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Entry tags:
*ominous battle music* role... criticalcritical... role... [fannish50 #1]
(title refers to this banger of an opening)
there's been a lot of me questioning why I like some stuff and dislike some other stuff lately. I guess I've been trying to figure out what I like as a rule so that I don't need to venture out of my bubble too often, but I've also been such a hater that I'm just like... mhm. interesting! I wonder why the entire world loves this thing I find mediocre at best! why do I dislike it, anyway? which in turn makes me wonder why I like something too.
case in point: I'm a casual enjoyer of critical role. it's a piece of media I really, really enjoy, sort of a comforting thing I have on the side, somewhere I can take refuge in when I'm not in the mood for anything else, or when I'm REALLY in the mood to watch the +4 hours long episodes. I've been watching the campaigns for nine-ish years? oh my god, nine years?! and that's it, I don't (or rarely) engage with the fandom or with fanon content aside from fanart.
tlovm, though? eh.
(for context: the legend of vox machina, tlovm, is the animated adaptation for critical role's first campaign.)
that's what got me thinking about cr in particular, I just... don't really care about the animation? I still need to check out the m9 show, but what I found watching the seasons of tlovm is that I'm just not that interested :') I like those characters, I'm into the universe, but... eh. the more I think about it, the more certain I am that the actual play(?) is what I find entertaining: I like to watch a bunch of people sitting around a table doing improv with made-up characters we're all hallucinating in our minds while a fixed camera is pointed at them for 4 hours straight. that's peak entertainment, says my brain.
and it's not even a matter of thinking the adaptation is good or bad either, I couldn't tell you what the overarching plots/political machinations are in any of the campaigns LOL my guess is that I focus more on the characters and their current actions than whatever is happening in exandria. (I still need to catch up with cr4.) so what draws me to cr isn't the plot, or even the relationships tbh even though I love and will always adore widomauk/fjolly/beauyasha - I just like to watch people play dnd. literally just that. professional voice actors doing silly voices and rolling dice for fun is what I'm here for.
maybe that explains why I never cared to engage with the fandom to begin with too. lots of people are crazy about the ships, or they like to create theories about what's happening, or they nitpick the game rules... and I just don't lol I'm also not that attached to the cast, as nice as they all are - I don't think I can take LA people that seriously anymore. (sorry eric, you're my exception!) it's fun as hell to watch them play, though, since they're all friends and the vibes are really of friends playing together. like, I've seen a lot of chatter about c3 being the weakest of the campaigns, not as fun etc etc but honestly, I'm having a BALL lol travis, ashley, and sam are hilarious in this campaign. yeah sure moon's haunted whatever, I'm here for the table, and I think this is the most cohesive they've been as a group so far. everyone knows how to have fun and how to let the others have their fun too.
unsurprisingly, I think the fact that they're friends hanging out together is the key here. just like I'm really into kpop groups way more than I am into solo acts, I'm just very into the concept of people doing something together with a (sometimes) small group of people they know well. the found family trope but applied broadly to encompass everything. orchestra music FUCKS severely too, btw!!!
so yeah, it's been an interesting thing to think about. and if I don't care about the plot in cr, do I not care about the plot in other stuff too? the answer is... maybe?
am I REALLY interested in coming up with theories and solving the #mystery in yellowjackets? I don't think so... (which is great, because the writers don't seem all that interested either.) more often than not I'll dislike a book for the way it's written regardless of plot, because I think I care way more about the prose and the way the author weaves the story than I do the plot itself. same with fic! if I like your writing style and characterization, you can get me to read pretty much anything.
maybe that's why I'm really into stuff with flimsy overarching plots but dynamic dialogues/interesting characters/fun directing choices. (killing eve, wynonna earp, the x files.) or idk, maybe the plot is the friends we made along the way.
there's been a lot of me questioning why I like some stuff and dislike some other stuff lately. I guess I've been trying to figure out what I like as a rule so that I don't need to venture out of my bubble too often, but I've also been such a hater that I'm just like... mhm. interesting! I wonder why the entire world loves this thing I find mediocre at best! why do I dislike it, anyway? which in turn makes me wonder why I like something too.
case in point: I'm a casual enjoyer of critical role. it's a piece of media I really, really enjoy, sort of a comforting thing I have on the side, somewhere I can take refuge in when I'm not in the mood for anything else, or when I'm REALLY in the mood to watch the +4 hours long episodes. I've been watching the campaigns for nine-ish years? oh my god, nine years?! and that's it, I don't (or rarely) engage with the fandom or with fanon content aside from fanart.
tlovm, though? eh.
(for context: the legend of vox machina, tlovm, is the animated adaptation for critical role's first campaign.)
that's what got me thinking about cr in particular, I just... don't really care about the animation? I still need to check out the m9 show, but what I found watching the seasons of tlovm is that I'm just not that interested :') I like those characters, I'm into the universe, but... eh. the more I think about it, the more certain I am that the actual play(?) is what I find entertaining: I like to watch a bunch of people sitting around a table doing improv with made-up characters we're all hallucinating in our minds while a fixed camera is pointed at them for 4 hours straight. that's peak entertainment, says my brain.
and it's not even a matter of thinking the adaptation is good or bad either, I couldn't tell you what the overarching plots/political machinations are in any of the campaigns LOL my guess is that I focus more on the characters and their current actions than whatever is happening in exandria. (I still need to catch up with cr4.) so what draws me to cr isn't the plot, or even the relationships tbh even though I love and will always adore widomauk/fjolly/beauyasha - I just like to watch people play dnd. literally just that. professional voice actors doing silly voices and rolling dice for fun is what I'm here for.
maybe that explains why I never cared to engage with the fandom to begin with too. lots of people are crazy about the ships, or they like to create theories about what's happening, or they nitpick the game rules... and I just don't lol I'm also not that attached to the cast, as nice as they all are - I don't think I can take LA people that seriously anymore. (sorry eric, you're my exception!) it's fun as hell to watch them play, though, since they're all friends and the vibes are really of friends playing together. like, I've seen a lot of chatter about c3 being the weakest of the campaigns, not as fun etc etc but honestly, I'm having a BALL lol travis, ashley, and sam are hilarious in this campaign. yeah sure moon's haunted whatever, I'm here for the table, and I think this is the most cohesive they've been as a group so far. everyone knows how to have fun and how to let the others have their fun too.
unsurprisingly, I think the fact that they're friends hanging out together is the key here. just like I'm really into kpop groups way more than I am into solo acts, I'm just very into the concept of people doing something together with a (sometimes) small group of people they know well. the found family trope but applied broadly to encompass everything. orchestra music FUCKS severely too, btw!!!
so yeah, it's been an interesting thing to think about. and if I don't care about the plot in cr, do I not care about the plot in other stuff too? the answer is... maybe?
am I REALLY interested in coming up with theories and solving the #mystery in yellowjackets? I don't think so... (which is great, because the writers don't seem all that interested either.) more often than not I'll dislike a book for the way it's written regardless of plot, because I think I care way more about the prose and the way the author weaves the story than I do the plot itself. same with fic! if I like your writing style and characterization, you can get me to read pretty much anything.
maybe that's why I'm really into stuff with flimsy overarching plots but dynamic dialogues/interesting characters/fun directing choices. (killing eve, wynonna earp, the x files.) or idk, maybe the plot is the friends we made along the way.