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@disastergenius re your tags about how additionally, Keyleth is permitted (somewhat misdirected) anger against the Raven Queen for 30 years for something that was ultimately far more complex/Vax's choice, but Orym isn't permitted, to be perfectly frank, 3-4 months of anger given that he didn't find out it was specifically the Vanguard who attacked until after Campaign 3 had begun - yeah! The difference is incredibly stark and it becomes obvious the issue is entirely "well I think that killing Orym's family was a justified action on the way to the Noble Pursuit of Killing the Gods, so he should obviously get over his inconvenient feeling, whereas Keyleth's feelings are debatably compatible, so I'll let that slide."

The argument for Ludinus is often that he just wants to be understood and I think it comes from a place of really worryingly failing to understand that if you kill someone's husband they won't listen, because those people are like "but my Noble Pursuit?" and can't or won't comprehend that many people (I'd even say most) might write you off entirely on the basis of your actions alone, and will not care about your thought process. I also think that Orym represents a population and a question that Bells Hells do not adequately engage with/explore throughout the narrative - it's not just that he brings up the possibility that the overall process of killing the gods could lead to immense harm to the population of Exandria and that he doesn't want to pursue something without knowing, he did lose people as collateral to this goal and doesn't want that visited upon others. And he mostly gets ignored for his attempt to think beyond himself.

The thing is, I think it is true that Ludinus wants to be understood - you could even, if you wanted to really get into the sympathetic interpretation, argue this is a function of how in the immediate aftermath of his loss there probably wasn't anyone to sit with him and help him process or even specifically grieve alongside him. But a consistency in his characterization is how throughout his entire life, he constantly pushed people away and isolated himself and thought himself better, and it's only now, when he knows his time is almost up, that he bothers to say "man I wish the people I looked down on and treated as expendable tools understood me." like idk you could have tried this 500 years earlier and maybe Molaesmyr would still stand. It's a classic villain trope, and a good one - they try to get some kind of connection with the heroes because they have no one else left to connect with - but it's a classic villain trope in that it underlines how empty this person has made their own life.

And what's interesting to me is that it's also very valid (I'd even say objectively correct) interpretation to argue Ludinus's family was also innocent collateral in the service of a goal much larger than them. I don't dispute the idea that Ludinus and Orym are parallels - in fact I think it's incredibly true! And that's the issue: Orym's response within a mere few months of knowledge and less than a decade of mourning is infinitely more mature, wise, and kinder than Ludinus's millennium-long murder tantrum, and what's more, Ludinus created him. Ludinus not only visited his exact pain on someone else (for reasons, I might add, that veer into "this was unnecessarily murderous and cruel" re the anti-resurrection poison, which literally is one of the Great Dropped Threads/Plot Holes of C3 but that's another post) but the person he harmed responded with a grace Ludinus never once possessed, and nothing stings more to a self-pitying egotist than looking into a mirror and seeing someone do better in every possible way.

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Travis, because his wife chose to play the Ring girl

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just over a year ago, @saturdaysky commissioned me with an absolutely outstanding shadowgast prompt; namely, 'Caleb helping Essek put on a fancy outfit'. i'm sure you can imagine how ecstatic i was about it (just look at that line, every single word in it is designed to make me go heart eyes), and i'm finally finished and excited to post this bad boy. i hope you guys enjoy this picture too and my very optimistic wish is that it inspires all sorts of lovely stories in your minds 😏

sky gave me a beautiful prompt and a specific atmosphere/mood to depict, but was very patient and generous about letting me go wild on the actual posing, colors and details, so naturally i did 😂 my idea of using a mirror in the composition was admittedly rather ambitious, and lead me to reading up quite a bit on optics, the physics of reflections and reflections in art specifically (as well as the history of zippers and other closures!), so not only was this commission a delight from the point of view of its topic, but i also learned a fair amount of new stuff while working on it. honestly speaking, i like to think that the bookworm wizards would approve of my little adventure.

thank you for commissioning me! 💜

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Love me a woman who lurks in the wilderness

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[ID: A digital illustration of Caleb Widogast and Essek Thelyss from Critical Role. They're facing each other, looking at each other with affectionate expressions. Essek is holding a purple parasol patterned with silver constellations over both of their heads. End description.]

Wizards <3

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So, I had a thought. Actually, I’ve had a lot of thoughts. And they would not leave me alone. So here we are.

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the Clay siblings

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«It took us some time to get there, but we found our rhythm.»

Art by @loliwobbles

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pledge

(caduceus for @adorkastock's draw everything june - day 7!)

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If you think about it notts fake backstory where she's nice to yeza even though everyone else around her expects her to be cruel to him is a role reversal of how their relationship actually started out

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wanted to draw beau’s tattoo

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He’s like two apples tall

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a falling star fell from your heart 💫

my submission to my server's april/may prompt event, 'weather'! what do you mean a meteor shower doesn't count as weather

for prints, find the link in my pinned 🫶

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Contrary to what might be assumed given the setting, the last chapter is not missing because it was destroyed, but because Snyx found a copy of The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

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sam's character intro: dramatic chase scene with a terrifying jumpscare and a giant scary bear monster

taliesin's character intro: *spider gets yoinked out of a bush*

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Oh my Gods, yes! Taliesin’s August is Grimdark Jiminy Crickett