#and Imogen knows she KNOWS I mean Laudna and FCG also know but Imogen is the one being soft about it

[danwhobrowses]

Ashton Greymoore we need to work on your charisma because there's only so many times I can mentally yell "KISS HER GODDAMMIT" at the screen

[utilitycaster]

How would you rank each of the PCs endings against each other? I feel like I have a pretty good guess who's end up at the rock bottom but I'm curious about the rest. Thank you for the time!

So I'm not sure if you mean Bells Hells only or everyone but I'll do everyone. No one fully fails for me, actually, but there's a LOT of low-tier shit. Also I don't know what Fy'ra is up to so I can't speak to her and she is not included.

S tier: All of the Mighty Nein (includes Molly) whose stories were not significantly changed; FCG; Pike, Grog, and Scanlan; presumably Taryon; honestly for me Morrighan; Bor'Dor in that his ending was interesting.

A tier: Deanna, FRIDA, presumably Prism, Dariax and Deni$e. Percy and Vex; this is a drop from their pre-C3 S-tier because the way that they had both largely moved on with her life and Keyleth hadn't was an interesting dynamic, and while the people who made a big fucking deal about Vax mostly focusing on Keyleth and not Vex in his role as Champion struck me as deeply unwell weirdos, bringing Vax back actually does kind of like, show the cracks in that dynamic. I still very much love their story but it's been weakened slightly. I would also put Braius here; being in only a small part of the story and having clear goals really worked for him.

B tier: Chetney, Fearne, Orym, Dorian. I wish that the story had done more justice to their character concepts and that their plot hooks had actually been explored in depth, and Orym and Dorian in particular feel ill-served by both having a lack of consequences that feels justified but is weakened by the overall narrative never having consequences for anyone, but I like their endings and I can see where they follow from.

C tier: Ashton, Imogen, Laudna. I don't dislike where their characters ended up - in fact, I genuinely was pleasantly surprised by where Ashton ends up, though "dying in their first genuinely heroic move after so much posturing" would have shot them up to at least B-tier if not A-tier - but it all feels entirely unearned and empty. Somehow, in a story where Imogen was constantly at the center, I feel her concept, which was a strong one initially, still feels unexplored given how poorly she inhabited her decisions and how little philosophical grounding she had; and I've said my piece about Laudna.

D tier: Vax and Keyleth; self-explanatory.

edited: forgot Opal, she is also D-tier; wholly unearned freedom from everything Lolth did, seemingly unaffected by the loss of her memories, what the fuck was that honestly

[thisisnotthenerd]

the thing that stuck out to me about this finale is the theme of new starts and redemptions

because it is a release for the gods in many ways. it is a release for the protagonists of the story we're following.

but in many ways it has turned into the reversal and softening of consequences/stakes that have dogged this campaign consistently.

a list of pulled punches/backtracks in the finale (in no particular order):

divine magic functioning exactly the same post-catatheosis. i think this contributes to bell's hells' reaction; if the magic is still there and the gods are gone, that still means it's okay, right? meanwhile people are grieving the loss of the beings that have defined their lives, especially in vasselheim. i guess this implies that the gods' energies have been tied to the world of exandria; those who attune to and hold faith in the particular creed of the deities can pull on their power as it was released into the world. or they pull purely from faith in other mortals, or smaller gods/beings. but they barely had any sympathy for those losing the object of their lives' purpose.

ashton sacrificing themself and not dying or losing any semblance of their powers. i get the sacrifice. i get the mirroring of fcg's sacrifice. i get wanting to go out with a bang. i also get bell's hells wanting him back. but what i want to know, is why exactly they had to be recreated with dunamis. why not be resurrected and have to grapple with the loss of that source of power and yet be in less pain because of it?

imogen (& the other ruidusborn) not losing power after predathos' release. yes i know why in the doylist sense. but it takes away the power of that decision if the source of the aberration in 'aberrant mind' goes away and nothing changes.

laudna being re-alived in a marriage ceremony/divine intervention. it feels like a little bit of a cop-out when her previous conversation with the matron implied work through time, but maybe that's just my interpretation. perhaps it's due to the reworking of magic and the expression of divine intervention.

bell’s hells threatening their way through vasselheim and getting zero flack for it even after they lost the leverage of predathos. i get the ‘heroes of the realm’ thing. i get it. did they have to intimidate their way through as much of it as possible.

orym's pact. i get why it would have constituted a break; the way it was played off felt a little flippant. it would be one thing for it to be acknowledged as him escaping a real pact that he did get powers from. instead it's more of a comedic moment.

liliana not facing public scrutiny. maybe she did, but it really seems like she recovered and just walked away. i'm aware of what she went through as an audience member; i wish we had gotten to see what imogen vouching for her on trial would have looked like. for that matter, we don't really see a resolution of the ruby vanguard at all.

opal being partially released from the circlet. this one actually makes sense to me. not protesting this one. the spider queen can't live in the circlet all the time if she's in mortal manifestation. also, opal is fully still stuck with the crown.

vax and morrighan as champions of the matron. i do think the matron's actions fit. in this scenario, she's weighing the possibilities of her champions having to run her realm against her own experience and trying to spare them both the loneliness she herself felt. it fits. i take issue with her saying she kept him greedily, rather than what it was, which was a pact fairly made that he faithfully served, which she is adjusting in a moment of mercy at the end of the world as they know it.

the gods are back on exandria. it's been treated as a bit, with reminders of evil babies and what you could do to them. recall the last time they were there the time period was called the calamity. and also, can you imagine what the followers of either betrayer gods or prime deities would do knowing that the god who ostensibly opposed theirs was out there somewhere as a vulnerable mortal? they've started an ages-long arms race of who can find the reincarnated gods first. braius stepped away from asmodeus and was promised a lifetime of being followed for his betrayal, and yet ashton was literally followed more by the kryn dynasty.

it comes across as a lot of wish fulfillment without the legwork to get there. it's not that bell's hells haven't been through the worst and come back from it; it's that the closer we've come to a conclusion, the less it seems like bell's hells have had a stake in all of it.

even their conclusions: the primary goals have been freedom and adventuring.

vox machina's original epilogues came with grief, but also a level of responsibility to their communities (whitestone, zephrah, the faith of the everlight). they had fame from their exploits because they happened on a very grand scale.

the mighty nein's epilogues came with a resurrection, and the desire to live their lives to the fullest. as the 'heroes no one knows about', they were able to step down and live quieter lives. they pursued specific purposes, whether it's beau with the cobalt soul & caleb at the academy pursuing the assembly, fjord captaining his fleet and jester pursuing her art and faith, veth and her family and camp, kingsley as the plank king, caduceus stewarding the blooming grove, yasha tending her home, and etc.

the epilogues for bell's hells focus on them achieving individual goals of freedom to travel and adventure. sometimes they have a place where they settle, but it's generally undefined. it feels as though they're not done yet, because the finality is taken out with the stakes.

everyone lives happily ever after, and the world keeps spinning. it’s like a fluffy fix-it fic, except this is fully the canon of the world.

i’ll discuss my thoughts on the greater implications for exandria another day.

[rationalnerd62]

I'm feeling weirdly about C3 ending next week (I guess there's some sadness mixed with other stuff, but me, putting feelings into words? Not in my autism), so instead of thinking too much about those feelings, I want to list random things about Bell's Hells I'd like to get resolved or developed, either in that 8.5h finale or in future BH one-shots (cause they've got to have some one day, right? Right?).

It's in no particular order whatsoever, I'm just putting random thoughts out there (and hoping to see other people's random thoughts too).

Titans' shenanigans! Both Ashton and Fearne absorbed a shard, and got some nice abilities out of it, but is there more to explore here? What does this mean for the elemental life of Exandria? Is this a path to some resurgence of the Titans? Are there other shards elsewhere? Will Ashton ever meet some remains of the cult their parents were in? Is that something they're still interested in knowing more about?

Ludinus! I am hoping this won't get resolved in the finale, because this would give big Trent M9 finale vibes and feel rushed, but that damn elf is still somewhere out there! What are his goals now that Predathos is out / the BH finale deals with the Gods in a way or another? Will he ever come back to haunt our characters?

Laudna! The Matron hinted that there was a possible path to her getting back what got stolen from her (aka her mortality). While I never would want for her to become a "normal human mortal" (she should still be able to get a form of dread and play with shadow and have fun with some of her "monstrous" powers!), I honestly will hate it if my favourite CR couple is *another one* of those couples with wildly different aging speed and one of the member of the couple has to outline the other for decades or centuries. Let Imogen and Laudna grow old together in their little cottage! They deserve it! I could see that being resolved as a "gift" from the Gods (if there's a good outcome with them), but I also wouldn't say no to a post-canon story (one shot, novel, comics, who knows) centered on this. I could see both Imogen and Laudna having made their peace with this, and then maybe in a few years they're starting to talk about kids, and there's this realization that Laudna will also outlive those, and that's when she decides that she needs to do *something*. I don't know whether that's possible, but Matthew! More impossible things have been done in your world!

The Shade Mother! Is she still under Jrusar? It's kinda funny that BH's first main arc ended up with them running away and never finishing there ahaha.

Similarly, will they ever go down to find FCG's coin that Orym had thrown under Jrusar? I know at least some of the cast mentioned being curious about that.

Hey, talking about FCC, will BH Talk with Frida? What about D? Our group really didn't have much time to mourn him, so maybe finding the answers FCG was looking for regarding who he is would be a way for them to process their grief.

(I just had a thought about Ashton going back to Jrusar and Milo without FCG and this broke my heart)

Dorian and his family! He has mentioned them before, and we've met his father, but seeing where he grew up and having him introduce Orym would be nice. And vice versa with Orym introducing Dorian to his family (as his partner instead of his friend). But I'm hopeful this'll get brought up in the finale.

Imodna wedding! Because Laura Bailey deserves to have three weddings one-shot.

More Unseelie stuff! Idk, I feel like there was still more to do wrt Fearne & the Feys.

I'm hoping for a moment with Imogen and her parents in the finale. It's really the end of a big journey for Liliana, but there's another journey to start, about rebuilding (or trying to rebuild) those relationships that got affected by her search for answers. There's a "back from the war" vibe here, and I want to see it.

VM got some pre-campaign comics, M9 got some individual character origins comics, BH also deserves some comics! But what type? I'm not sure how I'd feel if it was exactly as what M9 got, so I'm hoping they'll get some original ideas within the CR crew!

Last (for now) but not least, when is Chetney finally going to die?

[nanierose]

I don’t think that the team was actually siding with Laudna I think Ashton and Imogen both are more aware of how fragile Laudna’s mental state is and saw that she was physically hurt much more and were acting to one ensure Laudna didn’t feel ganged up on and two to be a physical means of deescalation

It’s a little weird to me that orym the person who probably knows the extent of Delilah’s powers the most and who in general acts to deescalate in the group was prodding spots he knew were sensitive for laudna when she was of sound mind. That’s to say while that sword isnt sentient I think it may be having some sort of effect on orym or we are seeing first hand how bad orym is at handling fresh loss

I can understand that they were trying to de-escalate now that it's been a few days, but I still think her excuse of the sword being cursed was a wild claim and somebody should have said stealing it off Orym was a bad idea and his response made sense.

I don't agree that he understands her powers the most though. Orym has always made it clear that magic is something he doesn't fully get, and aside from when they brought Laudna back to life hasn't actually met Delilah. I would say Imogen is the one who understands best because Laudna has confided in her most about Delilah's influence and she also has magic that is in part because of a corrupting entity.

I also can forgive Orym being angry because he'd just been attacked out of nowhere, is already on high alert as it is, and Laudna's excuses were ridiculous and also implied Otahan wasn't at fault for killing his family or FCG. Of course he's going to question her and be mad at what happened. And yes the sword is an emotive subject for him, as it would be for anyone, but reclaiming it was his way to start making peace. The moment in the rain was a part of his grief and how he's dealing with it. I imagine if Laudna had actually come to him about her concerns he would have discussed it more calmly than he ended up. The fact of the matter is Orym is not responsible for managing Laudna's feelings when he is the victim of an unprovoked attack.

[screechingfromthevoid]

So like they've been talking a lot about how they're all a bunch of fuck ups. And while sure they're all a little unstable and unpredictable, I don't really think they are fuck ups? Outcasts sure. People who have had a lot of bad shit happen to them? Yeah. People who have made mistakes? Who hasn't.

Like Laudna didn't really fuck up. She had the worst things imaginable happen to her, then was given exactly 0 time to heal. All the while she was being manipulated by someone who was supposed to "care" for her.

Imogen was neglected by her father and ostracized by her town and honestly came out as normal as she probably could have. When she was out on her own, with Laudna, they seemed to do pretty well?? It's just, being the leader of a group is new to her. It takes a while to adjust.

Ashton was used as a science experiment by their cult leader father. Then was dropped in the middle of nowhere where they found a family that didn't love them as much as they loved them. They had to make a lot of hard decisions on their own and just because they're not lawful good decisions doesn't mean they were wrong or bad.

Fearne being classified as a fuck up because did meet her warlord fathers expectations is crazy to me. (I know what they were getting at by calling her a disappointment. Doesn't mean I have to like it) On top of that, she had years stolen from her as a price for her parents actions.

FCG was programmed a certain way and they fought against it at every point they could. Their literal programming. Being taken over by something hardwired into I don't think counts as fucking up?

Braius was lied to then excommunicated. it seems like letting Nott and Jester in was like the only thing he did wrong his entire life?? He was hella devout before that??

Chetney is 4,000 years old and fucked his way through exandria. He doesn't have a family to disappoint and hes been making children's favorite toys for like ever. He hurt some people along the way but like. Does that constitute as being a fuck up?

Dorian literally did what he was supposed to do. His parents had a rumspringa and to imply that he's a fuck up for literally doing a rite of passage is beyond me. (If you wanna talk about fuck ups ask me about Cyrus) And even on his rumspringa he became one of exandrias greatest hopes.

And Orym. His insisting incident? The thing that set him in this course? His husband and father dying. In the same battle that he fought in. That's the thing he "fucked up" on. Failing to save those closest to him. And idk I think it's pretty cruel to call him a fuck up for not being able to save them against Otoha. Who also killed him.

[variations-on-a-flat]

As CR3 wraps up, here are some of my thoughts on the character development. It's not awfully cohesive and is very long

Nothing was ever wrong with the characters themselves. I don't get what people mean when they say they were all crazy? It's not a party of clowns. Individually they each had a really interesting potential.

Fearne and her Feywild/fire connection had a lot of potential, with the possibility a player character would go darkside and how everyone would deal with that. Her chaos and pick-pocketing is endearing, loved that she occasionally leaned into growing up with an entirely different moral compass too.

FCG was our first warforged/aeormaton, wanted to know why someone would wake him up, wanted to see if he could defuse the trigger that made him dangerous (which I know the players knew they could handle after the first time, but I'm not sure anyone ever asked FCG if this was triggering or traumatizing for him and he wanted to take time to turn it off). But him examining what it meant to gain sentience and interact with humans while everyone pressed him not to take a servant role was interesting.

Bertrand Bell was annoying in C1 and in C3, but he had an excellent little closure and opened up the possibility that player characters could die in this campaign, something which can be freeing if the DM and players agree that the cast can be a bit more rotating door as needed (ie Scanlan leaving, Molly dying, even Ashley's unfortunate absences were all memorable and affected how the party played).

Chetney is one of my favorite characters this campaign. I love that he's just there for the ride, it's another adventure. His backstory was lighthearted but had real emotional beats (even his age is so fun, unusual, and plays into his willingness to just live without worrying about living. Also love how every time any of the younger ones come to him for advice he's like, I don't have any! which for these characters is its own kind of advice).

Imogen's story is trying to be the eventual focus the way Caleb's connection to the Cerberus assembly, which would have been a wonderful showcase of the marvelous laura bailey. It's normal for her to be afraid while also loving her powers, interesting for her to have a messy family dynamic, and no issues for storytelling if there's a push/pull between her wondering what will happen to her if she embraces her powers.

Laudna's backstory was also one of my favorites, I thought the emotional turmoil was expressed so beautifully by Marisha. It felt a little cliche at first to have an og big bad return, but even that ended up making sense the more Marisha played with it. I love that the ritual to bring her back involved submerging delilah but that she came back, it felt appropriate for the level the party was when they did the ritual.

Orym is a quiet person it seems naturally, and there was lots of potential to explore what we saw a few instances of, the old grief and quietly simmering anger at having loved ones ripped away like he had. Also, his backstory as an Ashari guard made a lot of sense to connecting with C1 characters to get help if needed. He also had a lot of potential as a sort of outsourcer for Keyleth? Like it makes sense for the Ashari to send a wandering member or allow them to pursue a vendetta and do some investigating. (For him, I also was hoping for more examination of how clearly upset he is to have his family be collateral damage, which ties in with Laudna's story too and none of this ever got brought up)

Ashton had an excellent concept. I read someone else call him a "contrarian brat" but I don't think this was a bad thing! Loved the new barbarian subclass, loved Ashton trying to find his missing memories, really liked having a character who had chronic pain, liked the interplay with dunamancy. His punk aesthetic isn't contrary to the rest of the party either, and I think Taliesin did try to show Ashton getting closer to the group and finding the balance between independence and cooperation.

And Dorian!! I loved the EXU short campaigns and his backstory. However, I haven't gotten to the episodes where he comes back. But he lifts the party when he's there, brings Orym out of his shell, and Robbie is just an excellent actor.

There is however potential vs reality and I have a preference for literary analysis. However, this is also a live game. I don't want to criticize the players. I think they still tried to play within the limits they could, but the game play is something that effects the show since it's all live improv.

From the beginning, you can tell that many of these characters have a deep "scar". It's not uncommon for dnd characters and is a reasonable narrative beat, Ashton was abandoned when he was injured, Laudna was a Thing In the Woods for a long time, Orym lost his husband and father figure to an assassination attempt that wasn't even directed at them, FCG doesn't know why he's alive here and now and wants purpose, Imogen was abandoned by her mom and her father was emotionally distant because he feared her, Fearne also was abandoned by her parents (and had a great emotional payoff of finding them, talking about it, and getting a reasonable explanation for why).

However, these instances were all distant (compared to ie M9 who were in the thick of the aftermath of several traumatizing experiences, or VM who experienced new traumatic experiences in real time during the campaign). They're the kinds of experiences that colors the characters interactions with others and day-to-day life (like Imogen being careful about where she opens her mind, or having to decide when/whether to mind-read), but may be harder to talk about compared to ie Beau's "oh my father recently had me kidnapped into a controlling boarding school where I lashed out and ran away because it's at least my choice".

To compare characters, M9 is accessible right away because they're very much "Don't ask me about my problems (PLEASE ask me about my problems)" with abrasive or nosey personalities that won't take no for an answer. BH are not. These are people who have largely been hurt by abandonment or lack of purpose, who really sincerely do not want to talk about their issues because it makes them vulnerable.

And while the BH members may also be curious enough to want to see what's going on with their party members, there's enough emotional intelligence to go around that 1. the characters will and do back off if their questions obviously make the other person uncomfortable, partly because they understand that feeling 2. they can tell pushing too hard might make a party member want/need to run away 3. they ran out of time to ask these questions with the solstice deadline looming while they still didn't trust one another. So by the time we get to major events like the Solstice, they don't know one another very well and neither do we. Some of the best episodes early on were when the witches all went to flirt with Pretty, or when they all rode horses to a new town, lower stakes compared to Ruidus, but important to the characters, it hinted at build-up to hunting Orym's family's killers, it gave us our first touches of Delilah's influence on Laudna, and also had a fey connection.

Nana Mori's and FCG's trust exercise was a GREAT idea narratively. It was the players and GM acknowledging that the characters have issues they Do Not Talk About with one another.

And it's not a bad thing to have characters who need help communicating, it's just different than M9 who aggressively pointed swords and staffs and fire and yelled at one another when the others did something scary or suspicious, or VM who we saw as people who knew one another and already mostly felt entangled.

Ashton's attempt to absorb the core was excellent dnd, Fearne's reaction was an excellent response. Unfortunately, the "trust exercises" mostly seemed like a pressure-valve, which can still be good storytelling, if there is some acknowledgement still of those issues and/or narrative-consequences for a group that trusts one another in combat but does not have the same problem-solving approaches, and struggles to communicate emotionally (partly why I like Chetney so much is he will admit to emotional turmoil, but also isn't all that scared of talking about it.) I'm still stuck just after their Feywild visit however so someone else might have to say whether we get this payoff or not.

From the beginning there was just a really obvious disconnect between characters that promised emotional payoff but I wasn't sure they had time to deal with it since they got thrown into a world-changing situation. There's nothing wrong with being a bunch of nobodies asked to solve a problem way above their paygrade, but this makes BH a far more grassroots team than VM (which was heirs to several legacies, tops of their fields, or related to sources of power proving themselves as devoted to Isylra at large) or M9 (which was full of more normal people, but still those who were many students to great powers, or related to some really unique sources of power). When you're grassroots, especially if they're making decisions for a whole world, it makes sense to have interacted with npc's? (the players are the world so it's a little strangely meta where the players need to be okay with this and they're the ones who count, but from a character POV it would make sense to perhaps know some farmers or craftsmen of Jrusar or the riders of Bassuras thing about the gods and religion etc)

However, I do understand that BH at this point knows more about Predathos and the gods, which is hard to pitch to normal people npc's, and they're in a weird place where the more powerful people might just kill them if they try to have this conversation.

To compare characters, M9 is accessible right away because they're very much "Don't ask me about my problems (PLEASE ask me about my problems)" with abrasive or nosey personalities that won't take no for an answer. BH are not. These are people who have largely been hurt by abandonment or lack of purpose, who really sincerely do not want to talk about their issues because it makes them vulnerable.

And while the BH members may also be curious enough to want to see what's going on with their party members, there's enough emotional intelligence to go around that 1. the characters will and do back off if their questions obviously make the other person uncomfortable, partly because they understand that feeling 2. they can tell pushing too hard might make a party member want/need to run away 3. they ran out of time to ask these questions with the solstice deadline looming while they still didn't trust one another. So by the time we get to major events like the Solstice, they don't know one another very well and neither do we. Some of the best episodes early on were when the witches all went to flirt with Pretty, or when they all rode horses to a new town, lower stakes compared to Ruidus, but important to the characters, it hinted at build-up to hunting Orym's family's killers, it gave us our first touches of Delilah's influence on Laudna, and also had a fey connection.

Nana Mori's and FCG's trust exercise was a GREAT idea narratively. It was the players and GM acknowledging that the characters have issues they Do Not Talk About with one another.

And it's not a bad thing to have characters who need help communicating, it's just different than M9 who aggressively pointed swords and staffs and fire and yelled at one another when the others did something scary or suspicious, or VM who we saw as people who knew one another and already mostly felt entangled.

Ashton's attempt to absorb the core was excellent dnd, Fearne's reaction was an excellent response. Unfortunately, the "trust exercises" mostly seemed like a pressure-valve, which can still be good storytelling, if there is some acknowledgement still of those issues and/or narrative-consequences for a group that trusts one another in combat but does not have the same problem-solving approaches, and struggles to communicate emotionally (partly why I like Chetney so much is he will admit to emotional turmoil, but also isn't all that scared of talking about it.) I'm still stuck just after their Feywild visit however so someone else might have to say whether we get this payoff or not.

From the beginning there was just a really obvious disconnect between characters that promised emotional payoff but I wasn't sure they had time to deal with it since they got thrown into a world-changing situation. There's nothing wrong with being a bunch of nobodies asked to solve a problem way above their paygrade, but this makes BH a far more grassroots team than VM (which was heirs to several legacies, tops of their fields, or related to sources of power proving themselves as devoted to Isylra at large) or M9 (which was full of more normal people, but still those who were many students to great powers, or related to some really unique sources of power). When you're grassroots, especially if they're making decisions for a whole world, it makes sense to have interacted with npc's? (the players are the world so it's a little strangely meta where the players need to be okay with this and they're the ones who count, but from a character POV it would make sense to perhaps know some farmers or craftsmen of Jrusar or the riders of Bassuras thing about the gods and religion etc)

However, I do understand that BH at this point knows more about Predathos and the gods, which is hard to pitch to normal people npc's, and they're in a weird place where the more powerful people might just kill them if they try to have this conversation.

[inconmess]

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.

[zeephyre]

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????

[el-huddpudd]

It's the [honesty] climb

FCG, "I enjoy eating silver more than copper."

Imogen, "I am genuinely scared to meet my mom again."

Laudna, "Deep down inside, both Delilah and I kind of want the shard.

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."

Orym, "I've always laughed it off but I guess I do kind of wonder if Chetney is my dad."

Ashton, "I am the reason that the Jiana Hexum job went fucking wrong and the reason why I got thrown out of a fucking window."

Fearne, "I feel like we're very ill equipped to do this job and we're gonna to fail at saving the world."

Chetney, "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, "So I think it's something buried deep down in my circuitry, but every time I hurt or kill something, I feel really good. It makes me sort of 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, right? And I don't mean this scavenger hunt, I mean saving the world, right? Sometimes I fantasize about it all the time."

Fearne, "I sometimes I do stuff to you guys while you're sleeping. Not weird stuff. I just like to look at you closely."

Ashton, "Anytime it's too quiet, I start worrying one of us or most of going to end up killing another one of us, accidentally." (Orym, very gently.)

Orym, "I have all the faith in the world you guys, all of you. And I have also spent time thinking how to neutralize each of you."

FCG, "I kind of 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 care about me at all."

Imogen, "Fearne, I was really disappointed in you for running away from your power. You should take the shard."

Orym, "I really miss Dorian and sometimes I think that's okay and sometimes I think it isn't."

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."

Chetney, "I grew up in the Bramblewood outside of Westeruun 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 the Errevon the Rimelord was running across the plains so I'm kind of afraid of dragons. 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 any family I have is just gonna look for a reason to leave me, that's why I won't get attached to anybody."

Chetney 2, Laudna 2, FCG 4, Fearne 2, Imogen 4, Orym 4, Ashton 3

[danwhobrowses]

Spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 3 Episode 104 Below

So with Orym's Seedling getting blessed by the Wildmother to now be Vestige-tier as a 'Relic of the Red Solstice' I thought I'd indulge myself and throw in which of the gods I think/want to bless the rest of the Hells with in order to give them Relics and why.

Imogen - The Stormlord Why - Easiest of the bunch after Orym, she is the storm after all and she likes her lightning magic, flying and projectiles. The Knowing Mistress may be a secondary option but I think the Stormlord has this one on lock, likely enhancing her damage output or overall spellcasting.

Laudna - The Matron of Ravens Why - Given Laudna's connection and affinity for the dark and spooky it seems the best fit. You could go and juxtapose with the Dawnfather given the Sun Tree or have the Arch Heart help her believe in her own magic but I think the Matron would be the best fit. Laudna's enhancement may fall more into damage avoidance than increased damage through the Matron, or something to hinder enemy saves.

Chetney - The All Hammer Why - The god of crafting hasn't gotten any real chances to shine in the past 3 campaigns, but he is the best fit for the toymaker. The Moonweaver may be an option given lycanthropy, and I wouldn't put it past Travis wanting to get a vestige from a Betrayer God but adding more options for Travis to be creative is always a solid recipe. For that maybe a Relic that changes shape or can make some summonings would work for Chet.

Fearne - The Moonweaver Why - While the Arch Heart - forefather of fey, Dawnfather - given the fire powers, or a double dip from the Wildmother are options, I think the Moonweaver best suits Fearne given how they're both known for their mischief and flirtiness. Also the Unseelie Court hate her so it'd be a nice dig at Zathuda. She also has a moon sickle, which may be the thing that gets enhanced if not her staff. Since the Titan shard already increases her firepower the Moonweaver could perhaps help with damage avoidance in an illusionary way, or improve her spellcasting and concentration saves.

Braius - The Lord of Lies Why - Braius is a difficult one actually. The As hole hasn't actually made contact with him so why give a vestige-like power? Problem is that there's not many other options given how he doesn't like the Primes. The Ruiner or Dread Emperor might be an option just for damage output. We've not seen too much of Braius but from what we've seen of him in combat he holds himself pretty well, so you'd probably expect something to enhance that maybe in a more hellish way. We'd also have to figure out how he'll contact a Betrayer in Vassalheim...

Dorian - The Changebringer Why - Dorian is the most difficult imo because although he's naturally good and considerate there isn't really a god he's been seen to lean on. I doubt he'd accept favour from the Matron or Wildmother after the Opal incident, but the god all about finding your own path may suit Dorian's mental state right now. The Lawbearer (to parallel with Orym getting the Wildmother's blessing), Arch Heart and Knowing Mistress are options too, but the latter already favoured a bard once before so you probably don't want to do repetition there. All manner of things can be enhanced for Dorian equipment-wise, it'll likely be an instrument though, which means their relic will likely enhance support and damage suppression.

Ashton - The Everlight Why - While I know the Coin of the Changebringer is right there, the Changebringer was FCG's god, not Ashton's - they have to walk their own path, providing that they are willing to accept a god's blessing. While the Ruiner may offer something to lure Ashton into given the promise of violence, or the Arch Heart proposing an enhancement of unique magic, I am sticking with my earlier mentioning that the Everlight is perhaps the god who can benefit Ashton the most as a person. It seems unorthodox but Ashton at their core wants to protect the people they care about; healing, temperance and redemption are all key to that, and like Fearne since the Titan powers increases their damage output already, perhaps Ashton's relic would be something to help them take more damage so others don't have to.

[utilitycaster]

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"

[thewickedkat]

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.

[thecavernsabove]

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.

[dnd-shows-have-my-soul]

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!

[aeoris4lovers]

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.