#cr spoilers obviously

[essektheylyss]

“Your delinquent child is outside, and I have assured him that he is very, very grounded.”

Between Yeza and the campers still waiting for their parents to arrive from around the coast to collect them, Veth wasn’t sure any of them saw her move between the dining room and the foyer before she’d thrown the front door open.

Outside, Caleb held Luc by the back of the vest, neither of them looking any worse for wear. Behind them, Jester and Fjord looked a bit sheepish, though not nearly as sheepish as her son, who had almost curled into himself beneath the venomous look she’d given him.

“I thought you were dead! You're never leaving this house again! I couldn't get in contact with anyone and I thought you were fucking dead!” she screeched, before any of them could move, but Luc almost kept pace with her, slipping from his godfather’s grasp and, to her surprise, likely to the others’ surprise as well, threw his arms around her.

“I’m sorry, Mom, I should’ve listened to you, I’ll stay grounded for as long as you want—“

Veth spluttered for a moment, though her arms wrapped around him in return. This had not been how he’d returned under Kingsley’s grasp, caught by the ear and cursing up a storm.

It took a long moment to realize that Luc was trembling beneath her grasp. Very faintly, but definitely trembling.

She looked over his shoulder at Caleb, then Fjord and Jester. “There have been… several lessons learned in the past thirty-six hours,” Caleb said, his tone even stonier than his expression.

Fjord nodded slightly in agreement, carrying the weight of agreement. Her grasp on her son tightened, and she kissed his hair. Her sharp tone felt empty and hollow even to her own ears.

“Don’t you ever run away again— Don’t you know what I’d do if you were killed—“

“I know, Mom,” Luc interrupted, and for the first time in weeks— months— a long fucking time— he didn’t sound petulant.

He sounded like her boy.

“I kept him safe,” Caleb said flatly, also without any defensiveness. There was, even for Caleb, a dark flame behind his eyes. It felt like a spark she hadn’t seen in quite a few years.

“He was very particular about it,” Jester agreed, and then, in a poorly-disguised whisper, “Trent.”

Veth’s grip tightened, and she pulled Luc aside, away from the doorway. “Come in, tell me all about it—“ she pulled back and checked him over as Caleb nodded and passed inside. “You’re all in one piece, you’re alright—?”

“Yeah, Mom,” he agreed, with exhaustion. “Uncle Deuce made sure we were all in one piece.”

Jester pouted as she passed. “I also made sure you were okay, alright, but Caduceus is so helpful, you know, and honestly, in the end, it wasn’t even that bad— we saved most of the town, and we had a great party, and—“

She stopped her rambling in the middle of the doorway and clapped both hands to her mouth as Luc ducked under both of them into the house.

“Oh. My. Gods, Veth, you will not believe— Fjord proposed to me—“

With the number of things Jester had just imparted to her, it was honestly a testament to her own intelligence that Veth managed to process them in time to turn to Fjord just as he started up the steps, stopping him in his tracks.

“You what? And I missed it—?!”

"You know, Jester, I think we can let Caleb debrief the Brenatto family alone—"

She had him by the ear before he could move, which was an impressive feat considering he was over half her height, but he was almost as slippery of a bastard as she was.

Within an instant, he'd turned to mist in her grasp and vanished to the other side of the street, Jester complaining behind her all the while. Veth shrieked after him. "You piece of shit!"

In response, he yelled, "That's soon-to-be Admiral Tusktooth-Lavorre to you!"

#critical role #cr spoilers #cr fic #fjorester #veth brenatto #fjord #jester lavorre #m9 solstice #honestly very funny of me to post this considering I have a post in my queue for a bit later that's tagged like #'I'll probably have half a one-shot written by the time this posts' #surprise! I have a WHOLE one-shot written. and probably another half given I have other thoughts. obviously. #listen my brain went 'veth is going to be so mad in general but she's gonna LOSE IT when she finds out this is where fjord proposed' #and I couldn't NOT write that

[pocketgalaxies]

the truth is that bells hells can talk all they want about being on the same page and sacrificing themselves for this greater cause but they haven't even figured out that they're all part of this cause for different reasons. and orym choosing to go on this mission because he lost his family to these people and he believes this group is the only one who can help save the world and his leader is asking him to is very different from imogen choosing to go on this mission because she eventually realized she could never, ever hope to outrun something that has been haunting and chasing her her entire life.

orym is asking for her to be ready to face the worst case scenario head-on because this is war, but for orym the worst case scenario is failure. for imogen the worst case scenario is far beyond that – it's giving up her soul to this entity and becoming complicit if not an active participant in the methodical destruction of the world. and it's betraying the warnings her mother has given her for years, and it's living but completely losing herself in the process, all in an attempt to protect a world that has been nothing but cruel to her and a pantheon of gods that has never loved her.

and how would she face the fact that she's spent so much time and energy trying to convince herself that her mother can't be saved and her mother is the enemy, with this external pressure from both the party and the most powerful people in the world that she has to be ready to kill her? what do you do when you've forced yourself to hate your own mother and end up becoming just like her anyway? and how can you possibly risk giving in when giving in would mean that you hated your mother for nothing?

and ashton says let's not pretend this isn't going to happen one way or another. when imogen has been desperately clinging to the hope that she can resist this and that she has a future, a life after this where she can live in a cottage with the love of her life and she can have peace. when imogen has believed with her whole being that losing laudna to delilah isn't an inevitability, and all she wants is the rest of the party to do the same for her and predathos, and they just won't. and then wonder why she is so terrified of facing predathos when he tempts her with the rarest, simplest pleasures of belonging, of being understood, of being believed in.

#i've seen a million posts about orym being Sad Boi in this conversation but i've seen next to nothing about imogen #obviously these characters are complicated and that's why we love them but i'm also here to say that they are being Unfair to her. #i wrote and deleted 3 meaner versions of this post before i wrote this one. dkfjskdfjsdf #text #nova shh #critical role #cr3 #cr meta #cr spoilers #imogen temult #predathos cr #liliana temult #orym cr #r: imogen x orym #angst tag

[mockingmolly]

god the fucking PARALLELS between Delilah “ no one cares abt you. in the end of all these all you can rely on is yourself” vs Percy “you have people who care about you. Remember that. Sometimes it’s all you can rely on” I’m deceased

#Cr spoilers #critical role #bells hells #c3e38 #cr liveblogging #im paraphrasing obviously but Goddddd 😭

[nanierose]

Orym saying he still feels lonely even when he's around his friends, especially at night, is so sad. And in a way I get it. Whenever my husband is away, sleeping on my own just sucks. The bed feels too big and it's just a reminder that he's not with me. But that is nothing compared to the feeling after losing your partner I'm sure.

Orym has spent many nights without his husband, and he even has someone to share a bed with now. But I think for Orym it's still different than sharing a bed with your partner. That particular part of his life, the side that wants a romantic connection, has been taken away for now and that might be why he feels lonely to some degree.

Of course this comment being before Orym confesses he misses Dorian, and the conflicted feelings this brings up in him, certainly has me wondering if he felt less lonely with Dorian around. He's made a point to connect with Dorian several times now, a few times when he's been struggling too. And if he does have romantic feelings for him and the lack of a romantic relationship is the cause of his loneliness, then it's no wonder he's so conflicted.

Recognising he doesn't feel lonely when Dorian is there means he has to acknowledge that he is starting to open up to someone who isn't Will. And if that feeling of loneliness is not only caused by Will, but also by Dorian? It would be an emotional mess he doesn't know how to deal with quite yet. But if this interpretation is accurate perhaps now that he's vocalised it, it can be the first step to figuring it out.

#critical role #cr spoilers #dorym #orym #orym of the air ashari #obviously part of this is influenced by my shipper goggles #but whatever the reason it's still sad to know he feels like that

[humanbeanisnotamused]

for the record i think vax is probably fine. until i have evidence otherwise i think he's just taking a little orb nap. an emotional experience akin to being petrified. he's in the freezer for a little bit and it'll take a while but once we thaw him and floof out his feathers with a hair dryer he'll be free to go on doing champion stuff

#cr spoilers #critical role #like. he's been better obviously #but

[utilitycaster]

OK the two non-FCG major thoughts I had about this episode are:

How is Liliana going to fit into all this? Like, sure, I'll buy that Imogen's pleas have had a real impact - especially the second one, honestly. The first, impassioned and earnest as it might be, can't compare to seeing the daughter you keep saying you're protecting (and I do think Liliana thinks she's protecting her) near-dead at the hands of your fellow general. On the other hand, what - is she coming with them to Ria'Doin? Is the Vessel of Predathos (TM) going to just waltz on in? And what happens when it comes out that yes, they were in Kreviris on Volition business, and they will continue to be involved with the people who tried to kill her? I'm interested in all of this because it feels very precarious and volatile but man is it delicate.

It does feel significant how close they got to a TPK even after very quickly taking away the backpack. I've been treading carefully here and will continue to do so; as someone who had many criticisms of the Bassuras Otohan fight and of the character (and still does) I don't actually take issue with her build or power level here. It's more a weird sense of like...I've never seen it get so close in past campaigns and certainly not at this high a level; the only vaguely comparable thing is Keyleth failing multiple death saves while in the Nine Hells and that was because she happened to be their only way out. I don't think this fight was by any means structured to be unwinnable or even necessarily require a death, and I don't have any interest in Monday morning quarterbacking it in detail, but it did feel like a much more...blasé attitude towards it than I'm used to seeing. And obviously I don't think anyone was uncaring either! It was pretty clear from the response to FCG's sacrifice that everyone is deeply invested! I think two really interesting hooks just got set up up. I just...really hope Matt's on 4SD soon because this all feels, again, precarious.

#cr spoilers #i hope this makes sense and obviously if people are unpleasant i'm going to be blocking but feel free to say respectful things

[bleachblomde]

to me it’s the fact that Imogen sought out Orym first. how she asked about his husband, about “big moon, little moon”, asking if the meaning changed. asking if it was worth the hurt, if it was going to be worth it once it all inevitably goes wrong.

and then she went and found Laudna.

#i fully think she was planning on confessing but lost her nerve #so many factors at play its so GOOD #MARISHA is obviously gunning for romantic with the way shes phrasing things #meanwhile LAUDNA is undercutting every time it gets too close to romantic by bringing up the rest of the group #so poor imogen chickened out #god imogen's laugh when laudna says she wants to be her better half im DEVASTATED #imodna #cr spoilers #critical role #imogen temult #mine

[justalittlebluetiefling]

Matt saying Percy can't deal with something this enchantment heavy right to Taliesin's face is so funny.

#he's right obviously but i am DYING over here #critical role #bell's hells #cr3e68 #cr spoilers #cr lb

[tin-cant]

In ep45, Ludinus says, "I think I will be eternally grateful for what she's done" about Liliana. For me, personally, that gives some "I'm going to dispose of her the second I don't need her" vibes, and can you imagine?!? Liliana thinking that she's preventing him from acting his worst only to get stabbed in the back?? Dedicating so much of her life to his goals only to realize how disposable she really is?? Regardless of whether he succeeds, that would be a GREAT plot-twist.

#obviously vibes are not good evidence for a theory i just saw a gifset of the line and it hit me how crazy this would be if it did happen #it would make ludinus SO despicable #and show that even one of the most important of his allies is still replaceable to him because he only views people as tools to get his way #ludinus you are now 2nd in my list of people who might theoretically kill liliana #critical role #liliana temult #ludinus da'leth #cr spoilers #<- tagging just for the reference to how liliana views ludinus

[playerkingsley]

thinking about that small moment between deanna and ashton (ashford) amidst all the chaos, the glimpse of recognition opposite the aeormaton they stumbled upon and cared for (in their own ways). how aabria mentioned she crafted different aspects of deanna to connect to each of bell’s hells: for ashton, coming back from death and finding a world slightly askew, rediscovering their place in it, and what remains of the frayed threads connecting them to it. to grappling with their relationship to power and “pay attention to who you want to be”

#tangential to her conversation with chetney and his line ‘out here in my own story it’s cool’ in terms of finding agency and challenging #preconceptions of purpose and identity in the wake of new powers. but never without empathy (per the context of the og conversation) #critical role #cr spoilers #just a small meandering thought. I’m sad the cross split guest relationships didn’t get more time but obviously a ten-pc table is #a BIT unwieldy. #deanna leimert #ashton greymoore

[essektheylyss]

Anyway, since we are apparently going hard on 'all bets are off', I'm taking the opportunity to throw out my deeply wishful thinking, absolutely not actually serious, buckwild conspiracy theory, which is that the Luxon heard Ludinus's dumbass monologue through the beacon and went, "Fuck you, bastard, maybe the titans were here before the gods, but I was here before the TITANS" and wrecked his plans.

#as always this is a luxon stan account. fucking obviously. #cr spoilers #critical role #also I would like luxon lore. again. fucking obviously. #but I was laughing at the whole 'the titans were here first' and the 'now for the DIVINE piece' #me: the beacon is right fucking there dumbass. #and we KNOW it's like a legit fragment of a legit entity that's been here since the dawn of exandrian time so. #would be so funny if ludinus lost cuz he thought the dynasty were fools lmfao #honestly iconic followup to 'you should try having friends sometime' #the luxon: heard you were messing with my boi. and my boi's bf. and also the rest of exandria bro wtf.

[trimmedbushproductions]

it would honestly be very funny if this circlet is the deciding factor in Imogen staying on the side of good. "fuck your god-eater, turns out a 5000 GP magic item solved half my problems just like that"

#Critical Role #Critical Role spoilers #CR spoilers #obviously Imogen's situation is a lot more complicated than that but. it'd be funny

[pocketgalaxies]

C3E27: imogen and laudna catch up

#critical role #criticalroleedit #imodna #southerngothic #imogen temult #laudna cr #gifs #* #*cr #cr3 #cr spoilers #ship: imodna #fluff tag #56m c3e27 #1k #scheduled #god this made me so so so soft #we need to talk about laura's hand gesture in the 4th one #and obviously the last one too #god they're just. so good to each other i want them to be happy

[ludinusdaleth]

im honestly very happy ira is one of if not the most beloved npc of campaign 3. and while i know most of his surface level appeal is the sheer unhinged faeishness of him, i think it fundamentally comes down to ira, despite his most un-human everything, being the most Man in his struggles as a fae can get.

as early as his intro he was set apart by past established fae, by working on technology, wearing a tattered suit. he was kicked out of the courts and the vanguard after they asked him to create their war weapons. he is a veteran of a mortal war, and got no accolades. he has spent 3 decades living in caves, taking the shittiest jobs imagineable just to get by, even torturing folk for his shit bosses again (the treshi job) because cash is cash. he knows folk will Just Die if they cant keep up and accepts it bluntly. his voice creaks with age & experience in the dust. it is easy to pin his pettiness & need for vengeance solely on the intensity of a fae til you see that he approaches even those goals with the rusty, tired caution of a man who was a spy, who understands the gravity of war, whose bosses have screwed him over so badly they made he, the nightmare king, scared.

he is a victim of the greed of the rich, easily isolated and made a scapegoat as a sole evil by them. he has lived a life with absolutely no lavish design. even artagan, whom i love with all my heart and find deep relateability in, is so disconnected with mortality at first, in large part because he was a literal fae lord. when vox machina adjusted the leylines to let artagan into exandria, ira was locked out of his home at the same time. ira has lived in the grime of the worst the fae courts and humanity has to offer, wanting to make a mark but always being a pawn hurt by a grand design. and so, while he clearly & obviously knows the difference between mortal & fae, he also knows there's really no defined line between who can hurt you worse... and how it shapes you. does your callousness begin with your fae nature, with everyone deeming you a monstrosity, or with your experience at the bottom rung? it all ends the same, regardless. i think it is fascinating to see the classism & even capitalism choking exandria and its sister realms, and ira is so fascinating because he is the primary example we have of that happening to a fae, and we get to see how that has gruffly shaped someone who could have been as utterly unphased & whimsical as a flower in the breeze.

#i dont want to Vague Chetney but i honestly think ira handles the themes in chetneys story more & better #chet vaguely covers themes of industrialisation but thats mostly behind him save the oltgar episode #ira is SEEPED in what his bosses did to him #it's one thing to see chet be funnily veangeful at his past coworkers and it's another to see *the nightmare king* freeze up seeing zathuda #once again this isnt an anti chetney post obviously but like wow. last episode really floored me on the nuance of how ira feels #and every arc with him has dealt with his own monstrosity vs what the world has taught him & forced him to do #ira wendagoth #critical role #cr spoilers #campaign 3 #critical role meta #fae #long post #classism

[professorthaddeus]

honestly, i thought imogen would be furious.

i thought she would be screaming and ruthless in that way that she gets when it’s laudna on the line, i thought she would demand that laudna be brought back, that they fix this and choose her

but instead she just kept blubbering apologies, and she was quiet and sad and broken and drained, and i wonder if part of the reason why she didn’t even put up a word of protest when fearne chose orym was because she felt that in some way, she deserved this. it’s her fault.

but isn’t that horrible? laudna’s death is not just a consequence for imogen, her life means so much more, imogen would never leave a choice like that up to something as petty as her own guilt—but still, imogen stayed quiet. and if they can’t fix this, they have to fix this, that’s going to be another thing to live with

#cr spoilers #critical role #c3e34 #imogen temult #laudna #imodna #disclaimer that obviously this isn't to insinuate that imogen doesn't care about orym their friendship is one of my favorites in BH #or to say that imogen is horrible kdfslj #just. having some thoughts and no energy to write a full fic so this is what yall get #my ramblings

[humanbeanisnotamused]

"pick a tree" means "i love you" and I'm losing my shit about it. by the way. like.

like orym talks about keyleth like she's his boss. like she's a wonder. like he's in her favour, sure, but not like he's her friend.

but i half expected her to interrupt his deferential screed by sweeping him into a hug. "pick a tree" means "you need me and i will find you", means "i need you to be patient but if you call i will come".

she loves him. guys, she loves him. she doesn't know what he needs but all he has to do is call, and she'll try her best.

#obviously mechanically they can abuse the hell out of that but i trust them not to #that's what the deferential tone does too; makes it clear that like the tempest isn't my MOM and i can't call her to find my fucking keys #this does not prevent me from having Feelings about it tho #critical role #bells hells #cr spoilers #keyleth of the air ashari #orym of the air ashari #also #every day keyleth wakes up #because that's getting to be my keyleth tag #critical role spoilers