VINES TRIED TO EAT MY DICK (The MacElroys Play D&D)

Spoiler: Close to the end of Eleventh Hour Spoilers

"My name is Taako, and you work for me now."

Holy shit. Taako and competence. My favorite things. It broke Roswell horribly, but that was a good plan without Roswell's additional weird jujus.

 

Thursdays have pretty much become my favorite day of the week.

 

Digital copies of the Adventure Zine have been sent out! It's beauuuutiful.

 

THAT'S THE WAY TO GET ME TO CHECK MY EMAIL
omg i'm so fucking pleased and filled with feelings of warmth and goodwill for mankind

 

I should have gotten it, I hope they do another printing or something.

 

I'd be cool with sending you a copy of my pdf.

ETA: by which I mean if you message me your e-mail address I'll send it.

 

Spoiler: Fanfic gripe, 11th Hour spoilers

I just want to whinge a bit about fanon definitely-abusive-from-day-one Sazed. A terrible ending does not mean that literally everything about their prior interactions has to be composed entirely of giant red flags!

I am very protective of my particular brand of horrifying betrayal, okay.

 

Spoiler: Response in Spoilers

Plus it looses a lot of it's oomph if Sazed was always a scumbag, and it wasn't a case of someone slowly becoming a jerk until they do something completely horrific in revenge, especially for petty reasons (you knew his tricks and talents, Sazed. Nothing was stopping you from taking that arsenic money and purchasing supplies and taking the long start yourself instead of just getting an easier one by getting appended to Taako's show). And it just makes it even sadder, like it could explain why Taako has remained kind of distant from everyone and is only really getting attached to the rest of the Tres Horny Boys (and being nicer to Angus) after his last friend saw him accidentally like 40 people (and as he finds out, MURDERED 40 PEOPLE because he couldn't be a headliner with Taako).

 

THIS TOO.

Spoiler: Back to the spoilers

I'm fairly sure he was only trying to kill Taako, actually- one does usually taste the food one is preparing, after all, so he was probably saved by his cockiness. And what little we know of Sazed pings me much more as "impulsive murderer" than "criminal mastermind".

Not that it matters that much, morally speaking. It's just more interesting to think that he wasn't in control of the situation either.

...Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing something about the immediate aftermath in which he's freaking out His Face All Red-style. That would be kind of awesome.

 

Spoiler: Suffering game theory

(I'm relistening to The Suffering Game ep 1 since hoooopefully we get ep 2 today.) Who else thinks the Animus Bell can raise the dead? Are we going to get a Julia cameo?

 

Ooh, that sounds likely. That is one of a very few classic Extremely Dangerous Magic Powers we haven't seen yet.

 

Spoiler: the suffering game 2

NEW EP NEW EP

Thoughts:
- this is some Saw "would you like to play a game?" horseshit and I love it.
- Magnus made a new friend over meat jerky. Magnus confirmed for actual Golden Retriever.
- I'm so tense and that cliffhanger was brutal.

 

Spoiler: SG ep 2

"Monster Factory" made me laugh out loud. I'm so grateful to have this to look forward to.

Hmmm, necrotic energy from negative emotions? Definitely seems bad to continue letting it go to Wonderland/wherever it's actually going, but I'm wondering if there'll be some sort of twist later.

I'm definitely concerned about that bad luck for Taako. I wonder if it's restricted to WL or if it'll come up in a later arc?

As usual, I just want more now! Haha, got spoiled by being so behind when I started. Always had a new do to look forward to.

 

Spoiler: SG ep 2

Yeah, the fact that Taako's loss of luck was represented by a SKULL is... worrisome. Especially when Team Rocket were saying that the monsters nearly always kill everyone who fails the prisoner's dilemma game and they made a point about the bad luck only affecting Taako, not the whole team. Hopefully we won't be seeing Kravitz in his role as the Grim Reaper before this arc is over.

Also it gave me the feels when Merle offered to spin the wheel of sacrifices again when Taako hesitated. Not an option, but he tried.

 

Spoiler: SG 2

I definitely feel like taking the penalty in the first room would be horrible, since everything is so blatantly sadistic. I am also super proud of Tres Horny Boys for picking Trust because I think it shows a lot of character development from the first few arcs, even if, uh, they're up shit creek now.

 

Spoiler: Suffering game theory

While I think this is a great idea, i'm not sure, as far as I can tell, 'animus' is more akin to animosity than animation. The definitions i'm finding refer to it as hostility or ill-feeling, OR motivation and fighting spirit. Something tells me the bell somehow feeds off of badfeels (the breath misting thing?)? Granting team rocket the ability to do these crazy magics or something

 

Spoiler: same thing an general spoilers for sg2

Yeah, I'm thinking that it's a self-perpetuating machine, almost. Considering that Griffin said he wanted the choice of not using the artifacts to be more complicated, and what with the chalice having June as an avatar - I expect the same thing is going on here with the bell. Either those two elves are the current holders of it, or we've got another June situation where they're out of commission an the bell is using their forms to communicate. Either way, they're fucking fabulous an I love them. I think the more negative they are, the harder their challenges will become. See also the boston live show and the big orb that fed off negative emotions - I think there's a similar thing in play here.

I wonder if Klaarg is gonna show up. I hope not, because he needs a break, oh my god.
I don't think the bell will try to tempt Magnus with Julia, if only because the temporal chalice failed at doing that, unless it can reaaaaally sweeten the deal. But I have a feeling that getting her back via the bell would involve inflicting enough suffering on others to 'charge it up', so to speak, with the necromantic energy.

Which also makes me wonder if that's why wonderland is actually a thing in the first place - if those two elves made a creepy saw dungeon specifically to charge up the bell to get enough bad energy to make their own ultimate wish come true. If that's the case, I think there'll be a high-stakes thing later on about stopping whatever they would be trying to achieve in that situation.
I'm rambling but I loved today's episode a lot, and Magnus remains an adorable ray of fucking sunshine even after his. Uh.
Yeah x3

 

Unrelated: I would totally read the AU where Magnus, Taako and Merle grew up in the Dragon Age universe. Gray Warden Tres Horny Boys! If only for Taako, the most incompetent Circle mage who everyone (including Taako) thinks is a harmless idiot until they try to make him Tranquil, at which point he becomes a DANGEROUS idiot.

 

Spoiler: sg2

oh by all means ramble away! What a fantastic idea with the saw dungeon thing I would be shocked if that wasn't at least close to what is going on. I wonder if anyone has every actually made it through wonderland successfully? If so, would that affect the ownership of the bell? I cant imagine that the bell would allow it's holder to grant other people's greatest desires, so it wouldn't surprise me if wonderland was purposefully impossible to win and just a way for them to get negative energy from people.

I'm also interested in how into taako's potential employment 'james' (for lack of a better name) was. It could have just been a throwaway joke, but it could also be some insight into how this works. You wouldn't think that someone in possession of a Grand Relic would even entertain the possibility of sharing, but seeing as it's already a two-elf operation, there might be some other factors at play.

 

@glitterchance

Spoiler: spoilers an YES

Also consider the minimal amount of changes possible: Taako, the apostate travelling chef. Merle, outcast from a village of already outcast dwarves that set up on a beach. Magnus, who helped overthrow a corrupt Arl (he strikes me as a dude who would absolutely grow up in Fereldan).
I love the idea of them being Wardens. Maybe members of a super secretive (even more than normal) Warden team that hunts down ancient Tevinter relics linked to the Blight? I also absolutely cannot see Taako agreeing to become a warden though, what with the whole reduced lifespan thing. I do like the idea of him tagging along with the other two because they are ALWAYS MAXIMUM HUNGRY and what starts out as a profitable business relationship turns into him helping them out and becoming an unofficial member of the team