#there is such a misunderstanding of the ending and also the individual characters in c2 that it's by far become my least favourite

[gwynbleiddyn]

broke: i love campaign 3 because i think we’ll have a c2 crossover/we’ll see essek/we’ll see caleb

woke: i love campaign 3 because it’s a good campaign

#ben affleck smoking dot jpeg #when will people let c2 live #there is such a misunderstanding of the ending and also the individual characters in c2 that it's by far become my least favourite #and that makes me Sad #which is deeply ironic because caleb is one of my wonderful favourites #and beau's specific storybeats with the Soul resonated so profoundly #Fjord's entire arc poked at questions that i've held my entire life #like they are deeply special to me but i am so fucking tired of being forced to see C3 through a forced perspective #of people who want it to be c2's sequel

[kitchen-scamp-vibes]

What do you mean by "loosely" queer? I agree with you about Matt already having platform and not needing to be on d20, but feels kinda shitty to be like "these people are Real Queer and these people are Fake I mean Loosely Queer" ? like, I'm hoping I'm misunderstanding your meaning here but to say the regular cast on d20 like Ally Beardsley is "loosely" queer compared to who else d20 brings on is ? bad? Or to be like no I meant X from CR is the "not really queer" one is like also bad?

TLDR: I should have capitalized queer/Queer.

So firstly, I want to be clear that both this response and the OP are personal opinions/preferences, rather than say true fact, or something I think everyone should believe. Critical Role is not for me (yes I have tried) and I don't expect my feeling that way to change how someone who really likes that show feels and I'd hope the same would be true for the reverse (although prior experience would suggest otherwise). The same goes for my personal preferences as a queer person on what media I feel meets my standards for queer storytelling that I devote limited time and resources to.

That being said, my personal belief is that there is a difference between queer and Queer. I know that's not exclusive to me and there are smarter queer theorists than I who have discussed the topic but my personal bare bones is that one is merely a descriptor and the other is a political ideology or statement. It goes without saying that in a country that systemically hates most people, existing at all outside those boxes will get you some level of mistreatment and loss of privacy, but there are degrees to which that will impact a person based on how obviously they break those boundaries. This isn't to say that on an individual level anyone is more or less queer than someone else, but on a societal level one could be SEEN as more queer than the other based on a variety of factors. I'm not saying it's fair or that I agree it's the way the world SHOULD work, it's just is how it does right now and colors the conversation we are having.

To use some other celebrities as an example: Ellen DeGeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, Vico Ortiz, and Caitlyn Jenner might all be queer but I would only consider Vico Ortiz Queer, at this time (time and politics shift and there was a time where all of them have been more politically Queer but I'm speaking of their current existence). It might be a generational thing, but I have mixed feelings about trying to normalize gayness or queerness by making it look exactly like straightness except for two men or two women. It feels very "we're the safe gays" to me and while I again don't have an issue with that on an INDIVIDUAL level, I just prefer the personas I follow and media I consume to be doing a little more pushing back.

If I saw Liam O'Brien and Ally Beardsley both at Pride I wouldn't think "one of them has more of a right to be here than the other," they are both family on an individual level. I do think one of them has done more pushing back through the characters they create and the way they go through the world than the other. And when I'm criticizing companies and productions, that's what I'm talking about and focusing on. Dimension 20 has had a multitude of trans, ace, gay/lesbian, queer, etc. folks on their show and I'm not saying Critical Role hasn't done that at all, but they have done it significantly less and in a less successful way in my opinion. Again, I haven't watched any of their campaigns in full (I have tried all 3) but I remember when C2 ended there were fans pissed that Caleb and Essek "didn't end up together" and yet when I listened to that part of the episode it was clear to my ace ass that they were obviously in a partnership that fit their needs and was just as deep as it would have been if they had sex or kissed.

I know a lot of D20 fans are Intrepid Heroes/main season fans only but I personally tend to enjoy the Side Quests just as much, if not more. That means I've had a LOT of different casts and characters to enjoy, as well as DM/GMs, in a way that I wouldn't get from Critical Role, and thus more varied exposure to identities that are different from my own and each other. With the wealth of people I've gotten used to expecting (when will my wife, Jasmine Bhullar return from war?) I was disappointed to see that I was getting the most basic of mainstream people on the show I watch. Again, not to mention the racism and other grossness that CR has either condoned or enacted both on and off their shows, which was an equal part of my post that you chose to ignore. I'm not going to go into that on this response but V.J. Harris has a series plus other standalone videos on their tiktok about more of that stuff, if you are interested. He is by no means the only one who has spoken on this or made content about it but has been watching the show since the beginning and comes from an in-group POV which should be easier for the diehard Critters to handle. They are also concise while covering a broad range of events and incidents.

My final note, which is again a personal preference and not something I believe to be fact: just based off the energies of the recordings, I as a queer person feel safer with every D20 table/cast I've watched than I do the main CR group. That isn't based on a true belief, it's just the energy of their table puts me on edge. I'm sure they are decent people but they are just not for me and I prefer to spend my time and money elsewhere.

#anon response #anti critical role