#but also cognouza is so cool

[marius-lepual]

i'm so obsessed right now with what the dynamic must have been between caleb and essek for the six months between cognouza and now

their interactions had all been with the m9 or with the m9 nearby, and i think being truly alone for the first time would change things a bit. there's nobody to interrupt them in the middle of a moment, but also, there's nobody to interrupt them if things got too overwhelming. no group to fall back to to cool off.

i think there was a lot of tension, at first just awkwardness as they tried to adapt their dynamic to the new circumstances. and nervous tension as they talk and learn more about each other, both afraid of accidentally crossing any unknown boundaries or bringing up a painful topic.

they would exchange spellbooks, nerves firing as they each try to acclimate to this level of intimacy

and it slowly gets easier and more comfortable and the tension transitions into wanting and yearning. the awareness that they both wanted more, and that they were both fucking terrified of that. hearts pounding as their casual touches stop feeling quite so casual. hands lingering longer. there's no reason for them not to go for it, but there's also all the reason in the world. so it goes unspoken, the elephant in the room.

to me this is why he didn't contact essek. things had changed between them in a way that the others would absolutely pick up on. and the m9 aren't exactly subtle. questions would be asked that caleb and essek weren't ready to answer. it was best to keep things between themselves for now.

[burr-ell]

Also the whole religion bit of fandom criticism is particularly strange, kinda from both ides of the debate imo. The idea that presenting the prime goods as actually evil and Asmodeus is secretly a good guy, wrongfully accused, is somehow an "establishment" stance, when the actual establishment vs anti-establishment stance is literally baked into the traditional dnd theology in the form of the alignment chart, where the explicitly aren't the same thing as good and evil, but rather co-aligned.

That said, I do find the fact that people default to blaming the "culturally christian atheists" as the once primarily vying against the prime gods being good. Atheism specifically is about not believing in divinity at all, not about the perceived mortality of any excising divinity. I really feel that it comes more from lazy media criticism, believing that the "subversion" inherently makes it more clever, occasional annoying reddit atheist aside. Anyway, sorry for dumping theses in your asks. :V

Nah, you're good anon! This is interesting stuff (and I like getting CR asks :D).

To be clear, the reason that I view the fandom debate as a discussion of establishment vs anti-establishment is that a lot of the "what if gods BAD" ideas are presented with a very Twitter-esque anti-authority burn-it-all-to-the-ground attitude; that is not to say that I actually think that's what the totality of the argument is, just that that tends to be the veneer. (And to be fair, some of my perspective on this is colored by Fire Emblem Three Houses discourse, where this is also usually framed around "the system" when it's usually for the reasons we're discussing, but I don't want the lines to get blurred here.)

So I think a lot of the reason why people making these claims with that attitude aren't engaging with alignment is because there are also gods who are chaotic good or neutral and lawful evil; I think a lot of the criticism of the gods is mostly just like, people being mad at Pelor and projecting that onto all of the pantheon. The notion of this actually, canonically being an establishment vs anti-establishment scenario falls apart because I don't think you can really make a decent case for why Sehanine or Avandra are more "establishment" than the guy who runs a wholeass death city built on rigid laws and power structures. I mean...why, because they're considered Good and Asmodeus is considered Evil? Yeah, that tends to happen when one side fights to preserve life and the other side rules over a plane dedicated to the torture and corruption of mortal souls.

That doesn't necessarily speak to whether or not the Exandrian pantheon playing the tropes straight is a good thing, I'm just saying it shouldn't have been a surprise when Calamity Part 4 dropped. We saw what the Nine Hells are like. We saw what Tharizdun did to Yasha and what its influence did to Cognouza. We been knew.

I think you're correct in that most of this ultimately comes from poor media criticism and wanting the subversion of expectations because it would be cool, but I think it's also because people don't want gods who were occasionally not accommodating to Blorbo Of The Month to be validated as "good". I tend to try to be as inclusive as I can to people who have suffered religious trauma, because I always want to respect and affirm that (especially as a religious person, but also because it's just the right thing to do), but I think it's also true that many people who propagate those ideas are not themselves sufferers of religious trauma but are willing to use that as a shield if it's available. And like, notwithstanding the fact that "the god you thought was good is actually bad" has been done often enough that it's no longer a subversion...guys, don't we have entire seasons of HBO's flagship show and half of a bloated cinematic universe to tell us why we shouldn't just subvert expectations for the hell of it?

And I'm not saying that needing everyone to immediately validate your blorbo and/or ship or else they are badwrongproblematic is a sign of emotional immaturity (it is), but I am saying that this attitude crops up most often in the same college kids whose idea of real activism begins and ends with "burn it all down".

[grayintogreen]

Can't leave a comment on ao3 cause I only have mobile data rn and ao3 doesn't work on it, but the recent chapter of ycdhm was so good. You said it was a set up chapter but it was amazing at connecting things and touching on so many topics. Lucien coming to realise the M9's genuine attempts and accepting the group himself, Fjord and the Star Razor, Caleb and Essek and the spell books, Nott and her struggles and also her empathy, Caduceus' family stuff and how you handle his unstated struggles with it so well, Beau's legitimate conspiracies, the mentions of Eadwulf and Astrid (can't wait to see them, if they appear). Also, the bit at the end? With Rowan? Some terrifying parts all coming together. Her influence on Lucien, how she kinda reminds me of an unhinged and much less moral Loquatius, how she is out to get Caduceus. Cadueceus! He has someone out to get him, specifically, and make his life a tragedy. I am ready for any and all angst. Oh boy this next arc is so exciting. To ask further on Rowan though, is she Ashley's nemesis that you haven't introduced yet? I hope I didn't forget anything but I probably did. It was all so good. Cannot wait to read the next chapter, thank you so much for your work. (I'm leaving this on anon because I think you're super cool but I'm shy -.- Apologies)

I AM WEEPING AT WORK SUFFERING A LONG FOURTH OF JULY SHIFT. Thank you so much!! I always worry about the chapters that are mostly talking because OH NO WHAT IF ITS BORING so I’m glad it’s not!!

Also YES I THINK CAD DESERVES HIS OWN ADVERSARY. I know the Nein were only mid-level fighting the gorgon in canon but since they’re higher now than they were fighting Cognouza, I gotta up the stakes.

And HEE. I think you’ll find Ashley’s adversary is more Jayne than Nerida at this point. She’s the mastermind who told Nerida who killed Alder. Little shit-stirrer that she is.

[judasiscariotofficial]

PREDATHOS !!!!

so

-alien force coming in eating shit up like tharizdun

-UNLIKE tharizdun is also CREATING alien life

-has adapted the realms/powers of ethedok and vordo

-(((OR their "creations" are simply informed by those powers)))

-sealed away in ruidus babey (gods' first prison awww)

-probably spawns life there

-spawns have built a city

-(((OR spawns the actual city like cognouza shit, unlikely)))

-probably neutral, but literally life changing

-VERY COOL

[stickersaints]

hey caleb maybe do some fire shenanigans and just,, BURN IT DOWN

[maydaymadier]

hi Kingsley Tealeaf is not Mollymauk and never will be, Kingsley Tealeaf is his own person and as a character deserves to explore himself and grow and outright said that he isn’t Mollymauk and doesn’t actually know who that is, but likes the impression of him that he does have and claimed him as a brother.  Kingsley is such a cool character premise and reducing himself to the last guy to use the meatsuit is baffling to me.  

Like, imagine waking up, you can barely speak, you don’t know where you are, you don’t know what anything is, you’re in a ruin, you’re naked for some reason and in so much pain but that’s fading pretty fast, the scent of cool moss and blood is heavy in your sinuses, you’re surrounded by strange people you don’t know, except you kind of do, somehow your soul remembers most of these people, and you’re probably safe?  But you recognize one of them so much it hurts that you can’t think of her name and all your clumsy newborn tongue can manage is to call her ‘love.’  Yasha, her name is Yasha but the only word you know is ‘love.’  And it’s so much and you still don’t know what’s going on but it seems to be safe, or at least no one wants to hurt you.  So you let these people take you with them and you proceed to sleep like the fucking dead for about twelve hours straight.  When you finally wake up again and still can’t speak, getting a shattered soul to take in its body can be tricky, and you’re new to this anyway.  And then the little blue one, you called her joy, fucking whacks you with a diamond and essentially fast forwards you through who knows how much fucking physical therapy and wow you can talk now.  And they tell you all about who they think you are but you have no memory.  So you decide you can be someone else, you have a blank slate and a group of freakishly powerful built-in allies who can help you, and decide to become a pirate.  Because apparently that’s something this previous person never got a chance to do and you’ve never fucking seen the ocean, or any large body of water.  Because you’re not Mollymauk or Cognouza or Somnovem or Lucien or anyone else.  You’re inspired by them obviously, but it’s a fun little pastiche, getting to pick and choose what you really like, the world is limitless.  You have these nightmares, these flickers of what should be memories but aren’t quite solid enough to call them that.  You wake up in your cabin in a cold sweat, not screaming, last time you screamed awake you hurt your throat, and you dig out that journal Beau gave you and try to piece things back together.  And slowly you get a better understanding of this dead brother of yours you’ve never met who’s also you.  

[utilitycaster]

Without touching the alien thing with a collapsible ten foot pole, could I coerce you into sharing more of your evil moon theory?

Of course! I hope everyone understands that if I allude to something in the tags it is the equivalent of that SNL sketch where Kristen Wiig says "don't make me sing"; you do not have to ask very hard.

It's actually pretty simple:

Consider if Ruidis, in Halas's time, was indeed in the Astral Sea, much like Cognouza. Consider further that, much like Cognouza, it could have, via threshold crests or similar, been transported to the material plane, where it could be devastating. And, unlike Cognouza, it was transported to the material plane, in an act lost to the Calamity, and perhaps even was a factor in the devastation of Exandria, but was never fully activated.

It may have been that it was transported it too far out from the planet to be used; it may be that heroic efforts managed to stop it or push it away after it came to the material plane; or it even may have been partially activated, and the recoil pushed it further out into orbit.

I'm really interested in knowing what would have happened had the Mighty Nein had to fight the neo-Somnovem on the material plane, because Matt implied that it would have been up in the sky somewhere (which is what in part led to this idea); had they succeeded against it, would it have disappeared, or would Exandria now have a third satellite?

I don't have any specific ideas regarding who was responsible; betrayer gods does seem pretty reasonable particularly since it's implied Cognouza had some ties to Tharizdun and like...who knows what the gods were doing in the Astral Plane and how they were fucking around. The fact that it's also on Halas's stained glass indicates to me there was probably also involvement from mages in some capacity, and that perhaps this even pre-dated Cognouza and was part of their inspiration (hey! why don't we have a huge planet in the astral sea!) and everyone else was like "what the fuck."

The main hole in this is that you'd think someone would remember, but also I don't know quite when the Kryn who were alive back then emerged from the underdark (so they might have just been like oh yeah two moons seems normal) and also it's pretty easy in a fantasy setting to be like "magic handwave! people forget the horrors beyond comprehension".

 Because I can't resist including another pet opinion; this is also why I think having a pre-Calamity full campaign would absolutely suck. It would destroy any potential for mystery! It would increase the number of stupid dragon theories by tenfold because there wouldn't be cool Calamity theories to have! It would have to be way more railroaded than any main campaign! The Calamity is mysterious by design, and it's been the ultimate source of the BBEG for both campaigns by design and it's great post-cataclysmic worldbuilding to have this. That said, a pre-Calamity EXU series would be GREAT.

[gelidon]

Already more than slightly grieving the fact that Campaign 2 is in its final few episodes, but damn if this boss fight isn't awesome as hell.

The fact that it's Lucien, a villain who's been an emotional rollercoaster to interact with, with two cool as fuck forms and the essence of Mollymauk still lingering so strongly that reaching out to him actually has significant combat consequences! I've been more scared of Lucien than any other villain in CR, partly because of his personality and prowess but also because fighting him always risked taking down that last surviving shred of Molly too. It's tugging at the heartstrings to see that manifest in game.

Lucien's two forms are fucking cool, I can't wait to see the actual mini for form 2 because Matt's description sounded awesome and horrific.

I still love the fact that Essek is there, it's such an interesting beat that they are fighting a corrupted villain version of their long-dead friend alongside a... reverse corrupted? Potential boss fight-turned-bestie. His character development's been a delight to watch and I'm glad he came along for the finale.

I suspect there will be at least a few episodes after escaping Cognouza, I feel like most character arcs have gone as far as they will on-screen but I'm highly inclined to say taking down Trent Ikithon will still happen. It's been built up so much and so relevant even during the final arc that I'd hate to see it left. I get the sense that Liam wants to see it through given the prep put in, so I'm guessing that's the last thing to go, unless it becomes the specific goal of a oneshot or something.

[violet-t-9]

Check in on my (not very realistic) wish list for episode 138

1. Nobody dies in the battle against Cree, even temporarily (looking at you, squishy wizards). Everybody survives and defeats her relatively easily.

Ayyye I mean Cree was one vs. 6 basically and of course it was easy enough, I expected this. Bye Cree, I won’t really miss you... WAIT she got controlled after death?? Well, the actual Cree fight was still easy so I’m counting this. The flesh monster version also took less than like, 20 seconds in-game time to beat lol.

2. Caleb or Beau’s eye power come into play whether for them or against them during the combat (telepathy also counts).

Heyyyy Caleb and Beau could pick up on the radio! That is helpful- oh he turned Cree into a flesh monster using the eyes... oh NO everyone has eyes now except Jester and Yasha. Group telepathy could be useful?? I guess??

3. Beau and Caleb discover the third function of their eyes if there is one (besides true sight and telepathy).

Nope I have no idea. I’m assuming that seeing through illusions and dark vision are separate at this point. That’s fine considering the huge twist that almost all of them have eyes now, like hello?? Caleb also wondered if he has a fourth power now, which we still don’t know about.

4. The party gets some much needed rest, even a short one, after defeating Cree (Bonus: heroes’ feast).

Hey the time shunt thing worked! PERFECTLY! With a 30 and a 24! I love two wizards, my absolute beloved. THANKS ESSEK (and Caleb, but Essek mostly).

5. This is a long shot but still hoping for any mention/sighting of Yussa.

Thanks Caleb for mentioning Yussa! Also Beau was able to try to connect to Yussa thanks to the eyes too! What a cool moment. Also thanks everybody for agreeing to help him lol. Caleb banished him! They saved him! Yayyyyy.

6. More nightmarish body horror and screaming from the cognouza citizens (look, listen, I loved last episode okay, Matt is awesome, horror is my jam).

Yes for the intestine corridor and flesh puddles, also for Cree transformation, also for the threshold crest vault mouth opening thing and for literally everything else in this episode need I explain? As a student of science I am very much enjoying the weird physiology connections with the Cognouza.

7. They meet another member of the Somnovem who offers more information.

Jester’s Calm emotion what a queen, they did meet a Somnovem. Wow I never thought I’d find eternal love so creepy but thanks Gaudius. Gaudius is apparently against Fastidan and Culpasi, nice. Good to know that the Somnovem Omega still does not get along lol. 

8. Beau and Yasha’s PDA or power couple moments (bonus: they talk about mind control, the eyes, or feelings).

OH WOW Yasha has IDEAS about Beau wearing a red cape does she now lol, not subtle at all as expected. Get a room you guys! Not much talking can be done at this point, but nice.

9. Fjord and Jester’s conversation or domesticity (bonus: they talk about hope for the future).

“All we care about is love and unity” LMAO JESTER taking your chance to smooch as much as possible. I’m counting this moment you cannot convince me otherwise.

10. Artagan/Sprinkle comes into play/is mentioned and interaction with Jester.

Yep, they both talked (well, hissed in one case) with Jester. Artagan thought about them going to the feywild too! Fun.

11. Obligatory wish for Essek’s fancy dunamancy or magical items (Bonus: we get to see more high-damage AOE offensive spells).

Magic missile again! At least that will never miss. Sad that he can’t do AOE ever with the party around lol. ALSO THE TIME SHUNT BY THE TWO WIZARDS! The 30 from Essek (dunamancy master indeed!) and the dirty 24 from Caleb, NICE.

12. Obligatory wish for Caleb’s polymorph spell on himself or a party member.

Jester’s polymorph spell was cool too! Jestape? Japester?? I like Japester. Polymorph! Jester’s interactions are also my beloved. It’s not Caleb’s spell, so I’m not counting this one.

13. The party tracks down Lucien and tries to reach him by mentioning Molly.

Well, they attempted to track down Lucien, but really it’s the other way around. 

14. Obligatory wish for Essek’s room in the tower (it will stay until it happens).

Nope, as expected.

15. Obligatory wish for Cad being a MVP in and out of combat also for him to use decompose more on the city, I’m curious to see what happens.

That path to the grave, what a MVP move Cad. TWO TIMES! TWO TIMES! For the HDYWTDT from Veth too! I knew it, Cad is a combat genius. Also nice blight on the fleshy ceiling. Also plane shift to the fire plane! Also that curse word speech what a king.

16. Veth one-on-one RP interaction with any other party member - we had some good tag teams recently, like Veth and Beau, Veth and Yasha, Veth and Essek... I want to see more!

We don’t really have time for RP because this episode was super action-packed but we did have a bunch of nice short moments!

17. Yasha or Fjord being absolutely freaked out/creeped out by the city.

Well to be fair EVERYBODY was super creeped out, so...

18.  The empire siblings don’t get another red eye (well, hopefully this will happen if they won’t get a full rest).

Well ironically, Beau and Caleb DID NOT get another red eye during the whole party members gaining red eyes scene- Nope, Caleb got one more. Honestly, pretty excited and anxious at the same time.

19. Somebody check in on Essek’s mental/physical state because for a newbie adventurer he is doing suspiciously well - I wonder if he is just desensitized at this point.

Poor Essek was very physically hurt and also shook shook by Cree being transformed... so not entirely desensitized. He even failed the wisdom saving throw OH NO HE IS GETTING EYES ISN’T HE CALLING IT RN READ IN BOOKS I know what book is kinda associated with a wisdom save. Update: I KNEW IT, and I don’t care that nobody will believe me that I called it. Still sad that nobody really got to role play much, but I’m enjoying the action.

20. Caleb uses more fire or his customized spells (last episode’s awesome Widogast’s web of fire got me missing all his unique spells).

Disintegrate followed by CAT’S IRE HYPE and the clutch immovable object used for the first time what’s sexier than wizards NOTHING.

21. Fjord being the leader of the group in any way or just does something very impressive (go Fjord Tough).

Nice hexblade curse and triple Eldritch Blasts Fjord! Warlock powers let’s go! Also, nice counterspell! That divine smite + crit star razor oof that’s such a beautiful 80 damage. VERY impressive indeed.

22. We get to see new spells/abilities/features gained by their level-up! That will probably not come into play until a long rest, but one can hope.

MIND BLANK AT 8TH LEVEL what a perfect spell for Caleb. They got a long rest thanks to the mini Beacon! I love it. Jester and Cad showed off some spells as well!

23. Lucien physically reacting to the party’s attempts to bring up Molly’s memories/moments and showing confusion/hesitation.

Well they didn’t get to try anything really, Lucien spent most of the time doing his cool, dramatic and drawn-out villain monologue thing, also his maniac laughter scared me way more than the scream from last episode.

24. Obligatory wish for everyone to remain relatively happy and alive by the end of the episode except Cree (I have a feeling that Lucien ain’t dying this episode), and the episode ends on a terrifying cliffhanger as always.

Rip Cree, and what do you know, cliffhanger! Gosh I love this show.

Bonus:

Nice dimension door Jester, she is SO on task and such a key player in these crucial moments!! What a queen, it’s thanks to her (and Caleb, but it’s her idea first!) that they got to the crest so quickly and got rid of it. I repeat, QUEEN.

Veth’s first shot AND the final shot were awesome in terms of damage, rogues am I right?

Wow what a confrontation. I thought Lucien was all for the Somnovem but apparently he is... just super chaotic?? And wants to rule them all?? What was that all about? Lucien just gets more and more complex and I’m conflicted because now they might need to fight him, the city, or both. This is getting super complicated and I can’t wait for the next episode.

Well guys, this session made me scream in joy and also feel what it’s like to be high on adrenaline. The episodes just keep getting better and better. I literally could not care less if this is the final arc - if it is, it’s a damn good one. I love the cast so much, I love critical role so much. I wish it could be Thursday every day of the week!

[cadaceus]

C2E138

This was another short episode that had so much packed into it. I was literally on the edge of my seat the whole time, and it really does feel like it is ramping up to something big. My full spoilery liveblogs for Campaign 2, Episode 138 are down below but be forewarned that there are many capital letters because... yes, I got excited. MULTIPLE TIMES.  Can we time travel to next Thursday please?

- I came in one minute late and the Nordverse is going wild, Chosen One Travis never fails to make me laugh! (also *harp music* Laura Bailey~)

- I know it makes sense for it to be the end of the Campaign but it will still make me slightly sad every time he says it  😭

- “Cree Deeproots” ooh we’re getting Cree lore?  👀

- ROLLING INIATIVE RIGHT OFF THE BAT OH GOD

- 60 POINTS OF DAMAGE?? LET’S GOOO VETH

- Extort Truth?? Have we seen Beau use this ability before? Either way, that’s super cool

- Empire Sibs picking up on Cree telepathically saying “Nonagon, help me” I am both terrified but also kind of sad, I almost don’t want her to die?  😭

- WHAT DOES VESSEL OF THE PATTERN MEAN OH GOD DGVHFDJNKLDFL EVIL AVATAR STATE WAIT WHAT TF IS HAPPENING WHY IS SHE GROWING A WEIRD MONSTER BODY

- You know what, I take it back, y’all can kill Cree now because uhhhh ruh roh

- Everyone: battling scary monsters, having moral conflicts over killing Cree Meanwhile, Widojest in the corner:  💃 (I know what they’re doing is important but the difference made me laugh lol!)

- God, Matt is so good at describing things--the way he described Cree’s face in the creature is so amazing yet spooky

- “Read in books” Or read in one specific book... that may have given them eyes...  and powers similar to what Cree is experiencing? 👀

- My heart skips a beat any time Beauyasha call each other baby <3

- HOW DO YOU WANT TO DO THIS VETH THE BRAVE?

- DUNAMANCY!!! Immovable Object was so clever, oh my god, Caleb I love you

- FJORD VETH AND ESSEK HAVE RED EYES IS THAT WHAT THE WIS SAVE IS RUH ROH 

- EVERYONE HAS AN EYE?!?! (except for Jester and Yasha, okay... I wonder how much of a role these eyes will have beyond just like... creepy aesthetic value and seemingly okay powers)

- All of them having Telepathy with each other (minus Jester and Yasha) is actually quite badass

- Essek finally admitting he’s hurt and then Matt RE emphasizing it later   😭 Heal my neutral evil NPC

- ESSEK SUGGESTING TIME TRAVEL I WILL FINALLY GET MY TIME TRAVEL ARC IF ITS THE LAST THING I DO 

- “We’re on what is essentially the largest Cadaver in history, I was born to put this shit down” CADUCEUS GO OFF, this gave me chills

- “Like I deserve all of the things that haunt me” it’s true but it makes me sad anyways

- Yes my internet cut out the first time around watching this, yes I am watching the rerun at 2am, don’t worry about it :P

- ESSEK’S NATURAL 20 I KNEW HE WOULD GET THERE EVENTUALLY AND THE FACT THAT IT’S ON A ROLL THAT COMBINES HIS PAST RESEARCH ON TIME TRAVEL WITH HELPING HIS FRIENDS....... POETIC CINEMA DARE I SAY

- it worked!!!!!!

- Mind Blank danggg! That is a smart choice I think!

- I’m glad Yussa is alive(? okay?) but big Yikes to Beau getting sliced!

- Gaudius seems so pleasant which makes them CREEPIER, also the politics of the Cognouza are so interesting, like the different relationships between everyone, I’m so curious

- YUSSA WITH A HOLE IN HIS FACE RUH ROH

- Caleb Banishing Yussa, thank goodness... also Caleb is being so Good with spells today what’s sexier than wizards....

- Beau et al. willing the flesh tunnel into existence... this place is almost like creepy body horror Alice in Wonderland?

- a FOURTH eye on caleb  😭 😭

- “Nine pulsating orbs” Are these orbs Luxon beacons or something else???

- I know the Somnovem are saying important things right now but I’m just so entranced by Matt’s voice

- Proto realm? Hmmmmmm “About to be born” don’t like that either

- LUCIEN???

- NOT A FLESH THRONE. HOLY SHIT. HIS AESTHETICS ARE ON POINT I’LL GIVE HIM THAT

- I keep expecting Matt to end the episode but I don’t want it to end dfgfhjkl

- WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE INTUIT CHARGES HELLO????

- Another short episode this week! (Funny that we can call three hours as “short”!) But oh my goodness this was such a good episode, and I was on my toes for so much of it... I genuinely feel like I’m about to go FERAL over here because we got: Almost all of the Mighty Nein (including Essek) with eyes, Cree battle/death, time travel, Somnovem lore, freeing Yussa,Lucien doing whatever tf he just did.... this is gonna be a lot to process

- BUT until next week... I love you all so very very much. Is it Thursday yet?

[jeannedarkterraguard]

Exandria unlimited episode 2 thoughts:

-matts glitter beard🤣

-are we getting an ankheg as a team pet?

-combat already

-Arthur seems wierdly into this

-and fearne seem very interested in opals rope skills😳

-lisa just said that vex and vax are also from byroden so this new information makes vex automatically my favorite character of vox machina... granted i only watched one episode so far but still...

-oh my god the fact that aimee thought she just made up a spider queen and everyone just goes: "Oh yeah Lolth"

-"we're a chaotic group" really matt? You just realised that now?

-ha! i've watched one episode of campaign 1 now i know who keyleth is!

-"i feel like the ashari are closer" than the feywild? Yeah! i would hope so!

-ok, i think we can all agree that bananas are an inherently chaotic fruit but i refuse to believe that grapes are in any way good-alligned. They are obviously lawful-evil... can you tell that i don’t like grapes?

-Opal arguing with ted... why does this sound like every argument i ever had with my sister?

-”You guys left a baby in a prison?” i mean... that’s technically not wrong...

-Athlete’s foot... really? that’s the best you could come up with?

-oh my god this whole conversation sounds like they’re about to go to the elemental plane of fire... hopefully they don’t bring a four-year-old this time...

-”we actually know very little” listen... i know she meant the whole crater thing but this sentence could sum up pretty much everything that’s happened so far

-i love that fearne just noticed an earthquake and didn’t tell anyone about it. like “eh, it’s probably nothing”

-”we volunteered for five minutes and the sky is on fire” at this point i could just quote everything that leaves the mouths of these idiots

-HE TOUCHED THE CROWN!!!!!

-unending breath. air genasi. we finally know all the races, subraces and (where applicable) subclasses for sure... also that was really clever

-opal: “well I can’t be alone” i feel like none of you guys can be left alone...

-holy shit! that map is... cool but probably a nightmare to clean up.

-kansas is in tal’dorei apparently

-so that’s now the second time a warlock pissed their patron off and got their powers taken away... why does this keep happening?

-”she want’s me to appologize but i’m not going to” yep another direct quote from at least one argument between my sister and me

-ASHHOLE?!?

-Inspiration? No Aabria don’t encourage this

-you know. i thought “it can’t be that hard to say ‘fist the ashhole’ with a straight face” but lisa and i have been trying for five minutes now and actually had to give up and rewind because we just can’t... we’re 27... this is the humour of a twelve year old

-”What’s the goal here?” we’re three and a half hours into the episode and NOW you ask?

-she wants to go into the ashhole? this is just cognouza all over again

-INITIATIVE!!!

-hey! dariax finally gets to fight mister!

-mister’s back!!!!

-Dariax no!

-okay, opal making sure that ted is listening just to apologize to mister for throwing a dagger at him is both hillarious and relatable

-come on matt you’ve played this game before you know you should never ask “what did we learn” best case scenario: nothing. worst case scenario (to qoute lisas babarian in our last campaign): we learned what the inside of our monk looks like.

-i wish i could show you guys how exited lisa just got when aabria mentioned this gilmore because honestly there are no words to describe it. like i’ve known her for 20 years and i’ve never seen her this exited about a show before

-opal is definitely gonna get herself killed if she keeps this up. not all NPCs are gonna be this... calm?... i still love her though

[songofwizardry]

long critical role thoughts post time again! spoilers for c2e136 under the cut. also it's been like six weeks since I last did this, damn. moving house will do that to you.

so like of all the abilities for the two humans to get, I will say getting darkvision is a pretty good one

okay so I feel like fandom figured out that Caleb had seen the Traveller the last couple times, but sorry. the WEASEL. artagan is fucking SPRINKLE? that I. did not see coming. at fucking all.

says a lot about this episode that this reveal stopped being the focus so quickly holy shit a lot happens

oh AND telepathic communication! I was expecting this possibility, but I was really surprised by how well it was done/how cool I found it.

love Caleb's 31 arcana check

"transmutation merged with dunamancy... with elements of temporal alteration" right so at this point I was just :o all the way

and the Primal Artifact is the Luxon, right? cool cool cool

way back, I remember Caleb's research and him saying that maybe Aeor had time travel magic. I also remember Beau's theorising about the Luxon coming from Aeor. I was FULLY not expecting both those fucking theories to be confirmed so fully in this arc!!! what the fuck Matt!!

also this is the second or third time the wizards have had cool magic bonding time (TM) in Aeor and I love it.

Jester: "does that mean what I think it means? is he coming on to you?" / Caleb: "what do you think it means?" / "I think he's coming on to you!" / "... it's complicated." y'all my shadowgast heart is THRIVING

love how Veth keeps suggesting marine layer right now, and within a little while they are going to be surrounded by entirely natural fog

the entire CHAOS plan of throwing the cellabone/using mage hand/not using mage hand/just walking away is peak D&D

the intuit charge took me COMPLETELY by surprise, but holy shit, such a good move. also, I had completely not grasped just how much damage those deal when they were previously talking about them/using them against the tomb takers! seeing Matt roll for that damage was very revealing (and fuckin terrifying)

also made me realise that using them against the tomb takers was a brilliant idea, you go mighty nein

I don't know the stats for the intuit charges, but I was very relieved that they could be dispelled with a fourth level. I was very concerned that it wouldn't be the case

aaaand Lucien is here!

veth: "here's my plan, we're all cows." I mean, sheep-leb did happen so close enough?

Lucien is a smooooth charismatic fucker. like, he's such a good smooth talker cult-leader asshole archetype, and I am really enjoying how he's played.

the TWITCH at "circus man" what is going on Matthew Mercer??? I need to know!

I was... actually quite surprised that Lucien didn't set off the intuit charges as he left, or close the portal, or something. like, what is his game here? does he really just want an 'audience' that bad? or did he need to get back through the portal and so couldn't close it?

idk how travel in the astral sea works but I'm assuming there's a reason he had to get through a portal buried deep in a dangerous ruin, and not just show up in the astral sea another way

idk I was just expecting the other shoe to drop, not really expecting Lucien to flat out invite them to follow and be his audience... but upon thinking about it, that's sorta been his style through the whole thing, hasn't it?

aand fighting an elemental!

the sheep puns were the best tbh, as was the image of a sheep floating through the astral sea

it's also really fun to see Essek in combat and get a better idea of what his capabilities are

I was fully expecting the episode to end with them just being in the astral sea, but NOPE we get a fucking chilling description of Cognouza, AND we get creepy voices in Beau and Caleb's heads!

they are in the literal astral sea y'all I have no idea where we go from here but I am very hyped. the next episode is gonna be something huh.

[dndeed]

Crit Role Miniature Rollout: C2E138

With Andrew Harshman

An archive and review of the minis used on CR.

An immensely exciting episode indeed. So many clutch spellcasting moments. Too good, too good. Also, loads of good miniature action. Let’s check it out!

Do ya like tabletops? Do ya like gaming? Do ya wanna put some gaming mats on those tabletops? Of course you do! Well then go to matsbymars.com and use my code DNDEED0621 for 10% off your entire MBM order.

Intuit charges? I hope you brought enough for the whole class! -it’s time for Crit Role Miniature Rollout Campaign 2 Epsiode 138!

The List

Mats by Mars custom “Cognouza” mat

Chest and Trove 5E Condition Rings

Dwarven Forge Caverns

Dwarven Forge Caverns Chasm Pack

Dwarven Forge Wicked Cavern Pack

Dwarven Forge Caverns Stalagmite Pack

Dwarven Forge Dungeons of Doom

Dwarven Forge Dungeons of Doom Ledges

Dwarven Forge Ladders

Dwarven Forge Epic Stairs

WarLock Tiles: Summoning Circle

Dwarven Forge Castle Cube Spacers

Steamforged Mighty Nein Miniatures

Resin Printed Veth Model (not publicly available)

Eldritch Foundry Essek Painted by Iron Tusk Painting

D&D: Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures: Giant Ape

Waterdeep Dragon Heist #021b Wererat

Darklands Rising #45 Fleshwarp, Irnakurse

The Terrain

Two top quality maps in this session. It was cool seeing a Threshold Crest chamber again, but in a more distressed and ruined state. Both maps were made to look uniquely alien by the inclusion of a custom Mats by Mars “Cognouza” mat design peaking out from below both map layouts. Very handsome, very striking!

The Monsters

Cree Waterdeep Dragon Heist #021b Wererat Mini photos sourced from minisgallery.com

Cree has inexplicitly changed miniatures (and fur color). Previously represented with Tomb of Annihilation #021b Tabaxi Hunter (pictured on the right). The Wererat is not an especially good model, but it’s acceptable. Despite being modelled to look like a rat, this mini makes a fairly solid tabaxi.  

Also Cree Darklands Rising #45 Fleshwarp, Irnakurse Mini photo sourced from paizo.com

Serious 80s horror practical effects aesthetic. Wow. Quite. A. Model. And get a load of that great paint. Very gnarly, amazing table presence. Quite the design, of course it’s a Pathfinder mini. Well done Paizo and Wizkids. Disgustingly splendid monster.

Closing Thoughts and Predictions

I am pumped for this next CR ep. That last scene was positively riveting! See ya next sesh!

#critroleminiaturerollout

[grayintogreen]

Critical Role Fic Masterlist [August 1st-August 31st]

WOOF. What a month. Not an exceptionally great one for Ye Olde Depression, but I guess I went the Hemmingway in dealing with it. I found a neat word tracking app, but I only started it midway through the month, but just from HALF the month, I racked up 50k+ words. ...Yeah.

Anyway! For the record, I’m separating out the flashfic featured in paper moon and tinsel stars here on my masterlist for ease of access for people who might only want to read specific ships/characters, since the anthology is, uh, poorly organized. I like titles. It’s a thing.

This was also the month of the Tombtaker Hostage Situation and 90% of my bad things happen bingo prompts. I’m doing Whumptober next month so maybe I’ll cool it on the dark stuff in September (probably not).

LET’S GET TO IT, SHALL WE?

SHIPPY FICS

Creecien (Cree/Lucien)

and the heat only goes where you tell it to go. (E, MIND THE TAGS, 4955 words). The Mighty Nein fail to beat the Tombtakers to Cognouza. It still doesn’t really go well for them. Also monsterfucking. But seriously, mind the tags. It’s dark.

he’ll never know how much you’ve done. (T, 2896 words). Cree and Lucien, pre-canon. Getting your wounds tended because you used Life Transference on your stupid asshole crush and he is an oblivious dick.

this story’s yours and this story’s mine. (G, 2679 words). Tinytakers!! Baby Cree has some deep-rooted psychological issues. Lucien is Lucien even at thirteen. 

and i shall give you sparks that blaze as hot as any fire. (E, 3686 words) ‘Tis the month of Creecien smut. (No really). Cree’s wavering in the wake of the other Tombtakers’ deaths so Lucien bangs her in front of the Immensus Gate. WITH RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM.

i need to touch a holy place. (E, 3546 words). I TOLD YOU. This is the missing sex scene from this church takes no conversions. I don’t know who the target audience for this is. I guess it’s me.

Widomauk (Mollymauk/Caleb)

i have been the source of all the troubles we have known. (T, 3508 words). Molly comes back after the fight with Lucien and he’s not okay. At all. 

and he’ll laugh when your troubles are gone. (G, 2613 words). Caleb and Molly go to a flea market. IT’S JUST SHAMELESS FLUFF. I CAN WRITE THAT SOMETIMES.

Lucigast (Lucien/Caleb)

guard your eggshell heart. (T, 1910 words). Part of the Earthquake Weather series. Scourgers get the jump on the Tombtakers and Lucien is none too pleased about it.

in the dreaming trees. (T, 2469 words) Part of the Earthquake Weather series. Caleb accidentally dreamshares in the Tombtaker Discord Chat and things escalate. You may see this one again, because I promised the porn continuation at some point. And I keep my promises.

the scourge of cabin boys and kings. (T, 2856 words) Part of the Earthquake Weather series. Caleb and Lucien discuss scars. And Lucien cannot get this damn wizard under his thumb.

Other Ships

spread your wings and show me quick. (G, 744 words) Astrid/Jester. Jester teaches Astrid how to ice skate.

mad science love song. (G, 808 words ) Yeza/Essek. Yeza asks for Essek’s help tinkering. Trust ensues.

GEN FICS

wounded in an accidental war. (T, 1348 words). Beau gets injured by Molly due to a wayward Charm Person. Bonding, guilt, and wound care ensues.

and the choir sings hallelujah to a god i will not observe. (T, 1999 words). Yasha gets left behind on Cognouza to deal with Lucien alone until the Mighty Nein can save her. Turns out she’s more than capable of ruining his day alone. (CW: Self-harm, ritual bloodletting)

by the flicker of their fire. (T, 1737 words) Another part of my TOTALLY ACCIDENTAL “Tombtaker Hostage Situation” series I ended up writing this month. Caleb gets left behind in 123. He’s a very disagreeable hostage.

what the promised land would promise me. (T, 3169 words). The Intuit Charge massacre from the Tombtakers’ perspective.

too rough for the soft way. (T, 2656 words). Beau and Lucien get snowed in and “bond.” Kinda.

but we’re so much more than that old, bitter law. (T, 1721 words). The Empire Siblings deal with the consequences of fighting power and oppression, but at least they have each other.

even the sky bleeds twilight. (T, 1927 words). In which Lucien murders Vess DeRogna. That’s it. That’s the fic.

against the devil’s own roulette. (T, 2860 words). Brand of Castigation is a bitch and now it’s Fjord’s turn for a Tombtaker Hostage Situation(TM). Good thing he’s good at honeypots. Kinda.

a generation sacrificed in self-defense. (T, 3230 words). Astrid asks Caleb and Beau to facilitate her taking back the night on Trent Ikithon without murdering him. Cue the torturerer getting a little bit of torture right back. And Astrid invents a new spell! Yay! (Yay?)

every moment changes lifetimes (even moments we regret). (T, 789 words). That moment at the T-Dock was not the first time Caleb had to make the same difficult choice.

this is a song of fingers pointing, casting shame. (T, 2827 words) Beau makes friends with Astrid and Eadwulf. They have a lot in common, after all.

the coyotes know her name. (T, 2561 words). Jester gets a successful divine intervention. Artagan uses it as an excuse to cause problems on purpose.

bind me, break me, can you take me (T, 2456 words). Beau gets left behind with the Tombtakers and discovers an unexpected ally. 

you’re my canvas (better yet, dear, you’re my muse) (T, 1616 words) Beau and Molly get high in the Blooming Grove and Molly finds out about her tattoo.

trickster’s silken ribbon. (G, 901 words). Fearne meets Artagan as she enters the Material Plane for the first time.

we keep our tribal secrets and we recognize our own. (G, 922 words) Threeleaf AU. Caduceus observes a sibling brawl between the Threeleafs.

close your eyes and let me in. (G, 1194 words) Set in the Doppelganger’s Song universe. Molly convinces Lucien to let him braid his hair.

if you would curry my favor. (G, 735 words) Threeleaf AU. Molly and Kingsley attempt to get their brother a date because he is the worst.

so this is what i’ve known of love (G, 707 words) Caduceus embraces the chaos of his two families meeting... within reason.

[readbythestarlight]

c2e114

Oh my GOD

Matt is Artagan

Travis is Orli (complete with bagpipes that sound like a kazoo and I can’t breathe)

Laura is The Gentleman

Liam is.....?? Astrid?? I would never have guessed

SAM omg. Kiri!!

ASHELY IS HENRY CRABGRASS

Taliesin is Zenoth okay lovely hair

Marisha is... Lady Celia aksjaksjska with her CENSORED hand

[[MORE]]

Sam stop

Latex Dork huh

I don’t even want to know xD

Yes! That’s so cool I’m so proud of them for starting yet another branch of the company

lol Cad "I don’t have time for that" Cad

THE BOY IS ACE

THE BOY IS ARO-ACE?

Love it

lol Yasha

I’m only like vaguely following this tonight and I feel like I’m probably missing something important

I like this guy and his cool battle wheelchair

Inside huh

Looting okay so

Oh

He can see her?

Oh fuck

It IS Lucian

I mean I knew but

"Follow her"??

"I see many things with nine eyes"

Where is he?? And who is he following??

"Once more I have what she took from

me" WHO??

WHAT IS HAPPENIIIIIING

Oh wait

THE book

What if Lucian is an old old consecuted soul who has gone mad

lmao poor Taliesin

Alpha and alpha—two A’s? Beginning and beginning?

And what/where is home? The crazy flying nightmare city??

Jester’s frustration about the book akaksjsks

Also I just realized if Lucian stole that from Ves then that means he’s THERE

NOW

WHERE THEY ARE

AND THEY JUST WENT TO BED

Watching Beau and Yasha interact is almost painful at this point

Oh we’re having the deep discussion now okay

That’s good

OH MY GOD

A POEM

OH GOD

OH

GUYS

ITS HAPPENING

ITS HAPPENING

"You wrote me a poem"

"Yeah"

THE ROMANCE

goddddd

"nooneseverwrittenmeapoembefore"

"Well... they should’ve."

Y’ALL

Ves isn’t downstairs because she’s busy freaking about her book being stolen

Seeee this is why y’all shouldn’t have gone to bed

Yaaaas Fjord intimidate them

YAAAAS

See if y’all had just bothered to use your collective 3 brain cells last night smh

I TOLD YOU HE WAS THERE

YOU DUMBASSES

god

Oh my god

He totally BLOOD HUNTED HER

Holy SHIT

oh my god this turned dark REAL fast

I kid you not every dog in my neighborhood just started howling irl

Guys just tell them the truth like

Nobody’s gonna assume you killed her rn and hiding it will only make it worse

Wait

She had them always??

SHES PART OF THEM??

Why are y’all trying to HIDE this??

Morons

They’re not using any of the brain cells rn

Okay okay

“They are my connection. They are my right to be... nonagon.”

Spooky af

“Something found. Something wasted on those who discovered it. Something I was so close to unlocking.” Don’t like THAT.

Doesn’t know what the phrase means.

Pieces of where the city is scattered, fuck.

Yes do tell us wtf a nonagon is

“Nonagon is a vessel. It is a key to Cognouza. It is the one to free the Somnoven.”

WHAT the fuck does that mean??

YES Taliesin GOOD question

“I’m the one who did it” FUCK

HOLY SHIT

What are the odds that four of them have a history with strange women (Caleb, Veth, Beau, Molly) and Veth and Beau were the same but the other two are obviously different

Like what are the odds of that similarity between all their backstories??

Anyway I’m still not sure why they’re hiding the body and hiding the fact that she was just murdered

Anyway I did NOT see that coming, I knew he was in her room but I didn’t think she’d be dead and I didn’t think she’d also be nonagon so

Wild

[nekrosmos]

15, 25, 29 for CR campaign 2 ask!!

Thank you so much Anon !!

15. Ship you lost interest in

I used to like Molly / Caleb a lot at the beginning of the campaign, but then one died and Essek happened ;v; Still a good ship though !

25. Favorite PC ability

Okay, you know that fight they had a long time ago in which Fjord cast blink and the blink kept fucking up his turns? This was hilarious and I wish we saw Fjord using blink a bit more because of it. Also his thunder step spell, OOF

29. Favorite deity interaction?

The first dreams Fjord had at the beginning of the campaign where reaaaaally cool, but also all that body horror in Cognouza was dope, if that counts.