#please let there be more than ten episodes left in Chaos Theory we need ALL THE TIME to resolve these two

[swan2swan]

And so it begins.

[cadaceus]

C2E141

One last time, y’all. This campaign and these characters have meant so much to me, and this seven hour finale was definitely an emotional rollercoaster. (Yes, I shed actual tears at one point, which rarely happens to me with media. But this is a special occasion.) These liveblogs are nearly as long as the episode itself, so grab a snack! With that being said, here are my very last liveblogs for Campaign 2 of Critical Role. As always, major spoilers below, so beware. 

- Veth taking a level in Wizard, god I am really gonna cry ten minutes into this thing...  😭

- We got our first “stay with us” to Essek, I am emo...

- I was fully not expecting to say goodbye to Frumpkin, but now I��m on the verge of tears... farewell dear fey friend (Marisha saying “that wasn’t supposed to be what broke me” me too me too)

- “You’re a good person.” “I could be.” “You are.”

- “I think you’re a good person” I never thought that I’d hear Beau say that about Essek and this genuinely might be what breaks me... she thinks he’s a good person.... redemption is possible.... maybe love is real....

- If I end up crying over wizards, look away

- Jester lifting up Fjord’s arm to snuggle beneath it made me say “awww” out loud  🥺

- VETH GOING FOR A DIP IN THE POND, I AM GENUINELY SO PROUD OF HER

- “Aahhh!! It’s me! Your wife!” I am going to miss Jester’s sending so much

- Okay that accent bit was so funny, I am going to miss all of them so much

- REAL MOLLY IS BACK REAL MOLLY IS BACK REAL MOLLY IS BACK

- Oh but he doesn’t remember them... and Yasha is trying so hard to help him remember, it’s so so sweet 

- Something about the way he said “Tealeaf’s nice” made me tear up... I was neutral on Mollymauk early campaign because I went into things knowing that he passed away, but this whole conversation with the Mighty Nein is So Much. Also “Kingsley Tealeaf” 

- “Everyone should have a brother” as someone with three of them, I vouch for this  🥺

- a) I love Marion Lavorre (and Jester ofc!) so very much and b) I can’t believe that Jester’s parent trap actually worked??

- “I do not think Exandria is ready for how you’re going to change it” got to me... and it’s also so true. jester has already changed the world just by being kind.

- Good bye Marion... I love and will miss you so much! (And many thanks to Laura and Matt for creating an agoraphic single mother who raised a wonderful child <3)

- Beau and Jester teasing Marion for having a complicated relationship with Babenon reminds me of Caleb saying he has a complicated relationship with Essek...

- LEAVE CALEB ALON E FUOIKJLKGKNL 

- THIS IS ....... SO MUCH WORSE THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE.

- Caleb’s biggest trauma(s) coming back to haunt him, I am genuinely going to cry I’m not ready for this I’m not okay

- Beau saying to Jester “Thanks, cutie” I love themmmmm

- INITIATIVE AAGJASKHDKJ AAAAAHHHH

- Essek’s Gravity Sinkhole did nothing? uhhhhh Mr Stark...

- EADWULF???? HELLO?????

- Essek using his entire turn to save Caleb last battle 🤝 Caleb using his entire turn to save Essek this battle

- ASTRID???? I TRUSTED YOU??? WE ALL TRUSTED YOU????

- Another Counterspell chain sdfdghjkdl wizards !!!

- “It’s just business” is literally the Neutral Evil line, it always gives me chills when any character says it

- This hurts more after Liam confirming on Twitter that Astrid/Caleb/Eadwulf were all three a romantic item... please stop hurting Caleb, you loved him  😭

- THE FJORD VS EADWULF SWORD FIGHT IS SO CINEMATIC I LOVE IT HERE ACTUALLY

- Essek taking every opportunity to pull Caleb to safety makes me so emotional...  😭

- “You’re not the first student I’ve had to put down” I am burning with my anger for you, old man 

- THE DISPEL WORKED LET’S GO CALEB.....

- Remember when Matt said that Essek doesn’t openly show concern/emotion? And now he’s saying “I’m scared” in front of his closest friends and his worst enemies.... growth my love.....

- BEAU AND VETH LETS GO CHAOS CREW LETS MF GO BABEYYYY!!!

- FJORD COUNTERSPELLING THE DIMENSION DOOR..... and Matt having him describe it.... is this taking the place of a “HDYWTDT” *eyes emoji*

- CALEB GOING DOWN NO, THANK GOD FOR THAT DEATH WARD

- Veth’s illusion of Caleb’s parents flanking Caleb in the flames.... that got me too, Liam

- “Stay down.” yeah, okay, that was sexy

- ASTRID BEING THE ONE TO ACTIVATE THE COLLAR IS LITERALLY POETIC JUSTICE... Trent being beaten by the student who stuck with him longest I love this so much, she deserved that moment honestly

- Break Time, AKA Emma Makes Her Weekly Mug Brownie Interlude

- Sometimes I feel like “death is too good for you” is a copout, but in this case it fits so well, I want this mf’s reputation destroyed and the entire operation exposed and overthrown let’s goooo

- “I loved you both so much”.... Astrid and Eadwulf walking away.... oh, Blumendrei... I know this is not the end of your story. What’s past is prologue, loves

- The Empire Siblings are gonna burn down the whole system because it’s the system that enables individual corruption... I am so fulfilled by this, god i love them

- “I love you too” OH MY GOD I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, FJORESTER ARE THE CUTEST FOR REAL

- Jester and Essek’s friendship still means so much to me btw just in case anyone wanted a check-in

- Veth giving the flask to Kingsley!! Good for her, good for her!

- OH Blumenduo are back already! I truly thought that was going to be their last appearance of the Campaign, why is this taking me more by surprise than Trent’s appearance

- “[Caleb] notes how similar Eadwulf and Fjord are” this is Widofjord adjacent... this episode we have gotten Widomauk-adjacent, Widojest-adjacent, and Widofjord-adjacent (and Blumentrio ofc), now come through Shadowgast and we can get a full Bingo on the “Bisexual Maelstrom” card

- Speaking of relationships, I am lowkey into the Fjord/Jester/Kingsley dynamic LOL no one look at me I’m in hiding

- I’M NOT READY TO SAY GOODBYE TO VETH AND CAD 😭 It makes sense and the fact that they have their families back is beautiful but also consider this: I’m sad and I will miss them 

- The goodbyes to Caduceus..... I am going to cry aren’t I?

- “If he’s anything like his mom, you won’t see him until it’s too late” Okay that made me giggle, I love Veth and I love Luc and I love their little family

- IS ESSEK LEAVING TOO? THAT’S GONNA BE WHAT BREAKS ME ISN’T IT

- If Essek leaves and we never see him again, getting a triple whammy of goodbyes I will be so incredibly sad, I cannot do this  😭

- If anyone is interested, no I am not doing well

- I was lowkey ready to get an Essek’s feelings for Caleb confirmation tonight, I guess it makes sense that we didn’t but I hope that this is not the last time we see Essek... I want to write another emo post about him and about how much he means to me but I will refrain

- CALEB BEING A TEACHER IS THE ENDGAME I WANT FOR HIM PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

- Wow, I really was not ready to see Caduceus and Essek go for some reason... I really wanted this Campaign to end on the image of the Mighty Nein together as all nine of them... I’m feeling so numb right now having to say goodbye  😭

- Oh, we’re in the epilogue now!

- When Fjord said “[the sea] is my favorite place to be” I genuinely felt that on a spiritual level... the ocean is home, it truly is and always will be for me as well

- “I CAST MODIFY MEMORY” FJORD LMAOOOOOOO

- Okay, that Widobrave ending is what made me shed tears for the first time this episode... not to be Personal but my biological brother graduates High School tomorrow, and for some reason this conversation just reminded me so much of me and him and now I’m emotional

- NOT THE SYPHILIS BANDITS DSYUHDFJKLSFJ;DS OKAY I NEEDED THAT LAUGH

- “I’d like to hear about your friend” Kingsley aww

- Beau giving Kingsley her first diary to help him realize who they all are is actually so perfectly fitting, I love that!

- “The other eight and I, yes” Caleb counting all nine of them again  😭

- CALEB BEING OFFERED AN ASSEMBLY SEAT WTF AAAHHH

- Oh shit, Astrid took the Assembly seat... I’m not sure how I feel about this, I feel so bad for her for having to stay in the system that abused her for so long and I would have loved to see her burn the whole thing down, but I hope that she at least has a sense of contentment with this title

- “I go where you go, baby” Beauyasha.... my darling loves....

- Beau’s dad??? But also Beau being the one with power over her father is so Good, I’m glad that she got justice on that front as well!

- This talk with Artagan... “I didn’t want you to be a god. I wanted you to be my friend.” and in the process my love you created divinity... maybe divinity is the friends we made along the way

- OH SHIT WE ARE GETTING ALL THE VANDRAN LORE TONIGHT I’M READY LET’S GO LET’S GO

- VANDRAN AND AVANTIKA WERE AN ITEM???

- Wait crack theory: Sabian was a half elf right? Could he be the son of Vandren and Avantika? Or is that too much of a stretch? 

- Vandran going with them!!! Also I feel like that moment between Fjord and Vandran was lowkey a tease to a post-campain Uk’otoa one shot and I am ready for it already 

- THIS BEAUYASHA MOMENT... “i’ve never known anyone as deeply as i know you” & “explore every bit of you in multiple ways ;)” & “your past doesn’t scare me, it only makes you beautiful” .... this is so much they are so much i love them so much

- “I will have you and then some” Beauyasha   😭

- I’m torn between “oh my god there’s still half an hour left?” and “how is there only half an hour left??”

- “You will let this Skyspear live at least?” oh my god so Yasha killed the last Skyspear then? Oof...

- YASHA GIVING ZUALA(’S GRAVE) THE BOOK OF FLOWERS, OH DEAR HEART

- And Beau’s talk to Zuala about being the luckiest woman alive and sacrifice.... 😭  

- PLANTING FLOWERS AT ZUALA’S GRAVE... “NO BETTER GRAVE MARKER” THIS IS MAKING ME SO EMOTIONAL, I KNOW I’VE SAID THIS A LOT THIS EPISODE BUT THIS TRULY IS SO BEAUTIFUL

- So... I may or may not be crying again

- Shadowgast with a steel chair??

- Caleb’s plan for saving his parents... it’s clear he has thought of this so much, oh my darling love  😭

- Caleb burning down his chance to change his past is so symbolic and something he really needed to do, it does make me emotional though

- The other book was him writing to his parents?? Oh bby boy  😭  

- While I would have loved for Caleb to open his own magic school (especially with Essek, or the Mighty Nein, or someone else as well), I am so pleased that he stays with Veth and that their friendship continues for the rest of their life because again: they mean so so much to me, and in a way they remind me of me and my biological brother (which I never realized before this episode) and yeah. They just make me Emo

- Also. Caleb being a professor was my Number One Endgame Hope for him and the fact that it came true is just so surreal in the best way possible. I’m so used to being robbed of happy endings. The fact that the Mighty Nein all got theirs makes me incredibly happy. A story does not have to be sad to be impactful. Happy stories and happy endings, especially during a time period of tumultuous real life circumstances, have just as much value and meaning and they always will. Caleb is teaching the next generation magic, and he is teaching them to be Good, and he is nurturing them, and that just means so much

- MATT CRYING IS GONNA GET TO ME

- “Let’s do it again” Please, let’s.

- Okay, everyone. I made it all seven hours in one piece with surprisingly minimal tears (though who knows, this might all sink in tomorrow.) I already wrote my thoughts earlier today about how much the Mighty Nein mean to me and how much this show and these characters have kept me holding on during quarantine and today... I’m still not ready to let them go, but I know that I can always revisit to say hello and to say thank you for changing me. Until then though... I love you all more than you could ever know. And for the last time of Campaign 2... is it Thursday yet?

Good night 💗

[ficsinhistory]

So we have news!

(Just making it clear that everything I'm going to talk about here comes from sources without official confirmation.)

So pals, we have information!

This is great, this is really great! 

And as a member of the fandom, crazy for theories, here my two cents of ideas.

 The MiSFIT

A new prodigy!!!! This is not training!!

This alone brings a lot of interesting ideas and concepts. First, maybe the college is preparing for a new semester, and maybe it is looking for another teenage genius because of Karmi's departure, which already brings a lot of impact.

How will Hiro feel? Will he feel threatened with a new prodigy, maybe he can become the youngest? It would be fun to see Hiro feeling on his skin what Karmi felt when he got up to it for the sake of empathy. Hiro has always been as proud as Karmi, after all, they are alike. Almost like a mirror.

Not to mention that perhaps Karmi herself is mentioned. Maybe Rishi knows something about her and the incident, which would make this tour a little uncomfortable. Hiro may think that the school wants to replace her or even coexist with another prodigy other than her. may sound.. strange. They've spent so much fighting and now that Hiro knows he likes her, but spent little time together as friends, it might bring up some things he might regret doing. This also brings the opportunity to show Hiro maturing from what he learned from Karmi and receive this prodigy with open arms. 

Outside that we can have a mention of Tadashi please, series?!!! Like, where's our precious kid who left too early?! After all, Tadashi is a great legend on SFIT and it could be an episode that has a great focus on him, which is needing to be done here a lot, in my opinion!!! Where's our handsome boi?

The second is about Rishi. According to all the research I do based on character names, Rishi is a Sanskrit name commonly given to boys and meaning "sage". Which makes sense because of the prodigy status they carry, in addition to the idea of future knowledge, perhaps ahead of time. His surname is of Indian origin meaning " headman " or "village chief". Maybe they are someone smug and arrogant, since he seems to be important enough to the point of Grandville in person asking Hiro to convince him to stay, which again would be hilarious to see Hiro deal with someone like that. It can also be a trick and the kid be the opposite, but how this season is humor... I would go on the smug. Outside that this name is given to the family of farmers, so maybe they have a field involved in agriculture and biology? We'll have to wait.

Return to Sycorax

FINALLY!!!! 

Disney has been in debt to this for so long that I can't even believe it's real!!! And we have Krei, which feeds yet another theory of mine, but we go in parts here because, man!! Finally!

First, we know it says Krei is going missing. Implying - in my opinion - that he went to Sycorax for some reason. I don't imagine NBB causing this since Sycorax wouldn't have anything that would help him get a family since it was an essentially Biotech company, living things, not robots. Again, maybe Krei wants something from there or maybe even wants to incorporate something from Biotech into Kreitch, which would lead to doing these reckless things.

Second, it seems that Sycorax really went bankrupt. Since the description said "the old building," it may imply that the real Liv Amara has lost everything. This would be interesting to see, since the poor woman woke up only to see everything she built be ruined without a return. And we will maybe  know how the arc of the city of monsters affected her. Remembering that Liv was 23 when the chaos happened and serious, Tadashi died at 21, she went through a lot, let's not sleep on it.

Third, and my favorite, trauma exploration!!! I'm a writer, what can I do? Imagine what this episode could yield in emotional?! The last time Hiro was there, Karmi was turned into a monster. He almost died, she almost died, Baymax almost died. Hiro and the rest of the team only have terrible memories of there and now they are returning to the eye of the hurricane! And again, returning to the place that happened all that was responsible for taking your love from you should not be pleasant. Again, Karmi can be mentioned and bro, I'm excited!!!

Basically, these are my individual thoughts. Now my general theories arise from this:

I really think it will have a fourth season, since as I mentioned, this season is only giving us construction and no closure, for what would be the actual final season. We still have new arcs being opened and questions unanswered. If the rumor of the ten episodes is right, three are missing. With that, over two. I believe the season finale is 22 minutes long and the other remaining tackle Momakase (who is in one of the hexagons and has not yet appeared) and Mr. Sparkles, we will still have a lot of things open because of this season. Seriously, the great thing that was the team going away was only pointed out in the first episode after being forgotten! 

Second, Braggtech may have something to be about and be the big bad of Season 4. She is a company originaly located in Austanbul, a mix of real-life cities Istanbul, Turkey and Austin, Texas. And both Rishi and Karmi have ancestry from countries of this region, the Middle East. Rishi may have something to be and even Karmi may be involved further forward. That is, more drama!!!

My theory that Karmi could become a Kreitech intern is stronger than ever. This would be great for the character, a chance to redeem herself and move on. After all, the signs are there for me. Karmi learned robotics, she defeated Ian, which would make Krei know about her and have a vacancy available after being informed by Judy. Now he is after something in Sycorax, which is from Biotech that Karmi worked! Not to mention I'm a sucker for romance and these two work together with feelings...the stories write themselves. Dude, I hope it's true, I really want to see nerd shenanigans in the lab of these two geniuses.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk! Leave your opinions if you want, I love to hear opinions. Just keep them polite and PG. See you next time, Bye!

[life-rewritten]

The Gifted Graduation: Reuniting with Channon (NON)

Pang and his two  very conflicting and dark paths

Last month I said I was planning to write heaps of essays regarding the show the gifted graduation, in the end, I've just sat back and kept my theories and opinions to my self as this season started in a way I was not expecting, each time I planned to write an essay like who was the impostor, for example, it got revealed the next episode(Korn) and I couldn't find enough words and need to write it out entirely. After episode 6 though, Gifted has made me lose it, and if I don't try to break down all that's in my mind, I don't think I'll fully recover. Warning spoilers for both The Gifted and The Gifted Graduation so far. Please let us discuss this show more, for a while on Tumblr the tags were silent but I hope after this episode people run and become obsessed with this masterpiece. Also since it's spooky season Gifted and its scary themes and ideas acts a perfect Halloween show to focus on. Honestly, I'm hoping this show is the next show I focus on analysing the most.  Okay, let's break down Pang and his character arc/ paths he could take this towards the end of this season.  

Reconvening With Non

The first thing I noticed about the scene when Pang reunites with Channon is this sense of foreboding and also a sense of a  pseudo'fatherly-son' vibe from them. From season one Channon's presence has been made known as something that motivated Pang to choose good, and trust in the future, and also his story was the reason why Pang got stronger and decided to fight the system. Pang and Non have this energy around them because Pang looks up to him so much for his sheer will, kindness and heart, but also Pang was Channon's mirror/shadow character in season 1;

He also formed a close friendship with someone who he wanted to protect and understood why Channon made the decisions he made.

He also wanted to fight the system and managed to lose his memories and lose to the director. 

He again got betrayed by his friends and Pom at the end of season 1 the way Pom was forced to betray Channon.

 Like Non, he was meant to return back to not knowing anything and having the secrets buried of the school, he was meant to be forgotten and hidden. However, unlike Pom, Wave trusted Pang more than wanting to save his potential and strived to get his memories back and have him return to the gifted.  So both Pang and Channon have both mirrored arcs where Pang represents a younger version of the latter and also foreshadows the way his psyche and character mindset is changing, growing but also could be degenerating. Before I talk about this, even more, let's focus on the other mirror character for Pang which points and alludes to another path he could take.

War With The Director and Himself

This is another reason for why I got weird vibes from the reuniting scene with Pang and Channon. I felt like I had to stay on my toes because we've done this before; trusting someone or underestimating someone as not being more vital than they are. In season 1 Pang and I failed to recognise what the director was in that season, it was clear he was the villain, but it also felt like he understood Pang the most and I couldn't for the sake of me figure out why. Until the reveal that he is an evolved version of Pang if Pang chose to succumb to using his potential for evil. It was terrifying the truth was there all along;  he knew who Pang was, he learned about Pang's powers because he had the same.

The director proceeded like he did with Channon to belittle his beliefs about equality and break him down one by on;  first by showing both of them how easy it is to be betrayed by their peers/and closest friends (Pom and Wave who did not want to lose their potential or suffer consequences because of them,), second by making them see they've lost and laughed in their face at their failed plans and third to degrade them down even further by returning them back to their starting position where they were unknown and not crucial (by erasing their memories).  

The director is cruel, but his plans fail for both of these two as revealed in episode 6.  Non had his memories retrieved but could do nothing and was left in the shadows being afraid of the director whilst working as an IT for the ministry (I call bullshit on this btw) and Pang's memory was revived by the help of his friends and Wave who believed in his vision (well some of them didn't as we see in episode 6). Season 2 keeps repeating the same motif and idea of Pang pushing down his powers, so he doesn't turn into someone like the director, he doesn't want to be evil or manipulative he wants to be a fair leadership.

Pang's Struggle For Control

Season 2, however, seems to keep pushing Pang in the middle of this two paths, it's either he realises there's no way to survive and becomes like the director to return things back to normal, or he ends up losing the game and being pushed aside and haunted as a failure like Non.

The fight to win and have an equal system seems more impossible if Pang doesn't choose to take the director's path. The lack of unity and togetherness in his own team and the losses that have been acquired by episode 6, could drive him even further to have to submit to his potential and use it the way he's been trying to avoid.

We see hints of chaos still on the way;  his trauma for losing and causing the deaths of his peers for his cause, the resentment for his leadership being questioned and replaced by Punn who seems slowly tired of being under him, and the lack of trust for both his peers and the adults. He may gradually adopt the director's mindset that equality is impossible, and being gifted is the only way to achieve victory and get what he wants in this environment. He may even use his powers to make people forget everything and go back to the start, just like how the director does whenever chaos threatens the school.

Pang vs Non

Non's return is interesting to me, he seems good, and he appears righteous but broken. It's easy to feel pity for him and be misled by his words. It's the same way we were misled by the director and thinking he knew nothing about Pang's plans in season 1, we underestimated him because we felt he had no vision. Non is like that, another mirror character that can be revealed to be evil all along, the master manipulator.

Well, why not? He's been haunted and traumatised for ten years since he got his memories back, probably manipulated and told wrong ideologies by the ministry head who wants to destroy the director and this can easily lead him to be filled with vengeance and anger and resentment, and a wish to get revenge.

Not only that he went to the one person who was also feeling just as resentful about the gifted system (he says it was an accident, but I don't believe that for one bit), his speech about him being a failure is sad. It pushes the audience to want to root for him, but it makes no sense how the ministry just hired him to become an IT man and be left in the shadows, only for him to return because he did not want to have the virus spread around and used on the director. No he implanted that idea in Korn, he pushed Korn by only giving him small details about the drug and what it does, he also seems to have little knowing looks in this episode; times where he looks a bit more menacing, more sly, more cunning.  I focused on his facial expression during the confrontation with Korn, and it seemed too knowing, too secretive, to resentful.

Non is not someone who can easily be pushed away not after what happened to him in Season 1, not whilst Pom gets to run around being a teacher in the school and misleading more students to being hurt, not whilst the director continues to be director in the school and hide him as a secret, not whilst the gifted programme is still causing chaos and disasters that aren't right. His sense of justice is probably more than his fear of the director. His reason for not wanting to come back makes no sense to me, it feels off.  But that's why him being the villain of the show has even more potential, to hurt us just like the director's final plot twist in season 1, someone who we underestimated because we believed he was on our side, he was right and just, and he had let things go.

That's the same as Pang, we see him as someone trying so hard to not shift from his aim and path, someone who idealistically believes in equality and winning the war but are we sure he'll stay that way. He could follow this path. Instead, becoming the resentful failure who feels exhausted from failing and having his aims ruined, he is also mentally pushed to the brim just like Non, he is also being shown futility at every try, and he is being betrayed just like Non.

Pawns  Of The Ministry  

Pang joining the ministry to help defeat the director is just probably mirroring Non's real path, He's probably been told the same truths revealed to Non when he first got founded by them.

To me the ministry is our main villain this season, with opposite ideologies to the director, but how are we so sure that the head isn't on the other side of the spectrum to far, what if he harbours hatred for the gifted programme so much because he also wants vengeance, what if he wants to again do what the director wanted but even more harshly or crueller. It's one of the two.

The ministry is another form of representation of leadership from the adults, and we know in this show, the adults are not to be trusted, deceitful and cruel and too set in their own ways. Willing to sacrifice anything for their cause. Pang joining them seems good right now, but I bet Non is also one of them. He's now an adult just like Pom remember we trusted Pom in season 1 we thought he was good, only for him to indeed be weak and submissive to the director's control. Non probably is the same as Pom was, someone who wants to be good but is perhaps now instead, under the ministry's control.

The Ideology Of The Ministry  

It's a war of politics between these two ideologies and leadership from adults, and we're about to see it play out with Pang as a pawn. That's why I believe he will snap towards the end and stop being just a pawn, he will probably realise that he needs control and that's why he's most likely to mould into the mixture of these two characters he represents, and to be honest that's not a good thing. Luckily he has Wave by his side, that's one thing we can count on is Wave to bring Pang away from these two paths the way Pang brought him out from his own downward spiral in season 1. Both help the other and push the other to be better, to breath and calm down, to trust in the positives. Wave is going to do that for Pang let's hope it's not just too late when he does.