i know it’s almost certainly a result of how frustratingly heteronormative tng was, and while i can recognize that, i feel like it should be overlooked or at least ignored (i mean, we have headcanons for a reason) plus the show is actually fun and entertaining for the most part, unlike a lot of the queerbait out there.

i’ve been trying to articulate these thoughts for a while so i just thought i’d get them down real quick before i pass out skfjlsjfslkald

first off i’ve been lurking on the reddit for a couple weeks now and hoo boy are people mean on there. like they just straight up hate travis so much and pretty much only criticize graduation. i’m exaggerating a little bit but honestly not that much. and i get it, i finished balance last month and am close to finishing amnesty right now, and the way trav is running grad is much different than the way griffin dmed the last two seasons of taz.

that said, i listened to dust and going off what other people have said about the other mini-arc travis dmed, the problems with grad are not inherent problems with travis dming, but rather either issues that have popped up now that travis is trying to run a long-term campaign or inherent issues with the graduation storyline/universe itself.

i can’t help but agree with a lot of the problems that ppl have brought up on reddit: rather than yes-and-ing, travis has the tendency to no-but; when the boys butt up against what travis expects them to do, he railroads them into doing things how he wants them to do it instead of expanding the universe naturally and allowing them that autonomy; there are way too many npcs that basically only exist to “do cool stuff” or only show up for 2 episodes, so many that most people can’t keep them straight.

and i feel like anyone who listened to the last episode would have questions about what exactly is going on (i mean i don’t do constant relistens, but i feel like as a biweekly podcast i shouldn’t be having to go back and relisten in order to keep up with the story).

it’s even more disappointing because there are certain things about grad that make it the best taz has ever been: i strongly believe these are the best/most interesting pcs the show has ever had, and the setup of the story had, in my opinion, the perfect balance of mystery and structure. i don’t think the train is completely off its tracks yet, but it needs some serious realigning.

i really, really am hoping for a ttazz for this campaign in the coming weeks, if only for the drama of it. and there might not be any drama! but if i have to sit there and listen to everyone stroke travis’ ego and wax poetic about how difficult dming is, i’m gonna lose my mind. everyone’s noticed pushback, especially from griffin, in the last few episodes. that needs to be addressed, because if taz becomes something that even the boys are just going through the motions on, i’m not sure how long my patience is gonna last.

it's weird to me that at this point in the story the plot is unrecognizable from where we began. Like, the unbroken chain?? argo's mom?? heroes and villains?? accounting?? where are they??

it’s the weirdest balance of feeling like nothing is happening, but also the story being completely unrecognizable.

personally, i think travis got into the main “meta-story” way too soon and didn’t give the boys enough time to explore the universe beforehand. i mean, if you think about balance, it really wasn’t until crystal kingdom (so what? episode 35?) before the players started to get the info about the big picture. we’re not even 20 episodes in and i feel like travis has given us multiple possible big pictures only to do a 180 flip the script every time. this leaves us, the listeners, super disoriented (i don’t know about you, but i can barely keep the npcs straight and the amount of loose narrative threads at this point makes my brain hurt).

You're taking the words right out of my brain, man. It just doesn't feel like this family goofing around while telling a story together anymore. Now it's just Travis forcefully reading his fanfiction to us while the rest sometimes gets to do a tiny thing or two and I don't get the feeling that they are having any fun with it. I'm desperatley hoping for a ttazz

don’t even get me started on the monologuing. the way griffin tried so hard to avoid a cliche villain speech last ep (even going so far as to instigate a conflict with a character he knew was much, much more powerful than him) and travis completely brushed him off for it. the disregard for player autonomy is getting so frustrating as a listener at this point.

listening to how much care/thought clint has put into argo as a character 🥺

nooo don’t make argo/the firbolg side characters they’re so sexy aha

trav teasing letting clint using sneak attack aaahhhhh

not them addressing the structural issues with grad in a direct and non-confrontational way!

YES put some respect on master firbolg’s name !

mandatory dunking on balance live shows time

oop someone fucked up the ad break

yes travis we did notice all the pushback

i could listen to justin and clint talk about their characters for hours

fitzroy ace? cool ✌️

2/3 of the way through? ok trav. (Lmao I’m joking it’s more just like I feel like we just got to a season 1 finale in what should be at least a 3 season show)

i’m very happy to hear that travis is gonna take a step back. I just hope he follows through.

Was griffin’s energy low? Could be for a lot of reasons I just felt like he didn’t talk too much…