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Speaking of the gods and the titans, there’s this refusal (from some of fandom as well as from Ashton and the hishari within the show) to really reckon with the narrative purpose of the titans.

Sure, we can say that the gods were colonizers by arriving to Exandria after the titans and then taking over, and that they should be killed/driven off for it and the titans brought back (even though there has been zero indications that reviving them is even possible). But this reading skips over a pretty crucial detail: the titans wanted to kill all mortals. The Betrayers even tried to bring them back at the start of the Calamity to help with the extermination effort. When questioned by Ashton, he is told that only the strong would survive their return.

I'm not saying the creation myth of Exandria doesn't come with some less than salient implications (an outside force of 'civilization' arriving and 'taming' the untouched nature), but reading the gods as colonizers and the titans as indigenous comes with some pretty nasty implications of its own, given the titans' violent nature. You'd either have to do some pretty serious retconning of what the titans were like, admit that the creation myth and its implications are what they are and there isn't much to be done about it other than develop its compexeties (similar to the fall of Aeor), or lean into a different reading (such as the struggle between order and chaos, change and stagnancy, life and destruction). Leaning harder into the colonizer reading while shutting your eyes for parts of the established lore is just kind of silly and ignoring the complexeties of the situation in favor of easy answers.

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Just started watching ep. 118 (yes I know I'm behind, I've been busy playing Prey and writing essays on Octavia Butler with life) and in listening to Ludinus' monologue I had a thought about a specific disconnect that cause many, in universe as well of out of it, to view the gods as tyrants. Imogen points it out when Ludinus laments about his family being collateral damage in the battle between the Lawbearer and the Crawling King: would he rather the Crawling King have been unleashed on the world to wreak havoc uncontested? (to which his response was a long silence and glaring at her)

It’s an inability to understand and accept the true scale and nuance the gods operate on, and in doing so choosing to place individual suffering and slights over ultimate consequences that may, and often do, affect the entire world. Yes it’s horrible that the gods struck down Aeor - but they were defending themselves against a weapon of mass destruction, and any other action would have been akin to lining themselves up to be shot. Yes it sucks that the Titans, who were there first, were killed - but they were trying to exterminate all mortals. Yes the deaths during the Calamity were unforgivable - but the alternative would've been to let the Betrayers kill everyone. Yes it’s horrible that the primes wouldn’t let their champions oppose Lolth in taking Opal - but they are in the middle of a battle for the world in which all hands are needed, and losing champions to a minor skirmish when they want the same thing would be pointless. Yes it’s unfair that the gods won’t personally step in and help every little person suffering, such as Ashton and Laudna - but they're literally gods responsible for the lives and afterlives of millions, and also separated by the Divine Gate, which was literally erected to protect mortals from the fallout of too much divine meddling.

When pressed, Ludinus switches to saying that it isn't the collateral itself that is the problem, but that the gods won’t personally remember and beg forgiveness for every single life lost. In saying this, he also claims that he is different - but is he? Does he honor the lives of Orym's family? The children tortured under Trent and other suffering caused by the Cerberus Assembly? The thousands lost in the war between the Empire and the Dynasty because he wanted his own beacon? The entire city of Molaesmyr? Does he even remember the many individuals indoctrinated into his cult and lost in the ensuing battle?

In the end, it isn't about collateral, or honoring those sacrificed. It's that he finds his suffering uniquely bad, and his goals uniquely warranted. Only HE (and people who want the same exact thing as him) has the right to make desicions that affect all of Exandria.

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I think one of the problems with C3 is structural. Matt seems to be wanting to tell a story with themes about Gods, Divinity and Religion, which, great. But if you're going with those themes one of the worldbuilding questions that should at least be thought about is "in a world where the Gods are real, what does that mean for culture, society and community?" and the answer seems to be "it doesn't". It's like the religion parts are worldbuilding-adjacent, like, "I guess they're religious too." And this was fine for the previous campaigns and literally any other story, but for what C3 is doing, it should at least have been minimally addressed.

Part of it was that Matt could have gone in pre-campaign-prep, "For reasons, your character needs to have an opinion on the Gods that is rooted in your background." Something like, "the orphanage that Ashton grew up in was run by Lawbearer people and they came down hard on even minimal rule breaking, which made it a miserable place for a kid like Aston to grow up in, so he's understandably bitter." Or, "of course Chetney prays to the All-Hammer, he's a craftsman, he tries to go to the temple on his holy day, but he hasn't managed it for the last 20 years, and he feels vaguely guilty about it." That would have at least given the PCs some connection to the larger narrative.

It's also that in the whole first arc the Gods weren't relevant unless the BHs specifically needed a priest for something. And themes of religion could have been there from the beginning, which could have connected with the overall Predathos narrative. I think something really interesting could have been done with Jrusar, and worship of the Lawbearer and the Wildmother, and civilization rising from the wilds. It needn't have been particularly invasive, just there in the background, the same way the governmental structure was explained but not particularly relevant for what the BHs were doing there.

And it's such a shame, because Matt is really good with personal faith, and individual interaction with the Gods, but it seems to break down with organized religion. And I don't know if it's a blindspot, or if he was so busy during pre-campaign-prep that he just went with what he had, which, again, would have been perfectly fine for literally any other story, just not this one. It's just that this whole campaign feels like missed opportunities, and the feeling like it could have been so much better. 

(Like, for example, a personal frustration is that the Vasselheim parts could have shown diversity in forms of worship for different parts of Exandria, and diversity in ritual from priests of different Prime Deities, and show that despite their differences they are all working together towards a common goal. Instead in communal situations, we get fantasy-Protestantism, with a sprinkle of fantasy-Catholicism ritual on top. (And don't get me started on the alcohol ban, don't the fruits come from the Wildmother's bounty, grown and harvested under the Dawnfather's aegis? Isn't the All-Hammer the God of all craftsmen, including the vintner and the brewer?) It could have still been a bleak and hard place, just rooted specifically in the religions and Gods of Exandria.)

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Honestly, you don't need dating advice save for "just be yourself". If a guy isn't seduced by your extensive lecture about coealacanths, or a girl isn't impressed by you gaming the McDonald's systems to finesse yourself 30 free chicken nuggets, you're on a date with the wrong person. Not a bad person, but one that isn't the right match for you, and the way you want to live.

First dates are for showing someone "hey this is the kind of life I like to be living", them doing the same, until you find someone who clicks and you both think "fuck yeah I want to live like this." Whether that's sitting in a café judging joggers, or casually committing small crime for shits and giggles.

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Critical Role | Vox Machina is family?

As he walks down the hall, you hear his feet across the stonework, echo quieter and quieter until you can’t hear it anymore.

“Can we not be a family? Can we–like redact that?”

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Lord Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III but older, to match that Vex’ahlia portrait I painted earlier. 

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Critical Role Spoilers Ahead!

“We have to be very careful…” Tear my heart out and eat it why don'cha, Matt? ;)

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Critical Role | Lovebirds

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J'mon Sa Ord 💛

New quickie of this gorgeous creature, J'mon Sa Ord, the Soul of the Jeweled City, is the ruler of Ank'Harel. Loved the latest season of The Legend of Vox Machina, wish I had more time to draw for myself, but I am currently too overwhelmed with work and charity projects. Still I could not hold back from drawing such a beautiful character, I hope you people like them too.

If you like my art, consider tipping! MY TIP JARS HERE ❤️‍🩹

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Critical Role Spoilers for episode 77 I finished Critical Role's last episode and... I just had to paint this Ashton scene immediately

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how about a little sketch of laudna with her hair down to start the new year? ✨🖤

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I'm always in this twilight

In the shadow of your heart

Cosmic love by Florence + the Machine

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When my daughter was three, I used to tell her bedtime stories about little blue tieflieng called Jester and her friends.

She still remembers her to this day.

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Guache on paper.

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(whispers) they were shipmates

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Fearne wins at cheating cards

I love them so much I’m shaking them aggressively

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Dorian (calling his spectal, ancestral, awesome, bonded mount): "Do you want to be a... mounted fighter?" Orym (looking absolutely smitten): "It's hard to pass up." And gives him a kiss as he's helped up into the saddle, even though he's got a 6-foot vertical leap and totally doesn't need it, but it's hard to pass up this display of chivalry, too.

Orym and Dorian are like that adorable teenage couple in Year Nine who are stealing the sweetest kisses in five minute breaks and pretend that nobody sees them.