#taliesin had some real good ones too

[sea-buns]

the funniest fucking reaction image they've ever given us

[utilitycaster]

forgive me if i don’t make sense bc i don’t really know how to articulate this, but taliesin talked a lot about “trying to figure out what punk means in exandria” and wondering what’s there to be angry about. and after the last string of episodes i feel like that it’s a question that he baked into ashton’s character. like yes ashton is punk and they have justified anger but the Rest of their anger is deflective to stop them from interrogating themselves and their decisions further. idk it’s really interesting to me

It is! It's something I really love about Ashton and it's something I think Taliesin was very thoughtful about in his character creation. I think Taliesin is extremely strong in character creation in general, and it's a rare person who can make a character based on a philosophical premise who also feels very real.

That really is the core of Ashton, and I think it's a great commentary. I do still intend to watch The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (winter break perhaps?) but I am broadly familiar with the gutter-punks on which Ashton was based, and again, the punk movement as a whole. There have always been politically-minded punks; but I advise you look up the backgrounds of, say, the average Fugazi/Minor Threat, Bad Religion, Dead Kennedys, or Propagandhi musician because they are, by and large, middle-class white guys with relatively stable and happy childhoods, and the idea of Ashton as someone dedicated to the Tumblr uwu kindness is punk "look at this perfect baby who doesn't steal pennies how kind and generous to only take literally everything else" archetype was always a massive projection. They've always been far more in the model of the Break Shit, Get Wasted punk than, well, the straight edge and veganism of the above.

(I also think that while it's true that a lot of punk houses did take in anyone and were something of a refuge for many a la Color In Your Cheeks, there was also a lot of Missing Stair Fallacy shit going on in the punk community even then. Ashton is in fact an example of the flaws in that sort of subculture: the Nobodies were there until they really, really weren't, and that's not unusual for that kind of punk friendship. It's found family until you're too inconvenient and dangerous to make it worth it. Taliesin explores this a lot, incidentally; that was very much what he was doing with Molly, and I would love to hear him talk about that kind of surface-level closeness that isn't strong enough to stick because as someone who both participates in fandom and loves to observe and analyze fandom as a phenomenon itself, it's a very real dynamic.)

Ashton has had an awful life. That's the premise. Nothing good has happened to them. There are plenty of valid reasons for them to be angry. Some are people who deserve it (their parents for the fucked up ritual; the Nobodies for abandoning them; Jiana Hexum for exploiting them), some are people who don't deserve their anger but to be fair haven't done anything to deserve their respect either (Percy, the gods), but many have been perfectly kind and reasonable and Ashton has rejected them because they're in a position of authority or seemed too nice. And there's plenty of stuff he's mad about that isn't easily pinned on anyone; the chronic pain is a shitty side effect of one or both of his traumas but no one person is responsible.

Ashton is an incredibly cynical person, and this extends to himself. As I've said before, I think they absolutely mean it when they say that they would have done the exact same thing the Nobodies would do, and this has been used to both cover up the intense hurt that came from their abandonment, but also, I think part of Ashton's own self-loathing comes from the fact that yeah, they are the kind of person who'd have done the same, and that isn't a very good person, and being angry at the Nobodies and Jiana and the world at large has allowed him to avoid looking that truth in the face. Ashton has always bounced between "I'll be the best broken thing I can be" and "what if I could be more? what if I could be what I could have been if things went well?" and also "who the fuck cares" and the reveal, that when the chips are down, he will make an ill-advised and self-destructive choice from that place of pain and anger has really rattled them. He can't keep just being angry and using that to shield himself from difficult questions. It won't just kill them, but it will hurt everyone around them too.

A really ugly truth of life is that even when something is completely not your fault and even when you have been dealt a rotten, unfair hand, often, you do have some degree of responsibility to deal with it ("And if it isn't my fault, I certainly didn't do anything to deal with it," as Ashton says.) The mere act of being angry is cathartic but doesn't actually solve anything. I think that's Keyleth's message to Orym, actually; it's not fair, and you're angry that it's not fair, but you need to use that anger to do things yourself instead of letting it consume you or passing the buck because it sure as hell isn't your turn. Ashton has, since the solstice, been playing tug of war with the idea that this anger has perhaps not been serving him, and he finally lost. Initially they realized a lot of this anger had been self-pity, but then, as they said, one week of thinking their parents actually were something led them to do the exact same dumb cult shit. Instead of stopping and listening to Evontra'vir and Allura, he said "no, I'm special, actually." And to be clear I think their motives were incredibly complicated and well-thought-out on Taliesin's part. It's not just because of his parents, it's not entirely selfish or out of heroics but those certainly did play a part, he did genuinely think it would help but he also ignored a number of warnings that it wouldn't. Again, I think the parallels between Ashton and FCG are glaringly obvious this episode, except Ashton hid their feelings with anger and FCG with a focus on everyone else's needs.

[nightingaletes]

For once, not actual horny posting. Mostly. Still adult though. No minors, 18+, warnings are as follows:

Content: The first time Taliesin here's the L word. No, not lesbians. Dirty thoughts. Ask to add additional content warnings. Taliesin pov / third person pov. Word count 624. Character is my self insert.

Taliesin curled his fingers around Allora’s as they walked hand in hand along the pathway home. Allora had found a large patch of juniper berry trees and asked for him to come pick them for some pies later, and he had been happy to oblige.

Especially when he took the time in private to sneak kisses throughout their picking.

He would never grow tired of the way her face and ears turned a pretty pink or the way she would lightly slap his chest from being overwhelmed with her appreciation of his affection.

Her petulant little pout and glare made him feel smug as well.

He would always just repay her with more kisses until she became a fiery hot pile of snow— that is to say, melted. She never had any complaints to voice afterwards.

The basket she had in her other hand was full with berries, though they were hardly as sweet as the noises she made when he attacked her neck against a tree trunk earlier.

To be honest he was really just thinking of her on top of him—

“Tali?” Her voice curled in to interrupt his unsavory thoughts.

“Hm~?” He drawled in response.

Her hand squeezed his gently, raising their linked hands to kiss his knuckles softly, making his heart jolt.

“I love you,” she said softly, meeting his eyes with a smile.

Oh.

“I’m sorry?” He blurted out in response.

There was a pause before Allora snorted, turning her head away to laugh.

“I’m not sorry for loving you.” She quipped in response, turning back to him with a grin. “Have more confidence in yourself Tali.”

He could only twitch his lips in response, stalled in thought.

Love? Love him?

Her smile dropped the longer he was quiet and she grew far more worried. “Um… was it too soon to say?”

“I apologize,” he said. “I am… still getting used to the idea.”

“I’m sorry.” She quickly said, untangling their fingers to ‘readjust’ her hold on the basket, not meeting his eyes. “We can just forget it.”

“Cherub—” Taliesin started, but she merely threw him a smile. Too wide to be real. Forced.

“I’m okay! Honest.” A lie. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I won’t say it again.”

“I want you to.” Taliesin said firmly.

“But—!”

Taking the basket from her hand and placing it on the grass, Taliesin gently pushed her towards a tree trunk and pressed her against it; hands above her head in one of his own.

He leaned down to hover above her lips, murmuring, “Dear, this is what I know. Bodies, pleasure, making another feel good. This is the realm I have expertise in that you lack. But for me, I lack in romance. Actual connections. That is where you have expertise.”

“I just don’t want to rush you…” Allora tried to argue, eyes lulled. She wasn’t even trying to struggle in his hold— though he doubted she would want to against the bark.

“I merely require the same time I have given you in regards to sex, Cherub.” Taliesin said, giving her a soft kiss afterwards. “I will not be able to say it as often as you, most likely. But I never want you to stifle yourself for my sake.”

“I love you,” Allora said, leaning up to catch his lips again. His hands dropped from hers, and she quickly pulled him down, wrapping her hands into the locks of his hair carefully. Always so careful. “I love you, Taliesin.”

His cheeks were definitely flushed as she murmured her affections repeatedly between passionate kisses, and he was certain the others noticed their disheveled states when they finally returned home. Not that it mattered any to him. He was loved.

[aetherblooms]

2 9 and 20 for the commander asks!

2. Who is your commander closest to now?

Yvette: Over the years, they've gotten close to both of their partners, August (@dotmander's) and Taliesin (mine!) and I would say they're both tied in that respect. August has been their rock for ages, keeping them tied to the earth when their calling as Champion caused them to drift away; Taliesin, meanwhile, they have known--and loved-- for a decade, and he probably knows them better than they know themself at this point.

Lukas: He's always been closest to Yvette, ever since they were saplings. He's not really into relationships all that much, and while he's good friends with a lot of people and is more social than he used to be, he loves his big sister to bits and I don't think that'll change anytime soon.

9. Does your commander believe they’re on the right path?

Both: Wholeheartedly, at least when speaking about the dragons. Lukas is adamant that the end of the dragon cycle is necessary for the world to heal and grow anew, and he's never faltered on that front. It really is a tragedy, though, that the same Elder Dragons that threaten all life on Tyria happen to be his lil niece's family, and he wishes that's something he could change.

Yvette, similarly, believes that ending the dragon cycle has come to an end and would never dream of arguing otherwise; but...

After fighting Kralkatorrik, and clearly seeing that there was something corrupting him and causing him to lose himself over millennium, (***digging into some canon-divergent events from the twins' timeline***) seeing Jormag desperately bargain for their life, and watching Primordus rain fire and vengeance upon the Earth for the death of his twin... They feel guilty too, in a way that no one else could understand. Them and their big dumb heart.

Now, after ending the cycle for good, the twins are. Restless. their lives, all thirty-something years of it, has been spent fighting. First the Inquest and the Nightmare court, then the dragons and their minions. Things are a bit too quiet, now that there are no more enemies to fight. Lukas never had the Dream or a Wyld Hunt to guide him, but I think he's trying to take the aimlessness in stride. He's very happy, bouncing between new hobbies, and rediscovering his love for cooking! Yvette--ever the workaholic-- takes up their old post as a doctor for the Pact. Going back to their roots and helping people little by little everyday, has done wonders to help them settle into the new era. Neither of them really have a real path at the moment, but for now that's okay!

20. Can anyone calm your commander down, no matter what? If yes, who and why?

Yvette: Taliesin and August can usually get them to calm down individually, but if they're really in Distress them the both of them working together can ground them enough to settle down. August is very good at physical comfort (best hugs!) and her warmth and love does wonders to make them feel safe, even when the world around them is falling apart. Taliesin's voice is calm, measured, and gentle, and they could listen to her go on for hours (her hugs can't compete with August's, though).

Lukas: I'm not sure if he can say he has anyone like that. Yvette can calm him down in most circumstances, but he's very aware of the fact that he's a little more reliant on them than he should be and will often make himself feel worse for needing them at all given how much they already shoulder on the daily. He usually calms down on his own. Eventually.

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 80

Wait ... who is this? Are you being SUPERVISED at last, Samuel? Oh ... ah, I see ... yeah, this is gonna be a good one, clearly. XD Lie indeed! Yeah ... oh, THAT'S true? You really should be ashamed, Riegel ...

But seriously, that was one of his best skits to date ...

Sam (to Laura): "How come YOU get two?" Ashley: "Cuz she's the Merch Queen!" Laura (bright and innocent): "I had nothing to do with it."

So, final test, then ... where's this gonna go? And who will be the impostors in this game of ...

AMONG US?!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaah, it's decided BY CARD?!!! This is indeed a recipe for disaster. They're ALREADY all getting so worked up while Matt is clearly LOVING IT ...

One at a time now ... FURTHER panic ... glorious ... LOL

BATTLEMAP!!! Cue more clunky Sam plugs for Wizzkids!

Travis already thinks Marisha questioning Matt's mechanics is a sign she's a doppleganger trying to throw everybody off ...

And ROLL INITIATIVE?!!! Oh ... oh, that is interesting ...

Orym starts and Laura IMMEDIATELY starts probing at him ...

Matt: "This trust exercise is already going GREAT!!!"

At least Fearne seems to be Fearne, apparently ... XD

Liam: "Plant pubes." Matt instantly gives him a SCATHING look ...

Aaaaah! Angry bramble attack! Crap! Fearne, no! Hurt AND restrained!

Taliesin, as always, is already thinking FIVE MOVES AHEAD ... meanwhile Ashton to the rescue. And he Rages!

Some crazy quantum Barbarian craziness ensues! Taliesin loves it, he never gets to use Time. And now he has A PLAN ...

Laudna: "I love you, no matter WHAT form you're in." Imogen: "I feel SO SURE you're a doppleganger now."

Imogen Misty Steps to a specific tree, starts searching under it ... CRAP Investigation roll, Laura ...

FCG goes and heals Fearne ... Laura: "You wouldn't heal anybody yet!" Meanwhile he searches for signs of magic ... you're IN THE FEYWILD, SAMUEL!!!

Illusory vines? Hmmmm ...

Still wolfed out, Chetney clicks his Boots of Haste and immediately damn near runs himself into another angry bramble patch, barely dodges it ... oh, he runs RIGHT INTO a patch of purple flowers that spray him with FUCKING ACID!!! And then again JUST escapes another briar patch ...

Pate cannot tell Laudna if she's the real Laudna ... okay then ...

Sam: "What you looking for, Travis?" Travis: "Sweat?" Ashley: "All you're gonna find is conditioner." Laura: "He's SUCH AN ASSHOLE!!!"

Laudna has FOUND the thingie! Already ... impressive ...

Orym tries to get a true clue out of Fearne, but she can't remember. Orym: "I ... still think it's you!"

Ashley: "Is it my turn?" Matt: "Just about." Liam: "You have NEVER been this enthusiastic to go before."

Scorching Ray? Go Fearne ... torch those brambles! Ah, crap ... and now she's created a burning obstacle ... yeah ... Fearne: "Yeah, um ... I didn't really think that through."

Ashton is clearly gonna do something RECKLESS ... Hyper Rage? Whoa ... I HAVE TO see what THIS does ... Nat20? Nice ... he grabs a branch and BOOKS IT for the pool ...

Earthwalk? Cool ... and that's it ... oh, invisible barrier? Hmmmm ... ah! More purple flowers! Crap! Acid ... and the branches lose hit points TOO?!!! Shit! So close to going SO BAD ...

Imogen hops onto the wall and casts Detect Thoughts ... a LOUD STATICKY BUZZ?!!! Yeah, saw that coming ... uses a Sorcery point to get that slot back ... then she asks Fearne if she's real ...

Ashley has to TEXT IF SHE'S A DOPPLEGANGER to Matt and then he's going to ROLL FOR HER?!!! Bloody hell ...

FCG goes towards them now ... now he's looking for creatures ... hmmm ... oh, I see, he casts Speak With Animals. Asks the critters what's safe to interact with.

Oh, that is CREEPY ... Liam: "How does a squirrel know the word 'dubious'?"

And now he's being shadowed by a load of Lovecraftian squirrels ...

Grim Psychometry! Okay ... will THAT work in this? Chetney tries it ... good roll ... ah, a history lesson ... is there ANY actual point to that?

Matt, what are you doing? Some freaky little Fey thing is coming RIGHT AT Laudna! Going for her branch! Ah ... Ashton to the rescue! Crap, they didn't work ... and it's gone, along with her branch! Balls ...

Laudna sends Pate after it ... Laudna Spiderclimbs up and goes after it too ... get him, Pate! She channels Shocking Grasp through him go fet the thing ... ah, but it will also kill the branch! Oof ... what to do, then?

Pate is now WRESTLING with this thing while they wait for Chetney ... meanwhile Laudna does another Wither and Bloom ...

Orym jumps through the flames to go after it too ... shoots a vine to grab the branch! Also asks Laudna a personal question ... close enough! Hmmm ...

Just a regular owl ... oh NO!!! NO IT REALLY IS NOT A REGULAR OWL!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Oh, so IS FCG actually made of metal right now? Can't tell. THAT was a pointless exercise, clearly.

Ashton goes to try and rescue FCG from the Owl Thing ... another Hyper Rage, jumps and attacks the thing with the hammer ... Reckless! 24 to hit ... 19 points of damage! Okay, Letters is loose again! Meanwhile Ashton runs right past a bramble and just dodges it in time, gives it a swat on the way ...

Imogen casts Fly on herself and goes at the Owl Thing, casts Shocking Grasp on it! ZAP!!! Oh, and she just ANNIHILATES it ...

FCG casts Owl's Wisdom on himself, asks Fearne if he can trust her ... again, it's inconclusive ... hmmmmm ...

Chetney tries to get to the first Thing, claws at it ... go feral on it, Wolfman! Oh ... that's just messy ... then he goes and swipes at a random tree ... and that was ALSO pointless ...

Spiderclimb, Laudna! Yeah ... more Wither and Bloom ... then she sends Pate to see if FCG is squishy ...

Oh gods ... Pate: "Geronimo!" He dive-bombs Letters ... who just DODGES ... yup ...

Orym goes rummaging with his RIDICULOUS perception ... and BARELY avoids disturbing another wasp's nest ... eep ...

Fearne casts Speak With Plants ... Matt goes crazy with his miming and voice work now with the plants ... oh, they're just TRAUMATISED seeing their "friends" burning ...

And now she's been attacked by brambles again ... oh dear ... well THAT didn't work ...

Ashton comes back and attacks the bramble patch after making sure it's really her ... and she's free. Okay then ... now he takes a swing at the arch and just DESTROYS the ruin. Hmmmm ...

Imogen uses a Sorcery point to supercharge her Inflict Wounds ... oh, Nat20! Okay ... bye bye plants ... and she has a branch! Nice.

FCG asks Imogen to drop the twig if she trusts him ... hmmmm ... oh, this is getting complicated now ... calm down, people!

Liam: "Did some ex high-school boyfriend just get a random text saying 'They're onto me'?"

And now FCG is being grappled by brambles ... oh, is he bleeding? Hmmmm ...

Chetney climbs the tree ... wait, some of the tree ISN'T REAL? What the eff? Oh, there's a hidden hole ... oh, A BRANCH!!! Yeah ... now he tries a reckless jump to the next platform ... Nice! Yeah ...

Laudna sends Pate after FCG ... she looks through his eyes ... Nat20 ... Whispers! More plugs from Sam! So IS HE bleeding?

She stays put and stays on guard now ...

Orym just up and dodges mor brambles, lands next to Chetney, asks if he really is his dad. XD

Fearne holds Hold Person while waiting by the pool ...

Leaving FCG trapped, Ashton goes past another patch to reach Fearne, and his Rage ends. Hmmmm ... then does a long range nerve check on Orym ... oh, more texting ... no way to know ... and now Ashton's holding an attack too ...

Imogen comes down to the pool, close to Orym, and holds her action ...

FCG takes more damage staying where he is, casts Divination to see if Orym is one of the dopplegangers ... the Changebringer answers ... oh, and Sam gets a Whispers too! Hmmmm ...

Ashley sneezes and SAM tells her to stop it! LOL

Chetney does a smell check on Orym ... more Whispers! Dear gods ... he takes the branch out of the Bag of Holding ...

Laudna unleashes her Hound of Ill Omen ... oh boy ... sends ot between Orym and Imogen ... oh boy again ... and now SHE'S holding her action too ... Infestation? Hmmm ... potential bee chaos if things go bad, then ...

Count of three then ...

Orym uses the Monocle of True Essence ... oh, that's actually really smart! Go for it, wee man! He casts Detect Magic through it ... Insight Check with Advantage, then ... 22! Okay ... more Whispers! Blimey ... he pulls out the branch again ...

Fearne drops Hold Person ... now she's playing peacemaker ...

Ashton goes to rescue FCG while burning a Rage ... takes a swing at the brambles ... oh yes, that's it ... crash! POW! And Letters is free ...

FCG casts Cure Wounds on himself, then rolls round to the group.

Okay ... moment of truth?

Laudna puts away her bees ... everybody puts their branches in at once ... oh, there we go. And ... oh, so that's it? So what happened, then?

Oh, so they're all back in the Ligament Manor! Okay then ... oh, it was all a dream? Crazy ... and now to BREAK!!!

Well yeah, they did learn a bunch from that ...

Back to Nzna Morri being super creepy ... and FCG and Fearne really did get hurt. Hmmmm ...

Ashton has a revelation. None of it is news, though ... just a wake-up call ... hmmmm ... I mean they are all a hot mess ...

Oh, so they're, like, naturally unassuming because they're underwhelming? Is that the idea? Not sure what to make of that.

Oh, drinks! Yay! Peepers ... not so much ...

Trust. Trust is good.

Again with Fearne taking the Shard ... oh, so they're rethinking this, then? And now it's gotten a bit smutty ... hmmm ...

Wait ... are they gonna do this NOW?!!! No ... short rest? Might be wise ...

Oh yeah, give her the fancy fire ring.

Ah, so this new stick thing increases spell abilities? Cool. That could be very helpful.

Oh, so we are doing this. Hmmmm ... go outside? Up to the garden, then. Okay ... everybody follows her up ...

Yeah, this ain't gonna go wrong or anything, is it? Fuck ...

Right ... preparations, then ... Enhance Ability? Bear's Endurance? Oh, that sounds helpful ...

Ooh, Bompers? Hello, weird beasty ... and Sweetpea! Yay ... and Doctor Nesbitt ...

Fearne pops Mister out too ... okay ...

FCG performs a Sympathetic Binding on her too ... also Orym gives her the Potion of Heroism? Okay then ... AND a Death Ward? Wow ... that's probably gonna do it, then ...

Laudna gets as far away from Chetney as she can, then Imogen just hugs her and shields her so she won't get compelled by Delilah to go for the Shard ...

So fucking nervous right now ...

And now the Shard is out ... here we go ...

Not now, Delilah! Oh shit ... Laudna has to make a Wisdom Save ... oh thank fuck ...

It's starting! Oh shit ... yup, the burning damage starts already ... hmmm ... yeah, this sounds uncomfortable ... ouch ... another 12 points ... argh ...

Yeah, it's ALREADY getting hairy ... lucky the Concentration Saves are good ... oh ... is this actually going more smoothly than it did with Ashton? It's still painful and hairy though ... znd now Ashton's giving up some of HIS health to her ...

Oh yes, it really DOES look like it's working ... but it's STILL hurting even so ...

And now apparently this us turning into a metaphor for birth trauma ... I mean OF COURSE it is ...

Apparently now her heart is turning into an actual genuine STAR ... I mean that is SO COOL even if it is terrifying ...

Wait ... are they being spied on? Crap ...

Holy fuck she is just going full on fucking Phoenix Force right now, ain't she? This is getting pretty awesome ...

Whoa ... weird vision? Hmmm ... is that a potential problem?

Yes! Keep up with the healing magic, FCG! Wait, if he does that again he's gonna go BERSERK?!!! Fuck ... oh, and it's actually happening ...

Oh thank fuck ... Nice save, guys!

FCG: "I'll fucking kill you!" Aaaaaaaaaaah!

Wait ... is Fearne becoming tuned into the Elemental Plane of Fire? Fascinating ...

Fearne is now reaching her Ultimate Form and it is MAGNIFICENT ...

Whoa ... that is VERY CLOSE to her bottom.ing out on health, though ... oh yes, Laudna, nice save! Wither and Bloom on the garden, then ...

Oooh ... Balrog Fearne, intriguing image ...

Last round? Okay then ... last chance to help her, guys ...

Oh shit, those poor bastards trapped in the garden, that is just ... unfortunate ... O.O

Fearne is now getting a visitation from some kind of elemental god thing? Hmmmm ... snd she's being ACCEPTED AS AN EQUAL? Wow ...

She BARELY squeaks through with what health she has ... and looks like THAT is the final burst, then ... EVERYBODY takes damage from that one ...

Oh okay then ... looks like that might be it, then ...

ASHLEY GETS A CARD!!! WHAT DOES IT SAY?!!! TELL US!!!

She's alive, and she's TRANSFORMED ... dhe looks INCREDIBLE ...

And now FCG is LOOSE ... Orym tries to ward him off ... oh, this is getting messy ...

For the love of the gods please just QUIT with this shit, guys ... and now he's attacking Orym ... bloody hell ... with the saw? Crap ...

Oh thank fuck ... he's back ...

So Fearne is HOT but she doesn't hurt to touch ... that is pretty cool. And she's still very flammable ... fascinating.

Wait ... this is, like, a specific FORM she can assume? Oh, that's do cool ... Fearne Calloway, eldritch magic girl!

Awwww ... yeah, Mister just LOVES this ...

That's a good point ... what FOES this mean for Ashton's Shard? They try it out ... oh wow, it actually WORKS, Ashton's new power reactivates ... oh yeah, these two are just two halves if a whole, clearly ...

And now Ashton's having the exact same kind of trip as Fearne did, but for Earth instead of Fire. Znd now he's found HIS Ultimate Form too ...

OH MY GOD suddenly HE is whole too ... AND HE GETS HIS OWN CARD!!! AWESOME!!!

Oh, so he can MERGE with stone now? That is pretty sweet ...

Can Fearne do cool stuff too, now?

They go downstairs to check out what they can do ... and now I can almost SENSE Matt preparing to wind down the episode ...

YES!!! HE IS!!! I knew it ... that is indeed it for tonight ... okay ...

Well, I definitely look forward to seeing what THIS is gonna lead to ... I guess we'll find out next week.

Indeed, IS IT Thursday yet?

[kagedbird]

TESSDE AU (+ Lucia :]) (??? part 1)

*The next day*

Allora: *fully healed, stretches her arms over her head with a small whine, sighing and dropping them after* Back to normalcy.

Lucien: Well, as normal as one can get with reconstruction taking place. I can't believe she was a Hagraven the entire time! I knew she had sharp teeth, but those things were awful.

Allora: *shudders* Tell me about it. I can still feel her latched to my arm. Thought I was going to lose it, if it weren't for my scales.

Taliesin: *pulling her head close and kissing her temple* You have no idea how relieved I am that everything is all right. We all feared the worst when you were launched from the window. Don't do that again.

Kaidan: *holding Lucia as she eats her snack on his lap* Aye, felt like my heart fell outta my chest with you. You sure yer a'right?

Allora: I'm fine. Super cool dragon powers, remember? I'm more worried about you, Lu-Lu.

Lucien: *feels ridiculously happy hearing that awful nickname again after so long, taking her hand and squeezing it* I'm all right! You took care of the worst of my injuries, and I feel much better after a rest.

Allora: *smiles softly, kissing his knuckles softly* I'm glad. How're you holding up, chickadee? You all right?

Lucia: *nods, munching on a homemade riceball Allora made, sans seaweed* Mhm. She was scary, but mama and Lucien-papa are way stronger. Your dragon form was so cool too!! I didn't know you could do that!!

Allora: *chuckles, wiping some rice from her cheek* I rarely use it if I'm not in danger. I get really hangry afterwards.

Inigo: Hehe. Yes, I am surprised you are so jovial now.

Allora: [jokingly] That can change if you really want.

Inigo: I am good, thank you!

Allora: *chuckles, leaning against Taliesin and squeezing Lucien's hand* That's what I thought.

Lyra and Davidicus enter the dining room, both wearing relieved smiles.

Lyra: I'm glad to see you're all well. Thank you for taking care of Silvia- I never would have thought she was a Hagraven. In personality, maybe…

Allora: *hums* I don't think she's your typical Hagraven.

Davidicus: Whatever do you mean?

Allora: She felt more like mine.

Kaidan: *jolts* Thought you said yers were made up?

Allora: They are. We've seen plenty of Hags before here, she didn't read like any of those. It's also possible she was toying with us and she's not a Hag.

Davidicus: Did you… not kill her?

Lucien: She escaped before we could, I'm afraid.

Allora: She used blood magick to teleport herself. Wherever she went, she's likely connected to it via her blood, which is how she escaped so quickly. That's the part that gets me- I've never seen anyone use blood magick here before. Just necromancy.

Taliesin: Disgusting vampires use a type of life draining spell… would that qualify as blood magick to you?

Allora: She used something like that as well as the blood magick, so for this world, I'm going to say no. Life draining is more necrotic to me anyways.

Inigo: I do not like the idea of something fantasy coming from your world becoming real here… the things you have talked about are very scary sometimes.

Allora: I doubt she's really from my world. But if she were, I'd know how to beat her. *shrugs* So she better watch it if she's knows what's good for her.

Lucia: Yeah! Mama will kick her butt!

Taliesin: *squints disapprovingly* Dangerously close to foul language, young lady. Kaidan, you've been awfully excessive near her lately. I haven't said anything due to the recent events, but I will punish you if it continues.

Kaidan: *rolls his eyes* Whatever.

Lucia: *giggles, finishing off her riceball and reaching out to Taliesin to sit on his lap* Sorry papa!

Taliesin: *hums, picking her up and squeezing her close* I suppose I forgive you. But don't make it a habit! *wags his finger*

Reberio: *pokes his head into the dining hall* Mistress Flavius?

Lyra: *jolts in surprise* Reberio? What's wrong?

Reberio: It seems the events of yesterday caught the attention of some individuals who claim they are from Temple? Some… priests… are here… they wish to see Mistress White.

Everyone turns to look at Allora who merely just sighs and drops her chin to her chest.

Allora: Always something…

[centaurianthropology]

General Thoughts of Candela Obscura E1

So, for those who are waiting for the drop for Youtube, I’m just going to put these under a cut.

The first episode was ... fine.  I like the characters, but the story was a little less horror than I was hoping for.  I think this is likely a side-effect of it being an introduction to the system and the world, and I hope we dig deeper and get into way worse and creepy things in Oldfaire, because the town gives off some serious Yharnam vibes, and I really want to see much worse below the city.

The horror seems currently on the level of something like Fallen London (another strong similar vibe I got from the setting), where it can be mildly creepy, but nothing to spook even the biggest scardey-cats.  And part of that, I think, is Matt being first and foremost a D&D DM.  His favorite horror is body horror, clearly, and his sensibilities are geared for D&D combat and monsters.  And that is no bad thing, but so far I really haven’t seen him dig deep and come up with a really strong horror hook.  

And to be fair to him, doing horror in a TTRPG is HARD.  The sci-fi horror series ‘Eclipse’ had only one episode out of three seasons that really got me properly creeped out.  Taliesin’s Call of Cthulhu one-shot ‘Shadow of the Crystal Palace’ had some great horror moments, such as the moment with the guard and Travis, but that’s as close as we’ve come to proper horror content from CR.  And this introduction to Candela Obscura, despite being hyped as proper horror spooks, lacked any real fear.  We got ..blue ghosts?  A big warrior spirit?  Cool, sure, and definitely some fun visuals, but nothing that felt actually scary in that existential, unexpected way.

I also sort of wish Taliesin was playing the group’s Lightkeeper, as I think he’d bring more gravity and spooky shit to the table, essentially acting as a junior DM and NPC.  He would give the circle instructions and would be available to discuss lore and such with them as needed, but would always give off a vibe that interacting with him for too long might be dangerous.  It would also make his intros feel a little less separated from the rest of the episode.  

Now, all this may sound like I was pretty down on the episode, but I did enjoy it.  The characters are fun, they’re good horror tropes (particularly Laura’s crazy-eyed occultist, who gives off some delightfully weird vibes).  Having them have personal connections to one another is also great, as it gives them more to lose (and I am really hoping we do lose a few by the end of the third episode, as I want Matt to ratchet up the danger hard).

And as I said at the beginning, this is very much the first episode, with some kinks to work out.  I’m hoping that, now that the establishing episode is over and done with, Matt can destroy all my doubts and show me that he can really embrace the fucked-up horror vibes this show really needs to have proper teeth and linger with the audience.  Having a system weighted toward failure or only partial successes, with true success seeming like a rarity, could really help with this, and giving the characters more resource crunch could also be great.  ‘Call of Cthulu’, for example, has very few rules about fighting, but a lot about running away, because that’s what you’re supposed to do.  So it’s great that none of the characters in this current run are active combatants.  Sending them into Oldfaire with no real means of defending themselves and barely enough information to keep them alive could really up the terror, and leaning into reality-breaking cosmic weirdness seems like a great angle to take if and when they descend below the city streets.  

Setting up proper scares and paying them off would also be a huge benefit.  Taliesin had some great moments of this in ‘Shadow of the Crystal Palace’, as I mentioned, and though the rest of the series never quite rose to the same heights, the third episode of Eclipse, ‘The Dark Zone’ is frankly a masterclass at being properly spooky and unsettling that could be referenced for ways to get your players spooked and keep them there.  So it is doable, but it requires the DM to go in with spooks set up and ready to go.  Matt is fantastic at set-up and is an incredibly diligent DM, so I do trust he can do this.  And he’s got a good buddy who has experience doing it if he needs any ideas.

I am looking forward to following this run, and I think a lot of my issues with this first episode are simply early growing pains of a new system and new players.  I think by the third episode, if Matt really cranks up the horror, I am going to love this series, and I am both a big fan of CR and a big horror fan, particularly cosmic horror.  So I’m very excited to see what the next run might be like after the growing pains are over and the kinks are worked out.  I hope we get at least three runs with three different DMs, because getting to see how this system plays in different hands with different approaches would be really beneficial to those of us tempted to run Candela Obscura ourselves.  I would love to see Ivan van Norman DM one of the runs, as he’s got a great sense for horror.  And I would really like Taliesin to take the reigns.  This is his baby, and right now his distance from it is probably deliberate, as he wants to see how it plays without his interference, but I think his DM style from ‘Shadow of the Crystal Palace’ would really bring this setting to life, dragging his investigators into darker and darker places.

All in all, not a bad start.  Not great, but first episodes of any of CR’s campaigns (or frankly pilot episodes in general) are often weakened by everyone being new to their characters and the DM still figuring out the tone they want to go for.  I think that we’ll be seeing a lot of improvement, and a lot of what’s already strong (the characters) getting built out to the point where, if we start losing them in episode three, it’ll have some serious impact leading into the formation of the next circle for the next run.

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

Hello!!!! I’ve been following you for ages and I know that you’re a big CritRole fan. I’ve never really been able to get into it, cuz the thought of going back and watching it all from scratch is supremely intimidating. However. I finished all of EXU Calamity in a weekend (and lost my entire fucking mind) and I’m really enjoying TLOVM show. Do you have any tips for watching any parts of C1, C2, or C3 in addition to that? Or would it be smarter to wait for C4 to start and go fresh from there?

Hello dear, lovely to hear from you. I hope you're doing well.

Critical Role is very intimidating to get into. I was fortunate that I got into it early on, roughly a year after they started filming, so it didn't take me as long to catch up. Anyone trying to get into it now is going to feel daunted, that's for sure. Unfortunately, D&D sessions do tend to run long, I know my group's average is 4 hours and we used to run for up to six when we had more open schedules.

Calamity is a fantastic place for any newbie to start. There are other oneshots and mini-campaigns they've done too, like Taliesin's eldtrich horror mini campaign, the Undeadwood campaign, and Marisha's Honey Heist and its sequel. Calamity introduces you to the world and is just. brilliant improv storytelling from all the players. but it's only six episodes for the complete story. So if anyone reading this ask wants to bite into a good tragedy and wants to know what the whole TTRPG craze is about, Calamity is a great one.

When it comes to the full campaigns... you kind of have to resign yourself to the fact that it'll take a while. Campaign four won't start for another year or two, and so you can wait until then, but that is a bit of time to hold out.

I would personally recommend you listen to campaign one. Campaign two seems to be the favorite for the majority of fans, but since you've already watched TLOVM, which is based on campaign one, that'll give you some background info and a baseline to help you get into the swing of things. The first few episodes will be a bit rough, since the cast is getting used to being filmed in a studio rather than hanging in a living room, but you'll be surprised by how fast you latch onto the characters.

Additionally, I think it's just fun to watch the cast journey from being in a spare room at the Geek & Sundry studios, to their own studio, slowly decorating that studio, then moving to a bigger studio, which is where they'll stay for campaign two. it's just nice, in my opinion, to see those little details as the show grows in real-time.

My friend recommends listening at 1.25 speed, and sometimes she speeds up the combat to 1.5 speed. You can also listen rather than watch, as some of my friends have done, so you can listen (either just put the video on and don't look, or they have created podcast versions of the episodes - nothing changed in content, just made it into an audio file to download) while doing other things like folding laundry. I prefer watching, to see facial expressions and nonverbal reactions, but given that this is a popular option among my friends, I don't think you'll miss anything too vital. And you can always supplement with YouTube compilation videos of reactions and favorite moments!

I can also say that it'll go faster than you think it will. You'll be surprised at how quickly you can blow through a few episodes.

So, yes, either wait a year or two, or resign yourself for a commitment, unfortunately that's kinda how it goes. You can't really skip episodes or only do "highlight" episodes since so much happens in each one, you can miss a lot of context. If that still intimidates you I'd really recommend diving into the other mini campaigns and oneshots they've done like Honey Heist, Undeadwood, etc.

Also, if you liked Calamity, then I recommend Dimension 20. Brennan Lee Mulligan is the game master for that crew, just as he was in Calamity, and their campaigns are a lot shorter. So that can also help you get into the TTRPG show groove. Their campaigns tend to run 15-20 episodes and the mini campaigns are around 6.

Again if you are going to dive into a full CR campaign I recommend the first campaign with Vox Machina since you already know the characters and a lot of the plot arcs - and it's fun to watch TLOVM when you've seen campaign one, since you can see how it's a truncated "this is the legend" version while the CR campaign is "now here's what really happened with these dumbasses." But campaign two is the more popular campaign so there's nothing wrong with starting there.

I hope that all this has been helpful! Good luck on your CR/TTRPG show journey!

[peach-the-owl]

Good grief that last post! So cute! I NEED more Matt interacting with the child reader that dynamic seemed so cute and wholesome. So if your comfortable I'd like to ask please, please for a Matt x child reader. Maybe just little kiddo being a regular crew member, attending comic con and being asked who their favorite cast member is and almost everyone at the panel responding with Matt. When Matt's like um?¿? They remind him of cute moments that support their claim. Like a clip show. Just an idea, really I'd be happy with anything. Thanks! Love your writing.

I had fun with this one 😊 Now is this an older ask? Yes. Is this cheating because Matt is a real person and not an npc? Well, Matt’s the DM which by extension means that he plays every npc so therefore I’m saying it counts.

Who’s Your Favourite?

Crit Role Cast & Child!Reader

(Mostly Matt & Child!Reader but you get the idea)

Disclaimer: I do not speak on behalf of any of the actual cast. This is just a fictional scenario meant to be for fun

You loved Comic Con, the sights, the cosplays, the merch, the panels, just everything. You skip around the con taking everything in.

“Hey, don’t be wandering off too far without me.” You hear Matt chuckle as he walks over to your beaming face.

“I can’t help it! Look at all the cool stuff.” You gesture to everything around you.

“I know, believe me I know, and we’ll have plenty of time to look around but we need to set up for our panel.” Matt reminds you.

“Oh yeah! Let’s go! Let’s go!” You bounce in place. Matt let’s out another chuckle as Marisha finally joins the two of you.

“Whhaaat, are you two having all the fun without me.” She teases.

“No, never… maybe a little.” Matt teases back. The three of you finally making your way to where you’ll be holding your panel. You sat and watched while everyone scrambled around preparing the last few touches for your panel, being joined by Matt who sits next to you acting over exhausted.

“Whew! Boy am I beat!” He sighs, you giggle at his antics.

“No you’re not, the staff did most of the work.” You point out matter-of-factly.

“And it was exhausting watching them.” He jokes. You give him a light shove, the both of you laughing before having to be called back while they open the theatre for fans to be seated. You wait in impatient anticipation to start, and finally, once the audience was seated you all took your seats at the table to start the panel.

The panel had be going really well and it was now time for any audience members to ask you guys any questions they had, you listened to fans questions and answered any as best as possible.

“Uhh hi, I have a question for (y/n).” You perk up and look to the dark auditorium. “So I was wondering, who is your favourite member of the cast.” You hesitate, genuinely trying to think of how to answer, you liked everyone and being put on the spot like this made it extra hard.

“It’s Matt!” Everyone says in near unison, except for you and Matt himself.

“Ummm… what?” He looks to everyone confused.

“Don’t act like it isn’t true. (Y/n) follows you everywhere around the studio.” Liam starts.

“Not to mention that time when they came running to you first during a blackout. (Y/n) could’ve gone to anyone else but they specifically sot you out.” Taliesin adds.

“And I haven’t forgotten when they shared their snack with you and not me.” Travis ‘accuses’, some people in the audience giving a soft laugh at the memory.

“This goes both ways just so you guys know.” Laura jumps in, talking directly to the audience.

“Yeah, don’t think we didn’t notice the rolls you’ve fudged for (y/n)’s sake. There have been plenty of times you gave them a free win.” Marisha gives Matt a smug side eye.

“You mean those cool moments weren’t real?” You speak up confused and everyone quickly goes a into a little bit of awkward silence.

“Of course they were kiddo, they’re all just jealous they couldn’t be you in that moment.” Matt encourages, giving a small but playful glare to the rest of the cast. A few more fans got to ask some questions before the panel officially came to a close and you were free to roam the con again, getting some food to re-energize yourself before going around and admiring the different cosplays people had.

After a few more scheduled panels and meet and greets with fans the day was coming to a close and you were exhausted. You try and fail to fight back a yawn rubbing your eyes in an attempt to shake the feeling away.

“Someone tired?” Marisha asks, you shake your head stubbornly. “Awww, I think you are.” She crouches down to meet your eye level, seeing the obvious exhaustion in you eyes. You look away from her with a small pout, you didn’t want the day to be over just yet and you certainly didn’t want to miss any fun activities that could take place. Marisha gives Matt a side look.

“What?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Well you are the favourite, so do something.” He gives her a playful eye roll followed by a chuckle.

“Am I really your favourite?” He asks you. You don’t respond, instead lifting your arms up to him and making grabby hands, he lets out a content hum. “Alright, alright. Come here.” He lifts you up and adjusts you so your head is resting on his should, instantly you pass out. The two adults almost laugh at how fast you gave up trying to stay awake.

“Told ya so.” Marisha lightly teases.

“Yeah yeah.” Matt waves off. “You head over to restaurant with the others, I’ll drop them off at the hotel and meet you all there.”

“Sure thing.” With that the two head in separate direction.

You’re placed in bed and handed your favourite plushie you unconsciously snuggle into, Matt whispers a quick goodnight to you before heading out leaving you to dream away in wonderland.

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

Nineteen things I noted about CR2E123 “Fair-weather Faith” and the Talks Machina about it :

I'm not apologizing for this post, the episode was 5 hours and 24 minutes long !

The fact that we had, almost back-to-back, a moment where Beau was like "No ! Don't pour acid on my hand ! I need my hand for... like, stuff... Combat !!", and a moment later, this gem : Ashley : "I'm going to grab Beau's hand and just start just trying to rub it [the eye] off." Laura, with her 14-year-old adolescent mind : *snickers* Ashley : "Just rub one out real quick !"

Travis, overjoyed at this turn of events, in vindication : "Ah, this is great ! Who's having the fucked-up dreams now, huh ??"

I'm crying with laughter, they are so FERAL, they went from "let's cast Greater Restoration" to "maybe the only solution is cutting off their heads !!" while also doing "let's pour acid on the eye on the hand !" and "maybe if we cut the hand and grow it back ?" !! Poor Beau is having the worst night.

Ashley's "I rolled a dragon !! I'm sorry !!" was entirely too cute.

Ooooooh, the Beau-Jester team up was HOT. Bonus, Sam, having a flashback to CR1 : "Dimension Dooring to a dragon ? That sounds like a terrible idea."

This fight is awesome because a) I fucking love dragons b) they are learning a lot about how Lucien & Co work in battle !

The image of both Otis and Veth trying to hide behind Fjord (who is... a half-orc, yes, but not that massive) while they're bickering is so hilarious.

Jester cast Heal on Fjord, true love, babyyyyyyyy ! Caduceus : "That feels good, doesn't it ?" Jester, not convinced at all : "Def' !... whatever..."

Ashley 'Pool Hall' Johnson : "I summoned this bitch, AND WE'RE GOING TO END HER !!"

Me, after this fight versus an ancient white dragon, when Matt calls for break : "well, this was dangerous but fun !" Also me, remembering the total length of the episode and knowing that most episodes of CR that are that long tends to end up in tears and bone-deep anxiety : "... cool... So THAT WASN'T the thing I should be worried about ??"

OTIS STOLE THE FUCKING BAG OF HOLDING DURING THE FIGHT WITH THE DRAGON when they were hiding behind Fjord. I hate them !!!! But also, respect.

me, 5 seconds later : "Oh yeah I understand the runtime now"

Liam, about Taliesin's former character (Lucien) attacking Taliesin's current character (Caduceus) : "That is a man going down on himself !" You would know, mister Liam 'I was once so agile I publicly bragged on my podcast with my best friend that I could have sucked my own dick' O'Brien

You know it's bad when the DM almost say "I would consider getting out of here" to his players

Caleb Counterspelled a Counterspell that Counterspelled a Slow spell, oh my god this fight !!!! I can't believe it will see that animated

Sam : "Remember when I said I didn't want it to end ?... I want it to end now, I want it to be over !" That's the mood though. This fight was harrowing, because the Mighty Nein were at a disadvantage from the beginning, and the Tomb Takers were out for blood, they even prevented them to escape !

They took 5 minutes of Talks to drag Sam's mustache (fair). Then, Brian made some great comments throughout the show : "You look like if Tim Curry moved to Nantucket to become a sommelier", "Before you go to your audition for Gang of Newark...", "tell us more, Tony Shalhoub character guest spot", "that mustache looks like my garbage disposal when it's malfunctioning"

Sam goes on a rant about how he hates the inherent Luck halflings have, and it's glorious.

At this point in time, Liam reveals he chose Sam's next character class/race combo, and that Sam has accepted it. I do wonder if Sam abided by those choices, or he changed it for Campaign 3. Since we don't have Talks anymore, and I don't think they answered that kind of question on 4 Sided Dive, I don't know...

[isagrimorie]

I posted 7,997 times in 2022

That's 499 more posts than 2021!

1,011 posts created (13%)

6,986 posts reblogged (87%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@comradesummers

@isagrimorie

@beatrice-otter

@thatgeeklover

@nerd-spikey

I tagged 6,095 of my posts in 2022

Only 24% of my posts had no tags

#btvs - 1,123 posts

#buffy summers - 872 posts

#tv: legacies - 745 posts

#faith lehane - 529 posts

#hope mikaelson - 521 posts

#critical role - 519 posts

#lizzie saltzman - 449 posts

#queue - 449 posts

#doctor who - 441 posts

#otp: buffy and faith - 367 posts

Longest Tag: 93 characters

#but also spike always picking fights with practically the strongest slayers of the generation

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

The way Marisha and Taliesin recoiled at the idea of Keyleth and Percy being in a sexual relationship was amazing.

And the solid belief of both Taliesen and Marisha that neither Kiki and Percy would ever touch each other in a sexual, except if Vex was involved.

But also, I love Marisha brought up the chilliness between Percy and Kiki! I love that it’s a little because they’re both being formal, playing good cop and bad cop, AND there might have been frictions between Percy and Kiki.

Taliesin is still of the idea that Percy can still be a little too bloody minded and that despite being best friends, Keyleth and Percy still have some arguments.

They are both leaders of their own respective places and sometimes what Whitestone prioritizes can be against what Zephra needs.

Also Percy being the Bruce Wayne from Batman Beyond. Amazing.

I also love Marisha clocked that Ashton was way too quiet when Laudna returned. Both Marisha and Tal are excited to have another one on one with each other.

And honestly, I look forward to both of Laudna’s interactions with Imogen and Ashton equally!

But also Taliesin’s knowing: “fRieNd???” when Marisha called Imogen Laudna’s friend.

You know he wanted to poke on that more.

But gah, everything’s reset back to zero for Laudna. She has a lot to work with to regain the certainty she lost about herself.

The good thing is this go around, Laudna is no longer alone to do it. She’s no longer like Tom Hanks in Castaway making imaginary friends.

She has real people willing to help her.

I am so EXCITED for everything.

423 notes - Posted November 2, 2022

#4

Rewatching Eve of the Daleks because I love it so much, especially this moment:

Sarah glances at her phone and out of screen, Thirteen asks, just a shade annoyed: "Er, where were you?"

Thirteen moves towards her opening her arms wide with a very annoyed expression. Her lips are a thin line.

See the full post

447 notes - Posted January 3, 2022

#3

See the full post

517 notes - Posted March 21, 2022

#2

I love the Donna of it all!

But in general this is what I’m feeling in light of him constantly overshadowing Thirteen and now Fourteen:

624 notes - Posted May 16, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Favorite Thirteenth Doctor moment on Eve of the Daleks

1,459 notes - Posted January 9, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[ofglories]

*the door creaks open

|| I’ll try to keep this brief, because there’s a LOT of characters I interact with. I’ll hit the important ones:

Arthur - He’s… so sweet. Like a puppy. I want to ruffle his hair and pinch his cheeks. You hit the good notes wherein he’s following his own principles, and still shadowed by the past actions of his father. I’d like to see more of his insecurity or uncertainty, but you’ve got such a firm grasp on his character that it’s fine. Merlin adores him in all the AUs, and his desire to make Merlin happy by any means necessary is v. endearing.

Emrys - No joke, legit thought Emrys was an actual, canon character. It wasn’t until talking to a friend that I was like ‘Oh… he’s an OC?!’ You carry his character really well, molded and threaded into the story as if he was a genuine person from legend – you had me fooled! Merlin can’t say anything though, he’s biased therefore his ( correct ) opinion is irrelevant. I am so desperate to see him react to Uther and everything he’s done ( even if it would never happen ).

Uther - You ever met a man you hate? Not even beloathe but straight up hate? Look no more, Uther is here. The way you keep the tyrannical side just on the side of believable without leaning too far into cartoonishly evil is certainly commendable, tbh. I’d like to see if there’s something – a material possession, a person, something that would make that side of him crack, but it seems unlikely. ( Merlin isn’t available for comment. We know how he feels on the matter. )

Taliesin - I WANNA KNOW HIM MOREEEEE. God I love everything about Taliesin and I perk up every time I see him cross my dash. Such a cryptic and delightful bard. He gives me a “whimsical but can still kick your ass while being pretty about it” vibe and I want to scooch Merlin more towards him at some point bc I wanna see what happens 👀

|| How's my portrayal? ; accepting!!

Aaaaaaaaaaa thank you so much!

I'm honestly so glad to hear this and don't worry I do have Plans to explore more of Arthur's insecurities and uncertainties, and not just with Althur as the catalyst. There's a lot to explore with him that I haven't yet because he's genuinely deeply wounded by events in his life that affect him both as a Servant and as a living person that I can't wait to explore more. I'm definitely biased because, much like a certain OC of mine, I grew up with King Arthur stories and he's my favorite boy in Fate because of it so I try so hard to do him justice. He's very sweet, but also has a mischievous and recklessly stubborn side too that I'll have to dig into more.

Emrys is so much fun for me so I'm glad you like him! It was a challenge for myself when I first made him to take someone with so little information and presence in the legends as Ambrosius Aurelianus and flesh him out into a proper character, so I'm genuinely happy you say I've done well enough for him to properly feel like he belongs since he's really only mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth like...three times. Eventually he's going to have to face the facts of what Uther did and there will be an Event with that.

God, you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that about Uther. He's a muse I'm deeply insecure with since I don't really write villains but I wanted him to be a believable evil tyrant. Someone who does terrible things without leaning into cartoonish steals candy from babies territory. He's a self-absorbed, self-obsessed violent jackass and is entirely unrepentant about it. I do wonder that too, though I have some personal doubt from my own admitted bias against him dkjfbjmhs

Oh my god thank you!! Taliesin is such a fascinating figure since he's simultaneously fictional and real so I worked hard to make him the way he is. You should absolutely throw Merlin at him more, Taliesin welcomes new students and he'd definitely view Merlin as one! He's an old man even with his pretty and youthful features-

[utilitycaster]

listened to RCCC finally! the very noncomprehensive and subjective new info. Under the cut because it's very long:

Matt's both excited and terrified for the potential this campaign to really deconstruct what came before and it does sound like he is unsure what precisely to expect

Everyone is excited for more of the Shattered Teeth; Taliesin holding out for the moon as "favorite landmass"

Ashley could go even harder with Fearne's chaos and the cast encourages her to do so

Sam really loved FCG and FRIDA's relationship and he and Christian texted about it a lot during that arc! (Christian throws some credit to Aabria's encouragement)

Unsure if FRIDA is a werewolf

Ruidus "noticed" Chetney and Matt has more to reveal...

Because Ashton's rage was heavily directed towards that lack of knowledge about their past they are clinging very hard to the reveal of the Titan of Blood and what that might mean (also, fun talk about Taliesin's theme of Holes In The Past); it's also giving them a sense of feeling robbed.

Marisha really loves how Orym has built upon the Ashari lore; Liam loved seeing Orym's family, which was very important since Orym's childhood was, unlike Vax and Caleb's, a happy one with an extended family

History of Shattered Teeth was heavily influenced by the collaboration with Brennan for EXU Calamity

Imogen spent a long time thinking Liliana would have her back and feels extremely abandoned; she loves her powers and doesn't want to lose them, but doesn't see another option given the harm of the Vanguard.

Fearne is not worried about being Ruidusborn, as she is perfect :)

Chet long rest rolls are, as we know, real. The cast (Travis included) think this is hilarious. Travis does NOT have a backup character. Matt points out that they should uh, probably do that. Liam jokes maybe Bertrand will come back instead.

The duality of aeormaton; FCG defeating Shithead and within a day asking the creatures on Slival to shit on him. Matt regrets this worldbuilding detail; the cast does not.

Orym is an exploration, in a way, of imposter syndrome; he feels responsible but does not feel like he is the right guy for the job. Marisha notes that Liam's vision for Orym was very much as a sidekick, but then found the group was all somewhat conceptualized as go with the flow.

Taliesin's favorite rage is Time, but Space is also fun. Liam loves the immovable rod in the hammer; Matt also does.

Travis is the best and good things come to him; he enjoyed Graz'tchar a lot for the brief time he had it, but also thinks it's way better to give the sword to Novos and see what happens.

Ashley wanted to snoop in the captain's quarters and did not intend to seduce him but he wouldn't leave, and so. Fearne did get a boon with the HP reduction, but it's a secret for now. (Christian adds that FRIDA getting to be there for a Fearne theft was an honor)

Marisha's notes are copious but as a result they are 10% useful, 90% "WE SHOULD CUT OFF LUDINUS'S HEAD." [which to be fair is imo useful]. Sam points out there's a lot of lore. They shout out Dani.

Sam jokes sarcastically about seeing his past characters when the cast at large is asked (Marisha, Liam, and Taliesin all answer but it's mostly the same as when they've talked about it on 4sd).

The cast is busy and have not seen a ton of other shows lately but Sam does confirm he recently watched Jury Duty; Marisha and Matt like watching creepy movies and video essays together.

I feel they should uh...screen mental health related questions a bit harder; it's not that it's not important but I get the sense it's really difficult for the cast to answer to a live mic when they're here to talk about d&d.

Who would they swap character sheets with in Bells Hells: Travis and Marisha would both be Ashton, Taliesin would be Chetney, Ashley would be Laudna or FCG, Sam would be Fearne, Liam would be Laudna, Laura would be Fearne.

Sam has no dice superstitions. Laura disputes this; Sam will put dice in jail if they roll too poorly.

Voodoo donuts has dick donuts, to Laura's great joy. [I will say I suspect the reason they are going to RCCC is that LA to Oregon is an easier trip than to the east coast. also I cannot tell which cast member (or possibly Christian) said "I want a dick" but yes, much like Laura, I did laugh.]

Someone asks about the Titan Blood idea because they also have this concept in their campaign! Matt says that this made sense given that Ashton was transformed to a Genasi as part of his backstory.

An impulse that Ashley didn't follow through on was setting the Omen Archive on fire; she thinks it could have gone very badly and Matt confirms he did have a battle map ready

Has Vex seen the bug? YES (Laura tells the story in Vex's voice; Liam interrupts as Vax; Matt interrupts as Trinket)

How have your characters affected your worldview? Taliesin jokes it's therapy; Laura says it helps you empathize with people around you by pretending to be someone very different than yourself. Matt agrees that it's a reminder to treat everyone as individuals. Liam especially notes that Caleb taught him to accept the challenges within life without trying to escape them. Marisha encourages a self-insert to start, but to branch out after that. Travis says anyone of any age can have an adventure.

[glossolali]

TLOVM Ep 9 Twitch Watch Party Summary

- Tried to make that guy with the Briarwoods look like Brian Foster

- Delilah wanted to save Sylas cause she didn't want to enter the dating pool again

- Arthur hand painted the skull book animation frame by frame!

- Long hair Sylas is SO hot, and she gives him a haircut every morning (cause vampire? I guess?)

- Joaquim Dos Santos did some work on TLOVM as a pat on the shoulder for Arthur and some other animators for working under him in Voltron

- Sam: "Hey it's my daughter!" at the sun tree dead Pike kid (omg...)

- Character design team made a ton of zombie designs so you're not looking at the same ones and there's some 3D ones in the back too

- Liam's line delivery is always SO good (at Vax's "Gross!")

- We went through many iterations of what Scanlan's bite looks like and it's very gross and it gets worse as it goes

- The growling giants are Liam!

- Sam immersed himself with an accent coach for 6 weeks for Scanlan's 'french' accent (he's joking)

- We had a scene cut for time constraints that was explaining why no one could leave Whitestone (because of the demon dogs)

- Arthur's wife screamed watching Archie die haha :(

- (Everyone lol'd at "yes yes she's the tits")

- You can really see the love from everybody in every frame, the whole crew really loves working on this

- Travis and Marisha: He said the thing! (about Percy's name)

- Taliesin crushed Percy's speech, he did it twice cause that's what you're supposed to do but he just did such a good job from the first time

- "Don't drop that shit on me now, I can't process this!" Marisha about Keyleth when Vax confesses to her

- (Everyone cheers when Pike comes down all glowy and shit)

- Ashley really wanted to say a very goofy "HULLO!" when Pike beamed down during the zombie fight but they went with something else (lol)

- The sound design is amazing!!

- (They're cute and just cheering throughout the zombie and giant fight anytime anything happens)

- Rory (The Hound) saying "ballbag" when Vedmire kicks it was so funny, Dominic (Monaghan) had said "dobber" which apparently is a very thick penis lol

- Vedmire's hung corpse really brings the room together

- "This is the dungeon, Keyleth" (they laughed about it but idk just wanted to mention it again cause it made me laugh)

- This is Percy level 2 or 3? Nope, it's critical mass Percy

Q&A

Q: Tell us about the art teams' blood, sweat and tears with the zombie apocalypse?

A: All the art teams did a really good job, everyone came together to make it look that good. There was a lot that went in there to make it feel organic and real, like staggered gait, and different looks and personalities.

*We watch the Pike's Return Animatic*

Q: How did the scene change than from the game?

A: We made it extra since it's animated, you know, she came out of the sky and gave everyone the equivalent of Holy Weapon

Q: Giant designs are great, let's talk about them.

A: Everything was really well done, and how they look refers to who they were before they died like: the muscle and sinew under the skin, different levels of decay, barrel as a pauldron, and the different clothes and beards

Q: Vax finally tells Keyleth how he feels, how was it distilling that moment for the animated series?

A: Super wise, but charisma is her dump stat. When it happened in the game Marisha asked Laura: "What?? How long has this been going on?" Laura: "For like fucking 40 episodes." Liam had been doing all these little things for ages like 'Vax sits next to Keyleth' and I was just like "Ok cool!" (Travis: On the show when this happened, we all escaped into our shirts like 'WHAT IS HAPPENING?') Liam trailblazed character romance in our games (Ashley: I didn't know you could do that!) It was important to not rush it here, because in the original game they had like 40 episodes of lead up and a lot of time for the romance to blossom realistically, but here there's less time so you have to be intentional about it. But I (Marisha) like how we subverted the romance trope with Keyleth, she wasn't like "OH my prince!" she's more like "Not now! this is NOT appropriate!" (lol cute)

Q: Speaking of romances: Pike and Scanlan, what the fuck?

A: Sam: I think we're destined to be together, Ashley: but it's gonna take Pike some time to make her way (all: makin' my way) they're long game so it takes a while. Sam: Scanlan has always thought he's a skilled romanticist but he actually cares about Pike but he doesn't know what to do about that, it's easy to hook up with someone but it's hard to get someone to care about you

Q: Arthur, any artists or references that influenced the show?

A: Oh crap, maybe 3 years ago. But I took the last show I worked on with me, including artists and background designers (from Voltron: Legendary Defender) and we had fun with it

Q: Favorite game to show moment so far?

Travis: Dark spirits coming after VM, desmond wasn't there but it was great to lock in on those character beats and different faces of their personalities - big action moment though? Pike's return

Marisha: The sun tree was like "What the fuck is Matt thinking? Holy shit" so was great to see that translated

Ashley: Pike's return and the sun tree moment, and just in general and seeing Gilmore for the first time - it was glorious

Sam: Seeing Scanlan up on the roof amidst rain and flame, it was improv'd on the spot and now it's something that fans can watch and enjoy on their screens - "You know I love you" moment, it's cool that it's different from the game, I always pushed to change moments just a little bit, cause we have the game and we can go watch it again, so it's fun to try new things out

Arthur: Gilmore's shop, getting to flesh that out was really fun, we really went nuts, we shouldn't have gone that detailed, it's crazy - but number 1 moment hasn't come out yet and you'll see it soon!!

(In honor of Arthur's nuptials, they bring out champagne! And they toast for them but also for all the designers and artists and animators and their amazing work. Very cute.)

[loquaciousquark]

4-Sided Dive Highlights - Critical Role C3E24 - Calamity (July 5, 2022)

Tonight’s guests: Laura, Ashley, Aabria, and Marisha! I didn’t realize how tall Aabria was until we saw her sitting next to Sam in Calamity, and standing next to Laura and a seated Marisha/Ashley, I am impressed anew at her height. Laura is devastated to land host and immediately butchers the pronunciation of “Laerryn”, which is very funny. Also Omar is here wearing a harness, and he’s beautiful!

What the Fuck is Up With That? Laura & Marisha are so sad about Imogen & Laudna’s busted friendship. It was heartbreaking in the moment and they both clung to each other after, while also being pleased at the drama. Imogen is baldly jealous of Laudna’s friendship with Dusk. Aabria: “What’s more girlboss than getting a drastic haircut after a bad breakup?”

There’s an inset Omar cam of a crew member (?) playing with Omar, which is ADORABLE.

Everyone laughs at Ashley’s huge reactions and dropped jaw during the Imogen/Laudna fight. They inset the relevant clip! That’s so nice! Laura remembers big reactions to Vax and Keyleth.

Marisha was trying to listen to Matt in this scene as he portrayed Delilah, trying to glean clues through his dialogue, only to still be blindsided by Delilah’s evilness. “You lied” made Aabria’s whole body hurt. Marisha hates friend/friend conflict but is totally onboard with stranger conflict. She could feel that “burning in the back of my head” to fix this immediately. Laura had to fight her natural reaction of, “It’s fine, it’s fine, I know you didn’t mean to!”

Calamity! Aabria loves that everything we know in Tal’Dorei is technically a post-apocalyptic world. Marisha likes that this previously amorphous conflict now has real grounding. Ashley loved how advanced the tech was.

Laura: “Can we talk about Brennan’s jamming?” Aabria: “Can we? That monster.” Lots of praise for style and lamenting from Laura that she didn’t get to play with him.

When they originally sat down to plan Calamity, Laura was going to play a wizard with a very specific place in the city. Due to scheduling conflicts, she wasn’t able to, and Marisha took the concept and ran with it. “Everything after that was you.” Marisha talks about it almost being a Sam/Liam situation where Laura planted her character seed & Marisha made it real. It gave Marisha a good excuse to not get in the weeds with class selection.

Aabria loved that the brief of “you must play a high-status character” conflicted with the common ragtag band of nobodies many D&D groups start with. She decided to be That Engineer who’s responsible for magnificent tech but never gets around to writing down how it’s accomplished, then has that knowledge lost in the apocalypse.

The lore document for Calamity was 8 pages long (not 20) and broken down by category, including important NPCs for each character. Matt apparently does the same thing for the main campaign; Taliesin and Sam have a “beefy doc” for Bassuras.

Marisha also felt that playing these hypercompetent characters compared to low-level shitkickers who have to learn to care gave her a new lens on the rest of her fellow players, who she feels were also playing at the absolute top of their game. She loved watching Aabria’s & Lou’s assertiveness in their strong, driven characters.

Aabria: In a normal campaign, Purvan Suul is the PC & the Calamity Crew are the NPCs you watch make terrible decisions. It’s not that “one bad wizard made a spicy choice and then everything got bad. No, an entire society bred people who reached too far, and here’s some of them. Even in their poor choices they were people and had moments and hesitations, but they never had that turn of faith or eye or thought at the right moment to stop it.”

Aabria treasured the chance to hook into both the past and future with Niirdal-Poc. She tried to focus on the group that could “hunker down” during the Calamity and extrapolate how they survived. She liked the freedom & less-preciousness of only having 16 hours to build a story instead of the 500-hour-stories of the main campaign. 

Laura: what kind of apocalypse would everyone thrive in? Zombie, Children of Men... Aabria posits that a baby-less world wouldn’t be so bad. “Have you met a baby?” Laura, sadly: “I’ve met a baby!” Aabria: “The platonic ideal of a baby is a dog, but worse.” Ashley doesn’t want to live in an apocalyptic world where there’s a chance of turning into something else.

We discover part of the reason Aabria is so tall tonight is that she’s also wearing platform heels. Ha!

Tower of Inquiry! 41: what kind of plant would your characters be? Laerryn: “I have a pretty fiercely anti-plant agenda,” but settles on one of those futuristic LED plants. Laudna: Venus flytrap/pitcher plant. Imogen: a violet, little and purple and dies easily if treated wrong. Ashley: pilea peperomioides, Fearne: oleander, belladonna, nightshade. Patia: orchid. Ashley & Marisha discuss the difficulty of caring for orchids, and Marisha tells a story of her Kentucky dad rubbing mayo on her dying orchid’s leaves to save it. Ha!

Marisha pulls another block. 37: character’s go-to karaoke song. Laerryn: Fiona Apple’s “Criminal.” Fearne: “Kiss From a Rose.” Imogen: Eurythmics’s “Sweet Dreams.” Laudna: Fleetwood Mac’s “Sorcerer,” which she takes back immediately for “Break the Chain.” Aabria suggests “Bring Me to Life,” heh. Ashley complains that “evergreen” is the new “synergy.” Laura challenges us all to listen for it in our Zoom meetings.

The Deep Dive! Dani can’t pass out the tankards because Omar is fully asleep on her feet. It’s so stinking cute.

The skyship was cool for Imogen. “Gee willikers. I mean, it sure was pretty and the sky was nice, and she was not scared once it took off ‘cause then it was a smooth ride.”

Laerryn’s final moments? There was no better way for her arc to resolve than to avert the worst possible scenario and die in the arms of her husband and help Cerrit get out. That was the last possible victory. The entire dynamic between Loquatius (personal note, that name was very funny to listen to for four episodes) and Laerryn was entirely Sam’s idea. He’s been wanting to play a divorced character for years. Aabria was super nervous going into that dynamic in the character jam session since she didn’t know everyone else that well. Marisha liked that they were both right and both wrong & still had chemistry.

Marisha didn’t think she was really really dead the first time Patia died, but then “three hours in, I was like, ‘maybe I am really dead,’“ but then she wasn’t! She was proud to dedicate her final moments to the legacy of Avalir, Cerrit, and his daughter Maya. It was a good group moment of making sure one person survived.

Nana Mori Calloway, Fearne’s grandmother, was heavily inspired by Ashley’s mom, who’s very innocently mischievous. Ashley thought that was a good kernel for a fey-type character. Her mom is an amazing cook: prime rib, custards, cakes, pancakes, fried catfish, cookies--she tried to bring this in with Nana Mori’s pies and cooking. She’s the kind of grandma who paints masterpieces and doesn’t go to bed until 3:00AM.

Imogen feels okay about chasing Armand instead of learning about her powers; too much at once is already overwhelming. Laura doesn’t want to dive too deeply just yet.

Patia and Laerryn always had the dream of outshining the other cities, so the idea of interplanar travel was going to change the world to improve the city. Yes, she’d do it again. It was worth it. “There were gonna be Betrayers. It could have been worse! [The Primordials] seemed bad, and I stopped them, so you’re welcome, and if I could go back and do it again, I’d be even better at it. Laerryn’s learned nothing from this experience.”

Laudna does know that her patron is the same person who put her on the tree. She thinks of her almost like a ghost who can’t hurt her or do anything, just gives her her powers. Laudna’s been like this for thirty years and has grown flippant about it over the years. Aabria: “Is there a part of Laudna who likes what happened to her because it made her special?” Marisha, gasping: “Ooh, I don’t know! Maybe Laudna hasn’t even processed that yet. What the fuck, Aabria?” Laudna has accepted herself and gets a kick out of being weird.

Fearne’s chaos comes from Ashley’s mom & a love of practical jokes. She enjoys being able to do the first thing in her mind like Grog & Jester.

Omar joins us on the couch, then as the centerpiece to an endtable. What a cute pup.

Everyone loved Imogen’s reveal of the Fly spell. It was a very narrative introduction to a new spell.

In re: blighting the tree: nothing is more terrible than realizing as a player that This is Your Red Button that you have to smash to serve the story. “I’d kill it again.”

Laudna’s traveled on skyships before; that was fine. Marisha got emotional as a child learning about the loss of the Library of Alexandria, and that was her inspiration for preserving all her knowledge in the orb & sending it to Maya. “I sent the Library of Alexandria to a fourteen-year-old. It’s in your hands now. Hope this is fine.” Matt refuses to tell her what happened to it in the world.

Ashley picked the Wildfire class for Fearne because it made sense for the character, though she thinks Keyleth’s Circle of the Moon class is the best.

Tower of Inquiry, Redux: 21: Laerynn’s favorite part of Avalir is the idea of constantly reaching further. Aabria loves that they live above weather, which is hilarious. Marisha likes that Exandria is endless, and she loves how it’s grown with other DMs. It’s only more as time goes on. She’s been playing in Exandria for ten years and loves that she’s not tired of it. Laura loves that anything is possible in this world. Imogen’s favorite thing in the world: “Laudna.” Oh, my heart. Ashley loves Jrusar with the spires and bridges and Windowed Wall. Fearne is loving getting away from her glen. Marisha reveals the AC went out in the studio today. As someone who lost her own AC earlier this summer, God bless.

Laura picks 47: character cures for insomnia. Aabria: “Laerryn and Loquatius fuck but as our friends, just going through the Ring of Brass. They bang weird.” Marisha, cackling, fully out of the chair: “Oh my God! Changeling roleplay!” Imogen dives into other people’s dreams. Fearne messes up other people’s sleep out of curiosity. Laudna plays with dolls. Ashley LOVES Pâté. Pâté de Rolo the name came from a play on Percy de Rolo, but funnier because “dead” and “liver.” Sashimi & Escargot also came out of just the idea of naming something a very fancy word for a dead thing. There’s a very funny outro here where they don’t realize the cameras are still going and the producer offscreen has to cut them off for the break. Ha!

Cup of Questions: Beer pong with questions. It’s Laura’s first time ever playing, and Marisha laughs that this should be interesting since she’s super competitive.

Laura doesn’t remember her worst hair day ever, but she laments her Rachel hair cut in high school, which featured in her senior photo along with a red, white, and blue bustier. Ashley sometimes gets lost in Laura’s hair under the table spotlights, hahaha.

Laura is the kind of person to look at other people’s medicine cabinets. She would read people’s minds all the time if she could.

If Grey Griffin (the voice of Delilah in LoVM) was Laudna’s patron instead of Delilah, Marisha hopes she’d be granted with her amazing singing ability. 

Ashley & Aabria are really destroying Laura & Marisha in this, haha. Omar & Pâté would have a lovely date in Malibu, with Pâté riding Omar’s back like a GoPro. They have to be home by 10pm because that’s coyote time.

Laura lucid dreams a lot.

Laura finally sinks one. If Chetney hadn’t overslept, “Fearne would have had a very good time with Chetney.” 

Aabria would love to take her squad to the Feywild to party. If she could have one selfish machine, it would make her hair shiny like Laura’s.

If Laerynn & Patia were Thelma & Louiseing around the world, they’d go to Dubai, Singapore, Japan. A luxury tour. Patia would have them go visit Ashley in her stolen rainforest (see below).

Laura had no concept for Patia and loved what Marisha did with her. Her initial art concept (unnamed) had strawberry-blonde curls and lots of floating jewelry in her hair.

Brennan told the group he was going to kill them, and Aabria said he had to at least try. “One of my feats was Tough, and that gives you double your level in HP, so that was an extra 28 HP on top. And then I took Eldritch Initiate to grab Armor of Shadows, which gives you at-will Mage Armor. Mage Armor is an Abjuration spell, which means I can spam cast it without spending a spell slot to refill my Arcane Ward, so that was an extra 33 HP on top of that. Laerryn had effectively 175 HP. I built a brick shithouse wizard. Caleb, get good. Ahh!”

If Ashley could steal anything in the world, she’d pick a house by Frank Lloyd Wright or Rick Joy or Peter Zumthor, or a JMW painting. And then a rainforest to protect it.

Laudna is genuinely aware that she’s on borrowed time, because the worst thing has already happened to her. She’s living each day to its fullest.

Laerryn and Loquatius had a huge wedding & Quay invited everyone he’d ever met. It rained during their wedding and she had them leave it, since it never rains on Avalir.

Fearne’s “rats of the Feywild” was just Ashley trying to run contrary to her own opinions on fairies.

Laura gives an off-the-cuff eulogy for Bertrand as Vex. “Bertrand...what can one say about Bertrand. He was...Percy?”

Ashley wins beer pong for her team by cleanly sinking the last shot. GGs all around.

Marisha’s first crush was Josh Hartnett.

Ashley would cast Chris Pratt to voice Mister.

And on that note, Laura outros us out by sweeping up sadly the remnants of the 4th of July Party. A new song plays over the outro; is this a new theme song? It’s catchy!

That’s it! Is it Thursday yet?

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 67

Wow ... what was said before the start to cause THAT reaction from Matt? XD

Sam Riegel advert making of? Oh boy ... yes. Give that man a raise! Yeah, that one was almost PAINFUL ...

Matt: "BALDUR'S GATE III!!!" Sam: "Ah!" Matt: "Sorry, had to scare you a bit there."

I live how Laura always gets so adorably WORKED UP and overly enthusiastic when she plugs stuff, it's too cute. :3

Nott the Brave action figure ... Sam: "I get two? I get two and you guys only get one?"

The light's all red. Why's the light all red? This is worrying ...

Wow ... the taint jokes have started already ... Matt's making a list, you know he is ...

Stop with the smoking peer pressure, Letters. That's not cool ...

Chet was a beat poet? Oh and clearly he was a BAD one ...

And here we go ... is Imodna finally gonna become publicly official in the group? Wow, look at them both squirm ...

They really are going the whole religious debate route these days, aren't they? There's true believers and agnostics and essential atheists galore and it's fascinating ...

Ashton: "I'm abstaining." FCG: "You're abstaining? From being undecided?"

Yes, so Ashton was basically born into a freaky dark druidic cult ... no wonder he's such a mess ...

Chetney: "And you were jettisoned-slash-ejected from their bowels?" Boy, what an image ...

Mediocre first roll, Travis ... looks okay, but y'know ...

Yeah, I agree with Ashton. Found family rules.

Some VERY NICE perception rolls indeed, there.

Ooooh ... wisps? Dead soldier ghost wisps? Lovely ... that can't be good ... this is giving me major LOTR Army of the Dead vibes ...

Dodged an interception point? TWO, even? Phew ...

Pate gets chucked again ... what a life he has ...

Yeah, I think actual REAL eyes would make Pate considerably MORE unsettling ...

Persistent bad smell ... hmmmmm ...

Unfamiliar topography? Hmmmm ... sounds suspiciously like a volcano ...

Xandis' spyglass? Wow, that's from a while back ...

Petty non-Guidance ... way to get back at Orym there, Fearne ...

Another taint joke. Travis: "Don't do it, Matthew! Ignore the bloodlust."

Laura sneezes. FCG: "Are you allergic to butt-buttercups?" Another tick. Taliesin: "Please don't hold it against us. We can't help ourselves."

Bad stealth check? Yup, that is DEFINITELY karma coming back to bite you guys in the arse ...

Here we go ... incoming! What's this shit? Oh hell ... ugly shit!

Is it harpies? Is that what it is?

Spirit Guardians? Cool ... they're sheets of glass? That's hilarious. XD

Yeah! 16 Radiant damage! And a MISS!!! Phew!

Nice hit, Imogen! Smack that ass ...

Bait and Switch! Yay! Love that move.

A piercing shriek ... that DOES DAMAGE?!!! Argh! And it hurts Imogen DESPITE the Circlet? Shit ...

Ashton Wrecklessly Rages and POUNDS the fucker for 23 points of damage in a single hit! Ouch!

Chetney wolfs out WITH FLAMES and charges ... and a flying grapple? Oh fuck ... that is BRUTAL!!! Nice ...

It smells ... PUNGENT. Apparently ...

Silvery Barbs! Yay! Love that.

"TRAVIS, I'M PREGNANT!" Sam's flask is next level tonight ...

Eldritch Blast! And Laudna just ANNIHILATES one of 'em ...

Burning Hands! Always fun ... burn that bitch, Fearne! 11 points of Fire damage? Oh, MORE?!!! An extra 8 points for 19? Ouch ... Chetney takes some too but just GOES WITH IT ...

Yeah, Sam's taint joke just doomed them all, looks like ...

Shocking Grasp! Go, Imogen! Nice, it hits ... 9 Lightning Damage ... HDYWTDT!!! Yeah ... and now it's ash.

Yeah, looks like it would be prudent to LEAVE this place, and sharpish.

Leaving at a full run ... thanks to a really shit perception roll the bird things DO NOT follow ... phew ...

Ah, so that thing's some kind of fort? Made of COPPER?!!! What's that about?

Perception! Liam: "Ah, that's low for me ... 19." XD My gods ...

The smell is burning dead? Great ...

Grim Psychometry? That sounds FASCINATING ...

The Iridon Bastion ... built to honour the Platinum Dragon and guard the ground ... hmmmmm ...

Oh so this place FELL, and RECENTLY? That's not good ... just a few days ago ...

Come on guys just STOP pulling the tiger's tail! Matt's gonna make you pay dearly for all these taint jokes ...

Down With the Sickness ... thank you, Travis. XD

How to go in ...

Splitting the Party to approach from 2 sides ... hope this doesn't bite them in the arse ...

Climbing crew first, then ...

Oh yes, this place has taken a beating ... and the dead have been BADLY mistreated ... there are imps still there messing with the remains? Lovely ... oh, so there's demons galore down there ... lovely ...

Cages? And there are survivors? Okay ...

And they're building something in there ... great ...

Here we go then, Battlemap time ...

Oh, and that is SWEET ...

Something flying in? What's this now ... 13 feet tall? Holy shit ... and it has tiny baby legs ... charming ... Travis' reaction to the mini is hilarious ... XD

They're going to summon something ... snd then have a party. With live food ... urgh ...

So, attack all at once or come in sneaky and pick them off one by one? Distraction, maybe? Hmmmm ...

Whoa ... somebody else is here? On OUR side? Potentially, at least ... this could be helpful ... who is that?

Some weird looking demon dude, but not on THESE things' side ... what is this? IS THIS help?

Okay, so they ARE gonna make a distraction ... and Fearne just shouts "HELP!!!"

Imogen deals the whole tower-top of demons a MASSIVE psychic blast ... 33 points of damage? Holy fuck ... and she pops TWO HEADS on the spot, just one left and REALLY confused now ...

Here we go, then ...

Transformation of Dread for Laudna ... and in they GO!!! Featherfall ... yup, that's pretty essential for success here! Catch Orym before he splats, Laudna!

Orym casts Gust AND shoots out a vine with Seedling ...

Oh, so we finally find out what the new thing on Ashton's hammer does ... he put the Immovable Rod IN HIS HAMMER?!!! Ashton you are a fucking GENIUS!!!

FCG Commands these two flying things to Mime. Just MIME ... oh boy ... fuck, and they fail their check so they LITERALLY start miming ... dear gods ...

Oof ... that climb is ARSE ...

Go to break!

That might be the best Twitch sub promo yet ...

ROLL INITIATIVE!!!

Flying leap with a flip ... typical acrobatic Orym ... AND he hits ... double hits, 9 snd 9 damage, nice! Badass entrance, wee man!

Lauda NAT20S!!! With enthusiasm ... znd unlocks the cage ... in full Form of Dread so the captives will be TERRIFIED ...

Okay, so who is this guy, anyway? Nice high persuasion roll, Fearne ... 30! Dear gods ... not friends, but no enemies ... whoever this guy is he's really cool ...

MISTER!!! Hi! Flaming shit chucking! 6 points of Fire damage ...

Scramble the Dead? FCG projects the AOL loading sound into the demon's head and gives it 18 points of Necrotic damage! Nice ...

Minute Meteors? Imogen's SWEET ARSE new move ... oh yeah, she us just PELTING these guys with pain ...

Demon guy has a nice big chopper ... oh yeah, he is a bit of a badass as well as being cool snd rakishly handsome ... AND a Divine Smite? Holy fuck he's a Devilish Paladin! Awesome! 84 points of damage ... fucking hell ...

Blood Curse of Bloated Agony! Yeah, boy! And Turmoil, nice ... and he just BUTCHERS that fucker ...

Ashton's Raging again as he tries to free the prisoners ... and batters himself by fumbling his landing ... attack instead, then ... he hits! 23 for the first, 18 on the second ... proper battering that one, then ...

Finally the bad guys' turn ... oh dear, here we go ...

Big stumpy demon VANISHES ... then reappears DIRECTLY ON TOP of one of the cages ... AAAAAAHHH!!!

Chetney gets BIT!!! Ouch ... 10 damage after the reduction ... nasty ...

No, not more painful screeching ... argh! Indomitable saves Orym's arse a little bit ... AND he has resistance against being Frightened ... Nice, he pushes through! Yay ...

Orym responds in kind ... 7 and 10 damage ... it's STARTING to look a little rough? Oof ...

Laudna pops the lock ... and Marisha LITERALLY pop-locks ... XD

Bait snd Switch on Laudna! Nice, Orym!

Okay ... the cage has FINALLY been opened ... everybody OUT!!! Mirror Image! Here we go ... and now she's IN THE CAGE and she's terrifying ... she tries a Ray of Frost on the chains ... this could go SO BADLY ... O.O

Holy shit, that worked! Nice rescue!

Fearne Blasts a Scorching Ray at the closest target, then again at the ones attacking Chetney ... BOOM BOOM BOOM!!! It hurts them, but not that much ... bugger ...

FCG casts Command again, this time to Betray? Holy shit ... wait, did that actually WORK?!!! Oh ... that just gave FCG a free pass instead ... bugger, that could have been a lot more impressive ...

Lightning Bolt IN THE FACE!!! Nice one, Imogen! Balls damage roll though, apparently ... 20? Hmmmm ... nothing spectacular, then ...

Another one on an imp ... for ONE POINT of fire damage? Oof ...

Paladin dude attacks! 30 damage on the first hit? Holy fuck ... Chetney thinks his bame is "Do Your Part" ... Paladin is NOT impressed ...

21 damage including 3 thunder from Chetney, then 20 and finally 19! Fucker's FINALLY starting to look proper hurt ...

Nice, Ashton literally BATTERS a fucker right off the roof and he IMPALES HIMSELF on a spike? I love it ...

Nimbus Fear don't do shit!

That's it for thd bad rolls, then ... oof, how much damage is Imogen taking? 32 from a bite? Aaaaah! 14 slashing, 13 slashing ... oh my GODS ... yeah, NO FUCKING WONDER Laudna screams "NO!!!" at the top of her lungs ...

That fucker just BURSTS like a water balloon ... nice ...

Imp popping out of nowhere and screaming in FCG's face has NO EFFECT at all ... okay ...

Orym just jumps on Imogen's attacker znd starts hacking at him! 13 damage! ACTION SURGE!!! Oh nice! PROPER disarmed it by actually taking its fingers off! Then he drags Imogen up and literally TOSSES HER to Laudna!

Laudna channels a Shocking Grasp through the cage to trash the fucker ... and it totally FAILS?!!! Balls!

Literal Aladdin moment for Imogen and Laudna ... "Do you trust me?" And they're saved by Mirror Image at the last ... phew! Finally Featherfall means they touch down smoothly ... Nice save, girls!

Fearne casts Blight and inflicts 38 points of Necrotic damage! Ouch! Plus another 5 in fire from Mister! Nice ...

Death from above? No ... thank fuck Ashton manages to save from that shit ...

Sacred Flame! Go, Letters! Bad damage roll, though ... 4 Radiant damage? Balls ...

Gods, the bad rolls are starting to balance out now, this is THE WORST TIMING for it ...

Imogen gets 26 HP back from the Healing Potion ... phew ... then shoots a Psychic Lance at the bastard! Half damage, though ... 21 reduced to 11 ... nuts ...

Paladin carves and ... fails SPECTACULARLY!!! Oof ...

Chetney grabs the discarded sword! Oh, this can't lead to anything good ...

Ashton tries to rush past and just gets grabbed, do he just goes on the offensive instead. So he BEATS THE SHIT ot of it ... 20 points of damage and it's OFF HIM again! He climbs rhe tower, the atracks the other one ... Nice, another hit, 28 points! Boom! Then another 17! POW! Just as the fucker jumps off the tower ...

Oh fuck ... HOW MUCH damage is Imogen taking? Fuck ... yeah, Imogen is now UNCONSCIOUS ... as the fucker's CHEWING on her ...

Yeah, Laudna is GOING OFF seeing that ...

Oh, FCG's just getting MOBBED here ... ouch, 9 points of piercing damage ...

I love how that imp just NOPED right out there ...

Orym to the rescue! And he just BATTERS HIMSELF landing on the fucker ... 10 damage, but then NAT20s ... another 12? Hmmm ... but at least it spits Imogen out ...

Laudna Blights him, but only half damage ... crap ... 34 reduced to 17 Necrotic damage ... it hurts, but ... so she tries Shocking Grasp again instead ... and Nat1s ... AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! NOOOOOOO!!! So she just clambers on top of Imogen and shields her with her body ...

Fearne Wildshapes into her Big Bird! She takes a glancing hit but swoops off, grabs FCG and carries him off while having Mister firebomb one of the cage locks ... 13? Nuts ... so that's a miss, then ...

Ashton's so strong he's Teflon ...

Dear gods this is getting EXHAUSTING ...

FCG casts Healing Word on Imogen ... 4 points, but at least she's up again ... then he fires his bolt thrower and just MISSES COMPLETELY ... Marisha: "Does that thing EVER hit?"

Imogen tries to cast Shocking Grasp on the bastard ... and it hits! Nice! 12 points of Lightning damage ... then she casts Invisibility on herself and Laudna, and they both just BOLT. Nice ...

Paladin pulls another Divine Smite ... 45 points on a single hit! And ANOTHER Smite? Oh yeah, he just KILLS that fucker ...

Chetney casts Shatter and deals 17 Thunder Damage reduced to 9 ... then goes to another cage and terrifies its occupants ...

Oh shit, really? Matt Mercer, are you SERIOUSLY giving Chetney a cursed sword? Is that THREE FOR THREE for Travis now? O.O

Shit ... Ashton just DROPS on that boy and batters the fuck out of himself doing it ... misses, unfortunately, but then takes another shot ... ooh, a Chaos Burst? Cool ... oh, that sounds like a PAINFUL hit ...

Crap, it just VAPOURISES away before they can finish it ... it's really hurt, but still kicking ...

Orym doesn't have a viable target so he just goes sprinting after the stumpy fucker ...

Laudna scares the crap out of FCG by talking to him while still invisible, sends him off to help Imogen as she goes to the next cage ...

Fearne swoops in and casts Blight on stumpy ... 38 points of Necrotic ... HDYWTDT!!! YEAH!!! Oh, I think she made a future enemy there, if it ever comes back ...

Oh, okay, Fearne gets to formally meet the Paladin ...

Meanwhile the others are working on freeing the remaining captives of investigate the surroundings. And THERE'S Baernie! Okay! Hi there! Yeah, she gives him s big hug and it's so sweet! She's traumatised but seeing him is clearly just the soothing tonic she needs ...

Tevan Klask? Oh hello then ... oh, and he is CLEARLY only impressed by Fearne ... okay ...

The Knotted Weave? What's that, then?

Oh here we go ... is he gonna try and SEDUCE Fearne to his godly path? Hmmmmm ... wow, he actually KISSES HER HAND!!! Blimey ... and he MARKS HER?!!! Fucking hell ... oh yeah, he is DEFINITELY kind of hitting on her ...

Wow, so she just GOES WITH IT ... okay ...

So now they've got a kind of ally in this ... or at least FEARNE has ...

Sweet ... now THAT'S an exit ...

Nice! Fancy Ashari magic lets Baernie relocate her own shoulder ...

Extovass the Gluttonous ... hmmmm ... a servant of Vrudaliun? Okay ...

Oh NICE!!! Two full packs of the flowers! Yes!

Yet again ... seriously, DO NOT let Travis do the cursed weapon thing again, that way madness lies ...

Taking care of the dead before getting ready to head out, then. Then Baernie leads the way out again. Oh sweet, magic bolthole? Cool ...

Time for a cosy rest, then.

And that's it for the night. Okay then ... thank the gods, that was exhausting and ALMOST really bad too ...

Yup, now it's official, Fearne's, like, the leader now ... I can get behind that ...