#fcg got legs

[retrokid616]

so like

or forg legs?

yes reblog but hey mmpr references are good when there usefull

MECHA FCG YES

[screechingfromthevoid]

So I was thinking about that modern AU, trying to figure out how to incorporate FCG because robot (literally he's just a pastors son. Duh)

but for some reason my brain said "Ashton's service dog" first. Then I thought about Ashton needing a service dog because of brain stuff. THEN I thought about Ashton needing a service animal AND a mobility aid.

So I'm just living for Ashton in a wheelchair rolling through school. They've got the key to the elevator. They've obviously got a whole dog at school that people try desperately not to pet.

When someone decides to bully FCG (Francis Charles Grady) or Laudna, they get out of their chair to their full height. People freak because they didn't know he could walk or stand. Ashton just shrugs because "you know what they say about assuming"

And when Dorian shows up and asks about it not as tactfully as he probably meant to Ashton pops a wheely and is just like "what's sadder than an orphan with a wheelchair and a service dog? Unfortunately it didn't get me adopted. People just don't want their inspiration porn in house anymore I guess."

And they try to be chill. They try to avoid those harsh topics with their friends because they don't wanna be a bummer. It'd bring down the mood to say "sure I can walk but sometimes my spine is on fire and my calves are full of knives so I don't." It'd suck to say "I can walk fine until I can't." It's not relatable to say "my whole body hurts all the time and if I want to be able to do other things like think, I should probably be sitting."

Slowly their friends get them to understand that they don't have to put on a brave face for them. They don't have to pretend like it doesn't hurt. They don't have to pretend like it doesn't bother them. Their friends care about them. Hell they're even down to help if they can. Anything to make Ashton feel like they are wanted, that they're not a burden.

[bewarethecircles]

Drawing for loveletters week based on the "dance" and "lyrics" prompts! Good Old-fashioned Lover Boy really suits them, I picture it as FRIDA singing it about FCG.

[beedreamscape]

We're so thirsty for romance in this bitch that for a moment we forgot fcg and frida only known each other for like four or five days

[colealexart]

Can you tell us the story of you meeting Ashley and Sam?

sure!

we waited in ashley's queue after seeing laura but it was taking a while and they had to leave for lunch, then photo ops. when we did see her, we had been in the queue for a while because she likes to spend time with people, so the nerves that i was feeling at the beginning kind of dissipated. i was still super nervous to meet her, because she's ashley johnson, but my back and legs were hurting from standing in the queue for so long, so that kind of took my mind off of it a little.

my friend went before me in the queue and got my fearne print signed by her, and i was getting the same print signed too. so when it was my turn, she was like "ohh, that person had this print too" and i was like "yeah i drew it" and she looked so shocked(?) lmao. she was like "you did?! oh my god, it's beautiful!"

i mentioned how much i loved ellie and how much the last of us means to me, and she looked so touched. she stopped signing for a moment to listen to me, with the softest smile on her face. she is very good at keeping you in conversation, so much so that i completely forgot to gift her the extra fearne print that i brought for her.

i did give her the dice that i brought for her though, and she looked so excited. i started saying “i’m sure you receive so many dice but-“ and before i could finish, she interrupted me and said "NO, LAURA GETS ALL THE DICE!" which i thought was hilarious. we played rollies and i got a nat 1 and she got a 4. i also got to hear the signature ashley johnson quote “its caaacked” in person because my dice was slightly tilted off the paper.

i also completely forgot to ask for a selfie, because... well. she's ashley johnson. i was lowkey ascending into another dimension.

as for sam, i had met him before a couple times, during our group and single photo op, but for the autograph he came immediately after ashley. during our photo op, i wore the cursed sam mask that was given out during the live show prank, and he laughed and called it horrifying. i didn't realize, but during our photo he was pulling a face at me because i wore the mask, and it makes me laugh every time. (also, as we were waiting, he introduced himself to every single person taking a photo with him, which i find very funny. sir, we are literally here for you. we paid for this.)

for the sam autograph, on all the other tables i went to, they had you talk to someone beforehand to tell them your name and any autograph personalizations you wanted, so they could write it down on a post-it to make it easier for the talent. however, with sam's, it was a little different. the person helping him out asked for my name, and instead of writing it down he personally introduced me to sam himself. it immediately relaxed me, for some reason. it didn't feel like i was meeting a celebrity (even though i had already met him briefly during the photo ops.) he shook my hand and said, jokingly, "wow, i've never seen this before" about my fcg print. (i had tweeted at him a couple months ago with the print i was going to get signed at mcm, and he responded "cant wait".)

we made conversation about the live show. sam is very soft-spoken irl. he took his time with my autograph and we chatted about the flat white with vanilla please prank on marisha. he said it's very fun to bully her lol. he then took a second to look at the fcg print, and said that it's really cool and he loves the design. i had a spare in my bag, so i offered it to him. he said "oh, i don't want to take it from you, so only if you're sure" which was just. the sweetest. i gave him the print and he was very gracious and shook my hand again.

sorry, this got long lol. i had so much fun meeting them and they truly made everyone feel so welcome and loved. i could talk about my experience at mcm and the live show until the end of time.

[its-your-mind]

There’s just something about this group coming into a new city, finding it in crisis, and immediately rushing into a situation to help stop a monster that was set free when magic got all fucked up…

And finding that this being has found itself here, in a time where it doesn’t belong, far away from a home that no longer exists, surrounded by people who immediately saw it as a threat… and it’s confused, and lost, and alone, and scared. And every single member of this party knows exactly what that feels like.

Imogen, who knows what can happen when someone powerful is alone among people who fear them, stays far back, but reaches out with her own power to tell this being that they don’t want to hurt it, they just want to help it find where it wants to go.

F.R.I.D.A. and FCG, who both woke up alone and far away in space and time from the place they called home, giving this creature the ability to share its thoughts and ask for what it needs, and provide it protection on its way to a new life, ready to put down anyone who tried to stop them on their way out.

Fearne, now living in a world completely alien from the one she grew up in, immediately reaching out to offer friendship and comfort to this creature who has no one else in this world to care for it.

And Deanna, who knows what it’s like to come back into a world that no longer needs you, immediately asking this beast to carry her out (her legs are just so short you see!), giving it the warmth and protection of the sun that it has not been able to feel for these centuries underground.

Everyone else in Uthadurn saw a monster that needed to be slain, and Bells Hells saw a lost and scared creature who needed its voice to be heard and a chance to be free to find its way home.

[its-mekjt]

Favourite parts of 3×95 (potential spoilers below the break)

PART ONE

▪︎ ashley's photo of sam

▪︎ chepeku ad. could have made me think it's a perfume ad.

▪︎ ESSEK THELYSS

▪︎ they got tusk love oh my days

▪︎ WOO HOO SHOPPING EPISODE

▪︎ oh my god, having parts of fcg/things that remind them of fcg in their outfits. i'm on my floor.

▪︎ lesbians with the matching corsets. it's a canon event i fear

▪︎ i just know that armoury went out for drinks that night

▪︎ the pumats + their existential crisis

▪︎ "HIGHWAY ROBBERY" (honestly surprised they didn't try to steal it)

▪︎ sugar daddy dorian storm (and Laura's face as he hands over 2,500 gold. I can just imagine imogen going 'mhm. that's gay'.)

▪︎ do the pumat's have a soul?

▪︎ "do you want- eh we're the same."

▪︎ chetney pock o'pea. maths wizz. high school maths teachers across the world are terrified of you.

PART TWO

▪︎ essek constantly misses leg day

▪︎ 28 persuasion to make essek join their sleepover

▪︎ DORIAN WANTS TO SEE THE SHOW SO HE WILL SEE THE SHOW

▪︎ matt's description of the show. i love it.

▪︎ laudna i love you, please come to the theatre with me and tell people to, respectfully, stfu with me

▪︎ ESSEK QUOTING CADUCEUS: it's not pain that makes people. It's love (crying)

▪︎ LAUDNA QUOTING FCG: it's good to make every day a smiley day (on my bedroom floor sobbing and throwing up)

▪︎ orym keeps looking to the right. (WHO'S ON THE RIGHT. SOMEBODY PLEASE REMIND ME I DON'T REMEMBER. LIAM O'BRIEN STOP MAKING ME SCREAM INTO MY PILLOW)

▪︎ YEAH, THIEVING IS THEIR LOVE LANGUAGE (why did i think ashton was gonna go for that fucking huge sword earring from the beginning of the campaign)

▪︎ "chetney's sitting in the front row, legs out, slumping in the chair, baguette in one hand, a bottle of wine in the other. fucking riveted." (that's an insight into my daily life)

▪︎ chetney and dorian are my two personalities while i'm zoned out

▪︎ love how they all thought it was kiri (i did too)

▪︎ chetney and his delusions + cloaca

▪︎ why did i think orym was going to get in the bag of holding

▪︎ i fucking love dorian storm. you don't know how much i love him.

▪︎ "i saw my mom mess with time." essek's internal monologue must have gone insane.

▪︎ marisha and robbie casually rping arts and crafts

▪︎ "you're kind of like his dad." "do not put that on me, please."

▪︎ ashley johnson doing the lords work. thank you. (essek thelyss you simp)

▪︎ wildMOTHER

▪︎ I KNEW THIS REMINDED ME OF SOMETHING. GETTING READY FOR A CON.

▪︎ YES ANIMATE OBJECT

▪︎ dorian's face when he's introduced to patê is giving: i have never wanted to be cyrus more in my life right now.

▪︎ emotional support faun and her damaged little halfling

▪︎ 17 strength let's go (beefy boy)

▪︎ laura bailey i am making the same face as you.

▪︎ WHO WAS MAKING IT RAIN. WHO.

▪︎ OH THIS BITCH. I HATE HER (delilah briarwood)

▪︎ nervously giggling

▪︎ travis willingham is a lover and instigator of chaos.

▪︎ liam o'brien giving advice. he loves this.

▪︎ i love this. orym, if anyone comes for you, get behind me. (he doesn't know this is laudna. he thinks he's getting fucked with in the middle of the night. HE CANNOT SEE FUCKING ANYTHING).

▪︎ YEE HAW INNER PARTY CONFLICT

that's all folks.

[waltwhitmansbeard]

time for part 3 babey

what cars would the bells hells drive?

orym: orym does a ton of research into vehicles before buying one, bc he wants the top safety features but also enough room for his friends but also not something so big that he becomes a hazard on the road but also everyone's phone needs to pair so they all can take turns being the dj but also he'd like a hybrid so it's good for the environment. he ends up with a sensible suv (green, ofc) that he takes very good care of, except for the glovebox, which belongs to fearne and quite frankly it's none of his business what's in there.*

fcg: i'm so sorry but they are a tesla bro, just an absolute elon musk fanrobot. he's convinced ai is going to save the world and if a few errant children need to be run over to get us there, well, then, where were their parents?

imogen: yes, imogen has a massive, heavy-duty pick-up that she uses to haul her horse trailer, but her everyday car is an old, slightly rusted chevy, one from the 50s with the wooden bars along the sides of the bed. it's red and the fender has seen better days but imogen does enough work on it to keep it running.

laudna: laudna has the bike that margaret hamilton uses at the beginning of the wizard of oz. let me be clear. she doesn't have a bike like the one margaret hamilton uses. she has the bike. no one knows how she got it, or how much it cost, and she can barely pedal it bc she has no leg muscles to speak of, but the children whisper whenever she passes on the absolutely ancient thing.

chet: an olllllllllllllllllllld chrysler town & country, one with wood paneling, of course, real wood, not that vinyl shit. he keeps it in excellent condition by not actually driving it anywhere but instead bumming rides from his friends. one time dorian looked at it and chetney threatened to gouge his eyes out.

fearne: fearne doesn't drive. fearne is driven.**

ashton: ashton doesn't drive. ashton despises cars and car culture. this is a public transport bitch. they know every single bus driver, their names, their routes, how long they've been driving. he knows the turnstiles you can jump and the ones that are monitored. they'll tell you the stories of all the graffiti in the subway system, and only half of them are made up, but you'll never figure out which half.

dorian: he tries to pretend he doesn't have far and away the nicest car of all the hells, but there's only so much you can do to hide a bright blue camaro. he likes to go fast and make a lot of noise, which is helpful, bc he is literally never on time. he pays the price whenever he shows up twenty minutes late with an obnoxious starbucks order in his hand by being absolutely razzed by the rest of his friends.

(vox machina) (mighty nein) *the glovebox is fearne's bc shotgun is always fearne's. even if fearne isn't in the car. the seat next to orym belongs to fearne at all times in all situations. no one else may sit there under penalty of fearne's big, sad eyes and incredible tits. **but fr can you imagine fearne behind the wheel of a car?? i'm an excellent driver!! she insists as she knocks over her third mailbox of the day. just an absolute menace. could NEVER get insurance. orym let her drive ONCE and immediately went to update his will.

[jadedgenasi]

What is it about Sam accidentally playing all these trans experiences and fantasies. From least to most you got Scanlan's particular brand of joy and confidence in his masculinity, Veth and her literal quest for her true body, FCG the he/they robot having the hot swappable body parts (having the oven installed, looking into possibly getting legs) and of course there's Loquatius Seelie, ideal trans fantasy. It's never purposeful - in fact Loquatius managed to be the least trans I have ever seen a changeling played - and yet he nails aspects of transness that are obscure and specific. It's honestly wild.

[saphira-artandoc]

C3 Swap AU

Fearne Calloway

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This post can contain spoilers!

If you wonder what the swap AU is, I recommend checking it out right here!

Major thanks to @theplatinumcritter and many members of the Dorym Nation discord server for helping me with this insane AU, you guys are the GOATS!

Character information

Title: Lady Fearne Calloway, Fey Heart of the First Spark

Age: 24 (born 819 P.D)

Class: Druid (Circle of the Moon)

EXU - Campaign 3

Fearne Calloway is a Ruidusborn satyr. She was raised and lived most of her life in Zephrah with her parents, Birdie and Ollie Calloway. They went to seek sanctuary when she was still a baby, trying to escape the Unseelies and The Sorrowlord Athion Zathuda, her biological father.

She was partially raised by Nell, who taught her about healing herbs and took the same classes as Maeve to become a druid. She wished to repay the kindness The Voice of the Tempest, Keyleth, granted them by giving her family sanctuary. She has a close bond with the triplets, Will and Orym.

By the time she got older, her parents became more absent, working with Ira Wendagoth and successfully stole the Moontide Crown from the Unseelies.

When the shadow assassins attacked, Fearne’s parent thought they were send by Zathuda to get back the crown, only to realize none of them were fey in nature. They were after their leader, The Voice of the Tempest, and almost succeeded in their task, killing Derrig and Will in the process.

Her parents left her to Nell’s care after the attack, believing she would be in good hands. They left Zephrah and work with the Nightmare King since then.

She left Zephrah 4 years later after the attack to find Orym and her parents. She managed to rejoin with the halfling in 842 P.D. and with her parents in 843 P.D. with the help of Bell’s Hells.

Despite sharing the same last name as Morrigan Calloway, the Fatestitcher, she has never stepped a hoof to the Feywild before joining with Bell’s Hells, and got close to it with the Crown Keepers. She also isn’t 112 years old, since she was born earlier in the timeline and lived in Exandria instead of the Feywild with Morrigan.

Because of her druid Circle, Fearne lacks the help of Little Mister, her canon self’s familiar.

She had a fling with Chetney Pock O’Pea and Deanna Leimert. She is currently in a relationship with Ashton Greymoore.

Masquerade ball

Fearne Calloway manage to steal the original gown from the Dreamscape Theatre costume set, and spruce it up with flowers, feathers and a beautiful pink sheer overcoat.

Her mask is matching her ball gown, with various feathers and flowers surrounding it.

She was Dorian’s plus one at the ball. He introduced her as Lady Fearne Calloway of the Air Ashari.

Uthodurn - Saviour of the Diarchy

With Uthodurn saved, she was able to change her clothes into something more Fey-like, and wear the Gloomscale breastplate and Deanna’s shawl. Her staff changed to match with beautiful flowers growing from it, matching her.

Vasselheim - Fey Heart of the First Spark

In Vasselheim she changed herself once more to be ready for battle… in style! Her dress was changed to a beautiful pink to coral flowy dress shirt and pants. She wears part of FCG’s jacket over her dress shirt, a black corset and the Gloomscale breastplate. She also kept Deanna’s shawl and wears one of Orym’s jade stone on her left leg in a makeshift leg brace. Her staff got even more flowers, following her theme.

Her pupils have an orange tint to them since swallowing Rau’shan’s shard. She has a mark of Asmodeus burning on her central knuckle, from her deal with Teven Klask.

Shard of Rau’shan - titan form

Pretty much the same as canon. The main difference is elements of the clothes are burning, including the Gloomscale breastplate. Every flowers on her also burned away in her transformation.

Feywild

When Fearne is near a gate or inside the Feywild itself, her form changes to a more elongated state and goat-like : her eyes are big and her entire body is covered in fur. Her nails turned into claws and those on her left hand, blackened by the Ciclet of Barbed vision with her time with the Crown Keepers, are longer and sharper.

Relationships:

The Crown Keepers : Fearne’s very first band of misfit. She cares for each of them, especially Opal whom she sees as a sister. When she left with Orym and Dorian, she was worried to leave Dariax and Opal behind but was reassured by the former that they would be fine, and they might even stick with Fy’ra Rai if they cross paths again.

Ashton Greymoore : current partner. Both have feelings for the other but have not labeled their relationship yet.

Orym of the Air Ashari : like an older brother. She knows his pain of losing Will and Derrig more than anyone else. She was worried about him the years following their death and decided to go and find him.

Berenie, Maeve, Lita and Will : they sees her as a little sister. She also sees them as her older siblings.

Dorian Storm : partners in crime. If Orym isn’t supervising them, they will cause chaos. She had a hard time saying goodbye to him, being one her closest friends. When he came back with Keyleth near the excavation site, she run up to him with Orym in tow to greet him back.

Chetney Pock O’Pea : she had a fling with him and Deanna Leimert back in Wildemount. She sees his wisdom and often confides with him, as seen when Ashton almost died following their decision of taking Rau’shan’s shard.

The Calloways : her relationship with Birdie and Ollie is a bit tense due to them leaving her in Zephrah after the death of Will and Derrig, but she still loves them. She got to spent more time with them than her canon counterpart.

Morrigan Calloway, The Fatestitcher : despite not knowing about Morrigan, the hag sees her as an extended granddaughter from Birdie. The hag still helps her and Bell’s Hells, since they are friends with Dorian, the hag’s protégé. If anything were to happen to him, Morrigan would not hesitate to put them all under The Loom.

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With that, our first character has been revealed! Next in line will be Chetney, who might come later this week.

[12pt-times-new-roman]

c3e87

We open on the Bells Hells traversing through the storms on foot, with Kraveris in sight through the cleft valley of a mountain. There's one travel roll left, and they roll another, more severe storm.

As the storm abates, there's another flare -- it feels the same, but every Ruidusborn gets 15 temporary hitpoints (does not stack with the flares from before, as with normal temp hp).

FCG casts sending on Ira (twice), and it's like there's a haze between them and the Changebringer so it takes more effort than normal to cast the spell, and the spell itself takes longer to find its destination, but it does work. "Bells Hells here, on the moon with you. We've got information and treasure. And plans. So many plans. Laudna says hi. Where can we find you?" // "Oh, my. You've finally come along! Welcome to the crimson land of the strange and beautiful. I've been busy watching, learning." // "In relation to Kraveris, where might we find you? Please be specific and brief so that we may speak more in person. Laudna still says hi." // "But where's the fun in that? I'm very interested to talk, but I want to see how interested you are in finding me."

They decide to try to connect with the Volition to get access to the city. Imogen tries a sending to Vesh. "You didn't trust us before. Maybe the dispatching of Admuda will convince you. We need to find the Volition. We're here to help. Outside Kraveris." // "Look. If you must talk, find me in the Jagged Edge, within the Clutch. Tell Jodot that you are of the Vanguard, and looking for a contract."

Then, they head to one of the outposts that stands outside the walls of the city itself.

Fearne notes that she could potentially look like a reiloran because she's been practicing her magic, and they work out that because the reiloran's low-level telepathy doesn't give a direction if the creature is unknown, they can do a bit of telepathic ventriloquism to make it seem like she's actually talking.

That brings up a good point though: couldn't they polymorph into reilorans? The ones they've encountered have been of varying class levels, so some of them have had to be lower than level/CR 11, and it's not like PCs haven't polymorphed into other humanoid creatures before.

As they approach the outpost, they see another figure that they haven't seen before: eight feet tall, clad in leather armor, with furred legs almost like a sasquatch. Fearne disguises herself as a reiloran, and Imogen speaks through her: "New recruits for the Vanguard. Our caravan broke down, and yours was the nearest outpost."

This figure has a deep voice, southern accent, and isn't sure why they'd bring recruits here -- it seems like there are fewer reilorans and more armed (possibly drafted) civilians manning the outpost. But they let them through, their ruse works for now.

The tower, though pretty tall, is also empty except for motion-sensitive lanterns and some barebones provisions.

While FCG ritual casts telepathic bond, Ashton and Laudna go up to the top of the tower. There are crenulated parapets here, fit to take cover behind or put a spyglass through; one of the guards, another of the sasquatch-type people, actually has an Exandrian firearm, and the other is a bormodo with a spyglass.

Chetney learns that the name of the outpost is Tyran A.

While Laudna scouts with Pate, Ashton trades questions with the bormodo. They ask what strawberries, apples, and blueberries taste like. Ashton gets the name of a bar, and learns that the Clutch is an outer ward of the city.

With Pate, Laudna sees something carved into the earth, and a protrusion that looks almost like a warhorn (which indicates that telepathy is more of a short-ranged thing, and they need actual sound to project over long distances). In the city, for as refined as she would've expected, it appears that the surface has been eroded away, dilapidated; the fine details and sharp edges have been worn down, there are no bustling throughfares, and it reminds her of Bassuras. (Almost like the majority of the city's infrastructure and populace is below-ground.)

Orym gathers some information about the "Attrition" (I'm assuming he purposefully mispronounced "Volition," but I dunno if I missed something) -- they can come from anywhere, they can be anyone, "it's just kind of a gut feeling... if you hear something loud and dangerous, you run." The sasquatch-guy points out a ruin that was once an outpost.

The two reiloran guards defer to Fearne because Imogen told them she's the Willmaster, and the facade almost cracks because of the latency between Fearne receiving their telepathy and Imogen talking back to them -- but Fearne just makes the deception check. The reilorans refer to "the Will" as if it's some kind of independent council or agency that hires and gives orders to the Willmaster, but this might also be their name for the Weave-mind.

Breaking news: Sam, after a whole-ass campaign playing a bard, learns how ritual spells work.

As they all gather at the base of the tower and prepare to head toward the city, Imogen puts the circlet back on.

They approach the walls of the city, having gone around the main gates, and find that there are homes and businesses clustered together like eggs on the surface-level. Laughter, and they see a group of children petting, grooming some kind of livestock.

Break time!

They descend onto the main street of a semi-subterranean village on the outskirts of Kraveris, and approach the two children: a reiloran and a bormodo -- Asha and Kolito, respectively. The reiloran is speaking with her actual voice, not telepathy.

They tell them that "the Clutch" is this entire section of the city, outside the walls where the buildings are clustered like eggs. They aren't allowed to go underground because they're "clutch-folk" -- their families aren't important enough to be allowed into the lower layers of the city.

All of the above-ground city is the Keluma-Kraveris, and the below-ground part is the Vatera-Kraveris. "The Crumbles" are the parts of the city where the upper layer has crumbled down into the lower layers, and it's a kind of wretched hive, "where the rough folk live."

They also take interest in Chetney -- "you're so small, but so old!" Also, Chetney continues to be fantastic with kids, which is hilarious to me -- they've never had toys before, only dreams of them, and Chetney makes them some.

Hold up-- Chetney says that the more he makes toys, the less special they get. Did he get Condensed Capitalism, The Feat from Nana Morri?

The guardian of these children comes around the corner, and looks afraid of the Bells Hells. There's a nervousness, a reticence, that belays the relationship that the people of the Clutch have with the Emperium. They say that the Emperium wants to put every resource toward "the coming move," implying that they would draft or otherwise steal away or use their small, seven-year-old children to support their war effort. They also point the Bells Hells to the Jagged Edge.

As they move through town, they see a mixture of the native people of Ruidus: bormodos, reilorans, and the gray-furred sasquatch-like people they saw at the outpost. The majority of them are civilians, thin, living rough, afraid. They scatter, and so do the Bells Hells -- but they botched the stealth roll. There's the sound of scratching on stone as two avadons (giant faceless moon wolves), saddled with reilorans on their backs, trudge through the street. Other figures walk behind it as it moves through, accompanying a wheeled container, heading from the entryway to the city toward the outside. One of the avadons sniffs out Fearne: "you're out in strange places, Vanguard... there have been a number of rising attacks against this city, we're on alert. What is your business? Answer my question, Exandrian. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

Fearne fumbles her way through the conversation with some decent rolls, but Imogen -- without consulting the party, even though they have telepathic bond up -- takes it upon herself to collapse a building onto the reilorans and every surrounding civilian.

Fearne wildshapes into a tiny-ass fly and tries to get away, triggering an attack from the avadon, and we go into initiative!

They have two choices: either grab Fearne and run, which would let the enemies alert the city, or take everyone out so they can't raise the alarm. It sounds like they're going with the latter, but with some foresight to not cast fireball in the middle of a populated city.

Foregoing the collapsing building plan, Imogen just throws some stones at them, and everyone's engaged and seen at this point so there's no escaping this.

Ashton update: When Ashton deals a critical hit, attacks against that creature have advantage until the start of their next turn. Notably, the wording on this feature -- as Talisein read it -- specified "character," not "creature."

Laudna casts blight through Ashton's hammer, which -- after a spellcasting ability check based on the spell's level -- lets her split the spell and target 2 creatures instead of 1.

Orym update: One of the battle maneuvers he took was riposte.

FCG update: FCG's "toll the dead" is re-flavored to "scramble the dead," and he plays the modem dial-up sound when it happens.

The battle is over and everyone's alive, so they toss all the bodies into the portable hole so that no one else can talk to them later. "We're getting way too good at that -- let's run." Meanwhile, Imogen and Laudna use prestidigitation to get rid of the blood on the streets, and they investigate the cart: it has a 1ftx1ft heavy metal container, which also goes into the hole.

They see a witness in a window, and Laudna sends Pate to intimidate them -- they're an older civilian reilora, spooked. "'ey! You! You don't say a thing. No peeping! Shh. Don't worry; we're all friends here! Look, we even cleaned it up for you! It's a service we provide here. So, what did we learn?"

In the aftermath, they immediately head to the edge of the city. They just barely make a deception check to pass themselves off as people who belong; there are folks talking to each other, gathering -- it's a sense of a military occupying its own city, and it's been like this for a while now. In the Treshi scry ball, they see the faintest blip near the entrance to the city.

FCG casts locate creature on Jodot, and gets a ping within 1,000 feet -- they're far into the city, through this decaying Escher painting that is the surface-level, but they all follow the signal until they come to what appears to be some kind of mercantile district, where hovels, tents, and cabins give way to stained glass, magical lanterns, dyed cloths, and signposts. There are home decor shops, dye shops, gifts -- some have chimneys with smoke. But they eventually come to the outside of a massive kiln, with a structure built around the base of it with a sign carved like the memory of a handwriting. Inside is the clanging of metal, like a workshop.

Inside, it's very warm, and carries the smell of a kiln firing clay. There are all kinds of weapons here -- scimitars with obsidian edges, spears with shards of glass. There are also little knickknacks: models of wuccors, the glass rendition of a dancing reiloran. It's a unique mixture of artistry and weaponry, manned by a tall, rotund, male sasquatch-like creature with stark white hair and heavy goggles, chipping away at a tiny piece of something.

They have a nordic-type accent, I think. The Bells Hells use the key-phrase that Vesh gave them, and they roll insight to see if they're walking into a trap: with FCG's nat20 insight check, they see that the shopkeep is legit.

Jodot walks into a back room, and nearly 5 minutes later, a reiloran shrike emerges: she has dark green eyes with a scar like a C that curves from her eye to the edge of her mouth. As she enters, she's taller than any of them but with a natural hunch to her form. "So. You have my attention -- you said you needed a contract, yes? You wear, ah... deceptive attire. It shows promise. What is your business here in Kraveris? Do you need help smuggling things in, out? What do you want?"

Vesh is speaking with her mouth and voice, like the children from before. She lives among many people, and feels it's best that they all live at the same level. Ashton lays it all out: "We're here to figure out how to stop those who want to release the One Who Sleeps." Imogen clarifies that they're not here to stop reilorans from coming to Exandria, but Ludinus from enacting his plans.

They are not on the opposite side of this conflict from Vesh -- she's not part of the Volition, but she's a liaison between them, so she can show them where to find them. The Volition signals their current safehouse by a different color, and she pulls one from behind a curtain: a deep, royal purple, freshly-dyed. The safehouse is hard to find, so they'll need a vantage point: somewhere in the Banners, a district of the city. She gives them the name of an associate, who will let them through in exchange for wealth. He works at dusk, so they have a few hours, and Vesh can guide them there.

The weapons that used to be built here before the Emperium take-over channeled the lightning from Ruidian storms into attack power.

Stepping back to where she came, Vesh disappears, and Jodot emerges: he allows them to stay in his shop for a short time, so they can rest before heading out again. Chetney offers gold for a gold-plated scythe. Jodot takes the gold and slides it into the kiln, where it'll be melted down, because gold doesn't have much value here apart from being a rare material to work with.

Vesh lets them stay in the basement for an hour to recoup and take a short rest, but they have to be gone by the end of it. Meanwhile, Laudna asks how much the sculpture of the dancing reiloran is -- with a persuasion check, Vesh gives it to her, on the condition that if the Bells Hells are captured and the dancer found, Vesh will give them up.

In the basement of this workshop, they take short rest. Imogen re-attunes to the circlet, while Chetney and Orym investigate the box. The construction of it is familiar -- it's the same as the Cerberus Assembly boxes they procured from the Paragon's Call encampment, and there is a trapped magical lock on it.

Now that sending is working again, FCG wants to contact Frida, and they all wonder why it's suddenly working again. They look at the scry ball, and see that Otohan has moved closer to the center of the city.

They talk a bit about the disparity between classes here on Ruidus, and Imogen expresses that people here might be "better off if they could come to Exandria... they've never seen trees, or anything like that." Orym says that it's beautiful on Ruidus, too, but they want to see what the Dreamers see -- and Laudna recognizes that it's easier to sway those who have been stepped on when they're trying to rally a force against the oppressive Vanguard.

Ashton notes that it's too easy to make assumptions, so they're not exactly infiltrating but they aren't integrating either -- and Chetney, in stride, notes that it wouldn't be the worst thing if half of them got captured. (it would. it would indeed be a terrible thing if half of them got captured. all of them is one thing, but splitting up? disastrous.)

Halfway through this discussion about expendability, Imogen gets a message from Vesh: "wait. Don't move." A half-dozen footsteps sound above them, Laudna casts darkness on the basement, and all they have is the sound of footsteps and silence as we pick up next episode.

[hearteyedfeelings]

Little drabble cause I want halfling man to be more angry:

His eyes are losing focus. Every time he blinks his friends around him swirl in a mass of colors. He tries to hold on, to stay awake but he’s just so fucking exhausted. Not just from almost dying, but from everything.

From Will, from Derrig, from the Tempest, from FCG, from Dorian- it’s all so much.

He needs sleep.

…

Rustling, movement, hooves. Bleary, Orym blinks his eyes open and sees the legs of his favorite faun friend leaving the camp. He asks, she tells him not to worry.

He worries, of course he worries. So he does what he’s always done, he goes after her.

…

It’s happening again. Outmatched, so soon after- yeah, after that. And now his best friend is at his feet bleeding-

So much blood.

Then he blinks and she’s down and she’s,

She’s not breathing.

She’s not breathing?

No. Not happening. Not again.

…

As the dragon flies away he turns to his friend and he’s so…angry.

No, wait, he should be happy. She’s alive, he’s alive, the threat is gone.

He’s happy, of course he is.

But he’s also so so angry.

“Fearnie…”

“I know I know, it’s just- there was a sugar glider and it was so cute and-“

“Why didn’t you wake any of us up?”

Fearne shifts in that coy, slightly embarrassed way that she does, “I didn’t really think it was going to be, you know, my dad. I just figured it was something…I don’t know.”

Orym does know, gods he’s known her for so long and of course he knows but damnit he’s so fucking tired.

“Fearne you can’t just leave without telling anyone where you’re running off to.”

“I know I kno-“

Orym snaps, “No Fearne I don’t think you do!”

Fearne quickly quiets down as Orym continues, voice growing louder with the sounds of bells ringing in the distance.

“You can’t just fucking leave them and not say anything! Don’t you remember what just happened? We were all dead, if it wasn’t for-“ Orym’s voice breaks, “if it wasn’t for Letters we’d be dead okay? You can’t just act and not say anything to anyone. You can’t leave them, you-“ he breaks off again, faltering.

A shuttering breath, “…you can’t leave me.”

Orym drops to his knees, tears stubbornly burning in his eyes, because if he blinks they’ll fall and he’s not sure they won’t stop.

He distantly hears Fearne mutter, “Oh Orym.”

Then he feels two arms wrap around him and his face falls into the crook of her neck.

“You can’t leave me okay? I can’t do this without you. I need you to be more careful.” He pauses taking a deep breath.

“I’m sorry for yelling.”

Fearne shushes him, “No you’re right, I’m sorry, I won’t run off again okay? At least…not for a little while.”

Orym smiles, the tears he has refused to let fall still simmering.

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

…

The tears didn’t fall. It wasn’t the time for it.

…

Maybe later.

There’s still more to do.

[tatersdoesstuff]

bells of hells

[some notes/details under the cut]

Oyrm

Used a buncha squares for his shape language, stable and strong

Lithe yet buff for that high dex

Earthier colors because ashari shit

leaf shaped pauldron because again ashari shit

Chetney

Triangles and circles weirdly enough, pointy yet got a soft spot somewhere

Made his hair have a vague wolf head silhouette (biggest 'spikes' being ears and the rest being cheek fluff)

slouched even tho im pretty sure hes got an inch or two on orym

slightly cooler palette than my usual, hinting at his past in uthodurn

FCG

Circles and squares, friend shaped and (mostly) stable! yet pointy at some parts to allude to the murdermode

soft warm pallete

tires always lil flat, mostly for expression/posing reasons but also when the hell can they air them

not illustrated but when murder mode his shapes turn more angular

Imogen

Her shape language has the vibe of round shapes turned angular - once soft but hardened to face to world

cloud shaped hair! because shapes are fun (also thunderstorms)

accidentally gave her a bit of a sailor moon vibe

The red in her palette is ripped from laudnas

Laudna (and Pâté)

Thin sharp triangle shapes yet soft round eyes

Outfits got a bit of a Delilah vibe (plus green highlights in the eyes implying her influence)

Pate's palette is ripped completely from Laudna's for consistency

The gold from her palette is ripped from imogen's

Ashton

Squares and triangles :]

honestly had a lotta fun w them, funnest of fun shapes

one of the more saturated palettes

asymmetrical design to fit the chaos of it all

Fearne (and Mister)

Lotsa triangles - chaotic fey shapes

bright colors contrasted by dark purple to show shes bright yet mischievous

like with laudna and pate, misters palette is ripped from fearnes for consistency

she's got goat eyes :]

Dorian

Long pointy confident shapes

coolest palette of them all

bulkier leg shapes to emphasize the boots

quite literal cloud hair

[lizablee]

Done Enough (Critical Role Fanfic) Chapter 3

Chapter 1. Chapter 2. AO3

Fearne wandered under the light of Ruidus. 

The soft, reddish glow concealed the dust clinging to the robes of the Ruby Vanguard. Tattered and bloodied, the disguise still hung loosely over her shoulders. There was no need for it now. She shook it off, letting it fall, and ground it into the dust with her hooves.

Her path took her to a stream, gently revealed by moonlight and the murmur of running water. The reddish glow did nothing to illuminate the black water. Fearne closed her eyes and imagined motes of light drifting across the clearing. I should have asked them to teach me that spell . When she opened her eyes, a flame floated in her hand.

Fearne kicked a pile of sticks together and placed the flame down. It consumed the kindling voraciously. Something about her presence always made fires hungrier. “Settle down,” she scolded, dumping an armful of branches onto the flames. The fire got to work burning as she got to work undressing.

The red robes had offered little protection for Fearne’s flowing skirts from damage and dust. With each roll of ribbon and fold of fabric she removed, a small cloud of red sand drifted away or was efficiently beaten out by her practiced hands. Soon, every spare branch in the clearing was draped in drifting fabric. Fearne reveled in the freedom of standing bare in the forest. Her feral instinct to run naked through the woods was crushed beneath her exhaustion. If she had felt she could sleep, she might have curled up by the fire instead. But a ghost had been following her, and she had to deal with it first.

Her flaming form from earlier in the day had left her both exhausted and overheated. Every living thing she curated on her person had burned away in her titan form. The sweet scent of deadly blossoms was replaced by a strange, almost chemical smell of fire and something metallic. The cold night air on her bare skin was a balm.

Fearne stretched her legs over the smooth, tumbled pebbles and reached beneath her hair to withdraw a bone-carved comb, sharp and strong as the day Nana had given it to her. She sank the tines into her fur and began to brush, watching dust, debris, and shed hair drift into darkness.

She drifted.

When she returned, the comb was passing smoothly from her thighs to her hooves in one motion. She gave herself one more satisfying brush before starting on her backside, tail, and the soft patches of fur on her elbows and shoulders. It was at her ears that the comb caught in the tangled mats of her hair. With a huff, she yanked it free.

Fearne rifled through a hanging fold of fabric until she found a tiny, cloudy bottle. She walked to the waterline, her hooves sinking slightly into the stones. She took a small breath and stepped into the icy water.

The spark of Rau'shan hummed within Fearne, dispelling the bitter cold. She sighed and sank beneath the water, bubbles cascading from her hair and crawling up her horns. She stared into the black water until she couldn’t bear to hold her breath any longer and burst through the surface with a gasp.

It was so quiet.

Fearne dumped the contents of the cloudy bottle over her head and tossed it into the current. She hummed as she watched it sink. It gleamed softly against the creekbed, the only point of light in the inky darkness.

The smell of coconut oil drifted from Fearne as she carded her fingers through her hair. Her comb passed easily through the top layer, curated to fall in gentle seafoam waves over her ears, her horns, and her shoulders, cascading down to the small of her back. Fearne swept it up into a high bun and gingerly touched the hair underneath. It was a tangle of mats, burnt flowers, stolen trinkets, blood, and debris. Fearne shuddered as she teased it, feeling the tug on her scalp. I should have sorted this out a long time ago.

She massaged the oil into her hair, feeling even that gentle touch beginning to loosen something.

She remembered braiding FCG’s cables and wondering whether they felt it, or whether it was like when Nana braided her hair.

Teasing her fingers through, she started to pull the hair out into web-like sheets, glistening with oil. The burnt remains of an oleander dissolved beneath her touch.

She remembered asking FCG how old they were. She remembered how eager they were to hug her when they realised she wanted it.

She started to run the comb through, starting at the tips of the tangle. It caught immediately, bringing a tear to her eye. She tried again, and again, gently tugging at the tangles. Slowly, agonisingly slowly, they fell away.

She remembered seeing FRIDA and FCG holding hands and nearly threw the comb into the stream.

“FUCK!” she cursed. Her voice carried in the silence.

Fearne breathed heavily, sucking her breath in through her teeth. She yanked at the knots again, feeling them slip. The comb threatened to graze her scalp.

She remembered bringing FCG along to their date with Pretty so they could see what it was like.

She remembered a baffled FCG standing next to her delighted Nana after planning their scavenger hunt.

She remembered watching FCG sleep, dragging her claws gently over the blades of grass on the front of their chest and smelling the stale ale from when she used them as a canteen.

She remembered FCG’s eyes turning red and then white as they rushed Otohan—remembered their little look back, their hint of a smile, before they—

Fearne yanked her comb, and the last of the knots tore away. “Ow,” she whispered into the darkness. Tears ran freely down her cheeks. “That hurt,” she muttered.

The comb passed through her oiled hair with little resistance now. She sank into the water again, letting her hair flow around her, feeling it reach out with the current. She could almost drift away if she untethered herself from the creekbed. But it wouldn’t do to wander too far from her friends.

She looked to the dark sky and tried to imagine something good, something better than a friend disintegrating in a crackle of light right before her eyes.

The clouds were shifting and flowing. Catha’s halo brightened their borders as she began to emerge. Ruidus, stubbornly tethered to Exandria, was suddenly fighting a brighter light.

“I’m sorry, FCG,” Fearne whispered. “I tried to bring you back, but I think I left a lot of you up there.”

The low rumble of flowing water was the only response.

Fearne lifted herself out of the water and watched the moonlight begin to illuminate the world. The forest started to take shape—flowers bloomed around her, now soft white. The water glittered as it flowed. Ripples cascaded around Fearne as she waded to shore.

Her inner fire flared, and her soaked fur fluffed up and dried instantly. Droplets on her skin evaporated. Her hair steamed. She dressed with renewed purpose, eager to return to her friends and hear voices other than her own.

The clearing was almost as bright as day by the time she tied the last ribbon in her hair. Catha put her sister moon to shame. Fearne took a final look at the clearing and peered into the shallow water.

Thousands of tiny pieces of metal glittered back at her—fragments of gold, silver, and blue, trailing from the shore to the depths where the current washed away every trace of red dust. Every piece she picked from her fur, every shard tangled in her hair, now rested among the pebbles.

Fearne channelled a breath of druidic magic into an oleander and set it down in the stream. It floated gently above the glittering shrapnel. “I still carry you with me,” Fearne admitted. “Must have missed a piece somewhere.”

Between her fingers, she twirled a tiny gold shard, twisted into a curl, and tucked it into her hair.

[towards-toramunda]

A short lil fic that I wanted to exist:

The desert waste surrounding the malleus key was quiet and violently red.

Tomorrow Bell’s Hells planned to break in, use the key, and, hopefully, fearfully, arrive on the ruddy surface of Ruidus. They didn’t know when their next true rest would come, not really. Now, however, all was still. The only sound a dull thrum emanating from the inner workings of the key, and all was shaded a deep red. The shifting rainbow of the leylines still in their continuous dance, unchanged from their emergence weeks ago.

It was the second watch of the night, Orym and Ashton. Orym may not have dark vision, but the malleus key’s red vibrancy colored every visible surface around for miles, and it was the clearest he could view the world at night since… ever. It was disquieting. If he could see others in the shifting sand, surely they could see the hells too.

He moved his focus to his friends. They were all clumped together, FCG and Fearne surrounding Chetney, Imogen back to back with Fearne and holding onto Laudna with so much gentleness it hurt his heart. He shifted his focus back out. He needed to protect them. No matter the cost.

“Hey” Ashton broke the silence.

“Yeah?” Orym looked up at Ashton, they had a scarf wrapped around their head to hide the flickering lights of their injury, and Ashton’s sight was locked in place on the malleus key.

“After all of this is over… lets all go back to Zephrah for a bit. Rest up.” Their voice was hard and steely, their gaze never shifting from the key ahead.

“Ash…” Orym’s looked to the ground at his feet “I don’t want to pl-“

“No. We’re gonna go in, do what we fucking came to do, and then we’re gonna go to Zephrah. We’re gonna see your mom.” Their hands were tense, picking at their cuticles, their left leg bouncing. “Shes gonna make us muffins. We’ll bring them to the roof and look at the sunset. All of us. Together.”

Orym could feel the pressure of tears beginning to form behind his eyes as he began staring at the malleus key with the same determination. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but…

“I’ll bring a bottle of mead” he grabbed Ashton’s hands with one of his to still them “theres a bee keeper in my neighborhood who makes the best elderberry mead in all of Tal’Dore.”

Both of them had their gaze locked on the bloody bridge ahead of them. Ashton squeezed Orym’s hand like a lifeline.

“That must be the guy your mom got the honey from” the wind was howling and stirring sand up around them.

“Yeah thats him.” The steady crackle of energy coming from the key added an electric feeling to the air.

“We’re gonna sit on the roof, and eat your mom’s muffins with honey, and drink mead, and do a round of what the fuck is up with that.” They could see the scattered skeleton of their former airship, now coated in dust, and scavenged for parts. What was meant to be destructive instead made useful.

“Yeah. Yeah, we’re gonna go to Zephrah together. We’re all gonna-“ tears began to fall down Orym’s cheeks.

Ashton bowed his neck and raised Orym’s hand up to meet their lips, placing a soft, dry kiss to the back of his hand.

“We’re gonna go to Zephrah.” Ashton’s gaze never once moved away from the malleus key. “We’re gonna go back to Zephrah.”

Link on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52884496

[masterqwertster]

I'm on a roll. Another Breaking, Mending chapter

Suit Up and Prepare for What's Next

“Not that you’re not rocking the au natural look, FCG. Love the fuzz. Don’t know if you’ve got a cat dick or no dick to be seen. But, I think it’s about time you got some clothes on,” Chetney says, tossing over his old pants and tunic and bringing the cuddle fest (with a still nude FCG) to an end. 

And getting a reprimanding hit for bringing up the obvious from Imogen. And Laudna. And Orym. Look, it’s not Chetney’s fault that full fur makes other people feel less awkward about nudity without actually changing the fact that it’s still a birthday suit.

Chet would almost say he’s surprised by the patience with which Ashton helps and teaches the aeormaton-turned-katari to wiggle into clothes that weren’t particularly tailored for their bodyshape (but hey, they’d managed digitigrade legs and a tail and fur all the times he’d wolfed out before), except that Ashton has always had a mile-wide soft spot for FCG and helping them out. 

Besides, it’s good to see their titan-blooded genasi finally settle out of that swinging state of dissociation and intense focus. Get Ashton back towards the caring grump that is his usual emotional state. 

Hell, everyone’s looking a little better in their emotional stability now that they’ve got FCG back. A little less taunt. A little less sad. A little less ready to go straight for the throat at the slightest threat to the group’s safety (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing to be ready to do, just not towards allies).

Fuck, it’s nice to cheat a sudden and violent death.

Once Ashton has Fresh Cut Grass settled into his clothes, they set him up on slightly unsteady legs and guide him through a little twirl to show the rest of Bells Hells how the borrowed duds look. Chetney has great taste in clothes, obviously. The blues of his old outfit are a nice contrast to FCG’s still fairly yellow tones. Though the pants bunch a little oddly at the reversed knees of the new katari and–

“Ashton, why the fuck did you tie the tunic up like that?” Chetney scolds, seeing the split hanging edges from the front pulled to the back and tied into a bow that folds up the hang of fabric in the back.

“Because Letters doesn’t know how to use legs, and I didn’t want them getting tripped up by this shit or getting his new tail tangled up in it,” Ashton grumpily defends. 

Which, okay, he’s got a point.

“Lay off, Chet. It’s cute!” Fearne says with a playful nudge, bustling forward to tie a decorative sky blue ribbon around FCG’s tail.

“Oh, uh, thanks, Fearne,” Fresh Cut Grass says distractedly, turned towards their tail and watching it flick about agitatedly, the streamers of the ribbon following the movement. 

Continue on AO3