#c2e44

yapping under the cut

(Four hours later)

(beau) fjord, what was the name of the ship again? (travis) ... (sam) you know, the ship that started your whole backstory? (matt) it's the tide's breath. (fjord) the tide's breath.

(sam) seeing my friend pulled away, i will swim—reluctantly—forward, stagger near him, and say to the creature that's captured him: (nott) hey, fuckey! what do you give a merrow who sings poorly? auto-tuna!

(taliesin) what does slow give them? (liam) slowness.

(sam) i'd love a nice fish dick right now with some tartar sauce.

(fjord) check their corpses. see if they have anything on them that can tell where they came from. (nott) they came from the ocean, fjord.

(fjord) wait, nott! we're about to cross the area of the button graveyard that lies beneath the waves. (nott) can you hear yourself right now? you sound pathetic. pathetic! (fjord) i'm just looking out for you, nott. i don't want you to— (nott) i understand when I'm being condescended to, even when i'm drunk!

(marisha) the roll reflects the vaguety of my question.

(jester) there's like, a light. yeah. (sam) over at the frankenstein house?

(liam) it is like the beginning of the campaign. (laura) yeah. (sam) and it will be the end. (matt) what a nice book end!

(nott) coins. (fjord) i told you. (nott) do you think...buttonbeard is real? (fjord) did you think—nott, did you think i was lying? (nott) i thought it was just a legend. (fjord) i'm hurt. our friendship has taken damage from this exchange.

(sam/nott) you're wearing an octopus, he's talking to seaweed, there's a buttonbeard in front of us. this is totally normal.

(travis) don't do this to me. don't do this to me! everyone else at this table is less susceptible to shit like that! don't do it to me, okay! i don't need this right now! cool, no problem. (laura) just don't make it like ring girl, okay? or like the grudge. (travis) oh, stop! why would you want to put it out there?! (liam) or do!

(travis) in—in—in—in—into the wall? like in—?

(nott) it's already got me! aaah! (fjord) nah. no big deal. an improvement. (nott) i'm hideous. no, he's right. i'm hideous.

(caduceus) fuck off, ghost.

(jester) have you had ghosts try to take you over before? (caduceus) yeah. (jester) whoa. has it ever worked? (caduceus) not that i know of. i hope. i mean, would you know?

(matt) they auto-fail saving throws. they're seaweed.

(matt) nott becomes nott the brave when she's drunk.

(liam) oh, the lights are out. (taliesin) i still have my light. (marisha) and his sword? is his sword out? (matt) the sword does give a faint bit of light. (laura) and my axe!

(sam) that is not sanitary.

(marisha) i'm going to punch her with my fists! just going to try and keanu reeves ghost-punch her. i don't know. punching ghosts. (travis) was that a matrix reference? (marisha) well, uh, you know like the— (laura) go!

(travis) do they have pissed off expressions or are they happy? (laura) they're happy. (matt) they're just like "weeee!"

(sam) any excuse to hit marisha.

At about 52:00, Commanding the Fury from Witcher III plays as Matt describes Jester's Guiding Bolt.

At about 1:08:00, City of Intrigues begins as Caduceus casts Bane on the three merrow that approached the group.

At 1:14:35, Death or Sovngarde from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim begins as Matt works through the Shallow Priest's turn despite the slow from Caleb.

At about 1:35:30, Howling Fjord themes from World of Warcraft play as the Nein discuss Dashilla. I've timestamped the main theme below. It's especially apt because the dungeons in this zone are usually infested with necromancers and undead.

At about 2:33:00 or so, Silence Unbroken plays as Matt describes Dashilla's throne room.

At 2:37:30, Combat B kicks up as the Nein select their positions for the fight against Dashilla.

At 2:50:40, The Wild Hunt from Witcher 2 plays as Nott takes her first attack on Dashilla. It's the heavy metal song with a flute at the beginning.

At 2:55:20, Watch the Skies begins as Caleb regains consciousness and throws a Witch Bolt at Dashilla.

At 2:57:40, For a Higher Cause plays as Dashilla scrambles away and Beau uses Dash of the Wind to pursue her. This is one of the other heavy metal songs, featuring a dramatic chorus.

At 3:34:30, Welcome, Imlerith plays as Matt tells Caleb what he learns about the runes on the altar and walls with Comprehend Languages, then Fjord absorbs the final orb.

At about 3:43:30, Burial Isle plays as Nott finishes off a ghost once Dashilla has fled.

At 3:51:25, Exodar themes play as Caduceus casts Water Walk on the entire party so they reach the surface quickly.

THE INTRO!

After all this time, it's still the best critical role intro to ever exist. The music! The animation! I have never loved anything more.

Tbh there is a part of me that is a little sad that the TV show intro isn't as cool as this one, but also I understand the vibes aren't quite right. At least I get to watch it every week for the next two years for nein again.

(20) "What was the name of the ship Fjord?" "buuf" So eloquent Fjord xD

(24) Kind of crazy hearing Fjord describe what happened on the Tide's Breadth after watching the m9 animated episode where we got to really see it for the first time

(28) It is really remarkable how poorly Frumpkin rolls every single time

(1:28) Wearing Frumpkin like googles is basically like still being blind with how bad Frumpkin is at perception. It is hilarious though

(1:37) like it's actually remarkable how much the dice hate frumpkin.

(1:40) Racist Nott strikes again

(2:00) We don't talk about it much but imagine the sheer amount of trust you need to have in your friends to go into these situations without darkvision. Caduceus is 100% blind (and normally Caleb is to), being led into a situation that he KNOWS is incredibly dangerous, that he knows is likely to turn into a fight. Imagine doing all of that without panicking? Having so much faith that your friends would not lead you beyond what you can handle, that they will keep you in the loop, and protect you until you can see again. And I know it's cause darkvision and blindness is mostly treated as a mechanic, but the Implications!

(2:04) I love the contrast between Travis panicking and Fjord being totally cool, calm, and collected. It will never not be funny to me how much Travis reacts to this stuff

(2:42) I also forgot that there were any benefits to being drunk. But also its so cool that it mechanically makes sense for Nott to drink when she's scared. Very well done character building (exactly what I expect from Sam)

(3:44) Oh shit it's this moment!!! Fjord appealing to Caleb's never ending curiosity, Caleb taking advantage of the chance for a deal, for building the kind of connections he can use later. The cold way that Caleb evaluates situations, the ends that justify the means (to a point, he does have some morals now). The homoerotic tension! The blood bonds! No one is doing it like them!