#i'm just happy to have aeor back!!!

[sky-scribbles]

Man, I was so desperately hoping they wouldn't go to the amphitheatre so that I could just pretend Brashaar wasn't there any more and the Aeor fic could remain mostly canon compliant :'D

[ilanarose7]

Bells Hells Episode 95 Morning After Thoughts

SPOILERS BELOW!!! (This has become a weekly thing for me to help digest the episodes and I'm probably gonna keep doing it. really helps with my episode memory as well)

New favorite Campaign 3 episode unlocked!!!! The title of this episode has been released on Beacon (I won't spoil that), but I will personally be referring to it as "Shopping and Shipping" in my own head. It just had the perfect amount of everything and felt so incredibly cathartic (then stressful in the best way) after everything that's happened in recent episodes.

Let's break it down:

The Essek v Astrid verbal showdown!!! Essek appears to hold all the grudges that Caleb doesn't (or at least didn't really at the end of M9). When Astrid dropped the "Ludinus has an itch in the back of his neck" lore I was thinking back to when they first learned more about the harness and someone (I think it was either Marisha or Laura) wrote in their notes "We cut off Ludinus's head!!!" that was later read aloud. After that convo, that action seems like a decent play. That or maybe the Cadeuces-style Dispell Magic to the back of the neck. (side note: of course Fearne bought the Vasselheim version of the Kama Sutra 😂)

NEW CLOTHES FOR EVERYONE!!! We know there's new Dorian art waiting to be released since he rejoined the party, but everyone is getting an Aeor-ready makeover! It makes perfect sense, but I was still thrown off by the level of outfit upgrades and am so excited for the art!

Pumat is BACK! Well, his Simulacrum are at least. I don't care, just hearing that voice made me so happy. And also Dorian giving all his money to Orym so he can buy the armor? So what if I was squealing?

Downtime at the Cabaret ❤️ The Imodna kiss as Laudna went back upstairs. The Callowmoore flirting leads to Ashton, for the first time in a LONG time, successfully pick-pocketing Fearne. Dorian and Chetney banter back in full swing. Fearne leaving the EXU group hug to give Dorym a moment together. going back slightly but Iva Deshin made Bells Hells clock that YES, YOU ALL DO GIVE OFF POLYAMOROUS VIBES! So many character moments that have been needed in such a plot-heavy story

Ashton shows their head off to Essek! I have been waiting for this for sooooo long!!! Allura had given some answers, but talking more about how Dunamancy and the Assembly's manipulation of Dunamis has played a role in everything going on. While the cast know this info out of character, its good that they finally can do so in character as well

Laudna, Delilah, and the Sword-Shaped Elephant in the Room. Well, damn. First off, the acting in this last hour or so was AMAZING!! Also incredibly demonstrative of the level of trust at the table. Now to talk about the moment itself. The line between Laudna and Delilah has been getting blurrier and last night I don't think Marisha even knew fully where Laudna ended and Delilah began. The cast and many insightful Critters have been comparing Laudna to an addict and last night is an incredible example. The way Laudna handled it was wrong, this could have been a conversation rather than an initial attack. But was Laudna or Delilah the one making those choices? Or being manipulated into them? In the moment, the calm approach the group tried to take was the right one, but honestly, Laudna needs a harsher talking-to like what Chetney did with Ashton post-shard incident. Taliesin on 4SD said that's what saved Ashton from leaving the group. It might be something that, other than Imogen's love, may be enough of a wake-up call to help her break away from her Delilah-induced magic addiction

TLDR: The whole episode was full of amazing moments that were cathartic, informative, tense, and heartwarming. THE PERFECT BELLS HELLS EPISODE! again, that's just my opinion. I'd love to hear what everyone else thought too!

[cringefaecompilation]

for character questions: veth, jester, caduceus

veth

First impression

also found cr through an animatic and the guy who made it made nott/veth curvy and sexy, and that disappointed me because i thought it was her canon design. i'm so happy it was just that guy being weird about women.

Impression now

genuinely my favorite pc sam has ever made. knocked scanlan right off his perch

Favorite moment

the scene where she's in the invulnerable vagrant with luc and yeza is so fucking cute and heartwarming every time.

Idea for a story

i would put this in the headcanon section but i'm saving it for another thing. god it would be so funny if at the end of this mn interlude after they kill the weavemind veth says "hey so um... we're having another kid..." and the rest of the nein LOSES IT

Unpopular opinion

i don't think there's anything inherently bad with widobrave as a ship. i personally prefer vethyeza just because if a guy ever said to me "i don't want a poem, i want a wife" with the same tone that yeza did i'd love him for eternity, but widobrave being treated like it's a morally wrong ship because it'd turn caleb into a homewrecker or whatever feels odd to me.

Favorite relationship

her and jester and her and caleb! also honorary nod to the fjord/nott love-hate relationship

Favorite headcanon

veth also has picked up on some zemnian while traveling with caleb!

jester

First impression

i was worried i would dislike her. something about her seemed disingenuous compared to the rest of the nein and i guess i was worried her kindness and sweetness would be revealed to be a front or she would stick out like a sore thumb.

Impression now

i've never been happier to be wrong, jester you are my darling angel princess cinnamon apple and i love you

Favorite moment

jester's massive 700 hp point heal in the reunited special was so cool to see firsthand

Idea for a story

i think arty should keep fucking up and nearly getting killed so she can have more excuses to keep saving him

Unpopular opinion

i don't think she has autism/adhd. runs away

Favorite relationship

her and her mama and arty.

Favorite headcanon

i think if they had gotten tossed into jail instead of caleb showing off the beacon she would have been able to charm the guards and get them out. the power of jester.

caduceus

First impression

i got spoiled on him because i went out of order but i thought he was cool and loved his design

Impression now

Favorite moment

the comparatively underrated (according to fandom trends) scene where he reunites with his family

Idea for a story

i want him to see that orb vision of the gods destroying aeor so bad rn because i feel like it might make him trust melora MORE but i wanna be sure lol

Unpopular opinion

i sort of wish he'd stayed more morbid. taliesin went for the creepy vibes hard in the liveshow and then he fell off it just as hard and leaned into hippy. and that's not bad, and i get that he did it on purpose to push himself out of his comfort zone but it does make me curious as to what a "taliesin-friendly" caduceus would look like

Favorite relationship

finally giving fjord something with wildbrothers. i know a lot of people looking back on it now have problems with the portrayal of gods as wholly 100% good compared to "false" deities but hey, if going off the pact = addiction route, i think that's it's fair enough for fjord to recover from his addiction with faith and caduceus doesn't force his beliefs on him or imply it's the right thing to do

Favorite headcanon

intersex caduceus is real to ME

[marcussour]

C3E114 random bits and thoughts

2025 - MAKE MORE SMUT

"Hey guys, we're saving the world again", "What would they do without us"

Oh, I love that Percy's going full tinkerer with wind up toys that are secretly weapons

Love that Vex's first attack with the explosive arrow was a nat20.

Fuck, the giant vidulch is something else. And of course it's the Sunder King's mount.

"That's the 20th count of the initiative", MATTHEW, WHAT ARE YOU DOING

Oh, thankfully it was both nat 1s

I love Ashley's "GOOSH" sound effect

"Scanlan, what does your horse eyes see?"

I love that now's officially "Scanlan's Hand"

Vorak!

"That's what the nuns told me sex was like"

I expected nothing them from them than to burst into singing Manfred Mann's Earth Band's "Blinded by the Light"

The holy aura spell really was a life saver, since every enemy has been attacking with disadvantage and avoiding all the nat 20s

And of course the moment after I wrote that, Lieve'tel dropped concentration

"Here's what I'm gonna do" by Ashley Johnson

TRINKET!

DIVINE INTERVENTION! Lieve'tel is just, clutch

"You take 14 points of acid damage"; "we'll buy you some Pink Floyd"

Over 100 points of damage in a single round. High level barbarians are something else.

So the beacon was somewhat related to the Luxon

So long bloody bridge!

Scanlan's (and Sam's) hate for Trinket, will never stop being funny

That frenzied wrath that Ozo's has is crazy

OH NO VEX

Look, I know they can revive her still, and it wouldn't be Vox Machina without at least someone dying, but shit, that one hurt

See, she's back thankfully

Love Percy's long ass turn, just, unloading anything on Ozo to avenge Vex

"He's inside of you one last time", "Balls deep"; the more things change... etc, etc

VAX'ILDAN!

Rest in pieces Malleus Key

Of course Vax's first roll is a nat20

If I had a nickel for every time in this campaign that a priced mount/companion of a big boss enemy turned against them due to the actions of the party

THAT WAS THE MOST GROG WAY TO JUST WRECKING UP AN ENEMY, AMAZING

What would Scanlan do

Make it Funny, Make it Cool, Make it Perverted!

"Hey, you look like diseased genitalia. Tell me, does it burn when you urinate?", Robbie's a gift

Look at Vax just being back and cool as fuck

NGL, I wanted Scalan to keep the vidulch and just, take him whenever he rejoins his mid-midlife crisis escapades.

One night. Let's pretend everything's alright for one night.

I didn't expected a happy ending, but that was bittersweet.

I do have to say, besides Vax getting one night along with the group, it did left me with some questions. Because the whole conversation with the Raven Queen sounded like, maybe Vax can/might serve her in the material plane?

Also, what is going on in Issylra? The angels told them that they needed to regroup, and plan the next stage of the attack, possible on Ruidus? Like, is it prepping in case both Bells Hells and the Mighty Nein fail? Is it related to if/when Predathos awakens? Or is something else going on? Like, maybe Ludinus or someone else attacked Vasselheim while everyone was away? I don't think it was the broadcast of the message from Aeor since I imagine Vox Machina would've gotten it too. Lots of things that might happen.

Anyway, loved this mini arc or whatever we want to call it. Having Vox Machina again was just, the best.

Also, did Lieve'tel went with them to Whitestone? I imagine she did, if only so she could visit Bertrand's grave.

[oleander-neruim]

Well.

I'm not sure about you, but having you're entire kingdom turn its back on you & your life ripped from your hands because you were made the Champion to the "wrong God" just seems like a rather unjust fate.

Inktober Day 17: Demon

Extra bits & a snippet of my rambles under the cut

In my (potentionally delusional) mind, there was every opportunity in Rivendell history to reunite the beliefs of Aeor & Exor without all the "lmao sucks to suck, get out" stuff that happened. There's just a balance to things yk. Ying & Yang, Warmth & Coldness, Life & Death. Just because one is "negative" to the broad eye doesn't mean it isn't detrimental to a balance of existence. [Rambles to the Void]

They could've been happy is all I'm saying.

And ta daaa. Here's that parallel post.

Coin Flip

[jaggedwolf]

beau/jester!

when I started shipping it if I did: I honestly don't remember?? I know I instantly found their friendship adorable, so it probably didn't take long. Definitely was shipping them by time of the escalated bar fight.

my thoughts: they just, immediately fall into being co-conspirators and being so charmed by each other, it's great? Even from the start, you have them climbing that tree in Alfield together, Beau listening with amusement at Jester bullshitting about pocket unicorns, Jester helping to decipher the mail Beau stole, Beau tucking Jester in after the latter gleefully goes on and on about Tusk Love. or basically what I said in this post

What makes me happy about them: that instinctive, vicious protectiveness and attachment over each other - Beau is so messed up about leaving the Blue Dragon fight first and says she never meant to leave but especially would never mean to leave Jester, Jester gets so mad at Beau's dad she sends him spooky messages just to fuck with him, Beau tries to talk Jester through her approach of the Gentleman as her dad, Jester worries that she didn't heal Beau enough in that cathedral fight and that's why Beau is avoiding her. I swear, there's a large portion of the campaign where they just want each other so much in ways that they can't seem to verbalize and it drives me and them wild.

Beau's confession to Nott about her crush is still so, so good and so, so sweet

falling through the sky together, grabbing at each other's hands and teleporting away, both their speeds combined, that ridiculous bar fight where it didn't matter which of them won but that they did it wholeheartedly, buying pets together they absolutely were not ready to take care of

What makes me sad about them: hm, you're currently watching the Aeor arc so you can tell me if I'm wrong about this, but there's a point there or earlier where it feels like...they stop going to each other the way they used to. Maybe it's towards the end Rumblecusp, actually, where Beau is no longer comfortable being emotionally protective of Jester and sticks to being physically protective. Don't get me wrong, I find all the Jester and Yasha conversations about Beau/Yasha endearing as hell, but it did feel...odd that we never get Beau and Jester talking about Beau/Yasha similarly, like they'd stopped sharing a metaphorical room too. I can kind of fanwank it as both of them realizing Beau's crush is unrequited, and that ends up making their friendship less intimate than it used to be. Which makes sense, but still makes me sad

oh and i guess it makes me sad that beau never actually gets to see jester truly angry, given their ship conversation. the canon post-hag group convo was good, but I would not have minded jester losing it at beau's offer after.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: it's actually been a while since I've read much critical role fic but hmm. okay this is not a fanfic thing but it annoys me when fandom does not understand that beau lies all the time! beau telling fjord that haha she once had the hots for jester hahaha is not marisha retconning beau's sincere confession but beau playing out a convo with the guy she's always going to think is better for jester than she is and more importantly, the guy she knows jester likes!

things I look for in fanfic: again, I haven't actually looked for fic with them forever. But back when I did I was there for all the hurt/comfort and pining fic forever.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I really do like Beau/Yasha - you have some very good episodes for them ahead of you, and it is a great ending for Beau in canon. I don't feel strongly about other Jester ships, other than NOTP-ing Caleb/Jester and Fjord/Jester XD.

My happily ever after for them: Going off on adventures all around Exandria, taking breaks to see their friends, Beau using said adventures for her cobalt soul purposes, Beau and Artagnan forming a very reluctant truce.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: for some reason I instead picture them sleeping with one of them plopped on top of the other, haha

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: hey, sparring is a non-sexual activity for these two! they have so much fun with it, and don't hold grudges about going no holds barred. honestly anything that lets these two be the co-conspirators engaged in chaos shenanigans that they were meant to be is excellent.

[dent-de-leon]

Having many (incoherent) thoughts about how Molly really was just the Arch-hearts perfect little angel; made in their image.

Beautiful, hedonistic, fleeting, genderfluid disaster with a soft heart

I'm having a lot of thoughts

aHH yes!! :') I think there's a lot to the Archeart that feels reminiscent of the Moonweaver, and I could easily see Molly following them if Sehanine didn't reach out to him first. Fleeting beauty, passion, living in the moment, art and magic and the act of creation...I think a lot of the Archeart's domains would appeal to Molly. Also, the gender exploration and gender euphoria is such a cool thing I didn't even think about!! Molly would absolutely be inspired by the Archeart's whole identity--

And Molly would've loved the Archeart's whole aeormaton club and everything it represented. This place of joy and art and passion and pleasure in the midst of all Aeor's cruelty and oppression...just the kind of indulgent little haven Molly would've adored. Especially thinking of how Molly and Lucien were always treated so cruelly for their infernal heritage, and how the demons and devils imprisoned in the city were able to still find this place where they could be free--

I feel like there's also something to the fact that Molly is drawn to the Moonweaver, and she and the Archeart are both traditionally elven deities? I'm not sure what, but I think it's interesting.

The thought of being made in a god's image is such a lovely way to put it and it reminds me of how the Moonweaver was there to help Molly shape his own identity. She sings him songs--stories of the place she calls home--tells him a tale of a King who was so beloved and deeply mourned, who died and rose up from the grave again. Makes him feel like royalty. Like he was someone loved and cherished, someone worth remembering and holding onto.

And when he's finally revived for the third time, Sehanine is there once again, reaffirming that Tealeaf's soul is defined by love--that he deserves another chance to find happiness.

She tells him to be free, to find his own way in the world and delight in whatever joy he finds. And Molly admits the Moonweaver was there to guide him as he built his new life and sense of self, helped him to discover who he is and find the right path.

"Can you imagine what it would feel like, to not feel anything about anything that happened to you so far?...It's very freeing. It's the best thing--it's the thing that happened to me. It's not the best thing that happened to me, it's the thing that happened to me. I found peace in building a new person--the Moonweaver..."

I think it's also worth noting that the Moonweaver describes Molly as, "Empty. Free. Obsessed...Death-obsessed, but free"--Molly is first born in the shadow of Lucien's death, in a shallow grave under a red moon. Molly, who always believed from the very beginning he was on borrowed time, that at any moment he would be back in the earth again. All he had was the present, this one last chance to live happy and free in the moment, to find as much joy in this life as he can until it's all stolen away from him again.

Reminds me a bit of how it's the Archeart who contemplates their own mortality--that maybe in a way they wouldn't mind if everything were to end, that it makes those moments of joy and beauty all the more powerful. That nothing is ever meant to last, and that's the allure of it all. I think the Archeart and Molly would probably have very similar sentiments about death.

And thinking about...the Moonweaver reaching out to Lucien when he was all alone and abandoned by his only family, distraught and desperate, aching for companionship. And Lucien turns away from her light--still too hesitant, still afraid of letting anyone get close. But Sehanine is ever patient and understanding, is content to wait until this lonely, shattered, fate touched soul is ready to accept her help.

When Lucien dies and Molly first wakes, still caught in this liminal space between life and death, the Moonweaver is there for him, her comforting embrace the first thing he feels. She is--like Molly--described as delightfully strange, otherworldly. Enigmatic, mercurial, ethereal. And when she changes shape, appears in the form of a child, Molly even finds her "creepy" and doesn't realize she's the same person. He hopes that the beautiful women who read his cards returns soon, and that he's not just left alone with his kid who unnerves him--

She has different faces and facets and an ever shifting, fluid sense of identity, much like Molly himself. But more than anything, the Moonweaver is someone Molly sees as a comforting, familiar presence. Like family. "The way she observes you, it makes you feel safe, like everything might just be alright. Her smile is the smile of your mother or father, your grandfather, your older sister, whoever rubbed your back when you were little and couldn't sleep."

And we get this description from Molly's newly born shard of a soul, still lost and adrift after Lucien's death--Lucien, who was abused by his own family for so long, who was only ever hurt by his parents. It must've meant the world to him, to find someone like the Moonweaver after all that pain.

Sorry this got sidetracked, but I think that the Archeart would appeal to Molly for a lot of similar reasons to why he began following the Moonweaver. And that they both offer a chance to find love and joy and passion in a world that can be so harsh and cruel, the freedom of a new start.

[ariadne-mouse]

I have a feeling this might be a sad one but I'll gather my courage and ask about Speak with Deadssek!

Hallo! I'm glad you asked. It's definitely sad for a bit, but I'm a sucker for a happy ending, so it has one of those too. @thededleadragoria also asked about this title, so here goes for both of you:

The fulcrum of this WIP is that the Mighty Nein canonically do not know that Essek isn't consecuted. What a juicy little tidbit Matt gave us in fireside chat!! I began this fic pretty far into the final Aeor arc with the premise that in the final battle, Essek dies, and the Mighty Nein are suddenly confronted with their incorrect knowledge in a big way.

The canon version of 140 completely sucker-punched me and got me distracted by a bunch of new ideas, but I may still return to this some day!

Here's a snippet:

“But what if-- what if his soul is already in a beacon somewhere? What if he’s already been reborn as-- as-- one of those eyeball-butt cats, or something?! What if bringing him back doesn't even work?!” Jester stressed. “You guys!!!”

Beau chewed her lip. “Or like, what if he’d rather be reborn? Get a fresh start. Stop having to look over his shoulder all the time.”

Jester frowned thunderously. “Only if he promises to find us in his next life, because he’s our friend now, and there’s no takesie-backsies. I want him to come back.”

Caduceus leaned on his staff. “Well… there’s always Speak With Dead. We could ask him what he wants.”

“We should ask,” said Caleb quietly, his first words in some minutes.

“Oh, but that spell on someone we know, though? That’s so weird,” Veth said, reflexively crossing her arms, her nose wrinkling. “I’m used to it being enemies and people we don’t care about. It’s weird if it’s someone we know.”

“It won’t be him,” Caduceus replied. “It’s just… an echo. Of everything he was.”

“An echo seems… appropriate, in a way.” Caleb added, a twist of his face that in a better time, might have been humor. He swallowed thickly. “We need to do this. We need to ask.”

Veth made a face, but didn’t argue.

The Mighty Nein shuffled into motion, gathering closely around Essek’s body. Jester knelt to cushion his head and shoulders in her lap, and gently brushed his hair back from his forehead. Caleb stayed a little ways back, his hands buried in his coat pockets, the tension in his shoulders strong enough to wind a watch.

There was an element of habit in all these proceedings - they had used Speak With Dead many times before, and had performed resurrections too. But along with the muscle memory came a disjointed feeling, like putting on two mismatched shoes. Everyone was uneasy, connected by an unspoken worry: what if Essek asked to stay dead?

It took only a moment for Caduceus to set up. The scent of incense from the Blooming Grove was earthen, warm, and out of place in the frozen tomb of Aeor, a reminder of the world outside and the people they had risked everything to protect. A murmured chant in an old tongue and a few gestures were all that was required to finish the casting.

With the final words, the horrible stillness of Essek’s ashen face was interrupted: his lips parted and he drew in the breath provided by the spell, but immediately it was horrible in a new way, as it was a false breath, and his eyes remained flat. Dead. Empty.

“Hey there, Essek,” Caduceus began.

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

Twenty things I noted about CR2E111 “New Homes and Old Friends” and the associated Talks Machina :

As a French woman, I am OFFENDED by Travis' accent and Sam's homage. As an enjoyer of all things Critical Role, I am DELIGHTED.

MAGIC MANSION HERE WE GO BABYYYYYYY. My god. No notes. I love Liam's mind so much. The man has thought about this for A YEAR a boy did he show it !!

did he... he did... he put the mirror on the ceiling of Beau's bed... did he implied what I think he implied. "That's going to be useful." OH MY GOD YASHA. Meanwhile, Beau just blue-screened for 5 minutes :

CATS SERVANTS of course there are cat servants. Sam : "Do the cats have buttholes ?" Amazing 2020 reference to the disaster that was the trailer for the Cats movie.

Widogast's Nascent Nine-Sided Tower. Oh Caleb, the hubris of a wizard is shown through your long-ass names for your spells. (Bonus : Travis's reaction : "Yeaaaaah ! Spell 'nascent', bitch !!")

Matt, after one hour of just listening to Liam : "Well, that's the easiest hour I ever had as a dungeon master" HAHAHA as a DM I feel that relaxation. Liam was a gift.

Whaaaaaat is this secret room ? Is it the chamber where Caleb was tortured and Trent put crystals in his arms ??? And Caleb sleeps here. Oh, Liam. Also "Fort, doch nicht vergessen" is "Gone, but not forgotten", aka the thing you put on tombstones...

We learn that Taliesin was put on the TSA list for bringing a replica of of one of Percy's gun on a plane after Critical Role did a live show. Travis, taking the role of the TSA agent that arrested him, who also was a Critter apparently : "Need to confiscate that. Love the show, though !"

PUMAT !!!! The Cloak of Billowing sounds amazing. I'm gonna integrate it in my game.

Fjord has been "saving his money", big time, for a tatoo, or another important purchase, and he proudly announces it. Jester : "I've been spending mine on diamonds to help save people's lives." WOW

Got to say, since I know Molly/Lucien came back at some point, all of the Mighty Nein's talk about visiting Molly's grave or possibly resurrecting him feels like deep deep irony.

Oh yeah. The minute Matt described heavy snow around Cree from Jester's Scry, I was like Marisha, who was rage-snapping her crayon in half and mouthing "THAT BITCH IS IN THE NORTH".

Marisha/Beau's rant on her theories about what happened to Lucien, Molly, Cree and Vess DeRogna, and how everything is connected to Aeor is EVERYTHING. Matt, with so much love in his eyes for his wife : *pulls out the Charlie Day meme* YES !! They also referenced the end of Clue, which, you know, excellent reference, excellent taste.

The ending, my god. Never before I have wanted to jump into my TV and scream at Matt too that he could not end it there.

Henri the dog is back !!!

Dani, on Astrid : "IIIII... don't trust Astrid farther that I can THROOOW THAT BIIIIITCH !!!"

Liam loves his friends so much, I'm half crying as he describes the mansion as a love letter not only from Caleb to the Mighty Nein, but from Liam to his friends

Liam did, indeed, like Laura said, totally forgot that Vokodo had a reflection ability when he cast Disintegrate. He described really well how he felt insane afterwards, and I CANNOT imagine how that must have been in his head.

The revelation that Taliesin did those faces, as Beau explained her theories, just to fuck with Travis, whom he's directly in front of, is AMAZING, and so on point.

I nearly cried when I heard Marisha talking about how the emotions were high the night they recorded the episode where Vilya goes home to Keyleth, and how Laura said "Now Kiki has a happy ending too !". My heart.

[violetpunk666]

I reread The Clash of the Great Stags on the empires wiki and i just wanna put down a few of my thoughts:

I don't think Alinar actually died, I think when Aeor wiped his memory he woke up as Scott (Alinar had probably been grieving for at least a few years before this happened)

Same with Xornoth being Connell, er- what's left of him after the corruption took over at least

Connell's corruption happened similar to how Sausage's did, but he didn't have that backup plan Sausage did, so it resulted in his perma-death with the corruption taking full control of his body (maybe there's still a fragment of him in there somewhere for all ya'll who want a Xornoth redemption arc~)

The brothers are Archfey, I've theorized this for awhile now but its relevant so I'm putting it here (the way both Xornoth and Scott's powers spread are very similar to that of an Archfey plus this clip just screams Archfey to me)

this means both the brothers are tall (Xornoth is the tallest on the server, with his horns making him just ever so slightly taller then Scott)

it also makes this clip where Scott calls shrub cute 100x better

this also means that the brothers are immortal (as in they cannot die from old age. They can still die if they get badly hurt)

something something immortal flower husbands something something

Agh- sorry, back to stag lore stuff

Alinar and Connell were good brothers before the whole corruption thing

I don't remember if this is cannon or not but they're twins

part of the story says "After making his way down the caves, he found his brother surrounded by the remains of the missing people and strange symbols on the walls and the floor. Alinar no longer could see his brother but just the monster that he had become" and Scott says to Xornoth during their fight "If it wasn't for you mom and dad would still be here!" did 2 of those missing people just so happen to be the boys' parents? or was that a separate incident?~

Oh! and on a semi-unrelated note: happy birthday Scott! <3 <3 <3

[sky-scribbles]

asdjlksds I am usually Terrible at figuring out what happens after the events of stuff I write but! I do have some thoughts!

Next time the wizards go on a study date to Aeor, they go back to the Astrarium, and Essek finally gets to properly nerd out over it! And Caleb watches him for a while, then says, 'You know, the first time I watched you here, it struck me how very beautiful you are. I knew before, of course, but it did feel very good to be reminded.'

Essek at some point takes Quaera to the Blooming Grove to meet Cad, and they get along super well. There are long philosophical conversations.

At some point their beacon-hunting expedition leads them below the ocean, so of course they hang out with Fjord, Jester and Kingsley for a bit. Kingsley thinks Vicara is very cool and makes a very concerted effort to convince her to become a pirate, but no dice.

Genuinely, I need to think about how the Complicated Brenatto Dinner would go. This could be an entire fic in itself. I think the wizards deliberately show up early so that they can help make food, which is really an opportunity for Caleb to take Veth aside and tell her he and Essek are Official now, and for Essek and Yeza to have a... talk about things while cutting green beans.

I think it goes okay. Mostly because Veth sees how much lighter Caleb is, how much life there is back in his eyes, and sees how Essek makes him smile. For that... she can not just accept Essek as Caleb's partner, but be happy that he is.

Veth is the only member of the Nein that Caleb actively tells about him and Essek being a thing. No one is in the dark for long though, because Essek tells Jester over Sending, and she burns through spell slots to tell literally everybody. (Yasha: 'Wait, weren't they together already? I'm confused.')

[utilitycaster]

I've read your post about the laudna reveal and I've been thinking about my (slightly disappointed) reaction to it

I think for me it comes down to the fact how heated a lot of the fandom was about the theory back where it had no (or even some contradictory) evidence. I disliked it as forcing a completely unnecessary, and very sensational, connection to c1, as if c3 couldn't be good on its own

this now got me thinking about what my reaction would be if I never knew the fandom was so crazy about it, if I didn't get tired of it before it was revealed as canon.

like, right now people are making crazy theories about Ashton's transformation, while I think maybe exandrian earth genasi are just Like That. no one ever asked oremid haas if he was born dusty. so now I'm rolling my eyes at that, but if in the future taliesin reveals Ashton got charmed/corrupted into the rock body somehow I'm wondering what my reaction is going to be. similarly with some of the wilder theories about fearne's parents in aeor (especially ones that implicate caleb and essek)

(feel free to ignore this message if you don't care about some internet stranger's two cents)

Hey anon,

I feel you. I feel similarly about the Laudna reveal, both with respect to the connection to Campaign 1 (and very specifically the need to make an existing connection even tighter, like, she was already from Whitestone, she already died at the hands of the Briarwoods, she already had Delilah as a patron) and with respect to the idea that it was already confirmed when it wasn't. I'm not saying this is my most mature tendency, but it's the truth.

I have to say I haven't been in the tags much today so the Ashton and Fearne's parents ideas are unknown to me. I'm personally very open to the idea that Ashton's transformation is atypical for earth genasi in Exandria, but again, I feel you on the frustration when people treat it as cut and dried when it's purely speculative. It's like...speculation is fine! but call it what it is! It's not a theory! It's a wish list! It's a random guess! It's not confirmed and it's not necessarily even supported by canon!

I guess more generally I have made some degree of peace with having my opinions impacted by my experiences with fandom and fanon. I can't speak for you but what I have found is that like, I dislike things I already disliked more if they're weirdly popular with the fandom/were taken as truth when they were just speculative, but I don't turn on theories that I did like just to be contrary. Or with characters and ships...fandom can certainly sway my opinions, but it's just one factor.

Essentially: I think as long as you can step back and admit "here's why I feel the way I do, here's why I didn't like this theory, here's why I see why it fits in canon even if I don't love it" it's fine to indulge in a bit of pettiness. After all, the thing at the root of my fanon (derogatory) feelings is often a lack of support in canon, so it's like, I'm not going to throw out canon when it comes just because it's not to my liking.

[that said when I do get around to reading the recent tags I am going through anything that threatens the hard-won post-campaign happiness of Caleb and Essek with my finger firmly on the block button]

[nellasbookplanet]

Doing some fandom drama rambling below the cut because annoyed thoughts are bouncing around my brain like pingpong balls and won’t shut up until voiced.

Much as I’m annoyed by the fact that there’s still people out there yelling about cr2 being 'bad' (they seem to have caught second wind after the animated show announcement), it’s also very funny how most of their arguments are more or less made up, because the vast majority of them stopped watching when it became clear their preferred ship wasn't going to happen.

'Centrist story about there only being one bad apple instead of a corrupt system': it’s made explicit in the epilogue that Caleb and Beau spend the rest of their lives working on taking down the Assembly. That’s literally the whole reason they kept Ikithon alive instead of murdering him on the spot, they were using him as an example and to get evidence to take down the rest of the Assembly, with Ludinus being explicitly mentioned as the big bad. Not to mention Caleb becoming a teacher to personally ensure the scourger program doesn’t start back up. I'm sorry if you think the only valid route was 'murder and burn it all down vigilante style', but them chosing another (more realistic and less revenge-y) path doesn’t make it bad.

'They got rid of everyone’s character development'. How do you watch Yasha forgive herself and allow herself love and happiness and think this. Fjord finally finding confidence in himself and his faith. Caleb letting go of the past and the idea of time travel and turning to the future. Beau realizing she’s worthy of love with someone who reciprocrates, and also that her early pushy flirting was fuckboy tendencies and wanting a fresh start with Yasha. Jester finding her own strength instead of constantly looking for validation from the traveler, and being one of the main driving forces in the Aeor arc. Veth coming to love herself and her body, and also realizing that returning to her family doesn’t mean returning to the life before she 'died'. Caduceus healing his relationship with his sister, realizing that he wants to return home but also travel sometimes, learning from the m9 that he needs both. How do you watch all that and think they had their character growth retconned.

It's because Jester kept having feelings for Fjord and didn’t have a comphet coming out arc, isn't it.

Speaking of, 'they are going to retcon b/j'. Look at me. Look me in the eye. Do you have this same worry for c/j, or c/v, or is this all about how your favorite ship is superior and have more rights. And anyway, they certainly didn’t remove Keyleth's crush on Vex or Vax and Gilmore's flirting in tlovm, so i doubt they'll get rid of Beau’s (or Caleb's) feelings either.

'The cast didn’t even like the m9, they just wanted the campaign to end post hiatus'. I was going to say what show were you watching, but as already established most of these people had stopped watching at this point. The energy of the Aeor arc was wild. Everyone was ecstatic about the romances and the lore. They were so excited about m9 reunited. Again, just because you were having a bad time doesn’t mean everyone else was.

There are so many more ridiculous claims with no foundation. 'The cobalt soul are cops', 'liam wouldn’t commit to m/m romance', 'molly should've come back', 'b/y and or f/j never even talked'. Take your pick, they all lack a fundamental understanding of the characters and narrative and are angry about the story not bending over backwards to their wishes.

[andiinaraethtash]

What's this? A chapter?

Chapter 19: Cause I See Smoke Up Ahead (And I Got Steel in My Hands)

Notes:

... yeah. It's been over a month. Blame an ongoing mental health crisis. I'm hanging on by the skin of my teeth, but I'm hanging on, so. There's that. To everyone that has left comments and kudos, thank you. I don't know if I'd be able to push on without you guys. Tw: This is the start of the big battle. So, y'know, blood and violence and all that. Otherwise, should be good. Chapter title from Goodbye by Arcane

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

The good news is that they have a plan. The bad news is that the plan is terrible, at least in Gem’s humble opinion. But they don’t have much of a choice; they can’t stop the ritual, seeing as the groundwork has already been laid, was laid months ago, and if it isn’t performed, the resulting explosion will level the empires.

At least, that’s where the research Gem, Sausage, and Scott have been doing is pointing to. They can’t be sure, but they really don’t want to test that theory.

So instead of interrupting the ritual, they’re going to change it. During his journey through the spirit realm last year, Sausage found a different form of corruption, light corruption, an equal and opposite power to the corruption that Exor is so fond of, and when Scott sees it, he immediately confirms that it is tied to Aeor. Therefore, if they can replace the corruption Exor’s going to be using in the ritual with the light corruption, they can summon Aeor instead.

That’s the hope, anyway. As Jimmy points out when they present the plan to him, “There’s a lot of room for things to go off the rails, and knowing us, knowing our luck, it’s going to.”

But even with that optimistic outlook, it’s the best shot they have. They have three days to prepare, three days to rest, recover, and make sure they’re in peak physical condition, three days for Scott to master his powers and for Gem to regain control of her magic.

She does her best to make sure she’s ready, but her sleep is interrupted by the echoes of fWhip’s last scream, and she can’t eat because the food just tastes like ash in her mouth. She’s jumping at shadows, and there’s nothing that makes her feel better, especially seeing as they all left to their respective empires to secure them and set up successors in case anything happens to any of them. None of them are nearby to reassure her that everything’s going to be okay, that they’ll make it all through this. Instead, she’s left to give instructions to Gandalf and Rohan, who both had been so happy to see her and devastated that they might be losing her all over again, and pray that they’re unnecessary.

So instead of eating or sleeping, she practices, making sure to rest and take breaks when she needs to, but her magical abilities were somewhat strangled by her captivity, and it takes a bit for her to get back into the swing of things. Once she does, though, she finds her magic is actually stronger, and maybe that’s because of whatever cure Katherine gave her, or maybe it’s because her magic grows with her. She doesn’t know, and doesn’t care enough to do the research to find out.

There’s something relieving about being more powerful, something that feels a lot like courage. She knows she’s strong enough to stand up to Exor now—maybe not beat him, but she’ll definitely make him kill her if he wants to beat her. She’ll never be his captive again.

Finally, the day of the new moon dawns, and they all gather in Rivendell once again, this time in Scott’s secret meeting room instead of in his house. He and Jimmy greet them all—Jimmy must have come early, but since he’s more or less taken charge, no one really questions it—but Scott’s wearing his antlers again, and they’re still gleaming gold, but they now have ice crystals dancing around them, with small icicles, like small daggers or sharp teeth, hanging from the antlers themselves.

Gem has her big hat, the one that fWhip and Sausage had taken to teasing her about, and her staff and the sword fWhip made for her. Just putting it on her belt had nearly reduced her to tears. She misses him more than she would have thought she would, especially given that she’s lost him before, but she supposes there’s no getting used to this kind of pain.

The rest have their sturdiest armour, their strongest weapons, and even with all the swords, shields, tridents, bows, and quivers full of potion-tipped arrows, they know they’re not strong enough. There’s no way they can beat a god with mortal weapons.

Even as Gem looks around the room, thinking this, Scott takes his seat at the head of the table. Joey, Joel, and Sausage immediately claim the seats on one side of the table, and Pearl produces a stool which she sets at the foot of the table and proceeds to all but collapse into it. She looks as tired as Gem feels, and she doesn't doubt that her friend has gotten as little sleep as she has.

Pix gestures her, Katherine, and Lizzie into the three remaining chairs, electing to stand next to Shrub, while Jimmy stands next to Scott. As soon as they’re all seated, Jimmy beckons Shrub over and she lays out a map of a city surrounded by gorges, lava pits, and the tentacles of corruption Gem remembers vividly from when Xornoth was loose.

It’s so unrecognisable it takes a moment for Gem to recognize the city as Eastvale, and the surroundings as the plains of the Grimlands. The city stands on the map like a beacon of light, but even it is slowly being overrun by the red. The Manor and the Forge both still stand strong, seemingly untouched, but Shrub’s words quickly break that illusion.

“He’s setting up shop in the Forge,” Shrub says, and Gem feels her heart sink and her throat close up. Of course he’d desecrate everything that fWhip had built, if only for laughs. If the damage is even repairable, it’s going to take so much time and resources, she wonders if it’ll even be worth it, or if the Grimlands are destined to become something dead and uninhabitable.

Jimmy nods, then gestures at Sausage. “You’ll be in charge of switching out the summoning items, Sausage. Pick two to go with you. Pix, take one and clear out Eastvale. We want to save as many people as we can. Scott and Gem, you, me and the other three will need to hold Exor’s attention.”

Sausage, Pix, Scott, and Gem all nod, and Pearl adds, “There’s a secret tunnel under the chapel, it goes directly to fWhip’s farmhouse. It should help you get the villagers out safely.”

Pix nods again, then turns to Shrub. As he asks her to go with him, Sausage turns to Lizzie and Joel, who quickly nod at the unspoken question.

As soon as that’s decided, Scott clears his throat, and produces a wrapped item, which looks suspiciously like a sword. “There’s something else you should know about.”

They all still, and look at him expectantly. Jimmy nudges Scott, encouraging him to go along, and Gem holds her breath. This is big, she can feel it.

Scott sighs heavily and unwraps the sword, and Pix immediately gasps. “Is that…” the prophet asks, and Scott nods.

“It’s called the Rune Blade. It has… a great deal of power. According to the book I found on it, it can sever the bonds between ruler and land.”

“Not just that,” Pix puts in. “It sends the victim to the afterlife of the wielder’s choosing. That… that is a powerful weapon, and a deadly one. Where did you even find it?”

Scott gestures vaguely upward and behind him. “The festival grounds. It was encased in ice up there, ice I didn’t summon. If I had to guess…”

“Aeor,” Gem breathes, hope and fear in equal measure rising in her chest. “It has to be. There’s no way anyone or anything else could have found it and put it there. The ice practically confirms it. So why would he give it to you?”

Scott shifts uncomfortably. “I’m not sure.”

Now, Gem is no expert on Scott, or his body language. She can’t tell what he’s thinking without him saying anything the way Jimmy can. But even she knows he's lying, or at the very least is hiding something.

Interesting… and concerning.

Still, she doesn’t pry, though from the look Jimmy is giving him, she has to guess that he will.

Slowly, she stands, reaching for her staff. “We should get going,” she says, nerves gathering in a ball in her stomach. “It’s not getting any earlier.”

Nods all around, and the others all stand, grabbing weapons and shields. They’re all nervous, she realises, and it does nothing to ease her nerves. Gods, what are they doing? They have no way of knowing if this is even going to work. They could all be headed straight to their deaths—and the deaths of everyone and everything they hold dear.

They head out, and Gem takes a second to pull Pearl into a hug, then gets wrapped up by Sausage. “I love you guys,” she whispers, “just in case something happens, I need you to know—”

Sausage shushes her before pulling away. “Hey, now, none of that. We’ll be fine. I’ll see you when this is over, okay? Just stay safe. I… I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen to any of you. Don’t make me a liar.”

That’s a bit of a tall order, but she nods anyway. Pearl does the same, and they stand around in a circle that should have one more member, and they all know it, before finally Lizzie calls Sausage over, and Pearl and Gem head over to where Scott, Jimmy, Joey, and Katherine are waiting. One way or another, this ends now.

And she has a sinking feeling in her gut that it’s not going to end the way they want.

_______

The plan goes off the rails almost the instant they arrive. As soon as Eastvale comes into view, the Forge, which had been sitting innocuously on top of the jagged cliff, explodes, sending a fireball into the sky as the top of the building is flung straight up into the air, before coming crashing down at the base of the cliffs.

Gem pulls up in shock—a bad thing to do when gliding through the air—and she can hear the others exclaim in surprise as soot and ash are thrown in every direction. She coughs as she struggles to regain her balance, which, again, is hard to do in midair, but she manages to stabilise her flight enough to land on the roof of the walls that surround the city.

The only ones who don’t land next to her are Pix and Shrub, who are leading the rescue effort. They’re entering the city through the secret tunnel Pearl had mentioned, and Gem dearly hopes that Exor doesn’t know about it. But then, he’s had free reign of the city for about two weeks now, he might have found it in that time. It’s hardly a secret to the people of Eastvale.

Still, she exchanges a look with Jimmy and Sausage, the former of whom gestures her best friend forward, along with Lizzie and Joel, before turning to Scott, herself, Joey, Katherine and Pearl.

“Let’s go cause some noise,” Jimmy says, looking grim.

They all nod, unsheathe their blades—or in Gem’s case, readies her staff—but she can’t help but notice that Scott isn’t using the Rune Blade. He’s using his own sword, which, while effective, doesn’t have the same power that the Rune Blade does. He’s probably trying to keep it secret, as an ace up his sleeve in case things don’t go the way they hope.

Scott takes the lead, diving down and firing a rocket to help boost himself toward the Forge, where debris and ash is still raining down, filling the air. Gem has to cover her mouth with the hem of her tunic to keep from breathing in the filthy air.

They land right outside, careful not to step on any of the rubble, which has heat waves rolling off of it, and look around carefully.

Exor is nowhere to be seen.

They all exchange a look, silently agreeing that it’s a trap, and go to step inside.

Immediately a red forcefield springs into existence in their faces, and Jimmy, who was in front, bounces off of it with a yelp. Scott catches him as he stumbles, helping him keep his feet, then whirls around. Gem copies him, and is thoroughly unsurprised to see Exor waiting for them.

Well, her brain says it’s Exor. Her eyes, her heart says it’s fWhip, because while his skin still has patches of corruption growing on it, is still blackened in several areas, is still riddled with red veins that pulse with unholy energy, it’s also showing through in its normal colour in places. His eyes are red, still, but they somehow look more alive than they had the last several times she’d seen him.

But then she takes another look, and her heart catches up to her eyes which catch up to her brain, and she can clearly see the deer god in place of her brother. His stance, his expression, his body language, scream arrogance, scream malice in a way that fWhip had never projected. This isn’t her brother. Her brother is dead. This is just the thing wearing his body.

She gathers a fireball on the end of her staff and points it directly at the god. “Exor.”

“Gem,” he says, smirking. “I see you’re back on your feet. How fortunate; you living is just as beneficial as you dying would be, if not more.”

Gem scowls, and the fireball grows. “Believe it or not, but I’m hoping to inconvenience you more with my living than with my dying.”

Exor’s smirk broadens, and he turns to Jimmy. “Well, well, if it isn’t the cod boy. Finally stopped running from your responsibilities, have you?”

Jimmy swallows hard, but readies his weapons. “I don’t run from anything. Not anymore.”

With a laugh, Exor then turns to Scott and gestures at Pearl. “And I see you’ve managed to forgive her. After everything she did to you, you still are too weak to finish her off.”

“She’s my friend. Of course I forgave her.”

“Oh, so your friend gets your forgiveness, but not your brother? Not your blood?”

Scott bristles, and Gem shuffles a little closer to him, letting him know she’s there for him, he’s not alone. “My brother killed my parents, tried to damn the entire kingdom to a living hell. Tried to kill me, did kill some of my friends. You might have influenced him, but those were still his choices, and I can’t forgive him for that.”

Gem winces. She knows, somewhere deep inside her, that Scott still loves Xornoth, it’s just buried by layers and layers of loneliness and hurt. She knows because despite every mistake fWhip ever made, every time Sausage betrayed them, she still loves them. The only difference is that she can forgive them. She’s not sure Scott is lying when he says he can’t.

Exor grins. “ Were they? You forget, I am perfectly capable of puppeting someone around even without my true self being present in this realm. Eventually Xornoth’s will crumbled and gave way to mine. Granted, it took decades—time I didn’t have with this meat puppet” —Gem growls when he says that, and Pearl bares her teeth in a savage snarl— “but I did it. And now, now my plan has come to fruition.”

There’s a yelp inside the Forge, and Gem has to fight her instincts not to turn around, because Exor is grinning, and she knows the battle is about to start. “Oh, little elf, did you think you could sneak past me? I may not have an agent on the inside anymore, but I can still guess your next moves. You are so predictable.”

Distantly, Gem is aware that the sun is setting, and the new moon is rising, but she’s more focused on Exor’s next words.

“Ready for my next move?”

He hurls a fireball at Scott, and Gem releases hers as Pearl and Joey charge. While Katherine hangs back and shoots from a distance, Gem takes off, circling the air above them and raining fireballs down at the enemy.

Exor exchanges a few blows with Joey and Pearl, then bats the jungle ruler away with a backhand that sends him flying, and shoves Pearl backward into the forcefield, where she bounces and lands in a heap. As she scrambles to her feet, Gem lands, exchanges a look with Scott, and charges, swinging her staff and sword in perfect unison.

They don’t have a choice. They have to win.

_______

As soon as Lizzie, Joel, and Sausage enter the Forge, a forcefield springs into being, trapping them inside. Lizzie whirls around, hearing footsteps from the shadows, and is thoroughly unsurprised to see illagers, zoglins, and ravagers hurtling toward them.

There must be some sort of magical mechanism summoning them, she figures, but that’s largely unimportant, because right now she has to defend Sausage while he tries to alter the ritual. Almost as soon as she’s set her shield, though, Sausage lets out a strangled yelp, and she risks a glance behind her to see him reeling backwards, hand clutched to his chest as a force field smokes at the point of contact. That’s not good.

But within the next few seconds, she’s too overwhelmed by enemies to pay any attention to what he does next. He’s cursing behind her, but all she can focus on is whirling her trident around in savage arcs, skewering, slashing, and shoving the enemies that threaten to overwhelm her. Somewhere above her, arrows are being fired down at a rate she’s only seen from Joel a handful of times. She knows, though, why he’s so desperate to win, to survive. Gods know she’s desperate as well (JimmyJoelPixKatherineScottGemPearlSausageJoeyShrub all fighting to survive, fighting to keep the empires alive).

There’s a zoglin bearing down on her, and she manages to impale it, but her trident gets stuck in its ribcage, and she wastes precious seconds trying to rip it out. It doesn’t budge. Cursing, she scrambles for her sword—unadorned netherite, enchanted but not well-used—but she sees a crossbow headed her way and knows she can’t block it in time. So instead of grabbing her sword, she reaches into her bags, closing her hand around the base of a totem as the crossbow hits.

It hurts, it always hurts when she dies, but this time she’s not exactly dying, she lives, because the totem of undying she had in her hand dissolves into liquid gold, which flows up her arm in a familiar rush to seal the hole in her chest, pushing the crossbow bolt out and filling her with renewed strength.

Still, she curses, because that was the only totem she had that wasn’t buried under useless junk she’s never bothered cleaning out of her bags, and she hadn’t meant for it to be used so early. It’s better than dying, but that’s not the point.

Desperate, she reaches out to the utter extent of her powers, calling the ocean to her in the only way she could, the only way it could reach her all the way inland, and as a great bank of thunderstorms roll in from the northwest, she grins savagely and thrusts out her hand, recalling her trident. It flies into the palm of her hand as the rain clouds above burst open, and she calls down the biggest lightning bolt she can.

The following thunderclap is loud enough that it temporarily deafens her, and though Lizzie closes her eyes, she’s still rendered blind by the enormous flash of light. She lashes out blindly, feeling the blows she lands as they reverberate up her arm, but she can’t see where they’re landing or where the enemy is coming from.

But there’s a lull in the action, like she killed more than could spawn at a time, and she takes a split second to breathe, blinking the stars out of her eyes. Her vision clears just in time to see Joel go down as a vindicator strikes him in the back with an axe.

With a scream, she takes off, landing on the minecart rail to stand over her husband. Crouching in a defensive manner with her shield covering them both, she ducks her head down and checks on Joel, who is surprisingly conscious and looking confused, but he’s also growing paler by the second as a blood pool gathers beneath him, staining his magenta shirt a deep maroon.

“Joel, stay with me,” she says as she rolls him onto his side so she can see the wound. It’s deep, but it mostly just hit the shoulder, not the lung or liver (or whatever Joel has that passes for that) so it’s just blood loss she has to worry about, though that’s no small thing.

“Not planning on going anywhere,” Joel manages, slurring his words slightly. “You and me… we’re getting our happy ending if I have to kill for it.”

“Good news on that front,” Lizzie says, as lightly as she can, because her hands are shaking, and her shield is shuddering as the illagers rain down blows on it. It’s not going to last much longer. “You may just have to.”

Joel glances around the shield and his eyes go even wider. “Oh.”

Snorting a quick laugh, she splashes a regen potion on him, then gives him a health potion. “Here, drink that, then get back to the fight. I need you—”

“Aww, I need you too,” he interjects, and she glares.

“I need you to watch my back,” she finishes, and he deflates slightly.

“Right.”

As he downs the potion, Lizzie roars a battlecry and charges forward. The illagers are all nicely lined up for her along the rail line, and she grins savagely as they all fall off, toppling to the ground below like autumn leaves before a gale. With a flying leap, she jumps off the suspended railway and comes crashing down on a ravager, imbedding her trident in the base of its skull.

As her impromptu mount dies with a shriek and a frankly unnecessary amount of thrashing about, she hops off and launches back into the fray. The tide is turning as the numbers of the enemy are whittled down, by herself, and Joel, and even Sausage who takes a moment from whatever he’s doing—he hasn’t removed the piece of red corruption from the altar, why hasn’t he removed it—to fire off a round of rockets from his assassin’s league-issue crossbow.

She turns to look at what Sausage has done as the last of the illagers falls to Joel’s arrows, and is shocked to see that he’s constructed another altar. “What—?” She starts to ask, but Sausage grabs her arm and tugs her—a mean feat, considering she is nearly four feet taller than him—toward the opening they sneaked in through.

“C’mon, we gotta go!” Sausage says, sounding worried but not overly stressed, which is odd because he hadn’t done what he’d been tasked with doing, why is he so calm—?

She doesn’t have any more time to wonder about that, because they’ve come up on a problem: they’re sealed in by the force-field that had sprung up in their wake. As Joel lands next to them, massaging his bad shoulder, Lizzie exchanges a look with Sausage. They’ve got no way out.

______

The ground above them shudders as Pix and Shrub turn the corner. He holds the torch up as she stumbles, grabbing her arm with his free hand to keep her upright.

“Sorry,” she pants as they press on.

Pix shakes his head, not sparing the breath to tell her it’s fine. It’s not, they both know it, but he wants to pass on the sentiment anyway. So he squeezes her arm just lightly enough to be taken as reassurance and lets go, pressing onward.

They’re still not quite to the exit that takes them up to the village, with Koda, Nova, and a few of the wolves tagging along, though the bulk of the rest of the wolves are stationed around the farmhouse, hiding behind the rubble of the Forge’s roof that had nearly crushed fWhip’s former retreat.

So they press on, Pix leading the way despite Shrub’s familiarity with the Grimlands, because she has never been down here, and while she is capable of defending herself, Pix feels better knowing he’s the first line of defence. They’re almost there, and he isn’t sure what they’re going to find, but he knows whatever it is, he’s going to protect Shrub from it as best he can.

Finally, they reach the exit, a series of stairs that leads out a cellar door to one of the back streets of Eastvale. The sky is nearly black, fire still spewing out of the top of the Forge, and there’s a thin blanket of ash covering everything. There’s a small garden to their right as they round the corner, but all the crops in it are dead, strangled by thin red vines.

But most concerningly, other than the flashes of magic from over the wall and the sounds of battle, there’s no signs of life. No movement, no sound; it’s like the city, once teeming with life, has died.

Behind him, Shrub gasps, her hand reaching out to clutch Pix’s robe. “No… where is everyone? They can’t have all…”

They can’t have all died, Pix finishes in his head. She’s right. There’s no signs of that level of violence, and Exor isn’t exactly the type to clean up after himself.

Turning to Koda and Nova, he kneels and scratches behind their ears. “Can you find them?”

As Shrub lights up, clearly finding hope in the possibility that the dogs can track down the missing people, Koda perks up, lowers his head to the ground, and starts casting around for a scent. Nova just watches, but she’s little more than a puppy, so he can hardly blame her for not knowing what’s being asked of her.

Finally, Koda seems to find something, because he barks and races off, through the main market place and down a side street that leads to a shop Pix doesn’t recognize. Shrub must, because she whispers something that sounds like, “Of course!” but she offers no explanation. It’s not needed anyway, because as soon as Pix pushes the door open, Koda and Nova both barrel forward, down some stairs that lead to a basement of sorts, clearly used for storage.

Pix tries not to feel too crestfallen, but it must show on his face because Shrub is nudging him and pointing to a painting. “Behind that,” she says, and Pix swingings it open, revealing a ladder that leads even farther down.

“A secret workshop?” He asks, and Shrub nods.

“It’s where he did all his tinkering. He even had a map of the empires down there. I didn’t know the villagers knew where it was.”

Leaving Koda, Nova, and the rest of the wolves at the top, they descend carefully, wary of any traps Exor might have set, but there are none. It’s quiet, like the cavern is holding its breath, but as soon as they turn down a tunnel, a makeshift club comes swinging at Pix’s head, and he barely gets his shield up in time to block it.

“Wait!” Shrub cries, and the villager who’d swung halts, looks down at her, and relaxes.

“Lady Shrub?” She asks, and Shrub nods.

“Is everyone here?” She looks around as she asks, and Pix does the same.

The tunnel seems to lead to a large cave, where sure enough, Pix can see a map of the empires stretched out across the wall. Huddled in the corners are maybe fifty villagers, less than a third of the population of Eastvale, but there are a few more people coming out of hiding places along the tunnel walls, and a few more curious heads poking out of another tunnel that undoubtedly leads farther into the caves.

The villager nods. “Everyone who survived. We lost several people to disease and starvation. But the children are still alive. Most of the women as well. Are you here to help us?”

“Yes,” Pix says, “we’re here to get you out. The other rulers are trying to kill Exor, the one who has possessed Count fWhip, but we need to know that you are all safe, otherwise, we’ll be distracted going into the battle, and that's something none of us can afford.”

Behind the woman, who looks ready to argue, a young boy, probably no more than ten, comes forward, grabbing her hand and looking at Pix with pleading eyes. “We can’t leave. Our lives are here, where else can we go?”

Pix kneels to be at his level. “Your lives aren't measured in the things you have here; your lives are here," He rests his hand against the boy's chest, against his heart. "That's all that matters, is that you have this." He taps the boy's chest one more time, then straightens. "Are there any who are unable to walk?"

A few people--an older woman, a girl with crutches, and a young man in a redstone powered wheelchair with a cat in his lap--all move forward, and Pix gestures them to the front. 

"Shrub, lead the way. Those three first, then the children and women. All the able-bodied men should space themselves out amid the group, to protect them. I doubt Exor will bother attacking us himself, but he has more minions than we have fighters, we can't afford to risk your lives."

Nods all around, and Shrub turns on her heel, gesturing the disabled people and the children forward. Koda and Nova both run through the crowd, greeting everyone with enthusiasm, and Pix smiles as the man in the wheelchair shoos Nova away, cradling his cat closer, and whispering, "It's okay, Jellie, we'll be alright."

As they proceed forward, Pix hurries to the map and observes it for a long moment. The bridge from the farmhouse to the Crystal Cliffs had been utterly wrecked, so that way is hopeless, but they have to get the villagers out of the Grimlands entirely, out of the corrupted area, out of Exor’s way. So that leaves either Rivendell, which has a target on it the size of the mountains it rests upon, or the Lost Empire. 

He supposes they could go to the Undergrove, but there is little room there for the hundred-odd villagers who've survived. That wouldn't be the smartest move. 

No, the smartest move would be to go to the Lost Empire, but that would mean traversing the shattered plains of the Grimlands, which is hard enough on a good day, but with women, children, and injured, and the plains the way they are… that seems impossible.

They'll have to cross that bridge when they get to it. Possibly literally.

He watches as the villagers file out of the tunnel, following his orders as to who goes where. It's a relief; he was half expecting some of them to push to the front or put up a fuss, but no, they're all being quiet, solemn, even, as they leave, their possessions in bags slung over their shoulder. 

Even Shrub's wolves are following his orders, spacing themselves along the line of refugees, though quite a few of them are waiting on him, his own personal bodyguards. He feels honoured, but he also knows that them waiting on his depriving the villagers of more protection. Hopefully, none of them will be lost because of that.

Finally, the line of refugees thins out and Pix unsheathes his sword, readying his trident in his off-hand as he casts one last glance around the room to ensure that they aren't leaving anyone behind. There's no way they make it to safety without a fight; he just has to hope they'll win it when it comes.

Notes:

I promise I'll update again within the next two weeks. Assuming I don't have to go to a mental health facility. Which, at this point is still a possibility. Anyway, did you catch the cameo from one of our favorite miners and crafters? I love sneaking these little Easter eggs into my works.

[seanotturom]

this is a cr positivity checkpoint :D

I'm sure there are plenty of these things floating around (and if you come across any, please send them my way!), but in the interests of cultivating a bubble of celebration and enjoyment (which is what I turn to fandom for!), let's go nuts over things we loved about the CR2 finale:

GET REKT TRENT! the confrontation could not have been more poetic. his showing up unannounced? the nein coming together in all their cohesive combat glory? the plan that the three empire kiddos came up with ages ago for trent...actually working? I'm so proud of them, you guys.

astrid queen behavior canon! and we got to see the volstrucker in action in combat (release the statblocks, mattholomew, I am intrigued by wulf's build).

SUPER MOVER FJORD! that mobile feat was just icing on the cake on one of the zippiest builds I have ever seen? absolutely iconic, mr. willingham.

nothing but respect for MY battle cleric, the illustrious jester lavorre, with both the dominate person and the heal. ALSO her conversation with marion about their relationship, her dad, and what the future holds for that whole dynamic was beautiful and I will be thinking about it and crying for the rest of time.

caduceus, absolute king, delegating chores and aggressively telling off wulf for desecrating a holy place quite literally watered my (flower) crops (in the blooming grove). and while we're on that topic, evil wizards learning to make things grow? additionally: xhorhas kids getting to garden together ;-;

"I go where you go, baby."

PLANTING FLOWERS ON ZUALA'S GRAVE AAAAAAAAHHHHH I LOVE THEM SO MUCH I CAN'T I'M STILL CRYING ABOUT IT I HAVE SO MANY FLOWERS TO BRING HER YES YOU DO YASHA YES YOU DO AND THE GREATEST BLOOM, the ONE THAT ZUALA WILL BE HAPPIEST TO SEE, is the SPRINGTIME FLOURISHING OF YASHA'S LOVE AND HAPPINESS IN HER FUTURE WITH BEAU SHUT UP I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

stenographer beau :) chief prosecutor beau :) EXTREMELY RESPECTED EXPOSITOR beauregard lionett :) because she deserves the recognition of her talent and her intelligence and her hard work and just...how far she's come. this trouble-making rebel represents everything that the soul stands for, and all it took was one person recognizing that potential and giving her room to thrive for the whole world to see her for the hero she is.

also her closure with zeenoth and her father? beautiful. refusing to give her birth family control over her, her accomplishments, the trajectory of her life...they don't deserve her. so proud.

the culmination of veth's terror of water...the midnight swim, the passing on of the ring of water walking to luc and the flask to kingsley...and on a larger cosmic scale, her first level in wizard? I am brave, she says, and I am smart and talented and beautiful and enough. and she says, this is enough, and spends the rest of her life with the family she built, saved, and continues to love.

PIRATE PRINCESS JESTER! she's grown and matured and discovered how real life romance is so much messier and infinitely more beautiful than in her novels, has come into her own as an individual, and chosen a life of adventure. and she still gets her storybook moments (kiss in the rain! you and me and the horizon! all the romancing the stone vibes!), even if they come with the silly awkward elements that define life ("--wait no go back to sleep uhhh I cAST MODIFY MEMORY--")

kingsley is literally so funny, y'all. "I only know what booze is in theory, but you're my best friend now." this dramatic purble bastard. "...so I hear you have a ship." go depose the plank king and live out your thottiest pirate dreams, my liege.

the wizards went back to aeor!! the wizards recognized that some things are better left to the past!! that disintegrate was such a powerful moment--

two books of memories left on two graves...my heart...

JUNIOR ADVENTURER SUMMER CAMP!!!!!!!!!!!!

caleb's a teacher now :'')

please add more!

[elliesgaymachete]

Maybe I’ve just constantly got beauyasha on the brain right now, but— now I’m in it by haim? Major beauyasha vibes

“We cannot be friends/Cannot pretend/That it makes sense”

Both Beau and Yasha started off their date by saying “I have no expectations whatever you want is fine by me” but also couldn’t even hold back professing their love for each other. Sure, they are friends, but they can’t keep pretending that they don’t want so much more

“And the rain keeps coming down along the ceiling/And I can hear it/But I can't feel it, oh”

There’s so much they have to worry about with Lucien and Aeor and the eyes and it’s why they’ve put this off for so long, but they decided to say fuck it and give themselves this night to ignore everything else and let themselves be happy, even though the problems are still lingering

“Took me so long to fall/Now I'm in it, now I'm in it”

“I fell in love with you in Kamordah” and “There was something about [Yasha] from the moment I met her that I think I’ve been avoiding.” They’ve known each other for so long and there’s been something there for a while now but the more time passed the more they came to realize and accept how much they care about each other and now they’re in love 😭

Anyway I’m emotional this is now on my beauyasha bop bops playlist