#I just love critical role so much

[xandrikart]

Happy belated Father's Day to Chetney Pock O'Pea! The father of Orym? Scanlan?? Fjord??? He is someone's father for sure.

[ravendruid]

I'm a mod for one of the Fanology ambassadors who has been doing watch parties on Twitch and the amount of new critters that have been joining the streams for the past three weeks warms my heart.

When I started watching Critical Role there were barely any of us in her chat (like literally just me and her and then maybe a couple other critters here and there), and now there's so many new critters.

It started gradually at first, but it wasn't until TLOVM premiered that we started having a higher flow of critters and for the past few weeks we've been having more and more new people joining out of curiosity for the show.

I don't know, it just warms my heart to see more people enjoying Critical Role. T_T

[dark-elf-writes]

Vex: I mean I’m not pleased that I’ve been separated from my brother, but I can compartmentalize and deal with it

Vax: I miss my sister and I intend on making that everyone’s problem.

[sleep-escapes-me]

i don't know if this'll make sense but there’s something so poignant about Bell Hells being guests in every space they occupy and having really nowhere to truly retreat to is what I think is going to metaphorically kill them in the end. I mean, dealing with the immense loss of their friend and all they have to go back to is a war encampment with beds offered to them that anyone else could occupy really drives it in

M9 had 1 physical home and 1 mobile home they were able to bunker down in for needed rest and recuperation. plus a couple cities that became complete safe havens for them. Vox Machina had an entire keep gifted to them and then when that got destroyed they upgraded to entire city of Whitestone as their main hub. Not to mention they were allowed an entire year they could live freely for themselves after the terrible heinous shit went down before the more terrible heinous shit started up. there was something so important to these two groups about having a home together that allowed them time to grow together

The hells are a bunch of wayward souls who were all eager to leave their initial homes behind for one reason or another but forgot to find a home together along the way so all they have left to fall back on is “the mission”. something something their growing strength and knowledge of the world only alienates them to it more if they aren't allowed a place to rest and process

[balleater]

despite being more often than not a "rules as written" fan over "rule of cool", i really do love me a good "rules be damned, i'll give you this awesome moment" call. like matt giving fcg the otohan kill despite what her hp was at or brennan giving cerrit an extra mage slayer reaction attack at the end of calamity. honestly, if anything, i think the fact they mostly play by the book makes these moments even better because it really has that extra weight towards those decisions to put the rules aside.

[op81s]

'hug me through my wife!'

[pandaspwnz]

just finished rewatching EXU: Calamity and once again cried so much. It really is one of the most masterful stories I've ever seen/heard, and absolutely the best actual play series ever done, bar none. I'm in such awe of Brennan's dm'ing skills, I adore Marisha's beautiful showing of emotions, I love seeing how much Sam and Travis love their children via how much they feel for these fictional ones, Luis' portrayal of Zerxus was so heartfelt and grounded, Lou always brings his whole soul into what he does and this was no exception, and Aabria being willing to make the difficult choices and how she shows Laerryn's dedication is just. Ugh. chefs kiss. Not to mention the group dynamics, the Aabria-Travis hype man squad, the Marisha-Lou/Marisha-Luis grabby shenanigans, how Sam and Aabria play the perfect divorcees, they're all just so fantastic and did such a good job, etc etc. I truly love Calamity so much, I can't believe it's a real show, I can't believe how fucking GOOD it is. Every single one of those people brought their A-game, but I really do especially have to call out Brennan Lee Mulligan. The way that man portrays people and humanity, how even in the end of things he speaks of the importance of hope, how he narrates and weaves the most beautiful tales and makes it so alive and tangible, how he knows exactly when to drop in some comedy amidst tragedy without detracting from it... he's simply fantastic. I'm in awe of them all!!

[avalencias]

yes I was inspired by the latest chapter of this fic, no I don’t want to talk about it.

(fic by @picturesofthegoneworlds)

[yudol-skorbi]

fave cringe fail loser girlboss

[revvethasmythh]

travis's energy embracing all things chetney is like. it's like. ryan gosling with ken. do you see my vision. reread ryan gosling's barbie interviews but imagine it's travis talking about chetney. it's the same

[the-matron-of-ravens]

"The Everlight is the god that I think the Dawnfather is most worried about, and so sort of sent the aspects of himself that resonate most with her in an effort to sort of support her, support his sister. It felt like something that I wanted to explore. And so, you know when, when father Milo says, "Are you a cleric of the Everlight?" Ayden is. He's a cleric of peace, which is just her domain, not the Dawnfather's."

- @nickmarini on The Dawnchild's connection to The Everlight From "D&D Shines When It Sparks On The Universal Part of Humanity:" Nick Marini Talks Critical Role written by Jenny Melzer

[lunalikestowriteanddraw]

Yall ever love a character/ship/piece of media so much that you start shaking because you physically can’t contain all the love and adoration you have for them within your body

[ladykeyleth]

[elliesgaymachete]

“I hate Liliana she’s a bad mother” broke

“Liliana is a tragic character who, in her desire to save herself and her daughter from falling victim to the strange powers and ostracization that has plagued her for her entire life, instead fell victim to a cult with a manipulative leader who has spent decades grooming her into a weapon and making her think she’s more important than she actually is. She is fully entrenched in shit she wholeheartedly believes and adamantly looks away from any evidence used to poke holes in her logic. She still thinks she’s doing this for her daughter but is in too deep to realize how much worse she’s actually made things for her daughter. The last 20+ years have been her labor of love to Imogen that’s been twisted into something that she can’t even see. She thinks she’s helping. She thinks she’s doing good. She loves Imogen so much and doesn’t even know she’s going about everything in entirely the wrong way, and her refusal to look at the facts and question the manipulative authority of Ludinus looming over her, is only furthering the rift between her and Imogen and will ultimately lead to her downfall. She thinks she’s the hero of the story, and that’s what makes her such a tragic character” woke

[shorthaltsjester]

there are literally no standouts in downfall because everyone sat down at that table and said hey you wanna see something cool and proceeded to Become their characters but idk if it’s because they’re beside each other and that aids the dynamic or just because it’s the delicious similarities and insurmountable distance between the god of death and the god of (in various ways) life but ayden and emhira’s interactions were so chewy and delicious. i’ll be thinking of their exchange fairly early on after ayden cast lesser restoration on that old man and emhira not cruelly but just simply stating “you cannot heal everything.” and ayden’s equally simple reply “we can always try.” emhira seeing the family trist has built and wondering at the presence of children, “surprised there is laughter in such a horrible place” and i know she’s speaking of hawk’s hill but i wonder if she is also speaking of exandria itself in some ways. the delicious space between in and out of character that only really happens in improv stories where as brennan is narrating and says “in this dark room” and nick interrupts and adds “it is not dark.” brennan’s incisive point in the cooldown that while the love that ayden and trist have for mortals and for exandria is warm and the kind of love someone would likely Want from gods, there is something maybe more honest or whole about emhira who says . actually these mortals are little shits that will kill you not because they fear you but because they hate you. whose very existence should be (and still often fails to be) a reminder that the gods can be usurped by mortals. the insight nick shared in the cooldown that ayden does not forget emhira’s origins but in a way dismisses them, that the god of death is a different beast. ayden wanting to find. way to save the people of aeor, insisting that the prime deities Win if they can find a way to do so. emhira reminding everyone that death is inevitable (and she does not add anything to clarify that she intends such a statement to only exist for mortals) as she argues for them to work to take down aeor and the people in it. the fact that the god with the most present connection to mortality is also the one given the most explicit clarification that she Is the god we know as SILAHA calls her the matron, brennan’s narration clarifies purvon is her champion, taliesin as asha asks for clarification on the recognition of emhira as a god and prompting the familiar spectre of a woman in a white mask.

i want to be very clear that when i say there are no standouts i Mean it because i’ve been awed and endeared and intrigued by every single character choice everyone made and as always brennan’s narration is so incredibly well suited for the mission impossible greek tragedy vibes that comes with this story and i’m so fucking delighted by the fact that laura, ashley, and taliesin are playing gods that their characters have known quite well in the past. i’m incredibly excited by what we’ve already gotten to see from abubakar, nashir, and nick and cannot imagine what other greatness is to come. i’m psyched to see the relationship between asha and the law bearer and am delighted that (perhaps for now perhaps for the whole arc) it is being seen through the lens of “my wife promised me a visit with apples and all i got was a rock ice emissary”. i also have many incoherent thoughts about the fact that, of the players who appeared as the same character in the opening and the story, taliesin’s ash and asha are the ones whose name remains the most unchanged.

i’m obsessed with the fact that this creature sent as a stand in by the god of law and duty believes his primary gift is love. while there is a certain mourning and sadness to every god we see, that SILAHA has a certain playful whimsy and jofyful curiosity about the world. that the only one of them who has been mortal before stops to steal an imp necklace from the neck of a drunk on the train (and that moment between brennan’s narration that this man will be dead by morning but, with death standing invisible in front of him, he is incapable of seeing it coming, and then laura as emhira breathing in deeply and brennan having that spark a coughing fit. they are Story Telling). asha seeing the erased image of a god, of a family member and saying “there’s a hole in all of us.” brennan narrating “this is a place where they tried to kill a story. it’s a very frightened thing to do.” (and god. the motif of fear. especially given the very present fear felt by the gods in current day exandria. they’re doing insane things in the critical role 3 part departure).

trist reminding ayden “he never tells the truth” and asha contesting “he only tells the truth, it’s just rotting.” emhira and asha both as perhaps the less Good™ much more neutral but doing so in such different ways, asha as bitter and hungry while emhira seems uncomfortable but there’s a familiarity and a certainty in her discomfort with mortality (the law bearer would also be included here but the emissary seems much more like trist and ayden (for now) than emhira or asha). something as insignificant as trist and her husband speaking to their children and affirming that little lies are okay while trist has lead a significant part of her life likely dishonest about who she is. the fact that there’s a certain childlike quality to the emissary who they’re all charged with ensuring makes it to the end of things even if they cannot. the fact that nahal (unclear which god they were, and i’m assuming it’s the first god of death but regardless still an absolutely compelling development in a short amount of time) in those opening moments is horrified by the concept of away which is unfamiliar to them only to soon after look upon their family and say. maybe away was better. Especially if those were words spoken by the god who would one day be replaced. these three episodes are going to haunt me and i’m excited to meet the ghosts.

[lessthanimpressedlesbian]

I feel so vindicated knowing that we all read those many microexpressions correctly. Laura was really playing an anxious queer woman in love with her best friend so accurately that we couldn't help but pick up on all the little nuances.