Remembering how journaling works maybe

[timegoddessrose]

Boy, how does journaling even work? I've forgotten. But I also know that it's good for my mental health, and the fact that I haven't been actively journaling in...years isn't great for me. I'm hoping to carve out a quieter corner of the internet for myself here, away from the churn of modern social media ("modern social media" makes me sound like the ancient husk I am). I know hardly anyone who uses this platform, but maybe that's a good thing. Start small, and all that.

Yesterday our neighbor noticed the AC line outside had frozen overnight and thawed in the morning. He let us know and we in turn let the landlord know. The landlord said he'd get someone out to look at it today, but that we should keep the AC off until then. Uhm. It's 90 degrees here. Thankfully, we survived, only for the maintenance guy to just change the filter, shrug his shoulders, and conclude that was probably the problem. Cool. We could have done that ourselves. Love risking Covid exposure for that.

Anyway, I'm working on draft 6 of Novel 1, and for the greater part of two weeks I've been hammering away at literally just the first chapter. Such slow-seeming progress is the exact kind of thing that drives me bonkers in the writing process, but I also know that being thorough on this draft will save me a lot of hassle down the road. I've also been listening to a lot of Great Courses on writing, editing, and publishing which have been dispiriting to say the least. I'm trying to just take what's useful and leave the rest, but it's tough when industry professionals are like, "Basically, kid, you're screwed." Like. Thanks????

I've been rewatching Game of Thrones while I work on my novel. "Watching" is probably too active a verb. More accurately I have it playing in the background while I write, and I only ever fully pay attention when Daenerys is on screen. Despite everything, I still find its familiarity comforting. I'm also trying to get back to a form of media consumption that isn't so completely predicated on authorial intent. I'm trying to move to a more (personally) productive model that considers less "Am I supposed to like the Starks? Am I supposed to disagree with Dany?" and more "*Do* I like the Starks? *Do* I disagree with Dany?" With the caveat that no approach can actually make this show good, but I love it anyway.

I actually (actively) watch Critical Role while I crochet. I'm about to start C2E57 (I think?) "In Love and War," which I believe introduces Essek (I'm not overly careful about spoilers) so I'm excited to get to that. I'm also happy to see Taliesin is back for this episode, because as delightful as Matt playing Taliesin playing Caduceus was I missed Taliesin.

Well, I need to go placate a screaming cat, so I guess that's it.

Comments

[juushika]

I hope DW works out! Goodness knows I'm bad at using it lately (my brain has been eaten by househunting for the last howevermany months, and I really don't want to journal about it because it just means getting more invested in each near-miss, which, no thanks), BUT this really is my preferred platform right now, for its quietness and emphasis on, yeah, journaling.

Essek! Hope you like him, in retrospect he felt like the most--I guess the word might be "successful," character arc-wise, of the C2 cast. I have to my surprise been keeping up to date with C3? In past campaigns I'd leapfrog, catching up on big chunks and then dropping away from it for another year or two. I still don't watch live, I would probably never watch live because I hate living a) on other people's schedules and b) in real-time speed, I generally watch the VoDs at x1.5. But it's neat to have it as an ongoing part of my schedule.

[timegoddessrose]

Oh, you're watching C3? I prioritize staying caught up on it (I usually watch the first 1-2 hours live, then watch the VoD on YouTube once it goes up the following Monday), hence my slow C2 progress because I've necessarily had to slow down. My sluggish progress is also due to the fact that I generally struggle with C2 because I...don't love this cast of characters. I have individual faves (Caleb, my son!!!! Caduceus!), but as a whole this isn't my favorite party or story.

After watching Legend of Vox Machina, I've been making eyes at C1 'cause the characters/themes honestly feel like a better fit and C3 is so closely tying into it, but I'm drowning in CR content as it is and don't necessarily need more. (However, I know C1 is your jam, so like, if you wanna talk me into it, I wouldn't be mad, lol.)

I'm really enjoying C3, though. I'm loving the setting and general vibes so much, and I absolutely adore every player character. I'm extremely invested in the Bell's Hells (and I'm so happy to be getting more Orym and Fearne, since I LOVED LOVED them in ExU) and prefer their inter-group dynamics to the Mighty Nein.

P.S. I like Essek. He's so...cute??? Wasn't expecting that, but I'm okay with it.

P.P.S. Ugh. House hunting is the worst. Full sympathy.

[juushika]

I think the 3 eps per month schedule is a big part of why I'm able to stay up to date. When they pitched the schedule as "so that viewers can catch up, and so that we can sometimes sleep maybe" I really only saw (and appreciated, for the record; they should sleep!) the second half, but it turns out that the first half is also true.

I had similar issues with C2. For the most part, I like the cast a lot as individuals; Caleb is great, Jester is great, and it was so fun to watch Travis in such a different role. I like the setting and plot! It's more polished and very watchable. ...But it doesn't have that spark that made me get really into specific characters/dynamics/themes the way I was with C1. The only dynamic that really got me was Jester and the Traveler, because I'm team codependency; meanwhile C1 has codependency for literal days.

Days, get it, because the runtime is so long.

I haven't watched TLoVM yet but I'm so excited to because the Briarwood arc is where I fell deep into Critical Role, and in general C1 is, tonally, thematically, something I think would be relevant to your interests when you get to it. It's comparably a lot darker and angstier, and while I argue with how some of the romances play out the general tone is a lot more like ... personal, interpersonal, a lot of grief and anger, a lot of character and relationship growth hinging on grief and anger. It's also an absolute hot mess to get in to, quality-wise; I started from episode 1 and skipped nothing, and that is a decision I stand by but it also involves suffering. It also goes more "traditional" DnD insofar as everyone becomes an overpowered demigod famously fighting a pretty uninspiring villain. It's rougher in terms of raw quality. Some of the playing is rougher, too; Marisha especially struggles, which is emotionally complicated to watch given that she's also the fandom's punching bag for whateverthefuck reason. The energy with guest players can be uhhhhhh unpleasant, IMO. And of course it's a hell of a lot to take on when the buy-in is, like, literal hundreds of hours or more depending if you try to watch it instead of/alongside another campaign.

I seriously consider rewatching it sometimes, which? must be indicative of something? given the aforementioned hundreds of hours. But I'm 100% team "it will be there if/when you want it" because you kinda gotta pick your battles with this sort of media consumption.

I have good vibes from C3 so far. What I love most is that the ladies are absolute show-stealers, and like: good, finally, especially for Marisha, who has killed it, although Imogen is my favorite I think. It also feels so well written on Matt's side, particularly how to distinguish each campaign while allowing them to more obvious interconnections between them. As always, it will probably hinge on the relationships for me; tragic backstories are good but what I really thirst for is complicated inter-player dynamics. And for Laudna/Imogen. And polyam-Crownkeepers. Obviously.