Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Fireside Chat for WWW ep32 "The Vote" (Patreon)

Published:
2024-08-06 09:10:01
Edited:
2024-11-11 23:50:32
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Downloads

Content

I Voted! This week, at the top of the ballot is A Great Fireside Chat. Hail to the chief, baby!

 

Files

Comments

Telly

Perfect timing 🥳

Telly

Literally just finished my re-listen of the last episode

Thimo The Fool

Perfect timing just what the doctor ordered on my way to the doctor

WWMSudoku

Ahoo hoo gang My favourite episode of this arc, much love 💓

Blue Jones

So nice to finally have a nonpolitical guest! Less division in our country!

Margarita Noriega

Truly incredible work, team, congratulations for the payoff!

Jay Clement

Why do wizards not respect Spirits anymore? It's interesting because we as listeners have to have the intuition to understand that wizards do not create their own magic. They learned it. And they could only learn that from a Spirit. So what happened that made wizards disregard the true magical beings?

Sea Moose

Ame is counting coup. That’s what we saw.

Sil

If not friend shaped, why friend, you say? My car can take me away from The Bad Stuff and can be locked so I can have my quiet moment. Away from the noise people.

Jas Thompson

"the revolution will be analogue" brb i have to go make a t shirt RIGHT NOW

WWMSudoku

Ok listen, Ame making that move doesn't make sense on first blush, but it makes sense from an Erika standpoint, but also reading most of the witch class spells, it absolutely stands as a wise mechanical perspective

Sil

Her name is Delphine and she is my Monarch on High.

TARDISNuke

What a great ep! We saw so many good twists and turns, it tied a lot of big and little moments. It was incredible character work on all sides!

Destiny

I see you, #1TefmetAmeTruther. I see you...

Michelle Spurgeon

So Mirara wanted something to happen that only worked if Wren was taken out because she didn't agree. She then sics her boyfriend on Wren to take her out. Then Ame comes north and spoils it anyway.

Jennifer Sieben

My favourite episode of the podcast so far, so good to hear that it was loved by the players too. What a payoff of previous stuff.

Day Sleep

One thing I love about this podcast is that if I fall behind it's really easy to catch back up

✨ Marlee ✨

Sleepydrunk Aabria is such a vibe. Love this whole gang.

Genna

"Magic will always be magic" ✨ - Lou

Destiny

Indri is so Crystal Labeija to me no I will not elaborate I simply know she is that girl 🤍

Genna

"clear eyes, full hearts, hands held, can't lose" ❤️💛💙 - Lou (and Leslie Knope in spirit) I LOVE THESE PEOPLE AND THIS STORY

Lucien Thunderstruck(Please insert Mungo roar)

So I’m only 13:28 minutes in, and apologies if this has already been answered but… am I super slow on the uptake RE the glass spider? Is it Animism where the belief system holds that everything has a distinct spiritual essence? Everything has a spirit, which holds well here too (think of the coal/diamond spirit). So it makes total sense to me that in this world, the glass spider can go off script and do a “you’re welcome” gesture. It feels like all magical constructs are actually spirits brought into the world… but the Citadel doesn’t see them as such. They view their magical constructs as… figurative robots and literal tools… failing to see the life in their magic. Now whether these spirits are native to the world of Spirit, or if they ever brought forth in/from the physical world… well that’s a completely different kettle of glass spiders…

Genna

Huuuuuge appreciation to Aabria and Brennan for going to GenCon with their whole hearts and then making this *chef's kiss* fireside AS WELL 💜

Lucien Thunderstruck(Please insert Mungo roar)

Like everyone’s going “Oh that’s a cute moment… we don’t need to question that.” and Brennan’s saying “No-no… you should most definitely question that. Why aren’t you questioning that!?”

CJ Bonifati

I love that Suvi is becoming more witch like through being nice to the spider thing and Ame is being more wizard like by investing herself into intrigue. Idk if that was intentional or not, but it's amazing to see the two characters influence each other's behavior

Ian Beattie

Taylor please please when we reach the point that spoiler they talked about isn't a spoiler, will you post it? 👀👀

Genna

The way I saw it was they were the product of magic spells not spirits (like Mr Callum) but I could be totally off on that I'm not sure! So then Suvi's interaction with them was special because magic IS unpredictable and *alive* rather than rigid and fully able to 100% bend to one's will (as some more rigid magic castors might believe). So this was a moment of her embracing the whimsy and *magic* of magic. At least that's how it landed for me ✨

Fable

Yo we actually need "The Revolution Will Be Analog" merch, im a librarian and that fucks so hard

Johnystoo

Like the ink demons, I think the spider's gesture was meant to hint at that, and Brennan's acknowledgement that that was the goal is more confirmation of that idea, though it is a slow reveal because we're.only seeing through the player characters' perspectives.

Lucien Thunderstruck(Please insert Mungo roar)

Interesting, Genna. That made me wonder - did Citadel wizards get it “wrong”? Did they assume that magic is something they control. That Mr Callum is just the product of a spell… not realising that maybe what they actually did was bring forth (or maybe even create) a spirit? Or maybe the higher-ups at the Citadel do know… they just don’t care… like with Tephmet describing the spirit that was True Born in the mortal world… did they summon it… did they “create” it? Ah, yes Jameson, that makes sense.

Elizabeth U

Hubris. This story alongside ExU Calamity and Downfall really lean into the hubris of Wizards, who feel like they have harnessed magic and are eager to exploit it. It’s very similar to humans and nature.

Punk_Ukulele

Thanks yall for making my Tuesday commutes a riot

CommodoreBlue

Taylor, PLEASE include the cut audio in a future Fireside Chat, when it’s no longer a spoiler. PLEASE 🙏

Genna

I think some of the wizards do! They have a ton of power and magic CAN be learned, but I don't think that equates to it being fully predictable. It's all a part of something bigger. Wizard magic, witch magic, and wild one magic is at the core all a different part of the same magic the way I see it. So I'm not sure if the spiders are created/summoned spirits, or rather they are simply complex animisms. In that complexity comes things that wizards cannot understand (because magic is *magic*). So it reads to me, when Suvi connects with the whimsy of magic in this way, as an Ame-ism. The same way Ame being more cunning, smart, and withholding is something she learned from Suvi. Suvi has watched Ame connect with the whimsy of magic so many times, I think this is a moment of her poking at this expanded understanding of all magic (learned magic and spirit magic alike). It felt hella beautiful and cool to watch these characters impact each other in these ways, expressed through such a simple but meaningful lil gesture :)

FooldiverDX

I'm glad Morrow didn't show up in the last episode as a coral man - that means he's still out there!

PandamoniuMonarch

I thank my mom's Alexa all the time, if she doesn't hear me I'll say her name again just to say thank you

Iridium

I was correct about what Tefmet burnt! :D Poor kid.

The Wizard Storm

Marara is now a redeemed Steven Universe villain

Kimberly W

I get the sense that they're letting it cook, maybe for a later character conflict moment, but I'm so excited to hear more about that moment when Suvi reacted coldly to Ame mentioning her parents *again.* If my parents had died when I was 6 and my best friend kept talking about them like they knew them better than I ever got to because their teacher worked with them for a while, I would also be kinda pissed lol

John Filipowicz

I feel such a moment of peace when I hear the light guitar and fire crackling at the start

mguin

Another librarian here, agreeing wholeheartedly, with the potential tweak of "The Revolution Is Analog"

mguin

That burn from Indri is an especially delicious exposition of her character, as is Ame's burn to Indri of the help she offered to her to save face with the coven ENSURES her plan of whittling will not work. AND guarantees that working against expanding the coven opens Indri to accusations of betrayal/hexes down the line. Just gorgeous drama.

mguin

I love this discussion - and I think it's worth it to consider that since spells may react based on direction/interaction, it might not have occurred to the spider to react in a 'personable' way because that kind of interaction hadn't happened before. Growing into spirit from spell.

Carrie Mook Bridgman

It was *so*satisfying and narratively correct that Erika's dice rolls last time were crap and this time were golden.

Auroracorealis

ok but that song is a bop tho 🎉🤌🏼💃💜

Ashley Teatum

Return to Oz is an absolute fever dream of a film 🤌

Faith Price

Oh God the idea that while the spider can do things outside of what it's programmed to do, I'm wondering if the same can be said for Suvi

Lucien Thunderstruck(Please insert Mungo roar)

It raises so many questions - what actually is magic? What are spirits? I think it’s because a lot of the spells have personalities that I suspect that there is a lot of summoning going on. Even Suvi’s original Identify Spell interacts as a “person”. Now that brings me onto another theory… Suvi performed identify again on the glass spider, but this time I think she did it without the Reflexive Indicative… she got more information but it also didn’t create an interactive personality. What if the Reflexive Indicative is some sort of summoning… tool… forcing a spirit to do the caster’s bidding for the duration of the spell… that could also fit in with the platform and Tephmet’s discovery of the discs etc.

Joe W

If the citadel has created a superstition around anthropomorphizing their tools they might have had a good point. There have been incidents of EOD personnel developing bonds with their bomb disposal robots leading them to take more risks rather than put the robot in danger.

worldsbeyondnumber

Made by Dee-Lite for the 1992 "Rock the Vote" campaign. An incredible nugget of pop culture/club music history

Auroracorealis

oooo! thank you! and for the record, i voted last week ☺️ gotta get it in early! 🎉💃

rio

Give Aabria some credit, she knew Mirara was on the back foot way back when she said her crow was "the part of her that's clever and knows how to use tools"

Jess

I really love Tefmet already and very much hope they become a future party ally and is around more often during the next arc.

The King of House Cabraescuro

Grimoire(sp?) constantly showing fear about the conclave was itching at me this whole time. Did she know about Hakea's bad agents? Did she know she wasn't next to die? Is there something else lurking?

Carrie Mook Bridgman

I wondered, too, but it actually makes perfect sense. She doesn't want the coven to dissolve, and if Indri were destroyed or even just if Mirara left, they would be 4 and she would have the same problem. And now Indri owes her, *and* may have to do the opposite of what she wants, which is to add more witches to the coven. It's brilliant.

The Wizard Spite

Crossing fingers we get character art for Tephmat at some point 😩

Fabio Amoroso

Does anybody know how to submit questions?

Carrie Mook Bridgman

I do wonder why, if Wren was the lone holdout, they couldn't just outvote her. Why did they need unanimity? Because even the Conclave of Elders couldn't move against the Citadel without the extra magical boost from unanimity? Also, did Mirara sic her boyfriend on Wren or did *he* sic *her* on Wren? I'm guessing he is more powerful.

Carrie Mook Bridgman

I just found out that it was in Indianapolis, a pretty easy drive from Louisville, KY. So close!

Jake M

We need “The revolution will be analog” merch!!!!

DevynAsUsual

this episode was #taylormade

mguin

Grammar literally shaping the thing it describes (and lack of specific language giving energy literal wiggle room). Love it!

Jeff Vaden

I’m so excited for the revelation about the Citadel. It will be interesting to watch Suvi’s latent fascist/supremacist worldview either get dismantled or turn her into the final boss.

Jeff Vaden

Yeah, but *way* less so than the Citadel.

Jeff Vaden

But those robots have never spontaneously done a little dance to say “you’re welcome,” either.

Emily C

I also felt very differently about Mirara this episode when we hit the reveal - like girl you're working so hard to be part of something that seems like it doesn't want you. What does it mean to stay for the coven's sake vs give up magic like a previous witch? Who was Mirara's mentor and what value did she see or does Mirara see in the coven continuing?

Emily C

Also (they mentioned this but it's so funny) Brennan and Aabria's voices are giving con-crud/Gen Con literally just ended my voice is gone lol

Jay Clement

It's gotta be more than that. Think about it. My line of logic is Spirits taught witches, witches taught humans, and humans learned. Witches would 1000% teach humans how to appease the Spirits. So my question truly is what happened? Because I've surpassed my teachers, but I still show them respect.

Jay Clement

Seriously, and if she's a Wicked Witch, then what was her station before she became wicked.

Jay Clement

A scared Tephmet with a scary Suvi staring will become my background

Jay Clement

Why way less? What do we really know about the Citadel?

Haepenny Works

Not to get political but my stance on Mirara has shifted every episode that she’s in - quickly becoming one of my favorite antagonists

Theo Lee

Taylor, pleeeeease! It's what the people neeeeeed!

Theo Lee

Love this discussion, thank you all for sharing your thoughts, I now have more things to think about! I'm so excited to see them slowly flesh out what magic is in this world.

Candlelighter

The thing is, nice can be meaner than mean, but kind can never be meaner than mean, because nice is all about gestures and politeness and what is said rather than what is done. Kindness is sincerity, whether it's a fist or an outstretched hand.

Fxd Gear Queer

I missed that, but damn that's good! Aabria throws such good shade.

Fxd Gear Queer

Power, hegemony and empire happened, I think. It's a machine that eats itself, composed of parts that should know better, but feel themselves excempt from cosequences. Plus propaganda and information control.

Matt Mayhem

Idk they just imprison a lot of spirits as paintings, and also exhist in an intense hierarchical structure with Artificers being overused and overworked while Wizards exhist at the top of society, there’s also a glean of hatred and willingness to act against anyone who’s anti citadel, like we never heard a contrasting opinion from within the citadel, and it seems like they probs arent super big on free Speech. They also manufacture weapons of mass destruction both out of human wizards and construct tumori, im the name of a militaristic empire. Tefmet seems pretty nice so far, has evidence for their claims, probably has an ulterior motive, but that motive is probably wanting the Citadel gone, which while there may be debate about whether it’s fair to be fully anti citadel, is not a particularly fishy or Shady position to hold (wanting the downfall of a fascistic empire). I agree they’ll probably have some bad vibes to them too, but we’ve seen a fair bit of shade from the citadel, even if it’s just in passing.

Theo Lee

Oooo that got me so curious!! I went back and listened to the Man in Black scene with Eursalon and he doesn't definitively say. Just that it was a task he did not relish. Which could mean he was tasked to do it or he just viewed it as a task. He also said that going to the grove to kill Wren was the first time he met Bonsai, which means Bonsai assisted in the attempt? Even just a little? Which now has me wondering 1. if Bonsai was present during the attempt, 2. If Wren knew he was there, and 3. If she did then did she just never realize a member of Hekea's retinue was in on it or 4. If she did why didn't she say anything?? So many questions!!!

Emma41420

My heart did break a little when Tefmet burnt that Works Cited Bibliography 😫 Nooooooo not the juiciest goss!! Was it MLA, APA, or Chicago style homie? I wanted to see those annotations and marginalia so bad babe 😚💞

Jamie Gobking

ERIKA saw RETURN TO OZ for the FIRST TIME THIS YEAR??? ASDFGHJKL that was such a deeply foundational film for me. I'm glad you enjoyed it!! I rewatched it during the height of the pandemic and still think it's an absolute banger.

K C

I’m still holding on to my dream that Morrow is still alive and will show back up

Emma41420

I was delighted to hear the cast discuss Suvi+Ame+Eursulon's sync-up these past few episodes bc it's definitely something that stood out to me while listening. The power of these 3 simply each doing what they do best, working in tandem to thread that needle-- beyond the overall W, it feels like we're watching the movements of Fate reaffirm the necessity each represents to the other. Regardless of interpersonal conflict (or perhaps especially because of it, much like the Coven's magical need for discordant voices & opposing viewpoints), it is obvious now more than ever why these True Friends are entwined. It also highlights a foundational flaw of Unanimity, that without acknowledging multiplicity we would lose out on so many opportunities for evolution/discovery/curiosity both of self and the collective. [For these reasons and many others, it endlessly frustrates me to read weird bad-faith fan commentary about Suvi + Aabria's characterization of her. Most of it just boils down to misogynoir imho. This triptych would be empty without her perspective, without someone openly exposing the reality of multiple concurrent truths this world upholds.💞]

bails 🌀 witch of the what the fuck

yes yes yes yes yes. to all of this. i love every character in this story with my whole heart, but Suvi is my faaaavorite. and it’s because i am constantly blown away by Aabria’s characterization of her and how many LAYERS it requires. it’s truly an honor to witness 🥲

Maya B

I bet the *first* wizard schism wasn't really about the citadel, it was about citation style. and honestly wizard (both antivalist and citadel) method is probably the most insane thing I bet you get 4 years of classes on notation alone.

mumbo

I think there’s something significant in the revealing that 1. She’s the second newest witch, 2. Her being alone is something that bothers her personally, and 3. her bringing up the heart of world persists without it’s witch I suspect she’s convinced of The Man in Black’s perspective that the Citadel is “a knife in the world’s heart” and wants the unanimous power of the Covenant to undo them and save “the world’s heart” even if ironically it means killing it’s witch to achieve that. This belief could stem from her station requiring she hear the qualms of shadowy spirits like The Man in Black, and or that she was still a young and impressionable witch they first communed and she’s been isolated from other solutions or perspectives because of her lonely nature. I’m definitely interested to learn more about what her station does and the circumstances of her becoming its witch.

bails 🌀 witch of the what the fuck

i LOVE the conversations going on regarding a possible singular source of magic. it ties in with something i’ve been noodling over which goes all the way back to the Children’s Adventure when lil Ame was discussing magic as this omnipresent force throughout the world and lil Suvi arguing that it was something you learned and could call forth to your control. because of course each of them were taught different, VERY IMPORTANT foundational concepts of magic! basically, Stone accusing her teacher of treason against magic itself and her usage of spells without the reflexive indicative are directly related — Stone saw the permeation of magic in all things and realized that the way they were teaching wizards magic in the Citadel as the End All Be All of spellcasting was fundamentally incorrect. Stone’s ability to cast magic in a way that is not Citadel approved proves her point!! it’s the simple question of: if the way we learn magic is the true and correct way, then why does my friend Wren do it differently? in fact, the pillar upon which Stone took umbrage was the Axiom of Proliferation which states “the more times a spell is written down, the weaker the spell becomes” …and let’s be clear: this is the Citadel enforcing control in the form of a literal magical law which dictates how knowledge is spread surrounding magic and the way it FUNCTIONS. why else would Stone have nearly gotten kicked out of the Citadel for challenging it? i believe that Stone believed magic belonged to the spirit world itself and could be communed with by wizards the same way witches do. perhaps that ANYONE is capable of accessing magic, which i don’t think the Saraz Imperium would like very much 😉 if that information was widely known, that hinders the wizards’ control over magic. so it’s illegal to write about spells too frequently, how convenient. maybe Stone made these connections. and maybe she died for it. in a way that could paint her as heroic instead of what she actually was: a threat to the Citadel. one of those pills would certainly be easier to swallow… i’m getting so far off on a tangent here, but if we assume all of the above is true, is the existence of spirits themselves perhaps a direct result of their proximity to the Tree of Worlds (a sort of wild magic surge, if you will 😋)? does the mortal world have magic simply because Yewola’s roots and branches reach from the spirit to mortal realms? and if THAT’S true, would it mean Ame being the Witch of the World’s Heart does not necessarily make her the bridge between humans and spirits, but instead an avatar for MAGIC ITSELF? is she the World’s Heart or the TREE OF WORLDS’ HEART?? 🫨 and if Yewola represents the creation of magic and Ame as her avatar, what assumptions could we make, then, about the Man in Black? and why would he want to sever the mortal world from magic? he clearly relates to the passage of time and i believe it was confirmed he is not Death. he has “held his breath since the world began” and he is “ever-ready, always near” …is he Destruction? time could be viewed as the destruction of all things…? i’m gonna pass out this podcast makes me insane 💀 someone take all this red string away from me

Jay Clement

I think the reason that Indree (forgive my spelling, if it's wrong) and Ame are compatible is that Self-reliance and Community will always go hand in hand. A Community can not exist without self-reliant individuals. It's so good.

Will Grey

No, Erika's mom! You can't say things that true! It's not nice!

bails 🌀 witch of the what the fuck

@Jay, i love that line of logic, such a cool way to think about the original spread of magic! @Fxd i agree with this. and it has to come down to human greed. because at a certain point i think the wizards didn’t like being All Powerful with an asterisk that says “if you don’t count spirits.” something exists that is above them in capability. i think plenty of wizards respect spirits, to @Jay’s point… and i think some wizards don’t like being second best. it would have taken a long time to get to the point they’re at — forgetting where they came from, so to speak. but as they’ve discussed in older episodes, greater spirits are singular, near immortal. you know what you get with a spirit. humans are more complex and short-lived. and more likely to, given time, lean toward something other than respect. it’s not impossible to think some big catastrophe happened between humans and spirits, but it makes me think back to Steel and Suvi’s conversation after Orima… Steel seemed of the “you’re wasting your time” mindset. maybe spirits used to walk alongside humans until it was no longer safe for them to do so. they returned to the spirit world and became “other” if that makes sense. very interesting to consider 🤔

WWMSudoku

And if Indri crosses her it sets up big retributive curses down the line

Matt Mayhem

In regards to the Artificers and hierarchy, it has been seen that The Artificers are worked extremely long hours but the Wizards that work on the same project are given many replacements, there is an inequality in the expectations placed on Artificers to work immense hours when Wizards are given much more manageable shifts. Additionally Brennan has described the Citadel’s testing for potential wizards in a way that describes extreme lack of wealth and poor living standards for many non citadel people, and there is a lot of difficulty in social climing. Also while it seems people are aloud to leave the citadel if they want, there is no real implication that people are generally aloud to leave the Empires borders at large, but that’s speculation. Maybe it’s not all bad, I personally think there might be good parts, but I do not believe that the citadel putting most of its efforts in to the development of weapons is not at least a little Shady. In my Mind Tefmet has done nothing to be shady, other than be anti Citadel, which I would not define as Shady.

Matt Mayhem

I may have missed this, I’ve only listened to Tefmets speech once, but where does it say Tefmet wants to use the citadels resources for themselves? There is nothing I remember to imply that they have any interest in the citadels experiments on Spirits. Part of the Antivoli’s whole deal was not wanting to accept the aid of the Empire. Please do correct me if I’ve misunderstood, but I didn’t believe Tefmet has shown a desire for the Citadels resources, just that they believed it was bad for the nature of magic in Umora

Daniel Stevens

I loved hearing the conversation about the deeper intricacies of the witches connections and schemes and also I am curious how things will go with the connection between witches, spirits and wizards. I think we're going to look further into that soon.

Ten

Your entire first sentence alone is enough for me to get an icky feeling from the Empire, much like the parallel irl. And this isn't our human history. For all we know the Citadel might be the first instance of conscription as a pathway out of poverty that this world has ever seen. Which- yeah. Even more sus.

Daniel Stevens

Hey. I was inspired by the basketball team photoshop idea from Aabria. It's not exactly what she said, but it is pretty much the limit of my capabilities. https://imgur.com/sFAT71r

The Witchin' Lounge

“I STAY WALKING” IS STEVEN CHUCKLES THE TRUE NAME OF THE PILGRIM UNDER STARS!

Alex H.

shout out andy beshear

Toby King

I’m into the idea that with time the worlds heart can always gain enough allies to get the upper hand - it feels like the witch version of ‘if I walk I win’ and it’s so human and so powerful!

S Smith

BIG OL BLOCK OF CHEESE

Matt Kilsby

Has Aabria ever expanded on her very strong aversion to watching (or even tolerating mentions of) lord of the rings? It just feels strange to me as it’s so beloved and so influential to the fantasy genre. It sounds like she agreed to watch it semi-recently and wasn’t paying attention/doing bits through it. I love Aabria but this one thing does bug me 😂

Lizalot

Vote baby vote are you registered babaaay

Lizalot

And self-reliant individuals will collapse under their own weight without community! Just as we witnessed…

Lux ❤︎

I can understand feeling aversion to consuming content / doing something that others have heavily pushed in kind of a judgy way (like “oh my goddddd you haven’t seen XYZ?!? What’s wrong with you?”). My inner brat says “fuck off” to that!

Lux ❤︎

YES PLEASE I NEED TO SEE A ONE SHOT OF THE CONCLAVE OF STYLE GUIDE WIZARDS

Giant Tom Hanks

So we know Mirara is the second youngest after Ame, but I wonder how old she is exactly? She could still be over a 100🤣🤣

Lux ❤︎

I get the vibe that Mirara is a young, insecure, messy (sleeping with the dominant spirit of your domain?!) witch who is probably desperate to feel like she’s accepted as a part of something, whether it’s searching for love in the wrong places or unquestioningly agreeing to be apart of a conspiracy without thinking through the implications.

Lux ❤︎

The Reckoning of Princess War Crimes™️

Lux ❤︎

With little imagery of witchy analog components!

Lux ❤︎

A critique of the motivations and impacts of systems of power (such as the imperial regime of the citadel) is not necessarily a critique of individuals doing what they needed to do within that system to survive.

Tijay Arnie

So I am listening to ep7 were fox first learns about vote, so I'm wondering, is this connected?

Matt Kilsby

Ahh yea good point, I do know that feeling. She probably had a series of particularly annoying interactions like that when she was younger and it’s informed her feelings on it to a degree that’s hard to undo

Jeff Vaden

I suppose I meant the Antivalists are much less of a threat to the world than the Citadel. Any organization as powerful as the Citadel that works for and is accountable to one large government, ESPECIALLY an empire, is creating weapons of control and directly upholding systems of oppression. Empires are fundamentally governments that conquer other sovereign societies and add them to its own resources. An empire can never be truly beneficent; it can only project the illusion of beneficence. Conquering people to add their resources to your own and forcibly assimilating them into your own culture is bad. Empires are bad. Military factions of empires are doing bad things to uphold a system of subjugation.

A. Godfrey

There are also moments where Aabria will reference LOTR on her own, so I think it's mostly about the bit at this point, to get the big reaction out of her co-stars.

Dezzi

This arc has been my absolute favorite so far, other than the Children's Adventure. Now that we know their flaws - Hekaea's burnout, Grimor's puppy dog loyalty, Indri's failure as a leader and Mirara's inexperience and insecurity - I'm going to miss them dearly when we leave the north pole

allisonfischer

I have a lot of friends who feel the same way about LOTR and Star Wars - I KNOW - but I grew up the child o’ geeks, The Hobbit was my bedtime story, my parents first date was A New Hope, my mom played the first Dungeons & Dragons in college. I also don’t want to watch things everyone tells me to watch - but LOTR is different, lol, the penultimate masterpiece of all masterpieces! I still understand though.

Ajax

I think Andrew WK said (paraphrased) "Change comes when someone expects a justified punch in the face and recieves an understanding hug, instead."

Dylan Vosti

At this point we need to have a patreon LOTR watch party so Aabria can get all the references!!

Connor

God I want a sticker of “the revolution will be analog”

SeveralGhost

I have fallen asleep multiple times during lotr movies, the books are pretty good. It's clear how significant they are, but it's like watching early Olympics footage. Yes, I respect where we came from, but we've gotten so much better at everything

Srol

I'm very excited to report that I started this podcast in late June and having just finished Episode 32, I am now all caught up to the present.

Fxd Gear Queer

@bails so much good stuff, too bad my brain is mush from work. I would love nothing more than to sit around an actual fireside with you all, and just talk for hours ❤

Townsend S. Wright

Brennan’s talk on how many connections there are among the witches made me realize they…kinda fit the Magic the Gathering color pie? Worlds Heart White Wind & Stars Blue Waning Moon Black Wild Hunt Red Wilding Green Green

The Wizard Seek

this made me laugh so hard, there's something about everyone's facial expressions that cracked me up

Jay Clement

Teaching automatically is benevolence. Even if it's teaching for the wrong reason, because why let someone know your secrets if not because you care for them, even if you only care selfish reasons. Twisted, though it may be, benevolence it would be, as well.

Jay Clement

Plus the great spirits are nature. Nature is as it is. Ever changing, pleasant and unpleasant. Us as humans understand that. We understand what's happening on our planet naturally. It reminds me of The Last Air Bender, and Yue and the Moon Spirit, except the Citadel is so much more powerful and terrible than the Fire Kingdom.

Daniel Stevens

I didn't say it was GOOD Photoshop. But hey, it was supposed to be numerous. I'm calling it a win.

Katik

Or a LOTR book club!

Bladeless Knife Productions

I'm fascinated that none of our four players touched on the great strategic victory Ame pulled off by getting Indri to declare (admit?) that she knows several worthy candidates that the coven could invite to join their ranks. Indri has spent centuries working to shrink the coven until only she remains, and in one instant Ame got her de facto agreement to blow that up. I have suspected Indri of masterminding the destruction of the other stations since very early in this season, so I’m surprised that it doesn’t seem to have been a working hypothesis for any of the PCs, but part of that was based on meta-thinking about which of the other four would make the best antagonist. Honestly, given how magically self-centered she is, I was sure that Indri’s apprentice was a persona she adopts as a catspaw and not a real, separate person. I guess the best stories surprise us.

Ryan Brown

Honestly, the fact that Aabria and Brennan were like four rooms away from me at Gen con while I was running a game in the other area and had no clue until I listened to this episode is the hardest perception check fail of my real life.

Saleibriel

I would argue they work better as combo colors: Worlds Heart - Green and White (ala Ravnica's Selesnia) Wind & Stars - White and Blue (still favoring order, just in her own favor) Waning Moon - Black and ??? (this one might work best mono-black, but we won't know until we learn more about Mirara) Wild Hunt - Red and Green (ala Ravnica's Gruul) Winding Green - Green and Black (life comes and goes, except for her) Arguably because white is the magic of order, ALL of the witches have a splash of white by simple nature of the Conclave, but in terms of the magic they actually use, this feels pretty close to me

irisilmaril

brennan and erika have said many times that they watched LOTR with Aabria, although Aabria acts like she doesn’t get any of the references as a bit.

Joel Coxhead

Brennan you’ve gotta learn a couple more aircraft names the Harrier Jump Jet is 55 years old!

Matt Kilsby

I’d be embarrassed to get into a comment war about lotr (everyone can like what they like), but I’m really curious about “we’ve gotten so much better at everything” - apart from cgi, what have films got better at the last 25 years? The cgi in LOTR is definitely dated in most parts but my genuine opinion is the set design and construction, character design, hair, makeup, prosthetics, costumes, weapons, armour, soundtrack and acting are all timelessly outstanding in their execution. Am I living in the past? Is this a nostalgia-fuelled blind spot for me?

Beanz

Hey, Aabria said it herself, "Growth arc!"

Beanz

When the spider did its little dance response thing, I assumed that meant that this tool had developed a spirit, but I didn't think anything of that. Now, the idea of it "developing" a spirit, the gallery of trapped spirits, the giant disks at Xiao(sp?) Court, and the coffee shop's animated spell feel like they have different implications. Even Morrow's bs feels different. I had thought that the Citadel would probably be interested in his research and that Steel's commentary reflected a naive optimism. But now the scale of infrastructure needed and Morrow's need for validation make me think the Citadel may have known already and maybe even sanctioned it in a way that provides plausible deniability.

Beanz

A Humble Correction: Hakea would have had to choose TWO witches as she started the Conclave. An interesting power imbalance at the very beginning of the Conclave.

Beanz

Lastly, Ame's success shows how well she learned the lesson of the "Be Kind" sign over a hole in the wall.

frigginhugeair

Long reign Ishii, indeed! 👑 Such a great episode! In another universe, I would have loved to hear what Tefmet would have said without knowing about Suvi. But, then we wouldn’t have had that hilarious sequence of intimidation checks 😂 and wonders of the unknown. So thankful for these storytellers.

Erik Hanson

“You needed at least three witches for a coven. Two witches was just an argument.” --Terry Pratchett, Maskerade

The Wizard Slut

Can’t blame mirara who wouldn’t want to get with the man in black *wink wonk* *nudge nudge* A mysterious man in uniform indeed

Beanz

Well, there's the question submission form. Probably the best way to get an actual answer.

Beanz

I got so wrapped up in the dialog that I forgot it was all Brennan arguing with himself. A++

Joe

I propose the cast collect all the homebrew witch ideas folks have posted and give their take on the name/idea. As a one off, a treat

Riga

I thought that it was good that tev burnt the notes cause I thought they were there for a more convincing call to action to fight the citadel so by holding back, that makes the resolve weaker as well, so that means geng has time to like make it change when it comes to the citadel but in a nice..er way rather then full out chaos

Liz Paiva

the insight Aabria had regarding the CROW as a familiar! craving connection, having such a social creature as your familiar, and yet there is nobody alongside you. really enjoyed listening to that.

Anonymous Developer

Loved Lou's commentary on the Citadels inability to truly stop the spirit of LittleGuys from seeping into all the little guys they make . 3 seasons from now at climactic Umoran all out war within the citadel, the civil war will be between the Wizards who love the Little Guy energy and the Wizards who are horrified by it, and we're gonna get a Baymax esque tragedy sequence with all the Mr Taylors being disinfected of their hearts & souls by crusty archmagi - calling it

Splashie Ashie

Omg I cackled! Are the Antivelists the Cartographers for Social Equality?

S Smith

Nah I think they're the anti-war protestors that Toby gets mad at. The way my brain picked at it, they're Antivoli -> Anti-voluntary -> Anti voluntary association with the Syraz Imperium. Peaceniks, I reckon.

J.

just joined the patreon and BEST choice ive ever made. need "the revolution will be analog" as a shirt LOL

The Witch of Warp 9.9

I’m curious as to why it’s so surprising that Tefmet has pieces of the derrick. It wasn’t built by citadel wizards, after all. Is there something inherently bad about the antivolists having these pieces that I’m missing?

Serenity4Jane

I need to know how Nif convinced the Fox to wear Clothes

The Pompous Peasant

Can someone please TELL me who came up with teh ahoohoo and what the stations was? I think it was around the wil Gallows time line. I just finished arc

rio

Honestly the more Mirara we see, the more I think she fully hot the nail right on the head with that one... Seems like she's actively divesting from her own curiosity and creativity

Jack Jones

I think it was Ame covering for the Fox making a noise as they entered the Ace of Wands

C. A. Whyse

Relistening to this, waiting for the newest ep-- I just realized... Ame stepped into the Golden Girls...

Jace Morgul

Is there supposed to be a new episode today?

Faith Benamy

I’m compulsively refreshing my podcast app waiting for the drop

Blaze

hakea is sophia, indri is dorothy, gramore is blanche and mirara is rose?

Raquel Albert

let's hope we don't accidentally crash the app cos i'm also doing that

Faye B

Same!

Beanz

Doing a rerun through the series. Posting this here because I think it's ahead enough to not spoiler anything for new listeners at episode 16. Episode 16: Suvi's horrific summer involved celestial changes that affected the spells controlling transportation. My current exploding-brain train of thought: > Frost fairy things teleporting into bathroom at the Citadel > Indri - Witch of the Wind and Stars's critters > Star libraries and manipulation Followup questions: > If that *is* a true power of hers, did she play a role in that summer? Knowingly or unknowingly? > Were any Spirits sprung from the Citadel during /that/ summer, from the Gallery OR another location in there?

bluebluebutton

Given that the first words of the story are "snow falling" (in the desert!) I think you may be on to something.

Beanz

Yes! They did it a couple times in the Ace of Wands. Then it became a running in-joke from there. I'm doing a relisten and was excited to come across this because i forgot. 😅

bluebluebutton

Taylor hopped into the fan discord to say it would be a few hours later than usual.

Beanz

Ya know, I completely rewrote that memory as ash. It's already been too far from episode 1, during the relisten. 🤦‍♀️

Zengief

There is a fan discord? How did I not know that! Where can I find an invite link?

Zengief

Thanks! Yeah, I found it once I looked for it, but others may appreciate the link regardless.

The Pompous Peasant

Haha yes, I knew it all went down around that time. I'm going to find it and relisten. I think the first of it is with her doing it to mask the fox. I RARELY listen or read things twice but I'm telling ya I'm going to def listen to all of the eps again.

Witch of the Wyrd Dreaming

As a fellow edgelord i feel for Mirara. Instead of your peers fearing your darkness they laugh at your cringe, big mood

Wyatt Walker

wait but as a Kentuckian I need to know is Brennan Beshear-pilled?

Patrishish

Brennan being four old ladies fighting… fighting with himself… ❤️ Ugh, it’s perfect.

DaphneDawn

You can do anything on the radio… damn WBN does it again

Ale

The Hobbit was Gandalf's ace in the hole cuz like he dont want that ring nasty and if he gives it to a mortal man he'll just die with it, and if he gives it to anyone else they'll use it on their country's eugenics project. What is a hobbit going to do with a ring? Like Smeagol got possessed and fucked off with the ring for like five hundred years. Frodo was the only one who could bear the ring because he had humility. Like christ, if you know what im sayin.

Dukinator

Ame is Goku in this dissertation i will

Adam

the revolution will be (and is already) analog 💥🍾 shoutsout to living terminally offline, cooking hearty meals and sweet treats to share, and absolutely wrecking shit with the grandkids on weekends love, grandmalaclava

DaddyDepresso

It can be with maybe convincing the witches, but i understand how you feel, if Ame truly wanted to support the wizard there are explanations like a psychopastic guild mage. And the citdel of course wanting to clean up a huge mess at Port Talon. Maybe the citadel knew this was happening but hey steel certainly didn't seem thrilled about it

Mathias

Thinking about Mirara keeping the cat mug really makes me sad, I feel like she keeps things like that out of the deep need for connection. Also unlike Indri whl wanted Ame dead for purely power grab purposes Mirara is desperate for a solution to a problem she fully believes is worse case scenario. In better times I truly think Ame would easily have been able to make her a close friend

DaphneDawn

“This is so messy it’s almost magically dangerous” is a phrase

Emily

Aabria: "Boston Dynamics dog is ACAB" Erika: "Only in the 'Assigned Cop At Birth' way though!"

MunchMan

I fully believe that ep 32 of WBN is the greatest singular piece of D&D media ever created

Tawny Lacuna

Wait! What is that song at the end??? It's a bop! I gotta have it! 😄

Vanessa Seatang

Erika in "The Vote" is like Brennan in LA by night "Whoops I'm good at this =P"

T. B. Shaw

Im so late, but GOD this episode really solidified for me just how amazing a witch Ame is, she really is my favorite witch

Madeline Salter

I'm a Marara apologist. Either we pull her back in, or she'll go full down the pipeline

Trey Lord

For me, Brennan's classic witch cackle from Hakea was so cool. She's the OG witch, so it's cool that she embodies classic witch archetypes.

King Humble

It doesnt matter necessarily what TYPE of alcohol you use for a cocktail... whatever is the highest proof will do nicely. that being said... moonshine in the bottle... whiskey in your pocket so you can celebrate after the smoke clears

Lila

I have to believe this can still happen like Mirara, my beloved😭

Lila

I need to know everything about Mirara and the Man in Black's relationship🥹

J. Gro

I definitely knew someone was trying to dwindle the coven down to only one before the Nat 20 reveal, I just didn't know if it was the witch of self or the witch of nothingness!

ollyollyoxfordcomma

Doing a re-listen of the podcast and this time, coming back to Suvi's headspace at this moment in time and the nascent cracks in her acceptance of the Citadel's programming and ideology, I wonder how she would've reacted to Tefmet's presentation, had she stayed in the room. - The resolute way Tefmet speaks about the Greater Binding, which Suvi read about in Stone's notes just days before, showing that outside the Citadel are wizards who think the way her parents thought. - Tefmet being so unabashedly *wizardly.* So much of Suvi's idealogical issues with Ame and Eursalon in the first two books came from their judgement of all wizards, not just the Citadel as an organization. Tefmet reinforces the idea that wizardry is also about the joy and profundity of understanding and the capacity for great change and innovation, which resonates strongly with Suvi's worldview. - The point about learning being wizardry's core strength and how the Citadel's culture of secrecy is at odds with itself--That's a point that Steel made at the end of Arc 2! And Suvi just had the valuable realization that she learned more in 1 moment of curiosity and investigation, by casting Identify on the music box, than she learned in years of study. I think Suvi's character arc is beautiful as is and I love how deeply *hers* each step away from the problems of the Citadel was. But I'm also sooo curious how her personal opinion of Tefmet might've changed--she may atill not think they have a strong case against the Citadel, but I'd love to see if the small parts of her that are already finding gaps in the logic of her home would have been in any way validated by Tefmet.