#i would die for imogen and laudna

[lenakluthor]

u literally said it perfectly w ur tags on that cr poll w how vm and tm9 got multiple arcs but bells hells just had the moon that’s exactly why i lost interest bc it felt like the same thing every episode

right?!?!!! i knew pretty much from the start that they were gearing up for a big crossover event, but i didn’t think it would be at the expense of bell’s hells’ story and character development.

vox machina started at level ten, and we still saw them through several different story arcs. and each character had countless character beats with important development and backstory. they grew, and the audience got to experience that with them.

the same thing happened with the mighty nein– even more so, actually, because they started at like, level three. we, again, saw them through several different story arcs. the characters had meaningful backstory moments that led to a lot of growth. they did SO MUCH.

and then you have bell’s hells. which, for me personally, was SUCH a disappointment, because i think that campaign has some of the most interesting and relatable characters. they had so much POTENTIAL. i fell in love with them all instantly. but they pretty much immediately dove into the moon storyline and any character or backstory moments they had were not fleshed out. they barely had room to breathe because the end of exandria was imminent. which, okay, would’ve been at least some sort of payoff if bell’s hells had saved the day on their own. but they didn’t. they called in vox machina pretty early on and then wanted the mighty nein to go to the moon. and maybe it was still a good payoff in the eleven episodes i have yet to watch, but tbh i doubt it. so, really, what did bell’s hells even do?

i could go on for hours about how disappointed i am with how c3 ended up. i cannot stress enough how much i love the characters (minus a select few). i was so excited and invested in the beginning. i was even excited about the crossover potential at first. but in reality, it just felt rushed with no real emotional payoff. why am i so invested in characters that are essentially going nowhere? they were small fish in a big pond the entire time. and i still have so many unanswered questions about every single character’s backstory.

i’m SAD about it, dude.

[screechingfromthevoid]

I think, no matter what happens, Bell's Hells being framed as villains is a little far fetched. In the total hypothetical tpk.

There are so many people to speak on the character of the group. Keyleth would not have anyone speaking ill of Orym. I don't think Zeru would let anyone say a bad word about either of his sons. Jiana might have had Ashton on a short leash but she trusted them enough not to disappoint her, to not lie to her. Ajit Dayal knows they were doing good. Caleb believed in Imogen, in Bell's Hells.

People in high places knew and loved Bell's Hells. Their names will be clear.

They probably won't be regarded as heros. They will have failed, after all. But they will not go the way of Vespin Chloras. He was alone in his ventures for godhood. Bell's Hells gathered trust and allies to be elected to face a god eater.

It's not their fault. They're just mortals caught in the fire of God's games.

[dol--blathanna]

I've already spoke in length about Orym's self-sacrificial tendencies in my 'Orym is a rabbit' post, but don't think I've forgotten about Miss Horse Girl giving Iphigenia vibes over here I just have some concerns about Imogen, whether willingly or forced, becoming a vessel for Predathos (you know, the same entity that Orym tried to comprehend for a single heartbeat and began screaming uncontrollably, had to be cradled like an infant by the Wildmother while he sobbed, and now something inside of him is irreversibly broken). Like I just think that letting an eldritch monster of hunger and oblivion possess you is maybe not a great idea?

One is a rabbit pushing his head willingly into the snare, the other is an ancient Greek princess about to be sacrificed on the altar so the war may continue, and I am asking them both very nicely to Please Stop That and Not Die 🙏💕

[nezumidou]

I was suddenly struck by the image of Imodna at their wedding, the two meeting at the altar and saying their typical "Hi" to each other. And I don't know what would be better: if one of them says it first, or if they both say it at the same time.

[towards-toramunda]

So I’ve seen lots of debate about this on here and I think this is v interesting. I could see it going kinda any way, and there have been good arguments all around. I’m not entirely sure who I see the shard going to so:

(Reblog to get more votes and widen the pool etc etc you know the deal)

[fearnesbells]

new imodna fic just dropped! :D

look i don't write kidfic but the conversation with liliana in episode 89 got to me in a way i cannot even describe. "would you end my life? and stop that child from being born?"

all of us are going forward; none of us are going back || imodna || 5k+

“Do you ever think that we’re going to lose it?” Laudna asks, finally, her voice that kind of deep gravel it becomes when she’s fallen deep inside herself. “Lose this?” Imogen asks, looking around them, as the first drops of rain begin to fall outside. She swallows. Weighs the truth against the lie. “All the time.” “Delilah always comes back,” Laudna murmurs, biting out the name like it’s poison. “It was fine when it was me, and me alone. When I wasn’t—I hated when she could get to you, when you were vulnerable, but at least you—you are extraordinarily capable. You’ve beaten her once, you could beat her again.” Her eyes fall to meet Imogen’s, and Imogen understands what she will say next. It makes her body go cold. “They’re only children,” she whispers. “They’re our children.”

ao3 link

playlist link

[fuck-off-im-ace]

If Imogen says something along the line of "What if Laudna is dead and i never told her that i'm in love with her? I cant believe i just made the same mistake for a second time" i'm gonna go Completly feral, i'm gonna be thinking about it for the rest of the year and i'm not even kidding.

[willowbirds]

Not me thinking about what could happen if Mister gets the shard!

Think about it.

He’s an elemental so the shard likely wouldn’t burn him.

He could gain more fire powers, the flames that make up his body possibly turning white or blue with how hot his temperature has become.

Ashton has an arm made of lava rock which could be a perfect perch for the wielder of the fire shard.

If Ashton and Mister are near each other perhaps it gives them a benefit for their elemental connection.

It would be much easier for them to sneak around since they’re one person and a monkey.

Perhaps Fearne could still gain an ability since she is tethered to Mister.

I dunno, I just think Mister makes the most sense to me.

[big-moon-little-moon]

Ashton "No one gets left behind" Greymoore

C3E34 / C3E59

[utilitycaster]

One of several things I left out of that long Imogen and Laudna post, tbh, because it was long enough already, is that since the characters, will continue to do things (or, through inaction, still cause things to happen) that cause problems, if you take all the lesser flaws off the table like Imogen being somewhat selfish or insensitive or having a skewed idea of hypocrisy? If you always rule out explanations reliant on fallibility or stupidity? You really only leave the door open for interpretations of outright deliberate malice.

[pagesofkenna]

"As stony as you are on the outside, you really do have a soft heart" 😭 honestly, trust Liam to have the only reaction to Ashton's ~situation~ that I really vibe with

[paperglader]

THE WAY THAT I DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE THE LAST PART OF THIS POST. I JUST LOOKED AT MY GIRL GRINNING AND WENT ON A WHOLE DIFFERENT TANGENT IN THE TAGS

guys. when imogen loves laudna so very much am i right??? guys.

guys- hey guys. remember when you watch imogen look at laudna like that but then later on you have to hear her say i promise i'll move on from you i. i promise i'll make the right choice if you're too far gone. and then shortly after you have to hear her say gods, dawnfather? help me. with her. please—

"imogen temult is doomed by the narrative-" NO. have you considered imogen temult FANS are the ones doomed by the narrative because personally my heart is breaking at 190/bpm whenever Imogen Temult. and whenever Laura Bailey.

[thewhalelord]

I consider one of Laudna’s darkest moments to be something she said during the rooftop conversation she had with Imogen after she sucked in the dagger. In which she explicitly says that it would be better to let herself die for the end of the mission, because at least she would’ve served her purpose. That “maybe it should” kill her—that she was always a dead end for Imogen.

And in the epilogue of this story — where her mission is done — she expressly chooses and wants life, simply and happily. She makes the choice to age and grow “old and pruny” with the woman she loves and who she knows loves her. She chose a future.

A character that openly struggled so deeply with mental illness and addiction, a character who thought her only way out was to die, chose life and got to live it in happily and that is so more important to me than I have the words to express.

[shorthaltsjester]

obsessed with the fact that bell's hells won that fight explicitly because of their reliance on the gods. imogen and laudna both vocally saying 'thank you matron' at the beginnings of that combat as they use new skills or spells they've refreshed, orym wielding his sword, braius wielding his divine power, the entire party instilled with a hero's feast prepared by a cleric of the wildmother, imogen using power granted by the arch heart to bring down predathos -- an entity that has been described as welcoming her home, offering a womb she has longed to return to, her as its kin -- in imagery evoking the moment where the gods too decided to turn their backs on their home when faced with the monstrosity they were tied to, that they'd help bring about (something something, the arch heart gave mortals magic and imogen gave predathos its vessel). and the fact that bell's hells has slowly grown more reliant on the idea that predathos does not hunger for mortals -- something they in fact scoffed at when it came from liliana and ludinus' mouths -- predathos took several of them in his maw and tried to consume them.

viewing the story as one of a group of people predominantly blinded to the reality of their situations by the fog of their traumatized feelings -- as i've chosen to do for the sake of my sanity listening to them go on and on about gods that never gave them a lick in the same breath that they complain that the gods have too much power -- it is so extremely poetic that orym cut down ludinus with a sword blessed by the wild mother only for bell's hells to retread the path ludinus set up for himself. it is extremely ironic for a group of people who have implicitly raised complaints about the inherent manipulation that comes with the god's existence to come up with a plan that is explicit manipulation, demanding the gods become mortal or die [which to be clear, extremely interesting plan with interesting consequences that would be compelling to see! absolutely dogshit reasoning skills and moral assessment. but it is continually ASTOUNDING to me that a campaign that gets treated by some as the height of critical role's sociopolitical philosophical exploration features so many PCs who struggle (and not in the fruitful, developmental way but in the head-in-hands, can this student talk to the prof during office hours so I don't have to feel the second hand embarrassment of them making it obvious they haven't ever attended a previous lecture or done the class readings way) with ideas found in any first year philosophy course].

and to be clear this is not me devaluing the role of bell's hells in actually fighting the fight -- but all they've done is the same thing the gods were already doing, keeping predathos sealed, except now its in a volatile-at-best mortal who is on borrowed time re: being lost once again to its power. the only suggestion the hells have that this might be a justified and right course of action is the support of two gods -- one who has proven themself to be okay with the idea of death until it actually arrives before and the other one who is the only being on record who actually chose to be a deity -- out of a much larger pantheon, and their personal inclinations to agree with the ideology of a man who they have claimed to ardently disagree with but it turns out that was just because of his methods, I guess. scattershotting catalysts for change and hoping that change results in a Better World just. on its own (almost like. idk. fate) that you haven't even suggested practical (I'd even take theoretical ones atp) methods to achieve beyond Get Rid of a bunch of beings who are involved in actually extreme amounts of metaphysical and magical infrastructure isn't actually a course of action, its a course of chaos, and that is in fact worse than things staying the way they are if 'the way things are' that you keep referring to has only been shown to, currently, be that you and your friends feel sad and a little miffed that the gods you haven't offered anything to are only willing to do things for you when you serve them. unlike you, a group notorious for the way you do things for people you don't know without asking anything in return (this is sarcasm, if that wasn't clear).

anyway, I will continue to be frustrated by the lack of grounding for either (a) bell's hells having actually incisive and contextualized criticisms of the gods (either their own or from the actual mouths of the 'little guys' they are allegedly fighting for) or (b) more engagement with the fact that bell's hells as a party are not interested in making the morally right choice, they are at Best looking for a morally neutral choice. that said, if I ignore the actual story c3 has portrayed, the last few episodes have been a great wrap-up to a story about how singleminded trauma can make you and how that can lead you to place where there's no longer any Good choices to make, only potentially satisfying ones, where the question of who to satisfy takes the reigns over what is best.

[gracewolf43]

i want this irl

i have no good explanation for this

[danwhobrowses]

Now that Critical Role's VOD of episode 120 is out and everyone in the fandom's had a moment to breathe, simmer, and adjust to this all. I wanna do a big talk about my favourite idiot punk rock, Ashton Greymoore.

Because over these last few episodes, I've been so proud of them.

Many people have had vocal opinions on Ashton, not all of them positive either; I've seen many berate them and say they're selfish, not a team player, or that they 'don't add anything to the group'. But over the past few episodes, I feel like Ashton has been an unsung hero in the battles with Ludinus and Predathos, with their contributions, oftentimes selfless and cooperative, ending up providing the floor for others to deliver strong and impactful actions.

While Dorian and Imogen will rightfully get the lion's share of praise for their clutch moments - Dorian's Force Cage on Ludinus saving Liliana and defeating Predathos' first stage alongside Imogen's Power Word: Stun setting up Ludinus' death and defeating Predathos' second stage - Ashton's actions were often the prelude to moments that could not have succeeded without them, including these clutch moments. Their attack on Ludinus in 117 prompted the Silvery Barbs that burned up his reaction - which allowed Dorian to successfully use Force Cage without being Counterspelled, their high-damage attack on his neck hole in 118 broke Ludinus' concentration on Ravenous Void - which somehow later got credited to Chetney - which gave Imogen the freedom and mobility to get in range for Power Word: Stun, they got the Insight check whisper on Predathogen in 119 to know that Imogen was physically inside of the body and needed to be pried out - which Imogen achieved herself thanks in part to Fearne reaching her, and recently in 120 they pulled Imogen out of Predathos' maw, abandoning the Hammer synonymous with their character (to the point that Keyleth titled them the 'Paradox Hammer') to prioritize saving their friend, which - following Dorian's healing - gave her the chance to use the Ring of Remembrance for the finishing Meteor Swarm. Not to mention all the other damage they dealt and tanked throughout the four fights, the passive d4 bonuses and advantage they gave the party (almost acting partly as a secondary paladin or a tertiary bard) to buff their damage and saving throws, and accepting the risk of disintegration when Laudna used their Hammer's spell splitter - which forced Predathos to use its final Legendary Resistance.

The Disintegrate moment itself was tense because we all know that Ashton is high among the Hells who would sacrifice themselves to save the group - a mentality most of the Hells likely shared in this fight - but fortunately they don't have to, they'll never have to, and they gained something just as if not more valuable than a heroic sacrifice: they get to live. The person who before meeting these chucklefucks believed they'd likely die face-down in a ditch in some backwater alley and thrown into an unmarked grave AT BEST gets to live, and the people that mean most to them get to live thanks to their efforts, their successes. And that's the most important part; for all the times they couldn't help or save someone because they were unconscious or out of reach, for all the times they let their imposter syndrome tell them they're just a fuckup undeserving of trust, praise, or love, and for every fear they had that one day they'd mess up and this new family of theirs will abandon them like the Nobodies did, this time they were there standing beside their people to the very end - and they helped get them out alive. No mistakes, no carelessness, and no-one left behind.

For that, I am proud of Ashton Greymoore; not Bells Hells' Weapon but their Helm, not a Blunt Instrument but a Protector, and not a Hero who needs to do 'what needs to be done' but a Friend who is saving their people no matter the odds. Under all the hardened and rugged exterior that has always been who Ashton is - the perfectly flawed character they are.