ariadne-mouse

[ariadne-mouse]

The Emperor of Fire & The Empress of Earth

#so cool #ashton #fearne #c3 #fanart

[ariadne-mouse]

RANDOM DASHBOARD INSPECTION!

#i love your perspective choice through the magnifying glass #(and i hope you don't mind my addition OP) #(it's me: grant obrien) #(here to spaghettify your dash) #dropout tv #fanart #game changer

[ariadne-mouse]

This was entirely tangential to this post from @utilitycaster which is why this is its own post, but the tags made me think about what feels most compelling about Liliana to me, and it's really because there's such an interesting approach to redemption in terms of the sunk cost fallacy to be had there.

There have been plenty of comparisons between Liliana and Essek, but I don't think they're really situations that can be compared. Essek had done one horrible thing (that was of relevence to the story; it is implied that he's taken other actions that he feels were wrong, but we don't know what those entail nor do the Nein care enough to ask, so per narrative convention, they do not matter for analysis) and was only still involved in it to the extent that he couldn't take it back, so to survive he had to continue covering his tracks. But he was also incentivized to otherwise act in alignment with the group that was not those on behalf of whom he had made terrible choices, because he was still living in the Dynasty, and as such wasn't actively perpetuating those actions beyond the cover up.

Liliana on the other hand is acting with the Vanguard and has been furthering if not personally committing atrocities on their behalf for a number of years, continuing to the present. Like Essek, she believes her involvement in the cause to be a difficult choice that was made for noble reasons, and now can't see a way out. But she is also relieved to be told to stay, though at the point that they discuss her leaving, she is alone and outside the immediate range of contact or oversight from the Vanguard. It seems reasonable that she could disappear with a decent headstart, and perhaps become untraceable quickly enough to be safe from anyone following. With this context, returning to the Vanguard with the intention of feeding information to the opposition feels like the riskier choice, but crucially it is the devil she knows.

I actually liken this more to Cassandra de Rolo than Essek. Cassandra was manipulated against her brother by the Briarwoods, but this was also spurred by having watched Percy seemingly leave her for dead. There are legitimate reasons why the Briarwoods, as the people who rescued her and then kept her alive for many years, are the easier option in which to place her trust. She knows what she's getting from that vantage point and how to handle it. She doesn't inherently have faith that someone she only knew as a young and helpless child, who ran from the hardships she's faced, would have the strength or willingness to do what she has found necessary for survival.

I think that Liliana's actions are more willful, not least because she was not a child nor in mortal peril when she joined the Vanguard, but she sees herself as having made difficult choices when only faced with difficult options, and I do think they have been difficult. She didn't want to leave her family; she doesn't want to hurt the young Ruidusborn under her care; she is probably genuinely sorry that innocent people were considered a necessary sacrifice for what she sees as the greater good. It is psychologically taxing to feel as though one is always picking between bad options, which is a significant contributing factor for why people buy into a sunk cost for so long. And over time, those hard decisions become easier, because you know what to expect from the outcome. Though Liliana is well aware that she might be killed for a misstep among the Vanguard, she already knows how to act to maintain their favor, but how she might be received on Exandria by those fighting the Vanguard, even with the Hells vouching for her, is anyone's guess.

This is a very real reason why people remain in cults and struggle to push back against this kind of conditioning: because the decision to leave feels more immediately perilous than the decision to stay. (On a certain level making these kinds of choices and actions habitual is a fundamental basis behind a lot of military conditioning.) And if you are acting in the interests of your own survival, but that survival comes at the cost of that of countless others who have not, in fact, made any threat or harm against you to begin with, then is the nature of your survival morally defensible?

This analysis isn't a question of whether Liliana will commit to her role as double agent and turn fully against the Vanguard, or even which one of these is a "better" story; this is about what the story might say if she doesn't. Yes, she might commit to a different path than the one she's on and make an effort to redeem herself, but it is also a perfectly coherent and interesting story if she doesn't.

#agree especially on the last line - Liliana remains interesting and important whether she flips or not #and yeah I don't find Essek comparisons match up that I've seen #liliana temult #essek thelyss #critical role #c2

[ariadne-mouse]

What would it take for you to redeem Liliana?

The pithy answer to this is "I can't redeem Liliana; she has to do it herself" but in all seriousness, either she needs to leave the Ruby Vanguard and begin working against them, despite the risk to herself and without the expectation of forgiveness from Imogen (which, to be clear, I think she will probably grant), or she needs to irreversibly sabotage the efforts to free Predathos from within the Vanguard. It is definitely possible! I do not think she is irredeemable; in fact, that's what makes her so interesting. But she can't just show up when called and be helpful in a way that doesn't blow her cover and look sad while still continuing down the path; she needs to either leave outright and join the opposition, or destroy from within.

#yeah assuming this is good faith - Liliana has options! She could turn things around! #but what she's done so far has been mostly under the category of 'I'm still going to stay the course but feel sad about my daughter' #critical role #liliana temult #c3

[ariadne-mouse]

Finally! Wizards I can draw in classic wizard aesthetic!

#'stop moving caleb you're changing the tension' #this is so sweet #shadowgast #critical role #c2 #fanart

[ariadne-mouse]

Because they made me alive 💛

#this is beautiful OP #fcg #c3e91 #critical role #fanart

[ariadne-mouse]

do you guys think anyone on ruidus was getting cognouza dreams for a minute there? like imagine being the yak farmer assigned to yussa errenis. for a while there you go to sleep and it's

A̶̶̛̟̝͍̖̟̻͖̘͔̺̳͌͌͊̋̂͑ͬ̓̄͌̋ͣ͑͛̿͊̈͋ͯ̅̾̚͢͟͢͢͜͟͝͞͡A̞͎̤̟͐̇̇ͦͩ̈́ͤ̏A̜̙̣͓̪̽̀ͩͨ̈́͂̉͟A̸̤̩̘̬ͨ̔̇̀̋̍͗̀ͩ̔̐ͅḀ̵̛̹̼̥̞̞̦̰̘͚͓̦͕̬̐̉͆͐ͣͯͪ̓̓͗͆͘͠Ã̛͖͎͌̀A̵̴̛͇̹̼̯̥͉̬̥̹ͮͬͩ̊́̀ͭ̀̎͆́ͤ͐̇͛̌̍͠A̵̵̗̦͙̖͚̰͚̩̻̥̟̼̘͈̩̻̳̬͉̮͔̰͊̿̑̓̄̑̊͘͝Ả̷̷̧̡̤̹̞͎͇̲̠̼͕̠̊̍ͧͫ̈́ͩͬ͆͛ͤ̄͒ͧ̑͛̒͘̕͝ͅA͔̮͗̌ͬ͢A̧̛̯̣͔͎̪̭̠̲̪̼̟͎̙͕͉̖̓ͨ̀͗͑ͣ̏̎̎ͪͣ͑̽ͬ͛̿̈́̽̚͜͡͝͝͡ͅ F̸̨̛͎̝̳̺̖͎͉͔͕͔̝̻̙͎̈́͂͛̎͋͂͛ͪ͊̀ͧ̒̒̈ͬ̅́ͫ̀ͦ͘̚͠͡Ļ̵̷̵̩̰̭̥̟͇͚̬ͪ̾ͭ̀͋͋́̃̈́̚͞Ę̶̵̵̶̶̤͈̖͓̟̭͓͆̓ͯ͛͂̒͌ͫ͊̃͐ͦ̍̆̏̅͐̏̑̚͢͠ͅS̛̲̥̬ͭ̉̀ͧ̍H̸̶̛͓͖̗̬̰͖̩̥͔͕͕̅ͪ̈́͆̊̃͊̋ͧ̕͜ͅ Hͬ͆ͣ̂ͤ̉͑Ọ̷̤̮̙̫̯͍̊̆̽͛ͧ̓̎̊̈́ͫ́ͭ̑̔́̂͢͜͟͠R̶̴̦͙̮̥̫̠͊̐̅ͫͦ̍͒͛͐͒ͩ̄̉͐͊R̨̦̪͖͔͍͔̠͖̍̿̐ͥ́̊ͨ̎ͮ̾́ͦ́̀ͬ̓͂ͫ̌̚͟͞Ŏ̡͎̝͍̹ͬ̅̚͘Ṟ̡̢̢̦͇̫̣̩͉̬̝͔̩͌ͯͤ̽̓͂́̄̈́͛́ͮ͂̀͆̇̕͜͜͢͠ F̠̄̇ͪL̸͔̲̞̟͙͍̻ͥ̅̇̐͞͝_̵̢͍͙̼̠̰̘ͫͩ̆͒̈ͨ̈́̈́̉͟ͅͅĘ̡̨̫̻͚̤͖͓͉̆ͫͭ̈Ș̸̟̤̦̥̩́̾ͣ̉͜͠͝H̛̛͙͕͈̱͉̦͔͍̄̂̈̾ͭͯ̂̿̔͘

but then you wake up and go to work. on the moon

#hhgkjgkjh #this is a great post OP #for Lucien's dreams did the recipient just see 50% Lucien there fully cognizant like 'hey there wanna join my cult' and 50% AAAAAAAA #critical role #c3 #ruidus #cognouza #somnovem

[ariadne-mouse]

I just realized that if you say it aloud you’re basically saying smoke alarm in an Australian accent

#gigglesnort

[ariadne-mouse]

c3e92 at 29.47 laudna tells liliana "you ceirtainly had no control over otohan" and ashton says "gosh i hope that's true" with a stare that KILLED ME

#and orym in corner of frame with the glare too #angry tanks #critical role #ashton #c3e92 #video clips #cr spoilers

[ariadne-mouse]

#critical role #so many great options here #i love it as shadowgast summer home #but i had to go with bolo's dog lmao #cr spoilers #c3e92 #dominox

[ariadne-mouse]

obsessed with this sticky note drawing someone made at the local bobas place

#was going to tag sky but i see box rb this from them lol #goya #goya adaptations #francisco goya #saturn devouring his son

[ariadne-mouse]

who knows it in advance

everybody do the wenis

#knowing it in advance is a close relative to never being able to forget #dropout tv #op

[ariadne-mouse]

everybody is a genius

everybody do the wenis

#except for me right now i have 1 brain cell and it is doing the wenis #dropout tv #op

[ariadne-mouse]

the wenis is a dance

everybody do the wenis

#im envisioning it right now #dropout tv #op

[ariadne-mouse]

everybody do the wenis

#all day #dropout tv #op #game changer

[ariadne-mouse]

i watched one (1) video on how to draw hands that changed my life forever. like. i can suddenly draw hands again

these were all drawn without reference btw. i can just. Understand Hands now (for the most part, im sure theres definitely inaccuracies). im a little baffled

#references

[ariadne-mouse]

#it's shitpost o'clock #the mighty nein #critical role #op #polls #this is one of the stupider posts I've made and I have a growing collection #(i shall not apologize)