#have been watching c1 of critical role and

[meadowsofmay]

idk how to explain it but sometimes, reading the comments, i think that people don't really understand what does the word «annoying» mean

#my toxic trait? #reading comments #have been watching c1 of critical role and #comments are WILD #it feels like EVERYTHING is annoying to these people #idk what tags to put there #comment section #??? i think #may rambles

[shorthaltsjester]

sometimes people will say “going dark” and then what they’re actually talking about is just people no longer presenting a carefully constructed version of their emotions and experiences.

like. emotional turmoil is not the same as darkness. laudna in this Fictional Universe that has tangibly different stakes wrt to death and killing than our own, is at best like . morally neutral for what she just did like. man has been secretly trying to kill you, and then just tried to do so again, killing him back is a fair choice. and even if i was someone who is excited by delilah’s inability to escape from the narrative, this shit isn’t about delilah. laudna made a choice. if delilah is back or whatever it’s a choice that laudna made because something in that grants her more control than her existing conditions did. this isn’t some Delilah Takes Over, it’s Laudna Expressly Makes The Choice To Call Forth Something within Herself to remedy the lack of control that’s been thrust upon her. if y’all want to Continue to limit Laudna’s agency (as the cr fandom is so, so want to do when a female character makes a choice that isn’t Good according to some weird system of virtue ethics) go ahead.

likewise with orym. little guy is not “going dark” because he has finally made direct action about his emotional turmoil in dealing with a situation which has similarly left him without control and has also placed him in a position where his stalwart conviction towards protecting and honouring those he loves and has lost alike is constantly met with other people he cares for going well.. what if they had a point/we are killing other peoples loved ones/etc. which like . yeah that might be frustrating and in fact might lead him to go, actually, i can’t afford to try and maintain some abject morality where I carry a locket that will literally only provide guilt. orym is completely committed to his beliefs, the locket and what it represents has never been a limit to what he will do, only a reminder of the consequences of what he might cause in those actions. but they Are at war and orym has a billion things on his plate. he can put down the locket. especially when bor’dor is the explicit manifestation of that locket’s symbolism. the subtext rapidly became the text and orym doesn’t need a reminder. it’s there in the fact that team issylra is walking away with two friends, not three.

these are character who have at every turn denied their own emotions in various forms while still being acutely aware of what they deny, whether that awareness was/is fully realized or not. many of laudna’s early convos with ashton show us that there is some awareness to the lighthearted spooky goth girl and how that persona fades when she thinks too much about what has led her and maintained that reality. likewise the entirety of orym’s story thus far is defined by his grief in a very literal sense, it Has extended from that grief to also the commitment he had to the purpose of figuring out the assassination attempt on keyleth but as we have seen, that purpose has fallen apart. paired with the quasi-reopening of his grief that was getting to see will again only to have to turn away, i don’t think there’s a lack of awareness in orym of how much he hurts. but between his actions and 4SD, that hurt tends to get buried under guilt or Responsibility.

and now, finally, both of them have admitted to that Not in the safety of small introspection or one-on-one conversations but with actions that they cannot shy away from or deny. laudna killed bor’dor and orym encouraged her to. and it Is a complex situation but truly I don’t really think it’s a “going dark” one. because they’re not giving into some overhanging Darkness of Morality™, they’re admitting that they are hurt and have long been hurting.

or, y’know, tldr for those who continue to deny laudna and orym agency or fully villainise them for whatever weird reasons . you could listen to laudna and ashton’s conversation that pretty much lays it out explicitly. laudna claims she’s weak for having chosen to kill bor’dor. ashton denies that and affirms instead that, no, she’s hurt.

#critical role #cr spoilers #laudna #orym #team issylra #maybe it’s because a lot of these people r also the people who have no literacy wrt religious and philosophical complexity #that Screams bad experience that hasn’t been reckoned with but. the Big part of healing is that. a lot of the time #especially with Trauma. the mess is gonna come before the pretty little bow does #like noah fence but . this is The Most interesting laudna and orym have been to me this far and it’s not because they’re Darker #it’s because they’re being more true to themselves #maybe this is nitpicky I Don’t Care #me watching c1 as vex admits that she still feels like a burden and Heavily considers being treeified for sondor. ‘is this vex Going Dark?’ #as an imogen Lover . let’s be real and admit the only Genuine going dark risk is her at this point in the campaign #because like. i truly don’t see anyone else making the Choice to do absolutely fucked up selfish things #and imogen considers doing that shit like . once every two eps At Least (affectionate but eyes wide about it) #anyway. reunion will be very interesting with an orym and laudna who are shedding pieces of what maintains their like Group Role #bells hells #critical role spoilers #cr3 #cr campaign 3 #bell’s hells #my posts

[freshcut-chetney]

I think the thing that's really bothered me and made me drift from CR in the past few months is just how rushed it's felt. I truly don't know if it's because the cast are tired of doing this after years, if Matt's tired of DMing after years, or if they thought a faster paced campaign would be better but personally I have not been fully vibing with it since the start.

The fact that a character tied to VM was introduced as their guide in the first episode, already distracting from the story because everyone was going crazy for more VM cameos. That he died in episode 3 and they named their group after this stranger who knew them for 72 hours. This felt like Matt trying to recreate the heartbreak of losing a party member in C2, but because it was a scripted death from a character that was only around for 3 episodes and had made almost no meaningful connections to others in the group, it didn't feel that impactful.

The What The Fuck Is Up With That game took away so much from finding out the characters backstory slowly. C2 characters were so cagey about their backstories, it was a treat to find out more things. I don't think we even found out about Caleb's real training until episode 60? But with C3, suddenly we have most of the characters revealing their backstory or at least big chunks of their backstory by episode 6.

That they were pushed into finally choosing a group name when, at least for M9, the name came more naturally.

The fact that it seems like the big bad has already been revealed and they've been working on taking them down for over 40 episodes now. C2 Big Bad was revealed after episode 100. (I'm hoping this is all a red herring and the real big bad will come later but it's hard to top Evil Moon as the big bad)

I haven't watched C3 since episode 76 but downtime was so little last I watched, it felt like M9 got a lot more downtime to fuck around and have these deep and funny moments. Idk it all feels rushed to me and it's been hard trying to stick with it.

I really hope that if we get Campaign 4, we have a similar structure to C2. More downtime, less immediate backstory reveals, AND especially not doing constant callbacks to C1. Having VM get involved is cool for fans of C1, but even with how little Matt has them do, it still feels like they're supervising BH. BH are supposed to come into being heroes in their own right but it feels like so much of C3 since VM was introduced has been BH looking up at VM like "is this okay? Should we do this? How can we save the world like you guys did?"

#i honestly would've stopped watching sooner but i was hoping it would get better #it's not a bad campaign its just. #like. you know how shows now have 10 episodes per season now #so its all rushed and not as much time is given for other stuff #this is what c3 feels like to me #i feel bad bc i keep seeing people saying the misogynists from c1 are back #and i want to support the girls but at the same time c3 has been meh for me #i think i will have to rewatch c2 maybe its not as great as I remember (it was) #by the way i realize how INSANE it is to say a campaign with 80 episodes all over 3 hours long has been rushed and yet #critical role

[atlasascending]

Catching up on CR and my god. My fucking god. Of all the *stupid* things to do

#critical role #c3 e77 #this is the most 😬 moment of the show since that one bit in c1 when Sam moved closer to vecna and Marisha was like wtf dude #EXCEPT THIS WAS NOT TACTICAL #MATT WARNED HIM A THOUSAND TIMES #we could have had it all #callowmoore #I think it’s the nonchalance #kind of rubbing me the wrong way #I think it’s a believable character move #but I also think game mechanics-wise it’s pretty crap #he’s either going to be too OP or he’ll have to get nerfed #when we could have had an awesome fearne moment #and then we could have actually had the very narratively satisfying discovery of how Ashton’s earth shard would awaken in response #not even in a shipping way #just would have been fucking cool #oh well #guess I’ll just watch the next episodes and hope Matt makes it work!

[myryathedreamer]

Quotes about the strange nature of Taliesin's existence - Day 40

Matt: "Natural 20! I'm sitting in Taliesin's seat, I just realized."

(Liam's Quest: Full Circle)

#taliesin jaffe #matt mercer #critical role #liam's quest: full circle #this series of one shots is the oldest thing that talks about taliesin being immortal/having strange powers that i have found #but i haven't finnished c1 yet (I've been stuck on ep. 13 for the past year) #so maybe there's something older and i just haven't seen it #the first part is from summer 2016 #the second one (this one) from spring 2017 #go watch it it's so good #eldritch taliesin

[hauntedfalcon]

actually, upon seeing a totally unrelated post it occurred to me that people in Exandria think of the gods like people in America think of corporate brands, and I'm gonna turn that one over in my mind for a while

#Critical Role for ts #religion mention for ts #arguably that could be the point of the campaign. for people in general to recognize there are stakes beyond which god gets their worship #the existence and power of the gods is not in question but it's still treated very casually #Deanna makes the commitment of being a cleric as a 'thanks Sunny D' for her resurrection #FRIDA has a level of cleric because they like Deanna not because of any connection to the Dawnfather at all #and FCG was out casting cleric spells before he ever considered a deity #Pike seemed to be an exceptionally devout cleric by all the campaigns' standards (I have not watched C2) #for everyone else it seemed to be a matter of utility #which I make a conscious effort *not* to read as players wanting a particular spell list while not wanting to engage in the devotion aspect #(simply because cleric *is* the all-around performance class for when you join a preexisting campaign. fills the gaps in the party you know #and have there been any paladin PCs besides Zerxus and Yu? again. I've only watched C3 in its entirety and a handful of C1 + LoVM #(pour one out for Emily Axford's original concept of playing the horniest possible paladin. even hornier than Zerxus)

[six-improbable-things]

I'm done with TMN as of 10 minutes ago, and I am broken. How am I supposed to deal with not having this show in my life anymore??? Like, I know I can watch the other two campaigns, and that there's oneshots, but there's something so fucking final about it. And yet it doesn't seem that way at the same time?? I feel like tomorrow night I'm going to open youtube, go to the campaign 2 playlist and start watching. But I can't do that. It's over.

Can you tell that A) I've never actually watched a tv show that ended, and B) I struggle with processing emotions/finality/permanence? I mean, fuck, I still never had a Big Emotion about graduating high school, and that was almost a year ago now. I still feel like I could go back there tomorrow.

#someday I'll come back and rewatch the whole thing #I will #I can't never rewatch something that has been so important to me #literally this show changed my life #I can't even tell you exactly how but I feel *different* for having watched it #morrigan.text #morrigan watches #morrigan watches: critical role #critical role #critical role campaign 2 #the mighty nein #cr2 #shit I'm going to need a new tag group for c1... #*sobs*

[ravendruid]

"Yes, yes, yes, Keyleth is so! Fucking! Beautiful! I get it." "Well, so are you, but what the fuck am I going to do with that? Jeez, you're fucking weird."

Husband: This is so weird.

#critical role #vox machina #cookie watches c1 #c1e43 #Not gonna lie #I do feel like the reunion with Kash would have been less awkward #if Keyleth and Vax hadn't just literally spent the previous night together

[all-thestories-aretrue]

Highkey forgot that Beau and Caleb ended up with eyes 😬😬😬 that book fucked them up.

#critical role #mighty nein #cr2 #cr2ep122 #i have also started packing while watching i know i havent been blogging a lof #a lot* -_- #but it will probably decrease yet again #im hoping to start c1 while unpacking lmao #bookend moving with cr

[meadowsofmay]

i really like the point percy makes (and that vax eventually agrees with) about civilization during their conversation about westruun after umbrasyl was killed — a city built by very people's hands deserves preservation and saving as much as those same people leaving in it.

«the death of the city is such a blasphemy. it is the murder of the dead. and i am horrified.»

«building will give them [people of westruun] something to do. and if the dragon comes back, they will be safe underground. and if the dragon doesn't, we have saved thousand of years of inspiration and life. it's... you can't just abandon something like this! there's too much here.

vax: otherwise, what else are we fighting for?

otherwise, it becomes our friend pike from nowhere.»

it's such a beautiful point about history and culture being as important to keeping human civilization alive as saving lives of people. preserving knowledge build into the walls of cities can become a new starting point, a foundation that the new generation will be built upon, more equipped and smart. and just not entirely faceless. remembering the culture is important, it's an identity, it's a customized dress that tells about the roots of beliefs and explains people's behavior. it's a wisdom carefully interwoven into the tale of creation of this specific piece of the world.

the culture is important.

and percy being the one who lost overnight his whole family and his town knows about it more than a man of his age would want to. the history of his family was inseparable from the culture of whitestone and one of briarwoods' goals was to tear it down in the most cruel way. to smear the de rolo's name in their own blood and dirt and render their town faceless and hopeless, only useful of their own vicious plans.

and it now makes so much sense to me personally why vax was so determined to use pelor as a symbol of hope, spreading it as a signal everywhere he went. he understood it, too. he saw pieces of whitestone culture being destroyed and wanted to bring them to life in people's hearts in the form of symbolism carried over in spoken word. and yes, he wanted to help percy. yes, it was done for the rebellion. but one doesn't cancel the other. and in my opinion, it wasn't just about percy defeating the briarwoods but more about percy being a still alive and standing piece of whitestone history and culture that can be and should be a symbol himself.

a symbol of rebirth of the culture that there used to be, a culture attached to the de rolo family and hence attached to whitestone.

i just find all of this incredibly compelling in terms of character building and in terms of simply being a human being serching for what's important in life.

#vax being a child of two cultures and yet not belonging to any of them #really does appreciate the importance of culture being important for other people #and percy just has so much wisdom at times like this #he might have not been trained to rule as he said himself but he definitely is a keeper of knowledge #he loves history and culture and languages and he just can have westruun lose all of that #because that's what he was taught to love and he does #i just love it #it's such a beautiful conversation #may c1 watch through #ep 56 #percy de rolo #vax'ildan #percival fredrickstein von musel klossowski de rolo iii #vax #vox machina #critical role

[ilanarose7]

Some outcomes of Critical Role episode 91 (that happened either because of or completely separate from the big thing)

SPOILERS!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

Starting with the ones not due to FCG's sacrifice:

Liliana has some level of trust and attempts at redemption with her daughter (those 31's on deception and persuasion Laura you legend!), which means a major player (and VESSEL?? tf was that about) who was formerly (and maybe kind of still) on Ludinus's side is swapping over

Ashton and Fearne are about to be exhausted from being Titans (Ashton much sooner since they powered up in ep. 90)

Zathuda is both proud and angry towards Fearne which is both terrifying and a bit heartwarming(?)

Nana (I think/hope it was her bending fate) was able to help Team Infiltration escape the Weavemind after Orym reached out

Now for the other outcomes due to FCG's sacrifice:

Orym's deal with Nana should be void since the group cannot return as they were (VM Spoiler Note: Liam's PC was finally saved from a deal leading to a life of service by Sam's PC after he wasn't able to in C1)

Chetney is ALIVE! I'm counting this as part of the sacrifice bc due to weird leveling circumstances Sam sacrificed his one brand-new 7th-level spell slot to take Revivify, which is a major thing to give up

Otohan is DEAD! GONE! That is a MAJOR player off the board and another one of Ludinus's high-ranking members off the board

FCG is dead, seemingly unrevivable based on how Matt phrased it (asking to make sure Sam understood what it meant). That will have MAJOR implications going forward.

On a D&D technical level, there is no primary healer meaning that Fearne has to take some healing spells or the party can't heal at all (pretty sure they used up all their potions during that fight).

On a character level, this is going to be devastating. Ashton, who started this whole adventure with FCG and has been saying for a LONG time that FCG was going to get themself killed, was unconscious when FCG made the ultimate sacrifice. Sending works, which means when they get back to Exandria, Imogen will probably be the one to let FRIDA know what happened.

On a slightly lighter note, I feel like Travis is going to shine next week. It's been said before and I'll say it again, Chetney is the heart of Bells Hells. He knows how to be there for this family and I have a feeling that will come to the forefront as we see the aftermath

I'm sure there are more outcomes, but these are the ones on my mind after barely sleeping last night following that episode. Sam knows how to play this game well and cuts straight to the heart while doing so. It was masterfully played and while completely devastating to watch, was also incredibly heroic and beautiful.

Good game, great players, amazing DM, and of course thank you Fresh Cut Grass for being a Faithful Care-Giver until the end

#cr spoilers #critical role #fcg #bells hells #ashton greymoore #fearne calloway #orym of the air ashari #laudna #imogen temult #chetney pock o'pea #im still emotionally wrecked #when matt started crying i completely lost it #by all means this would have been a tpk if not for fcg #sam riegel has done it again

[deramin2]

(Spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 1)

I don't have any expectations for wherever FCG will stay dead or come back somehow because I've spent 9 years watching Sam Riegel totally subvert my expectations in a narratively compelling way.

But I will say that "FCG shouldn't come back because it would lessen the impact of a narratively perfect death" is EXACTLY what people were saying about Percy's first death after C1 E68. (The first televised character death.) If he had to have an end, it was a fitting end that, while tragic, neatly tied up the thesis of the story. Would Taliesin even want him to come back? With Whitestone saved and Ripply killed, was there even much left to explore?

They found Percy's death letter telling them he loved them all but please bury him in a ditch with all his designs so he could be forgotten by history. He was so sorry for all he'd done and he could never make it up.

But they tried anyway, having to wrest Percy's soul away from Orthax. The players knew what they said in the resurrection ritual was meaningful along with their rolls. But they did not know they were also having to convince Taliesin. If they'd tried to appeal to Percy's soul in the wrong way, dice be damned, Percy was going to refuse. What we got was really meaningful and powerful roleplay (especially from Marisha and Laura) that did convince Percy along with successful rolls.

Being brought back did not at all weaken Percy's own sacrifice or the impact of his death. It forced him to confront everything he'd been running from. It forced him to see that there were people who loved him and would not let him throw himself away for them. They didn't want a martyr, they wanted their friend. It utterly changed the trajectory of his character.

There's only four ways I can think of on the table to bring FCG back:

True Resurrection — Incredibly expensive high level spell. They would have to find the materials as well as someone who both can and is willing to cast the spell in the middle of a war to stop a second Calamity. None of this would be easy. The ritual could still fail. FCG could decline to come back and the other players would not know that until they went to all the effort. The Raven Queen views True Resurrection as heresy which is why they didn't try it on Vax. How would a second chance change them?

Reincarnate — Lower level and cheaper spell. FCG would come back as a fleshy being instead of an Aeormaton. Would the experience live up to FCG's fantasies about it? How would it change them to realize they are truely alive, and always were, but are now also mortal? Reverse Veth story? Wild ass Pinocchio retelling? What does it mean to get a second chance but everything about you is different?

Wish — I think this would count as duplicating True Resurrection. High component cost and requires a high level magic user. (If it's duplicating a spiral there's no risk of no longer being able to cast Wish.)

Hag Deal — They do know a fatestitcher Hag who likes them and limes making deals even more. Orym may be able to just extend his existing deal. What are the consequences for the deal marker as well as FCG? Would the robit feel responsible for that person's fate? How would that affect how they feel about coming back and the meaning they need to make from it.

I don't think there's a right or best option because whatever we speculate on, the actual result will be full of meaning and very poignant. I can't imagine that Bell's Hells won't try to bring him back. They've lost so much already. They couldn't bring back Eshteross or Bertrand or Will & Derrig. They couldn't live with not even trying. Maybe their method works, maybe it doesn't. But at least they tried.

And if FCG does come back, they have to live with knowing that even though they saved their friends and put an end to Otohan, they also hurt their friends by treating themselves as disposable. They forced their friends to confront that each of them might have done the same and that's deeply unhealthy. It will change the character development tremendously.

My favorite film and play genre is where the protagonist dies (or nearly dies) (usually self-inflicted) at the beginning and has to journey through purgatory to find themselves again before they can return to the living. Films like Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) or Castaway on the Moon (김씨 표류기 2009). Death matters because it reminds you to live. The journey is finding meaning in both life and death and coming back utterly changed.

#critical role #Critical Role Spoilers #critical role meta #critical role campaign 1 #critical role campaign 3 #vox machina #Bell's Hells #Percival de Rolo #Fresh Cut Grass #wristcutters a love story #Castaway on the Moon

[shorthaltsjester]

i’ve been metaphorical goofy floating in a pool about relvin temult since that post yesterday but good grief the people who set him as equal to syldor vessar and thoreau lionett . please get a grip. please just. listen to the people telling the story. everytime syldor is mentioned or shows up in c1 and even now with tlovm, the cast are happy to shit on him to no end even though vex Does choose to form a relationship with him in the end. matt vocalized how much he hated playing thoreau and the entire cast agreed that he’s horrible and marisha talked about how travis got Dad Mad™ about how shitty thoreau treated beau. meanwhile at the end of the single episode where we see relvin is… a sad man who despite his conflict with his daughter still gives her everything he can to help her on the mission she’s on, when travis says “he wasn’t a total dickfuck” they settle on the claim that, no, “he was human”.

like. please tell me you’re not watching critical role, the epitome of storytelling that extends empathy to all who come across it, and saying that a man who tried his best and Did fuck up is the same as men who consistently abused their children. please tell me you have the extremely minuscule critical thinking skills required to understand the difference between those relationship dynamics.

#also like. imogen agrees that relvin did his best. it was Enough but she sees that it was his best #and she insists several times that there’s no bad blood. obviously that gets complicated with the fact that he knew liliana was alive #but even then. most of her anger in ep 48 is just harsh sadness . #like. when she says she never wants him to be afraid of her. and he agrees. #they want the same thing but they can’t have it because of this cavern of grief that ludinus’ dumb ass has inflicted upon all these people #and god i always think about that reveal that imogen didn’t have her powers until around 18. an entire life the two of them had as a family #relvin temult #critical role #cr3 #the temults

[flurry-of-beaus-pop-pop]

Regarding the current discourse in the Critical Role fandom about the current storyline occurring in Campaign 3, I just want to address some of the main arguments I’ve seen...

Argument 1: The “gods are bad and should be destroyed” view is tiring and overdone and just attacks religion.

First of all, if you have the expectation that Critical Role should start paying attention to what all other popular shows do that stream their D&D Campaigns, then you may need to re-examine your expectations. 

Why do I say this? Because in regards to Critical Role, Campaign 1 was very heavy on worshipping the deities and Campaign 2 was very heavy on worshipping the deities. Like, I never watched Campaign 1, but in Campaign 2, I can’t remember a single point where someone questioned the purposes/importance of the deities, even when they themselves, didn’t believe. 

Campaign 3 is the first campaign where the majority of the party don’t have some sort of religious connection, so to say that the “gods are bad and should be destroyed” argument is overdone, is simply ludicrous because this is quite literally the first time it HAS been done on Critical Role. 

Argument 2: This entire storyline is ridiculous because it’s obvious that Predathos destroying the Gods/Goddesses would be bad and there’s no argument one could make as to why it would be good. 

Here’s the thing. To us? It’s obviously clear that releasing Predathos and allowing him to destroy all the gods/goddesses would be horrific and a tremendous mistake. Hell, I’m sure that to Travis, Marisha, Sam, Ashley, Laura, Liam, Taliesin, Christian, Aabria, Utkarsh, Emily, and Aimee, the idea of releasing Predathos to destroy the deities is a bad idea. But that’s because we have literally all of the background information on what the deities do and how instrumental they are into how everything works. 

The characters that are present in this campaign? They aren’t us, and they aren’t the players that are playing them. 

The decisions that are being made in this campaign are being made based on what the characters know not what the players know or the audience knows. And unfortunately, most of the players in the campaign don’t have any sort of connection to the deities and therefore, don’t have any sort of framework for why destroying the deities would be bad. They’re operating based on the information that they are given, and what they can deduce. 

Unfortunately, that might mean that when push comes to shove, they may make the decision to allow Predathos to be released because someone presents them with information that makes that decision make the most sense. 

Argument 3: Critical Role obviously has an agenda with this storyline because Laudna, Bor’Dor, Prism, Deni$e, Orym, and Ashton just blindly agreeing to help this group of villagers makes no sense

Except it does make sense. And if you were paying attention, they explained why it made sense. 

Right now, Laudna, Orym, and Ashton’s main goal is to get back to their friends and stop whatever is happening with Ludinous. 

In order to do that, they need to know where their friends are. How can they find out where their friends are? By using the scrying well and in order to use the scrying well, they had to help. 

As was pointed out, whether they helped or not, this coup was going to happen and so they might as well, especially since it was very clear that the presence of these individuals from the temple were not a positive presence. Plus if they participated, they could have some semblance of control over what happened. 

Honestly? I’m excited for this storyline. It’s not offering a fresh perspective that hasn’t been present in these campaigns (as mentioned before C1 and C2 were very heavily Pro-Deities), but it’s offering a very realistic depiction of the variety of moral dilemmas that arise when something VERY BAD is possibly about to happen and the lengths that you’ll go to in order to stop that bad thing from happening, sometimes to the point of doing things that you wouldn’t otherwise do. 

I’m excited to see where this goes, and even more excited to see what happens when the two parties reunite, especially if this second group ends up going down the road of “the gods should be destroyed” since Team Wildemount landed on doing whatever they could to stop Ludinous. It would be super interesting to see what happens if the party is truly split on a big decision like this because for the most part, they’ve always agreed, at least on the major stuff

#critical role #chetney pock o'pea #laudna #fresh cut grass #fearne calloway #imogen tamolt #orym of the air ashari #ashton greymoore #bor'dor dog'son #prism #deni$e #deanna leimert #F.R.I.D.A #marisha ray #travis willingham #Sam Reigel #ashley johnson #laura bailey #liam o'brien #taliesin jaffe #aabria iyengar #christian navarro #utkarsh ambudkar #emily axford #aimee carrero #matthew mercer

[burr-ell]

If you're still doing to the choose violence ask game, 8 and 13 for critical role

choose violence ask game

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Well for one thing, as I alluded to in a previous ask, I don't tend to recommend quite as strongly against watching the Orion Acaba episodes of C1 as a lot of people do, both because I think they've got some really good moments and because I think people sometimes need to get some perspective on what this table being upset with a player actually looks like.

Other than that? I think that—particularly on this side of the fandom—there's a general aversion to even hinting that you don't like Marisha's characters very much. And I completely understand why, but I think it's worth pointing out that it's not 2018 anymore. Campaign 1 has been over for five and a half years. Bowlgate happened before Mollymauk even died, and both of those things happened before many current fans started watching the show in the first place. There is a wide gulf between misogynistic harassment and just not really vibing with someone's narrative choices, and there's an even wider gulf between misogynistic harassment and pointing out a character's flaws to engage with them.

Now of course there is absolutely still misogyny in this fandom and I think we should still be telling people to cut that shit out, but Marisha Ray is an adult woman in her 30's and does not need to be obsessively defended from any and all mildly non-positive commentary. She does not need to be exalted above everyone else and treated like neither she nor her characters can do anything wrong. I honestly don't get how you can do that, even tongue-in-cheek, and not think you're doing her a disservice.

13. worst blorbofication

Ashton. I think a lot of people have really chosen only to pay attention to those moments where Ashton is dispensing wisdom and are ignoring the multiple statements by Taliesin that Ashton's not doing okay, at all. They're not trying to compartmentalize or internalize what they're going through, but just because they're open about what's wrong with them doesn't mean they're not dealing with their issues poorly. Transparency is not the soul of healthiness.

One of the most interesting things to me about Taliesin's characters is that—with the exception of Percy and Molly, apparently, provided you get them both some weed, as well as Kingsley and Caduceus—they'd all hate each other, and all of them probably with legitimate reasons. We see that in Ashton's argument with Percy (where both of them had valid points on the issue no I will not hear otherwise), but I also have to raise my eyebrows at the assertion that Ashton would get along with Caduceus. Because you can't tell me that Caduceus's tendency to treat people like projects wouldn't immediately clash with Ashton's stubborn refusal to be saved, and as others have pointed out, Caduceus "pain doesn't make people" Clay would probably end up seriously pissing off Ashton "there is strength, but there is pain" Greymoore. (They'd also definitely try to pulverize Molly.)

I dunno man, Ashton really gets flattened a lot, and it isn't escaping my notice that fandom opinion of them tends to change purely based on whether or not they're supporting Blorbo or Ship. Which is a damn shame, because Ashton's probably one of the most interesting characters in the party.

#cr discourse #asks #choose violence ask meme

[deaddcas]

I've watched the critical role campaigns out of order and I have some thoughts. This is focused on C2 and C3.

So I started with Bells Hells and I adore them, each character brings me so much joy and the storyline is unlike anything I've seen. I only started watching in September 2022 and I'm very new to dnd. I caught up quickly and then watched C1 (I didnt like it as much but it was still good). Now I knew before watching it that there was a tremendous amount of love for C2, but in truth I feel a little disconnected from it. The main issue I've had is that when I looked for community and other new people who just started watching CR, I found so many people dunking on C3 and using it to say how great C2 is. I get that everyone has their own opinions and I understand if you prefer one over the other, but some of these comments are unnecessary.

I'm only on episode 12 of C2 but I'll be honest, I'm not massively in love with it. I'm still gonna watch it all but I feel like my enjoyment has been tainted heavily by the fandom. This is just my experience, I'm not trying to start a fight. Does anyone else feel the same way?

#critical role #im not trying to start a shitstorm but i just want to see if im the only person that thinks this way #feel free to tell me to kms in my ask box god knows i need some excitement in my life #C3 #C2 #dont link this to reddit or some shit #im not in the mood to have men tell me im wrong