#not actually critical this time

[soleminisanction]

War Games hot take? 👀

Mm. I still need to muddle it over for a while before it turns into anything significant, but it boils down to, I honestly think that people who discard the event entirely when it comes to Steph's characterization are throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

As in, I'd actually argue that it's one of the better Steph stories based on character writing alone -- death scene and all. It would've been better without that dictated plot point and there's NO justifying some of the art choices made (those torture sequences are frankly disgusting and never should've seen print), but in terms of how they're scripted? The writing's far from perfect, it'd have been better if they hadn't made her motivation for the whole thing "wanting to get Batman's attention" and stuck with something a little more in-character like trying to spitefully one-up him, but...

I feel like it's the only story that really digs into the narrative forces that drive her, or had driven her up to that point, divorced from specific external elements like her dad and her boyfriend. Things like the conflict between her unflagging self-confidence and the frustration caused by the perception that she's not progressing as fast/accepted as much as those she considers her peers, the tunnel vision she can develop when it comes to things that she wants and the obsessive lengths she'll go to to achieve her goals, her tendency to rush recklessly into situation without considering the potential fallout, and so on -- these are all aspects of Stephanie's character that had been previously established, but it feels like War Games is the story where it all really gets pushed to the foreground.

And then once the story gets going its fundamental tragedy comes in how the situation twists what had up to that time been her usual story. Up to that point, Steph had been repeated confronted with older heroes who would almost inevitably tell her to stay out of whatever danger she was sticking her nose into so she'll be safe, to which Steph would respond, "You don't tell me what to do" and get involved anyway, for better or worse.

But in War Games, when Selina finds her and puts her in the care of her friends, telling her to stay where it was safe and let the adults take care of it, Steph seems to really understand for the first time that she's right -- and sneaks out anyway, not out of petulant defiance, but because she feels responsible for the destruction and is driven to help stop it. It's really the first time it feels like she truly understands the danger she's putting herself into and chooses to do so anyway for selfless, heroic reasons without a hint of personal self-gratification. It's not about revenge on her dad or getting back at her boyfriend or showing one of those stuck-up grown-ups that she's just as good as the next caped teen, it's just about fixing her mistake, and it's that heroic instinct that tragically gets her killed.

IDK like I said I think I have to muddle it over a bit more before I can fully form it into something but it walked into my head last night and wouldn't leave.

[suja-janee]

I’ve been losing my mind over these guys recently

[shellem15]

Can I just say, I really appreciate how Critical Role plays the Devil trope straight. There's been this phenomena in a lot of modern media (I'm not going to mention specifics but I'm sure a few examples pop up in people's minds) where Hell and the Devil aren't scary or malevolent forces. Hell is portrayed as being basically the same as our world just "edgier", and the Devil is a pretty decent guy actually. Heaven are secretly the real bad guys!

But Critical Role doesn't do that. In Exandria, Asmodeus *feels* like the Devil. He's malevolent and manipulative and terrifyingly powerful and he hates you, personally. We never see that type of portrayal anymore! And it's amazing! And he still manages to be sympathetic and tragic without losing his edge!

And the "Good Gods" are portrayed as flawed without being secretly evil or something! Like, actual nuance? In my Heaven/Hell dichotomy? What!?

It's just such a breath of fresh air after so many "The Devil was right, actually" stories. So props to Matt and Brennan and the cast.

[alliekitaguchi]

Robbie really rolled up the CR Headquarters, looked Liam in the eyes, and said, “I believe I have what it takes to match your freak.” And Liam just smiled, beckoned him inside, and said back, “You can certainly try.”

[itseghost]

a few meager cr3 sketches :] ft feywild fearne, orym's sending stone blues, and the revival scene from blood and dust that i sketched ages ago and decided i was never going to finish lmao

[yashley]

campaign 3 episode 120: Imogen Temult, Exaltant Hope of the Red Storm (hot girl shit)

[brookesmartt]

Betrayer.

[ravenpureforever]

On one hand, Young Justice is kind of neglected by the actual superheroes that should be looking out for them in a lot of crucial ways and very much failed by the adults around them

But on the other hand Red Tornado straight up hosts a parent-teacher conference where their respective legal guardians all show up, barring Batman who’s in traffic so Nightwing fills in instead because Robin’s dad does not know he’s a vigilante which is objectively hilarious

[ciderjacks]

despite Laios low self esteem making him think that if he’d been eaten, Chilchuck and Marcille wouldn’t have helped Falin,

theres a small part of me that thinks the reason Chilchuck stayed with the party and went back in the dungeon in the first place was because he didn’t want to leave Laios alone. That Laios was moreso the reason he stayed.

[vintage-bentley]

I do not feel comfortable being openly homosexual in the company of “queer” people. Even hinting that I experience absolutely no attraction to the male sex is stressful, because often this results in a bunch of questions that equally feel like bafflement and interrogation. “What about THESE men?” No, not them either. No men. “But this man identifies as a woman!” I am not wired to be attracted to pronouns. “What about this man? He’s femme!” He is still a man, and I am still a lesbian. “So just no men at all?” YES. What is so hard to understand about that? Why can’t you just accept that female homosexuality exists, that it isn’t an evil ideology, and that it’s just how I and many other women are born? Why can you accept and understand so many things, but draw the line at a woman having no interest in the male sex?

[wardensantoineandevka]

2.104 // 2.105 // 3.102

the cast never learns why you don't three-way Boulder, Parchment, Shears

[tshortik]

Cryptic visions of space and time...

[fox-guardian]

starting to feel like part of the reason that Sam and Celia's romance thing feels a little off rn is cuz like. what do you mean they're actually dating. he asked her on a date and she said yes. and it's working out so far. it's chill and fine. what do you mean they're not pining for 4 seasons, not communicating, and then getting together only after one of them walked through hell to drag the other out and make sure they know they're loved and wanted. they haven't even patched each other's wounds yet hello. aren't y'all moving a little fast.

[luminousstardust]

sometimes you block every spoiler tag you can conceive of and mute every single character name & ship name to try and avoid spoiling yourself before you can watch the episode but then you stupidly open social media thinking you’re safe and this is the first thing you see and you just know Something Happened

[esthelle-wanders]

[Image credits to Jojo of course, alignment credits to a special irl]

Did a few of these surprise me? Yes they did.

Do we take constructive criticism? No we do not.

[distant--shadow]

drew an imogen pin-up caus my brain isn't cooperating