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juushikaCritical Role Campaign One, episodes ~37-~50
I worried that I would feel let down post-Whitestone, because that arc is my everything, also because I don’t actually want my maybe-evil characters to ever become good. But this arc is so well-paced, so large, and has phenomenal inter-character (Grog and Percy I just) dynamics; and Percy’s dangerous history is not forgotten, is in fact engaged. It’s not hitting my narrative kinks as hard but I’m still impressed.
I appreciate Scanlan as comic relief, and never thought I’d care about his character progression because the unrequited love moves me not a bit. But I love the interaction with Kaylie, less because the dynamic is particularly unique than because of how convincing Sam/Scanlan is. I bought everything, especially, most valuable, his reservation. I also love how the stockade’s comic tone plays against that dynamic and against the overarching plot. A+ pacing.
“I just destroyed something that I built. It’s a really weird feeling.” So here’s a thing about me: I hate all high fantasy but I especially hate dragons, because they do nothing for me aesthetically and all that makes them impressive is that they’re iconic and big. (Yes I play Flight Rising, yes this is ironic.) Matt’s incredible staging and acting of the initial attack and the scale of the destruction do a lot to counteract that, but for me the Chroma Conclave attack is effective because it destroys things we’ve seen created: a city, its landmarks, a council, named NPCs. The meta-awareness of watching a person destroy his own creation has a huge impact.
Laura going offset to fetch life-size Trinket is my single favorite non-gameplay moment. (“This is a wonderful little microcosm analogy for pretty much every session.”) Trinket needs a rebalance tbh; he’s too weak for most combat, and too cumbersome for most travel, and one of those has gotta go. Yes I’m aware of the eventual pokeball fix. Laura has become one of my favorites to watch, for her reactions (so emotive so emotional so dynamic; magic) and also for the unwavering dedication to money, in and out of character, whether or not Vex is actually in the room where money is changing hands, counting coins as she leaves the Clasp, setting a guard on houseguests, “I know we all almost died to worms but HURRY LOOT THE GOLD BEFORE MORE COME.” (Games are my financial outlet, so: same.)
Anyway, Vax and relationships. Bisexual people in heterosexual relationships are still bisexual, but heterosexual representation is significantly more common; eight people roleplaying are not solely responsible for overturning the heteronormative tyranny, but these characters are constructs, not real people, and what’s done with them has the ability to either contribute to or defy heteronormative presumptions. Monogamy atop heteronormativity is particularly damning; it tiers relationships and prioritizes romantic male/female relationships above all other relationships, doubly erasing non-straight identities.
It’s particularly unnecessary in a character who obviously doesn’t tier his relationships that way, evidenced by his important, non-romantic sibling relationship. Sitting Gilmore down to have the “we can’t flirt anymore because I love a woman” conversation doesn’t just bother me on a narrative level—over-delineated relationships are boring—but because it’s a toxic social cliche occurring in a character with particular potential to defy the cliche.
That said, this isn’t presented as an unequivocal good. Vax appears to be attempting to single-thread his relationships because he’s trying to work through his feelings about those relationships—why are we here, working together? what are our social bonds? am I terrified of being in love lol trick question of course I am. Despite his intimacy with Vex, he’s not very good at most intimacy; he’s learning it without much grace. His forced tiering harms his relationships, including his sibling bond, and it’s a low point for him. It’s also defied by high points outside of that romantic dynamic, especially with Vex (the Winter’s Crest gift, the aforementioned crying), which shove him back on path: these dynamics are independently existent, valuable, non-competitive. Who knew, right?
It’s not nearly as productive as basically anything but heteronormative monogamy would be. There are mitigating factors, but prioritizing hetero romances, especially after establishing the potential for non-normative relationships, is gross. (See: queer baiting.) Yet, despite myself, I buy into those mitigating factors. Maybe I’m simply biased—I love pouting, hiding, social unrest-seeding Vax, I love the overlap between his selfishness and complexity, and I trust his belligerence to further plot. But I feel like there’s an undercurrent of good intent, or at least happy accident. That’s not enough. But it’s something.
Polyamory isn’t always the answer, but, just so we’re clear, in this case it’s totally the answer.
You know what the skull should have done? It should have offered Percy a different deal, it should have been flexible. Since the skull will only deal with people who have touched darkness, I presume it has some sort of judgement or insight to determine who fits that criteria. Grog has street smarts but he looks for a simple solutions to complex problems, which means he overlooks consequences; that’s the nature of his pact with Craven Edge, so that’s the deal the skull offered him. But Percy redefines “power corrupts”—he believes power comes at a price to the wielder, and believes a dangerous bargain is worth the risk because he can renegotiate or break the terms. That’s what Orthax was, and it’s left its mark on Percy even if the skull can’t see the whole history.
So that’s what the skull should have offered, one wish for one corporeal body to borrow—taking up residence in Percy, just like Orthax did, or any other one-on-one deal, spirit to person. That’s a bargain Percy would take, and the skull could figure that because it’s a bargain he’s taken in the past. He’d angst about it first, but he’d agree, not because he’s learning nothing about unsavory deals but because he also came out ahead in the last one.
On a narrative level, it would initially seem redundant. But I’d love to see Percy under a different influence, to be able to determine what was him and what was Orthax. What made him so susceptible to influence? was it circumstance, his history, Orthax himself, his connection to Whitestone, or is it just a personality flaw? Who is Percy under a different influence, one as intimate but without overlapping goals?
I think about this a lot; almost as much as I wonder about the gun. The sequence of events was almost too neat—for anything but a live, communal narrative, where neatness is remarkable kismet. Losing Orthax wasn’t a price to pay, but losing the gun was, and it hammered home risk, scale, and how essential the demon deal was to Percy’s character. But what was Mercer planning? Would Orthax’s influence have lingered (recuperated, grown) in Percy if Scanlan hadn’t destroyed the gun? What power would Orthax have had with the Briarwoods gone? (It sure would have been bad news for Ripley.) Cassandra’s name was still there. What would Orthax have instigated, what would his influence be with the deal broken but the demon’s own needs remaining? We’re struggling to rediscover Percy without Orthax, and learning what dark magics he retains. But imagine how close we came to a Percy indefinitely inhabited, and remember what parts of the deal Percy didn’t want to give up.
#other things I think about a lot: 'I just saved my city and revenged my family and almost went evil #I would like to sleep for approx. seven years and get some therapy but no no that's fine four dragons sounds GREAT' #also: the Briarwoods (always; murder power couple of my heart) esp. Lady Briarwood ('I broke the world for us!') #also: Cassandra (did they ever realize she wasn't mind-controlled? her complicity is my everything) #I love the Chroma Conclave arc's scale so much but I am never over the Whitestone arc never not ever #Juu watches #Critical Role #spoilers be ye warned
[pretend there's gifs of the Kevdak kill here!]
#I love Grog so much but this particular character arc had no personal relevance (which is fine it's not like that's lacking in CR) #& the Chroma Conclave storyline has strange structure it's basically a series of sidequests #despite those pseudo-hangups: this episode oh my godddddd easily the single best battle in the show #in the sense that the scale and risk forced Vox Machina to fight better than they ever have before #my favorite bit is the post-episode breakdown of winning strategies & near failures #(3:12:05) #'did he ever get to attack?' 'uh ... no! he couldn't make his save; his arms were gone by the time he came around' #the strategies were both essential AND successful; the risks paid off; VM has grown SO MUCH my precious babies #Juu watches #Critical Role #violence tw // character death tw // #animated gif tw // #spoilers be ye warned #hella Critical Role spoilers I'm sorry"
(consistently disappointed with the fact that Critical Role has fantastic bisexual disasters and one overtly queer NPC, but has never included a successful queer relationship and is still rolling in queerbaiting, “lol no homo” jokes, and casual cissexism—without the energy to provide a list of examples or a cogent argument other than, why this again, why this always: decent representation is significantly better than none, and some of this is great, but when your punchline is “ha you were friendzoned by lesbians,” “nervous laughter about the idea of two men kissing,” “we totally have a non-normative relationshi—haha no of course we don’t” then—and this is literally what queerbaiting is: the appearance of representation, the titillation, appealing to a certain audience, and then denying them any validity or representation—you are walking backwards and tramping the footsteps you made coming forward)
I worried that I would feel let down post-Whitestone, because that arc is my everything, also because I don’t actually want my maybe-evil characters to ever become good. But this arc is so well-paced, so large, and has phenomenal inter-character (Grog and Percy I just) dynamics; and Percy’s dangerous history is not forgotten, is in fact engaged. It’s not hitting my narrative kinks as hard but I’m still impressed.
I appreciate Scanlan as comic relief, and never thought I’d care about his character progression because the unrequited love moves me not a bit. But I love the interaction with Kaylie, less because the dynamic is particularly unique than because of how convincing Sam/Scanlan is. I bought everything, especially, most valuable, his reservation. I also love how the stockade’s comic tone plays against that dynamic and against the overarching plot. A+ pacing.
“I just destroyed something that I built. It’s a really weird feeling.” So here’s a thing about me: I hate all high fantasy but I especially hate dragons, because they do nothing for me aesthetically and all that makes them impressive is that they’re iconic and big. (Yes I play Flight Rising, yes this is ironic.) Matt’s incredible staging and acting of the initial attack and the scale of the destruction do a lot to counteract that, but for me the Chroma Conclave attack is effective because it destroys things we’ve seen created: a city, its landmarks, a council, named NPCs. The meta-awareness of watching a person destroy his own creation has a huge impact.
Laura going offset to fetch life-size Trinket is my single favorite non-gameplay moment. (“This is a wonderful little microcosm analogy for pretty much every session.”) Trinket needs a rebalance tbh; he’s too weak for most combat, and too cumbersome for most travel, and one of those has gotta go. Yes I’m aware of the eventual pokeball fix. Laura has become one of my favorites to watch, for her reactions (so emotive so emotional so dynamic; magic) and also for the unwavering dedication to money, in and out of character, whether or not Vex is actually in the room where money is changing hands, counting coins as she leaves the Clasp, setting a guard on houseguests, “I know we all almost died to worms but HURRY LOOT THE GOLD BEFORE MORE COME.” (Games are my financial outlet, so: same.)
Anyway, Vax and relationships. Bisexual people in heterosexual relationships are still bisexual, but heterosexual representation is significantly more common; eight people roleplaying are not solely responsible for overturning the heteronormative tyranny, but these characters are constructs, not real people, and what’s done with them has the ability to either contribute to or defy heteronormative presumptions. Monogamy atop heteronormativity is particularly damning; it tiers relationships and prioritizes romantic male/female relationships above all other relationships, doubly erasing non-straight identities.
It’s particularly unnecessary in a character who obviously doesn’t tier his relationships that way, evidenced by his important, non-romantic sibling relationship. Sitting Gilmore down to have the “we can’t flirt anymore because I love a woman” conversation doesn’t just bother me on a narrative level—over-delineated relationships are boring—but because it’s a toxic social cliche occurring in a character with particular potential to defy the cliche.
That said, this isn’t presented as an unequivocal good. Vax appears to be attempting to single-thread his relationships because he’s trying to work through his feelings about those relationships—why are we here, working together? what are our social bonds? am I terrified of being in love lol trick question of course I am. Despite his intimacy with Vex, he’s not very good at most intimacy; he’s learning it without much grace. His forced tiering harms his relationships, including his sibling bond, and it’s a low point for him. It’s also defied by high points outside of that romantic dynamic, especially with Vex (the Winter’s Crest gift, the aforementioned crying), which shove him back on path: these dynamics are independently existent, valuable, non-competitive. Who knew, right?
It’s not nearly as productive as basically anything but heteronormative monogamy would be. There are mitigating factors, but prioritizing hetero romances, especially after establishing the potential for non-normative relationships, is gross. (See: queer baiting.) Yet, despite myself, I buy into those mitigating factors. Maybe I’m simply biased—I love pouting, hiding, social unrest-seeding Vax, I love the overlap between his selfishness and complexity, and I trust his belligerence to further plot. But I feel like there’s an undercurrent of good intent, or at least happy accident. That’s not enough. But it’s something.
Polyamory isn’t always the answer, but, just so we’re clear, in this case it’s totally the answer.
You know what the skull should have done? It should have offered Percy a different deal, it should have been flexible. Since the skull will only deal with people who have touched darkness, I presume it has some sort of judgement or insight to determine who fits that criteria. Grog has street smarts but he looks for a simple solutions to complex problems, which means he overlooks consequences; that’s the nature of his pact with Craven Edge, so that’s the deal the skull offered him. But Percy redefines “power corrupts”—he believes power comes at a price to the wielder, and believes a dangerous bargain is worth the risk because he can renegotiate or break the terms. That’s what Orthax was, and it’s left its mark on Percy even if the skull can’t see the whole history.
So that’s what the skull should have offered, one wish for one corporeal body to borrow—taking up residence in Percy, just like Orthax did, or any other one-on-one deal, spirit to person. That’s a bargain Percy would take, and the skull could figure that because it’s a bargain he’s taken in the past. He’d angst about it first, but he’d agree, not because he’s learning nothing about unsavory deals but because he also came out ahead in the last one.
On a narrative level, it would initially seem redundant. But I’d love to see Percy under a different influence, to be able to determine what was him and what was Orthax. What made him so susceptible to influence? was it circumstance, his history, Orthax himself, his connection to Whitestone, or is it just a personality flaw? Who is Percy under a different influence, one as intimate but without overlapping goals?
I think about this a lot; almost as much as I wonder about the gun. The sequence of events was almost too neat—for anything but a live, communal narrative, where neatness is remarkable kismet. Losing Orthax wasn’t a price to pay, but losing the gun was, and it hammered home risk, scale, and how essential the demon deal was to Percy’s character. But what was Mercer planning? Would Orthax’s influence have lingered (recuperated, grown) in Percy if Scanlan hadn’t destroyed the gun? What power would Orthax have had with the Briarwoods gone? (It sure would have been bad news for Ripley.) Cassandra’s name was still there. What would Orthax have instigated, what would his influence be with the deal broken but the demon’s own needs remaining? We’re struggling to rediscover Percy without Orthax, and learning what dark magics he retains. But imagine how close we came to a Percy indefinitely inhabited, and remember what parts of the deal Percy didn’t want to give up.
#other things I think about a lot: 'I just saved my city and revenged my family and almost went evil #I would like to sleep for approx. seven years and get some therapy but no no that's fine four dragons sounds GREAT' #also: the Briarwoods (always; murder power couple of my heart) esp. Lady Briarwood ('I broke the world for us!') #also: Cassandra (did they ever realize she wasn't mind-controlled? her complicity is my everything) #I love the Chroma Conclave arc's scale so much but I am never over the Whitestone arc never not ever #Juu watches #Critical Role #spoilers be ye warned
[pretend there's gifs of the Kevdak kill here!]
#I love Grog so much but this particular character arc had no personal relevance (which is fine it's not like that's lacking in CR) #& the Chroma Conclave storyline has strange structure it's basically a series of sidequests #despite those pseudo-hangups: this episode oh my godddddd easily the single best battle in the show #in the sense that the scale and risk forced Vox Machina to fight better than they ever have before #my favorite bit is the post-episode breakdown of winning strategies & near failures #(3:12:05) #'did he ever get to attack?' 'uh ... no! he couldn't make his save; his arms were gone by the time he came around' #the strategies were both essential AND successful; the risks paid off; VM has grown SO MUCH my precious babies #Juu watches #Critical Role #violence tw // character death tw // #animated gif tw // #spoilers be ye warned #hella Critical Role spoilers I'm sorry"
(consistently disappointed with the fact that Critical Role has fantastic bisexual disasters and one overtly queer NPC, but has never included a successful queer relationship and is still rolling in queerbaiting, “lol no homo” jokes, and casual cissexism—without the energy to provide a list of examples or a cogent argument other than, why this again, why this always: decent representation is significantly better than none, and some of this is great, but when your punchline is “ha you were friendzoned by lesbians,” “nervous laughter about the idea of two men kissing,” “we totally have a non-normative relationshi—haha no of course we don’t” then—and this is literally what queerbaiting is: the appearance of representation, the titillation, appealing to a certain audience, and then denying them any validity or representation—you are walking backwards and tramping the footsteps you made coming forward)
