ludinusdaleth

[ludinusdaleth]

i find it so interesting how the gods allowed to be worshipped by the dwendallian empire are clearly ones that promote order & structure, and in the process of only allowing those, they cut off their important counterparts. pelor, god of the harvest & sun, is allowed; but sehanine, god of the moon & trysts, isnt. moradin, the dwarven god of architecture & craft, is allowed, but correlon, the elven god of art, isnt. erathis, god of law & society, is allowed, but her wife melora, god of nature & the wild, isnt. i think it's a very good representation of their rotten control and the strangling of culture

[ludinusdaleth]

real

-Critical Role Campaign 2, Episode 9, "Steam and Coversation"

[ludinusdaleth]

i suppose my first hot take of my c2 rewatch is one i really wish a lot of folk who've barely/not watched c2 at all would internalize: while c3 acts far more on its political premise in the end, c2 is still deeply political.

while i get why folk may balk at it not featuring a revolution in its finale, it was the intended kindling for c3. from the beginning it critiques the propoganda & classism of the dwendallian empire and you watch the m9 unpack their biases they've been taught in real time as they go deeper into the imperialism of their government. it asks hard questions about what motivates the disenfranchised during wartime while also being very literally violently anti cop. as much as folk act like the m9 are solely out for themselves, a massive chunk of their story is about them stopping a war for the thousands in the line of fire. they aid the knights of requital in what would be considered terrorism against the empire. beau calls ludinus, trent, & dwendal out in front of their entire court for lying about the stealing of the dynasty's artifacts. the finale was not a return to status quo but rather beau & caleb finding ways to begin the work to start a kinder world - while i think c2 leans liberal, anyone who says caleb becoming a teacher is neoliberal, i do not trust. outside of online discourse that will always misrepresent whatever campaign people are pissed at at the time, i recall c2 was considered revolutionary even by some diverse ttrpg spaces at the time for its deconstruction of drow & orc fantasy stereotypes, and real life activists/organizers i knew said that they deeply valued the attention the c2 finale brought to their steps. they even mention lace code. and i think that matters far more than how some people blanket statement the campaign that many admit to not even having seen.

this is not me saying it's perfect, but i guess my pet peeve among c3 fans discussing c2 at times is the blatant refusal to see it in the same fire as c3. i think all 3 campaigns are a very interesting progressing crescendo of political action: c1 is a typical hero fantasy that doesnt question itself, c2 wants to unpack leadership & propoganda and ends with the small work necessary for big steps, and c3 is the revolution that comes when the dam cant help itself but to burst. c2 and c3 are sisters, not enemies.

[ludinusdaleth]

-Critical Role Campaign 2, Episode 8, "The Gates of Zadash"

[ludinusdaleth]

realizing ludinus & artagan both are facing an era post gods that they spited, but they have also lost their potential of ascension for one reason or another too. both have lost their powers (or at least reason to utilize them in lud's case). both will finally grow old and face mortality & simplicity. im not trying to prove they're parralels i just mean that im very willing and happy to care for these bastard old men in my head as they grow truly physically ancient. i like men who should be in nursing homes. i wanna kiss their wrinkles and nuzzle into their thinned spots and help them up so badly

[ludinusdaleth]

"The Spiritual Weapon goes wandering over, just as sassy as she wants to be. I do believe that the underbelly of the manticore is still waiting there for Estelle to tell him all kinds of horrible things about what it's like to live in South Florida."

-Critical Role Campaign 2, Episode 7, "Hush"

[ludinusdaleth]

-Critical Role Campaign 2, Episode 7, "Hush"

[ludinusdaleth]

Sunrise on the Reaping changes the whole game. Suddenly, Katniss isn't the chosen one anymore, or the only person who can make the capital pay for what they have done. She's just a girl with a long list of grievances, coming from a long line of people with even longer lists who have been trying to make them pay for years.

She finds her victory standing on the backs of hundreds or thousands of people who came before her. All pushing for the same goal, all guided by the same anger and grief and the need to go out on their own terms. The same things that caused Katniss to reach for the poisoned berries for her and Peeta in the first place.

When Katniss gives her "fire is catching" it echos the same purpose the districts have had for centuries; honour the dead, make the capitol take responsibility: Sejanus with the breadcrumbs, Reaper; who covered his dead with the capitol flag, Haymitch running with Louella to make Snow face what he'd done, Haymitch running again with Lou Lou, Katniss covering Rue in flowers, Peeta painting a mural of her for the gamemakers, so when the last stand finally comes she has all of her living allies behind her, but not only that. It's like Haymitch said: "Those 31 allies I boasted of to the head game maker? I can feel every one of them at my back"

She has every person who suffered at the hands of the capital, every person who was abused, every person who was reaped too soon, every person who died, standing at her back and in the end I think that's what gave her the strength to finish the fight.

[ludinusdaleth]

-Critical Role Campaign 2, Episode 3, "The Midnight Chase"

[ludinusdaleth]

-Critical Role Campaign 2, Episode 1, "Curious Beginnings"

[ludinusdaleth]

Take me down to the Fat Boy City where the tums are fat and the boys have tiddies

[ludinusdaleth]

-Critical Role Campaign 2, Episode 1, "Curious Beginnings"

[ludinusdaleth]

-Critical Role Campaign 2, Episode 1, "Curious Beginnings"

[ludinusdaleth]

bless you for being a c2 fan that isn't fucking evil towards c3 fans

thank you. i really enjoy c3, and all of cr, really. c2 & wildemount is just.... home. it's the breeze i feel on my face, if that makes sense. but i dont really think the campaigns can be judged all too harshly against each other, yknow (especially c2 to c3)

[ludinusdaleth]

-Critical Role Campaign 2 , Episode 1, "Curious Beginnings"

[ludinusdaleth]

I think Jester’s idea of what Sprinkle looks like does not quite match up with reality. XD

Another 10 years of @criticalrole celebration piece done with @artists-guild-of-exandria

Background by @adurna0-art

And close up shots of the portrait. See if you can find all the peens.

[ludinusdaleth]

okay, ive been very busy this week (including but not limited to going to new orleans, scheduling too much adult shit, and slowly making my way through sunrise through the reaping), but im going to continue my cr rewatch - now we're onto campaign 2!

c2 is personally my favorite and i think, while all of exandria is home to me, wildemount is the most so. this campaign means a lot to me and even if i watched c1 before it, my love was truly cemented for the show here, and i think you can best describe my psyche through the travelercon & aeor arcs in a way, which were everything i wanted at the exact moment i think i needed it.