#orym would be better than me because i would be fucking screaming at them

[ittybittyremy]

There’s a world where Bells Hells fight a Predathos possessed Imogen and perma kill/defeat it. And Orym just has the biggest “I told you so” monologue known to mortal

[keyleth-clay]

Critical Role Character Meta

I just wanted to take a second to acknowledge certain character choices and common themes that I’ve seen the CR cast make with their main campaign characters over the years.

*Obligatory disclaimer that these are just my opinions/perspectives, and not meant to suggest that these recurring themes are necessarily intentional on the cast members’ parts, or that these are the “correct” way to read these characters.Also, feel free to add onto the discussion!

Travis (Grog, Fjord, Chetney) – The biggest commonality here is themes of masculinity and strength. Does your strength and rage define you, and how do you know when to use it. Yes, Grog is a 7.5-8 foot tall goliath berserker barbarian, and fits into the “dumb jock” trope with little difficulty, and it would be so easy to play him as the stereotypical dumb jock, with all of the toxic masculinity that comes with that – hell, Kevdak and the rest of the Herd fit that bill to a tee. But when they beat and pillage and destroy whatever they want, simply because they can, Grog is the one to stand up to them terrorizing an old man and say this is wrong, this is not what our strength is for. “It all comes down to one word, really: family. Before I was a part of this group, I had no family. Pike took me in, I met all of you. And I had a purpose. So before that, I would be down to fuck anything up, anytime, no problem. I still kind of am. But I realized that if I fly off the handle too soon, it screws over my family. That's no good, because I care about you.”

In the same vein, pretty much the entirety of Fjord’s character arc through campaign 2 is gradually unlearning all of the toxic masculinity he learned from Vandran. Now, that’s not to say that all of those ideas were intentionally taught to him, nor was everything he learned from Vandran bad. But he still felt the need to pretend to be somebody else, someone less emotional and less willing to acknowledge vulnerability, in order to be taken seriously and be respected. I couldn’t help but notice, but after Fjord broke his pact with Uk’otoa (U’kotoa) and started talking in his actual voice, he started being more emotive, he actually said when he was afraid or uncertain or even just uncomfortable, instead of just pushing it down and pretending that he wasn’t affected. One could argue that the entire joke of Fjord being weak is only funny because he’s a half-orc and a man, somebody that’s “““supposed””” to be strong.

And then, with Chetney, it’s right there with his lycanthropy. It’s I’ve got this super cool ability that makes me tall and strong and gives me claws and fangs and it’s awesome, except he doesn’t have it as under control as he thinks he does, and he’s unwilling to acknowledge the downsides, even after attacking a teammate – and let’s talk about that, shall we? Let’s talk about this strong, raging creature within him that he lost control over, not long after having a serious and vulnerable heart-to-heart with Orym, and ended up clawing him up. Even while he was in the throes of bloodlust, he was apologizing. Even the “Recognize The Alpha” tattoo/motto, and how it’s based in the (debunked) idea of alpha wolves, and how it also has come to represent the (bullshit) idea of alpha males, but it’s never something he uses to act like he’s better than everyone around him, it’s never a point of ego. Rather, it’s emblematic of the through-line of these characters: that strength is only what you make of it, and being stronger than others doesn’t mean you’re better, it means you have a responsibility to use that strength to lift others up.

Taliesin (Percy, Mollymauk, Caduceus, Ashton) – Taliesin literally talked about this on an episode of 4-Sided Dive, but he didn’t go super in-depth with it, and also I’d already planned on making this post then, so :p.

Honestly, the biggest thread between these four is that all of them scream The Refusal Of The Call. How all of them looked at their backstory and immediately turned their backs on it and powerwalked the fuck away. When asked during the Q&A after episode 4 of campaign 1, Taliesin says that “[Percy] has no interest in going home yet, ‘cause that’s terrifying. So we have not dealt with that.” Mollymauk hears the name Lucien and says fuck that, fuck him, that’s not me, that’s not my life, I want nothing to do with him. Caduceus’ ENTIRE THING was that he was the one that stayed behind, that he even felt guilty for going out and adventuring like Calliope wanted for her life. It’s not quite as clear with Ashton, but they’ve made it very clear that they don’t want to go looking for the Nobodies, he doesn’t need to know anything more of what happened that night or since then. On top of that, Taliesin mentioned at some point that whenever Ashton came into money, he ended up spending it all on booze and gambling – which, when he’s trying to get out of a very steep debt with Jiana Hexum, doesn’t seem like he’s trying all that hard.

Laura (Vex, Jester, Imogen) – The thread that I tugged on for Laura’s characters wasn’t really something that I could sum up in one simple statement. I think there’s two things that really stand out to me. The first is this running theme of loving mothers and distant fathers – but that love is never perfect, and that distance isn’t always intentional or malicious.

Elaina loved her children dearly, and they loved her, but they were taken away when they were only ten, and she died while they were gone. Syldor only cared about the twins because of his own reputation, and that coldness was something that Vex could never fully forgive. Marion adored Jester, and Jester certainly didn’t feel like her childhood was bad, but Marion’s own fears and her business led to her keeping Jester indoors and secret for so much of her life. Babenon loved Marion, and if circumstances had been different he would have loved to be a part of Jester’s life from the get-go, but circumstances were not that kind. He didn’t even know she existed until she walked into his bar, and once she was there, he didn’t believe that he deserved to be a part of her life. Relvin might have been a good father to Imogen in her childhood, but as soon as her powers began developing he pulled away, keeping her isolated from the rest of Gelvaan, and keeping her away from him – Imogen goes so far as to speculate that he’s happier with her gone, because he’s uncomfortable with her seeing into his head. I don’t think a feeling like that comes out of nowhere, especially not when the person saying it can read minds. Unfortunately, we don’t know much about Liliana yet, or why she left, or even if she left rather than being killed or kidnapped or something. But I think that her love and protectiveness of Imogen is clear, considering it’s her that always shows up in her dreams, urging her to run from the storm.

The second thing is the masks that these characters put up. Vex tries so hard to be confident and in control, whether that be in a fight or through snark or while flirting or bartering. At moments she can be a bit bitchy, but never for long and she makes sure to take responsibility for any time that she gets too harsh towards someone. But it’s the moments that that mask of control falls, the “Do I look like I come from money”-type moments, that show her heart. Jester is pretty much the opposite; she’s always big smiles and pranks and goofy stories. She’s light and peppy and energetic, which is often genuine, but also becomes her armour when she’s vulnerable. The way that she forces a smile and pretends to not be crying, during the pirate arc and later leading up to Travelercon, are absolutely heartwrenching because it’s such a departure from how we typically see her. Imogen’s mask is much more straightforward, and much more of a foundation for the character. Because she can read minds, and she has to constantly act polite, act like the thoughts of everyone around her doesn’t weigh on her every damn day. Her mask is the shields she keeps up in her mind, and when she’s around too many people, it is constantly on the verge of falling.

Liam (Vax, Caleb, Orym) – Everyone brings up grief and loss as a major through-line across Liam’s characters, and that’s true, but that’s not what I’m going to dive into here. There’s an interesting theme across these three, of this… sort of question, of characters starting from humble beginnings, and what forces them onto the path to greatness? How does a half-blooded runaway with sticky fingers with a dead mother and a shitty father become a Paladin of the Goddess of Death? How does a small-town farm boy with a love of books end up on the fast track to becoming an elite magical assassin? How does someone who is essentially a town guardsman end up travelling across the continent, across the ocean, and help to uncover conspiracies and end enormous threats and discover long-lost civilizations? It feels like it’s very common for people to go into creating their DnD characters with the knowledge that they’re going to be Going On An Adventure, and that they could very well end up as some sort of Chosen One, or going toe-to-toe with dragons and gods and demons and the like, but it never feels that way with Liam’s characters. They’re all just average people who somehow found their way onto this path.

Marisha (Keyleth, Beau, Laudna) – Marisha’s characters, like Laura’s, have two different commonalities across them. The first is kind of similar to Liam’s, in that they all have some sort of expectations and importance placed upon them that they don’t want and didn’t ask for. Keyleth only ended up going on the Aramente because her mother failed – and she wasn’t asked, she was chosen for it. Beau was literally kidnapped by the Cobalt Soul and essentially forced into monk training, which she very loudly complained about for a long time. Laudna was fucking killed, and then was unintentionally brought back to life, and now she’s got the woman who murdered her in her head, and granting her her warlock powers (which she didn’t really need – remember, she’s a sorcerer, and was already a sorcerer before she died).

The second is that they are all, in some way, off-putting. Off-putting by design, no less. Keyleth’s simultaneous awkwardness and bone-deep, stubborn conviction makes it difficult to hold a conversation with her at times. Beau is brusque and abrasive, and for a long time, kept people at arm’s length. Laudna’s fucking dead – she’s scary and weird and dripping ichor and vomiting bees? And I love that Marisha leans in to that, that she doesn’t make her characters easy to like or overly kind and sweet.

Ashley (Pike, Yasha, Fearne) – The dichotomy of gentleness vs. ferocity. Pike is sweet and compassionate and is a cleric of a goddess of redemption, but she’s also tough as hell and, as we all know, a monstah. Yasha is a barbarian with the power of the Stormlord at her back and rage in her veins, but she also is soft spoken and awkward and collects pressed flowers and her greatest crime was simply falling in love. And Fearne has her soft, breathy voice and wide-eyed “innocence” in this world that she’s not a part of, who steals things because she loves them, but then she also steals things. She can summon a wildfire with a flick of her fingers, she can shapeshift into wild animals, she has her feral side with fangs and claws and viciousness. All of them are soft and sharp at the same time, and neither side is a more accurate version of their character.

Sam (Scanlan, Taryon, Nott/Veth, Fresh Cut Grass) – You know, I was originally going to try to come up with some character trait or narrative element that this fandom hasn’t talked to death about yet, but fuck it. Yes, the biggest commonality here is that Sam makes the most ridiculous fucking characters – the stereotypical horny bard (fun sized), the pompous rich boy who’s never been in a fight, the shrill and alcoholic goblin, the fucking Southern Hospitality Robit. But then he gives them so much heart and soul, so much depth, that they’re no longer ridiculous. He gives them “Well, that's just it. I'm a really good liar”, and “No, Taryon's on the floor, weeping, holding his necklace,” and “They made me everything that I thought I was: not pretty, not good, just not,” and every conversation F.C.G. has had regarding whether or not they have a soul. Sam sees these goofy, fun, ridiculous characters, and decides that they also have a story, and it’s one worth telling.

[redjennies]

Bro why didn’t the other hells get a moment to react to oryms death? We couldn’t have gotten fearne screaming? Ashton trying again to rage? Fcgs frantic feeling when he turns the corner and sees he failed again and let his friend die? No??

okay I've calmed down now and I'm gonna preface this with that I clicked off on the killing strike because I was so enraged by the mere action so I didn't actually see any of the reactions.

I realize this probably comes from a place of grief for a character you enjoyed, but where I'm at is that it was such a shitty move to begin with that it actually completely shattered my trust in the story. like part of my reason for watching it was me going "ah it was probably dumb and unbalanced but since I know what will happen it probably won't be that bad" and then it was that bad? like? that was actually the worst way that could have gone down? straight up "rock falls everybody dies" would have been preferable because at least that's funny?

Orym had been out of the fight since almost the beginning of the first round of combat and had not even gotten up since being revived, if I'm recalling correctly. (idk sometimes big emotions make my memory a little mixed up.) still, there was absolutely no reason to attack him outside of intentionally killing a PC. I'm seeing people go "well people died because the party made mistakes" but there was absolutely no player agency in Orym's death, which is darkly hilarious because Liam absolutely would have had him right next to Chetney trying to help the rest of the party escape, but Matt completely sidestepped that possibility for choice for no reason other than what I can only possibly assume was the ~drama of it.~

and I fucking hate that. I fucking hate that so much. there's no roleplay that can save that for me. there's no handwaving "it was just a dream" or "you can go back in time to save them" that can make it better. there's no him and Fearne getting revived that can fix that Matt broke my trust in him as a storyteller and as a DM with that single deliberate and completely unnecessary move. Orym died for absolutely goddamn nothing in someone else's fight while other people were trying to protect him and the others and there's no getting around that.

and I don't begrudge people who are mourning him. there's so much beautiful art and thoughts because damn can Liam paint a picture, but I cannot connect emotionally to any of the angst of it because it shouldn't have happened like that.

eta: I know this isn't a real answer but I am saying the reason I can't give you a real answer is because of all of the above.

[nochiquinn]

exandria unlimited: kymal: part 2: I planned for this

not adele dazeem

h a t s

"I feel like critical role's so serious" "WHAT"

sends that clip to all the "critical role was never this crass" tlovm critics

they got her

erica seems so much more comfortable tonight

pick-me casino

"I got fiddle-fingers!"

POODLE PIP

oh, oxboxtra does that one sometimes

see, bell's hells, THEY get it

I'm love him

mor: brumestone dorian: [rapid blinking]

spaceship

"and hide his dumb ass"

BOOP ACTION

matt teaching aimee and erica how to hit dice

rip aabria's voice

the chroma conclave getting turned into a tacky theme spa is the BEST

"no ringworm for dorian"

"he's not little, he's 6''6'!"

the way opal's face dropped at "thordak"

orym would probably also have had...some reaction

dariax

"it's kinda disrespectful but. y'know."

"I've always wanted to see the top of your head!" "👀" "NO"

"you can't get pregnant in a hot tub - you COULD get chlamydia!"

(edit from the future: I can't believe I spelled that right the first time)

jinoir :(

I need them to adopt and protect this child

"dorian's a taurus for sure" can we not call me out personally in this moment

ouchie check

for the record laying on pokey things is my absolute nightmare

"please draw it. and tag me."

dream check DREAM CHECK

comment cards

I love opal so goddamn much

everybody trying so fucking hard not to laugh over aimee

stop dating the episode

("no one who hasn't watched shortonegaming will get that" well maybe they should watch shortonegaming then)

(watch shortonegaming)

matt telling erica "it's fine, it's gonna be fine"

awakened vestige!!!

this is the dai character editor mirror

opal and the power of friendship

where is dariax. where is the back-to-back

"what should I do next" stop being a fucking dipshit

diligent, intelligent

they got the mother gothel treatment didn't they

GO AWAY AND THEN COME BACK SOON

"thank you for letting me do that, it was so disrespectful"

"she's wearing this, because we did the art"

cognitive psience

"sometimes cuddle buddies"

ted 2 again

"that is a man who let a pet rock die"

....birds of a feather

"will this be a pun list? YES."

PIERODIN

"I'm just gonna make eye contact with you, Matt"

LIFE NEEDS WINE TO LIVE

how long until the svg goes up for the vinyl cutters and their wine glass wraps

"she grew up in this buffet"

fantasy ostrich

big farm-a

"the exact same" gay

"we've moved a few couches together" GAY

"you gave me the power!"

innuendo as spellcasting flavor

apparently we are two hours into a five hour stream, help me

the early break is going to be my downfall

orym where are you

oh BOY

"you heard an eldritch language" that's how I hear all math

I don't like how much this guy smirks

dariax is a GOOD BOY

"I made her yeet a dice :D"

for a hot second I thought she threw it AT him

someone loan her a new d20

awww

what in the gravira

his mean little brainhole

don't love that!

"should have given him lair actions"

"look at the flowchart!!"

exCUSE

thrall? girl got a thrall?

poska-senpai noticed me

"doors are mysterious"

"the biggest boss I can offer: a mean door"

"do you think we care about money more than you?"

"as long as the money is out of this vault, I did my job"

I love one (1) himbo dwarf

"do you have some - it's just me, stop screaming - do you have some paper"

cyrus did one (1) useful thing

it's free gratis

this means in their future sessions - and there better goddamn be future sessions - they will have not one but two bags of holding

unless something really stupid happens

hello??

raven? matron of ravens?

(I'm sorry, I know why they had to change it, but "matron of ravens" will never be as smooth to say as "raven queen")

Dariax Is A Good Boy

even if this is a stupid idea (I have no idea) it is Hurting His Friend and now it has to Die

matt control your face

GO AWAY PIKACHU

aimee stop metagaming

"just smashing stuff?" "....yeah" "hell yeah"

anjali: wait I have the thing

there's an hourish left and I am in suffering

MAP

gaola mvp

dick around

"we're all impossibly stupid!"

"have you ever kicked a building to death?"

is fantasy c4 the only explosive you've heard of

"I'm really good at breaking things!"

"I had...a thought" "no!"

lmao the dice roller

"it's not that good a plan"

"I love you and I like you, and if this is not airtight I will FUCK you up"

!!!

QUEEN SHIT

god I want an exu animated miniseries

KING SHIT

did I compare the nameless ones to the dollars from durarara last time we did this

!!!

god I am TENSE

please don't everybody go splat

"roll good" "I'M TRYING"

I love her SO MUCH

"everyone turn into a simple machine!"

but they didn't HAVE machines in the middle ages

(this is more salt at tlovm critics, ignore me)

YIP YIP

the world's craziest poodle

wall effect!

smoke? clouds? probably clouds

here at the end I would like to state that every time they mentioned morrighan's songbird I pictured Songbird from bioshock

HEY

HEY WAIT A MINUTE

HER name? as is Mor is using someone else's name?

AS IN AN OLD WOMAN IN THE FEYWILD NAMED MORRIG(H)AN?

that was a sequel hook aabria you can't fool me

"we got 50k and a floating balcony!"

"did you forget their relationship started with peeing off a wall?!"

[shakes tin cup] spare a stinger?

no stinger :(

[captainsspnanon]

C3E12 - reaction/liveblog

I have no clue if that on the spot song was actually on the spot or scripted, but I don’t care it was awesome either way!!  (I hope it wasn’t actually scripted though, because I tend to believe them when they say it’s on the spot, and lying once would create doubt for everything.  And I couldn’t tell if Sam was saying on the spot in a clearly false way, or serious.)

I really have to give credit to Taliesin.  His physical RP when in the background is just as on point as Liam’s, but with Molly and Percy I really missed it, whereas I saw it much clearer with Caduceus.  I’m keeping an eye on him now, and even at this very start of the episode where the focus is fully on Imogen, his face SCREAMS Ashton.  I’m not sure if he’s gotten better at the embodying over the campaigns, or if I’m just noticing what everyone else has already seen, but I am impressed as fuck.

Speaking of, Liam’s whole deal about even when talking to the DM or describing actions and continuing to speak in character?  He’s totally still doing it, but it’s way harder for me to read because Orym’s voice is much closer to Liam’s natural voice than Vax and Caleb were.  But he’s still definitely speaking as Orym even when not RPing IC.

I’m going to give it a few more episodes, but I wonder if Sam has actually stopped the shirt bit?  I genuinely wouldn’t mind, especially because he’s still got the flask bits and such going on.

Just realized that Laura’s PCs – loving mom, dead, uncaring dad, alive.  Loving mom, alive, uncaring dad, unknown then found.  Loving but then distant dad, alive, possibly uncaring mom, unknown if dead or alive.  Does Laura have parent issues? :P :P

Matt MILKING that Zhudanna reveal.  As soon as he asked for the perception check I knew it was fine, but I love how some of them were freaking out and some of them were calm and knew.

Oh, interesting that Laura didn’t know that Imogen’s dream wasn’t every night.  That makes me suspect that it’s something that Matt added to her backstory, rather than something she created on her own?  UGH I HOPE TALKS STARTS AGAIN SOON.  Assuming the Q and A set is the new set, it’s lovely!  And while I miss our beloved cabbage man, if Mica is the new host I think she’ll do fine.  I just hope we get fan questions again, tbh.

The entire outfit section is amazing, nothing more to be said.  However, the running joke of Travis hating shopping scenes really hasn’t been true since C1.  Like, he clearly was bored a lot during the scenes in C1, but in C2 he was interested in most of the scenes (not all [winter outfits come to mind], but most), and in C3 he’s been interested every time.  I think it’s because there’s not constant haggling over every item, which would make a scene at a minimum of several minutes longer each time, and also it seems like C2 and C3 there’s been less dithering?  Like, Matt will explain, and then people tend to make decisions quickly, or if they’re taking their time it’s good RP rather than OOC discussions.  It’s still a fun running joke, but I’m glad that Travis isn’t actually suffering through this any more.

Oooo, I didn’t expect any more ‘is FCG alive’ discussion any time soon, but I like Imogen bringing up that the spell can only turn something alive into something alive, and I like that FCG doesn’t brush it off either.

Does anyone else find that pausing and restarting the twitch stream when you’re watching the VOD automatically skips it forwards like 15 seconds and you need to go back each time?  Annoying AF.

RANDOM THOUGHT. Since I’m in my C2 rewatch, I clearly remember the group getting jokingly irritated with Liam when Caleb took money from the guards and didn’t share.  (Especially because Ashley had Yasha do the same in the same episode and no one gave her grief.)  Now we have here Travis having Chetney blatantly keep a lot of money on his own, and no one is giving him guff for it.  It’ll be interesting to see if this is something where the group just doesn’t poke at that anymore now that they’re more used to RPing different PCs with different takes towards money and sharing, or if there’s going to be a moment down the line where Liam finds money or items and if he doesn’t have Orym immediately share, that Liam’s going to get razzed again. It very much could be one of those inside jokes where it’s only directed towards the one person.  Same way everyone might tease Laura about funds and haggling, but no one else gets teased when they have their PC haggle.  Or as above, everyone teases Travis about sitting through shopping.

Calling it now, there’s going to be some consequences with Advik for the group going to the Trove of Marwa.  Ashton even sweet talked Advik to getting a discount by saying that they wouldn’t go to the Trove (or were less likely to, at least)

NO REGRETS I LOVE MARWA

I also find it really interesting that after Gilmore, Matt has been like NOPE, MAGICAL STUFF IS HARD TO FIND AND YOU HAVE TO GO TO A BUNCH OF SHOPS NOW.  I do like both approaches, not going to lie.  Especially because, as seen before, Matt is very cool with allowing players to get pretty much exactly what they want when it isn’t magical items (outfits exactly how they like, general stuff just how they like), but then makes it more difficult with the actual expensive stuff. The Gilmore style is good for convenience, but the more shops approach is good for keeping items rare and fleshing out a city.  And VM was fucking LOADED with magical items, even before the Vestiges. I am looking forwards to seeing eventually how C3 will stack up compared to the others.  C2 ended up having a good chunk of items, but not necessarily as obviously useful (oops stones, anyone? Or the wind fan?) when C1 had tons of items that are blatantly useful for combat situations.

With the fake name situation with Ashton, I am getting the feel that they were more the Brute Force of the criminal gang, so it’s not that they didn’t Crime, as I’ve seen speculation, but more that they weren’t the face man or necessarily the planner, which fits.  If so, it’s also an interesting growth then as they are pretty involved with the planning, while not deliberately taking the lead per se.

LOL I like all the component shopping now.  I feel like Liam was a bad influence with Caleb!  They can probably just get a component pouch easy and just worry about the cost items XD  I LOVE ALL OF IT THOUGH.  Not just because Caleb was my favorite, but because I really enjoyed the incorporation of components, and it seems like FCG is going full on components, Fearne is just picking a few things, Imogen may be going for a focus?  I love it all.

ASHTON GETTING LAUDNA THE DOLL CLOTHES!!!!!   Look I’m having Marisha Taliesin friendship feels!!  We didn’t get much Beau and Caduceus in C2, so I am SO HAPPY

Matt was SO surprised that Fearne gave back the egg!!!  Granted, I am too.  I wonder what prompted that?  Maybe because it was actually worth so much?  We’ve only actually ever seen Fearne steal ‘junk’ stuff… an earring, a dress, a straw, whereas this was 350 gold.

I’m getting like, sliiightly annoyed at the group name thing?  The Mighty Nein wasn’t this big whole planned thing that meant something!  It was literally that you guys kept rolling 9s, Caleb had a German accent, and you guys were all like “yeah, we’re strong, we’re tough, we’re mighty!” and it ended up meaning more than it started, but it started from a joke!  Vox Machina???  LITERALLY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE IN GAME CAMPAIGN STUFF!  It’s a play on your guys professional non-DnD jobs!   So just come up with something!  It won’t START with meaning, but by the end it will mean a whole lot.

Okay, I like Duskmaven about a billion times more than I like Matron of Ravens, or even the Raven Queen.  I would not complain if they used Duskmaven consistently going forwards.

I had to pause ‘cause I couldn’t figure out why Travis was laughing.  Robbie was stacking dice, and Travis deliberately nudged his arm to make him knock them over XD

“Sam, you take two points”  EVERY ALARM IS GOING OFF WHAT THE FUCK and it’s not specified points of damage either ALARM ALARM ALARM WHAT THE FUCK I WANT TO KNOW I WANT TO KNOW

Full on confirmation of cuddle pile for the ExU crew, and I love it.  I’m not into Dorym (and I still can’t understand why I’m not, I feel like I should be), but I would totally be on board with an ot3.  I’m also super on board with just platonic.  ...I’m also on board with Orym/Fearne.  (seriously I can’t figure out why I’m not into Dorym.  There’s just something about it that doesn’t click for me.)

No sheet for the vial?  I’m actually kinda disappointed.  I hope that’s just a one off, Matt handing out sheets to the excitement of everyone is amazing and I will super miss it if it’s gone.

AN ACTUAL SHIP OMG WHAT THE FUCK Travis must have commissioned that!!!!

Craft day has been delightful, every single aspect of it.

Also, I kinda wish the episode had ended here?  There’s almost a whole hour left! It’s probably just my attention span rather than the episode itself.  Well, I guess it’ll depend how the next hour is.  Is it the ball and finishes?  Is it the ball and we have a cliffhanger?  If it’s just GETTING to the ball, then Imma be grouchy.  ...I say as I haven’t seen the last hour yet, and it’s probably delightful.

…..I sooooo want to insight check Eshteross.  That ring switcharoo, I don’t know, his attitude just felt way suspicious.  I know Chetney did the scent check, but oof.  If it turns out that Lord E is actually a bad dude, this is where I would have felt it.

One- Robbie/Dorian just broke my fucking heart, oh my god.  That HURT, the entire RP he went through from start to finish.  Two- I like that Matt as Lord E gave a tiny bit of a nudge, almost checking in that Robbie/Dorian could still have fun.  I’m sure it wasn’t meant as a check in, as Robbie has shown himself to be easily able to move in and out of RP, but I’m taking it as one, because I just enjoy how much the cast is always checking in with each other subtly.  LOOK I’M HAVING FEELS, OKAY

I’m slightly bothered that it seems that only Matt, Travis, Sam, and Taliesin are actually using ‘they’ for FCG and Ashton.  Like, I know they’re both he/they, so it’s still acceptable pronoun usage, but I feel like the group should be using ‘they’ more than ‘he’?  Then again, I’m cis so really have no grounds to speak on the preference of someone who uses multiple pronouns.  In writing, I’ve been using ‘they’ most the the time, I think I’ve only used ‘he’ once or twice when my sentences got really convoluted and ‘they’ would have completely confused who I was referring to.  Maybe *I’m* using ‘they’ too much?   ...this is much more easy to understand when it’s someone you’re actually talking to, who can express a preference, versus an internet character who, aside from the initial out of character introduction, has not outright expressed anything one way or the other.

Dorian telling Fearne “you’re the best person to be with us”, ALRIGHT APPARENTLY THIS EPISODE WAS ALL I NEEDED TO TIP INTO FULL FLEDGED EXU OT3.

Alright, the last hour was needed. Complaint withdrawn.  I WILL SAY – Matt shouldn’t have had the end wrap up be arriving at the ball itself, because you KNOW at the start of next episode they’re going to retroactively do some stuff.  It really should have ended the night before.  PERSONAL PREFERENCE.

@suicidallyreckless