#shards beau

[viaphni]

The Shrouded Shards memes that a) nobody will understand b) are extremely low quality c) have characters nobody has heard of d) are very real

[blackmosscupcakes]

One of the aspects of the fallout from this last episode I'm most interested in seeing is Imogen's reaction, and that's for a very out of character reason.

One of Laura's self-admitted player quirks is avoidance of inter-party conflict. She's good at smoothing things over and tends to play characters on a spectrum from forgiving to avoidant. You can see this going back to campaign one, most notably after Scanlan returned and, while most characters were furious and slow to forgive him, Vex was instantly on his side, delighted to see him, and ready to forget everything. Jester, of course, was very committed to the power of friendship in general. Imogen tends more towards burying or distracting from feelings and events that might lead to conflict.

In 4 Sided Dive episode 20, they have the following conversation from about 1 hour 3 minutes in:

Marisha: Of course diving into the relationship is always fun, but then relationship tension is also fun.

Laura: Yeah I feel like you guys really like relationship conflict too like you guys talk about that a lot. I'm terrified of conflict--that translates to the game as well. I don't like conflict.

Sam: You don't like conflict? Even in the game?

Laura: No! I don't like fighting. Like if we're having a fight I will be like "it's okay FCG, I'm not mad at you." If you do something wrong I'll be like "that's okay."

However, her character is now in a relationship with Marisha's character, and as seen in the quote above, Marisha LOVES conflict. She eats it up! From Keyleth and Percy in C1 to Beau and Caleb in C2, she's been great at diving into tensions that further character development and make for great storytelling.

So we've reached a point now where Marisha keeps making choices with Laudna that are basically dropping an invitation to a WHOLE bunch of tension and conflict on Laura's doorstep, and up until this point, aside from a little dust up over the gnarlrock incident (a big one for Laura, but small compared to, say, Beau and Caleb's arguments!), Laura as Imogen has been broadly side-stepping these in order to do exactly what she said in the 4sd quote--tell Laudna that it's all okay.

But we've reached a point now where that's not going to cut it in avoiding tension any more! If Laudna continues down this path, lines are going to be drawn within the party, and Imogen is likely to have to pick between conflict with Laudna OR conflict with other members of the party. It's very likely there will come a point where anger and arguments can't be entirely avoided for Imogen no matter what choice she makes. And that's going to be REALLY fascinating to watch.

Sometimes these players nudge one another out of their comfort zones. Laura did it to Travis with romance. Several of them did it to Ashley with the titan shard. I think we can trust them not to push their friends to a point where they REALLY don't want to go (and I'm sure that sort of thing is negotiated between them off camera), so bearing that in mind a little tiptoe out of the comfort zone can be really interesting--for example, Travis did really well with romance in the end. It might well be a bit uncomfortable for Laura at first! But as long as she's okay trying it, I think it could lead to REALLY excellent storytelling and fantastic performance. I'm excited to see where it goes .

[utilitycaster]

beau's backstory arc really does take 2 episodes and its not even motivated by beau. its nott why we even go up there. beau, like laudna does not desire to solve anything in her backstory. but unlike laudna she does have current goals (learning to people, learning to monk, impressing her teacher, her spy gig, just learning in general) and future goals (cobalt soul, mage rangling, kid having).

Correct...I'm not sure why you mentioned this? Like, I said as much as well, and that's not a problem because Beau has goals and interests, and she could have still had a meaningful story without visiting her family (though it certainly adds a lot).

With that said however this does feel kind of inadvertently an opportunity to point out the care with which Matt treated character backstory in the Mighty Nein vs. the lack thereof with Bells Hells. Beau said she was taken to the Cobalt Soul and her father paid someone off. She was on the run from her home with no reason to return and plenty of reasons to stay away.

In the Mighty Nein's story, not only is she carefully brought back to her home by a thoughtful interweaving of her and Nott's stories; Matt also looked at her cobalt soul backstory, said "does this match up with the Cobalt Soul as it exists in the world," came to a conclusion of "no, this isn't how the institution generally works," and had Dairon look into it, leading to a very satisfactory conclusion that happened without Beau's involvement but still meant a lot to her! Hell, you could even call it a consequence; Beau complaining about it all the time eventually got through to someone!

For Bells Hells, it was always just "YOUR abilities are ALSO kinda tied to the moon and/or you need THIS macguffin." The shards were nice but like...it felt this was a golden opportunity for Fearne and Ashton to serve as heirs to the titans in a re-binding or proper banishment of Predathos but in the end they were just essentially a variation on Cool Magic Items. Neither of them even did anything significantly Titan-related in the end; the But The Titans refrain meant jack shit. And you know, I felt that Imogen, Laudna, and Ashton's complaints about the gods rang hollow...but what if they hadn't? My argument was always "this doesn't match up with what we know of the gods from all other lore" but I think what is notable is that I wasn't proven right...but I wasn't even proven wrong. What if the gods had addressed this? What if Imogen being a Ruidusborn DID mean she was either beyond the reach of the gods/could not be heard or that they felt it was better she suffered? What if the gods feared what the Hishari had done in terms of resurrecting the titans? What if Ashton were textually unable to spend time in temples, rather than this just being theorized by people desperate to prove the gods were bad?

The problem is that, on some level, improv was barely happening. Matt didn't say Yes And or No Actually, he just sort of barrelled on with his original plans and world without addressing any of the things his players brought up (again, lack of consequences, good or bad) and so we have no real answers, Bells Hells do look like selfish jackasses because in the absence of new information I'm continuing to believe the old, certainly when the characters were so unkind in the end, and everything feels flat, unexplored, and dull as compared to the lively and rewarding and meaningful stories of Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein.

[burr-ell]

Ask game: 6, 8, 13

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

Imogen/Laudna shippers. They harassed people and whined for years about how if you think the ship is mid you're a misogynist and a lesbophobe, before turning right around and calling Beau/Yasha boring. They insisted that Imogen is good and kind and kind and good and you can't ever criticize her or you're a misogynist, and then the only thing they had to say when Imogen started sympathizing with the gods was to lament that she was too emotional and empathetic. They drove so much discourse—about the gods, about Bor'dor, about the shard, about the sword—because they refused to allow Imogen or Laudna to be viewed as anything other than blameless victims, cute little mousies with no agency to ever cause harm, and then demanded that everyone praise Imogen for every amazing courageous choice she made. (Laudna's choices rarely got spotlighted, probably because she barely did anything in 121 episodes and the choices she did make are the ones her stans had to defend her from.) They fueled discourse that the gods are colonizers and that defending c3 is praxis while doing everything in their power to shield the feelings of two fictional skinny femme white women.

And frankly, I'm not surprised more people don't say anything! Even among people who like it, more than one person has admitted either to me in private or in smaller groups I happen to be part of that they think these shippers are scary, or that "cr twitter" is scary while tiptoeing around any specifics. Imogen and Laudna's own fans are a big part of the reason people who normally write meta stopped writing anything about them—it didn't help that there was rather little to write about, but if you engaged with them as characters in a story and not dolls to keep in their boxes and coo over from a distance, you opened yourself up to either harassment, shittalking behind your back, or both. Considering how much they resent everything else Critical Role does that isn't a vessel for The Ship, I'll be glad to see the back of them once they leave.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Fanon is not sacrosanct just because fans came up with it. Obviously don't harass people about fanon, you are grown, but people are not coming into your house and breaking your tablet over their knee if they say in their own space "this fanart/fanfic trend is dumb".

13. worst blorbofication

I've alluded to the issues with Imogen and Laudna, so I'm going to pick some low-hanging fruit and say that it's incredibly tiresome to still be finding Percy x Reader or OC content in the year 2025. Like first of all that man is not a dom and doesn't want to be, second of all you can have bad taste all you want but at least tag it consistently. Once the M9 show comes out Caleb's tag is going to be a hellpit.

[veinsfullofstars]

8. 🪄Do either of them use magic? If yes, do they ever use their magic to perform romantic gestures for their partner or help their partner out in any way?

for darkroach!!! i say this already kinda knowing the magic they can both do, so mostly i just want to know if they're using it for evil for each other!!

What, these two? Using magic for eeeevil? Ha! Perish the thought! (They’d both argue that “evil” is a matter of perspective, anyway.) As for each other, well…

Though a thief at heart and not inherently magical, Daroach has the spirit of a magician - both trickster and performer, wielding his wand (and later the Triple Star cane) with all the grace, finesse, and showmanship that comes with it. He may not be into traditional romance (specifically in my general headcanon as well as the KAU), but he's still quite the charmer, and he can’t resist adding a little pizzazz to the mix if he knows it’ll impress his current beau, be it in the form of a flashier bomb the field of battle, a sly smirk before teleporting away, or a tiny dusting of frost over a glass of something sweet. (This boy is Extra and he owns it.)

Meanwhile, Dark Meta Knight is significantly less showy about his own innate powers, better suited for warfare and intimidation than anything even remotely romantic… Not to say Daroach doesn’t enjoy a good old-fashioned display of strength every now and then… maaaybe enough for Dark to take notice, to show off a little more himself, to let fire curl around the prongs of his sword in twisting spires or gather mirror shards around his fingers to twinkle and dazzle… Maybe he’d even conjure one for Daroach if he leaves his compact at home that day. Maybe. If he’s feeling generous.

"Careful. It’s sharp.” “It’s fine, sunshine. I’m used to handlin’ dangerous materials, hehe.”

Sketch started 02/19/25, sketch finished 02/20/25. | Kirby Ship Ask Game (made by @/sweetandglovelyart) and alternate questions | Kintsugi AU Masterpost

[beawake]

On consequences (CR campaign 3 some thoughts)

I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I briefly touched upon it with my Orym post, but it is something that the more I think about it, the more it bothers me too. There are no consequences for decisions made at the end of campaign 3, and some pretty big decisions have been made.

This is gonna be a long post

At the end of campaign 1, Vox Machina had to accept that they couldn't save Vax because he made a deal and he died and now he was gonna serve the Matron in dead. There was no way to fix it, if there had been one (with scanlan saving his 9th level spell), they would have had to work for it too. The plan that could exist was still complicated and gave no garantuees. And even know that they brought Vax back to live, those consequences are still there. Vax still serves the Matron and more often than not will be on the road and doing his duties. And 30 years have passed. He missed those, everyone changed in those 30 years. Things will be complicated, he will have to start over with everyone, see where they fit. The grief of before is still there. It will never be the same again. Yes he's back, but not completely, not fully, and it doesn't erase everything, it is not like before again. The consequences have been made less severe but they are still there.

In campaign 2 there were also consequences, not everything was wrapped up. Molly was dead and stayed dead, Essek was still a traitor and had to flee his home never being able to return again. There was more happy endings, but it not everything was magically fixed. Beau and Caleb still had the trail going for Zenoth and Ikiton. Ludinus was still out there and they had to go after him. And even in Campaign when Fjord rejected his warlock patron and pact he lost all his powers. There were consequences to decisions made.

Campaign 3 had very little of that. EXU had more, with clear consequences to Opal putting on the crown. The most consequences that c3 had was FCG still being dead (but with a way to maybe bring him back??) and at least Braius has consequences to rejecting Asmodeus (he might be hunted for sport), even everything with Fearne and her 20 different deals is vague. I already mentioned Orym and his fey pact being whiped away as if it is nothing. But those are not the only things.

Let's start with Ashton. First off, Ashton took the second shard and sure he nearly died, but the biggest consequence was that he now had a cool lavastone arm? He can still transform in a titan form, the dismay of the other party members barely lasted an episode. He was warned that he shouldn’t do it, did it anyway and lied about it and there were no consequences at all. And then he offered himself up as a sacrifice for the gods (I don't even know why he would have worked if they actually needed a Beacon but that aside) and once again there were no consequences. Sure he died, and then he got brought back. And instead of having that but him losing his barbarian abilities and having to work on that, no he can still have those. Yeah the first time they used liquid dunamis to give him those and keep him alive but Essek is here now and I guess he can create liquid dunamis now with his magic and All Is Right Again. No decision here has permanent consequences.

Since Fearne was kept super vague, they might wanna do a one shot or something around those 20 deals, I'm gonna skip her and go to Imogen.

So Imogen accepts Predathos, takes him into her body, makes deals with the gods while Predathos is chilling in her head and then he just leaves? And she is still the same sorcerer with predathos given powers? How does that work? The gods were clearly there when Predathos broke free and when Imogen releases Predathos out in the world the gods are gone. Even of Predathos couldn't follow along what imogen had been up to when he was chilling in her head it should have been obvious that she did something. And you're telling me this big ole powerful God-Eater does not take revenge? Does not curse her or take her power away or anything else when it is clear that Imogen and BH took away his food? And he's just like aww shucks, too bad, I'll go hunting somewhere else. Bye bye! I dunno, I feel like there should be some more consequences to breaking a deal with an all powerful being and undermining him under his nose. At the very least she shouldn't have her ruidusborn powers anymore since the godeater left. Divine magic would have changed too if the gods left so why not the ruidusborn magic and abilities?

And thay brings me to the next part, divine magic cause how does that work. The gods were not little snacks anymore for predathos cause they are human again, so how has nothing changed to how divine magic works. I feel like it should have at least been weakened a little? Again they made the decision to make the gods mortals and have them reincarnate constantly, and there are no consequences other than the gods walk the earth again and cults will happen? It would be all be so much more interesting if things really had consequences. If Clerics would need to search for other ways to be as powerful as they could be when the gods were actual gods. Looking at how Paladins draw their power from their belief in their oath to the god in question. But no, no searching necessary, they just know?

Maybe in another campaign we'll get more of a look in that particular decision and what possible consequences it has. But at the moment it was a little disappointing I guess. There could have been more. I suppose it suffers from wanting to wrap it up quickly and happily with all the troubles going on it the world? Maybe

[syllarinfirinne]

I was thinking about Critical Role last night, I have been thinking about it a lot recently as I have been finally working my way through the Aeor arc of Campaign 2, and specifically about Campaign 3.

I fell off of Campaign 3 a couple times and dove back in trying to catch up before finally just saying Maybe Another Time/Maybe After Its Over around the time of them finding the Fire Titan Shard, because tbh, I got bored of the constant circular debate about defending/killing the gods, but I still think aobut it a lot because I liked the narrative Matt had built, love Exandria, and even liked Bells Hells as characters.

The reason I dont think it really clicked for me, and seemingly others, is I dont think Bells Hells is the right party for this story, and that it wouldve worked better with either all different characters, or as a shorter Epic Tier arc for Vox Machina or The Mighty Nein. Because, like, Bells Hells, at the start of their campaign is probably the party least connected to the Gods, either in a positive or negative light, especially compared to late game Vox Machina or Basically Any Point Mighty Nein.

Vox Machina had:

Grog: No connection to the Gods at the beginning of the campaign, finds some religious awakening with the Stormlord.

Keyleth: Strongly anti-organized religion at the beginning of the campaign, comes to resent the Matron of Ravens because of everything that happened with Vax.

Percy: Has a strong distaste for magic in any form, either of the arcane OR Divine persuasion, sees it as a shortcut that cheapens human ingenuity, despite that ruler of a city watched over by the Dawn Father with a respect for the Dawnfather.

Pike: Devotee of the Everlight, occasionally struggles with her devotion but one of the Everlights most ardent followers.

Scanlan: No strong connection to the Gods for most of the campaign, is smiled on by The Knowing Mistress during the Vecna arc.

Vax: His struggles with his sense of purpose push him towards religion early in the campaign and his love for his sister thrusts him into the service of the Matron of Ravens, eventually becoming her Paladin and Champion.

Vex: Defends the Dawnfathers city, but like Keyleth has a strong resentment towards the Matron for in their eyes Taking Vax.

The Mighty Nien had:

Caducius: Ardent follower of the Wildmother, helps guide Fjord towards enlightement in the Wildmothers eyes.

Caleb: After he broke mentally was broughtback to clarity by a follower of the Arch Heart.

Beau: Monk of the Cobalt Soul, and therefore a follower of The Knowing Mistress, while not overtly religious she has no problem presenting herself as a follower of the Mistress.

Fjord: Warlock of a creation of the Betrayer God Zehir who eventually finds redemption in the light of The Wildmother.

Jester: Cleric devouted to a Demi-God/Arch Fey who has a Less Than Great reputation with the Pantheon.

Nott/Veth: afaik basically no connection to the gods.

Yasha: Follower and adherent of The Stormlord, who lifted her from the brink of death and despair but challenges her in extreme and difficult ways.

I dont know, I just feel like either of those groups of characters would have had a more tangible connection to a plot related to killing the gods than a group consisting of two people who felt their prayers went unanswered, two people with no real care or connection to the gods, a cleric looking for a god, and a guy who is kinda connected to the Wildmother.

And, again, I dont think Bells Hells are a BAD adventuring party, I just think their adventuring and story shouldve maybe touched on the source of Imogens powers, but also spent serious time exploring the rest of the new characters backstories, and found another Main Plot that wasnt this.

[beef-brisket]

✨️"Head" Hunter✨️

@things-arent-what-they-seem66

The Pride Ring was once again in chaos as the annual extermination took place. The only sound that came from Pentagram city were the screams of sinners and the rally cried of the exorcists.

Walking down a main street of the city, Adam was swinging his axe as he looked for sinners. Although, this year, he had something special planned for that loser king.

He was almost laughing thinking about it.

Adam stopped when he heard commotion coming from a nearby ally, then, a short, pale sinner ran out, tripping over his feet when he saw Adam.

Sinner: Ah! F-Fuck!

Adam laughed when he ran back down the ally: Eh, you'll do.

The sinner was trying to pull open a door that was clearly locked. The man jumped away when he saw Adam walking over to him.

Sinner: No, no, no- hey, man-! I wasn't doing anything!

Adam hummed as the sinner took off further into the ally. Unfortunately for him, Adam knew it was a dead end. He's so desperate to stay alive that the commander of the exorcists almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

As the darkness of the ally got thicker, the sinner ran into a building wall that closed off the ally.

Turning around, the sinner pressed his back against the wall. He was shaking, his eyes wide with terror as the imposing figure of the head exorcist got closer and closer.

He didn't know where to look, at the sick, sadistic smile of the man's face or that golden axe that was more red than anything.

Sinner: S-Sir- hey, please! I- I- fuck- I'm sorry- for bothering you- I was just- I thought-.

Adam: Dude, fucking breathe, you're annoying me with all this bullshit rambling.

Sinner: I-... sorry- you're right...

Adam smirked: I know I am, bitch~. So, what's you name?

The sinner stated at the man's face. He always thought the commander was a kill first and never asked questions kind of guy.

Sinner: Is... this a trick?

Adam glared at the sinner, sending shivers down his spine: Do I look like a fucking clown to you, cunt? I asked you a fucking question.

Sinner: S-Sorry! I'm- I'm Beau...

Adam: Well, man. This is your lucky night~.

Beau's eyes widened, looking between Adam's mask and his axe: Lucky night... really? Oh, that's a relief, sir.

Adam: Yeah... isn't it~?

-

Lucifer sat on his balcony, sipping from a mug. The extermination was ending, so the hundreds of exorcists were flying up through the bright, heavenly portal that clashed with the Pride Rings red sky.

He couldn't make out many features of the angels, but he could always pick one out.

Adam.

He was a stark contrast to the other angels, and even to Hell itself. Between his large golden wings, to his angelic clothes, Lucifer could pick him out no matter how far away he was.

Lucifer followed the first man as he entered the portal. Once it closed, he released the breath he didn't know he was holding. He always hated extermination day for multiple reasons. The screams always gave him a headache, and his rage always got the better of him if he watched the devastation for too long.

That's why he spent his time in his office designing different ducks, but he'd always walk out when the angels were leaving. He wasn't sure why he did it. Maybe it was hatred or wanting to confront the angels for everything they were doing.

But at the end of the day, Lucifer sighed the contract.

Looking over Pentagram city, Lucifer took him the damage. The blood flooded streets were unusually empty, and fires raged across the city. Lucifer was surprised that it took nearly three and a half minutes for the screams to start again.

As Lucifer walked back inside, he felt his phone buzz. He couldn't help the way his heart skipped a beat. Maybe it was Charlie. After all this time.

Pulling his phone out of his jacket, he red the new message.

Lucifer growled, clenching his fist, his mug exploded from the pressure, shards falling to the floor.

Lucifer: Motherfucker...

Glaring at his phone, Lucifer took in the picture that got sent to him from an unknown number, although it was very obvious who the message was from.

A bloody, grotesque image was opened on his phone. A very dead sinner was wearing an ensemble that looked too close to Lucifer's white ringleader suit.

His body was carved and broken. It was honestly a surprise that there was any white left of suit, it was... disturbing.

His head was torn off and lifted up. What made Lucifer glare wasn't the state of the body, but the fact it was made to look like him. Blood was smeared on his cheeks to mimic Lucifer's.

But, there was one thing that stood out o Lucifer, something that really, really, pissed him off.

Adam was standing on the body, holding the detached head by the hair.

The photo was taken from a lower angle, showing off Adam's long leg and heavy spiked heeled boot, which was pressing into the back of the very dead sinner.

Moving up the picture, Lucifer growled when he focused on Adam's face.

The first man was flipping him off, his long tongue sticking out. Taunting Lucifer. His grip tightened on his phone, was this fucker threatening him?!

That's when his phone buzzed again. Another message from the same number, except this time, it's a message.

Unknown: "Too bad the apple couldn't keep the big bad exorcist away ;)".

[theclockistickingwrite]

Eadwulf takes a deep breath as if he is surfacing from underwater, as if he’s drowning. He lets it out slow and long. Is he crying? He might be crying. Or maybe it’s just the rain. He says quietly, “Lion, are you ready?”

(Beau and her wizards, caught in the bloody shards of war only they can know about. Or: the bitter, breaking work of trying to leave the world better than you found it.)

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 120

A play on Assassins Creed ... hmmmm ... where are we going with THIS then, Samuel? Okay ... yeah, I'm not really sure I'm feeling this one, guys. Oh ... okay, I think Robbie's commitment to the bit is starting to win me over, at least ... but yeah ... I think that one ultimately failed to really make an impression on me ...

Robbie has an announcement? Wow ... good on ya, boy ...

IS IT coming to an end yet, though? You guys have to FINISH THE GAME first, after all. I'll believe this is it when IT IS it ...

Anyway, so what NOW? Big cliffhanger, so now for the payoff ... where are we going? IS THIS gonna be a TPK? I mean I'm very nervous about it now ...

Oh yeah, that's right, Braius you ARSEHOLE!!!

ALREADY?!!! Crap! ROLL INITIATIVE!!!

Dorian tries to do something WHILE HE CAN ... a 9th Level Foresight? Okay, then ... doing one for himself, then ... best time for it, then ... hope you learn something RELEVANT, Blue Boy! Save the day! EIGHT HOURS?!!! Oh, that's just ... yeah, that is pretty SEXY ...

Laura's ALREADY looking for a giant Kaiju member to suddenly make an appearance ... yeah, reckong Mastt's right. Terms of service would have something to say about that ...

ROLLIES!!! Always fun ...

"Braius the Betrayer" ... yeah, the boy's NEVER gonna live that down, is he?

Dorian flies right into the middle of this whole situation ... careful, cutie! Orym would be pretty upset if something happened to you right now! Mass Cure Wounds? Nice one ... Robbie: "Oh, do you see this?" Marisha genuinely geeks out seeing the score ... 25 HP back each! Beautiful ...

Chetney Wold lands right in the thick ... yeah, he's going at it! He gets slashing with his claws ... first misses ... oh, I should think 27 WOULD hit ... but a Dirty 20 DOESN'T!!! Oh man ... that means it's some serious high AP ... at least he gets ONE hit in ... Crimson Rite! Yup ... oh shit, Psychic Feedback? Oof ... not so good ... ANOTHER NAT20? Oh, so he DOES get a hit on that last ... YEAH, that's more like it. Nice one, Travis!

Wait ... the head is now GONE ... Laudna (gasping in wonder): "We killed it!" Yeah, I don't think so ... no, that's much worse ...

Imogen casts Blade of Disaster! Oooooooh ... dump on that head, Imogen! KRISSSSSSHHH!!! 2 attacks! First hits! Oh, lots of dice maths for the damage! 34 points! Going again ... ANOTHER hit! 20 this time? Okay ... that was BONUS action? NOW for the action, then ... okay ... oh boy, Laura's trying to do something SNEAKY ... Mind Sliver? On the HAND?!!! Madness ... amazingly it actually WORKS!!! Bizarre, but GO OFF, girl!

TWO Legendary Actions? Oof ... Shriek of Oblivion? This sounds potentially scary ... OH MY GOD THAT'S HORRIFYING!!! O.O ... roll well, guys! SIXTY-TWO POINTS of Necrotic damage? Nightmare!

Ashton does dsome dodging round to get to Fearns and takes his attack ... oh yeah, 32 DEFINITELY hits ... BOOM!!! Oh TWENTY-ONE hits? Okay, so we got the magic number, then ... another POW!!!

Another Legendary Action ... The Evolving? Excuse me? Gods help us ... AAAAAAAAHHH!!! Holy shit those are HORRIBLE rolls for us! O.O

Laudna DOES NOT take out her ball-bearings ... no, you're NOT playing Beau right now, Marisha ... Hunger of the Shadow Shard? Bloody hell ... Dead Girl's getting SPOOKY right now ... I love it! Suck that Essence, Laudna! 11? Ugh ... so not much to glean from that, then ... nuts ...Shadow Walk? Nice ... and it's a BONUS action? SWEET!!! Okay, full-on spooky teleportaton! I love it ...

Orym sprints round and jumps up onto Braius' shoulder, uses him as a springboard to leap onto the head ... careful Wee Man! Meanwhile thanks to Braiu's Truthbearer, Predathos' attack of opportunity DOESN'T WORK!!! Nice! He starts slashing away with Seedling ... wait, Condense Glass? NOT FAIR, Matthew!

Maw of the Red End? Oh my GODS, Matthew! These Legendary Actions are really gonna hurt us! FUCK!!! Orym just got CHOMPED ON!!! And a Dirt 20 is NOT ENOUGH? Oh fuck ... wait, he just got EATEN?!!! O.O NOOOOOOOOO!!! Wait ... oh thank FUCK for Misty Step! THat was almost HORRIBLE ...

MORE limbs? FUCK!!! Meteoric Slam? Argh! Catapulting Blow? Marish: "All this shit is made up!" Laura: "Tell him that!" Not sure that's gonna make much difference, guys ...

ANOTHER claw! Oh fucking hell that's a TERRIFYING mini! Watch out, Imogen! AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Miracle Devourer? Oh for fuck's sake ...

Fearne throws some 4th Level Scorching Rays at it ... that's FIVE attacks! That's a Hit! And another! Nat20! Yes! Yet another! Whoa, ALL FIVE ht their target! Fucking BEAUTIFUL, Ashley! You're a BEAST right now! Roll that immense amout of damage dice! Here we got for some complicated dice maths ... O.O ... 30 points of fire damage ... another 8 on top of that ... nice ... BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!! And now Mister chucks more flaming shit ... another hit! SPLAT-PHWOOOM!!! Matt: "If a massive kaiju could look icredulous from being shat on by a flaming monkey, this one would."

Marisha THOROUGHLY FOILS Matt with the most well-placed Critical Roll EVER!!! The reaction is VERY well deserved!

Braius casts Staggering Srike at 4th Level ... "My god will reward me when I SMITE YOU!!!" It misses? Balls ... second attack HITS though ... double the dice? Oh boy ... this should be interesting ... Divine Smite too? Ooooooh ... oh my fucking GODS that's 77 points of damage on a single attack! O.O DEVILMAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNN!!!

Dorian gives himself some positive reinforcement and casts and 8th Level Crown of Stars ... that's NINE MOTES!!! This shoucl be interesting ... attack the hand! At advantage! POOM!!! Nice one!

Chetney jumps down and slides to the head ... he swings with Turmoil ... NAT20!!! Nice! And a second hit! 29 points of damage, then 22! Plus the Thunder damage! KRAKADOOM!!! Blood Curse of Bloated Agony! Yeah! Go off, Old Man!

Is Predathos about to try and GROPE Fearne right nw? XD ... Marisha: "I've seen this hentai." Screech of the Ravaged Mind? Oof ... again, that's NASTY!!!

Imogen shifts round for a sweet shot ... she TRANSMUTES her Lightning for a nice fat explosive THUNDERBOLT ... at EIGHTH LEVEL?!!! Bloody hell, Laura ... O.O ... and it fails ALL of its saves ... oh damn you, Legendary Resistance! Laura DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH dice for this damage roll? XD ... I love it when that happened ... 48 points of Thunder damage! KRAKADOOM-KABOOM-BOOM!!! Oh ... WHOA!!! One of the claws just SHATTERS!!! O.O Fucking hell ... another Spectral Blade attack ... A CRIT!!! Yes! Thats TWELVE D12 of damage! Yet MORE serious dice math! 59 points of Thunder damage! Fucking AMAZING round, Laura! You're a GODDESS right now!

Ashton runs and JUMPS at the head ... oh that DEFINITELY hits! With a Chaos Burst too! Lightning! Perfect! POW!!! Next hit ALSO hits! Another Chaos burst! Psychic damage this time! BOOM!!!

Laudna is now out of position so Marisha has to completely rethink her tactics ... thinking, thinking ... what IS the range on Bane? Marisha: I;m coming, I;m coming." Laura: "Okay!" Sam: "Very clinical!" XD ... Fireball? Old school! At 3rd Level ... and she DOESN'T CARE if she gets Braius while she's at it cuz she's STILL pissed at him ... plus Fearne's IMMUNE to fire ... PHWOOM!!! 8 D6 of Fire damage! Nice ... and it FAILS its Dex save too ... 24 ppoints of damage! Then she Quickens for a Chill Touch ... 30 total DEFINITELY hits! 20 points of Necrotic damage and he CAN'T regain hitpoints until HER next turn! Fantastic!

Orym springs onto the crystal ... oh, that DEFINITELY hits ... so he keeps slashing! Second misses, but third hits! CRACK-CRACK!!!

The head MOVES?!!! Balls ... but only ONE limb shifts ... Another Shriek of Oblivion? Bollocks ... oof, that's so horrible ... save well, guys! Half of 67 points of Necrotic? Oof ... shit, yeah ... Fearne is DOWN ... Mister's shaking her right now desperately trying to wake her up! NOOOOOO!!!

Ruinous Claw? GODS NO!!! Stop, Matt! We can't take it! 52 points of Slashing damage? Oof ... Shield? Oh thank fuck, well done, Laudna ...

Ashley rolls a death save ... O.O ... please work ... a Nat1? That's TWO instant failed saves! NOOOOOO!!! She has ONE LEFT!!! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck ...

Braius is NOT gonna help her right now ... "Show me your nipples and persuade me." Boobies? Try it, Laura ... Liam: "Her heart's not in it." Okay, I guess that DOES work, then ... come on, Braius! Titties! Just SAVE HER already! He takes it as a Divine Sign ... XD ... he rushes to Fearne and uses Lay On Hands to get her back up ... phew ... thank the horny gods ...Sam: "For my bonus action, I will --" Travis: "Rub one out?" LOL ... then he Inspires Laudna with a FANTASTIC painting ... oh, she's CONSIDERING forgiving him now ...

Another claw strike! Balls ...

Dorian floats up to engage the claw ... he draws his sword and starts hacking away ... 27 definitely hits! Oh my GODS he basically CHOPPED THE HAND OFF!!! Beautiful! He floats to the other hand and gets swinging again ... yeah, 30 ALSO hits! Defensive Flourish? Ooooh ... and a Healing Word for Ashton! Nice ... 29 points back! Sweet ...

Another claw atack and Fearne's PRONE so it has advantage ... oof ... Shield? YES!!! Bloody USE IT!!! Oh thank fuck ... perfect ... that was almost SO BAD ...

Chetney clicks his Boots of Speed to rush to Imogen, then uses the Staff to cast Blink on her ... really? Interesting ... and now he just COLLAPSES from exhaustion ... XD

Fucking hell this is already EXHAUSTING ...

Imogen uses her spinning Blades for another attack ... 24 points of damage! Now 9 points ... hmmm ... now she shifts and throws a 6th Level Lightning Bolt ... BOTH fail! SWEET!!! Double the damage! 84 points of Thunder damage! KRAKADOOM!!! BOTH of the arms are DESTROYED!!! And she BLINKS OUT!!!

Ashton is out of range so he just rushes in as close as he can ... no joy this turn, then ...

Laudna recasts Mirror Image on herself, then Quickens an Eldritch Blast ... gods bless Spell Sniper ... so that's FOUR hits with one a CRIT!!! Beautiful! That's 50 damage on a cantrip! Magnificent!

Orym runs up to Fearne and pours a healing potion down her throat ... that's 44 points of Health back! Nice ... and now he's covering her too so she has EXTRA AP for her next turn! Nice ... good old Orym!

No Shriek of Oblivion! Good ... more limbs, though ... BALLS!!! Screech of the Ravaged Mind? Oof ... more saves, then ... roll well, guys! Balls ... even with a 20 Fearne STILL takes 35 points of Psychic damage ... so much for all that healing ...

Ruinous Claw again ... ouch ...

Fearne staggers up and casts Flame Blade at 6th Level ... with Sneak attack? Nice ... holy shit ... NATURAL 20!!! Matt: "Holy shit, you can READ THAT DICE!!!! Oh the incredulity! LOL ... oh this is gonna be a FUCKTON of damage ... lots of dice AND it's DOUBLED ... O.O ... 37 doubled ... SEVENTY-FOUR POINTS of Fire damage! SSSSSSHHHHHHWOOOOOMMM!!!

Braius just STRIDES UP to the head and starts swinging ... Staggering Smite! 30 definitely hits ... a 3rd Level Divine Smite! 51 points in one hit! But he MISSES his next hit, wasting a 5th Level Divine Smite! Bollocks!

Maw of the Red End again? Shite ... this time it's going for Ashton ... a Nat20? SHITE!!! Silvery Barbs? Oh that's a BEAUTIFUL SAVE, Fearne! Marisha: "Witches be bitchin'!" Even so that's A LOT of damage dice ... halved, though ... strength check! 26! Phew ... so it DOESN'T eat him ... thank FUCK ...

Dorian casts Healing Word on Ashton ... 20 points back! Then he starts hacking away with his sword again ... ANOTHER NAT20!!! Beautiful ... with Blade Flourish TOO ... oh nice ... this is gonna be another BIG PIECE OF DAMAGE ... another hits after ... nice ...

Chetney races to Ashton and drops a healing potion off to him, then flanks Braius ... he starts swiping at the head with Turmoil ... BOOM!!! KA-POW!!! Beautiful ...

Imogen pops in and Transmutes a 5th Level LIghtning Bolt ... Sex save means it succeeds, so only half damage ... BOOOOO!!! Not fair! That's 30 altogether, then ... nuts ... but at least it does SOME damage ... then she uses a Sorcery Point for a RANGED Shocking Grasp ... but its MISSES?!!! Bollocks ... so she Blinks again!

Ashton starts whaling on it with the hammer ... Reckless? Go for it ... with a Chaos Burst ... Cold damage ... that's 54 points of damage altogether! THWACK!!! Thief of Defeat is so sweet ... 31 definitely hits ... another Chaos Burst ... Acid damage! BOOM!!! He burns the Shard of K'Mort and turns entirely crystal ... FANTASTIC ...

Another claw attack on Dorian ... oof ... and now it aims a Telekinetic Vacuum at Laudna ... Marisha: "What if I pop out a titty?" Matt: "Ive already seen it!" Crap ... she gets sucked right up to it ...

Wow, this REALLY puts Marisha into a bind ... she has no choice but to move away ... Mirror Image? I don't like this ... so it BITES HER ... shit! That's a lot of damage ... PLEASE don't be eaten ... oh wait ... can Chetney save her? OH MY GOD TRAVIS you are a fucking HERO RIGHT NOW!!! Fucking BEAUTIFUL save! She thanks him as she rushes away for some good range ... finally she turns and hurls another Eldritch blast at the head ... all four hit with TWO CRITS!!! Holy shit ... that is SEVENTY POINTS OF DAMAGE from an Eldritch Blast! O.O ... yeah, she just POURS this damage on this bitch right now! Pure furious retribution! Finally she chucks a Hex at it and that's it for that turn ...

Orym rushes in and uses a RANGED ATTACK with Seedling! Holy fuck ... beautiful move ...

The head moves again ... damn it ... oh, they're RIGHT IN IT now ... it can just attack EVERYBODY now ... O.O ... SEVENTY-THREE points of Necrotic damage? Sweet FUCK ... Dorian is DOWN?!!! Fuck! Braius too? Shit ... thank fuck Fearne has Evasion, she doesn't take ANY damage ... that's a CRIT against Chetney ... O.O ... 52 halved? Oof ... ANOTHER attack on him? ANOTHER Crit! Laudna throws Slvery Barbs in to counter that ... thank fuck ... Oh ... that's a NAT20 on the THIRD ATTACK against Chet ... 58 points halved ... FUCK!!!

Fearne moves into a better position and throws a Scorching Ray at 4th Level at him ... five attacks ... FOUR out of the five hit! Sweet ... 35 points of Fire damage!

Mister chucks some more flaming shit at him ... BOOF!!!

Another claw attack ... and YET AGAIN it's going for Chetney! 30 points of Slashing damage! Shite!

Braius fails his first Death save ...

Maw of the Red End .aimed at Imogen ... shit ... Imogen is chomped and it BREKS HER, she is DOWN as it SWALLOWS HER!!!

Matt chooses to call a break NOW ... O.O

Dorian succeeds his first Death save ... phew ...

Chetney uses Turmoil to fling a Shatter at the head ... 38 points of Thunder damage! BOOM!!! He Misty Steps behind the head, staying JUST out of range ...

Fuck ... Matt just made that SO MUCH WORSE for everybody AGAIN ... O.O ... it's DIGESTING Imogen now and she IMMEDIATELY fails a Death save - she will DIE next round if she fails again ... FUCK!!!

Ashton is FULLY WILLING to let Laudna KILL HIM for a Hail Mary if it works ... that's badass ... he goes to the head and tries to FORCE THE MOUTH OPEN ... oh you badass stone punk I LOVE YOU ... holy shit Taliesin you steely eyed missile man! Beautiful strength check! Oh, Reverse Whisper? Fascinating ...

Holy shit what IS that t-shirt ... my gods Robbie WHEN did you do THIS sexy shoot? You look INCREDIBLE ...

Reaching down the throat Ashton 5tries to drag Imogen free ... another Strength contest ... oh that is BEAUTIFUL ... wait ... he LEAVES THE HAMMER and just pulls HER free so he can be ABDLUTELY SURE that he can make this work ... but she's OUT of the maw now ... okay, NOW what is he gonna do? Since he's now changed BACK and he's just a WRECK ...

Laudna gets up to the head and casts Void Puppet ... it takes on the form of Otohan? HOLY SHIT ... she USES ASHTON'S HAMMER for this ... okay ... a Disintegration ray? Nice ... if this works it will be AWESOME ... she has to roll 12 or higher for this to work ... or it will backfire CATACLYSMICALLY on Ashton ... 9? OH MY FUCKING GODS ... O.O ... how fucking bad is this going to be?

The head burns a Legendary Resistance to succeed, but the hand fails ... she SERIOUSLY fucks it up, but it could have been MUCH more impressive ... oof ...

Orym drops his Hex and instead shoots a vine out to grab Dorian and drag him into relative safety before pouring a healing potion down his throat ... 15 hit points back and he is UP ... oh man, that;s a ROMANTIC moment in the middle of this shit ...

Another claw attack this time at Orym ... and Wee Man is now DOWN ... fuck ... right in front of Dorian! NOOOO!!!

The head is going for Laudna ... Mirror Image? Please work this time ... YES!!! Thank fuck for that ... a claw attack at Ashton ... halved means 23 points of Slashing damage ... now at Fearne ... a Crit? MATTHEW!!! COME ON!!! She burns her Silver Barbs ... but it still does damage ... FUCK!!! She's out AGAIN!!! But at least she burns HIM while he does it ...

Mist is PISSED right now so he just FIRES his Flame Seed at it ... POW!!!

Fearne fails 2 Death saves ... FUCK!!!

Braius ALSO fails a Death save ...

Dorian struggles up. taking in the ruinous scene around him ... he swoops STRAIGHT UP above and then dumps a Mass Cure Wounds onto the group ... 29 hit points back to EVERYBODY, while he holds back from himself ... oh you sweet, SWEET man, you're too pure for this world ... finally he Inspires Braius. That's a beautiful round, Robbie ...

Matt? What are you doing? He just shredded all but THREE hit points right back out of her again ... YOU BASTARD ...

Chetney rushes to the head and swings at it with Turmoil ... two heavy hits! 38 points of damage ... but he takes three back himself ... second hit is 33 points of damage ...

The head moves AGAIN ... and goes for Ashton ... Dreadful Misfortune? Oh nice ... BEAUTIFUL move, Ashton! So Predathos just BITES HIS OWN TONGUE instead! XD ... beautiful ...

Imogen forces herself up on her hands and knees ... oh ... fuck ... the Ring of Remembrance? Shit ... what's THIS gonna do? Oh my god, if this doesn't work she's going to DIE ... She has to roll a 4 or higher ... oh my fucking gods the tension right now ... O.O ... TWELVE!!! Holy shit ... oh my gods this is going to be INSANELY powerful ... and she can use a Sorcery point to Transmute it too? HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!! She's changing it from Fire to Thunder ... so it's a Meteor Swarm? Wow ... Laura ... I think you just WON THE GAME ... I cannot WAIT to see how this works ...

Robbie (to Laura): "Have you ever been happier with a fistful of dice?" Oh my gods, I know ... O.O

This is already SO MUCH DAMAGE and it's only the FIRST HIT ... 154 points of damage ... sweet fucking OH MY GODS ...

Imogen is LITERALLY RAINING FIERY HELL on this fucking thing right now ... O.O

Marisha: "She is the Storm, baby!" She is indeed ...

Matt: "Imogen Temult, how do you want to do this?" The table collectively LOSE THEIR MINDS ...

Pure havoc. Everybody just has to COVER UP and hope for the best as rocky devestation pours all around them ... meanwhile Imogen is just a glowing Exaltant Ruidusborn GODDESS right now ...

Oh, so the little child version of Prdathos is back? Interesting ... oh, it's breaking apart? They're drfting away and merging with her ... right, so what DOES this mean?

Laudna pulls the Mask out again ... and it just crumbles in her hands ... hmmmm ... not the best sign ...

Yeah, reckon it's best to just GET THE FUCK OUT of this place while you still can, guys ...

Liliana? Oh yeah ... best get to her quick ...

Whispers? For Travis NOW, when he's trying a smell check on Lliana? What does that MEAN?!!!

SERIOUSLY guys, you need to LEAVE!!! Go now!

This whole thing's turned into the clamax of Krull right now ... they're running out of the Black Fortress as it's collapsing around them! AAAAAAAAHH!!!

Healing is good, you guys better get yourselves back into SOME semblance of passable shape while you're moving ...

Imogen Messages Caleb ... oh hell, Liam has to start shuffling through his Character Sheets to check what Caleb has right now ... so they're all just mopping up the remains of the battle, looks like ... okay, this is a victory, then, but a messy one ...

Could Ira get them out? Or Planerider Ryn?

Imogen tries to Message Ryn now ... okay ... oh here she is! Hey! She might be able to help? Nice ...

Roll a D100? Crap ... not a good sign ... 74? Apparently that's good ...

Planerider Ryn is IN DA HOUSE!!! She's missing her arm, but otherwise in one piece ... nice ... She can take EIGHT of them and herself ... so somebody gets left bebhind no matter what if this includes Liliana ... hmmmmmm ...

Laudna has that elf amulet from the place near the Secret Entrance? Nice ... that could do it ...oh ... wait, maybe not, then ... crap ... I don't know, it's confusing ... hmmmm ...

Yeah, this is all very complicated ... I have a feeling this is PROBABLY going to go spectacularly wrong ...

Somebody has to get in the Hole no matter WHAT we do, just PICK one of you ...

You're running out of time here, guys! Do something NOW!!!

Dorian goes in the Hole! Hold your breath!

A doll? YES!!! hat's do it! Perfect ... Ryn has a focus points now. TIME TO GO!!!

WHOOSH!!! They've teleported! Let Dorian out of the bag! Phew ... oh wait, there's somebody here!

A massive army? A mixed bag ... oh, it's the forces of Vasselheim? Interesting.

The Dusk General? Sounds cool ... and there's some ANGELS too? Wow ...

Crap ... has Imogen just become a target? Not good,. not good ... now what do we do?

Scary arse goliath woman ... doesn't sound too pleasant ...

Oh hell, is this all just gonna kick off? These people don't seem to like each other ...

Okay ... this MIGHT be salvagable ... be VERY CAREFUL about what you do next, this could go bad REALLY EASILY right now ... O.O

Yeah, sounds like Vasselheim would be the smart place to go. Let more qualified minds take the lead on this ...

Roll good, guys ...

Yeah, Dorian does have his charms ... XD

Oh the angels are like an official ESCORT now? That's pretty cool, actually. I hope that's a GOOD sign ...

The Ruidusborn in the group are, like SERIOUSLY SHINY right now ... that's all kinds of hot ... O.O

Lake Umamu? Nice ... they're back on Exandria, then. Now what?

The Ashari! Hey! Finally, some friendly faces ...

And Ryn's tagging along, that's good ...

Vasselheim! As required ... perfect. Wow ... yeah, this place is READY for some shit ... and this is where Matt calls it a night.

Right ... so sounds like the next episode is potentially a proper climax for the campaign, then ... I guess we'll see. Is it Thursday yet?

[lackoftrumpets]

Decided to go all out with another massive attack this year. I went around the artfight website and other online places I frequent to gather characters I thought looked neat. I hope the attack looks alright because my monitor has been compressing it when ever I try to look at it outside aseprite. Scale and size might be a bit awkward in the attack because I draw most sprites in 36x36, so I'm sorry if some details look a bit strange. It was an interesting and fun challenge to draw some characters that had so many small pieces that added a lot to their design. Below is a list of where the characters are all located on the mass attack. If I accidently missed you or made a credit mistake, feel free to reach out so I can fix it! I hope you all enjoy the attack as much as I had making it! Link to the attack! Ship Beam: Kailani (@something-paranormal), Nous (TheQueenOfSpades), K.E.R.F (Kerfus)

Beach (Right Side): See Lion (axowotls), Perri (xazzy), Kal of the Sile Forent (KRoland2000), Hewei-Mota (@cobaliuu), Jowan (SpaceMermaid001),

Beach (Left Side): Icho (@metsaahenki), Typhon (@xenoscribbles), Starseeker (Itsa_ArtfightAccount), Lime (Paraclipse), Iris and Benjamyn (@plaguedogs123), Llanite (@spiralflute), Beach House: Tony (@130bpmnot2slow), Toshi (ceoofsilliness), Aza (MauDarling), Kai (@uyukat), Mr Midnight (Trashpandaowo), Cate (@snipdoodle), Dock: Pancho (Astro_Eastie), Savour and Sammy (@kittyknight), Seltur (Kosys) Beach Sky: Bane (AsimiLykos), Scareye (@ivi-ivisek), Hue (@maple-and-pie), Quill (Esmont), Sparkle Puff (Winelys11) Ocean (Left Side): Dave (@katicin), Reid (@spetatler), Pod (abhorror), Shard (@trikstergodessstudio), Samantha (cleoziep), Lorelei (@that-space-ace), Jellyfish Princess Oe (O3Oyh), Spotty (MonSonia_Gator),

Ocean (Right Side): Abyss (@themermaidslagoon), Lunar Tides (yewrunner), River (@jokester71), Seavarin (Merlebirb), R'lyeh (TheKraut), Vanilquana (_0liM4ma_), Seafood (ToxicElysium), Do-Ve (@ebony-the-dork), Poogie (DragonThatDraws), Beam Room: Tania (niachic), Landon (kadothorne), Beau (goosejohn), Nova (SZ11) Window Room 1: Nas (Karlach), Nova (@tem-tem-timmy), Mono (@apolloprophecy), Bastion (RatBoulevard), ORBIT-3 (folykl) Ship Engine: Kai (Argo_Chicken), Kara (Karacreations), Goldshine (@iridiss) Greenhouse: Larimar (Januzs_), Tetra (@neonwabbit), Quinn (GhostCats) Cafeteria: Benjamin (@saveraedae), Billy B. (GUARDTEN), Echo (Khryso), Cat (SilverTheCat), Red Mungus/Cooper (@sillypotatochipz), Goople (Sashi The Okapoi), Jupiter (@sillybr3ad), Maroon (Freighter), Tia [Mogus] (ManaketeSilver), Frostbite (YoshiKid141) Vents: Radi (Mooncaller), Suri (@to-much-a-thing), Monotone (@sillypotatochipz), Ricochet (eggtoasty), Reni (adenator) Main Deck: Howell "Wiz" Larson and Sophia "Fi" Gilmartin (@kayspaceprinceart), Fletcher (@deepspaceart), Quince (@beakerhoneydew), T'Sel (@cattrek) Window Room 2: Nova (eggtoasty), Luna (EllaPlay), Anya (@jinxedjay) Computer Room: Pudim (Clearth), Somni (@takonyatchi) Andromeda (Elizadesu), Osmium (@astronomalyy), [] (Spoopybug), Hannie (Hanniebaby) Window Room 3: Anpu (Lxylia), Echo (@darkecho17), Diz (DizSlime),

On Top Of The Ship: Pleiades (Xephina The Eleven), Cosminior (@npc-arts), The Lich (@meemrasmus-stash)

[sparring-spirals]

i wanted to wait until i actually caught up and watched it to make this post because i dont know if it actually applies but. since idk When That Will Be. im putting a note here for future me to SOMEDAY. take the time to chew over the ashton shard choice juxtaposed against beau in the hag hut. sacrifices where you think its fine if you make the call (but you forget the scarifice isnt just yours, but the people who care about you). Its not a 1-1, not at all, but. I feel like theres something there and also i will Die on my Ashton And Beau Reflect Each Other Surprisingly Often hill. anyway. someday. that will happen. okay back to radio silence. i hope Bell's Hells have some fucking crunchy conversations.

[utilitycaster]

I've been meaning to make this post for a while, and a few others provided some similar insights recently (this being one of those posts) but: in actual play, and fiction generally, just because a character feels a certain way does not mean it is generally true.

The example I had in mind is Keyleth and Vex's feelings towards the Raven Queen as covered excellently in this post. It's extremely valid for them to feel that way; it does not mean they are objectively correct about what happened. It is easier to blame the Raven Queen than to be mad at your dead brother or partner for devoting himself to a cause; it's even easier to blame her than Vecna because the party was so used to defying death, and because Vax did come back temporarily from that (via the Raven Queen). But this is a very fair, if not necessarily overly merciful, agreement, into which Vax entered voluntarily and repeatedly was asked for - and gave - his consent.

This is something we see at times play out in game - I don't know if forgiving is the word, but Beau is much more willing to consider that perhaps her father had a point before seeing him months into being with the Mighty Nein and having supportive friends and mentors. Her view towards her father makes a lot of sense, but it is ultimately her extending good faith that we learn immediately is undeserved. Ashton's belief they should take the shard is another - it was pretty clear to the audience that this was something they'd been extensively warned about but it makes perfect sense that given their personal experience, they would. And then it blows up in his face, but it still makes sense that he would have made this choice.

It's deeply irritating when fans of a work say "why didn't the characters act in a perfectly logical way that includes all the information I as a viewer know that they might not be privy to and discounts their biases and emotions", but I think fandoms are relatively aware of this flaw. What I'm talking about is a reverse of that: fans looking at characters acting with all of their biases and emotional baggage and lack of complete information and saying "see! This character agrees with me therefore I must be correct in some objective sense."

[cringefaecompilation]

okay it is now morning and i am here to talk about people in this fandom being weird about ashley johnson's characters but mostly fearne because i am way too in love with fearne for my own well-being.

because it doesn't stem from nothing. a lot of ashley's characters got truncated by her irl jobs where she was forced to miss sessions and a lot of people would rather just roll with her not being there rather than take the time and effort to give her more detail. oh, that's pike. she's grog's little buddy and likes scanlan. oh, that's yasha. she's mollymauk's best friend and beau's girlfriend. unless you're a massive fan of them or of ashley then nobody really talks about them outside of set dressing for fanfic.

and now that ashley is a full time cast character with fearne, i don't think people know what to do with her. they can't just file her away because she has strong ties to not just the other pcs, but to the overarching story of the entire campaign. and she's not this subtle, quiet, stoic or a devout gentle cleric that they can mill down into being "mom friends" 🙄, she is big and bold and in your face and full of energy! she takes the spotlight and runs with it! she's so far detached from what people assume An Ashley PC is that people aren't sure how to approach her. so, unfortunately, she and her backstory is oft ignored for the sake of other characters she's related to.

and it's not just any particular ship that does this more than the others, it's pretty much every single campaign ship that has ever been made. fearne is simply either a wingman to ensure the author's favorite OTP gets that little nudge in the right direction or she's the goddamn trophy wife for whichever character she's shipped with (not you imogearne fans, you are a delight to have around). and all of her interactions or decisions EVER are played off as jokes or flirting.

i want people to talk about the coin flip without making her out to be selfish! i want people to talk about her own fears about rudius and being ruidusborn and how she's worried it'll affect her and the fact that if ludinus wins, it'll destroy the feywild (i feel like literally everyone forgot that?), i want her to be open about all the times she's almost died and how much she loves unconditionally and how it intersects with her own honest-to-god fears about actually being in a serious relationship. AND THE SHARD THAT'S SHE'S SCARED OF TAKING MAC I BEEN DYING TO TALK ABOUT THE SHARD-

my point here is that fearne is an actual character outside of ships and shipping drama and "The Bit" that has fears and anxieties just like the rest of them. if you can complain that people don't take chetney seriously or if people are too harsh on orym or that people think all of sam's characters are jokes then why can't she get any respect on her name?

[m4rs-ex3]

here's what my big ol brain has made of The Story of Captain Skall™

she was katolian ("through forests and flowers, past the uneven towers") and had a smokin hot beau at home (leaving the katolian guy who loved you... "she'd told him she loved him, always"...... where have i seen this before). she traveled north via the river west of the capital ("journey by river and sea"/"sailing north"/"to the east were the fields" [east of the river is duren]). from skall's hook ("skall made her mark on the map // that northernmost hook // is in every book") she went towards the shards ("east she sailed // into waters so deadly and cold // then came the ice") and she fucking died.

character wise i am verryyyyyy curious. i'm gonna go out on a limb here and say she was rather ambitious. "but what were her motives?????" i hear you say well i say this: she would have no reason to go to the shards other than the fact she was trying to get to the starscraper, so she was looking for either the corona or the novablade ("what's one mark on the world? [<-skall's hook] // there was so much more to behold").

sooooo something tells me both her and her lover will be rather important

as for the episode title............... "at journey's end lies the title of six oh three" could either mean the end of skall's journey, so "the shards," "the frozen sea," etc, OR that's a fancy way of saying the end of the poem, so "always" (which would be kinda hot ngl) so yeah. i'm claiming "603: The Frozen Sea"

[blorbologist]

Trick or Treat, Empire Siblings, Chains

Trick or treat! I'm personally unsure which this one qualifies as, but chains can be tricky to work with!

--

“Do you ever think about the manacles?” Beau says, just above the tower’s purring thrum. 

Caleb glances up, places his novel (Feather Leather, finally tracked down what that barkeep had been reading) on the sidetable. Jinx and Ruth will see to it’s return to the bookshelf. 

She says it casually, not looking at him, playing with the chain of a bracelet around her wrist. A recent gift from Yasha, with peculiar flowers preserved in its charms. But the words ran from her lips, an old habit never beaten from her by tutor or adventure, and Caleb would not be her friend to be flippant about it.

He does, nonetheless, have to wrack his mind for it. “The manacles? Like -”

“The manticore,” Beau says. “The - uh, fuck - something with the marrow? Could have sworn we came across them a few other times too.”

Caleb nods. “The Angel of Irons.” Now her eyes meet his, the blue of new shadows. “The Chained Oblivion.”

She hums, throwing her legs over the arms of her chair, perfecting the clumsy embrace. Keep her from kicking, nervous habit. Almost, almost touches the scar on her chest, where she was run through in that god’s name in a church. Gestures instead, to put the energy to use. “Yeah, that.

“I just… most of those were broken. Like, the things escaped, or were busted out. And now Trent…”

Beauregard, he realizes, is looking at his wrists. The thin shards of scar tissue peering from beneath his sleeves. 

At where Trent had thick iron bands splayed over weak flesh, not for the security of them but the symbolism. For him to be in shackles before trial, hands glued to forever supplicate for mercy he had never provided. 

“I dunno,” she says. “Maybe we shouldn’t have expected chains to work. Hasn’t in all the times we’ve run into them.”

Caleb hums. 

Maybe they should have burned Trent alive, so he could feel as a boy’s parents and cat had. Or fed him sweet cyanide, as Astrid’s mothers enjoyed. Or strangle him, of air and hope and life, and see Eadwulf’s face to the last. Or keep him to a chair and implant terrible things to him, or send him from his home to die against those he thought monsters when none - no dragon, no city, no god - could rival.

But he is not, and never was, the man to do that. To be as his teacher was. Besides, to many a wizard death can be but an escape. The ailing body was more a prison than any chains. 

(In the back of his mind, in the knowledge of the moon hanging low and bloodhungry, he hopes this of the Chained Oblivion.)

He lets the thought lie, plucks another from the shelf: “Well. One of your wife’s epithets is Chainbreaker, so I suppose it’s something we are to stick to, hm?”

Beau leans fack back. “I forgot about that.” 

And then her eyebrow cocks, readying for a blow: “Speaking of… hey, remember when we rocked up to the Bright Queen in full BDSM gear? And Essek was there? Remember, Caleb?”

He sighs. No, he did not forget about that.

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