Yayyy, another installment to my BeastHawk series.
I finally decided to name it like The Mating Cycle of BeastHawk cause you know, they're both based of animals and just... okay, am corny, am sorry ahahaha
This is a stand alone so iz owki if you haven't read the first one that's in Chaotic Constellations, buttt this one is directly after that oneshot hihi
Anyway, here, enjoyyy~
I finished my rewatch/relisten of the Vox Machina campaign in mid-December (although I recently re-embarked on the second half of the Chroma Conclave arc hoping season 3 of TLVOM will be announced (released?? 🤞) by the time I reach "A Bard's Lament"). Predictably, I bawled, AGAIN, but by then I'd already been scribbling and sketching ideas for this for... a couple of weeks? Hence the little WIP preview last month.
I'll never shut up about this moment. It's just as beautiful as it's heartbreaking, in- and off-game, especially taking into account all the context of characters/people involved.
Also, bonus, because after I finished sketching that 6th frame I thought a hug was needed.
I’m always a fan of actors embodying their characters, but there’s something so special about watching the Critical Role cast and their deep love and connection to the characters they created.
It’s Liam saying he has synthetic memories of falling in love with Will. It’s Taliesin knowing the library and gardens in Whitestone by heart because he walks them in his mind so often. It’s Laura getting a nose bleed when Laudna dies. It’s Marisha crying as Beau offers the hag her happiness. It’s the cast not sleeping well for days after an intense episode because they can’t stop replaying it in their heads. It’s Dani and Taliesin tearing up together as they talk about Ashton’s chronic pain mirroring their own. Its Liam working through the death of his mother through Vax. It’s the intimate and unmistakable ways that this game of pretend affects their lives and the deep love they have for each other and the game.
It’s falling in love with your friends over and over again in every universe. Roleplaying really is a language of love and I feel so lucky to witness it.
Ages ago I had the honour and pleasure to do portraits of the cast and crew of Critical Role for their website!
Unfortunately I had to scale back my freelance hours significantly with the day job being demanding, and had to step away from the project BUT I'm still very happy with these likeness even all these years later! <3