[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

QuickTidal, on 20 January 2023 - 01:44 AM, said:

First 3 eps of s2 are already up on Amazon Prime y'all!

Ha I read this just as I was about to go to bed (and listen to an audiobook for an hour). Not going to let temptation take me... until tomorrow at least.

[Slow Ben]

Temptation! Taketh me away!!!!!

[Slow Ben]

So…friggin…..good!

[worry]

Vox is the funny one right? I keep confusing it with that other big fantasy game cartoon that was all serious.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Vox Machina is on the list for this weekend - can't wait!

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

Just finished watching the second episode of The Last of Us.

Damn, this shows hits me pretty hard.

[Maark Abbott]

Me and wife (finally) finished The Last Kingdom.

Enjoyed it tbh. Not sure what we're moving onto next yet.

[QuickTidal]

Slow Ben, on 20 January 2023 - 03:53 AM, said:

So…friggin…..good!

End of episode 3....(as someone who didn't listen to the podcast)...

Spoiler

What?...wait WHAT?!....

Oh no...Cue tears.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 23 January 2023 - 02:26 PM

[champ]

Slow Ben, on 19 January 2023 - 06:41 PM, said:

If you don't want to know what parts of the campaign are in the show, definitely don't look. They're the same as the episode titles.

I'm a few episodes behind. I'm on 42, I think 44 or 45 is tonight.

It's better and worse. You get really invested in the character arcs, since they're all really diverse, interesting characters. But so far you care a lot less about the overall plot like the first two (chroma conclave, briarwoods, aeor, etc). It's interesting, but it seems to be more of a slow burn.

I had read somewhere that it is taking it's time to get started, that was why I wasn't worried about a delayed start for me.


I just finished The Calamity and that was awesome man, Brennan did such an epic job!

QuickTidal, on 23 January 2023 - 02:25 PM, said:

Slow Ben, on 20 January 2023 - 03:53 AM, said:

So…friggin…..good!

End of episode 3....(as someone who didn't listen to the podcast)...

Spoiler

What?...wait WHAT?!....

Oh no...Cue tears.

Brilliant opening 3 eps...

I was watching it with my mate who hasn't followed the campaigns and he loves it too...

Re the end of ep 3...

Spoiler

Ohhhhhh boy, as soon as I heard Vax sobbing that broke me... especially just after learning why he asks Vex to stay close.

Re where this season could go... campaign spoilers:

Spoiler

Holy shit, thinking about where we are at in the season, this surely means we will get the Kevdak fight which is one of my favourite moments from campaign 1...

Grog to be MVP this season.

This post has been edited by champ: 23 January 2023 - 07:44 PM

[QuickTidal]

I'm here to tell you all about the other show I checked out on the weekend.

THAT 90's SHOW.

Look, the nostalgia bits with the original cast (Eric, Kelso and Jackie are all only in like the first episode; Donna is in about 3, but very little screen time, and Fez is in the most, but still only minor) are fine....but over-reliance on things like "Eric-loves-Star-Wars" beyond naming his daughter Leia is caustic even in episode 1...like AS a Star Wars fan, if I were Donna I would tell him to shut the hell up.

The most glaring thing is that the new young cast are ALL lazy 90's versions/stereotypes of the original cast:

Leia = 90's Eric (with a dash of Donna)
Gwen = 90's Hyde
Jay Kelso = 90's Kelso
Ozzie - 90's Fez (but instead of being a foreign exchange student, he's a witty/snippy gay stereotype)
Nate = A second 90's Kelso
Nikki = 90's Jackie (Nate's girlfriend who suffers his idiocy)

So that just felt exceptionally lazy. We didn't need the kids to recreate the dynamic of the 70's show so closely...they could have been anything with many personalities.

The clothes are only on-point for Leia....everything she wears feels DELIBERATELY 90's....but the rest of the cast feels like they could be wearing modern clothes.

The jokes are largely bad. Once you get some of the plumb 70's cast nostalgia jokes out of the way...the kids jokes are weak, and even Kitty and Red suffer from this fatigue after a while.

It's not terrible, but as someone who lived as a teen in the 90's (I'm only 4 years older than how old Leia is on this show in 1995), nothing in this feels lived in as a 90's teen. THAT 70's SHOW seemed to go out of its way to ground the writing in the lived in experience of the 70's....like DAZED AND CONFUSED before it, THAT 70's SHOW always felt like what kids in the 70's would be and act like...nothing that happens in this show reflects my experience of teenager hood in the 1990's. Like sure there are some comments that feel like fleecing the 90's for content...but it never feels true to form. The biggest thing that happened in 1994 (for example) was WOODSTOCK '94....these kids could be talking about that....or better yet, how WOODSTOCK '94 craze led to the first REALLY big year for the GLASTONBURY festival in the summer of ('95)....it's literally ALL we talked about for a straight month of the summer, and it happened in another damned country! Hell, I asked my mom pay for the pay-per-view version of it so my friends and I could watch all weekend. The Oklahoma Bombing happened in '95, so did the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway...

There's stuff to enjoy here, but I feel like without the attachments to THAT 70's SHOW and Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp doing a LOT of heavy lifting...this would be a wild flop.

So proceed with caution, it's not great, and not terrible. It's better than the FULL HOUSE reboot is about the best I'll say.

[Tiste Simeon]

So I started Ghosts (BBC original version not the US remake) and only one episode in I'm laughing tons. Already love these guys from Horrible Histories and Yonderland (and of course the ever hilarious Simon Farnaby, who is in Detectorists as well, is part of this crew)

I'm so in on this show already!

[QuickTidal]

champ, on 23 January 2023 - 03:38 PM, said:

Spoiler

Ohhhhhh boy, as soon as I heard Vax sobbing that broke me... especially just after learning why he asks Vex to stay close.

Spoiler

Do not go far from me....

This line affected me on a DEEP fucking level...like I can't explain it...and I looked up the original CR episode it was on, and jeezus christ watching Laura and Liam reduced to tears there over it (and her husband trying not to look at her knowing it would do him in too)....destroyed me. My gods...

[champ]

QuickTidal, on 23 January 2023 - 09:25 PM, said:

champ, on 23 January 2023 - 03:38 PM, said:

Spoiler

Ohhhhhh boy, as soon as I heard Vax sobbing that broke me... especially just after learning why he asks Vex to stay close.

Spoiler

Do not go far from me....

This line affected me on a DEEP fucking level...like I can't explain it...and I looked up the original CR episode it was on, and jeezus christ watching Laura and Liam reduced to tears there over it (and her husband trying not to look at her knowing it would do him in too)....destroyed me. My gods...

Vox Machina s2e3 spoilers...

Spoiler

It's a powerful line, especially adding in the context.

I love how you're led to believe that Vax is just worried about Vex, brother and all but then bam, nope, bring on the feels...

Makes the moment afterwards all that more impactful, if it even needed it and especially what comes next...

And aye man, in the campaign Laura in that moment is fantastic. Her and Liam really turn it on.

Crazy to think but that's just one of oh so many interactions you get between characters on the campaign that makes it a special watch. They really do a fantastic job and that's translating well to the TV show now. I can't wait to see how it plays out.

If you watch the campaign just watch Travis he's probably the biggest fan out there his reactions are hilarious he gets crazily into it!

[QuickTidal]

So I decided to check out CRITICAL ROLE proper (podcast style; so I can listen on my way to and from work), and since they are already animating the Vox Machina campaign, I started instead with Campaign 2, The Mighty Nein....I'm only 2 episodes in but Laura as Jester has already made me bust a gut laughing twice.

Fucking hell...I've started something bigger than I thought didn't I?

Friday can't come soon enough with more VOX episodes!

[Slow Ben]

One of us! One of us!

[QuickTidal]

Slow Ben, on 24 January 2023 - 04:25 PM, said:

One of us! One of us!

It would appear so now wouldn't it?

Well, I'm not one to fight the tide.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

QuickTidal, on 24 January 2023 - 04:37 PM, said:

Slow Ben, on 24 January 2023 - 04:25 PM, said:

One of us! One of us!

It would appear so now wouldn't it?

Well, I'm not one to fight the tide.

Spoiler

Even in an underwater tomb?...

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 19 January 2023 - 02:25 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 19 January 2023 - 02:21 PM, said:

Slow Ben, on 19 January 2023 - 01:56 PM, said:

Legend of Vox Machina season 2 tonight at midnight!


No, I absolutely am not staying up late to watch it, I'm old. But I am looking forward to watching it at a reasonable hour this weekend!

I'km pretty excited. Season 1 was a surprise joy for me. I hadn't expected the level of "heart" in that show...super excited for the new season.

i am unashamedly disproportionately excited about this.

2 eps in, not disappointed. The action is very solid, characters remain great fun.
Anyone spot two of Madueira's BattleChasers in the ep 2 bar scene? I saw one, was pretty sure it was a deliberate resemblance, turns out Joe Mad had agreed to it. Missed the second tho'.

[champ]

QuickTidal, on 24 January 2023 - 04:05 PM, said:

So I decided to check out CRITICAL ROLE proper (podcast style; so I can listen on my way to and from work), and since they are already animating the Vox Machina campaign, I started instead with Campaign 2, The Mighty Nein....I'm only 2 episodes in but Laura as Jester has already made me bust a gut laughing twice.

Fucking hell...I've started something bigger than I thought didn't I?

Friday can't come soon enough with more VOX episodes!

You have no idea what you have started! You do realise you'll listen to Campaign 2, watch animated Campaign 1 and then you're going to realise that the animated show is so damn good all the way through that you now want to listen to Campaign 1... I'm not just saying this as a fan too but Campaign 1 is special!

Welcome to an overall 1000+ hours of content... you honestly won't look back.

And Laura as Jester is just a pure treat throughout the entire campaign.

Edit

Abyss, on 24 January 2023 - 05:06 PM, said:

Abyss, on 19 January 2023 - 02:25 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 19 January 2023 - 02:21 PM, said:

Slow Ben, on 19 January 2023 - 01:56 PM, said:

Legend of Vox Machina season 2 tonight at midnight!


No, I absolutely am not staying up late to watch it, I'm old. But I am looking forward to watching it at a reasonable hour this weekend!

I'km pretty excited. Season 1 was a surprise joy for me. I hadn't expected the level of "heart" in that show...super excited for the new season.

i am unashamedly disproportionately excited about this.

2 eps in, not disappointed. The action is very solid, characters remain great fun.
Anyone spot two of Madueira's BattleChasers in the ep 2 bar scene? I saw one, was pretty sure it was a deliberate resemblance, turns out Joe Mad had agreed to it. Missed the second tho'.

I noticed that - Garrison and Red Monika in the Slayers Take.

Liam and Joe have worked together previously and apparently they are mates.

This post has been edited by champ: 24 January 2023 - 05:20 PM

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 24 January 2023 - 05:06 PM, said:

2 eps in, not disappointed. The action is very solid, characters remain great fun.

Bidet.

champ, on 24 January 2023 - 05:14 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 24 January 2023 - 04:05 PM, said:

So I decided to check out CRITICAL ROLE proper (podcast style; so I can listen on my way to and from work), and since they are already animating the Vox Machina campaign, I started instead with Campaign 2, The Mighty Nein....I'm only 2 episodes in but Laura as Jester has already made me bust a gut laughing twice.

Fucking hell...I've started something bigger than I thought didn't I?

Friday can't come soon enough with more VOX episodes!

You have no idea what you have started! You do realise you'll listen to Campaign 2, watch animated Campaign 1 and then you're going to realise that the animated show is so damn good all the way through that you now want to listen to Campaign 1... I'm not just saying this as a fan too but Campaign 1 is special!

Welcome to an overall 1000+ hours of content... you honestly won't look back.

And Laura as Jester is just a pure treat throughout the entire campaign.

Oh I know I will, and I know of the early days of sound issues and the kicking out of a cast member too...I'll probably do Campaign 2, and then jump back to 1 before diving into 3.

But yeah, I love how much content is ahead of me!