#critical role rant

[krillbot]

"the shark does not bother itself with the krill"

Unless it's a basking shark

Or a mega mouth shark

Or a whale shark

Get your facts straight Ludinus

Actually while we're at it "I have no aspirations of leadership" motherfucker you're the leader of the Cerberus Assembly which at this point is controlling the ENTIRE Dwendalian Empire

Try saying things that are true idiot

[jimbodyson]

ngl im so fed up. i literally just want to sit and enjoy and talk about the show and all i see on all of my pages are mfs complaining about the most trivial things. they're focusing on some romance this season? that sucks. they did Glintshore differently? that sucks. Scanlan didn't have a mental breakdown for no reason? that sucks. just enjoy something for once you joyless fucks. and most of all let other people enjoy it too. i wish i could see people fucking talk about this season without it just constantly being a barrage of how people hate every fucking change and decision they made. and it's especially frustrating when 90% of the hate comes from people going 'oh, if they do this, this will suck'. stuff that isn't even written yet. or just people who think they know the characters better than the people who created and played them for several years. or people who say they don't hate it and yet every fucking post is them chatting shit on it.

im so tired of things i enjoy being hated that it just feels like a huge slap in the face. or that im just wrong for liking it. just fed up with seeing people being negative all the time. sorry, i really loved TLOVM season 3. no, i don't fucking care that you think the og game is better.

edit: made a separate post but i was very overwhelmed and therefore irritable and angry when i wrote this. while it's still frustrating to constantly see negativity surrounding it as i love it (especially so because i muted all the relevant tags), i was unnecessarily aggressive. sorry. although i would like to add, it's harder to belive some people when they say they didn't go into it wanting to hate it or that they like some bits-- when the only parts they talk about are the parts that they didn't like.

[uselessgayshit]

some of y’all watching critical role have never played d&d and it shows… even in the show, plenty of times, they use AOE spells that negatively affect their friends. and y’all are asking FCG to not use an intrinsic part of their character class because it’s disrespectful to laudna????? there is never a fear that he could destroy her using that. her level is always going to be higher than what FCG can destroy. there are mechanics in this game and sometimes they exist completely outside of character choices and that is okay

[nellasbookplanet]

Do you remember when c2 ended and a bunch of people got angry at Matt and Liam because they thought they didn’t make shadowgast canon enough. Anyway Caleb and Essek have been dating for 7 years and Caleb calls Essek dear and Essek calls Caleb in the evening to chat and drops german zemnian words in casual conversation and once turned into a fish on one of their Aeor dates and Caleb carried him around and they’re both absolutely smitten

[ohmaillegode]

As a freaking therapist, if I see another post about how Imogen and Launda are co-dependent, imma throw something.

Having someone you can count on, someone who validates you, reminds how strong you are, how loved you are, listens to you and accepts you without jugement, someone who's with you no matter what IS NOT co-dependency. Everybody fucking needs that! They have also been traumatized by their forced separations, and it is very valid that they are scared about it happening again.

I've also seen people say that they don't challenge each other enough. So what?! Are all your relationships 100% blunt and unbiased? Of course not! That's why you need different people you can trust to be honest with you. You can not depend on your partner to be everything you need.

[littlefankingdom]

I fucking hate when one of my silly incorrect quotes post is successful and people reblogged it with some Bruce's slander. Get the fuck off my post.

"Talia took care of Jason because Bruce abandoned him."

Wtf are you talking about. Bruce didn't abandoned Jason, he died. And he didn't abandoned him when he came back, Jason was not in the right to ask people to prove their love to him by killing others. And he also tried to kill the Joker after Jason died, he thought he had succeeded. Like, shut the fuck up.

"I don't give Bruce credit for anything regarding Dick's education."

Well, who the fuck raised him from 8 to 18 then? Alfred Pennyworth? The same Alfred Pennyworth that raised Bruce Wayne? The one that maintained the "employee/employer" distance with the grieving child he raised. Look at young adult Bruce Wayne and I dare you to tell me Alfred Pennyworth can raise a child better than Bruce, I dare you. And don't you fucking dare blaming Bruce for it, that would be ableist af to fucking blame him for being mentally ill and labelled it as "difficult", I don't tolerate that shit. Bruce Wayne was there for Dick when he lost his parents, he helped that kid through grief and showed him love, he held him close contrary to how Alfred held him. He taught him how to be a great detective, how to be a great fighter, and all he wanted was Dick to be a better man than him. Go tell that bs to your fav and see if he agrees (he doesn't, Dick doesn’t agree and would bite your head off for saying that)

[crystalthayer1]

A top + a bottom = a baby💕🌷

Telegram:@crystalthayer10

[ittybittyremy]

“Orym’s family was able to heal but he was not. It’s been years but he refuses to move on”

Golly gee I wonder why… It’s almost as if Orym has been willingly cutting open old scars and putting salt in them for months

TLDR: It’s not that he refuses to move on, it’s that he can’t.

People who never watched EXU don’t know that Orym was healing and was moving on. There was a sadness to him but he was healing. His tattoo was a part of that healing. Every day was one foot in front of the other.

This mission is what is taking out years worth of healing. It was bound to happen.

The initial mission of investigating an attack that was similar to the one that killed your husband and father is opening old wounds. Everything else is just putting salt in it.

And Orym is willingly putting salt in those wounds for the sake of there being a tomorrow (C3E77) for Exandria and everyone living on it.

It would be one thing if the rest of his family was with him on this mission but they’re not. The closest person would be Leeta but that is not even close to how deep Orym is in it (as far as we are aware).

Like no shit Orym is having a hard time healing. I would be too if I was constantly exposed to things related to my husband and father’s death to that level. No matter how long ago it was

Orym could start moving on again once he’s not as exposed to his traumas. He could leave and give up on the mission but he’s not gonna do that. Not while knowing that his husband and father would be on this mission with him if they were alive.

So he really has one option: stop the Ruby Vanguard and Ludinus from releasing Predathos and potentially destroying Exandria and killing (more) people. And maybe then he can start moving on again

[beauregardlionett]

did i rant to my friends about dorian and orym just to be called a simp? yes i did. and i'll do it again.

these two characters? consume my waking thoughts. because just fucking think about this from a timeline/literary point of view for a second with me.

orym lost his husband and his father-in-law (who he always calls dad because he didn't have a dad growing up) in a violent attack on his leader a while ago and whatever magic was used to kill them kept them dead - no reviving magic worked to bring them back. in the space of a single attack, he lost two of the most important people in his life, and now he's a widow who still mourns and loves in equal measure even while far from home trying to save the world. he loves even though he's scared of losing again.

dorian is a runaway heir to a title he never really wanted, a musician for himself, a charlatan hiding behind an easy smile, who has really only ever wanted to see the world in his own time and make real friends for once in his life. and he did that! all on his own! he was with the group at the beginning of the campaign but then they ran into his older brother who was in trouble and needed to lay low and dorian went with him, falling back on old instincts that family by blood comes first. he ran from the group and from the foundations he was building with them. because dorian has only ever run from the things that scare him. but now he's back, re-traced his frightened footsteps toward the daunting promise of tomorrow - not yet with the group, we're getting his side of the story first. and he even said it himself, that he ran from the group and now he's not sure why he did it, why he left, when he stands here now and realizes everything he wanted was already in front of him.

they have sending stones, a once a day chance to say something to each other in 25 words or less. they've been using them, keeping each other updated on where they are, that they're still alive, and kindling this flame even without dorian at the table, without even seeing each other, and liam has been carrying this torch alone for 78 episodes but damn it the flame is still lit regardless!

and orym always updates on their progress and location first, and with whatever words he has left he drops in a sentiment to remind dorian that they still care - that orym still cares. and orym is practical through and through, he's a strategist so he always always always uses his words wisely because he's so fucking limited by this spell but the last message he sent? he repeated himself, he admitted a weakness, he faltered.

he told dorian where they were. he asked if dorian could come their way. he admitted to struggling while his voice broke. he asked again but in a different way if dorian could come their way. he ended the message with the most heartbreaking "fuck, i miss you," i have ever heard in my life.

orym, the man who messaged dorian 52 episodes ago and said "glad you're not here, wish you were anyway." because they're constantly in danger, and he wouldn't wish that on dorian, but he still aches to have him near. orym, the man who confessed 13 episodes ago during a trial with his friends that he's lonely, that he misses dorian and sometimes he thinks it's okay and sometimes he doesn't - because he was married and is still mourning and how dare he have feelings for someone else? how dare he move on even when his husband would WANT him to be happy again? he indicated dorian was missed by everyone in three of his previous messages before the trial, before finally shifting to 'I, orym, me - it's me who misses you'.

and dorian, the one who replied to a message orym sent him with "stay steadfast, sending you fairer winds" in the most longing tone i have EVER heard. dorian, who kissed orym's forehead when they parted ways but that is the closest they have come to acknowledging whatever is between them. dorian, who has been to orym's home between exu and c3 and met orym's mom and knows about orym's husband.

when orym died 58 episodes ago, he went limp and the sending stone slipped out of his hand because he was trying to message dorian before he died, before he ran out of words and breath. before he was revived, there was a moment he stood in the beyond and saw his husband and he told orym "you're not done," and orym said "i really wish i could stay," and then his husband said "i'll still be here," and orym said, heartbroken, "oh, i miss you so bad."

he told dorian, "i've really missed you," and "fuck, i miss you." i miss you is orym's way of saying i love you.

they're so close. they are so close. and orym fully died 19 episodes after dorian left, but he was revived and then never told dorian via sending that happened. part of me wants dorian to find out and the other part hopes he never has to feel like he failed orym by leaving. because nothing could have changed that from happening, not even dorian.

they are so close to reuniting, orym has needed dorian back for WEEKS and he's so close. i'm begging them to hold on so they can hold each other again.

and, again, from a literary point of view, you know the wildest part about all of this?

none of it is scripted.

[captainsparklefingers]

I bet Brennan Lee Mulligan is jealous of Nana Morri for having a second tummy face.

I'm sure this observation has been made already, but hey, never a bad time to bring it up again.

[bullshit-tqia]

Lessons in Contrapositions

Since I can't reblog @agendercryptidlev for some reason.

If it is an assumption to say "cis" men have male privilege, then are there "cis" men who do not have male privilege?

What makes some "cis" men unable to experience male privilege? Is it based on how they act?

If how someone acts exempts them from privilege, then it must be possible for someone's actions to grant them privilege.

This is where it is important to understand contrapositions.

Imagine if I said all carrots are inherently vegetables, but no vegetables are inherently carrots. That's only halfway. How can all carrots be vegetables, but no vegetables can be carrots? It's like saying 2 + 2 = 4 is correct, but -4 = -2 + -2 is false. Logic is linguistic math. The reverse of a belief has to also be true.

If transwomen do not experience male privilege on the basis of how they dress, act, their personality, or whatever it is that exempts them from male privilege, then transmen have to be able to experience male privilege based on how they dress, act, their personality, whatever that grants them that privilege. 2 + 2 = 4, -4 = -2 + -2.

Ironically, baeddels follow the logical conclusion of gender ideology.

But we know that it is false. Transmen still experience misogyny despite how they dress, act, their personality, or whatever makes them experience misogyny.

This is where gender criticals come in, we believe the "whatever" is someone's sex. Because despite transmen possibly looking like men, acting like men, having a "masculine" personality, they still struggle with the consequence of being born with a vagina. They can still get pregnant, abortion access still matters, contraceptives still matter, they are still shorter than average, and they still have less lean muscle and body mass compared to natal men. We are still sexually dimorphic. Exceptions exist, but overwhelmingly this is true.

We still say the sky is blue even though it becomes orange at sunset. Because we understand that something else has to be true for the sky to not be blue. That something else is where the sun is in the sky, and for sex, it is intersex and hormonal conditions. We don't say the sky is a spectrum, we don't say sex is a spectrum because something else has to be true for the sky not being blue to be true, and something else has to be true for sex to not be binary.

TRAs never understand why we compare being transgender to transrace. What they miss is that their belief that someone's actions can grant them privilege or oppression also has to be true for every other form of privilege or oppression. If you believe that all pizza tastes good, then you can't say that some pizzas taste bad. You just said all pizzas taste good. You have to believe not all pizzas can be good if some can be bad.

So what makes transgender valid but not transrace to TRAs? To them, race is more than just a word, it's how someone is treated, the amount of melanin in their skin, and how they were raised growing up. But how isn't that true for men and women? Being male or female impacts how you're treated, your hormone profile, and how you're raised.

TRAs are MRAs.

Baeddels aren't radical feminists, they're male supremacists. They believe sex isn't a factor, it's based on how you act. They are just appropriating women's struggles to have a hand over transmen, who dared to think that they were equals to transwomen. Like how incels have now appropriated women's struggles to stick it up to women and other men by trying to become women. With how misogynistic baeddels are to transmen...how long until transmen realize that's the entire point of gender ideology? To erase the importance of sex, and to act as if their behavior is the only cause of women being oppressed and men being privileged instead. They don't believe that misogyny is a pseudoscientific belief that says women are inherently intellectually and emotionally inferior based on their sex.

Baeddelism is the consequence of the transgender victim complex taken to the extreme. Non-baeddel transwomen believe transmen are oppressed, but they are still envious of women and appropriate their struggles by making up bullshit words like transmisogyny. Baeddels don't believe that is enough, they have to appropriate and diminish the importance of sex even further, to get a one-up on transmen because they hate the idea of sharing a victimhood status with transmen. Transmen being natally female isn't a coincidence, it's the point. All transwomen detest women because they believe that they can become better women. That they can do what women cannot. They can become the object of their or male desire all they please, while the femoids don't understand just how lucky they are for being wanted. They just don't get how domestic and domicile femininity is, and they choose to not do all the infinite amount of bullshit that makes them wanted by men because they like some things and dislike other things?? Smh. They should aspire to do all the things that is considered feminine, to do all the things that make women be desired, like how transwomen do any and all things possible to become as feminine and as desired as possible. But it is unattainable because they are men.

Ultimately, transmen have to believe they can just be "correctly masculine enough" to escape oppression or that some can become oppressed based on how they dress and what surgeries they decide to get. That's transmen's motivation for transitioning, beyond homophobia's influence, of course. The whole discussion on "transandrophobia" is them being so close to the realization that they can never escape misogyny and become men, who don't suffer because of misogyny. They just haven't realized that their whole identity, the steroids they inject themselves with, and the organs they remove are all for nothing. They will never be men in the eyes of the patriarchal world.

They are just giving money to the butchers who are glad to profit from their oppression.

[jimbodyson]

This a huge mega rant (/pos) about Bard's Lament, Scanlan's feelings, Pike's feelings and how the rest of Vox Machina respond to him. Putting it in the (more) thing because it's long and spoilery.

I love the whole set up and eventually pay off so much, because it's so real. Of course VM loves and cares about Scanlan, but the entire time they've been together he's always been a nonchalant, sex obsessed, drunk asshole. The character development he's been having has been happening either by himself or with one other member of the team (Pike or Vax). Of course they don't know he wants to change! To them, seeing Scanlan lying in a pool of his own vomit, ranting about a girl he fucked up with is normal because that's how he's always been. The difference now is, he's talking about his daughter and not a random girl. Pike is the only one that knows Scanlan's daughter's name, so she's the only one that knows what he's talking about. The rest (maybe bar Vax?) don't think twice about being a dick to him after because, again, that's how it's always been with Scanlan.

His feeling like they don't care about him is completely valid because- to him- he's been trying his best to change who he is and they still treat him like a nonchalant, sex obsessed drunk asshole.

Vox Machina being confused as to why and how he thinks that is also valid, because they have no idea he's changing. They don't know he cares more than anyone. They don't know he's stopped going to brothels. They don't know he drinks away his feelings.

The reason Pike knows something is up with him is because she's arguably the most perceptive when it comes to insight. She loves Scanlan in more ways than one and is arguably the only member of Vox Machina (bar Vax, again) that knows that Scanlan cares more than he lets on. She loves the side of him that is sincere, so she's always looking out for when he shows it. Which is why she above everyone else, she notices the little things when it comes to him: because she's ALWAYS been looking for the little things.

Scanlan has internalised literally everything. The few times he's tried not to (I.e. with Pike in the balcony in 3.3) he thinks he fucks up and distances himself more.

[reilora-borealis]

Broke: c3 is not as good as c1 or c2

Woke: c3 is just as good as c1 and c2, anyone who says otherwise is a hater

Bespoke: we actually can't compare the three campaigns on equal terms until c3 is over, so that we can see the overarching story and every individual character's narrative arc from inception to completion, instead of wildly speculating about what should or shouldn't happen in a storytelling format that is built around improvisation

[uselessgayshit]

*the most horrifying laudna/delilah mash-up mini ever to be created*

Laura Bailey: Baby!! 🥺💗🥰 💖

[danwhobrowses]

I'm not sure how much good this vent will do, I'm not even sure I want to post this vent after my last one, but I'm writing it just so it's out of my head and into words because it seems once again fandom has chosen to send vitriol Ashton Greymoore's way.

What for? They talked to a 'specter' of the primordial titan within them, through their connection to the earth, the natural flow of creation and destruction. They ask what will happen to the world, it responds that it'll endure, they ask what of the people, it responds that the strong will survive and the weak will be remade into something stronger, to which Ashton replies they think they understand. To fandom this means that Ashton is becoming a fascist, that they have a 'Make Exandria Great Again' attitude for wanting the Primordials back, that they need to be beaten up or 'get what's coming to them' in order to change their mind, and I can only sit here and stew and wonder if this hate is really well-founded? Ashton is among my favourite characters in C3, I get frustrated by them at times too but if I think about it a big percentage of my frustrations is more towards people disliking them than me disliking things they do, or Matt setting up scenarios that doesn't do them any favours towards the fandom that hates them. Some of these are knee-jerk reactions of course, but for others it does feel like they have it out for Ashton, and I don't wanna engage with that, which makes it quite lonely when most of the fandom hones in on it.

For the most part I can understand how the whole 'the weak will be remade' bit can be taken badly; it's definitely iffy, but every other plan we have is also very iffy. The Release Predathos option literally involves unleashing an entity that wants to genocide the gods, the Maintain Status Quo option ('option' the status quo imo is impossible, in my mind the Gods can stay but the dynamic will still have to change) maintains a relationship where the gods pick and choose who they feel deserves help, using their power to covet more power, strongarm and demand loyalty, and overall choose fellow gods over mortals when the chips are down and not owning up to it. We should also remember that entities can speak in riddles, 'remade into something stronger' doesn't necessarily mean death; it could mean to adapt and grow, to become strong enough to bear and overcome it as many of the PCs of Critical Role have done with their hardships and trauma. It's worth reminding that the sad truth is that people will die whatever outcome happens - the aim is always to lessen the amount but if the Gods leave it's a power vacuum, if we linger too long it's a Calamity, and if the Gods stay it's a holy war on a more wild and less organized scale - and that Ashton isn't saying they approve of such death, merely that they think they understand. The commune doesn't tell Ashton which way to go; it only tells them that the world will endure, there will be change and it will change people, trees will still grow, the wind will still blow, the waves will still flow along the coasts of the sea, and people will survive. I know the interpretation can differ from people thanks to Matt's patented vague or riddle-mounted choices in phrase, but I also think if it was the Wildmother who told Orym or some other follower that 'nature is a cycle, everything must adapt to change or else it'll die - this world will change, but it will also survive' nobody would be calling Orym a fascist, people would accept it because the Wildmother's domain is nature, and nature is not always kind.

While we're mentioning Orym - and because this is gonna come off as critical I must preface that I like and enjoy All of the Hells, that's not changed - I also gotta call it out here because it does very much feel like the people who hate Ashton hate them for the reasons they love Orym. Both are stubborn, they're diligent in their personal code, they care deeply for their friends and would give their whole being just to keep them safe, they believe in the Hells' power and greatness more than each member does and more than they believe in their own, but Ashton gets the hate mainly because these fans agree more with Orym on the god stuff. What confuses me though is how these same haters can despise Ashton for being consistent but love Braius, the literal Devil Worshipper who secretly is on board with the Chase Away plan only so he can help the Devil rule the world, the compulsive liar. Where's Braius' scrutiny? A world under Asmodeus will be a far worse 'survival of the fittest' scenario, why does Braius get a pass in all this stuff huh? Because he's funny? Seems people ignore the whole morality talk when they're discussing Braius' dedication to Exandrian Satan.

I find it irksome too that even the group seem to criticize Ashton reaching out to Primordials too - as if that wasn't what we wanted them and Fearne to do anyway. They don't dislike the gods simply because they're a 'great entity', it's because they're a great entity that holds power and doesn't use it equally or fairly; they pick and choose who to help, a lot of the time in Ashton's experience for their own self-service, but they won't prioritize mortals over another god no matter who cruel or heinous the god is being, and the following of these gods are so intertwined with politics that most religious motivation also ends up being political. Ashton has no connection to the gods, they reached out and got nothing, an Angel looked at them and made them feel like nothing, but they do have a connection to the Primordials; from the Earth Golem to the Titan Empress they're literally a vessel of, they experienced something significant in their connection to the Earth, so I don't like how that they're almost mocked for having it. In addition, Ashton's behaviour during this commune differs because of that connection, but also because the titans are a natural flow; they don't demand or test or politic or prejudice, and despite being a Great Entity in its own right it never made sure Ashton felt small for their own satisfaction, they asked a question and got an answer, it's the same reason Ashton has disdain for most political leaders but likes and respects Keyleth, Allura, Kima, Pike, and (eventually) Percy despite also being people in power. To call on Orym and the Wildmother as an example again; Orym's an Air Ashari, the Ashari are guardians of the Elemental Planes - made from the Primordials - not tied to a god, but nobody criticizes his connection to the Wildmother despite both not being a follower and his culture being more tethered to Primordials and their descendants. I'm not saying it's all correct for Ashton to want things to go back to how Primordials ruled, but we must remind ourselves also that we only know a story written by victors when it comes to the Schism - a story which could very easily have been altered and edited to make it feel more justified for the Primes and mortals to actively genocide all the Primordials, the native species and creators of this world, and desecrate their remains to make weapons, soul anchors, and cities - the specter didn't say 'fuck em, all mortals should die' after all, if they believe mortals would survive then they must be at the least tolerant of mortal existence. Why is it okay for god followers to say they wanna keep the world with the gods they have a connection to (and I'm not saying they aren't) but Ashton is out of line for wanting to have a world which has something active that they also have a connection to? It seems rather unfair to allow one side to have and the other to have not, picking and choosing because our audience's bias has spent more time with the gods, Ashton wanting something they can connect to doesn't feel all wrong either, the Eidolons still exist with faint worship hiding away so they're not smited by the gods, why can't faith exist so they're not in hiding? I sincerely doubt the Punk Rock that is Ashton is asking for the Primordials to fill the Gods' roles the same way the Gods have been running things either, they want to break the throne remember? There needs to be a balance in ideals and practice of course, and in an ideal world there could even be a more fluid and all-inclusive Exandria where gods and Eidolons live harmoniously with mortals without hierarchy and class systems, I think Ashton could happily live with something like that, they did say the world needs 'a little chaos' to call back to Matt hinting that the current world doesn't have enough.

Which leads us to those wishing violence upon Ashton - and I really don't like that. People who say 'hitting them over the head is the only language they understand' seem to misinterpret Ashton as if everyone around them have been on their hands and knees begging Ashton to reconsider and them ignoring valid points and pulling a Leroy Jenkins. In reality, nobody is actually talking to Ashton about it, a lot of the frustration with Bells Hells right now is that they aren't talking to each other, even about the end goal! Ashton has valid reasons for their thinking, so being violent isn't gonna change their mind; undermining, dehumanizing and trying to effectively bully anyone let alone someone with chronic pain and low self worth will never truly convince them to your way of thinking. All people understand the language of violence, but that language is not used justly, those who truly wish violence upon Ashton don't want it in hopes it'll force Ashton to change their mind, they want it for their own satisfaction of seeing them in pain; so they can further push them away from the rest of the group and go 'that guy's not one of us', make it so the people Ashton calls family after a lifetime of loneliness, confusion and abandonment - the people they promised they won't abandon, and have kept true on that promise even at their lowest - make them feel small and worthless, and force them into box where they can't be themselves, and I hate that people would want to treat them that way. Ashton IS capable of listening; they've stepped back and trusted the other Hells to do their own thing even when it's ridiculous like staging a play where they pretend to be Ludinus to trick Unseelie emissaries into thinking that he attacked them, they listened to the gods even when they didn't have to like they promised they would and despite it being very personal they held themselves back for the benefit of the group, and if the group talked to them calmly where they were all allowed to healthily discuss the pros and cons, the ideals and compromises, and the risk and reward of all plans that have been proposed then they would listen, and they would try - you don't need to slice bread with a broadsword.

Will Ashton 'get what's coming to them'? Maybe, but what is that exactly? We only assume to know the full vision of what Ashton wants to act on. All of Bells Hells are gonna face the consequences of the choice they make on Ruidus - when they finally make one that is - in and out of the world they live in, so won't that apply to everyone? So what for Ashton? do people want Fractures 2.0? Does everything Ashton wants in life have to blow up violently in their face? Family, Closure, their best friend's safety, why does 'what's coming to them' have to be something aggressive and harmful? People change through positive reinforcement and good experiences too! Caduceus Clay would remind you that it's love that makes people. Don't mistake this rant as me wanting Ashton to be exactly as they are now, I too want to see growth from Ashton and we ARE seeing it happen; I see it in small instances where they think twice about rash actions and try not to fly off the handle, when they sit just to listen or understand or to defuse tension, and that when they're going somewhere or doing something they let the group know in advance, those who think Ashton hasn't changed since ep. 1 aren't paying close attention, but that doesn't mean that they don't still have more ground to cover. I believe that Ashton grows the most through kindness; when they're treated like a person and not a blunt instrument or a nuisance, and I hope what's 'coming' for Ashton isn't rejection, bitterness, and isolation, but acceptance, empathy, and for someone - if you know me you'd know who I'd want it to be - to convince them that they are worthy of living, that they're special not because of their powers or blood or because they have died and been put back together again (honestly, it does irk me a little that both Keyleth and Imogen chose that for titles and to brag to the Matron, I know it isn't intended this way but sometimes it feels like saying 'your best defining quality is that you've died a lot') but because while they have every reason to hate everything they still chose to be kind to those who deserve kindness, they have a good heart and they mean well. Are they perfect? No! They're in their 20s very few people irl have their lives together at even twice that age, but I want them to have good things in their life; things that help them feel happy and safe and like they can still feel comfortable in their own skin without having to appear more 'palatable' for people who've already decided that they don't like them. I want them to know that they've always deserved to live and they still deserve it now, I want that not just for Ashton but for all the Hells, and hopefully they'll all live to have it.

And most of all I want the people who hate them to be wrong about Ashton Greymoore, and I want Taliesin to prove them wrong.

[armysonemeu]

My Roman Empire is Marisha PCs seeing/making/looking up to Laura PCs (as) their god/religion/faith and the undying and eternal love of Laura PCs to Marisha PCs that stem from their loneliness and need to be loved. It really opens up to the whole matron/worshipper (follower?) dynamic that Laura and Marisha PCs have in every campaign (and yes that includes Vex and Keyleth as well).