#but with orym he's been getting creative

[unicyclehippo]

15. kiss on the back for the prompt thing!

Imogen has spent years submerged in the sweet, babbling waters of Laudna’s mind so, while she may not be able to hear her thoughts now, she still remembers their current. And besides, some things don’t need to be said. It’s an unspoken agreement between them—a quirked brow, the tilt of an answering smile—to return Zhudanna’s coin. 

Laudna distracts their elderly friend with an enthusiastic—and slightly gooey—recreation of recent journeys while Imogen carries the groceries to the kitchen. She unpacks jars of olives and honey and jam, every pickled thing they encountered, wax-wrapped cheeses, smoked and salted meats, dried fruits and beans, bags of fine-ground flour and spices. She leaves the fresh fruit and vegetables on the countertop with the pumpernickel loaves and, as she does, pulls Zhudanna’s lockbox from its hiding place beneath the beans with a subtle bit of magic. 

It’s easy to use her powers now. She knew she was getting stronger but something about being here—where she spent much of her time in degrees of agony with no way to control it or stop it, her powers flaring whenever they wanted to—the difference is stark. How reactive her magic is now, how finely-tuned to her will. A thought, and the lockbox opens. Imogen busies herself selecting and slicing an orange. Another thought, and the coins lift out of the shopping basket and zip over to the box. She arranges the orange segments on a colourful plate. The box clicks closed and slides back into place beneath the beans. It’s all done in a matter of seconds with Zhudanna none the wiser, even if she had peeked over to check on Imogen despite Laudna’s distraction—though how anyone could look away from Laudna for so much as a second during one of her stories - vibrant, enthralling as she is - Imogen doesn’t know. 

She lingers a while, helps herself to a slice of orange. It’s tart, almost sour, the way she likes them. The sun blankets half the kitchen in a square of light. Standing in that warmth recalls fragments of an old dream—baking, home, Laudna. The details are too faded and vanish when she reaches for them; in the space where they had been, her memory provides instead the aroma of baked bread and the cool press of Laudna’s lips against her own. Fingers sticky with orange, Imogen twists her wrist and presses her smile to the back of her hand. We kissed, she thinks, giddy, and suddenly the handful of steps separating her from the sitting room and Laudna is too far. 

‘—a shape like dripping tar, a great blob of malice, hovering in the air. It struck Orym with a spiralling bolt of shadow, pinning him against the rock!’ Imogen hears as she rejoins the story. 

‘Oh!’ Zhudanna squeaks. Her eyes are wide, both wrinkled hands covering her mouth in horror. When she speaks, she sounds so old—had she always, Imogen tries to recall, or is it all of this…this fucking mess around them? The solstice, the god-damning speeches, the fear suffusing the streets like thick jungle mist, the moon, the way oncoming way tilts the axis of every heart. ‘Oh,’ she says in a small, quavering voice, ‘oh dear, oh no, is he alright?’

‘Who?’

‘Your friend. Orym.’

The question makes Laudna’s smile falter. Zhudanna, half-blind, probably doesn’t notice. Imogen does. She fills the agonising pause, steps between them to put the plate down next to Zhudanna. By the time she plants herself on the footstool, twin to the armchair Laudna has claimed, Laudna has recovered. 

‘Yes. Yes, of course! He’s a warrior—a hero!’ Zhudanna heaves a sigh of relief at that, claps her hands. Laudna continues. ‘He pulled free of the shadow spear with a horrid yell and spray of blood—’

Geez, Laud, don’t forget she’s old as shit. 

And? She has such a creative soul, she’s enjoying—ah. I suppose…heart attacks…hmm. Should I…tone it down?

Imogen rests her chin on her hand as she settles in to listen to the rest of the story and, catching Laudna’s eyes, offers a small smile. Just for her, darlin’. 

With a wobbly nod—one that makes Imogen want to yank off the circlet and dive deep into Laudna’s thoughts, wade through them muck and all, hear for herself the knotted tangle of fear and nervy tension and trust she knows is causing havoc in there—Laudna launches back into her tale. 

‘Together with our dear new friend Prism–’

‘I like her,’ Zhudanna says. ‘Sensible, for one of those wizard types. Getting out there and having a go of it. Good for her.’

‘Indeed. Very sensibly, she and I harried the foul spirit with our joined magic, giving our companions time to protect the Heirophant and dragging them clear of the danger of this hungry shadow. We threw everything we had at it—flaying it of its shadow piece by piece, cracking its sallow face, until there was nothing left of it but a slug of tarred shadow that I crushed, sending it back to whence it came, into the merciless dark,’ she hisses, hand closing in a tight fist, eyes a brittle, glossy obsidian. After a moment, her intensity relents; the faint gloom in the corners of the room disperses like an audience post performance, and as it leaves, air rushes in to fill the empty space. ‘Anyway,’ she trills, ‘apparently that wasn’t the first time it had appeared there, can you believe that? The Heirophant—the elf Orym and Ashton saved—told us that they had fought it before—or was it their order that had? Hm. Don’t recall. But yes - it’s like a recurring thing. Like a bad ex turning up on their doorstep. But not a bad ex because Evithorir—’

‘Evi- Evirerth-’

‘Evithorir. I think. It was so hard to tell, it hissed a lot. Regardless, the shadow spirit, it turns out it was some, like, ancient terrible hungry fey spirit that sought to devour everything in the world, blah blah, the usual. Starting with Oma-Dua who is this - get this - equally ancient druid who buried herself in the last moments of her life in the depths of this cavern centuries ago to sustain the land around this mountain for the rest of time and took on the form of an enormous glowing green crystal…’

Laudna drifts into an odd silence and sinks back into the plush armchair, into herself, looking small and troubled. Her teeth dig well-worn trenches into her bottom lip as she loses herself in thought. 

Imogen clears her throat. ‘It’s been an awful long time since we got a proper rest, Zhudanna—d’you mind if we rest a while?’

‘Not at all, not at all. Let me move my easel, dear, and - ‘

‘No, please, don’t go to any trouble. I’ll set it aside, if that’s alright?’

‘Certainly, certainly.’

Zhudanna lets herself be distracted gracefully, pulling an old knitting project from the box by her chair. Her eyes—wrinkled, worried—linger on Laudna as Imogen helps her up from the chair, curling a gentle hand beneath each elbow. 

She looks so exhausted and Imogen is certain she’s bearing most of Laudna’s weight for her when she pulls her to her feet but she’s so fucking light it nearly has Imogen stumbling, off-balance. A dozen questions cluster behind Imogen’s teeth, on the threshold of her mind. Did you eat at all? Did you rest? Who took care of you? The thought might’ve made her jealous a month ago but now it just hurts. Laudna is too light, bordering on frail. Her hair is stringy—dirty, greasy, like its been a week since she washed it, brushed it, cared for it (for herself)—and Imogen knows the answer. Knows Laudna. She cares like caring is what keeps her alive, will drag the energy out of her own fucking marrow for everyone else and when it comes to her, she shows them something dead and dying, shows them a grinning skull. Something beyond repair, beyond need of care. 

Red flickers behind her eyes, smoulders in the cracks that split the tips of her fingers. But her hands stay gentle as Imogen helps Laudna to their old room. 

The door shuts behind them, shuts out the world. Blissful. There’s no window in here to show them the ruddy moon. There’s no crowds, no intrusive minds. No guards, no traitors, no one but the two of them. 

Laudna’s slow walk turns to a hobble. She sits at the edge of the bed, shoulders hunched. 

Giving her a little space, Imogen puts their bags at the footboard of the bed and Pate’s birdhouse on the bedside. He’s sleeping in there or pretending to be. Creepy, beloved spy. She moves the easel like she said she would, tucking it into an out of the way corner. 

‘She’s really very good, don’t you think?’

Laudna stirs. Glances over, dark eyes flicking between the easel and Imogen, and the smile she manages is a wavering thing but it holds steady at the corners. 

She’ll be alright, Imogen decides. Promises. 

‘Yes. Very talented, our Zhudanna.’ 

Her words trail off again and Imogen watches as Laudna begins to fidget, fingers twisting, tugging, pull and plucking in her lap. Was the closed room not blissful for her? Was it too crowded, with Imogen and her and all her thoughts and Delilah and now Bor’dor haunting her? Or was it as simple as the strain of her journey taking its toll? Or was it…

‘Do you regret it?’ Imogen blurts. Laudna stills. ‘The kiss, I mean. Me, kissin’ you. Because I know I asked and I know you kissed me back but if - if you got caught up in the moment or thought it’s what I want - Laud, you gotta know, it doesn’t matter to me how you care for me, I’m so - I’m so happy. So lucky. Just to have you near me. Truly.’

It takes a hell of an effort to shut up then—to bite her lip and give Laudna the room to speak. 

Her stomach flips from nerves and her traitor heart follows suit; it flips, flutters in her chest, so gentle and so warmed by the memory of getting to take Laudna’s face between her hands, getting to touch her after so long of only being able to dream about it, getting to lean in and—that kiss! The memory of it fizzles through her, sweet lightning, and it’s ridiculous, actually, because her hands start sweating and her lips tingle and her skin goes hot all over, sensitive. It’s such a silly feeling; she feels like a stumbling foal - clumsy and awkward, unsure, but so fucking eager to get up, go, explore. It’s silly - she feels silly with it, giggly and warm - and then, of course, sense reasserts itself firmly because Laudna hasn’t said anything yet—is staring over Imogen’s shoulder with a tiny, worried frown—and Imogen’s stomach sinks, veins flooding with ice. If she could just take off the circlet, but…

‘Laud?’

‘Imogen.’

‘Do you?’ It’s harder to ask the second time. ‘Do you…regret it?’

‘No,’ Laudna says in that barely-there way. Imogen wants the shadows back. Wants the intensity. Wants Laudna cackling over one of Pate’s horrendous comments, or chiding her for mussing the bedsheets. Anything but this ghost. ‘No, darling. I was - I was only thinking,’ she sighs, ‘how silly it is, how hard it is to talk about…well. About what we want.’ She blinks, dim and distant. ‘I often think that if only everyone were honest, there would be less space for misunderstanding and heartbreak –’ The words send Imogen’s heart sinking ever lower, but Laudna doesn’t seem to notice and continues, ‘– and cruelty and war and, oh, I don’t know. People wouldn’t get away with murder or inheritance trickery and such. I think about all the people who lie whenever they speak and how foolish it is and then it is my turn to speak and I…I’m terribly afraid.’

At that, Imogen crosses to sit beside Laudna on the bed. She takes one of her delicate hands in both of her own. It’s so light; bird-boned, Imogen thinks distractedly, mind cluttered with midnight-plumed ravens and the Duskmaven, of scavenging vultures and red seeping into cracked desert soil, of a canary in the dark. She hopes—as it gets harder to breathe, lungs struggling to contend with the weight of hope and panic—that Laudna won’t warn her away. 

‘You can tell me,�� Imogen says, and her words stay blessedly steady. ‘Even if you think I don’t want to hear it. I do. I do.’

For a long moment, Laudna examines their hands. Intertwined. Her own—delicate, long-fingered, pale. The dark web of stagnant veins. Imogen’s—broader, tanned, calloused. The cracked skin, red seeping out. Squeezing Imogen’s hand, Laudna says,

‘I won’t lie, darling. I won’t tell you I wasn’t surprised. I was. I am. You are—’ Dark eyes lift to meet Imogen’s; without thoughts to skim, all Imogen can see in the depths is warmth, a glittering fondness. Sorrow lurks there too, somewhere, even if she can’t see it. ‘You are extraordinary. Young and beautiful and so very alive. I - you wishing to kiss me - you understand why I might be startled. I don’t know what I can offer you, darling. I will always be at your side, of course—to protect you, to wake you from your nightmares, to support you, to - to tether you against the storm, as you said, but - ‘

‘But what?’ Imogen shakes her head with a gentle laugh. ‘Who could ask for more than that?’

‘And the kissing?’

‘We don’t have to do it again. If you don’t like it.’

Laudna tilts her head; it’s not a no, but neither is it a yes. ‘You could choose anyone—’

‘I want only you.’

‘Even though I am—’ Laudna cuts off the words with a snap of her teeth. Turns away, sending a gloomy look to the dim corners of their room. 

Imogen’s heart thuds, hard, against her ribs. She rubs at at it, sympathetic. Her bruised heart. She wants what it wants—to be close, ever closer. To hug her, hold her tight. To love her. To rip Delilah out of her—fry the bitch, burn her to ashes, and the ashes to smoke, and the smoke to nothing at all in white lightning—and then offer up her own heart to fill the lack. To welcome Laudna into the red hollow of her ribs, already wondering what kind of home she could make out of them. To take back the ruby ring and present it again, with all the ceremony Laudna deserves. To kiss her. Again and again. 

But right now, Laudna doesn’t need a storm, even one of love. She only needs Imogen to listen to her. So she asks,

‘Even though you’re what?’

Laudna’s hands curl into talons and a snarl erupts from her throat. Earlier, Imogen hadn’t known what to make of the idea that Laudna could summon a wolf but she gets it now. Hears it in that mournful, ragged sound. 

‘Dead. Broken.’ She claws at her heart. ‘Weak.’

‘No. You’re not, sweetheart, no.’

Imogen cannot resist reaching forward. She keeps her touch feather-light. Skims a high cheekbone before sliding back to the strand of dark hair that has escaped its high bun. She tucks it behind Laudna’s ear with exacting care, thumb grazing the gold ear-cuff. I see you. Every bit. Laudna’s eyes fill with inky tears and, when Imogen lifts her other hand to cradle her precious, lovely face, Laudna leans into the touch. 

For a moment, Imogen can only stare. 

There is no one in the world like Laudna—so starkly beautiful, so sweet, so enchanting. There is no one half as creative. She knows Laudna’s story—saw her die—but no one could spend an hour in Laudna’s presence and leave thinking her anything other than vibrant. How could that be death? And as for broken, well, Imogen thinks of the mosaics in Uthodurn’s royal halls, and of stained glass windows in the Dawnfather’s hall—what little she had overhead of that part of Laudna’s story—and thinks of Laudna’s mendings and crafts and the hundreds of achingly beautiful smiles Laudna has made up just for her and yes, maybe she’s been broken, but who hasn’t? How can that make her less? Less lovely, less wonderful? It doesn’t. It doesn’t. She thinks of faith and lets her pinkie slip down to touch, so gently, the ragged mark of Laudna’s first death. She thinks of destiny and meets Laudna’s eyes. 

Beautiful, she thinks, and then - because they are being truthful, because they are telling each other the truth - she says it out loud too. 

‘You’re beautiful. You’re my—‘ Imogen falters, tries to think of a word that doesn’t stick in her chest like a knife, but pushes on because her love doesn’t make her fearless, it just makes her brave. ‘My favourite.’

Her blush blooms purple under Imogen’s hands. Laudna glances down, shy, then up from under lashes dark and sticky with inky makeup, splayed like delicate spider legs. 

‘It is strange,’ Laudna says, covering Imogen’s hands with her own when she starts to pull away, worried. ‘Don’t leave, darling. Let me… Let me?’ 

Let her lean in, yes, let her press close, forehead to forehead, yes, stay so still when Laudna touches her cheek, fleeting. Laudna trembles—afraid? excited? damn this fucking circlet—but the contact settles her and when she retreats, she pulls Imogen’s hands from her cheeks but doesn’t let them go. She breathes in and out. Then says, 

‘Waking from death is much like waking from sleep, except it hurts. Only a little but all the time.’

Imogen’s fingers brush over Laudna’s wrist, where her pulse plods away. ‘Laudna,’ she whispers, not to interrupt. Only because Laudna ought never go a moment thinking she didn’t care. 

‘For all those years, even though I…I ran and built my huts and Pate too, of course, and of course I felt things—fear and loss and joy, too, sometimes—I was alive and awake but. So much of me was still dead. I was so - confused. And angry, often. I was surviving, you see. I had strength enough to hold myself together and fix things, here and there, but no more than that. I was hungry, all the time, I had so many teeth.’ Laudna searches her face. ‘And then I met you and you helped. Cared. These past years with you… It used to be that when I wanted something, it - it was hunger I felt. This endless hunger. A great pit in my chest. And it was hard to tell, you see, what it was I wanted except for everything, anything I could get my hands on. Do you understand?’

Imogen gnaws at her lip. Slowly, she shakes her head. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t.’ She dips her head, catches Laudna’s eyes. ‘Explain it to me?’

Laudna’s fingers shake as she slides them over the backs of Imogen’s hands. Long fingers curl around one of Imogen’s wrists and she lifts it to press a chaste kiss to her knuckles, lips cool against the burning ridge of her oldest lightning scar. 

‘You have given me so much. You gave me friendship and purpose and trust. Food. Fun and stories. Strength. A bed. A home. And the hunger…it doesn’t gnaw so terribly, darling. Now, when I - when I want something, it isn’t an impossible task. I needn’t lose myself in that great black pit, blinding searching for what I lack. It starts to make sense. I start to make sense. What I want. Outside of her, and hunger. You’ve given me so much,’ Laudna tells her, and her voice creaks with the weight of her words. ‘How can I possibly take more? How - selfish, how greedy it would be to want… To want.’

‘Do you want me to kiss you?’ Imogen asks, voice soft. She tries not to sound to hopeful. 

Launda holds her hands for a long time. It’s maddening, because Laudna never stays still for long; she doesn’t now either, instead stroking tiny patterns against her skin, fingers sliding over and between her own. At the occasional scratch of her nails, a frisson of electricity crackles down Imogen’s arms, through her body. Finally, Laudna nods. 

‘I do. Oh, Imogen, I do. I didn’t know it - I knew I would be content for centuries, the rest of my days, if only I could sleep in your bed, stand at your side, content with any touch or favour you might share with me. And then - to be kissed?’ A shy smile creeps across her lips. ‘Would it be terribly unfunny to say it struck me like a bolt?’

Imogen snorts. Pulls her hands free so she can shove at her—lightly, though, barely enough to make even Laudna sway. Her hands settle on the tender branching of Laudna’s collarbones. The fabric of the new dress is silk-smooth under her palms; the lace neckline, though, catches against her work-rough, scar-rough fingers. She strokes it again, entranced. It’s so soft, the lace, in its reluctance to let her go. It’s so beautiful, the whorling patterns of leaves and flowers, and the contrast of blue-black fabric against Laudna’s pale skin is enough to make her glow. And beneath lace and skin, the steady tap of Laudna’s pulse—a knock on the door, on the coffin lid, here I am. 

Beautiful. 

‘That’s dreadful,’ she scolds, wrinkling her nose. 

‘That’s me. Full of dread.’ A ghostly visage flickers across Laudna’s face, there—skin and skull shifting, FRIDA’s inspiration?—and gone. ‘And you?’ she asks. ‘You too?’

‘Full of dread?’

‘Do you wish to kiss me, I meant, actually.’

Imogen swallows harshly. ‘Yeah,’ she rasps. ‘Yeah, I do.’

A frown pinches Laudna’s forehead. ‘Have you been afflicted with this desire for long?’

‘Afflict— You say it like it’s a sickness or somethin’,’ Imogen teases, but Laudna flaps a hand for her to hurry up and tell, so she shrugs. ‘Um. Yeah. I ‘spose I’ve been wantin’ to kiss you for a while,’ she admits, cheeks burning. ‘When I could hear you, it was… Do you remember when Dusk was hangin’ around, you told me you hadn’t thought about it? Hadn’t accessed that part of your brain?’ Laudna nods. ‘I know. I knew that. Because sometimes, when we were close and you…’ 

Imogen pauses. Sucks in a breath—it’s a little stuffy in their room, no windows, but it smells of freshly laundered sheets and paint and wood polish and Laudna and Imogen lets it steady her. 

‘D’you know that you say the kindest, sweetest things sometimes? You always know what to do to calm me down or make me laugh, even when the whole world is—’ She gestures awkwardly to the south wall where the moon hovers in her minds eye. ‘You know. Going to shit. And sometimes—I wasn’t sure how much you…’ She stops again, lips twisting, frustrated. ‘I knew that you cared for me because, well, because you do.’

‘Naturally, of course.’

‘But sometimes I wondered if…if you wanted to kiss me, like I sometimes thought of doing. But when I looked into your mind, you were never thinkin’ about it so -’ Imogen shrugs, cheeks hot. ‘I never brought it up. You hardly ever thought about it when other folk were flirtin’ or talkin’ about it, so I figured it wasn’t something you wanted. And that didn’t matter to me! Just so long as you were with me, and we were together, I was happy with that. But then Dusk,’ Imogen strangles the name in her throat, hopes fiercely that Yu can feel it, wherever the fuck they might be, ‘put the idea in your head and then they…left…and you were confused and I’d sometimes catch flashes of it in your head but it didn’t feel right to bring it up, even though sometimes I thought—the way you were lookin’ at me, and not pullin’ away when I was lookin’ at you—I thought…maybe? Maybe it was - Maybe you could. Think like that. And when you died—’ Her voice cracks. ‘That wasn’t the right time either, obviously,’ she scoffs. Pulls a hand back to swipe at her eyes. 

‘Darling,’

‘It had to be your choice. All of it. Everything, after what happened. And I was fucking terrified because of all those questions in my head like if I’d be pushin’ you if I asked, or makin’ you more of a target, burdenin’ you with all this Predathos moon shit—’

‘Never. Never a burden.’

‘—and then I got this,’ Imogen taps her circlet, ‘and I couldn’t hear you anymore, couldn’t check, and so, yeah, Laudna, you could say I’ve been thinkin’ about it for a while.’

‘Thinking about,’ she says, so carefully, like she’s afraid if she speaks it too loud or too fast the whole thing will break, ‘kissing. Me.’

Imogen laughs. Smiles at her with her whole face, her whole heart. Every soft, exposed, grotesque, tender part of it. ‘Yeah, sweetheart. Is that alright?’

Laudna nods jerkily. Eyes Imogen’s mouth curiously. ‘Can I - that is, if it’s alright with you,’

‘Please,’ Imogen whispers, and she isn’t sure if she’s reading her own mind or if Laudna’s is loud enough to overpower the circlet, if she’s letting the power of it subside in her eagerness to know if Laudna wants what she wants, but it’s so clear—Laudna’s dark eyes, warm and kind and wanting; her reaching hands, aligning them hurt to hurt, heart to heart; plum lips pressing, ever so gently, against hers. 

The kiss lasts a heartbeat. Barely long enough to register the touch. Even so, Laudna flushes deeply. Touches her fingers to her mouth and breathes out, shaky. 

‘Oh. Imogen.’

Imogen lifts a hand—‘Can I? Let me, please’—to Laudna’s neck, grazing the high collar she’d been so jealous of in the store for getting to touch Laudna’s neck, but adores now as she coaxes it down so she alone can see, can touch the soft skin of her neck. Feel the way Laudna’s breath hitches when she does, her shiver as Imogen’s fingers slide forward, following the path of her jaw and swiping beneath the hinge of it—tender, awed, lingering on the mottled silver marks of bullet holes and torn skin—before she slides her fingers into the curtain of dark dark. She presses gently, guides her forward for another kiss. Her lips find the corner of Laudna’s mouth and smiles at the noise of displeasure it pulls. 

‘I think,’ Imogen whispers, kisses her more solidly. Tilts her head and loses herself in Laudna: Laudna’s nose nudging into her cheek; Laudna’s hands fluttering between her elbows and shoulders before laying gently on her back; a clumsy bump of lips, which is actually mostly chin, a giggled apology, and then something gives and Laudna’s lips are on hers again, steady and slow and careful, like they have all the time in the world, like now that she is here there is no where she would rather be. Imogen pulls back, licks her lips. Citrus bursts on her tongue. 

Laudna stares at her mouth. ‘What - ‘ She has to clear her throat, voice breathy, like Imogen has kissed all the air out of her and the thought makes want crackle beneath Imogen’s skin. ‘What do you think?’

‘Amazing. Great. Perfect.’

Dark eyes gleam. Laudna smiles—no, she smirks. ‘Darling. You were saying something, that you thought…?’

‘Oh.’ Imogen starts to speak—and has to stop. She laughs. ‘Y’know, I’ve totally forgotten?’

‘Oh.’ Laudna’s blush deepens. She’s so fucking pretty. ‘It will come back to you. If it’s important.’ She fidgets. Reaches out a hand to touch Imogen’s elbow, her knee. She looks for a moment as if she is about to speak but then a calm settles over her and she only smiles and nods. ‘Do you mind, dearest, if I take a little time to fix the birdhouse? Only Pate said it’s dreadfully uncomfortable and I think - if I add some soft cushion fabric, maybe curtains - I can fix the place up for him.’

Imogen nods. She understands—and could do with a minute to calm down too. She crawls around Laudna up to the headboard, props herself up against it. 

Laudna frowns. ‘Really? Boots on the bed?‘

She smiles, closes her eyes. ‘It’ll be alright, I’ll magic the dirt away after.’

‘It’s the principle of the thing,’ Laudna insists. After a few moments of Imogen ignoring her, Laudna sets aside the birdhouse and begins to unbuckle Imogen’s boots. Imogen watches, thoughts far too chaotic to pin down. It doesn’t take long—Laudna has helped her before, when migraines stopped her from doing just about anything—and she pats Imogen’s shin, tuts at the unhappy state of her socks, and mends the hole by her big toe with a needle and thread of black shadow. It looks good as new when she is done. 

‘There,’ Imogen drawls, snuggling down into the pillow at her back. ‘What would I do without you?’

Laudna laughs. ‘You’d wear boots in bed and put your cups upside down on the shelves–’

‘First of all, I’m right about that and second of all,’ she nudges Laudna with her toe, ‘I never wanna find out.’

She smiles and, oh, Imogen thinks, Dawnfather, eat your heart out. You don’t know light like this. You couldn’t make a light like hers if you had a thousand solstices. 

//

They spend a lazy afternoon together. They don’t kiss again—Laudna is far too intent on her work, and Imogen merely watches her and allows time and proximity to ease the tight, grating knot of nerves in her chest that had built with every moment of Laudna’s absence. She asks easy questions and retreads old, familiar jokes and stories, and everything resettles. In some ways, it is as it has always been. It’s the two of them, together. It’s also new in a way that makes Imogen’s heart flutter every time she remembers; I kissed her, I can kiss her. 

‘Pate,’ Laudna croons, as she takes apart old clothes and blankets, stitches them into cushions for the interior of the birdhouse. ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are,’ she sings, and the rat-bird clambers out of his wooden house and up her arm, waits until she’s packed the cushions into place to skitter back inside, taking pride of place in the decadence. ‘What do you think of your new ho-ome?’ It’s so fucking weird. They both are. Imogen has to get closer to her. Tucks a foot under Laudna’s knee—who beams at her, wraps a chilly hand around her ankle and keeps her close—and makes a note to kiss Pate on top of his awful little skull soon. Just because. ‘What do you think? Will this be more comfortable?’

‘It’s nice!’ he croaks, little paws patting walls and floor. ‘I do have a suggestion, though—’

‘What! You’ve only been alive for a few months, what could you possibly know about decorating?’ she demands, aghast. 

Pate flies from the house, landing on the roof. There are no eyes in his bird skull but Imogen swears he rolls them anyway. ‘Pfft! What don’t I know? I’m the whole package, you know. Bird brains and rat cunning, fanks very much.’

‘Fine, then, if you’re so smart! What’s your suggestion?’

‘Curtains.’

‘Curtains?’

‘Curtains. For, you know, setting the mood, or sleeping in the day. Or if you two need a little, heh, private time to lock lips—’

‘Alright, yes, fine!’ Laudna yelps. ‘I’ll make you some damn curtains!’

Pate chuckles. His wings peel open with a wet squelch that Imogen is never going to get used to—how could he be wet, he’s been dead for years, that’s what she wants to know—and he takes off with one, two laborious flaps of his wings, gliding down to the bed covers and scampering back into his now-comfortable home. ‘Thank ye kindly,’ he calls out from within.

Laudna grumbles as she pulls together curtains rather quickly, delving in her pack for supplies. She pulls out shards of metal–splinters, almost, but as long as her palm. 

‘What’re those?’ Imogen asks, as she tries to bully the pillow under her head into a more comfortable shape. 

‘Hm? Oh - one of Ashton’s climbing pitons. It shattered.’

The pillow refuses to be comfortable; Imogen gives up, gets up to search the room for wherever the other pillow went. She finds it, after a while, on the top shelf of the little linen closet and jumps for it before remembering she knows telekinesis. How in the nine hells Zhudanna even got it up there, she has no clue. Wandering back to the bed, Imogen watches over Laudna’s shoulder for a minute as she crafts. 

‘You went climbing?’

‘When we were separated, that’s where we landed,’ Laudna says. ‘On a cliffside. Jagged rocks, Steam vents. Now that I think about it, we were rather lucky, actually, that we didn’t appear in the air above a sharp spike or roll off the cliff. But yes, we had to climb,’ she says, and tells Imogen all about it— finding Deni$e - Mona, at the time—and the climb and the endless valley of verdant trees. 

Imogen listens carefully, heart heavy. She thinks of a long, cold walk and finding truly kind friends at the end of it - a celestial bull they befriended - shopping - the warmth and bustle and commerce and, yes, anxiety, of Uthodurn, and meeting royalty—and she thinks of Laudna, who dislocates something whenever she sneezes, having to pull herself up a cliffside. She rubs Laudna’s shoulder and dips her head, presses a kiss there on her back—because she can, because she wants to, because Laudna wants it too. Laudna hums, a happy sound. 

‘I’m sorry you ended up there.’

‘It wasn’t all bad. It was rather beautiful. I would have enjoyed it, I think, if you had been there.’

‘Maybe we’ll go together someday.’

Laudna smiles. Affixes one of the piton curtain-rods into place as Pate guides her—’Higher, higher on the left - other left - all of it lower now - perfect!’

‘I think Ashton will want to go back.’

‘Oh?’

‘There was something of the Hishari there - a town. Cursed now, apparently. He wants answers.’

‘Then that’s what we’ll do,’ Imogen agrees. ‘Kill the moon, then go on holiday to a cursed town in Issylra. Sounds nice.’

//

‘You were right, by the way,’ Imogen says later, as they walk back from the Windowed Wall to their friends. 

‘Of course I was.’ Laudna beams across at her, tone bright, teasing; it’s such a shift from her mood of the morning that Imogen can do nothing but smile back at her. ‘About what, though?’

‘You said if it was important, I’d remember what I was gonna say. And I remember now.’’ Imogen wraps her arm through Laudna’s, pulls her in tight. There aren’t many people crowding the street but she doesn’t need an excuse to hold her close anymore. ‘You know, the thought you kissed right outta my head?’ 

‘Imogen!’ Laudna slaps her hand lightly, but her eyes gleam. Imogen thinks she might be pleased by the idea of driving her to distraction. ‘Well, go on then. What was it?’

‘You asked if I’d been thinking about it for a long time. Kissin’ you. I was gonna say, I think I’ll never get it outta my head. I’m gonna be thinkin’ about kissing you forever. If that’s alright with you.’

Laudna’s chin lifts - proud, pleased by the idea, clearly - and she gains what could only be called a strut. Her cheeks colour faintly. ‘I’ll be thinking about it too.’ Her eyes glitter brightly over a sweet smile. ‘After all, you’re very capable,’ she teases, and laughs, delighted, at the blush her words pull from Imogen. 

They’re still smiling when they rejoin their friends. It earns them strange looks, but fond, relieved. No one pries—though Ashton has a stare like a crowbar—and they say nothing, for now. 

#tagging my stories #prompt fill #cr tag #imodna my beloveds #imodna

[angelsndragons]

so episode 31, really the last three or four episodes, honestly, crystalized a lot of what i have been working on behind the scenes when it comes to the hells so let’s talk. warning: as always, this a long post.

because the thing is, the thing is, bells’ hells have been a control party almost from the word go. control parties, for those who don’t know, build themselves to go around obstacles and find new, different win conditions for encounters. control parties have a million different ways to handle these objectives. they can avoid combat altogether via stealth, charisma checks, or other pointed party actions. they can, as the crownkeepers did with the crocodile, find a creative way to neutralize an encounter. this doesn’t just apply to combat, by the by. social encounters provide ample opportunity for a control party to flex their muscles and steer their targets towards the party’s objectives. the haunting of the moon tower is a perfect example. they tend to be more creative and aware of their environments and the people within them than their glass cannon and cockroach counterparts. they have to be. you can’t redefine victory conditions without that awareness or creativity. control parties are just willing to try new things in ways that other parties can’t (glass cannons tend to be built for just damage) or won’t (cockroaches prefer optimizing the action economy).

the hells are several different control modes smushed together into some semblance of a balanced party that can switch on a dime and adapt. they can playfully booby-trap their way through a museum job then roast their opponents alive before flipping back to friendly assistance once the threat has been neutralized and they’ve won. the hells are much more interested in gathering and using information than their c1 or c2 counterparts; they’re also much better at extracting it. whether it’s fearne and orym scouting out enemy bases or numbers, fcg and imogen running roughshod over other people’s minds to find it or being irresistible enough that information is just handed to them, or chet, laudna, and ashton scaring the information out of opponents, all of them have some way of pulling information together (using it is still a skill the group is working on but they’re getting better). in combat, laudna and imogen easily cycle between environmental control/support (think imogen’s hunger of hadar reskin and laudna’s form of dread) and big damage numbers, chet literally has two modes he can fight in, while ashton and orym have a number of ways to control enemy movement and attacks.

and the thing about last episode and this most recent string is how the cast has built characterization into and from the mechanics and abilities. the hells are a control party, and they all have control issues. every last one of them.

ashton - traumatic brain injury that left them their unreliable at best memory, sometimes unable to rein in their impulses, and a rage they’ve only recently learned to channel and use, a man who wants very clearly defined roles and relationships (and oh boy it says something that ashton is the one who best knows their limitations and has gotten used to living with this lack of control).

chetney - werewolf who has lost control of the beast once that we know of. has issues with authority and people having control over his creations and livelihood.

fcg - has been denied autonomy and personhood for much of their existence, can snap to murderbot mode when sufficiently stressed with no memory of what occurred.

fearne - oh fearne, she has issues with cages and how things need to be free but also how she collects the things and people she cares about (she’d never keep them but at the same time...). after all, if she collects them, well, she can’t be left again, right.

imogen - has to maintain a stubborn, rigid control over her feelings, thoughts, and powers at all times or else something could explode. literally, in some cases. or worse, she’ll be subjected to every passing, awful thought of every person around her and who wants that, really?

laudna - a potential puppet on delilah briarwood’s strings. her control issues stem from her (pretty justified given her life) fear that everyone will leave her, that she’s not worthy enough for people to remain by her side. if she just controls herself and finds the one thing that others want, they’ll stay, they have to, right?

orym - like imogen, orym’s holding himself together by the skin of his teeth sometimes. he’s trying to control situations and fights around him so that this time, maybe, hopefully, his loved ones won’t be hurt, never mind if he gets hurt in the process.

part of what fascinates me so in the last several episodes is how out of control the hells have felt and the catalysts for that. yu, who manipulates and worms their way around obstacles and uses others and changes the win conditions and gets what they want in the end, a dark mirror of the hells’ own tactics turned on them. ira, who has controlled and manipulated and wiped out any good intention fearne’s parents had, right down to smearing away their memories and emotions. delilah, who gaslights, manipulates, and abuses, whom they cannot escape without leaving one of their own to her “tender” care. fcg, who weaponized what little actual vulnerability this party has been able to let itself feel.

so strap yourselves in, folks, we’re in for a long haul here.

#cr spoilers #cr campaign 3 #bells hells #critical role spoilers #critical role meta #bells hells meta #my meta #long post #man these issues are going to be fascinating to watch #the nein were a cockroach party #focused on survival #which eventually morphed to #survival of my group #survival of the world around me #to stop the harm #cannot wait to see how this control party morphs #c3e31 #cr c3e31

[thisisnotthenerd]

i have a feeling this episode is setting precedents for bells hells.

thoughts on the future:

fearne and ashton getting the shards and activating them? big choices. fire genasi satyr fearne. big power surge for both of them and probably peripherally for the party

ludinus having simulacra the way he does combined with the intense scrying/arcane eye on bells hells? they need nondetection. like now.

laudna having counterspell is going to be critical in magic battles esp if ludinus can keep chasing them. the combination of her usage of pate and the hound have been good creative uses, but she's doing what scanlan did for vm and having that all fall on her is going to be rough going forward if they're in a ton of magic battles and she'd the only caster who can counter.

speaking of laudna, knowing delilah's awake in whitestone might become a huge deal. oh boy here we go.

as they get into prep for going to ruidus i'm guessing we're looking at one ep of lore dump and power ups in whitestone, one or two of traveling to marquet and getting all their shit in order before they go up the bloody bridge, and then we're flying to the moon. they just leveled up to level 11--do i think they could potentially push it to level 12 before they get to the moon? maybe if they keep having battles on this scale and find enough stuff to match the elemental shards. plus new magic items and the ludinus loot (lootinus?).

imogen is likely going to get more power from the moon as whatever they're doing up there intensifies. similar deal with chetney (maybe). fearne and ashton are getting sharded. fcg is connecting more with the changebringer as they get closer to moving in on ruidus. orym's just putting in the work. and i think laudna has some choices to make.

the ziggurat sphere is in whitestone--anti-scrying, connection to delilah and the shadowfell? methinks there's some room for fun here.

in summary? c3e75 was legendary, and we have a lot of places to go from here.

#cr spoilers #critical role #critical role speculation

[non-neutoniangender]

So I finally got my life together enough to continue my C3 watch... I'm still at 33, I've made more progress on C1 recently. Finally the combination of finding Mini Metro and actually logging onto Tumblr on the web made the barrier of watching Those Episodes bearable.

Spoilers for ep 33 and minor vibe spoilers for episodes in the future that I'm not sure of but its all stuff I absorbed via osmosis and fandom.

It's been almost a full year since these episodes came out and I was mindlessly scrolling Tumblr during my 10am linguistics lecture and stumbled upon everyone panicking because of the lack of diamonds for the amount of people who died. Anyway.

The anxiety of not quite remembering exactly I learned happened is not doing me any favors, but good god, I can really only handle some of this stuff not watching live.

Anyway, here are some assorted thoughts:

Liam you really did not have to make me Feel Things about Orym and his husband while Orym is passing out.

Laudna what is that spell that adds hit dice, that is So Good

Good GOD Otohan is not pulling any punches.

.....this is so close to TPK wow.....

Matt hesitating before essentially killing his wife's character, but doing it anyway.....

It's really interesting to see so many of them up and huddled around the map, things are really getting heated, with Liam just living behind Ashley and Laura's chairs.

"I don't want to be the only one not dead" followed immediately by "soometiiimees you gotta cut a bitch" Yes Travis, that is the correct energy to bring to this clusterfuck.

:OOOOO Not the natural 20 to fucking save Laudna

Begging the DM for the extra hit point like its gonna matter lmao

"I should be more complete at my job" Good GOD

The sending stone 😢

And there's the first one

"We've met before" 😒😒

The sense of failure, the bitersweet feeling of seeing Will and Derrik again 😢😢

I hate it for them that they are getting important lore while they are on the verge of a TPK and loosing their characters

and yet they make jokes like "we can't afford that Sam" to careless whisper

"He is not a creature at the moment" :O omg. Ow. God that hurts.

I gotta say, I'm really enjoying seeing all these hail mary type moves.

You really only see the uber creative dumb shit Hail Mary calls when things are extremely dire.

I love how Beau's voice and mannerisms sneak out a lot as bits and jokes

And there's the second

"That was a helluva run" 😢

"Embrace it or be culled like the rest" oh my god

"That brings us straight to your initiative because everyone else ahead of you is dead" Oh my god Matt

If this actually tpk'd, this would probably be in the running for the longest, most painful tpk. Usually its all at once, rocks fall, everyone dies, the dragon breath attack....

Something about Travis repeating "do you fight it" to laura is so sweet to me.

Also Imogen is making such a wild decision mid potentially worst day of her life omg.

"Save your last line, you might still have a chance" Damn Matt you didn't have to be Like That

"I give in, and I fuck Chetney" "We all do at some point" 🤣

"Is she your favorite" and the immediate "I'll go with you, I give in" oh my god. Having seen that clip of Laura being like 'I didn't know Imogen was in love with Laudna' oh my god the pining is there.

Oh shit the whole city is turning red.

And THATS the end..................

I was gonna go to bed but........ Maybe I can afford to make 1 poor decision

I love the friendship, everyone congratulating each other and matt, no hard feelings. But I wonder how many people are rolling up characters just in case cuz oh my god.

#cr 3 ep 33 #critical role #cr3 #imodna #god I guess I'm watching more tonight

[quipxotic]

I know there’s some mixed feelings about Episode 51, as always because people have different desires and interests in the stories that come out of Critical Role. But I can not express how happy I am with how the episode went, where things were left at the end, and what all of it potentially means for Bell’s Hells. One of my concerns was always how the level 8 Hells were going to have any chance to survive an event that was so clearly above their pay grade. But I also knew Matt Mercer was an experienced DM who probably had a pretty clear idea of how to pitch a story that, while high risk, still allowed Bell’s Hells to make decisions that would impact not only their own lives but the future of Exandria. And for me, he didn’t disappoint.

Bell’s Hells were provided opportunities to gain tools (the Warder and the Ruby Vanguard and Paragon’s Call disguises) to allow them to stealth in rather than fight, which would probably have led to a TPK. The party not only won those items, they made creative use of them. They learned more about the tools Ludinus, Otohan, Liliana, and Co. were using and what their true goals were in all the actions we’ve seen them take throughout Campaign 3. Fresh Cut Grass was able to get into position to try to save Planerider Ryn and to attempt to help Caleb escape. Chetney was able to attack Ludinus. Orym, Fearne, and Imogen were able to try to defend Keyleth and fight Otohan. Imogen had an opportunity to talk with her mother to try to turn her away from the path she’d chosen. That the dice rolls didn’t break their way in all of those situations is just a mix of the luck inherent in D&D and the high degree of difficulty of the actions they decided to take.

For example, Laudna and Ashton decided to destroy more of the Key’s batteries, a much lower risk decision and something they’d already done once so they knew some of the risks to avoid. They were successful in that, as was Ira, which clearly impacted (in some way we don’t yet understand) the results of the Key’s activation. Even crashing the Silver Sun wasn’t a failure; it didn’t destroy the Key as they hoped, but it killed many Vanguard and Paragon’s Call members and created the chaos that allowed Bell’s Hells to move around and make other attempts to stop the Key. Also, the deaths of so many of the Ruidusborn due to the airship crash probably also impacted how much power Ludinus was able to pull into the Key and we don’t yet know what the long term effects of that will be.

And I’m over the moon (so to speak) about the way the party is divided up now. As I and others have said, the separation of the original friend groups in Bell’s Hells will force those characters to explore their relationships with other party members. Conversations they’ve all been putting off will have a higher likelihood of actually happening because (I think) both groups are too far away to have any further impact on what’s happening with the Key. That story thread will probably be taken up by other characters, most likely the PCs from Campaign 1 and 2. While they could do that as NPCs in Campaign 3, I think it’s more likely that we’ll eventually get some limited episodes with the cast playing their original C1 and C2 characters.

More time with Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein will probably be something the fans of those groups will enjoy, once they get over the shock of E51. And Bell’s Hells fans will get more of the juicy role playing that so many of us have been hoping for throughout Campaign 3.

#Critical Role #Bells Hells #critical role spoilers #fan theories #quipxotic stuff

[humanbeanisnotamused]

Hope You're Happy

Listen I can't stop thinking about that sad little sending.

There’s something in the tone of Orym’s voice that leaves Dorian lying awake.

“Could really use your brand of creative optimism right now.”

It hasn’t been as long as all that since he left the Hells behind in Jrusar, certainly not so long that he can’t picture Orym’s face in his mind with perfect clarity, the shadows in his eyes when he smiles all fake and wry like that.

Certainly long enough for them to get themselves into plenty of trouble.

As he lies there, thoughts chasing their tails over and over, the thing that keeps coming back to him is this:

“Hope you’re happy.”

It’s plain as day that Orym isn’t.

__

The first thing he does when he wakes up the next morning is cast Sending.

“Orym? Is everything alright?”

He means to say more, he does, but the words all tangle up in his throat together and nothing gets out. Just before the time for the spell runs out, he manages to get out, “Do you need help?”

There’s a long silence.

He’s started to worry that Orym’s just not going to answer at all, when he gets a little, uncertain, “Uh,” and then another long pause.

“It’s been a lot. More than twenty-five words. I’ll tell you someday. Promise.” As he talks, Dorian turns his voice over in his mind, evaluates it. He sounds steadier than he did last night. He sounds exhausted. “You can help by keeping safe. Uh. Fearne misses you.”

And then that’s it.

Dorian puts his hand on the sending stone in his pocket, turns it around and around. Thinks about Orym, on the skyship into Marquet, leaning so far over the rail that Dorian had wanted to grab onto his belt, smiling. So enthralled that gravity didn’t exist.

Hope you’re happy, he thinks. Hope you’re happy real soon.

#critical role #bells hells #bell's hells #orym of the air ashari #dorian storm #dorym

[demigoddessqueens]

Sorry if i'm sending this in twice, internet was a pill last night: VM/MN/BH with a multiclass Rogue/Monk Reader, whose favored weapon is silks? Skillwise,,, think Eraser Head from MHA, but less strict, sleep-deprived teacher and more former circus aerial silk dancer turned adventurer after their home was ransacked by bandits. Bit of a realist, but for the most part mellow and positive otherwise.

Interesting choice of fight!! I like it!

I don’t know much about MHA besides Hawks so I tried with this one 😅

Also I l imagined that y/n fights like Suki and Tai Lee from AtLA

Vax’ildan - damn! Where’d you learn moves like that? You always have his back and sometimes he gets distracted watching you fight

Jester - she’s seen Beau fight but yours is so pretty??? All the silks and different colors just fascinate her

Keyleth - silks meet vines in a dynamic duo, and your attitude starts to brush off a bit on her to which you’re both like “we make a good team, right? 😉”

Pike - oh yes!! Finally!! She loves having you as an equal and crossing Sarenrae’s power with your silks and moves makes for some creative dance attacks

Scanlan - Scanlan’s and Bigby’s hand are now laced with silks which packs an extra punch. Plus the bard always throws compliments your way

Grog - he admires your skills and pls oh please throw him in his Rage attacks because he thinks it would be so cool.

Caleb - he’s seen you be a beast at fighting but it’s so…captivating! There’s a shared bond you both have when it comes to intense fighting but he’s glad to have met you and your outlook on life

Yasha - being on the road is something she’s used to and while she may be shy at first, your silks and skills break the ice. Also in her barbarian rages, power silks stopping other attacks make it easier for her

Chetney - he’s met his match in sparring and over words 😆. Still claims him as a werewolf is leagues better than silk fighting

Fjord - a badass? Adventurous?? Cool AF?? Jester likes you (tho she likes everyone)?? Where have you been all this time??

Cadeuces - takes a lot to phase Mr Cool Easy Vibes yet you manage to. Never sparing a story over a shared cup of tea, and he admires your stealth and strength in a fight

Beauregard - oh please show her more of your moves! When you do show her a demo, she won’t admit (at first) how nice and soft the silks feel around her hands

Ashton - hells yeah he likes you!! Silks that launch attacks and he has the war hammer with him?? Talk about double trouble that he will gladly grab a drink with

FCG - Letters absolutely adores you! Calls you the bee’s knees! Trusts you because of how well you and Ashton get along

Vex’ahlia - do not go far from her because you both work so well together!! Your abilities to (gracefully and stealthy) stop enemies in their tracks makes quick work of them

Fearne - there have been occasions on which you’ve helped her swiped some stuff here and there with the silks 😉 but other than that

Mollymauk/Kingsley - which circus were you at? Did you meet before in his past life? He would’ve remembered one like you 😏

Orym - he respects a fellow fighter, being a Tempest Blade and all, and appreciates that someone in the group can (somewhat) be level-headed during the highs and lows of their journey(s)

Laudna - oh she’s excited to meet and talk to you! Stories to swap, you admire and encourage her to be her best self, and you appreciate any doll gifts both giving and receiving

Imogen - was a bit hesitant about you at first but slowly warmed up to you. You, her and Laudna bond over tales from the travels and whenever some excursion gets too hair-brained, she can rely on you for help

Percy - it’s a slow burn crush he has from “I appreciate you” to “I can’t imagine being without you”, man’s is in awe of your power(s) and he’s more than grateful given that it’s saved his life

Nott/Veth - she gets distracted with them and sometimes dons them on like she has a boa, but also pls use them to launch her during attacks because it would look really cool

Essek - out of the Nein, there’s still so much of your story that always surprises him and he notices how every time you talk, you wrap a silk around his wrist

Dorian - as a bard, he admires a fellow “artisan” such as yourself. Growing up was a bit sheltering for him so he’s all ears for all that you have to say about your travels on the road

#critical role #inbox request #tlovm #vox machina #critical role x reader #critical role x you #critical role x y/n #tlovm x you #bell’s hells #the mighty nein #tlovm x y/n #tlovm x reader #vox machina x you #vox machina x y/n #tlovm imagines #vox machina x reader #bell’s hells x you #bell’s hells x y/n #bell’s hells x reader #the mighty nein x y/n #the mighty nein x you #the mighty nein x reader #mha!reader

[malaismere]

more critrole classpecting (m9, vm)! bells hells were definitely the hardest of the bunch, because, y'know, it's hard to judge a character arc when you don't know how it ends.

Chetney: Heir of Rage

Laudna: Heir of Space

FCG: Sylph of Hope/Prince of Rage

Fearne: Witch of Breath

Imogen: Heir of [Doom/Void]/Mage of [Mind/Light]

Orym: Knight of Doom/Page of Rage

Ashton: Knight of Doom

Dorian: Bard of Blood

Lots of Heirs for the Campaign that inherits its plot from the previous two, and lots of rage for a campaign that is thematically very Rage vs Hope. Full analysis/description under a cut and oh boy do I think these are way longer than the last.

For a lunar sway analysis, I'm pretty torn.

Laudna and Fearne are definitely Prospit, Ashton and Chetney are Derse. Dorian's personas/hiding pushes him more Derse to me, whereas Orym's optimism is Prospit, but they're less firm in my mind. Imogen could lean either way, but her Ruidus-born stuff leans Derse to me. FCG I'm also torn on based on the split personality angle, but ultimately I think Prospit.

For order, this is the roughest of the three, but I'm leaning...

FCG -> Ashton -> Laudna -> Chetney -> Dorian -> Fearne -> Orym -> Imogen

But Laudna -> Chetney and Imogen -> FCG are the weak ones here. Too much of this would be deciding how to actually plot an au.

Chetney: Heir of Rage

Chetney’s main theme is being a werewolf.

Okay, there’s more to it than that, but also, their kind of isn’t, because lycanthropy will always be a metaphor. Chetney is tied to creation/manipulation as a woodcarver; he’s an artisan, but solidly working class. There’s some money/class stuff going on with his conflict with Ultgar (selling out, but also cutting Chet out of the deal), and a lot of anger regarding that. The wolf is wild, primal, chaotic, everything untapped and unchained.

There's a lot of stuff about werewolves and understanding yourself and puberty, but that's not what Chetney's wolf is; because while he may not have been bitten until after, Chetney's wolf is the thing that stabbed his boss. It's anarchic, chaotic, defensive, and also specifically tied to like, class/revolution - firmly a thing of Rage.

The transformation involves Chet being changed by rage, which is totally how to describe the passive change class, the Heir. Heirs become their aspect, literally, as well as being just naturally drawn to it. Lycanthropy is also literally inherited - and can be passed on, as Heirs change others with their aspect.

Heirs can be a bit easily manipulated by others, but Rage is the Aspect of skepticism. Chet isn't gullible, he's a pragmatist, but he's also a bit of an idiot. Their main challenge is to not get swept away by their aspect - Chetney literalizes this by trying to control the wolf. He doesn't want it gone, he just wants it in check, only hurting the people he wants it to hurt instead of rampant chaos.

Laudna: Heir of Space

Walking dead girl, Laudna’s in good company here in Homestuck land! So we’ve got to dig a little deeper into themes: death, specifically dying someone else’s death; witchcraft; isolation, loneliness, quiet; crafting/creation; fate, destiny; goopy spoopy nonsense.

Void is the pretty obvious one here - dark, shadowy, and lonely. But, while Laudna has the aesthetics, she’s not exactly background, nor is she big on secret keeping, being pretty open, even with the deep and dangerous stuff. Doom and Time both have ties to the fate/destiny/death angle, while creativity is very Space.

On a personality level, patient, calm, intuitive Laudna is very much Space, although she’s not unaligned with Doom. Space is also the stuff most intrinsic to who Laudna is versus what’s been done to her, so, Hero of Space it is!

Archetypally, Laudna’s a Magician. While it would be gone to have the witch trio be literal, Laudna’s more passive, and that puts her more towards Heir. She’s the inheritor to Delilah’s power. And Delilah, now she’s the Witch of Time/Doom (leaning Time mostly to parallel my Percy classpect and inversion reasons) complete with the serving of a higher power. Breaking reality itself is peak Witch behavior after all.

So, arguably, all of Laudna’s more fatalist elements are the result of Delilah, as she roleplays Delilah’s class as a Witch through her powers and her aspect of Time through her death. This combines with inverting to Mage of Time, where she experiences Time uniquely (being undead) and “suffers it” (being undead).

Freed (?) of Delilah, Laudna also instead takes up the Sun Tree as a patron (which, okay, there’s some Light/Void potential here, and Vecna and therefore Delilah have Void imagery, and Light is the Lesbians Aspect but I still think Space is better) which ties into the plant aesthetic of Space. She’s also finally free to create for herself, in the form of Pate manifesting as a familiar.

Heirs of Space are eclective, transformative, cluttered and chaotic and flea market energy, exactly all of Laudna's crafting energy. Their aspect comes naturally to them, and the challenge is to keep from being swept away by it. Space, as in physical distance, ties in to Laudna's loneliness; she's great at being on her own and away from everything, and her challenge is to keep people close.

FCG: Sylph of Hope/Prince of Rage

Okay, so, FCG has a couple major themes: their role as a therapist, their past as an aeormaton (assassin) and their relationship with divinity/Avandra.

The divine stuff is very much the aspect of Hope - blind, unyielding belief. That’s a pretty central aspect of FCG, and his "connection" to Avandra is fundamentally the same thing as the Flat Exandria beliefs, especially because the stuff Hope covers isn’t necessary real, and is, in fact, often bullshit. This all lines up with the Therapy, because while I do think FCG means well and has actually helped his friends, a lot of his therapy is...pretty bullshit.

There's some aesthetics to FCG as a Prophet archetype, but boy oh boy is he so clearly a Sylph. Sylphs are the therapist classpect, the passive healer guiding you to fix yourself, usually with an info dump. They're associated with motivation and guidance, and Hope doubles down on that, and, more than anything, Sylphs are meddlers.

The counterpoint to that is his assassin past, which is destructive resentful anger, tearing people apart. Murder mode FCG didn’t just hurt physically, he hurt emotionally. Very emblematic of Rage, and specifically I’d say Prince of Rage, as Princes ghost their opposite (pretending to be a friend) and then destroy using it (Rage triggered breakdown, verbal attacks).

Sylph of Hope and Prince of Rage are inverse of each other, and with the two personalities, it’s pretty clear that FCG is dealing with inversion, moving from his natural, base classpect to the unhealth, unstable inverse state. But, I'm kind of torn on which is which.

The obvious answer is the FCG we meet first, the Sylph, is the base, and the Prince is the inversion. Clearly murder mode isn't healthy, and Rage is the scary evil aspect, not like bright friendly Hope, right? right?

But on the other hand, Sylph of Hope is fucking dangerous, which in c3 we can already see; like, we're a bit early on, but I think that the dangers of Hope is a major and deliberate theme of the character. And while murder mode isn’t currently healthy, Prince of Rage really could be - after all, to destroy Rage can be a pretty healing thing. Rage isn’t the evil aspect, we just didn’t see any healthy uses of it in the comic.

So, I think the more interesting version is the one where FCG is the Prince of Rage, but we're a bit too early on for me to be certain that it's the true one, and, either way, he's predominantly acting as Sylph for now!

Fearne: Witch of Breath

Fearne is the most chaotic character to ever show up at the table. As such, it’s tempting g to put her as Rage. It’s also interesting, because that leads to a very rage-heavy party, which has some thematic significance to the campaign (especially as opposing Hope, ie, Divinity).

But, I don’t think Fearne is especially angry, or destructive, or skeptical (she's rather naive, after all). Instead, I think she’s more flighty, airy, and free - a Hero of Breath.

Now, while literally Fearne is a Fairy, she’s not really one to guide, or even make. Instead, she’s much more the Magician. And, well, These Witches Be Bitches.

Witches are rebels, chaotic and lively and free, so, you know, very Fearne. They rebel against the boundary between their aspect and the inverse - and Fearne has a lot of strong connections and ties to the material.

The challenge of a Witch is knowing when to stop, about power going too far. Fearne can't be a daydreamer all the time, because she's here in the material plane, not the Fey, and, you know, random pickpocketing has consequences. It's not that she needs to settle down, but she needs to know how to stop - everything has a time and a place.

Imogen: Heir of [Doom/Void]/Mage of [Mind/Light]

So, Imogen’s main association is her psionics, the Ruidusborn abilities. These manifest as telepathy and telekinesis, primarily, and specifically the reading of other minds and astral projection type stuff.

But, like, half the trolls have psychic powers going on, so it’s hard to pin it to any one aspect. Her powers feel closest to Aradia, who’s Time, or Sollux, who’s Doom, but there’s also the obvious and literal Mind at play. There's also the fact that Ruidus is the driving plot, and Light is the aspect of Plot.

So, hey, what aspect does Predathos represent? There's a couple good arguments here. Predathos is Doom, to the narrative, representing Destruction, and as destruction more than a little bit Time, as well as fairly Rage associated, as the eater of Gods/Hope, but ultimately I think I lean towards Void. Void is secrets, to Predathos the sealed and forgotten, and it's also strongly tied to the eldritch horrors of the furthest ring, which, well, Predathos totally is in their number.

Archetypally, Imogen is the Magician (These Witches) or the Prophet (Ruidusborn). I lean most towards Mage, who experience their aspect uniquely, "suffering" it, the active miracleworker over the passive speaker of prophecy, and Heir, with a natural affinity to their power, as Imogen literally inheriting the power of Predathos/Ruidus from her mother.

These two are, neatly, inverse. So, we might have some fun inversion things going on here - but again, there's a lot I'm not confident in, due to the story not being complete.

Mage of Mind is I think the most obvious one from episode 1; Imogen suffers from Mind, literally hearing other peoples thoughts and having it overwhelm her. The goal of a mage is to not be overwhelmed by their aspect and use it to help others - literally, for Imogen, to start making choices and become all leadery. It inverts to the Heir of Heart, inheriting Soul-power, but it's not a major piece.

(Mage of Time is the inversion of Laudna’s Heir of Space, but I don’t think there’s enough else to properly justify it/Time as Imogen’s aspect)

Heir of Doom inherits Fate, Destiny, and Destruction. It's the epitome of Imogen as Ruidusborn, Cursed and Blessed Child. Heirs come to their power naturally, and can be easily manipulated by it; their challenge is to not be ruled by it, and Imogen is trying to escape from her destiny.

Heir of Void inherits Predathos, secrets, darkness, and irrelevance, with it's inverse being the Mage of Light, suffering from knowledge, attention, and the plot. This is the set of classpects where I think Imogen is actually inverting fully, and again, I'm a little torn as to which way it goes - what is her true self.

I think I lean towards Mage of Light being her true self, and Heir of Void being her inversion, in a lot of ways because I don't think following her Mother's path/Predathos is healthy. She struggles with attention and knowledge from her powers, but she comes through it with an incredible understanding, and I think her ultimate goal isn't to slink back into quiet and the background, but to shine.

But, on the other hand, Light isn't always a good thing, Void is comforting, and there's an argument about 'main character syndrome' to be made with a lot of Heroes of Light that mirrors some stuff that's talked about with her, but I don't think that's a super valid argument, currently at least.

(also, Light is the Lesbian aspect, like, canonically, so, y'know).

Orym: Knight of Doom / Page of Rage

I genuinely think Orym may be the hardest of all Bells Hells to classpect, and I say this following Imogen, who I gave four different titles. The main thing is...I don't know what Orym's story is.

He's a bodyguard, he's dealing with trauma and grief over the death of his husband; he's investigating what's behind hit; he's the 'stable' one of the party; he's associated with plants, the Wildmother, air/wind, and the moons.

None of these super line up with Homestuck aspects. Like, there's the superficial Space/Life to plants and Wind/Breath, but those don't really feel key. Breath as an Ashari trait is interesting, and Blood is very important to Orym, but I don't think it's a place where he needs to grow/change/accept.

Doom/Life has some merit to it as a pair, specifically focused on Doom. Orym's got a lot about duty and obligation as a guard, and he's got the literal Doom going on in the tragedy of the attack.

On the other hand, I'm really interested in Hope/Rage for Orym. There's a lot of the bright and hopefulness to Orym, the idealist dreamer, who's shocked in to the harsh, skeptic pessimism of reality.

Class is easier for me; ultimately, I think Orym's strongly the warrior archetype. There's arguments going for both Knight and Page.

Hero of Doom Orym leans Knight. He's got no lack of duty and responsibility, after all, as a very disciplined trained fighter. I'm not really sure what his mask is, though, because if there is one, we haven't seen enough of the cracks.

Knights of Doom are resourceful, dependable, and responsible. They're also martyrs, but in I feel a lot more practical sense. Orym is ultimately a bodyguard, he want to be the one taking the hits before others; the Knight's just accepting the way things play out. Compare here to my placing Vax as Rogue of Doom, who's very Martyr. This parallel is interesting because Orym was, after all, originally a C1 back up character.

Hero of Rage Orym is a Page. I don't think Orym's a very Rage person to start; he's not very angry, and is more than a bit of a dreamer. He's also very cut off from the real world in Zephrah - Hope and Breath are next to each other on the Aspect wheel for a reason, they're both 'above it' to the more grounded nature of Blood and Rage. Pages are forced in to their aspect, and boy does that describe Orym.

Pages are all about growth, but they go on to become the most powerful form of their aspect. Orym goes on a quest to learn the truth, and replaces that facade of wisdom with true insight. The ultimate form of a Page of Rage is the revolutionary leader, and, like, I could definitely see that as a version of where Orym ends up. Again, this is one where I think we need more story to decide where it lands.

Ashton:

Okay, so Ashton’s themes are his weird space/time brain injury powers, death/falling/abandonment, destruction/rage/anger/barbarian shit, change/physical transformation, and crime.

Obviously the space/time bullshit has some Space/Time energy; dunamancy in general has Light/Void going on (Luxon being both Light in the literal way, in the knowledge way, and in the plot way) but while that’s definitely impacting Ashton’s powers, I don’t think it’s necessarily key to who they are as a person and their aspect.

There's an interesting take on Ashton and Rage(/Hope). Okay, yeah, the barbarian thing, but Rage is the aspect of rebellion. Ashton's cynical, practical, rebellious, and angry, all tie to his Punk Rock nature. Rage and Hope also have a lot of connection to cults, which Ashton was raised in.

But, ultimately, I think the best fit is with Doom, the other punk rock aspect.

But wait, you say, isn't Doom about rules! Yeah, but it's not necessarily about order; arguably, that's Life is role as bright cheery pop-facism and the status quo. Doom is too destructive for that; it's rules in the sense of fate. It's anger, and destruction, and fire/explosions. Cyncical, fatalist, but also full of passion and energy. It's not trying to fix things, but nor is it sitting idly by. It's here. It's helping. Doom also has some connections to abandonment/loss, which, yeah.

Class, I'm also split between two options. There's an interesting read for Mage, even if Ashton doesn't seem like much of a prophet; the class is all about learning through experience, "suffering" your aspect, and he's got his share of miracles.

But, ultimately, Ashton's more a warrior, very much a Knight. He weaponizes his trauma to defend others pretty literally.

Unlike Orym, Ashton as a Knight of Doom isn't about duty, it's about fatalism. He's there to help you through shit, commiserating that life fucking sucks - he'll act, but on the suggestion of others. He's more heavy on the destructive element, reveling in the chaos.

Knights are strong in their aspect, but they lack confidence, and put up a mask to cover this. It's hard to properly define the borders of Ashton's mask right now, but I think you can see it's definitely there. He's covering up a decent amount of trauma as to how much he's been hurt by Doom, specifically, the whole abandonment thing.

(Knight of Rage, I think, is a little about the worry of being a poser, which doesn't really track on Ashton, but is funny given the whole 'oh I think Ashton's secretly some rich kid poser teenager' theories from early on that I'm so glad we're past)

I describe Orym as resourceful, dependable, and responsible. It's not that Ashton isn't those things, but rather, the way I'd frame them is scrappy. Used to relying on themself, good at making their way in the world on their own, same skills in a different context. Knights of Dooms as martyrs also tracks on to Ashton; they're not looking to be martyred, but I think it's clear they'd rather it be them than someone else, last one out the door.

Ashton plays less with inversion than some of the other aspects, but Thief of Life is an interesting one, mostly because Life is luxury/fortune. Ashton is a thief and a crook, and they have a complicated relationship with wealth. There's something in here about who Ashton is working with Jiana Hexum that I don't fully know how to disentangle.

(Mage of Rage Ashton inverts to Heir of Hope, which maybe ties interestingly to the stuff with his parents / being Aasimar? Another case complicated by not knowing enough. There’s a Mage of Void/Heir of Light pair that’s also interesting.)

Dorian:

My gut instinct for Dorian was to go for Heart, which tracks both for a Bard and because he’s got a lot of question around sense of self (which is what Heart is about more so than relationships). But, like, I don’t think Dorians problem is figuring out who he is, it’s dealing with his family/obligations/etc…very much about Blood.

Archetypally, Dorian is a noble - Bard or Prince. The Destroy class may seem a bit of a weird fit, but he is a swords bard, and is definitely more the offensive in combat. However, I do think he's a bit more passive, so, well, Bard. These usually don't line up!

Bards invite the destruction of their aspect, and Bronte's departure broke up his entire family! Dorian more pointedly uses bonds to destroy others - he's a charm person kind of guy, after all.

Both of the Noble classes ghost their inverse aspect - in this case, Breath (specifically, Maid of Breath, which, air genasi joke). Freedom is a major part of Dorian's story, and it's the thing he aspires to. One of the challenges of Bards is to balance their aspect with their inverse, because going too far to that inverse can lead to a breaking point; Dorian wants to be free of his connections to his family, but he doesn't want to be free of connection - he likes his friends, and he leaves the campaign to help his brother.

#bells hells #meta #cr meta #classpect #god tier #homestuck

[elementalladymallorie]

So it's been a minute since I've done one of these but I figured I would make one for one more Bell's Hells party member. So lets look at floral picks for Dorian Storm! This will be based more on Campaign 3 than anything else

For Dorian I think Orchids and Anemones.

Orchids come in a variety of colors each with different meanings. Such as the purple Orchid which symbolize Dignity and Royalty.

Now most purple flowers have the symbolism of royalty, but I feel that a flower that is normally used for it's elegance is a good pick for Dorian, who himself is from a quiet influential family. Enough to be jokingly called a prince by his fellow Bell's Hells. Dorian also likes to try and carry himself with dignity, trying to rise above some shenanigans but he still does manage to fall into the fun.

Orchids also come in an orange shade which symbolizes Creativity and Enthusiasm.

Dorian is a bard, with all the charm and talent one expects of the class. He's incredibly creative being able to jump into a impromptu jam session and following along with ruses. Dorian is also very enthusiastic when it comes to things he enjoys like getting ready for the ball and the spa.

Orange Orchids are used for boosts inspiration, helpful and fitting for a Bard.

Anemones do come in less colors, but still have a few different meanings. They symbolize Protection Against Evil and the First Wind.

Anemones are known as wind flowers and named after the wind god Anemos. Dorian is a Air Genasi, with several names related to wind and storms. Dorian's family is a long line of Oracles. Oracles that at times were consulted for conflicts, which can be seen as a protection or preventing further conflicts (evil).

Anemones also symbolize Joy and Anticipation or Excitement.

Dorian keeps up quite the upbeat attitude and seems to try and keep the same for his friends. He wants to hearten them, and doesn't seem to like the idea of them being sad, such as when he had to leave the party. As stated earlier, Dorian is very enthusiastic and seem to be quite excitable. He also maybe seems a bit predisposed to anticipation when things start kicking off. Though that may be a stretch.

Anemones are also a symbol of rainfall, which matches someone who chose the name Storm and with a given name that means Thunder.

And that's another Bell's Hell member! I'm not sure that another of these will be around until maybe closer to the end of the campaign? Where I could update everyone's picks with more flowers to show how they've grown. Or maybe other guests we might get. Unless

(Laudna Pt 1, Pt 2) (FCG) (Orym) (Ashton) (Fearne) (Imogen) (Chetney)

#critical role #cr campaign three #cr c3 #cr campaign 3 #cr dorian #dorian storm #floral arrangements #is this an odd time to drop this now? Yes #But I got inspired #and decided to make this now

[samuraiko]

C3E38 and the Ritual... (SPOILERS AHOY)

(HERE BE SPOILERS)

(TO AVOID SPOILERS, GO OUTSIDE AND TOUCH GRASS BUT GET CONSENT FIRST)

(DON’T FORGET TO TIP YOUR SERVERS)

So, as I’d mentioned in an earlier blog post...

If Matt decides to have Pike cast Raise Dead, the Hells are going to have to do a skill challenge for the ritual to work. They’re still within the limit for Raise Dead, thanks to FCG’s Gentle Repose spell.

If any of them think to check their inventory, they should still have a bracelet of diamonds from Jiana Hexum worth a decent chunk of change (they had a single diamond from Hexum (used to Revivify Fearne), and the 3 diamonds from the Nightmare King’s pouch (used to Revivify Orym)), but I think for Raise Dead it has to be a SINGLE diamond? Either way, considering that Vex has been QUITE generous in helping out the Hells with the cost of an Astral Projection spell, a 500g diamond shouldn’t be that much of a stretch.

So who do we all think will participate, and what skill they’ll each use to bring her back?

The four that I can see doing it are:

Imogen -- almost certainly Persuasion

Ashton -- also Persuasion, but Ash’s Charisma SUCKS, so what would he use? It’d be a creative use of the skill, but if he were to make the case about how they both came back through magic that neither of them understand, and how both of them are broken but doing their best, maybe Arcana? Or more likely, knowing Ash, Intimidation if he wants to take a leaf out of Grog’s book

Orym -- another possibility for Persuasion, since at least his doesn’t suck nearly as bad as Ashton’s does, but his isn’t nearly as good as Imogen’s is... an alternate possible skill is Nature if he’s trying to channel his Ashari connection to nature to help

Fearne -- for her, Religion might work if she’s trying to implore the Changebringer for another chance?

Granted, only three are needed… and personally, I don’t really see FCG or Chetney participating in this one, unless they really come out of left field with it. Neither of them really has the same connection to Laudna that the others do (and forgive me for saying so, but Sam’s average for the seriousness needed for a spell is like 1 in 100 so far as FCG -- the ONE time that comes to mind is him rezzing Fearne), and Fearne’s isn’t quite as strong as the other three I mentioned.

OOOOH. OOH OOH OOH I wonder if either Percy or Vex would get involved! Oh, that’d be almost POETIC in a way... damn it, now I kinda want that to happen! (Although, that’d mean an NPC making the skill check when there are several perfectly viable PCs right there to participate, so it’s more a matter of whether Matt would go with something narratively more dramatic, or more pragmatic to keep the skill challenges on the players.)

#critical role #cr spoilers #critical role spoilers #campaign 3 #bells hells

[overnighttosunflowers]

For the overly specific CR ask meme: 4, 5, 8, 24, 25

4. Minor character you are (correctly) obsessed with.

Hmm. I mean, I think we all love Kiri, Marwa, Pumat Sol. I am presently obsessed with what Liliana and Relvin’s respective deals are. I would be so happy if we saw Artagan again. I haven’t seen campaign 1 but I suspect I would love Kima. That one shopkeeper who was a bunch of kobolds in a trenchcoat?

5. Meta you would write if you did not fear people would be SUPER weird about it. This is also an invitation to write that meta and block the haters.

Oh gosh I don’t know. I have a lesbian reading of Laudna’s flirting with Monster Men and her confidence in those instances vs. how flustered she gets by Not Men and what she’s said about Not Accessing That Part Of Her Brain? But of course I’m open to canon or Word of God proving me wrong on that one, and have no bones to pick with readings of her as bi, aspec, etc. All Laudnas are good Laudnas.

8. You may personally require that Liam O'Brien plays a non-core four (ie, not a Rogue, Wizard, Cleric, or Fighter) character for at least 10 episodes - he cannot in any way be one of those classes, even as a multiclass. If you like Orym, assume this has no impact on him. What class or multiclass do you have him play?

Bard, any subclass except College of Tragedy because while I deeply love every single Liam sadboi that one is too much of a freebie. Spirits would be fun. In the brief window when Orym was dead I was convinced that if he stayed dead Liam would make a bard, 50% because this party needs another support healer and 50% in tribute to Dorian. I still would put money on this if we see an Orym permadeath.

24. You can guarantee that one Evergreen Question you write is pulled on 4-Sided Dive AND that the four cast members you most want to answer it are on that month. What's the question, and which cast members answer it?

I confess that I haven’t watched 4SD, much as I want to, because I just haven’t had the time—I catch up with recaps. So I don’t think this has been answered before but please tell me if it has! I always am interested in the character creation process, particularly whether/how much they all talk about their characters with each other, especially anyone they’ve got any shared backstory with. SO I guess boiling that down to a question… How much did the other players at the table know about your character going into this campaign? Laura, Marisha, Liam, Ashley. I’m curious about Ashton/FCG too but less so than I am about Imodna’s two years on the road and whatever happened for Orym and Fearne between ExU and C3.

25. What class do you most want to see Matt play if he is in a future EXU campaign as a new (not Dariax) PC?

Ooh hm. I don’t know! Artificer maybe? I haven’t seen one in action and he’d have so many opportunities to flex his sound effects and ability to think creatively on his feat.

#monadique #ask games #critical role #cr3

[owlyspirit]

because i just remebered but I've been listening to a lot CR vods again during project work and man it's so funny going from one Campaign to the other because with C2 I always forget how horny they all are, even more so than the others

To be fair nothing will be as funny and horny as EXU but you know spin off

If you like Critical Role please watch the vods for Exandria Unlimited, those fuckers are so fucking funny, Matt really went "I'm finally a player so I'm playing the stupidest character because I will NOT explain anything" and Aimee, oh Aimee <3 I love new players because they are always SO CREATIVE and aimee just... the whole Aimee and Arthur bit really made me love her

Plus Aimee calling Orym Nancy as Opal and acting like he is her toddler and somehow getting a nat20 on the roll even though he is a grown man (even if he is a hafling) and people around rlly went "yes that is a 4 year old child called nancy with totally not weapons on his back"

Just god, EXU is so good

#sorry for the ramble just please please watch exu #its like 4 episodes #its so fucking good #plus aimee is there and since she is a new player a lot will be explained for her aka this series is kinda nice for ppl who are new to dnd #aabriya is so gooooooood #i love how when characters roll smth to see if they notice smth or so on she responds so casually as if she is actually their thought atm #i dunno i love that #plus her making tourist attractions in matts world is the best #CR #EXU #i did not mean to go on this rant im so sorry #just #fuck man #dnd is so great #you can have the funniest moments and then a moment later its the most heartwrenching thing #a moment like that i have to think of exu calamity with sams new speech to warn the ppl #so heartwrenching and then a joke at the end but also its still heartwrenching #acting like its a normal new thingy where he needs to talk abt his sponsor even though he just reported abt the fucking apocalypse #like FUCK #i love dnd SO MUCH

[maddyscrsideblog]

Obsessed with how Liam will manage to lovingly annoy his friends (mainly Laura) while maintaining Orym being a lovely, polite person in the context of the game

#no orym is not trying to throw off laura/imogen's counting #he's counting in his head! but liam absolutely is saying random numbers out loud to throw off laura #liam's no longer playing a prick (affectionate) but by god will he find ways to do the same shit he did as caleb #vax could get away with being annoying to vex because he was her brother #but with orym he's been getting creative #orym #critical role #liam o'brien #cr spoilers #like not really but also he was doing it in last night's episode

[purpleblackbear]

I never really write out my thoughts on characters’ actions, but man do I like reading analyses on them, and I am all over the Bells Hells ones. But the one that really has me is this last episode, the is triggering the trap three times an evil action, a justifiable action, or a player getting swept up by the enthusiasm of other players? Honestly, I saw it as a bit justified and a bit getting swept up by other players. Bells Hells just survived a hard battle that they weren’t sure they were gonna win. 

Those golems straight up destroyed them. I love Laudna, but my girl crumpled faster than toilet paper getting wet, not that it was hard when the golems get multiple attacks at 20+ damage. Imogen almost went down, except FCG took half her damage and kept her up. Ashton I’m pretty sure was getting low, and Chetney was close to his threshold where he would have had to roll to see if he attacks his own teammates. And judging from what they said later in the episode, I think they were also pretty much out of spells, which means for half the team they’re shit outta luck. 

Plus we’ve seen how creative they get trying to protect the ones who need it most especially in this ep. FCG isn’t very mobile with his one wheel? That’s okay, Chetney will just carry him. I think Fearne has carried him in the past too (or at least attempted to). Laudna low on health? Imogen uses telekinesis to pull just a little farther to help her cover more distance, or Fearne/Mister uses the fiery version of Misty Step to move Laudna of out melee range on the golems.

I think Imogen triggering the trap twice is pretty on point for her character wise. We’ve seen she can get a bit ruthless, especially when protecting those she really cares about. I think it’s mostly shown as her protecting Laudna, because of their 2 years of traveling together, but she’s accepting the Bells Hells into that circle. This is the only way she can protect them currently, triggering that trap. And they had no way of knowing what was on the other side of that door, combat wise. No indication of how many voices, or what they were capable of. That’s dangerous for them. The team on the other side could have been just as depleted as Bells Hells or they could have used almost none of their abilities. No way would they survive an encounter with a fresh team. This is necessary, they NEED to make sure that team on the other side of the door does not come in. 

I do think the third time triggering the trap was definitely more them getting overexcited but I could be wrong. Pretty much everyone laughing at the other team getting destroyed by the fire trap, even Orym (who is the most level headed, morally upright character of the bunch). I think this was more them as players being “holy shit, I can’t believe our plan worked” and “holy shit, this is working better than we thought”. You can see the clear hesitation on Laura’s part about triggering a third time. But the table is clearly excited that it worked and that it’s working more than once. She has to make the decision to do it again or to risk her team getting hurt further. That being said, these guys are like 5 steps ahead with their characters, and every choice is carefully made, so I won’t be surprised if that was intentionally chosen to lay a breadcrumb about some part of Imogen’s back story. 

#critical role spoilers #cr3 spoilers #bells hells #cr3 e21 #cr3 e21 spoliers #imogen temult

[ghor-dranas]

Campaign 3 PC Class Predictions

This isn’t a novel or exciting type of post, but I just wanted to have this on record, because sometimes I make predictions, and don’t post them, and then they happen. These predictions aren’t exactly what I’d like to see, but more of an analysis of their playstyles and what conclusions I personally have drawn. 

Travis - Cleric, Wizard or Druid. Travis likes having versatility. He enjoys having a high damage output and mobility, but also likes being able to help the rest of the team, be that with debuffs, counterspells or healing. All three of the classes I suggested give him that flexibility. They’re also all prepared casters, which is something he’s gotten a bit of a taste of with Fjord’s paladin levels. Alternatively, he could go Bard for a similar level of flexibility, but with fewer options, prompting more creative uses. 

Laura - Wizard, Warlock or Sorceror. Laura is tired of being nice and just wants to go apeshit. But she likes having more options than a martial class will grant her. She again could also go Bard, but I think she wants to steer away from anything that can heal, because she really does not seem to enjoy that responsibility. 

Marisha - Bard, Warlock, Ranger, Rogue, Fighter. There’s a lot of things I think Marisha could enjoy here, mainly because I think that while she enjoyed Beau and Keyleth, she ended up tired of both of their playstyles. So she’ll want to avoid both full martial AND full support caster. 

Liam - Cleric. Liam, I think, actually enjoyed full caster with Caleb, full martial with Orym and Vax’s mix of both, but I think Cleric for him C3 because one thing he does seem to prioritize is enabling everyone else. He played Caleb as a support caster, he took Paladin levels with Vax, and Orym as a character was designed to take a back seat and enable everyone else. He did also make a comment in the C2 wrap-up about working his way through the original 4 classes, which COULD be a hint for this, OR it could be referring to Lieve’tel, there’s currently no way of knowing for sure. But I do think he’d enjoy playing cleric. 

Sam doesn’t pick his own class, so there’s no way for me to accurately predict this, because I don’t know on what basis Liam makes suggestions. I do think Sam would enjoy Ranger though, because he does seem to enjoy having a mix of magic and martial and having to think of creative uses for things. 

Taliesin and Ashley I have no idea, because they sit at opposite ends of this spectrum. Taliesin we’ve seen really enjoy playing Percy [a full martial class with very little support capabilities], Mollymauk [primarily martial with some support capabilities] and Caduceus [full caster with very little marital capabilities]. I believe he’s said that he’s played every class a lot, so really my only prediction for him is that he’ll likely play a subclass that has come out since C2. Ashley as I said before is at the complete opposite end where she’s played so comparatively little that I can’t quite get a read on her. I think she’ll keep trying out new things, so probably not a third prepared caster. Maybe a Monk. 

I’m not going to make a post speculating on which races they might pick, or subclasses, because races are more story focused and have very little mechanical bearing, and because there are far too many subclasses for me to even begin speculating on that. Just “probably somthing very different to what’s been played before” so not another War or Trickery Cleric. 

TL;DR: Travis - prepared caster; Laura - non-suport caster; Marisha - flexible caster/half caster; Liam - Cleric; Sam, Taliesin and Ashley - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#critcal role #cr c3 #campaign 3 #again just saying this so if any of this is right i have something public to point at #bc i am still mad and will always be mad about cognouza #also bc i want to make more original posts here #and am probably going to make more theory posts come c3 so might as well get into the habit now #also lmao i also think that someone will take barbarian. just bc weve had a barbarian every long campaign #but this only leaves marisha and tal for that #if marisha picks certain specific subclasses that is. or multiclasses #she did want to take barbarian levels as keyleth #tbh id love to see a storm herald barbarian just bc both barbarians so far have been connected to kord in some way #and itd be nice to continue that trend #also id love to see someoen finally take paladin from the start #laura as a beleaguered paladin who just wants to smite things and will occasionally smack people with a lay on hands #would be funny but she has said she doesnt wanna play a paladin or barbarian #so unless thats changed seems unlikely

[angelsndragons]

Here for absolutely ALL the EXU opinions <3

✨: best spell use so far

😰: who I think will di3 (or go unconscious first)!!

aww, thanks!

✨: hmmm, has to be between dorian's dissonant whispers on mister bc that was such a creative and clutch use of the spell and fearne's charm person last episode bc that was literally game changing. buying these charming dumbasses an hour to get the hell out of dodge and fearne's overall demeanor and usage was just chef's kiss. also i really like how it seems to have freaked out a good chunk of the fandom, yeah, kids, enchantment spells are super scary.

😰: i'm trying really hard not to predict these kids bc it's impossible and i have to maintain my sanity but i'm thinking orym or dorian. opal's been pretty reckless in fights so far but that means the rest of the group is watching her back, fearne has her wild shapes and mister to protect her, and dariax seems to be the dice gods' favorite punching bag so they'll keep him around. orym and dorian tho? oh man. between the two of them, dorian is more likely to go down bc of mechanics (lower ac, lower hp, etc), but orym going down first would be more narratively interesting bc he comes across as the most put together member of the team and watching everyone react to that would be fun.

#ask game #exandria unlimited #exu spoilers #exandria unlimited spoilers #thanks for the ask #this was fun