(no subject)

Like many critters, I have spent six and a half of the past 24 hours watching my way through the final segment of one of the best things Critical Role has put out so far. That's a reassurance by itself, that they're finding ways to grow and improve themselves. But what makes Calamity so great is very much what's always been the show's strengths: the ability of the cast to create and live in vibrant characters that grow in depth the more we see of them, unafraid to get crazy or bold or heartbreaking and leave all their feelings out on the table-and that includes their full-out reactions to a timely natural twenty or something one of the other characters are doing. All backed up by a world with fully developed lore-Brennan actually feels like a better DM than Matt in the moment, but it obviously helped him to have that here, a little dice alchemy, and maybe a tendency towards warmth and hope for people in the end-even when telling a story about the apocalypse, it seems. These people are smart enough to know what they, their friends, and the others they invite to the table do well, and that growth and expansion doesn't require turning their backs on that.
And they even knew we'd need something fluffy and silly next week to help recover from this. I'm still feeling a little worn out.