#Also Ashton having both the shard of the empress and emperor in them is so very non binary and I love it

[towards-toramunda]

I’m making a new poll because MY mind has changed since the last episode about who I want to get the shard of Rau’shan and I’m assuming most of yours have too. SO:

As always reblog for more eyes to see this for more votes, and if you want my opinions on the poll I put them in the tags.

[biorust-art]

The Shard of Rau'shan - or - Introducing the Emperor and the Empress

--

I drew this right after the episode aired but couldn't continue it until now. What a couple of episodes,, what an arc. I love them so much.

[Image Description: an illustration of Ashton Greymoore and Fearne Calloway from Critical Role C3e75. Ashton hovers above the magma pit, their skin glowing orange, hair burned to a yellow-white color, and clothes burning, with the crystal shard in one hand and Fearne supported up with the other. Fearne clings to Ashton with one hand and also has a hand on the shard, her dress and hair floats up around her along with globs of molten rock. Their eyes glow the same color as the shard and both have points of light shining from them like a crown. Fearne has a look of worry on her face, Ashton looks surprised. The background is rivulets of glowing magma flowing into a pool, glowing orange, reds, browns and yellows.

[topaz-mutiny]

I think the fans are underestimating how differently people can process things.

I am consistently seeing posts say "Ashton/Tal were repeatedly warned the shard was not for them/will 100% kill them", when this was absolutely not the case, and, more importantly, it is very likely for groups of people to completely misinterpret the warnings. Even if they've known each other and loved each other for a decade.

I certainly thought the warnings were not clear or frequent enough so I was shocked like lightning in the latest episode that they were meant to be absolute death flags.

Please note that I'll mostly refer to the fictional characters, I don't want to bring the people behind the characters too much into this.

First, I would like to point out, the show takes place over weeks and months with plenty of breaks and interruptions. That is plenty of time and opportunity for memories to get faded, muddled, crossed-over with other memories, etc.

The "warnings" happened two weeks to a month ago. And even when they were fresh on the cast's mind, here are the warnings verbatim (bold is my emphasis):

But be warned, holding the strength of the two in one vessel might sunder it. You bear the dormant strength of the empress. Find and bestow the might of the emperor.

- Evontra'vir, episode 74, aired October 5th. The conversations move on to unrelated things with no followup.

Ashton: He also said it might be dangerous for these two shards to intermingle. Or he didn't say dangerous, he said that-- it could destroy me. Orym: --A chance the vessel could break. Laudna: --The vessel <air quotes> could break. Fearne: Wasn't there something if you put them together with the right thing that it'll be okay? Ashton: It might come together and be okay, yeah. -- Dancer: Maybe if it were to meet one of its own ilk, it could awaken. Allura: What you said as a point of warning likely is true. To have both within a singular vessel, it's possible one could survive, but it's also highly possible that it would rend you into a thousand pieces. -- Allura: We're in a strange area of experimentation and unknown knowledge. -- (after finding out Ashton has a fascimile of a Luxon beacon in their brain) FCG: So he's got two things in him or them? Allura: It would seem, which is why I'm a bit--Well, you're either the greatest weapon we could hope for in this time, or will be our end. I couldn't tell you. Orym: Boy, maybe we don't add a third thing. Ashton: I was put together by bits and pieces. This was not an intentional thing and it, I honestly shouldn't have survived it. It was, literally, I was put together with junk. Allura: In an odd way, your fragmented nature might be what keeps all of this in check. ... Perhaps we don't put another powerful entity within your form.

- Various, episode 76, aired October 19th.

To me, these warnings were not clear in the slightest.

To me, these warnings were interspersed with so many words like "possible", "might", and "chance" that I completely misinterpreted the situation as "For Ashton it is dangerous but doable" instead of "The Game Master is telling you Ashton's character sheet will be ripped up."

This is the problem with using in-character voices and using descriptors that imply chance or flexibility. They can drastically weaken the meaning of a phrase such that people like me will mistake it for something else.

Because that's how my brain works. "May", "chance", "perhaps" suggest to me a reasonable set of odds for an action and does not come across as the grave warning a game master would want.

And as a reminder, these muddled warnings were weeks apart and weeks away, which can make remembering the meaning even worse if you've already misinterpreted them. That's why I was 100% on board with Ashton taking the shard. It seemed reasonable but dangerous, so when Matt said "I warned you." in that grave tone and with that grave look I was thrown for a loop. I went "oh no! those were serious warnings!?" and the panic started setting in.

Also a contributing factor was the pressure and lack of communication from Bells Hells.

Fearne did not want the shard, and finally stated that thought aloud to Ashton. For Fearne and Ashton, that meant the only choice left was Ashton, because, for one reason or another, the 5 other people in Bells Hells repeatedly assumed and pushed the shard onto Fearne and wrote themselves out of the equasion. FIVE characters absolved themselves of being active participants. Once the idea of Fearne came to mind and this Emperor Fearne/Empress Ashton/Callowmoore shipping dicotomy, Bells Hells just stopped talking about it and never once considered if any of them should take the shard should Fearne refuse.

So... yeah that's how my brain works.

[ludinusdaleth]

i will ask ashton because you said you loved him but never have the chance to talk about it

ty for noting that! i didnt even realize i had posted that thought before. means a lot someone remembered 💙

First Impression: huh, that is a WILD character design.... why does the background of their character card have meteors 👀

Impression Now: i see so much of myself in them it's almost scary

Favorite Moment: their sobered emotional talk primarily with fcg after the shard incident where they realize in full clarity how much they just wanted their parents and that the alternate self they saw was cruel, and their speech about being the protector of the downtrodden and the earth beneath our feet - incredible full circle moment of his development.

Idea for a Story: if all involved survive, i want to see grizzled old ashton & old fearne together in morri's home, ashton bonding with ira as the two fae ladies watch their partners act both flirtatious and competitive.

Unpopular Opinion: there is quite literally nothing different in their speech to vasselheim vs their sneering at them, it's just said "kinder" for a political audience who eats up faux politeness. their incredibly uncharismatic & harsh way of speaking of things is not only fine given what theyre angry about, but also how 99% of leftists who do community work talk, and i know folk dont really walk their talk when they're offput by ashton as if his speech is unique & never heard of before.

Favorite Relationship: with fearne, with imogen, with ludinus, with ira

Favorite Headcanon: is literally anyone surprised at what im about to say..... firstly that ashton can grow crystal stubble and could have an incredible beard if they wished. secondly, they used to be strong in a lithe way before the titan shard activated, and now theyre very big & bulky, as they are, literally, earthen. my friend suggested that the emperor shard made fearne more masc with a bigger beard & stronger frame, and ashton would with the empress shard become curvier & bulkier in the chest & hips especially, like titan hrt. and. i. ADORE. that.

[crayistic]

With all due respect that comment about Ashley being “influenced by Taleisin” is so wildly parasocial. Ashley publicly expressed her discomforts with “encroaching” on the story line because she felt the shards were supposed to be about Ashton and Taliesin made sure to let her know publicly that her opinion on what they would be doing with it mattered JUST as much as his. As well as saying they should have a more in-depth discussion about it off screen.

There’s no reason to assume that some weird peer pressuring and/or manipulation happened behind the scenes just because a player decided to opt out of a narrative thing intended to go to them by the DM due to it being out of their comfort zone. Considering the crew are all adults and have been both friends as well as coworkers for years.

CR3 E77 SPOILERS

Hello there =]

I totally get what your saying but I did not mean it in any sort of malicious way. I don't mean Taleisin maliciously influenced Ashley at all. When you watch it it's easy to see that yes the titans are connected to Ashton but they are not supposed to be about him and only him. It's not as clear to begin with but then did become very clear that he was being pulled to the shard because the shard inside of him had a connection to it. Not because it was supposed to be for him. Matt specifically said two are not ment for one body. The emperor and empress. It was something ment to be shared, a way for more than one character to become stronger for the upcoming battle. But its also clear that Ashton wanted it for himself, despite the warnings and a clear direction Mat was obviously planning on leading them down.

Now i have nothing against players making decisions (or Tal in particular either) and I also don't believe the DMs narrative is absolute, but I do feel like of he had been encouraging to Ashley/Fearne instead of his back and forthness, it's so obvious that he had planned that from finding it out and he was going to make it happen in whatever way he could without directly being rude or demanding it. When someone says yeah ok maybe.. but then goes back on it, it doesn't give you confidence to think its ok. And to me over the few episodes surrounding it, he could have made her feel although she was incrouching, because noone else seemed to feel that way as they were not directly involved.

Obviously this is just my opinion and i value and appreciate everyone else's to so thanks for messaging =]

[tangent101]

I've watched that scene several times.

Fearne initially refused the Shard. But when the others were talking about the Emperor and the Empress she looked at Ashton and was all "this lets me be close to them!" and then they Friendzoned her and she started backing away from that again.

Her "acceptance" of the Shard at first was all for Ashton and to be closer to the person she was crushing on. And when she realized it would not bring them closer... she started pulling away from it again.

Ultimately Fearne chose to take the Shard for herself, but it took watching the Shard sunder Ashton and fearing it would do the same to anyone else for her to finally decide to take it for herself. (And the only other person who wanted it was Delilah, using Laudna.)

So... yeah. They pressured her. They didn't talk about it, they just pushed it at her and she decided "this lets me be closer to my crush" and then offered it to said crush and when she started getting second thoughts they kissed her and reminded her of the promise.

She had every right to be angry at Ashton. But I think they're both healing because she realized just how hurt Ashton is, in that they wish they had died rather than hurt Fearne. And that's not exactly the best sort of foundation from which to have a romantic relationship with someone.

We don't know precisely what the timeline was for Fearne to be separated from her parents. The online Timeline suggests she was 22 but the way Fearne talks she was a lot younger. If I were to guess, based off of Fearne herself, she was not even a teenager when her parents vanished from her life. She's still very much a teenager despite having lived a century in the Feywilde.

Actually... that's kind of true for all of the Hells. Imogen was barely a toddler when her mother left. She doesn't remember her. Her father was more distant and I get the feeling her own development faltered from the lack of friends and loving family. Laudna also was bullied and grew up in an increasingly dreadful environment and then died and spent the next three decades with a bullying cult leader in her head, forgetting much about herself. Chetney was an apprentice for a toymaker/woodcarver and then found his family had fled, and feared making lasting connections after that. Orym never had a proper dad until Will's dad took him under his wing, and then lost both his new dad and his husband in one dreadful stroke, and he still mourns them both every day. Faithful Caregiver has forgotten their past and is in many ways a child dealing with anger issues. And Ashton lost both parents in a cataclysm he barely remembers and was raised in a household that basically kept them fed and little more, and even mentions being used as a pinata at one point.

These are all lost children... having found a new family in themselves and each other.

I think a lot of people complaining about how Bell's Hells pushed Fearne to take the shard are either forgetting or willfully ignoring the fact that the reason she didn't want to take it initially was because she was doubting herself. This isn't the case of pressuring someone into doing something they're not comfortable with, this is a group of friends trying to help Fearne overcome low self esteem.

[tangent101]

Now here's the thing: if the two of them came up to the group and Ashton said "Fearne stated she does not want the Shard, so unless you come up with an alternative, I'm taking it" then the Hells would likely have discussed those alternatives. Of course, part of this would be Imogen (and maybe Laudna?) guilt-tripping Fearne into changing her mind, as I seriously think Imogen is shipping Fearne and Ashton at this point... and she loved the idea of them being Emperor and Empress. But we'd still have found an alternative.

Personally, I think Imogen would have been the best bet for this. Laudna... no. There's too much at stake and Delilah would definitely try to steal the power of the Shard for herself. So at this point... we probably shouldn't do any enhancing of Laudna. Delilah is too big of a wildcard and Laudna is spiraling back into addiction here to resist. But given how Imogen has just sold herself on how Fearne was meant to take this... she'd end up saying no (probably hoping Fearne changes her mind).

Now, Chetney would be a fascinating choice, seeing that he uses fire magic of his own. But... I'm not sure if he'd be able to take it. What if the Shard killed him? Or if he just burns out, already at the end of his life? So... Chetney isn't a good choice. Nor do we want Fresh Cut Grass to get the Shard for two reasons: first, he's very much a God Botherer and I think keeping the power of the Primordials away from the Gods is most likely a good idea. But also... he's got murder hard-written into his core being. Do we want the murder-bot to have the potential to create a volcano?

So that leaves Orym.

Orym who hates acclaims and doesn't seek power.

The good thing about Orym is that he'd listen to Fearne. When he learns she does not want the Shard, he'd accept that (unlike Imogen). So... he could very well end up a brother to Ashton. And a combination of the Air Ashari traditions with the elemental fire of the Emperor would do some fascinating things. Hell, it might even let Orym use some actual magic from time to time, something Liam misses. So... at the end, I think Orym would have taken the Shard.

But quietly I think he'd think Fearne would be better suited for it. And that deep-seated bit of doubt, combined with his rage over what was done to his family just as a domino piece to draw the Tempest into conflict and then the Champion of the Raven Queen... ultimately I think that Orym could be a greater danger to his friends with the power of the Fire Shard than Ashton will ever be.

It would have been beautiful seeing Fearne as the Emperor. But the best storytellers listen to their characters... and Fearne was telling Ashley "I do not want this, I do not deserve this, and I'm scared." And fortunately, Ashley listened.

At the end of things... Ashton survived. Most likely the power of both Shards have woken up. And he is something gloriously different now. I look forward to seeing what it will be.

P.S. - Honestly, Imogen would have been the best choice for the Shard. She already causes fires with her lightning. And seeing Imogen's hair turn fiery-red would just be too much fun. ^^

I think the fans are underestimating how differently people can process things.

I am consistently seeing posts say "Ashton/Tal were repeatedly warned the shard was not for them/will 100% kill them", when this was absolutely not the case, and, more importantly, it is very likely for groups of people to completely misinterpret the warnings. Even if they've known each other and loved each other for a decade.

I certainly thought the warnings were not clear or frequent enough so I was shocked like lightning in the latest episode that they were meant to be absolute death flags.

Please note that I'll mostly refer to the fictional characters, I don't want to bring the people behind the characters too much into this.

First, I would like to point out, the show takes place over weeks and months with plenty of breaks and interruptions. That is plenty of time and opportunity for memories to get faded, muddled, crossed-over with other memories, etc.

The "warnings" happened two weeks to a month ago. And even when they were fresh on the cast's mind, here are the warnings verbatim (bold is my emphasis):

But be warned, holding the strength of the two in one vessel might sunder it. You bear the dormant strength of the empress. Find and bestow the might of the emperor.

- Evontra'vir, episode 74, aired October 5th. The conversations move on to unrelated things with no followup.

Ashton: He also said it might be dangerous for these two shards to intermingle. Or he didn't say dangerous, he said that-- it could destroy me. Orym: --A chance the vessel could break. Laudna: --The vessel <air quotes> could break. Fearne: Wasn't there something if you put them together with the right thing that it'll be okay? Ashton: It might come together and be okay, yeah. -- Dancer: Maybe if it were to meet one of its own ilk, it could awaken. Allura: What you said as a point of warning likely is true. To have both within a singular vessel, it's possible one could survive, but it's also highly possible that it would rend you into a thousand pieces. -- Allura: We're in a strange area of experimentation and unknown knowledge. -- (after finding out Ashton has a fascimile of a Luxon beacon in their brain) FCG: So he's got two things in him or them? Allura: It would seem, which is why I'm a bit--Well, you're either the greatest weapon we could hope for in this time, or will be our end. I couldn't tell you. Orym: Boy, maybe we don't add a third thing. Ashton: I was put together by bits and pieces. This was not an intentional thing and it, I honestly shouldn't have survived it. It was, literally, I was put together with junk. Allura: In an odd way, your fragmented nature might be what keeps all of this in check. ... Perhaps we don't put another powerful entity within your form.

- Various, episode 76, aired October 19th.

To me, these warnings were not clear in the slightest.

To me, these warnings were interspersed with so many words like "possible", "might", and "chance" that I completely misinterpreted the situation as "For Ashton it is dangerous but doable" instead of "The Game Master is telling you Ashton's character sheet will be ripped up."

This is the problem with using in-character voices and using descriptors that imply chance or flexibility. They can drastically weaken the meaning of a phrase such that people like me will mistake it for something else.

Because that's how my brain works. "May", "chance", "perhaps" suggest to me a reasonable set of odds for an action and does not come across as the grave warning a game master would want.

And as a reminder, these muddled warnings were weeks apart and weeks away, which can make remembering the meaning even worse if you've already misinterpreted them. That's why I was 100% on board with Ashton taking the shard. It seemed reasonable but dangerous, so when Matt said "I warned you." in that grave tone and with that grave look I was thrown for a loop. I went "oh no! those were serious warnings!?" and the panic started setting in.

Also a contributing factor was the pressure and lack of communication from Bells Hells.

Fearne did not want the shard, and finally stated that thought aloud to Ashton. For Fearne and Ashton, that meant the only choice left was Ashton, because, for one reason or another, the 5 other people in Bells Hells repeatedly assumed and pushed the shard onto Fearne and wrote themselves out of the equasion. FIVE characters absolved themselves of being active participants. Once the idea of Fearne came to mind and this Emperor Fearne/Empress Ashton/Callowmoore shipping dicotomy, Bells Hells just stopped talking about it and never once considered if any of them should take the shard should Fearne refuse.

So... yeah that's how my brain works.