#ugh MARISHA your CHARACTER!

[pocketgalaxies]

beau getting so damn pissed about caleb withholding the bowl is so so so SO juicy

[burr-ell]

17, 22, 25

choose violence ask game

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

I'm gonna get real self-indulgent here and say I want more content of Percy and Vex parenting their other three kids! Don't get me wrong, I love Vesper and Gwendolyn so much, but I see so much content for them with their parents and relatively little for Wolfe, Leona, and Vax'ildeux. I'd especially like to see more of Vex with Gwen and Vesper and Percy with Wolfe, Leona, and Vax.

(Honestly though, I can't really fault it. I personally can attest that Vesper-Gwen aasimar-tiefling parallels are catnip for fanart.)

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

Y'know, I totally get why, but the Kraghammer arc of C1 tends to get slept on a lot and I'd implore people to give it a chance. Don't get me wrong, it's frustrating at times in ways that later CR just isn't, but it's got a lot of really cool moments in there and it lays some interesting groundwork for later lore stuff. The episodes are also way shorter than they are now; at the beginning they actually tried really hard to clock it at three hours, so it's comparatively easy to get through. (I think it's also useful to see that some elements of C2 and C3 are older than people think—and uh, some of Matt's creature designs and monsters have always been a lil bit fucked up.) And as @essayofthoughts has said before, the Briarwoods arc hits harder if you're able to see for yourself that Percy's behavior was genuinely shocking to both the characters and the players.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

Pretty much anything about the cast hating each other or hating someone else or someone else hating them. Like you've got "nono look at Travis's face, he HATES Marisha he HATES Keyleth"; you've got "guys i think Laura was REALLY mad at Robbie in REAL LIFE"; you've got "ugh how could the D20 cast want to bring on Matt Mercer don't they know he's RUINING the setting"; you've got "uummm did you SEE everyone else during the watch party with Troy Baker he was obviously making EVERYONE uncomfortable and they all for sure wanted him out of there"...list goes on.

Like, guys, these people actually know each other personally. Some of them are like family to each other. Some of them were in each other's weddings. It's safe to say they don't hate each other and are, in fact, adult professionals who are good at playing a game. Can we like. dial it back.

[githvyrik]

stan beau and marisha ray or die

[nochiquinn]

the legend of vox machina episode 5: fate’s journey OR [slaps cart] this baby can hold so much interpersonal drama

pass without a trace

I love all of keyleth's wildshapes, the animation is so smooth

did y'all REALLY think he wouldn't have the most ostentatious booby traps possible

"skip intro" how dare you

vex: "of course, darling, you know us" gilmore: yes, that's the problem

I like the magic crystals on the ends of the arrows, I imagine it'd affect the flight but also it looks very cool

gilmore: give me your vampire tea

the three-hour discussion of how holy oil works

rodrigo is my new favorite character

I'm considering every use of the word "sunlight" as foreshadowing for keyleth in the final battle

"I'll just stay this way. for forever." relateable

this is vax's bisexual maelstrom

gilmore: if I can't have the half-elf I'll take the free rom-com

the only merchant in town immune to vex's cleavage

"for the record, I have a magnificent bitch face"

percy and vex poking at each other ❤

zipper twat

the way vax can't not smile when he looks at keyleth

vax consoling grog being sad about pike

I just love all the little interactions in this episode

"I'm more worried about us without her" you are correct

"percy let someone else drive"

"poor little puppers!" keyleth's relatable, if incorrect reaction

that thing's from dead space

the tentacle joke was absolutely uneccesary

"did you just HYAH me?!"

minxie growl!!

"come on vex, no one breaks balls better than you!"

the way sam's voice broke on "you MISSED?!

he was THREE FEET IN FRONT OF YOU

"choked to death by a disgruntled pimp" "be careful what you wish for" hehehehehehe

rip all of vex's money

I hate it

you know I always forget that the briarwoods took over whitestone for the residuum

stonefell: the dinner guests you requested my partner: the dinner you requested me: ....count them my partner: ........oh god

hello kestrel

people crying nepotism abt sam and liam casting their kids but they were probably the easies/safest option during early pandemic. and they've all done really well so far even in just a couple of lines!

now we need liam's son for the set

I don't think ronin's quite old enough yet, he'll get there

"I'm sure you'll get your shit together eventually" vex stop that

vax just staring after her in pure exasperation

"you've got a baby in that thing?"

this interpretation of them learning new spells

keyleth giving vax a little poultice corsage

I love that that white flower seems to have become her signiature. I know marisha used to druidcraft flowers all the time in the stream but it's just really cute

keyleth: talking about home gives me anxiety

KIKI

I did not anticipate the emotional reaction I would have to hearing him call her that again

keyleth: the concept of romance also gives me anxiety

ANJALI

there is a curse, pike. it's called diabetes

everything this scene set up and called back to....and then scanlan

vax's shoulder still being scorched

this was a pretty dumb question, vax.

vex's codependency on vax coming through as hatred/jealousy of keyleth

like everyone was all over vax being clingy to vex, and he absolutely was, but [gestures]

I do miss liam's little forehead poke on laura. their whole physicality as the twins was wonderful.

STUBBY

I need at least one "scrawny" out of this season or I riot

"sometimes courage is knowing there could be trouble and taking the chance anyway" "so is stupidity"

gonna echo that at you when you take up with percy, vex'ahlia

my partner: my only complaint so far is there's not the names on th - nevermind

sun tree looks almost exactly like I imagined it, validation

they're your FRIENDS

vax's little dagger spin, fucking drama queen

the wide shot of the people hanging and the group staring up at them UGH

"it's us"

not the fucking ropes creaking in the background during the credits, who authorized this

[captainsspnanon]

C2E38 - Welcome to the Jungle - rewatch

Wooden mug for Caleb again!  I swear I don’t remember this at all XD

Also, once again, I feel like Nott just doesn’t actually want to be a rogue.  Sam was prompted by Laura to be scouting, and I honestly don’t know if he would have decided to on his own.  He clearly enjoys the hiding and shooting bits, and Nott likes those bits too, and he’s leaned in hard to her being a pickpocket and thief, but the actual rogue mechanics like lockpicking and searching for traps?  He never actually seems to want to play that, and Nott rarely takes the initiative to do so on her own.  He (and she!) seem much more excited by the magic aspect of the subclass.  And we can’t blame this on Liam picking his class, because we know that Liam actually just made suggestions that Sam ended up going for.  So Sam IS the one who decided he wanted to play a rogue, but iunno, he just doesn’t seem to enjoy a lot of the mechanics of it.  Or rather, he doesn’t seem to want to do the mechanics of it, a lot of the time.  We do know that Liam DID pick his C3 race/class, so I’m really hoping that it’s one that Sam actually enjoys playing and enjoys or is interested in the mechanics of it.  (Having seen up through episode 12 it seems so?  But it’s also something that I feel needs a good number of episodes yet before a solid decision can be made)

I do love how basically everyone in this campaign made deceptive characters with easy stealth.  Honestly influenced me in trying to figure out why someone would play a PC with heavy armor, especially with the stealth penalty that Pike had.  Everyone but Yasha and Beau can disguise themselves, I just love it so much.  This such a deceptive group of assholes, which they do lean into pretty hard (and it fucks them over several times), but it makes those moments of honesty and truth even more powerful.  Especially considering by the end of the campaign, no one is lying anymore.  No one hides anymore.  And it’s just SO POWERFUL.

Random deep voiced Sam, HELLO

Marisha asking Sam if he got a haircut, him responding that he just styled it different, and her saying it looks good.  I LOVE IT

This is where Nott gets her magnifying glass, yes!!!

I like that there WAS a trap, but because it had been abandoned so long, the trap was useless anyway.   So many times, the trap is always dangerous no matter how long it’s been set, so even though this was more just flavor than a real encounter, it was still nice to see.

Oh, Jester asking “who’s Nila” is an unexpected heartbreak.  :(  When Caduceus asks about a previous thing they are talking about (such as when they were discussing the merrow and he said he didn’t remember that at all) it comes across more funny than sad.

UGH I just read TheChekhov’s c2e141 reaction.  MY HEART.  If you like these, YOU’LL PROBABLY LIKE THOSE.  GO CHECK IT OUT.   SO MUCH RECOMMEND.  (they only start midway through, but that’s okay)

Sam shouts “hey Fjord!  Fjord!”  “I whisper”  YOU TROLL ILU

Caduceus casts Eyes of the Grave (Taliesin how did your mind instantly go to ‘undead’ from not being bothered by bugs??), Sam says “Beau starts glowing” and Marisha goes “plot twist!” I LOVE IT

And Jumanji Costco is a Hollow One.  (Hollowed One?  Pretty sure it’s Hollow One).   I was wondering why Matt created this new race instead of going with the already established Revenant like Vax was, but I just looked it up and I see the drawbacks to Revenant (one year time limit, soul jumps into different bodies, only around for revenge, etc).  I wonder what prompted him to think about this then?  Especially because he’s created the Lingering Soul class as well, which is also undead, though very different.  What had undead on his brain that he created two completely different race/classes around it?

Here is also our second indicator of Taliesin taking stuff he wanted to play with Molly and bringing it into Caduceus.  Forgot to mention it the first time when Cad was turning undead.  But we know that Molly was the bloodhunter subclass that was against undead, and now Cad clearly has issues with undead.  MORE UNDEAD.  This time, I wonder what was going through Taliesin’s head that it was such an interesting aspect he wanted to play around with that he immediately brought it back?

Yuan-Ti is such a weird race.  Like, snake heads?  Make sense.  Scaly body?  Makes sense.  Snakes for arms?  ...you lost me

Oh fuck are they eating Turkish Delight?  That shit is really good, at least if it’s good quality.

Watching the latest C3 episode and them coming back into Brjeaus and Jester jestering is SO jarring!  ALL THESE GUYS ARE SUCH GOOD ACTORS OH MY GOD.  Though I admit, I would love to see a campaign where Matt could be a full time PC too.  ExU and Undeadwood weren’t enough for me, especially because it was only partial crew.  I want Matt with the full gang, and then someone else DMing.  And not in Exandria, so Matt gets the full player experience of not knowing shit behind the scenes.

LIAM BURYING HIS FACE IN THE PHB WHEN HE LAUGHS oh I missed this so much

Also being away from this for like two weeks made me really miss Jester so much I LOVE JESTER SO MUCH

Goodbye both clerics scouting with no one else with the ability to heal aside from healing potions.  Oh wait, can’t Yasha heal, technically?

As much as I love the tower (AND I FUCKING LOVE THE TOWER), I do also love the Tiny Hut, because it’s super canon that they have to all sleep together in this tiny squished space, so you KNOW there’s cuddle piles all over the place.  Okay, maybe the cuddle piles aren’t canon, but they’re CANON IMPLIED.

Cad using Vampiric Touch is so weird to me, it’s just a spell that doesn’t really seem to fit with him.  Searching transcripts, he casts it once more later on (which means that he has it prepared multiple times, at least), and Caleb casts it once.  Huh, not a common spell, Taryon was the only one who used it in C1, and it was only used once.  Granted, I don’t really know how this spell compares to others mechanically, but I can see it not being used much because of RP.  I’m surprised at all three who have used it, tbh!  But I am going just on the name, which makes it sound much more Evil™.

Travis - *describes brutal Yasha HDYWTDT*

Travis - *describes brutal Fjord HDYWTDT*

Sam – I’ll shoot it in the nose!

Oh man, I forgot that Liam kept interrupting the narrative with little descriptions of owl!Frumpkin fluttering around, which will make perfect sense very soon as he tries to use Frumpkin when Avantika is asleep, so make her not register him now!  Too bad it doesn’t work, but it’s very smart thinking!

THE BUG STORY!!!!  I forgot that Jamedi actually shared as much as he did!  And also super props to Matt for not breaking at all during that bit

Awwww, Beau not wanting help and toughing it out, and then turning into a sulky child when they do help her ALL THE FEELS!!!!  ...of course, it’s accidentally ruled not fixed this episode, but at the start of next episode I do believe they fix it.  UGH this is giving me Empire Sibs feels when Beau is hurt on the moorbounder and Caleb calls out for a break, claiming he needs it.  I LOVE THE GROUP TAKING CARE OF BEAU WHETHER SHE WANTS IT OR NOT.

(for anyone who has watched the team starkid musical Firebringer, EVERY TIME I see the episode name “welcome to the jungle” my brain instantly launches into “welcome to the stone age!  We are in a new age!  Welcome to the stone age!”  I haven’t even seen the damn musical in at LEAST five years, probably longer!

It’s very interesting that Caduceus was keeping the Jamedi information to himself, then shared with Caleb, and then got very annoyed (as much as Cad does) with the fact that Caleb shared the information.  It feels almost wrong that he would think as such (‘traveling with a bunch of gossips’), but thinking it over, Cad’s been with them for like a week now?  Maybe?  And while the M9 are getting CLOSER, sure, they’re still nowhere near as close as they’ll become further down the line.  It’s such so fucking cool to see this shit knowing where all the PCs end up, and then be like “Cad didn’t share and expected Caleb not to share??  AND WITH NOTT???”

I really do feel like Laura has really shitty dice luck, but I just checked the CRstats article about it and they say that she’s actually pretty close to average.  Maybe she just mourns her poor rolls more vocally, and as such it’s remembered more.

WELL I GOT DISTRACTED AND FORGOT TO ADD COMMENTARY OOPS

I do love how I typed up a whole bunch about loving that they made such a deceptive stealthy group and then they totally fuck the stealthy deceptive bits at the end.

Go Liam for starting to cast Slow, figuring that Matt would call it there.  We’ll see if it’s actually remembered at the start of next episode XD

@suicidallyreckless

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E111 (Redux! Oct. 13, 2020)

Gooooood evening good evening good evening, all! I started the VOD late for this recap and somehow the first four or so minutes of the show have a Twitch audio copyright claim, so I am reduced to only reading Brian's lips when he asks if we're on the internet. Hilariously, Marisha's background room is a comfy-looking blue/gold fabric wall with a ceramic colorful abstract lamp and a yellow silk scarf over the lampshade, and Taliesin's is an industrial looking games room in grey and black with multiple monitors, overhead speakers, and mysterious metal fixtures behind him. What a treasure this group is, honestly.

Tonight's guests: Marisha Ray & Taliesin Jaffe, discussing episodes 110 and 111 again. I wildly speculate once more about what might have caused their absence: jury duty? Sam appearing on The Masked Singer? Something to do with the animated show? One day, we’ll know, one day... (One day this “copyrighted audio” section will come back from the wars, too. Ugh!) Finally! The audio comes back to reveal Brian discussing the endless reality of digital meetings and Marisha talking about (I think) her glare-reducing glasses she’s wearing. Welcome to the New Age (welcome to the New Age, to the New Age).

Announcements: Marisha suggests checking out Dimension20, another live tabletop gaming group, which premieres live on Wednesdays at 4pm (CollegeHumor). 

Brian immediately wants to know how they feel about the revelation that Molly is alive. Taliesin’s personal reaction: he “knows some things” he can’t talk about and is aware of several possibilities that might be going on, but had a sneaking suspicion that there would not be a body for them to find. He says it’s almost all there for anyone to see in past material. Marisha’s personal reaction: she just wants to know how she’s doing with her theories, & was trying to block Tal’s face out deliberately as she was going off on her theories in the last episode. Taliesin says he thought her ideas were pretty good!

Cad has no clue what to think - it’s like listening to your friends talk about Buffy. Marisha thought it was a 50/50 Molly would still be there, but Beau had no idea. Not that it mattered, because as soon as Matt went through with it the reveal still blew their minds. Tal laid out his plans for the character with Matt during Campaign One (towards the end) after they all got their VM tattoos.

It is a “horrifying and gross” thing to dig up a body, and Beau was pretty reluctant to do it. Tal, as Cad: “Sometimes dead’s better.” The moral quandary of trying to speak with a dead friend was very different here than the frequent occasions they used the spell in C1.

Taliesin says his poker face is very bad, so it’s easier for him to over-react and let it all play out. The only other player he can see very easily from his place in their current setup is Travis, and because he knows Travis doesn’t watch TM, tweet, or participate in social media, he admits he thoroughly enjoyed watching Travis freak out at his freaking out. He says he only knew about 20% of what Matt described at the end of that episode. He was picking things to mug to increase Travis’s surprise. I love this so much.

Taliesin provided the table left leg shake; Travis provided table right. Ha!

Beau is really accepting her role in the Cobalt Soul. It’s good when “as a person, you feel like you can settle into your calling. Sometimes you can do more from the inside than fighting from the outside.” It’s a mirrored but opposite path of Keyleth from C1; Beau felt like she was too good for her duty, while Keyleth thought she wasn’t good enough.

Caduceus is not a big believer in jumping to conclusions. He does have an idea/notion of the “city of the undead” and thinks all this necrotic energy must come from somewhere, and wonders if this is the “capital of anti-death.” He’s willing to believe whatever he sees. This is one of the few things that trigger a bit of loathing and disgust in him. It was terrifying that the Wildmother didn’t know anything.

Beau is pretty confident in her Charlie Day impression laying-out-the-research last episode. She enjoyed taking the things that were known & extrapolating around them; this is a huge facet of Marisha’s own personality and she really enjoys it, so she built a character this time that would allow that kind of puzzle-solving. It’s also why she repeatedly notes when Beau journals, so she can avoid metagaming. Trent’s mention of Vess Durogna’s tomb raiding was completely circumstantial, and the only reason she’d made the connection to the Tombtakers was because she’d recently reviewed those notes for a separate unannounced project. Sometimes she tries to make connections and Matt is like, “It was...just descriptive. Just flavor. The curtains were red...” and she has to discard a paragraph of notes. She feels like it’s still something they have to do because of “look at what he does! Look! It’s totally valid!”

Cosplay of the Week: @kitsunstudios with a gorgeous Caduceus with a very intricate silk vest.

Caduceus’s takedown of Trent! One of my favorite moments in the entirety of C2. Taliesin felt Trent was an asshole; Caduceus felt sorry for him because of how dumb he thought he was. Caduceus’s response was "this is the dumbest man I’ve ever met in my life. He’s so dumb! Is nobody going to tell this guy how dumb he is? Oh, they’re all freaked out. Somebody needs to tell this guy he’s an idiot before somebody gets hurt.” (Marisha: “Before?”) Tal says it was the product of several years of therapy and many drunk conversations with Whitney Moore. It was from a genuine place of concern from Caduceus. “How are you allowed to have this much power and be that dumb?”

Brian loved how funny it was to watch everyone tiptoe around Trent and then Caduceus bulldoze through the end of the meal.

Taliesin: “Damage doesn’t make you interesting or better. It’s not what makes you good. Character isn’t found in damage. Just recovery.”

Brian & Marisha commiserate going through the stage where believing surviving something automatically made you a stronger person, better for the pain; instead it just meant you had to pick up the pieces after. Marisha talks about how strength through survival may be true for some people, but it shouldn’t be considered a necessity. Taliesin talks about how he used to think he had to be miserable to write. Brian talks about how believing he liked reading and writing miserable things only limited him for years.

Marisha feels it’s a C2 theme that almost all the PCs have someone trying to handwave or take credit for their accomplishments or explain their pain as being for their own good (Trent, Beau’s dad, Obann). She thinks it’s interesting to see all the various ways people try to take credit for your work/delegitimize you as a person. She loves that RPGs allow you to explore these odd moralities in interesting ways. The only way to fight it is to have a sense of your own self-worth, which is a problem a lot of the M9 started with.

Caduceus likes everyone, and really likes people who appear to need role models (Eodwulf). “With the right friends and the right bar and the right attitude, I think he’d be okay. Come over here where it’s so much better. That seems like an exhausting friendship that you have there.”

Marisha loves the mix of personalities in the M9; Veth, Cad, & Jester were all “we kind of like them!” after the dinner, and she immediately made eye contact with Travis and they both shook their heads. She knows Beau has to go along with it for Caleb’s sake for now, but she & Fjord are pretty sus of Trent’s proteges.

Beau is less concerned about Artagan’s relationship to Jester because “he showed his ass--she’s less worried about Jester now because a little of the magic is gone.” It’s a little like becoming an adult and realizing your parents are also just adults & human. Caduceus wasn’t suspicious of the Traveler for a long time until they got to the island. Aside: Taliesin loves the pantheon in D&D. “The notion of attempting to apply common Western conceptions of religion to a world where you have a pantheon of interventionist gods as baseline makes no sense to me. Everyone admits that every other god is there and doing shit; it has more in common with ancient Rome than anything else.” Now that he knows it was a con, he feels the wind had been taken out of it. He does have a sense that Jester’s gotten back together with an ex: “I hope that I’m really happy for you.” They’re both interested to see how Jester navigates the new relationship.

My internet goes out, of course. I panic for a second, thinking I’ve lost everything above, but all is well! Thanks, Form History Control addon!

Marisha loved punching Artagan, but regretting rolling so poorly. “I miss violence.” Dani lets us know it’s been about four episodes since the last battle.

There’s no way the Cobalt Reserve doesn’t have a single document on the Eyes of Nine. Beau believes “there are no real secrets” because people are just bad at not writing things down. For there to be no information at all seems really suspicious for her.

Fanart of the Week: @oddalchemist on twitter with some awesome Beau conspiracy red-thread boards overlaid a distant shadowy Molly walking away.

Caduceus feels a little guilty for really enjoying his time right now with the M9 and not wanting to go home. He’s starting to suspect that he’s going to go home very different than when he left. “He has the softest problems. I don’t know if I want to move back in with Mom & Dad.”

Beau is trying to get comfortable with the idea of being happy. Jester is probably Beau’s first real best friend & one of the first healthy female friendships she’s ever had. As long as she still has Jester in her life, she doesn’t care. For Yasha... “At the end of the day, Beau is a lonely person and has always been a lonely person. And I think you kinda reach this point where once you’re not lonely anymore, you can kind of come out of the fog and realize that was horrible! And terrifying! And is even more terrifying now that I know what I could have, and I don’t want to go back to that. At the end of the day Beau doesn’t want to be lonely anymore. There’s always been that flirtation with Yasha, but everyone had to figure their own shit out. And now it feels like it’s coming out a little bit of that haze, maybe this actually could be...” There are a lot of ways they complement each other & are good-different from each other. Marisha believes people can be attracted to more than person at once.

Caduceus doesn’t think nature turned against him on Rumblecusp, it was just a reality of nature being dangerous and violent. “He has a complex relationship with nature.” He doesn’t expect special treatment.

Thoughts on the mansion: “Man, it’s nice to be seen.” Marisha: “I don’t know how I ended up becoming the Scanlan of this campaign, but I’m living for it.” It felt like an echo of “I’m better for having known you.” They compare Marisha taking specific notes on the campaign to Liam taking specific notes on people’s favorite tapestries, comics, etc.

They talk about missing theme parks and daydream a park version of the mansion in CritRoleLand. It’s lovely.

Taliesin never expected Divine Intervention to work; he just wanted to roll some dice. He’s still processing what he saw/heard. They all agree it was very useful in the Vokodo fight.

Vilya! Marisha: “Ah! Ah! Ah!” As a player, Marisha was so deep in Beau’s eyes she didn’t pick up it was Vilya at first (especially since Matt really emphasized they should not be looking for C1 NPCs). Marisha’s brain melted. She bawled her eyes out on the ride home after that episode. Right after it ended, Laura told Marisha “Keyleth finally gets her happy ending,” and it makes Marisha emotional again since Keyleth’s story ended so bittersweetly. She talks about the very real feelings of “just wanting them to be happy, though!” She went back and listened to all her old Keyleth playlists. Everyone was teary after the episode. “Everyone has these 100% real memories of being these characters and having these good times.”

And that’s that for that! Thanks for your patience, all, and is it Thursday yet?

[samwellwinchesterthebrave]

Ok, I finished episode 141 of campaign 2 of Critical Role. There be spoilers below.

First off, I cried when Matt started crying at the end. And everyone was crying and you could feel the love everybody had for each other. It was beautiful and sweet and ugh.

Ok, Trent got the perfect ending. That motherfucker didn't deserve to be seen as this mastermind of a villain or as a ruthless mage devoted to the ideals he espoused at any cost. Fuck that guy. Also, holy fuck seeing Caduceus angry. Damn.

I'm really happy that everybody got closure. Jester and Fjord adventuring with their crew and Vandren is awesome. I also like to think that Artagan pops in from time to time and is like, hey wanna see a place? And Jester is like fuck yeah, grabbing Fjord's hand and bamfing away even while he's trying to ask questions.

Also Fjord. He's grown into the man he wanted to be, not who he thought others thought he should he. He's grown in confidence, just like all the rest of them. And it was wonderful he got to see Vandren again, got some answers, and got to sail with him again. He has a home now that nobody can take away from him.

Beau and Yasha had beautiful endings. Seeing Beau grow from the angry, closed off woman into the Expositor and significant other she became was great. And she didn't lose her personality along the way. She can still be abrasive, still a bit of an asshole. But underneath it, she is kind, compassionate, and just. The same can be said for Yasha. Kingsley calling her Love when he was first resurrected is so accurate. Yasha is love incarnate and I'm so happy she has someone to love who loves her in return. And getting closure with Zuala, saying goodbye and giving her the flowers 🥺

I'm happy Veth survived and made it home. She's grown so much as a person, is more confident and sure of herself. She knows her worth now, something I think Yeza might have seen all along, even if he didn't know everything she was capable of. I also love the idea of a baby adventurer summer camp. I want all of the m9 to be guest counselors hehe.

Caduceus also got to go home and that was beautiful. I think so many adventuring stories focus on leaving and changing and moving away from where you started. It's nice to see one where the character grows and changes but still does go back home.

Okay, I have to be honest. Kingsley grew on me. I realized, in the day since I watched the first half, that we really didn't get Molly back. The body might have been healed and resurrected, the soul shard brought back, but it's not Molly. And, thinking back on it, I should have expected that. Taliesin has made it clear that he considered Molly gone. Even when Caduceus had the chance to res him, he chose not to. So it makes sense, in hindsight, for Kingsley to exist. Yes, maybe he was Molly. And I like the idea of Kingsley calling Molly his brother. But that's not who came back. He's enough like Molly for it to be bittersweet but different enough that I can appreciate him for himself. (Also I have a type when it comes to fictional characters)

And last, because he's my favorite, Caleb. It feels rather appropriate that he and Beau worked to take down Trent and, eventually, the rest of the Assembly. Working towards the better future he was always taught to work for, to help the Empire he was raised to have loyalty to. He is the kind of man who should be teaching the next generations of mages. For so many reasons. It's the perfect place for him. Also, I'm thrilled he and Essek did indeed get together. There's something beautiful in two wounded, lonely people finding love and acceptance in each other. And when they went to Aeor and decided not to change the past, I was so proud of them. Though, I have to admit, I think Caleb's plan was pretty damn good in regards to not changing the timeline a whole lot. But even one life creates ripples, two even more. And though I, like Liam, love me some angst, I also like to have it end in fluff. So I like to think that, when thinks get too dangerous for Essek and his illusions and other identities fails, he uses the transformation spell. I think that these two wizards learning their limits and not changing the past is very good but changing your situation in the present is perfectly acceptable. I could see Essek choosing to become a half elf or human in order to hide. Because who would expect him to give up centuries of life, on the run as it may be, for much shorter decades? (Also lifespan angst makes me sad) But Liam and Matt told a beautiful story and I can't fault them for it. I just like to imagine a slightly different set of circumstances that is happier for me (yay headcanons) Though I'm still secretly thinking that transformation spell is gonna come into play in a one shot in the future.

I also have questions. Well, one major one. Was Matt throwing in a campaign 3 plot hook with Kingsley's story and seeing the black chains breaking and hearing a primal scream before he got resurrected? Because that immediately screamed Tharizdun to me but none of the rest of the cast reacted. I even looked specifically at Marisha because she was putting all the dots together earlier but she didn't seem to react. Am I reading too much into it thinking it was a reference to Tharizdun and not just the city being freed?

Overall, it was lovely. A beautiful ending that made me cry. I've been so happy to nerd out with these nerdy ass voice actors about their dnd characters. I can't wait to see what comes next

[readbythestarlight]

c2e141 (part 1)

Okay this is so long I’m splitting it into 2 parts pre and post break so I don’t just end up with something horribly long that clogs up the dash

I’m already emotional just over the intro you guys i’M GONNA MISS THEM SO MUCH

"Skin cradle idk what to call it" how about NOT THAT MATT

[[MORE]]

Home!!

AWWWW

Clarabell!!!

I’m so glad his family is all there and safe

Awwww that’s so sweet, showing him the cards <3

"Hey Molly! Go fuck yourself!"

M: :D

Poor Essek is so lost

A night’s rest yes that would be good for ALL of you

Also it’s time to fake his death

"And will you face the consequences of your actions, or run?"

"I need a night’s sleep first, if you don’t mind."

That’s fair

I’m worried tho

Cad

Cad this isn’t allowed to be goodbye

Not yet

Not this early into the episode

Don’t do this to me

Okay, if they’re all gonna stay that’s okay that’s fine

I mean yes go see

Oh no wait

This

We can’t split up this early y’all I can’t handle it

Yes good bring them here don’t split up

So many HUGS

Oh no

Plz don’t

NO

Please choose to stay, Frumpkin!!

Stay??

No!!

NO

COME BAAAAACK

godDAMMIT

30 minutes and I’m already crying

At least Marisha is crying too I’m not alone

"I needed him when I needed him. That time has passed."

Please adopt all the stray cats

"The last couple of years" baby it’s been less than a year canon time

"YOURE a good person"

"I could be"

"You are"

"There’s just a little more to do"

"She’s not wrong. Trust me, I know a few bad people, you’re not one of them." ESSEK

I’m gonna cry AGAIN

"I think you’re a good person" THAT’S IT IM GONE

Aww Molly bringing them flowers

They have a valid point though, like is this Molly anymore?

Jester curling up next to Fjord I cry they’re so cute

"Hey Fjord? I love you"

AKDLALSKAKA YALL

ITS SO CUTE

I can’t handle them

Veth going swimming?? Willingly??

SAM

The DM will remember that and Sam’s character will be the first to die next campaign

"There’s not even any bugs? That’s not meat"

Fjord is describing my entire week rn

Clarabelle is the sweetest

I’m gonna miss Jester’s messages xD

Jester omg I can’t breathe

Yeza is gonna be so worried

"Okay… ‘honey’. I think I know who this is but I take it as good news" I LOVE HIM

Mollyyyyyy?

MOLLYYYYY??

Woman?? In a red?? Coat?

Sad angel okay yeah

Y’all need to give him some TIME you can’t just fix this super fast

Awww he remembers Yasha a little that’s good

Poor Molly

What woman??

WHAT WOMAN??

Is it his goddess?? The moonweaver?

He’s gonna change his name to King Tealeaf lol

Why don’t y’all chill and let him pick his own stuff and figure his own stuff out

He wants a parasol lol

Travis like what even is a parasol lol

So like

We’re not actually getting Molly back in the end huh

Oh boy temporary splitting up

lol Yasha with the "I can definitely message you"

Y’all can’t just bamf into places like that lol

Oh dear please don’t walk in on your parents

Dad aaaaaaaaand? Is mom there? Momma? Are you theeere?

AYYYYYYYY

NICE

MARION AND THE GENTLEMAAAAAN

THE PARENT TRAP WAS A SUCCESS

I’m so delighted

Y’all had better get married by the end

Aw

They’re so sweet I love Marion and Jester bless Laura and Matt for giving us a healthy parent/child relationship

LUC lol

Poor Yeza is probably going prematurely gray dealing with this lol

"I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything, it was—it was mostly flesh" I almost shot tea out my nose

"Dad I won’t sink to the fucking bottom"

Oh dear

That was the most accurate child thing Matt has ever done

Marion is the queen of this place she doesn’t need your cemetery Jester lol

I love the way things turned out with the Gentleman it’s so soft

Jester sweetie you literally told him NOT to say anything back

I’m emotional y’all

Fjord like Jester babe NO

FUCKING HELL

I’m going to stab this bitch myself

YOURE a tragedy

Fuck you Ikathon the answer is NO

Oh my god okay are we doing this

We’re doing this

NO

HES HERE??

HOW??

How did he know they were there???

And Veth just brought her family there too

That MOTHER FUCKER

I can’t believe I’m getting my wish for them to fuck up Trent after all

Fuck fuck fuck how many people can he transport out??

Also you can’t burn down Cad’s home!!

Oh god Essek is going to have to face him too

There’s too much going on here I’m STRESSED

Does he have dunemancy magic?? Is that what that is?

"We had issues larger than your ambitions" OOOO BURN

Suck a dick Trent

"Erase these errors, so I don’t have to look at it" FUCK YOU

What is happening holy shit

What is this????

Run Luc and Yeza run!!

Poor things :(

Poor Caliope

Poor Clays

Essek booiiii

Oh my god I looked at the stats on this spell and it’s BAD

THE COLLAR

NO

What

Wilting what what what

Counterspell

Thank god

NO

NOOO

53?!

IN ONE HIT??

AND HES SPOILING THE FOREST TOO

NO NOT AT JESTER

FUUUUUCK

Oh my god he rolled BAD thank god

I was just saying thank god he’s alone at least but NOPE

Astrid had better not wait in the shadows to see who looks like they’re going to win and then only joining the winning side

Caleb protecting his maaaaaan

FUCKING STOP

DID HE COUNTERSPELL

THAT BITCH

THAT FUCKING BITCH

NO NO NO

they’re so FUCKED

Thank fucking god

COUNTERSPELL PLEASE WORK

YESSSSS

I don’t care what Astrid’s game is I’m tired of it and she needs to die along with Trent

And so does Wulf if he’s gonna play the same game

Come onnnn Wulf do the right thing

Mood, Fjord, mood

MARISHA xD

Ooooooh nice!

“Caleb’s produce flame” her one wizard spell is a Caleb spell omg

FLUFFERNUTTERRRRRR

Nice SHOT Veth

WHAT

Come ON

Why can’t they hit him??

Come onnnn Essek do something baby

Oooooo! So what does that mean?

Does that mean when one takes damage the other does too?? That’s amazing

Caleb noooooo

Thank god

Hits??

COME ONNNNN

Ouch

Okay but the stars haven’t done as much damage as they COULD yet which is good

STOP calling him Bren

Fucking HELL come on

WORK?? WOOOORK???

DID IT

YESSSSS

YEAAHHHH CALEB

Oh thank God

Too little too late bitch

Wulf is gonna die though I can feel it

A second shield UGH

No you stay AWAY from Caleb

Come ooooon Jester!

YEAH

Nice!

“Come ooooon!” Boy you’re tethered either way

I have a feeling we have too much time left until break for the collar to work but GOD I hope it works

E: “Caleb! I’m scared!”

I shouldn’t be laughing but I am

VETH NOW

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

PLEEEEEASE

God god god

21

Godddds

NO

come onnnnnn

AH

IT WORKED

IT WORKED IT WORKED IT WORKED

ITS ON HIM

ACTIVATE IT

A C T I V A T E I T

NO NOPE NOPE NOPE

COUNTERSPELL IT FJORD

DO IT

YAAAAAS

Good Wulf smart man

Ouch oh shit Caleb no

Oh NO

Caleb!!

Wulf, Astrid, soembody DO

CADUCEUS MY MAN THANK YOU

What does Caduceus say to the god of death? NOT TODAY (respectfully)

70 HP niiiiice!

Hot DAMN Veth nice call I love it

Oh come ON

Activate it!!

I still hate Astrid but fine

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

[larsisfrommars]

Campaign 2 Rewatch: The Midnight Chase

Fantastic start! Jester has no spells lmao! Gooooood… ROLL INITIATIVE 🤩

Yo, I know I made a post about this already buuuut I love Fjord & Caleb’s dynamic just saying, LETS PUNCH SOME ZOMBIES!!! Travis being a Hamilfan brings me so much joy. Guess what Laura! The Cantata Pansophical has you covered in regards to your characters being n Hamilton lol!

Dayuuuuum Molly that was badass! If only we could’ve seen you at higher levels hot damn! Tear em up Sam! Tear em up! God I miss Fury of The Small! Sacred Flame! Hell yeah! “Frumpikin, frumpy, lumpy come here!” I love you Jester lmao. Nobody’s used to Fjord’s cowboy accent yet lmao. Man Marisha is so competent with Beau now it’s weird watching her figuring it out.

Is this one of the first (and maybe only?) time Frumpkin is actually on the battlefield? 🤔 lol “I knew that would come back to bite you in the anus!” Oh wow this is before the snitch got stole.

Molly KOs (first KO of the campaign!) @ 31:14 by a zombie (high key it’s actually wild to me he was the first to drop considering everything that happens later??? So many c i n e m a t i c p a r a l e l l s) having failed one death save, Molly comes back around at 43:18 by natural forces with a Spare The Dying assist from Jester!

“I AM THE CLERIC?!” Jester is fuckinh iconic. “I am a very wise person 😊” *lifts entire guard body* lmao. Fjord being in awe of everyone’s magic continues to be adorable! I love Caleb’s little shrug when Nott asks if they’re going with the group lmao. “Horses are the new door”? oh gawd M9 wait until you hear about CHAIRS 😂

OH MY GOD Nott is such a doting mother lmao, oh you want those books? Here! 10 gold! And Caleb is just like 🤩😍 they’re so effing cute good lord. “Ohhhhh… I am so happy” *swoops Nott up in his arms with joy over books* YOUR HONOR I LOVE HIMMM

Fucking echo vibes of vex and Vax from that book interaction awwww. Liam having to break character cuz his friends are ridiculous like “please god I need to actually read this.” 🤣 Ohhhh god here come the Fjord is a Seaman jokes. I’m glad those don’t stay forever 😂🙄

God I forgot what a massive deal mustering spell components used to be, so much drama over turning Frumpkin into a bird 😂. God here we go with the harassing Caleb while he’s tuned out for Frumpkin recon. Poor dude is just tired lol. They’ll grow on you Caleb I promise! Awwwww Jester braiding Caleb’s hairrrrr

Fjord being Impressed by Magic part #103837364648, “oh man! I’ve been concentrating on skinky doodles all day!” JESTER I LOVE YOU SO GODDAMN MUCH. “Do you have positions at the circus for these two?” Love you too Caleb <3

“BECAUSE IM WEIRD!” I miss Molly and Beau so goddamn much so so so much. The more I watch them the more I’m like “wow no wonder Molly had such a massive impact on her.” Like, woah.

I love watching Fjord flex his deception/persuasion/intimidation the way Travis expresses it is so damn GOOD. That old man ploy is fantastic, love it. “Ugh this sprained ankle is affecting my wisdom” please 😂 “dungeons and dragons is about punishment” asdfghklgllgjhjjlkl

The birth of Narrative Telephone! Lol “something about being deflowered.” God the witch hut thing lmao “I’ve god rules for this shit in a book!” 😈 kinda weird considering the Hag they encounter later :) it’s so weird how the dots don’t stop connecting!

Yikes! Time for Beau to start punching children! Hooray? Such a GRAND departure from Keyleth (/j). Hoooo boy big fight big fight big fiiiiiight!! Marisha is allowed to be a little salty, as a treat, lmao. WOO! First Hexblade’s curse! Yeehaw!

Goddamn I love how scary vicious Nott becomes when her boy is in danger! Get it Nott! “I got a spell save DC y’all!” Love it! 😂

Caleb KOs at 3:16:32 by an imp, two successful death saves, one failed, and is resuscitated at 3:40:13 with a nat 20 medicine check from Nott as she gives him mouth to mouth. Goblin mama saves her garbage Wizard son heck yeah!

FJORD gets the SECOND (big) HDYWTDT of the campaign!

Only to have an imp KO Fjord at 3:30:16 one failed death save, and is resucitated at 3:39:53 thanks to a cure wounds from Jester. I loved the simultaneous “Fjord!” from Molly & Jester. Them Tieflings loves their half-orc hyperfixation. Come to think of it, they’re the ones rescuing him in the troll fight too!

Poor Caleb and Fjord only knowing confusion and suffering when they’re brought back lmao. Hooray nobody died!

[noassallclass]

Lmao Marisha saying it's weird for Beau having a girlfriend and adding "oh right! I owe you some attention!" that's not a gf Beau thing, that's a Beau with Yasha thing! Wow. Like we've seen Beau be super attentive, she never had a problem with it before so🤷😅 and Travis saying Jester violating Fjords trust and boundaries just reaffirmed his feelings for her?! This behavior is dangerous to push as romantic! What a fucking joke

Like M chose to pursue this relationship and then is like oh shoot I gotta remember to actually engage in it! Like I'm so sorry it seems so tough for your character to try and maintain a relationship? Like you all didn't have to start this relationship if it seems like a lot of work just to pay attention to each other... it didn't have to be this way, you're so right, Beau can easily be attentive to other people, it's just people Beau has chemistry with (romantically or platonically) and it isn't forced. Feels like this is just an admittance to how forced this relationship is rip

Ugh and the fj stuff is just so...bad...and T doubling down on it in talks its like oh so you actually think that's how relationships are or what? Are you all OK?

[yes-m-ray]

Something about the recent takes on Beau’s “regression” have been bothering me, but i could not pinpoint exactly what was it. I think i can see it now.

Is the expectations for her to have a definitive realization moment.

An epiphany, a breaking point. The expectations that she is going to “implode” in a dramatic fashion. I don’t like that.

Going back to the place and people that created your deepest traumas is... well, traumatic. And none in the M9 has the tools or mental capacity to deal with her stuff. They tried though, with the small talk in the zombie field. But as you can see it by the previous episodes, it wasn’t enough. And to make things worse, she knows they tried, so she won’t ask for more help. 

Is hard to see, i get that. Her evolution, the way she matured over the past few months was wonderful to see. And then splat!. So people go “”ugh why? i hate a-hole Beau, why she’s doing it again, uhg i hate her”. That is also hard to see for people like me who have gone through similar stuff, and kinda understand her mental space.

In an attempt to understand, some may say “Let's wait!! she will address every single thing she has done wrong in the past few episodes, like the name thing!!” and well... Let me tell you that may not happen.

So what’s going to happen with her? i don’t know. This is not a book where you can see the last 1/4 of the book, so you know things are going to be resolved in a few chapters. This story doesn’t have an expiration date.

We know Marisha navigates the trauma of her characters in a long term, slowly. In a way that even bothers some people. So a-hole Beau-v2 may be here for a while. We don’t know.

The single moment where she gets better may not come, or may be a long gradual change. Don’t expect a perfect monologue addressing every issue. Don’t expect another character coming to save her. Sometimes stories don’t go like that. Life doesn’t go like that.

Don’t expect something coming out of her behavior. Just try to watch and understand; and let’s see where this may go.

[hurlumerlu]

You already know who ;) Cad, Molly and Nott ?

Get ready for a novel !

Caduceus :D

Sexuality Headcanon : That man is G.A.Y. I’m hesitant to put him somewhere on the ace spectrum because I’m not ace myself and I feel like headcanoning sheltered, soft, slightly “weird” characters as ace comes with a lot of bagages (and there’s also fandom’s history of treating gay sex as icky/weird/not pure enough) but I’m drawn to that headcanon nonetheless. Gender Headcanon : He’s not super aware of his own gender, but if you actually ask him he would identify as a man. After a very longue pause. And he would probably thinks it’s kinda rude of you to ask. A ship I have with said character : I low-key ship everyone (but Beau) with him. He just has this very easygoing chemistry with pretty much everyone ? Except with Nott but I can see the two of them in a trouple with Yeza (they’re not sure how they got there ? but it works ?). But like who am I kidding, we all know I’m super into Fjord/Caduceus. The care ! The respect ! The awkwardness ! This is going to devolve into a Fjord/Caduceus manifesto so I’ll stop there. BROTP I have with said character : God squad ! The dynamic between Caduceus, Jester and Yasha is amazing, very tender  and supportive but also extremely fertile ground for wacky shenanigans, they straight up don’t speak the same language, I love them. I’m also very curious to see more interraction between him and Beau, partly because I love the way Taliesin and Marisha play off each other, but also partly because Cad’s very supportive of Beau and she seems a bit... distant ? with him ? idk I may be imagining things. A NOTP I have with said character : not really ? I mean Beau’s a lesbian so that would be a big no, but I’ve never seen people shipping them so it’s very theoretical. A random headcanon : He was the kind of kid who raises all sort of “gross” pets growing up. Spiders, snails, cockroaches... he loved them all, but he only kept his beetles. General Opinion over said character : I loved him from his very first sentence and that love have only grown so far ? I’m always a bit wary around very religious characters but with Cad it’s an interesting kind of nervousness rather than a dealbreaker or even a real downside of him. I like that we have completely different viewpoints ! I love how genuinely nice and supportive he is, I love when he does cryptid-level shit, I love his incredible ability to just go with the flow, I love when he gets snide (”sleep well with your bad decisions”) and I just love how well he fits within the Nein (poor dude had a rough start, they really didn’t appreciate him enough at first). I hope he’s going in a direction where he’ll feel more comfortable being cared for (rather than always being the one taking care of), but if he’s not I won’t be disapointed. I hope we also get more angry Caduceus, because that was sexy badass.

Molly :D

Sexuality Headcanon : Bi ! Gender Headcanon : Well he’s canonically nonbinary but I feel like he’s specifically interested in gender as something to subvert. A ship I have with said character : I was slowly getting into Molly/Fjord (I’m not sure they would have managed to encourage the best in each other but they would have been a very fun and hot couple). But, well, RIP. A BROTP I have with said character : Molly and Yashaaaaaaaa T-T. Also Beau and Molly’s relationship was fucking amazing, I still miss it. A NOTP I have with said character : Not really ? Though again, Beau/Molly would piss me off but I haven’t seen that pairing either. A random headcanon : He hasn’t actually had that much sex or many different partners, people just kinda assumed and since most of them seemed to disaprove, he leaned into it. General Opinion over said character : I love how messy and complex he was ! He could have been your usual cliche of a person who perform for a living (vain ! good liars ! egotistic !) but instead was very close in personnality to a lot of performers I actually met (pretending to be vain for fun and because everyone assumes already, lying=/=acting, very community minded because everyone has to pull their weight if you actually want to succeed). His weird relationship with his body/past was also both relatable and strange enough to be extremely engaging and his flaws made him very entertaining, also I think of the scene after the fight with the Manticore where he chats amiably with a bartender and only after that has a quiet mental breakdown over his drink at least once a week. I want to know more about his backstory soooooooo badly.

Nott :D

Sexuality Headcanon : As much as riot’s Beau/Nott headcanon does things for me, I must face the truth : in canon, Nott is incurably straight. Gender Headcanon : Clearly her womanhood is very important to her, but I don’t think she has the healthiest view of what being a woman entail. I just want her to be happy and not constantly doubting her worth T-T A ship I have with said character : Nott/Caleb, Nott/Yeza, Caleb/Nott/Yeza, Nott/Beau and my little crackship Nott/Yeza/Caduceus (and also Nott/Yasha is good, actually ?) A BROTP I have with said character : Caleb was the founder of the Nott stanning club, which demonstrates his good taste and perceptiveness. I also think the various revelations that came along the story made their relationship much less unbalanced and codependant, and thus stronger. But I’m also very partial to Jester and Nott’s friendship. They’re hilarious and sweet, and putting Laura and Sam next to each other was a stroke of genius. A NOTP I have with said character : uH... Nott/Yeza if it means Nott stops adventuring, I’m just not(t) ready for that. But other than that, I don’t have one A random headcanon : I’ve already written this one but like... if something she’s reading makes her feel too much feels she just. straight up it eat. She’s been like that since childhood. General Opinion over said character : ugh... she’s so good... she’s just a walking whirpool of contradictions, if walking whirlpools of contradictions were extremely smart and scientifically minded and fiercely protective of a chosen few people. I was ambivalent on the whole polymorph thing because i really, really love goblins (and have mixed feelings about my love for goblins, but let’s no go there tonight) but I love that she’s still her weird, abbrasive self. Also her design is fucking great. I really want to see her conflict between her desire to keep adventuring and her belief that she should just want to go back to her old life being explored even more than it already has, but if she does stop adventuring I will be heartbroken, I love her so much. EDIT because I was tired but I can’t believe I didn’t mention her voice, it’s so good ! Probably the first thing I loved about her.

thanks <3 <3 <3

[wren-hawk]

Campaign 1, Episode 55

A  first time watch and live commentary three years too late.

tl;dr: Vax and Scanlan manage to not be digested, no one plummets to their death, Shale is old and awesome, and Grog fulfills his destiny.

Laura actually forgot her dice. Truly we are on the edge of total collapse. Awww, Travis being the good husband and going to find them/enabling her addiction. Remember this moment three years from now.

Travis is doing the ad read?? This is so wrong. Oh thank God, Sam is here just in time. Dodged a bullet. The bullet being actually hearing about the sponsor. 

I can shorten that recap for you Matt: Everything was great. Until it wasn’t. 

12, 13, and 13. Great initiative rolls guys. Really boding well for the night.

Oh god, is Umbrasyl trying to shit them out?! Oh no, he’s just going to puke them out and eat them again. Like a dog.

Scanlan as a snake is trying to go into a wound. There’s something really wrong with that and I just can’t put my finger on it. 

“Oh, did you want to chase after them?” Really Matt?! That’s a question?! “Eh, fare thee well comrades. We’ll meet again some sunny day.”

Air is queefing out of the slit opened in the dragon. Is this the origin story of Arsequeef?

“I would like to fist the wound.” Amazing. Matt’s face is a landscape of both hatred and giddiness at the same time. I feel like that is a common experience with DMs. Are you fisting or fingering though Sam? Get it right!

Travis’s Nat 1 failure on the chain of returning a turn ago might have saved his life.

Taliesin’s face when he remembers he lost Hex:

Vax is trapped in the wound. My visual is essentially a baby halfway through being birthed.

Well, Scanlan fists the wound once more creating a whole that he leaps through as Bigby’s hand catches him. My favorite thing right now about watching these old episodes is imagining what these scenes could look like animated some day. This whole episode has been a real visual so far.

Travis with his whole bro look this episode talking about his love for Harry Potter fills me with joy.

And now they’re plummeting out of the dragon. Sophie’s Choice for Scanlan. Sophie chooses Grog. 

HAHAHAHAHA Grog is smarter as the eagle. That’s amazing.

Good job Keyleth. Way to be on time to the party as she finally is able to gate stone to the party. Marisha is now debating about whether or not to take the fall damage as an earth elemental... Guys, I think we should have seen the Keyfish incident coming. 

Chris Perkins! I like that he’s playing an older woman, we don’t really get to see older characters in TTRPGs unless they’re a magic class )or a monk). Probably for obvious reasons as you probably don’t have a long lifespan as an adventurer.

Vax is still tiny. I still don’t understand what the reasoning was for that.

Matt is a liar and a bringer of death and he smiles at you while he does it.

Seriously Travis, you’ve got it at least half damaged, Chris Perkins is here judging you, saddle up chosen one.

Thank god for Pass Without a Trace. These are some low stealth rolls even with that +10.

Pretentious asshole Percy. Schmutz him up Vex!

Only men name their weapons. Testify Shale. Testify.

Shale whacks Vax. I love her. 

Vex bemoaning the lack of a plan. To be fair though Vex, your plans fall apart in 2 seconds anyway, so what’s the diff?

Old rocks, as old as Shale. None of those rocks (or magic) you learn in a hoity-toity tower that those damn millennials are so obsessed with.

“He’s a mad little one isn’t he?” Shale says as Vax runs into the invisible Umbrasyl.

Oof, a 20 and a 1 as Percy’s other gun breaks. Bad News broke earlier and Percy right now is kind of screwed.  

Oh god, acid bees! This is the worst!!!

“Oh shut up you flying suitcase.” Shale is my old cantankerous French grandma and I love her.

Second Vax/Vex screw up of the night. Sam plans to roll Vix as his next character; I hope Vix is an some sort of weird aunt to Vax and Vex that sells some weird merchandise that’s super eclectic and only 4 people in the world are interested in like fossilized faerie farts or something. Maybe that’s my first ever D&D character.

 Ah ha you stupid dragon, I hope you vomit your guts out due to Stinking Cloud farts.

Wow, Sam actually advocating for Trinket to get an attack. We’re in new territory here.

Nat 20 on Pike’s anal probe on the dragon! Spiritual Weapon is good too, but I’m so used to Jester’s chainsaw lollipop that a meathook just doesn’t measure up. Sorry Pike.

Faerie Fire! Yay Keyleth! Underrated spell.

Grog! 64 points with 1 round! Awesome!

Scanlan fingers the wound again. I have closed captioning up and I did originally read it as “anally jams the finger back into the wound” so there’s that.

“Have you ever had sex?” Super awkward pause. Let’s just let that hang for as long as possible.

Holy shit Percy, go to fucking town with this sword! 172 points of damage John Wu style! That’s hot. Even with the smoke. (Especially with the smoke?)

I love when everyone starts to sing along to the inspiration songs. Or in this case, chant the ‘who? who who who?’ for ‘who let the Grogs out?’

Ugh, eye stuff, eye stuff! This sucks!

Everyone is starting to look so tired. Kill this guy!

“Did you add Sneak Attack? Oh no, because nothing hit.” Way to rub salt in the wound Matt.

Just as everyone reminds Laura about Hunter’s Mark, it’s nice to see her reminding Travis about necrotic damage.

Yes!!! HDYWTDT!! And Laura’s reminders about necrotic damage pay off! Jesus, Travis is a poet with these finishing blows.

Good job recovering from that horrible position of last episode. 1 down, 3 to go!

[captainsspnanon]

C2E27 - Converging Fury - rewatch/liveblog

(no shit it’s more CRITICAL ROLE TIME)

Huh, Matt sounds weirdly echoey?  Also, not a fan of not having Taliesin be there for the opening, consider he is THERE (shows up at the end).

….Sam is actually looking a bit pale, I wonder if he was sick during this?

SAM TSHIRT YES

THE SNOW FALLING ONTO MOLLY’S BODY my heart

…………………….can the new set do snow???  CAN THE NEW SET DO SNOW???!?!??!?

Behinds the scene stuff for this Beau lashing out at Keg moment, I love that Marisha talked to Ashly before hand, just checking in.  I think it was something akin to ‘beau’s going to be mad and lash out, are you okay with me yelling?’ and Ashly giving the all clear.  Table respect, such a lovely thing

Actually, it’s really cool watching this a second time, because when I first watched this I didn’t know that Marisha and Taliesin are SUPER FUCKING CLOSE.  So while it’s still just Beau reacting to the loss of Molly, there’s almost an undercurrent of Marisha’s ‘loss’ of Taliesin.

As much as I love Beau’s moment here, I also fully disagree with her.  No, Beau. Molly WAS an arrogant bastard who was claiming something that was demonstrably false.  Making people feel good or feel special when he’s scamming them?  No.  No that doesn’t ‘make things better than he found it’.  Especially because it completely disregards all practical aspects that come from a scam that end up doing harm, even if not immediately visible.  Ugh, I need to stop harping on this and let it go.  It’s just hard, because once again the in-story narrative justifies all of Molly’s actions and treats them as the ‘right’ thing to do.  For a campaign that looked critically at EVERYONE, it never looked critically at Molly, and I think that what really drives me nuts.  So it takes a wonderfully and beautifully played moment here, completely in character for Beau, but it keeps pulling me out of it.

I never paid attention to Matt during this bit, was too focused on the PCs. Matt’s tearing up!!!  Also, while the initial ‘long may he reign’ came from bullshit (congrats on buying the services of two sex workers?), it’s very powerful in this moment and I do love how it continues through the end.  Though ‘shine bright, circus man’ is also incredibly good, especially with how Molly used to call Caleb ‘magic man’ at the beginning.

NIIILAAAAA!!!!!!!   Nila is very sweet!  Probably around middle-scale for me in terms of ranking of guest PCs, probably around where Shakaste lies.  Good enjoyable PCs that are a little … too? sweet for me in a way? That’s a terrible way to describe it, ugh.  I don’t know how to explain...it’s a case of guest PCs feeling slightly more one-note, not because they ARE, but because they’re limited by a limited table time.  Like, Nila is here for two episodes.  Shakaste is also two.  Keg and Reani end up having more depth solely because they had more table time to be able to explore it more.  I think I mentioned it before, but that’s my biggest struggle with guest PCs.  I need time to get depth from them, even if it’s just a handful of sessions.  One or two episodes?  It’s info dumps and short hand shallowness which distracts me, even when the PCs themselves are highly enjoyable.

I love coming back to a rewatch days later and trying to remember where I was.  XD  If ever the post changes attitude partway through, or even multiple times, it might just be me coming back on a different day and out of whatever mindset I’d first been writing in.

oh lol I stopped literally just when Nila arrived OOPS  (also re: Sam’s flask saying ‘RIP shirt bit’, you still kept it going, you mofo!)

Oh shit!  Aside from INT, Nila’s stats are actually really fucking good!  18, two 16, two 14, and 9.

god I love Beau so much, “nailed it” with the fist pump, MY HEART IS YOURS

Sam’s subtle expressions when Nila confirms that her son and partner were taken *heart*

Trying to pay attention enough to see if Nila doesn’t use contractions at all, or if she just mostly doesn't use them.  It’s hard to tell because the flow of conversation is so natural that I only remember to pay attention when she says something clearly without them, because then it seems just slightly stilted.  Stilted in a good character choice type of way, not awkward player type of way, wanted to clarify.

Fucking props to Sumalee for the decision to have Nila be very soft spoken until she’s angry or violent and then introduce that rasp into her voice!  It’s a very ‘tropey’ decision, but the way it’s played out feels very smooth and not overplayed at all.  :)  I love it when tropes seem fresh because of how the portrayal works so well!

Another thing I’m trying to pay attention to during this and next episode is Liam and Sam’s reactions when Nila’s son is mentioned.  I never noticed it during my watch, but during a video about safety tools used in critical role (made by Soda Wax on youtube, highly recommend), there’s a clip shown where Liam shows discomfort with the child being captured.  (hard to describe, I don’t necessary mean that he was upset by it, though he might have been, but more that he verbally acknowledged that it was an unpleasant thing happening in game that he did not enjoy.)  As such, I’m trying to see if there was more impact during the episodes itself, or if it was mainly just that one scene.  It’s something that has been touched on a little during CR itself….children have died and been kidnapped, but whenever something approaching torture or significant injury has been discussed it’s always been in terms of grown adults.  I wonder if it’s a line that Liam and/or others don’t want crossed, or if it’s just the show not going into that darker aspect because it wouldn’t be fun.  The show itself avoids extremely heavy situations such as rape/sexual assault, as well as visceral depictions of torture or cruelty, especially in regards to the PCs themselves. Caleb, I think, has the most sort of injury ever performed on a PC with the residuum crystals, and I can imagine that’s something that Matt would have known that Liam would have been comfortable with. But it makes me wonder how much of it is ‘we’re not going to play with A or B type of situation because player A or B considers it a hard limit or trigger’ versus ‘we’re not going to play with A or B type situation because we don’t want to do a grim-dark type world because we wouldn’t find that fun’ or even ‘we’re not going to play with A or B type situation because we don’t want to accidentally trigger viewers who might be very sensitive to the subjects’.   I admit that a good amount of this thinking comes from the fact that Travis is very highly scared, but they still frequently play with creepy monsters and ghosts.  Laura and Travis both have been shown to be disturbed by the realistic spider minis, but it’s not something that’s been removed from the game, and in fact was used multiple times.  But Travis, as much as he shrieks and says ‘don’t do this!’ in the moment, seems to be completely okay with the scary/spooky stuff being used in game, and Laura and Travis both seem to be fine with the spider minis being used.  I guess it’s just me being nosey wanting to know if they had the sit down type of session 0 where they discussed topics that they wouldn’t be okay with having in game and what they were, but I also recognize that if CR were to ever acknowledge that and publish if a list was used that there would just be an outcry to them being Politically Correct and SJWs and blah blah blah blah blah.  

I really wish I could know what Liam/Caleb was thinking during the first chunk of this episode.  Beau and Nott are fairly easy to read, they hate that Molly was killed and they want to get the others back.  But Caleb was on the edge of leaving the night before, and Liam has been playing him with heavily furrowed brow for a good chunk of this.  We never find out (unless I’ve forgotten), but I wonder if he was weighing the options of staying even more now that one of the team died, so they’re not strong enough to protect him/let him accomplish his goals, or stay now that he let one of the team down by not being strong enough, or anything else.  There’s a lot of ways this could be taken, and I just wish I could KNOW.

Huh, for all it’s discussed, I don’t think they ever actually go to Nugvurot?

WAIT WAIT WAIT they talk about having to cuddle for warmth and Caleb goes “ugh” before “ja”, which I took to mean not wanting to cuddle with people because that makes sense BUT WHAT IF IT’S BECAUSE HE’S REMEMBER HAVING TO CUDDLE IN THE TOWER FOR WARMTH WITH ASTRID AND EADWOLF AND HE’S DISGUSTED WITH THE MEMORY I have so many thoughts

I totally forgot that Matt was setting up several options for the group to be able to get hired hands to help with the Shepherds, who may have even maybe become allies or future quest givers.  Now I remember there’s going to be a bunch of discussion around it, I even think they were actually planning on it?  And LOL nope they get Caduceus and are like ‘yup we good now’ XD  And Shakaste only comes in because Nila goes back out XD

I like the smell pouch, but it’s also a concept that I feel really relies on the DM. It’s an interesting way of having a character interpret wisdom without necessarily having to be ‘wise’, but at the same time, it’s a little bit of a ‘gimme’ depending on the roll – at least how Matt is playing it.  Lovey for Nila as a PC and Sumalee as a new player, but not something I’d want to see the main case using.

...I’m not a big Widobrave shipper or anything, but I have a little teeny corner that pokes out occasionally.  And Caleb saying “sure” when Keg thinks that he and Nott are together, with Nott having to be “not like *that*” and then Caleb doing his singular taken aback blink, followed by him getting offended when Keg says that Caleb could have done better…..  LOOK allow me this little corner of my heart

Hello Artagan!  Matt said in a later talks, or the wrap up maybe?, that he intended to have Artagan show up more frequently than he ended up doing.  I think it’s just this and some kid, and then anything at Travelercon. *looks at wiki* nooope, it might just be this and the Travelercon stuff!

Ugh, Nott and Caleb scenes always give me feels.  Especially here where Nott is so fully on board with the group, and Caleb WANTS to be but just isn’t there yet.  We get plenty of these scenes, but honest, this is a pairing that I always want more of.  Especially later on in the campaign, after Nott is Veth again, I feel like the conversations sharply tapered off when they were really needed.  I think Liam even references it during a talks, in that Caleb doesn’t know where he stands with Veth, whereas he knew where he stood with Nott.  THIS, THIS is why c2 means more to me than c1 (aside from the fact that I am always of the belief that your first campaign is your favorite), but the relationships in c2 are just so much more developed and so much broader and all encompassing than in c1.  Almost every single combination you can make just has SO MUCH DEPTH (Yasha’s being the most lacking because #cancelblindspot), and with c1 you just got a few groupings and that was it.

WHY is this episode taking me ages to get through????  I can only blame part of this on RL shit and pms hormones.  I’m interested!   I don’t want to watch it at a faster speed!  And yet I’m going through just chunks at a time and then stopping for two days wtf.

Due to real life apartment bullshit (WHYYYYYYYY) I am running on super minimal sleep, but can’t go to bed for another four hours or my sleep schedule will be massively fucked.  Maybe I’ll get through this episode, but my commentary is probably gonna be SHIIIIIT.  ..even more so than normal, I mean.  SO FUCKING TIRED

I totally forgot about Keg’s apology, Ashly and Sam are SUCH a fucking good combo omg

Now that I’ve heard Artagan, it’s very obvious the guy is him in disguise.  The voice is simply softened and a little less flamboyant, but the facial expressions are damn near the same.

I used to be super impressed that the fanbase was able to figure out that this guy was Artagan/The Traveler before it was announced, but now watching c3 live I see that everything is just a theory always and there’s rampant speculation running wild all the time, so sometimes you’ve gotta hit a target XD

Oh :(  They’re talking about birds and Marisha says “Dagon can live to be 30. She’s going to outlive us all” which hurts now after having seen her passing announced a day or two ago.

I do love Caleb being a smooth talker.  It’s interesting, he uses it all the time and yet it also feels like he very rarely uses it.   I suppose it’s because he uses it for people OUTSIDE of the group for the majority, so even though it’s frequent, the group interactions stand out more.  (plus I’m always impressed by smooth talking RP, regardless of campaign or who is doing it.  You’ve got to be SKILLED AF to pull off good smooth talking, especially stuff that sounds natural)

Oh INNNNTERESTING. Matt is actually the first to say that someone speaks in Zemnian but then drops the accent.  I 100% remembered it as Liam starting it. *watches more* ah, not entirely?  So I guess Matt was doing it more as a ‘dropping the voice and speaking as Matt’ rather than a ‘natural language no accent’ type of thing, whereas Liam deliberately has it being the ‘natural language no accent’ thing rather than dropping and speaking in his natural voice.

I like that Sam reminded Sumalee about using Luck.  He might not be a fan of it personally, but he knows when it’s good for people to have :)

Ended up watching pretty much the entire infiltration at 1.5.  I am too tired for focus, and I just want to get through this.

@suicidallyreckless

[bringmebooks]

With intense kindness: Maybe CR just isn't for you (anymore). If you feel resentment and emotional barriers to a piece of media, maybe it's better to just let go. That doesn't seem like a very healthy thing in your life, and I think other things could bring you much more joy. I'd really like that for you.

Maybe, but I think it’s really just big elements from this campaign in particular. And honestly, feeling more ambivalent/annoyed toward it really is more healthy than the devastation and triggers I got from the end of C2.

I still LOVE the cast and enjoy them and their relationships and conversations so very much. I’d actively miss them in “my life” (so to speak) if I stopped watching. I was enthralled by Calamity and actually want to re-watch it. I loved EXU, am enjoy 4 Sided Dive, can’t wait for more seasons of TLOVM, etc. I love Critical Role. It’s really certain elements of this campaign I hate. I hate Imogen ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ she annoys the hell out of me. I love Laura and Jester and Vex, but Imogen isn’t for me. Orym bores me. I hate southern accents lol, which is dumb but ugh there’s so much of it in this campaign. I also do love happy endings, when I feel like they’re earned, and I don’t think CR has earned it for a little while. I appreciate good game play of course, and definitely understand you want the players to “win/beat the bad guy” but in C2 when practically every single fight ended with polymorph and run away unscathed, it felt like bad table play and bad narrative execution. I think sometimes it’s okay to sit with difficult, unhappy things and see what new chapter unfolds from it, how it develops you, etc. But… this is their game and if they don’t want to do that, then they won’t. But the level of melodrama I saw last night felt weird when they all knew they’d more or less be fine? It almost felt like they were trying to draw it out and make it as suspenseful and sad as they could because they knew it’d be fine, but they needed to try to earn it being fine, when they didn’t need to with two healers and two diamonds. And Laudna — I think it’s up to Marisha at this point. If she wants to continue Laudna’s story, and hers is the most interesting of the whole group in my opinion, then Matt will help her get back. The cast has continued to state over and over that she’s come back before. They are willing to go see Keyleth and Percy and Vex, which is wild. Sure Delilah said she can’t bring her back … but Matt literally had her welcome Laudna with the promise death is just a waiting game. She’s a necromancer. She kept Silas alive. Laudna’s entity as a hollow one is a homebrew by Matt, which any rules surrounding that are very open to interpretation. If Marisha wants Laudna back, she’ll 100% be back, and I think that’s likely given her connection to C1 and how much they need to keep marketing C1 to make the animated series stay relevant, successful, interesting etc. Plus, any time they can step back into C1, they will. And I get that and enjoy that because the connections are fantastic. If Marisha makes peace with Laudna really being gone, then that’s where real fascinating stuff can come out. We went through that with Molly… just for it to be erased at the end. I’m fascinated with Ruidis, Exandrian lore, dunamancy and the Luxon… are we going to the moon? There is so much I love and if it’s not character driven, that’s okay. I trust Matt to weave a beautiful story. I’m not as trusting in how characters execute it. And I’m baffled by the level of stress everyone had in the fandom when they can see the trend of patching things up quickly and easily with little to no consequences. If I really thought Laudna was gone forever, I’d be sad for sure. But it just doesn’t seem like stakes like that exist in the campaign anymore. And I think that’s why I want bad things to happen because I want to see them actually struggle to get a happy, peaceful ending. If you just know it’s there from the jump, it’s not meaningful. And I know how much meaning this fabulous group of people can bring to storytelling. If the tone is a happy, fun, chaotic story, I don’t expect intensity and deep character arcs, catharsis, etc. But that’s absolutely what this set up is for C3. Eh. I could say more, but I just come on here to vent lol.

[readbythestarlight]

c2e21 reaction:

THAT D&D BEYOND AD WAS SO COOL???

SOMEONE GET ME AN ANIMATED CRITICAL ROLE SHOW PLZ???

“Can we all just cry all night?”

“It wouldn’t be Critical Role if we didn’t!”

This Febron/Vebron/whateveron guy is a creeeeeeep

Kiri sleeping with her dagger SHES SO PRECIOUS

“Be with you in about an hour.”

pause, then everyone:

“An hour?!”

Caleb no omg

They are such children

GUEST STAR GUEST STAR GUEST STAR

“You’re blue!! :O”

“You’re not :)”

She’s so jittery and jumpy

Calianna is a nice name

“Is that you’re daughter?”

F: “...yeah.”

Nott, clearly choking on the words: “yeah, that’s.... that’s my dad...”

Kiri just echoing random things is so fucking cute

Oh daaaaamn she’s got scales

“Do you worship the Platinum Dragon by chance?”

Molly, lying through his teeth: “Oh yeah! Absolutely.”

“I’m like 1/10 dragon”

“You sure you’re just a tenth?”

FEBRON STOP GOD YOURE SUCH A FUCKING CREEP

The Kiri-Cali exchange of names so cute omg

Frumpkin and Kiri are gonna be the death of me

Fjord and Cali bonding over their anti-cat issues

Nott is constantly so proud of Caleb and bragging about him to everyone and it makes me cry

“Bren”

“Jester Fancypants”

I like how Fjord is like “you’d better pay us for our help” like damn they are So Mercenary

Nott’s gonna steal that charm thing for Caleb

“I’ll write a release form really fast!” Guys omg

“This may be really obvious but if you haven’t picked up on it already we’re kind of a pack of assholes” I feel like Caleb just always tells everyone this

Kiri please be careful

“You don’t have any dragon blood in you, do you?”

“Uh, nein.”

“Nine. Nine dragons.”

Beau @Jester: “I’m trying to wingman for you here!”

Fjord: “What are you talking about?”

Beau ships FjordJester pass it on

They wandered their way into the Fire Swamp from the Princess Bride only instead of fire jets it’s pollen jets

Now we just have to wait for the ROUSes

“Is it flammable, Mr. Creepy Pervert?” I’m crying

3 d12?? Daaaamn witch bolt is cool!

Are they bone charms I bet they’re bone charms and I don’t like it

KNEW IT I KNEW IT

If there’s a swamp witch or some shit I stg Matt...

On the one hand I want them to be smart and not mess with it but on the other hand I’m glad they’re being smart

“Here lies Salty Pete”

BEAU you should have STOPPED him xD

Cali bouncing Febron up and down mid air lol

Uh oh swamp shadow monsters?

...I’m trash I want them to fight an ogre in this swamp

I like how they tried to avoid the monster and came across it anyway

Beau and her ball bearings

Gross troll

lol poor Kiri don’t tell her to hush Cali!

FJORD DONT YOU TOUCH KIRI

“I’m disappointed in you, Mr. Fjord.”

“That means literally nothing to me.”

Something about this troll is legit freaking me out and making me uncomfortable Matt how do you do this?

I haaaaate stalker type monsters who pick off stragglers and drag them back to their lairs 0/10

Yasha immediately like “okay let’s put all the little ones in the middle, round them all up here we go” to protect them from the trolls

“so you haven’t actually gone past these...?”

“fuUUUCK NO” okay Febron is funny when he’s not being a pervert

lol Jester introducing Cari to the Traveler and Fjord just being like plEASE JESTER STOP JESTER

“Let me introduce you. This is Jester. Jester, this is a dead body.”

Just this whole thing with talking to the body it’s hilarious also Kiri continues to be adorable

“Swamp fish men from under the ground” they gonna fight the creatures from the black lagoon there we go

“Beau are you writing this down?” Laura you don’t even have to ask it’s Marisha of course she is

“If it bleeds we can kill it” KIRIIIIII

fuck the troll got Febron ajalajaldjalsjaldjslala i haaaaate the creepy troll

I like how Matt deliberately had Febron move back to have that happen and Nott figured it out like .2 seconds before the troll grabbed him

Beau I know you’re a melee fighter but he sprays acid don’t TOUCH HIM

Daaaamn Febron died horribly and painfully. I almost feel bad for him. He was a creep but I don’t think he deserved that.

BEAU IS OUT wtf Beau stay away from things you shouldn’t touch you idiot I love you don’t die

“Yeah I cast regret” pfft Fjord

FUCK FUCK FUCK

MATT DONT KILL YOUR WIFE

god I’m so scared omg

don’t kill beau I love her

Kiri holds her dagger and shouts “fuck” same

HEALING WORD GO JESTER

LOOK AT JESTER SHE IS *THE* CLERIC

BEAU IS ALIVE I CANNOT BELIEVE

BLESS YOU CALI

GUYS LET THE TROLL GO FFS

Nott sending it prone with her dumb joke spell thing

lol them rushing back to the dead guy like “oh yeah we were talking to a dead dude!”

Caleb calling Beau his good friend is sweet and cute

As of right now I feel like the guest star might have been better off during another week? Aside from saving Beau that hasn’t been much for him/Cali to do? Although hopefully that changes as we get to the last bit of the episode here

N: “I feel like Caleb could have done it.”

J: “Caleb, can you...?”

C: “...No, no, I can’t...”

N: “He’s just being modest.”

C: “???? Noooooo I’m not???”

Nott vigorously pulls on the branch

Why do we always send Nott down into the creepy dangerous places

Fish people oh god

Please be careful when dropping Frumpkin

Kiri whispering “kill people?” like they’re going to make her a gleeful little murderer

“Sup, fish-fucks?”

“It’s fishkabobs!”

Yayyyy Fjord! Except there’s definitely more than 3

MOLLYMAUK DONT ugh did he cast “friends” on Cali sigh

Caleb is being sweet to Cali awww

Kiri just stabbing the dead body like “I kill people!” I cryyyyyy she’s so cute

WHY do they keep finding manacles?? Is Matt being a tease or is that somehow gonna be significant??

Nott don’t try to steal the bowl

The theme of this campaign has been manacles and skeletons

Yooooooooo Fjord’s patron is talking to him

Jester/Laura gets so worried about Fjord it’s so cute

Laura is ALSO like “NOTT AND CALEB STOP STEALING PEOPLE’S THINGS” like when Caleb stuck the bowl in the satchel she made such a frustrated face

I’m slightly frustrated too, tbh, but if Caleb tells the TEAM about it, because he’s like… concerned that it’s a really bad thing, I’ll be fine

If he just tries to keep it to himself and Nott I’ll be disappointed

God I’m so anxious about the fallout that I know is coming over Caleb keeping the bowl

Literally so anxious

It took me a week to finish the episode because I don’t liiiiiike what I’ve heard I’m so exhausted by the constant mistrust

Hnnnnnn okay Beau tho what gives you the right to make the choice to give Cali the bowl of Caleb can’t decide NOT to give it to her??

Also thank you, Cali, you’re sweet and I’m glad you’re not being angry with Caleb

Cali was a good sweet guest character and I’d like to have her come back

Aw Cali and Jester pen pals 5ever

Okay that wasn’t QUITE as painful as fandom’s reaction made me think it would be. Definitely not worth all the argument and fuss.

Although I’m pretty sure Nott may be getting ready to

Anyway here’s my reaction a week late and just in time for the next episode lol