#[brennan voice] CALAMITY

[chaosgenasi]

The Vestiges of Divergence. In the Great Calamity, these weapons of war were created to strike down the gods themselves. Believed too powerful for mere mortals to wield, the vestiges were scattered across the lands. Buried, lost, forgotten. Or perhaps... waiting to be found. The Deathwalker's Ward is one such vestige.

[captaingeorge13]

y’all i work in construction and i was on a ledge 35 feet up being lazy lifting something in a, lets say non-OSHA compliant manner, and i swear right before i started pulling i heard brennan lee mulligan’s voice on the wind saying “are you weakest, do you feel, at the elbow or the shoulder?”

i stopped and went through correct safety procedure so damn quickly. thats what i call divine intervention.

[artemis-pendragon]

I'd literally kill for the CR movie to be Calamity. Imagine how fucking hard that would slap. The drama. The chaos. Bolo from Aeor. We could really have it all.

[rabbit-exe]

I very much do want to see the betrayer gods again because they are some hilariously petty bitches who would definitely try and pull some absolute bullshit, but also I will Never be able to picture Lolth the Spider Queen or Asmodeus the Lord of the Hells, in mannerism, in voice, or in appearance, as ANYTHING other than Aabria Iyengar and Brennan Lee Mulligan. they did it too good and now it's Them Forever

[annemarieyeretzian]

zerxus admitting “for my folly,” I know that’s right!!!

[justalittlebluetiefling]

Every time Brennan gets so loud I have to turn the volume on my TV down, I remember Hank Green talking about how loud he is and I send positive thoughts to whoever's job it is to balance his audio in post.

[smackaroni-samsonsite]

Oh fuck they brought children to the tragedy again

[ive-given-up-the-bug-diet]

This 9-syllable, 7-word long utterance - because it can NOT, according to what little I remember about what dictates one, be called a phrase - has been rolling around in my head since I first heard it-

A FUCKING WEEK AGO? IT'S BEEN THAT LONG? Shit well yeah it's been in my head for a week, jesus

Since I heard it from Brennan Lee Mulligan's mouth. And I'm warning you now it is not profound, it is not emotional, it is not especially important to the story, it doesn't have any sort of profound message or life-changing lesson. But still it persists at the forefront of my mind.

And this may just be a result of it being the only thing I've thought about for A WEEK, apparently, but I think it might be one of, if not the best, line I've ever heard and it is

"A face as tall as a cathedral..."

THATS IT

And let me tell anyone who gives a shit why I think it is, at least, one of the best lines I've ever heard:

I get envious of other writers and creators a lot. I envy worldbuilding ideas, and character concepts, cool lines of dialogue. "Oh I wish I'd thought of that!"

But I envy nothing more than GREAT description, and this line is perfect to me.

1. It is Novel. When common/frequently-used idioms or similes enter a person's mind it's sort of in-one-ear and out the other, right? 'Clear as crystal' or 'as blue as the sky' can feel like stock. So if you want description to stick it has to be novel. And I've never heard this line, or even this simile before.

2. But also, perhaps more importantly, the line is also Simple. Sometimes, in the pursuit of novelty, writers (cough aka me cough) will go too hard on a description and it can become convoluted and have the same effect as stock phrases. It's too much text, it's too purple-y and so your mind scans the wall of text, takes the important bits, and says 'ok this is the point they were trying to get to'. Simple + Novel is great for description, esp. Description that sticks in your head.

3. But it is still Beautiful. Now this point is flawed, personal, and pretty vain but I'm keeping it because 'Cathedral' is a beautiful word. Even just phonologically it is (imo) more beautiful than the words 'mountain', 'house', or any other tall thing you could slot in there. But also a cathedral IS beautiful and it HAS beautiful connotations to religion, divinity, and worship (which makes this description even better when you know what it's referring to, but I'm trying to say it stands on its own merit as a good description).

4. But of course none of this would work without the fact that it is Descriptive. Maybe this should've been the first point but I came up with them in this order so what are you gonna do. Obviously good description should be descriptive, and these points all help in that, but there are details that are just down to pure good description. This specific point is relative but I rarely see mountains, and combine that with how they are sorta unfathomably tall, I struggle to really conceive of their size. I see cathedrals all the time (again, this is relative, I live in a Catholic area in a Christian country), I can always see their tops from the ground, their size is fathomable and it is terrifying to imagine a FACE at that height. Speaking of which, IT'S JUST THE FACE. There is something perfect and so much more comprehensible than a "body the size of a skyscraper" in the idea of just one PORTION of a body being described as a similar height.

Anyway EXU: Calamity is fucking great and I'm going to be holding it in my mind forever

[queerlyvictorian]

Okay, I don't follow Critical Role super closely. I scroll the wiki occasionaly when I get curious about a meme or hear a random detail that intrigues me. But the amount of EXU: Calamity and The Legend of Vox Machina videos I've watched on YouTube means that I frequently get the most recent episode recommended to me soon after it drops.

Anyways, uh, C3E51 just popped up on my homepage, uploaded six hours ago...

I am nor exaggerating by telling you that my fiction-based PTSD from living through the early days of the Calamity came back in full force when I saw the title:

The Apogee Solstice.

Somewhere, Brennan Lee Mulligan has whispered to himself, repeating the words of his good friend, Aabria Iyengar, @quiddie:

"It happened and it mattered."

[watcher0033]

Me, having avoided social media for the past few days as I’m consumed by work and binging EXANDRIA UNLIMITED FUCKING CALAMITY and emerging—

[beedreamscape]

Why I say that I'm taking a break from watching the campaign, bc I may seem normal, but I go back to exu calamity first episode semi-regularly just to watch the Herald's Tome broadcast and leave

[helpimstuckinafandom]

So long, Scrumptious Scoundrels!

[captainsparklefingers]

If we don't get an EXU: Calamity movie at some point down the road I am going to scream.

Purvan Suul was too sexy we need Brennan Lee Mulligan back to remind us all that he was once a loser like the rest of us

[bwat5-blog]

**Spoilers for all of Arcane**

WHY THIS SHOW MATTERS FOR ME

"Why do we tell Stories? To try and make sense of a world that can be terrifying and enormous.. I don't know that your story will be long be known.. but it did happen- and it did matter"- Brennan Lee Mulligan, Critical Role, EXU Calamity

Arcane has become a true phenomenon. With record breaking viewership transcending various countries, age groups, sexual orientation, and more. You need look no further for an example than the fact that Heimerdinger's song was recorded more than 25 times by the various voice actors representing our favorite absent minded professor, in different countries and languages around the world. So I suppose the question then, is why?

This is hardly a simple question. Like any media, people are enjoying it for all kinds of reasons. There are die-hard LOL players who love seeing these characters and worlds brought to life. There are people reveling in the enormous diversity of representation in the characters. There are those who love the story of the sisters, Caitlyn and Vi's love story, or the sinister mystery that unfolds as the Arcane itself wakes up in this world. The list of reasons people love this show is endless and rightfully so. So I am writing to explain mine because, primarily, the opportunity to share my thoughts/feelings on this incredible story and discuss, and learn and interact with you all has been a true pleasure as we celebrate the achievement this tale has been. As always, for anyone bored enough to read these I appreciate you.

For me, the best stories have and always will make you look deeper into the humanity of our own world through the lens of the story itself. Don't get me wrong, Arcane is FULL of epic spectacle. incredible fights, beautiful animation and music, and more. It's a tale of magic unleashed and warlords and mad scientists. And please do NOT misunderstand me, I LOVE all of those things. It's just that for me, that's not why this story will always live on long after its over.

Vi is a bad-ass brawler who from a young age is literally holding her own with armed adult thugs and able to throw hands wearing Vander's gauntlets. She is tough and brave and an absolute hardass..She is also a young woman who never knew romantic affection before being thrown into a dark, terrifying prison for seven years.. Who is terrified of losing the last family she has left to the point that she cannot put herself first ..and who just needs her dad

Silco is a brutal crime lord who experiments on the vulnerable of the under city and does not hesitate to kill anyone who crosses him. He takes a scared little girl who is in so much pain and twists her up, and weaponizes her grief to the point that she becomes someone new.. someone darker.. He is also a broken, lonely, maimed man who was almost killed by someone he loved as a brother and is desperately trying to hold on to the young woman he loves as a daughter

Caitlyn is a sheltered but brilliant and wealthy woman who is "an excellent shot" ,and becomes a leader of soldiers and someone willing to sacrifice herself in the name of the greater good.. She is also a young woman who has to learn to see herself in the woman she hates/who killed her mother, learning to set aside that hatred, and rage, and grief in order to move on and keep living, and find peace.

I could go on about other characters or expound on the ones I just mentioned, and have in fact done so in other posts. But you get the idea. These characters (and the others) are so rich, dark, nuanced and beautiful. And when you strip away the magic, and the mutated beasts, and the colorful smoke and music what is left? The struggle of the oppressed against their oppressors, a young woman overcoming her inner demons to become a hero to her people, a warrior who had her childhood stolen from her learning that she deserves happiness and peace. I could go on. There are so many of these examples and they all make up the tapestry that is this show.

This is why I continue to champion understanding and accurate recognition of this show. Because it deserves it. Because the stories of these characters and their fight against the darkness of the world in ways grand and small, are the stories that have illuminated our path forward as people for all of time. In today's age of instant-gratification and flash and noise it's easy to forget the impact of things like this on who we are.. But to those of us who believe in the importance of such stories, it always has mattered. And it always will.

“It's like the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad has happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. I know now folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.”

― Samwise Gamgee

[shellem15]

It's taken like 2 months for me to respond to/expand on this, but whatever:

I'm not actually concerned about Asmodeus not being voiced by Brennan in an animated Exu Calamity (or tlovm) just cause that'd be an objectively insane choice to make (and would certainly overcomplicate things by having to find another VA).

My real concern is them making him have one of those stupidly deep voices that every male villain is forced to have, for some reason. You know, the deep booming one that every "big monstrous red devil" type has. Or god forbid they put some sort of vocal effect over it. That would suck.

Like, I noticed Matt (and kinda Abu? Though he went more growly than deep and already has such a deep voice anyways so it didnt bother me) doing that when he was playing him, and while his (and Abu too especially) physical acting and mannerisms were AMAZING I was just kinda left thinking: but that's not what his voice sounds like???

Cause like, the whole point of him is that he's sounds kinda just like a guy? Even when he was screaming at Zerxus it never went deep, just more growly, y'know? Same thing when Laerryn heard him out of the time stop too, or in the mask-off reveal during downfall. he doesn't have that booming base even when he's being candid. It just doesn't make sense with his character, which is why I really hope they dont go that route in the future.

...

I also really, really hope they don't give him those stupid hair-horn things that every official dnd art gives him. JUST GIVE HIM NORMAL HORNS AND HAIR, FFS. It's so ugly, I hate it!! I would physically not be able to watch him animated if they gave him that design because I'd be filled with such incandescent rage and disgust that I'd simply have to turn off the TV. Please, I'm begging on my hands and knees, don't do this to me!

[justalittlebluetiefling]

Honestly, coming out of the EXU Calamity opening sequence into Brennan's immediate, "Fire." will make me giddy every time.