Randomly Acquired

“ I— I know this journey’s been hard, and it’s only going to get harder, but we can’t allow ourselves to— to get to that place again. To even think about destroying an entire world. We need to promise each other, right now, we— we won’t let one another get to that place. Never again.”

just something about this line in this episode specifically.

i really think the end of this episode in particular was the beginning of Griffin setting her apart from Taako as a character, fleshing her out as her own person separate from her brother. she’s spontaneous, she’s a fucking badass, she’s sharp, shes funny, she’s protective, she’s a kickass wizard and she knows she’s a kickass wizard. and she has been through hell and back, and knows she’s going to do it over and over again but she’s not jaded. she refuses to become jaded.

her dragging everyone back to reality with this line in particular?? all of them had probably died a couple times at this point and and know they’re going to come back so the idea of really truly valuing life as it’s become such an easy thing to take for granted.

now this next bit isn’t to say she’s Taako’s moral compass or fucking whatever, but then imagine their entire fucking childhood with his sister by his side, reminding him to have a damn moral compass, that there has to be something worth fighting for. that no matter what they’ve gone through they cannot go dark.

and then imagine him growing up without her, the memory of his sister stripped from his mind.

Griffin has put so much love into this character and the end of this fucking episode is the moment i really truly see that.

There's a line in the podcast that isn't directed at or even said by her (its said by Taako) but I feel like encapsulates her perfectly:

“Sometimes there aren't good decisions. Sometimes there's just decisions.” oh BOY does Lucretia make decisions.

Wiping out her found family's memories (particularly Taako's memories of Lup and Davenport forgetting everything but his own name), abandoning Cam in Wonderland, founding a Bureau that forcibly isolated you and ensures you will be forgotten, she has made CHOICES.

That said, they're choices I can see her perspective of.

Everyone was so broken by the events of the Stolen Century and the Relic wars; Lup disappeared, Taako declared he cared about no one but the IPRE and this is after they regain their memories but Davenport was ready to leave the world to its fate the second the Hunger arrived to have their little crew back. Lucretia wanted to stop the Hunger for good and her friends were just in no state to keep going at the mission so she took matters into her own hands.

Was how she did it horrible? YES. OBJECTIVELY YES. But like I can see her perspective on why she took the mission into her own hands. Justin put it best in The Adventure Zone Zone, she is opposite to Taako. She cared about everything to the point of hurting her found family while Taako cared about no one but his found family. They aren't automatically bad people for having these outlooks and honestly when you face a threat like the Hunger for 100 years, moral greyness is to be expected.

She is not a villain but I wouldn't quite call her a hero. She is the Director, someone who made a lot of tough calls for better and for worse.

She undeniably cared about the world and her friends, I mean just look at her interactions with the Tres Horny Boys tbh. She really does care. And that care is why she made decisions that ultimately saved and hurt a lot of people.

The thing that really sold me her character was that in the end she isn't entirely forgiven. Sure a lot of the IPRE forgive her but Taako blatantly does not. The story itself recognizes that she may be a well-intentioned person but good intentions do not entitle her to forgiveness. I think I would've found her way less interesting if they all just hugged it out in the end and forgave her. The fact she isn't entirely forgiven and she goes on to make the Bureau a charitable organization where she repents for her deeds is all incredible writing.

• hydrate it by drinking lots of water

• eat dark chocolate and blueberries and walnuts and salmon and other foods high in antioxidants!!

• play little brain games on your phone; I like wordconenct! anything that makes you think!

• read books. It’s simple but necessary. Even better - join a book club, or read with a friend, so you can have discussions after. This will improve your reading comprehension.

• do puzzles - it doesnt have to be sudoku, I love playing Beat Saber on the Oculus Rift because it makes my brain have to match colorful patterns to physical movements very quickly!

• learn a new dance - even a tik tok trendy dance. Learning new dance moves are proven to strengthen synapses!!

• go bird watching, or foraging, or anything outdoors that requires you to explore pattern recognition and visual searching

• watch a movie with the intent of analysis - this is best done with a cinephile friend!! talk about tropes and symbolism and character growth

• cross stitch, or sew, or do anything that requires matching nimble hand movements to patterns

• play or learn an instrument!

• develop a consistent sleep schedule (or as close to consistent as you can get!)

• when eating, try to identify the ingredients and flavors you’re perceiving!