game ever (he is not wrong)

ALLURA

Awwww, Scanlan...

Man, Heroes' Feast really is the bane of green dragons, huh?

I gotta say, the image of hundreds of corpses falling upward and then adding to the terrible, writhing mass on the ceiling is...an image.

Hey, Raishan isn't actually standing there. Who could have possibly guessed?

Matt had to amp this fight up quite a bit given the two high level NPCs are with them plus Kerrek

ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN POINTS OF DAMAGE?!?!?

LOL @ Liam: "New campaign next weeeeek!"

"We don't do anything with dignity." ROFL

Are those really Scanlan's last words? A bad joke about a horse?

KIKI

There goes Percy again...man, this fight is brutal

Kerrek is only level 7?!? How is he still alive??

Oh, Scanlan...oh man...

LIAM STAHP

That ritual...I'm not crying YOU ARE

I'm honestly surprised they've never heard Matt make the cork pop noise. I thought that was like 101 in voice acting?

Ok, the  man just died. Can we not cover him in pudding?

Aww, I forgot about Senokir's wife

Earthbreaker Groon!

Oh dear...Scanlan is not happy

WHAT'S MY MOTHER'S NAME?

I mean, I knew this was coming, but it's still heartbreaking

OMG This entire Tary introduction is sending me. Laura's pissed. Liam is in disbelief. Marisha's in denial. I love everything about this.

LITTLE ELF GIRL? OHFUCK

Keyleth: "I don't like new people right now, as of yesterday!" LOL

"I'm a bit of a tinkerer, I could show you a few things." OMG

All of these book titles are gonna kill Matt

I know they keep ragging on Tary because they're roleplaying well, but I still feel bad for Sam

I love that they keep purposely mispronouncing his name and Doty's

Vex: "JARRET! You sold Scanlan drugs? Is this why you were expelled from Marquet!" Jarret: "Noooooooo...."

Was that the birth of Boulder, Parchment, Shears?

ROFL they just fucking jumped Tary and Doty

AND VAX ROLLS A NAT 20 ON SNEAK ATTACK

MATT'S FACE

Also, this is the 2nd time Vax has sneak attacked a person as a test.

Oh, no, poor Tary. Sam is laying it on thick and I love him

YOU SHOULD HAVE LED WITH DADDY ISSUES

They all love him now and it's so good.

"Did it sound like a llama being torn apart by a pack of wolves?"

One of my favorite things about this game is Vox Machina going "We wanna go to [insert name of city they haven’t been to in forever]." and Matt mentally scrambling through his NPC rolodex like “Okaaaay.”

Ring of the Ram? That's such an old school item!

Science Bros!

"And it was the metric system!"

OMG A KRAKEN?!? MATTHEW MERCER

Uvenda, about Keyleth’s mom: "We only found her leg." Keyleth, immediately: "She's still alive." *insert side eye teddy meme here*

I love how they haven't even introduced themselves to Tary three episodes later

Matt as Trinket is gonna make Laura cry

If Vax rolls a high enough stealth check, can he hide from the RQ herself?

LOL it is so appropriate that Tary is the one who aggroed the Kraken

Matt is way too happy to be killing them with this kraken

Aaaaand now he hates all of them. Eels, man.

Man they weren't even this dejected during any of the dragon fights. This is brutal.

LOL Grog just leaving Tary is the best

“THROW THE NITWIT THROUGH THE DOOR!”

Kraken: "I'm coming soon enough!" Me: "That's a tomorrow problem."

PIKE'S BACK BISHES

LOL Pike and Tary's first meeting is so good

"Long may he reign." OMGTALIESIN

dragonkeylethdragonkeylethdragonkeylethdragonkeyleth

MOM PIKE SAYS STUDY YOUR FLASHCARDS

Shopping episodes are so great

Man, Voice of the Tempest is such a badass title

LOL I love the episode title: Vox Machina Goes to Hell

Bacon-wrapped baby Hotis in prison?

Percival...take just a moment before taking a deal in Hell, won't you?

All I can see is that Galavant scene with drunk-Gal and drunk-Richard sneaking around the castle very badly

ROFL that guest was waiting FOREVER

LOL @ Travis keeping count of Laura's swears

There's a lot of fire here, yo

They are all dedicated to those bat mimes, and I love them

LOL Keyleth goes down and Liam starts flipping through the handbook FURIOUSLY

Three successive characters either heal Keyleth or otherwise cast protective spells on her because if she goes down, VM is stuck in this hellish prison FOREVER

I have never identified with this cast more than right now, when half of them break out into a rowdy chorus of MmmBop. Such a millennial moment.

RIP DOTY

I don’t even have character thoughts any more, y’all. I love them all. My heart is going to be ripped out violently in another 20 episodes or so. Please respect my preemptive grief during this difficult time.

[renatogpadilla]

FFVI as a D&D Campaign:

OK, so I've been watching "Critical Role" (Campaign 1, Episode 31, no spoilers!) a LOT lately and it got me thinking how FFVI (arguably the BEST "Final Fantasy" game out there) is essentialy that. The biggest moments could be atributted to CRAZY rolls! I can see each of the characters being played by one of the people at the table! * Marisha as Terra Branford: Would be phenomenal. Her mentality is kinda in-line with Keyleth's. The "Kill Their Own Emotions" moment in the boat shakes the table as a whole. And when it's time to run an orphanage and protect her kids from Humbaba, the emotion in her voice destroys everyone in the Party. The "Mama?" moment becomes the most fan-arted moment for her character until the final fight. Her Trance ability is agreed to be the coolest looking skill at the table. To say nothing of the way she'd react to the whole Slave Crown bussiness!

Matt: "She killed 50 imperial soldiers in a few minutes." Marisha, and the whole table: *S H A K I N G*

* Taliesin as Locke Cole: "Treasure Hunter!" every single time somebody calls him a thief or a rogue. The "Rachel" story would be absolutely heartbreaking with Taliesin's expressions. The solo-sneak through the town while meeting Celes would be one of the highlights of the Campaign... That and his frienship with Terra would only be accentuated by Taliesin's and Marisha's irl friendship. Not to mention him puking on the ship would serve as some comedic timing straight out of "Critical Role"! Also, "That bow looks good on you" LAUNCHES the ship to heights undreamt of.

* Sam as Edgar Figaro: I mean, COME ON! IT WRITES ITSELF! Besides, it would be enjoyable to see him use his -Artificer- Machinist abilities as creatively as he does! Can you IMAGINE him rolling high enough one day and then he just creates the Noiseblaster? And with that he pulls out the microphone every time he uses it and proceeds to shout some thing Scanlan would be proud of... Not to mention his friendship with Sabin would be amazing if played by Sam! "The little shrimp has become a mighty Lobster!" You can HEAR Sam Riegel's voice come out of that! And the two headed coin? Now THAT's a Scanlan! This without mentioning the violations of the Geneva Convention that the Bioblaster would certainly entail...

* Laura as Celes Chere: I mean, OBVIOUSLY. Meeting Locke in the dungeon? The apparent betrayal? THE OPERA HOUSE?! "I'm a former General, not some... Opera floozy!" TELL ME you don't hear Laura Bailey saying that! And then she rolls a Natural 20 on performance and EVERYONE looses their shit! Her Runic ability is the target of MANY close saves. Also, the way Locke and Celes' interactions happen, she'd be perfect opposite Taliesin. The chat on the bridge in Albrook? HEARTSTOPPING. The attempted suicide? You KNOW Matt would call the sesion there!

* Travis as Sabin Figaro: This one was obvious. Monk/Barb that gets mistaken for a bear, and acts like an absolute teddy bear around Terra? Yes. Gods above, YES. "You think a tiny thing like the end of the world was going to be enough to keep me down?" You heard Grog too, right? The moments would be worth MILLIONS. The Opera house and Travis going "Why is everyone singing?" and then getting more and more into it! Him holding up the house for Celes! "MISTER THOU"... But best of all, and probably the single most famous Sabin moment EVER, The Phantom Train:

Matt: The train tracks suddenly lurch to the side. Even after this long and hard-fought battle it seems *chukles* it seems this train isn't letting you get away with your lives. That brings us to you, Travis! Travis, on his 5000 IQ shit: I grapple the train.

Entire Table: ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS?!?!

Matt: No way in hell are you gonna- You know what? Roll for it. *Picks up dice for the Train* Taliesin: He's dead. He's so fucking dea-

Travis: NATURAL 20.

Entire Table: *Silent disbelief, everyone looks at Matt*.

Matt: *Also in disbelief* ...Rolled a 1.

Entire Table: *Inintelligeble gasping and hyperventilating*

Travis: I'm going to use my last Blitz as Meteor Strike and suplex the Train!

Matt: *Looking at the sheet, knowing damn well what's about to happen* Go ahead and roll for damage...

Travis: *Rolls for damage*

Matt: *Braces for impact* How do you wanna do this?

Entire Table and the Internet: *EXPLODES*

The Fanart keeps coming, even YEARS after the Campaign is done...

* Liam as Setzer Gabbiani: Since he's LITERALY "Mister Steal Your Girl", I think Liam would be PERFECT. Just imagine him getting set up as this suave and smooth rougue who wanted to kidnap a beautiful singer and then gets Laura instead! (Which isn't entirely wrong...) IMAGINE his expresions and his dissapearing under the table laughing as the others barely climb aboard The Blackjack. THE ENTIRE PARTY giving him shit for a low roll on a Wisdom Check (the double-headed coin) and him segwaying that into joining the party, only to find out that he actually knew all along... Priceless. The total and undistilled heartbreak as his ship falls apart, him trying to reach out for Terra and everyone falling on different places. And then meeting Celes a year later and doing the whole Daryll story... Liam would be the one to steal the audience every time he takes the spotlight! Though he would be a little like Percy in the sense that he doesn't get much to do until his arc happens.

"Money, Money, Money!" every time he throws coins to attack, the loaded dice (in character, not at the table?) and the card throws would make him so stylish in a D&D setting I'll be surprised if somebody hasn't done it already.

* Ashley as Relm Arrowny: She takes forever to join because of her constantly being away for filming, but once she's here? HOO BOY, does the fun keep coming! Her paintings coming alive and helping them fight? Her giving Sam shit for Edgar's love life? "Fuddy-Duddy!" becoming A Thing? All of those moments would be hilarious... But probably her most notorious moment comes when they find her a year later, serving a posessed brush, telling her to paint, paint, paint under the Magic House... "Keep painting until I'm complete..." The party snaps her out of it before she finishes the greatest painting she's ever done, her Magnum Opus, and then the painting coming alive prematurely in order to force her to finish... To give her form. And then the Lakshmi boss fight happens... Matt: And with the last of her strength gone, the banshee-like apparition dissipates into mist, and before any of you can react, Relm's magic brush begins to glow, like it had when you first came in here. The glow slowly creeps off the hairs and darts! Off towards the mistified form of it's mistress, enveloping itself into a thicc layer on top of the mist, swirling around... and around and around.

Ashley: Oh god, now what?

Matt: The colors dissipate, and Lakshmi unleashes a terrible wail! *DM monster noises* As it is now joined with this colorful cloud... And it compresses, smaller and smaller... And more solid until it's not mist anymore.

Marisha: *Gets it* ¡WAIT A MINUTE!

Travis: *Exited* ¡OH SHIT, HOLD ON!

Matt: The fog dissipates... And the calm returns to Relm's senses. Ashley you are now holding an innert, ordinary paint brush. However! Floating in the air, you see a crystal with a small glowing core, the particular essence of Life embeded in the middle, Terra you *points at Marisha* feel this and recognize it instantly, as it falls to the ground, and bounces a couple times... A brand new shard of Magicite.

Party: *FERAL LOOTING*

"Lakshmi" becomes the most PAINFUL fanart to make, and it's ALWAYS the one that's valued the most among the fandom.

The rest of the Party (Strago, Umaro, Mog, Cyan, Gau and GoGo) can be the guests that come over every once in a while (I particualrly see Wil Wheaton as Strago Magus, Mary McGlynn as GoGo and Will Friedle as Clyde "Shadow" Arrowny) with Shadow coming and going with the excuse that "His contract is up" (and let's face it, after surviving/witnessing the Phantom Train? My contract would be up too...) and coming back whenever his schedule/the plot allows. Eventually, everyone comes together for one last session and the battle with God Kefka. Setting their affairs in order, the reveal of who Shadow really is during a lone chat with Strago shakes the Critters to their core. Everything makes sense! Why Interceptor went straight to Relm when they met... Why his nightmares kept showing a village of magic users, yet they never mention Shadow in Thamasa! The group is RATTLED and wether or not he survives at the end becomes a HEATED argument between everyone at the table. Only Strago knows the truth...

The sendoff on The Falcon with everyone saying goodbye and seeing what the World will bring next is regarded as one of the most emotional scenes in "Critical Role" history... But the most completely DESTRUCTIVE force in this entire cast is Matt Mercer as Kefka Palazzo:

The personality... the narrative... The absolute slime in his voice when he poisons Doma. When he kills Leo and brings forth the Light of Judgement. Matt definitely has his moments playing Ultros. He's fun! And Emperor Ghestal was more of a political "Darth Sidious" villain. But Kefka? OH, LORD. NOBODY was ready for Kefka. "Enjoy the barbicue!" gets memed to no end, while also sending a horrible shiver down people's spine whenever somebody brings it up. Truly, the villain to end all villains. I can see it happen so vividly... If anybody wants to talk about this more, PLEASE hit me up! This just feels too good! Until off course the party moves on to their next Campaign in the setting for "Final Fantasy 5" but that's a whole OTHER can of worms!

[creepercraftguy]

If Danganronpa: Another Despair Academy had an English cast

So I recently made a post very similar to this where I talked about who a hypothetical English voice cast for Our World Is Ended would be. I kind of enjoyed making that post, so I decided to do something similar with the cast of a Danganronpa fan game that has been featured prominently on my chanel and that’s the Danganronpa: Another series. Being a Korean fan game, the original dub of Danganronpa Another has barely any dialogue to speak of. In fact, the only two characters in the series who speak often are Yuki and Sora, the protagonists of the two games, but that’s when they’re in trials. As of right now, a group of people is working on an English dub for the second game. This is why I’m specifically going to talk about the first game in the series, and bare in mind 2 things.

1) There will be some pretty heavy spoilers that I talk about in this post, so if you’re going to read it, please play the game, watch a playthrough or read up on it first.

2) If by any chance the first game gets a dub and the following people I do mention end up voicing the characters, I assure you it is purely coincidental. I wouldn’t even call this a hypothetical scenario so much as I’d call it a basic thought process of my weird weird mind.

Without further ado, let’s begin.

Yuki Maeda: Yuri Lowenthal

In the current dub for the second game, Yuki is being voiced by a user by the name of Soluri, who is pretty talented in their right, but my thought process for an alternative voice actor would be this. Yuki as a protagonist takes a very similar standing as Makoto Naegi and Hajime Hinata, whom are voiced by Bryce Papenbrook and Johnny Yong Bosch respectively, so if I was given a choice to choose who could voice act him, then I think Yuri Lowenthal would be a fitting choice, since he’s also often voiced protagonists. Being someone who often does work in famous franchises, his voice work includes Marth from Fire Emblem, Yosuke Hanamura in Persona, Ben Tennyson in many Ben 10 works, Klavier Gavin in Ace Attorney, Simon in Gurren Lagann and Suzaku from Code Geass. However, he’d also be a fitting choice since I believe he’d be able to do a good job as both the somwhat cowardly and submissive Yuki as well as the mysterious and somewhat stoically dangerous Utsuro, as he is also the main VA for Sasuke in Naruto and Alucard in Castlevania. 

Akane Taira: Monica Rial

Akane’s basic character throughout the majority of the game is that she’s lighthearted and even though the killing game is getting to her just as much as everyone else, she still finds a way to lighten the atmosphere, and is a usually cheery and kind person, if a little scary when angry. However, her true nature is something much more freakish, being, in actuality, the mastermind behind the aforementioned killing game that she spends a lot of the game seemingly fighting against. For an English VA, I think the best bet is Monica Rial, who has previously voiced in Danganronpa as Sayaka Maizono in the Danganronpa anime. The reason for my choice is she has previously voiced usually nice, if a little stern, characters like Bulma from Dragon Ball, Tsuyu Asui from My Hero Academia, May Chang from Full Metal Alchemist, Tsubaki from Soul Eater, Kayano from Assassination Classroom, Mirajane Strauss from Fairy Tale and Sakura from CardCaptor Sakura. However, she’s not one to shy away from maniacal villains, or generally creepy characters either, also voicing Tanya from Saga of Tanya the Evil, Krul Tepes from Seraph of the End or Stocking from Panty and Stocking. Also doing the voice of Misaki Ayuzawa from Maid Sama and Mey-rin in Black Butler, she’s not new to voicing maid characters.

Tsurugi Kinjo: Crispin Freeman

Having already done voice work in a main Danganronpa game, albeit for a very unlikable character, I ruled out Matthew Mercer for this one. I can only really describe Tsurugi as the Nagito Komaeda of this series. He has good intentions, but a really messed up way of thinking, even at times quite self-deprecating and reflecting on his own incapabilities to stop the killing game and catch the mastermind. Like I already said, he seems like he’d be voiced by a deep voiced character like Matt Mercer, but when it comes to characters like that, Crispin Freeman is a safe bet. Some of the rightous and/or badass characters that he’s lent his voice to include Winston from Overwatch, Kyon in the Haruhi Suzumiya series, Tsume in Wolf’s Rain and more, but can also do a pretty good crazy character every once in a while, like Alucard from Hellsing, Itachi Uchiha from Naruto and Firefly in the Batman Arkham Series.

Rei Mekaru: Laura Post

Admittedly, I was considering Monica Rial for this crude and shrewd character too. Mature and professional to a fault, barely showing any sort of real emotion and often insulting the other killing game participants for seemingly no reason, Rei is basically Another 2′s Byakuya Togami, intelligent, but rude. Having previously voiced condescending characters, Laura Post is a pretty good choice. I’m referring mostly to characters like Kill La Kill’s Ragyo Kiryuin and Fubuki/Blizzard from Hell from One Punch Man, as well as Diana Cavendish from Little Witch Academia and one of her first ever performances, Queen Nehelenia from Sailor Moon. However, Laura Post has also voiced rather gentle and friendly characters before, which would be a good way to highlight Rei’s secret soft side. Characters like Nozomi Tojo from Love Live and her most recent role, Kasumi Yoshizawa from Persona 5 Royal.

Haruhiko “Haru”  Kobashikawa: Sam Riegal

The minute I was introduced to him, I immediately thought, “Ok, he’s going to be the Kazuichi of this game isn’t he?” And to be honest, I don’t think I was that far off. However, even so, he seems more like Kaito if Kaito wasn’t necessarily a central character. Haru’s important, but he’s on the same level of importance as a character like say...Game 1 Toko. A sociable person who’s only goal is to get along well with everyone, he’s cheerful, laid back and more often than not pretty amusing to watch. Someone I believe to be fit for the role, having previously voiced a repertoire of pretty dorky and likeable characters, is Sam Riegal. By that, I mean he’s done the voice work of Teddy from Persona, Phoenix Wright in Ace Attorney, Emperor Awesome in Wander of Yonder,  Kanata from Trinity Universe, Shirou Emiya from Fate/Stay Night and Donatello in a large number of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles works.

Teruya Otori: Kyle McCarly

Teruya is a character that returns for the second game, and his voice actor in that is NuzikVA. I was really stuck on this one, since Yuri Lowenthal, whom I picked for Yuki, was my main option for Teruya too, but my second option for him would be just as viable. One of Teruya’s most important aspects to his character is that he has a pretty unique western accent despite being Japanese, since his Ultimate Merchant talent means he’s travelled the world and picked up on a few things. On top of that, he’s pretty adorkable and a little childish. I’ve heard Yuri Lowenthal do accents before, which is why I considered it, but I figured anything Yuri Lowenthal can do, Kyle McCarly can do just as well, if not better. He’s a voice actor who’s lines are packed full of expression and some of his previous work includes 9S from Neir: Automata, Hyde in Cross Tag Battle, Hal in Astral Chain, Gatekeeper in Fire Emblem Three Houses and Narancia in JoJo Part 5.

Satsuki Iranami: Deva Marie Gregory

While she was a character that I found initially very irritating and she was definitely the one I had to warm to the most, I won’t deny that Satsuki Iranami is like 70% of the humour and happiness in this game. Similarly to Ibuki, she tends to act childish and make jokes in very tense situations and as described by Yuki as “a person that makes you tired just by talking with her” or something along those lines. Now, this might seem like a pretty obscure and strange choice for a VA, but my choice for a voice is Deva Marie Gregory. It’s obscure, since she is relatively new to the voice acting industry, only voicing one character in one franchise so far. However, that character is Flayn from Fire Emblem Three Houses, arguably one of the characters with the more comedic dialogue. I can totally picture her playing an “In-your-face” practical joker character like Satsuki, making common wisecracks, and it’s something I’d really like to bear witness to.

Mitsuhiro “Mitch” Higa: Joe Brogie

Possibly my least favourite character in this game, he’s essentially a worse version of Leon Kuwata from the first game. He’s genuinely kind of a chill guy, but his status as the Ultimate Soccer Player and his world fame makes him more than a little arrogant and cocky and often ignores people who he doesn’t care for. Joe Brogie is my choice for him, despite being a relatively new voice actor. His previous work includes the player character from God Eater 3, Linus from Fire Emblem Heroes, Donatello from Injustice 2 and Sylvain Jose Gautier from Fire Emblem Three Houses. However, despite his few roles and lacking history of voices, he’s talented and capable nonetheless. 

Kizuna Tomori: Tia Ballard

Kizuna can be described in the following words: Cutesy, flirtatious and distrustful. I know those phrases sound mutually exclusive to each other, but trust me, it’s true. Obviously, her nature just changes depending on the situation, since she’s lighthearted and merry more often than not, but in a tense situation becomes suspicious, snappy and even physically violent. I picture her having a high voice, and when taking her character into account, I think the best bet is Tia Ballard. The main reason for my choice is that Tia’s most common voices belong to generally “moe” anime girls, but she voices them in a way that doesn’t sound annoyingly high pitched like how Stephanie Sheh does with Mikan in Danganronpa 2. If Ballard voiced Kizuna, she could pretty much perfectly land the “cutesy at first, but angry when provoked” attitude that Kizuna has. Some of her previous work includes Marron from Dragon Ball, Happy from Fairy Tail, Chiho Sasaki from The Devil is a Part Timer, Takao from D-Frag, Zero Two from Darling in the Franxx and has actually voiced in Danganronpa previously as Daisaku Bandai in Danganronpa 3.

Mikako Kurokawa: Brittany Cox

Extremely similarly to my choice for Satsuki, my choice for Mikako has also only ever been in one game, and it’s the same game as my choice for Satsuki actually. Mikako is a quiet person and she isn’t much of a talker, and when she does she sticks to short replies after long periods of silence, often causing people to forget she's around or becoming surprised when she eventually speaks up. She is unresponsive in a conversation and avoids making eye contact with anyone she talks to which seems rude, but her past explains why. The character Brittany Cox plays in Three Houses is Ingrid Galatea, who is generally a pretty merry, if a little serious and motherly, character, who’s personality isn’t a quiet one. However, while her voice acting is really good, Brittany Cox has a bit of a stoic, monotone and quiet voice, that I believe would fit Mikako perfectly.

Kinji Uehara: Robbie Daymond

There were a few reasons why I chose this person for this characters voice, but I’ll talk about those in a moment. Kinji is the good type of priest, one who is serious and quiet, but is a good listener, and respectful of people to a point where he doesn’t force his religious ideals onto others. However, when put under immense amounts of pressure, he can break down and turn somewhat psychotic. Hence my choice for his voice actor. Robbie Daymond is a personal favourite of mine, since he has a special talent of playing characters such as Goro Akechi and Hubert Vestra, from Persona and Three Houses respectively; characters who for the most part are calm, reserved, quiet and in Akechi’s case, somewhat kind. However, after certain points in the games stories, the two characters turn inexplicably evil and crazy, and the voice work and the shift in tone has such an amazing range that it’s hard to believe it’s the same guy. Seriously, look up Daymond’s work as Akechi, it’s honestly amazing and is the type of voice I’d honestly expect for Kinji when he breaks down. Alongside those two roles, Daymond also voices Prompto in Final Fantasy 15, Reinhard in RE:Zero, Professor Willow in Pokemon, Gilthunder in Nanatsu No Taizai and Mumen Rider in One Punch Man.

Kiyoka Maki: Colleen Clinkenbeard

A girl with a personality that doesn’t match her talent, Kiyoka Maki is outgoing and carefree and doesn’t have an awful lot of care for her talent, being way more interested in more effeminate things than guns. When I first saw Kiyoka and was introduced to her character, for some reason I thought “This is the type of character Colleen Clinkenbeard would voice.” Originally I was going to cast Clinkenbeard as Teruya before I realised Teruya wouldn’t necessarily have a child-like voice. Clinkenbeard however, does have experience of voicing male anime characters, and a lot of characters that scream a lot, Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece and Young Gohan being the prime examples. Alongside that, she’s also voiced another gunslinger in Full Metal Alchemist as Riza Hawkeye, as well as Momo Yaoyorozu in My Hero Academia, Rachel Moore in Case Closed, Erza Scarlet in Fairy Tail and previously in Danganronpa 3 as the loveable Chisa Yukizome.

Ayame Hatano: Karen Strassman

Ayame is a stoic and strong-willed person. Although she appears to be perfectly calm in most situations, she admits that she can be awkward especially during conversations, and as a result, she has a tendency to ramble and wander off in her own, or not talk much at all. To me, she seems like a character that someone like Karen Strassman would lend her voice to, since she’s played several characters with those personality traits before. To name a few, there’s Aigis and Nanako from Persona and she’s also voiced Anna in several Fire Emblem games. She’s also played Kallen Stadtfeld in Code Geass, Miyuki Takara in Lucky Star and Rouge the Bat in several Sonic the Hedghog games.

Kanata Inori: Felicia Angelle

I was also considering casting Tia Ballard for this character too, but unlike Kizuna, Kanata genuinely seems like a moe character that would have a high voice. Kanata is a sweet girl who wishes nothing more than the comfort of her patients and everyone else around her. Exceedingly formal and polite, she addresses her classmates as Mr or Ms, like how Hifumi Yamada does in the first game. My choice for her is Felicia Angelle, who’s repertoire consists of both cute and geeky anime girls, as well a little bit of the scary stuff too. This includes Tohru Hagakure from My Hero Academia, Perona from One Piece, The Supreme Kai of Time from Dragon Ball Xenoverse, Shinoa Hiragi from Seraph of the end, Shaltear from Overlord, Georgie from Maid Dragon and has previously been in the Danganronpa anime, playing Aoi Asahina.

Kakeru Yamaguchi: J Michael Tatum

I have a pretty good reason for this cast. Becoming a legal prodigy when he was quite young, Kakeru is a character who seems to have a split personality, but on a level way less extreme than that of Toko Fukawa. Essentially, he’s usually quite a timid and shy person, that finds it hard to hold a conversation, but when he’s in the courtroom or a class trial, he becomes quite loud and brash in a way similar to that of Nekomaru in the second game. His personality reminds me that of characters like Tenya Iida from My Hero Academia and Rei Ryugazaki from Free! both of whom are voiced by J Michal Tatum, whom is my choice for Kakeru. Tatum has also voiced Zarbon from Dragon Ball, Commander Erwin from Attack on Titan, Rintaro Okabe from Steins:Gate, Scar from Full Metal Alchemist, France from Hetalia and Sebastian from Black Butler.

Yamato Kisaragi: Max Mittleman

Yamato is almost as crazy an inventor as Miu, sans the whole sexual and perverted invention parts. Being a character who’s introduced a little later into the story, Yamato is pretty quirky, energetic and honestly friendly, but that leads people to be a little doubtful of him, Tsurugi in particular. His energetic character and his genuine feel make me think that someone who could voice him is Max Mittleman. Mittleman’s previous voices include Plag from Miraculous Ladybug, Ryuji Sakamoto from Persona, Saitama from One Punch Man, King from Natatsu No Taizai, Meruem in HunterXHunter and more

So that’s what I got. If you liked this, then leave me a heart and repost if you want. If you have any other recommendations for Japanese exclusive projects I should assign voice actors to, then let me know.

[nooneimportantandjustignore]

Critical Role?

What happens when Critical Role and AI Dungeon meet? Stuff get weird and confusing really fast.

Note: AI Dungeon is a “Game” that lets you have kind of a D&D solo experience, but the GM is AI. The story will be below

"Hello everybody and welcome to Critical Role, Where a bunch of us nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons and Dragons." Matt Mercer says as the show starts. They look at each other and then back at Mercer who is now looking over his shoulder. You can't help but notice that he has some sort of device strapped to him which you assume is a radio or something similar.

> Travis speaks, "I would like to go get some supplies for Fjord"

You both turn your attention back to the screen where Travis is speaking. He looks very nervous and you can tell he's not used to this kind of situation.

Travis: I would like to go get some supplies for Fjord. Can we do it in person?

> Matt looks confused, "Um, Travis we're live. Can you wait until we finish playing D&D?"

Matt: "What are you talking about? We're live! What are you talking about?" Travis: "Uh, well I was just wondering if we could do it in person. It'd be much easier than sending people to bring stuff from far away.

> Matt just turns to someone else, "Jester what are you doing" he asks Laura

Laura: "Nothing, just getting my mind off things." Travis: "Well I'm going to go talk with Fjord, she wants to come too." Laura: "No!" you say. Travis: "She doesn't want to leave?

> Matt looks confused at what Travis said, "Is Fjord talking to himself?"

You both look at each other and shrug. Travis: "Yeah, but I think we should all go together." Matt Face Palms

> Matt turns the Sam, "What is Nott doing?"

You both turn your attention back to the screen where Matt is still talking. You don't know why, but you feel compelled to ask him.

Matt: "Nott, I think you should stay here and guard the door while everyone goes out there.

> Sam looks at Matt, "Why are you taking control of my character?" looking upset

Sam: "Because I am the best DM ever!" You both shake your head.

Travis: "So you think you're better than me huh?" You both shake your heads again.

> "No one said that Travis" they both say

You both continue to shake your heads.

Travis: "Alright alright, I'll take over, but only because I want to see how good you really are." They both nod and agree.

> The camera crew of Critical Role look fucking confused as all hell

The camera crew of Critical Role looks completely baffled by everything that is happening. This includes you. You can't believe you were so caught up in the game that you didn't pay any attention to them. You try to ignore them though and keep on watching the action unfold on screen.

> Marisha stands up, "Guys, I think were losing focus of the game. Can we please get back on track?" She tells everyone

Marisha continues to stand up, "Ok guys, let's get back on track. Let's not worry about who is in charge or anything else right now. Just concentrate on having fun and enjoying the show." Everyone nods their agreement and start focusing again.

> Matt tells them they in the city of Nicodranas and are on there way to the Lavish Chateau to see Jester's mom

The Mighty Nein enter the Lavish Chateau and see Carlos the bartender cleaning some glasses. Carlor, "Jester, it's good to see you. Does you mother know you were coming?"

> Jester, "No I wanted to surprise her" Laura says as Jester

Carlos: "I should have know. Do you want me to let her know you are her?"

> Jester just shakes her head, "No, that's okay. Is she in her room?" she asks Carlos

Carlos: "She isn't, no." Laura: "Good then she won't be home when we arrive. Well anyway lets get this party started! The first thing I'm going to do is make sure everyone knows how to play a musical instrument." Everyone laughs.

> I keep watching the show confused at what is happening

You watch the show for awhile and realize that you aren't really paying attention to what is actually going on. It seems like every other sentence someone says another one pops into your mind. "Oh he has a sword... Wait did he kill his dad? What happened to his family?"

>

You begin to wonder if you are even listening to the show anymore. Suddenly you hear a voice from behind you, "Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" You turn around and see Marisha with a dagger in hand. She notices your presence immediately.

> I turn to face her, "HOLY SHIT MARISHA RAY IS IN MY HOUSE!!" I say with excitement, complete ignoring the dagger she has in her hand

Marisha: "What the hell are you doing out here?" You: "I'm trying to find my sister Laura Ray, she was supposed to meet me here!" Marisha: "Where the hell did you come from?!

> "I should be asking you that Marisha, how did you get in my house?" I say

Marisha: "Well I don't remember you being here before..." You: "Yeah well I'm here now, so ask me where I came from then!" Marisha: "Fine, but you better tell me the truth or else I'll cut your throat!"

> "DAAAAMMMMNNNNN!!"

You: "Daaaaaaamnnnn!!!" Marisha looks at you with disgust, "Alright alright alright, calm down. First off I didn't mean any harm by it. Second of all why would I hurt you? You've been helping me out a lot lately."

> "I mean I just watch the show, but I'm happy to know that helps"

"I mean I just watch the show, but I'm happy to know that helps.

>

Alright fine, but you better help me out if you want to stay here."

You: "Okay, but only because I feel obligated to help a nice lady who's obviously been struggling with money problems."

Marisha: "

> "Wait, why did I say that? I mean I'd be more then happy to help you in anyway I can Marisha."

Marisha: "Because you're an idiot right? Because you think because I'm nice and have money that you can get me to let you stay here?" You: "That's not true, I just feel obligated to help out a person in need.

> I stare at her confused, "I have no idea what is going on anymore, do you?" I ask her

Marisha: "No, but you seem pretty interested in me so maybe we will soon enough." You: "What do you mean?

> "Whoa, not interested in that way or anything. I mean your married to Matt and all. So how can I help?"

Marisha: "Oh, I thought you were into guys too." You: "No, I like girls as well. But thanks for clearing that up." Marisha: "So...what do you want to do?

> Stare blankly, "I think my brain just broke" I say

Marisha: "Well, I guess we could go out sometime." You: "Hey wait a minute! What about Laura?" Marisha: "She said she wanted to see you first, so I figured we should start there." You: "But she's dead!"

> "WAIT WHAT?!? Where did that come from brain?" I look so shocked

Marisha: "It was implied in one of her letters to me. She wrote that she had a crush on you when you first moved in here." You: "WHAT?!

> "I've never even met her, how would she have a crush on me. I'm just a fan of the show."

Marisha: "Well I suppose it makes sense. The guy that played your character died and his girlfriend left him after he died. That's pretty tragic stuff right?" You: "Yeah, but...

> "Okay... When the hell was I on Critical Role, because you think I would remember something important like that." I say

Marisha: "Look, I don't really care about Laura, but I'll tell you this much. If she wants to talk to you, I'll be glad to meet her." You: "Great. Well thanks for the information Marisha.

> "Marisha Laura's your friend how could you say something mean like that about her?" I say somewhat upset

Marisha: "Don't worry about it, I know you meant well. Anyway, I'll see you later tonight." Marisha leave your home and head back the show. As you walk down the stairs, you hear a knock on the door.

> I just sit there completely stunned with what just transpired before me

You sit there completely stunned with what just transpired before you. After a few moments, you slowly open the door. It's Laura who knocks on the door. Laura: "Hi." You: ...

> Thinking to myself, "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!?"

You: "W-wait, Laura..." Laura: "Why are you sitting there like a dumbfounded idiot? Did I do something wrong?" You: "...no, nothing happened." Laura: "Really? Then why are you acting weird?

> "Um, because you and Marisha have visited me today and I can't understand why?" I look dumbfounded

Laura: "What the heck is wrong with you? Are you jealous?" You: "No, no, I didn't mean anything by it." Laura: "Then what the hell is going on?" You: "I dunno. Just calm down and let me explain."

> "Look how are you even here right now, last I check Critical Role was live. HOW THE HELL DO YOU GET HERE SO FAST?!" I start freaking out

Laura: "I get here early, then I stay at the hotel until late. Then I go to your house. Usually I sleep over there too, but sometimes we hang out somewhere else or just hang out together." You: "Wait, so you're not actually staying at the hotel?"

> "I-I... I just..." My brain blue screens of deaths on me

Laura: "Oh come on, calm down. Look I'm sorry if I offended you." You: "But... But how and why are you here?"

> I walk over to a wall and hit my head against it to see if I am dreaming

You wake up from your dream. You stand in front of a large room filled with people. There is also an old man standing next to you looking very stern and serious. He looks like he has been crying for quite some time, which gives you the impression that he might be dying.

> "Okay, so is this a dream within a dream?" I look around confused

You: (sigh) Okay, so is this a dream within a dream? Because I feel like I've had one before. Old Man: *Sob* No, it isn't my fault! This is all YOUR fault!

> "How is any of this my fault!" I shout back at the old man

Old Man: Oh don't be so angry. It's all your fault. The only reason why I am still alive is because you put me into this coma! You did this to me! You: ...

> Walk over to old man and punch him, "No."

You: "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Old Man: *Sob* Please, please don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault. You: "Well okay then, but why am I still here?"

> Go over to the nearest wall and bash my head against it trying to wake up from this nightmare

You: "WHY AM I STILL HERE?" Old Man: "Because you were supposed to kill me. Now stop being such a baby and do it." You: "YOU KILLED ME AND YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR IT!"

> "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON ANYMORE! I JUST WANTED TO WATCH CRITICAL ROLE AND RELAX!!" I YELL

Old Man: "Shut up! Shut up! Don't talk to me like that!" You: "Fine, fine, whatever. I'll do it anyway. What's the point of killing me when I won't die?

> Look for an exit

You turn around and leave the room.

You walk outside and find yourself in a field with several houses surrounding you. The sun is setting behind them. You notice that they all seem to be abandoned buildings, but then again maybe that's what makes them more creepy.

> I pinch myself to wake up from this dream

You: "Pinch me to wake me up from this dream." You: "Alright, alright, I'm awake now. So where am I exactly?

> I'm in front of my computer, which has Critical Role playing, "I must of dozed off" I resume watching

I see the Mighty Nein going onto the Ball Eater to get ready for the party

>

. You see some people sitting on chairs and tables talking about something or other. Then suddenly a voice comes through the speakers, "Hello everyone, I'm Matti Newell and welcome to the first episode of Critical Role!" You: "Wait...what?

> I emotionally break down

You: "Oh god, I can't take this anymore. This isn't real! I just woke up from a bad dream and now THIS is happening! How can this be?!"

The next scene shows you standing before the group who are dressed in their full battle gear.

> I just stare at them lost for words as to what is happening anymore

You: "What the hell is going on?! Why am I here? Who are these people?" They: "We're your friends. We're the cast of Critical Role.

> "I wish!" I say

You: "I didn't sign up for this!" They: "But we thought you would. Besides, you said you wanted to relax after the long day of work...

> "How did I get here?"

They: "Well, you got into a car accident and ended up in our town. Well, we were wondering if you could help us out by taking care of the crash victims while we went to the party." You: "Wait, WHAT!?"

> "None of this makes any sense. Car Accident? WAIT AM I IN A COMA?!?"

They: "No, no, it was an accident. It's not like you had anything to do with it." You: "WHAT!? What the hell is going on? Are they trying to kill me?

>

Am I dreaming all this? Please tell me what's going on!

>

THE END

[colorblindtyedye]

FE3H Thoughts

After spending most of my weekend playing Three Houses, I have thoughts to share. I’m nowhere near done (I just finished Month 8), it’s just some initial thoughts. Possible spoilers.

MINUSES: - The fact that the same-sex relationship ratio between girls to boys is so skewed. I hate that there is only one same-sex option for dudes (because I’m sorry, Alois and Gilbert do not count, especially when I’ve read that even their S support are completely platonic). It irks me that Edelgard is bi but Dimitri and Claude are not. I thought things would be better after Fates, and I AM glad that the girl relationships are not just one insanely obsessive Tharja-based child, but overall it’s really disappointing. 

- The fact that Byleth DOESN’T TALK. Oh my god it’s driving me CRAZY. I don’t know why they went this way; is it because they didn’t want to record two different answers for a lot of things? I guess after all the drama with m!Byleth’s original voice actor, Nintendo is probably grateful they don’t have to rerecord thousands of lines of dialogue, but it’s honestly driving me nuts. It almost seems unfinished. 

PLUSES: Basically everything else.

- I love how many things they brought over from Echoes! The Combat Arts, the ability to turn back time in battles, having things to do besides just battles and conversations. Even the way things like magic work. I thought Echoes was a great game, and it’s fun to have so many new things to do.

- The voice acting is a HUGE improvement from Fates. There were a lot of voices I can’t stand in Fates (we switch between English and Japanese in Warriors depending on if we need to use male Corrin or female Corrin, male Corrin having a horrific English voice and female Corrin having an annoying as hell Japanese one). Since the game is fully voiced (EXCEPT BYLETH JUST NODDING AT SHIT), it’s nice that there’s a wide variety of decent voice actors. Except I miss Matt Mercer.

- Having stupid little things to do, like gardening or FISHING (I love fishing). Just having the whole free days Explore option has been fun, though I need to get better at balancing my days off. I hate the idea of spending a whole day off resting but I accidentally went into a new week of classes with only having three people motivated.

- Being able to have different classes use weapons they wouldn’t normally get to use. I’m a little sad that the pegasus knights have no dark flyer option so I can’t have a flying mage, but it’s fun to have different people learning different things based off their secret abilities or just what I feel like having them learn. (I am personally sad about both dark flyers, since it is my favorite class, and also kinshi knights, which I 100% didn’t expect to see but was absolutely SPOILED by in Fates, haha)

- The characters! They all have unique personalities and I find myself drawn to all of them (except Ingrid, I know nothing about her and she has left no lasting impression on me. Sorry, Ingrid fans). I’m just enjoying all the personality types and conversations, even though I want to strangle Lorenz’s neck - because that’s his character, so I feel like it’s okay to want to strangle him.

I have lots of other thoughts too, but these are my initial thoughts that I wanted to get out while they were fresh in my mind! I’ll post more when I’m further along, but right now I’m just having a good time with it.

[critgemhero]

I met the Critical Role gang and it went... mostly okay!!!

So yes, it happened. I got my autographs from everyone (except Ashely cuz she is not there) from Critical Role! Below I will go into detail my interactions with each. Sadly, as I suspected, my nerves take over my memory and I have forgotten what they mostly said outside of the typical reactions and a few key moments, but here is how it went down!

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn - I was first in line for her and facing away from her and down when she came out behind the curtain to start and was not ready at all I turned around like the dramatic friggin Chipmunk. I kept apologizing for some reason and then I got her autograph! She was trying to remember the name of Allura, who I was cosplaying and she recognized, and I forgot what we first talked about but she was the first to sign the book! I told her how much I adored her work directing Cowboy Bebop and asked if she directed Tangled The Series (which I had read online she did) and she said yes and said how much I loved that! I actually chose to get a selfie with her which I didn't do for ANYONE else except Matt, which honestly IDK why it just felt like an impulse decision. At least it looks 1000x better than my Matt one... oh god. 

Sam Riegel - What compelled me to jump in and get Sam’s first, I have no idea. But I did. Anyway, this one went okay! I don’t remember much sadly, but I made a decision to tell the whole cast about my video editing and how they inspired me so much to get back into it and about my VFX video I did! I told Sam himself, the star, and he looked confused at first and I got nervous but I could tell when it clicked for him and he looked in SHOCK. He was like that, “that was YOU??? That was so good oh my god!” Pretty much all the cast had that reaction but only 3 are super memorable to me and he was definitely one of them. I remember he said something about how much hard work that must have been and to keep doing what I am doing or something along those lines. Then I tried quickly saying how much I love his voice work like Teddie from Persona, and while walking away said I was excited for Ducktales season 2 and he seemed happy by that and we parted ways!! I am sure there was more nuance too it but again, I FORGOT A LOT FROM MY NERVES.

Marisha Ray - I did these signings in SUCH a weird order, but I decided to get Marisha next. The sad part is that the most memorable moment was Matthew sitting right next to her doing her OWN signings and he randomly pointed to me and said “Hey just wanted to say you did such a great job on your cosplay! You look amazing!!! ” And I pretty much died right then and there like OH MY GOD. Then I actually got her autograph and she was super chill. I again kept anchoring to the inspiration to do my video editing thing so I told the same story to her and she recognized the video too! For some odd reason, I can’t remember her reaction and this really bums me out. I do remember her saying something along the lines of keep doing my best when making my work, but I also remember the incredibly endearing smile on her face when walking away.

Brian W. Foster - He was super chill and personable! There is a reason he is a good host on between the sheets for sure. I made the same video editing inspiration schpiel, but I feel like I worded myself better with him that time around? He was also super surprised and happy to learn it was me too! Sadly, can’t remember much after that, but once again it was all smiles and sweet words because anything bad or awkward would have stood out to me... trust me on that one later. 

Taliesin Jaffe - Taliesin was such a unique interaction! Beforehand he was having some kind of deep and emotional conversation with the woman before me, and I heard him saying something along the lines as “it's been hard” and “I'm getting by day by day” and I my nerves were kinda overcome by compassion. When it was my turn to speak I said hi and while he was smiling he genuinely looked like he was about to cry???? I was starting to talk but I interrupted myself and genuinely asked if he was okay. He said yeah and that it was all just kinda overwhelming. I kinda forgot this middle part, though I feel like I did bring up the video editing thing. He recognized it too and said that the industry needs way more talented and passionate editors and emphasized how important they are. I can’t remember if it was HIM or TRAVIS who said this, but he said something along the lines of the industry really needing people like editors with how hard it is to do and how they basically MAKE the stories into movies themselves. The more I think about it the more I think it was Travis who said it... a lot of my interaction memories are mixed up from my nerves. Either way, I did something very out of character and asked if I could give him a hug. He had seemed so upset earlier and I saw that other woman give him a hug, so I told myself, hey if you are gonna get a hug from a cast member today, Taliesin is a great choice who would probably say yes (but I wanted to hug Marisha so badly too you have no idea, she was so sweet and endearing and made me feel better. Most others did but she was so huggable looking at the time) We hugged tight and I was on my way!

Liam O Brien - ... okay, things sadly got weird here and it kinda puts my mood down. I won’t lie to you guys, Liam seemed really off. Maybe he was overwhelmed by something or very reserved from being shy, but it seemed more like disinterest and... acting rudely? I feel kinda awful implying he was a jerk or something, but I did a really bad job trying to hold a conversation with him and I can’t even remember IF I told him about the video. He was very quiet, and seemed put off by my nervousness in some way? Like he did say something along the lines of “its okay we’re just people” but I barely remember if we made eye contact at all? I thought it was me at first, but I remember when looking up at him after a bit he was the one looking away a lot and I am unsure if I did something to make him uncomfortable or what. What really threw me off the most was his kinda strange remark about me saying how I grew up watching Naruto and loved Gaara. He just kinda nodded and said, “yep, I was a voice of your childhood” like... in disdain as if he has heard that 100 times before? Look... I am NOT saying everyone has to have the same reactions or super happy cheery demeanors (Ex. Taliesin) but something was so disconnected about all of it. Maybe I am only remembering the minor bad parts and am forgetting the good parts, but still. As much as I still love Liam for what he does, he was not having a good time that day and I can only hope I didn't make it worse or even somehow cause it :(

Travis Willingham - Boy this one has the highest and the lowest points. When meeting him I said how nervous I was with these and started rambling and it got pretty bad but he anchored me back in by doing Grog’s voice!!! I told him yes it helped and made me laugh. That was able to get me into saying how much I loved his voice work as Roy Mustang and others, and eventually, I got to my video editing schpiel and he had a similar reaction to Sam! Again, HE may have been the person to tell me everything about how hard editing is and how they are the ones that really make the film, not Taliesin. Then we parted ways... and I realized I had missed SO FUCKING MUCH. I didn’t get to tell him how much I empathized with him recently, or how Fjord was my favorite character, how my favorite acting he did was in Infamous Second Son with Troy Baker. Seconds after walking away I literally yelled “Oh I forGOT TO SAY HOW MUCH I LOVE FJORD” Like really awkwardly as he was already on to the next person but yikes. Great middle, horrible beginning/end.

LAURA BAILEY - I reached a point where I was actually SO nervous I was normal. Like, on the edge of tears but not really so I acted normal but was screaming inside. Luckily she was super personable and I told her she was my favorite voice actress of all time. She asked me what were some of my favorite roles and I was like oh god there are so many but I said Maka from Soul Eater was huge for me and how she was my first cosplay. She said I would make a fantastic Maka and I was so friggin happy!! Then I told her about my editing and Sam video edit and she was so friggin delighted and told me how the WHOLE CAST had seen them because they shared it with each other on a group text chat! She looked so happy and endeared by my words and encouraged me to keep doing what I do. I wish I could remember her words specifically, this is LAURA BAILEY we are talking about!!!

Matthew Mercer - Oh boy here is the big one. Everyone kept saying how he was a long talker and had long conversations with everyone so I was so friggin ready for that. Sadly, I think they started speeding things up with me and I didn't get that long convo. Still, Matt once again complimented my cosplay and I said thank you. I said I forgot the earings which really bugged me but he said if it helps he didn't notice! Then I revealed I almost cried over it and mentally punched myself because why the fuck did I say that out loud. Anyway I immediately went into my video editing schpeil, but I made sure to talk slower and more clearly since people said he made more time. I remember specifically saying thank you for retweeting it and then he recognized it and said how hard that must have been and how amazing it was. He went into this story about how got into editing himself a bit with using final cut pro and adobe after effects and how difficult and tiring it was for him to edit a project he was working on and commended me on how amazing the job was and how we need more editors out there to do that kind of work. I elaborated more on how much he and the rest meant to me and how they got me out of this rutt and helped me find a way to make something for myself and he held my hands real tight and reassured me. Again, WISH I COULD REMEMBER THE FUCKING WORDS, but he looked so happy and emotional for me and all of it felt extremely genuine. What a god damn sweetheart. Here is where things get bad and awkward tho... I forgot my selfie. I paid for a selfie and realized I had FORGOTTON to take it like 10 seconds later after the next person already started talking. I panicked and walked back to the guy managing the lines and he was like OH okay but I apologized to the people on line and him and he said “HEY GUYS are you alright with this young lady getting her selfie??” and they all were like YES and I felt embarrassed but better. Then he told Matt and he was like OH of course okay!! And I gave him my phone because I was confused and nervous and NOT READY or composed like I would have been before. I look awful with my neck way too far back, but it could have been worse... except the moment he took the photo I dropped my prop staff into my face and knocked my head back... I was friggin humiliated. He was like ah are you okay and I literally just said bye have a good day and rushed off almost dropping all my shit without looking at him at all. What a way for me to RUIN a perfectly decent signing... I hope he didn't think I was rude and understood I was kinda hugely embarrassed.

This is seconds before tragedy strikes.

Will Friedle - Yes oddly enough Matthew was not my last signing like I wanted, Will had a different schedule so he was last!  Anyway I was kinda feeling bad cause I never watched Boy Meets World and I didn’t remember much about Kashaw other than he was kinda a jerk but a loveable one who was played really funny, and oh yeah he is RON STOPPABLE. So I refrained from saying and Crit Role stuff since the woman before me already asked all of that and got cool answers to (Vex and Vax would not be Zarha and Kashaw’s kid's names, he would let them have Teifling names) Anyway I was thrown off by him ROLLING A D20 outta nowhere and getting a 7. He rolled again so quickly and I said “Oh man a natural 1?” on the 7 because I didn't see it correctly, less than a second later guess what?? HE ROLLED A 1!! I laughed so hard I felt like I jinxed him! Either way, ALL my nerves were gone from that and it felt a lot better to get his autograph. I told him how much I loved Kim Possible growing up and Ron Stoppable, and how I always used to sing the naked mole rap with my family as a kid and how the bendy straw joke from the movie still kills me. It was way more relaxed then I expected. Then he said okay before you go let me roll and break the curse one last time. Right before he did he said you know what? YOU roll it and see if I could break his curse! I happily took it wishing for the best... I rolled a friggin 2. He said “well at least its better than 1″ and we were both so amused by it as I left! All things considering his went very well!! Anyway, that was my experience with CR autographs today! Some big highs, some big lows, and many content smiles and awkward silence. Overall I consider it a success... but barely. I did fuck up and missed most of their live show floor panel and I'm still kicking myself in the ass for that one. 

[nochiquinn]

campaign 2 episode 48: WOW

I came in late, and to sam reigel as an infant....bellydancing???? help

liam's pained sob is a Mood

"he showed me a picture of his nipples and I said no"

travis that voice hurts me to hear

"I assume we should just buy everything we see to be safe"

beau's bo's bow

(bobobo bo bo bobobo)

oh good they're never getting caleb out of here

I would read the fuck out of that book negl

nott, traumatizing children the world over

"he flew the coop" "shame on you"

alpha y u gotta fuck up right at jester and her mom being adorable

THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED

"you've been at sea a long time"

"YES AND, BITCH"

viktor 2.0

laura learned about convection 

"who are you" "I'm you but cleaner"

TRACY

the stream is not cooperating tonight

ashley please come back so they can stop making fun of matt playing yasha

marisha calm thyself

"he won't give me his damn cat" "good man"

beau. you were doing so well. beau.

closes his eyes, whispers a prayer for fortitude

"if you're going to fuck with giant dragon cave balls I'd prefer you do it in the house"

TELEPORTATION fucking finally

robe of holding

"what other geometric shapes you've come across" where's grog when you need him

"that's my nameee"

creepy elf man leave my boy alone, you're creeping both of us out

"am I talking about my slots too much?!!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings" my boy

no stop it here perfect narrative beat

shoves matt mercer and griffin mcelroy in a room until matt learns when to quit

(yes I know it's different when it's an edited show my irritation stands)

thanks for reminding me of o-town, sam

rubyyyyy

I'm proud of yoooou

MAMAAAAAA

sam's face is my face

I'm gonna cry

I wanna see ruby's army of johns

see he WAS creeping caleb out

caleeeeb

he's spooked, he's TRYING to say he doesn't want them to get hurt because of him and beau is TRYING to say they're willing to take that risk but he just doesn't understand people being willing to risk anything for him

my boy

bye taliesin

cadeuceus didn't know about cookbooks. I love my big pink son.

let's just shove everybody else's backstories in the same arc

(edit from the future: I WAS JOKING)

.....is laura left-handed? this is a very weird thing for me to have just noticed but everybody is writing at the same time for once

(she is, I googled to be sure and critrolestats has a page documenting everyone's dominant hands)

MERIDA'S BACON

(have I made this joke before? meridia's beacon in skyrim, I misread it as merida's bacon one (1) time and a household meme was born)

ASK YASHA yasha might know things

JESTER STILL DOESN'T KNOW

laura's look of fear at the mention of the raven queen

liam's "eidetic memory" of his phone gallery

nott

bby

nott bby no

caleb

my children are falling apart

"I pick up caleb" don't do that to me

there's something under the chaaaaair

why a noose? oh come on, why a noose? over the chair, hanging there all loose?

(I know there's no noose, midnight channel musical just never leaves you)

liam and travis just rising up in unison

laura's face

MY FACE

if it's astrid I'm leaving this plane of existence

my mind has been a high-pitched scream for the last, oh, forty-five minutes

"mommy, where were you?" now I'm screaming externally

SHE WANTS TO LOOK LIKE NOT A GOBLIN SO SHE CAN BE AROUND HER KID

THAT'S WHO SHE WAS SENDING SHIT TO

SCREAMS

hello 911 sam riegel is murdering me with acting

that look at liam/caleb

I almost didn’t watch tonight

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E43 (December 4, 2018)

Tonight’s episode features Marisha Ray and Travis Willingham!

Announcements for tonight: 

New Pumat shirt! Matt and Taliesin will also be playing some Fortnite with a Pumat voice pack. As you do.

#EverythingisContent stream tomorrow at 4PM Pacific: games on the all-new MAME cabinet!

Travis’ FPS stream will be happening next week!

Travis strongly recommends tuning in right at the start of the episode on Thursday. Right at the start. You and all your friends. Don’t miss it. There’s a sneak preview of some sort of animation!

Check out Gil Ramirez’s (an amazing smith, but also of “don’t fuck me Gil” fame) kickstarter!

Stats!

This episode had more spells cast than any previous episode: 76.

3rd time Beau has attempted to Extort Truth, and the 2nd time it’s succeeded.

Fjord has used four potions, all administered to other people. Brian: “For as much as you like swallowing... potions, not so much.”

Fjord has just passed Molly’s natural 20 count, reaching 26. Beau still sits at the top, with 49.

Travis and Marisha agree that this was one of their top five episodes of the show.

Fjord “totally dug” Caleb’s call to go with Wall of Flame to bring the situation with Avantika to a head. He points out that they’d had a conversation about keeping this whole situation in check if need be.

Brian: “You sound like McCree’s drunk uncle.”

The group planned (”we obsessed”) over the game for the entire two weeks, hundreds and hundreds of messages. It pretty much went according to plan. Marisha: “We had contingency plans. We had an ideal initiative, but we were like, if we fuck up, then Nott will take the journal. We had main roles and then understudies.”

Fjord thinks being able to summon demons is pretty much in line with all the weird shit that’s happened to him up to this point. He hasn’t even considered the consequences. Marisha: “I feel like that’s this entire mission. We’ll consider the consequences later.”

During the “I... wait” scene, Brian and Dani were yelling at their TVs, Travis was trying to telepathically communicate, and Marisha had complete tunnel-vision. She knew that if she’d fucked that up, they would have all died. She turned to Travis after Beau got up there and realized, “It’s just me and my words.”

Gif of the Week: the executive goth approves of Fjord’s demon-summoning! Henry models the prize:

Travis gets asked why Fjord slipped into his real voice when yelling that Caleb needed help. Travis pleads the Fifth: “My what?”

Marisha had no idea her mention of the Cobalt Soul would carry so much weight with the Plank King. It was a last-ditch effort after Fjord’s diplomacy fell flat with him. Travis desperately wants to know how much of what Beau said was true.

Brian: “Only Mercer could make Plank King cool again... Planking? Remember?” There is a brief threat of mutiny in the studio. It’s a Tuesday.

Matt mentioned to Marisha that, if Avantika had been allowed to speak, she would’ve called for a trial. Things could’ve gone very wrong for the Nein.

Out-of-context quote of the night: Dani: “Can you fit a puppy in your pocket?” Travis: “Yes, I’m enormous.”

Beau is surrounded by people who can do all sorts of absurd magic, “so of course she’s like, ‘Yeah, I can punch the shit out of you. I’ll start a fucking fight to do it!’”

Travis isn’t working with anything custom for his class, apart from the sword. Brian: “So your gag reflex is right out of the Handbook?” Travis: “That and personal experience.”

Travis on Fjord’s reaction to Avantika’s death: “All great stories are laced with truth. That fucked me up, because I hadn’t realized until that point that if she’s toast, I won’t get to ask her questions.” Not to mention the whole island having reactions to Vandren’s name. “I went back and watched it twice. The ritual, the tattoos, how she found her sphere, all of that shit, I’m feeling more like I knew less of the man than I thought I knew, and she knew more about him than I ever did. It’s fucking me up.”

Fanart of the Week: “I... wait.”

Marisha on Avantika’s very sudden death: “You know how things happen, and you go, wow, I should’ve seen that coming...” The outcome of the first plan was just to get her arrested, and then the fight happened, so she wasn’t thinking about immediate repercussions. She was expecting an arrest, and maybe she’d get executed after they left, but “I mean... that was brutal.” Travis: “It just kept escalating, and then she kept saying nothing after nothing. We’re going to be front row center for this.”

Travis: “Fjord is Lawful Good, clearly--” Brian: “You’re fooling no one with that Lawful Good bullshit, Travis.” Travis: “At least 40% of the audience. Lawful Good. Clearly feels a little distressed that she had to pay with her life.” But he points out that it wasn’t the first time Fjord wanted to see her dead. “If he could’ve seen to it himself, I think he would’ve.” It’s not something he’s very practiced with, but he’s emboldened by his new abilities.

Beau was definitely intimidated by the Plank King, but still had a bit of her contempt for authority figures. “I think it set in pretty hard that she was going to be terse, she was going to be blunt, but she wasn’t going to try anything that was going to get her throat slit immediately.”

Travis hadn’t intended to start picking up pieces of lost friends as part of his identity (Molly’s sword, Vandren’s accent), but it felt like the right fit, since he’s trying to establish his identity for the first time. He’s emulating what he admires about them.

Fjord’s in his early 30s. Beau’s in her early 20s. Playing Beau younger than Marisha lets her give Beau a little extra room for development; it also makes sense with her backstory. For Fjord, he was old enough to have mostly figured out what he was doing... and then everything changed.

Travis: “Fjord saw in Vandren a leadership that empowers people to rise in their station.” It’s about the team succeeding, not one person gaining more power. He’s constantly trying to put people in different situations for success.

Fjord is very attached to this group, but he’s also uncomfortable with how much attention is starting to be put on him. His whole survival mechanism is based on blending in, and being pushed to the front and being forced to make decisions is hard for him (Travis: “And me.”). Fjord is loving everything that’s been happening. The world’s never been richer or more exciting, and he wants to protect that if he can.

Brian: “Are you preparing for when things are as Beau-focused as they are... Fjord-focused right now?” No pun intended. Beau: “It’s a horror that you cannot prepare for. One day Matt will just introduce an NPC and he’s going to look at you and he’s going to be like, ‘Hello, Beau,’ and I’m going to be like ‘AHHH’.” Travis: “The tension is palpable. It’s real.” They compliment Taliesin on his handling of the first character-centric arc in the first campaign.

Brian jokes about everyone stumbling into Yasha’s story while Ashley’s still away, so Travis would have to play her through the whole thing. Travis gives a sneak-preview of how that would go, grabbing Beau’s hand and staring deeply into her eyes.

A gift for Travis from fans! He’s blown away.

Talks Machina: After Dog

Essential update on Henry: he likes wearing costumes because “it feels like being hugged”. There’s talk about him doing a Grog cosplay.

Pumat impressions all around. Travis’ is, according to Marisha, “Like Grog doing a Pumat impression.” Marisha has some practice because she was the one who wrote all the Pumat promos. Travis: “Wow, that puts your Swedish accent to shame.”

Fjord and Jester? “Fjord picks up on some subtle things and some not-so-subtle things, and then probably second-guesses those things.” He’s not too sure where they stand.

Everyone’s worried about their favorite artists’ tumblrs.

Travis reads the German on the back of his chocolate. Marisha: “There are way more syllables there than what you said.” Travis offers the last chocolate to Brian, and promptly eats it in front of him instead. “You gotta act fast on that shit.”

There were some ideas that didn’t work out: Travis was going to cast a spell so everyone could breathe underwater, and they were going to jump off the ship.

A question for Henry: Who’s a good boy?

Quote from the text thread: “Oh shoot. There is an a-hole with a crossbow. Dangit.”

Finally, in case you were losing sleep wondering, Brian is still dabbing every time he says the word “slash” in a URL. Further updates as warranted. 

[truthbeetoldmedia]

The Critical Role of 'Critical Role'

It’s any given Thursday night, roughly 9:50 pm Eastern Standard Time, and my house is filled with the scent of oven-fried chicken and the driving thrum of Celtic percussion and string instruments. The PS4 Twitch app is open, streaming an impressive flow of themed fan art over-scored by the aforementioned tune. My loved ones are gathered; we hunker down with our meals, eagerly anticipating the clock’s turn to 10 pm. It’s time for Critical Role.

Critical Role is a weekly Dungeons & Dragons campaign livestream, currently available on both its own Twitch channel Critical Role, as well as the Geek & Sundry Twitch. The series features live gameplay of a home-brewed world, created and made manifest by the talents of popular voice over artist Matthew Mercer, acting Dungeon Master, and featuring live unscripted performances by his equally-gifted friends. The core players are Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, and Travis Willingham; special guests also occasionally join in, such as Khary Payton, Mark Hulmes, Sumalee Montano, and Ashly Burch, who've all appeared briefly in this campaign.

If some of these names are familiar to you, that’s because the talent involved in Critical Role are renowned, tested, and aggressively committed actors/members of the production, animation, television, film, and gaming industries. Their varied skills, gravitas, and dedication combine with Matt’s ceaselessly creative mind and quick thinking into an amalgam so dense and compelling that it’s hard, as a viewer, to escape the show’s pull. Not that I’d want to; I’ve long since passed the event horizon and I’m in it until the end.

Currently, Critical Role is on its second iteration. Campaign 1 ran for several years as a private home-game amongst friends, then was translated into a format fit for livestreaming. It followed the heroic band of adventurers known as Vox Machina,  made up of characters birthed from noble archetypes; imperfect yet admirable individuals with the heart and skill to face world-rending, inconceivably fearsome enemies; a story intricately laced with nuance and lore, but grander and more sublime for it.

Campaign 2 is quite different in flavor, though still seated in the same world as its ancestral adventure, some 10 years after the fact. The team is now The Mighty Nein, a name blithely transplanted from an in-joke made by the Twitch chat and the cast themselves. The new characters are deeply flawed, broken, and self-centered individuals brought together by aligned goals and a specific brand of apathy only possible in jaded, wounded souls who just want to do at least a few decent things in their blighted lives. Despite this somewhat bleak tapestry, Matt and the Players have managed to weave in glittering threads of love, charity, hope, and devotion. It's tragic and beautiful; both rough and soft to the touch, depending on which swatch you feel.

Given that Campaign 1 is so voluminous in its scope, breadth, and tenure, it is understandably overwhelming as a starting point for the uninitiated. For this reason, I recommend diving in at the beginning of Campaign 2, launched on January 10, 2018 and available for free on Geek & Sundry’s YouTube.

I’m aware that modern media is crawling with genre stories: you can’t walk three feet without banging your toe on some phylactery or superpowered humanoid. And while Critical Role takes place in an indisputably fantastical setting, where the characters level up and come into powers which they often don’t initially comprehend, this is not a “coming of age” tale. There are no “Hero’s Journey” tropes. The growing pains explored are generally relegated to the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. The Mighty Nein learn and develop in tandem, outside the constraints and moors in which storytelling often entrenches itself. That’s the beauty of Dungeons & Dragons. Regardless of what the Dungeon Master has planned for each session, if they’ve given the Player Characters enough freedom, the emergent narrative is wholly original.

Being a Dungeon Master is famously likened to wrangling cats, though I find it more like wrangling cats who’ve learned to use laser pointers and Roombas on their own. One of the areas where Critical Role shines is that Matt is always over-prepared for whatever path the characters may choose, not to mention remarkably quick on his feet in adapting this sandbox he's established in response to how the Players decide to play, and the Players do him the courtesy of self-regulating their out of character moments and the silliness which often accompanies the excitement of roleplaying with your friends. Each session accumulates calculable progress.

But now that I’ve described the scaffolding on which Critical Role is built, I’d like to talk about the more abstract reasons I feel the series is so important, and why it’s absolutely worth your time.

One obvious benefit is that the series is live. Live broadcast media, in recent memory relegated mostly to sketch shows, soap operas, and the exhausting 24-hour news cycle, has been reinvigorated by the podcast, vlogging, and gaming communities. It’s a special joy to be present when something momentous occurs — a precious time-locked thing you share with a community made up of those who love what you love. An intangible communion of experience: in this instance, one where you cannot rely on your knowledge of narrative structure, because not only are we learning new things about these characters with the passage of time, but the actors who portray them are learning as well; all of which is packaged in breathtaking improvised acting.

The Players who make up The Mighty Nein are unafraid to make bold choices, to do things which until that precise second they didn’t know their characters would do. They don’t pander to the audience in order to provide the story beats which will make us comfy and complacent; these actors are so dedicated to maintaining organic character growth that, on occasion, some of their actions will frustrate, annoy, or anger the audience. However, the beauty in this is that none of the Players’ calls are pre-fabricated to elicit a specific reaction from the audience. You’ll love some stuff and hate some stuff, but there’s no onus, no learned helplessness, no pretense or smugness or hubris: those very things which can drive us up the wall when dealing with a lot of media these days.

Like most fandoms, there are some bad apples here and there, but Matt and the Critical Role team are dedicated to creating and maintaining an inclusive, intersectional environment where we can all thrive. The Critical Role cast and staff do everything possible to step in on behalf of their core players, special guests, and fans alike, in order to defend against, mediate, and mitigate the sporadic flares of anger, cruelty, and general suckiness which pervade so many other fandoms. They are humble and grateful and express it often, with deep sincerity.

Fan artists and other creators are welcomed, embraced, appreciated, and encouraged. Cosplayers are readily provided reference images and showcased on the official series Twitter. The Critical Role production group is even working on programs meant to provide new players and novice DMs with guidance for the 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons game system, as well as help navigating the more complicated aspects of RPG group dynamics. Every Critter is celebrated and bolstered in an open-source, accessible, super-fun community.

This show has brought pure, distilled hope and joy to so many, while also maintaining its initial purpose: a group of close friends who nerd out roleplaying and having a blast. The only thing that’s ever changed is that now we get to be part of it, too.

Critical Role airs Thursdays at 7 pm Pacific Standard Time on either the Critical Role or Geek & Sundry Twitch channels.