the eldritch comedy

Audio: A recording of Leonard Nimoy reading it on Internet Archive.

Text: A PDF version.

Nemoy’s voice is PERFECT in this!

Julien wouldn't have gone back in for Cyd, Teor, or Thimble, but he will for Occtis. Literally with no hesitation. Plenty of annoyance, but once it's obvious that Occtis isn't leaving yet, he immediately follows.

Occtis wouldn't have gone back in for Cyd or Teor, but he will for Thimble. Neither of them care about getting Mara out the way that Thimble does, so they're both willing to cart her right back into danger.

And Thimble isn't going to leave Teor and Cyd behind as long as there's a chance she might be able to save them (especially Teor).

So one PC making a strong character choice leads to two other PCs putting themselves into danger (and Laura is SO stressed by this).

The argument between Occtis and Julien is delicious. The way Julien pauses, like, ten full seconds before he comes up with an excuse for why he cares so much about trying to keep Occtis out of the manor. The way Julien smiles when Occtis says he's tired of pretending that he cares about Julien. Literally tension that you could cut with a knife.

It's wild. I mean, I've shipped Knightingale since the Overture, but I didn't really think it had any chance of happening in canon. After 4x31, I feel like Julien and Occtis are officially Being Weird About Each Other and there's maybe a genuine possibility here (Occtis saying in an earlier episode that "Julien is confusing" also kinda slots into the Weird About Each Other category).

I do think back to Julien, at one point, calling out Occtis's 'soft boy persona', so I wonder if part of what's going on here is that he feels like Occtis losing his temper at him is the 'real' Occtis behind the soft persona, and that makes him feel like he knows Occtis better now.

[ID: A digital illustration of Thimble and Occtis Tachonis from Critical Role. Thimble is the size of a human and grinning as she hugs Occtis, lifting him slightly off the ground so his feet dangle just above the floor. Occtis is hugging Thimble back and looking very surprised to be in the air. End description.]

Like, Occtis and Thimble are obviously inseparable now.

Julien doesn’t want to let Occtis out of his sight for uhhh strategic reasons (definitely only that)

And now Thimble wants to be around Julien just to keep pestering him about his shadow.

"I'm tired of pretending that I give a shit about you," Occtis says, as Julien continues to put his hand on Occtis's back and his arms around Occtis's shoulders to comfort him.

"There's only two people in the world who care about me," Occtis says, as Julien is softer and gentler with Occtis than he's been with anyone but Aranessa so far.