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Hello and welcome to the Legend of Vox Machina, where a bunch of nerdy rear end voice actors hosed around and launched a multimillion dollar multimedia empire because they play dungeons and dragons. The series can be found on Amazon Prime with new episodes dropping on Thursdays. (OP updated for season 2) What is the show like? It's adult animation of fantasy adventures - so bawdy jokes, magic, big rear end weapons, dragons, excessive blood and gore, and interpersonal dynamics within a group. The sort of show that has a song about anal beads and an extended arc showing the collateral damage from a monomanical focus on revenge. And guns. There's more heart and drama than you'd expect from an adult animated comedy, and also more effort than you'd expect put into the dickjokery. Is it good? The first season was extremely well reviewed, certified fresh with a 100% tomatometer and 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes (the first episodes are a bit rough, think more Train Job than the original Pilot of Firefly). Screeners for the second season have received similar praise thus far. It's not funny enough to stand on its own as a comedy (e.g. Archer) nor thoughtprovoking and meticulously crafted enough to stand alone as a serious work (e.g. (I'm told) Invincible). It does a solid job of finding that center, though, a whole greater than the sum of its parts. The only thinkpieces it'll generate are meta (the process of the kickstarter, the adaptation of hundreds of hours of source material, gender dynamics in the nerd community), but I find it an enjoyable middlebrow animated series that manages to punch out of its weight class with some regularity. This is based on some podcast stream right? Do I need to have seen it? The overwhelming verdict from the first season is no past knowledge of the hundreds of hours of Critical Role that this is based on is necessary. The biggest thing I noticed from responses in thread is that streamwatchers found certain characters less grating and certain moments less selfindulgent than those who came in blind. Personally, I love seeing the reactions and takes of everyone who hasn't seen the stream, so please if you do give this show a shot! I suspect you'll be able to jump into Season 2 without having seen Season 1 (will update this take as needed) Season One (plot spoilers below) ended with a cataclysmic attack on a major city by a group of dragons. From reviews and interviews, Season 2 will deal with the aftermath of that attack and the question of how you defeat an undefeatable foe. Season 3 has already been greenlit. Season 1 recap: Vox Machina gets into a bar fight, bickers, and nearly gives up on being a ragtag group of misfits before finding a bounty poster and going off to defeat the beast ravaging the countryside. It goes poorly, with Keyleth panicking and freezing before saving everyone's lives from a dragon. Well, everyone in Vox Machina. The plucky young children we meet earlier in the episode? Of course they're dead. Their deaths spur Vox Machina to fight the dragon and, after a brief investigaton and through a blend of trickery and selfawareness, defeat it. But not before it warns that dragons will usurp men as rulers. Hailed as heroes and protectors of the city, Vox Machina are granted a castle and invited to a banquet, where they meet the Briarwoods. Lord Sylas and Lady Delilah Briarwood are sexy and supernaturally powerful rulers of Whitestone, Percy's ancestral home. We come to learn they rule the city because they viciously murdered Percy's entire* family. In a fight outside the soiree, Vox Machina gets their collective asses kicked but Vax, whilst dodging a threesome, manages to steal a book of great import from the couple. Percy also goes positively batshit. Under house arrest in the castle, many characters share their deepest struggles until Delilah's undead servants come and start killing the guards (and crushing Vox Machina) in search of the stolen book. With teamwork, and some surprisingly powerful magic from Keyleth, they manage to defeat the ghouls(?) and are freed from their imprisonment on a mission to rid Whitestone and the realm of the Briarwoods. Pike stays back, because she's a cleric struggling to connect with her patron and must undergo secret mountain training in a temple. Along the way, the group begins decoding the book and find reference to They learn Percy's younger sister Cassandra is alive and being held by the Briarwoods and that Percy's childhood friend is leading a rebellion against them. Episodes cover the swath of revenge Percy carves through the Briarwood cronies who tormented his family and he becomes notably more demonic with each revenge murder. I'm sure this will end fine. The Briarwoods raise an undead army and appear to have the rebellion and our heroes beat until Pike returns* and uses her holy power to kill the army. The Briarwoods, we come to learn, became servants of notVecna when Delilah sought to save Sylas' life many years prior and are going to use the ziggeraut to bring about his return. A chase/dungeon crawl ensues and Cassandra betrays Vox Machina for the Briarwoods, only somewhat due to mind control. Keyleth kills Sylas, Percy battles a fearsomely literal representation of his inner demons, they stop Delilah's rite, and a De Rolo returns to power in Whitestone as Cassandra takes the throne. Vox Machina return home victorious and the season ends with the surprise dragon attack and seeming fulfillment of the first dragon's warning. Official ships as of the end of S1: Pike & Scanlan (we don't feel great about it) Vax & Keyleth Vex & Percy Character and Cast intros and the original OP in the next post! Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Jan 19, 2023 |
# ¿ Jan 27, 2022 10:30 |
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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 10:34 |
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Who are these heroes? If you have ale, then you have a friend in Grog Strongjaw. A goliath barbarian has an appetite for the two great loves in his life: combat, women, and ale. Don't be fooled by his towering size and intimidating demeanor, Grog is lowkey the brains of the group and is often consulted by his friends for his vast knowledge of shapes, colors, and shiny things. Please be aware that he would like to rage. Grog was created and is voiced by Travis Willingham, best known for voicing Roy on Full Metal Alchemist and Thor in everything ever. He is the CEO of Critical Role Productions and husband of Laura Bailey. What is a fearsome barbarian without his little friend? A cleric of Sarenrae, Pike Trickfoot is the healer of the group and found out the hard way that sometimes healers need some help of their own. Though she was brought back from the clutches of death, the journey has left some scars on the bright and sunny healer--- a bit more violent, a bit more aggressive, a bit more willing to look the other way for some of her less... devout... companions. Pike was created and is voiced by Ashley Johnson who I recognize as Gretchen Grundler from Disney's Recess but you would better know as Ellie from Last of Us, Patterson from Blindspot, Chrissy Seaver from Growing Pains or the titular lead from the cult favorite CBS sitcom You've Got Gale (canceled after 4 episodes, it was the Firefly of the 80s. Gag us with a spoon, CBS!). Vax'ildan is the party's cunning halfelf rogue and resident sadboi. An outsider since birth, Vax quickly learned to solve life's challenges in his own particular way, often by sidestepping them entirely. And when his knack for circumventing adversity isn't enough, the way of blades the elves schooled him in more than makes up the difference. Which blades? His first choice is always dagger. Dagger is his second favorite, and when pressed, he will sometimes instead choose dagger. Vax was created and is voiced by Liam O'Brien who was Gaara on Naruto, Akihiko Sanada in Persona 3, Caius Ballad in Final Fantasy and hundreds of other characters on a bunch of things I don't watch or play. He also voice directs all of the things. Obnoxiously named twin sister of Vax, Vex'halia is the halfelf ranger in the crew. Whereas Vax took to the cities, stealing small trinkets and learning the ways of the thief, Vex kept to the woods. She preferred the isolation. Always the keen observer, she learned to hunt and to track, to spy, and to shoot. And through a series of fateful events, earned herself a companion in the form of a bear—her own stolen Trinket—to fight alongside her and protect her fiercely. Vex was created and is voiced by Laura Bailey, who broke into the industry as Kid Trunks in DBZ (which his how she met her husband, Travis Willingham. I feel as though this would make a better plot for HIMYF, a show that I have never watched), Abby in Last of Us 2, Black Widow in most things Marvel, Rise Kujikawa in Persona 4, female protagonist in Persona 3 Portable and also all of the women in all of the other games and anime that have ever been made. Percy was created and is voiced by Talesin Jaffe, an immortal vampire best known as Kenny from Mr Mom and She's the Sheriff, Uldric from Pillars of Eternity, and is also that middle aged goth guy that always seems to vanish when you try to get a closer look. Naive, petite, shy, self-conscious, and socially awkward, Keyleth's image camouflages the beast within. Literally. As the party's Druid, Keyleth will shape herself into nearly any beast once combat begins. Keyleth has been groomed for leadership in her elemental Keyleth was created and is voiced by Marisha Ray, who has a relatively light voice actor background compared to the rest of the cast-I know her best/exclusively as Margaret from Persona 4. Her corporate role seems to have picked up the pace a year earlier than her colleagues, at least in a publicfacing way: She serves as creative director of Critical Role Productions, making her generally responsible for making good on all of the potential benefits of CR separating itself from Geek and Sundry/Legendary at first opportunity in 2019-with a hand in content production and selection, set design, and generally wrangling the herd of cats necessary to at least kind of professionalize the behemoth that grew from "i guess put a camera on us and we'll play and see if anyone watches" to "twitch's top earning channel" without losing the charm or the enjoyable dynamic for the cast/owners. She's married to DM Matt Mercer (who created drat near every character not listed here), which is as close as you can come to wedding the Internet's Boyfriend without actually marrying Garrus. Oh, you haven't heard of Scanlan Shorthalt? Well, gird your loins, ladies, because he has his eye on you. A talented musician, master of disguise, and dashingly handsome in his own mind, Scanlan sings songs almost as much as he sings his own praises. Born Scanlan was created and is voiced by Emmy Award Winner Sam Riegel (hosed up that it's his legal name), best known as the voice of Donatello from TMNT, Tristan's original voice (RIP) from Yu-Gi-Oh, Teddie from Persona 4, and as a voice director in so many goddamn things. When you hear famous guests in Legends of Vox Machina, it's because Sam directed them once in something (Ducktales, usually). Trinket, Vex's bear, is a vehicle for DM Matthew Mercer (overwatch, persona, pillars of eternity, fallout, all of the things) to make surprisingly expressive and evocative bear sounds. Expert back massager. Unwitting sworn enemy of Scanlan Shorthalt. ( Original OP: What is this? An adult animated series condensing hundreds of hours of live, streamed D&D into 4 hours of animated bliss with another season to come. They drink. They gently caress. One sings. They kill enemies and themselves in violent and gory and fishy fashion. In the end, it's a story about a group of unlikely heroes and the friendship they develop while going up against their most stubborn foe: Doors, and later... a chair (that may once have been a door). Is it good? Do I have to have watched the hundreds of hours of Critical Role to enjoy it? "No!" according to the thread, friends, reviewers and the internet. Please join us! Selfishly I'm excited to see the reactions of anyone who hasn't poured literally weeks of their lives into watching Campaign 1 and how you feel about the characters and the stories and all of the things! How did this happen? There was a kickstarter to fund like, a half hour animated special and um, things escalated quickly. To the tune of a 2 season order from Amazon. The cast all has extensive voice acting experience, in gaming, in American cartoons, and in anime dubs. This experience has led to connections with character designer Phil Bourassa(from DC's Young Justice), guest cast like David Tenn Character and Cast intros in the next post! Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Jan 19, 2023 |
# ¿ Jan 27, 2022 10:31 |
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lemonadesweetheart posted:Someone good at time zones tell me is it after midnight PST now? Did you mean it drops on 29th? I'm confused because I expected this to be up by now.
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# ¿ Jan 27, 2022 11:06 |
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Hef Deezy posted:Thank you for making the thread, but is it possible to edit Marisha's bio to not focus so much on how angry some dudes got at her existence 5 years ago? I don't feel like I've seen that sentiment for a while now, and it kinda seems like an overly negative way to introduce her to newcomers... In my defense all sense of editing had left my brain by that point. On it! E: and done! I'm accepting any and all other feedback or notes. I'll likely swap out the character art for better examples as they arise in show! Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Jan 27, 2022 |
# ¿ Jan 27, 2022 22:04 |
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Dameius posted:I'm surprised you're not giving Laura the nod for voicing Kid Trunks in DBZ. I guess she's done bigger by now but that was the big credit she was known for when CR started annnd its the credit that got her and Travis together.
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# ¿ Jan 27, 2022 23:33 |
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Rougey posted:Midnight GMT* and it's up, thankfully - it's 11am in Australia and I shifted a meeting so I could watch.
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# ¿ Jan 28, 2022 01:25 |
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One episode in:
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# ¿ Jan 28, 2022 02:16 |
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Episode 2: the conclavw rug in the magic room
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# ¿ Jan 28, 2022 02:30 |
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Dexo posted:God Talesin put his foot in episode 3 Absolutely stellar. Also I knew where Beads was going from the jump and still ' Craven's Edge!!! Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Jan 28, 2022 |
# ¿ Jan 28, 2022 02:55 |
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Escobarbarian posted:I enjoyed the first three episodes but I also got the feeling it’s very impressed with itself about being a fantasy series with swears and sex jokes even though it’s far from a unique idea and a lot of them aren’t all that funny. Also hoping that we don't have more Scanlan rapping. Escobarbarian posted:The lead characters are mostly real cool, but I definitely started to sour on the bard somewhere around the second anal beads joke.
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# ¿ Jan 28, 2022 17:34 |
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I'm going to rewatch as a part of the twitter watch party with Fanology tonight (4:30pm PT and they better actually mean pacific time this time) https://mobile.twitter.com/FANologyPV/status/1486868827610574852 On rewatch there'll be 2 main things I'll be looking for:
2 thread questions:
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# ¿ Jan 28, 2022 18:10 |
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hollylolly posted:I believe that was a dragonborn. She had a snout. Nemo2342 posted:Early Vox Machina are pretty lovely people at the start, and 70+ hours to get to a part where they go from jackasses to jackasses who actually mean well is a tough sell. Silynt posted:I haven’t watched yet so I don’t know how well it ties in, but sight unseen I do think that it was a mistake to start with 2 disconnected episodes before getting to the main season arc. Seems like it could turn off people who don’t know that there’s a longer and presumably more interesting story arc incoming. The intent pretty clearly seemed to be to introduce the world and Vox Machina's place in it prior to getting to the Briarwood arc. I'm guessing those ITT who didn't see campaign 1 have no idea that 75+ hrs of stream content gets skipped over between killing the dragon and meeting the briarwoods in the closing minutes of episode 2--so they link it together well enough. With that said, I'm not sure how well they did with making new viewers care about the characters and Percy in particular, which is largely the point of pilots that don't dive straight into the big story (Train Job vs Serenity in Firefly was for years the goto example of the difference). It is funny you raise it as being disconnected from the main story arc since (Season... 2? I think? spoilers)It goes well out of its way to set up the chroma conclave arc. It's the sort of planning you can do when you start with a 2 season order. I'm curious if there'll be a Bojackish reevaluation of the first couple episodes after the Conclave arc plays out, since I do think that groundwork contributes mightily to the pacing problems
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# ¿ Jan 29, 2022 01:29 |
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^^^Underdark arc was worth it for Clarota ApeHawk posted:As someone who has never watched C1, how close is this show to the source material so far? Obviously some stuff has been changed for storytelling reasons, but I'd love to know if it remains faithful in any way. The first two episodes are pre-stream, so not much to say other than it meshes with the descriptions cast have previously given of that arc and the dragon's battle. On the stream, Percy is given a heads up in advance that the Briarwoods will be at the feast and attends disguised as Vax (while Vax does espionage poo poo and other things including sneaking in to the bedroom with disastrous consequences) I love Tal's reaction to the Briarwoods first coming up https://mobile.twitter.com/ArseQueef/status/1487245284237271040 (Flashbacks to the cast all looking younger af and the hideous Geek and Sundry set) "You look delicious", selfdefenestration, birdKeyleth, Vax getting knocked out, and a lot of negating attacks made it in to the scene. On stream, Vax is revived by Scanlan, the Briarwoods flee unsuccessfully a couple of times and Vox Machina aren't arrested (but are asked to come back the next morning). Driver still gets hosed up by Percy.
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# ¿ Jan 29, 2022 05:37 |
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Robobot posted:Awesome! Gonna watch the first three episodes sometime this weekend! What are the spoiler rules in here? Is it open discussion about the YouTube stuff or is this a new story they’re doing just for the show? The first two episodes are a canon story that happened before the youtube/stream started... so like adapting a star wars EU novel? Not new but it's a relatively small set of fans who knew anything about it. To the best of our knowledge, everything beginning in Ep 3 is adapted directly from major plot arcs in the stream with some tweaks, changes, and time jumps. With that said, if you're feeling ambivalent after two, know that the consensus of the reviewers (who saw through 6) is that if you liked episode 3 more than the first 2, stick around through next week If people geeking out about a character's first appearance or being inexplicably excited about someone's weapon will lessen your enjoyment because it hints that it'll be something important to come in the future, you may want to skip the thread. But thus far we've not seen anything like "it's really cool that character accidentally attacks his teammate this way because that's how he'll eventually kill her when he betrays the group later" Either way, welcome and I selfishly hope you stay and because it's awesome to hear the thoughts of people whose first exposure to this world and these loveable fuckups is the cartoon! Hollismason posted:Overall I liked this show and I have limited exposure to Critical Role , only learning about it here on the forums. Its good though the first 3 episodes are good.
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# ¿ Jan 29, 2022 21:11 |
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Philthy posted:Otherwise, we'd hear Grog wanting to "get angry" instead of rage. Or Scanlan casting "purple hand" instead of "Bigby's Hand" etc. In other news, a reminder that there's a Twitch Watch Party at 7pm PT tomorrow (Tuesday 2/1) with the cast -- which could provide that live broadcast feel for anyone looking to watch/rewatch together. I don't know that I'll be able to make it, but wanted to mention it to anyone interested. Depending on how that goes and when the next tranche of episodes actually hit Prime, may ask someone (you there, Ath?) to change the thread title to include something like "Release Thurs Night, Watch Party following Tues"
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# ¿ Feb 1, 2022 00:56 |
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Also apparently the storyboard team was bored early during production. I'd watch a feature length documentary on the how and why of this gorgeous piece of art. https://mobile.twitter.com/Kenyu05/status/1488289600002949125 Eta: also thriller https://mobile.twitter.com/Kattakind/status/1488317076682903553 Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 04:21 on Feb 1, 2022 |
# ¿ Feb 1, 2022 03:55 |
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CAST WATCH PARTY STREAMING ON TWITCH HOSTED BY MICA BURTON NOWWWW i may just gdt/tviv it E: Sam making Mica regret hosting immediately Tinydryad posted:I've played some D&D but not lots. I liked the show! My husband and I laughed at the jokes, and speculated about what spells they were using. I'm looking forward to more. Robobot posted:Maybe it's just because the actual character backstories and main storyline haven't kicked off yet, but my goodness everything about the main cast is amazingly generic. Maybe that's on purpose (I know they're based on a bunch of friends goofing off in a D&D game) and I'm assuming they'll be fleshed out a lot more as the series goes on. Dragon episodes weren't really doing it for me, but I did like the dinner party episode because it felt like something was starting to happen. Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Feb 2, 2022 |
# ¿ Feb 2, 2022 03:58 |
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Ultimate Mango posted:So, Twitch Watch Parties work on desktop machines and iPads but not AppleTV for some reason? Ugh.
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# ¿ Feb 2, 2022 04:55 |
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Whenever Tiberius isn't on screen, the other characters should be asking "where's Tiberius?" and the answer should be that "he's attempting to buy every mirror in the city and painstakingly role-playing all of his mundane errands before he discovers his planet needs him and he has to go".
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# ¿ Feb 3, 2022 15:12 |
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CuwiKhons posted:it's Orion's worst showing by far and it's wildly uncomfortable to watch. Dameius posted:Travis (Grog) hates shopping episodes and Orion would spotlight steal by going on exceptionally long solo shopping adventures and towards the end it looked like Travis was struggling to keep composure on camera during them. just an excerpt of the cast's reaction to a small portion of Orion's errands that episode posted:ORION: Can we infuse a Fog spell with a Sleep spell? Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 16:38 on Feb 3, 2022 |
# ¿ Feb 3, 2022 16:35 |
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In non intracast drama news.... new episodes tonight, right??
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# ¿ Feb 3, 2022 16:37 |
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lemonadesweetheart posted:Is it Friday yet... Well played I'm hoping that it drops at midnight GMT like the first week did..maybe? Something to get me through this hell day and knee deep into the briarwood arc??
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# ¿ Feb 3, 2022 17:22 |
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A clip from tonight's episode. That's a steep tonal shift and I am so excited https://mobile.twitter.com/CriticalRole/status/1489285464259325953
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# ¿ Feb 3, 2022 20:14 |
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Yeah they are I do really love them sprinkling Your Turn To Roll throughout.
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 01:24 |
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Ashley is way too drat good at playing heartbreaking. Love leaning more into her and Grog's dynamic
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 01:32 |
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Creepy poo poo incoming indeed
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 01:35 |
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eke out posted:e4 written by ashly burch, cool Oh no! Percy! Someone save him
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 01:36 |
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loving Blindspot man
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 01:43 |
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For those who didn't watch the stream: Vex is notoriously cheap zippertwat
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 01:52 |
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Holy poo poo they're going to actually do the sun tree
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 02:00 |
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Jesus they really nailed the horror of that moment
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 02:09 |
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loving Gina Torres, man.
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 02:17 |
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Holy poo poo the planning sequence
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 02:22 |
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Push El Burrito posted:The worthless, worthless planning sequences. Sorry, can't hear you over Minxie
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 02:30 |
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Fluffer And I can not stress this enough NUTTER This trio of episodes was so loving good
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 02:33 |
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Robobot posted:I’m glad I stuck with it. These last three episodes were much better than the first three. Robobot posted:Edit edit: Thread question I can't be bothered to look up: 1. With the episode ending on the burning building in the distance and the resistance rising up does that mean we're not getting scanbo?? Or do I have my timelines off? Lotus Aura posted:I feel like while episode 3 was where the show stopped being bad, episode 4 is where it actually started being good. Like it properly hit its stride at last. I'm really pretty happy with how all the relationships are being handled thus far. And that Pike is on screen and not at NBC!
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 03:49 |
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As an example of a moment that the stream's format really made hit, and how well they translated it to the show. https://mobile.twitter.com/dinasbracelet_/status/1489403690243010560 And the video format all cued up: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yE27NwtXjPY&t=9553s The way the horror spreads across the cast as they cotton on at different moments and how much glee Matt takes from it is just fantastic. It's Vax, Vex, Grog left to right across the top and Percy, Keyleth, Scanlan on your bottom screen. CuwiKhons posted:Your timeline's off. VM killed Kerrion Stonefell as a group but then they split up to hit Duke Vedmeyer and Count Tylieri's house at the same time. Scanbo was him vs Vedmeyer.
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 04:07 |
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Robobot posted:I tried watching this, since I figured a good well liked scene might be more indicative of the show instead of watching "the worst episode ever" and making a decision. Still extremely not my thing. Never got into Let's Plays or anything either, so I think watching people play non-competitive games just isn't something I find interesting. Push El Burrito posted:The best kills scene was very good. It had Hotis and the duergar that Keyleth slowly murdered and the bulette Grog bit the tongue off of.
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 15:25 |
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^^Escobarbarian posted:My main issue is that I feel like there’s very little if anything in here that feels like it really came from the characters improvising or loving around. Like it doesn’t feel like a podcast adaptation at all, it just feels like something that was scripted normally, with all the jokes feeling like…..regular scripted jokes.
lemonadesweetheart posted:It was never going to be what you wanted. Circling back to a comment I made last week after the first 3: Paracaidas posted:On rewatch there'll be 2 main things I'll be looking for: Paracaidas fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Feb 4, 2022 |
# ¿ Feb 4, 2022 17:55 |
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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 10:34 |
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https://mobile.twitter.com/EmmaFyffe/status/1490756354729865218 While one can only get so drunk during a half hour episode, also play with caution.
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# ¿ Feb 7, 2022 20:54 |