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mulderscully

DOCTOR WHO | 1.13

#doctor who

bitchvirgo

my kink is being a meaningful part of someone’s life

#text

critrolesource

CRITICAL ROLE: CAMPAIGN 4 Episode 26: Council of Heroes

I adore the one floppy ear and one pointy ear. So precious.

#wildlife

violetcarlin

Thoughts on the latest episode of Critical Role c4 that are rolling around in my head tonight.

Obviously one of the larger threads in this campaign is how the concept of nobility and separated classes is bullshit and a constant invitation to strife. But while the machinations of the Tachonis and the Halovar and everyone else are good examples of that, I don't think there's any better, more stark example than Maya Davinos.

Because the thing is, she has a point, in the society they've been living in! To maintain power, the nobility must breed. Aranessa has failed Royce and their vassals in the way that noble society thinks matters. And given that all of the Sundered Houses are sorcerous bloodlines, there's something very real to be passed down from parent to child! And now Maya has lost a husband and is about to lose a daughter, and probably a son as well, and to her mind none of it would have happened if her liege hadn't been a romantic fool and had played the game properly.

But having a point inside the story doesn't mean she's right. In fact, her speech to Julien was Brennan telling us the main thesis the PCs are fighting against, at the core of it.

Because blood doesn't mean shit, outside of passing down magical ability. They want so desperately to believe that it makes them special, that it makes them better. Because without the Shapers, all they have is money and magic. So the Sundered Houses and their vassals do everything they can to hoard the money, the influence, to outlaw types of magic that might show the world that their blood is nothing special.

Everyone is supposed to stay in their boxes. The orcs were supposed to keep serving Azgra no matter how much pain he caused them. The commoners amongst the humans, elves, etc were supposed to accept that some of them might have to be given to Azgra to make things right. If the people at Castle Torch are all just as good, just as noble as Julien, then what does that say about the difference between them and the Davinos family. If there's no difference, then everything that the nobility has worked so hard to keep has meant nothing, and most of them will never be ready to realize that.

The only way the nobility keeps their power is by hoarding money/magic and continuing to produce children of their blood. Our PCs are fighting to prove that neither of those things mean jack shit, like all good revolutionaries. Julien could marry Ingrid or some other noblewoman and produce a kid like his mother wants, but that's not going to bring back the glory days she wants. And she's probably smart enough to know that, but she's also smart enough to know that doing so is the only way to hold onto even a sliver of the power they've had in the past. And the story Brennan and the players are telling - almost certainly, knowing what I know about them all - is the story of how all that power can mean nothing if the people you're holding down actually band together and rise up.

#critical role

batsandboba

“scientists don’t want you know” is a phrase that always cracks me up because if you actually meet a scientist they will be shaking and crying like an overstimulated chihuahua with the need to let you know

#text

pointnclick

"we live in an uncaring universe." sorry the special planet full of beauty and animals and food literally growing out of the ground isnt good enough for you. i guess

#text