#critical toll

[squeakadeeks]

moodboard for this past week ❤️

#they should invent a grad school thats not fucking insane #i'm hanging in there but im the most unwell i've been in AWhile #this week was just horrible #there was already the freezer food incident but it also started off with a very severe pain episode thats putting me in constant woe #even mundane motion has been agonizing which is McAwesome bc we had a lab inspection which involved moving hundreds of pounds of equipment #during which we found a blackwidow and rats which we had to deal with and was a whole thing psychologically on top of the physical toll #the new class fiasco is still popping off and i had to respond to at this point over 400 emails in the fleeting moments outside of lab #AND A STUDENT TRIED TO FINANCIALLY BRIBE THEIR WAY INTO THE CLASS ? ?? ?? ????? #then the instructor wanted to use me as a guinea pig and i had to test new circuit boards but I wasnt given any time to do so properly #i had to test them plus get them operational and deal with my incoming students all in a frantic 10 minute window #im in charge of running our meetings too but the instructor was interrupting and having side conversations that made it really hard- #to train the other people on the new equipment in a smooth manner #which meant that a bunch of people had to keep me after to ask questions which made me late for my drs appointment #where i found out i cant get the new covid vaccine bc my heart and blood levels arnt stable enough #and joanns lost an expensive+critical fabric order of mine+i had to give a big presentation this week on my research that was stressful #and my inbox is still blowing up from being needed all over the place between teaching lab and classes and yall i am. so so tired. #im in so much pain and so stressed out #debating the ethics of turning into a pile of lint to escape my responsibilities and mortal frame

[hedwyn-here]

Having had a few days to reflect, I've come to the conlusion there is a single thing I have issue with in Blue Eye Samurai. (aside from the creators being zionists, that is worse, but for the sake of the post) Episode 6 contains this absolutely banging Japanese cover of For Whom the Bell Tolls.

They made the brilliant choice to start the episode with a tiny little sample. Just the first 20 seconds or so of the song to let you know this episode is going to bring it.

And the episode does bring it! It's great, and has some fantastic action. They bring back this song later on and play it at length during one of the confrontations, and this is where I think they made the mistake.

They used this song during a sequence where Mizu is fighting this huge, hulking beast of a dude. She's still high from the monkey room so the guy is appearing as this flaming demon with glowing red eyes. It's presenting this guy as a boss fight, and this song is his boss fight music. It makes sense, and it's cool. It works. Lets the fight feel a bit more intense.

But, we could have had better.

See, I think they should have used it during one of the sequences where Mizu is fighting a bunch of dudes. The show is full of sequences where it's Mizu against a small army, and she's Oldboy style tearing through them, taking hits herself but powering through as this unstoppable vicious beast they simply can't hope to defeat.

This music shouldn't have been used as boss fight music for the big dude. This shoudl have been boss fight music for Mizu. SHE is the boss. Give us this rad covery playing and Mizu at her most fucked up and intimidating, bleeding and tired and looking at the army of pathetic men before her as a barrier she intends to break apart in a most ruthless fashion.

That would have been such a better use of the song. Imagine the catharsis of it.

#blue eye samurai #mizu #for whom the bell tolls #episode 6 #spoilers #oldboy #criticism #freepalestine #Youtube

[sophiamcdougall]

...why does no one at Critical Role have any idea how any stage of human ageing works? Why are they always "OK if older then grizzled veteran -- unless child, in which case now teenager." Luc should be eleven or twelve. Beau is a mere thirty-three, the same age Caleb was in the original show, younger than Orym is now, and one year younger than Marisha herself! She also has unlocked monk shit that stops her ageing. Why is she heavily salt-and-pepper haired in her new art? Caleb is now 40, younger than almost all of the cast except Marisha, and the same age as Ashley! Why does Matt's Campaign 3 description of him have to ensure that the Hells -- in low light, in a landscape swirling with dust -- can still pick out the grey in his hair? Why would Orym -- currently around 36?? - see him as a "zaddy"? Yes, there are people whose hair is noticeably grey at these ages, people who visibly age a lot over the course of seven years. None of the people creating these characters, though! Why do they always seem to revert to a fifteen-year-old's idea of what turning 30/40/50 means when depicting characters the same age or younger than they are themselves?

#critical role #I'm still not over Auntie Bea all ancient and decrepit at 52 #Yes it COULD reflect the harshness of the setting and the toll their life takes but it's harder to credit that given this pattern

[halfyearsqueen]

rhaenyra’s contentious relationship with her own bodily autonomy

#like so much of it is the fact so much has been so uncomfortably exposed as topics of conversation for so LONG #like the rumors of her ‘sexual exploits ‘ having been circulating since she was fourteen years old and like she has to cope with that #without having it reflect on her face or result in a change in behavior because her charm is what drew people to her in the first place #and in court weakness is the worst thing you can display to people if you want political power and want to advance and like she’s 14 ? bein #being that young of course it hurts😭 it can’t not hurt #but like it HITS - it does. Like it makes her feel exposed in a way that’s so oddly disjointing because she didn’t DO any of it #like the desirability politics at play take such ? a Slow and steady toll on her #like she can’t really escape the viscious cycle of being so exposed because that’s exactly why people are so open to her being queen #like her body is criticized after she didn’t lose weight after three continuous pregnancies in the span of 2 and a half years #and that’s not even getting into why pregnancy scared her which IS the fact she’s essentially sharing her body with this person and it coul #die or it could kill her or she could die and she could leave it alone which scares her the most #like pregnancy is the one continuous aspect of her life she can’t wholly control and that terrifies her because that makes her feel like sh #cant protect either of them #and like she doesn’t want the possibility of a son to overshadow the fact her life matters too #like the way her appearance is always so carefully curated and after she gets the throne back #her always sitting the throne in her arm and intentionally gripping it until her hands bleed is so #LIKE ITS SO 😭

[lessattitudemorealtitude]

Did Taliesin know from the beginning that the thing in his head was a beacon? Because the way he’s describing different versions of himself going different directions like candle flickers sounds exactly like the first description we got of Caleb looking into the beacon. 

#critical role #cr liveblogging #ashton greymoore #caleb widogast #taliesin jaffe #bell's hells #c3e3 #the trial and the toll

[ravenquing]

It's completely unrelated to anything I may be writing (okay, shh, I'm writing Vax'leth, but you didn't hear it here), but here you go, take some free height stuff.

I'm bad at drawing people freehandedly, but I'm learning okay!! ( 😭😭😭😭 )

#i love toll gf and tiny bf #they both weigh like a couple of grapes #kiki is stronger tho #she carries vax easily #otp: 'gosh you guys are good looking' 'we have nothing to lose. i love you' #critical role #cr #the legend of vox machina #tlovm #vax'ildan #keyleth #vaxleth #vax'leth #my art #cr fanart #tlovm fanart #lynias does an art

[genericpuff]

And thus I whispered into the ear of the false god . . .

"̸̖̪͗̈͆.̸̗̹̖͒̑͌ ̶̣̖̤̈́̒̍͊ͅ.̵̦̟̈̽ ̴̦̫̩̎̂͊.̷̜̈́̈́̏̚ ̴͈͍̫̿̒̎ẙ̷͖̣͕ọ̴̰͊͒͝ù̴͕̟̈́͊r̷̩͉̠̣͗̕ ̷̰̈́̾t̷̡̙͔̃̈́i̸̠̼͖̼͒͋͆m̶̻̳͑̂ë̴̳̩͙̤́̎ ̸͇̞̳͚̿h̵̲͉͈̍a̶̙̱͛̾̀͘ṣ̸̞̗̀̾͘ ̴͖͈̭̭̐̆c̷̥̫̾̆̉o̶̲͋̂̽͘ḿ̴̢̲̯̹̀e̵̲͇̱̫͐̌̅̐.̶̳̙̏"̵͔̣͒̉̍͝

#just me being edgy and cringe on main don't mind me #saw this shared in the discord and couldn't pass up a good meme op #hahahahaha but seriously #i'm coming for your crown rachel #and the blood of its thorns will become my gown #the bell tolls for both of us now #anti lore olympus #antiloreolympus #lore olympus critical #lo critical #lore olympus memes

[adhdbisexualramblings]

I am vengeful at this show for making Stolas sympathetic in any way

#Sure his childhood was shitty #Sure he was in an arranged marriage #Sure there are (maybe) hints that he was being physically abused I guess #But he failed to take his daughter’s feelings into account when she admitted something like his cheating was taking a toll on her #He’s commiting statutory rape weekly #He hardly treats Blitzo like a person #He’s racist #Their relationship in general is extremely toxic and an imbalance in power dynamics #They’re unhealthy codependent #And Blitzo showed no signs he was into Stolas until like episode five maybe #Their relationship is fucked up and #Fine I’ll say it it’s a similar problem to ZaDr where they don’t need romance to heal they legit need therapy or anything else #Also Stolas is a shit father I Don’t care what you say #He loves his daughter obviously but he’s not there for her emotionally #Anyway this is a Stolitzo/Stolas hate post #Have a nice day #Helluva Boss #Helluve Boss criticism #Stolitzo criticism m

[hope-ur-ok]

Fighting with people in a YouTube comment section for the atrocious takes they have about Palestine, just a normal Sunday morning xoxo

#the turtle speaks #takes that include - thinking more than 20000 Palestinian lives matter less because ~reasons~ #- thinking that israel should get no blame or be held in any way accountable for that death toll #- being unable to read a dictionary and practice critical thinking skills #(and also i swear to god if i get one nasty anon for this post there will be bloodshed i don't need that shit in my inbox)

[zevrans]

.

#so i finished my 4 out of 4th 12 hour shift in a row last night and i'm literally so exhausted and i was glitching mid simple tasks 🤡✌️ #my coworker asked to change shifts so he could have that one specific day as off #and he managed to do some very critical mistakes in his 4 days prior and that's considering his gf is often with him there #and i was the one suffering the consequences even if it's literally not my fault #ever since i've got this job i've been fixing so many mistakes of his i kept wondering who's the newbie here?? #like i try to leave my shift as good as possible i clean everything check everything and do all my duties #and when i come here after his shifts it's.. a fucktonne of work mistakes and literal dirt like dude!!! #4 shifts in a row never again man never again i am so tired my brain is nerfed and i can only rest for 1 day today because tomorrow i'm #going to a doc; #my social battery is not just dead it's nonexistent at this point #i just want to lay in bed and not be percieved or interacted with for at least the same amount of days 😫 #i really thought i could take a socially demanding and rather multitasking job without it taking hugest toll on my mental state huh??? #and i had such a bad sleep too i had a very graphic and sickening nightmare which woke me up 2 hours after i fell asleep #and then i woke 2 more times after that and i feel so exhausted and not rested at all and so fatigued i can't even do anything #man for me my sleep being interrupted is the worst like i function better if i have a smaller amount of sleep but it's uninterrupted #than longer in hours but it gets interrupted and i wake up even once #sorry i come here once in few days vent post and then dissapearvckfkv 😭 i miss tumblr but have no energy currently to even rb anything 🥲 #tbd

[fellhellion]

honestly, after listening to the entire two hour directors commentary, what feels the most bitter is the fact that these people working on spiderverse really fucking care about the art they made. the director trio + Miller speaking in that track obviously love that film (and i'd wager anyone who worked on it wanted to make something they loved).

you don't do shit like ask rick leonardi on board to help you develop art tools to shade shadows on miguel reminicent of leonardi's art style specifically as a homage to leonardi if you don't care. you don't go to the effort of getting seperate parts of hobie animated at different frame rates if you don't care about what you're trying to say w that character design. you don't go to the trouble of utilising the watercolour style of gwen's world to reinforce and reflect the character drama, if you don't care what's being said.

they're artists. they do care and love what they've made, that much is obvious. the problem seems to be that the bringing that artistic vision to complete, perfect fruition always seemed to have taken precedence over the lived toll that excessive labour took upon the teams they were leading.

like, they joke about asking for the first gwen/gwen's dad hug to be redone 70-80 times until they felt it was just right. regardless of whether those numbers are exaggeration or not, the reporting that's come out about the film really lends credence to the idea that even if it wasn't literally 70-80 redos, it sure was a fucking lot. and people weren't being properly compensated for that labour.

there's no doubt in my mind the leadership on that film cared about the art they were making, so it only stings all the worse that as artists they didn't properly compensate the very people working to bring that art into being.

#theres also just some elements id say are honestly just. bad leadership? #like stop fucking wasting time and money completely animating different reaction gags #stop prioritising your artistic vision coming to perfect fruition over the lived human toll your practices taken upon your fellow artists #tunes talks critical #long post #tunes talks spiderverse #its also just bitterly ironic that a film asking why certain practices which cause suffering should ALWAYS be adhered to because that's how #things have always played out before. had all of this sitting behind the actual making of the film

[12pt-times-new-roman]

c3e34: for whom the bell tolls

oh god it's less than 4 hours — ~3h30m accounting for intro, ads, & recap

the fuckin' NordVPN ads are getting lore recaps now??

I mute these because my secondhand embarrassment goes off the charts but just watching it is enough of an experience I feel like

I..... hm. I'm definitely feeling some kind of way about what, if anything, the Bells Hells merch releases say about who's going to survive this episode.

//

WHO'S IT GONNA BE

ooooo everyone's at the table

"Fresh Cut Grass. In this pure, endless void of all color, you feel the psychic pulse opens a flood of memories... older memories. An endless cloudscape, a skyline of lavender spires, prismatic cobblestone streets, thousands of metallic beings cheering, celebrating. A dark room, a man you fear of short gray and blonde hair shouting, none of this imagery makes sound — but you know there's anger in his heart, the intent, the defiance... a kindly, older noblewoman. You like this woman. You grant her understanding — she smiles. She frowns. She is gone."

"Chetney. Within the endless light, you feel your very soul pried open, memories spilling forth, gentler times... Diana and her laugh, Freudel and her patience... within your belly, a hunger stirs. An itch hits your skin. An iron smell fills your nose, a howl pierces your ears, you look up to the full flowing red moon of Ruidus above you, from its ruddy light streaks a single beam of pure crimson light that envelops you. You let it wash away the sadness and you give in to the beast... it sees you now, and it's found common ground."

"Ashton. Enveloped in shadowless infinity, too bright to blink, you're a child. You were worried as others rush to finish something, you do not hear your elven father as he shouts orders excitedly. Your mother kisses your head, points ahead as the many people take their places around the vibrant glowing gateway. Your father places leather mask and headdress on his face... it begins."

"Laudna. Here beyond the edge of death, the light envelops you. You remember, soundlessly, the lush forests of the Parchwood, you remember the warmth of the fire under the hearth... dinner. An impossibly long, decadent table. Watchful guards, the dark lord and lady speaking wordlessly, the dread, her gaze meets yours. A gaze that never stops. You see her at the edge of your vision, always, her shape creeps beyond every blink and her words linger with her own. You fear you may lose yourself. Are you yourself? Or just her, incubating? I am of his blood. I will endure. My will is unrelenting. You are my vessel in life, unlife, and beyond. I will endure."

"Imogen. Your entire body and spirit shakes into energy, a cosmic mass of vibration and power. You feel your ody burn, unstable, wanting to explode, you wince and hold yourself with all your might. You're walking, toppling over a rock, a hand catches your clumsy form. You cry loudly, silently, as your eyes meet hers, her lavender hair tied up over her ears. Her smile calms your tears. She speaks to you, wordlessly, in your mind you know everything is alright. She looks concerned, her face snaps away into the distance, an intensity. You open your eyes and there in this vacant space, crackling before you, you see Otohan, staring back. Her body crackling with the same type of energy as yours. You are a true predator. A gift in their image. Few can be as strong as we can. To deny your nature is to be consumed by it. To embrace it is to master your own fate. I am proud of you. The voice of Liliana echoes in your mind — run, Imogen. Run."

"The bell tolls, and looms soon enough. Come, and create something beautiful with us. [I reach out and try to blast her.] She blinks away into the light darkness, and the white blinks out. The void envelops you. You hear the sound of a thousand, ten thousand stones and bricks hitting the ground. The wind hits your face, the sand as you come down to your feet. Looking around you, you stand in the streets of Bassuras once more. In the vicinity, where a number of buildings stood, most of them are gone. There is a circle of earth pushed away. And in that moment, your companions appear where they were, as they were."

ASJHGDKJSHDGFSKJLFJDLSKGH

MATTHEW MERCER

Natural 1 death saving throw on the Ruidus die.

That's it. Someone's dead. They don't have enough spell slots.

"I imagine it would be... confusion. Flashes of all the powerful women in her life. Imogen. Fearne. Her mother. Delilah."

"As the darkness carries you to whatever threshold lies beyond, as the dark curtain begins to fold in, you feel her arms wrap around you as Delilah embraces you from behind. Worry not, child. Death is but a waiting game."

Okay. FCG is getting Fearne up. Thank fucking god. We have a chance here.

The first two rolls of the episode were a 1 on a death save and then a 20 on a perception check. If that doesn't embody this entire sequence—

Imogen has the gnarlrock. She has the gnarlrock and Delilah is still in there. I swear to god if this is some kind of repeat of Laerryn gifting a spell slot to Quay—

Thank you, Travis, for the mental image of a revivify cockring.

oh my FUCKING god

FCG rolls a 7 + 3 WIS against a DC of 10.

She felt herself being pulled by the Unseelie who "were following [her] through mirror after mirror." Behind her, she sees a "dull green sliver of a moon, a blackened hills cape of tangled jungle and thorns, brambles and eyes, so many wicked hungry eyes waiting for you. And behind those eyes, darkness. Uncertainty. Cold oblivion." And Fearne's up.

"Can you call Jiana Hexum?" "Fuck Jiana Hexum!" "Call her, tell her I'll do anything. Tell her whatever she needs."

Liam just fuckin' chugging the rest of his coffee is such a mood

GNARLROCK TIME LET'S GO

"I know you're there you bitch, I know you still want her." The rock is on Laudna's chest.

Fearne doesn't have a diamond, but Ashton does. 18 seconds remain.

I hate this. I hate it. I HATE it. But it's so good.

12 seconds remain.

Sending to Delilah: "You better bring her back. I know you want to be in this world, and she's your only way here. Get your ass down here and bring her back!" Poor thing. I would if I could. But I ask you to bring her back too — for both of us.

The coin has spoken. (I'm not convinced that Fearne didn't lie about the coin flip.)

Fearne rolls a 13 + 4 against a DC of 10.

"Orym. The tension has passed, and a calm peace comes over you. There's this shadow, this looming darkness of regret and anxiety... it gives way to the sounds of the soft breeze of Zephrah. You feel a presence you've missed for a bit. As you turn from the shadow, amongst the various cherry blossom branches and the wind that blows in this soft dreamscape before you, you see Will. Just looking at you. And you want nothing more than to stay here. And in that moment in relinquishing to whatever the next life may be, you hear Fearne's words echo out from above. The soft dream begins to fade a moment and you glance up into a shaft of light. Her words call out to you, and you're torn. You look back down to Will who looks back to you, and his voice echoes, you're not done. [I really wish I could stay.] I'll still be here. [I miss you so bad.] There will be a time. I look forward to it. [Say hi to Derrig for me. Say hi to dad.] I will. He reaches out and embraces you. Like a hot spring that just envelops you, you feel the warmth and light of the connection you've missed for so long. Now, go. And he throws you up towards the light. As you drift upward, you watch the tree begin to fade, you see his face begin to fade, and you feel the sting of dust and sand against your cheek." And Orym's up.

Sprigg, the Vecna fights, Vax's mother, Scanlan, Molly, Caleb and Essek, Caleb at his parents' graves, Cad's divine intervention — nothing. But Orym got me, man. He got me.

To Joe's!

And to the break.

//

Liam: *pats Orym on the head* this halfling can fit so much survivor's guilt in him

Ohohohoho, Imahara has a secret cellar! It's a little storage space with raw materials, parts, tools, etc.

Man, the perception checks this episode have been on point.

....there's a hidden door in the basement that hasn't been opened in a very long time. Overgrown with roots.

Aaaaah. So Treshi hired Ira to create dangers in the city, which in turn was intended to spur the Quorum to hire the Paragon's Call. Ira came to him, but Treshi was getting pressure from Otohan to establish the Call in Jrusar.

23 intimidation from Orym!

Treshi was doing it to rise in the ranks of Jrusar's nobility structure, and if he did all the shipments successfully, Otohan would clear his name in Jrusar. The shipments were coming from Wildemount by way of the Menagerie Coast to the Osmit Sea to Jrusar, where Treshi took charge of getting them to Bassuras. So that shipment wasn't going to Jrusar — it had come from Jrusar, and was going to an external site.

Hexum held on to the Cerberus Assembly crates and the crates with the dunamis potions until it was time to ship them to Bassuras, to disrupt the chain and make it harder to trace.

It began slowly "years ago" and had been ramping up in recent years.

The secret door appears to be locked, but there's no overt nob, just a pull handle. Chet opens it with a 26, and there's a tunnel beyond that smells musty, like minerals. It reminds Chetney of the part in the Deathwish Run when they went into a cavern.

The crates labeled "Treshi" contain a whole bunch of dunamis potions.

The vials are roughly the same size and shape of the things inside Otohan's backpack. So these things are most likely advanced forms of the potions of possibility.

I love the fact that they've just..... collectively forgotten that Fearne has proficiency with thieves' tools.

.........oh. Matt's reaction to FCG mentioning that Percy and Vex might be able to bring Laudna back makes me absolutely certain that neither of them would hesitate for a moment to kill Laudna if they knew about Delilah. Especially when compared to his reaction to Orym mentioning Keyleth.

Hm. So Orym definitely knows that Keyleth can bring people back, and that it's not super expensive to her (500gp and a 5th level slot). Which begs the question— why wouldn't he ask her to bring Will back? Did something happen to Will that made that impossible, like with Evandrin?

Oh. Or maybe she did try and the ritual failed. The ritual that Orym would've been a primary contributor to. And that'd just add more grief and guilt.

Chetney literally crafting new thieves' tools out of wood scraps instead of disabling the trap is so on-brand

The box is opening

It's refined residuum. A precisely calculated and exact amount of refined residuum.

Keyleth has been working with Percy and Vex to make sure that residuum doesn't fall into the wrong hands, so the fact that it's here is very concerning to Orym. He also knows that it's used in the amplification of certain forms of arcana.

So, what? Is Otohan using this to create very specifically sized weavelenses? To amplify the effects of the potions of possibility? Or is this something like what Delilah was doing with Ioun's temples, trying to amplify a summoning ritual? And where the fuck is the Cerberus Assembly getting it from?

Okay, somebody remind me to come back to this later — but this residuum is an absolutely perfect allegory for the Bells Hells as a party, especially the way Matt described it.

Chetney did hard drugs in Hupperduke, canon

Holy fuck, another nat 20 perception check! Chet is on fire with these!

Identify on the gray liquid: "This is a potion of possibility. When you drink this potion, you gain two fragments of possibility, each of which looks like a tiny grey mote of energy that follows you around a foot away from you. Each fragment lasts for 8 hours or until used. [Mechanics are the same as the Fortune's Favor spell.]"

Sooooo potions of possibility + residuum = whatever Otohan had going on? Yeah?

The crate they got has 6 more potions, so they have a total of 8.

FCG has never encountered dunamancy before — the vials don't fit into any established school of magic, it sort of sits and drifts outside the standard schools.

Oooooh. Imogen didn't have a dream about Laudna walking into the storm. And she "feels a buzz lingering that doesn't quite subside, like the faintest of butterflies that continues to turn in your stomach." Bro. Matt remotely added a feat to her D&D Beyond profile.

Now that is super interesting. That means that every single one of these people has a chance to gain additional feats through "fateful moments" (which Matt details in EGtW) that happen during the course of the campaign. That's super fucking cool. I bet it's a homebrew, because she already has telekinetic and telepathic wouldn't make sense (she already gets very similar abilities from her class), but also, mystic conflux or spell driver could be really cool.

Oh my god that's amazing, FCG built a toolbox for Chetney and Sam actually bought (/made?) one to give to Travis adkjfhsglsdjl

In that memory, Ashton's father's vestments for whatever ritual that was is exactly the same as the Hishari armor they found in the Twilight Mirror Museum. The headpiece looks slightly damaged.

"shari" is a suffix with roots in a word pertaining to general elementalism. The root could pre-date the Calamity, or it could be derived from the Gau Drashari name.

In Zephrah, the Hishari village is used as a tale to spook people from toying with the elements when they don't know what they're doing. It was a village of people who delved into things that they didn't understand and couldn't control. "What the Hishari village did was reckless, and they paid for it." Ashton was too young to remember what happened on that day, but they watched "everything go, everything rip apart... wind and light and people flinging through the air, cracking, breaking. I woke up wandering the dead lands outside the city [Bassuras], and they put me in the Greymoore home."

Which means that the Hishari village was somewhere in the Hellcatch Valley close to Bassuras — e.g. there is potentially a massive elemental rift in the Hellcatch, where a leyline nexus may be moving, and where the Paragon's Call might be shipping construction materials, residuum, and dunamis potions to.

"Power is power. What you do with it is up to you. We're gonna leave, we're gonna lick our wounds, but you've got us. Let's just get our of here and help her."

Somebody get FCG a component pouch please

"You focus on her body, her corpse, whatever earthly connection remains with the absconded spirit. You complete the ritual and there's a flash of orange light around her, and none of you pick it up, but you do: a weird sense that the spell definitely headed something off at the pass, and now she rests for the next 10 days."

o h n o.

I can't tell if that means her body would decompose faster than normal to a point where raise dead wouldn't work due to her being a Hollow One, or if Delilah was slowly trying to take over her body slowly. Either way, gives a completely different meaning to "death is a waiting game."

That thing is definitely going to be attached to the front of the flask/can next week

#critical role #note watches c3 #critical role spoilers #critical role campaign 3 #critical role c3 #critical role liveblog #I stg if /for whom the bell tolls/ isn't the title of this episode #tw drugs mention #tw death mention

[totallyboatless]

Hating a celebrity with real emotional investment is equally as parasocial as loving a celebrity with real emotional investment btw

#being critical is natural #but if it takes an actual emotional toll on you #step back #the only exception to this are people actively involved in changing the political landscape #that’s not the same thing as someone having a bad political take #i’m talking about taking meetings funding lobbyists #not posting on twitter #that’s the same as slacktivism black squares #we all need to stop giving celebs so much power #they don’t have as much influence as people say they do #not if they’re not taking real tangible action either way

[byanyan]

the way it took me like 6 hours to send 4 more prompts today says a lot tbh

#that I haven't been able to stick to the original 'one paragraph' plan for one #that I'm feeling way too self conscious and critical of my writing lately for another #granted I've been doing stuff in between sending them but my GOD the amount I've been cancelling ideas #bc I decide they aren't good enough #and then still sit there after I send stuff like 'idk maybe that wasn't interesting or enough to work with' #SMH the mental health has been taking a toll on me but I'm trying to fight through #I'M NOT DONE FOR THE NIGHT I still have like 3 or 4 left to send and I'd like to do that tonight rather than tomorrow #but yeah all that being said if I send u smth for my inbox call and u'd like smth else pls just lmk 💜 #━━ ˟ ⊰ ✰ ooc ⋮ don’t @ me. #tbd.

[stepffan]

as much as i would like to see more banquet photos and shoma hanging out with the other skaters, if that's what he needs to do to stay focused on the skating and it helps keep away the competition stress of the "i need to win and fight and compete against others" mindset and then by all means i hope he continues what he's doing now, just focusing on himself and hanging out with his team of emotional support middle-aged men

#i read a twt the other day where someone complained about shoma being anti-social or stuckup for not hanging out w/ the others #but that's a really narrow way of thinking about it. #there may be a million and one alternative explanations for why he's doing what he's doing rn. #for one - what's publicized isn't necessarily everything that happens.maybe he is being social but is just being private about it #he's no longer a young skater who's obligated to appease the press and tell them everything or do social media pr #it's a necessary evil sometimes but no longer necessary for him. #remember when so many of his ''fans'' criticized him on nowvoice? for what? saying nice things about marin or not skating his fs at the ice #it must take an enormous mental toll to have to worry about hwat ppl say and think about you on top of being an elite competitor. #2- banquets are fun but they're also not ''skating.'' maybe he just wants to focus on his skating & not worry about that stuff. #shoma seems to be an introverted person and if banquets are more stress than they are fun i don't think he ought to attend. #he has his little circle of friends and ppl he cares about and i'm sure he's being social in his own way behind the scenes #he has unowan + shoma + gaming + demi yt channels. that's his way of being a ''public figure'' and it's valid #i wish more skaters could have that privilege of privacy; those who want it ofc. #as long as he's happy & being himself & enjoying skating. for what it's worth- his approach works! nothing but gold this gp szn. #that's what i want for him more than anything else.

[alteredphoenix]

Maybe this is an age thing, or maybe this is a thing where I'm faintly aware of putting the dots together and finally clicking that realization into place over time, but I think the more I read manga, the more I realize how little patience I now have for stories that just drag on and on and on. Like, get to the point already.

I don't know about the other genres, but this is especially prevalent in shounen manga where you have a cast of Loads of Loads of Characters to juggle and work with where half of them may or may not have been made to fill up an editorial quota (hi, MHA!) and you have to use what you can - and what your editor and the popularity numbers say - to push your story forward, and the characters that do get used either get a hard course-correct through their arc depending on how reader interactions plus sales numbers go or have their plots dropped and adjusted to fit accordingly to said reader interactions and sales numbers plus what your editor says and how you the mangaka have to respond accordingly because you wrote yourself into a corner and need to figure a way out of it so you can continue said story forward. The other half languishes and gets phased out if they're not integral to the main plot; and if they are, they're just to fill in time for That Big Showdown between the MC and the Main Antagonist. Especially if it's in the final arc and it's set against the backdrop of a war, and it will take ages to get through every single character that's personally partaking in it until the manga gets around to That Big Showdown.

When that happens, there's a part of me that wonders why the mangaka doesn't take a page out of Stephen King's book and wipe out half the cast so the story can cut down on the bloat that's affecting both the characters and the story. That's probably not feasible because ultimately popularity sells and marketing is king, but the manga industry is brutally cutthroat and unless a mangaka is a drawing machine like Mashima Hiro most of them aren't going to manage to get through the weekly and biweekly schedules unscathed without suffering a plethora of physical and mental health issues.

I don't know. I think this is more of a matter of realizing that not every story needs to be Hajime no Ippo and Detective Conan levels of long - not unless you as the writer intend to have a large cast, have a long story to write around with them in mind, and have a plan to adjust accordingly as a last resort before diving in, especially if there are war arc(s) involved, whether or not they're labeled as the final arc.

#yeah most of this was brought on by the fact that horikoshi is physically breaking down working on MHA #and in absolute dire need of a long hiatus and hospital care #although i'll be honest and say another part of this comes from my own criticisms and frustrations #of battle manga within the shounen genre #how these stories start to deviate with the original plan in mind #and becoming something that is almost unrecognizable from how it was portrayed in the beginning #there's also the fact that these stories go on way way longer than they should be #and are only being continued on due to - again - the sudden spike in popularity #that the mangaka didn't anticipate happening #and might not be equipped to handle #idk. maybe i'm being too harsh #but i've been noticing this A LOT lately these past few years #and as an artist and writer it's also concerning me how FAST the toll it's taking on the mangaka #manga