Category / KaytheHuman

by WetheGeek

Role for Damage

When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016 one of my best friends held my hand so tight she almost broke it. I saw an grown man sit down on the ground and cry. And I just wanted to go to bed.

Right now, as I am writing this it is almost 1 am in the morning, a similar time to when the Cubs won, and I’ve been watching 6 people play Dungeons and Dragons on Twitch for the past four hours. And I’m going to be honest with you here, I’m crying because it feels like my team won the World Series. I have never been someone who was ever really into watching or playing sports, but right now, I feel like I just ran a marathon. I have been hyperventilating and yelling at my laptop while I watched 6 people I do not know describe themselves fighting and casting spells and rolling dice to see if they were successful. How did I get here?

Two weeks ago, I got onto YouTube and was looking to waste a little time before I would start my homework, and the livestream for Critical Role had begun about 40 minutes earlier. Critical Role started off as a part of Geek and Sundry, and their dnd campaign videos can be watched on the Geek and Sundry YouTube channel. It’s where a bunch of nerdy voice actors sit around and play Dungeons and Dragons. It has consumed my life.

I’ve watched parts of Critical Role before, but they are in the middle of a campaign right now, so I was not looking to commit to anything. I just wanted to see if the episode was interesting. It was. Two Thursdays ago I became enthralled by the characters and the story of Critical Role’s second campaign. Over the past two weeks I have watched 24 episodes trying to catch up (episode 43 aired tonight) because I cannot get enough of the Might Nein. I have watched with bated breath as I listened to backstories, watched fights, and attended festivals with Fjord, Beau, Caleb, Nott, Jester, Mollymauk, Yasha, and later Caduceus.

All my family, friends, and casual acquaintances have heard me talk about how I have been watching people on YouTube play Dungeons and Dragons for the past two weeks, and the only people who understand are my friends who play dnd. For me, I love Dungeons and Dragons for the same reason I love watching boomwhacker music videos: cooperation and teamwork. All the players work together to create the story of the campaign. They work together to help each other meet their group goals. It is fascinating to watch because it is also in the interest of their characters to keep some things secret. They walk a beautiful tight rope as they balance the interests of the group and their own self preservation.

I also love the epic story. Not an epic in the conventional sense, but an epic like the Odyssey. A long tale with many different stories woven together to create a whole. All the threads woven together to create a masterpiece. I love seeing characters and plots develop over long periods of time. I love watching relationships build up and sometimes seeing them get torn down. Dungeons and Dragons is all about the story, and the most important rule I’ve learned while watching Critical Role is everything is acceptable if it makes sense narratively.

I’m still reeling from everything that happened in tonight’s episode, but I am so glad to that Critical Role exists for me to help me avoid my homework. The only thing I have left to say is “Is it Thursday yet?”

-KaytheHuman

#CriticalRole #IsItThursdayYet #FjordTough #Fjord #Beau #Beauregard #Swoleregard #BigBeau #Caleb #CalebWidogast #Nott #NottTheBrave #JesterLavorre #TheTraveler #Mollymauk #Yasha #YashaNydoorin #Cad #Caduceus #CaduceusClay #Pumat #dnd #nerd #wethegeek

by WetheGeek

Bobs Burgers is Back!

The premiere of season 9 of Bob’s Burgers was last night, and because I’m a millennial, I watched it this morning through Hulu. I was alerted to the season 9 premiere through Josh Gad’s Instagram because he was one of the many guest stars. In this episode “Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now” Tina tries to prove she is not boy crazy by walking into a convention center of boys auditioning to for Boyz 4 Now to find her true love. It goes as well for Tina as you would think. The rest of the Belchers take care of a baby rat.

This was another great season premiere for Bob’s Burgers, but my favorite will always be “Work Hard or Die Trying Girl” from Season 5. This season opener had great songs and great guest stars. I really enjoyed all of Tina’s 80s classic movie themed daydreams and the final musical number. It had a great A story, but the B story could have been used later in the season. I, personally, would have loved to see Gene try out for the Boyz 4 Now as a B story.

Top quotes from this Episode:

1: – Bob – “I like the rat more than I like all of you.” 2 – Tina – “He left his shoe! Oh wait… That’s a pigeon.” 3 – Tina – “I’m not boy crazy. I’ve never felt more boy sane.”

-KaytheHuman

by WetheGeek

Captain Marvel is my hero

I did not watch this trailer with the idea of trying to glean information about the plot, but I watched it with the mindset of trying to find the Carol I know and love, and the trailer delivered that for me. I am excited about the movie because I saw the Carol who loves to fly and would rather punch someone out instead of talk it out. I saw the Carol who falls and gets back up. I saw Carol in her mohawk. I saw the Carol who is calm in the face of danger.
As you may have noticed, I chose a really specific shot from the trailer for this review. It is Carol balling her hand into a fist. One of my favorite things about the character Carol Danvers is that her go to solution, when things get complicated, is to punch her way out. It is still very rare for female characters to be given power and for that power to be portrayed well. I, when I first started reading about Carol, was very used to the idea that the more powerful a woman becomes, the less feminine she becomes or the more sexualized she becomes. It was never something I could personally relate too. I grew up with the mindset that femininity and power are characteristics that do not belong together, but characters like Carol (and Kara Danvers as Supergirl) are very powerful and feminine. She proves the point that a woman can be powerful, respected, and wear a skirt if she so desires and not be seen as sexual object.
I love Captain Marvel. I started reading the comics of Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel back in 2015, and I have been excited about this movie since it was announced in 2015. I remember, at that time, being afraid that people would not understand her and only do the minimal research about her to find that the title of Captain Marvel originally belonged to a man. The movie was announced right around the time that the mantle of Thor was given Jane in the comics, and I thought people might take out their frustration of that situation on Carol. I am glad, however, that times have progressed where characters or even historical figures that were originally white men can now be portrayed either in movies or on stage by people who have often been the minority.

-KaytheHuman

by WetheGeek

Disney and the Nutcracker

Because this is also a post where I am introducing myself a little, get ready to jump on the hype train (I always do).

I am so excited for this movie. I love ballet, and I loved the Barbie movies Swan Lake and Nutcracker growing up. The two trailers that are out make The Nutcracker and the Four Realms to look straight up magical. The use of the original score, the beautiful winter wonderland, and an all star cast are making me crave hot chocolate and gingerbread in August. So now, I only have to wait 3 months to see it in theaters. I’ll be over here listening to the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and dreaming of snow.

-KaytheHuman