Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

Boards & Bricks Haul

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While driving home from Milwaukee, my husband pointed out a billboard. The billboard was an advertisement for Boards & Bricks, a board game and hobby store in Osseo, Wisconsin. Osseo is outside of Eau Claire on the west side of the state. My husband agreed we should stop there and check it out. When we walked in, the store was massive! There were lots of Magic: The Gathering, Disney Lorcana, and Dungeons & Dragons products each in their specific section. There was a LEGO section and a shelf for puzzles. I bought a few things and I wanted to share what I purchased.

Image is a plastic tower. Inside the tower is a dice set. On the label, it says "Coffee Dice Contains: Roasted Coffee Beans".

On the counter, there were several stacks of dice. I picked up each set and examined them as some sets had items or animals in the dice. I chose to purchase the coffee bean set. The dice are a pretty brown color with gold specs. Inside the dice are actual coffee beans! I thought these were two cute and I couldn’t resist purchasing them.

Image is a picture of a LEGO figure. He's holding a sword and a cup. He is clearly a vampire. Next to the LEGO figure are four D10 dice. Two of them are red, one is white and red and the other is red and orange.

LEGO came out with these Dungeons & Dragons surprise sets where you open it and you’re not sure what you will get. I talked about how much I wanted the Strahd one. The store associate helped scan the boxes and chose the box containing Strahd. I’m going to put Strahd on my TTRPG shelf in our bedroom next to Levenia, as she got the final killing blow on Strahd in our game. Next to Strahd, I have four d10s. Vampire: The Masquerade uses d10s and I wanted extra dice in case I need to put some dice in dice jail. I picked out any that looked red or would fit the darker vibe of the game. I will set them aside in a separate dice bag for when I play Vampire.

Image is a photo of two stickers. The first says Paladin Sacred Oath Bound. The second says Sorcerer Let Me Spell It out with a dragon on it.

The final purchase I made was stickers. I like to decorate my TTRPG notebooks with stickers because it personalizes my notes. The two stickers I bought were Sorcerer and Paladin. Those are classes I have played, so I felt a personal connection to them. I’m going to stick them in my notebook before our next session.

Boards & Bricks is a store I would stop in again. It’s nice to have these local spots because it makes the five-hour trip from Minneapolis to Milwaukee much more enjoyable.

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

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Image is a book cover for Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez. It shows a split cover. The man is on a farm while the woman is in the city with the Minneapolis skyline on it.

I bought Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez earlier this year at a local bookstore. I had planned on reading this book in February but ran out of time. Part of Your World was making the rounds on social media and everyone was saying how much they loved this book. As a bonus, Abby Jimenez lives in Minnesota and runs a local business, Nadia Cakes, which has several locations across the metro. Part of Your World lived up to the hype; all romance books should aspire to be this good.

Alexis Montgomery has a chance encounter with Daniel Grant after her car slides into a ditch. Daniel digs her out and it’s clear they have amazing chemistry together. Alexis quickly learns that Daniel is ten years younger than her, which makes her anxious. On top of that, Alexis is facing enormous pressure from her family to keep the Montgomery medical legacy alive. Alexis can’t deny her growing feelings for Daniel, leading her to uncover some uncomfortable truths about herself.

Part of Your World is the 2005 Kate Hudson rom-com in book form. This book made me blush because it’s so STINKING CUTE. Alexis and Daniel are adorable together. From the get-go, Daniel falls head over heels for her and is genuinely a good person. Alexis doesn’t know what to do with Daniel and his feelings for her. She accepted the love she thought she deserved which is nothing compared to how Daniel treats her. One thing that’s worth mentioning is Part of Your World is not a smutty romance. Most intimate scenes aren’t described, so if smut has been a turn-off, this could be a good book to recommend.

Looking beyond the romance, Part of Your World tackles complex, emotional topics. Starting with Alexis, Alexis reflects on the type of relationship she has with her family. Her father has treated her poorly and doesn’t seem to be proud of her accomplishments. He wants Alexis to be someone he can brag to in front of his rich friends even if she isn’t happy with her life. There’s a moment where Alexis finally stands up to her father and it’s so satisfying to read. Daniel has his own things he grapples with specifically regarding how his mother leeches off of him. She wants to sell their family home not realizing how much the home means to Daniel. Another insecurity Daniel grapples with is how he will never be the wealthy man Alexis might be more accustomed to. It shows that finding a partner that treats you well will always be better than being with a partner for financial support.

Every romance book has the pinnacle fight or argument that ends the relationship. In this one, I felt Alexis and Daniel were mature about what they needed. Alexis talks about their age gap and why this mattered to her. Daniel was concerned about Alexis hiding their relationship from her family and friends. They both had to figure out what they wanted and what they were willing to compromise on. I thought this was handled well and while it was devastating that they broke up, it was the right thing for them to do until they figured themselves out.

How dare I wait the entire year to read this book? It’s a travesty. I understand the hype for this book now. This is a romance book I won’t forget about and a book I will constantly be pressuring people to read. I have already added the rest of Abby Jimenez’s books to my TBR and hope to read them next year. I rated Part of Your World five stars on Goodreads.

Avantika & Uk’otoa – The Mighty Nein

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I have less than 100 episodes left of Mighty Nein, Critical Role’s second campaign. It’s a bit daunting to watch this campaign since there are 141 total episodes. It feels like a milestone to have less than 100 left. I’m at the part of the campaign where Mighty Nein partners with Avantika to learn more about Uk’otoa. Fjord (played by Travis Willingham) has a personal connection to this as well and Avantika latches on to Fjord right away. I have been loving this arc so far, it’s been interesting to watch and I wanted to talk more about it.

First of all, I love Avantika. Avantika is one of my favorite NPCs Matt Mercer has created. I’d put Avantika up there with Lady Kima and Allura from Vox Machina. The flirty banter she has with Fjord is entertaining. I think it pulls Travis into more roleplay-heavy situations which has been different than Grog which was Travis’s character from Vox Machina. I have had many things about this campaign spoiled for me, but Avantika’s fate was not one of them. There is still a lot of mystery about what will happen to her and if she will summon Uk’otoa.

While this arc is focused on Fjord, there have been ramifications on the other members of the Nein. Jester (played by Laura Bailey) has expressed to Caleb (played by Liam O’Brien) through hints that she may be jealous of Fjord’s relationship with Avantika. Jester has always flirted with Fjord, but this might be the push Jester needs to admit her feelings for him. Caduceus (played by Taliesin Jaffe) clocks Fjord’s relationship with Avantika before the others. Fjord asks him to keep this a secret which Caduceus agrees to do. The fun part about watching a campaign is the story along with seeing how the characters are impacted by decisions the other characters make.

This whole arc is Dungeons & Dragons meets Pirates of the Caribbean. There have been ship battles and mad dashes through tropical forests. Some characters thrive with all the athleticism while other characters tolerate it. When I watch Critical Role, I blog or scroll through Reddit while the episode plays in the background. It’s tough for me to sit and watch three hours of content straight without my mind starting to wander. For this arc though, I am invested.

I am curious how all this will play out and what this will mean for the rest of the campaign. I wonder if there will be a final showdown with Avantika or what kind of powers Avantika will get if she does summon Uk’otoa. Will Fjord unlock any special abilities? Time will tell once I finish watching the upcoming episodes.

No Mercy Percy – Percy Cosplay

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I always plan on cosplaying when I attend Twin Cities Con. On Friday, I cosplayed as Kylo Ren. I put together my Kylo Ren cosplay for Halloween last year and it turned out so well that it’s now become a permanent cosplay in my closet. I use red lip liner, black eye liner, light brown eye shadow, and vaseline to create the scar on my face. On Saturday, I put together a last minute cosplay. I decided to do a gender bent, Percy De Rolo from Vox Machina and The Legend of Vox Machina. I wanted to break down how I put this cosplay together.

Image is a photo of a woman smiling at the camera. She's wearing a white curly wig, with steampunk glasses. She's wearing a baby blue dress shirt that's a button up shirt.

I had originally thought about cosplaying as Vexhalia, but then thought against it. There are a lot of components to Vexhalia including her bow and her quiver. I was looking online and there wasn’t a way I could cosplay her on such short notice without spending quite a bit of money. Vexhalia is a character I want to cosplay down the road, but I want more time to be able to do the character justice. I was going through a Reddit post and saw someone else doing a gender bent Percy cosplay and I was immediately inspired to do one myself.

The reference image I used was a photo of Percy from the show where he’s bent over a table looking at a map. He’s wearing a light blue dress shirt with a black vest and black pants. This was the photo I used to put together my cosplay. I stole a blue dress shirt from my husband’s closet. I tucked the shirt into a pair of black jeans I own. I used a black tied corset to help cinch the look together especially because my husband’s dress shirt was a bit big on me. I ordered a pair of steampunk glasses and a silver prop gun. To complete the look, I bought a white, wavy wig. I could have opted for a white short hair look, but I like longer wigs, so that’s a personal preference I have.

This cosplay was something I put together in a week and a half. Is this cosplay accurate? Yes and no. As I walked around the con, no one recognized the look. However, when I was walking to the convention center, I had someone compliment my wig and how she thought I looked good in it. This was so nice of her to say. It definitely gave me a boost of confidence as I walked to Twin Cities Con.

I like the cosplay especially because it was a last minute look to put together. I’d love to get a more accurate prop of Percy’s gun and I’d like to find a blue jacket that I could wear over the look as I think it would be more true to Percy’s look. With that said, I’m happy with how this came together and I would wear this to another convention I attend in the future.

Twin Cities Con 2024

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Image is a banner. It shows the Minneaplis Skyline in black and gold. There are big white letters that say "Twin Cities Con". The N in Con gets cut off.

Last weekend was Twin Cities Con at the Minneapolis Convention Center. I look forward to Twin Cities Con every year as it always feels like a last hurrah to end convention season. I like how Twin Cities Con is in November and right before the holidays. I volunteered at the Twin Cities Geek booth like I usually do which I always enjoy. It’s great to talk to local geeks and many of the people I talked to said Twin Cities Con was their first con. I wanted to summarize my thoughts about this year’s convention as a whole. This will be broken up into two parts: the first will be my experience at the con and the second part will discuss the logistics of the event.

I had a blast at Twin Cities Con. I was there both Friday and Saturday. On Friday, I was there for two hours and Saturday I was there for 4 1/2 hours. Saturday was the busier day by far. I was shocked at the amount of people waiting in line! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s clear Twin Cities Con has grown in the years since they have been putting on the convention. After volunteering at the Twin Cities Geek booth, I wandered the vendor hall. The crowds were there! It felt like I was at C2E2 or Planet Comic Con. As far as the vendors, I saw quite a few artists and a lot of vendors selling TTRPG stuff. There were a few dice vendors and I had to refrain from spending too much money. There seemed to be a good mix of vendors selling a variety of different products.

One of the highlights of my day on Saturday was attending a panel. I went to the “Women in Cosplay” panel on Saturday at 3 PM. The panelists did a phenomenal job at making the panel light hearted. It was equal parts talking and engaging the audience. They took questions on social media, so if anyone felt shy to ask a question directly, they could submit it instead. I liked this a lot. It made the panel more personal than other panels I have been to in the past. I would love to tell you who was on the panel, but on Twin Cities Con’s website, it doesn’t list who the panelists are which is a bummer. I believe the cosplayers were from South Carolina, but that’s about all I can tell you.

I can’t recap Twin Cities Con without talking about the logistics of the event. I have been following several social media posts made on both the Twin Cities Con Fans and the Twin Cities Geek Facebook groups. There were several people who expressed frustration with how Twin Cities Con was organized and I feel it’s necessary to summarize some of this if I’m going to talk about Twin Cities Con effectively. One of the major complaints was with the security line. This year, Twin Cities Con had a security line with metal detectors outside of the Exhibit Hall. Once you pass through the line, you can find the photo ops area, celebrities doing autographs and the vendors tabling there. However, once you leave the Exhibit Hall (let’s say to go to a panel or to play a TTRPG game with Badwolf Adventure Studios), you would have to wait in the security line again.

Why does waiting in a line matter? Depending on what time of day and who you ask, I have heard of people waiting in line for 45 minutes or over an hour. This matters if you were someone who bought an autograph or a photo op with a designated time slot. For a security line, I would expect to wait 20 – 30 minutes, I feel that would be reasonable. It seems that lines for Twin Cities Con were much longer than that. As a side note, since I was an exhibitor / volunteer, I could go through a separate line versus the longer security line, so I didn’t have to wait long. I think this is important to mention because this probably plays into why I had a good time at Twin Cities Con since I didn’t have to wait as long as others.

I do want to take a step back and compare Twin Cities Con with C2E2. C2E2 does have security, but the way C2E2 does it, you go through a separate area that’s right across the aisle from the exhibit hall. Once you’re through security, you have access to everything. The exhibit hall, the food area, alcohol, and the panel rooms. The only reason you would have to leave is if you were done for the day or you wanted to go out to eat at a sit down restaurant. When I have gone to C2E2, I have never had to wait longer than 10 minutes to get through the security line. Seeing how other conventions handle this, I think Twin Cities Con has room for improvement in creating a seamless experience for anyone attending the con.

What’s the solution for something like this? I am not an event planner, so I can’t say how much of this is on Twin Cities Con or how much of this is on the Minneapolis Convention Center. I saw someone suggest moving the entrance to the security line to the front door of the Convention Center. While this isn’t a bad suggestion, this would also have people waiting outside to get in. The weather this year was mild, but November in Minnesota can be a hit or a miss. For cosplayers, it sucks to have to bring cold weather clothing and then carry it around for the entire convention. Another suggestion I saw was putting stickers on badges for those who already went through security, so they could come and go as they please. There is a safety risk for this. Let’s say someone goes through security, then decides to bring in something they shouldn’t. With big guests like Hayden Christensen, there does need to be some way to make sure guests feel safe attending a larger event like this. I am not sure what the solution is for this. I hope Twin Cities Con listens to some of the fans and offers an alternative for next year.

With all that said, I have a few minor critiques for Twin Cities Con. The first is to list who the panelists are on the panels. I’d love to shout out the panelists for the “Women in Cosplay” panel. Another critique is when you go to Twin Cities Con’s website, it lists vertically all the panels and events for each of the days. It’s difficult to read because when you scroll down, it’s not clear which day you’re reading from. I think it would be cool to see a virtual convention book online or even printing a few convention books to have on hand. It would make it a lot easier to plan out my days and what I want to do on what day. These are all pretty minor tweaks versus the security line being called out by many people.

I was not expecting to go into this level of detail over Twin Cities Con, but here we are. As mentioned, I like Twin Cities Con and I will be back next year. I didn’t experience as many of the pain points that other people experienced. I think it’s important to mention that everyone’s opinions and thoughts are valid even if you disagree with them. I think Twin Cities Con could improve on a lot of things, however, I’m glad Twin Cities Con is here. It’s nice to not always have to travel several states away when I want to attend a bigger convention.

Tackle the TBR – November TBR

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How is it already November? These next two months are going to go by in a blur with the holidays around the corner. I had been meaning to write an October TBR post, but I ended up switching around what I would read. For my TBR this month, I am going to read the remaining books on my shelf. I have two books I haven’t read yet and a manga. Once I finish these books, I will have read all of the physical books I own. I have been trying to buy less books and focus on reading everything on my shelves. It will be so satisfying to achieve this. Before getting into the books I will read this month, I wanted to do a recap of Spooky season.

In September and October, I read seven books, three were audiobooks. The books I read were:

  • The Babysitter’s Coven by Kate Williams. 2/5 stars
  • Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark. 5/5 stars
  • We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix. 2/5 stars
  • With Love, From Cold World by Alicia Thompson. 4/5 stars
  • The Serpent & The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent. 4/5 stars
  • Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver. 4/5 stars
  • Critical Role: Vox Machina – Kith & Kin by Marieke Nijkamp. 3/5 stars

That’s a solid reading list! Incorporating audio books into my reading has helped immensely in reading more. I didn’t think I would enjoy audiobooks as much as I have, but here we are. Now onto the books I plan on reading this month

Image is a stack of books. The book on the bottom is Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez. The second book is Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. The third book is a manga. It's Demon Slayer #1 by Kimetsu No Yaiba and Koyoharu Gotouge.

The first book I’m going to read is Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez. I’m a third of the way through the book and I LOVE IT so far. It reminds me of a Kate Hudson 2004 Romantic Comedy movie that takes place in Minnesota. The second book I am going to read is Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. If you’re sick of seeing this book pop up, I am too. I said I would read this book in three of my TBR posts? I am going to commit this time. The final book is Demon Slayer #1 by Kimetsu No Yaiba and Koyoharu Gotouge.

In addition to the physical books on my TBR, I’m currently listening to My Body by Emily Ratajkowski. My Body is a memoir where Emily talks about her beauty, her body and how those have both been exploited in this industry. I have had two audiobooks on hold for a long time. They are Icebreaker by Hannah Grace and What Doesn’t Break by Cassandra Khaw. I’m not sure when I will get access to both of those books since I have been in a queue for a least a month for both.

It will be a great feeling once I finish reading these books. I can think about what books I want to purchase for my collection and potentially going back and re-reading books on my shelves.

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 Trailer

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During October, the World of Darkness Discord would release news, new products, and content relating to Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, and Hunter: The Reckoning. Towards the end of the month, a new trailer for Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 was released. Bloodlines 2 has been a long-awaited game that’s been delayed and picked up by various studios. Will this game be good? I hope so, but I won’t keep my hopes up.

Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 is a sequel to Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines a game released in 2004. Before you ask, no, I haven’t played Bloodlines. This game came out before I started getting into gaming and before I was introduced to Vampire. At the time, Bloodlines was considered a commercial failure. In the years since Bloodlines was released, it’s developed a cult following with gamers playing the game and citing that for the period it was released, it’s a decent game. I can’t say much more about that since I haven’t played it.

In 2015, video game publisher Paradox Interactive purchased White Wolf, the publisher behind Vampire, Werewolf, and Hunter. This is when there were rumblings that a sequel to Bloodlines could be possible. In 2019 the game was formally delayed and another delay was announced in 2020. In 2021, one of the developers left the project and there were talks of canceling the game altogether. In 2023, The Chinese Room was brought in to finish the game. I was under the impression that the game was supposed to come out in October of this year, but the release date was pushed into 2025. For those who aren’t gamers, I would equate this situation to the Disney Star Wars movies having two different directors. When you have multiple creative companies working on something, it can be messy. This has left fans wondering, will this game be any good?

With the success of Baldur’s Gate 3, I think there’s more pressure for Bloodlines 2 to be the Vampire: The Masquerade version of that. When I think about what I want from the game, I want to create my own character. I can pick her clan, what she looks like, how she feeds, and her flaws. I can wander around an open-world Seattle, completing missions and undergoing side quests. I can maintain a reputation, do I help people? or am I close to breaching the masquerade? I want to have reasons to replay the game. Based on what I know from the game, players choose a pre-made vampire character. It’s a bummer if I can’t customize my own character.

I watched the Bloodlines 2 trailer twice. Putting aside everything I talked about, the game looks good. I liked how the characters were revealed. I am more drawn to Safia, the Tremere, or Lou, the Venture. Do we get to play as all of these characters? or do you choose one for the whole game? I’m not sure. When it comes down to it, it’s not the game fans would have wanted, but I guess we will take what we can get.

I mentioned this before, but I hope this game is good. If Bloodlines 2 is decent, it could catapult Vampire: The Masquerade into more mainstream TTRPGs. If it isn’t good, then the game will fade into obscurity. I’m not going to pre-order the game yet, I want to see the reviews once it comes out. If you have been following Bloodlines 2 for a while, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

My Favorite Moments from Naddpod’s Last 50 Episodes

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I did it! I finished listening to all 100 episodes of the first campaign of Not Another DnD (NADDPOD) podcast. This campaign was everything I remembered and so much more. I remembered some pieces from the first time I listened, but there was so much I completely forgot about. I wanted to share some of my favorite moments from the last 50 episodes of NADDPOD.

In case you missed my first post summarizing the first 50 episodes, I wanted to provide a summary. NADDPOD is a TTRPG podcast where the cast are playing Dungeons & Dragons. The podcast follows three characters: Moonshine Cybin (played by Emily Axford), Beverly Toegold V (played by Caldwell Tanner), and Hardwon Surefoot (played by Jake Hurwitz). The campaign is DMed by Brian Murphy or Murph for short. The first campaign focuses on Moonshine, Beverly, and Hardwon as they attempt to save Bahumia again.

Spoilers for the last 50 episodes of NADDPOD

The History of Balnor – Episode #51

In episode #51, the characters are reunited with Alannis, one of the original saviors of Bahumia. She reveals a lot of background into how she tried to take out Thiala, another of the saviors of Bahumia. When Alannis speaks, she talks about Balnor and how Balnor came to them. Balnor was originally picked out of the “Deck of Many Things”, however, Alannis says that Balnor was placed there by her. Alannis found Balnor after his family was killed by Drow Elves. Alannis asked if Balnor wanted to help and he agreed. Alannis put Balnor in the card the group drew.

This was so heartbreaking! It shows what a good DM Murph is because of the way he links his stories together. Who would have thought a knight could have had such a tragic backstory? Balnor has helped the group so much and they would not be alive without him.

Hardwon getting turned into a Vampire – Episode #61

In Shadowfell, the group enters a vampire club. After some back and forth, a group of vampires attack and take Hardwon. Hardwon is drained by one of the vampires and after a tense moment, he’s let go. This forever changes Hardwon’s character because after escaping Shadowfell, Moonshine casts Reincarnate on Hardwon and he’s reborn as a half-elf instead of a dwarf.

I chose this moment because of how it shaped Hardwon’s story. His backstory is how he grew up in an orphanage and didn’t feel connected to the other dwarves. You could tell that Jake felt a little down after this happened. Once he’s reborn as a half-elf, he gets the respect of the other dwarven kings who accept Hardwon as worthy to keep wielding the king’s hammer even though he isn’t a dwarf.

Lydia Stormborn becoming the new leader of Shadowfell – Episode #69

Lydia Stormborn is Hardwon’s mom. Lydia was killed by Galad Rosell and became a Revenant. Hardwon kills Galad which traps Lydia in Shadowfell. The group travels to Shadowfell to save Lydia. After defeating Galad a second time, Lydia becomes the new ruler of Shadowfell.

Hardwon reuniting with his mom was so sweet. Lydia becomes an ally to the group and has several personal conversations with each of them. Despite everything she’s been through, she rises to the occasion and becomes the person she was always meant to be.

Moonshine meets her dad. – Episode #70

Before the events of the campaign, Moonshine never knew her father. It’s revealed that Moonshine’s dad is Lucanus, a high elf. In Bahumia, the High Elves are seen as high and mighty while the Crick Elves are seen as inferior and dense. Moonshine was shocked to learn that her father was a High Elf. This may not be the first episode where they meet, but it’s the episode where Lucanus asks Moonshine for a hug. While Lucanus is introduced later in the campaign, he helps Moonshine learn and evolve.

Moonshine Learns Counterspell – Episode #90

Speaking of learning and evolving, Moonshine learns Counterspell from Lucanus. For those who will be extra critical, Counterspell is not a spell Druid’s would be able to take. That’s the beauty of TTRPGs, you can homebrew anything. As someone who uses Counterspell frequently, it’s clutch to have someone in your party that can Counterspell.

This is a lovely moment between Lucanus and Moonshine. Moonshine is not known to study and Lucanus brings it out of her. There’s a moment later on where Moonshine does Counterspell one of Lucanus’s spells after he’s under the influence of a plague. He is so proud of her once he’s told of what happened.

Jaina and Moonshine getting together – Episode #99

One part of some TTRPG campaigns and live shows is romance. Jaina, one of Hardwon’s closest allies, approaches Hardwon asking if she can date Moonshine. It leads to an awkward and endearing moment between the two leaving Hardwon to give his blessing. Jaina talks to Moonshine and they have fun together before the final battle.

I love these two together! It’s not revealed if they have been together for a long time or if this was a fling, but I ship these two together.

Hardwon rolling so many critical hits on Thiala – Episode #100

In the last episode, the group goes after Thiala. Hardwon unlocks reckless attacks meaning he can attack with advantage. He’s a fighter which means he can get a critical hit on a 19 or a 20. I believe there was an ability where he could get a critical hit on a 17 or 18??? I can’t remember the mechanics off the top of my head. Hardwon rolled SO MANY critical hits against Thiala. He was carrying this fight.

I hope Jake saved the d20 he rolled throughout that episode. I picked this moment because, without Hardwon, I think the group wouldn’t have survived. Every group needs a party member who can deal huge amounts of damage.

Balnor being reunited with his family – Episode #100

To end the campaign, Alannis reveals that she can make a wish to return Balnor to the moment the Drow Elves attack his family. With Balnor leveling up with the group, he’s strong enough to defend his village. The group tearfully wishes Balnor goodbye and good luck as Alannis guides Balnor away.

I wasn’t crying. Nope. Not at all. I am so happy for Balnor! He gets to explain all of this to his son, Bobby. How his dad saved the world and how his dad protected him. This was a great send-off to Balnor who is arguably the most important NPC in this campaign.

This might be my all-time favorite TTRPG campaign. There were so many great moments. As far as what’s next, I’m going to listen to Trinyvale which is a campaign that Caldwell DMs. After that, I’m going to listen to Hot Boy Summer which Emily DMed. My goal is to get all caught up on campaign #3. It will be weird to have to wait for the next NADDPOD episode to drop. I still have some time before that happens.

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

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CW: Accidental Cannibalism. I am not making this up. Here’s a list of all content warnings for Butcher & Blackbird.

Photo of a book cover for Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver. It shows a couple in pink and different pink symbols surrounding them including a chainsaw, bones, a skull, an axe and birds.

Dark romance is a genre I avoid, it usually feels a bit too much for me. With that said, I’m not here to dump hate on a subgenre as everyone has different book tastes. When I read the content warnings for Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver and saw Accidental Cannibalism as a topic covered in this book, I had to read it. Accidental Cannibalism, how does that even happen. This book was going to be a book I loved or hated. Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver was unhinged; I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

Sloane and Rowan are serial killers who kill other serial killers. In a chance encounter, they become fast friends and decide to have a competition. They figure out where a serial killer lives and then compete as to who can find them and kill them first. After spending time together, they hook up and develop feelings for each other. Can two serial killers love one another? or are they destined to meet a grisly end in their violent game?

This book was SO FILTHY. This was the dirtiest, smuttiest book I have ever read. Sloane and Rowan’s chemistry was on fire. I don’t normally blush when I read smut, but my face was pink when I read certain sections of this. I think it’s easy to reduce this book to its sexier portions, but moving away from that, I liked Sloane and Rowan’s romance. Sloane drew this picture of a raven that Rowan tattoos on his body, that’s true love. They had this banter back and forth that felt natural. I love these two together.

As one would have it, this book is over the top. I hate to be practical, but I find it odd that Sloane and Rowan haven’t gotten caught yet. They leave their crime scenes without cleaning anything, how have they not been captured? I get it, this is a romance book, let’s suspend some disbelief. The biggest gripe I have with this is how unrealistic this concept is.

Butcher & Blackbird is a book I’m surprised is a new favorite of mine and I’m glad I gave this book a chance. Although, I hate how this book ruined Cookies & Cream Ice Cream. I rated Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver four stars on Goodreads.

Critical Role Live Show Announcement

Posted in Life Lately by
Image is a screenshot Critical Role posted on Beacon. It says at the top "How Do You Want To Do This?" With Critical Role 10 Years & Still Rolling below. The image is split into two halves. The left half has a lot of the show dates with the right half showing various pictures of the Critical Role cast.
The image was posted to Beacon by the cast of Critical Role.

By the time this post is live, I may or may not have secured tickets to one of Critical Role’s live shows. I was at work when I heard about Critical Role’s live show announcement and could not be more excited. I told my husband repeatedly that if Critical Role was in the Chicago area or a city nearby, I would make the time to see them. My husband is so sweet and offered to go with me, so I wouldn’t have to go alone. Since I’m a Beacon subscriber, I get early access to purchase tickets. I’m trying not to get overly excited in case I can’t get tickets for their live show.

Another exciting portion of this announcement is their live show in Indianapolis. I quickly confirmed that Critical Role will be in Indianapolis the same weekend as Gen Con. This makes me hopeful that Darrington Press will also be at Gen Con promoting Candela Obscura and Daggerheart. It’s too early to tell if that will be the case, but I missed seeing Darrington Press at Gen Con this year.

No matter what happens, I’m happy to see Critical Role hosting live shows. I went to NADDPOD’s live show a few years ago and it was great to be around fans. TTRPG live shows are a unique experience and I’d love to be a part of the audience at one of these live shows.