#elvie.txt

[astridbecks]

the power of friendship will [checks notes] somewhat mitigate the effects of the apocalypse

#cr liveblog #cr spoilers #exu spoilers #critical role #exu calamity #ring of brass #elvie.txt #it’s been fun watching this one escape containment based on the new fandoms being mentioned in the tags

[astridbecks]

i don't know if anyone has pointed this out already, but there's something that really gets me about laerryn's arc across this four episodes and it's encapsulated in two particular moments with laerryn's chief artificer, calum staffwright.

in episode one, we're introduced to laerryn via the realization that her life's work with the leywright is suddenly about to be possible. she's handed an astonishing measurement about the apogee solstice by calum and she takes that measurement and checks it against her own notes, because (as aabria narrates) she doesn't trust other people. she doesn't trust that anyone else has the capability and drive to do what she needs to do, so she has to do it herself. this is part of who laerryn is as a person and a wizard: not only that she sees her own goals as the most important thing, but that she is the only person who can see them through.

and in the finale, when she's trying to figure out what she can save, what she can do to make the leywright work so she can salvage some form of salvation from the wreckage she's helped cause, the final eldritch battery is too far away for her to deal with. she could never make it there in time. she can't even send to calum to give him the orders she needs to, because her ring of masks has been destroyed. but knowing that calum is there - the only choice she has is to trust that he will do what he can.

and he does. he succumbs to his injuries after reconnecting the final battery, but he does it. in those final desperate hours, when laerryn has no choice but to trust other people - whether that's trusting that her friends will do everything they can to buy her the precious seconds she needs to work or trusting that a subordinate will do his duty - that trust is rewarded.

#cr spoilers #exu spoilers #critical role #exandria unlimited #exu calamity #laerryn coramar seelie #cr meta #elvie.txt

[astridbecks]

vespin, my brother in wizardly hubris. what did you think would happen??

#if you saw this on discord already lmao sorry #cr liveblog #cr spoilers #exu spoilers #critical role #exu calamity #also this one’s funny with my url i think #elvie.txt #vespin chloras

[astridbecks]

yes, the ring of brass tipped the final domino that started the calamity. yes, even while they were acting with what they thought were the best of intentions, in their arrogance and ignorance, they doomed untold millions to death and released the betrayer gods into the world. the pieces were set in motion by others more aware and less well-intentioned than them, but it was still laerryn who destroyed the tree, it was still zerxus who pulled asmodeus through.

but how beautiful and powerful, that they were also the kind of people who would stand at that precipice of destruction, understanding at last what they had wrought, and then do everything in their power to make sure exandria had a chance to survive. any untold number of powerful figures in avalir or elsewhere could have crossed that final line and started the calamity, but how many other people would have gone down with the city, fighting to their last breath to save whatever they could and keep that spark of hope alive?

#elvie.txt #cr spoilers #exu spoilers #critical role #exandria unlimited #exu calamity #ring of brass #cerrit on the other hand did nothing wrong <3 #edit: that’s a joke djjdkdkd i know cerrit did things wrong

[astridbecks]

Dusk Captain Quana Kryn for the Exandrian Masquerade project hosted by ExandriaArtists! Also posted to my twitter.

(Image ID in alt text.)

#my art #critical role #critical role fanart #quana kryn #i sketched and painted this in an enthusiastic blur overnight after impulsively joining literally the day the project was ending #anyways yes her appearance draws heavily from the bright queen comics obviously and the mask is supposed to resemble leylas' crown <3 #exandrianmasquerade #elvie.txt

[astridbecks]

alright fair warning: spoilers for nona the ninth will be tagged #nona the ninth and will be starting pretty much immediately upon the book’s release because i got to read an advance copy <3

#elvie.txt

[astridbecks]

obligatory tag post for exu calamity tonight!

all posts tagged with #cr spoilers and #exu spoilers for one week after each episode

original posts made during the episode tagged with #cr liveblog

also #critical role and #exu calamity for all relevant posts

#elvie.txt

[astridbecks]

this video but it’s the mighty nein throwing random things at beau when she’s least expecting it because her missile-catching instincts always kick in and she (almost) never fails to catch whatever’s thrown at her.

veth and jester start it as a competition between the two of them, at first to see if they can get beau to miss and eventually just to see which of them can make her catch the weirdest thing - a shoe, a pastry topped with whipped cream, a raw egg, etc. - and it steadily escalates to include the entire mighty nein. at one point, caduceus tosses an entire full teapot at beau. kingsley is the second-worst offender as far as throwing genuinely deadly implements her way. luc has an absolute field day with his toy crossbow, and yeza has to put down his foot and ban the game from the brenatto household the first time one of his alchemical concoctions ends up flying through the air.

(yasha doesn’t actually notice anything at first because she’s already so accustomed to being able to casually toss gardening implements or kitchen knives in beau’s direction and have her catch them flawlessly that once, when fjord and jester are visiting and fjord is bullied into helping yasha weed their garden, yasha forgets that not everyone can do that and throws a rake at fjord and clocks him in the head. beau and jester both find this absolutely hilarious. yasha is deeply apologetic.)

the worst offender is actually caleb, because the two of them are in and out of each other’s workplaces enough that students at the academy and visitors to the cobalt soul archive are regularly treated to the sight of professor widogast using telekinesis to hurl something at expositor lionett, only for her to snatch it out of midair while both of them continue whatever conversation they were having as if absolutely nothing happened. (dairon thinks this is the oddest way to keep one’s monk skills sharp, but at this point they’re used to that from beau.)

essek is the only person who ever manages to get beau to fail at catching something, but only because he cheats and uses graviturgy to fuck up the flight pattern of the pastry jester convinces him to toss at her. beau gets a face full of cinnamon and essek gets paraded around on the shoulders of a very triumphant jester, who insists that it’s a shared victory.

#this is such a dumb headcanon but listen. LISTEN. #i saw that video and was like 'lmao modern au beau content' and then was like 'WAIT. canon beau content actually' #i firmly believe the best use of powerful spells and abilities is petty pranks and shenanigans #elvie.txt #critical role #cr2 #cr2 post campaign #mighty nein #beauregard lionett #yasha nydoorin #caleb widogast #essek thelyss #jester lavorre

[astridbecks]

one of my favorite little details at the dinner party was how every time vex whispered to someone, she was very deliberate about covering her mouth with her fan to hide it, bc she was also always very careful about that in-game due to having that feat where she can lip-read and therefore being Very Aware that others might be able to do the same.

#my girl is so smart and clever and i love her #critical role #tlovm spoilers #tlovm #vex’ahlia #elvie.txt #the legend of vox machina

[astridbecks]

i know that critical role has so many accidental narrative echoes and parallels that are much more intricate and deep than this, but my favorite is still the way the random smut novel titles (tusk love, feather leather, courting of the crick) somehow ended up predicting the campaign two endgame pairings. like. what are the chances.

#elvie.txt #critical role #cr2 #i.e. #fjorester #beauyasha #shadowgast

[astridbecks]

i’m so glad the most iconic scenes from the briarwood arc are making it into the show, including:

proposed threesome with a vampire

murder tree

three idiots fight a door and lose

#tlovm spoilers #critical role #tlovm #the legend of vox machina #elvie.txt

[astridbecks]

liam, at any excuse: have you considered polyamory in your d&d game

#cr liveblog #cr spoilers #critical role #cr3 #elvie.txt

[astridbecks]

i absolutely adore tiefling baby gwendolyn de rolo. please also consider: the de rolo sibling dynamics here can only be improved by vesper de rolo, who was probably conceived before/during the vecna arc, ending up as an aasimar due to vex becoming the champion of pelor while pregnant with her.

#critical role #tal’dorei reborn #de rolo family #elvie.txt #both children affected by their parents decisions both good and questionable; both equally loved and cherished #the archetypes of good vs evil but like. actually both of them are just people in the end. like everyone else. #vesper bonding with her baby sister over being Not Quite Human (quarter-elf) #vesper de rolo #gwendolyn de rolo

[astridbecks]

love that this group’s approaches to diplomacy are

- have the robot play bad cop (poorly)

- full on psychic assault

#cr liveblog #cr spoilers #critical role #cr3 #elvie.txt #bells hells

[astridbecks]

aabria gm stuff that i absolutely ADORED during exu season one:

“vibes”

letting the players pick what kind of check they want to do for certain critical moments!! especially by the last episode it led to some really creative and fun moments

post credit scenes.

when a pc is talking shit about an npc and aabria silently reacts with that npc’s facial expressions/mouths stuff from behind her screen <3

fun implementation of inspiration

going “you’re good! carry on :’)” when a pc failed a check to know/notice something critical

the general aura of storytelling and narrative and pieces of a greater picture moving around the characters

literally everything about how she played lolth like holy shit 😳

constantly supporting and enabling the coolest most badass shit from the pcs

#exu spoilers #critical role #exandria unlimited #aabria iyengar #exu #cr cast #add more if you want ofc <3 i rlly loved the finale #elvie.txt

[astridbecks]

i would be happy if this party never got someone with lockpick skills and just let orym slash every door that gets in their way

#cr liveblog #cr spoilers #critical role #cr3 #elvie.txt