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The Wildmother & Orym

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The Wildmother & Orym

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The Wildmother & Orym

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"Don't know if I follow the specifics on that, but I appreciate the... I'll think on that a bit, I suppose."

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Continue Escalating

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how long do you think it took before he noticed?

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Bells Hells meet the Crown Keepers.

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I have been working on this piece for so long yall! Off and on again for over a YEAR. it’s fought be so much but I am so happy and proud of how it’s turned out <3 <3 

[Image Description. Digital painting of Bells Hells and the Crown Keepers from Critical Role. Bells Hells is on the left and the Crown Keepers are on the right. Fresh Cut Grass and Dariax are in the foreground walking towards each other with their hands outstretched, ready to shake hands. Behind them, Ashton and Fy’ra Rai stare each other down with their hands on their weapons. Launda lingers around Ashton’s shoulder, smiling at the Crown Keepers creepily while Chetney crouches in Ashton’s shadow with his chisel at the ready. Dorian and Orym are on the ground, Orym in Dorian’s lap, hugging one another. Cherry blossoms fly up around them. Cyrus, Imogen and Morrighan look to Fearne and Opal as those two crash into one another for a hug. Imogen and Morrighan’s hands are outstretched. Both of Opal’s feet are off the ground. The background is of tall jagged mountains with cherry blossom trees in bloom. End ID]

#💔 #what could have been #this is absolutely beautiful

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Still emotional about Fy'ra Rai and Opal, actually. Thought dump time bc i. dont have the energy to cut this down effectively.

Because at that point in the episode, Opal is doomed. Not in the fun little "oh things are getting worse ;)" kind of way we'd been experiencing leading up to the fight, or even IN the fight. At that point in the fight, Cyrus is dead. Dorian and Dariax have their minds twisted, bodies clambering away from the fight. Morrighan has felt, firsthand, just how far gone Opal is, holes in her mind, her friend broken. The heartbreaking sentence of. "You can always come back." understands that she is gone already. She's lost already. Opal has forgotten Ted. Opal has forgotten herself.

So at that point in the fight, we know Opal is doomed. Us as the audience, the cast, the characters. Aabria is running through each of the other crownkeepers and it is more of a goodbye than a round of combat. Defying the Spider Queen invites death, with zero hesitation- Cyrus's body as physical evidence of that. The terms were very clearly set: You leave Opal, you let her be lost. Or you die. (Leaving Opal anyway).

and Fy'ra Rai then. Grasps the crown, understands intimately that she can break it off and it will kill Opal. (I will free you, if you want me to. We would lose you but you would not be taken). And asks, what do you want me to do. What do you want.

and Opal says, I want you to leave. (I want you to live.) and Fy'ra Rai functionally says. No. Sorry. That's not one of the options.

If you wanted to go. I will do that (your blood on my hands). If you want me to stay, I will. But I'm not going to leave you.

There was the point where Fy'ra Rai broke into the communication and I felt my insides sink because. Look. Lets be real, Aabria had already demonstrated the stakes here. The gesture would not be rewarded for the gesture alone. The Spider Queen's terms were: You leave Opal. Or you die.

And Fy'ra Rai said: no.

I don't think I'm overstepping to assume that if Fy'ra Rai had failed the intimidation check, she would have died. This entire thing hits me so hard because I think Anjali knew that too. I think Fy'ra Rai knew that too. Yes, Fy'ra Rai convinced a Betrayer God to negotiate. She carved a third option out of a non-negotiable situation. She knew what would happen if she failed and did it anyway, with no fear, no regret, no waver in her resolve. She had lost enough sisters. She wasn't going to lose anymore, no matter the personal cost. That's part of why it succeeded, I'm sure, but.

Just. Fuck me. The amount of resolve. The amount of love. The amount of conviction. "I am. A protector." You know your friend- your sister- is doomed. So no more negotiating away from that. You step to her side and you grasp her hand and say- doom me with her.

And in some, sideways way, this saves you both, at least for a little while.

Because this story is a tragedy. This ending is a sad one. We know this already. But think about- Opal, under Lolth's bidding, alone in the dark. Think about Fy'ra Rai, alive, intimately aware that she had failed to protect yet another sister.

And think about what we got, instead: the two of them, in deep darkness, danger encroaching- holding hands. Someone they love at their side. A champion. And her champion.

This is still a sad story. But it's not the same one. Fy'ra Rai stared down a Betrayer God and made her change her mind. She stared down a Betrayer God, and her love and conviction changed the nature of the story. It shouldn't have been able to. But she did.

Fy'ra Rai chose to doom 2 people instead of one, and the sheer strength of her love and will managed to save them both, at least for a little while. Isn't it funny how that works? Isn't it devastating? Isn't it. fucking incredible?

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If i drew enough reunion hugs in preparation, one of them had to be accurate! (4 of 6 is pretty good!)

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so true king

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Seeing how so many of Vox Machina went on to become rich and famous world leaders, while The Mighty Nein embodied "If you do the job right, no one will know you did anything,"

I'm kind of hoping that in the end, Bells Hells will be notorious. The kinds of people who have youtube conspiracy videos about them, and make historians Deep Sigh. Everyone's heard of them, but what they are and if they ever really existed is up for debate

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Fearne is the embodiment of "haha just kidding… unless? 👀" lol

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this staging has me gnawing at my enclosure because being possessed and standing against your party in general sucks but BEING PHYSICALLY SEPARATED FROM THEM????? THE WEB IN THE BACKGROUND AND AIMEE IN THE CENTER???????

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Oh, how I have missed you Dorian

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I don't get people being angry at yesterdays episode?? People have been talking about wanting Dorian back since he left and now we're finally getting that and people are mad? Yes it was a tonal shift and yes it halts the main storyline but I think the campaign needed that. The mourning and character development doesn't stop, it'll still happen in the coming episodes and acting like it should've all been resolved in one episode is odd. The players probably need time to process, Sam needs time to figure out a new character and a natural way to introduce them to the story, Matt probably needs time to figure out how to incorporate Sam's new character and how last episode changes things in his narrative. And both those things are hard to do in an episode Sam couldn't be there for. So they stalled. By bringing back a fan favorite and show what's been happening with him and his path back towards the Bells Hells in order to set up his (wanted, asked for and anticipated) return to the cast. I get that it was unexpected and can understand it's not everyones favorite development (not everyone liked EXU and thats totally normal and fine) but why the anger? You don't have to watch the last two hours if you don't want, but why ruin it for those who are exited by this development or what it could mean for the future of the campaign? Personally I think this will be good for the campaign long term. I want to see where this goes. And also I'm just so happy to have Robbie and Dorian back because I've missed them so much.

#cr spoilers #just random ramblings #not understand the negativity #yeah this campaign is different and doing new things and not following the same narrative beats you might be expecting #its been that way since the second arc #I get not liking it but I dont get being surprised by it or the anger directed at the cast or the fans who do enjoy it

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the way critical role are taking so many different storytelling approaches in campaign three and making it SO unique from the other campaigns is just so awesome. the breakneck pace that bells hells are going at, the party split that brought in new allies, going to the freakin’ moon, and bringing in the crown keepers and aabria as GM for an interlude?? it keeps the game so fresh and exciting!!! as a viewer i really never know where they’re going next and it really solidifies the campaign as its own instead of just a sequel to the past ones. i love it !!!!!!!!