zemnian-newcomer

[zemnian-newcomer]

not art but important nonetheless

[zemnian-newcomer]

See, my thing about people getting bent out of shape about Orym listening to the Imodna conversation is that they seem to automatically ascribe some suspicious intent to it when that’s not actually a confirmed thing at all. Orym could very well have just been hanging back and tuning into different parts of the collective conversation, and just happened to catch that bit. It’s like these people have never been at a party and just casually eavesdropped on conversations they’re not a part of. It’s not actually a part of the text that Orym was listening deliberately or out of suspicion, it occurred in that moment because Liam wanted to underscore a point in the narrative, and then Orym tuned out of the conversation before it was over. I don’t understand why people are so determined to read everything Orym does involving Imogen and Laudna specifically as hostile. My dude was just wallflower-ing it up and happened to be listening at a narratively poignant spot.

[zemnian-newcomer]

re: many thoughts i’ve seen regarding the way the cast are playing m9 feeling ooc that have ranged anywhere from being just commentary to very strange critiques about like. homophobia and. emphatically just. idk man . get a grip or smth. vox machina is pretty much just as ‘caricature’-y as the nein are (a phrase which here simply refers to. we are getting snapshots of these characters provided by a cast keenly aware of the limited timeline they’re on), the only difference being we saw vox machina with down time and we didn’t see the same with mighty nein (on their own) all of the mighty nein’s one-on-one moments were mediated by the cast also having to go ‘would my other character — who is in the main party for this campaign — have something to say in this moment of the story that takes precedent over whatever conversation this character would have’. and further, whimsy and verging on over-confidence have Always been the nein’s approach. but like, especially re: yasha and fjord (and beau a bit) who i’ve seen get the most reaction it’s like. literally rewatch the campaign and detach yourself from the fanon-rotted version of the characters that has been left to evolve in your brain.

like. sorry beau Did dislike yasha at the start — she thought she was hot, but she was also deeply walled off and unwilling to fully take yasha as a genuine person for a while. beauyasha has always been horny. like we’re talking the ceiling mirror fucking, fish market, hot tub stare off couple right? that’s who we’re upset about being too sexual? where am i (and if it’s because ashley and marisha forgot whether their characters were married, all the best to you, your thoughts are simply irrelevant). and fjord is the exact same as always — which is a combination of confidence and awkward at all times, especially when it comes to romance. which has in the past consistently led to jester and him having quieter conversations where he gets to be more vulnerable, including one we had the last time we saw mn in ep 111 where jester point blank brought up that he seemed like maybe he regretted proposing and he shed the bravado demeanour (as he always has) and explained that he doesn’t regret anything.

like. i’m not saying it’s wrong to take issue with the characters choices or perspectives, go for it, but realize that it is the characters and the choices they’re making and not just the cast Forgetting who their characters are. also i am truly sorry for those of you who can’t tell the difference between an out of character but still in character voice joke and an in character delivery . i imagine that makes it very hard to track character development but unfortunately that does not mean the cast have forgotten the hearts of their characters it just means you probably shouldn’t be (and thankfully you are not) the chief determination of whether they have or not.

[zemnian-newcomer]

You know, the funny thing about the Arch Heart's plan is that like, literally, they can leave whenever. The reason they want Bells Hells to release Predathos is that it will force the other gods to leave too. The same issue happened in the Schism and Calamity too, like, really, the issues that have come up have all been "the gods would like the mortals to make their decision for them (the gods)" and so on some level removing Predathos as a threat and as an excuse and taking the Caleb option feels like the best but also the funniest outcome. "hey gods. you can come and go as you please from Exandria now without worry of pursuit or losing each other. Figure your shit out."

[zemnian-newcomer]

one day, the CritRole fandom will be able to tell the difference between an above table (i.e., out-of-character) joke made in a character voice and something that's actually occurring in-character

[zemnian-newcomer]

I'd thought I remembered, in the Knights of Requital planning, someone mentioning the gala being moved, because it gave the Nein an extra day to prep, and Dolan did specify that it had been unexpectedly pushed back a day, but doesn't suggest he knows why. (It's not clear to me based on the conversation when this change happened—it's possible Dolan has simply heard this update recently, but it also might've been a last minute change.) I was wondering because the timing of the Zauberspire attack coinciding with the gala seemed odd.

It is very narratively convenient, of course, and certainly the Kryn spies could've been using it for the same reason that the Knights of Requital were—important figures of the city were distracted and otherwise occupied, and Thuron does give an indication that Ulog was feeding them information as well, so he certainly could've suggested that timing to both.

But two things about the attack struck me: first, that the Zauberspire does not seem to be very far from where the gala is held, which makes it less of a distraction and more of a liability for covert military operations; and second, the Assembly reacts instantly. Moreover, Trent is already there, though he normally resides in Rexxentrum. He doesn't exactly seem the type to show up for annual holiday festivities, given he doesn't stand to gain much if anything from hobnobbing with a bunch of regional socialites, and Ludinus later suggests he is not exactly being dispatched to events as a diplomatic entity. Of course he can be in another city quite quickly, but this all happens so quickly that I find it unlikely that there would've been time to inform someone in another city prior to apprehending the infiltrators, given the immediacy with which the mages respond.

The point being, I think they were warned.

[zemnian-newcomer]

it is wild that people read Fjord's vibes as hesitancy over marriage to Jester generally and not the fact that deep down, he as a person is the sort to have a private ceremony with friends on the beach, but he knows Jester is the sort of person to dream of a massive spectacle wedding and even deeper down he wants her to have that so his attitude is "please have this, it will make you so happy, but god I cannot think about wedding colors like that's literally not a thing my brain can comprehend, especially while we're on a mission to kill the mind control moon emperors"

[zemnian-newcomer]

Dorian and Orym kissed, Braius' heart was broken

Ashton and Fearne hugged and did some shrooms, Braius' heart was broken again

[zemnian-newcomer]

Matt let the relationship and wedding drama fully play out not just for the lolz but also because he knew he was bringing the Ludinus death funnel on Imogen's mom holy SHIT

[zemnian-newcomer]

I love that the Nein are less of a party and more like seventeen redundancies in a trenchcoat.

[zemnian-newcomer]

They’re the same picture

[zemnian-newcomer]

Something something ludinus' whole rhetoric being founded off of the gods being "parasites" feeding off of mortal worship and energy meanwhile that's exactly what he's doing in a very literal sort of way. Sucking everybody up in his stupid harness and leaving nothing behind in his endless pursuit of power and revenge.

Like, for good or ill, the gods don't actually *need* mortal worship to sustain themselves. Trist was physically pretty fine in Downfall and the Everlight did all of her Calamity kickassery AFTER all her followers were murdered. Mortal worship may give them a boost but it's not an actual determiner of their power. They only really need mortals right now because of the Divine Gate, they physically cannot get in and thereby must act through proxies.

They ain't sucking anybody up and leaving nothing behind, just twisting and shaping what's already there (again for good or for ill).

[zemnian-newcomer]

oh wildmother, we’re really in it now

[zemnian-newcomer]

Caleb’s “well if some of them want to leave but some don’t why don’t you save them and then let them sort it out amongst themselves” is such a wildly obvious take on the god situation that it’s now almost weird to me no one’s said it before. And I think it feels so obvious because it’s finally a perspective that allows the gods agency.

Prior to this the takeaways from the Archeart and Matron’s comments have been “here’s how their perspectives can support our unilateral action of [x]” which is still treating it like a thought experiment and not seeing the gods as real people. But if the gods are disagreeing and they are beings with a right to life and their own opinions, why on earth shouldn’t they be allowed the space to discuss this themselves.

Imogen’s reply to Caleb was essentially “well but they don’t agree either so someone has to make a choice” but Caleb’s point is actually saying no you don’t. You can choose to save these beings from destruction and then give them the space to make a choice you yourselves have admitted you have no answer for, and that maybe they should decide for themselves.

[zemnian-newcomer]

simple poetry in the transcripts

[zemnian-newcomer]

Liam to Luis: We should probably get at a table together

Me, immediately, not caring who hears me yelling at 11pm: YES PLEASE