Double date with the Nightmare king (real)

Laudna says hi. (C3E49 || C3E87) bonus:

Life advice with Uncle Ira.

Surprise bitch

I think the funniest thing that came out of this episode is the casual lore drop that Ira has no fucking money and has to do odd jobs to fund his research projects and that he has been doing this for DECADES. Like this goddamn fey creature who looks like a nine foot tall Jack Skellington cosplayer stumbles into the material plane and even he’s affected by the job crisis.

ira's five-year plan

sure is weird that not-ruidusborn-but-he-wishes Ludnius (inventor of the fey power slurping harness) orchestrated the birth of a ruidusborn fey

wonder what he did that for

im honestly very happy ira is one of if not the most beloved npc of campaign 3. and while i know most of his surface level appeal is the sheer unhinged faeishness of him, i think it fundamentally comes down to ira, despite his most un-human everything, being the most Man in his struggles as a fae can get.

as early as his intro he was set apart by past established fae, by working on technology, wearing a tattered suit. he was kicked out of the courts and the vanguard after they asked him to create their war weapons. he is a veteran of a mortal war, and got no accolades. he has spent 3 decades living in caves, taking the shittiest jobs imagineable just to get by, even torturing folk for his shit bosses again (the treshi job) because cash is cash. he knows folk will Just Die if they cant keep up and accepts it bluntly. his voice creaks with age & experience in the dust. it is easy to pin his pettiness & need for vengeance solely on the intensity of a fae til you see that he approaches even those goals with the rusty, tired caution of a man who was a spy, who understands the gravity of war, whose bosses have screwed him over so badly they made he, the nightmare king, scared.

he is a victim of the greed of the rich, easily isolated and made a scapegoat as a sole evil by them. he has lived a life with absolutely no lavish design. even artagan, whom i love with all my heart and find deep relateability in, is so disconnected with mortality at first, in large part because he was a literal fae lord. when vox machina adjusted the leylines to let artagan into exandria, ira was locked out of his home at the same time. ira has lived in the grime of the worst the fae courts and humanity has to offer, wanting to make a mark but always being a pawn hurt by a grand design. and so, while he clearly & obviously knows the difference between mortal & fae, he also knows there's really no defined line between who can hurt you worse... and how it shapes you. does your callousness begin with your fae nature, with everyone deeming you a monstrosity, or with your experience at the bottom rung? it all ends the same, regardless. i think it is fascinating to see the classism & even capitalism choking exandria and its sister realms, and ira is so fascinating because he is the primary example we have of that happening to a fae, and we get to see how that has gruffly shaped someone who could have been as utterly unphased & whimsical as a flower in the breeze.

Thought I’ve been stewing over:

Jester, but the fey being that reached out to play with her was The Nightmare King

i just love it when characters Say Things. u kno. just a real sucker for characters. Saying Shit.

Imogen saying "She's not any person. She was special. She was chosen." (Chosen, once, twice, thrice, for an early end). Ashton saying "Do I look like a person who doesn't know that?" (That things often have unsatisfying ends). F.C.G saying: "It seems kind of hard." (being alive, finding purpose). Orym saying "It always mattered." (F.C.G's life, what they chose to do with it, them). Ashton saying "I have had a lifetime, of bad hits." (Hits, and falls, and losses, that I am weathering. But I am telling you where I am drawing my lines, here and now.) Imogen saying "Laudna, you're safe!" (we chased off the shadows, you're not alone, you're safe, we're here).

F.C.G saying: "Well, I have to live."

Ashton saying: "Unfortunate, but true."

im just. such a fan of characters saying things, all the time, about all kinds of things, with all kinds of meanings. God i just. love it. when characters say shit. u feel me.

it's starting to sink in how chaotic of a grouping Ash, Tal and Sam are hahaha. All are really extreme "yes and-"ers, to the point of walkin off a cliff together.

Nightmare King???? Sob of course he is here Ira you shit agshgahsja

Was Fearne a “gift” to Morri for a favor?

Why did Ollie pale when he looked at Ira?

What are they hiding!?!

I fully expect to watch Ira crashing the ship, cackling like a madman, Xandis clinging onto him screaming, half delight and half terror, all adrenaline. 

Fingers crossed 🤞 for a Ruidus reunion 🖤💜

boo *exu calamity au’s your bad kids*