I’m going to start by saying that in my brain this article started with how different shows have different fans and how the fanbase can add or detract from the enjoyment of a thing. It quickly turned into the story about how Critical Role changed my life and became one of my favorite things on the planet – and how that was just as much about the people involved in the show as the content of the show itself.
Where to begin? I guess I should start by telling you a little bit about my current obsession (and the subject of this article) – Critical Role. It’s a show on Geek & Sundry’s Twitch channel about a bunch of nerdy voice actors who play D&D together (Dungeons & Dragons for all the non-nerds in the room). Each episode seems like a commitment as they range anywhere between 3-5 hrs long, but as they say, “Time flies when you’re having fun”. I don’t think I’ve ever watched an episode that felt like it dragged, even a little. The show is a ton of fun. You can tell that even the cast is having a blast. There have been many nights where even though it was getting late and some of them had early call times for other projects, they still get disappointed when they have to wrap up for the week. This is thanks in equal parts to the fact they are all a bunch of friends getting paid to have fun, and their DM Matthew Mercer is a great storyteller. This last fact is another part of the reason episodes fly by, despite their lengthiness.
Now that I’ve given you an idea what the show is about and how much I love it, I would like to talk about their fanbase (or Critters as we call ourselves). Critters are some of the best group of people on the internet. They have formed a community that communicates on a Facebook fan page as well as their own subreddit. Every week on Thursday night they gather together to watch the show and talk about what’s happening. True there will always be some bad eggs on the internet, but for the most part they are the kindest and most supportive group of fans I’ve ever met. It got me thinking about the last thing I obsessed over – Doctor Who. Don’t get me wrong, I’m probably one of the few people left on the planet that has zero complaints about this show, but the fans have never been the best. Maybe it’s just the negative ones are louder in this group where the positive Critters rise to the top in that circle, but I definitely have noticed way more negativity in the DW community than the Critter nation. Thinking about this made me appreciate the Critters even more, because it’s so rare to see a bunch of strangers be this nice to each other.
I want to close with one last reason I appreciate CR so much, and that is the effect the positivity surrounding it has had on the fans’ lives. I know that when I’m having a bad mental health day my first thought is to throw on an episode of CR. They recently put together a fan video where people sent in snippets of what Crit Role meant to them, and I was brought to tears at how many people said it literally saved their lives. This community has given people with no hope something to look forward to and a reason to keep going – one week at a time. That in itself is amazing, but what’s even greater is how much the cast truly cares about the fans and are truly happy to be making a difference. Obviously this was not their intention going in, but now that they see how much power they have to make a difference they actually try to use that to make good things happen. Whether it’s a charity drive during a stream or reaching out on social media, these people don’t just hide from the world when they’re not on stream. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside to know there’s this thing that connects a bunch of strangers in a positivite way, and that there’s a corner of the internet where a majority of people don’t suck. Times being what they are, this is needed now more than ever. With that I have only one thing to ask:
Is it Thursday yet?