#bell's hells

[drawsmaddy]

[ID: A digital illustration of Orym and Dorian Storm from Critical Role. Dorian has his arms around Orym's waist and Orym is gently holding Dorian's face. Dorian is smiling with his eyes closed as Orym looks up at him affectionately. End description.]

So excited for these two to be together again

[annemarieyeretzian]

liam narrating “orym, a complete bloody mess, pushes himself up. hex is gone. he can barely move. he’s exhausted.” and his voice breaking as he continues “but his father wouldn’t stop protecting his friends, and neither would his husband.” and ashley saying “oh my god.” as she immediately goes through all the stages of grief,,, yeah

[cassafrasscr]

Even putting aside the Dorym of it all... I kinda feel like part of the reason Orym misses Dorian so much is that Dorian is kinda the next most normal person in the Crownkeepers and Bell’s Hells. Which is honestly a little wild to be saying about a runaway prince in disguise. But like...

The Crownkeepers have/had:

- A himbo dwarf Sorceror who has been singled out by a Lesser Idol in a fursuit.

- A bubbly girly-girl Warlock who is apparently her own patron (and the Spider Queen's here too, I guess)

- A Rabbit-folk Paladin who used to be a bartender in Fantasy Vegas and is now devoted to the goddess of death.

- A kleptomaniac Faun whose adoptive grandmother is an eldritch hag with the power to alter fate. Also, has a pet monkey that shits fire.

- Does Cyrus count? He’s an NPC. In any case, he’s basically the same as Dorian, but More Himbo and less useful, lol.

- A woman so intense she is literally always on fire.

Bell's Hells has/had:

- Fearne (I already explained her)

- A Werewolf who makes toys and hates Santa.

- A walking corpse who is haunted by the spirit of the necromancer who raised her from the dead. Also enjoys puppeting a dead rat.

- A purple-haired Psychic who gets her powers from an imprisoned eldritch moon monster.

- A Barbarian punk who is half Primordial Titan, half Beacon, all attitude. Also, they used to be an Aasimar before his cultist parents meddled with powers beyond mortal understanding.

- A chirpy, sentient Robot who is technically a therapist, but also really bad at it. Recently discovered religion and is real annoying about it.

- An 80 year-old man who is an erstwhile member of the legendary Vox Machina. Also, known liar and coward.

In contrast, you have Dorian (runaway prince) and Orym (just some guy).

I feel like they probably met each other for the first time and were both like, 'THANK THE GODS, SOMEONE WHO ISN'T TOTALLY BONKERS,' and just stuck to each other. Like two acquaintances at a party where they didn't know anyone else. 😂😂😂

[undead-knick-knack]

[deramin2]

Orym's argument against Ludinus Da'leth and the Ruby Vanguard is essentially "The purpose of a system is what it does."

This is a systems theory coined by Stafford Beer around 2001. He posited there is "no point in claiming that the purpose of a system is to do what it constantly fails to do." It does not matter what someone tells you a system does if it does not reliably do that. The things it does consistently do are the actual purpose of the system.

Ludinus (and Liliana) claim the purpose of the Ruby Vanguard's violence is to free Exandria of oppression from the gods. Orym's point is that they have not consistently protected anyone from oppression. They consistently murder innocent people, indoctrinate vulnerable people into doing terrible violence (including children), support a ruling class that dominates the population through mind control and eugenics, and seek to release a predator so terrifying that the warring alien gods and native primordials worked together to seal it away as a threat to both of them.

So the logical conclusion is that the purpose of Ludinus' system is not to free anyone from tyranny, it's to install himself as the tyrant. And it does not matter what Ludinus says it's for or even what he believes it's for. The purpose of a system is what it does. And Orym has been personally and repeatedly victimized by what it does. Why wouldn't he keep reminding them of that?

Add onto that, the Ruby Vanguard is a death cult. They lure people in with believable lies. They use propaganda to control how people view them and to convince people to support them. Liliana has been groomed into a true believer who genuinely thinks what she has been told is true and that Ludinus' system does what he says it will. She has been convincing other people of this for years. Not because she's an inherently bad person but because everyone generally tries to convince others that what we believe is true. It is actually dangerous to let a cultist try to talk you into the cult's perspective. That's why Orym shuts it down.

Orym was already on edge but it's fully in a breakdown after FCG's sacrifice. One more iteration of Ludinus' system consistently murdering the people he loves. But he still told Imogen he wants her to have a good relationship with her mom again. He wants Liliana to make it through the other side of this. But that has to involve consistently stating the reality of what's happening against what she believes.

Ludinus believes in the rapture of the revolution. Burn everything to the ground on a fundamental level and a new perfect society will grow, with him to guide it. The reality is that kind of power vacuum consistently leads to horrific violence and conditions often get much, much worse. Especially for vulnerable people, who often do not survive. A lot about the gods' relationships to mortals probably needs to change, but this an incredibly dangerous gamble to fix it.

The purpose of a system is what it does. Any suggestion otherwise is cold comfort to Orym's family in the ground.

[sonicskullsalt]

"What I do know is that the Ruidusborn - we're part of pushing through [the restraints put on Predathos by the Gods]. We're supposed to be what can break the final boundary."

Prediction: Most if not all of the Ruidusborn who won't and/or can't serve as a vessel will be sacrificed to break Predathos free.

"We have something within us, something that the Gods can't stop. Only we can truly reach him. And from what [Ludinus] said, in order to get it beyond and back into our realm, it needs a vessel. Something to carry it past that threshold."

Prediction: Let's say Ludinus has kept refining the power siphoning technology. Bell's Hells found Model 1 or 2, but he has kept working on it. Maybe he's made it a spell, and he doesn't need any device anymore. Maybe Aeor plays into this, too. Anywho, I suppose it's easier to siphon Predathos' power when it's stuck inside a humanoid vessel than when Predathos is in its natural, probably ginormous, form.

That's right, I think Ludi is playing everyone and his final goal is to get Predathos' power for himself.

[septembermonologues]

staying hashtag delusional and choosing to believe that the shop announcing a dorian shirt and dice set today supports my theory that he's going back to bells hells

[beauregardlionett]

i've connected the two dots. i've put the pieces together.

[justalittlebluetiefling]

I'm alive because they made me alive.

[umoras]

imodna in the new animated intro! 🖤💜

[ithinkthiswasabadidea]

LETS GOOOOO

[drawsmaddy]

[ID: A digital illustration of Laudna and Imogen Temult from Critical Role. They're both wearing modern clothing and standing at a pink vending machine with an ad for "Pretty's Soda" on the top of it. Laudna is wearing a black dress with a long, shredded skirt, a black corset, a black jacket, black platform boots, and a black coffin shaped bag with a transparent front and a red lining. Pâté is inside her bag. Imogen is wearing a white button up shirt with the top few buttons undone, a grey fringe jacket, denim shorts, yellow knee high boots with flowers embroidered on them, and a brown shoulder bag with a bisexual pride pin attached to it. Imogen is leaning against the vending machine and smiling at Laudna who has a hand on the vending machine and is smiling back at Imogen. End description.]

Local spooky girlfriends grabbing a soda

[annemarieyeretzian]

starting the episode off with this is actively soothing me

[elahogn]

sleight of hand versus perception

[undead-knick-knack]

With FCG gone, Fearne now has the lowest Intelligence of the party

[deramin2]

Happy 420 to Ashton Greymoore. I hope you can bum a high CBD joint off Keyleth and just get baked for a while. You deserve it, buddy.