Your turn to roll. Again.
Dec. 5th, 2025 11:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rogueslayer452++ It's December already. When did that happen? *sigh*
++ The recently premiered Canadian BL show, Heated Rivalry, has been making the rounds among fandom spaces. I haven't seen it yet myself, however I'm absolutely tickled by there finally being a hockey-based BL romance show, especially with it being quite mature with its content, aka the sex scenes. I know that the genre itself is quite popular, hockey RPF and hockey AUs fanfics abound in fandom, so it was about time it actually ended up getting made for television. Funnily, I follow a few people who constantly post about IRL hockey, so it can be a bit confusing at first glance on which are from the show and which are actual real life hockey players, lol.
++ I've been waiting until some episodes were already out before I started watching the fourth campaign of Critical Role, and I finally have.
I was excited when it was announced that there was going to be quite a shakeup with how the fourth campaign was going to be run, and after watching the first episode I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. It actually exceeded my expectations in surprising ways.
The way the episode began truly was remarkable, because it starts instantly. There is no introduction greeting by the DM and cast to the audience, no announcements, we're just thrust right into a very tense and somber scene that is basically a cold opening for the episode/campaign. And the first episode alone just kept on keeping that same momentum for me, because this new world that is being introduced to us feels so rich and lived in, the characters are all interconnected with one another, even if one or two don't know one another that well there is history, and it's felt with the performances of the players at the table and with the incredible storytelling of Brennan Lee Mulligan. Starting off the campaign was an execution and funeral while also unfolding the reasons why and how the plan to rescue him failed, that was some good shit. That was a nice setup to an intriguing story that I cannot wait to see unfold in the episodes to come.
I find all the characters so fascinating in their own right, each one of them connected to a singular character in some way. I really like that Brennan choose a "haunt the narrative" element with Thjazi, an NPC we never truly got to know aside from the prologue opening this campaign, because his history and connection with these characters in some form or another is what makes this whole new group dynamic so different and intriguing. Out of all of them, I'm very drawn to Tyranny and I'm so curious about her and Wicander's whole thing. Oh, and major kudos to Matthew Mercer who created a character that I so very much disliked upon introduction, and yet I have a feel that Julien Davinos is going to become one of those characters that I'll end up liking because of that. He certainly made quite an impression, let me tell you.
As far as the changes in terms of the show's format, it's not all that different aside from Brennan DMing, the announcements having their own little segment where they segue into the intro, and the cast being quite big in comparison to the previous three campaigns. The table change between characters throughout this episode wasn't distracting at all, nor did it break momentum. It's obvious that the table switching won't be as much going forward, since them continually coming and going and taking all their belongings with them each time would be tedious, but it's a great strategy nonetheless to rotate the cast given how many of them there are this go around. So yeah, I quite like what this campaign has to offer so far.
The intro for the campaign was the only thing that underwhelmed me, to be honest. But I'll wait and see if this changes, since their intros often undergo a few makeovers as a campaign progresses.
Overall, I'm really looking forward to catching up.
++ The recently premiered Canadian BL show, Heated Rivalry, has been making the rounds among fandom spaces. I haven't seen it yet myself, however I'm absolutely tickled by there finally being a hockey-based BL romance show, especially with it being quite mature with its content, aka the sex scenes. I know that the genre itself is quite popular, hockey RPF and hockey AUs fanfics abound in fandom, so it was about time it actually ended up getting made for television. Funnily, I follow a few people who constantly post about IRL hockey, so it can be a bit confusing at first glance on which are from the show and which are actual real life hockey players, lol.
++ I've been waiting until some episodes were already out before I started watching the fourth campaign of Critical Role, and I finally have.
I was excited when it was announced that there was going to be quite a shakeup with how the fourth campaign was going to be run, and after watching the first episode I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. It actually exceeded my expectations in surprising ways.
The way the episode began truly was remarkable, because it starts instantly. There is no introduction greeting by the DM and cast to the audience, no announcements, we're just thrust right into a very tense and somber scene that is basically a cold opening for the episode/campaign. And the first episode alone just kept on keeping that same momentum for me, because this new world that is being introduced to us feels so rich and lived in, the characters are all interconnected with one another, even if one or two don't know one another that well there is history, and it's felt with the performances of the players at the table and with the incredible storytelling of Brennan Lee Mulligan. Starting off the campaign was an execution and funeral while also unfolding the reasons why and how the plan to rescue him failed, that was some good shit. That was a nice setup to an intriguing story that I cannot wait to see unfold in the episodes to come.
I find all the characters so fascinating in their own right, each one of them connected to a singular character in some way. I really like that Brennan choose a "haunt the narrative" element with Thjazi, an NPC we never truly got to know aside from the prologue opening this campaign, because his history and connection with these characters in some form or another is what makes this whole new group dynamic so different and intriguing. Out of all of them, I'm very drawn to Tyranny and I'm so curious about her and Wicander's whole thing. Oh, and major kudos to Matthew Mercer who created a character that I so very much disliked upon introduction, and yet I have a feel that Julien Davinos is going to become one of those characters that I'll end up liking because of that. He certainly made quite an impression, let me tell you.
As far as the changes in terms of the show's format, it's not all that different aside from Brennan DMing, the announcements having their own little segment where they segue into the intro, and the cast being quite big in comparison to the previous three campaigns. The table change between characters throughout this episode wasn't distracting at all, nor did it break momentum. It's obvious that the table switching won't be as much going forward, since them continually coming and going and taking all their belongings with them each time would be tedious, but it's a great strategy nonetheless to rotate the cast given how many of them there are this go around. So yeah, I quite like what this campaign has to offer so far.
The intro for the campaign was the only thing that underwhelmed me, to be honest. But I'll wait and see if this changes, since their intros often undergo a few makeovers as a campaign progresses.
Overall, I'm really looking forward to catching up.
no subject
Date: 2025-12-06 11:26 am (UTC)Funnily, I follow a few people who constantly post about IRL hockey, so it can be a bit confusing at first glance on which are from the show and which are actual real life hockey players, lol.
LOL! I can see that.
Not really the same thing, but in my fandom, there's a villain-esque character named Sebastian/Sebastien.* A bunch of my friends from that fandom started talking about Sebastian Stan. I'd never heard of him, so I kept momentarily thinking they were Sebastien stans before realizing that probably wasn't what they were saying. I figured I was missing something, and I was. Whoops.
*It's spelled Sebastien in canon, but I've seen both spellings in fic.
no subject
Date: 2025-12-06 04:36 pm (UTC)Funnily, I follow a few people who constantly post about IRL hockey, so it can be a bit confusing at first glance on which are from the show and which are actual real life hockey players, lol.
I totally get it.
no subject
Date: 2025-12-08 05:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-15 12:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-14 11:31 am (UTC)By the way, which is your favorite Character?
no subject
Date: 2025-12-15 12:41 pm (UTC)Obviously this campaign is quite different in comparison to the previous three, since Matt isn't DMing but is actually a player at the table, and this isn't in the same world that Matt created and built over the last three campaigns, so you getting your start on a brand new story and setting and atmosphere which is great.
As mentioned I've already been drawn to Tyranny and Wicander and their whole entire dynamic is so fascinating to me, but so far I'm just so fascinated by everyone and I'm hoping to learn more as I continue watching. :D
no subject
Date: 2025-12-22 05:45 am (UTC)Now that we are at the soldier's table, I can say that I really love everyone. XD My heart goes to Kattigan because he is a ranger like my own DND-Charakter and he has a wolf. XDDD
And Teor is like Teor. XDDD
Thimble is 🧡