#exu calamity part 4

[sparring-spirals]

Laerryn and Zerxus and Patia, full of guilt and sadness: we all played a part in this-

Cerrit, who was busy getting his kids out when everything went fully sideways, full of salt: okay, not all of us, no-

#askdjskdjsjfhhdhd #exandria unlimited #exu calamity #exu spoilers #exu calamity part 4 #the ring of brass #zerxus exu #patia exu #cerrit exu #laerryn exu #shitpost #cr liveblogging #critical role #cr spoilers

[capulets730]

Absolutely losing my mind over Patia Por’co right now and just the depth that Marisha gave her through such small moments and deeds. Like Patia’s obviously the most reticent of the Ring of Brass and keeps her emotions close to her chest. We don’t really see that veneer start to crack until near the end of part 3 when she plays back Cerrit’s “selfish choices” over and over.

Fast forward into part 4 past everything in the Arboreal Calix and her resurrection and we find Patia back at her grandfather’s statue. The man who defined so much of her life. And she talks about how she dedicated her whole life to Avalir and the legacy of the Por’cos. A legacy that her parents failed to live up to. And then, seeing all the damage that keeping secrets and being selfish has caused, she chooses to let that legacy go.

“You can hold all the knowledge in the world. But if it dies with you, it doesn’t matter”

It’s the Librarian Incantatum that Patia takes from the model of Avalir, where she worked so diligently to preserve and hoard the knowledge of this age. And it’s that knowledge that she passes on to Maya Agrupnin.

“I think there’s nothing else I need to know. I think I know it all already”.

Patia never gives a rousing speech or an important proclamation or a last declaration of love but Marisha managed to convey so much of her character and what was important to her.

Anyway I have so many thoughts on Patia Por’co and love her so much.

#critical role #exu calamity #exandria unllimited calamity #exu: calamity #exu calamity meta #exu calamity part 4 #patia por'co #my post

[mapleandgingeroatmeal]

Something about zooming in so much in the very first second of it all makes this moment so much more visceral and impactful. You can feel the very fabric of this world breaking and changing. There's so much violence, and it's all so instantaneous that none of them can help each other.

#critical role #exu calamity #exu calamity part 4 #cr spoilers

[nerdnonymous-plus-ttrpgs]

I FINISHED THE EPISODE.

NO WORDS, ONLY TEARS

#critical role #exu calamity #exu calamity part 4

[vethbrenatto]

i was just thinking yesterday about how in d&d actual play a lot of the times the heroes are simply going to win. like there’s no other option. obviously it’s a journey to get there and sometimes there can be losses along the way (ex: molly), but the heroes are kind of on a very pre-destined path of victory. the path to victory isn’t pre-determined, which is what makes it interesting to watch, but still. it’s just very, very unlikely in the kind of broadcasted actual plays that i watch/listen to that a DM would ever go through with a TPK. which i am very happy with because on the whole i don’t think i want to see a TPK play out in my actual plays. BUT. the idea of a calamity campaign has me so excited because of the sort of counterpart idea of all these characters being destined to fail and destined to perish. the calamity was a long, long time ago and it can’t be stopped. i really love the idea that we’re going back in time within the world as observers, happy to see a new story, but without much of a way to change the ending. i’m so hyped for this.

#exu: calamity #critical role #if it's like exu proper the 4-part miniseries might end on sort of an open note to revisit the characters. which like obviously id love #because id want to see those players back at the table for more than 4 parts but #the setting and title point more toward this being The Adventure for them and i kind of dig that. give me a tragic end i will eat it up

[dorianpavus]

same!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙈🤯

#god my expectations were through the roof and this met and exceeded them im so #katie watches critical role #cr spoilers #exu calamity #y'all should watch this it's a 4 part standalone miniseries if you're not caught up wOOOOboy

[saystheonewithaguitar]

Dear Matt,

Thank you. As a new Critter (2022, how did it take me this long to discover D&D and Critical Role??), all I can say is that the arts has saved me multiple times in my life. The stage. Movies. Music. And now a TTRPG, of all things. I never thought I could be so emotionally invested and enraptured by a game. Sure, some games have tugged on my heartstrings-Final Fantasy 7, The Last of Us, and many more that I can't think of right now because I'm EMOTIONALLY WRECKED FROM EXU: CALAMITY?!??!!??! Like I legit had to go take a nap and I've just caught up on the first half that I missed and had to stop there. I need a few days to process before I rewatch the finale in one go, it was THAT good. Laughter. Sorrow. Heartbreak. The catharsis was much needed.

It's almost 5am in my part of the world, and I'm a sensitive soul who has been going through some really heavy shit in my own life, and Critical Role has been a light in the darkness. So even though ExU: Calamity broke me in the best possible way, it was, at the end of the day, a masterpiece in storytelling. Lightning in a bottle. This is what happens when talent, friendship, trust, kind hearts and a love for storytelling come together. Magic is created.

I wish, more than anything, that we, the human beings that populate this world, planet Earth, could work together like that instead of letting the "real life" equivalents of the Betrayer Gods fill our minds and souls with lies, greed, betrayal and evil. But for now, we have the containment and beauty of the arts to escape to when our hearts are weary.

#matt mercer #brennan lee mulligan #exu: calamity #exu calamity finale #exu calamity ep 4 #critical role #It is VERY late and I am spent but I had to write this #as a singer actor and lover of the arts I can only dream of being a part of something like this one day #MCU who? I don't know her #mainstream media better step up their game #also ExU: Calamity movie please thanks

[utilitycaster]

Wizard Breakdown Tracker: Mighty Nein Reunited, Part 1

GUESS WHO'S BACK

BACK AGAIN

SOUP WIZARDS

TELL YOUR FRIENDS

Hello and welcome to the return of the Wizard Breakdown Tracker, a late Campaign 2 feature that I realized just now I should have also done for EXU Calamity, but also good news, it's all, eventually, 10/10, pretty much all the wizards die except for possibly Volucia who noped the fuck out to Cael Morrow, and Maya Agrupnin who was Assigned Wizard By Patia. There. EXU Calamity Wizard Breakdown Tracker.

Every D&D game is better with wizards. As Liam O'Brien once said, "what's sexier than wizards? nothing." Now, to be fair, he also once said rogues were the best class when you and I and Brennan Lee Mulligan all know it's paladins; but we can all agree re: the sexiness of wizards. It is my hope that we have more wizards in the future, but for now, we shall cherish the wizards we once had, and that we briefly have again.

Because we're not touching base in this two-shot with a large number of our erstwhile arcane allies and antagonists, and in the service of a joke at the end of this post, we are including our Wizard PCs this time! Let's begin.

Lady Vess DeRogna: She was not in this episode nor mentioned but she WAS in The Nine Eyes of Lucien and she WAS talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, etc. No spoilers for that here. Just wanted you to know that Lady Vess DeRogna is still dead. But like, probably 7/10.

Ludinus Da'leth: Per Beau, the Assembly's gotten awfully quiet lately, and per Caleb, Astrid's been trying to set him up with a professorship, which Ludinus can't really spike because he did offer the Assembly seat to Caleb first so it's weird to say that he's qualified for propaganda minister and not transmutation professor. The Mighty Nein have made this slippery motherfucker sweat so hard that apparently he started making deals with the Feywild. 6/10.

Trent Ikithon: Hey Trent! Bitch.

As previously stated, 9/10.

Astrid Becke: Trent's in jail and she's apparently doing pretty well and is either happy to help Beau's investigation, or helping Caleb without realizing that Beau really wants this. Probably the latter, but we love to see a complicated morally gray queen flourish, though I suspect she's having Beau-like growing pains into her new and fancy job. 4/10.

Yussa Errenis: You can just sense, from his brief response to Jester, that he absolutely knows that the Mighty Nein saved his ass twice and that he will need to call them if he gets trapped on the moon in 7 years, but also he is sleeping, dammit. Secretly glad they keep in touch; really unamused at having 14 people dripping seawater in his tower, because Tidepeak is really more of a turn of phrase. Also if he knew Veth was starting up a camp he would be very slightly hurt she hadn't asked him to teach anything but also if she asked him he would 100% turn it down. 2/10. Never change, king.

Essek Thelyss: We could get all poetic about the yearning but realistically, he's still at the outpost, getting more and more twitchy but also managing to visit Caleb regularly. Possibly hooking up? But that might just be a reference to the bit and general vibe of the episode. Anyway he's probably feeling kind of bad, but hey! We know he ends up in Uthodurn eventually, and then gets to go back to Aeor only to be part the most simultaneously intense and oblique confession of love of all time. So probably 6/10 but buddy! It gets so much better, and pretty soon no less!

Caleb Widogast: There's good meta to be had about Caleb Widogast, six months later, and you are NOT going to find it here, in a post that's about shaking up wizards in an empty Pringles can. Well, at least not much. As indicated above I think this is likely pre-Aeor excursion with Essek; but Caleb feels like he is tentatively and hopefully building a life. It's slow, and it's a little quiet and small right now, but the fact that he's able to do so on his own is itself an immense victory. He probably gets to have lunch with Beau and dinner with Essek at least once a week each, he has a little cottage and his tower, and he's already becoming a beloved teacher. And he leveled up! 3/10. We love to see it.

Veth Brenatto: Jitters about her camp notwithstanding, she's fucking thriving. They're working on the apothecary but in the meantime she's finding a balance of what she loves to do professionally while still staying with her family, she's keeping in touch with the rest, and she's absolutely on point, astute, and hilarious this whole episode. And she is definitely using Tenser's Floating Disk for sex purposes. 1/10. It's Veth Brenatto's world; we're just living in it.

Allura Vyesoren: Pending, depending on what sword Yasha brings out next episode and whether Caleb turned in the staff. TBD/10.

Bonus!

Warlock Breakdown Tracker

Fjord (Stone?): Oh honey.

It's at least five simultaneous breakdowns and they're recharging with each rest like his spell slots. You know how one of the Uk'otoa temples had a hydra? It's a metaphor, or whatever. 10/10.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #wizard breakdown tracker

[bixbiboom]

[ID: A tweet from Critical Role @.CriticalRole which reads: “With the inevitable Calamity now come & gone the story of The Ring of Brass will live on 🔥 We'll be doing a full #ExUCalamity wrap-up to dive deeper into this incredible 4-part mini series! Submit your questions for the cast by Friday 6/24 at 1pm Pacific.” There’s a link included, provided below, and a picture attached of cast of EXU: Calamity seated around the table, smiling for the camera. /end ID]

Submit your questions for the EXU: Calamity wrap-up »HERE«! Submissions will be open for roughly 43 hours as of the time of this post!

#critical role #cr twitter #exu calamity

[liesonthefloordramatically]

A wild 2023 recap post appears!

Stuff I made this year:

Fiction: Nope. Work continues to consume me.  I DID write like 33k that maybe will be publicly accessible in the future, but who can say.

Playlists: I think the only two I remembered to share were Oleander (a playlist for my Wickedness character) and the vast and the void (what it says on the tin).

RPGs: Also a nope.

Knitting: Made a shawl!  And a hat, technically, that I forgot to take pictures of.

Other stuff: Taught 5 classes, 4 of which were new preps!  Did fieldwork in Japan for the first time since 2019! Gave an hour-long talk in Japanese!  Presented on two conference panels!  Finished two academic book reviews! Survived somehow!  The period between August and December sort of doesn’t exist in my memory?  I was doing things but almost all of those things were work, so. The isolation has been wearing on me, but with the combination of A. not having any time to do anything other than work and B. for Various Reasons questioning whether I want to stay at this job, it's been really hard to build local community. I'm going to try to work on that next year, but also I'm going to have two new preps again in the fall and one of my spring classes is already overenrolled, so who knows how effective that'll be.

Media I enjoyed this year:

Books: I read 46 books this year apparently!  Top picks in no particular order: The Singing Hills Cycle (embarrassingly my jam), The Southern Reach Trilogy (shocking that it took me this long to read this), My Own Devices (even MORE shocking that it took me this long to read this), Imperial Radch (so AGGRESSIVELY my jam), She Who Became the Sun (this was a hilarious accompaniment to one of my fall classes), Camp Damascus (read this on a plane back from Japan which was An Experience), The Tale That Twines (loved the first book; the second book is even better), System Collapse (yeah, no one is surprised that I loved this).

TTRPG: Wickedness!  This was the only new TTRPG I played this year, but it was really good.

Video games: Mask of the Rose and Saltsea Chronicles, both of which I want to/should poke at more. Special nod to 13 Sentinels which we enjoyed 90% of a lot.

Manga/comics: I think the only thing I read was The JOJOLands?

Fanfic: I didn’t actually wind up reading that much fanfic this year again, in part because I was reading so many books.  A few picks, in no particular order: The Gardener (CR C2), Keys to the Castle (CR C2), Whistle Song (CR C2), pieces of (you) me (CR C2), Descriptions of a River Flowing (CR C2), Slip the Blindfold (CR C2), Heart to Heart (JJBA: JJL--PLEASE read this if you care about JJL at all), riverside beatitudes (JJBA: SDC), Fully formed, ready to run (ExU: Calamity).  Honorable mention to Asking for More (Stranger of Paradise), which is a WIP but made me laugh so hard I hit myself in the face with my phone.

Films: I actually watched like eight movies this year!  All but two of the new ones on a plane, to be fair, but.  Top picks: Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse and Shoplifters (『万引き家族』).  Honorary mention to Suzume.

TV: Finally finished Stone Ocean!  It was good!  Rowan and I are also like halfway through catching up on TGCF and it is also very good.

Podcasts:  Continued to listen to way too many of these.  Top picks: The Silt Verses, Trice Forgotten, Within the Wires (hey can we talk about the newest season? truly wild), and Re: Dracula.  Honorable mentions to The Evaporated: Gone with the Gods, 『なんかIWAKAN！』 (WHICH IS TRAGICALLY ENDING???? where am I supposed to get my chaotic Japanese gender and sexuality discussion now :(((((), Cry Havoc! Ask Questions Later, Critical Role, and Worlds Beyond Number.

Music: Dessa's Bury the Lede was excellent, of course.  I also apparently listened to Maisie Peters' The Good Witch a lot (it was in my grading rotation in October). And then this past month there's been a lot of Hozier's Unreal Unearth. But a lot of my listening this year was either albums on the bus (rotating mainly between Quiet Company’s We Are All Where We Belong, Bury the Lede, yorushika’s entire discography that I can purchase, Wednesday Campanella, and various soundtracks) or putting something on loop and falling into a fugue state.  Apparently my top song of the year on Spotify was “Square One,” which I think I put on looping while grading in the spring.  My Spotify top songs list was even more inexplicable than usual this year.

Anyway, あけおめ！！！ 良いお年を！！！ (or else!!!!)

#a wild annual recap appears #Queenie actually says something on this blog

[sparring-spirals]

"DAMN THE RING OF GOLD, THE PEOPLE OF AVALIR MUST SURVIVE!" nydas im going to frame photos of you all over my house.

#critical role #cr spoilers #exandria unlimited #exu calamity #exu calamity part 4 #exu spoilers #nydas #quote #scene #cr liveblogging #lou wilson

[quipxotic]

A couple of thoughts about c3e78; spoilers below, obviously:

First of all, I loved it so much! Story is always the thing that hooks me, which is why, even though I like fights in D&D, it's RP that lights me up. 4 hours of professional actors leaning heavily into the angst? Yes please! Sign me up. (As an aside, this is also part of the reason I love Candela so much.)

So many people have said it, but I missed Orym. It'll be fine, Liam will slay us all when he comes back and in the meanwhile it's free space for fan fiction writers to dream up conversations as much as they want. Still, I wish he'd been able to be there.

I've always wondered why I identified so hard with Ashton because on the surface we are nothing alike. But this episode? It made it all clear. The low self-esteem, the intense love and care for other people without the ability to express it in a way that anyone could understand, the awkwardness, the being misunderstood by the people you love most and not even fighting it because of course it's what you deserve, the burning all-encompassing desire for a family who loves you coupled with the knowledge that you may never get it, the suicidal ideation - it's not an exact mirror of a younger version of me, but it's close enough. And it's so cathartic to see it outside of yourself in a fictional space.

And that is part of why some of the fandom's reactions to Ashton are so painful. Look, I don't care if people don't like Ashton - they're a complicated character and people can like or dislike whoever they want. I don't have a problem with characters I like experiencing the consequences of their actions, because that makes for interesting storytelling. I don't have a problem with the reactions of the characters in-world to Ashton's choices. I don't think they're all healthy reactions, but I also don't think they were meant to be. What I do have an issue with is folks being so gleeful about another person's pain, particularly given Ashton's background and mental health issues. And yes, Ashton is a fictional character, but so many of us in the fandom also share those feeling and qualities, if not the same choices, in our real, actual lives. It feels like people punching down, rather than punching up, if that makes sense.

I rarely cry at anything Critical Role, the notable exception being EXU: Calamity which makes me bawl no matter how many times I watch it. But that scene with Laudna giving Ashton the doll completely blindsided me. It was so well done.

So many juicy narrative choices in this episode, I can't wait to see how they cause ripples (or tidal waves) through the rest of the campaign. Laudna's conversations with Delilah. Imogen confessing to FCG (but no one else) that she and Fearne had seen Delilah manifest. Chet comforting people and challenging them in a mix of endearing uncle and manipulating asshole energy. Fearne's anger, at herself as well as Ashton, and her praying at the Raven Queen's temple. Gwen breaking windows! Ashton and Percy's talk. Just so many good moments.

Getting to visit Nana Morri again feels like a present just for me. I love her weirdness and her funky house, it's all just the right kind of creepy to delight me. And the fact Allura is there with Bell's Hells is a bonus.

I'm also thrilled because I think Ashton taking the shard, it rejecting them, and the aftermath has defused one of the potential time bombs that Taliesin's been hinting at for months, mainly Ashton trying to take down the gods as a means of finding someone to blame. I am not particularly attached to any of the gods of Exandria, but that wasn't a plotline that interested me at all.

I'm sure I'll have more useful, detailed thoughts later, but for now I am just so pleased.

#critical role #bells hells #c3e78 #critical role spoilers

[demigoddessqueens]

Main Masterlist III

Critical Role - multi party dancer!reader // multi party Father’s Day // little one afraid of storms // there was one bed 🛏 // modified memories // Song: Insider angst // saying I love you to them // sacrificing yourself for them // snowball fight

Vox Machina - Percy and you expecting // sick Percy // Percy and Vax wedding // Percy angst // sister of Everlight // writing, kiss prompts with Percy // prompt ask for Archibald // close call with Vex’ahlia // layers of clothes // supportive Vex’ahlia // Percy in the rain // baby first word // facing a meltdown // one year birthday // siren seduction // baby on the way // Orthax horror // Percy confessing to childhood friend // in the acid room // sibling helping with proposal // yandere Percy + Trevor // perchalia smut // Percy drabble // selkie reader // if baby VM cried // ticklish Baby VM // sacrifice for them // vex and shy reader // ADHD reader // vampire reader // scanlan soulmate // love song // vax’ildan angst // Vax saving you // telling them they’re the best // surviving with Archi and Percy // playing with Little One

The Mighty Nein - cowboy traveler // Caleb taking care of you // close call headcanons // caleb leaves you // Caleb and librarian reader // Caleb saving you // expecting with Caleb and Essek // Molly with reader and kiri // Marion and babenon with poison master // Fjord with familiar // Fjord as a father // Cadeuces with aroace reader

Crown Keepers/Bell’s Hells - birthday baby // secret crush on Orym // Dorian and Ashton expecting // reader saving Cyrus // Will and Orym proposal // hugging crush // unwanted visitor + MN // poly with Dorian + Dariax and Orym // bell’s hells baby antics

EXU Calamity/Rings of Brass - Loquatious headcanons //

Dune - Paul atreides HC’s

The Martian - mark watney smut

The Dragon Prince ✨ - Soren + maid!reader // Chitty chats

The Sea Beast - letters from the sea 🌊

Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit - boromir angst

Exophilia 👹 - shadow monster

Star 🌟 Wars ✨- ahsoka + Ezra + Rey headcanons //

Spider Man NWH - yours, mine

Arcane/League of Legends - jinx angst headcanons

Blood of Zeus - heron headcanons // bubbly personality with ⚡️//

Assassin’s Creed - Christmas with the crew 🎁

Castlevania - drunken mishaps with VM and Cass // kissing headcanons // at the fair // pregnancy headcanons

Alucard - hollow knight sequel // dragon reader part 3 // season 4 Alucard // playing with Alucard’s fangs // hollow knight p3 //

Trevor - fatherly Trevor // Trevor vs wolf //

Hector - dragon reader //

Isaac - love story //

Genshin Impact - drunk headcanons // on your period // fluff + smut fic // pregnant headcanons // yandere scaramouche

Nezha Reborn - love at first punch

#critical role #castlevania #tlovm #writing masterlist #vox machina #the mighty nein #crown keepers #bell’s hells #genshin impact #nezha reborn #lotr #Tolkien #the sea beast #writeblr #blood of Zeus #BoZ #dune 2021 #dune #the dragon prince #tdp #the martian #exophilia #the sea beast x reader #jacob holland x reader #jacob holland #exu calamity #star wars #assassin’s creed #assassin’s creed x reader #marvel x reader

[nerdnonymous-plus-ttrpgs]

IM PHYSICALLY SICK

#I NEED TO LIE DOWN #exu calamity #exu calamity part 4 #critical role

[honourablejester]

Okay. Exu: Calamity, Episode 4. I’m only an hour in and I have to leave it for the night, but since that was already quite an hour, I figured I’d put up my somewhat live reactions. To, you know. Zerxus and Asmodeus. Because um.

Obviously, spoilers. And panicky ramblings as I repeatedly pause this episode to try and process things as they hit. It took me about three hours to make it an hour in. I realise this is probably not a sensible procedure to keep up for the other five hours tomorrow, unless I want to finish up next Friday sometime, so we’ll see how that goes when I pick this up again tomorrow. For now, have the panicky ramblings:

Zerxus sees a heart, and within it a writhing humanoid figure, briefly golden, and then settling into red hair (Evandrin’s???) trying to reach out

The figure is beyond the seam, still in whatever other plane

Asmodeus isn’t through, he’s trying one more wounded gazelle gambit for the last gasp, to get his heart through the seam

Zerxus wants to go his companions so bad, but all the answers are in the fire

(Luis: aw fuck, I know what Zerxus is going to do, and I know it’s the bad choice, but he’s gonna do it)

(All credit to him for going all in on his character)

A hand like Zerxus’ hand, ruby red, immune to the fire, reaches out to him across the event horizon and reaches him from beyond the plane, despite the figure being miles away

Asmodeus you motherfucker, he’s scared, apparently, motherfucker, he’s dying here, Zerxus will die to come to him, so Zerxus, of course, pulls him to him instead

(Aabria, despairingly: does the timestop stop?)

Zerxus, you pull the true heart of the Lord of the Hells into Exandria

The hand was his blood, Zerxus’ stolen blood, Asmodeus you absolute motherfucker, you stole the blood, you set this up days and weeks ago, you strung him along through the visions building to this moment, when he went down you brought him back up so he could do this, you put the protection on him so he’d survive long enough, fuck you’re good at this, you absolute shithead of a hell god

Fuck, though, he’s actually good at this, the set-up on that villain, motherfucker

Asmodeus looks like Zerxus now, blood bond

Brings devils and demons with him, shadows, Zartaza weeping in joy, Asmodeus having a little crying fit of victory

Luis: I lay my hand on his chest

Lou: trying to climb into his ipad while lying face-down on the table

Asmodeus mirrors. “Let’s get ourselves cleaned up” you motherfucker, echoes of episode 2, mirroring the old conversation

(Aside note from me: I don’t know if I can do this)

Zerxus: What will become of me? (Don’t ask that, shit son, it’s way too fucking late for that)

Asmodeus: Who can say? You are an oracle. I would think that you would know yourself.

(I am in absolute agreement with Lou’s face right now)

(Travis is also in agreement with Lou’s face right now)

Asmodeus cures him for 40 HP, of course he does, ‘whatever you wish to happen can happen, what do you …?’

They’re floating side by side through a time stopped explosion, lying horizontal, Asmodeus gazing at Zerxus as they fly hand-to-chest together, would you like to add more romance to this scenario, oh Lord of the Hells? Hmm?

Zerxus now moves his hand to his face, instead, holding it gently, my mistake, Zerxus would like to add more romance to this scenario right now

(I CANNOT RIGHT NOW)

Zerxus tries to cleanse him using Evandrin’s name stone

It links to the fragments of the incompleted atonement ceremony before

“I’m doing everything I can to get him to what I believe is the purest him”

(Honey it’s not going to work. The purest him already made this choice. He chose evil of his own free will before evil existed. You can’t get him back to purer than that. He invented evil, or at least part of it, and if he was telling the truth 2 episodes ago, he did so out of the belief that it would aid good. You can’t … there’s no ‘before’ state here. The Asmodeus-as-was already made this choice, and he’ll make the exact same one again. Every time. Evil in the cause of good. Alignment doesn’t matter, he’ll make this choice either way. This is his original alignment. His cause never required a shift of mentality from him.)

(Yes, I’m pausing and stalling because I know where this is going and I can’t yet, let me stall)

Asmodeus: I think you may be the most exceptional mortal I have ever known.

*leans into Zerxus shoulder, accepting his hand, as they sail romantically through the air*

Atonement isn’t working, and Asmodeus knows something’s up

Asmodeus: Is something supposed to happen now? What are you attempting to do?

(You know exactly what’s happening you absolute motherfucker, shut the hell up with this right now)

(Zerxus, please, please stop this, honey, you’re so far over the event horizon)

Asmodeus: I think I know what’s happening. The ritual of Evandrin, the resurrection, it didn’t work because you tried to resurrect him, but he wasn’t dead.

Zerxus: Right

Asmodeus: You’re trying to atone me, and I didn’t do anything wrong.

(And there it is. Yes, I’m immediately stalling again, but oh fuck. That was so perfectly built. All the seeds were sown two episodes ago. If he was telling the absolute truth. I actually had this in my first couple of drafts of analysis on that conversation. If he chose evil in the cause of good, then his alignment never shifted. There’s no way for atonement to work.

Of course, he could have actually succeeded his save against atonement, and he just wants Zerxus to think his alignment never shifted, for this reason, and I don’t know if that’s better or worse. Which is worse to be dealing with, a zealot of immovable morals, or a manipulator so skilled that he knows exactly how the thought processes of both good and evil work well enough to pretend to be either? In the first there is intrinsically no hope, in the second there’s potentially false hope. Which is worse?

Anyway. Okay. Deep breath. Moving on)

*stabs Zerxus through the heart* You wanna know what I’ve always hated about mortals? *starts digging his claws into Zerxus’ head*

Zerxus, ROARING: You’re wrong!

*tries Remove Curse instead* (HONEY! WE’RE SO PAST THAT POINT! But a paladin gotta try, and try, and keep trying)

(For real I can’t do this, I keep flinching and pausing, I can’t fucking do this)

Asmodeus is laughing as Zerxus keeps trying

Zerxus: This is not who you are! This is not who you are.

Asmodeus: WHO AM I?

Zerxus: Not this! How have you forgotten?! You think you know how you came here? You think you stumbled upon this place?

(Sidenote: I love Brennan’s coolly humouring and unimpressed expressions as the Lord of the Hells faced with this … Zerxus, you don’t know! You don’t know how he came here! You don’t know where he came from! Honey, I love you, but you don’t know anything. And you’re about to find out. Badly. We’ve already started with a stab to the chest, you’ve got excellent lung capacity around the lump of fucking steel(?) in your lungs, but honey you didn’t even lose control of this situation a while ago, you never had control of this situation. Well, you sort of did, but you were set up so you would willfully surrender it. And you did exactly that, and here we are)

Zerxus: Look at me, look at me, I am the godless! I am a conduit of divinity that is far greater and more ancient that anything you have ever understood!

(Oh. Avalir’s hubris rears its head once again. Oh dear. And Marisha’s face. Not to mention Brennan’s face, Asmodeus is enjoying this so much, nodding gently along)

Zerxus: Look at me. You didn’t stumble upon this place, you and your kin, you were called here. We have always been here. You were wandering in the abyss, lost, and we called you here. So that you can have a home. You didn’t create anything. We have always been here. You came and you shaped, you took and you changed and you shaped, but you didn’t create a thing. You’re no god.

(Oh. Are we … Are we doing … What is a god to a non-believer, is that what we’re doing right now? And … Okay. So. There’s some cause. If mages can become gods. If the god in front of you has lied to you. Why would you believe what he says of creation? There’s … I mean, this is a much more visceral version of this argument than you can get in our world, when you can argue with the potential god in the flesh, but … It seems idiotic, you with your mortal lifespan telling a being aeons old what he is and what he did and what he thought, but if you know he lies, why would his version be any more true? There’s … cause. There’s a rational underpinning. But oh god does it feel so flimsy in the face of actual Satan in this moment)

(Sidenote: Lou is hiding his whole face behind his hands from Luis and what’s happening and I feel that. I feel that urge. It’s so hard to stop stalling and keep watching)

Zerxus: You’re a child

(Aaannnddd I’m right back out again, immediate pause, immediate stop, oh my god, honey, there’s … any and all rationality to your argument aside, can you not condescend to the Lord of the fucking Hells right now, please and fucking thank you)

Zerxus: You are a child, you’re lost, how do you not see that?

(Not gonna lie, if I was Asmodeus this second I would bitch-slap the man across the city, oh my fucking god, well done to the Lord of the Hells for keeping his cool so far)

(Zerxus, I’m just, I’m just gonna say that, as redemption tactics go, this is, this is not good)

Asmodeus: You have referred to yourself and your fellow mortals as our children. You are not our children. You are … a bad first draft. The first plan was to destroy all this, to let you fade into nothingness. That’s not gonna be how we do it this time. You think that you are a man of true belief and that it is all these wizards around you that are humbled. Who is the most proud man here? These ones that thought they would fly a city? Or the man who thought he would teach me a lesson? The only difference between you and the Dawnfather is that the Dawnfather is a little more humble.

(… Oof. Go off, Satan)

Asmodeus: Now, I’ll tell you why I spit on your forgiveness. I’ll tell you why I loathe your redemption. To reach a hand down to somebody, they need to be BENEATH YOU. And I’m beneath nobody.

(It’s pride vs pride in here, ladies and gents, ding ding, round three!)

(And, look, multiple personality and character tests have told me that pride is my number one sin myself, I know of what I speak here, I am both the people in this conversation many, many times, this is why I know it’s going bad)

(I mean, that and the fact that Satan already has a sword in your gut and has invaded your world, those are also key signs of badness, but howandever)

Asmodeus: You wanted to understand me? Then you should have accepted that I WAS RIGHT!

Brennan: and he pulls the back of your head and rips the skin off of your skull

(Okay. So that’s. Okay then. This is fine.

Zerxus resilient sphere’s himself, Asmodeus 9th level counters, smashes him into the floor and breaks his spine, like. That’s. I mean. What did we expect from the Lord of the Hells?

And then heals him again, this is why healing magic is the worst thing to have in an enemy. The Life Domain is a torturer’s wet dream.)

Asmodeus: In the vision in the Hall of Prophecy, you told me that you would help me confront those who did this to me. Wake up Zerxus, YOU did this to me! You and your kin. You think my enemy are the prime deities? *spits* Those. Are. My. Siblings. We were happy once. Together. We travelled here, together. Has it never dawned on you that before the Schism, all was well between us? We came here to make something. And then, one of our puppets, one of our foolish paper dolls, mattered so much to them that they threw us into the Pit. You think that my quarrel is with them? No. All of you did something to them. You made them turn their back on us. My greatest heartbreak is that when I have collected every mortal soul and all of my siblings into my pit, that I will only have eternity to punish them.

(… Ah. Okay. So. Not the zealot of pure morals, then. That’s … Is that good? The manipulator, not the zealot. Vengeance, not evil in pursuit of good. Does that mean there is hope for redemption, if someone can get the atonement to stick? Or is that just more false hope? If it didn’t work for Zerxus, who, it must be said, made a somewhat slapdash effort at best, or Sarenrae, then … I mean, probably not, but if this is vengeance and not principle, then there might be more of a chance. In theory.

It's weird, this speech is more visceral and accompanied by literal torture, but I find it less terrifying that his significantly gentler speech in episode 2. This motivation is pettier and more visceral, and therefore less terrifying and awe-inspiring than the remote and pitiless ‘I chose evil to make good matter’. It’s good, I think. It makes evil immediately smaller and more manageable.

I wonder if that’s my arrogance talking. Heh.)

Zerxus is … dying repeatedly, and sending tactical information along his telepathic link to Tempus.

Zerxus: Wait. You’re right. You’re right.

Luis: I mean, can I do that, or is he gonna rip my face off again?

Brennan: I mean, this is his vision. Endless torment without death. This is what he is here to do.

(I love how the tables are trying to de-stress any way they possibly can right now)

On an Insight check of 21 into the Lord of the Hells: You see the Father of Lies. You see it was so easy for him. And what you see is you have fought abominations and undead before, you have fought things that are of an alien need for destruction, cold, unfeeling things that are anathema to life itself, and this is not the Lord of Hells. There is an infinite hatred behind his eyes, purer than anything you can imagine. Perhaps at one point he wore a golden face,

Luis: But that’s long gone

Brennan: And, behind his eyes when they were of gold, this hatred lived.

(No. No, atonement wouldn’t have worked)

Brennan: You see in him that, unlike the aberration or undead hatreds you have faced in the past, it is not beyond, it is something that each human has the gift of, because he doesn’t just hate you, he hates everybody. And he doesn’t hate them in an alien way, he wants them to know that they deserve it.

Luis: Zerxus processes all of that, and you just see … pity.

(Is that my arrogance talking? Thinking it makes him smaller and more manageable? I feel like I’ve fallen into the exact same trap Zerxus is about to. It’s a human-like hatred, so it’s human curable. No hatred is beyond redemption, if it’s something close enough that you can see into it and understand. Is that arrogance? I feel like pity in this instance might be arrogance. But I echo it)

(With, I will admit, a bit of contempt, which definitely is arrogance. Now I’m calling him a child, aren’t I? I thought his motivations cooler and more terrifying when I thought they were more remote and principled, but when they’re mere emotion, hatred, I think them lesser. I feel like I’m learning about my own biases and arrogance over here.)

Zerxus: You hate everything. So purely. Oh you poor thing. Look at how much you hate yourself.

(… Okay, I’m not that bad, holy fuck, did you just oh you poor thing him? Like, you can feel his hatred is pitiable while also acknowledgeing that he’s ancient and powerful enough to destroy a world, maybe? Or is this the instinct to make evil lesser, to better fight it? Like, you have to reduce him to something small, something you can fight, or you just despair right there? No force should be massive enough that we can’t at least fight it. Hubris. Necessity. Hope. Avalir’s defining question. Where’s the line between them?)

Asmodeus: You know what your fault is, Zerxus? Other than just being very trusting? You truly believe that you are above this all, this city that you will not call home, me, the gods. But I’m not the one who left my little son down in that city for all of my devils to find.

(I fucking knew he’d go for Elias, I fucking knew it, he’s the Lord of the Hells, what’s the most pain you can put a father through? Of course)

Asmodeus: So I think you’re going to make a very good champion for me.

*kills Zerxus again, his spirit starts to be released*

Asmodeus: Sorry about your sword. I tend to have that effect. But, the fact that you … pity me, doesn’t spoil anything for me, because I think that you are my greatest champion, Zerxus. So. If you’d like to be back in the world …

*crushes and explodes Xartaza into blood and creates the mace*

Asmodeus: … that’s there. For you to pick up if you want, Zerxus. But you know the cost you pay for it. But I won���t force you. The afterlife awaits.

(And on that masterful bombshell of an absolute dick move, I might have to leave this for the night)

(I’m an hour and ten minutes into this fucking episode, this thing is going to kill me)

#exu calamity #exandria unlimited calamity #episode 4 #spoilers #live reaction #ish #i'm pausing a LOT #zerxus ilerez #asmodeus #this is going well #so well

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

Hello!!!! I’ve been following you for ages and I know that you’re a big CritRole fan. I’ve never really been able to get into it, cuz the thought of going back and watching it all from scratch is supremely intimidating. However. I finished all of EXU Calamity in a weekend (and lost my entire fucking mind) and I’m really enjoying TLOVM show. Do you have any tips for watching any parts of C1, C2, or C3 in addition to that? Or would it be smarter to wait for C4 to start and go fresh from there?

Hello dear, lovely to hear from you. I hope you're doing well.

Critical Role is very intimidating to get into. I was fortunate that I got into it early on, roughly a year after they started filming, so it didn't take me as long to catch up. Anyone trying to get into it now is going to feel daunted, that's for sure. Unfortunately, D&D sessions do tend to run long, I know my group's average is 4 hours and we used to run for up to six when we had more open schedules.

Calamity is a fantastic place for any newbie to start. There are other oneshots and mini-campaigns they've done too, like Taliesin's eldtrich horror mini campaign, the Undeadwood campaign, and Marisha's Honey Heist and its sequel. Calamity introduces you to the world and is just. brilliant improv storytelling from all the players. but it's only six episodes for the complete story. So if anyone reading this ask wants to bite into a good tragedy and wants to know what the whole TTRPG craze is about, Calamity is a great one.

When it comes to the full campaigns... you kind of have to resign yourself to the fact that it'll take a while. Campaign four won't start for another year or two, and so you can wait until then, but that is a bit of time to hold out.

I would personally recommend you listen to campaign one. Campaign two seems to be the favorite for the majority of fans, but since you've already watched TLOVM, which is based on campaign one, that'll give you some background info and a baseline to help you get into the swing of things. The first few episodes will be a bit rough, since the cast is getting used to being filmed in a studio rather than hanging in a living room, but you'll be surprised by how fast you latch onto the characters.

Additionally, I think it's just fun to watch the cast journey from being in a spare room at the Geek & Sundry studios, to their own studio, slowly decorating that studio, then moving to a bigger studio, which is where they'll stay for campaign two. it's just nice, in my opinion, to see those little details as the show grows in real-time.

My friend recommends listening at 1.25 speed, and sometimes she speeds up the combat to 1.5 speed. You can also listen rather than watch, as some of my friends have done, so you can listen (either just put the video on and don't look, or they have created podcast versions of the episodes - nothing changed in content, just made it into an audio file to download) while doing other things like folding laundry. I prefer watching, to see facial expressions and nonverbal reactions, but given that this is a popular option among my friends, I don't think you'll miss anything too vital. And you can always supplement with YouTube compilation videos of reactions and favorite moments!

I can also say that it'll go faster than you think it will. You'll be surprised at how quickly you can blow through a few episodes.

So, yes, either wait a year or two, or resign yourself for a commitment, unfortunately that's kinda how it goes. You can't really skip episodes or only do "highlight" episodes since so much happens in each one, you can miss a lot of context. If that still intimidates you I'd really recommend diving into the other mini campaigns and oneshots they've done like Honey Heist, Undeadwood, etc.

Also, if you liked Calamity, then I recommend Dimension 20. Brennan Lee Mulligan is the game master for that crew, just as he was in Calamity, and their campaigns are a lot shorter. So that can also help you get into the TTRPG show groove. Their campaigns tend to run 15-20 episodes and the mini campaigns are around 6.

Again if you are going to dive into a full CR campaign I recommend the first campaign with Vox Machina since you already know the characters and a lot of the plot arcs - and it's fun to watch TLOVM when you've seen campaign one, since you can see how it's a truncated "this is the legend" version while the CR campaign is "now here's what really happened with these dumbasses." But campaign two is the more popular campaign so there's nothing wrong with starting there.

I hope that all this has been helpful! Good luck on your CR/TTRPG show journey!

#mads answers things #pink-lightsabre #I hope this information is helpful to others as well #since I've gotten this question a few times from people wanting to watch #but intimidated by length and amount of content