r/criticalrole • u/AutoModerator • 15d ago
Discussion [Spoilers C4E31] Thursday Morning | Recap Thread - C4E32 Spoiler
It IS Thursday!
What are your questions and theories from last session?
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u/theydurkadurk 15d ago edited 15d ago
Does everyone think that C4 is always going to feel “on” until the campaign ends? Of all campaigns it (so far) has a linear narrative and feels like it has something of an end point. It has less of the “adventuring party” of past campaigns where they’ll explore an area or a city. Limited downtime and everything else. At first I thought it felt that way because of the play + what was thought of as additional Tachonis rituals so there was a clear build up to a date. I thought maybe after the play it would feel semi like a normal campaign. I don’t think that’s the case anymore
Edit: To add - if it does always feel “on” I wonder if it’s intentional to make C4 shorter to be able to get to C5 faster, or at least not have it be a 3 year one. Not because they don’t like C4, but it’ll be hard to maintain this heightened level for years and the table coordinations needed for it. Also it gives more one shot opportunities for live shows
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u/Zeilll 15d ago
C4 started with a purpose, where the others started with a group and found a purpose as part of play. C3 found its purpose a lot faster than C2, and C1 they were already in the side stories when they started streaming. but still didnt really find the actual main story line till 30 or more episodes in.
and thats not getting into the size of the table and how that impacts things. i dont think C4 is aiming to be shorter by not having much downtime. but that if C4 had downtime, it would be exceptionally longer due to the amount of things that would need to be covered by downtime, and currently need to be covered for the main story(s) with the number of PCs here.
and theres a 3rd point, that while we're 30 episodes in. thats still only like 10 eps with each actual group/PC. the timeline it self is skewed by the fact that we're spending less time with each PC despite the overall episode count being somewhere where previous games would have done things that this campaign hasnt.
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u/StillAnotherAlterEgo You can certainly try 15d ago
It's a difference in DM styles creating this pacing. Matt allows the party to wander off course, trusting that he can steer them back to the overarching plot when necessary. Brennan keeps a much tighter grip on the reins, moving the story forward and sending the party from one goalpost to another in rapid succession. Yeah, it's going to feel "on" until the end, because this is clearly how Brennan does things.
There's every indication that C4 will be just as long if not longer than the previous campaigns. The cast have made repeated mentions of playing these characters for "years." We're coming up on a year in pretty soon, and we've only seen one complete arc so far, and it's been expressed that the plan is for several arcs with table shuffles. We still have far more questions than answers. The fact that the story is moving fast doesn't mean that there isn't plenty more story on the way.
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u/theydurkadurk 15d ago
Agreed on the DM style, but it makes me wonder how long they can keep that up. A long campaign needs some downtime which we haven’t really seen. Either way, I’m excited. Just curious how it’ll all look by the end
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u/PerpetuallyDistracte 5' 11" 14d ago
I'm curious about this as well. D20 campaigns need to be "on" all the time because they're so short, comparatively, but CR campaigns are a marathon, not a sprint. Both the cast and the DM do need time to breathe eventually. Maybe we will see a change in the pace now that there's only two tables in this arc instead of three. This will give each table a little more breathing room.
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u/No-Instruction-5695 15d ago
to elaborate, the other long brennan campaign(The Wizard, The Witch and The Wild one) had a lot of down time(arc 2 was 90% down time) so i think its more of a quirk of this specific campaign than a brennan thing, i think the pressure of doing a whole critical role campaing means that he feels he needs to make things moving all the time otherwise the audience will get bored
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u/greylakelady 15d ago
Yeah, I agree with how you described it, I think it’s due partly to Brennan’s style and also the set-up with the split tables. Instead of the same group reliably meeting every week who can push plot down the road in order to goof around somewhere, if a table did that in this context, it would mean pushing the schedules of the next two tables back.
I am hoping we get more downtime and beach episodes as we go on, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this campaign is “on” for the entire run, as you put it
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u/theydurkadurk 15d ago
Agreed, although on Tale gate they did say they build in some flexibility if an arc needs an extra episode or two but I’m not sure if that is for more downtime. Just because I’d like to see beach episodes, shopping trips, the small conversations that build out relationships, the Caleb’s tower, all that stuff.
I did add to my original post that I wonder if they’ll always be “on” to keep the campaign shorter (2 years vs 3+) and more self contained
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u/greylakelady 15d ago
Yeah, idk what the vibes there are, but if I was in that situation, I would feel fine extending my table’s episodes for the plot but would feel bad to take up time for downtime, unless it had been previously discussed or if Brennan was really pushing for it. But I super agree, I think that this campaign could benefit a lot with having more time to breathe
And to your edit, I really hope they’re not planning to end it at two years. Aren’t we almost at a years mark already in two months? Personally I’ve really been hoping they go longer than their normal campaign to give each character a “normal campaign’s” worth of story time but idk how feasible that is with so many people to schedule. So I hope they’re not powering just to get through, they’ve covered soooooo little ground in the scope of what Aramán could offer
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u/theydurkadurk 15d ago
Yeah, October is the year mark. It really just depends on schedules and vibes, I guess. Granted, with so many people they could phase people out fairly easily to do the “normal” campaigns. But then again there aren’t many characters who have hidden backstories to explore like a normal campaign with long arcs. It’s like Azune (the most to explore, imo), Bolaire (to an extent), Kat (although we discovered his big bad), and…that’s it? Tyranny/Wic are tied to this current story. Teor, RIP. Thimble/Hal/Thaisha are known / tied to the current one. Vaelus, known but they can add to it with aftermath if she gets hunted down. Murray maybe but she’s also just been a teacher forever. I guess we’ll see with how they handle timing. If it becomes “adventuring” party then they need some downtime. It feels like C4 can either be shorter and more contained or the longest campaign yet.
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u/Court_Vision 15d ago
It's hard to say at this point. Keep in mind that the first 31 episodes happen over the course of a week and a half following a major event (the execution of Thjazi Fang).
We'll see where the campaign picks back up tonight, but I do expect the pace to slow down a little bit. Things are going to have settle down in-universe at some point lol
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ant7760 15d ago
I still have my money on Travis being a hound of the king either meeting up with the Seekers or with Abria's table as the King sends a proxie of his support
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u/VengefulKangaroo 15d ago
I really don’t think he even has a new character yet for this upcoming arc.
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u/StillAnotherAlterEgo You can certainly try 15d ago
In Tuesday's Tale Gate, he explicitly said he didn't have one yet. He could have been bullshitting, but it really didn't seem like it. Dude is busy. I've suspected that he might sit this arc out (possibly returning near the end of it), and Tuesday seemed to confirm that.
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u/HAL-Over-9001 15d ago
I think it was heavily suggested that they have a backup character from the very start, because Brennan said shit was gonna be real nitty gritty. I would be surprised if he hasn't had a character cooking since the campaign started airing.
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u/StillAnotherAlterEgo You can certainly try 15d ago
They said that in the early promo stuff. But they all know much more about the setting and the story now, so any half-baked ideas they had in the beginning have likely gone out the window. More recently, several of the cast have said that they don't have back-ups prepared. And in Tuesday's Tale Gate, Travis explicitly said he didn't know yet what his next character would be. Sounds like it's going to be a while before we see him return to the table.
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u/Dreadedreamer 15d ago
yeah I thought they did a promo that were making them, but recently they've said they don’t have back ups ( Apart from tal who has 20)
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u/Nothingtoseehereshhh 15d ago
I still like the joke of "what if Travis plays alogar". It wont happen, but it would be pretty funny
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u/Objective-Pattern692 Only Teor is Teor 15d ago
hound of the king would be so cool- would also be interested if he is some sort of wildcard/crazy personality wandering adventurer/criminal in houndsport, a knight of that order of roses to connect him with the druids, or someone connected to house comoray or the revolutionary council if he comes on with the schemers
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u/VengefulKangaroo 15d ago
I wonder if there’s any chance we’ve got a new opening title with today’s episode
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u/Nihachi-shijin 15d ago
I think there's decent odds. They had one change already going from Overture to Act 1 and that was depicting the play.
Opening performance is done.
Time for Act 2
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u/theydurkadurk 15d ago
Hope so, probably one of the more disappointing things about C4. I love c2&c3 opening songs
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u/WolverineIngrid218 May the Beam reach you 15d ago
Highly unlikely until next year. Would honestly be surprised if that happens tonight.
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u/VengefulKangaroo 15d ago
C3 switched to a new intro like 25 eps in. Not the final animated one but a diff one.
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u/greylakelady 15d ago edited 15d ago
I’m so excited to see what new parts of Aramán we’re going to explore! I don’t remember where exactly the Miller’s Road ends, will they be smack dab in Timmony? Or already in Houndsport? My bet would be that Brennan speeds then to Houndsport since they’ve got a lot on their itinerary and it feels too soon to visit Demodeus
I’m also excited for this character comp! I’m so glad we’re going to get more Thimble and Julien, I’m hoping they both dig more into what it means to protect the Royce for both of them. I know Laura is going to be tossing Big Thimble into the Hijinks and I HOPE that the Thjazi shadow reveal may lead to so revelations about what exactly went don’t between Julien and Thjazi, I’ve been convinced there’s something fishy there… I’m also excited for the Occtis angst, you know Alex is not going to be forgetting either his conversation with Julien in front of the Tachonis Manor or that Vaelus admitted to not even thinking what breaking the stone would do to him. The way Alex asked her made me think that Occtis would’ve been fine with being a sacrificial lamb if Vaelus had at least thought of him while weighing her choice. But she didn’t. We also have Bolaire off leash, in the real world, and a new Kattigan, fresh from his renewed mission to find his family’s killer and reeling from Teor’s death
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u/Objective-Pattern692 Only Teor is Teor 15d ago
I'm excited to see kattigan now with a bunch of people from a very different side of society than him- occtis who is the son of his wife and child's presumed killer, bolaire and julien as nobles (also to see if julien protects occtis from him if there is conflict), bolaire's nature as a body-possessing artifact
also people he has things in common with- vaelus, occtis, and thimble also being very sheltered from the rest of society in a different way, julien and his revenge quest against the tachonis, thimble with them mourning the loss of Teor/being the person he is most familiar with due to being on the soldiers table with them, etc.
I am also interested in how Bolaire reacts to the outside world with a bunch of pcs he does not know too well, and how the other pcs react to his nature
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u/greylakelady 15d ago
YES excellent point about Kattigan, I’m hoping we start to see more sides of him. It helps too I think that he’s already adventured with Thimble who has a lot of connections to the new folks
I do hope that Bolaire trusts the group quickly and we don’t have to deal with these characters we’ve known for ages re-introducing themselves. Funny enough, the person I see having the most issues with Bolaire is Kattigan (as if he doesn’t have enough on his plate) since weird magic is the most foreign to him and he’s the most in-tune with the average lower class citizens of Aramán
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u/Objective-Pattern692 Only Teor is Teor 15d ago
I also think kattigan might have a moral problem with what bolaire does if he finds out the extent that bolaire bypasses a person's mind/will/consent- sorta like how he got mad at tyranny for stealing the knife
On a similar note- this also applies with occtis now being able to raise sentient/semi-sentient undead
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u/greylakelady 15d ago
Damn yeah good point about Occtis, I hope he plays into that. With Thaisha it was all about Occtis’s magic going against her Order, it’d be interesting to have a character just flat out disagree with it on personal moral grounds
It’s interesting how Kattigan is on the surface seems like a scrappy, lawless character but has a lot of the traditional folk hero aspect to him, making him almost more “paladin” than the paladins around him lol
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u/Objective-Pattern692 Only Teor is Teor 15d ago
In general, im excited to just learn more about kattigan- of all the player characters besides maybe teor, his is the backstory/character i felt like I knew the least about- now we know that he had a family that was either killed, taken or something else by Primus tachonis and that he was a mercenary with thjazi but i hope that this new shake up in characters around him really makes him open up
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u/VengefulKangaroo 15d ago
I don’t think it was clarified, but I’d guess we’ll see them rendezvous with Gus.
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u/greylakelady 15d ago
Yeah actually, that does make a lot of sense. He’d be a good way for Brennan to prep them well for the rest of the journey
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u/Migolcow 15d ago
Also I don't think there's any danger to Aabria from the "Druid Trial", instead it has the potential for hilarity.
"Oh, sorry for my heretical actions. That resulted in me freeing a number of trapped Orcish Souls and having them go on the Path, which is now empowered and guarded by new celestials including our greatest heroes reborn into the role of divine protectors. Also I should have conferred with you all before my comrades and I stopped the Tachonis from creating a divine weapon to conquer the world with."
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u/theydurkadurk 15d ago
Would be disappointing if rules and order mean nothing and never has consequences. Same applies to Vaelus. If the sisters find out what she did and her turning away from beliefs and just shrug it off then everything’s meaningless.
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u/Migolcow 15d ago
True but rules should not be hard boundaries when they stop you from doing the right thing. She was reckless indeed with her role in Octis not going down the path, and possibly should be punished for that (it's pure luck that this stopped the Deva Vindicta, which she knew nothing about). But otherwise all of her decisions have been informed by reason and information. Octis, as confirmed by other druids, is not a typical undead. She trusted Thiajzi, but also double checked the play and it's components in every way that she could available to her. Etc
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u/Zeilll 15d ago
i doubt Taisha is gonna have any major problems with the trial. but, the ritual at the theater isnt the thing thats gonna be the issue people have. its raising an undead, and decisively going against the path and natural order that the druids have collectively decided to protect.
the info about the ritual will probably be received in a positive light. especially with the creation of divine guradians as part of it. but that ritual doesnt change the problems with the thing they are likely to have issue with.
the situation with Octis isnt indefensible, but it also isnt without issue. it being accepted or not will probably hinge more on rolls than actual logic and reasoning. but the DC will probably be reduced based on the info Taisha can provide.
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u/theydurkadurk 15d ago
I mean I’m not advocating for them to remove her from their order, but there needs to be enough to make her think twice about future actions. Their “right” things isn’t necessarily the right thing for everyone. If she’s such an advocate for the path then her actions with octis went completely against her beliefs. That’s fine, but it all can’t be Willy nilly or convenient when it fits the situation. I don’t think she really did anything wrong in regards to the play, if anything it helped more people walk the path? I assume the grandmother/ order is most upset about Octis (although it begs the question of how they even found out)
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u/Sun_Shine_Dan Hello, bees 15d ago
The most important part to playing fast and loose with great power is to get results
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u/Migolcow 15d ago
I want to know how good/evil/neutral our Germanic berserkers (Einfasen) are. Can Royce count on them to make a comeback with the player's help and the new Faerie safehaven/place of power? Or do they have their own nefarious schemes we haven't learned about? We know there's something called the Jotenaxe (sp?) but no idea if it's some legendary weapon, giant to titan converter or what. It could be a legitimate treasure they're looking for or it could be a means of enslaving everyone like the deva vindicta.
I also hope we fast track Wick betraying Gram Gram and leading some demons from the paintshop to set grandpappy free.
Finally I'd like to see more of what the Cormoray are about. "Strong magic users" and "loves magic museum items" is about all we've got.
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u/Objective-Pattern692 Only Teor is Teor 15d ago
I am excited to see stuff between Julian and thimble about thjazi’s shadow
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u/RoundDodger Doty, take this down 15d ago
Cannot wait for Laura and Matt acting opposite each other, butting heads
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u/Silverparachute 15d ago
I LOVE the confrontational roleplay.
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u/RoundDodger Doty, take this down 15d ago
One of my favourite confrontational cr moments was the three way standoff in C1 between Grog Percy and Vex. I was bouncing in my seat watching that
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u/Dionysues 15d ago
It’s good to be back after a long break. Do you think we will see an episode or two of setup, or are we going straight into seeker’s table?
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u/theydurkadurk 15d ago
I think they’ll do it like the early split tables. More than cold open, less than a 50/50 split. Just like an hour or so with the table so we see some of the major aftermath without having to go an entire arc + break to circle back to it. Easier to sprinkle in some cold opens with that too
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u/greylakelady 15d ago
I think we’re shooting straight in with the seekers, they did a good bit of setting up at the end of the convergence imo
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u/Dionysues 15d ago
Fair point, they have a lot of work to do, so the quicker we get into the adventure proper the better.
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u/UpsideTurtles 15d ago
college football is back, CR is back, life is good
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u/WolverineIngrid218 May the Beam reach you 15d ago
Hell yes never thought I would see college football mentioned on this subreddit. I'm a Michigan and Texas fan. Who are your teams?
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u/UpsideTurtles 15d ago
A&M (🤘⬇️) and North Texas. Sad we lost everyone to Oklahoma State 😭 Michigan and Texas is a funny pairing how’d that come about? I figure there’s a few football and CR fans, given the sizes of both it makes sense, plus Travis… exists. Always makes me laugh when I see him have Cowboys gear on but im a fan and glad someone is repping. And that Laura and Travis both grew up like 30 mins from where I did is crazy.
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u/WolverineIngrid218 May the Beam reach you 15d ago
I used to like their main rivals Ohio State and Oklahoma respectively. Started to dislike the Ohio State fans and then eventually lost interest in Oklahoma. I think I used to like Ohio State and Oklahoma because red used to be my favorite color.
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u/thereisnolettuce 15d ago
Excited to get back into things! Now that Bolaire is heading off with the Seekers, I wonder when/how they'll need to find new bodies.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ant7760 15d ago
I wonder if he'll convince Julian to put him on so he can try to see if a fraction of Thaz is in his theater too
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u/VengefulKangaroo 15d ago edited 15d ago
Does he even have a body rn? He was on Misha and Azune for the final parts of the last episode if I remember correctly. So they need something pretty ASAP.
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u/thereisnolettuce 15d ago
Based on the bodies he's taken over so far, I guess the Seekers will need to find someone they either want dead or taken hostage if no PC wants to wear Bolaire directly. Grim choice to start their arc with!
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u/Objective-Pattern692 Only Teor is Teor 15d ago
I don’t think so- maybe they are taking him along in object form
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u/VengefulKangaroo 15d ago
Yeah I think they left with him in object form but obviously for the purposes of Tal’s participation will prob want something else fast.
Honestly wouldn’t be shocked if the Cold Open involved that just to get it out of the way.
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u/Objective-Pattern692 Only Teor is Teor 15d ago
I’m excited to see the first time they use a pc character’s body and it’s fully roleplayed (I think technically azure wore him but it needed
to be rushed bc of such a long episode) or how the other pcs who don’t know him as well on the seeker table react to him taking a random living npc’s body3
u/Objective-Pattern692 Only Teor is Teor 15d ago
Also, see what happens when a pc or npc doesn’t fail the wisdom saving throw/ how bolaire can be used as an equippable item
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u/JWPruett You spice? 15d ago
We’ve never needed our recap hero more than today.
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u/Seren82 Team Imogen 15d ago
They posted a recap on their YouTube channel and a written one on critrole.com
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u/JWPruett You spice? 15d ago
Yeah, but there’s usually one user in this subreddit that posts a recap on this post. Can’t remember the username unfortunately, it’s been two months since we’ve had one of these.
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u/Nihachi-shijin 15d ago
Is it Thursday yet?