Mom-Friend of Dragons & DnD Parties, Collector of Dice, & Weaver of Tales. Juliet Burke Essayist, Captain of the Shannon Rutherford Defense Squad. Critical Recapper (campaign 4) š¤āŖš she/they
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Well hello there!
I'm Gina, an aro/ace neurodivergent elder millennial who loves DnD, Lost, The Hunger Games, LOTR, Parks & Rec, Anne of Green Gables, BtVS, Lie to Me, asoiaf, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, video games (especially cozy ones), reading, writing, and a slew of other things I can't recall at the moment.
I started this blog - well, partially due to nostalgia, but - primarily to have a space for writing, sharing things I enjoy, nerding out with like-minded people, etc. If you enjoy similar things, I look forward to interacting with you soon!
On the topic of the āMarienna was Occtisās momā theory;
a) I believe the whole discourse on here started as a literal joke that was not comprehended properly by some
b) It doesnāt make sense if you give it more than ten seconds of critical thought
c) Primus Tachonis is far more likely to have killed them because he was trying to build an undead army and they were just some randos he knew no one would miss, or even because they were connected to Kattigan who fought in the rebellion
I donāt even think Marienna was a Tachonis or related to them at all. Perhaps she slighted them in some way, but I think it makes far more sense (and makes it far more tragic) that they really were just the unfortunate victims of Primusās proven detestation for anyone he deems to be beneath him.
Itās only been like two weeks in game and weāve already gotten all this character development:
Julien going from hating Occtis to fireman-style carrying him away from danger
Julien and Thimble going from detesting to respecting one another
Hal going from being Mr. Not-Involved-in-Politics to Mr. Right-in-the-Damn-Middle-of-Everything and defying one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world
Vaelus doing some serious religious deconstruction
Hannan and Vaelus going from contempt and distrust to friendship and kinship
Murray tapping into her abilities and putting herself in harmās way for the greater good
Occtis embracing his power in his own way
Wick going from believing everything he was fed by his granny to distrusting her completely
Tyranny learning some valuable lessons about humanity
Kattigan letting himself feel again
Thaisha understanding that there can be more than one right way to walk the path, and we must be open to new possibilities
Bolaire learning more about what it means to be human, even if youāre literally not one
Azune letting his facade drop and being vulnerable with those he trusts most
Kattigan stands close to the lakeās edge, lost in thought. Vaelusās comment about family struck a chord, and he lets himself feel his feelings for the first time in a long time. He reflects on a memory in the forest of Emeri. Thereās a cottage in the distance, but itās dark when it shouldnāt be. He calls out for Marienna, but something sinister answers. A scream. A figure in the doorway. An older man in a dark cloak - powerful, sorcerous. Kattigan runs toward him but he disappears. His wife and daughter are gone. No bodies, no blood, no trail. Kattigan searched for six years, and gave up without realizing it. No one knew the man, no one could help him, if they even believed him at all. (It was fucking Primus Tachonis, I know it in my SOUL.)
Hal and Thaisha run to Kattigan, out of breath. Hal says Teor is in trouble and they take off! They jump into a carriage andā¦the doors slam shut. There are bars on the window. Hal, Thaisha, and the carriage driver are NOT Hal, Thaisha, and the carriage driver, they are Enmity, Agony, and Cruelty, and they DO know how to do their job right! Fuck.
AD BREAK!
Cyd did some casing of Obrimus Manor throughout the day. Big wall, definitely a bonus. Primus, Ryah, Petra, and Ethrand definitely got in the carriage to the Halovars. Also, Team Birdwatching now consists of Occtis, Julien, Thimble, Cyd, and Teor (who swapped with Thaisha). (I hope someone told Hero so she could make adjustments to another chalkboard and then burn it again.)
Occtis leads them toward the servantās entrance. He tells Thimble this is probably going to be bad, and if it is, she needs to go. Julien asks for the layout of the house, and he says Mara is probably somewhere sublevel. Thimble cuts a piece of Julienās cloak to hide her glow and she flies off to go check things out. She runs into some kind of magical barrier that Occtis deduces is to keep fae out. Cyd says there were food deliveries here earlier, and Julien suggests Occtis change his appearance and say theyāre here for a late delivery, then Julien and Teor can shank the guard and get them in.
Occtis approaches and the guard is not opening the door, but he does open a tray for the āpaperworkā Occtis says he has, and Thimble sneaks in! As he tries to close the tray again, she gets stuck between it and the barrier, but it causes the guard to give up and open the service door. Teor swings with Ingridās axe and Julien attacks simultaneously, and heās dead. They take a look around and grab the guardās keys. Occtis tries to pull Thimble through the gate, and since sheās been invited by a member of House Tachonis, sheās in! Occtis brings in the floating disc carrying Dame Gaya.
Teor activates his divine sense, but thereās nothing around right now. Occtis warns them all to ignore as much as they can here. Thimble shimmies under the courtyard door while Occtis investigates it - no traps. Thimble checks and the courtyard is empty. Occtis opens the door but doesnāt step out yet. Occtis remembers the Undercroft of the manor, which might be the best place to start.
They head toward the crypt for the vassal houses. Teor starts flexing to try and open the door, but Occtis approaches and says āopen,ā and it does! Occtis places Dame Gayaās body and they search for an exit. He knows there is a secret door in here, and more of the Tachonis fat candles, but itās in both realms at once. He quickly explains to the group that he could claim some of the power here to help them, but it means leaving an awareness that heās been here. The group says do it! Teor and Julien grab the candles as Occtis levels up to 5, and itās time to roll initiative!
VILLA AURORA
Wick asks granny who would dare to kill her, but she doesn't want to worry him about it. Tyranny asks to see her sisters, but theyāre out on an errand š¤ She asks him to be at the meeting that night, and he agrees. Tyranny takes Bolaire out and puts him on! She can hear Bolaire, but Wick canāt. She learns how the mask works, and he tells her to find someone not too strong so he doesnāt have to fight too hard for control of the body. She takes him off and puts him away for now, until they find someone.
Tyranny approaches a junior lux, Adora, and asks her to come and keep Wicander company. Adora seems suspicious, but agrees to go with her. She asks to speak to Wick alone, which he says is fine, but Tyranny stands right outside the door. Adora tattles on Tyranny, but Wick says he told her he wanted good PENMANSHIP, not companionship. Silly Tyranny! He calls her back in to bring the āstationeryā so he can dictate some letters. Tyranny grabs Bolaire and Wick casts charm person. Adora asks for Tyranny to leave again, and then she sort of hits on Wick and says sheās been working on ways to eradicate the fae folkā¦GREAT. Kill her. Kill her now. Wick asks her to pray with him, and puts the mask on her! Bolaire wakes up and greets him with the secret phrase.
Bolaire asks what the hickety heck Wick was doing. He hides his face and asks what Wick told her. Zebani knocks and enters the room. She gets in Wickās face and casts detect magic, trying to determine if itās him. She spits at him and tells him she wonāt forget he abandoned them and heās weak. She threatens Armas and says he should have stayed gone before she storms out.
Another knock at the door, and itās Wickās mother and younger brother Lioran. Iris kisses him and Tyranny and is crying a lot. Lioran wants to avenge Wick from the lion man, but Wick tells his brother to just be a kid and not worry about all that grown up stuff yet. Iris greets āAdoraā and invites them all to go get something to eat with her. Wick spots the ever-so-faint outline of wings on his brotherās back as they walk down the hallā¦
HALLOWED ROUND
Seats are filling up and the place is alive! Itās 10 minutes to curtains, and Niveda is getting last minute things in order. Murray (and deer form Hala) is in the box Olgud talked to them about; Thaisha is keeping eyes on (and casts aid on) Hal and Shadia, who is wielding Shayās Blade and inspecting the fairy doors. Niveda asks Hal to talk to Lash, who is losing it. Misha appears from the inside of the āwigs with liceā box. Azune is outside in security mode, reflecting on his meeting with Einfasen and enjoying the joy of the theater. Vaelus is so excited for the show, so she seats herself in front, opposite Murray so she can keep an eye on the box, and Hannan is with her. Hal scans the crowd and sees a lot of real and figurative magpies. He locks eyes with each of his friends, but he doesnāt see Kattiganā¦
The lights dim. The story of Vokjan Murzat begins. āThey say we were created. Nay, for indeed what of Aramanās is not hers and hers alone? A tyrant creates nothing, but in their ruin may they shape the fate of us all.ā Shadia appears with the pariah blade, and Vaelus realizes sheās in the middle of a massive ritual. She and Hal have the same calling in life - trying to heal broken places. Thaisha casts pass without trace on herself and goes to spy on the Creed present there. Varen is already doing so, as well. Olgud is talking out of his ass to the Creed about their objections.
Murray notices there are tons of invisible creatures coming through the fairy door and joining the audience. One flutters in front of Murray and she says hello. They talk about how rude it is that the Creed is talking during such a good show. Murray asks if they can teach them a lessonā¦the fairy flies off and pixie dusts a member of the Creed (whoās threatening to tell Captain Nayar, HA!), who gets confused and they leave. Vaelus hasnāt seen the pariah blades before, and while at first she feels anger and fear, it turns to amazement. Hannan is weeping, and Vaelus takes his hand. He hates cities, except for this one.
Hal helps the other arcane users to enhance what Lash is doing and enhances his charisma ability. As Lash launches into a song, Hal notices one of the amphora has cracked, and paint is leaking all over the stage. The crowd is enraptured. Hal looks into the audience and notices a ghostly figure sitting on the groundā¦Murray notices it, too, as does Vaelus, who activates her divine sense. The figure speaks to Hal in his mind, asking what this place is. He was in the Dying Fields last he remembers. Itās Vokjan Murzat! Thaisha feels the ground rumble. Vokjan notices how nice everything looks, and Hal explains what happened. They are all free, because of him. Vaelus watches him change from undead to celestial, and he flies into Lashās chest. Lash picks up the pariah blade and Hal levels up to 5!
The spirits of Murzatās revolution all join their now-celestial leader, and Thaisha watches the magic connect with the mural, and a bridge to the Dying Fields brings the lost back home. Thaisha starts the rites of calling the corners with Hala. She tells the spirits to walk the path. They are healed, they are whole, they are free. Vaelus feels the stone glow, and she tries to hide it but notices the place is filled with fairies. She shows Hannan, who recognizes something and walks with her into the woods. The land blooms in their footsteps, and itās intermission time, literally and figuratively!
INTERMISSION!
Back in Obrimus Manorās crypts, Team Birdwatching is surrounded by magical darkness. Shit. Thimble holds her attack. Julien lights a candle and as he does, his shadow looms over him and grinsā¦other creatures elsewhere in the manor begin shrieking. Cyd spots a skeleton right behind Julien, who spins and attacks it. Cyd moves in to attack another one and shatters it! Occtis reaches out toward Dame Gaya and requests her protection one last time. She is trapped in a world with no gods, no sunlight. āWhat did honor buy me?ā She writhes and Occtis offers to show her the path if she comes back to help him. He sends Pin to help Teor. Dame Gaya moves toward Julien and Cyd, and after Julien freaks out a little, he welcomes her back. A voice calls out, āto the courtyard, warn our masters!ā Shit. Julien gets hit by a couple skeletons. Teor launches a guiding bolt and hits with the help from Pin, shattering one of the three skellies going to warn people. He rushes up the stairs to try and prevent them from leaving.
From the shadows of the candles, the same sort of specter shades appear that were present at the attack on the Palazzo Davinos, and they surround Teor. Thimble uses her attack to slash a specter with the nightmare-killer sword. The shades attack Teor and lower his strength. (Oh, and if one of them hits Thimble, by the by, they could kill her outright without even touching her hit points. GREAT!) One of the shades attacks Thimble and misses. In retaliation, Thimble crits! She disengages and rushes to attack one of the shades surrounding Julien; in doing so destroys the shade and levels up to 5! She uses her second attack to nick a skellie, then flies toward Occtis. Julien attacks the damaged shade and demolishes it, then tries to help Teor stop them from leaving.
Cyd runs up the stairs after Teor and lights another candle. Occtis commands the secret door to open and tells everyone to run. Julien thinks they need to stop the rest of the house from being alerted first, and the group agrees, but the door is there for later. Occtis looks at Teor and his wounds and casts life transference to heal him with his own life force. Dame Gaya runs into the melee and attacks a shade. The skellies swing on Teor and crit, but it doesnāt do much. Whew! Some other skellies attack Thimble, but not too much there, either. Teor goes to pull the lever, with help from Pin, and the enemies are prevented from leaving. He uses a desperate measure to disengage and dash away toward the secret door.
One of the stupid skellies takes Pin out of the battle, and Cyd takes just one attack from a shade. Thimble misses her attack against a skellie and disengages to fly away. Julien casts jump on himself and leaps away toward Occtis. Cyd disengages and runs toward the group. Occtis misses with a firebolt, runs some more, grabs a candle and lights it. Dame Gaya interposes and keeps some enemies from advancing on the group. Julien uses his readied action to attack a skellie as it attacks him. Cyd takes some skellie attacks as well. Teor heals his brother and swings with the axe to destroy another skellie. Now we flee!
The shades envelop Dame Gaya and she is welcomed by her family. Thimble flies in a bit, Julien smashes a skellie to pieces, then he picks up Occtis and runs. Cyd smashes a skellie and runs. Occtis, being carried fireman style by Julien, has Dame Gaya follow them. Teor smashes yet another skellie into skellie dust. The shades follow and hit Cyd just before he leaps through the secret door, and Occtis commands the door to close.
VILLA AURORA
Wick and Tyranny sit to one side of the Phony-baloney-tarch, Zebani and Godard to the other. Godard greets his son, and Wick apologizes for worrying him, but he wasnāt really worried. Good talk. Otto, Harondus, Cordelia, Josefir, and Runbrom Einfasen enter, and Otto greets Wick. A weird meteor streaks through the sky and Lord Atakani Coromoray enters, followed by Primus, Petra, Ryah, and Ethrand Tachonis. š¤®
Primus ācongratulatesā the Phony-baloney-tarch, which if I actually liked Primus would be a totally sick burn, but I hate his snakey guts, so he can rot. Yanessa says it wasnāt an act of theater. PFF! š¤£ Tyrannyās sisters enter, carrying two huge sacksā¦they are confounded by Wick and Tyrannyās presence. Primus blathers on, and Cormoray asks where his daughter Amariya is and demands Primus explain the signet ring Azune planted. Suddenly, āAmariyaā walks into the roomā¦fuck. Bolaire tries very hard not to freak out. She was in a box! Primus says the letter Occtis wrote must be a forgery. Otto says he confirmed that when Aranessa, Julien, and Thaisha were in his castle, and Yanessa wants to keep an eye on Thaisha now š¤¦ Otto says itās a fact that Royce didnāt go to faerie, and demands to know what really happened, though they already know. He says itās a betrayal of their alliance.
Primus launches into a dippy speech and says theyāve all whispered about Royceās time being up for years, and he did them a favor, basically. Otto asks if thatās why Primus murdered his son, and if heās told them all. Primus says thatās all. Einfasenās archmage Kohlesturm produces a candle covered in silver, and Primus is properly terrified. Otto asks if he recognizes it; he says he wishes for Primus to know heās not the most dangerous man in the room. The ground shakes. He invites the Cormoray to investigate the candle, and asks if Primus would like to lie again. Primus apologizes (because heās about to shit his pants) and offers to go into a zone of truth. Yanessa casts it.
He says it was never his intent to slaughter any who now sit at this table. He explains the window has closed on the Deva Vindicta, and that their plan was to install himself as emperor, basically, and give certain lands to each house in exchange for bending the knee to him. He mentions the similar plans each house is evidently carrying out for themselves; the Einfasen search for something called the Jotunoks, the Cormoray have celebrated at the old Kalystra quarries, and mentions the bellows fever and the aspirants to Yanessa. Theyāre playing the game of thrones. He says all the commonfolk are playing, too, and if they win, theyāll be equals. Gods forbid THAT ever happen!
Phony-baloney-tarch says Primus pushed hard for Thjaziās death. Primus says they fed information to Royce to get them to find Occtis, and that killing the Davinos was an improvisation. Petra and Ryah speak, saying they should all cool it and talk more when theyāve had a chance to process. They should eat now! Yanessa asks what Wick thinks about all this, and he says Primus made some good points about working together. Bolaire sees āAmariyaā exit with Atakani.
He tries to follow, but doesnāt hear anything much, so he disappears into his little void. He tells Adora to hush, and asks if Termina is there. āAmariyaā raises a brow and makes eye contact with Bolaire, and he acknowledges her. They split off and she tells her brother sheās having such a good time! She knows so much, Amariya is making her more powerful. Bolaire reminds her of the mission; he fears some of these mortals are trying to become gods - she has a realization and says that if they help them, they get to kill a god again! She misty steps away.
Phoney-baloney tells Wick to go talk to Zebani and Godard, sheās going to talk to Primus some more. Wick asks if sheās sure, but sheās not afraid of Primus. Tyranny says she can go help her sisters with their sacks. Her sisters donāt want her help, but Yanessa tells them to wait quietly in the corner. She asks if Wick wants to stay and hear her convo with Primus, or take Tyranny to talk to Zebani and Godard. He opts to stay, and Tyranny is instructed to keep an eye on her sisters. Primus prefers the demons not be present, so she tells them to show her whatās in the sacks now.
Kattigan tries to pretend not to know Wick, but the jig is up. Wick calls him a liar and says heās disappointed he was with Hal and Thaisha. Wick hopes Kattigan can read his eyes to know he should just roll with what heās saying. Bolaire, Petra, and Ryah walk in. Phoney-baloney tells the aspirants to take Kattigan to the tailorā¦Tyranny goes with them. As they drag Kattigan out, he sees the face of Primus Tachonis, and realizes he is the monster who slaughtered his family. (I TOLD YOU!) Kattigan levels up!
I donāt think average Americans (particularly conservative/older ones) have any actual concept of how much even one singular billion dollars is.
Even if we taxed billionaires at 99%, they would still have 10 MILLION dollars for every billion they take in. As weāll almost certainly never tax at 99%, even if we taxed them just a few % more (the most recent data I found says theyāre currently taxed around 24%, leaving them with 760 million per billion), they would still be wildly, immensely, ungodly wealthy, AND the rest of us might actually be able to afford to live.
Mind, weāre only talking about ~1000 people who have this much wealth. They can take it.
So Iām watching Girls for the first time, as a 37 year old woman, and I have some Thoughts
Iām midway through season 3 and I relate to all four girls in various ways, but the personality quiz tells me Iām a Shoshanna. I get that.
There are a lot of guest stars I know from other shows and it gives me a jump scare every time š
I spent season one calling Adam Driverās character āBaby Kylo Renā because I genuinely did not know his characterās name and then I realized it was Adam.
I also spent season one encouraging Marnie to break up with Charlie/let him go, and then season two hoping theyād just run away together and live happily ever after - and before any of you tell me to ājust wait,ā I know about the panic in Central Park, okay, that episode came out like a decade ago and Iām not a person who avoids spoilers, so I know, I donāt have any false hope, but I can still pretend they reconnected after the end of the series. Let me live in my delusion!
I spent a lot of time all-caps yelling at Hannah in season one
Jessa is a fantastic character, very flawed but mostly owns her shit, very much a product of her environment
Itās very off-putting to me and my sense of time that the first two seasons take place in under a year, and most of it is actually only like, two monthsā time
Shosh and Ray made sense until it didnāt. I hated Ray in the beginning but the bastard grew on me. Iām not sure what it says that the most character development so far on a show called Girls currently belongs to a guy, though
You can definitely tell Shosh is the youngest of the group, and yet she seems to be the one with her shit together the most
The concept of having to do all manner of fucked up nonsense in order to be able to write an interesting story doesnāt sit right with me. Hannah can come up with plenty without having to force it
The hints of Hannahās OCD were there all along but I didnāt pick up on them until the end of season 2 when it became obvious. Well done there.
Also Adam is growing up faster than Hannah. I already know they donāt end up together and itās always made sense why that is, even though they do have some very genuinely good and cute moments. I also have sort of sibling-like feelings toward him for some reason?
I really like the dynamic that Elijah brings to the show, and Iām missing that right now.
Overall, Iām very much enjoying it so far, more than I ever expected to. The characters are interesting, the writing is legitimately great and funny and it feels real. More thoughts as I progress!
