#so I was upset ghdfghfd and wanted to wait to do it on my computer

[crystal-lillies]

a rambling retrospective on the last year as a new Critter

So, it's been about a year (a little over) since I fully dipped into the Critical Role fixation.

Last year around this time, we got the other Halloween episode in Whitestone, just before the Mighty Nein Reunited two-parter, and gee, we just got a Halloween episode in Whitestone and we're about to go into a Mighty Nein Reunion this week! And a LIVE show at that, the first one since pre-COVID!

And last year at this time, I was just starting into a work D&D group and I'd just gotten my first set of dice at a renaissance festival, and I'd just bounced around a bunch of compilation videos, several oneshots, and some out-of-context Campaign 2, along with The Legend of Vox Machina season 1. I was just barely dipping my toe into the wider CR + TTRPG world.

So much has happened since then.

Every Thursday since that Halloween in Whitestone last year with Bells Hells, I've been tuning into the stream (despite the ET time difference) and sometimes even making it through all the way (for some exhaustion points that are still worth it). I watched more of the oneshots (the Call of Cthulu one and Nautilus Ark being particular favorites I've seen in 2023). I've also watched a lot more of Campaign 2 and even went back into Campaign 1, bought myself some merch (I'm actually wearing the Hot Topic Ashton shirt, haha), and I got friends into The Legend of Vox Machina before and after Season 2 dropped on Amazon.

I even wrote a little fic when Matt slammed us all with the Apogee Solstice on the 8th anniversary session :)

And, as anyone who's been following me has noticed, I got the Exquisite Exandria cookbook and have been making the recipes from it whenever I can, and that's also been amazing.

Plus, I've watched some Dimension 20 (Mentopolis was incredible and Burrow's End rn is fascinating) and dipped into Worlds Beyond Number thanks to that.

My work D&D group has since dissolved, but I took a leap of faith and I joined a pickup oneshot game of D&D5e in April, and around late June/early July, the DM of that game invited me with a few others to a campaign set in that homebrew world the oneshot was based in.

We started playing at the end of July, and I've been having such a blast. Each session is so much fun and the highlight of any given week we play. I cannot believe I went so long in my life without having D&D until this point, honestly. But I'm so glad I have it now.

All of this to say, a lot has happened in the last year, and I'm so glad to have stumbled into the Critter community and gained knowledge of Critical Role and the wider TTRPG sphere as a whole. The fandom has been so welcoming and supportive in a way I haven't felt from many fandoms in my experience. It feels like it's been more than just a year of being invested in Critical Role, but I suppose that the fervent intensity of the story and the people involved and the genuine excitement in front of and behind the cameras.

I guess, just... thank you for everything. And here's to many more years of Critterdom to come :)

Love y'all very much, and is it Thursday yet?