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mareastrorum · 1 year

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Thoughts on "The Nine Eyes of Lucien"

I finished the book on 11/1 and then thought about it for a day or so to collect my thoughts. Unfortunately, the more I think about it, the less I like the book. Here is a bit of a breakdown of these initial thoughts. I might change course on some of them later, but I'd love to hear some other perspectives as well.

Books as a Medium

The main problem I have with the book is really that it is a book. Books have to sell, and there are numerous traits that affect the story simply because it needs to be optimized to make money, or else publishers won't bother with it.

In particular, word count and page count are the limiting factors that came into play here. I was surprised at the font size because so many young adult fiction novels (discussed in a later section in more detail) tend to choose larger fonts. This book likely had a smaller font because it needed to fit more in. I was excited by that at first, then realized that it still was not enough to fix the problem.

Lucien's story is just too long to fit well within a book. 300 pages is long for a novel these days (100 pages longer than most!), and it still felt like so much was glossed over. I wish I knew what had been drafted and cut, or what plot lines were never even written.

I also have to say, this is not a criticism of the creative use of font types or text across multiple pages. I felt those added to the story, I have no issue with those. Again, the problem is that books can only be so long, and that means a lot has to be cut.

This is the key issue because it was the first domino that seemed to cause, or at least influence, all of the following problems.

I think one of the more subtle issues with the book is that copyright considerations meant that a lot of the D&D lore, items, magic, and mechanics had to be covered with a veneer or replaced entirely. Some of those caused bigger ripples than others.

For example, the Tombtakers' equipment, particularly Lucien's swords. When Lucien is introduced in the stream, and later when he's chatting with the Mighty Nein, he has black metal swords. People who are familiar with D&D lore were like, "Oh damn, two adamantine swords, that is a red fucking flag." Adamantine is expensive, rare, and has niche uses. Adamantine costs 500 gold per weapon extra over the original cost of a weapon in D&D, not including enchantments, and Lucien's swords were both enchanted, as was his leather armor. Lucien's weapons and armor combined easily cost several thousand gold. All of the Tombtakers had enchanted weapons and armor. That is not something that any random mercenary group could afford. It's a warning to savvy players that this is a BBEG, do not engage combat lightly, and you can see it on Liam's and Taliesin's faces when the swords are brought up and when they spot the enchantments using detect magic.

That also made sense in the stream because the Tombtakers have very limited spell-casting potential. Only Otis had proper spells to use, and those were limited to a few 3rd level spells. (Note: I'm ignoring Cree's spell-casting because she focused on support, and we barely saw what she could do in her last stand.) Outfitting them as very well-armed and armored, experienced, higher-level blood hunters was the only way to balance them properly against the Mighty Nein, who had more numbers, two healers, and multiple spell-casters. Lucien's abilities as the Nonagon would not have been enough to make it fair.

But adamantine is part of D&D lore, and the book did not license anything from Wizards of the Coast for the story. So that had to be replaced. A lot of items had to be replaced. This starts to open up a bunch of plot holes.

I won't go into all of the ones related to this, but one plot hole is that the Tombtakers are portrayed in TNEOL as somehow very powerful, corrupted mercenaries that never have any money. The story does not proceed as if they get paid a ton of money and then spend it, it's that they constantly get ripped off, underpaid, or run into bad circumstances that drain all their funds. That severely undermines the ability to build them up as menacing, serious BBEGs that could take on a larger group that otherwise would outclass them easily.

And if they're poor, then there is no way that Brevyn could have afforded one, let alone two, adamantine swords as a gift for Lucien. So that reduces his swords to just being black and edgy, rather than having some substantive meaning that correlates to his success as a mercenary.

And of course, if they had no money, that means they went to Eiselcross with basic weapons and armor that they scrounged together. Not very intimidating.

Those narrative decisions severely diminished Lucien and the Tombtakers from hardcore, experienced mercenaries to a bunch of unlucky misfits that were in over their heads everywhere they went. I can see that maybe it was intended to make them more like the Mighty Nein, which brings me to the next topic...

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

I'll disclaim right at the start: I am not the target audience of this genre, and I knew that going in. I held out hope regardless, but I am disappointed.

YA Fiction is a difficult genre when the protagonist of a book is the villain of another story. The usual tropes that come with these perspectives usually make the protagonist less villainous in order to make them more likeable. Part of that is an ethical dilemma about whether or not YA target audiences (teens, young adults) should be sold books that portray villains in a positive light. I can see why publishers and authors alike would shy away from that when they're trying to make money. I completely understand that it is simply part of the business.

So while I am disappointed, I'm not really surprised.

In the stream, Lucien was a menacing, charismatic, egotistical manipulator. He could control the Tombtakers through the eyes, but he did so sparingly compared to his screen time, mostly for creepiness factor. He spoke indirectly and gave half-truths until it was time for an old-fashioned villain monologue.

In the book, until he had the eyes, Lucien was far more up front with his thoughts, people rarely listened to him unless they were manipulating him, he let other people take the reins unless he felt he had no choice, and his lies were less about controlling people and more about self-interest. In other words, he was a lot like Molly until he read the book, which corrupted him into the Lucien we knew from the stream.

That retcon was probably the most disappointing thing about the book. Matt mentioned during a Talks Machina that Molly was the best parts of Lucien. So when I read TNEOL, I expected to read a book about a menacing, charismatic, egotistical manipulator (or someone who grows up to be that) who had some good elements to him that balanced him out until his soul was scattered. Instead, I feel like I read a book about Molly falling to pieces and turning into Lucien.

But that is the downfall of choosing the YA genre for a book about a villain. It usually ends up softening the character or twisting them into someone else.

I grew up in poverty and gang neighborhoods for the first 10 years of my life. I went to 6 different schools by the time I finished high school. Violence and lawlessness were everyday experiences in my life. So while I am glad that TNEOL did not romanticize that sort of environment, it was clearly skipped over much of that because that is not the sort of thing that many YA fiction novels can portray accurately without running into the same ethical issues discussed above.

I fought with fists, teeth, feet, rocks, sticks, razors, chains, pipes, chairs, bats, and any other improvised weapons I could find, and I was younger than Lucien during those sections of the book. I didn't eat every day. I had numerous stints of homelessness. I was vicious, hateful, cruel, and manipulative. I was willing to do almost anything to anyone, as long as it gained me something I wanted. I did a lot of things I do not and will never regret, but that I should have never had to do. I wasn't even one of the kids to worry about. I'm the Kid That Got Out. I was One Of The Good Ones.

That is what happens to kids in those places. That is what so many kids have to be if they want any sense of agency in their life.

And I feel betrayed that the effect of growing up in those sorts of places was glossed over because those sorts of stories cannot be told in YA fiction.

Breadth of the Narrative

Another downfall of the book is that the amount of content that it attempted to cover was overly ambitious. Fitting anyone's life into 300 pages is a challenge, and it's even more so when it's a character as complicated as Lucien and Molly.

Lucien's life could be organized this way (just for discussion's sake): childhood, adolescence, the Claret Orders, mercenaries/the Tombtakers, Eiselcross expedition with DeRogna, the Nonagon and the ritual, 2 years in the Astral Sea/2 years as Molly, the Nonagon redux, and Kingsley.

Damn, that is a lot to cover in 300 pages. And two of those sections are already set in stone from certain perspectives, so while they cannot be skipped, there only so much leeway.

So the obvious result is that several sections were glossed over or reduced to very specific story lines that attempted to give the reader a sense of Lucien's typical life and experiences during that time. Unfortunately, that reduces a lot of the character building that can take place, both for Lucien and for all of the supporting characters.

I think the part that bothered me most, and which caused several plot holes, is that Lucien had no memory or experiences whatsoever during the 2 years that his soul was shattered across the Astral Sea. That conflicts with the stream because Lucien claimed that it was during his 2 year convalescence with the Somnovem that he learned about them and ultimately decided to betray him. It could be that he was lying, but in the stream, Lucien always lied for a purpose. It would be weird to lie about when he had decided to betray the Somnovem to a bunch of people he plans on assimilating into the Pattern, especially since then they would know the truth eventually anyway.

And that plot hole causes a bunch of other ones. If he didn't learn about them or plot to betray them then, the book now has to add when and why. That might have been done intentionally to add some content to the section that was otherwise dominated by the Mighty Nein narrative, but it caused a bunch of other ripples.

Without those 2 years, Lucien has to get frustrated with the Somnovem during the Eiselcross expedition, which means he has to be in regular contact with them. Thus, voices, all the time! They're constantly chiming in on his thoughts. But if the Somnovem can always hear Lucien's thoughts, how the hell didn't they hear his plans to betray them all? Shit, gotta fix that. So they have an argument and they give Lucien the silent treatment for a while. But wait, just because they're silent doesn't mean they wouldn't listen. Isn't Vigilan supposed to be paranoid?

That also steamrolls the aspect that Lucien never acted like he was constantly hearing voices in the stream. Instead, he said the Somnovem spoke to him in dreams, and that even though he doesn't sleep anymore, he can dream while he is awake. While it's totally within reason to interpret that as Lucien having hallucinations and calling them dreams, he never acted like he was hallucinating in the stream. That absence made it seem like the dreams he was describing were more lucid or controlled than rampant hallucinations.

The stream also never mentions the Somnovem speaking directly to any of the Tombtakers. Instead, in the stream, Cree explicitly stated that Lucien shares his dreams with them and that the rest do not hear from the Somnovem directly. But in the book, instead of Lucien being clever and ordering Otis to steal Fjord's Bag of Holding, now it's that the Somnovem circumvented Lucien by sending a vision directly to Otis, who was awake. What do they need the Nonagon for if they can just send visions at any time to anyone else with eyes? It's never explained. It doesn't make sense that they would put in so much effort to revive Lucien as the Nonagon if they don't actually need him. The Tombtakers already had eyes, so why not use them and let Lucien stay scattered?

So that shows how trying to cover so much can cause gaps that blossom into plot holes, which just get exacerbated by all the other factors listed here. It's a frustrating thing to deal with as a reader, and I realize that it was probably a ton of work to try to sort for the author. I don't think there is any proper way to deal with that except spread the story out to multiple books or narrow the breadth, and those are not necessarily acceptable choices to a publisher.

Lack of Meaningful Character Development

Oh man, I do not envy writing a novel with this many characters. The word limit aside, that is a lot of work. I think the sheer number of characters had an impact on character development.

I feel like I missed something, and I've already gone through the book twice. Lucien did not change much at all during the story, and I don't know how to reconcile that with the fact that Molly was able to point out Lucien's mistakes. Lucien's characterization felt static, and all the key negative traits (as mentioned above, menacing, charismatic, egotistical, manipulative) only really bloomed after he read the book. That's not really development as much as losing his mind. It made me feel like the author intended for the reader to decide that Molly is the real Lucien and everything left over was just an hollow puppet like his brother. That doesn't work well when Matt mentioned that Molly is the "best" parts of Lucien.

I have the same gripe with the Tombtakers. They never developed, they just got corrupted by the Somnovem. The only noticeable change was Jurrell dies and Tyffial mourns her. They are Lucien's closest companions! Their development would have been excellent foils for Lucien.

Characters have to learn. There were a lot of things that happened to and around Lucien, but there was a paltry amount of him assessing a situation, reflecting on his past, and adjusting tactics based on those experiences. The only one that comes to mind was Lucien's decision to bring more people with him to Aeor because he thought the mad mage's mistake was bringing too few, but that was Lucien learning from someone else's mistakes, not his own.

Static characters are not necessarily problematic, but again, Molly pointed out Lucien's mistakes. And Molly wasn't basing it on his own experiences with the Mighty Nein, he was doing it based on Lucien's experiences. Does that mean we're supposed to conclude that Lucien was only able to learn and grow as a person as Molly with a blank slate for a past? That is a much worse lesson than I think the author intended.

If the story was intended solely to chronicle Lucien's descent into madness, then sure, there was a substantial amount of scenes and changes to show that. But it's not satisfying. Lucien was the end villain for a 3-year D&D campaign. Reducing him to Molly-but-he-goes-insane is just so disappointing.

As its own note, I enjoyed Vess DeRogna's characterization right up until she is retconned into turning against the Somnovem and trying to hide from them using a veiler. The eye necklace that Lucien takes from her is an Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location, which Critical Role reskinned as "veilers" used by Volstrucker to hide from divination magic. It could be that Vess was trying to lie to convince Lucien to let her go, but why would she think that opposing the Somnovem would do that? If she was telling the truth, then why is she in Eiselcross? It was such a weird turn and nothing came of it.

Simplification

I mentioned several examples of this already, but I wanted to point it out separately as well. It's no surprise that a book about a complicated character's life is going to require simplification to fit into 300 pages. It is a feat to tackle those choices, and I don't envy anyone who had to work on that.

My main gripe here is that the simplification of the Tomb Takers whittled them down to paltry threats that the Mighty Nein severely overestimated. The Tombtakers were half-starved, exhausted, stricken by frostbite, sick, under-equipped, insane, and aloof before even going into Caleb's tower. I don't understand how that was supposed to go unnoticed except by assuming that the Mighty Nein are that dumb. They can be dumb, surely, but that only really works in D&D where you get a single perception check, not in a novel where you have characters staring at each other for hours each day.

It could be explained by the dark magic the Tombtakers had, but there were very few examples of it. A reader who never saw the stream might take that at face value, but most readers will know the story already, so they would know what the Mighty Nein are capable of. Realizing that the Tombtakers were all bark and no bite is just so unsatisfying.

Weak Themes/Motifs

I think a key part of this issue was that, again, this is a book with just 300 pages to do a lot. But the themes were lacking.

I am vehemently upset that the butterfly theme was replaced with a puppet theme. There is so much potential eldritch horror that could have been in the novel for butterflies. The stream gave excellent pieces to work off of. Instead, the butterflies were just Brevyn's tattoo, and the real horror of Lucien's downfall was that he was a puppet for... nothing. There was no one pulling his strings in the novel after he dispatched the Somnovem. The key problem with a puppet theme is that there is supposed to be a puppet master. The lack of someone controlling the puppet doesn't add any horror factor to me, it just makes the theme seem like it doesn't fit.

Blood family versus found family could have been explored better, but it was so incoherent that I'm not sure it was actually there. It felt like references got stamped into certain sections so that it was checked off a list. Adding more information about the Tombtakers' families would have been a nice way to develop that, but only Lucien and Brevyn had meaningful interactions with their families. I also felt very little when reading about Lucien's family. I feel like that would have been so much more impactful and horrifying with actual scenes with the family instead of flashbacks or references.

Dreams and ambition were not developed as defining traits of Lucien's character, and instead they were just side effects of insanity, which was a key theme. That makes him more tragic than villainous, and while I can understand why they would take that road, it is not what is portrayed in the stream. Insanity is a fun theme to explore in horror and tragedy, but I wanted to enjoy Lucien being a villain, not just reading 300 pages of him being others' victim.

All that said, I did enjoy the King in Yellow shout outs.

Brevyn

Okay, so she gets a whole section because wow. In no particular order:

Brevyn wasn't in the stream, and she very much seems a like Mary Sue. Especially since blood hunters don't have molten lava/earth fists. Extra props for making her human with blonde hair (but she's also half-goliath, so she's got a smidgen of exotic flavor to make her extra special without deviating too much from the young white girl identity that sells so well).

I don't understand how Lucien is so torn up about Brevyn's death when he had fully intended to never see her again because he ran off to find his sister. Those events happened just a few months apart. That sideswiped me because I thought, "Yeah, Lucien's a disloyal jerk, makes sense that he'd run off to a new life without even saying a proper goodbye to his best friend or girlfriend. [a few months later] Okay, sure, it's shocking and traumatizing to see a death like that, but shouldn't he have gotten a grip after a few months? [years later] Dude, you didn't care that much, what the fuck is this Yasha is Brevyn bullshit?" This could be reconciled if the point was to show that Lucien gets overly attached to one person at a time (Aldreda, Brevyn, Cree; hey look, it's even ABC), but Brevyn breaks that pattern at #2, so that can't be it. It's also stated that Lucien had a long string of lovers, so if they were constantly on/off again or poly, that makes less sense. You expect me to accept that the guy who burned his parents to death and doesn't regret because they forced him to lure other people to a witch so they could be murdered so that the family could have a puppet older brother that they loved more than him will be forever broken because his girlfriend died while fetching a book? That is a lot of guilt to shoehorn into a man that has experienced so many things (parents, brother, witch, sister, Orders, crime, mercenary) that should have taught him that he doesn't want to or need to carry guilt. It's even a core trait of Molly to just shirk off guilt.

The butterfly tattoo bothered me so much. Why can't guys just like butterflies? Why does it have to be because of a love interest? Just let the dude want to be a butterfly. It had so much potential for a developing theme from an interest in beauty and ephemeral existence to ambition/transformation to body/eldritch horror, but nope, it's just a dead girlfriend's tattoo.

Beau is so much more like Brevyn than Yasha was as far as personality is concerned. It's not even acknowledged. I have no idea how that is supposed to be reconciled in a way that makes sense when Lucien hated Beau (which is glossed over).

Lucien saved the witch's pendant, melted it down, had it forged into a necklace for Brevyn, then gave it to Cree years later and lied about who it was for. There are so many leaps of logic in there. First, I can't think of a single reason why Lucien would want to keep the pendant as a keepsake except to stare at it while wallowing in hate. Why would he ever give that to someone he cared about? It would make more sense to fence it and buy something new, unblemished by such memories. Second, if he was going to give it to Brevyn, what was he waiting for? Was that supposed to imply he was planning to use it in a proposal even though he had intended to run out on her months before she died? Man, that is a jump. Third, why would he keep it for so long after her death? They needed money so many times, and his swords had far more sentimental value than a necklace he had planned to give to Brevyn and didn't. Fourth, why even give that to Cree? It's a necklace forged from metal from a witch he hates that he meant to give to the dead woman he loved and then he gave it to his best friend after they get to Eiselcross? There are so many conflicting reasons about why he should not be attached to that necklace. (We're not getting into the holy symbol requirement for cleric spells, okay.)

Brevyn was boring and unnecessary. I understand that this is really because of the limitations of the novel, all discussed above, but that is a strong reason not to add new characters. I did not feel connected to her character because she did not have flaws, and that is boring. Or are swearing and spending time to grieve supposed to be flaws? I've seen argument that it's a third person limited perspective so of course Lucien didn't think she had flaws; that is bullshit. There is no fucking way that anyone in a relationship with a childhood friend genuinely thinks their partner has no flaws. Just no.

I do not like the trope of adding romantic interests to a character's life to make them more likeable. Lucien is likeable without any romantic entanglements. People can be single and happy and likeable and whole. I feel like it adds to so many messages to young adults that love lives are going to have the biggest effect on their lives and happiness. They don't and they won't unless someone chooses that.

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Those are at least my first thoughts. I wanted to get them down before really diving into others' reviews as well.

All that said, the book was entertaining. I enjoyed it during the first read, but lost that enthusiasm by the time I got to the halfway point and realized that Lucien was not going to be a villain in his own right, but only as a victim of the Somnovem. If someone isn't so attached to that idea, they would probably enjoy the book much more than I did.

There was a lot the book did right, and Roux is a good writer. My criticism of the book is focused on narrative decisions, and again, much of that comes down to the medium as a book and the limitations that come with that.

#tneol #the nine eyes of lucien #critical role #lucien critical role #the tombtakers #mighty nein #lucien tavelle

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eponymous-rose · 3 years

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E123 (Feb. 2, 2021)

After last week’s thoroughly relaxing and brief episode, tonight’s guests are Sam Riegel and Liam O’Brien!

Brian, to Sam: “You look like Tim Curry moved to Nantucket to become a sommelier.”

How did Caleb and Veth approach the ally-ship with the Tombtakers? Sam: “I mean, we got some information, and I think we got a little closer to Lucien and knowing whether he has any of Mollymauk inside of him, which is I think the most important knowledge that we’re seeking right now. Is there someone to be saved inside there? We got glimpses, and we got a little hint that Mollymauk is maybe still in there? Maybe? And we got a little more insight into their plans, so that was useful.” Liam: “We know why we were having that fucking dream.” Sam: “But other than that, it was just a road trip with assholes.” Liam: “All our plans have been ripped in a new direction, and it’s just been improvisation.” Sam notes that it feels like we’re always about to rip into Caleb’s backstory, but haven’t yet followed that thread all the way through. Liam: “It’s partially frustrating, to be sure, but also I like the idea that-- his whole shit has been selfish, it’s been dealing with the trauma that he’s been through and not the greater world, and that’s been shifting somewhat.”

Does Caleb think the book was worth it, and is he still interested in reading more? Sam: “How do you ask Caleb not to read a book?” Liam: “Caleb has spent enough time with the Nein to know you shouldn’t put a hand on a hot stove. After what happened with the book, he knows it’s a terrible idea. But maybe. But it’s a really bad idea. But reserve judgment, but it’s a really terrible idea. I think that Caleb is very aware that mages and people like him very easily fall prey to their curiosity and it can lead to bad places. But there is still that amount of scientific endeavor where you think there is value in knowing and learning, and maybe we can ride that line. He was True Neutral at the start of the campaign, and maybe he’s Chaotic Good now, but part of him is hubris, even if it’s a little bit, still.”

What about Otis has drawn Veth’s focus? Sam: “I mean, he’s a little shit. She was curious about Otis because he’s a small like she is, and in talking to him, he seemed to be real creepy, but he was just creepy and distant and didn’t value his past or family or anything like that. She sees someone who’s like her, but so not like her, and maybe that scares her a little bit more.”

How does Caleb feel about Beau being on this ride with him? Liam: “The dream is another example of how Caleb had very narrow vision of the things he wanted to do. It used to seem so massive to him, but now... To have Beauregard involved feels right. If anyone in the group is going to stop him from grabbing something he shouldn’t, it is probably Beauregard. She’ll punch him in the fucking face to stop him, which I think he needs, to a certain extent. They’re two different kinds of nerds, and I kind of like that, that this group of nine philosophers, they’ve reached out and somehow grabbed the two nerds in the party.”

How do Caleb and Veth see the Somnovum? Sam: “I mean, they seem real bad. Anything that’s a quorum of powerful entities heading towards your planet to unleash an energy of any kind, typically bad? I assume they’re bad, or at least the Tombtakers wish them to do ill.” Liam: “I think they want the kind of peace that comes from snapping your fingers and turning people to dust. Caleb sees them as a cautionary tale; they’re the worst-case scenario for arcane inquisitiveness.” He sees Allura Vysoren as the antidote to that.

Why the staunch refusal to use Halfling Luck? Sam: “I don’t like Luck! I just don’t like Luck. I think it’s cheap, I think it’s a cheat, I think it’s stupid. It just feels like a do-over.” Liam: “I am your antithesis! If I ever voice a halfling, I am going to hammer that feature!” Sam: “What I love about D&D is that you don’t know what’s going to happen. If you roll bad, okay, that’s it. If you roll well, it makes the success more enjoyable to know that it’s a pure success and don’t one where you’re like well actually... it’s so stupid. If someone was about to die, I would probably use the fuckin’ Luck feature. Well. It depends who. If it was Travis, yeah, no, he’s fucked, sorry.”

Liam drops that he’s picked Sam’s character class and race again for a hypothetical campaign three. Sam: “It’s not what I was thinking for future characters, but I’m excited to explore.”

Cosplay of the Week: an amazing Mollymauk by KatofValkyrie!

What was it like to bring the Tombtakers into the tower? Liam: “It is complicated, because he does not like him. Lucien’s just a fucking dick. But Caleb also knows that Molly’s in there somewhere. That tower’s only for the M9, and Lucien’s not in the M9. Their situation with these people is shitty, it’s terrible. Caleb doesn’t feel like they have the upper hand. He doesn’t like that they’re even going on this journey per se, because life is bigger than his bullshit. He feels like they’ve been losing over and over again, so it was a gamble to try to get on equal footing.

What spurred Veth into making sure she and Yasha have some one-on-one time? Sam: “Yasha hasn’t been getting a lot of moments to shine. Now that she’s back, I just got the impression that Yasha feels out of place sometimes, or timid, or unsure of herself. When Veth was Nott, Nott certainly had her share of those moments. I think she sees a kindred spirit and wants to make sure that she’s been giving all the opportunity she can to flourish and thrive. Dani, you’re just laughing at my mustache, aren’t you?” Dani: “Yes, that’s the only thing I’m laughing at through this whole bullshit.” Sam denies all knowledge of trolling, but eventually admits, on the topic of Yasha and Beau getting together: “They’ve made me wait this long... I’m going to make them wait a little bit longer!”

What was it like to show his friends the upper floors? Liam: “I kinda expected somebody to sneak up there before that. That being part of the tower is not even a conscious choice of his, it just is. The reason Caduceus has creeped Caleb out for a long time is because he talks about how-- Caduceus is a really kind person and wants Caleb to let go of the past. And in a really simplistic way, turn that frown upside-down. And that’s just not who Caleb is, and it’s not who everybody is. There is something to be said for trying to stay open and positivity, but thinking you can shut out the past, especially a traumatic one, is just not true. When things happen to us, we carry them. But to candy-coat it and say, ah, I’m free, or everything is good, or I’ve turned the corner... life is way messier than that. It’s not flipping a switch, it’s not bad-to-good, it is such a work in progress. Even when you make strides and start to get to a better place, you can backslide a lot. So the tower is who he is, and the tower is 7/9ths love for his friends, and 1/9th hope, but there’s still a percentage of him that carries everything from the past, and knows that he should, and knows that he should not go back to where he was. And the way to do that is not to say everything is rainbows, but to remember it. The tower is just like an extension of who he is. He’s never going to forget the past, and he’s never going to be like, I’m good, or I’ve turned a corner. He should remember the past, and he should do better, always.”

Does Veth still believe it’s possible to get Molly back? Sam: “Well, she was a person trapped in another body for many years, so has some experience there, and definitely believes that the spirit and soul of Molly is in there and just needs to be unlocked somehow.”

Fan Art of the Week: an amazing group shot by HarpySN!

How are Caleb and Veth dealing with their guilt and fear about being in the middle of this? Sam: “It definitely was a deep conversation that might have repercussions going forward. The problem with all of what we’re doing now is that we don’t have time to deal with our petty problems anymore. It’s all high tension all the time!” Liam: “It’s true; they’re not in control of their situation at all anymore.” Sam: “It’s good to have these check-ins, but it’s not like we can do anything about them. We’re reactive right now.” Liam: “He’s not happy with where they are, but they wouldn’t even be this far if the goblin hadn’t pulled him out of the mud. So part of it is, you saved me from where I was and got me on my feet again, and now it’s disconcerting to see it all just get knocked sideways by something he never could’ve predicted. I think Caleb felt nostalgic for when things were simpler, in a way, for them, when we’re both troubled drifters.”

What was it like to see Gelidon’s return? Liam: “I am the least superstitious person at the table. Ashley’s dice suck.” Sam: “It was fun fighting a dragon!” Liam: “Two massive battles in one episode, neither of which came away with a victory. I guess surviving is a victory.” Sam: “I’d forgotten about the dragon, honestly.” Liam: “I loved it. I was so upset at the idea that we were going to stealth and not get into it.”Sam: “Mercer doesn’t keep a live dragon around and not do something with it. That dragon’s coming back.”

How do Caleb and Veth feel about going to see Essek? Sam: “He can be very helpful, I believe, but as Sam Riegel, a player of D&D, I’m super suspicious. What the fuck is Essek doing up there, so close, now? I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him. And I can throw him pretty far because he floats.” Liam: “I 100% agree with you. I do not understand what Essek could bring to what we are going through. I know the audience loves him, I love him too. He’s a really cool character. But he’s fucking toxic. He out of curiosity caused a war between two nations. And Caleb has been changed for the good by the M9 from months of travel with them. Essek has had none of that. Caleb has changed for the good, but not because of people like Essek. Essek is where Caleb came from. We kept the lid on the pot during the whole treaty at sea and it almost all went fucking sideways, and only because we pressed him into a corner. I hope that guy finds some sort of balance and peace for himself, but I do not see how his input here would be helpful. There’s other heavy hitters that I would try to pull in.”

Liam notes that the Cloven Crystal is in the Bag of Holding. Sam: “Do I have Fluffernutter, or is Fluffernutter gone?” Liam: “Nope. 300 pounds of fireworks? Gone. A dead mage, a threshold crest, and fireworks.” Dani: “Your basic essentials.”

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

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changlingrogue · 3 years

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Okay, a head's up, this got rambly and it will definitely have spoilers for Campaign 2 Episode 128, 127 and to be on the safe side 126. I'll tag it as "cr spoilers" and put it under a cut though.

Okay, so, starting from the jump the episode is a little anxiety inducing as it picks up directly where last week's left off with Caleb, Jester and Veth confronted by Trent down in the basement. Trent only appears to want to talk (being the mofo he is, his words are just as dangerous as his magic), but Caleb isn't having any of that and starts things off with casting Wall of Fire (I think?) to separate them from Trent. Trent dispels it and still seems interested in talking until Caleb casts a Firebolt at him. Veth follows up with her attack which does work and then Jester tries another Word of Recall which Trent tries to Counterspell with a horrifying nat 20, but it gets cancelled out by Caleb's nat 20 and the three of them escape to Nicodranas, outside on the Brenatto family's balcony. A couple of takeaways from this encounter:

Was trying to fight Trent the best idea, no. But like I can't say I blame Caleb. Liam made it very clear that Caleb was terrified. He was going off of raw emotions and being confronted by the man that ruined his life in a place that held a lot of emotional trauma for him... can't say most people would be able to keep a cool head.

It does still make me wonder how things would have went if Trent had been able to talk. Would they have been able to leave without things ending up like they ultimately did or was it just a way for Trent to keep control of the situation? Maybe a bit of both? Trent certainly risks losing more now that he has to come up with some sort of explanation for what happened at the sanitarium and given that the whole Cerberus Assembly is under investigation, its not a good look. Veth's decision to steal some of those crystals did alert Trent to what they were doing and is maybe part of the reason he's pursuing them so aggressively, but I feel like its going to be one of those things that really helps them out in the future. I was happy when it was proposed to keep at least one for evidence, because I think if it's used in the right way and given to the right people it might be a nail in the coffin Trent (hopefully) finds himself in.

To jump off from the crystal point, I'm really digging how in this campaign player choices have at times had some really interesting a longstanding consequences/rewards. Like it really makes the world feel alive, and that its not revolving around M9. Like for one of the more "positive" examples, Beau telling Dairon about how she was kidnapped and forced into the Cobalt Soul lead to the eventual arrest and upcoming trail of Zeenoth and the apology Beau deserved for years. But on the flip side, as we learn eventually, when the rest of the party joins back up with them in Nicodranas, Jester mentioning The Ruby of the Sea gives Trent a lead of where to find them. (I'd also like to mention that Team Outtie or Audi, lol, did a pretty good job. Fjord really came through with Arcane Gate, Marine Layer and even Major Image. It didn't stop Trent but it did keep the Guards busy. Caduceus got them out quick with Word of Recall and while Beau's umm, assassination attempt was brutal, she did keep the Guard on top of the tower from doing anything and she alerted Team Outtie to the arrival of Trent and more Guards.)

But back to Nicodranas and M9 trying to get their families there ferried away to safety. I really did nearly cry from the conversations Jester and Veth had. I adore Jester and mother's relationship, like Marion is one of my favorite of Matt's NPCs for more than reason and I love how just... loving and understanding she is. And I really like Yeza for that similar reason. Those two conversations really stuck out to me because of like... idk, I guess they sort of hit home a bit? With Jester and her mom it's the shift of being the one whose protected to the one who is the protector that I (and other adults) experience at one point when it comes to your parents as they get older. It's not as wild as keeping them safe from a powerful mage and his magic assassins, but it's a total flip in a relationship that you've had since you were younger.

And with Veth it's about being a parent and a partner and having to make choices and sometimes sacrifices to keep them safe. I'm really glad Veth and Yeza got a chance to talk and be open with one another, for at least a bit. I was surprised by Yeza's perspective of things and how he felt he was also guilty of putting their family in harm's way because I always assumed like, at least when it came to working with the Assembly he didn't have much a choice ( Idk if I just missed that part or it was mentioned in Talks or not), but him saying that he also took risks because he wanted to make something of himself and provide for Veth gives a new perspective of him and on his and Veth's relationship. Like now it seems more like he actually understands (on some level) Veth's conflicting feelings of wanting be an adventurer but wanting to be with her family too and that's why he's been so supportive of her vs him just kind of blindly supporting her. I really hope they continue to be open with one another and they keep talking about things, which I guess they might get a chance to again in the future if Veth actually does end up coming home to them for good after M9 takes care of the TombTakers. I'm sad about the idea of Veth leaving and not adventuring with the rest of M9, and I will legit cry if they say to goodbye but I can understand and respect her reasoning. She really did try to "have both" and for the things that they've been involved in, it, unfortunatly, doesn't work. Since reuniting with her family that's been one of her main conflicts and I'm happy that she finally seemed to come to a decision of what comprimises she can and can't make for the type of life she wants. I know a lot of the fandom won't be happy if Veth leaves and Sam creates another character but I like that Sam (and honestly everyone else as well) really plays his characters to who they are as people. After those heartwrenching moments, the tension in the game picks up again as they find out that they're being watched by two inviduals who turn out to be Astrid and Eadwulf. Astrid basically tells them to get everyone they care about and get the fuck out of Nicodranas since they've been dispatched to get them, and from some invisable tailing by Veth, we learn that there's another Volstrucker in town, along with fucking Trent himself and that they're only a few blocks away from the Lavish Chateu. So M9 gets themselves and the families together and steaths to Yussa's tower, hoping he could help them get somewhere else quick, only to find that he can't be reached at the moment. Luckily, his servant Wentsworth knows of something that might help and after some searching a Detect Languages spell, they find a scroll that has the spell Plane Shift and a tuning fork that they're unsure which plane its atturned to.

My thoughts on this are:

That I'm not sure if they're lucky or unlucky at this point. Because on one hand they're literally on the run from one of the most powerful mages in the Empire, but on the otherhand they've managed to escape him twice, despite the odds being against them. I really want to know what plane they're on, there's a lot of speculation that its the Plane of Fire which sounds terrible, but I'm not that versed in like D&D lore so maybe it's not as bad as it sounds in my head. I agree with Matt that thinking to use the Happy Fun Ball as a way to transport some of their people was pretty clever, I just hope they made the right choices for who went inside and who stayed outside. This is Yasha's first time in the ball! I wish it was under better circsumstances so that everyone could be there and they could actually explore but I wonder what her reaction will be. When she's not making out with Beau, lol. I'm not as worried for the group in the ball as I am for the group outside of it, I think Beau, Yasha and Fjord will be able to get to an exit without too much trouble as long as they don't stumble across any surprises that aren't on the map. And I'm very intrigued with how Astrid is shaping up as a character. I like so far what Matt is doing with her and I like that she's shaping up to not just be the "bad bitch/ruthless" villain archetype that a lot of female characters end up being. That character can be fun and enjoyable in certain things and when there's more beneath the surface, but it's nice to see that Astrid actually does care about Caleb. I was suspicious of her intentions before, but I feel that Matt has made it clear that while her and Eadwulf are still adversaries to the M9, they do care about Caleb and want to help him out. I feel for the whole Blumenthal Trio one way or another. To close things, because this had gotten way too long, lol. I can't wait for the next episode. Hopefully everything will work out for them and they can get the families to safety, though I don't know if sending them to the Gentleman is a good idea. But we'll see eventually!

#critical role #cr spoilers #long text post #campaign 2 ep 128 #cr ramblings

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asteriismos · 4 years

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attention. - bill denbrough

authors note : this is the first chapter of ‘ballads 1′.

warning(s) : underage drinking, college au, swearing, drug use, no pennywise bc i say so, toxic relationship between the reader and another guy,

words : 2.7 k

based off the song ‘attention’ by joji

bill denbrough always thought of himself as a hopeless romantic.

not just in the blatant lovers romance, but in all aspects of love in his life. love for his friends, love for his distant parents, love for writing. he has a large heart, a heart that leads with a strong pride that not many people are able to have. throughout his life he has always had a sense of longing. when he was younger it was always a longing for the future, to see what really was in store for him as soon as he graduated and moved away from derry, maine.

but now that he grew older and was going to turn twenty one this next year, bill realized that he didn’t just have a longing for the future, but the past as well. he missed his friends, though they were only a phone call away, he missed the sense of nostalgia that he always got in those summers in derry. when him and his friends would swim for hours in the quarry and mess around at mr keene’s pharmacy enough to make the old man want to rip his hair out.

it was not his idea to join a frat. it really wasn’t. honestly it made bill a little bit sick to his stomach at the fact that he did. though upon realizing that he longed for that sense of friendship that he had in derry ( though the losers could never be replaced ), bill thought that maybe it would be a good idea.

he also played a lot of baseball, which landed him in one of the most popular frats at his colleges. a bunch of his teammates also were a part of it and got him to join once and for all. bill was a really good baseball player, he always has been for some unknown reason. and he loved it, almost as he loved studying english for his degree. there was just something about being on that field in the hot sunlight that made bill like he had a sense of place in the world. wearing that jersey made him feel like he was a part of something, a family, and he got the same sense with the brothers in his frat.

the same frat that he was a part of also hosted the best goddamn parties. bill never thought of himself as a party animal, and he really wasn’t that wild, but on special occasions he was. he’d flash that million dollar smile, shine those pretty green eyes, and be the life of the party.

tonight was one of those nights. it was the night of the big win anyways. bill had made the game winning home run, making him the topic of the entire party.

little did bill know, this party that he is the topic of would change his life forever.

you, on the other hand, didn’t know what the hell you were doing at a frat party. it was the least favorited place of yours. and if you had any say in the matter, you would’ve just rather stayed in your dorm to read a book, watch netflix, or do literally anything other than be where you are right now.

you used to be an independent person. coming from a small town, you were always the person who everyone admired for being so out of the social norm. you were outgoing, charismatic, the ideal friend. and still somehow you had really good grades to get you into a good college.

now that you were in that college, however, you changed. no longer were you really the outgoing type, you were still charismatic but limited, and you didn’t have many friends. this was all because of the boy you met in freshman year college calculus, his name was liam. at first, liam was the ideal guy for you. he was everything that you could’ve imagined in a boy. at first he was nice, funny, charming, someone who everyone knew. when he asked you out for the first time your heart soared with excitement for that first date. everything went perfectly planned, and you believed that you had a partner for life.

then somewhere after the first three months, something changed. liam got hotheaded, never hitting you, but lashing out with his words. he would get jealous when you talked to other guys and sometimes even your girl friends. then when you would call him out on it, he would manipulate you into thinking that it was your fault for making him angry, which after a while, you started to believe. you knew that it was a wrong relationship, but to some degree you still really liked liam. when liam was in a good mood, he was a good boyfriend. the only problem was when he was in a bad mood . . . he really wasn’t.

you were never the submissive type until you met liam. a part of you wanted to cut him out of your life forever and try to build yourself up again to where you had been before, but you were too scared of what would happen if you did. liam had connections, he would make your life a living hell if you broke up with him. so you stayed with him, despite you not loving him. liam always reminded you that he loved you, even if it took him a few insults to get there.

dressed in a black tank top and dark blue jeans, you walked into the front door of the frat party on 18th street. at first you were even surprised that liam was allowing you to go to this party with him. he loved baseball and went to all the games, but he never took you to the parties that occurred afterwards because he was too scared of you getting too much attention. though tonight he was in a good mood, only commenting on your choice of outfit. liam said that he didn’t want anyone else to see that much of your skin, but that there wasn’t enough time for you to get out of his car and go back up to your dorm to change.

he said that it would be an exception.

a few other of liam’s friends walked behind you and him, him holding you by the waist, into the crowd of people that had pooled into the large house. a few people you recognized from around the campus and in your various classes, though the only people you really knew were liam and his friends.

and then the strangest thing happened.

liam’s arm went off your waist. which wasn’t the strangest thing, no, the strangest thing was when he walked away from you with his friends. without a word, he walked away. it was so unlike him to leave you alone in a public place, though the more you listened to your surroundings, the more you heard the mention of some coke that someone had gotten. that’s what got his attention.

now here you stood, alone in a crowd. and despite the irony of it, you couldn’t have been more happy.

bill thought that you were the most beautiful woman he has ever seen in his life.

he was standing on the grand staircase when you walked into his large house. at first he didn’t notice because his mouth was on a red solo cup, taking a long swig of the liquid that would end up being his luck. as he pulled the cup away, his buddy harrison was talking about the game and how he thought that they weren’t going to win until bill made the winning hit. and usually he would accept the praise with open arms but in that moment he could care less about his baseball skills and more about you, who stood alone with a detached look on your face.

it was such a change from the normal girls that went to these parties. usually they would have giddy, almost too happy smiles on their faces to be at probably their third party this week. they threw themselves at the guys in his frat like they had no self worth, and dressed in the most skimpiest outfits that probably would get them kicked out at a restaurant for public nudity. it took bill a few drinks to find these girls attractive. and it wasn’t because they weren’t pretty, most of them were drop dead gorgeous, but it was because they didn’t have a personality outside of being a sorority girl.

you didn’t seem to be that person. and he definitely hasn’t seen you at a party before or he would’ve approached you before.

with a quick excuse, bill made his way down the stairs past the people standing and talking, all the way to where you were standing. your eyes were low so you didn’t see him until he said, “d-do you want a drink?” damn. he wished that he had payed some more attention in speech therapy as a teen because in this moment, he was more than embarrassed that he had a stutter. being the golden boy of the baseball team didn’t seem fitting for a boy with a stutter, yet here he was.

your previous gaze of the solid dark brown mahogany wood was replaced with white high top converse shoes pointing right at you, to which you looked up to be met with green eyes. and for a moment that scared you because for the longest time you’ve stared into liam’s brown eyes forever, trying to find a hint of hope in them, and now that you’re staring into the green eyes of this stranger. . . you see the hope almost like a blinding light.

liam doesn’t like when you drink.

“i'm-” you start, cutting off your words when it starts to feel like cotton is being shoved down your throat. what you were about to say is that you’re taken. and technically you are, but it wasn’t cheating to accept a drink from someone. for all you knew, this stranger is just being nice.

“i'm y/n,” you corrected yourself, giving the boy in front of you a smile.

bill, admittedly, felt like a little kid again with a crush. because the second that you talked to him, his heart started to soar to cloud nine. your voice felt like everything that he was missing in his life and the more he stared at you the more he wanted to get to know you. he wanted to know all your hopes, aspirations, your favorite color . . . everything that you would possibly let him know. and bill knew that it was wrong to think this much about someone who he has only spoken four words to, but as said before, he was a hopeless romantic.

in fact, he was surprised that you were even giving him the light of day, especially since he was staring into your eyes a little bit too long for someone you just met.

if only he knew that you had been seeking some kind of validation like this for almost two years now.

giving that same boyish grin that had been on his face when he first spoke to you, he said, “i’m bill. it’s n-nice to meet y-y . . .” he cursed under your breath too silently for you to hear. “you,” he finally got out, cheeks blazing red with embarrassment.

you only smiled, nodding your head, deciding not to even acknowledge his stutter. which he silently thanked you for.

“bill,” you said, testing how the name felt on your tongue. it felt nice, rolling off like honey. the second that you said it, bill felt like he could live a lifetime of you saying that name. he tried to capture the moment, playing it on repeat over and over in his brain. it sounded so perfect, so pure, it was everything that he wanted.

fuck off bill, you’re falling in love with a stranger, at least get to know her a little bit beforehand.

“s-so do you want that d-d-drink?” he asked again, motioning over to the kitchen where the lines of cups stood, just waiting to be picked up by another eager college student.

and, taking a leap of faith towards bill with the hopeful green eyes, you nodded your head and said, “yes.”

bill watched as you spoke with a smile, sitting next to you and admiring the light in your eyes as you spoke about your hometown. he quickly realized after hearing you talk to him even more, that he could listen to you speak forever and not say one word back. your voice was passionate, speaking with a fire behind it that you realized you haven’t had in a while.

both of you sat on a lawn chairs in the backyard of the house, where not a lot of people were so it was quiet enough to talk without screaming over the music that boomed in the inside.

now that you were without the cloud in your life for almost two hours into this party, you had broken out of your shell a little bit. it was nice. for a few moments you started to feel like yourself again.

and the more you got to know bill, the more you liked him. he was nice, funny, came from a small town just like you, and was super easy to talk to. you were patient while he worked out the words that took him a moment to say with his stutter, which you learned was something that not a lot of people did in his life. he told you about how his own parents got annoyed with it sometimes, and how the frat brothers would start talking over him while he worked out words. it saddened you that you were one of the only people who was patient with him, since bill seemed like someone everyone liked.

“so you’re telling me you’re the reason this whole party is even happening?” you asked him, a small hiccup followed soon after and a giggle.

bill rolled his eyes jokingly. “y-yes. but please it’s n-n-not that big of a d-deal. my friends a-are just over the t-t-tuh-top.”

you shrugged. “i’ve never really been to one of these before, so to me it is a big deal. i’m with the star of the party!”

“stop it,” bill joked. “i’m n-not a star. f-f-far from it.”

you didn't think so.

“whatever you say, billy denbrough,” you teased. maybe you did have a little bit too much to drink after all.

“b-b-but im glad that you’re here,” bill said, giving you a look. his eyes never left your face while it looked at his with such wonder. “it’s n-n-not every day i get t-to talk to pretty g-girls.”

now that threw you through a loop. it’s not every day i get to talk to pretty girls. talk to pretty girls, pretty girls, pretty girls. he thinks that i’m a pretty girl.

you were about to answer, but your phone buzzed, prompting you to take it out of your back pocket and look at the text. it was liam, asking you where the hell you were and that he wants to leave. you looked around the vacinity to see if somehow liam spotted you, but he wasn’t there. thank god, because you couldn’t have imagined if liam saw you talking to bill. he would never let you out of his sight again, he wouldn’t let you out of his grasp . . . suddenly your heart started to race, and you felt the borderline panic attack that washed over your body.

you need to leave before he gets mad, if he isn’t already.

“i have to go . . . it was nice to meet you bill,” you said, giving him a wave and walking towards the house to leave.

bill stood up, about to question your sudden shift in behavior. it happened right after he complimented you and now he believes that he has said the wrong thing. he’s pushed his luck too far. bill felt like an idiot. then again, your whole demeanor had shifted the moment you checked your phone, so maybe he hadn’t been the reason.

standing there dumbfounded, all he could think about is how much he longed to see you again.

#bill denbrough #bill denbrough x reader #bill denbrough imagine #stanley uris #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #mike hanlon #ben hanscom #beverly marsh #it #IT movie #it movie imagine #it movie 2017 #it movie x reader #it movie 2019

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jq37 · 4 years

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The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 3

Keep Sharp

On the Road Again

Welcome back to Calorum you guys. We last left off witnessing an actual miracle as a group of cheese assassins masquerading as meatlanders (and Brennan by proxy) failed to kill a single Candian, Tartguard included.

Now, everyone is picking up the pieces. Amethar is still messed up from the fight so he’s being tended to. Liam and some of the NPCs are working on clearing the tree from the road. Ruby, still covered in blood, is in one of the carriages and when she uses Prestidigitation to clear the blood from a circus flyer she was carrying, Calroy walks in and grabs her hand to stop her as a reflex. He quickly drops her hand--very bold move to grab one of the princesses like that--and tries to impress on her that the rest of the world isn’t like Candia and she really really needs to stop with the casual magic when they’re on the road. Ruby is really naively taken aback and frustrated by this information but Calroy describes it like it’s business as usual. Her aunt, Lazuli, has the title of Archmage but the official position is that the title is an archaic holdover from less enlightened times and she was simply a really good alchemist--even though everyone knows that’s untrue. That’s politics bay-bee! Lapin joins the conversation (along with Theo shortly after) and says that if people knew where he got his powers from, he’d be dead (which seems a weird thing to say with Calroy in earshot).

Outside, Liam is chopping up the tree and finds these little peppermint acorn things called Heartseeds which are basically concentrated, ambient, magical energy that can grant small wishes. Preston eats them and gains a fly speed of 40 (but it’s like he’s a firework--he has to land after 40 feet). Jet finds Liam and asks for help with keeping an eye on Ruby. She’s pretty shook after seeing her almost die. Liam is down to do it for nothing (the kid just wants to be included) but Jet insists on being in his debt and--always on brand--he just asks for some cool seeds. She also finds a meat shield that’s made out of gross, burnt, stuck-to-the-pan meat bits that she names Burnt Ends.

They get going again and in the PC wagon you have all the PCs but Jet (who is outside with the guards and Grissini) along with Cruller and his wife--Lady Donetta. She chats with Grissini for a little bit while the adults try to get her to get in the carriage. She’s finally swayed by Ruby but when she comes in she says she wasn’t (just) flirting. She was trying to get intel on how in trouble Ruby was. Liam offers that he speaks Ceresian so he can spy if they need him to and also did anyone have any dreams last night? Theo--who is trying to keep everyone alive and was like so close to being impressed by Liam--along with Lapin and Cruller try to get everyone back on track but Ruby--defiantly--is all, “They’re not gonna kill me. I’m a princess!” Theo points out that someone almost killed her literally ten minutes ago and Cruller points out that death isn’t the only bad thing that can happen to a person. She could get forcibly put in a monastery for instance. Jet is not even having that in hypothetical-land and says that as the heir princess, she would lay the smackdown on anyone who tried to do that.

It looks like things are about to dissolve into overlapping gibberish but Amethar does the dad thing of putting his foot down and yelling at everyone to get along before taking a dad nap passing out from his injuries. Lady Donetta patches him up while Cruller once again talks about the importance of politics. It’s not just them that have to play this game. The Meatlanders are polytheistic generally but all Bulbian on paper. Jet thinks this whole song and dance is ridiculous and should be changed once she has more sway in politics, but she’s willing to shut up for now. She’s also willing to keep Lapin’s secret, but him bringing it up sparks Cruller’s interest. Lapin tries to gloss over it but Liam chimes in that he’s sorry about breaking his teacup. Lapin shuts him up (Liam on a low Insight check thinks he hates him) and rolls a 14 to get Cruller off his back.

Secrets and Lies

As they cross the border into Fructerra, Sir Theo invites Ruby and Jet out for some fresh air and they invite Liam which he goes along with even though it’s clear he wanted to talk to the sisters alone. As soon as they’re out of earshot of everyone Theo turns off the scold and says that regardless of everything they’re all saying, Ruby absolutely needs to keep studying magic. He says that he was a ward of Lazuli who taught him some magic (including animating Sprinkle) and he has a whole-ass lore dump for them that he was planning on subtly revealing over time but now’s the time for getting everybody up to speed ASAP not mentoring from the shadows:

He says that Lazuli--who, like Ruby and Jet, wanted magic to be acceptable and not relegated to the shadows of one kingdom--was doing arcane research into wild stuff like immortality that would have advanced the world a lot further than its current state. She died sacrificing herself in a battle where she was the only Candian casualty. Theo was there and, before she sent him away, she said that she needed to do it to, “save [their] people and save [their] world.” He didn’t get what she meant and why that would be literally the hill she--a princess and Archmage--would choose to die on but he knows she would sometimes have visions of the future and he thinks she might have known Ruby was coming and needed to ensure that timeline happened. Ruby--who is outraged that this is the first she’s hearing of all of this and shocked that Theo is suddenly cool (“I've always been cool! All of us are cool!”) still doesn’t want to do all this “book stuff” or embrace any kind of magical destiny and even Jet is like, “Come on girl.” Anyway, Sir Theo tells them they just need to be chill and lowkey and he’ll hook them up with magical training and banned books for Jet. He also promises to teach Ruby the Find Familiar spell.

Liam helps Lady Donetta with herbal remedies for Amethar and he comes back at full health. Amethar gets to talking about Liam’s dad who he says had Liam’s knack from nature stuff and taught him (Amethar) how to fight. Calroy chimes in that his dad and Amethar fought together in the Ravening War. He also says that Liam being a hostage (he outright calls him a hostage) is what lets his dad not join the Concord (the kind of ride or die, post Ravening War pact everyone else is in) and remain an independent rebel state. Apparently, he seceded because, King Jadin (Amethar’s Dad--the past king), would not uphold Candia’s alliances. Liam’s dad (Duke Joren Jawbreaker) turned traitor to go fight with their Dairy Island allies.

It takes another couple of days to get to Comida and, on the way there, Ruby learns and casts the Find Familiar spell--netting her a butterscotch falcon that she names Yak after the noise he makes. She hopes he’ll be friends with Sprinkle because Siobhan knows that the second real objective of every D&D campaign (after making friends) is acquiring pets and having them play with each other (which is in direct opposition to the DM goal of not letting any of your players have any pets).

Cruller checks in with Theo about the secret magic lessons and also says that he’s looked into it and the imperial soldiers who saw Ruby do magic are gossiping. Grissini is shutting some of it down so it’s not spreading like wildfire but it’s really just a matter of time. Cruller tries to get more specifics about what Jet and Lapin were talking about (his Sugarplum magic) and Theo dodges the question. Cruller says that he can be more helpful if he’s in the loop but doesn’t push further.

Faces and Names

We have made it to Comida and, after a quick House Rocks family heart to heart, it’s time for a parade of a BUNCH of new characters:

Manta Ray Jack: Man at Arms of House Cheddar and one of Amethar’s Ravening War buddies. A literal 2 foot tall cube of cheese. He also has a tattoo of a Manta Ray on his arm which isn’t important to the plot but is important to me that you know.

Sir Morris Brie: Knight of House Cheddar, Master of State to the Duchess (who we’ll get to next) and another Dairy Island buddy of Amethar.

Duchess Primsy Coldbottle: A literal bottle of milk, 16-year-old regent of House Cheddar (Duchess of Lacramor specifically) and ruler of the Dairy Islands. On a nat 20, Ruby knows that Prince Tarthur Cheddar was the prince during the Ravening Wars but died. She also knows about…

Captain Annabelle Cheddar: (Captain of the Colby) who is this cool, naval, battle-ready lady that Ruby sees hanging out with a bunch of solider women fighters and having a great time while Primsy is talking to her advisors. Apparently, Anabelle should be the rightful heir to the Dairy Islands but was stripped of her title because she refused to marry (hmm) which Ruby thinks is sick as hell. She goes to chat her up and finds out that she’ll be fighting in the Melee part of the tourney.

Senator Augustus Ciabatta: A full bread person who’s a senator from the very populous Ceresia and he’s throwing coins to the people from his palanquin. (I want it on the record that I feel an episode called Bread and Circuses coming.)

Prince Cabbage: The adult son of King Cabbage. His palanquin is the second largest. The largest belongs to...

Hierophant Rex Belizabeth Brassica: She is basically the Bulb Pope. She’s like a green woman with broccoli hair. She and Lapin have met before before she became pope. They quickly talk and she invites him to tag along as they pay their respects to the Emperor. He agrees to go. She’s followed around by Archbishop Onionpatch (another Primogen from Greenhold in Vegetania).

Theo is a little nervous about Amethar cozying up to all these dairy people considering the attack but Amethar insists he can handle himself. There’s a big feast set up and Amethar goes to talk to Primsy who is just super sweet and seems to know she has a lot of responsibility that she is trying her level best to uphold. She’s like the anti Jet and Ruby and Brennan...if something happens to her...I swear...

Anyway, Theo is scanning the room for trouble and he sees (1) That Anabelle is looking at Amethar forlornly from across the room (maybe like she wishes she could be in the room where it happens so to speak?) and (2) there is a young Dairy nobleman stealth flirting with Primsy. Amethar asks Sir Brie about the attack and he says they had nothing to do with it. They don’t have the resources after the war which was fought largely in the Dairy Isles. He seems to blame Anabelle at least partially for the diminished power of House Cheddar based on the dirty look he shoots her when he mentions the state of the state. Amethar reiterates that the alliance between Candia and the Dairy Isles is solid and Manta Ray Jack pops in to casually drop that Amethar had a war girlfriend (lover? idk what the proper terminology is here) in the Far East Isles back in the day so I’m sure that’s gonna become relevant at the worst possible moment.

Brennan also curses us by unleashing Thad (Jet’s avocado pen pal boyfriend) onto the story and as soon as Jet re-meets this poncy, French-y, horny, avocado she’s like “I made a huge mistake” and later gets him to “meet her outside” so she can ditch him.

Theo goes with Liam to check up on Primsy because he’s concerned with whatever is going on with her and that cheese boy who he learns is her traveling companion--Lord Stilton Curdeau. And it’s covered by cologne but his cheese stink is familiar. He wants to alert Amethar but Amethar is currently eyeing Basha Myaso (Warlord of the Beef Clans and ruler of all of the Meatlands) who is glaring at him. On Calroy’s advice, he squares up with Basha who implies that Candia is responsible for the false flag attack. Amethar tells him to “watch [his] fucking mouth.” Diplomacy!

Meanwhile, Lapin is with the Pontifex in the Great Food Pyramid (which is, of course, a thing). She introduces him to Sir Keradin Deeproot who is this super buff super intense carrot Paladin. We learn that Lapin isn’t an archbishop and his title of primogen comes from his status as a “miracle worker”. Apparently, Miracle working is very uncommon even though the Bulbian church is so massive. When asked, Onionpatch says that things in Vegetania are fine except that King Belvedere Cabbage is infirm. Another Priogem--this one of Cersia--joins them, the Archbishop Fettucina Alfredi who is this very classically beautiful looking, toga wearing woman with glowing eyes--she’s also a miracle worker. Lapin is like, “Oh fuck,” because if she’s magic too then she might be able to tell that he’s not actually on the level.

Lapin veers away from Alfredi and chats up the Pontifex who says Brightgarden is OK but they're currently dealing with a murder of an archbishop in the Meatlands (the Archbishop Raddica). Lord Basha is looking for who did it and the Pontifex wants them brought to justice ASAP. Alfredi brings up the attack on the road and wonders about the rumors she heard about strange magic. Lapin, sweating bullets, lies and says that he thinks it was the work of the Bulb. On a 14 Deception from Lapin, Alfredi thinks lavender fog would be a weird Bulbian intercession. It sounds more like something a false good she’s heard about from Candia would do. What’s her name? The Sugarplum Fairy? Lapin, with a 25 Persuasion check, is able to wave that off as primitive backwoods things that he’s working to stamp out in Candia. That’s enough to get the Pontifex on his side and they go up to see the Emperor.

Outside of his room is his daughter--Lady Plumbeline Uvano--who is lowkey very upset about something. She greets them and then takes the Pontifex in to talk to the Emperor while Lapin waits outside with Alfredi and Kerradin. When she’s done paying the respects of the church, the whole holy crew goes back to the party. Before Lapin splits off, the Pontifex does a little pull aside with him about Candia’s role in the war and how she thinks, with him at the helm, Candia is in good hands.

At Sir Theo's suggestion, Amethar has the Candy Crew stand with the Cheese Peeps during the announcement of the tourney which is a big deal because it’s a symbol that the alliance is still on even though they were attacked by cheese bandits. Primsy introduces herself to the princesses and gives them cool, milksilk handkerchiefs she embroidered herself with a candy cane crossed with a cheese cube on a stick with their house words: There is Strength in Sweetness. She doesn’t have one for Liam but gives him hers (it has her house words: Keep Sharp) on the condition he joins the archery competition and fights for her. With not a 15 between the 6 of them (even w/ multiple help actions) none of the PCs have presents for anyone else.

The tourney is announced. There are three events, each with a dope prize. Winner of the melee gets a boon from the emperor at the end of his rule. The winner of the archery contest gets a seat on the Cornucopian Council, the title of Master of Arrows, and is made advisor to the next emperor (which seems like a LOT to put on a person whose main skill is “can shoot arrows well” but OK sure). The winner of the joust gets to name a candidate for Emperor from any class or house they wish and their choice must be considered. Ruby and Liam join the archery contest. Theo signs up for the joust. Jet is hesitant but Amethar convinces her to join the melee with him. She also scratches “The Dairy Islands Rule!” into a piece of wood for Primsy and she’s charming enough that Primsy doesn’t think it’s a slipshod afterthought.

An imperial courier shows up and tells Theo the Emperor wants to talk to Amethar. He brings all the PCs and Calroy. Lady Plumbeline is still outside her dad’s room and she’s still pissed. On a 24 Insight check, Theo can tell that--as I suspected from episode 1--she is pretty ticked that she has all this institutional knowledge and competence and experience but, because of an arbitrary rule, she can’t take the throne. She tells Amethar (who she met when she was a teen) that they need to limit how many people go in as to not overwhelm him. He takes Lapin and Theo (who gives Sprinkle to Jet) and goes in to talk to Uvano.

Uvano, as we already know, was another Ravening War buddy of Amethar’s and another person he’s seen piss and shit--which we learn because that’s apparently how Amethar classifies who his best friends are. They talk the way old buddies do and Uvano asks what he would say about his life taking a surprising turn. Amethar says that if it was anyone else asking, he probably wouldn’t be on board but for Uvano? He’ll do it. That’s just what he wanted to hear.

And that’s where we end the episode without rolling initiative because the combat in the next episode is all fun and games and to quote Lou Wilson--who I suspect is about to become the wrongest person in D20 history--“It’s all sparring. Nobody is going to get killed.”

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.

You Should Know

Country Accents seen to be as follows: Dairy (Scottish), Meat (Russian), Fruit (French), Grain (Italian), Candy (American/British)

In the long awaited sequel to “Kristen Has -3 Dex,” Liam has a -2 to Charisma.

Ruby speaks Lacra (Dairy-speak).

The Meatlander gods include The Great Cow, The Great Boar, and The Great Hen.

The head beef dude has a super jacked T-Bone steak wife who I assume we’ll get a name for during the melee next episode. Update, courtesy of @fjordgofurther--we did get a name this ep. Her name is Scravoya.

The Bulbian concept of hell/the devil involves the “Hungry Ones” which just serves to underline that Brennan really did think this crazy thing all the way through and still decided to not do it but to DO it.

Everyone levels up every episode I believe since D20 uses milestone leveling for the main seasons but Ruby and Jet leveled up twice to level 3 to help catch them up a little now that they have a story reason to be stronger.

Things I’m Concerned About

Uvano is only in his 60s. Like, people die in their 60s but that detail casually mentioned in a setting like this always brings up the possibility of poison or some other kind of sabotage.

The second Brennan mentioned the daughter of Uvano in passing ep 1, I clocked it and the situation is basically what I was anticipating it seems. Like, of course she’s pissed. I would be too. I wonder if either the boon or the chance to offer up a candidate could be used to override the Concord rules? Either way, gotta keep an eye on her. Also, I noticed the little flippant remark she had for the Pontifex (“This is Fructerra, I’m dressed for court.”) and I don’t know if that’s distaste for the church or something more personal but it seemed interesting enough to mention.

I know that the improvisational nature of D&D means that there’s not foreshadowing in the same way that you have in something fully set like a book or a movie but every time the Rocks family gets together for a sweet (ha) conversation (“We just want to protect you, Pop.”) I am just more and more sure we are being set up for a fall.

Lou Wilson’s defining trait as a D&D player is doing what his character would do and letting it play out to its logical conclusion, consequences be damned--consequences be welcomed even. And Amethar is--como se dice--no Calroy when it comes to politics. I can’t imagine these facts at up to any kind of happy sum.

Also, speaking of, I wanna trust Calroy, but I can’t. He’s too good at this. He’s too competent. He knows too much information and Amethar trusts him too much. Hope he proves me wrong but I will not be made a fool of by a slice of cake. Do you hear me Brennan? I REFUSE.

I've only had Primsy for a week, but if anything happened to her, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself. No but, seriously, if she is just as she appears to be (and this is GoT so I guess it’s not off the table that she’s secretly like bad and it would have taken a 30 Insight check to find out) then MAN I am so scared for her. Characters who are just trying their best to do a good job are my Kryptonite and she is as much in the wrong genre as the twins are. Moreso even.

I’m concerned Amethar has a cheesecake baby somewhere out there that’s gonna end up being a Problem. Oh my god what if one of the twins dies and their backup character is Amethar’s illegitimate kid?

The Bulbian Church has so much power but so little magic which seems...odd. Also, just curious, what is a Paladin without divine magic? Isn’t that just a fighter?

I very much vibe with the concept of Alfredi as a character but lol I was STRESSED for Lapin during that whole conversation and I feel like that’s gonna be my default state for him all season.

I’m concerned (or maybe just suspicious) that there’s more to the backstory with Theo and Lazuli than we heard. That little extra narration from Brennan about swearing he could feel her smile? Mmm, OK.

Five More Things

The character art for this season cracks me up because Brennan clearly gave the artist for this season two lists and one list was labeled “Hot” and one was labeled “Ridiculous” and that’s how we got characters like Primsy and Calroy in the same scene as Anabelle and Grissini and the funniest part is Brennan’s absolute refusal to play any of these characters like they’re any more or less ridiculous than any of the others. He’s like, “The hot pasta woman is valid and the talking cheese cube is EQUALLY VALID.”

“Not this season. Not season five.” Very bold of Brennan to be outraged about Emily trying to ride a living sprinkle dog like that's the ridiculous thing about a world with a living sprinkle dog.

The Sucorsi Road running into the Glucian Road for Sucrose and Glucose is the kind of worldbuilding detail that I love.

I was gonna be so mad at Brennan for the nonsense that is the name “Belizabeth” but he said on Adventuring Party that he was specifically dunking on GRRM with that so he gets a pass this time.

You know that famous Pixar meeting/lunch where they came up with Bugs Life, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E in one conversation? I bet Brennan had a similar brainstorming sesh where he came up with Garthy, Anabelle, and two other thirst traps that haven’t been introduced yet. Like come on. He described her hair as, “princely”? Brennan is trying to kill some of y’all.

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #a crown of candy #a crown of candy spoilers #the royal report

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wheredidhiseyebrowsgo · 4 years

Note

Hi! Do you have any recs for Scisaac where there’s no supernatural? They’re just humans?

Yeah! And the tag for more.

Babe by scisaac_the_socio

(1/1 I 1,040 I Mature)

Day 2: Ass Worship | Begging

Betrayed by phasha18

(1/1 I 1,230 I Teen)

A Letter to Scott from Stiles. Complete with interruptions while he's writing.

We all thought that you Scott McCall, were a better person than that. You lied to him telling him that you hated his guts, he couldn't have been more heartbroken than that. What was the point? If the point was to slowly destroy him then you succeeded. He hates you for your little lie, but damn it he doesn't know it was a lie, why? Because you, you didn't tell him. I still don't get why you didn't tell him you knew that it would tear him in half.

Always Coming Back To You by writingawaymylife

(1/1 I 4,529 I Teen)

Another Human AU also with D/S. Isaac is a submissive who is looking for his rightful Dom. He gets used and then passed along to the point where he starts to think that he'll never be good enough for any Dom, but there is one who can't get him out of his head.

Cold Ice, Cold Eyes by ScarredMuzzle

(6/? I 5,395 I Teen)

Liam is a hockey player who just won the Stanley Cup.

Theo is a homeless stripper who's trying to make ends meet.

Scott's drunk.

Against the Walls by killym

(1/1 I 6,073 I Teen)

Scott hang the camera over his neck and sat on the floor with his legs crossed and knees tucked under his chin. He sighed loudly, reconsidering speaking up one last time, before he asked “What do you do when your life stops making sense and nothing matters anymore?”He looked up just to find her staring down at him, her eyes full of pity. He could tell it was pity because she sank down next to him, mirroring his pose before speaking softly.“You just find something that matters and it helps you make sense of it all over again.”

A story about hopes and risks and how it all gets better. Because it has to get better, right?

haunt my heart down, boo by maraudersourwolf

(1/1 I 12,466 I Explicit)

Ghost are real.

His abuelita told him many time when he was a kid. And sure, he actually believed it. Who doesn’t believe their grandparents? On his eyes of a little 7 years old, his abuelita was a never ending source of knowledge that was in the world since the beginnings of time and not her roughly 60 years. If she said ghost were real, he better believe they were.

As he grew up, it kinda lost its appeal too.

Now, he wishes he believed her more.

Bend, Don't Break by orphan_account

(3/8 I 20,099 I Teen)

Isaac is arguably self-destructive, and Scott may or may not be the one to save him.

Can Anybody Help? by Thananx

(7/? I 28,256 I Mature)

'How long has it been.. since I've even felt it?'

~'Who could ever love someone like you? Broken, worthless, a fucking fag who can't do anything right!'~

"Because I'm worthless and broken... I can't do anything right..."

Isaac never realized when he repeats or responds to the voices in his head thay he whispers them. But it only ever happens when he's around Scott.His walls are cumbling. The masks are broken. And he's breaking down.

How far gone will Isaac be before he gives himself a chance?

Here and Now by tonystarksicle

(10/10 I 85,709 I Teen)

Isaac Lahey expects this summer to be like any other: he'll divide his time between avoiding his father and working at Derek Hale's diner. But when Scott McCall and his best friend come to town, things start to change.

Not For Ever by GstarRoss

(19/19 I 100,818 I Mature)

Scott came out to his best friend a couple of months ago but for some reason is the most awkward boy ever around guys he likes. Stiles comes up with an ingenious way for Scott to pop his cherry... enter Isaac, a hooker who's heart maybe isn't quite as well shielded as he thought it was.

AU: The adventures of sassy hooker Isaac and ever faithful Scott.

#teen wolf #scisaac #scott mccall #isaac lahey #first date #anon #Anonymous

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wednesdaysxreaders · 4 years

Text

please don’t be dead: part one

lowercase is a stylistic choice

angst in the house tonite bois

EDIT I FORGOT TRIGGER WARNINGS

summary: things are going good for dallas and brett, until they aren’t.

word count: 2409

warnings: mentions of suicide and selfharm, abuse of position/power, panic attacks

“miss branson? can i speak with you in my office?”

dallas looked from liam and mason to the new guidance counselor, then back to her friends—who looked at her in confusion.

“um, sure, miss monroe. . .” she said nervously.

miss monroe gave her a sickly-sweet smile and started towards her office; dallas gave her friends one last glance as she followed.

monroe opened the door to her office and stopped dead in her tracks.

dallas peeked around her and caught sight of a hunting knife sticking out of her desk. “please tell me that’s just a student with a sick sense of humor. . .

monroe spun around a grabbed her arm—way too roughly to be an appropriate way for a guidance counselor to handle a student—and yanked her into the office, pulling the door shut beside her.

“sit,” she commanded with that same sickly-sweet smile and the voice to match.

dallas swallowed hard, obeying hesitantly. she gripped the straps of her backpack tightly in her hands as monroe sat in her own chair.

“do you know why you’re here?” she asked.

dallas shook her head.

monroe grabbed a file sitting at the corner of her desk and flipped it open. “six confessions to attempted suicide, multiple recorded breakdowns, history of self harm—you even have a recorded stay at a hospital. what’s it going to take for you to snap?”

“e-excuse me?”

monroe swiped the file off her desk, a move that made dallas flinch, and pulled the knife from the wood. “i know what you are.”

“y-you d-don’t know shit—” dallas insisted.

it was then she noticed the words scrawled in red on the whiteboard above monroe’s head.

opportunities multiply as they are seized

she recognized them instantly. they had been spoken to her by the only human man to strike fear into her heart. the man that had tried to recruit her to his cause alongside his son until he found out what she was.

gerard argent.

“you were there,” monroe said, smiling at the belief that she was the cause of the tears coming to the girl’s eyes. “the night that thing attacked the faculty members. i saw you. you and your friends stood and did nothing while that thing got away. you don’t deserve the power you have. what makes you so special?”

dallas stood up so quickly her chair fell over. “you know, i really wish i knew— but i have to catch the bus— see ya, bi—miss monroe—”

she swung her backpack over her shoulder and nearly busted the door down in her escape. she didn’t take the bus and she knew monroe knew it. she just had to get to the lacrosse field where there were witnesses—and more importantly, liam. if monroe tried anything liam could back her up.

she sprinted down the halls so hard her ribs felt like they were going to implode on her lungs, but she made it to the backdoors without passing out. once she was safely outside, she breathed a sigh of relief and slowed to an inconspicuous speed walk towards the field.

she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw brett walking to the field with lori. she really wished she had had it in her to return his smile, because she knew the second she didn’t he could tell something was up.

“hey,” she greeted as nonchalantly as she could muster as she leaned against the fence separating the field from the bleachers.

“are you okay?” he asked. “you look like you’ve been crying.”

fuck.

she quickly wiped her eyes. “no— uh— it’s just— school is really bad for my anxiety—”

it wasn’t technically a lie, so she hoped like hell it passed his built-in werewolf lie detector.

“are you gonna stay and watch?” he asked, pretending he believed it.

“considering scott's not picking me up until 4:30, yeah,” she said. “y’know, i feel like liam told me you were coming but i totally forgot.”

“i’m helping him coach the freshmen, i guess,” he said. “they wanna make front line.”

she snorted. “well, unfortunately for them, they don’t have supernatural steroids.”

“are you saying we cheat?” he asked with a chuckle, placing his hand over hers on the fence.

she yanked her hand away and instantly regretted it.

she hated seeing the hurt look on his face and knowing she caused it.

"you know. . . every time i think we're getting somewhere, you just go and push me away again. . ."

"wait. . ." she caught his hand as he turned to walk away. "you're right. . ." she sighed. "tell you what. . . you take it easy on the freshmen out there. . . and i'll go to dinner with you tonight. . ."

he looked unsure. "really?"

"yeah. . ." she said, struggling horribly to bite back a smile.

he grinned. "you have yourself a deal."

“liam, too. i mean it.”

he winked at her as he turned to go meet liam in the center of the field, and she turned around to step up into the bleachers.

she sat down on the top row, putting her feet up on the next row and resting her elbow on her knee.

and so it started—brett showing off to the freshman and inching his way under liam’s skin like he did best.

and poor corey was in the middle of it.

brett was good, she still couldn’t deny—probably the best player she knew, not that she’d tell anyone she thought so—but she found herself wondering if he still would have been as good without his werewolf senses.

maybe, she thought. because werewolf or not he probably still would have worked his ass off for a whole summer until he was so good that devenford prep was practically begging him to join—thus putting him in a position to negotiate a scholarship for lori as well.

“hey!” mason called, snapping her out of her thoughts and drawing her attention from the field. “what did miss monroe want?”

“nothing,” she said quickly as he and lori sat in the row in front of her. “just checking in.”

“huh.” why is she such a bad liar? “well, uh, corey's been practicing all summer to play goalie. he's actually gotten really good.”

if life were a tv show, that would have been the moment they cut to corey getting completely made a fool of by brett. mason sighed.

“the season doesn’t start for at least a week,” lori said comfortingly.

“thank god,” mason said.

“hey, he’s probably perfectly okay compared to regular high school boys, brett’s just—” watch it. “brett.” nailed it.

mason considered her words. “right, right.”

things were once again going fine until liam figured out brett’s tactics, blocking brett’s path all the way to the net, where they collided—taking corey and the net with them.

everyone that was watching groaned at the audible crack.

“um, was that liam, brett, or corey?” mason asked.

dallas shrugged. “for brett’s sake, let’s hope it was him.”

whether or not she was joking, she wasn’t sure.

“i think it was all of them,” lori said.

mason groaned again, and dallas rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

brett was the first to stand, and she didn’t have to see liam’s face to know he was glaring at him. it’s how these things went down.

she tried to focus her hearing so she could pick up what they were saying.

“you’re losing it, dude,” brett said, chuckling as he backed away.

she knew liam was very, very pissed off.

for fucks sake, brett, don’t antagonize him in front of all these people.

they started another play, and she could hear liam’s growly breathing.

“please, liam, keep it together,” she whispered, hoping he heard her.

brett picked up the ball and charged liam, but liam used his own tactics against him and flipped him over his shoulder, then picked up the ball and turned and shot it towards the goal so hard corey dropped down to avoid taking it to the throat. the ball broke right through the net and vanished somewhere in the parking lot.

liam looked towards her and she tried to smile, but all she could manage was a shaky breath.

normal teenage boys broke holes in nets all the time, right? her brother did it with a hockey puck once—

a hockey puck, she thought. not a lacrosse ball.

brett ran up to him, and once again she focused her hearing.

“there he is. that’s the ied i remember,” he said. “what’s it stand for? intermittent explosive disorder? what’s it gonna take for you to explode, liam?”

liam tried to walk away, but brett pushed him back.

“i’m trying to help you. you’re not in control, and if you don’t fix it, someone’s gonna get hurt.”

she didn’t know then how right he was, but the feeling in her stomach when she caught sight of miss monroe picking up the rogue ball should have told her something terrible was going to happen. monroe looked up towards the field just in time to see corey be knocked on his ass by a ball shot by brett, and dallas almost threw up then and there.

she couldn’t know anything, right? corey was scrawny and brett was significantly more muscular. it was a totally plausible happening.

she would wish she had listened to her gut.

to make matters worse, brett took off his helmet. she saw his face.

“i’m not actually invisible right now, am i?” corey asked.

brett chuckled and shook his head, jogging over to help him up.

meanwhile, on the bleachers, dallas's nails had dug into her palm so hard they were drawing blood and she was whispering the sun, the moon, the truth to herself so quickly the words almost became jumbled.

“dallas?” lori sounded miles away. “dallas, are you alright?”

“fine,” she managed. “just— my senses— it's really fucking bright out here and i can hear everything and i think i’m starting to have a panic attack—”

“is there anything we can do?” mason asked.

she shook her head. “i don’t know, but i think i hear the jeep so i gotta go. . .”

she grabbed her bag and scrambled off the bleachers. it was almost a smooth getaway, until—

“hey, dally!”

she turned back to face brett, trying to hide any sign she was losing her fucking mind. she hated how he could read her like a book.

“are we on for tonight?” he asked.

she rose a brow. “am i supposed to ignore the fact you basically broke my one rule?”

“i was helping him.”

she sighed, trying to fake irritation. “fine, yeah, we're on. text me when you’re done here, okay?”

“you got it.”

he leaned in and kissed her cheek before jogging over to lori and mason, effectively shocking her frozen. she felt like she literally could not move for a solid few seconds before she snapped out of it, touching her cheek as she started her walk to the jeep. is this what butterflies felt like? no, butterflies were bullshit. they had to be. there's no way a human body could feel such a sensation, right?

once she got in the car, scott regarded her with concern.

“are you okay?” he asked.

“if one more person asks me that, i might scream,” she mumbled, still kind of in a daze.

scott backed out of his parking spot. “what’s up, then?”

“i’m pretty sure i have a date tonight.”

“isn’t that a good thing?” he asked.

“i’ve never been on a date before. . .” she said.

he glanced at her. “seriously? two past relationships and neither of them ever took you out?”

“no.” she looked out the window, far into the distance. “not unless you count the eighth grade dance with summer, but we were more there with our friends than just each other. . .”

“fuck them.”

for the first time since monroe had dragged her to her office, she laughed. “yeah, fuck them.”

when he pulled into the driveway of his—their? it still felt weird acknowledging that she lived there—house, she tried not to trip over herself running into the house. it felt like it took her an eternity to walk back through the living room and kitchen, then finally the laundry room to get to her room.

ellie looked up from her phone. “finally, you’re back. please explain to me why you turned the garage into your room again. i’m fucking freezing.”

“i have six thousand blankets on my bed for a reason,” she said. “now help me dress like a normal person.”

once she was dressed, she tried not to let herself focus too much on waiting for brett to text, but she was anxious—eager?—for it to happen.

when it hit the three-hour mark, she shot up off her bed. “i’m going to the school.”

“maybe they haven’t finished yet,” ellie said.

“they had to have. the freshman players' parents usually pick them up at 7.”

ellie sat up. “what time is it now?”

“8.”

as if to confirm her fear, her phone buzzed, but it wasn’t brett.

liam: tell brett i’ve got his helmet.

“i’m going to the school,” she repeated.

“wait, wait, let me get my shoes on,” ellie said. “i’ll drive you. i know you wouldn’t want to crash your car.”

ellie drove as fast as she possibly could without getting pulled over, she knew it, but dallas still nearly anxiously pulled her whole lip off as they headed to the school.

ellie pulled into the rear parking lot and dallas was out of the car before she even put it in park.

on the other side of the lot, she saw it.

brett's car.

she ran over, stopping dead in her tracks when she caught the scent of blood.

there it was, staining the pavement, splattered over his gym bag and even his lacrosse stick. but right by the crime scene, something else caught her eye.

it was the ball from earlier, it had to be. she picked it up and turned it in her hand. there were punctures in the ball—definitely claws, definitely liam’s. but there was something else— a purple powder—

she spun to face ellie. “wolfsbane.”

without any further thought, she dropped the ball and started towards the neighboring woods faster than she had ever run in her life, shouting at the top of her lungs.

“brett!”

#teen wolf #teen wolf oc #teen wolf fanfiction #brett talbot #brett talbot x oc #brett talbot fanfiction #liam dunbar #lorilee rohr #mason hewitt #corey bryant #scott mccall #tamora monroe #ellie williams

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mydoorin · 3 years

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this is long and made for no one but myself

I like certain aspects of C1, and a lot of Vox Machina is endearing and wonderful, but I find all of the first campaign really hard to watch

From a player and a DM perspective I just cannot watch a 5 1/2 long episode with half the cast yelling over each other and the other half doing world-breaking shit. I know there was a sort of loosey-goosey transition between their Pathfinder homegames and 5e, and Matt and Taliesin are used to editions older than 4th even, but there were a lot of times when I felt basic rules got swept under the rug for Vax and Percy but were unfairly or even sometimes incorrectly applied to Keyleth and Vex. Vax literally broke the game multiple times, and I know a lot of the campaign was like Matt’s gift to Liam, but it’s a campaign with 8 of your friends that you’re now producing as a show so it can’t just be about the one guy anymore. No one likes playing D&D where one character is literally touched by fate and can move 120 feet and doing 5 attacks a round. even if the rest of the team are like, high level barbarians fighters and spellcasters it feels unbalanced and it isn’t fun to watch.

a lot of the combat mechanics in C1 feel sloppy too, in terms that PCs didnt know their own character abilities or had a misunderstanding of how Action-Bonus Action-Reaction 5e combat works. It’s not really anyone’s fault, that happens when you change game systems, but to the point that I actually skip combat scenes, which unfortunately can be like a majority of the episode (and have really important character moments, like death). the Kraken fight comes to mind (there aren’t 40 feet fast eels Keyleth I’m sorry), it felt like Grog had the best grasp on his character’s mechanics and goals, and I was yelling at the screen for the other PCs to look at their character sheets. i dont know why Keyleth wasnt a water elemental to start or why Vax didn’t spend all his time stealth-investigating for the lodestones or why Percy didnt think to try luring the beast or talking to it or why Vex didn’t- actually Vex did everything she could Rangers have massive drawbacks. But!! These are issues I have with VM in most fights, theyve gotten better in their level 20 one shots, but still there I want them to please read their character sheets, bc Keyleth is an archdruid who doesnt use spell components anymore and can cast from Wild Shape and that’s tight as hell. Vex’s character mechanics still suck at level 20 but that is not her fault at all 5e literally just hates Rangers. And can we talk about that? Why do Rangers not get half the shit other classes get? How come Rangers have to wait until level 17 to use hide as a bonus action? Rogues get that at 2nd level. Anyway.

I think another part of it comes from player experience, and what kind of PCs are and are not fun to have at the table. Personally I dont like the fate touched concept, I don’t have fun as a player when one character is designed from the start to be more special and important, esp when that character talks about hating it so much all the time. TBH I don’t know why Vax is such a shit about the Raven Queen deal it seems like you got something no one else has ever gotten (she let you have your sister back bro) and you literally signed up for this. A God is giving you Special Awesome God Powers that make you more of a terrifying game breaking monster and you’re gonna keep calling the Raven Queen a bitch? for what? because you didn’t check for traps? because you didnt have a spellcaster that could use telekinesis? what about that situation wasnt entirely character choices lmao

betwen Vax and Percy (dont get me started on Mr. I Know Better Than Everyone, i really fucking hate PCs like that and i will fight about my distaste for percival von frankenstein monsterenergydrink the third) there are a lot of moments in C1 that aren’t fun to watch bc I know they arent fun for everyone at the table to play. it can be really cool to watch someone else’s backstory unfold, but if that’s all you’re doing it’s super easy to check out (I dont think it’s an RP decision when Grog has no idea what’s happening, I too haven’t been listening to Percy argue about this inconsequential thing to no one in particular) think of all the early C2 Caleb-Beau moments when it was clear half the tabl wasn’t paying attention, and how quickly that was resolved after people voiced their opinions on it (Matt for sure talked to them about dominating RP and making too many smaller moments that leave out the rest of the table, I wish a certain wizard would take it to heart), but that didnt feel like a conversation anyone had during the first campaign.

maybe it’s because i didnt watch C1 live or because I watched C2 first, but I have- not even a preference really a deference to the Mighty Nein. I think they’re more fun, more entertaining to watch, more emotionally involved and driven, better developed and created, better in all aspects, smarter and funnier and sexier than Vox Machina. I dont care about high fantasy stories with legendary heroes that are basically gods that is such a boring way to play D&D, I want the dumbass characters to use and magic to play pranks on local shopkeepers and i want the lesbians to have a slow burn romance.

I dont even wanna touch on C1 romance bc like, gag me with a spoon I don’t like the way Kashaw or Vax interact with Keyleth theyre both so fucking annoying. Idk why men cant be normal and talk to the fantasy girl they have a fantasy crush on, but Fjord managed just fucking fine.

i need to go back to sleep but in essence my opinions are that C1 was a classic 1980s D&D campaign that would have made Gary Gygax proud. And now that D&D is a lot better than it was in the 80s, more accessible and a lot less shitty, we can have cool modern fantasy stories that expect more from PCs, DMs, and the audience. We can do cooler, better things than we used to, and the structure of 5e actually helps facilitate more roleplaying between characters. The 5e PHB has whole sections devoted to roleplaying your character, and now Tasha’s gives everyone a way to get rid of stupid racist features and make your characters cooler. I’m really happy to see the progession of both WOTC and Critical Role into better, cooler, more awesome and less shitty versions of themselves (this isnt a WOTC defense post im not a shill they should pay the Dragonlance writers)

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done-dm · 5 years

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Talks Machina Summary, SDCC Panel 2019

We get a sneak peak at the first three pages of the second issue of Vox Machina Origins (out August 14th) as well as a reading by the cast.

Ashley and Matt never really discussed what happened to Pike's cousin JB at the end of the first campaign. According to Ashley, "they all died." I mean, I guess that's true eventually...

When asked what was the biggest lesson each member of the cast has taken away from their experience together and journey with Critical Role, Liam said it's all about the people you travel with. For Matt, it was about making their friendship the top priority and allowing everything else to happen as a result. Sam has enjoyed growing closer to his friends.

When asked what was a favorite roleplay moment from campaign 1 or 2 that did not involve their character, Travis said one of his was when Vex popped out of the bathtub with Percy. Sam appreciates anything Matt Mercer does, Liam liked Avantika's demise, Laura (as much as she hated it at the time) loved Scanlan's arc when he left the group, Marisha liked some of the Percy vs Vax standoffs, Matt mentioned Percy and Grog's fight beneath the keep. Liam added another favorite moment with Percy and Vex's interactions in Syngorn, and Taliesin answered that he particularly loved Beau's moment with the pirate king.

When Matt was asked about how it was adapting critical role into animation and "handing off the voices in your head to different people," Matt admitted that adapting the show is difficult when trying to take hundreds of hours of time spent playing and condense it into a season. There are some changes he feels make sense and others he is absolutely unwilling to compromise on: "This isn't mainstream media, this is Critical Role!" He's excited about the process of casting people to voice the various NPCs.

"Given the ever growing pervasiveness of Sam's D&D Beyond sketches at the beginning of each episode, at what point can we expect a day of the Twitch channel to be dedicated to an entire Sam Riegel D&D Beyond telethon?" Sam's response? "That's legitimately a great idea." So, that might be something to look forward to.

Marisha was asked how playing characters with very different opinions of authority has impacted how she handles her position of authority in the company. Marisha's leadership journey with Geek and Sundry coincided with the beginning of Keyleth's journey, and she learned a lot from the experience. Beau helps he to be more assertive in her opinions. She discusses her role as creative director and how certain projects become reality.

When Liam was asked if he chose spells more to optimize the party mechanics or fit with how his character is portrayed, Liam says it's a combination of both. Caleb has long term goals, but sometimes changes his mind to do something good for the group. Liam recently chose the spell seeming, but hasn't had a chance to use it yet.

Taliesin gets asked if there's a certain number of character deaths that would stop him from playing this campaign. According to Taliesin, "there's really only one way to find out." He's got two more ideas he's saving for the next campaign.

When asked if there were any moments or plot hooks the cast wished they had explored more from either campaign, Matt couldn't say much since they're playing in the same world and can still go after those plot threads. However, one hanging plot thread from campaign 1 will be explored in a one shot. He admits that he wished they had gone into Thordak lore more. Liam mentions being curious about the horn of Orcus, and Ashley's thoughts are still consumed by the box. (Matt mentions this during the next question, but the relationship with the clasp in Emon)

When Sam was asked if Nott was seriously considering leaving with her family, the answer was yes. Sam has been trying to justify a mother willingly leaving her family after being separated for so long. Nott loves traveling, but she really wants to be home.

Matt is asked how he balances his ungodly knowledge of D&D rules when playing to avoid min maxing constantly as a player, Matt said he sees nothing wrong with min maxing and occasionally experiments with combinations he think could be broken. However, a lot of the fun comes from quirky character combinations and there is still a need to respect newer DMs and players. He admits it takes a conscious effort to keep that in mind.

When asked about Sam's reasoning in playing two small characters with secret children, Sam says that Liam picks his characters (accounting for the small thing), his child in the first campaign was a suprise, and this campaign he wanted to bring some of his love for his own children into the game.

Matt's favorite sorrow sworn is the lonely.

When the campaign is over, Matt and Taliesin would be willing to release Molly's entire backstory.

Taliesin is asked if Cad thinks he will meet his family at the kiln and what does he think about confronting them given his recent experiences. Cad hopes his family will be there and is "built on expectations." He feels like there will be something great there.

Ashley says it feels weird for Yasha to be an NPC, but she's in good hands with Matt. Depending on when Ashely gets back, she may have to make another character.

When Matt was asked how he makes sure each member of the party gets enough attention, he said it took a bit of preparation and doesn't always work out. Trying to consider the things they might go into that play to their individual strengths can make each member feel helpful. A lot of it also comes from players communicating with each other before it becomes an issue.

Sam is asked about his experiences playing a bard that was barely resurrected by a player whose character is going through something similar. Sam recommends maybe mixing up the type of music the character plays or making her motivations more selfish or self-protective.

If Matt could give his past self starting the livestream advice, he would tell himself not to stress out so much about what people on the internet think of you and that what he is doing is right.

If Beau were a druid, her wild shape would be an owl: "Take that Thaddeus."

When asked about the difference between Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein in how Vox Machina was much quicker to involve themselves in things, Marisha says Vox Machina quickly got involved with higher ups and that the Mighty Nein is more about fighting for the everyman. Laura adds that it was easier to tell good from bad in the first campaign.

Matt is still working on mentally and physically preparing himself to DM the show. He reiterates the importance of making and effort and keeping friendship a top priority.

If Matt has more than 20 minutes to drive somewhere, he's usually brainstorming for D&D. He also sets aside certain evenings and sometimes a frantic Thursday morning to get things prepped.

Also, since this is late, if anyone want to scream about the last episode with me I am always down. No spoilers, but that whole second half was epic!!!

#critical role #critical role spoilers #critrole #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #sdcc19 #vexahlia #vex'ahlia #cr vex #cr scanlan #scanlan shorthalt #vaxildan #cr percy #percival de rolo #percy de rolo #cr beauregard #beauregard lionett #cr keyleth

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lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

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Quick Thoughts on TRH Book 1 Chapter 6

• It's YEEHAW time everyone!

• And also raise a middle finger to logic as we see the MC wear something that she should have probably lent to the Platinum MC for a country performance, rather than for farm work.

• There's also the bit where she randomly takes a pregnancy test coz she feels nauseous (yes I know. It's plot related and is probably done to show a false negative. But you need to time these things, MC! The best time to look for a double line is closer to the time you're supposed to be having your period, if your period is regular).

• Screenshot Credits:

Hana: @pixieferry

Drake: @thefirstcourtesan

Maxwell: The Abhirio YouTube channel.

• These are the tags you can block if you don't want to see these posts: #long post, #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs.

• Drake has an AUNT? Please don't give me any more family members, I'm done dealing with the ones he already has.

• I'm wondering if Leona exists so that PB can do some serious retconning on Bianca's behalf. After all, when she appeared in the Drake playthroughs of Book 3, there wasn't much of a positive reception for her - with some players even saying that the MC should have a few choice words to say to her - and for good reason.

• Title: Home, Home on the Range

So whatever little knowledge I do have about a place like Texas is from films and pop culture, so this might not be new information to you but it is to me! 😁 So I'm probably going to be a gazillion times more excited about sharing it than you guys might be to read it! Bear with me for a sec.

From what I'm reading, "Home, Home on the Range" seems to a western folk song that's so popular it's considered an unofficial anthem in that region. Its origin was from a poem called "My Western Home" from a Kansas native called Dr Brewster M Highly, in 1872 (it was even made Kansas' state song in 1945?). The lyrics are very...Drake:

Where the air is so pure, and the zephyrs so free,

The breezes so balmy and light,

That I would not exchange my home on the range,

For all of the cities so bright.

Mostly a very idyllic, glorified portrait of country life. You find similar sentiments in Drake's diamond scene this chapter.

• Alternative Title: We Just Needed An Excuse to Use the BSC Soundtrack Twice.

• So we meet Bianca, Drake's mother, this chapter. If you married him this is the second time you're seeing her, and if you married anyone else this is the first time and you have no clue who she is until Drake introduces her to you. She also mentions in the Drake playthrough that this is not the kind of welcome she was hoping to give her son and daughter-in-law.

• We also meet Leona, Bianca's older sister and Drake's aunt. She's extremely unimpressed with this group of nobles and largely seems to blame the nobility in general for whisking away her younger sister, leaving her alone to manage the ranch?

• She pretends not to listen much to Cordonian news while talking to Liam, but seems to have the time to keep up with Cordonian gossip while talking to us - and luckily you can call her out on it too.

• She seems the type that likes a rebellious Duchess/Queen, going by her responses to the more sarcastic options from the MC.

Hmm. This scene does two things: one, it establishes that the ranch is facing financial problems, in terms of money and staffing, and two, it possibly may build up to why Bianca had to return to the States. Both I think might become important points in the coming chapters.

• Bianca seems intent on not letting her children know anything about the fraught situation at her ranch, but Leona is having none of it. You either do your work and do it well, or she will put you through your paces. Which is exactly what is happening with Bertrand now.

• The whole theme of "we need to get pregnant, and fast" returns with the presence of Savannah, who greets us with a very excited, sociable Bartie in tow. You can choose to either pick him up and pay attention to him, ask Savannah to figure out what he wants, or ignore him completely. Whatever you choose, the topic of you becoming a mother will come up (either she comments on how you're a natural, or she will tell you that you'll eventually be able to read your own baby's signals). Savannah now joins a long, long line of people who will talk to us as if we're already pregnant (her fiancé will join this list in a couple minutes too, don't worry).

• Speaking of parents, the sole dad of the (extended) group - Bertrand - is nowhere to be found. Bianca is all praise, Leona is Unimpressed™, and Maxwell is shocked that the guy who swore never to touch fowl again after witnessing a flooded peacock enclosure is now chasing chickens. The group overall can't believe it.

• Bertrand is, in fact, chasing chickens.

• So here's the other issue that will come up. Having eventually convinced Savannah that he is serious about her and Bartie, he now wants to win the approval of the family. Bianca is more than ready to accept him, Leona is...Unimpressed™.

• This sets stage for Problem 3 of the Goings On at The Walker Ranch: Bertrand is desperate for approval and Leona seems pretty set on not giving him that. So I'm pretty sure getting her to realize that Savannah's fiancé means business and there is actually something for her to respect about him - if not love - is pretty much one of the loose ends we will have to tie up in the course of the Texas chapters.

• Savannah's laid out some clothes for everyone, so everyone gets a 'country' look and a cowboy hat.

• Like always, the outfit options come with different reactions based on the LI you're romancing:

Liam's looks nice I think, Hana is pretty (I haven't the foggiest idea of what would on a ranch so I wouldn't know how feasible - or not - these two outfits would be), Maxwell looks like he's dressed for the ranch AND for winter and Drake looks okay (like...there's a theme or something with his outfits, like he needs to have a LOT of a particular colour. Denim on denim, brown shirt brown hat).

• While Liam and Esther collectively swoon over each other, Savannah is all shocked and like "you both know we're still here, right?". Uh huh, you had no problem fangirling over Bertrand's "stern but sexy eyebrows" in public but suddenly me flirting a little with my husband is too much for you 😑

A little too much??? Listen, Esther has worn a hat that looked like it swallowed a hundred smaller hats on the way and cried in JOY at the sight. She has COMFORTED a widowed grieving Queen Mother and STARED DOWN Hana's awful parents, all with that honking big hat obscuring her face. How does a tiny puny cowboy hat with a bracelet thingy around it even compare??

• In the kitchen, Bertrand continues his woeful attempts to make conversation with Leona by revealing just how little he knows about running a ranch. Leona is Unimpressed™ (Betrand: How are the crops? Leona: We have cattle 😑. Bertrand: Who...ate the crops? Leona: 😑😑😑)

• Leona's like the adult version of the Unimpressed Sikh Child in Bollywood Hogwarts:

• We get darkly roasted coffee to help us gear up for the day's work at the ranch, and it's quite...the mouthfull. If you succeed in drinking it, you get high on coffee, and if you react to the strong taste, Leona makes a smart-alec comment about how "her highness must have wanted a chilled latte" (I forget which drink she mentioned but something similar) or something. Wish there was an option to tell her "Bertrand didn't tell me about the stick up your ass" (callback! From which book? Guess!)

• You feel slightly nauseous on the way, which is a bit of a set up to the end of the chapter.

• We split up into teams. Liam and Maxwell help with getting the hay for the horses, Hana and Drake help with sorting the tack.

Liam is a quick learner (and learns stuff just by observing), Maxwell is confused between the interests of horses and dogs, Drake is even more confused at Hana's speed, and PB has forgotten that Hana has actually ridden actual horses and would actually have at least a working idea of what actual tack with an actual horse would look like. Sure she may not have MADE tack for those horses, but you can miss me with that "imaginary horse friends" bullshit.

• See Team TRR, this is what happens when you focus on nothing else but Hana's skills. Even you fail to keep track.

• We feed the chickens (and I can see what I think are shades of Hana's upbringing in the way she says "wait your turn! one at a time!"...with chickens).

• ...there was a "no royal pets" policy in the palace that Liam waived?? No wonder we could get a corgi and Penelope could bring her poodles to court as soon as Liam became King!

• Re: Liam talking about having stuffed animals rather than pets and stating that he and Hana were on the same boat. Et tu, Liam? HOW MANY TIMES DOES HANA HAVE TO TELL YOU GUYS SHE NEVER HAD TOYS.

• I'm imagining poor young Maxwell realizing that peacocks don't like hugs and now I'm sad ☹️

• So the set up to the group scene is that none of these characters have truly experienced the joy of cuddling cute pets. It's not much even by way of a group scene, just a cute scene where the MC can direct Tiny the little calf to cuddle all these sad sad people (pushed into embroidery lessons and diplomacy sessions as children!) and cure Bertrand of his cow-suspicion (cowspicion?). The more pets you have with you the cuter it is, coz the two corgis go about acquainting themselves with everyone - the cat, the cows, everybody.

• ROE REFERENCE! We see Jess and Blake spearheading a successful business as caterers and wedding planners (did Jess take coaching from Chaz's sister-in-law Carmen? 😁) and they leave it vague (as expected, since Jess' romantic relationship with Blake is determinant - as is the possibility that Liam and Jess could be related by marriage if the RoE MC chose Leo lol) whether they're romantically involved or not, but at least this way I know they're happy with their jobs!

• Apparently they'd catered at enough disaster weddings that they decided they could do a better job

• I have two questions:

1. Did Leo ever recommend Carmen? I'm guessing not since based on whether the RoE MC married him or not, he'd probably feel more comfortable recommending family/friends than someone who - in a different playthrough - probably never really met him.

2. Why is Liam helping Bertrand and Savannah with contacts for their wedding when we ended up doing most of the searching and finding ourselves?? 🧐

• BertVannah seem to want a mix of local and Cordonian traditions: Savannah wants to recapture her parents' wedding by riding a horse down the aisle, and Bertrand asks Liam to officiate, as a royal. Maxwell and Hana will be in charge of entertainment and decorations...and the MC should not move a muscle because Bertrand has already decreed us pregnant.

• Savannah's ex Chuck is a buff ginger, and an already insecure Bertrand is made even more insecure at the sight of him. Another on the list of things PB expects us to fix in the Walker Ranch. Drake owes me both in cash, fancy hats and a lifetime supply of free smoked BBQ ribs after all this. The kind of shit a pregnant royal is expected to do...

• Time for Drake diamond scene - which is a mostly fluffy scene that takes place close to a river nearby which has a great view of the sunrise and sunset, and a ride atop a kayak.

• Here's the important stuff you can get from this scene:

- Drake knows how to build stuff (we knew this already, but here Drake talks specifically about how he and Savannah would build rafts)

- Drake sucks at taking compliments, but Drake stans who saw their MC's intro to TRH already knew that 🤭

- You get to flex your paddling muscles. Drake is...Impressed™

- Lovely sunshine

- A cute story about how Drake and Savannah had a canonball contest at this river, and happy memories of his Dad being just their dad for once, not dad + King Guard

- Drake gets to talk about the mark his father left on him, and how carefree he used to be before Jackson's death

- You can revive the cannonball contest with Drake before you head back to the estate, and if you're married you share a passionate kiss. The writers went to great lengths to describe how passionate the kiss wasqqq

If you're married to Drake, this spot is described as 'romantic' and 'private', the MC makes a joke about being the "First Mate" of Drake's heart, the usual variations. Drake also mentions that he hopes to emulate his father's way of parenting once he himself becomes a father. I'm also guessing the story of how his father and mother used to visit this lake before they had children would have an implied added importance to a married Drake trying for a child.

Funny how the assassination attempt on Liam always ends up revolving more around what it did to Drake than what it did to Liam. Both in the original Book 2 Italian Restaurant Scene where it was first referenced, and here (Drake's restaurant scene is also the only scene that highlights how that particular attack affected Liam - if you don't buy this scene, the attacks are mentioned in a more offhand way by Constantine when we confront him, and Liam still doesn't have a word to say). Stop. What happened to Liam happened to him. Stop making it all about Drake.

• Also why does Drake keep insisting the MC helped him find Savannah? She didn't. He spotted the envelope. He saw the address. He deduced where in Paris it was and tried to check it out. The only help we could provide was convincing him to stay and listen to her, and even that was optional.

• The MC wakes up wondering if she's going to feel nauseous, which then leads to the realization that it could be morning sickness. That's the most random race to use a pregnancy test I've seen.

• The result is negative, and the LI wakes up to the MC telling them about the result of the pregnancy test. The reactions to the news are identical. They follow roughly this template:

I can headcanon that Hana is actually feeling and understanding the MC's pain when she says "that's not silly at all", but I won't. I refuse to do the heavy work for the writers.

• In any case, there are some guests, and only Hana seems to know who they are.

• My face as it goes from seeing Kiara, Olivia, Penelope and Madeleine (yes, in that order):

• Sooo it looks like this week we're going to have a clash of the country and the courtly. Uh oh. I don't see this ending very well...unless there's a deus ex machina coming our way.

• General Thoughts:

- This chapter is filler, as expected, but it's the kind of filler meant to set up the major problems in that place. And there's plenty hinted at in this chapter alone: solving the financial troubles of the ranch, the clash of cultures that will come with the court ladies being guests, winning over Leona, learning about Drake's and also Bianca's past, Bertrand's insecurities. It's going to take a couple chapters to untangle all that!

- My guess is that the MC is possibly pregnant, but got a false negative (esp if she's nowhere near her expected time for her period), and will probably find out during Bertrand and Savannah's wedding? IDK. Most people I know will wait to see if they get their periods first (I did that too, waited a couple days after the expected day just to be sure), because that's when your hCG levels are high enough to show in your urine sample. That was a waste of a perfectly good pregnancy test, MC!

- The variations are very few, besides the scene where they all get new outfits and references to the MC and her spouse by different people including Blake and Jess. Perhaps there may be an LI scene coming soon.

- I mentioned earlier that Leona may be there as a way for the writing team to retcon Bianca's departure, since in the original series all we are told us was that she "was...struggling" after Jackson's death and left for the States at some point, leaving her children behind. Not a lot of people were very happy about this and though she was portrayed as a positive character in Book 3 (Drake's playthrough), it wasn't convincing enough. Leona is possibly there as a way to soften the audience to Bianca, and perhaps to get us a plausible reason for her leaving without her children. I'm not sure what could justify not taking them along, but okay.

- So Drake in his scene tells us that they came to the ranch as kids, but there is that matter of Savannah having been there long enough at some point to have had a boyfriend. I'm wondering if she spent some time on the ranch while Drake had gone to college.

- Also...if that's what happened, why was France even an option for her to bring up Bartie if she'd been in touch with her mother. Why did France, a place where she had very few contacts or living experience, win out over a place she was familiar with and where she had family?

- Leona's very Drake-like...but with an actual job that she's probably good at.

- Leona's also going to be Unimpressed™ for the most of her time in this book, with her probably becoming a little more impressed towards the end. Told you she'd be The Unimpressed Sikh Child (if you still have trouble with this meme, it's a character from a Bollywood film about a magical school called Aabra Ka Dabra. Here's some additional context from desi comedians and former Pretentious Movie Reviewers Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan Rath to illustrate why Unimpressed Sikh Child is so awesome:)

"Stop trying to impress people. Impress people with how unimpressed you are." If that isn't what Leona is doing. One wry expression and that's all it takes for all of Cordonia's royalty and nobility to fall over each other to prove themselves to her.

- Leona is an ass but you've got to respect the way she plays that game.

- I hope the writers don't forget that Kiara and Savannah were...yknow...good friends. Given how badly she was treated in Book 3 (and the narrative treated her really, really badly. Like I'm pretty sure some of you might have no idea just how badly she's been treated), I have serious doubts.

- Will we get a Hana or Maxwell diamond scene next? A good one or mostly just fluff? Let's see.

- Will we get another flashback scene? Maybe. It's possible. Bianca would remember something.

- One thing I do know for sure is that there is going to be more of Perfect Angel Savannah and Bumbling Bertrand. I'm not looking forward to it.

• Next: I'll be doing TRR Book 1's QT for Chapter 6 as well! Hopefully it will be ready by Friday. As for this series...until next week, folks!

#long post #the royal heir #trh quick thoughts #trh qts #king liam #hana lee #maxwell beaumont #drake walker #texas walker ranch

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utilitycaster · 2 years

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Do you think it's too early to get an idea of the leadership dynamics of Bell's Hells? At this point for the Mighty Nein would anyone have guessed Beau would be part of theirs?

You know, this is an interesting question because Beau is a part of the leadership dynamic of the Mighty Nein but I wouldn't say she was ever the leader and it feels like that's what you're implying (though I may be reading that wrong). Canonically, in the scenario where the party had a formalized leadership structure, she was the first mate. Otherwise, as with most D&D parties, the leader sort of ends up being whoever is most invested in the current task, or if they specifically do not wish to be the leader, whoever happens to step up.

Which brings me to a theory I happen to have which is that playing a leadership role in D&D is really something that's specific to playstyle more than character; it takes a huge amount of restraint and patience to not fall into particular patterns. I've actively tried not to play the character who tries to move things forward and I just can't; I'm not that person. I think the people we've seen in the most obvious leadership positions will tend towards them again. I'd say Ashton is in many ways showing the most leadership so far, and Taliesin is one of the people at the table who tends towards this (Caduceus being the exception; Molly was showing flashes of it in retrospect though I don't know if I'd have realized it at episode 18 of Campaign 2).

Anyway, the players who have done this the most are (unsurprisingly overlapping with the people who have often played my favorites) Taliesin, Laura, and Travis. It might change, but my money is on Ashton at the moment. I think Laura plays people with good leadership skills but who don't necessary want it (Vex did, Jester had mixed feelings, Imogen doesn't seem to want it at all though I could see that changing); Travis actively seems to engage with the concept of what a leader is as an ongoing theme but I'm not sure where Chetney will fall. My money is on Ashton as the one who most naturally ends up in leadership positions in this campaign, but that may change.

Marisha tends to play the check on the leader (so a part of the leadership dynamic but not the leader herself). This is high praise. In real life I gravitate towards this role, and she is the only cast member who has so far really engaged with it. I think it's a great way to be and I think it's one of the things I love most about both Keyleth and Beau, that they will, despite not being the most silver-tongued, grow into people who can say 'no' to a leader, not out of sheer stubbornness or fear - though they both have their struggles with those - but because of conviction. It's interesting because I don't see that path for Laudna right now - Laudna seems wholly uninterested in any leadership - but you know, there's time.

Just to round out the rest of the cast: Ashley's characters have shown absolutely no interest; Sam's have largely been the same though Scanlan was able to step up under extreme circumstances when no one else could or would; Liam's characters have all felt like they occupy the space that Jester and Imogen do, of having decent skills but not particularly wanting to use them if anyone else is available.

So anyway: right now I think it's Ashton; if Chetney or Imogen starts filling this role I won't be surprised on a meta-level; but it's very early. I don't think we saw the leadership Jester showed in the final arc until over halfway through Campaign 2.

#critical role

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loquaciousquark · 6 years

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E23 (June 19, 2018)

Welcome to tonight’s Talks Machina. Today’s preshow: the weather throughout the Dwendalian Empire. I’m sure this isn’t foreboding at all. Tonight’s guests: Matt & Emmy-award-winning Sam Riegel. Sam has a prepared bit for the opening that he just found out he was supposed to prepare. He gets out, “How many... light bulbs...” before BWF has pity and throws us to the title screen.

Tonight’s announcements: New M9 shirt in the new CR store at shop.critrole.com. The show also now has their very own dedicated Critical Role Youtube & Twitch channels--however, don’t worry, as it’ll still be broadcast in all current locations as well. After Dark will continue to be available on After Dark only. There also will not be any Talks Machina or new Critical Role episode July 3 or July 5, as they’ll be making the move to a new studio during this week. (Marisha’s stepped down at G&S to make this move to full-time CR management as well.) There’s a summary post of these announcements with a FAQ on critrole.com, if you need more information.

Before we can get to CR Stats, Sam interrupts to ask Matt why they’ve never had an NPC with a French accent. Matt, answering in an excellent French accent, explains that they’ve not come across any regional areas that are analogous to France yet. He suggests they visit the Menagerie Coast.

CR Stats! The M9 have now officially rolled 99 natural ones. Nott’s in the lead with 22. Sam only has one d20 that he rolls, and he thinks Laura’s bad luck is rubbing off on him.

The M9 have now been traveling together for about a month. Matt, deadpan: “They’re such a tight-knit family.” He does like that everyone’s getting to see the ground-floor development and occasionally has to remind himself to set the scene because he gets sucked into the roleplay.

Kiri has imitated people 82 times--Sam loves Matt’s imitations.

The D&D Beyond theme song was a greater achievement than the Emmy (per Sam): “It was a thing that I just came up with...that became the anthem for a generation.” The Emmy is a bucket list, pinnacle professional achievement, but he loves that he got to write & make the theme song. (Also: two years on one cartoon vs. fifteen minutes on a song.)

Matt has a tumultuous history with the Streamys. He directed a web series ten years ago and was invited to contribute to a big montage...only to find out right before the show that it had been cut from the program altogether.

The battle with the Merrow played out fairly close to how Matt had envisioned it, although the players’ positioning led to some interesting situations. It was more challenging in certain moments without Nott, especially when Matt was trying to decide how certain events would play out. Sam sidebars to point out how much he loves it when a battle changes halfway through (either due to traps, additional enemies, or the map changing). Matt says there are many battles they’ve had in the past where certain traps were never triggered. However, you can’t do it too often or it becomes expected. (Matt does feel bad when he’s rolling well and the PCs are rolling badly.)

Nott’s water thing Sam invented during the game (because he thought it would be funny, natch), but he’s come up with a backstory since then that explains why she’s so afraid of water.

Matt plays out combat as designed even when a PC suddenly decides to not participate--unless it’s a new group that doesn’t fully understand D&D combat yet, and it would impact their enjoyment of the game. He wants people to understand that there are consequences with character choices.

Sam often finds it bothersome when they know they’ve missed something in game, especially when it’s an important story beat. It’s the worst when Matt gives them multiple chances to succeed, and they still end up failing all of them. Matt confesses sometimes he makes them roll checks on general knowledge they’d have known anyway just to make them feel a certain esoteric skill was useful for once.

Nott feels terrible she sat out the Merrow fight only for Caleb to come close to death. Sam: “Nott feels awful about it. Sam Riegel feels great about it! I love situations where it doesn’t look like it’s going well.” Plus, the night before she also got Caleb in trouble with the bowl thing. BWF’s a little worried it’ll affect their relationship.

Matt claims that Kiri was not at all related to wanting to prove he could do Jester’s accent. He rolls for random encounters when they’re traveling, and Kiri was one he’d considered to demonstrate the presence of kenku, while also highlighting that non-Empire people are moving away from the conflict. He half-expected them to ignore her altogether.

Matt reveals that Kiri has six (6) (SIX) hit points. “She’s practically a baby bird!” Sam has a retroactive panic attack that they’ve been bringing her to all these battles. Me too, bud. Sam accuses Matt of “not having brought anyone worthy of taking a baby bird off our hands.” Matt: “You haven’t even looked!” They wonder together about the possibility of a baby bird orphanage in Hupperdook.

GIF of the Week! @justjamesearle. It’s long and perfect and details the Fjord whack-a-mole death saga with the venom splashes.

Nott’s opinion of Kiri hasn’t changed at all with the reveal that she heard/repeated her conversation with Caleb. Sam thinks Nott should have known better than to talk with a recording device in the room, especially since she only ever repeats it when it’s hilarious or well-timed. “It’s hard to live with a soundboard.”

Matt keeps a list of notes of what Kiri can say. It’s super fun, and he sometimes gets so caught up in conversations he forgets to write down things for her to repeat later.

Nott wished Kiri hadn’t repeated the facts from her backstory, but she’d never considered being aggressive towards “little RiRi” (oh God it’s too adorable). She still doesn’t like a lot of attention. Both BWF & Sam applaud Matt for giving them little prods to reveal backstory.

Dagon, Matt & Marisha’s bird, provides a lot of inspiration for Kiri. Matt talks about being a bird owner after growing up with cats and dogs, and reveals that wanting to utilize that knowledge was part of why he introduced kenku.

Nott finds Beau the exception to her general mistrust of the group, which is why she let her care for Caleb after the last fight. She feels Beau has been weirdly sensitive and protective even through her lens of abrasiveness, and she respects that she hasn’t spilled the beans about Caleb’s backstory.

Fanart of the Week! @obeymybrain, which is a great group portrait in four vertical-column stylings after the Haunted Mansion from Disneyland.

If the troll hadn’t been slowed by Caleb, Matt thinks the group would have permanently lost someone. Matt loves the new monsters that are punishing to melee characters. He thinks they did a good job damaging it at range at first, and Sam waxes poetic on all the options they didn’t pursue instead (like Saran-wrapping the door before it came running out). Oh, what could have been.

Sam’s love for Liam is stronger than Nott’s love for Caleb, because “...Liam kisses back.” They’ve known each other half their lives now.

If the M9 pursue dynamite as a common battle tactic, Matt may need to prepare for his builds to be destroyed more often. It’s still limited by the relatively new availability of blackpowder and has a high possibility of backfiring depending on their rolls.

Nott wishes she could tell everything to Caleb, but is limited by the realities of their show, since it’s hard to find a time that’s not full of dick or drug jokes. There’s been times they’ve been alone together but Caleb hasn’t asked any questions; Sam thinks “He needs to do some Marisha-style questioning. That is an inquisitive monk, and I love her for it.” Matt points out it’s a critical aspect of her character that she wants to know everything.

Matt played out the last Fjord moment in front of the whole group in part because it would have interrupted the flow to have everyone leave, and in part because he trusts his players not to metagame now that they’re all learning bits and pieces of each other. He liked the visceral smash-cut of the vision to the party watching Fjord jam this thing into his stomach.

Matt does have to juggle all the party’s backstories since it’s such a large group; some will be long-game just because of the natures of their stories. He likes to drop threads as they go, though, so everyone feels more connected to their world. Players feel like the stakes are higher when they can see their stories reflected and affecting the living and breathing world around them.

Nott wasn’t particularly bothered by Molly immediately forgiving the bandits right after they hurt her. “They’re just dumb. They’re just dumb and they need to go. They’re too dumb to hurt.”

Matt knew the outline of Hupperdook before the party ever heard of it. Now that they’ve expressed interest in it, he’s begun filling in the details since it looks likely that they’ll visit it soon. It helps that they’re limited to speed of foot & horse; when they can start bamfing everywhere in later game, it gets a lot harder. Matt’s advice in that situation is to give the town a unique social structure or aspect, to make a bold choice that will cause it to stand out in their mind. It helps if you can ask what the players are looking for, then “yes and” based on what they’re seeking (he builds an idea of two competing taverns poaching clients from each other off a spur-of-the-moment request from a player asking if there’s an inn nearby).

Sam does rehearse his more performative ads ahead of time. He usually writes them the day of over lunch, although lately he’s been trying to get them done on Mondays and Tuesdays so he’s not as stressed on Thursday.

There’s no specific inspirational character for the Gentleman. Matt wanted to create an outside-the-law businessman who wasn’t your typical ~thief-lord~ while still seeming unique against the world. He wanted him to be charismatic and domineering, welcoming until you crossed a personal or business line, in which case he’d immediately put you in your place.

Nott still considers her old goblin tribe a threat to her & is reluctant to confront them. She does feel a little more prepared now that she has more allies, but is hesitant to meet old demons & old memories. Matt sidebars to point out that a lot of these character backstories could be self-driven, since there’s nothing keeping them from visiting Nott’s hometown now. They could pursue it at any time if they wanted.

The firearms in the world are a direct result from Percy & Ripley; she dealt them out in heavy trade areas like Marquet, which results in the technology being distributed in a way that now impacts the M9 in their world. They’re still limited by materials, though.

Matt loves the joy on Tal’s face every time they mention firearms are readily available in Wildemount.

Everyone’s distraught over Tal’s Vicious Mockery in the last episode. Bless his heart. Matt: “Sometimes you come out of the gate and realize you’ve come out without your pants on. You commit, and you walk away.”

Sam misses giving inspiration on a regular basis. He also has a lot of insecurities over his current inability to contribute to a battle with much more than crossbow bolts. BWF: “Just sent Nott to a bard college.” Matt: With a -3 charisma, I think you’re taking inspiration away from people.”

Favorite M9 voice to mimic as Kiri? Partially Jester, because it’s just funny, Nott is shrill and ridiculous, and has lately been enjoying mimicking Fjord for the few times he’s been echoed.

The Nott voice is not hard at all on Sam; it’s mostly falsetto, which BWF says he usually talks in off-camera all the time anyway.

After Dark: After This

In CriticalRoleLand, Dani would like to see Vex’s Flying Brooms. BWF suggests a waterslide that ends in Vex’s & Percy’s bathtub; Matt suggests it be a goldfish ride that goes over the side. He also likes a teleporting ride that goes into Umbrasyl’s belly, and Sam comes up with a dunk tank for heckling Tary.

Matt talks about that viral Youtube video with the weather forecaster naming the city that’s like 100 characters long. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, that’s the one.

Nott’s Tinder profile? “Short, green, looking for mean. Buy me a drink and I’m yours.”

Matt wouldn’t be surprised if this campaign does eventually touch on family in the same way the first one did. However, Sam feels so far it’s much more about identity, and Matt tacks on regret & making amends. He also thinks trust & learning to accept help from others is still developing, since so many of these characters have been hurt in some way.

VM had a lot of very classical heroic archetypes; this campaign is full of many more human, subtly complicated characters. Matt loves the contrast.

The eyes. The EYES.

Sam agonizes that in his Friday retellings of the campaign’s story to his six-year-old son, it drives him crazy that he can’t answer his son’s questions as to why something happened. His son does ask “does Matt Mercer know?” and Sam is glad he can say yes.

Sam loves the idea of the world hinging on the bandit troupe they keep running into. I debated troop or troupe there, but given the hysterics they keep causing, I’m sticking with troupe.

If they met, Nott would steal every single thing from Taryon Darrington. Except that lame book, of course. “That’d be amazing. And! Possible! We’re on the continent, right?” Sam rubs his hands together gleefully...until Matt points out Taryon’s been relegated to NPC status & Matt would be the one controlling him now.

Matt usually prepares a guest for the show by meeting with them ahead of time. Depending on how much (or if ever) they’ve played before, he helps them build a character and teaches them the basics of the class. Mark, obviously, didn’t need that introduction, so instead they focused on loose backstory and finding ways to integrate that backstory into the existing world. When it’s time for them to actually play, they’ll discuss in advance a way to bring their paths across each other, such as Cali looking for a specific relic at the same time that the M9 were going to be investigating a safehouse full of stolen relics. As soon as they meet, it’s hands off. (It can be hard to get someone out of the group if they for sure can’t return the next week.)

MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE END OF CAMPAIGN ONE IN THE SECTION BELOW.

BWF jokes that last campaign Joe Manganiello just showed up and said, “Hey, so, I’m playing Arkhan,” and that was that. Actually...that’s pretty close to what really happened. Matt & Joe did meet for a long evening in Joe’s kitchen in advance to discuss backstory & motivations, after which he finally managed to convince Joe’s wife, Sofía Vergara, to play a small game with him, Joe, and Marisha. Sam laughs that at Matt & Marisha’s wedding, they had two sentences with Joe before the conversation immediately devolved into D&D and Joe’s wife rolled her eyes out of her head.

They did discuss that Joe wanted to steal the hand at the end of the last campaign. “You don’t have the Hand of Vecna, the Hand of Vecna has you.” They had a long conversation about Arkhan’s denouement after that episode.

END OF MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS.

And that’s all for the night! Have a lovely week, and is it Thursday yet?

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long post for ts

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eponymous-rose · 5 years

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Talks Machina Episode #100 Highlights!

That’s right: 100 EPISODES. That’s a lot of great questions, greater answers, questionable pronunciations of usernames, even more questionable uses of overlays, and a++++ excellent dogs.

The entire cast is answering questions this week!

Max runs an (adorable) intro in the above puppet theater, and each cast member gets a title. Laura is The Heart, Sam is The “Funny Guy”, Travis is The Brawn, Liam is The Actor, Matt is The Brains, Marisha is The Face, Taliesin is The Pyramid, Brian is The Convict, and Ashley is The Favorite.

The cast’s entrance is majestic. There are balloons, sashes, tiaras, and champagne. Henry has a tiara too!

The Search for Grog will air this Friday, February 22 at 7 PM Pacific on twitch.tv/criticalrole. If you miss the stream, it’ll be available Saturday morning on CR’s YouTube channel!

Talks Machina and CR will air on CR’s official channels starting today! Starting next episode, TM will be available on CR’s YouTube channel on Thursday at 7 Pacific, and also in podcast form!

Stats: in 100 episodes of TM, there’s been 81 episodes of Brian’s glorious beard. There have been 9 Skype/FaceTime call-ins! There were 244 guest misnomers before that well ran dry. 93 episodes of pre-show hijinks (thanks to Max James!). 95 episodes of Arsequeef. 826 days of being on the internet!

Brian: "The concept of creating a talk show about a D&D campaign has always been absurd to me, so we wanted to embrace that terribleness.”

There’s now a Steve Cam (quietly reading, meal prepping, and ignoring the show), and a Zach Cam (staring at a monitor that’s all just Liam’s chest hair and the Fjord bust), and a Max Cam (dancing in a stripper cop outfit), Lockey Cam (practicing with a sword in front of a mirror and then charging at Daniel for filming it - Brian: “Hopefully Daniel’s non-union.”), Ed Cam (drinking scotch and counting down the days until football returns, and also lint rolling his new goatee), Chris Cam (rapping in the VO booth), Brittany Cam (dancing with a unicorn blanket, huffing compressed air - Brian: “You can’t show that on Twitch!”).

Matt is asked how his DMing style has evolved with campaign 2. “Well... I’ve been forced to embrace a little more of the tragedy in the characters’ backstories.” The internal and external conflict has been really interesting for him to watch and react to. “I’ve learned to be very proud of my players for mucking up my perception of where things are going to go.”

Coming to Xhorhas, Nott’s thrilled to no longer have to worry about the mask. Sam’s excited about the City of Beasts “to see what kind of fucked-up individuals we’re going to find and seeing how Nott will react to that.”

Yasha definitely sympathizes with Nott trying to save her spouse, but “there’s a lot going on with her going back to Xhorhas. It’s definitely triggering for her, but she understands the need to want to go back. I wish I could go to Xhorhas. We’ll see what happens.” Travis: “I’m pretty sure once we go to a place we can never go back.”

Favorite item on the Talks shelves? Taliesin mentions a magnetic Percy mini, Sam likes the tiny Sams (”It looks like my bedroom!”), Ashley and Brian are partial to the Sully painting, Laura loves the Pike painting, Marisha loves all the stuff the cast bought on a hungover voyage to the flea market when they were first building the set, Matt loves a very cool dice tower. Brian likes the Vecna with Marisha’s face. Matt: “I don’t know if I like that one.”

Laura doesn’t like the party using the derogatory term for the Krynn, because she wants people to be happy even if she doesn’t know them. Sam: “I haven’t been the best for that, but if Jester wants me to... I guess I’ll change.”

There are new wipe transitions featuring the Matt pillow and the Fjord bust. It’s glorious.

Gif of the week: Sam calling Travis “studly” for catching the candy. Laura: “...I like that I’ve been cut out of it completely.”

Arsequeef gets the Lifetime Achievement Award for Gif of the Week. He wins Max’s 2006 Honda Accord.

On Caleb taking off his bandages because there’s nothing to hide anymore: “Was that terrifying for him, or a relief?” Liam: “Yes!” He’s waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it feels good. He’s got f...r...iends?” Marisha: “I love that sitcom. (weakly) F...r...iends?”

Caduceus being a source of comfort, insight, and advice was built into the character. Taliesin looked at low INT high WIS, and Matt immediately started laughing and told Taliesin he’d do well with that. Taliesin: “There’s plenty of things that will eventually flap that, but we haven’t hit them yet.”

As a player, Travis doesn’t like to weigh things carefully all the time, so a lot of Fjord’s leardership has been a bit about pressing fast-forward. Marisha: “So what you’re saying is that your Grog’s poking through.” Matt points out that if both characters have a trait, it’s probably just Travis.

Liam: “I’ve got a little Travis poking me from behind.” Marisha, musing: “So many conflicting beards...”

Beau’s prayer to Ioun mostly came from a “couldn’t hurt” perspective. “I’ll try it out. Give it a spin.” When Travis asks, Marisha clarifies that it was Ioun specifically because of the Cobalt Soul. Travis: “Oh yeah, I totally knew the relationship there. I just wanted to make sure the audience did.”

Bugbear friend or bugbear foe? Sam: “He speaks goblin, he seems cool, his name’s Gluzo. He has a hard-to-pin-down accent, but it’s amazing.” Taliesin: “You have a hard-to-pin-down accent, too. It’s something you have in common.” Taliesin gets asked if his insight check revealed that the bugbear is secretly pretending to be someone else. “Yes, he’s just pretending to be a bugbear. He’s actually Matt Mercer.” Laura: “I like him. ‘Cause he’s cute and he let me give him a tattoo.”

Sam: “Nott trusts her friends to be as strong as they can be, and at this point, I don’t know if she’s as concerned with one of them dying as just getting to her husband in time before he dies. If we lose one along the way, Nott will probably cry a little, but will move on.” What if it were Fjord? “Fjord’s expjendable.”

Matt: “I’ve reached a point where Travis controls Yasha in combat, but I don’t consider any of his roleplay canon.” Ashley: “I trust Travis. Barbarian respect.” Laura: “Don’t give him that.” Ashley: “Travis himself is like a Deck of Many things. This is risky, but it’s kind of fun!”

Sam: “That dunamancy shit is lit.” Liam: “And it’s tied up in everything that Caleb wants, so if he can get on the entropy shit and the gravity shit, you know he’s going to go back in time, motherfucker.” Sam is so excited to have these mystery spells because they’re so new, and they’re inherently something they don’t know how to counter or prepare for. Travis: “It’s almost like every time we play D&D.”

Fanart of the Week: a spectacular group shot.

Everyone freaks out over how good Travis looks with glasses. He takes them off and puts them back on sexily for a while. I was too slow grabbing a screencap, but don’t worry, the gifs will be everywhere.

Laura: “Jester hasn’t experienced a lot of emotions. She hasn’t experienced a lot of anything, really. She’s definitely dealt with sadness in her life, but I don’t think it’s been so in-your-face constantly, just the trauma of it all.” Liam: “Yeah, she’s with some very terrible people.” Laura: “While it is traumatic, it’s also been a great adventure, and she’s enjoying being out and doing things. Even if it might hurt her, it’s so much better than reading about it, drawing it, just imagining how it would be.”

Caleb’s still feeling out the shift in his relationship with Nott, but there’s no question that everything they’ve gone through can’t be forgotten or overlooked. “He sees her as an absolute ally no matter what, and will do anything for her. In a weird way, he feels like they’re even more alike than he thought they were, and he loves her and wants her to succeed in what she’s doing, and hopes that the things that he wants don’t fuck it up entirely.” Sam: “Are you talking about Liam and Sam right now?”

Caduceus’ thoughts on Xhorhas? “A new environment, certainly, and a new aspect of nature that he’s unfamiliar with. This is just more terrain to him at this point. He’s also very unaware of the political realities. He’s vaguely aware there is war. He’s still not sure why we can’t just go up and ask for directions from everyone.”

Brian: “That tiara is the most blessed image.”

Travis on the Captain Tusktooth tattoo: “Brand recognition is huge in Xhorhas.” Taliesin: “Viral marketing.” Laura confirms that it’s not likely to change apart from some small differences from tattoo to tattoo. “Each person gets a special google.”

Laura on fans actually getting this tattoo: “I am ALL ABOUT IT.”

Marisha: “Guys! How about instead of M9 tattoos...” Sam: “We let Laura tattoo us? I would legitimately be down with that!” Ashley: “I’m kind of into it.” Liam: “This is what splits us apart.” Laura: “Everybody gets a dick.” Travis: “How would we explain that to our kid? ‘What’s that?’ ‘Your mom did that.’”

Beau is holding back a bit since her impulsiveness started having negative repercussions. “I think it’s about accountability. She’s started to learn--- especially when she first joined M9, she didn’t have friends, really. I think you had to learn, oh, my actions do affect others around me. I think that’s something you can learn and you can grow in, but yeah, she is trying to not be a total fuckwad anymore. Trying. But old habits...”

Favorite TM moments? Travis: “Do you remember that episode where Brian wasn’t the host?” Brian remembers Travis throwing the card that almost took him out. Ashley fondly remembers PullOutKing. Laura remembers Taliesin saying the phrase “I love teenage assholes” (referring to Percy acting immature), and Taliesin is super glad someone brought that up again just when the tweets were finally starting to die down.

Ashley talks about how proud she is about how far Brian’s come, and how great he’s doing at this. Everyone has an uncharacteristically sincere moment of applause for Brian. Liam: “Everyone take 30 seconds to drop the bit that we think you’re a total fucking weirdo. You’re so good at this, and you’re such a good friend, and we’re so glad you’re part of this family.”

Marisha pitches the idea of trying to sell TM syndicated on LifeTime now that they have 100 episodes.

Brian remembers having food poisoning that led to him running off-screen, throwing up in the middle of the show, and then having to come back. Marisha remembers Travis texting everyone that night with “lol, did Brian just yarf on TV?”

Matt talks about how proud he is of Brian for going from zero tabletop experience to co-running his own game.

Talks Machina After Dog ft. Sleepy Boi Henry

“This is the best dog-petting show ever.”

Liam was skeptical about TM initially, because he was worried it would take away from what would be shared in-game. Marisha: “I was stoked for it, not gonna lie. I was very misunderstood and people hated my character, so I was kind of stoked to just get to explain it.” Travis was sold once they picked the name.

Marisha: “It also set the precedent for really dumb, punny names.” Brian points out that, as a channel, they now can’t stick with serious names as their final choice.

Laura’s sister has been watching the show, and she texted Laura after the show to ask what the whisper was, so Laura’s going to tell her and no one else. Liam: “You’re gonna tell your real sibling?”

There’s a horrified discussion about giraffe fighting. Some segues happened in there.

What’s something their characters have done that’s made them proud? Liam: Caleb using the Wall of Fire. Marisha: the Plank King execution episode as a whole (everyone agrees). Travis: “I was proud of hooking up with an NPC when my wife wasn’t here to threaten me with death.” (he immediately turns to Taliesin: “Help.” Taliesin: “No god can help you now.”) Taliesin: “I sunk a boat.” Laura: Proud of not getting caught with Nott in the Platinum Dragon sanctuary. Sam: Taking the blow for Jester so she could escape. Liam: “Molly showing his dick covered in eggs.”

Matt: “I’m proud of you guys not entirely descending into evil madness. I’m proud of the character arcs of being broken, terrible people, and finding out that it’s okay to be broken; you’re not necessarily terrible.” Liam: “The entire cast went, ‘He’s talking about everyone but me’.” Matt thought it was going to be very hard to keep the group together, but the party turned it into character growth moments. “I’m proud of you.” Laura: “Thanks, Dad.”

Yasha loved the arm wrestling. “Oh man, it’s so fun to be the tank.”

Laura: “I’m really proud of us for saving Kiri!”

Everyone has Liam’s chest hair:

Wishes for the next 100 episodes? More Ashley.

Brian: “I hate this coffee table more than anything in the whole, entire world.”

What’s something that should never change about the show? How ridiculous it is, the barrel, Dani. Also always have a dog. They fundamentally do the show for themselves, still, and that’s made it a really good environment for them to open up about the show and their characters.

Liam: “There’s a lot of beauty to what we do, but it’s also inherently silly. And to deny that is silly.”

Matt likes that it’s unpolished and imperfect. “Things are going to go wrong regardless, and you can either get angry and frustrated about the lack of control, or you can embrace it.” Sam: “None of this is real anyway.”

Brian points out that this is not an excuse to stop paying him.

And that’s a wrap! This is the last After Dark for a while, but there are some big ideas in the works for the coming weeks!

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

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