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its-your-mind · 5 months

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Some Thoughts on the importance of physical touch and connection for the Hells: A reflection on the new animated intro.

In general, I think the Hells are a really strange and special group, especially for a dnd party. They pretty much laid all their baggage on the table within the first week of meeting each other (What the Fuck is Up With That?) almost as a litmus test: "hey, here's all the shit that comes with being me, last chance to run away if that's too much."

and none of them did. and they all kept choosing to stay, even as shit got even weirder and more and more disturbing answers came to light. I think that continued choice from all of them - to stay - is what makes the bonds between the Hells so deep and so special.

okay trauma analysis and party dynamics is a DIFFERENT POST but it was all RELEVANT INTRODUCTION bc the CHOOSING TO STAY and the KNOWING EACH OTHERS' SHIT are like. key components to understanding why I am so feral about this. okay hopefully you will understand. the body of my essay is below. it has pictures. it got... too long. so. it went under a read more. yw. anyway click below if you want a very detailed analysis of an animated intro that is literally only one minute and thirty seconds long

For the first bit, character intros for Fearne, Orym, Imogen, Ashton, there’s no physical contact.

BUT. First intro of hells as a team. Ashton Trauma Flashback interrupted by laudna approaching slowly from beside him with her hand gently in front of him to signal her presence without startling him, and THEN just talking at them. Bringing him out of those flashbacks. Reminding him where he is and who he’s with.

And tbh? For Ashton? Touch is always iffy, so this is almost a more understanding and kind way to bring them out of the flashback. Just physical presence is good! UNLESS. (unless) first actual touch. Fearne stealing their coin purse, so gently that they don’t even notice it (FLIRTING THROUGH THEFT callowmoore my beloved)

(also grabbed the cap that shows her with his coinpurse these fucking ANIMATORS)

okay pt 2 FLYING OFF THE AIRSHIP

Ashton's first instinct and priority is grab laudna’s hand bc he KNOWS she is made of paper mache and he is ALWAYS watching out for her out of the corner of his eye bc she is breakable and he’s not gonna let her break bc he KNOWS what it’s like to be breakable and need someone to catch you when you’re falling but ANYWAY. he grabs her he uses his hammer as a fulcrum to throw her at Imogen

because OF COURSE he knows that the safest and most comfortable space for laudna is in imogen’s arms. and the two of them wrap their arms around each other and hold tight Superman style bc ofc they do and once laudna is in imogen’s arms she’s absolutely delighted by this whole situation bc OFC SHE IS

(tf do you mean I can’t add more than ten images on mobile UGH fine I’ll finish writing then draft and move to PC the images are IMPORTANT TO MY POINT anyway insert lesbians here) (note from future mind: I have decided that these pic descriptions i left for myself to grab the right images are fucking hilarious so they’re staying in yw)

Then fearne (who had been on her way in that direction already) swoops under Ashton to catch him as he flips over from the momentum so he can land on her giant bird back and she can fly him away.

(Pics: It’s fine to touch Ash if you’re saving their life)

(also not pictured: chet staying on the ship but losing his hat, orym grabbing it out of the air, imogen casting fly on fcg right before she catches laudna, fcg flying over to grab orym) All of this happens in six seconds by the way. One round of combat. These animators are fucking incredible.

BACK TO CHARACTER INTROS laudna who is ofc alone and in the dark at the bottom of the Sun tree, reliving her past…

(Pic: sad lonely laudna)

right up until Imogen puts her head on her shoulder, and the darkness burns away into light. She doesn’t say anything, or talk with laudna - all it takes is that physical reminder that she’s not alone anymore, that there is warmth, that she is surrounded by a family who loves her so much they chose to turn down comfortable beds in a lord’s manor so that they could join her in sleeping at the bottom of the Sun Tree. (Fav lil detail - fearne wrapped around Orym like he’s a teddy bear, and holding tight to laudna’s blanket to make sure she can’t go anywhere.)

(Pics: THE POWER OF LESBIANS AND FOUND FAMILY)

fcg. Fuck. Starts with their flashback, with their red eyes and their buzzsaw, but almost immediately we see Ashton reach out to grab their shoulder and Orym whip out a vine to tie up their saw.

(pics: reaching out even if it might hurt youuuuu)

Imogen goes on her knees and wraps her arms around FCG’s other side, and the rest of them all gather around him, holding him to keep him and each other safe, but mostly just grounding him in the present by surrounding him physically until the flashback fades and he’s once more aware of his surroundings.

(Pics: what the fuck they just need to be held)

(once shit has calmed down fearne uses this opportunity to pick Ashton’s pocket again. Flirting through theft).

(Pic: fearne is a menace to society)

final fight scene. fuck yes.

(Pic: IT’S THURSDAY NIIIIIIIIIIIGHT)

This is mostly just giving all of them room to be badasses (as they deserve) - but there are some things!! First!!

(pics: THESE WITCHES BE BITCHES minus fearne sry fearne we miss u but you are on fire and laudna is made of wood currently)

Imogen and laudna casting spells back to back, trusting each other to take care of what’s on their side. Inseparable, even in a battle where their party has scattered to fight other enemies.

BUT. The BIG thing though in this sequence. Maybe my favorite part? Idk I don’t have a favorite. But!! Orym. taking out four of Otohan’s shadow knights. then facing off against her personally!! And it’s one-on-one, because this was Orym’s task alone - to find the person who attacked his leader and killed his family. He’s angry, but mostly he’s honed-in and focused and determined. This is his mission.

(Pics: WHO’S JUST A LIL GUY NOW HUH)

But then, when Otohan pushes him back…

(Pic: fuck. shit. fuck. im. fine. anYway. them.)

FCG and Ashton are there right behind him, and they put their arms out and catch him so he doesn’t fly back any farther. And there’s this look of surprise on his face, because once he lost Will, he never expected there to be anyone else standing behind him, ready to catch him. And yet, here they are.

(Pics: fuck yes fuck yes fuck yes GOOOO ORYM!!!)

They give Orym a push forward and follow behind him, and he walks back towards Otohan with confidence. Lil grin on his face, brisk walking pace - he even does a little fancy sword swoosh! Because maybe he’s not strong enough to take out Otohan on his own. But the thing is, he’s not alone anymore.

(Pic: THEY.)

None of them are alone. And whenever any of them forget, or slip into old habits and memories, the rest are right there to reach out a hand to remind them.

Building a family out of broken pieces is difficult even without an apocalypse. But the Hells have shown each other, over and over and over, often with their actions even more than their words, that they really are dedicated to this family that they've built together. This intro fucking slaps so hard and the animators deserve so much praise for how incredible this intro is

#Tbh I could (and probably will) write multiple essays on the new intro but this is the one I love the most #no I’m not touch-starved what are you talking about #critical role #bells hells #c3e76 #cr3 #c3 #cr3 spoilers #c3 spoilers #bells hells intro #ashton greymoore #laudna #fearne calloway #imogen temult #fcg #orym of the air ashari #chetney pock o'pea #bells hells animated

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pocketgalaxies · 5 months

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fcg: i enjoy eating silver more than copper

imogen: i am genuinely scared to meet my mom again

chet: it is well known that wood is better than metal

laudna: deep down inside, both delilah and i kind of want the shard

laudna: i don't want [the shard], fearne should have it, but i don't know anymore what's my opinion or desires or feelings or [delilah's]

imogen: i love laudna deeply, but i'm disgusted at the thought of delilah looking at us all the time

orym: i'm super lonely all the time, especially at night. doesn't matter if i'm bunking with one of you guys

fcg: sometimes i pity some of you because you have beating hearts and opportunities and you don't do enough with them

fcg: chetney you have so much love to give and it doesn't seem like you're interested in anything, in ANYTHING, other than wood. there's people out there who you could love and experiences you could share with someone else, but all you care about is wood

orym: i've always laughed it off but i guess i do kinda wonder if chetney is my dad

ashton: i am the reason that the jiana hexum robbery went fucking wrong and the reason why i got thrown out of a fucking window

ashton: (laudna: is that why you feel like you deserved to have the nobodies leave you?) yeah.

fearne: i feel like we are very ill-equipped for this job and we're gonna fail at saving the world

chet: while wood may be the superior material to metal, i do fear that with the dwindling interest in it that children will find my toys and thereby myself obsolete every year that i grow older

fcg: i think it's something buried deep down in my circuitry, but every time i hurt or kill something, it feels really good. it makes me sorta relax a little bit and some of my stress goes away

imogen: i know we're supposed to save the gods but i've tried talking to them my whole life and none of them will ever respond. i think i'm tainted. i don't know if i want to save gods that don't love me

laudna: you know we could all ripcord out of this at any moment, and i don't mean this scavenger hunt, i mean saving the world, right? andsometimesifantasizeaboutitallthetime

fearne: sometimes i do stuff to you guys while you're sleeping. not weird stuff, i just like to look at you closely and...you know, just look at you. you look so content and comfortable and i can get up and look at you really well. and maybe twiddle your hair and like braid it. nothing bad! nothing bad!!

ashton: any time it's too quiet, i start worrying that one of us, most of us, are gonna end up killing another one of us accidentally. all of us. orym...very gently, but probably–orym may be the only one i worry about the least, but genuinely everybody else. i have panicked thinking about what happens when one of you kills another one of us

orym: (laudna: do you have any strong feelings one way or another kind of being the normal guy in a group of freaks who are all ticking time bombs? are you okay with that, do you have any strong feelings?) i have all the faith in the world in you guys, all of you. and i have also spent time thinking how to neutralize each of you

fcg: i kinda worry that i put all my eggs in the changebringer basket and she might betray us all, i had a really weird conversation with her and i think she's just out for herself and she might not really care about me

imogen: fearne, i was really disappointed in you for running away from your power, you should take the shard (laudna: you should take the shard)

orym: i really miss dorian, and sometimes i think that's okay and sometimes i think it isn't

pate: [laudna] is my creator, i don't have feelings, i'm a construction

ashton: i feel fucking worse that i just fucked up fearne's life way more than mine, and i should've died instead of that happening

chet: i grew up in the bramblewood outside of westruun, and when i was a kid, i came back from learning how to make toys and found that my whole family had left. all they left behind were toys. and they ran when errevon the rimelord was running across the plains so i'm kinda afraid of dragons. and i had five siblings, alabaster, pepper, sugarplum, hermey, and chad, and i was so mad that they left, i never looked for any of them. and now i'm pretty sure they're dead, so i think that any family i have is just gonna look for a reason to leave me, that's why i don't get attached to anybody

#honesty!#was just writing these as i watched #there were a few things ppl said that i didn't include bc they felt more like part of conversation #and less like confessions that the chasm responded to #3h16m c3e79 #text #critical role #cr3 #cr lb #cr spoilers #r: bells hells #nova shh

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utilitycaster · 10 months

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Level 10!

You may or may not know the drill:

Corrections about actually wrong items or major omissions are welcome. "Um, actually"-ing because I did not list every single spell or feat available or speculate the exact same things you did is not.

Because the cast usually does a brief video shortly before the episode for level-ups now (as they did today!), rather than announcing it at the end of an episode, this includes speculation and a bit of editorializing on my thoughts for the next few levels. This isn't necessarily meant to be accurate to what the cast will do, so don't quote me on it - it's just my thoughts on what I think might make sense or will be interesting. Those thoughts may very well change significantly as the story continues.

Anyway, level 10: it's a subclass-centric level for most of the players.

Chetney: His rogue level means he's blood hunter 9, which means Grim Psychometry, the coolest ability, which grants advantage on knowledge checks surrounding tragic or dark histories, with the potential for the DM to grant visions. Looking forward: assuming Chet keeps moving forward with blood hunter, L10 is a big one for him, as his speed increases by 5 feet, he gets another blood curse, and he gains a +3 (INT modifier) to all physical saves.

Laudna: She took a level in sorcerer, so she gets another sorcery point and another spell, this time up to 4th level; I drafted this post a while back and forgot to check the spell list for sorcerer so you're invited go nuts on your spell thoughts in the notes! Looking forward: Look. I've covered my mechanical concerns about this multiclass. Personally, had I been playing a character with this build from level 3 in a party with another sorcerer, I'd have stopped at 3 sorcerer levels and leveled exclusively in warlock. However, she's now 7 levels into sorcerer and so stopping that to go warlock will probably hamstring her mechanically, especially since the 6th level Undead feature is not terribly impressive. I think one last warlock level might be good for the ASI and the known spell, since warlocks have a more interesting spell list, and it makes narrative sense at this point now that Delilah is reawakened, but then I'd probably continue to take the rest in sorcerer. I AM very interested in how Laudna will deal with Delilah since I don't see her getting another undead patron to replace her, but that's so speculative that I'll hold off until something changes.

FCG: FCG gets a new cantrip, a new 5th level spell slot, and the ability to roll for divine intervention, which promises to be a fucking trip (complimentary). Looking forward: 6th level cleric spells, which he'll get at level 11, have a lot of bangers, but I am personally most invested in FCG's Heroes' Feast.

Fearne: with a 9th level in druid she gets access to 5th level spells, and her circle spells are Mass Cure Wounds and Flame Strike, both of which are excellent. As always for druid levels, Little Mister's HP goes up by 5. Looking forward: I'm assuming Fearne's continuing with druid levels, and if so, the level 10 feature of Cauterizing Flames allows her to use the death of a creature (enemy, ally, or bystander) to create a spectral flame that can either heal or harm others who enter that space. This is amazing and I'm excited.

Imogen: At level 10, she gains another cantrip and another metamagic option. I personally think subtle spell is the best one (and given the Vanguard's tendency to collar mages they dislike, could be huge if they come into conflict), but quickened, which Laudna has, can also be clutch. Looking forward: Chain Lightning does seem like an apt spell for her to take, but personally I'd love True Seeing as more interesting and higher utility while still thematic.

Orym: At level 10, he learns two more maneuvers, and his superiority dice become d10s. There are a ton of maneuvers and I will freely admit I don't know them all, but I do like the idea of Commander's Strike (let Ashton and Chet do more damage), Distracting Strike, or Maneuvering attack. Looking forward: Level 11 grants Orym three attacks per turn, which is really the most fun fighter feature.

Ashton: Level 10 is a path feature level, and we don't know the details of their subclass, so it's up in the air! I'm excited to see what it is. Looking forward: level 11 grants relentless rage; if he drops to 0 HP while raging (for the record Ashton has only gone out 3 times; two were during the Otohan fight and one in the Ratanish fight) he can make a con save to remain conscious.

#bells hells #critical role

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zeephyre · 2 months

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CRITICAL ROLE CAMPAIGN 3 EPISODE 85 SPOILERS

IM LITERALLY ABOUT TO LOSE MY MIND YALL

Where do I even ??? start ???

I haven't been posting c3 as the episodes dropped in...a while actually, like right before they went to the feywild. i have many thoughts and many feelings about so many things that have happened since then and I'll summarise them so I can get to THIS episode.

fearne and ashton - love their shard powers, they're literally royalty and terrifying, and i want them to make-out. i can't wait to see them go full primordial again in a real combat situation.

imogen - save her. literally save her. free her, even. i love everything about the call of ruidus when it comes to imogen on a narrative standpoint, but...God I get so worried that we're gonna lose her. I don't mean she's gonna betray the hells, but...ruidus could take her and then i would simply perish.

laudna - before i really get into wtf went down this episode with her and she who must not be named, i gotta say... im worried. very very worried. however, that fireball was objectively the best shit ever.

fcg - i can't even really remember anything stand out abt fcg except what Sam pulled last night so.

chetney - still the heart of the team, still my baby girl, still my favourite. love him to bits.

orym - i think laudna is going to beat his ass one of these days and im... even more concerned about that after this episode. his nana morri powers are cool as fuck tho... does that make him a warlock now? i know he isn't multi-classing but wouldn't that be cool

ANYWAY WE'RE ON THE FUCKING MOON AND WE GOT MOON LORE AND EVERYTHING WAS SHITTY THEN FUN THEN SHITTY THEN FUN AGAIN THEN REALLY FUCKING SAD THEN IT ALL WENT TO SHIT AGAIN.

the moment imogen reached out to ruidus and matt mentioned that she could sense where other ruidusborn were i fucking knew that otohan was high tailing it in their direction, and i thought they instinctively knew that too but they probably got so distracted.

we were travelling for hours and had a huge fight that almost got them captured (not to be confused with the OTHER two fights that almost got them captured) and I was begging and screaming and crying for them to get a long rest safely hidden away AND THEN THEY SPLIT THE PARTY WITH BARELY ANY SPELL SLOTS OR HIT POINTS AFTER BEING DRAINED FROM ANOTHER BATTLE WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM

(Sidenote, the willmaster really opened up the door to the further increase in moral pondering in a certain number of hellians. i do think using the harness is disgusting and hypocritical, but i don't condemn them for it, it just...makes me wanna vomit thinking abt what ludinus did with it. not to mention the HUNGER parallels between laudna and ludinus...its just not good yall. also??? objectively funny that fcg seemed weirded out by the idea of killing the willmaster, not just with the harness but in general, considering how many people they've killed up to this point)

idk if its just the inherent terror that an evil old hot lady can inspire that makes otohan so much more terrifying to me than ludinus. like, objectively, ludinus is a worse threat and could wipe them out EASILY but jesus otohan is like the damn reaper to me. it's the trauma from the laudna, fearne, orym massacre mixed with the underlying little drop from their uthodurn romp that let us know that resurrection spells are NOT working and idk if that got fixed bc of time passing or distance from the leylines but i really did not want to test that shit out in real time

thank...god that sam riegel is a damn genius player, that banishment of fcg and fearne was the ONLY reason fcg survived. and thank GOD FOR KEYLETH BECAUSE WITHOUT THAT CLOUD SPELL BELLS HELLS WOULD BE VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY DEAD RN.

God, "otohan has us. run." is going to haunt me just as much, if not more than the almost tpk. it just...shot me straight back to bassuras and the plan to run that just...immediately fell apart.

god fcg truly could have died there. and fearne would be captured. i know the hells would be too stupid and too brave and too loyal to leave fearne with otohan in their cloud form but can you imagine a world where fcg was gone, fearne was captured and the hells had to switch from recon to rescue... itd be stressful but pretty fun.

thankfully it didn't come to that and some good came from the shit.

ruidus is so beautiful. i was worried they'd end being trapped under ruidus while they explored (not that I wasn't on board with the detours, I wish this wasn't a time sensitive mission), but matt's imagery of the fossilized elven structure and garden made me sad but also happy that we got to see it.

i cannot believe that the stupid plan to shove fearne up a water hole happened AGAIN and it ended up with us FINDING A BACK HOLE TO RUIDUS GOD I LOVE THESE CHUCKLEFUCKS WHEN IS THE NEXT EPISODE MATT YOU CANNOT DO THIS TO ME. WHERE EVEN ARE THEY??? IS IT EVEN EXANDRIA???? WHAT DO WE DO IF IT IS EXANDRIA??? WHERE DID THIS HOLE EVEN COME FROM???? DOES IT CLOSE AND REOPEN??? IS IT STAGNANT?????? IS IT FUCKING STABLE?!?!?!?!?!

God...we could go back to keyleth and the others and actually invade ruidus without encountering the ruby vanguard. (that's if they're alright because otohan did go out onto the battlefield and we don't know what fhe fuck she did when the illusion fell through)

GOD. IS IT THURSDAY YET??? WE HAVENT EVEN FOUND THE RESISTANCE????

#critical role #cr3 #bells hells #critical role campaign 3 #c3 #critical role c3 #critical role spoilers #imogen temult #ashton greymoore #cr laudna #laudna #orym of the air ashari #chetney pock o'pea #fcg critical role #cr spoilers #fearne calloway #c3 e85 #cr3 ep85

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thewickedkat · 5 months

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no one is a hero here. neither is anyone a villain.

yes, Ashton fucked up. they did a Thing--a big Thing! a Dangerous Thing!--and consulted precisely one (1) person about it. that person enabled and facilitated said Thing without really stopping to pause and think about it. Fearne fucked up by not doing those things. Ashton almost died because of their combined short-sightedness.

these things happened. tell me that no one else in the history of ever has done a Dumb and Dangerous Thing. tell me you never have. fuck knows i have. and?

more than anything, Bells' Hells strikes me as a party of Firsts: it's Chetney's first time really doing anything with something that resembles a pack (i say this without knowing a thing about werewolf dynamics in Exandria and at this point i can't be arsed to learn more). it's FCG's first time in a group knowing more of their own provenance, knowing what they are capable of (good and bad), their first experience with faith. it's Laudna's first time around people who aren't actively trying to either burn her home down or run her out of town on a rail, her first experience with something resembling love (despite Delilah's poison trickling into her ear). Fearne is still learning how to people, given that the only other people she really hung with were the Crown Keepers, and that wasn't for a very long time. Imogen is quite literally learning how to human without hearing the inner voices of folk around her, since she got the circlet, and is learning how to define people not by the worst intrusive thoughts skirling across their brainmeats. Ashton has never been around people who weren't ready to immediately take advantage of any kind of weakness perceived on their part, or ready to abandon him at a moment's notice. he is learning that not everything is defined by a quid pro quo. Orym is really the only cat in the group who has been around stable individuals throughout his life, and most of those people have been there since jump for him. that, and he has a calling, a duty, something that he views as greater than himself that he is willing to submit to. he finds comfort in that, where Letters is just now starting to have an inkling. but even he is learning how to mesh into a unit that isn't a squad, or a platoon, or a guarding body. with the Hells, he isn't just defined by that calling--he is a friend, a brother, without the mutual cultural understanding of the Ashari to back it up.

my point is, all of these people are still discovering new things about themselves. they are still young from a maturity standpoint--even Chetney is, because he is being confronted with emotional entanglements that he (assumedly) hasn't had to deal with before.

there are going to be fuckups. there are going to be scares and hurt feelings and things shouted at each other that are difficult to take back and apologise for. this doesn't mean that one should scorch the earth and piss on the ashes when there is a fuckup.

furthermore, understanding why the characters do what they do is not the same as excusing it. reasons are not the same as justifications are not the same as excuses, etc etc etc. i can easily follow the reasoning behind Ashton taking the shard into themself, because who doesn't want to feel special and badass? it went to his head! i can also understand why Fearne wanted to help--it's what you do for friends, yeah? you help them? and if you're kinda crushing on that friend, the urge to go along with what they want is doubly strong. also? no one ever taught her emotional regulation, i don't think. i fully think that's why she got so viscerally angry with what happened, all that fear and adrenalin and terror at what have i done had to go somewhere, and so she kicked Ashton in the head and tried to break their hammer, and it was Chet who recognised that urge to break and destroy and he allowed her to channel it away from harming anyone else.

people do dumb things, sometimes. they do dumb things and say dumb things because all they want to do in that moment is make something else hurt the way they do. and then they regret it, and internalise it, hopefully learn from it, make amends and move the fuck on. both Ashton and Fearne are having their 'oh if it isn't the consequences of my actions' moment, and they're allowed to have their shitty, messy, all-over-the-place feelings about it. there has been quiet screeching in the fandom about character growth and conflict and the 'necessity for all of them to sit down and talk,' and now that such a moment is here, it seems that many people are saying 'wait, not like that.'

Ashton and Fearne are both traumatised individuals, yes. i think Ashton understands a little more clearly than Fearne what that means, with regard to themself, because (and i don't mean to minimise here at all) his trauma is more evident and obvious and 'conventional,' for lack of a better term. Fearne's trauma is more...nebulous and isolating, because she has normally had Nana Morri to prevent giant fuckups like this, or worst-case, fix those fuckups. as a result, it's entirely possible that Fearne doesn't really grok just how real and bad not thinking things through can be. this doesn't make her naive or a babe in the woods at all, but there is a vast difference between being aware of the potential for something to break bad, and then seeing a good friend explode in front of your face. i dunno, i'm spitballing here.

there are no heroes, nor are there villains. just folk--messy, self-centred, short-sighted folk. let them have their fuckups without putting any of them on crosses or pedestals.

#critical role #cr spoilers #cr meta #cr disc #i guess?#except Delilah. that bitch is a villain and i am Tired of her.

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thecavernsabove · 6 months

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okay now i just want to talk about my expectations versus why i have ended up liking certain characters because i am just so intrigued by everything these people and characters do. for bells hells, i went into it knowing i would love ashton because they are the reason I started watching, i didn't think i would really latch onto any other character, apart from maybe fearne because she's a satyr and i am particularly partial to satyrs, and imogen because i mean it's laura bailey!

but what actually happened, is that yes i did get super attached to ashton of course i did, but my top three quickly became ashton, orym and laudna (and as someone who started being able to watch live at the split you can imagine how devastated i was). and recently chetney is really creeping up there. i do love all the characters dearly though.

ashton just reminds me of myself so much, apart from the fact that they are much braver than i could ever be, and blunter too. i wish i could be them and also see all my faults in them. its a lot.

orym was my first introduction to liam o'brien and his devastating little guys (more on caleb later), and just his backstory and the way he deals with people intrigues me so much and i want to see him happy so bad.

laudna oh laudna. marisha ray you have ruined me. even going into this with my minimal knowledge of the briarwoods, her backstory reveal was so intense and it hurt. also, creepy unnerving girlies stick together! she's iconic.

chetney is so wild to me i love him so much. he is so intensely gender as well i love him so much. i love gruff and grumpy characters that are actually nice once you are more friendly with them.

imogen. i will say it took a little bit for her to grow on me but i do love her. i think the bassuras dusk stuff really helped me like her more. also her immense power and lightning scars are pretty cool if you ask me.

fearne. i love how sweet she is and the stuff like being bad at lying and also just stealing little things here and there was really fun. but what made me like her more was when she got more serious and i didn't expect that (foreshadowing for later!)

fcg. now, i still have, mixed? feelings for fcg. in a sense of i dont hate the character but i think the character arc is not something im too interested in, but i do still like them. the stuff with frida was very nice, and i do like the bits that they do - but i think there still feels like there is something missing for me somewhat.

now, with the mighty nein, i had an inkling on who i would like. i thought caleb certainly because we seem very similar, molly maybe because i liked ashton so hey i might like this taliesin character too! and that was it really. going into it though, because i had seen so much of jester (talking about her and cosplays mostly) i thought that she would be probably my least favourite because her personality didn't seem to really gel with what i usually like in characters. but here i am, on the other side with my favs being caleb, fjord, and jester! it was so much watching everything for the first time, even with knowing the big spoilers and then looking at more minor spoilers so i knew somewhat what would happen - but i do that with a lot of things, its different knowing what happens versus actually watching and experiencing what is happening.

caleb. caleb widogast is such an intense character and i loved every minute i spent with him. i spent so much time checking when i would finally see the nein sided tower of his and watching liam describe everything for an hour was so incredible i was in awe. i truely love that dirt wizard so much.

fjord was a truly unexpected character for me to fall for. the first time i realized that i was going to love him though was when they were in the one politicians house early in the campaign and he held his sword to caleb to make sure he wasn't fucking with them. then seeing his growth, the accent change, and just his whole deal i was enraptured. i do miss the southern eldritch blast though.

jester oh my goodness did she creep up on me. i think her initial cuteness that i had experienced throughout just existing on the internet put me off for some reason but i don't know why. however i did quickly fall in love with her, when she had one of her more sinister/serious moments early on. i don't remember what it was but i remember thinking oh. /oh./ okay. i love her. and then her relationship with her mama, and artie, gosh i just loved watching laura bailey do literally anything. the cupcake bit! also the sprinkle bit is quite funny. i also just love doing her voice when im talking to myself. she is also the reason that i take a decent amount of damage spells with my current cleric.

beau. i think i thought that i would have liked her more than i did (don't get me wrong i liked her a lot but she is not in my top three), but she is incredible. as a fellow monk pc i do love going the extra mile with those stunning strikes, and also seeing her relationship with yasha blossom was so lovely. and her bro relationships with fjord and caleb were also some of my favourites.

yasha. after starting with campaign three, it was really hard to not see ashley all the time and i remember having to look on the wiki while watching to check when she would come back every time she left. i think i really started to like her more after her she got taken, and went through that big arc, and we were around her more often. i loved watching her dreams. i loved watching her so much.

veth was so unexpected are you kidding me?? i will say i have yet to have a sam character be in my top three but god he knows how to throw an emotional punch and i love that kind of stuff. i love her relationship with caleb, the detective agency, the chaos crew. i love her arc of getting herself back, of seeing her family again. ough. im a big lover of families.

caduceus. goodness gracious me what a character. i just absolutely loved the aesthetic and caduceus's whole relationship to how he approaches death. he is also the reason i started playing a grave cleric in a newer campaign. but truly, has made me think differently about death - which was especially needed for me this year.

mollymauk. i knew he was dead. i knew he would die. but that didn't make me any less upset when it happened! i think about him often, what could have been. especially since i was so sure he took the wrong amount of damage in that fight and should not have quite have been knocked out at that time. but his whole maximallist aesthetic is something i very much enjoy, and i love the through line of his cards with jester.

wow okay this has gotten to be very long but i need to get my thoughts about everyone out somewhere!! if you've read this far im so sorry this is so much of my own ramblings.

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caeslxys · 2 years

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also on the topic of meaningful consequences re: character death I don't understand the take that death in fantasy requires physical permanency to matter or give a story "stakes". death is permanent regardless. Do you really think that if they get her back, they'll just go back to normal? That these characters are not forever fundamentally changed from this, that Laudna will not be fundamentally changed from this?

That Imogen's world will be less fractured, that she won't be even more of an anxious wreck now that what she stands to lose has been put into vivid clarity? That Orym won't still carry the guilt of being the chosen, that he will be less haunted by the connections he drew to his own grief with Will to Imogen's with Laudna? That Fearne won't look at Laudna and think of that coin flip, of her choice, and what that means for her and how she loves? That FCG and Ashton won't think to this and be reminded of the people they've hurt or been hurt by, and what this effort and what this grief means for how they view the hells?

That Laudna, who has been so blasé about life and if she's alive and what being alive even means for someone like her, won't wake up surrounded by family and by love and be driven to reexamine everything she's taught herself in 28 years of isolation to cope with the trauma of Whitestone? That this, maybe, will be the driving force she needed to realize that there are things she wants to live for?

It might be that I'm just biased, but I'm not sure what stakes Laudna perma-dying adds aside from just presenting the characters with the knowledge they all already have that they can, in fact, die. that what they're up against is incomprehensibly powerful and dangerous. The stakes already feel so impossibly high when you think of what and who they are preparing to face. frankly the aftermath of this combat alone, even if everything had gone perfect and everyone had gotten back up a-okay, would have set that tone.

I don't know, regardless I'll be happy to watch whatever story they choose to tell unfold as it does, but it strikes me that so many people seem to think that death only matters if there is a physical absence.

#critical role #laudna #bells hells #I do want to specify though that this is my own interpretation of the situation from my view as a writer of the narrative #and my own interpretation of the situation as an audience member #I know death does not care for narration in real life and that dnd can be cathartic for those very reasons #that. to me. is a separate argument from what I'm trying to say here #I also have Thoughts about how. narratively. laudna coming back is the better story for Specifically bells hells and how they operate #individually and as a unit #and how I think a lot of people are blinded by the specific way molly effected the mighty nein #and I just do not think this is the same scenario At All #and also. if I may put out a more biased take. I don't necessarily Want the same impetus and the same story Again #this is bells hells! I want theirs! and they want to bring back laudna #also. like. the whole death only matters if it's permanent thing falls apart immediately bc like. it's laudna #y'know. the undead one. is her story lesser for having lived? is vox machina's?#anyway feel free to ignore this I'm just throwing thoughts out into the wind bc if I keep them in my brain I'll implode #and Twitter has a 140 character limit and I am long-winded

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dnd-shows-have-my-soul · 7 months

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It’s Level 11 time!

-As usual, everyone stated their class choice so we know what we’re dealing with.

-To start, now a level 10 bloodhunter, Chetney receives Dark Augmentation, which increases his speed by 5 and gives him a bonus to STR, DEX and CON saves. (It’s +3 bc of his intelligence). He also learns an additional blood curse.

-Laudna, as a level 8 eight sorcerer, gets another ASL, and as we can see, choose to increase her Charisma, going from 18 to 20.

-FCG and Imogen both gain access to 6th spells and additionally, FCG’s destroy undead now works for CR2 creatures. So that’s fun.

-Fearne took her 2nd level in Rogue, granting her Cunning action, meaning that she can now dash, disengage or hide as a bonus action.

-Ashton gets their Relentless Rage feature. So if they are brought to zero while raging, he can make a CON save and if they pass, they are instead reduced to one. Very good ability and one that I look forward to seen being used.

-And finally Orym, who gains his third attack per attack action. So whenever he attacks, he can make three hits. A simple feature but a really good one.

See y’all tonight!

#critical role #cr spoilers #critical role spoilers #bells hells #chetney pock o'pea #laudna #fcg #fearne calloway #imogen temult #orym of the air ashari #ashton greymoore #level 11

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aeoris4lovers · 1 year

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i think ashton’s got a big storm coming when we switch teams. and by that, i mean i think they’re about to get aggressively cared about, whether they like it or not.

i have a feeling that he probably won’t be doing so hot after the end of 51 — this is, what, the third time he’s had the experience of something going wrong and then waking up (mostly) alone? i can’t imagine those parallels would be lost on him, and taliesin said some stuff on 4sd tonight that seemed to suggest that ashton is going to be pretty solidly in “it’s happening again” mode.

and who are they with? orym and laudna. you know, two of the people in the party voted most likely to ignore their own problems by focusing on someone else’s (along with fcg, of course). orym is for sure having lots of bad feelings about not being able to stop otohan again and finding out his family died for what was essentially a test run, and when he’s not doing great, his main coping mechanism is to just focus on worrying about someone else instead. and laudna is definitely super worried about imogen and freaked out by not having her there, and i think she needs someone else to focus on and take care of now that she can’t give that attention to imogen. and god only knows they won’t be able to let that out on each other because then they’d actually have to think about their own shit.

so what are they going to do when they see that their other friend is having a certified bad time? they’re going to make that their problem and ashton is going to experience the full force of his two designated helper friends who not only genuinely care about him, but also really need someone to care about so they don’t totally lose their minds. and that’ll only be amplified if my other suspicion is right and that team starts delving into ashton’s backstory, because i have a feeling that’ll be...a bit rough.

i don’t know, i’d just really like to see ashton get a healthy dose of “everything is fucked but these people do in fact give a shit about you and they’re going to be so annoyingly insistent about it that even you can’t deny it.” i think it’d do them some good, and i think laudna and orym are arguably in the best position out of anyone in the party to give it.

the hells have been slowly chipping away at ashton’s walls for a while and it’ll take a long time for them to get all the way through, but i’d like to think the split gives orym and laudna a shot at making a really good dent.

#is this just wishful thinking? maybe but i think its definitely possible #its just a matter of how they decide to play it really and id love to see it go this way #i just need ashton to get some love okay #cr theory #ashton greymoore #laudna #orym of the air ashari #c3 #bells hells #critical role

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revvethasmythh · 1 year

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Looks like Sam/FCG is getting on peoples nerves (fandom wise) the last few episodes. Saw someone say that FCG was hypocritical, and putting others in danger, relying on the changebringer too much. Someone was also annoyed with the FCG’s insistence on going to Imogen’s hometown when she clearly didn’t want to. It seems like I only see criticism and hatred to FCG and not to Imogen or Laudna or any other character when their being annoying or assholes.

You know, anon, fantastic timing on sending this because I've been debating whether I wanted to write something about this exact topic for a little over a week. Because, at least imo, I agree that I've seen quite a bit of...disgruntlement? anger? mean-spiritedness? over FCG's more (intentionally! it's part of the bit! and, like, his character development!) annoying traits, most recently his turn to blind faith with the Changebringer coin, but it's certainly something I've seen pop up other times in general. And I think it's interesting that FCG seems to exists within the confines of a sort of....conditional tolerance by a lot of people? And that condition seems be to whether he's supporting their favorite character (or, god forbid I talk about this, favorite ships) in a way that they like to see. It's like, as along as he's supporting who the viewers want him to be supporting in a way they see fit, he's fine. Hell, you even get the "fcg/sam riegel supremacy" comments sometimes if they do something the viewer particularly approves of. But the second FCG deviates from that and does something solely to further their own story, or even just, well, doesn't cast guidance on Imogen, it's like we're backtracking to this really strong point of negativity regarding them that really just seems to culminate in the idea that their behavior is plain on old annoying and could they stop, please?

It's an interesting dichotomy. And, like, this isn't really about whether people actually like or dislike FCG as a character (a person's opinions about him as a character is actually not the point here!), it's the fluctuation of the opinion that stands out to me. The loud approval if he does something the audience deems as "good" and the loud dismissal if he does something the audience deems as "bad" or "annoying." Hence "conditional tolerance" is sort of the phrase I've landed on to describe the phenomena. This is something I think has shown up in shades with other Sam Riegel PCs as well, though to be fair I wasn't active in the fandom pre-90s in the M9 campaign. But I feel like something similar did happen with Veth in parts of the M9, as memory serves. I feel like it has to have something to do with people's inability to look past the "bit" and see the deeper character work that seeded into those bits. If the audience member is assessing the character's actions as nothing more than a silly bit that's getting in the way, perhaps they become quite aggravated by it? (Also, I'm not going to get into the specifics of how people's christian-centric view of religion is absolutely affecting the way they're responding to the "blind faith" thing, but. You know). Like, there is something to be said here about people not wanting to actually delve deeply into the character work happening in Sam's PCs, I'm sure. It's a...unique way of engaging with his characters that is simultaneously so annoying to me as fan of Sam's PCs and also, like, weirdly fascinating as someone who did reception studies in grad school? Like, it is genuinely a unique, if irritating, aspect of the fandom discourse.

#anon #asks #fresh cut grass #I feel like I should make a blanket statement that yes other characters DO receive hate sometime for being annoying for sure #but I will say fcg's reception has been different enough from others that I didn't feel like bringing that up in the body of the text

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inconmess · 8 days

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Now that I have some time to collect my thoughts after the exam, here are some of the thoughts that have been running through my head.

Ashton is straight up not giving any shit about Liliana

Orym tries but it is really hard for him and I loved watching the two of them snap and not cut corners today.

Other than that, I loved Imogen's stance on Liliana on a technical standpoint, not trusting her but at the same time cooperating enough to try keep her on your side as an inside man? Genius.

Liliana is in too deep on the other hand, maybe not about the motives of the Vanguard but on the release of Predathos in itself. Like Ashton pointed out correctly, she is self delusional and if she doesn't remove those tinted glasses, she's gonna lose her daughter.

Also, what the fuck is wrong with her??? Leaving them all in the state they are in at a very likely active warzone and vanishing? Yeah, I suppose it took some power but she could at least ensure their safety??

Orym with Otohan's sword and storming off *chefs kiss*

Finally some emotional check-ins going on, clearning the air out. Though I am curious about Laudna and her comparing them all to being creations. I mean, in a sense, it is true I suppose...

Imogen is "destined" to release Predathos as it is a part of her.

Chetney was turned into a werewolf

FCG was literally built

Fearne was specifically made to be born on one of the Ruidian flares. And Fearne taking up the Shard also, I suppose.

Ashton was in a ritual which made them Earth Genasi and then later on were literally patchworked by Milo

Laudna was merged with Delailah and is technically kind of her vessel of sorts

I think Orym isn't the only one who wouldn't fit under the "creation of destiny" or "has been created" thing unless I am missing something...

Orym and Imogen's convo and how the two of them talk about family and his partial breakdown at the situation (I miss FCG too 😭)

And finally the sending and Orym's cry for help 😭😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 Someone give that man a hug?!!!

Speaking of Dorian, I love how the episode cut to the Crown Keepers after the sending and personally, it made sense for it to come at that particular point.

Listen, I would've loved to have some more time with the Bells Hells and their grieving but. But.

Orym, in his last message to Dorian (which he had received and is headed to Zephrah as a response btw) asked him to meet Keyleth, so chances are, at the time the Hells came back, Dorian is at least halfway, if not having reached Keyleth.

If that were to be the case, there is a high possibility that the Crown Keepers are with Keyleth when the Hells are meeting up with her. and narratively, there is some shit going on with the Crown Keepers that are still unaddressed and just can't be brushed off lightly.

Maybe, maybe Matt had been planning on introducing them much later in the episode. But Orym's sending also gave a perfect opening because Matt (or Robbie) cannot send a reply as Dorian without knowing the outcome of whatever is going down with the Crown Keepers, as seen in this episode.

Therefore, the sudden cutback to the Crown Keepers made total sense in a narrative manner because at this point, if Dorian is going to be actively involved henceforth, the Crown Keepers are dragging along. Opal and the Spider Queen influence what will happen in the future quite a lot more than I think many may expect because

a) Opal has personal ties with Orym and Fearne and

b) the way the Spider Queen is going about the fight, if something bad happens and if someone is hurt super bad, Orym and Fearne have to know too, just like Dorian needs to know about FCG.

and c) Well, most of the Crown Keepers are involved with the Gods. Fy'ra with the Wildmother, Morri with the Duskmaven and Dariax with the Observer.

And with the recent lore bomb pointing towards Aeor, I am pretty sure the hells are going to follow up on that just for FCG's sake (maybe even call in F.R.I.D.A for the ride, please call in F.R.I.D.A!)

I am pretty sure I am spiralling at this point but at the end... all I want to say is, I love the way the episode went and ended. I cannot wait to see more! If it airs on Tuesday or Thursday alongside the Crimson Mirror finale or the Thursday after that? I can wait patiently for that arc of the Crown Keepers to end cuz I am pretty sure at the end of it, at least 2 of the Keepers are going to join with the Hells and one is going to be Dorian. Mostly.

Apart from that, I am just gushing about how the battle went between Opal, Ted and Spider Queen vs the rest of the CK!

The crystal shard memories that are liable to corrupt or shatter? Opal being related to the Luxon shit? The sheer memories and the Spider Queen's insistence on Opal leaving or killing her friends and forcing her to make an option? So much drama! So much fun!

I might have to catch the 2nd rebroadcast to truly appreciated the second half but. But *chefs kiss* loved it today

I got introduced to C3 with the Crown Keepers and hell if I don't love those babies.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #messy thots #long post #Yeah #I did will in my exam btw #crown keepers #crown keepers spoilers ig #orym #dorian storm #ashton greymoore #imogen temult #liliana temult

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pstelwitchcraft · 2 years

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Real tired of people judging C3 so harshly. I get it, we ALL loved the nein, but at this point people are expecting something that not even M9 was able to give. There's nothing wrong with the pacing, there's nothing wrong with the characters, it took uns SEVENTY episodes to get to Rosohna and we're getting forgotten gods and moon city 30 episodes into C3 but somehow people are still acting as if nothing's happening and it's boring. The first time they fought Ira's furniture was episode ONE and the ball's been rolling for Ruidus lore since then. It's been building up beautifully for 31 episodes and all ya'll can do is complain.

I can't even imagine going through the trouble they went through, Marisha building the set, Matt creating this cool ass story, and then seeing them absolutely SHINE on that table every thursday only to have people complaining about everything from the background music to the opening to the party name.

I mean, Ashley is having the time of her damn life and she's so damn funny as Fearne, Travis is just been a giddy, happy bitch as well, constantly giggling at his own funny shit, I personally don't even think I've seen the both of them have this much FUN. And then we have Marisha KILLING IT as Laudna, who is just a gold mine of a character, Orym, the most flavorful little halfling battle master who I love so much, Imogen, who I can't WAIT to see go absolutely bananas insane bc we all know it's coming, Ashton having the craziest, most chaotic class of barbarian I've ever seen in my life and FCG... i won't even say anything for fear of spoiling the story.

This is such a cool campaign with a million overlapping cool concepts, but so many people are so hung up in somehow wanting exactly what they got for C2, they won't even give it a shot. People have been complaining on chat since ep.1 and MAJORLY overestimating the pacing for the M9, who also had a BUNCH of useless episodes and quests (bc they're fun!). I'm absolutely not saying people aren't allowed to complain or comment anything negative but the sheer amount of stuff I've read about the Hells is just annoying at this point and I can't understand why keep watching if you don't like it.

#cr3 #critical role #bells hells #critical role c3

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utilitycaster · 5 days

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Ok I'm probably going to regret reinventing 17th century European religious philosophy here but:

Ludinus's issue with the gods as stated to Imogen and Fearne (and I will state right now that we know he was lying or deliberately misleading at points in that conversation so I don't exactly take him at his word, but let's assume he does mean this) is that they did not prevent the Calamity. I have the following questions.

Does he have any loyalty/feelings about the Titans given that they would have killed all the people in the era of the Schism, ie, the gods averted that Calamity? My guess is no, which means that whole avenue of discussing the Titans was something of a dead end.

How should Calamity have been averted? The Prime Deities during the Age of Arcanum largely let people do what they wanted, which is what led to one of those mortals releasing the Betrayer Gods. Should the gods have struck down Vespin Chloras before he actually did anything, Minority Report style? Can the gods even predict based on the actions of a single individual or small group, because my guess is they can't, particularly since within the current stream of gameplay they absolutely cannot [ie, the reason the Changebringer can't tell FCG to stay or run is because Matt Mercer is the Changebringer and he doesn't know how people will roll; you do need to consider the medium here]. But if they could: so you think they should strike down mortals on the basis of thoughtcrimes? Or control them? In that case, why is Aeor a problem? There's a lot you can argue is justified once you permit the gods to override free will and kill people over mere potential for catastrophe.

On that note, Laerryn both was an unwitting architect of the Calamity (shorted on energy and then killed the Tree of Names, which served as a core planar defense system) but also averted the worst of it. Did the lives she saved by preventing the rise of Rau'shan and Ka'Mort outweigh the lives she took by destroying the Tree of Names? How should the gods have reacted?

Should, perhaps, the gods have all sealed themselves away earlier - perhaps post-Schism? If so, then the issue isn't the Divine Gate, now is it? Should the gods intervene or not intervene? Should they remove themselves or no? It feels like the issue isn't that they distanced themselves so that they can do less in the world, particularly if you wish to kill them, but that you really want to fucking kill them and they made that somewhat more difficult.

How do we know the gods (for example) didn't save Laudna? She was hanged and she's still alive; Morri would probably count this as saving her and I don't see the same desire to wipe out all Archfey. [real talk I find most discussion of Laudna specifically to be...incomprehensibly ignorant in its refusal to acknowledge that everything about it is player agency related, whether it's the story that the cast played out for Vox Machina or the decisions Marisha specifically made in creating the character, ie, do you think Matt should have said "well you can't play a Hollow One because that would mean the gods didn't save you" not to mention the fact that again, we are playing this within a game system where the existence Deus Ex Machina would in fact fucking suck ass; but even setting aside those reasons why this argument is stupid, it's still stupid. It's like a layer cake of stupid.] Again: do you want more intervention or less? Killing them guarantees less.

I'm assuming the problem with the Calamity is the vast loss of life, in which case, what's the math on how many people have been killed by the Vanguard or Imperium in the pursuit of unleashing Predathos? How many more will die?

If the release of Predathos doesn't result in the immediate demise of all the gods, and the Divine Gate is down, why isn't this a recipe for Calamity 2? What was the motivation for killing the gods again?

Should we kill mortal diviners who do not do all within their power to stop terrible things that may come to pass? If the issue is that some people have power without working for it, why haven't we killed all the sorcerers?

Should we be listening to a single word from someone who consumes random fey to live longer, and that's just the start of the CVS receipt of atrocities?

Is there a point where one's deeply held beliefs due to one's own personal trauma become invalidated due to one's actions as a result of that trauma? If so, why is the limit for Orym "is okay with killing people who are trying, directly, to kill you (which, frankly, isn't even a trauma response, that's just called not wanting to die, which I highly recommend as a personal philosophy), and gets upset when people defend those knowingly collaborating with his family's murderers" and the limit for Vanguard generals "family abandonment/just. buckets of murder of innocents./child soldier recruitment in multiple different contexts/eating fey as biohacking/destroying an entire city and the surrounding forest for hundreds of years (ongoing)/imperialism in multiple different contexts/I was going to make a gallows humor joke about how while neither exist in-world they've violated the Geneva Convention AND the IRB for testing on human subjects multiple times over but actually those both are in fact written in a lot of the same blood/probably some others that I'm forgetting"

#i feel ultimately a lot of this fandom debate boils down to yes this is obviously fiction #but like within the fiction can you sketch out the implications of your argument or is it just a lot of abstract ideals that can't coexist #I don't actually expect answers to these; obviously the point is if you think there is an easy one there isn't #anyway i'm like if an enlightenment era polymath were a religiously observant agnostic who used the phrase fucking suck ass #cr spoilers #cr tag

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luddlestons · 2 months

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New requests about Vox Machina and Bells Hells glutinous maximus lists? This is hilarious to me, specifically.

[m9 list]

i mean, i'm not gonna say no. LET THE STUPID HCS CONTINUE!

...actually, I am gonna say no re: Vox Machina, as I haven't listened to the whole campaign and none of these Ass Opinions are based on character art, so even though I know what they look like, I have no thoughts on them. BELLS HELLS THO.

Fearne! You just can't beat a cute fuzzy lil goat butt. Also she has a fluffy tail.

Dorian, and anyone who saw him in that pageant outfit KNOWS it. his regular look is more modest but he's admittedly proud of his figure--he just doesn't want anyone to talk about it or he'll blush.

Orym does not do all those lunges and shit for nothing. when they all got the new outfits, he put those tight pants on and everyone was like WOW OK.

Imogen, she's got horse riding muscles so probably also excellent thighs

Ashton, they're definitely built like a brick house but not particularly curvy. great pecs on him, though

Chet keeps claiming that if you saw him when he was 150, he'd be top of this list, nobody knows whether to believe him

Laudna has like a negative amount of body fat and is also dead. Her body type is tree branch, sometimes very literally. Zero ass.

FCG has been disqualified for not actually possessing an ass.

(as with most things, i have no opinions on betrand bell.)

#critical role #bells hells #i'm sorry and you're welcome

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danwhobrowses · 4 months

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nothing to see here just a crazy shipper guy going crazy over Callowmoore under the bit, if that's not for you then go about your business

So fellow Callowmoores how we feelin' this morning/evening? Because it's evening right now and I'm still bouncing off the walls in my mind

The one post could not keep me contained! No seriously the amount of tags I put in hit a limit and doesn't show them all

I mean yes we didn't get a kiss (yet) but goddamn we got so much, it has possessed me, deranged me, it's leaking outta my brain I gotta talk about it, so either jump out or buckle up because this overflow is gonna be long

First off I just gotta talk about how so many things almost lined up how I imagined them because it just makes it feel like they looked into my head and thought 'hey that's kinda good'. Like, I wanted Fearne to take the shard at Mori's, it was a safer space for her than the Ziggurat which is tainted by bad memories (this and other campaigns), I just didn't expect it so soon, thought they'd at least have a full rest first. In fact I had a whole scene in my mind where in a desperate gambit Delilah took over Laudna while she slept and just knocked on Ashton's door in a form of dread going 'where's the shard Ashton?'. It's key to this I promise not only because I enjoyed the idea of Ashton not taking any of Delilah's shit (plus for you Imodnas out there the mental scene involves Ashton whispering 'Imogen's in danger' to wake her, they also ask where Paté is because they still have that 'Paté is Delilah' theory) but it also expanded on the possible helplessness Ashton would have being unable to assist Fearne with taking the shard

'You're a child, Ashton. A blunt instrument that charges blindly into harm, would you really risk Fearne's life to earn her forgiveness? You know what it can do, what happens when you can't protect her from it?'

Of course, Ashton would never give Delilah the shard, which would frustrate Delilah since she can't manipulate them, but the comment weighs on Ashton a little. Which is when the whole waking Laudna happens and she leaves, but Fearne is in his room (the Vox Machina bathtub scene being inspiration), having asked to sleep there for comfort and asks them if it worries them. Which is where I often got to use this quote

'I don't believe in fate, but I believe in you'

And it sticks with me because it's super romantic, but also on-brand for Ashton, there were variations like the longer 'things only affect our path if we choose to believe they do; fate is complicated, the gods don't give a fuck, and I don't wanna even think about legacy anymore, I don't believe in them, but I believe in you' but then the next morning comes and Ashton gives her the ring, since I forgot about attunement there were instances where it was a sneaky sleight of hand thing, and Fearne completes the process. Of course, with weeks to go on there were a lot more scenarios like Fearne pickpocketing the Ashton doll to practice talking to and putting it back, Ashton seeking Mori for advice, herbal tea visions where Ashton entered their own mind and encounters the empress while on the outside Delilah possesses Laudna to try and drain the power from them, one where the shard having been reshaped through Ashton is less intense on Fearne for the first 4 rounds (since they blew up on the fifth) because Ashton's essence is containing and dissipating the hostile energy, and one where the group secretly vote against Ashton being there for Fearne taking the shard (Imogen, Laudna, and Chetney 3 to 2 against Orym and FCG) but Fearne as the decider pulls them over because she needs them there, stuff like that I'm sure fanfic writers could consume to their heart's content (and are free to, go nuts). But these scenes stood out because it had elements of stuff that are linked to or actually happened in the episode; Fearne does take the shard, Ashton endorses that Fearne is the only one who can take it, Ashton gives her the ring and Shattered Vigor is apparently a thing where Ashton is practically taking Fearne's pain to protect her, that alone is enough to go insane over.

And can we talk about the ring for a moment, because like THE RING. I'm not talking about generically either I mean that this ring has been significant to the shard saga ever since Ashton claimed it. It was found on the corpse of someone infused into stone, into the earth, right between the whole eidolons stuff where Ashton connected with an Earth elemental and then the Grau Dashari stuff with the crystals they merged with their hammer and then the Bor'dor incident, that could've easily been a titan-based punishment. Also, Ring of Volcanic Flesh, like Ashton's stone arm? And if that wasn't enough, what was the first thing Fearne stole from Ashton when they reunited? The ring, the act that broke down Ashton's walls as they let out a most heartfelt 'I missed you, so much' the ring that Fearne stole right off of Ashton's fingers only for them to willingly put in her hand to protect her, because just as they said at the clock tower, everything they have belongs to her. And while legacy and hubris had a part in the shard incident, part of it was also for Fearne. I don't believe there's any situation where if Fearne said she wanted the shard at the clock tower Ashton would've said no; Ashton knows that Fearne was key to the shard dislodging in the lava, they sensed it was in a way key to both of them, but there was no reality where Ashton was gonna force Fearne to take the shard if she didn't want it. And yes it blew up in their face, much like Fearne they saw an image of themselves they didn't want to be, their soul broke with the realisation that they hurt the one person they never wanted to hurt, but thanks to Percy they also realised that they had to change. It wasn't enough to see everyone else having someone at the reunion and internalizing 'if someone has to not come back it's gotta be me' they had to make steps towards being the person the Hells needs them to be, someone who can come back with them.

Which is where last episode started setting it up, and I didn't speak much about it at the time because other than the pretty plain 'I would've rather died than hurt Fearne' insinuation (which in turn was confessed to save Fearne from falling) there was only crumbs that could be interpreted other ways; for instance Birdie's tale with Athion and Olly being somewhat of a parallel to Tevan and Ashton, the formers wooing Birdie and Fearne with temptations of indulgence while the latters drawing their attention by being subjects of intrigue, defiance and kindness, plus they saved the latters (Birdie literally via escaping the prisons and Fearne emotionally and literally), or before the Orym conversation when Ashton takes 'one last look' Taliesin looks towards Ashley last. But I knew there was poetic significance to Ashton failing the communication trial, Marisha sensed the vibe too, but even though Fearne was nervous about guiding Ashton, the fault fell to poor dice rolls (and Liam not keeping shtum and summoning thunderwasps) and once again Ashton in an attempt to prove themselves falls flat on their ass in front of the person they most want to prove it to. And that did break my heart a little I must admit because as poetic as it was who hasn't been there? Ashton's journey of proving themselves has been laden with failure too; being unable to protect anyone from Otohan led to them almost being TPK'd, being unable to keep the group together at the Malleus Key led to the group being scattered, and then Team Trauma's stuff - Orym was despondent and Laudna's a wreck, got a random 'shepherd's boy', a powerful Cobalt Soul teen prodding about the solstice and all of Deni$e here added as mainly combat support, loners but no leaders, Dawnfather angel thinks them insignificant, dark spirits trying to consume their only leads about the Hishari - and the moment Ashton started to trust Bor'dor after the pipe vision what happens? Betrayal, Hunger of the Shadow and Delilah is let back in, Ashton couldn't even keep Laudna safe from herself, they reunite, try to sort out their shit with their past, discover that they might have a destiny to fulfill and end up being too willing to die in place of others, and unable to protect their new family from themselves, because of these recent failures it was important that Ashton proved themselves in the trust trial.

And thankfully they did, there was no way to prove that anyone was a Doppelganger and yet, Ashton still trusted Fearne; twice saving her from the flora even when told to leave her behind. And they were close to another failure when the branch was snatched - after their attempts to keep it safe by throwing it in the pool alone - but they trusted Chet and Orym (father/son duo) to cover more ground while they helped Fearne. And even when FCG told Ashton 'I think it's Fearne', and when Imogen was untrusting of Fearne, Ashton abandoned their held action to save FCG from the brambles because they knew Fearne could be trusted. They trusted Imogen to connect to Ruidus and as mentioned endorsed Fearne to take the shard.

And sure, in my mental scenarios Ashton gives her the shard, doing the same she did for them, but I did say almost like how I imagined. And Ashton still did everything they could, plus Imogen comforted their visible worry, but once it's complete they're just in awe, and then their own spark awakens through her touch, a touch they were unafraid of even at the threat of newfound fire, and now for the first time ever they feel whole. She saved them, and now they finally feel complete, and now this time Fearne is agape, Fearne is in awe, and everything she had hoped Ashton would gain from taking the shard before has come to fruition through her, and it's just, joy, pure incorruptible joy, a kindred connection that belongs to just them. Plus a big piece of paper for all the new powers they are excited to learn about from each other, with each other, and while Matt can talk about there being risks to them because you gotta balance the combat the narrative significance is still there.

But dammit they need to kiss, I've yelled it enough times in my head; like the lava, the clock tower, before and after Fearne took the shard, the only times they did kiss was before the solstice (the forehead kiss) and the ziggurat and both preceded bad times, they deserve a proper one, not one at risk of being a goodbye, something precious, irreplaceable and theirs to have, to share. And I don't know if they should use the patented 'can I kiss you?' or take a tip from BeauYasha and use 'I wanna kiss you so bad right now' or find something else to make their own but I desire it so much, had it happened this ep I probably would've melted out of my seat. They're awkward and nervous but they gotta take the leap, Ashton needs to realise they're loved and maybe even be told that they deserve it even when they feel they don't, and Fearne has to take a risk too, the shard put doubt to her decisions but that doesn't mean she can run from her strong emotions. It doesn't fix everything of course, but sometimes people heal better together than apart. As a currently vorbed half-elf once said 'drink the courage first'.

Curiosity continues to send me after the ep, and while some people are attempting to blemish or rain on the parade (I mean, I try not to speak ill of other ships in general, but if you're gonna be negative about it you can at least do it in your lane, your tags not ours) I am still just riding the high of the possibilities. True, the unknown can make me nervous, and I will admit the group has to give Ashton and Fearne space (they're just excited, and with the bloody bridge hinting to be a final moon-based battle there is that sense of urgency) Imodna had nudges sure but they have been a bit heavy-handed and kinda chaperoned around them, Fearne and Ashton seldom get time alone, one can hope they can get that time with each other next episode.

#critical role #cr 3 #cr 3 spoilers #c3e80 #callowmoore #ashton greymoore #fearne calloway #ashton x fearne #fearne x ashton #rockwild #bells hells #for anyone who read the whole thing props to you I understand I unloaded a lot of crazy onto you I'm sorry #I have questions about the new powers too; does Mister get an upgrade? Can elementals be summoned? Is it like a Sorcerer multiclass?#do primordials have a equivalent to divine smite? Can it be used on other champions or Predathos?#how do the divines react to this? Asmodeus wanted them for the Calamity and Dawnfather does seem to hold grudges...Wildmother not so much #and do the titans themselves feel adverse to stopping Predathos? Since it aids their enemy that essentially colonized on them #I fear fuckery next episode of course but today's a good day and I will not let anyone ruin that #I will ride this high as long as I can though but I do also need to sleep I got a travel weekend to do visiting relatives #I am so consumed by this ship that it rivals my own birthday as the best thing to happen this week #I am absolutely unashamedly not normal about them #tag bonus: matching shirts! Precious/Irreplaceable and Adorable/Ignorant also all the Hells have 'if lost return to Nancy' shirts #taliesin jaffe #ashley johnson

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