Short Rest: Trinyvale X Strahd - Ep. 14

i really love listening to these because of moments of vulnerability like caldwell had here. it’s nice to know that even professional podcast DMs sometimes finish a session feeling like they didn’t balance the encounter as well as they could have, or that things went off the rails in a way they had to scramble to work with. but also, this campaign absolutely rips, and it’s giving me lots of ideas for my strahd campaign. :-)

On Betty Boop's Porn Adjeacency: I mean just look at Drawn Together's depiction of their boop knockoff character. An old retired Sex symbol in black and white. In fact, the existence of Toot Braunstein probably shaped your opinion of Betty whether you watched it or not

My physical therapist once told me "PT is all about finding out exactly what hurts and what your body doesnt like, and doing exactly that until it doesnt hurt any more"

Fuck... I am too big of a Vampire Chronicles nerd and listening to you all talk about Interview with the Vampire has given me psychic damage. I know this is a me problem, and you all did nothing wrong, but it still feels important to let you know I am in pain from you talking about things you obviously know little to nothing about.... That said, Caldwell- you have excellent taste and I would highly recommend reading/listening to the books if you can because knowing the source material makes the show even more impressive. And if you can't get into the books for whatever reason, the next best thing I've found is a series episodes of the Barely Bookish podcast. The newest host over at Three Black Halflings, Candace, has been chatting with the host of Barley Bookish about the book series and the tv series and Candace especially has some really great analysis and insight. The IWTV episodes so far are 118-132 and then 182 to the present and is ongoing.

oh man the interview with the vampire series is like my favorite show!

My great grandmother had a similar horde of Betty Boop memorabilia and that made more sense to me because she was like around for the start of it, but her ascent to cultural icon status has always been a mystery to me

Man, I’ve started having wine on holidays at 14. I always liked it.

Betty Boop being a dog originally really explains the dog ears on Strahds bride now.

Is it metagaming if everyone at level 4 is like “I don’t want to fuck with Strahd right now”?

The rotoscope animation combined with the song " St. James Infirmary" by Cab Calloway in the Betty Boop episode "Minnie the Moocher" gave me nightmares as a kid. The Highwaywan's song from Over the Garden Wall is an homage to that I only became a wine person at 28 when I realized some red wines don't have sulfates

I’m turning 22 in a few days and my roommates and I like to have wine Wednesday and we usually get a 4 liter jug of sangria or a box of Zinfandel and it will last like a month

Re: horror vampires, Midnight Mass (show) is soooo good, one of my favorite vampire stories.

Did anyone see the new Nosferatu? It’s basically a combination of vampires are evil/gross and vampires are horny AF

My wife and I worked at a winery together during college summer breaks, so we used to be stocked up on Sauvignon blanc for the first half of the school year as youngin’s

All this talk of vampires just makes me wanna hear y'all play a VTM game

Can we get more murph discussing hockey?

Jake's visual jokes were sterling, augmented by Murph's scolding, but would have elicited no fewer yucks from this goof were the visual jokes voiced independently of being scolded

Probably late but if anyone is looking for an interesting take on vampires I recently read Thurst by Maria Yuszczuk where it's like they're all powerful but it's definately that hyper human, urge led behaviour that is their weakness.

I’m actually taking a little class on vampires right now so it was funny to hear you guys talk about the old v.s. new vampire stories! Interview with the Vampire is what really changes the game by giving us a vampire POV which then shifts vampire stories to go from the monstrous, cut and dry totally evil to the sexy, existential one we know today. In Dracula, they defeat him essentially through paperwork haha. It’s been such a treat to listen to this campaign while I’m in the class!

Love a good smiling friends mention

iwtv mentioned on naddpod, how wonderful. caldwell is so right that they're so messy and that's the best part

Oh my God. My time has come. At last. My family has been saying this line basically my whole life (it's only five seconds). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Ufn5hBSi0 (spoiler, it is live action original Bela Lugosi ass Dracula and Betty Boop)

ITWV mention went crazy. I can't believe Caldwell didn't mention Louis is played by Jacob Anderson - Grey Worm my kinggg

I don’t know if this is a direct reference, but the October Daye books series has magical arrows called “Elf Shot” that is the only thing the Fae are allowed to use on each other because of the law of Oberon making it illegal to kill other fae. It doesn’t kill them, but instead puts them to sleep for 100 years (holds them in place). So maybe there’s other lore as well where this idea of “elf shot” as a slowing or freezing weapon comes from.

Check out Vampire: The Masquerade where there's all kinds of vampos from across media. Behold, flesh crafting vampires who turn dudes into chairs and sit in them.

You guys mention interview with a vampire using the term la petite morte. If you look at Anne Rices books she wrote under a pseudonym, she’s REAL kinky, so that tracks

Me not totally opening my mouth super wide when Murph talked about molar fangs!

27 and it was noveau beaujolais at a friend’s house whose roommate worked for a liquor distributor.

iwtv mentioned!!! show of all time I'm so serious

Im 25, and I adore red wines. Hate white wines lol

My Aunt Gloria is OBSESSED with Betty Boop. Her entire place is full floor to ceiling with Betty Boop. I'm also from Jersey, so it would be wild if she's Murph's family friend.

Freaking out that Interview with the Vampire has entered the chat. Can’t wait for S3!!! Caldwell becoming a Sam Reid stan was what I needed today hear

Does anyone else want a mixed bag where they tell old college humor stories? It’s so interesting hearing them all recount those days, and seeing how they got here!

Guillermo del Toro’s “The Strain” has some super monstrous vampires!!

I really want them to watch What we do in the shadows (the show, not just the movie). It's very much triplets + vampires coded 😂

Surreal to learn that not everyone thinks all the time about Hitler being obsessed with Snow White the movie and watching it like every night

All this injury talk is giving me PTSD 🤣 Murph needs to tread so carefully with his knees especially once he hits 40

HOLY SHIT CALDWELL IM GLAD U HAVE SEEN IWTV IT IS THE BEST SHOW EVER

I was that 24 year old into wine lmao. My mom is a wine mom, my college didn’t party and I studied abroad with a lot of rich Europeans. So I somehow skipped beer and went straight to wine

For Caldwell in the event he reads this: do not beat yourself up about 'the way things went'. As a CoS DM I saw the tip of the hand towards the Sunsword / amulet, but the Triplets do what the Triplets do (and Murph, Emily and Jack do what they do too). On a related note: thank fuck they *didn't* go after Strahd / Strahj with two artefacts, Vasilka and Ezmerelda. RAW he gets misted in an aura of sunlight and he's dead. DEAD-dead. No save. No coffin. No monologue. No nothing.

When’s the next When Did Things Come Out, and when are you getting a guest for that?

I mean this constructively- I feel like Caldwell might be doing too much/putting too much pressure on himself! It’s a huge module, there’s no need to make additions to it, I think he could just run it as written and not have to feel so much self doubt after taking swings like this! Love the show ❤️‍🩹

at 39, Riesling and Moscato are still my pref 😂 I’m a child 🤦🏻‍♀️

The show Interview With a Vampire is closely based on the book. And speaking of sexy vampires, Lestat is number one in my heart. I accidentally read the series out of order and read book two “Lestat” first. If you haven’t read the series, it’s a must.

Mr. Boop feels like a natural overlap with this crowd but I am also afraid to invoke it

Anytime Dracula’s big ol’ mustache comes up, I have to share my favorite thing, which is that Stoker was IN LOVE with Walt Whitman and that Dracula’s physical description is likely (unconfirmed but look at that guy) inspired by WW. One of my favorite stories is about Stoker going to visit Walt in Camden and the actor Henry Irving just fully third-wheeling the whole thing.

The ‘sode was so fun! I’m sorry Caldwell was thorny about it (baby) but I had a blast listening

Cackling- I’m on my 3rd cold brew of the day after teaching eight 6 year olds how to make pasta.

Riesling was also my gateway wine when I was in college!

I feel like they should do a Betty Boop watch. Caldwell in particular would probably get a kick out of it. Especially if they did one of the Cab Calloway collab eps. Like Betty Boop was kind of cutting edge in terms of animation technology at the time. The company that did it used something like proto-rotoscoping to make some very fluid animations. And they referenced Dracula and specifically the Texas guy in this ep, and I have a little bit of Dracula/Castlevania lore for you. The events of the Dracula Novel take place in the Castlevania universe. The Texas guy, Quincey Morris, is the father of John Morris (who is the father of Johnathan Morris) and the whole Morris family line is like the US equivalent of the Beltmont clan.

1. Congrats on the championship win Murph. 2. Devils or flyers?

Strahd wishes he had Sergei’s girl

It would be very funny if Emily is reading The Historian because I had been listening to the audiobook literal minutes before deciding I was a bit bored and wanted to listen to something else, and put on this short rest instead lol.

Personally I picture the morning lord as looking kinda like all might

Did we all have a family friend woman as a kid who was obsessed with a specific thing that was all over her house? Because same, Murph

Plugging the film Humanist Vampire Seeking Comsenting Su*cidal Person. Its not as bad as it sounds its a very sweet coming of age story.

i would love a whole mixed bag of just college humor stories

I’ve never felt more seen than the convo about 1)hurting yourself at hockey 2) winning bar league championships now feels more like cosplay than actually winning something Also, they don’t give you your own damn trophy?!? We throw ours out months and months later after no one wants to hold onto it anymore

We all know that old person OBSESSED with Betty Boop. That crap was everywhere

Literally watched the 1st Austin Powers last night, you make me very Thorny Mr Caldwell

when i was a boy, theres also a betty boop lady, every thing she owns have a betty head on it

YO my job serves La Colombe and that shit is lethal. I’m convinced it’s actually cold brew flavored four loko. It’s amazing

Lol as a physical therapist the "it hurts when I go like this" and then doing the movement over and over again made me cackle. Literally such a weirdly universal human tendency. Also y'all need to talk to a DPT about recovery movements/handling little aches and pains. We can help you even if you don't have a major injury!

I know it's a bit, but fun fact, there is actually a strong through-line between Betty Boop and Disney's Snow White. Snow's final character design was loosely based on Betty Boop - chiefly her coloring and rounder face. Early on in development they tried making her blonde and a redhead before settling on the dark hair. Also there was a Betty Boop short were it was basically putting Betty in the Snow White role.

Guy I hate to inform you anyone in nursing home unless they’re literally 100 years old might be too young to be a booper.

Does any one happen to know what book Emily is talking about?

💯 when I first got into being a chef in fine dining I was right at 21 at got to participate in wine tastings and fell in love with reisling because of its alcohol juice flavor

I feel like the antidote to seeing vampires as too sexy is to do the classic Emily Austin Powers move of watching a bunch of vampire media in reverse chronological order. Do some True Blood or Vampire Diaries then go into Buffy and then into the Lost Boys or Monster Squad all the way until the original Nosferatu and you gradually teach yourself that vampires are scary and nasty again

NADDPOD mentioning Smiling Friends is a perfect overlap of my obsessions.

I’m just at the beginning with Caldwell taking some thorns for this one, and I gotta say I disagree with Murph here. Murph frequently brings up in Dungeon Court the “DM wink”, the hint hint to give your player usually to indicate not to do something. But the DM wink can go either way, encouragement or discouragement. This seemed pretty clearly to be a DM wink that Caldwell was encouraging a player to stand up to Strahd with the new powers, and doing so would allow them to escape. It seemed perfectly clear as a the type of trope where the BBEG gets caught flat-footed, and though far from defeated, it’s shocking enough to give the heroes an escape without it being plot armor. Caldwell seemed to be saying here “hey I know you are level 4 and can’t actually fight Strahd head to head, so trust the tools because I’m not just going to curb-stomp you with Legendary Actions and end the campaign.” I get where Jens and Murph were coming from, but the enormous power differential here would make me more likely to trust the DM was planning something. If my DM throws has an adult dragon at the party at level 3 and gives us a few anti-dragon doohickies I’m way less worried than being like level 12 and having something crazy powerful attack.

elfshot is a reference to an old English medical text that described invisible projectiles shot by elves that caused "unexplained" pain

I totally get the whole pain thing. Murph and using your stick to help you. I have literally collapsed at the end of paintball matches and needed to use my marker to help me walk

You can actually kill Strahd without having to get him in his coffin. Misty Escape says that he becomes mist, but he cannot become mist in sunlight, which is produced by the sunsword. So kill him with the sunsword and he’s dead

the old collegehumor references make me remember watching old drawfee

You guys should watch the new nosferatu

Omg I'm so old. Interview with A vampire was a book series by Anne Rice

Murph, i also had a friend of the family that LOVED betty boop when I was a kid. I think she might of had like a huge tattoo of her, and definitely so many lunchboxes

Deeply curious what Emily is reading

omg caldwell watching interview all my dreams are coming true

literally screamed when caldwell told murph and emily about IWTV. emily you’re going to LOVE it

Caldwell's being too hard on himself. Strahd isn't built for this format, and he's doing incredible making it a Caldwell campaign.

"It hurts when I go like this" Made me spit my beer

I see the Lestat influence in your Strahd, Caldwell! Messy asshole vampires unite

Salem’s Lot is a good spooky vampire book that really successfully cultivates that dreadful existential vampire vibe.

This is validating my decisions during my CoS run like sometimes you’re simply not built for that strahd encounter (my party disagreed)

Twilight Sanctorum mentioned! Hopefully that means Emily is cooking something up for boys after this!

Wasn't Clara Bow an actress?

my favorite part of jake and amir videos is seeing everyone in the background (caldwell is there a lot)

MASSIVE UNTAGGED SPOILERS FOR OG INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE HOLY SHIT GUYS WTF

I'm kinda surprised how defeatist the Triplets are about facing Strahdge*. Of course they shouldn't really expect to "win" these encounters, but I feel like immediately running isn't the "only" option. I think they're super underestimating the power of sunlight in their weapons and that holy symbol.

the floor i’m on in my dorm building is betty boop themed lol

My wife and I have been enjoying the hell out of this Trinyvale campaign. Thrilling episodes recently, excellent job, Dracula Uncle

Anime encouraging the youth to have babies isn't a conspiracy theory, it's a real and public initiative.

WELCOME BACK WHEN DID THINGS COME OUT

I just can't believe how poorly Jake was rolling, his performance this session deserves a thorn, lest I be scorned.