#tiamat-zx

[waltwhitmansbeard]

"did we fall asleep?" "i think we did.."

"did we fall asleep?" "i think we did.."

There are many things to discuss. The world is ending, after all—or, rather, this version of the world is ending, with some vast and ghastly unknown lurking just around the corner. Or maybe not; all of this feels just above Laudna's pay grade, as if she's playing dress-up like she did as a child, parading around the house in her mother's one nice dress and the necklace her father scrimped and saved for months to buy her for Winter's Crest the year before Laudna was born. Whatever is going on, there are many things to discuss, and it is better to discuss them now, when it is just she and Imogen here in Zhudanna's house in the Windowed Wall, when Laudna can say the things she fears will turn the rest of the Hells away from her, when the ominous glare of Ruidus does not feel quite so omnipresent.

Yet here they are, a tangle of limbs on one bed, Laudna's cheek pressed awkwardly into Imogen's shoulder, very much discussing nothing. They got here, all jitters and flushed cheeks, and Laudna found suddenly that she had nothing to say. It doesn't seem to matter here, the fears and the guilt and the hounds barking in her chest. This is the house they made a home. This is bed they chose together. From downstairs, the smells of some kind of soup beckon them from their embrace, but Laudna stays put, counting each of Imogen's slow, even breaths, feeling the rise and fall of her stomach beneath the arm she has pulled across it.

Laudna doesn't sleep. She wants to, needs to, desperately, but she so rarely gets to see Imogen like this, completely at ease, a woman and not a fortress. She looks sharper than she used to, more hollowed out—more like Laudna, in a way. She supposes that's the price of the life they lead, the stress and the hunger and the death. But when she's asleep, the edges smooth a bit, and Laudna can see the girl who loved horses like family.

She wonders if she looks different now. More different—she bears little resemblance to the child who died on a tree. Laudna avoids her reflection most days, finds it matters to her little what she looks like, unless she's using the horror of it to her advantage. Maybe she should have been paying better attention. Maybe what happened in the market would start to make some sense.

Because what other explanation is there? What about Imogen—beautiful, powerful, miraculous, phenomenal Imogen—could ever look at a dead girl, an abomination, a murderer, and see—well. Laudna has no idea what Imogen sees, though she does see more than most. What if she had seen what happened in Issylra? What would she think of Laudna then? She is grateful for this circlet, the one resting so beautifully on Imogen's brow, the one that grants her peace for the first time in a long, long time, but she is most grateful for the way it shields Imogen from the worst thing Laudna has ever done.

Laudna lays there, watching her sleep. What will the world look like when she wakes? What will she think of who lies beside her? She will have to wait and see. Some time passes, and a thin voice calls up, "Girls? Are you hungry?"

Imogen squeaks out a small groan as she stretches—it's long been one of Laudna's favorite sounds, Imogen in the first moments of waking—and wets her dry lips. "Did we fall asleep?" Her voice is cracked, soft.

I didn't. I watched you instead. I thought about all the things I couldn't tell you this past week. I remembered what I did. I begged for your forgiveness. I refused it. I fell in love with you, again. I'm sorry. Thank you. "I think we did."

Imogen's head falls to look at her, and the smile there is so gentle Laudna's breath catches in her throat. "Guess we didn't do much talkin', did we?"

"No, I suppose we didn't." Laudna sits so Imogen can do the same. "I think Zhudanna has dinner ready."

"Good, I'm starved."

Laudna starts to climb off the bed, but fingers wrap around her bony wrist and she turns back. "Imogen?"

Her cheeks are pink, a pastel rose that compliments her hair so wonderfully. "I...I'd really like to kiss you again. If that's alright."

She doesn't know what Imogen sees. She takes her hand, rests it against Imogen's neck, and lets her eyes fall closed. As they kiss again, slow and sweet like summer molasses, Laudna finds herself believing not in the gods or their enemies or in any great scheme for power or glory, but in her, in the way their hands lace together atop the quilt, in her magical ability to know that there is something in Laudna worth loving, even if Laudna herself can't find it.

#ask #tiamat-zx #critical role #critical role fic #cr fic #bells hells #bells hells fic #imodna #imodna fic #my fic

[utilitycaster]

Wait until Team Wildemount hears that the other half was indeed in Issylra.

Then all eyes are on Chetney who has that look of, "Told ya so".

Then again, perhaps Team Issylra will end up back in Jrusar anyway. We just don't know how.

Yet.

I assume this is in reference to the post I made about it, and I have to be honest, my motivation for making it was primarily because I'm endlessly irritated by people who seem to tolerate player characters other than Imogen and Laudna (and, frankly, Imogen and Laudna themselves) only on the condition that those characters are actively and ceaselessly trying to force the two of them together, rather like zookeepers might a pair of breeding-averse pandas, regardless of the valid in-character motivations people such as Chetney (or FCG, or Ashton, or Fearne, or Deanna, or Deni$e, or really anyone else who is regularly thrown under the bus of the...ship) might have. So it was a snipe at everyone who clutched their pearls because how dare Chetney delay the reunion by prioritizing "stopping Ludinus" and "preventing an apocalypse" by "going to someplace interesting" that "might help prevent the apocalypse."

But in all seriousness yeah, I am sure Matt has a plan in mind, and actively guided Team Wildemount via the Changebringer to Jrusar. I doubt Chetney is actually invested enough to say he told anyone otherwise, and having gotten that particular salt out I'm now just interested in seeing Team Issylra explore Issylra.

#answered #tiamat-zx #cr tag

[piratespencil]

The Beauyasha date Is everything to me.

It's just one massive night of therapy for two lost souls that desperately needed it.

Even in the midst of their harrowing situation, they still made time to put it all on the table and just... break down those walls once and for all.

And I love that the entire second half of "Worth Fighting For" is their date night. 100% worth it, and thus why it's my second favorite M9 episode, #1 being "The Cathedral".

You’re so right it is sooo so good. The way Beau is like “I wanted to start again at the beginning” and they start in the tavern. 🥺🥺 And when they tell each other they’re proud of each other… And Yasha says she fell in love with Beau in Kamordah… And then the fucking ninja attack. Soooooo many good moments. It was funny and it was sweet and everyone else is enjoying it just as much as them… Ahhh wow, Beauyasha is real good.

(When I started c2 I felt kind of neutral about Beauyasha bc we really didn’t get to see enough of their interactions early on to sell me on it… But the way it evolved so naturally is sooo good and by the time we got to the date I was in DEEP.)

#‘a massive night of therapy’ you are so right #critical role #cr2 #c2e126 #beauyasha #reply #tiamat-zx #kk talks about stuff #kk watches cr2

[warriorbard2012]

Vaxleth + cuddles to make up for a loss of words

Thank you for the prompt! I hope I did it justice!

This takes place after the events of C1E97!

Vax woke up to an empty bed. For a second, he panicked, his mind fully aware that Keyleth had died earlier and he had missed it. Had he missed it again, had something else happened to her? He sat up and then relaxed when he saw her resting in the window seat, her knees up to her chest as she looked at the moon. It took him a minute to realize that she was crying.

Quickly he got up and went to her, wrapping his arm gently around her shoulders. She turned, buried her face into his chest, and sobbed momentarily. Gently he rubbed her back until she quieted, and when she pulled away, he wiped away her tears.

“Hey. You should be resting.” He said lovingly.

“I know.” She replied, her voice a bit weak from the day's events. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“You should have woken me. I might have been able to help or at least make you tea.” Vax said. He motioned towards the bed, and when she nodded, he gently picked her up and carried her over, setting her down softly on the blankets. Then he tucked her in before climbing in next to her. He couldn’t get over the vision of her holding weakly onto his sister’s broom, covered in blood. He wouldn’t know what he would do if he lost her.

“I know, but I just needed a minute, to try and calm down. I tried meditating, but I couldn’t focus my thoughts.” She sounded so defeated, and it broke his heart.

“That’s understandable after the day you have had,” Vax replied, gently running his fingers through her hair as she liked. She leaned into the touch with a cat-like motion, and he smiled. If she were Minxy right now, she would be purring.

“I died. For a split second, I was somewhere else. I thought maybe I would see my mother, but I didn’t. A part of me knows that I didn’t spend enough time there to know for sure, but the other part of me wonders if it's because she’s not there.” Keyleth sighed. “It seems foolish to hope.”

“Hope is never foolish, Kiki,” Vax reassured her.

Keyleth took a shaky breath. “All they found was her leg… we never found her body. Maybe she’s still out there somewhere?”

“Then we can look for her. Someone somewhere has to know something. Emon and the Council owe us a big favor; I’m sure they can put out inquiries and such. And if that fails, then we things get settled at home, we can go ourselves.”

He felt Kiki freeze briefly, and her green eyes flash to his. “Do you mean that?” She asked, her voice so quiet that even his keen hearing had to strain to hear her.

“Of course. You should know by now that I would do anything for you, go anywhere… I want to be with you, my love.”

Keyleth blushed, and she reached up to pull him in for a kiss. “Well, I knew that.” She teased. “But I meant you saying that Zephrah is home… did you mean that?”

Vax smiled. “Yes, but you missed the point, Love. Zephrah is a beautiful place, and I would enjoy settling down there, but anywhere you want to settle or be, is where I will be. Where you go… I go, and your people will be my people. I promise for as long as I draw breath.”

Keyleth didn’t know what to say to that, so instead; she hugged him tightly. He felt tears again, but this time he knew they were happy, and he felt a few of them slide down his cheeks.

“I love you, Kiki.” He whispered into her ear.

“I love you too.” She said after a moment. She pulled away and kissed him softly before settling down against him with her head on his chest. “I think I can sleep now. Will you hold me?”

He nodded and began running his fingers through her hair, keeping an eye on her as she fell back into slumber.

#vaxleth #Critical Role #vax'ildan #keyleth of the air ashari #critical role fanfiction #tiamat-zx #Answering voicemail #warriorbard2012writes

[pocketgalaxies]

Oof.

Laudna tries to ask FCG for help, only for them to cycle it back to "it's totes your fault", and poor Laudba not questioning it...

Orym tries to help but ends up with the wrong witch to talk to. He is TRYING, though, beseeching Imogen to think about what happened and take her time in figuring this out. (But hopefully not too long.)

And Ashton... thinks the only way Laudna can fix this is with a rock. Honestly I'm not surprised as he had no fucking clue as to what's going on because Laudna is spiraling and inconsolable. And them seeing Laudna fall apart like that... yeah, that's not normal, even by Laudna standards.

I wonder. Wouldn't it be ironic if out of all of them, it's Dusk that actually gets Laudna to open up and accept that it's not her fault at all? And boy, would that throw Imogen for a loop, seeing that this stranger whom she is jealous of is the one who actually helped her friend the most... but perhaps that is the clarity she needs to see that Laudna always needed that support, as she knows that Laudna will alwyas give it but won't ask for it herself.

It's going to be quite the long road. And it will only get bumpier from here...

Seriously, my heart is breaking for those two. They had a good thing going and Delilah RUINED IT! Or perhaps it was bound to happen. But definitely Delilah was the clincher. Lady D is why we can't have nice things. 😡

i am indeed very intrigued with what dusk is gonna do moving forward. seems like she has some Ideas about talking with laudna more but i can't get a good handle on what those ideas might be (to be fair i just finished the ep like 10 minutes ago dkfjskdf) but as soon as dusk was like "okay good!" when imogen said they weren't dating i was like OH GOD IT'S GETTING MORE COMPLICATED LMFAO

this post is an awesome breakdown of the three conversations imo, i really stand by the perspective of focusing more on how do these reactions and discussions inform the character and less on who is being the most helpful or the most reasonable or the most fair

#tiamat-zx #ask #answered #critical role #cr3 #cr meta #cr spoilers #laudna cr #imogen temult #ship: imodna #yu suffiad

[revvethasmythh]

i really want that Ashton and Laudna convo to happen. Tal keeps alluding to it being something that will... but I don't get why there was no attempt made in the past three episodes. A lot of the travel days? Skipped just for the sake of expedition.

So I really, REALLY hope it's happening next week, because it would suck horribly if all that waiting amounted to nothing if plot and/or tragedy were to strike again.

Though I AM glad that Fearne checked in on her at least. So there is that.

Here's the thing: I really don't personally care if they decide not to engage in RP during travel days like that. Would I love to watch RP during those times? Yes. Does what I, specifically, want matter at all, really? No, because it's not my game. So on one level, I'm reticent to say anything on that topic, but on another Bells Hells have proven thus far to be a party that may not particularly like to get into the deep end of each other's bullshit, at least not with words. It seems classic Hells to go on an entire deranged roadtrip and astral project themselves into Laudna's headspace to murder Delilah and get Laudna back and then to, like, not bring it up again. They do care, they just don't always feel the need (or feel comfortable) poking a bruise with someone that maybe they don't want poked (they haven't asked! they're assuming! they have major communication issues in this party!). They're "polite" that way in a way that the Nein, for instance, simply were not. I mean, think of the other moments of serious RP of personal traumas (Laudna opening up to Orym, Orym opening up to Chetney, etc.). Those were mostly instances where the information was offered up. The Hells don't really ask after the traumatic stuff unless it's actively trying to kill them. They tend to wait until someone offers up the topic before diving in.

Now, if we're talking about Ashton and Laudna's eventual conversation specifically, I think there's a lot of character stuff going on there. Ashton and their very low charisma score tend to be quite awkward when putting themself in positions of vulnerability. We can see that when they asked Annaline for hammer lessons (and he had to muster himself up to ask Annaline right then, because the group was going to be gone soon so there was a deadline on it). This conversation with Laudna, I would presume, is unlikely to be near as casual as the time Ashton approached her after she whiffed four Eldritch Blasts in a row and felt useless. Considering what Taliesin has said on 4sd, and by avoiding answering the question about how Laudna's death has affected Ashton, my presumption is that this conversation will not just be about asking her how she's feeling after everything, but will include some of how Ashton has been affected by it, too. Character-wise, I think it would make complete sense for Ashton to put that conversation off until he could muster himself up to do it. At the table, though, perhaps Taliesin just hasn't felt like the right moment for that talk has come yet. And that is completely up to his discretion and while I sincerely hope to see that conversation happen before holiday break, because it would be like a little holiday present to me (and I do love presents), that doesn't mean I expect it to happen or that I would necessarily be upset if it didn't. It's the cherry on top, not the sundae, you know?

#the sundae is just. the campaign. everything else is the cherries and the sprinkles and the peanuts etc. #okay enough with the metaphors I'm going to bed now #critical role #asks #tiamat-zx #bells hells #cr spoilers #ashton greymoore #laudna

[svartalfhild]

"No one ever cared about me like you."

HOPEFULLY post-resurrection, Laudna visits Ashton in his room, and the two talk about that last One Bad Day in Bassuras (FCG claiming Laudna was never alive, the sandstorm, the DEATH, and how they gladly shouldered the burden of carrying her throughout the trip until she was brought back) and how in Ashton’s eyes, it woke them up to something he almost took for granted, and how he doesn’t want to again. First kiss optional, however you wish to frame it ❤️‍🩹

Oh my, that's detailed. I'll see what I can do! Hopefully this captures the spirit if not the letter of what you're looking for.

~ ~ ~

Bells Hells had been back in Jrusar for about a day since the Voice of the Tempest had come to return Laudna to life. Lady Keyleth had insisted they take a little time to rest and prepare before running off again, and some of them had taken it better than others. Chetney and Fearne wanted to get right back out there and tear Otohan Thull a new one as soon as possible. Orym accepted his boss's wisdom without question, but they could all see the restlessness in his eyes. Fresh Cut Grass was torn on how to feel about it, but ultimately agreed that they needed a little time after everything that had happened, and they'd do better with rest. Imogen was equal parts afraid of giving Otohan more time and afraid of facing them, but ultimately she was too rattled and exhausted by the ordeal of losing and regaining Laudna to say no to rest. The two of them had returned to their room at Zhudanna's for the time being, hoping that the quiet company of the sweet old lady would help them feel normal again.

In the morning, Laudna went out to find the one person who had been surprisingly quiet after her return. According to FCG, who had been round to check on her, Ashton had gone back to the Krook House and was brooding in their room. She found them just so, nestled amongst the colourful, messy trappings of their space, working on what appeared to be a leather cuff of some kind.

"Ashton? May I come in?" Laudna inquired, and they looked up at her over their right shoulder.

"Hey. If I'd known you were coming, I'd have rolled out the welcome mat." They gestured for her to enter, and she perched herself on a cushion beside them, offering the small wooden box wrapped in a scrap of red linen.

"I brought you some dumplings Zhudanna made." Laudna didn't quite know why she felt so damn nervous. Ashton was her friend. Why would it be hard to thank a friend? He set aside his little project and took the box.

"Thanks." He unwrapped the gift and took out one of the dumplings, taking a satisfied bite.

"I heard what you did for me."

"Ah. Well, you don't owe me anything, if that's what you're worried about."

"No, I just wanted to thank you. No one's every cared about me like you. I mean, obviously Imogen cares a very great deal, perhaps more than anyone ever has, but, well, it seems like you care just as much, but...differently, and I'm not sure I understand it, but...I don't know; I feel like I'm saying this wrong," Laudna rambled, kneading her fingers together anxiously. Ashton set aside the food and gave her their full attention.

"Alright, let me try to explain then," they began. "I...I've lived my life a certain way for a long time, lived by certain set of rules and expectations. This crew has changed a lot of that for me. My old crew left me to die, left me broken and alone, and I accepted that, because that's the way you live when you're from Bassuras, but I don't want that for you. You deserve better."

"Why? I was already dead. I've been on borrowed time for 30 years. Getting murdered again seems like a natural conclusion. Why would you go to such lengths for a corpse?" Laudna challenged, and Ashton's brow furrowed.

"I don't know what the fuck that voice in your head says to you, but you're not a thing; you're a person, and I'm not going to let anyone or anything take you away before you've had the chance to figure out what that means. I'd carry you to the ends of the world if I had to." Laudna wasn't quite sure what to say to such an intense statement, especially with Ashton's amethyst eye staring at her like they could see into her soul.

"But why?" she pressed, quiet but firm. Why did he care so much? Why did he worry about her? Why was he willing to throw away his own freedom for her? It all seemed so unlike him.

"Because I fucking like you, Laudna! You're a fucking delight! And if there's something like redemption for people like us, I don't wanna find it without you!" he half-yelled, and his impassioned words filled her with an odd buzzing sensation and a fiery, selfish impulse she'd never felt before.

"Well, same to you!" she snapped back.

"Great!" Ashton replied aggressively, and the impulse took over, compelling her to lunge forward and kiss them. They gave a small grunt of surprise, and they barely had a chance to respond before Laudna realized what she was doing and panicked.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! That's probably not what you-" She swallowed the last words of her sentence as Ashton slid his arms around her and pulled her closer, kissing her even more fervently than she had him.

"Is that clear enough for you?" he asked in a low voice when they parted.

"Y-Yes!" Oh gods, she felt like a giddy schoolgirl now. Be cool, be cool. This was all happening so quickly that she was a bit dazed and disoriented. "That was, um, very nice. Very good. But I think...I need some time to process...I should head back." She began to slowly pull away from Ashton, not wanting them to think she didn't like this, but feeling a bit overwhelmed.

"Sure, yeah, no problem." They gently let her go and gave her space. She got up and smoothed her skirts, wandering towards the doorway, but pausing at the threshold.

"Ashton?"

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking of stopping by Marwa's later. Would you like to come?" Laudna nervously rubbed her wrist as she looked over her shoulder to ask this, and Ashton grinned.

"Sounds fun."

It took everything for Laudna not to skip the whole way out of the Krook House and back to Zhudanna's place. Besides simply not wanting to appear foolish, she felt as though skipping might cause her to float off into the sky. It was a bizarre, unexpected sensation, but not an unwelcome one, and she couldn't wait to tell Imogen everything that had just happened when she got home.

#Critical Role #CR Ashna #CR Gravestone #Laudna x Ashton #Ashton x Laudna #CR spoilers #prompt #tiamat-zx

[ravendruid]

TRICK OR TREAT!

Send me Trick or Treat for a treat <3 I'm still doing these today, so everyone feel free to send more!

I have been working on a Fey World AU where Keyleth and Korrin live on the border of the material world and the Fey Realm without knowing (or at least Keyleth doesn't know).

One year Keyleth accidentally finds herself in Fey territory and gets attacked by something, rendering her unconscious. She wakes up in an unknown dusty bedroom that looks like it hasn't been used in a long time, and the only person in the room with her is the most beautiful man Keyleth has ever seen.

#critical role #cr fic #vox machina #vaxleth #fey world au #asks #tiamat-zx

[annemarieyeretzian]

“Fearne, you should really ask why the Unseelie Court asked your parents to stop building the telescope the first time.”

I was so upset with Chetney in this moment, along with his other wild accusations and assumptions. Not to mention it’s a very big misunderstanding on his part. Birdie and Ollie weren’t ordered by the Unseelie Court to stop building the scope, they were ordered not to speak of what they saw regarding Ruidus.

How did he go from that to thinking they were building the same as the Court? It feels like Travis trying to infuse a little bit of Cerrit into Chetney’s own deductive reasoning… but it’s so off-base. Maybe… actually wait until you have ALL the facts before jumping the gun, Mr. Pock O’Pea?

Then again, flying off the handle and being quick to suspect, and even at times just not even using his words (i.e. slapping Imogen due to her “fireball” that wasn’t even harmful at all) is just… what he does.

And maybe… don’t ask Ollie. Ask the person who actually built it: Ira.

@tiamat-zx I was going to liveblog this moment but it made me so mad I was like “I DON’T WANT THIS ON MY BLOG” because what the actual fucking fuck.

extremely wild accusations and assumptions Going On. even more wild that I’ve seen a decent amount of the fandom say shit like ‘chet was SO GOOD here’ like??? no??? he was way off base??? birdie and ollie weren’t building shit??? in fact, they sought counsel from and went to warn both courts and then the unseelie court threatened them in response???

I get that it’s what he does, but like... this had such personal stakes. no pulling fearne aside, no respecting her or her long-lost family, and not even really done in order to protect fearne or her feelings. wild accusations brought without warning or introduction in front of people the hells already don’t trust, fostering further distrust and fueling speculation – or even worse, confirming biases among the group – which is reckless and irresponsible.

#annemarie answers things #ask #tiamat-zx #critical role #chetney pock o'pea #chetney #birdie calloway #birdie #ollie calloway #ollie #bell's hells

[waltwhitmansbeard]

"hugging the other from behind to see what they're doing"

9. hugging the other from behind to see what they're doing

Shaun's been at it for hours, this damned potion. Sweat trickles horribly down the back of his neck, but he can't move away from the bubbling pot on his stove, not when he's so close to getting it right. He's gone through four iterations of this concoction, each with a different variation of the main ingredient, and based on the smell, it seems walnuts are the way to go. The brew isn't as clear as he would like, but hey, if it works, it works.

He lifts his ladle to stir before all of the components settle to the bottom, but before the wood can touch the surface, something grabs onto his sides. He lets out a startled yelp and whips around, brandishing the ladle like a weapon. "Who in the Hells—"

"Gil, Gil, it's me." Vax has the nerve to be laughing as he says it, as if he didn't just give Shaun a heart attack.

Shaun brings one hand up to press against his racing heart, and the other grips the ladle even harder. "You...menace. I ought to beat your brains in for scaring me like that."

Vax eyes the ladle skeptically. "Please just tell me that cookware isn't the security system you employ around here."

"I'll set up a new ward for annoying rogues specifically."

"Well, now I'm hurt." He pouts. "I just wanted to know what you were doing."

Right, the potion. With a sigh, Shaun turns around to stare back down into his pot. "It's supposed to be a potion of confusion, but I'm not convinced I've got it right."

The arms that nearly scared him into an early grave wrap around his waist, and a chin comes to hook onto his shoulder. "Hmm. Is the only way to know to test it?"

"Why, you offering?"

Vax squeezes his middle. "I've been your guinea pig before, to some...mutually satisfying results."

Shaun snorts. "Yes, well, if I'm satisfied with these results, it means that you've likely attacked me or something here in my office, so I think I'll pass."

"Fair enough." Vax buries his face into the crook of Shaun's neck, and he finds himself increasingly disinterested by the potion he's working on. "How much longer do you have to be...stirring or whatever?"

Oh, Shaun's stirring, alright. "You're trying to distract me."

"How successful am I?"

Devil man, he is. Shaun tosses the ladle onto the stove, which he extinguishes with a wave of his hand. He reaches up to pull Vax's face away from his neck so he can look him in the eyes. "Very."

#ask #tiamat-zx #critical role #critical role fic #cr fic #vox machina #vox machina fic #vaxilmore #vaxilmore fic #my fic

[utilitycaster]

Love can save people. It can redeem.

It can also damn you and others.

If anything, Delilah is a cautionary tale on how you could love someone so much, you never think twice about damning the entire world in the name of it, and that it can be so easy to never stop.

As you say, many others could have gone down the same road as Delilah and Sylas. And yet they didn't. Because they chose to stop and reflect before it was too late.

But because she never did, all that waited Delilah was perpetual defeat. It doesn't matter if she's got all the time in the world. Because no matter what, she will never win.

It's a lesson that she will never learn.

I mean…one can I suppose take that message from the story of Delilah, but that’s not really what I was getting at. I am not personally saying “oh how sad for her!”; I am saying this:

As you say, she’s a dark mirror - a living example of how it would have been so very easy for so many heroic characters to be just a touch less scrupulous. She serves to show just how easy it would have been for Percy to say “well, I guess what’s done is done” re: guns; for Vex to give into Saundor or for her justified hunger and self preservation to calcify into avarice; for Fjord to have Jester take them and theirs to the Feywild and leave the Menagerie Coast to drown; for Caleb to go on his Assembly Murder Spree and use the T-Dock; or, a millennium before Delilah existed, for the Ring of Brass to have cut line and teleported or flown out rather than mitigating their damage. And yet none of them did, because they not only loved their partners and friends; they loved their homes and the world. So our post-Divergence era heroes are happy, and even amidst the Calamity the Ring of Brass endures...and Delilah was deservedly hoisted by her own petard into the mind palace of a weird girl who likes rats.

Delilah is compelling not because others would do what she did - in fact, everyone I mentioned demonstrably did not. She is compelling because she didn’t know when to stop, and it’s her own fault. It’s fitting and, at least to me, pretty hilarious, that Delilah never wins; with any luck she’s been swept under whatever cosmic rug Laudna’s resurrection achieved and we never hear from her again. She played stupid games and she won stupid prizes. In the same way that I am most interested in heroic characters who were asked who they were in the dark and in doing so realized they were, at heart, not the monsters they could have been, and dragged themselves out, I am bored stiff by the “oh the villain just needed LOVE and they would have been good” school of thought.

I want a villain (like Delilah, or Avantika, or Lucien) who was shown an off-ramp, and each time slammed down on the gas, and then crashed into a wall, and then exploded. And I especially want a villain like Delilah who had love, and who didn’t need to choose between love and power, and who managed to still take truly the most garbage third option possible.

(Relatedly: this is also why all concepts of Imogen making even the tiniest deal with Delilah to save Laudna, let alone this become a full corruption arc for her, absolutely suck. Why on Exandria would one ever willingly make a deal with the tattered, miserable, widowed cringe fail patron of Love Isn’t Enough, Actually? This is D&D: there are far better fiends and horrors available.)

#answered #tiamat-zx #in reality evil is usually banal #in heroic fantasy evil is usually cringe #anyway kids now that i've made you read delilah meta let's talk about how the tragic evil wizard queen to stan is vess derogna #this also made me realize I could make a very silly d20 crossover post. doing that now. #critical role #delilah briarwood

[100hearteyes]

The last time Yasha had lost someone, she's been too afraid to act and thus her hesitation cost her dearly.

She wasn't going to hesitate again. So... she went in.

FUUUCCCKKKK I'd never noticed that parallel

First thing Yasha does when Beau tells them about her plan is go in 😭 because she won't be a coward, not this time. Not like she was when Zuala died. This time, Yasha will topple mountains and brew unrelenting thunderstorms to stop loneliness and tragedy from once again taking away the woman she loves 💔

#ask #tiamat-zx #beauyasha #cr2

[everystephoftheway]

Is #31 taken? If so, that one.

50 Types of Kisses - Writing Prompts 31. Pulling away from a kiss, whispering words of love against each other’s lips.

“No…No, no, stop!” 

Vax is pulled out of his sleep by Keyleth’s strained shouts, her body faced away from him in the bed. He’s quick to sit up and turn, any drowsiness quickly overruled by worry. 

“Kiki?” 

Leaning over her, he finds her eyes scrunched closed, forehead damp with sweat. She is curled into a ball, the blanket held tight in her fists.

“Keyleth, wake up. It’s just a dream; wake up, please.” He gently brushes a hand over her hair, and Keyleth suddenly shoots up with a scream, frantically wide eyed and pale.

"Mom!"

Vax leans back, avoiding a nice collision with her head, and immediately moves in front of her, sitting on his knees. The room is dark, only the dull light from the moon in a cloudy sky peeking in through the window.

"Kiki, look at me." He reaches for her hands, but makes sure to keep his movements slow and gentle.

Her eyes find him quickly, but it takes her a second to really see him. The fear in her expression starts to fade as he simply sits there, an unmovable presence; she starts watching him breathe, and slowly but surely matches his rhythm. Looking down, she notices their hands intertwined--how did she not feel it?

"Vax..."

"It's okay. It was just a dream."

She looks up at him again. "A dream...Just--" Her lips curl in as her eyes suddenly become glassy, and she starts to unravel. Vax scoots in immediately, letting go of her hands so he can wrap himself around her, her head against his chest.

"Shhh, it's alright. I'm here, it's alright."

He starts to brush through her hair with his fingers, the other arm strong against her back, willing to hold her up if she feels the need to fully let go. Her arms tuck in between them, rising up to take his face in her hands, and she brings him down to kiss her.

Her lips are salty from tears, but Vax pays no mind. He kisses back, and keeps doing so until she pulls away just enough to speak.

"I love you so much," she whispers. "Promise me you won't leave me."

Vax's heart breaks in his chest, and, at first, all he can think to do is kiss her again before he says, voice strong and clear, "I promise."

"Say the whole thing."

"I promise I won't ever leave you."

"I love you so much."

"I love you too."

They sit like this a little while longer, whispering I love you's back and forth, until Keyleth finally lets out a yawn, and Vax manages to convince her to lay down again, this time in his arms. They sleep like that the rest of the night, neither moving, neither leaving, the dream fading into the night like a distant memory.

#tiamat-zx #sorry for the wait! #my brain was not cooperating #its like mostly the prompt? i had fun with it either way #vaxleth #vaxleth fic #my fic #cr ask

[warriorbard2012]

Vaxleth + revelling in their body warmth

Here you go! Thank you so much for the prompt!

It was a cold, snowy evening in Whitestone. Inside the Castle, the temperature wasn't much better than the outside, and every room was cold. The fires in each room helped some, but it didn't feel like enough this evening. Vax was freezing, and nothing seemed to be helping.

Nights like this reminded him of sleeping in the woods with his sister and their meager fire, curled together like wolves, trying to conserve as much heat as possible between them. He always tried to pretend, for Vex’s sake, that it wasn't that bad. But his biggest fear was waking up to find her dead, from hypothermia, or worse, her waking up to find him.

Things had gotten better when they found Trinket, and by that time, they had scraped up enough coin to find better, warmer gear. But still, the memories of the nights haunted him sometimes, and the cold just seemed to bring them to the forefront.

All he wanted to do was to get into bed or curl up in front of a fire somewhere, cuddle next to Keyleth, and spend the rest of the night getting warm and not thinking about the past.

Keyleth, however, was nowhere to be found. Vax pulled aside a passing Guard.

“Excuse me. Have you seen Keyleth anywhere?” Vax asked.

The young woman thought for a second. “Um, I think I saw her head to the library, Sir.”

“Thank you.” He said as he quickly made his way toward the Library.

Knowing where she was, he found her quickly and momentarily paused in the doorway to look at her. She was lying on one of the couches near the fire, a blanket covering her legs and her head on one elbow on the armrest. One hand held a book, and the other held a cookie she was munching on as she read. A nearby table held a steaming cup of what Vax knew was to be tea, and the sight in front of him was almost too much to bear. She was so beautiful, and he did his best to commit that moment to memory so that he could savor the image of her for as long as he could.

Quietly he knocked on the doorjamb before entering. This was a public space, of course, but there was something about the serenity she extruded that made him feel like he was intruding on a private moment, and he never wanted to bother her if she was looking for solitude.

“Hey.” He said quietly. She looked over at him, her green eyes lighting up at the sight of him. She finished her cookie and set her book aside.

“Hey. You look cold. Come here.” Keyleth replied. She tapped the space on the couch next to her, and, he moved towards her, relief filling his soul.

He gently pulled back the blanket and joined her, the couch was big enough for the two of them to lay back to front, and he sighed with happiness as she pulled him closer. It took them a second to adjust to the position, but eventually, they settled. Keyleth was spooning and holding him, and with the blanket, the fire, and the heat that she naturally gave off, he was finally feeling warm again.

“Better?” She asked softly after a few minutes of quiet companionship.

He nodded. “Warm… finally.”

She laughed and kissed his cheek. “Read to me?”

He nodded, picked up the book she had abandoned, and began reading.

#Tiamat-ZX #critical role #vaxleth #keyleth of the air ashari #vax'ildan #critical role fic #Answering voicemail #warriorbard2012writes

[pocketgalaxies]

Laudna deserves the world. It's just so sad to think of how she's had to endure so much over the past 30 years, and still tries to have a more positive outlook on life, even if it's just to deny that she is far from okay.

And then when she collapsed onto Ashton, that was the first time (and hopefully for her sake not the last as she needs to let it out more) that she completely loses her composure and is sobbing. It really broke my heart. But at least compared to the past three decades, she is not going to face recent events alone. She has people who see her as just "Laudna".

And eventually, one day, she will be rid of that voice in her head.

My gods, Marisha has completely outdone herself with this character. She is undoubtedly her best. And I wish to see her story unfold to the end.

yes true i was also thinking about how laudna prob hasn't had anyone else to lean on in this way!! ironically feeling happy for her that she can open up to fcg and ashton like that

#tiamat-zx #ask #answered #critical role #cr3 #cr meta #cr spoilers #laudna cr #ashton greymoore #r: laudna x ashton

[vethbrenatto]

Forget mics. Calamity #3 is certain to be a literal COLONY DROP of epic proportions, one that will surely make even #1 and #2 pale in comparison… especially with the confirmation that it’s gonna be a doozy of a five-hour session, MINIMUM.

Oh, and the fact that we’re gonna start with the pilot of Avalir most likely dead, Dean Hollow ready to attack the Ring of Brass directly, AND the lies within their own group quickly beginning to unravel.

I’m definitely going to get some caffeine for this Thursday night. And maybe some pizza. I can’t wait!

This is completely the Beginning of the End and I'm SO excited for it! I'm itching to see these guys in combat and just get some good old angsty battlefield moments.

Also, the lies within the group like you said- I can't wait to see all the secrets come out.

I'll be lucky if I even get through half while watching live because 5 hours is insane and even with caffeine I can get only get so far, but I'll definitely be attempting to watch live too! It's definitely giving me late M9 campaign energy where Matt would just give us one 5 hour episode after the next, so I bet E3 and E4 of Calamity are going to be in this 5-5.5 hour range.

#ask #tiamat-zx