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Monday Musings: Mighty Nein Edition

This week will see the end of campaign 2 of Critical Role, so I wanted to take a look back at the Mighty Nein and their journey. There will be many spoilers for all of campaign 2 and some for campaign 1. You have been warned. 

When the campaign first started I will admit that I had a hard time connecting to these characters. Campaign 1 meant a lot to me, but I’ve seen them play one shots and loved those too. I think the problem was that they spend a very long time keeping secrets and not trusting each other. When Molly died there were tears, sure, but I didn’t feel as deeply upset as when Percy or Vex died in C1 (and those characters were able to be revived). Over time I did start becoming more attached and invested, but it took a long time. I think right before when the peace negotiations were underway is when I started really getting into things, followed by Traveler Con to the end. Basically Laura Bailey won d&d with a cupcake, and Jester won my heart. 

credit: @LadyShinga

After that there are so many great moments. Caleb gave a great speech to Essek which I wrote a whole piece on because it was THAT GOOD. (I posted it on twitter but never here. Maybe that can be a bonus post later this week.) We got to see who the Traveler really was and meet Keyleth’s mom. Two great ships sailed that I was hoping for (Fjord/Jester and Yasha/Beau). And then there was Lucien. 

When Lucien first rose from Molly’s grave the entire fandom got excited at the idea of Molly coming back. Personally I loved the idea of them having to fight Lucien and come to terms with the fact Molly was gone, and worried the fandom would react poorly to this storyline. Last week was the Boss Battle with Lucien, and a failed attempt at a resurrection seemed to have the story end with Molly at peace. I could have been happy with that, but then Talisien had to pull a Hail Mary and get the second divine intervention from the Wildmother. Part of me feels like this is an appropriate ending, as the Mighty Nein now officially have nine members. Part of me feels sad for Molly going back to being an empty vessel. I hope this week we see him gain some memories of his friends and get to live his life the way he always wanted to – leaving the world a little better. We could all use that feeling of hope and accomplishment right now.

Oscars in the Time of COVID

I was going to make this week’s post about the Dragon Age series and why I love it, but then I remembered the Oscars were this weekend and I do love my movies. I admittedly wasn’t as familiar with this year’s listings, but I almost never miss this awards show and was curious to see what would win after a year of surviving a pandemic and the wave of protests we saw as people yelled louder than ever “Black Lives Matter”. I’m happy to see more diversity in both the nominees and winners this year. I’m sorry it took us demanding change, but isn’t that always how these things go? There’s definitely still work to do, however. (Best Actor and Actress both went to old white people when IMO others deserved it more, but admittedly I also am judging based on snippets seen and not whole pieces of work). I will take my wins where I can get them, and focus on what I liked about the show. 

In terms of the actual ceremony, it was quite different this year. I’m not sure I like not having a host, but I did like the setup of having people seated at tables instead of a more traditional theater. It made it feel less stuffy to me. 

In terms of the winners that stuck out to me: I did not know much about Sound of Metal until today but a friend mentioned it was one of their favorites for the year and it beat Soul for Sound and also won Best Film Editing so I am now intrigued and need to see it. The winner for Best Short I also had never heard of, but it’s on Netflix as part of their “Black Lives Matter” collection. I was moved by the speech focusing on the problem we continue to have with policing in America, and am glad Netflix helped uplift their voice. 

Time has no meaning for me anymore, so I forgot Tenet was part of this year’s slate of movies. I would have seen it in theaters, but at the time I didn’t have one open except a drive-in far enough away to not be worth it. It will be available on HBO Max in May and I’m looking forward to finally getting to see it. 

I loved the speech from the Best Supporting Actress winner, Youn Yuh-jung. She was funny and charming and genuinely surprised. “How can I beat Glenn Close?”  I want to be friends with this woman, please and thank you. 

Jon Baptiste gave a great speech too. I love watching him on The Late Show, I love his music, and I just generally love him as a person (at least as much as you can love someone you’ve never met). We have been in the same room though, as I attended an event he did at Carnegie Hall. I’m happy to see him get the win along with the rest of his team for Best Original Score in Soul. 

Speaking of music, the break we got with Questlove playing songs and quizzing people on if they were nominated or won awards was FANTASTIC and I especially loved Glenn Close playing along and having fun with it. Stuff like that is what makes the Oscars more than an awards show.  We also got a look at Questlove’s upcoming film Summer of Soul, which I will definitely be checking out. 

Mank got a lot of buzz this year, enough that I finally looked it up to see what it was about. Between the description and starring Gary Oldman (how did I miss this film, I usually watch everything he is in) I need to add this to my Netflix queue. It won for Best Production Design and Cinematography and was nominated for Sound, Supporting Actress, Director, Costume Design, Makeup, Original Score (that one Trent Reznor lost to himself, which is fun), Best Actor, and Best Picture.

I expected Sound of Metal to win Best Picture but it went to Nomadland. I was also surprised they did that award before Best Actor and Actress. I originally assumed it was to have Chadwick Boseman’s posthumous win be the ending note, but instead we got…. Anthony Hopkins? Don’t get me wrong, I love him but I don’t get choosing to end it on a lack of an acceptance speech. I also would have given it to Riz Ahmed for Sound of Metal if not Boseman. I was 100% sure he was going to get it and was left kinda stunned and disappointed. Overall I enjoyed it but the ending was underwhelming. 

As I watched the Oscars I wondered if I had been hiding under a rock this past year. So many nominees had stars or directors I usually follow very closely. I’m glad I watched the awards and got a whole list of movies to watch in the coming weeks. All but one of them is either currently streaming or will be soon. Here’s what I will be checking out (and possibly writing about) in the coming weeks:

Da 5 Bloods

Two Distant Strangers

Sound of Metal

Onward

Soul

Tenet

Mank

Judas and the Black Messiah

Trial of the Chicago Seven

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Of those, Da 5 Bloods, Soul, Onward, and Tenet were already on my radar. Others would have been if I had been paying closer attention. I’m looking forward to seeing what the Academy deemed the best of the best, even if this was a light year for film. Apparently it wasn’t as light as I originally thought. 

What films did you love this year? Let me know in the comments below.

Dragon Age 2 Musings

Yesterday I posted an article about the Derek Chauvin verdict in place of my originally scheduled piece. Today I give you the article on DA2 I was going to post.

I originally planned on making my next “Monday Musings” be about the Dragon Age series as a whole, but then David Gaider went and did a whole tweet thread about what he loved about DA2 and what he wished could have been, and it inspired me. 

Some brief background – DA2 was the first game in the series I ever played. My partner thought it would be the best introduction for me (Inquisition had not been out long, and we did not own it at the time). I’m glad he started where he did, because I think it helped me love the game without any comparisons and was a perfect way for me to fall in love with the world of Thedas. To date the characters and stories from this game are some of my favorites. Having said that, I knew that there was always the qualifier “it’s good for the time they had to work on it.” I always wondered what could have been, and today some of my questions have been answered.

It all started with a tweet thread and turned into pretty much everyone at BioWare reminiscing about their time working on my favorite game ever. Going forward there will be spoilers for DA2, especially the ending, as this was the change I was most fascinated by when browsing through all the stories of what had to be changed for one reason or another. Anyone who has played the game knows that it all comes down to a choice: side with the mages or the templars. Except no matter what you do, you end up having to fight both Orsinio (the First Enchanter of the Circle) and Meredith (the Knight Commander of the Templars). I have always sided with the mages, so I don’t know what it’s like from the other point of view. I always felt it was odd that Orisinio suddenly turns to blood magic with no prior indication he would ever consider it. I get that desperate people do desperate things when backed into a corner, but it always felt kind of forced and made me feel like no matter what I chose at the end of the day the lesson was that mages could not be trusted with the power they wield. It was revealed that this was not always how things were supposed to go, but Orisnio’s boss fight had been cut and they had to do something to weave everything else together.

It’s unfortunate this change had to be made, because it would have felt like our choices mattered more if it had resulted in different endings depending who you sided with. I also would love to have seen the implications (if any) for DAI with this addition. Especially since the mage rebellion does at least get mentioned if not come into play when you (spoilers for DAI) have to choose between recruiting the mages or the templars. What if Orsinio lived for those who sided with the mages in DA2? Would the mage rebellion have taken a different turn with him still around? We may never know, as I doubt this was considered given how much time passed between the two games. 

On the other side of things, Gaider said that if he had more time to work on the game, he would not have had Meredith driven mad by red lyrium. It was a story beat that was pushed on him to make her super powered for her boss fight, but it took away the legitimacy of the templar side of the argument. 

I wholeheartedly agree. I love the idea that the situation isn’t black and white, and both sides have valid arguments to make. I’m sorry that’s not the story they got to tell.

Overall I will always love DA2 for what it is, but do wish it had been given more time to be fully fleshed out. It’s nice to see some of the changes I would have made were originally intended. 

What about you? What things did you love about DA2? What things do you wish could have gone differently in the story? Let me know in the comments, and come back next week where I’ll dive into my thoughts of the franchise as a whole.

The Consequences of Our Actions

I have an article all written out for this week’s “Monday Musings” that I didn’t get a chance to post yesterday. I normally would have posted it today, but as I reread it to do some last minute edits, I realized I could not pretend like there wasn’t something monumental to talk about. So content warning, because we are going to talk about the Derek Chauvin trial. Tomorrow I will post what should’ve gone up yesterday.

By now you probably have heard the news that Chauvin was convicted on all 3 counts today – 2nd degree manslaughter, 3rd degree murder, 2nd degree unintentional murder. It took the jury 10 hours to find him guilty. It’s telling that I thought it would be a longer debate and was terrified the verdict would be “not guilty” despite the evidence. I’m relieved Chauvin will face the consequences of his actions. I celebrate this historical moment and hope it is the start of a real shift in policing in America. There’s so much work left to do, but I hope George Floyd’s family can get some level of peace or comfort knowing his murderer will not be allowed to hurt anyone else.

Tomorrow this space goes back to talking about video games and other nerd things. Today it reminds you BLACK LIVES MATTER and today we actually did something to make that more than just a slogan. I want to live in a country I’m not embarrassed by, one where people of color don’t have to fear for their lives. I know it will be work, but I believe we can make that country a reality, starting with holding police accountable for their actions.

Monday Musings: The Mass Effect Trilogy

I’ve been spending the past few months working my way through my first playthrough of the Mass Effect trilogy, and I finally finished it last weekend. I figured that would be the perfect first edition of Monday Musings. First, let me introduce you to my character.

Jane Shepherd was an infiltrator, spacer, sole survivor. She didn’t sign up to be a hero, but she’d step up when no one else would. Her best friend was Garrus, and her boyfriend was Kaidan. She stayed loyal to him even when his faith in her wavered. I think I can safely say I will never love a Shep as much as I loved her, but I do plan on replaying the series to try a few different choices I didn’t in my first run. When I was playing ME2 I decided I would likely want to replay with my save for 1 but try romancing someone instead of waiting for Kaidan. Because of multiple things involving ME3, however, I think I need to give the game some time and space before I do that. It might feel backwards, but I want to look at some of those things first then go back and review the series as a whole. The reasons for this is, I’d like to end on a positive note, and ME3 is a game that tears your heart out through your throat.

I mentioned wanting to revisit ME2 and romance someone rather than stay loyal to Kaidan. The someone I wish I had romanced was Thane…. so you can imagine how much it hurt watching him die in ME3. He cared so much about us as a friend, I can’t imagine how much more painful it is saying goodbye as a former lover. As soon as it happened, I turned to my partner and asked, “we get to stab Leng in the face, right?” (It may have not been in the face, but I did get to stab him and it was very satisfying).

Despite the emotional rollercoaster, I was still prepared to immediately replay the second and third games, until I got to the ending. I gather the ending is controversial among the fandom. I know my partner has voiced his disappointment, but usually I find it very hard to truly hate anything. I went in fully prepared to make my own judgements on how things wrapped up. I do not usually hate things, but I hated the ending of this series. There are a few problems I have with it. 1) it feels extremely convoluted. I found myself having to try to break it down to my partner and make sure I understood what was happening. 2) It made me feel like most, if not all, of my choices came down to a multiple choice problem where Shep is left to decide the fate of the universe. 3) I was fully prepared for Shep to die for the cause. The way it happens feels incredibly unsatisfying, at least to me. I’m all for the hero sacrificing themself so the rest of the universe can continue existing. ME is full of decisions like that to agonize over. Every one of those choices made me feel like while there was no “right” answer, there were positive outcomes to be had amongst the awful. None of the options at the end gave me that feeling, only a sense of “this feels less awful than the other options”. 

Having said that, I overall would still give the game a positive review and would replay the series again. I still want to try all the romances and see how making different choices changes the story. I love that things you do in one game will influence events in another one. I want to focus on all those positives and not let the ending ruin it for me. The characters  are great, the story is mostly fantastic, and the world is fascinating to explore. Dragon Age will always be my preference in the BioWare roster, but I consider myself a Mass Effect fan now, and look forward to discussing these games with friends for years to come.  And who knows, maybe there was no satisfying ending for what this series built itself to be. But I got to share a fascinating game with my partner and my friends, and those memories will always have value. The Legendary Editiion comes out in about a month, and I’m very much looking forward to watching many hours of gameplay as half my Twitch follow list revisits the series (and others get to experience it for the first time). 

Let  me know in the comments your thoughts on the series. Who were your favorite characters? What was your favorite romance? Are you looking forward to the remaster? Next week I’ll dive into my favorite series and why I will replay it till the day I die – Dragon Age!

Monday Musings

I’m very excited to report there are PLANS in motion to shape my media empire and expand my horizons. For those who don’t follow me on the socials, I started streaming on Twitch during the pandemic and made affiliate in September. I currently stream 3 days a week (current schedule can be found on twitch or twitter). I also started a YouTube channel that hasn’t gotten as much love, so for this year I’m looking to get to 100 subscribers on there and start a slate of programming. Some of my twitch content makes its way to YouTube, but soon I will be adding a new show Wednesdays (titled Cocktails & Comics) as well as Pokemon playthroughs on Saturday mornings. I’m very excited about both of these new projects as they will be exclusive to YouTube and expand the variety of programming there.

I also want to start giving this space some love and doing articles I will be calling “Monday Musings”. I’m not exactly sure what I’d like to talk about, but I imagine it will be a mix of entertainment things (tv, movies, books, and video games). I’ve been rather obsessed with Dragon Age lately, so I imagine there will be an article or ten dedicated to some thoughts on that world. I’ve also been trying to watch a movie a week, and could devote some time dedicated towards whatever my pick was if it was particularly good. I’m unfortunately very behind on tv and wouldn’t have current thoughts on the shows everyone is watching. If anyone has topics they’d like me to dive into, leave it in the comments below. 

Missing Movie Theaters

Back when Wonder Woman 84 was streaming on HBO Max, I managed to catch it the day before it was to be taken down. I hastily wrote down some thoughts late that night, and swore I would review them and post in the morning. A lot has happened since then. I’m sorry this is not being shared in a more timely manner, but I think it’s still important. It turned into less of a review of the movie and more a critique on the “new normal” of releasing movies direct to streaming for a limited time. I like HBO’s formula of having it be included in the subscription better than Disney’s having to pay a $30 fee on top of your normal sub, but I will always prefer movie theaters. More on that later. For now, let’s focus on WW84 and what I loved and didn’t about it.

To give you an idea how good a movie WW was, I loved it even though I had an awful experience. HBO Max (or at least the xbox app) is awful. Usually things will freeze once or twice and not completely ruin my experience…. So of course while trying to preserve the movie theater feel as much as possible, it froze more times than I could count, crashed entirely once, and once blew out the sound on my xbox and I had to restart the whole system. I was so grumpy that by the time the big fight happens between Diana and Cheeta I  barely was able to enjoy it (literally said “this fight is gonna be great” seconds before the app crashed).

If HBO is going to release the next year’s worth of movies On Demand, they need to make an app that works better. Having said that, there were plenty of things to love about the film itself. Even though the fight scenes would have been better on a big screen, they still were enjoyable with what I had to work with. My favorite part, however, was when  Diana is talking at the end about Truth and making everyone remember how things used to be. I realized when this movie was supposed to come out and how powerful it would have been having Wonder Woman talk to us about truth in the face of a fraud who wanted to amass power. There’s a lot about my experience I will never be able to get, and that saddens me. But overall it was a great sequel that I can’t wait to buy so I can watch it on a physical disc that (hopefully) won’t freeze a million times. 


Spider-Man: No Way Home -Wild Theory Time!

Sitting in my kitchen drinking my coffee this morning, I was thinking about the announcement that the new Spider-Man movie would be titled No Way Home (while also having a tweet Coy Jandreau posted bouncing in my head) and suddenly I had an ever expanding theory that I think is extensive enough to share. We already suspect the multiverse will play a big part in this phase between WandaVision (don’t worry, no spoilers on that here from me) and the Doctor Strange film being titled Multiverse of Madness. What if Peter (and possibly some Spidey villains) end up being pulled into the multiverse and leave the MCU to become part of the Sony-verse we seem to be building. It would be an interesting way to build their sinister six and keep Tom Holland as Spider-Man for a different studio. Maybe it’s not even an accident. Maybe Peter needs to escape (we know the last movie ended with him being hunted) and sees this as the only way to protect his family and continue being a hero. Maybe we get a new Spider-Man (Miles Morales even?) also via the Multiverse. In which case any planned Spider-man 4 would be introducing Miles (or Gwen or whoever) into our universe. The MCU has already changed how storytelling works. I would not be surprised to see them have a big surprise like this up their sleeve. They have shown us there are no limits other than your imagination. 

What do you think? Any other wild theories about the future of our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man? Just looking forward to seeing movies in theaters again? Let’s keep the convo going in the comments. 

Goodbye 2020

(cw: topics include unemployment and COVID; there’s a positive message at the end though, if you can stick it out)

Well, we’ve finally come to the end of the year that didn’t exist. It would be easy to say it was awful and we’re glad it’s over, but 2020 was a life changer for me. 

In March of this year we hit Depression level unemployment rates as the country shutdown to try to keep COVID rates down. I, being in the entertainment industry, was one of those people (and probably won’t go back to work until spring or summer of this year after the vaccine is more wildly distributed). With an unknown amount of free time ahead of me, I did what I always do…. found a new project to keep myself occupied. 

It started by resurrecting my YouTube channel. It had previously been a place to showcase live music videos, but had been collecting dust for 5 years. I figured I would find things to talk about amongst my many hobbies. Eventually I settled on doing recaps of the d&d games my boyfriend would run for myself and some friends via Facebook Messenger. Over time it would also include react videos to certain moments on Critical Role and shouting about Dragon Age. 

While I was slowly building my YouTube empire, I had also been watching a friend stream on Twitch. We’d talk about how I should stream too, and after a couple months I finally got myself a headset and had my first stream: playing Civ 5 for what I assume was one or two people. I never imagined it would become my whole life for the rest of the year.

I have now been streaming for 6 months, made affiliate after 3 months, and have more of a community than I ever imagined I would. I found some great streamers who helped me get where I am (and will list some of them at the end of this post so you can go check them out). Beyond that, I made lasting friendships with random people on the internet who, in some ways, I’m closer with than my IRL friends now. What was meant to be a way to fill time and maybe make a few dollars while out of work turned into an important part of my life that I plan on keeping even when things “go back to normal”. I even got to participate in Stream Around the World for Dragon Age Day this year, and became part of the DA streaming community. So, as much as I understand wishing this year never existed, I can’t help but be grateful that it did. I hope you can also find a little joy in this darkest of years, and that we all have a much better go of it in 2021. 

There are too many great, supportive people I have met on this journey, but these folks helped me the most to make affiliate: wordfangirl (and the humans at Jabroni TV), Cafe 3G, SmexyBuu & the Gaming Fool crew; special shoutout to NerdiNik, who is one of the first DA streamers I ever followed and introduced me to a great community of humans.

In Defense of The Traveler (Cr C2 Ep 107)

Credit: @Madartsyworks https://twitter.com/madartsyworks/status/1303422861374177280?s=21

There’s a saying: better late than never. This is what I tell myself every time I give myself a deadline that I miss, and it applies to the following words I have regarding episode 107 of Critical Role: specifically regarding a certain conversation between Jester and the Traveler towards the end. I pulled some choice quotes for my own reference, but in general this conversation is everything I wanted from them. I love how sincere it is but still has the jovial nature their relationship is based on. Most importantly, between this and the actions the Traveler makes in the next episode, I think I can say without a doubt that, while he might be an agent of chaos and a troublemaker, he is not looking to hurt anyone. At least not in a malicious way, and especially not Jester or her friends. If you want a sense of his motivations, you simply have to listen to what he says. Never forget that Archfey can’t lie. They choose their words very carefully, and Matt is a calculated enough DM who plans far enough ahead that I believe everything you need to know about Artagan is in what he says to Jester in their moments alone. Especially two lines in particular:

“As much as I’ve guided you through the years, don’t think you haven’t guided me”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone, not intentionally” 

I pulled far more than this from their conversation, but these two lines give you everything you need to know about him. 1) Jester has changed him since we first met him back in campaign 1, and 2) He is not malicious in his intent. I think Artagan truly thought dropping people on an island where they would forget about him was his way of setting them free and fixing his mistake. I don’t think he saw it as endangering anyone. I also don’t think he expected Jester to ever be in real danger, either because he trusted in her ability to take care of herself, or because he was prepared to save her if needed. 

There is another saying: actions speak louder than words. And since I waited an extra week to write this, we got some real clear signals that Artagan cares about Jester, as he was not prepared for her to risk her life to save him. He accepted the mistakes he made and was prepared to deal with the consequences on his own. I am very glad Jester managed to use her words to save him, and that they don’t have to separate. I know a lot of people asked “what happens next” but I don’t see much changing between them, other than Jester now knows that whatever spark the Traveler gave her was a boost. He lit the spark, but she grew into the person she is now all on her own. I look forward to see her continue to grow as a person, and see how much more influence she has on Artagan’s arc. I appreciate her friends and fans ready to thrown down to protect her, but ultimately I just want her to be happy. Right now, the Mighty Nein and Artagan both make her happy. I want to see them continue on their journey, and let chaos reign.