Literally a fan of Many Things: RN my main focus is Critical Role Season 2 XD ((Mostly by reading Fanfic and quietly liking almost every post about Essek (HotBoi, my Beloved <3)))
I feel like I've had a revelation and I need to put it out there:
My mother always insisted that she always preached us self-love when it comes to the body, and not to view our bodies as inherently 'bad' or 'gross' or 'unclean'. . . Which always threw me off, cause I can very clearly trace a majority share of my fear/instinctive reaction to my heavier weight to her and what she believed. But now, I think I've cracked the case.
She was right. . In a specific way. Even if at times I wish my body was different/had different features. . . I never think of it as bad or gross.
Maybe part of it is cause I don't personally experience too much dysphoria - (I'm sure even the most 100% 'Love Your Body' teaching from day 1 wouldn't prevent someone w/ extreme dysphoria from feeling that) - but I also just think. . no, I was never taught that my body was somehow sinful™ by itself, or something wrong forever™.
I was taught: Your body is fine and normal and beautiful. . . Unless you have any weight, in which case you should remedy that ASAP Fix it fix it fix it-
Also, by her (likely religious- and heavily right-leaning -based) philosophy, Naked Body >>>>> Wearing Revealing Clothes.
(I've seen discussion here and elsewhere floating around about the thought that a naked body by itself is less '!!' than someone naked except for socks, and this is somewhat tied to that. . . But also, it's just. . REALLY funny, from an objective standpoint, cause like. . In One version you're still genuinely clothed. In the other everything's just free floatin'. The math isn't mathing, my guys, ajksdjklasldkj)
your knees would not "reverse" if you transformed into a digitigrade animal, your feet would get longer and become the lower segment of your legs while ur thighs get stouter & higher.
Ok, ok, my initial reaction was also a full-body cringe and essentially the Michael Scott 'NO PLEASE GOD NO' meme, and it still is - I have very, very little hope if any at all that they'll do something even interesting™ with this, and I've already seen some speculation on that makes me cringe even further.
BUT. Along with the cringe, I had a Thought, a Vision™, on how they MIGHT be able to make a BG3 TV show. . And have it be Good.
And I wanna share it before we get any more devastating 'news' about how (or, kinda hopefully, if) the show will be made.
Now, I think one of the main reasons most of us are angry and cringing so hard (aside from, you know, the Blatant Cash Grab of a Beloved Franchise™) is that they're probably gonna try to spin it as THE CANONICAL ENDING™. and in the same breath try to both jam in as many references as possible and completely ignore other aspects even if they would have made sense to add to whatever the narrative will be. All of this would be even more compounded if they tried to sell a single Tav/Durge as like, 'The Canonical' one.
So. My Big Vision On How They Could Make A BG3 Show Work is. . . Create a Vignette Series. Vignettes that each have an episode (maybe a few get 2) that focuses on a Different 'Ending'™ and a subsequent potential ramifications.
A few episodes can even feature/have a unique Tav/Durge in the background, but rarely as the main focus character.
Instead, with each episode we focus on a Tadfool (or, occasionally, on an NPC either from the game or even someone brand-new, just like how they want), with another Tadfool or two as a secondary-star in some way, especially if the endings focused on play off each other well.
Each episode is told slightly differently - Maybe one takes place within a single hour, maybe another across multiple years - Maybe one's time is told out of sync, maybe another gets real freaky with the concept of space-time.
Each Episode explores different ramifications, different actions taken throughout the game, getting solid pieces of the characters and themes and eventually coming to a Satisfying Whole™.
Lean into the wild differences, Get Weird with it!
In most episodes we see Wyll in his Devil form, but in one or two we're at the end and he's. Human. Completely. There is no mention of Karlach in those episodes, and a laughing reference between the two leads to show-onlys realizing that he was sent to kill her at the start of the game.
In some episodes Gale is running around in the background doing who knows what (complaining to a barely-listening Minthara about class schedules, running around playing god, slowly losing himself to Netherese research, typical wizard shit), but sometimes he's just. . Not There. Sometimes there's a throw-away line, spoken in muted grief or derision, about how the Wizard blew himself up in Act 2 and it. . Didn't Matter. It didn't change anything.
Have a version that's entirely one of the longer-lived characters looking back on what happened, have a version where a character meets some new and horrible end post-game, or nearly do. Some characters are romantically together in an episode, in others they're friends, others still they can't *stand* each other, actually, good riddance to them post-ending. Any 'uncommon' ship is treated with the same seriousness and weight as the 'popular' ones, and any 'popular' ship is given the same brevity as the uncommon. Most episodes don't have ships at all, and stand w/o that cause we do Not NEED romance, Lol (Either way, info from Origin Runs NEEDS to be used and pulled - Anything romantic translated to platonic as needed - We Cannot ignore the various ways they see each other here, and this would be a perfect time/avenue to explore how they see each other WITHOUT having to worry about romantic player input/priority.)
And through it all, through every weird twist and turn, we explore the themes of the game deeper - Themes of the Cycle of Abuse, and what it means to reject it or embrace it, the reasons why one would do so. Themes of Choice, of the lack thereof. Themes of Surviving Trauma, of dealing with what happened, with what you did, now that things are quiet. Of the actions of others having an undeniable affect on your life, narrowing or broading your choices, depending in part on how you rise to meet it.
For the Tav/Durge possibilities, I can see a Durge with little character. . . Maybe in part cause that vignette is about. . Rediscovering Yourself. After everything one has been through, and how hard they fought to not give in, to not be the puppet others wanted. . . Where do you go, from here? Who are you, if all you really know is what you don't want? If all you can remember doing is submitting or fighting it?
Get META with it!! I can see an episode from the POV of a Tav (who is always called 'Tav', in this case), and it's a First Person POV (Camera as Tav's Eyes/Ears), and it's just. . . Jumping across space/time, getting real trippy with it, various endings and interactions flashing across the screen - sometimes we're with another character for a minute, sometimes just a few seconds - Different choices, different outcomes, different sides - As it goes on we also see flashes of Tav's hands/body, and they're different colors, different sizes - In a version Karlach calls to us as a lover would, in another we've killed her and are standing over her bloody body - In a version we see a white-haired Shart and in another we see her making the Sharan Ending choice in Act 2. POV Tav (Tov? 😂) throughout most of it is anywhere from mildly unsure to desperate and confused, and the episode features themes of Second-Guessing, of wanting to make the Best Choices but at the expense of the Moment, of not wanting to miss out, of wanting to have the best version of the world, of your life, and losing yourself in the process. One one hand it could function as an experimental episode among experimental episodes, an interesting look at different moments throughout the game in a series that focuses mostly on the aftermath, a direct reference to the variations of the game among episodes that are more grounded, and on another it's a call-out and love letter to the save-scummers and those who are, perhaps overly so, concerned wither achieving certain endings, who both see so much but also sometimes miss out on others, with people who struggle with this mindset in their actual lives.
Jumping back to the Tadfools for a moment, it's of utmost importance that each and every one - including each and every one of their endings - is treated seriously, and with weight. The Ascended Astarion ending is treated the same way as the Spawn Astarion ending, for example - Maybe other episodes showcase the other Fools' various reactions, positive and negative, but no single ending is treated as a gag, or even as entirely wrong - We show it, we show ramifications, we show how those endings came to be across that same and in the background of other episodes, and let the audience decide for themselves what they think of what happened, of what they piece together of how so many things branched from a single set of people shoved together and strung along by fate and happenstance.
Like, can you see my vision? And All of this, all the ideas and examples I'm thinking of, probably HAVE been done in some way by so many fan creators. . . And that's a FEATURE!! It's been years, and whether you have played a bit, played ALOT, watched video essays, wrote Self-Insert Fic, consumed ship-fics like there's no tomorrow, liked evey piece of art on Tumblr and Twitter, got 20 commissions done of your Tav/Durge, or even haven't played at all but know almost the entire plot through Tumblr Osmosis and people fighting in the tags of posts, we All in the fandom have thoughts, something or many things to say about the character arcs, about the available endings, about speculated endings and subplots, about themes and core mechanics and what it means to us. To try and sell a narrow, specific version as the only or 'true' one will end in disaster, to do anything but solidly stand on its own feet - if it exists At All - would be an insult to our devotion to this game.
But yeah, I think unique Vignettes would be as close to perfect as you can get (barring a sequel that takes 20+ years to make, that accounts for nearly every game choice and moves on to a whole new story later in the timeline and is its own thing, LOL) - Stand on its own, explore themes, Market itself as a supplemental, an addition to our voices instead of a narrow-viewed cash-grab leaning too heavily on 'traditional' storytelling that would only do the game a disservice.
I think it could be beautiful, essentially a High-Budget Fanfic, an interesting think-piece to add to the conversation. . .
You know. . . I wonder if the reason Astrid and Eadeulf are able to catch themselves so easily is (1, cause of their training/due to them always being alert and such, and 2) because they know Ickithon.
It's too early to tell in the show, but I wonder if they're the ones most often around him - the ones chosen for Big Missions, the ones who are allowed to watch his most desired experiments.
What if they're used to shot going sideways, to dodging the odd disintegration beam, to the harsh blow-ups and bad starts to new spells (as clearly Trent is fond of brute-forcing things until they succeed as he wishes - Like the Voltstruker) - Trent does not care about pain caused, he does not care if others are injured or killed in the name of what he finds worthy.
What if Astrid and Easwulf catch themselves because they are as on guard for lives around their 'master' as they are on high-risk missions.
I have Many Thoughts and just finished watching episode 4 a little while ago, but I don't think I've seen anyone mention this directly just yet. . .
I think what they may be going for w/ Essek Watsonian-wise in how he balked pretty quick (Doylist-wise, like many aspects of the campaign so far, they're condensing things down + I doubt this will be *all* that happens to Essek/his character in even just Season 1) is that the Bad Stuff™ was happening IN FRONT of him.
Now earlier, when he was like 'Hey BQ if we go to war our peeps will be dead for good', my thoughts were that he was mirroring the General-Guy and didn't *actually* give as much of a shit, and that may still be true! But when speed-reading posts earlier I saw someone mention (I forgot who it was, if I find it again I'll add their name in!) that he mighta ACTUALLY been a bit shocked she'd go so far so quick or so, and that may also be part of it.
Either way, while he likely DID decide before screentime that this (Beacon Theft) was worth it and the consequences didn't matter as much as his own goals and that's a huge Ass Move™, I wonder if it was an. . easier decision to make, because it was so distant.
He knows a few people in the Aurora Watch (the General guy (likely not ACTUALLY friends, at least not from Essek's side) and his Bro, if Verin remains unchanged from campaign canon's short depictions), but not many - He feels distant and isolated from the people of his country, why should any of *them* matter more than his Mother, than Dunamancy itself? Everyone is an idiot anyway, following what is clearly not some sort of 'benevolent' god. They walked into the army for this cpuntey, this religion, by their own choice, it doesn't matter.
But then the Bright Queen wants to go to war in days. Not in the near future, not a few weeks, days. A couple of days, literally. And that's her holding back. Even if he didn't care much then, I can see him still being thrown a bit off.
But it's business as usual, then off to the Empire. Off to look into the spoils with Trent.
I've seen a few posts talk about how Essek wouldn't tell him anything. . . (Well, 1, I wonder if while he's still rather close-to-the-vest now, he becomes even MORE so after this fucked-up interaction and any additional bullshit life and his own actions are gonna put him through, Lololllll - and 2) It's like they DID have a talk or multiple before - I dunno if they'll cut Ludinus outta his narrative all-together, if Trent will be the one who worked and convinced him to join in or if he was just part of it, but (Unless I remember wrong XD) Trent brought it up as something Essek mentioned before. While Essek likely didn't IMMEDIATELY blab about his Ma, it's likely this relationship has been building up for months at least if not years. Whether as Essek's main handler, or just a collaborator of the Martinet's, this is Not his first meeting with Trent and Essek likely would have had to feel comfortable enough to be part of the heist.
Until now, that is.
Trent doesn't need him, anymore. Maybe they need him to not blab to the big BQ, but that's held enough in check by Essek not wanting *his* head separated from his neck any time soon. It woulda been nice if Essek was on board w/ all this. . . But he has outlived his use.
But back to my point, Essek was comfortable. He knew of and had at least met Ickithon a few times in the past. He was ready to dive into the Beacon w/ a like-minded ally.
And then the guy gets wheeled in.
This random guy, neither we nor Essek are given any explanation. Essek was ready to collaborate on theory - Ickithon wants to jump right to recreating the 'fluke' of a soul getting sucked in. And that requires a soul.
Essek looks uncomfortable immediately, but ultimately succumbs to pressure (both external and internal - He wouldn't have been picked by the CA for this if any morals would ultimately win out so quickly) and conducts the experiment w/ Ickithon. Continues to experiment, even.
But it's that moment there at the start that is telling, I think. He was Ok w/ the idea, the distant idea, of war. Of soldiers dying. Of there being some sacrifice. But it wouldn't have happened in front of him. He wouldn't have to be the one holding the knife.
I wonder if the Essek we know from the campaign, the 'Shadowhand' we know, was at least partly a front, a mask, and he was hiding how much the consequences of his actions affected him (before his only friends got caught up in it and it became too much) or if. . If over the course of the show, we'll see him harden. Harden further. Double-Down and run away from his actions long before he breaks down in front of the Nein in episode 97.
We see in this episode he is uncomfortable w/ holding the knife himself, he is uncomfortable with seeing the consequences of his actions and working with the people he is working with directly in front of his face. . . We even see him attempt to stand up against Ickithon's madness, subsequently prove he is no longer of use and is indeed an obstruction, and be kicked out from this initial experiment.
We see him uncomfortable with the General finding out about his mother's Typhros, something that only happened cause he left his Mother long enough that the guy came to visit and Essek couldn't intercept. Partly cause Essek wasn't there to prevent it (a consequence of his actions) and cause of the impending war (another consequence of his actions). While the noose isn't tightening *all* the way just yet, and he'll likely be dodging and weaving and lying his ass off to cover it for seasons to come, he IS getting a heaping serving of direct, unavoidable consequences of his actions now, and I suspect his regret (and the consequences) will only grow from here.
Man, just wait until he gets a REAL taste of war.
My guys(gender neutral), I think the real interesting parts are gonna be how he reacts, what he does to cope with something he clearly isn't ready for mentally, emotionally, or morally, and who he becomes more before the Nein even show up in the picture.
I'm soooo excited for the characterization of Everyone™ in the show this far (also also can't wait to see what they do w/ Yasha/how they get her in here!!), but I want to talk about a particular favorite Fjord Moment® of mine.
Specifically, the scene where he sees a kid being bullied. . . and just walks away.
(Heads Up! SPOILERS for Original C2 and maybe?? C3 Campaigns in last section of analysis!!)
Like, on paper that sounds like such a *bad* character choice for someone one would want the audience to be sympathetic to - I fully expected at least a half-hearted/hesitant "Hey, knock it off" or attempt to distract them or something, but imagine my surprise when he just LEAVES.
I immediately Loved it.
I could barely articulate why then, excited as I was, and it's still eluding me somewhat, but I'm gonna try: In addition to the baseline 'I Love It when Character's aren't entirely perfect in their actions/reactions', it feels like. . . Like it shows the depth of how he's been affected by his own past, I think.
I love a good 'bullied character stands up to bullies/refuses to let it continue with someone else' as much as the next kid-that-was-bullied-horribly-for-years-and-years, but this. . . This almost feels *visceral* to me as a reaction.
In chatting with a friend last night, I realized that it connects to what Vandran said earlier, (paraphrasing) how whether or not Fjord can do something rests on his belief as to whether or not he can do so. If he believes he can stand up to the bullies - his own, this kid's - then he can, but if he believes he can't. . .
I'm almost reminded of that idea of trained elephents, how they're tied to a post as kids and can't break away then, though they can easily escape the same rope as adults, they don't cause they remember they couldn't and no longer try. That's what it feels like Fjord is dealing with here, and honestly seems like an issue for many adults who were bullied as children.
A wonderful showing of just how *deeply* he is affected.
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!!!
On top of that, it feels like the scene later in episode 3 - the one where the kid is crying during the attack in the tent and Fjord steps up and tells him it'll be alright - is *not* quite a counterpoint to this. In ep. 3, this is Life Or Death™. The scene in episode 2, while damaging and horrible and *potentially* deadly in a way that feels far-off way until it would actually happen™, is not the same.
It's still *related*, and a friend of mine pointed out that it's Fjord Stepping Into™ what he wants to be, and I absolutely agree (A bit of a 'fake it til you make it', it almost feels!!)
But I feel this related more Directly to something Caduceus says to Fjord in the show (I forgot when, and whether or not it was C2 or C3, but); He said something along the lines about how the Gods don't interfere w/ people directly, but rather indirectly, through the people who follow them. How one day, someone will pray for help, and Fjord will be the one there, the one who answers.
That scene in episode 2 feels like the starting counterpart - That little kid, likely similar a smol Fjord, likely wanted someone *anyone* to help, or at least would have 'given up' alot more recently than Fjord had. They would have their life SO improved if someone did, both of them. Fjord had a chance to help here, but let it slip by in his own learned helplessness, a feeling beat into him for near *decades.*
He's still learning - Vandran took him under his wing, but in my experience and the experience of many that kind of help takes a Long While to seep in and be believable, especially if you spent so long believing it wasn't - He's gonna fuck up still, he's got alot to learn and many challenges coming up. . .
But one day, he *is* going to be the one who answers the call, the one who shows up when people need help, when the pray to be saved.
It's going to take him time to get there, and I am so looking forward to seeing him grow into that role and choose it.
I woke up at 2am to watch the show as it dropped and I LOVE IT SO FAR, I HAVE *SO* MANY THOUGHTS. . .
But one of them is (EPISODE 2 SPOILERS), assuming Verin Does™ exist in the animated show universe. . . Then *Damn*, Essek really got a picture up that's just him and his ma alone in the most prominent space in the room, huh? XD
I dunno, something about the deliberate choice to have a portrat w/o *anyone* else in the family in sight in the main room/the room where it seems his Ma spends alot her time. . . And it's not even recent!! It was from back when he was a smol kid!! Before Verin was even born, perhaps?? If they have at least an 8-10 year difference?? There HAVE to be more recent ones. . . Man, not even his DAD is in it, it's just him and his ma.
I suddenly had the thought that if you actually put Essek's show description against the beginning of his description from the Wildemount guide, in some regard they actually align surprisingly well:
Just over a hundred and twenty years old and still within his first life, Essek is a prodigy who displays an unprecedented talent for the manipulation of dunamis energy. Essek is both respected and feared for his intelligence and cunning, and he carefully plots each step he takes to further his and his Den's climb up the hierarchy of the dynasty.
(EGTW page 41)
Essek Thelyss is a Kryn elf and elite spy for the Dynasty. He will stop at nothing to protect the ones he loves.
(IGN)
Though Essek is positioned as uncaring about much of his family, he has from the beginning cared at the very least about their position and status, not only of his own. His are certainly tied to the den, so it makes sense to care about that, but both he and they are already quite prominent, so I do think this can be interrogated for deeper meaning, especially considering that we know in the canon of the campaign that the methods by which he wants to do this do involve further research into dunamis and the Luxon beyond what is currently allowed.
Of course, during the campaign Matt did describe him out of game as a black sheep of his family, but that always kind of butted up against the fact that he does seem to at least be in the den's good graces enough that he has a prominent position and social and political prestige. And this is not to say that this is a contradiction, but it is indicative of a more complex relationship than simply being the odd one out would suggest.
But even in the campaign, his concerns about the beacons being misused and consecution having impacts that aren't clear and may be worse than realized (concerns that aren't even entirely misguided, given what we know about typhros) do suggest at least an inkling of care about his family, even if that is limited to very specific members of it; on a very simplistic level, if he was only in it for his own power, he could've left the Dynasty with the beacons himself and probably been better off in terms of personal gain. But this suspicion about consecution, something he has not opted to undertake, underlies more care than he ever wants to let on.
As much as he claims not to have cared much about his role in whatever circumstances caused his father's death, there is some depth there that does contradict his callousness, or he wouldn't have thought about it hard enough to mention it. We do know for certain that he cares for his brother a great deal, even risking detection in order to stay in touch with him. Beyond that, we don't really know anything further about his relationship to other members of his family, but this alone suggests that it is not as clear cut as he would perhaps like to make it sound.
Obviously the EGTW, the campaign, and the animated series all exist in three distinct canons, and it remains to be seen how much they overlap. But given the amount of new material that we may get about Essek's life in the Dynasty that we don't have from the previous canons, I think it is interesting to consider them as iterations of each other—echoes, even—and when considered in conversation, I don't feel that this new description is as incongruous as it might initially feel.
So I just listened to the first ~40 minutes of c2e4 while doing somethings, just to get a headstart on tomorrow's (Today's, when I post this XD) episode. . . And I have a Many Post Ideas™ about but this one first.
(EDIT: Bsjsksk it was SUPPOSED to be first, but my schedules posts didn't work right - Please know I typed this up first XD)
!! Spoiler Warning for people who don't know PC Backstories/Caleb's History yet!!
Let's talk about Caleb talking to Toya in the boat.
Cause like, at first he's trying to get information (very wizard™ of him, imo, but also very 'on the run' wizard where knowing information and the keeping of certain strains of it are very important) - I feel this is not only to get a more full picture, but also to feel out how to proceed w/ Toya - How innocent is she in this? Was she mind-controlled? Was it more mundane manipulation?
He allows the others to explain the situation, he asks how she grew close to him after she says 'he was my friend'/the most emotional response thus-far in this point in the conversation, 'What did you talk about?', all with a sympathetic pained expression as he listens.
Alot of early-Caleb from what I've seen so far is trying to suss things out and decide best courses of action at almost every given turn - Carrying this on, his next part I feel is partly manipulation; The sympathy may be real to one extent or another, but what they/what he ultimately decides they need is for Toya to cooperate and I feel he's usin' that Charisma stat to try and secure her for that purpose (RIP that 6 tho XD)
This is all fun and good, but It's What he says at the start that brings me the most pause - He says, 'People we feel we know. . can be someone else.' - He continues on more towards manipulation, pushing gently to the forefront what he feels she needs to focus on (staying with the rest of the circus), but at that line I wonder. . .
What is he thinking about, when he says that? At first I stopped what I was doing and was like, '!!! His Parents? Does he mean his Parents??' Cause like, Yes, he knows now that those memories were false. . But still, it musta been something to 'realize' your parents were against the very country you are giving up so much to protect and serve.
But then I wondered. Is he thinking of his Parents, or perhaps Ickithon, who he thought of likely as a strict but ultimately Good teacher who also wanted the best for the Empire, wanted the best out of him for this noble cause?
Or was he thinking of himself, seen by his parents as their little spark, who was moving up in the world and loved them dearly. . . Only for him to mercilessly trap and burn them within the very home they raised him in?
