#Season Nein Episode 5

[marypenelope]

Assuming that the M9 series will also get 12 episodes per season, I personally think s1 should end on Molly’s death.

An episode or two to cover the group meeting and the whole thing with the carnival, another episode or two to go through Alfield, Bryce, and Shakaste. A couple episodes for the Zadash rebellion and the recovery of the Beacon, about 3-4 episodes to do the whole journey from Zadash to Labenda to Hupperdook, and then end the season with half the group getting kidnapped and Molly dying in the attempt to save them. Feels perfect to me tbh

[burr-ell]

What do you mean by 'trying to mighty nein-ify vm instead of having actual character moments'? Not intending to be hostile or aggressive, I just saw those tags and got curious.

That's okay! Mighty Nein-ification is a bit of a misnomer (especially because it's unnecessarily hostile to the Nein). The problem isn't so much making Vox Machina like the Mighty Nein (all indications are that VM was just as rough around the edges as the Nein were when they were starting out), it's that I think they retreated to old shorthands they were familiar with that work well with the Nein and don't work with VM in the time they had.

So when we first meet Vox Machina in the stream, they're already established and respected adventurers at level 9 sent on a quest by a member of the Council of Tal'dorei. They've already killed Brimscythe and the Dread Emperor and saved the Sovereign and his family; while we see their scrappier beginnings in the Origins comics, it's purely backstory in the campaign. With the Nein it's the opposite, where we actually follow them through their low-level adventures as they get to know each other, watching them argue and mistrust each other and slowly build up both their friendships and their clout within the political factions of Wildemount. We watch them go from a gang of slapdicks who no one likes or respects and are constantly fighting to a strong and cohesive team of movers and shakers.

Here's the problem: the cast is now producing an animated adaptation of Vox Machina's campaign, which is almost universally agreed to really pick up around episode 24, the beginning of the Briarwood arc. Between the slower-paced first 20 episodes and the red dragonborn in the room, the Briarwood arc makes the most sense as the starter story. We can't just jump right into that without taking some time to establish VM as a party, right? That's what the opening two-parter of season 1 is for: they need to establish who Vox Machina are as individuals and a party so we have a baseline understanding of them before following them through an iconic storyline. There are different ways they could do this!

And the way they chose to do it was "gang of slapdicks who no one likes or respects and are constantly fighting".

This would have been fine if they weren't starting with the Briarwood arc and leading into the Conclave arcs, which both require VM to have some rapport with each other and the Tal'Dorei Council to work. Instead VM are still on thin ice with the council and honestly don't give anyone a reason not to think of them that way even before everything goes wrong at the feast. (Like, I don't think Scanlan's antics in 1x03 are funny; I think they make him look like a dumbass and they make VM look like dumbasses by association.) Allura and Kima barely tolerate them and Allura is reluctant to speak in their defense when the Sovereign puts them under arrest. I can understand that they thought this kind of conflict would be more interesting, but this is the lead-in to the Briarwood arc. There's PLENTY of conflict here to be interesting! Why not try to build up Vox Machina as a competent party with friendly allies who struggle with but still overcome a difficult challenge, maybe straight-up open on them killing Brimscythe and then lead into a truncated Kraghammer arc?

Because this doesn't just make for a lackluster opening two-parter. Emon being so hostile to the party means they have very little investment in or connection to the city, and as a result, when the Conclave attacks, it lacks emotional weight. Keyleth has a line in season 2 about their home being destroyed that falls flat because Emon wasn't their home; they were kicked out of every tavern and multiple people pointed out how bad their reputation was. The lack of friendship with Kima and Allura makes their meeting in Season 2 Episode 5 very jarring, because they greet each other like old friends when they're not. (I think Seasons 2 and 3 did a good job developing Allura and Kima's friendship with VM, but this is work that should have had its foundation laid sooner.) When Keyleth asks the question of "why are we even together", it's never really answered in the emotional sense in which it's asked. Why are they together? Because at the eleventh hour they finally started acting competent, I guess. Don't get too attached to the idea of that theme, because it's not gonna come up again all season.

You see what I'm saying here? They didn't go for what would most efficiently tell the story in a way that made sense; they went for tropes—archetypal stories of scrappy underdogs pulling together for a common goal. And while it seems like a quick fix that solves the problem of distilling the first twelve levels of Vox Machina's campaign into a 12-episode season, in the long term it undercuts what the show intends to do later because the groundwork they laid was too focused on using familiar adventure story imagery to try to push audience reaction buttons. That's a problem that has hung over this show for three seasons now, and I think the metapigeons have come home to roost.

[bonisonline]

Getting real fed up of some of the Vox Machina/Critical Role "fans" (slight vent)

Countless times I've seen people complaining about the most miniscule things in the show. Whether it's a slight dialogue change, a timeline shift or not enough/too much queer representation, people can just never be goddamn satisfied can they? I'll give some examples of complaints I saw under YouTube clips of Vox Machina/Critical Role C1 (DISCLAIMER: this is not me talking about genuine fans of CR or VM; just people who've watched the show out of boredom basically):

"Why did they cut out Vax's brotherly love comment to Percy in the show and instead make it about Vex? It ruins the scene." - well it's because in the show's current timeline, the main issue Percy and Vax had been facing is Percy killing Vex by not checking for traps. This had caused a lot of tension between Vax and Percy, and they didn't really have time to build a brotherly bond or have brotherly moments (aside from when Percy tells Vax he's got Vax's back in the Fey Realm). The show's timeline is moving a lot faster than the original campaign due to the CR team only getting 5 seasons with 12 lots of 20 minute episodes per season to work with as opposed to 115 lots of 4 hour long episodes, meaning there's not as much time to flesh out ALL the characters' relationships with one another (at least not on screen). If we're patient I'm sure we'll get more Percy and Vax brotherly moments.

"I'm tired of homosexuality getting the short end of the stick! Sucks that all of the main cast is straight." - Firstly, Vex, Vax, Scanlan and Keyleth are canonically bisexual. Just because someone queer ends up with the opposite sex, doesn't make them automatically straight. Secondly, the show is prewritten, and while the characters end up in heterosexual-presenting relationships it doesn't mean that their relationships are worse/boring simply because it's not Vexleth and Perc'ildan instead of Vaxleth and Perc'ahlia. The way the relationships are written are very fitting for each character, and I enjoy that the writing for these characters is not just "And he/she looked at them and realised he/she was in love! Yay!". Plus campaign 2 has two queer couples, so if Vox Machina not having enough homosexuality frustrates you you can always stop watching and wait for the Mighty Nein series to come out.

(To follow up to my last point about the Mighty Nien series, I also saw this person complaining that it "only has lesbians, no gay men" - so I guess Caleb and Essek don't exist now...)

"I felt bad for Zerxus until he mentioned he had a husband. Why are the characters always gay..." - On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are people who think Vox Machina is TOO gay, which makes me go "have you even researched the cast of Critical Role in the SLIGHTEST?" - obviously not, or else they'd realise how supportive the cast is of the LGBTQ+ community, how a few cast members are a part of it, and how CR actively supports and encourages diversity.

ANYWAY! That's enough venting. What I'm basically trying to get at is this: if there are elements of the show that makes it genuinely hard for you to watch, then stop watching. You don't have to watch a show if you don't actually like what you see on your screen. You can manifest it suddenly making all your headcanons/wishes a reality, but I think you'll just hurt your brain after a while.

[littlebosslady7]

Critical Role Schedule for the week of November 4th, 2024

Monday, November 4th: — Re-Slayer's Take season 2, episode 8 for podcast streamers, Plus Bonus Take with Jasmine Bhullar on Beacon.

Monday, November 4th: — TLOVM Season 3 Q&A with Travis Willingham and Sam Riegel in the Beacon Discord at 2PM PST.

Tuesday, November 5th: — Critical Role Abridged Campaign 3, Episode 29 for YouTube, 51 for Beacon.

Wednesday, November 6th — UNEND continues with episode 5 on Midst.co and Midst YouTube, 7 for Beacon.

Thursday, November 7th: — The Main Campaign returns with possibly all 3 parties, Vox Machina, Bell's Hells, and the Mighty Nein for Campaign 3, Episode 113 at 7PM PST on Beacon, YouTube, and Twitch.

Thursday, November 7th: — Critical Role Cooldown airs directly after the latest episode, only on Beacon.

Note: Daylight Savings Time began in the U.S. If you live outside the region, all show times listed here will start one hour earlier than usual. You can also check @wheniscriticalrole [here] for updates just in case.

[renatogpadilla]

THOUGHTS ON CR3E92 IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

- FIRST EVER CR CROSSOVER EPISODE?!

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

- Dariax said "This Flute doesn't play itself anymore." Doriax canon offscreen?

- "After all the handjobs, this is what we mean to you?!" Damn... I mean, I'm glad Opal and Cyrus found a way to relieve stress, Gods know they're both stressed, but damn.

- Ending the episode on Opal Twice-Crowned hitting phase 2 of the boss fight was EVIL!

I love it, @quiddie ! I feel like when this gets animated in a decade or so, we'll get this fight and the fight with Otohan Thull overlayed one on top of the other for a Season Finale or something!

- Raven Queen going two for two on Rogues turned Paladin! Which is great, but now I have to replan Morrighan's moveset for that imaginary Critical Role fighting game that only exists in my head (somebody ask me about it please, I NEED to talk about it!) but at least she gets some Smite options out of the Bunny Hop command jump!

- Dariax is a Bard now too! That's honestly so perfect for Matt! And the fact that both Sorcerers and Bards are Charisma Casters makes me feel like the Synergies are gonna be great!

- Oh, Dorian, wonderful blue king... That's a lot of strength that your Dice will never agree to let you use for anything cool. I missed you SO MUCH!

- Speaking of that imaginary CR fighting game, this just solidified Opal as a puppet character. The tag combos with Ted would be WILD! Think Kenshi from MK1!

- Fy'ra Rai... Just... FY'RA RAI! Gods, I've missed Anjali at the table! Her memory with Opal, her tug-of-war with her thoughts about her sister... THE LAVA WHIP! Nothing sexier than Monks! Except a pissed off Wizard or Druid.

- On the other side of the table, I LOVE the moment the girls all collectively remembered they had to break the news to Frida... Oh, that's gonna hurt BAD!

- Anyone else noticed that Ashton is BURNT OUT and laying on the ground after his Titan form wears off, but Fearne just says she's really tired and just KEEPS GOING? Ashton is DONE for now, but Fearne needs to keep moving forward... Fuck, I love these two.

- Orym... Just... Orym. If you take a level in Barbarian after this, I wouldn't blame you.

- Side-Note: This means Dorian DID get Orym's last message before they went to the moon! He just didn't/couldn't answer! Which means, through the static and everything, Dorian COULD hear Orym! And now he's probably gonna get this message once the battle is over... Jesus, if they get to Zephra and Keyleth went to the Lodge next to the lake that's gonna be a problem...

- Side-Note Side-Note: Anyone else hoping to GOD that Allura called the Nein to help? Cause Beau and Caleb were involved, but now it feels like an "All Hands on Deck" situation, and we could use Kingsley's small army of pirates right about now...

- So much happened this episode between the grieving and the flashbacks and the rolling for handjobs that I didn't have time to process the splinter cell of Xhorhasians that split their soul in twain until I woke up... Opal may have forgotten, but maybe Ted hasn't? Though if they're the same person, maybe they both forgot...

- Aabria, the corrupting of the Memories was FOUL, I LOVE IT!!!

- Somebody needs to tell Essek about the soul-splitters. In fact, let's get to that while we deal with Ashton too!

- IF OPAL DIES, AMY CAN COME OVER AS DENI$E! Like, I don't WANT her to die, but Westruun isn't that far... 👀

- I just realized this is the first ever FULL episode of CR without Sam at the table... Fuck, man, when it hurts it hurts. Glad Marisha brought back the fan.

"Forgot the Consonants?" "No Letters." OUCH, MISS RAY, WHAT THE FUCK?!

- Raven Queen Paladins hasting themselves first thing in the fight. Vax is back, and he's a Bunny Girl now!

- I like that the Crownkeepers are a two-way Overwatch reunion (McCree Cassidy and Symmetra) and a three-way Persona 5 reunion (Yusuke, Ann Futaba and Akechi).

- Everything was so fucked this episode that everything with Liliana got knocked to the background for me, THAT'S how good it was!

- The SECOND Evoroa said Ludinos was on Exandria I knew EXACTLY where he would be! Now we HAVE to get the Nein involved, right? Unless the bastard makes the city float again...

I cannot WAIT for the next episode! And if Sam brings a new character when all the groups are together, it would be SPECTACULAR! I'm guessing he's going to play one of the moon races, because that just sounds cool... Either that or Tary!

[tua-five]

Season 3 Episode 5!

⚠️⚠️ Don't read if you haven't watch s3! ⚠️⚠️

Omg, Klaus meets his mom!!! Oh, and finds out he died so many times...

Okay, but I actually love the fact that Tom Hopper's wife is Klaus's mom. I don't know why. It's just cool and sweet.

Aww.... but I forgot that Allsion got nightmares... it's so sweet how Ray would just immediately know and start helping.

This episode is just so quick. A lot of moments that I'm a little overwhelmed.

Even though Stanley knows that Diego isn't his dad, he still tells him that he flipping killed his brother. Yikes. Diego's freak out 😭 "And you were gonna dissolve the body!?"

Klaus's "even the naughty bits?"

That's it.

"Hate to say I told you so,"

"You love to say I told you so." Dang, Viktor!!

I really just want to know exactly where everyone is from. (And before I start, yes, I do know that Reginald made them learn many languages) because Five keeps speaking German. He said, "Nein!" In season 2, when everyone failed to meet the 90-minute deadline. And just now, he called the briefcase "kaput". Broken in german. I can definitely see Five being German, but everyone else in the Fandom believes he's from Greece. But I do fully believe he's from Germany. I don't know.

I also love "guy in a carpet." And Chen just accepts it and says,"I hope you win."

And then Klaus is like "sup! I'm back from the dead."

"What would happen if I cut off your head? Would it grow two of you?" And then Diego curs in, cause that's rude, right?

"Stan." He turns to look at Klaus. "Would it?"

"Klaus, do you know where the kugelblitz is?" "Yeah, I saw it!"

"Why didn't you tell anyone!?"

"I told you!" Yeah, Diego. He told you. Why even ask that question?

"You say stupid shut all the time!"

This is why we should listen to each other.

Olay, but as much as it's like.. arguing and stuff. I love their immediate concern for Viktor because harlan hurt him.

And omg, Five saying that Harlan was insignificant and then Viktor immediately with the comeback, "You once told me no one was insignificant." Yeah.. he's not wrong.

I love how Harlan is listening to Wind. And then specifies through a field of corn, and my first immediate thought was... Viktor doesn't have a good experience with field corn.

God. I really hate the writers. I mean, why couldn't stan be his actual son? They were so cute. He's yelling at Stan (not literally yelling, but disciplining, parenting,) and then he jokes around, making stan laugh by putting the cleaning supplies on his head? And then before he leaves the room he tells him not to forget about his ear medication downstairs??? Hello? He's such a good dad just for that to be thrown away?

Another full circle moment. We all know five said "I'm the daddy here!" To Luther in season 2. And now Diego says it. "I'm the daddy here.." to lila.

Allison just said, "The new timeline will just be worse for me." And yep. I truly believe it will. She might've gotten everything she wanted in this last timeline, but everything comes with a cost.

Oh... wow.. yeah. "Luther just said you can't use me for that" and Allsion said that she can of she wants to. Then she rumors him to stay. He begs her not to. And then... she rumors him again. And we all know that.

Oi.. Klaus telling Five that that's the Mother's of Agony. Symbol or whatever.

And then we find badass Pogo.

The gifs!

Sorry in advance that there isn't much gifs. I'm in a bit of a rush today and wasn't sure if I was even going to be able to watch this episode so I didn't have much time to write all of this or find the gifs.

I'm not sure if or when I'll watch and post tomorrow's episode but I'll try to as soon as I can! Love you all!

[gamergirljournalist]

Review: The Legends of Vox Machina Season 3 (2024) - Relationships intertwine with adventure

RATING: 4/5 Stars Warning: this review contains spoilers for the third season of The Legends of Vox Machina

Season 3 of The Legends of Vox Machina has dropped and thanks to Amazon, I received early access to the show. Ever since the successful Kickstarter campaign, this D&D-themed animated series was able to share the tale of Critical Role's first campaign in an easy-to-digest format, especially for new fans who don't have the time to watch hours of D&D campaigns that span hundreds of episodes.

For those who don't know what this show is about, it stars the original Critical Role cast - Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham, and of course, Matthew Mercer. All of them reprise their roles that form the Vox Machina team, who travel across Tal'dorei to stop various enemies, while also forming some alliances. While many thought that Season 3 would feature a new campaign, it was actually a continuation of the Chroma Conclave - the second arc of the Vox Machina story. So was this latest installment able to tie this story together within the 12 episodes it received?

Warning, I will be spoiling the show, so if you want to watch it blind, steer clear for now. Also, this review is written by someone who hasn't watched the original livestreams.

In Continuation of the Chroma Conclave arc

Season 3 continues where season 2 left off, where the Vox Machina team finally learns about Thordak's plan and somewhat forms an alliance with Raishan. Unlike season 1, where it was able to tell the entire Briarwood arc, the Chroma Conclave story was extended into two parts, with season 3 merging multiple side quests and story arcs into 12 episodes. While it does try to make it work, it seems like some of the stories felt condensed to keep the ball rolling, especially if the show wants to move on to its next story arc in season 4 (more on that later). Not to mention, it's clear that some changes needed to be made, especially if they were to tell this story for a Television/Streaming size format. It's not all bad as it gives greater focus on our characters.

Less action, More Relationship Building

The previous seasons of The Legends of Vox Machina showcased so much action and adventure, something that's reminiscent of many Dungeons and Dragons games. But season 3 flips that format and decides to focus on the relationships our characters have. Whether it's Pike's trust in the Everlight, Vax and Keylith's will-they-won't-they situation, and Percy and Vex's situationship, all of these relationships get a fair amount of time in the spotlight and play a role in how our characters develop, not only as themselves but also as a team. And it's not just the team dynamic, even those outside the party like Scanlan's daughter, Vex and Vax's father and mother, and Allura and Kima, these external characters also play a role in the team's development. It's really great how The Legend of Vox Machina showcases that our source of power is from the people we're close with, not just from physical strength alone. If you're invested in the relationships that have been formed since the show's beginning, it's best to grab some tissues because you're going to need them.

The adventure isn't over yet.

Fans of the original livestream know what happens to Vox Machina at the end of the campaign. So the way that season 3 ends shows that the adventure isn't over. The final episode teases another big bad is on the horizon, while our team splits up for the time being to work on themselves. It's quite a heartfelt ending, while also teasing there is more to come. While a season 4 (or possibly a season 5) has yet to be announced, The Legend of Vox Machina has prepared itself to tell one or two more final story arcs before it moves towards the Mightly Nein campaign.

Overall thoughts

In all honesty, The Legends of Vox Machina Season 3 feels a bit rushed. While it did conclude the Chroma Conclave story in this season, some story beats had little development and you wished the show did more with it. But it also makes sense why it was condensed the way it was due to the amount of time and episodes the show has. Despite some of its flaws, it's also a fun season, with more relationship-building, music from Sam Riegel, LGBT+ themes, and the usual Dungeons and Dragons antics translated into an adult animation show.

Viewers will be on the edge of their seats, and there may be tears, but in the end, it wraps up another story arc that needed two seasons to showcase its conclusion.

The Legends of Vox Machina Season 3 is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

[hello-eeveev]

How to Rest: Director's Commentary—Chapter 3

| Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 |

This chapter has a bit of a different vibe than the rest of the fic because it features a Mighty Nein get-together, making it something of a spiritual successor to Miss You Dearly, I suppose. It’s about Caleb and Essek’s relationship, but it also deals with Essek’s relationship to the Mighty Nein as a whole.

I’m excited to discuss it!

(spoiler warning for the entirely of How to Rest)

The crisp, cool air of the Blooming Grove was a reprieve from the stifling heat and humidity of Jrusar’s rainy season when Essek teleported in.

lol can you tell that I started writing this chapter when Bells Hells were still in or around Jrusar? And then by the time I actually finished and published it, we were episode 60-something in campaign 3. Wild. Time is fake (sorry Essek).

Early stages of planning for this chapter included references to the Verin jam story because that dropped right around when I was formulating this whole story, if you can believe it! Ultimately it got cut, though I did drop some of the Verin discussion in this post!

He barely caught a flash of blue before the wind was knocked out of him and arms were thrown around his waist. “Hello, Jester,” he wheezed, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. “Hi!” Jester squeezed his ribs tightly, and he narrowly avoided getting hit in the chin by one of her horns as she pressed her face to his chest. “I’m so happy you made it!”

This scene makes me so happy!!! Jesties my beloveds!!!! I love every scene I write of Jester and Essek because they are always so fun and frequently so so cute, but this is one of my favorites! For a lot of reasons, including:

Essek having to dodge a horn to the chin

Jester making Caleb wait his turn for Essek hugs and Essek just accepting that

Jester looking up at Essek with big puppy dog eyes to convince him to go along with her usurping hug-time from Caleb

Jester-sandwich! Jester-sandwich!!

Essek using dunamancy to help Caleb pick Jester up

It’s just all so cute and I feel like it highlights the kind of friendship Essek and Jester (and Caleb too!) have and I love them so much I want to explode.

Caduceus rested a hand on his shoulder. “Of course. We’re always happy to have you. Here—” He bent down, picked up a wide-brimmed hat sitting on top of a pile of gardening supplies, and handed it to Essek. “It’s going to be sunny later today.” Essek took the hat in both hands, running his thumbs along the edge. It appeared to be the same one the Clays had lent to him after Ikithon attacked the Grove. It was a little more worn than the last time he had borrowed it, but he recognized the pattern and texture of the weave. He smiled, a gentle warmth blooming in his chest at the thought the this hat might have been saved for him. “Ah. Thank you.”

Even though this is quite thoroughly a shadowgast fic, I cannot (and wouldn’t want to) ignore that the entire rest of the Mighty Nein love Essek too. My go-to is jesties, but in this chapter, Caduceus is the one to show a very deliberate care for Essek by not only giving him a sunhat, but remembering which one was the one he used last time. I like that kind of… consistency? repetition? tradition? so I think that’s a very sweet way to show someone consideration :)

As he knelt and began selecting his flowers, he heard Caduceus sigh. When he looked up, Caduceus glanced at him for a moment before looking out over the Mighty Nein and all their colorful chaos, a warm, contented smile settling on his face. “Yeah,” Caduceus said. “This is gonna be great.” Essek followed his gaze and took in the sight of his dearest friends, gathered together as a whole for the first time in several months. Veth was nearby, already hard at work planting one of many yellow flowers she had beside her. Fjord was leaned up against Jester as she explained her vision for her plot, a fond expression on his face. A little off to the side, Yasha wove a flower into Beau’s hair, Kingsley resting at her back, his tail flicking happily.

Everyone in the Mighty Nein gets a cameo, even if they don’t play much of a role in this chapter. I love them. I am writing to paint a picture of all of them together to keep in my heart, just like Caduceus is doing with the flowers.

Caleb was rolling up his sleeves, and the diffused light of the sun through the clouds made the orange in his hair almost seem to glow. He was beautiful—always, but especially amongst the flowers and greenery in the Grove, his warmth all the brighter for the coolness that surrounded him.

Essek, you think he’s so pretty it makes you look stupid (affectionate).

Essek let himself look and admire and memorize. For so long, he had taken in the image of Caleb in glances, at first too ashamed and then too nervous to look at him for any longer than a moment. Now, he could observe and know that it was welcome. Know that Caleb would look back at him and smile. What a gift it was to see Caleb Widogast and be seen by him in return.

And then the comfort that Essek has grown into in this relationship!!! The confidence in Caleb’s reciprocation of his feelings!!!! They don’t have to be awkward anymore because they share an understanding!!!!!! I’m fine!!!!!!!

(anyone else do the thing where they get a crush on someone and immediately cannot physically look at them? Like if you look at them for more than a split second, they’ll know you have a crush on them, which is a fate worse than death? anyway yeah when I write Essek, I’m pulling a lot from experience lol)

Essek flushed and shook away whatever foolish expression was on his face.

Listen, just because he knows Caleb isn’t going judge him for staring doesn’t mean Essek isn’t going to judge himself sometimes. He’s still learning.

Now we get into the actual gardening bit. I did wayyyy to much looking into flower meanings and put wayyyy too much thought into something that went largely unused. I don’t even know if my sources were accurate. I don’t particularly care. (the main one is the flower meanings page on the old farmer’s almanac fwiw?) But from my notes, I have written that amongst Essek’s batch of plants is sorrel, which supposedly means “affection” and tarragon, meaning lasting interest. Caleb’s purple hydrangeas are meant to symbolize a “desire to deeply understand someone.” 

They start out working separately but they just naturally stop caring about a hard separation. Almost like how they’re slowly but surely blending their lives more and more until they become one. wow! (listen, my brain is not built for esoteric and/or opaque metaphors, but a little bit of “this thing is like another thing”? that’s fine that’s good we can have a little fun with it)

Eyes drifting to the flowers they had yet to plant, Essek plucked one that Caleb had chosen. It was a bright, purplish blue, its pointed petals forming a ruff around the center.

The cornflower enters the picture, but Essek doesn’t know what it is. He just thinks it’s pretty and that it’s a nice contrasting color to Caleb’s hair.

Essek twirled the flower between his thumb and forefinger before brushing aside a lock of Caleb’s hair that had escaped its tie and tucking the flower behind his ear.

The rituals are intricate, etc., etc.

Essek adjusted the flower for a few moments more, making sure it would stay in place, and shrugged.

Yeah, bud. Suuure, you wanna make sure it stays in place, no other reason. Once again, intricate rituals.

“What is this for?” Caleb asked. Essek chuckled. “Do I need a reason?”   Caleb grinned, the red of his cheeks deepening. “No.” [...] “It complements your hair.”

Heyyyy throwback to chapter 2! But now that I think about it, this repeated exchange is kind of an emotional intelligence practice and a way to become more comfortable expressing their not-so-conscious thoughts with with each other. Like, no, there don’t have to be reasons for impulsive displays of affection (and they are becoming more comfortable with that too!), but if they pause for a second to reflect on why they did something, there is usually some reason for it, even if it is as simple as “I like you” or “I thought these colors went well together”. It’s about building the communication and the emotional intimacyyyyy.

“Thank you, dear.” [...] Dear. He quite liked the sound of that.

I would like to thank Liam O’Brien’s usage of ‘dear’ at the end of Mighty Nein Reunited Part 2 for my life.

Warmth spread throughout Essek’s entire body, coursing through his limbs and settling deep inside his ribs. It was dizzying, this slow and steady burn that only Caleb was able to spark, but Essek was not afraid. Caleb was an expert with fire. He would tend to this flame well, and Essek would bask in its heat and light, granted a comfort and a safety he had never known before.

you ever—you ever just— 

yeah.

Caleb is the only person for whom Essek has felt this depth of feeling, this kind of feeling. Vulnerability is frequently frightening, exhausting, especially if you have as little experience with it as Essek. But he knows Caleb well enough by now and trusts that he will not be careless with him. And it’s because of this confidence in Caleb that Essek is able to enjoy being vulnerable and being known. 

“You have some dirt on your face.” He reached for Essek again and rubbed his thumb along his cheekbone.  Essek squinted against the pressure but leaned into it anyway. “And whose fault is that, Caleb Widogast?” he said softly.  “Guilty as charged.” Caleb ran the backs of his fingers along Essek’s jaw before letting his hand fall away.

It is endlessly funny to me that Essek is like “I will not kiss Caleb in front of our friends.” And then he’s doing this like, 20 feet from them. I don’t know, bud, this feels more intense than a peck on the lips to say hello, but you do you. 

[…] the nearby trees grew up and over, their branches intertwining to create a natural canopy over the patio.

Being the keepers of the nature god’s temple means you can have some cool plant features. I love you, Wildmother <3 

A shout came from the direction of the clearing. Essek tensed and leaned forward in his chair, placing his weight on the balls of his feet, ready for a fight. Caduceus merely chuckled. “Well, it was nice while it lasted.”

Essek plays it cool for the most part, and it’s not hard when he’s with the Mighty Nein, but he is stressed and afraid most of the time nowadays, and he’s ready to defend himself at a moment’s notice. 

Essek whipped around, baffled by Caduceus’s non-reaction. Then he heard a loud, mischievous cackle that could only be Veth. There was more shouting. It was Fjord, he recognized. Of course it was. Shoving his paranoia aside, Essek could hear the good-natured tone of it all. The sharpness he had thought meant danger he now recognized as Fjord’s playful melodrama. 

This is my love letter to the Fjord & Veth bickering. A special shout-out to “Critical Role: Sam vs. Travis vs. Fjord vs. Veth,” one of the best videos on the internet. 

“I cannot say I have missed this part of the Nein,” he said. […] “But I cannot say I haven’t, either.” Caduceus raised his cup. “I know exactly how you feel.”

m9 latecomers bonding over loving the Nein while also being frequently overwhelmed by them <3

One of Caduceus’s ears flicked a few times, and he grinned, setting his now-empty tea cup down. […] Only a few seconds after Caduceus disappeared from view, another figure rounded the corner of the house. Essek brightened, the lingering pang in his chest morphing into something soft and sweet at the sight of Caleb Widogast.

Caduceus’s ear flicking is his insanely high passive perception hearing Caleb’s approach and he very kindly exits to give the wizards some alone time. 

And Essek is smitten :)

He held out his cup to Caleb. Caleb nodded his thanks and drank from it. “Hm. Not bad.” “I quite like it,” Essek said, taking the cup back for another sip. Caleb gave his hand a squeeze. “I will have to ask Caduceus if I can bring some home, then.”

The little intimacy of casually sharing a cup. 

Caleb!! making his home a place for Essek!!! with the things he prefers ready and waiting for him!!!

He cast about for a distraction from the flood of emotions. Caleb’s hair had fallen in front of his face in sweaty, unruly strands. He smoothed it back with his free hand, fingers passing over the blue flower still tucked behind Caleb’s ear.

Is playing with your beloved’s hair the best course of action when you are trying to distract yourself from how flustered you are because he is sweet to you? I would argue no, but Essek’s the one with the >20 intelligence. Surely his wisdom must match it? Surely. (/s i do not believe this man has a high wisdom stat)

“They are meant to symbolize good fortune and hope and—” He shook his head and held the cornflower out to Essek. “Anyways. This is for you.”

Blumenthal’s traditions that feature cornflowers are pretty much just European cornflower symbolism. However, there is one tradition that Caleb deliberately does not mention, which is that cornflowers are sometimes called bachelor’s buttons because they were sometimes worn in men’s buttonholes to show they were in love. Fun little fact for you. 

While not in love with Essek yet, Caleb is having some strong falling-in-love type feelings towards Essek. He was having them last chapter, he’s having them this chapter. And talking about his happy memories of home and seeing Essek wearing one of the symbols of it is only working to make those feelings grow. 

“I would very much like to kiss you right now.”

I realized after writing this that I pretty much wholesale yoinked it from the book I wrote in high school that will likely never see the light of day but is nonetheless so precious to me. I liked this line in its original context, I like it here. 

“I see. Well…” Essek looked around at the quiet, empty clearing before turning back to Caleb with a grin. He lifted a hand to Caleb’s jaw, rough and warm. “That can be arranged,” he said, and he tilted Caleb’s chin up and pressed their lips together.

I get it, Caleb. I get it so much. You’re so lucky, my dude. Essek is so cute it’s unfair.

An unmistakable squeal pierced through the air, sending Essek reeling back. He screwed his eyes shut and dropped his head onto Caleb’s shoulder, hot, roiling embarrassment churning in his stomach. “Do you think if we ignore her, she will forget what she saw?” Caleb pressed his face into Essek’s hair and chuckled sheepishly. “Not a chance.”

I love putting Essek in mildly mortifying scenarios. It’s how I show affection :) And Jester getting as excited as me about shadowgast kisses is a great way to do that :) 

Yasha, who Essek had assumed would show more discretion, smiled and nodded enthusiastically, giving him a thumbs-up. Essek smiled tightly and returned the gesture. Yasha was—thankfully—quick to recognize his discomfort. She wrapped an arm around Jester’s shoulders and herded her back in the direction they came, but Jester twisted in her grasp to give Essek and Caleb one last smile and an aggressive wiggle of her eyebrows before allowing herself to be led away.

Yasha is very supportive! Essek said “aww” when she and Beau kissed in Cognouza, so she’s just doing the same for him!! I love Yasha so much. She’s so silly and so sweet and I wanted to make sure that shows here <3

And writing Jester continues to be one of the most fun parts of writing critrole fics. Her mannerisms are so clear in my mind and I feel like they add such a good vibe to every scene that she’s in. Sometimes I have to restrain myself from not writing 1000 words of Jester every time she shows up. 

“They are going to tell everyone,” Essek said as he watched them retreat, his cheeks still burning with embarrassment. “Naturally,” Caleb replied.

I imagine that they’re doing the thing where they’re saying this through their teeth while smiling and waving at Yasha and Jester.

“We are both very powerful wizards.” Essek turned to Caleb with a look that was as close to pleading as he could get without surrendering his final scrap of dignity. “What is stopping us from teleporting away before we are forced to suffer that humiliation?” “That we love our friends—” Essek wasn’t sure how much he loved them right now. “—and that Jester would find more ammunition in us running off together than she has from seeing a single kiss.”

embarrassed!Essek gets a little dramatic and I think it’s funny and cute. Also, I like the casual admission that he loves his friends by saying that he doesn’t love them all that much in this particular moment.

Essek lifted Caleb’s hand from his leg and threaded their fingers together slowly, voice quiet. “It is not that I am against them knowing, and I am not so mired in court propriety that I feel scandalized. Rather…” He held their hands to his sternum, just below the cornflower affixed to his collar. “This is not something I do lightly. I am not frivolous with such things. And I am unused to sharing that which is…” Several words flashed through his mind—important, precious, beloved—until he fixed upon one that Caleb used earlier. “…dear to me, with others. I was not made for it.”  Caleb ran a thumb across Essek’s knuckles, while his other hand cupped his cheek. “I would not ask you to be,” he said. “I am happy with you, Essek. With us. Regardless of what the others know or think about it.”

hnnnnffghghnmm i’m fine i’m normal

Like, it’s the fact that it his relationship with Caleb is so important to him and he’s so emotionally invested in it that makes it hard for Essek to let anyone else see it. It’s like that quote from Emma: “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” (side note: bbc miniseries Emma and Mr Knightley? arospec icons i will not and cannot elaborate) To let anyone get a glimpse of how deeply he feels about Caleb is equivalent to baring his entire soul.

And Caleb is happy to take things slow and keep things more private. I’ve mentioned before/elsewhere that the fact that in all the post-campaign one-shots, Caleb refuses to talk about Essek and brushes off any bid from the m9 to bring him up is endlessly funny to me. He’s so cagey about his relationship and I think it’s hilarious. But it speaks to the idea that his relationship with Essek is something just for them. It doesn’t need to be loud or obvious or overtly romantic to be good.

Caleb’s line also harkens back (forward?) to something he says in On the Nature of Attraction:

“...they [the Mighty Nein] do not have any expectations in regards to how our relationship develops. And even if they did, it would have no bearing on what we do. Whatever pace you set is one I’m happy to match.”

Same thesis, different set dressing.

Figuring out the ending for this chapter was very difficult for me. I ended up just cutting at a place that felt… okay? I considered adding more to it for a while, which I don’t like to do after something’s been published, but when I looked at it again a few months later, I felt alright with where it ended. But let me give you some of the stuff I was considering because I do think some of it is pretty fun.

Caleb: “Is this any more frightening than Aeor? Or Cognouza?” Essek: “I don’t think you want me to answer that.”

Before they rounded the corner of the house, Caleb hesitated, tightening his grip on Essek’s hand. “Are you ready?” “No.” “Me neither,” he said. “If I die of embarrassment, will you avenge me?” Essek laughed. “Bold of you to assume it would not kill me first, Caleb Widogast.”

Images/thoughts we could leave off on: - Essek love Caleb so much - Caleb is a bit silly and Essek loves him - Walking into the mighty nein’s clearing is like walking into the pits of hell - Jester’s adorable laughter is a harbinger of doom - God (Jester Lavorre) won’t let me die

And that’s chapter 3! I like this chapter a whole lot. It’s got some silly moments and some sweet ones, which meant I got to have a lot of fun writing it. See you next time for chapter 4!

[ofallthingsnasty]

i have 2 for you! sense8 takes place all around the world, one of the primary countries is germany and one of the main characters is german. technically, all of the main characters speak german, because of... reasons (you'll get it), but i can't recall any instances of the others actually speaking it? i'm sure there are some though. though he mostly "speaks german" because the show is originally mostly in english (so it's just implied that this is just the language we're switching to now). it's on netflix. and critical role, specifically campaign 2 (the mighty nein campaign). you don't need to have watched/listened to the previous campaign to understand any of it. it's a TTRPG show, with one of the party members essentially being fantasy german. the cast member who plays him speaks a little bit of german and tries to sprinkle it in where he can. you can find it on youtube or pretty much anywhere you can listen to podcasts. heads up, though, sense8 is only 2 seasons of hour-ish long episodes and a special, but the mighty nein cr campaign is like... ~140 several hour long episodes (3-5 usually). BUT IT'S SO WORTH IT I SWEAR!! anyway. both have rather liberal use of german language and culture in fanfiction, and are quite enjoyable by themselves. hopefully you like at least one of them if you decide to give either a shot!

Thank you anon, this is so sweet omg!!

I have heard of Critical Role but never really got into it -- that little fact is super cool 🤩 the amount of content is pretty neat, actually (I'll tell you a secret: I love to crochet and that length is actually perfect haha. More than enough to get some amigurumi done, yessss. I also need to pick up SDV again once I'm done with OP and I love some background noise for that while I'm playing as well 👀👀)

And I've never heard of Sense8!! The premise is really interesting, too 👀

[cassiebankscr]

The Legend of "The Mighty Nein???"

Yes, it's true Critters! For those of us who haven't been glued to social media or missed the break during last Thursday's Critical Role live stream on Twitch, it was announced on Wednesday, January 25th that Critical Role has received a green light for The Mighty Nein to be turned into another animated series for Amazon Prime!

"Under the deal with Amazon Studios, Critical Role will continue to produce under its production banner, Metapigeon, which will develop its own original TV shows, films and content while continuing to 'partner with talented creatives on a new slate of projects, both in and outside of the Critical Role universe,' according to the companies." Variety

What was once an excuse for a group of people to come together to celebrate Liam O'Brien's birthday has become a story-telling enterprise of massive proportions thanks to the creative mind of Matt Mercer and the beloved cast of Critical Role; Marisha Ray, Laura Bailey, Ashley Johnson, Travis Willingham, Liam O'Brien, Sam Riegel and Taliesin Jaffe.

When will we see the first episodes of "The Mighty Nein?" We know how long it took to put the first season together, so expect more of the same. Scripts must be written, art must be drawn, voices must be cast. It's just nice knowing we'll see some of our favorite stories from Campaign 2 and if we're lucky more of Yasha since Ashley missed so many episodes while filming the last seasons of NBC's "Blindspot."

This week? Episodes 4, 5 and 6 of "The Legend of Vox Machina" were released today, Friday, January 27th and they were wonderful! Check it out on Amazon Prime (currently #2 on Amazon Prime's Top 10 List). Don't forget "The Legend of Vox Machina" Watch Party for this week's new episodes on Tuesday, January 31st. It starts LIVE at 10:00PM Eastern on the Critical Role Twitch channel.

Remember, these dreams of ours only came true due to the support of Critters world-wide as each of us put our money where our mouths were in the Kickstarter so long ago. Watch all of the Critical Role episodes as often as you like to ensure Amazon Prime knows of our love for future Critical Role content.

Be well blessed and well loved always. ❤️

[iantimony]

time to tuesday

listening: i have been POWERING through twilight mirage. i find the first ~5 eps of any fatt season are the hardest to get through because it's familiarizing yourself with new characters, settings, vibes, etc. but once you pass that point it is fuckin rolling. i'm on episode 12 now. i think my goal is to do twilight mirage and partizan and catch up on palisade in time for that to finish lol. i think it's doable though. most seasons are about a year long. let's say 70 ep of TM and 50 ep of partizan, with rounding, and if i listen to five episodes a week that's 24 weeks, so about halfway through the palisade run, yeah? at that point there will be about 25 episodes of palisade, so another 8 weeks, etc. but i SHOULD be able to catch up in time. we'll see.

i went to a concert this past saturday for the local philarmonic and that SLAMMED. the first two pieces were soloists from local youth concerto competitions and not gonna lie these kids ruled. the first one was 14 and did a saint-saëns violin concerto and made me question everything about all my choices he was so talented. the second one was also really good but it was chopin and he's hit or miss as a composer for me, the soloist was incredible but i just. don't like chopin that much. oops. and then the final piece was dvorak #8 which made me sooo emo and nostalgic because i did that one in orch in undergrad and it rips. so it was really good.

hmm. what other music. this is funny

reading: nothing besides glancing at twilight mirage transcripts if i felt like i missed something and didn't want to scrub back haha

watching: started cowboy bebop with my so!! it's soooo good truly immaculate vibes all around. we watched up to episode 3 so starting with 4....probably tonight i think actually

making: starting a printmaking project! unpacking some shit mentally etc.

i had to set up the block three times total before i finally got the sketch reversed lmao. like i drew it out once, went wait shit i have to mirror the image, traced it onto a piece of paper to transfer it, transferred it the wrong way AGAIN, and finally got it right on the third try. lol. gonna start carving it some time this week, and i need to order a brayer and some ink...

and then life drawing from yesterday:

and finally [GIFT WARNING; BOYFRIEND DO NOT READ THIS PART] i FINALLY got the intarsia working for the scarf im making. turns out i was twisting the yarn under the work and not over it so it was like. pinching the actual knit itself. dumb. but it's good now and im gonna start ripping through it :)

started doing pottery again also!!! so stay tuned for more making on that front

misc: i finally went to urgent care last week because i was still not feeling well and wasn't getting any work done because i couldn't focus and i felt dizzy and icky and achey etc and it turns out i had an ear infection! or something like that, something in the ear/nose/throat vibe. so i got put on an antibiotic and im doing much better

experiencing the agonies otherwise but im hanging in there. tuseday again no problem right

[some-thrilling-heroics]

I posted 1,187 times in 2022

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#lucienne the librarian - 50 posts

#queer - 47 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#if your doc tells you you have terminal disease it's not them treating you bad it's just their luck to be the one to give you the message

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

i know lucienne used to be dream’s raven, so clearly she used to be out in the waking world, and before that i presume was also a mortal like matthiew so there’s that but that must have been eons ago right? 

so she’s been the librarian for ages, and i don’t suppose she’d have a reason to leave the dreaming.... and then dream gets captured and all goes to shit and im just thinking - would she be scared or wary of going out into the waking world? even if there was a valid reason for her to leave the dreaming? would dream be wary in a protective way if it ever came up that lucienne wants to go elsewhere for reasons? is she allowed? the questions just multiply like my damn plot bunnies dammit

and then, she saw the dreaming collapse, does she feel safe there? is she scared that one day her library will disappear again? does she have anxiety? *sobs*

38 notes - Posted September 12, 2022

#4

so who’s writing lucienne-centric parallel episode to the pilot where dream is gone and she has to wonder abt him and worry and has no answers and more and more dreams and nightmares go away and she has to manage the decay and hope he comes back, with a nice ending when she finds him laying outside the gates finally - or do i have to do everything myself around here? xD

48 notes - Posted August 22, 2022

#3

ya im happy for victor and the trans coming out and how that was worked into the plot, that was nice and i liked the little bonding diego had with allison

but what the actual fuck was everything else? warning for spoilers

lila dropping their child on diego after having custody for 12 years? and his shitty attempts at parenting until the kid killed klaus? and then it’s tu eres mi sangre and it’s fiiine - oh btw it’s not actually their kid, lila just wanted to fuck with diego but she’s pregnant and surely that’s a great prognosis for a healthy family i can’t even....

allison is off the fucking rails this season and five is worried about VICTOR turning into a villain???? what the actual fuck? what do you call somebody using mind control to try and rape their brother huh? act of a superhero???? and at the end she gets her happy ending with the daughter from the present and husband from the past which i am happy for on one hand but at the same WHAT THE FUCK how about we get an explanation HOW that works? we didn’t care about diego’s fake kid enough to bring him back to life and check on him after the universe reset but this is cool huh?

don’t get me started on ol’ reggie - somebody needs to kill that slimy bugger for good and dismember him and just to be extra sure the chopped body parts should be locked separately in different corners of the world, maybe THEN the bastard will stay fucking dead

the ending was a mess and im not satisfied - they went to an alt dimension? and stood on magic tiles and almost died to power up some alien machine that was left by the creator of the universe or whatever that reggie somehow knew how to operate and the button was pressed an boom, allison has happy family and they are all healthy

ON THAT NOTE, i would just like to say FUCK YOU sincerely to the writers for that ending - one character loses two fingers in the final battle, the other loses an arm but guess fucking what? they are fine and dandy after the magic reset bc of course it wouldn’t be a happy ending if disability was allowed to exist right?

52 notes - Posted June 23, 2022

#2

so jodie regenerated into DT, huh? not into the new guy, but into DT

and ya i was dreading RTD coming back bc he has issues and is a one trick pony - i was just proven right

to add insult to injury (or the other way round), you know how every doctor at every damn regeneration wears the clothes of the previous doctor bc regeneration only affects the body and ya clothes may be ruined but THEY'RE THE SAME CLOTHES? well not now! apparently DT couldn't possibly wear the clothes jodie wore for her entire run, very curious as to WHY that is.

and also saw a screen in another post that DT and CT are not just coming for a special anniversary but they get THREE EPS? which you know, very weird having loved them as much as i have, when they were on in S4, and i should be bloody excited right? but there's no enjoyment, just bitterness im feeling bc they could have come back in a completely different way - any way.

there are crossover eps with multiple doctors, it's not HARD but i guess RTD couldn't have his best pal DT play second fiddle to a new guy or something - like, honestly WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO THINK?

ALSO as much as i love DT - JESUS FUCKING CHRIST he regenerated from chris into tenth doctor, then in s4 he regenerated but stayed as DT 'bc he liked that body' and then later in s4 got a bloody half human clone with his own face, and now we have another regeneration into DT face and like, i don't give a fuck at this point if there IS a magic brilliant explanation for why he showed up and why the clothes changed along with the regeneration, im just pissed bc HOW IS THAT BLOODY FAIR?

the news abt casting of the new doctor? overshadowed by DT + CT coming back! and now that jodie is out, in the trailer there was just a small one liner snippet from the actual next doctor - they couldn’t let him have his own day be about him so the trailer too cannot be about him.

yes i know this is a messy rant and im probably shitting on the fucking parade some of you have (i wish i could be happy about them coming back) but DT and CT coming back COULD HAVE BEEN HANDLED MORE RESPECTFULLY and they couldn’t even bother to do that AND THAT pisses me the fuck off.

75 notes - Posted October 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

spoon feeding blood to a vampire

but the spoon is silver

94 notes - Posted November 15, 2022

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[bonktheroyal]

I posted 536 times in 2022

That's 469 more posts than 2021!

37 posts created (7%)

499 posts reblogged (93%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

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I tagged 436 of my posts in 2022

Only 19% of my posts had no tags

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Longest Tag: 111 characters

#the contrast of vex desperate seeing the briarwoods take vax away vs percy in despair realizing cass’s betrayal

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

manifesting bdg in the new Dimension 20 season

73 notes - Posted May 25, 2022

#4

same energy

80 notes - Posted September 23, 2022

#3

I was watching Dead End: Paranormal Park when i saw this and I had to stop for a moment

So I looked into it and he also plays Josh??!

Anyways the musical episode slaps and you should watch Dead End Paranormal Park

97 notes - Posted June 17, 2022

#2

IZZY!!!

188 notes - Posted September 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

4,435 notes - Posted March 21, 2022

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[koganphrancis]

Camless Episode 5

All The Writers Of This Show Are Shit

We had us a brand new writer this week and all we got was the same old same old: OOC, Retconing, and Repeats of Old Story Beats.

I’ll attempt a recap, but this episode really sucked the will out of me.

(gif credit: gallavichlovies)

I’m not going to do my usual character by character recap because frankly some really awful shit went down this week that I’m just going to refer to and not go into in depth.  Plus, so much of the episode was tedious repeats of shit the writer had JUST TRIED to say.  

We had both Debbie and Ian go knocking on the wrong doors for advice. We had two endless Lip scenes where all that was happening was he was running and riding a motorcycle.  Maybe next week he can paint a fence and we can all watch as the paint dries. Liam is sexually molested (off screen, but still) by another child who had been sexually molested. Carl and Frank both get slapped around in sexually-adjacent situations just as the show is once again trying to drive home what’s unacceptable for men to do to women-hey, Shameless, that goes for what’s unacceptable for women to do to men, women to do to other women, and men to do to other men as well.  They tried to make “going Fiona” a thing-twice.   There were at least four scenes where Frank tried to get an erection. There were endless retcons (more on those to come).  

My notes are all over the place and the show’s such a shit pile I can’t even begin to make a smooth narrative out of them, so here’s a list of my observations, saving the Ian shit for last.

Debbie had a running thread through a big part of the episode where she’s literally bored to the point of falling asleep listening to Alex-that is exactly how I feel about their relationship/the Debbie thinks she might be gay storyline.  Also, if anyone cares, Debs has completely dropped her equal rights/equal pay fight.  She doesn’t even seem to go to work anymore. Later, Debbie goes to visit the lesbians in Fiona’s building (rather than, I don’t know, talking to Vee about her experiences with Svetlana, since that seems maybe more in line with feelings Debbie is experiencing?) and the scene was clearly written in lieu of Shameless ever showing sex scenes anymore.  

The blond lesbian, Mel, exposes herself to Debbie in the doorway of her apartment (but sadly for the Netflix fans, her back is to the camera), without establishing if Debbie is not a minor, and then she kisses her in a sloppy slo-mo saliva string sharing close up.  Debbie is supposedly stunned stupid by this, but the whole “you like what you like and you don’t have to justify your sexual orientation to anyone” message falls flat.  Debbie has ALWAYS been starved for attention, and she misreads any attention she gets from anyone of any sex.  Since Matty she’s always equated someone trying to be interested in her as being interested in her sexually.  And that kiss wasn’t sexual at all-it too was a form of molestation-it wasn’t asked for or consented to.  This show is shit.  

Carl meets a young woman at a West Point mixer, the daughter of the scary military officer who is throwing the party.  Hello, we’ve done this already with Dom and her scary cop dad.  Yawn.  Carl films them not having sex after she passes out drunk so he can prove he didn’t molest/rape her, should it ever come in question.  At first the young woman is mad (and jumps on him and starts slapping him around, just like Katey Sagal will do in a scene with Frank), but then later she returns Carl’s phone and says she saw he didn’t film them having sex, but there is a recording on there of him having sex with someone else.  He says that’s Kassidi, his ex, but fails to let Kelly (the new chick) know she’s dead and he’s an accessory to her murder.  And how fucking creepy is it that Carl’s kept sex with his dead ex on his phone?  Is that something he’s still watching?  Does he get off to it?  This show is shit.

Kev and Vee get stuck with Frank in a few scenes, foreshadowing the boring seasons to come, should the show get renewed (why are they still sitting on announcing that, btw?).  There’s a subplot for Kev where he’s going to speak at a women’s rally in his new-found position of Vagina Safe consultant, but he wisely bows out when he hears the real hell women face on a regular basis.  Why this show is trying to be socially conscious this late in the game I’ll never know.  Especially since they’ll keep pulling their bullshit and defend it with “it’s Shameless!” like they’ve always done in the past.  This show is shit.

There’s the weekly Fiona/Bored disagreements-this time they’re about little things like music preferences and whether or not Fiona should care about her brother going to prison for up to two decades.  Bored winds up singing along to a song to Fiona at the end-it should’ve been Gus Pfender’s Fuck You, Fiona and they could’ve had a cute discussion about Gus being Fi’s ex-husband.  This show is shit.

Now Ian.  Sigh.  Nothing makes sense.  Everything’s either a lie or a retcon and we the audience still don’t know which.  At breakfast he’s telling the family his plea options, and when Liam questions temporary insanity, Ian rattles off, “Bipolar, off my meds.”  So is Ian saying that’s just the definition of the defense he could use, or is he saying “I was off my meds”????  WHY won’t the show give us any answers?  There were two significant scenes in Season 8 where he staunchly said he was taking his meds and that he (rightly) was entitled to feel emotions and be angry at times.  Are we supposed to think that right about then is when he stopped taking them and then Gay Jesus happened?  But if that was the case, why did he stop taking his meds, and now how long has he been off them-or did he start taking them again and now they’re working after being off them for all the GJ stuff PLUS when he was in jail for 9 months?  IF he was off his meds for any amount of time but especially a long amount of time (pretty sure an argument could be made he’d been off them since leaving Mickey/Monica dying/stalking boring Terror, blowing that old couple for money), why did his manic phase seem so different than when he was back from the army?  Can the show try to explain anything?  

Ian and Fiona and Geneva all go to the lawyer’s office-why?  There IS such a thing as client-attorney privilege and the lawyer, at least, would ask them to wait outside once the screaming began if not sooner.  But oh well.  Ian finally says, “Does anyone want to hear what my lawyer has to say?”  Me at home: YES!!!  Lawyer starts to talk, “I know this judge-he’s under...” Geneva starts yelling again and what gets lost in her bullshit is that later on, the judge is not a he?  

Outside Fi asks Ian, “Are all lesbians that dramatic?”  I asked last week, I’m asking again: Is Geneva a lesbian?  Is this just another retcon?  Her initial interactions with Ian seemed like she was crushing on him, that she wanted him, and there’s been nothing about her being a lesbian in canon.  I know it’s not important, but the lack of attention to detail on this show contributes mightily to its shittiness.

Suddenly Ian has a question, and he can think of only one place to get an answer (even though Liam was able to Google “what is cocktail attire?” and get an answer in seconds.  Ian should’ve asked him to look up his question as well).  

Ian goes to the Milkovich house and it’s so fucking OOC I don’t even want to think about it.  For whatever reason, Ian politely says, “Hi, Mr. Milkovich,” when Terry answers the door-why would he even bother?  Terry’s not big on manners, for one thing, and for another, the last time Ian saw Terry he was flipping him off as he was being carted back to prison.  Don’t think Terry’s going to be warmed over by a polite greeting.  Anyway, Ian asks him about being in the pen, and Terry says there’s ass and mouth rapings that Ian would probably enjoy, shitty food, and beat downs from the guards.  Ian asks if Terry was mouth raped (I think he specified that, I didn’t put it in my notes) and Terry indignantly says that Milkoviches don’t “bottom”.  Ian says, “Was Mickey adopted?” and I can’t tell if he was trying to piss Terry off or if he was genuinely curious, but as a joke it didn’t work-Ian knows (or the old Ian did, anyway) better than anyone that Mickey was absolutely nothing like Terry, in any way, not just in sexual preferences.  Another OOC comment to just make the viewer weep thinking about the old days.  Also, having Terry know, let alone USE, the term bottom was also OOC in the extreme.  He might as well have said, “All Milkoviches are cishet.”  It would’ve been just as believable.  

But back to the scene.  Ian says, “Rapings, food, guards-I can handle that shit.  I just need to know...” Terry interrupts him.  “Anyone can handle that shit.  (Again, me at home: Really?)  It’s the boredom that’ll kill ya...Start reading books, lifting weights...”  (Mickey already told him that about juvie AND prison-how dense is Ian that he never got it?)  “But you’re in the same place, with the same assholes, doing the same shit, every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every god damn year.  If I was you I’d pack my shit and run.”  

Ian’s face while he’s running down all the segments of time seems to look like Terry’s getting through to him.  And Terry telling him to take off is actually the best advice Ian winds up getting-in the long run Terry seems to care about keeping Ian out of prison more than his own family.  Terry easily could’ve slammed the door in Ian’s face and ignored him.  Does that mean I forgive Terry at all for everything he did to Mickey, Mandy, and Ian-not to mention his other sons and Svetlana?  FUCK NO.  But how telling is it that this show is now so bad that a villainous piece of shit like Terry is the one character we are listening to and agreeing with?  

One last thing about Terry-he just got out, but he knows Mickey’s in Mexico?  How?  I’m hoping this is a set up for Ian being able to find Mickey next week (or at the end of the season if we have to wait that fucking long), but this show doesn’t do continuity anymore, so I’m sure there’s no logical explanation for Terry knowing that fact.  

Fi goes to the Gallagher house looking for Ian and finds an empty box of hair dye, and a towel stained with hair dye, and that Ian’s drawers are empty.  I also noticed that his pillow was gone-did he pack that up too?  If so, I’m hoping it’s because he and Mickey shared it and he wanted to keep some part of Mick with him always, but we know this show ain’t about that anymore.  Anyway, Fi goes and tells Lip she thinks Ian skipped bail and they have to go find him.  Lip says no, Ian’s an adult.  This conversation also just took place with Debbie-or takes place right after, the show was so boring I couldn’t keep the repeated scenes straight if you put a gun to my head.  

WHY are the siblings so uncaring about Ian going to prison-or getting caught as a fugitive and spending even more time there?  WHY is everyone so stupid about whether prison is “bad” or not, especially for their apple cheeked, puppy-eyed brother who is dealing with mental illness?  Who may or may not be off his meds at any given time?  Ian couldn’t even handle VISITING Mickey in prison, why does he suddenly think he could do a stretch of multiple years if not decades?  All those years stealing cable and watching bootleg DVDs, did none of the Gallaghers ever watch Oz?  In a prior season it was established that Lip has read so much he was able to determine a Louis Vuitton purse was authentic by the stitching and the lettering-he’s never read about prisons and how they affect young men that are in them for a period of time?  “Hardened criminal” is a phrase he’s never come across?  Lip doesn’t realize how hard Ian’s future as a convicted felon will be when he gets out?  Trying to find a job (especially one with medical benefits), a place to live, all that stuff?  This show is shit.

There’s a meaningless shot of Ian at the train station (we don’t even get to know where he was planning to run to-as if we didn’t know-show us he’s at least headed south, you bastards!) and then there’s a scene where Lip comes home in the dark to find Ian at the kitchen table eating ice cream right out of the Edy’s carton.  (They don’t show us the flavor-it looked like it might be chocolate chip?  I didn’t see any chunks of cookie dough or anything.  Again, this is only important because everything else is so boring that actually knowing what kind of ice cream Ian likes would be interesting in comparison.)  

I guess the ice cream is sort of a metaphor?  Ian’s last sweet taste of freedom?  Or maybe I’m reading too much into it and they just came up with something for the brothers to share and it couldn’t be beer-because of Lip, not because of Ian’s meds because god knows they never cared about that, plus we STILL don’t know if he’s just magically back on them-if he is, how is he paying for them?  Anyway, after Lip’s earlier attitude about Ian being an “adult” and not caring all that much about him ever, he doesn’t deserve ice cream!  Here’s a snippet of their dialogue: 

Lip: So you didn’t run. Ian: Oh no-I ran.  I just...ran back.  (well, at least that’s in character since he ran away to the army and came back, and ran away with Monica and came back, and the fucking Mexican border, but I’m not happy about that fact)

They start listing the things Ian will miss if he’s gone for the next ten years.  Debbie may be married to a woman (I would think her being divorced is more likely, but whatever, I won’t be around to watch it either, I’m gone as soon as Ian’s back with Mickey), Carl will be a war criminal, Liam will be the father of a ten year old, Frank, dead.  Ian asks Lip, “You?”  “Still in AA, if I haven’t drunk myself to death.”  Ian says, “Do me a favor?  Don’t.”  IAN CARES MORE ABOUT LIP THAN LIP CARES ABOUT IAN.  Always has, always will.  “Lip deserves to get out of the ghetto.”  But Lip’s fine with Ian going off to prison because of the whole Gay Jesus thing that he never even began to try to understand or help Ian find a way out of.  This show is shit.

Next there’s a scene of Ian in a suit, dressed for court and talking to his Bible that’s on his bed (still no pillow-weird).  He’s asking Shim to talk to him one last time, maybe give him a hint what he should do.  His voice is soft and pleading and he’s almost in tears and all I can think is he needs Mickey to talk things out with.  Lip comes to the door and says something like they’re all downstairs, it’s time or whatever.  Ian gives the Bible one last look and seems to do a little wink-did he hear something from Shim?  Would it kill this show to let us in on some things?  This show is shit.

His plea hearing was so factually inaccurate it hurt.  His lawyer doesn’t say anything, and when asked what he pleads Ian launches into his entire defense.  And the judge lets him.  OMGJ.  

Again I’m pretty sure I’m witnessing a retcon when Ian says “A young man was being forced against his will into a van to be taken to a conversion camp.”  Um, as I recall (and I won’t rewatch the episodes to get all the exact details, they were too stupid), a young runaway came to the Church of Gay Jesus and claimed his parents were trying to make him get conversion therapy and they were giving him drugs so he couldn’t get erections because they didn’t like the fact that he was gay, but when Ian talked to the dad he said the kid ran away on his own because he suffered from mental illness, was off his meds, and was living on the street and prostituting himself.  As I recall the dad/parents didn’t say anything about conversion, they just wanted him home.  Maybe the dad sought help from the guys in the van because there was no other way to get the kid home-none of this has been established for the court, if nothing else!  This show is shit.

Ian gives a speech in a voice like wimpy Jeremiah trying to convince everyone Jerome was the bad one and it was just lame.  He claims his family loved him unconditionally-since when?  They only gave him crap about being with Mickey, or ignored him.  And then when he became “like Monica” there were definitely conditions on loving him-mainly that he be on his meds.  Right up to this episode they were all going around saying it’s time to let him go-they didn’t love him enough to want to keep him at the house and try to help him!  

Anyway, he then states in open court he was off his meds and in a manic state when he torched the van.  Then he looks back at Fiona and starts to give a tiny smile right before the credits.  Was he lying to get a lighter sentence and he’s smiling because he got away with it?  Or does he look to her like that because he knows she’ll be proud of him for finally telling the truth even if it disappoints/ruins the GJ movement (that is so implausible as a concept it makes my head ache)?  

By next week the show will be in another writer’s hands and I’ll never get the answer to that question either, I bet.  IF this means the-fucking finally-end to the GJ storyline, I’ll have to be happy enough with that. 

In conclusion let me say that once again the only “great” thing about the episode was ZERO mention of Terror!  

But the rest of the show was shit. 

[utilitycaster]

If you're up for it, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on c3 pacing. There's something that feels different to me but i'm having a hard time putting my finger on it or putting it to words.

Yeah I think it's been weird and a slow start for a few reasons.

I think Campaign Three has had a more defined immediate plot, but it's come at the cost of character development. We're only just building out some of the character relationships; for all people joked about "what the fuck is up with that" the important stuff often doesn't come out in a group setting (after all we had the Mighty Nein Zone of Truth in episode 14); it comes out in one-on-one conversations. An urban setting with a group that had money for separate rooms, existing places to stay, no need for overnight watches, and a defined goal is like poison to new one-on-one relationships. There's a reason why Heart to Heartmoor feels like a breath of fresh air: there's finally some fucking lore driven by the characters just hanging out, rather than the DM.

As for why this has happened, I think there's a few factors:

The first is having long-standing pre-existing relationships. I know a lot of people love this. I do not. Like, look. The twins are great! But Vox Machina always, to me, felt so divided into little subgroups: the twins; Vex and Vax separately each with their respective partners (or sometimes as a whole group given that they also tended to represent the level-headed side of VM, particularly when Pike was away); Pike and Grog; Grog and Scanlan; Scanlan and Pike. There were some excellent group conversations, Liam especially made efforts to reach out to others at the table, and there are some stand-out one-off conversations like Keyleth and Grog talking after Umbrasyl, but like, some pairings just did not happen. I think the Mighty Nein were infinitely more vibrant because there were precisely three pre-existing pairings, none more than a year or so, and all were either not terribly honest/detailed in what backstory they'd shared or were very new - plus Yasha was often gone and Beau was indeed a true free agent, and then Caduceus joining mixed it up further and put Yasha in a more interesting position.

Meanwhile, Fearne and Orym (and earlier on Dorian) have been traveling together for something like 8 months and their goal in Jrusar was very narrow and immediate (compare to the Nein, whose goals were much broader and/or far-off); Laudna and Imogen have been friends for two years; and FCG and Ashton have known each other for the better part of a year as well. I think Chetney coming in revitalized things because that free agent was there again; Beau was for me one of the most compelling characters in the first few arcs of the Nein specifically because she had to build all her own relationships from scratch.

The second is the starter city. You can run a compelling campaign starting in a city or even based in a city (see: Calamity; NADDPod's current season has also only just left Ezry after 14 episodes and I don't have the same pacing concerns, though granted 14 NADDPod episodes is maybe 4-5 CR episodes in length). However, no one in Bells Hells was from Jrusar, and Ashton was the only one who had been there for any significant length of time (vs. the Ring of Brass being deeply tied to Avalir and NADDPod's Duck Team being longtime residents of Ezry). Additionally, everyone in those two groups (Ring of Brass and Duck Team) knew each other previously and had existing relationships to lean on, whereas see the previous point to the pre-existing groups making it hard for people outside of those groups to bond.

I know there's been complaints about a number of the characters not even being from Marquet originally - and I think that's valid - but solely in terms of pacing, having the characters more rooted to the setting of Marquet even if they are not from there originally would have solved. That's why so much is happening this arc - FCG and Ashton's backstories are in Bassuras and we are finally in Bassuras. As is, much as I love Eshteross, it meant he was pulling well over his weight as a character, because on some level none of Bells Hells have a reason to give a shit about Jrusar's politics. For what it's worth: Imogen is from Marquet and has ties to research across the continent so I'm not worried about her; Fearne's parents are giving her connections to Bassuras; Chetney's quest for the Gorgynei and Orym's search for the people who attacked Zephrah and killed Will are all out there to serve the party when they go elsewhere so they've got hooks on the continent. I am a little concerned about whether Laudna will have anything to do that is actually tied to the location, which brings me to my next point.

Thirdly, I think the prohibition on references to Campaign 1 served Campaign 2 phenomenally well and made those connections all the better when they arose, and I think a similar "no direct ties to previous campaigns" rule would have served them here. I know Orym has long been a concept for Liam, I do; I know that the choice to continue some of the party from EXU Prime even made a connection to Tal'Dorei make more sense; but Orym and Laudna's extremely tight connections to not just Tal'Dorei but to Campaign 1 have cast an immense shadow that I'm not sure Matt realized they would. It feels like even the rest of the cast (understandably) kind of stops everything and listens to the Vox Machina-adjacent lore. I've really tried to be as objective as I can about this because I know I can be pretty hard on the weird pedestals C1 gets put on (and cognizant that I might be doing the same for C2) but I really do think that it just brings things to a screeching halt and the story stops being about Bells Hells in Marquet and turns into Vox Machina lore rehash.

I know Laudna is an immensely popular character, and she's genuinely a lot of fun, but I just...feel like she's on some level dragging back the story to 810-812 PD, and I don't want to go there. I don't think it was Marisha's intention, nor Matt's; I think both of them just didn't realize the extent to which this would happen. I'm not sure I did until last week as the pacing issues started to slowly resolve. (Orym is an easier fix in that like...personally, simply making him Earth Ashari and moving him to Terrah instead would have solved this entirely, but the core story of a guard to a person of legendary status who is tracking down the people who killed his husband in an attack is universal enough that I think it's easier to move past.)

Overall: again, I know people didn't like the start of Campaign 2 due to the meandering nature. Honestly, as someone who was simultaneously binging C1 at the time, I also recall being particularly not that engaged in Alfield or early in the Zadash arc. But the click came for me around episodes 14-15, when the group bonded while on the mission for The Gentleman, even as the plot remained fuzzy, and looking back at the finished campaign, I think that meandering early on was necessary to have for the payoff of who the Mighty Nein eventually became. This might be a personal preference, but for actual play especially, where the ending is truly unwritten, the organic development of characters, their relationships, and onscreen backstory reveals through showing, rather than simply telling, are more important than the low-level plot, and the balance has been off this campaign.

The good news is that we do now have solid hooks and motivations for much of the party; I think dealing with Treshi will close the door on the initial arc; and while I'll be sad to see Eshteross go I think an extended break from Jrusar and more travel and relationship building will resolve any lingering pacing issues.

[whatamargaretmove]

It’s funny if you assume each episode of lovm is 25 min, then the total runtime of the season is 5 hours. Which is only one episode of the streamed show and 2 hours less than the finale of the mighty nein