#idk I just miss Laudna

[paperglader]

Can I just say that it’s been months since the laudna resurrection arch and I am still a true resurrection laudna truther….

And now we’re days away from the biggest fight in the campaign so far, we’re all pretty sure that there’s going to be some big deaths happening and keyleth’s going to be right there… it’s all feeling a bit too familiar. The implications of it all…

I’m just putting it out there.

[weaseltotheface]

Wonder if ill ever actually catch up with cr

[depresseddepot]

C3e38

[septembermonologues]

bestie....I need your thoughts on the braius dorian (and orym at the end) flirtation going on in the live show ep

okay oomfie ive come running sweating and panting to answer this as soon as i got to the bows!

i dont want to not be fun but i really think it was sam being sam (with all the love and affection in my heart im so happy to have him back ive missed this exact energy so much) and i think anything from dorian was robbie matching sams freak as he is wont to do (see the dave matthews band ad bit). but if i set meta aside, i just dont know that dorian and orym are the type of people to be knee-jerk jealous the way imogen and laudna are so i dont really know that any particular dorym move will come from it. like if literally nothing else after traveling with him for a year, i think orym is so used to seeing people flirt with dorian and it going nowhere almost every time that idk that he would start taking it seriously now. i so genuinely just think that orym and dorian are so lost in the sauce of each other that they aren't going to get caught up in playful flirting.

[hiyaluronic]

I missed it first watch through because Laudna was yelling after Orym that the Otohan blade was bigger than him but when Orym takes the blade from the bag and heads outside Fearne hollers after that Orym shouldn’t go by himself and Imogen tells her it’s fine that Orym won’t chase after any sugar gliders.

idk it just made me chuckle 🤭

[butterflydm]

cr 106 & 107

Glad I rewatched 106, because I really did miss a lot while I feeling a bit under the weather last week, so I missed most of the actual infiltration. The main thing I remembered from last week was going "wow this is really the monsterfucker campaign" after all the flirting at Nana Morri's, lol. It really does amuse me that the entire group is so into Morri and Ira while sending shade in the direction of the gods, who apparently just needed to be more capricious and weirder and less-trustworthy in order to trigger Bells Hells' monsterfucking desires. (did the ending of 107 confirm or refute this feeling? lol)

(side note: I do feel sad for Birdie and Ollie. Given Fearne's upbringing and relative isolation, I understand why she flat-out refuses to feel that Nana Morri is capable of ever doing anything wrong or bad, but man did Birdie and Ollie get screwed over by Nana Morri)

The initial battle was quite exciting but the secondary battle was even more so. I am so glad that Imogen pulled the trigger on that second fight ("I don't want Predathos to be free!") because giving the go-ahead for the Unseelie army to help Ludinus until the Sorrowlord decides it's time to betray Ludinus genuinely would be an actual betrayal of all of the people that they just spoke to in Vasselheim (including Keyleth). I think it was Marisha/Laudna who would pointed out that they would then be responsible for killing all of those people on both sides if they did something like that.

Also: Laudna has disintegrate! Wow!

Bells Hells finally got a sign from a god that was obvious enough that they noticed it, you guys! Big moment! It only took a temple being magically being rebuilt before their eyes. Also, so excited that we're getting more from the Arch Heart here. (and so so excited about our special guest, Abubakar!). They wanted to talk to a god.

Arch Heart is like, okay, no more time for being subtle. We're playing hardball. Also, they're a total prankster, which fits, given that they're the patron of all things fey.

Also Ashton getting this direct refutation of their belief that the gods would immediately smite them if they knew that the gods had found out that they knew the truth.

So two of the gods want to "let go" (leave Exandria, presumably) while the others want to stay. "Try convincing my family to leave their children." They believe that the only way they can get the others to leave is to scare the ever-loving fuck out of them.

Abubakar's Arch Heart remains very very charming. Also I do not trust them, lol. They basically want the same thing as Fearne's daddy, don't they? Just for a different reason.

Their argument is that BH should sacrifice one of their own (Imogen or Fearne) in order to scare the rest of the god family off Exandria so that they can have their family back. Or at least that's how it sounds. "Make sacrifices for the greater good" -- but what is the greater good. That's the question that Bells Hells has to answer here.

Orym being like "idk if I think you actually have that much influence over your siblings" lol.

Also, there are way too many ??? in the Arch Heart's plans for my personal taste, but we'll see what Bells Hells thinks, I guess.

Literally everyone's plan who wants to use Predathos to do anything:

Step 1: Free Predathos

Step 2: ????

Step 3: Profit!

I haven't found any of their arguments convincing, lol.

[distant--shadow]

if you'll allow me to comment on something that i shouldn't be giving too much brainspace to, I am honestly a bit perplexed by the assignment I've seen more frequently recently of beauyasha being labelled butch4butch and imodna being femme4femme. like honestly the only person there where I'm like yeah, sure, is laudna being femme but like, the other 3 absolutely fall in different grey areas, and I really enjoy that. im definitely a bit older and of a time when butch labels etc felt more prominent and I indetified as such, and honestly it felt to me that a lot of that as an identity has been a bit on a decline, but idk I think the whole "oh she's buff so she's butch" or "she wears a dress, femme" seems a bit of h0gwarts house sorting to me and misses a lot of what we're actually given by personality and body language. obviously you can identify as one or the other and have interests or mannerisms that go against the expectations of that, but I'm pretty sure none of these women/characters ever labelled themselves as such. idk whether butch4butch beauyasha or femme4femme imodna baffles me more haha. anyway. whatever. this is for discussion not diskhorse. maybe it's just for the sake of when the two couples are being compared, but then I think just saying buff ladies vs witches etc is suffice enough, or more importantly women at different stages of dealing with their traumas and in different ways. also, if it's a case of feminity or masculinity being based on strength alone and that in term defining 'butchness' then that feels pretty lame.

[pocketgalaxies]

Hello! I hope I’m not bothering you. I just feel confused about what I keep missing in episode 63, and I’m wondering what characterization or moments of detail I’m missing out on about Orym purposely enabling Delilah’s revival, or letting it happen? I had totally misremembered and thought that Hunger of the Shadow killed Bor’dor and so Orym nodding was a “We need to do this” that had multiple interpretations and Consequences. I had always thought it was a really ill-timed “He needs to die” that happened before Laudna used Hunger to kill Bor’dor

but after rewatching the whole fight, I realized Hunger of the Shadow only knocked Bor’Dor unconscious. The failed death saves came from Prism’s punch and Wither and Bloom. And it turned out Orym’s nodding thing came after Hunger of the Shadow and Delilah’s heart started beating again and not before like I had thought, so now idk what it is that Orym did that lead to Delilah’s return? I keep rewatching the fight trying to figure it out but I’m not seeing it 😭 Liam on 4sd and Beacon discord said that after Orym clocked that Delilah was probably back he thought that Delilah would be helpful against the Vanguard (this aged well :’D), but Orym’s suspicion that Delilah returned happened as Laudna was killing Bor’Dor and got “30% scarier,” not before Laudna decision to kill Bor’Dor or Hunger of the Shadow. I’m trying just to figure out how he could have “let” the revival happen before the fact? Because it’s a common topic of discussion among critters but now idk what it’s referencing?

I guess an argument could be made that nobody stopped Laudna before she did hunger of the shadow, but again I don’t think anybody was thinking of Delilah? My personal interpretation was that on Laudna’s turn in initiative, the party simply saw Laudna attacking Bor’dor and didn’t discourage it because guy had just betrayed them and dealt 10d4 acid damage to everyone— and not because they saw any strategic benefit in Laudna attacking. When the purple eyes in the Form of Dread appeared, I had just thought that was a manifestation of Laudna’s hurt at being betrayed again and tying it to Delilah (but that’s just my interpretation). Taliesin definitely clocked that eye color, look at his face 😂 But I can’t see how the characters knew beforehand that Laudna was specifically intending to make a move that would revive Delilah? And that this was a move that was strategic to enable? And Orym didn’t even suspect Delilah until Bor’Dor’s death with wither and bloom.

Are the purple eyes why critters keep bringing up Orym? But then that has nothing to do with the Nod that is moreso getting brought up. And wouldn’t Ashton get equal mention before Ep95 aired because they both didn’t stop Laudna on her turn?

The timeline beats I’m getting are that it’s Laudna’s turn in initiative after she counterspells Bor’dor’s attempted polymorph. On her turn, she does Form of Dread wit the purple eyes then casts Hunger of the Shadow, dealing damage and knocking Bor’Dor unconscious. Then she feels Delilah reawaken within her through the heart beat.

It’s now Prism’s turn and she punches Bor’Dor, autocritting and taking off 2 death saves.

Laudna’s form has been darkening and at this point, the mourning veil appears over Laudna. Liam notes that Orym has been watching, silent. Ashton also sees all of this and drops their rage. When it’s Laudna’s choice whether to end Bor’dor, Orym nods. Laudna is barely present and is cycling through her own trauma and memories at the moment, then she makes her decision and uses Wither and Bloom to kill Bor’Dor. Familiar purple flame and green light that Ashton and Orym recognize manifests as flowers bloom and Bor’Dor form cracks and withers.

So Delilah had already been revived before Prism punched Bor’dor and Laudna dealt the last death save, so I guess I just feel confused about what is Orym’s connection to Laudna bringing back Delilah?

The nod was endorsement to kill Bor’Dor. At that point that’s what the conversation was about, whether or not Laudna was gonna kill him. Delilah had already been revived

Like yeah Orym saw some potential advantage with Delilah once he realized what had happened, but he didn’t seem to cause any of it? But it’s a point constantly brought up, so I’m feeling confused about how it happened.

Sorry this got long. I tend to ramble

hi anon, thank you for being respectful and curious in this message, instead of coming at my throat. i appreciate it more than you know! i will do my best to explain this perspective

in the time between laudna's resurrection and bor'dor's death, the presence of delilah was questionable at best. they had "sundered" her in laudna's mind palace whitestone, pike seemed to think delilah was no longer present, and delilah was completely quiet for that stretch of time. i think a lot of people were waiting for the other shoe to drop, but there was also the idea that maybe she really was gone, or at least significantly weakened.

chronologically, here's what happened during that fight. bor'dor reveals his true alliances and turns on the party. per liam's statements in 4SDx14, orym decides that bor'dor cannot be allowed to live, because of the danger that any ruby vanguard member poses to the general public and other innocent lives. laudna says this:

she casts hunger of the shadow. prism does a bit more damage. then, as bor'dor falls:

the "faint shimmer of a mourning veil" explicitly mirrors the pre-resurrection form of dread and definitively reflects delilah, suggesting that delilah's influence is visibly returning. then, liam says this:

("you just see this" is where he nods.) per liam's statements in 4SDx14, orym realizes that laudna has opened the door again for delilah to reemerge, but he also thinks, "yeah, we're gonna need that." (liam's words, not mine.)

laudna casts wither and bloom for the hdywtdt, with the following description:

please draw your attention to the statement that the world has broken her and that she was trying to keep this dormant until she couldn't anymore. she is barely there, she has lost herself. more on this later.

with this information, it's inaccurate to say that orym caused delilah to come back. she already came back, as we can see with the chronology above. i will admit that i didn't realize the nod came after the veil, and i think that's an important thing to clarify. i will also say that most of us never fucking said that he caused delilah to come back in the first place, but i digress

this is a total sidebar but i think there's also an important distinction to make between orym deciding bor'dor needs to die because he poses a danger to the civilians around him (again, per liam's statements in 4SDx14), vs. laudna deciding bor'dor needs to die because he betrayed her. one is calculated and intentional with an understanding of the big picture and its consequences. the other is deeply personal and impulsive and blind to the consequences. this could be a separate post but suffice to say i think that when you're approving of your friend killing someone, it matters why they are killing them, and it matters if their "why" is different from your "why" because it will affect them differently than it would've affected you after committing the act. because of this, it could be argued that letting laudna kill bor'dor negatively affected her psyche more than if the roles were switched and laudna let orym do it, because orym could see the bigger picture and laudna was simply coming from a place of pain. it was a huge character moment from orym, i think it's fascinating, and i don't think it was wrong from a storytelling perspective even if it could be argued either way from a morality perspective. so i'll just leave that there.

anyway, the reason this is all relevant, is because it is a reflection of what orym says in ep 95, which is "you're right. why do i need the help of some dark force?" intended to suggest that she shouldn't cast judgment upon him for using a dark weapon when she uses the dark magic given to her by delilah.

what many people have tried to bring up about this statement is the issue of choice and agency. orym picked up otohan's blade and decided it would be meaningful to him, and also empowering from a mechanical standpoint, to wield it. which is fine, for his character story! laudna might not like it, and fearne might not like it, but it's something he did, and it's interesting! but the sticking point is that such a level of intention and purpose is simply not present in laudna's story. it could be argued endlessly how much of every laudna decision is actually laudna vs. how much of it is delilah, but regardless of what you think, it is plainly true that, in the high stakes and game-changing choices, at least some part of it is always delilah.

and per marisha's description above, laudna was trying to keep that dormant within her for a long time. it wasn't until bor'dor that it was unleashed in full. and in that moment, delilah's process of overtaking laudna completely was kickstarted. that isn't to say that delilah would've never come back if bor'dor didn't die the way he did, but it is to say that it happened earlier than it otherwise would have, and it's been a slippery slope of dwindling agency and psychological power-hungry manipulation ever since then.

the point of the argument is that it doesn't feel fair when laudna says "how dare you use that dark blade," for orym to throw it back at her and say "the same way you dare to use delilah." because orym wanted to use the blade for its power no matter the cost, and orym thinks delilah is useful for those same reasons, so for him perhaps they can be equated. but when delilah came back in ep 63, laudna didn't want her to. it broke her and it happened in a moment of terrible pain and anguish after weeks of trying to keep her at bay, and she hasn't been able to stop it ever since. and she's been getting mixed messages from orym and everyone else the entire time about whether she would be more useful if she just gave in entirely. but nobody seems to like what she turns into when she gives in even a little bit. nobody seems to understand that they are gravely underestimating how corrupt and dangerous laudna will get if they let this go unchecked for the sake of gathering more power to take down ludinus.

at the end of the day we're just people who think laudna is an interesting character with a vastly complicated psyche that dictates why she made a choice like this, and we were pointing out something that orym said that felt unfair to those nuances. in response, people have been painting us out to be demonic and illiterate misogynists who are stealing away laudna's agency and blaming her entire warlock pact on orym who's just doing what's right. forget being unfair to laudna, that's unfair to the equally interesting arc that liam is creating with orym, of an ambiguously levelheaded, hypervigilant, war- and grief-driven soldier. we should all know by now that liam is not interested in making infallible characters, but you wouldn't know it based on the amount of backlash being thrown at us for pointing out that hey, maybe that one thing orym said was flawed.

anon, if you've made it this far, please continue to be kind and ask questions of others to understand their perspectives. i appreciate you.

[captainofthetidesbreath]

sometimes I think I'm only okay at D&D mechanics and then I see someone on Reddit complain that the CritRole cast played tactically the same wrt spell usage in C3 as in C2 and they complain the cast is simply "picking whatever is the most powerful option rather than whatever fits the character, unlike in C1"

which is ludicrous considering that Laudna is arguably lacking efficiency and strength in her spell list BECAUSE it is curated largely for Spooky Vibes and the Nein had THREE people who can cast Hold Person but cast it like less than ten times in 141 episodes despite it being an extremely powerful option (that OP even complained was overused).

Fjord has multiple teleportation spells when he has objectively more powerful options and took Arcane Gate over Mass Suggestion or the Investiture spells or Circle of Death or Eyebite; he got rid of Hypnotic Pattern and never took most coercive charm or enchantment spells (again, OP complained overused in C2 and C3) for character reasons, and he never swapped Gift of the Depths even when it's not useful bc, again, character vibes. Veth knows Intellect Fortress and Caleb Mind Blank for character reasons.

like actually knowing any spellcaster's spell list, it's immediately LAUGHABLE to say that any of the Nein or Hells are being played for powergaming and not character, bc individually, these lists are NOT efficient and are clearly not geared toward strength and in fact often do NOT include spells that are considered standard by powergamers.

Honestly, why am I even ranting about people on Reddit who clearly don't even know the PCs' spell lists and clearly just miss Scanlan specifically but like, idk.

[nephriteknight]

Highlights From My Bells Hells Playlist

So I have a Bells Hells playlist that has some really perfect songs if I do say so myself, and I want to talk about my choices! So here's some of my favorites. (Here is the full playlist btw, with songs ranging from word-for-word-perfect to Just The Right Vibes Idk Man)

Rule #2 - Moonlight by Fish in A Birdcage For Orym :) About a person on the moon singing to their lover on Earth. "All I want is to come home to you." Is this song about Will or about Dorian? I think it's even better because it works for both. There are lines that are for Will and lines that are for Dorian and it's all mixed up and full of longing and in light of recent confessions? Just perfectly heartbreaking. "Finally broke down / Houston, please come in / There's someone that I need to talk to / Honey, how've you been? / I miss you, my dear / There's something that I have to say" "It's good to hear your voice / I'll tell you what the world looks like from up here / there's hurricanes / and blizzards too / please stay safe and warm 'til I get to you"

Control by Halsey For Laudna. This one is very straightforward. "And all the kids cried out please stop you're scaring me / I can't help this awful energy / Goddamn right you should be scared of me / Who is in control?" The rest works pretty well too, there's more lines that feel Very Delilah, it just works.

Allies or Enemies by The Crane Wives For the whole party! I happened to get into this song right when the whole "powder keg" conversation happened, and it's only gotten more relevant. "Are we allies or enemies? This will be the death of me." It's great it's perfect it's them. "What happens now? / Do we have another go / Do we bow out / And take our seperate roads / I'll admit I've had my doubts / But I want to be let in not out" "Remember when I could tell you not to smile when you were mad / And you would always crack / And we'd both be laughing in the end? / Now you're not so quick to forget"

Moving in Place by Shauna Dean Cokeland This song is so Ashton. It's about using drugs as a teenager and feeling stagnated, blaming things on other people, drowning in daydreams where you're awesome, spending time with a group of friends you really care about.... It works quite well. (I also really recommend this song if you have ADHD/use music to stim, it's got really great overlapping vocals and kinda scratchy sound--this is the song I put on when my brain is eating itself and no other music can get through to it. It's great.) "Take me to the far side of the beach / Before it falls into the ocean / Before you notice I'm eroding / I know you don't wanna be lonely / I know 'cause I would feel the same thing" I'm having trouble picking out specific quotes because they're all really wordy and long, but trust me it works and it's a great song.

Soap by The Oh Hellos Ashton! I especially like this for Ashton and Orym (platonic or romantic both are good) but it also works for Ashton and the Hells—and once again, this song hits even harder after the shard incident. As far as picking specific lines I just want to quote like the whole song, but I'll exercise some restraint. "I've heard since I was younger / That oil and water don't mix / They're polar opposites / With a molecular rift you can't fix / But I swear with all your burnt bridges / You can leech what's caustic and find / A rudimentary lye / Some kind of miraculous bind" "Oh, no / I think I'm not quite ready / To let you circle the drain / All the things we've broken / Can be puzzled together again / All your sums and your pieces / Are enough to clean up all / The messes you've made" "I think that you're worth keeping around. I think that you're worth holding onto." "I've heard if I were tougher / Then maybe I'd make it alive / I've got a tender side / I'll need a harder shell to survive / But if seeing is believing / I don't know I've seen a thing grow / Without an open coat / Not without a softness showing / I know maybe you're not quite ready / To loosen your hold / On the safety blanket you've been keeping around your shoulders / But your sums and your pieces / Are enough to make you whole / You gotta let go" "It's gonna hurt like hell / but we're gonna be well / I'll give you my best shot" Oops I basically just quoted the whole song. But look how perfect it is!!

The Leaving of Liverpool (folk song; I like this version by The High Kings) This one's for Dorian! Specifically, for Dorian leaving :( It's an old folk song about going away from home and leaving your love behind. It's not as character specific or detail heavy, but it just feels so right for Dorian having to leaving Orym and Fearne in Jrusar. "So fare thee well my own true love, and when I return united we will be. It's not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me, but my darling, when I think of thee." My mom and I go to a Celtic Christmas concert every year, and one of the last songs is always this one. Everybody knows it, and they invite us all to join in the chorus. It's a beautiful moment, and I'm so grateful to Brian O'Donovan, the host, who passed away this year. He brought so much joy and gave so many people a piece of their home to enjoy here. He will be missed.

Canary in a Coal Mine by The Crane Wives If the title didn't clue you in, this one's for FCG! It's not just because of the mine, though, it all works really well. This song is about the 'canary', who puts so much into a relationship, doing everything to keep their partner happy and support them, but fears that when they need help themself their partner will abandon them. "Feed me promises, keep my heart well / I'll sing you songs until the darkness does recede / But if in the end I lose my voice / Will you forget about your love for me?" "Let the dirt hang heavy in your chest / Drag me deeper down the long, dark ground / Know that all my love will your breath / I will save you when your lights go out"

Bonus: A Convocation of Fauns (A Faunvocation If You Will) by the Oh Hellos Fearne. The title says it all. (It's just instrumental lol)

[primordialsneeze]

Is anyone else really.. disappointed with Critical Role wearable merch? Idk if it's an unpopular opinion or not but I just do not like 99% of the shirts and clothes they put out. There's like maybe 3 shirts that I like, and the Cadeucus cardigan, but the rest of it feels... boring? Like it's something I'd find in hot topic, or something that 12 different etsy sellers are getting off a third party website. So many of them feel weirdly familiar as well which is disappointing bc it makes everything feel so unoriginal which is the exact opposite of everything else to do with CR.

I think it's that they seem to have this fixation with minimalism and incognito stuff. I get that for a long time Dnd was a huge nerd thing that would get you ostracized and it was all very "if you get it you get it", but that's just not the case anymore. And even though they have to tread carefully and only sell CR things rather than Dnd (WotC) themed stuff I feel like they're missing SO MANY opportunities.

One of my biggest beefs is with the Gilmores Glorious Goods shirt. It's so WORDY. Which to me does NOT feel like Gilmore. The insignia on the Gilmore robe is better, but it's still so SIMPLE. Where's the flamboyance? Where's the pizzaz? Not in that shirt, that's for sure.

Another one is the Imogen denim shirt. I'll admit that it def has Imogen vibes, but it feels like it was made for one of those modern AU cosplays or something. I mean, Imogen has lightning trailing up her arms, and we're not going to do anything with that? We're just going to ignore the possibilities of lightning tiddies on a shirt? The shorts and sheer dress combo sparks NO ideas??

And what about jewelry? The Imodna ring? Laudnas rock chisel hair stick? Eyes of nine earrings or cuff links? A Sarinrae pendant? Change Bringer pendant, or Dusk Maven mask? (All of them changed in the same way they did for Sarinrae in TLoVM). Trinkets "pokeball"? Vox Machina's communication earring? A little Keychain of Ashtons hammer even? Please I am BEGGING for something that's not a graphic tee, or minimalism "If you know you know".

[paperglader]

Some imodna thoughts about the reunion:

This might be coming off from the high of watching them get back together and all, but I really don’t think they’re going to retract into themselves or regress in any big ways when it comes to their relationship (or at least, these are just the vibes that I’m getting at the moment)

I just have the feeling that because Imogen has just gotten really good influences in the form of FRIDA and Deanna, which helped her improve her confidence and in a way also sort of shined a light on how companionship can look like through romantic lenses (basically, I just think that watching everyone else couple up turned her yearning up to like 100, and I’m hoping that she’ll maybe become inspired by them, mayhaps). We know that meeting laudna and the rest of the hells, now FRIDA and Deanna too, has worked wonders on Imogen’s confidence… So, who knows? But I don’t think that she’s regressing in that sense.

Laudna, well, I think that because of what she’s been through recently she has been left feeling very scared and very small. Control is one huge thing for her, as a recurring theme throughout her life, but specially now that she’s been just separated from her friends and betrayed all in the same week. All this to say that I don’t think she’s going to want to be too far from Imogen at the moment (she believed she might’ve been dead for a whole week, which would’ve been just one more thing out of her control- now she has her close). I think she probably still is very worried about what might have happened to her whilst she was gone (she knows that Imogen had a dream when she wasn’t present) I bet that she’s really looking forward to a one on one with her to just check in and make sure that she truly is alright.

Imogen and laudna ground each other, and I just don’t think that laudna went through all that to get back to Imogen for now that she’s got her to not lean in on her fully, specially because of how beaten up she got. It’s just not the vibe I’m getting from where they’re at at their relationship… the whole reunion they just gave me the vibes that they wanted to catch up with each other privately as soon as they could and talk things through, fuss about each other (they kept whispering things to each other and motioning things to each other that they probably will want to expand on when they have more chance)

And Imogen has just missed that woman like crazy, her crush has been exposed a little bit, and honestly everything’s going to shit real quick, so I just don’t think she’s not going to lean on laudna as much as she can. When it comes to her addressing her feelings… idk Laura might be cooking something, who knows? The pot has been stirred yet again by each of the guest stars 😂 I truly think that Imogen might just blurt it out at any given moment, she’s chaotic like that.

LAUDNA’S REACTION TO THOSE FEELINGS? NOW THAT’S THE REAL QUESTION HERE (girlie has no clue, poor thing)

In summary: I think this whole arc has been another step forward when it comes to the development of their relationship!!

[oh-i-got-dibs]

Since I've had too much spare time to think about cr3 and I desperately miss Imogen and Laudna, I had a one shot/fanfic idea. Campaign is over, things are getting back to normal-ish times. Then a message from Prism. There's a lead on separating Laudna from Delilah. Fearne, Imogen, and Laudna were having a little spa day but immediately leave to meet up with Prism, who is accompanied by Deanna and Deni$e (or Opal idk they could figure it out). The journey takes them to the Shadow realm or something but anyway it's a ladies team up kicking ass, helping Laudna, celebrating new beginnings etc. I just think they should all be able to interact more and I don't think Prism or Deanna would stop looking to help Laudna and Imogen. Also I think the ladies deserve to have a one shot together.

[inconmess]

Ok. Idk who else thought about this but in all the times of thinking about Team ??? but I was just having a chat with @4persephone and it just hit both of us...

Out of the 3 of them... Orym was the only one who actually saw what went down with Ludinus. Orym was the only one who saw Ira being Banished without effort. He was the only one who saw Keyleth come down and be taken off game immediately. He was the only one who witnessed Vax protecting her as he stood aside helplessly. He was the one who knew what attempts were made to specifically stop Ludinus. He was the one who saw Imogen trying to make a deal with her mother. He was the one who saw Chetney being spiked as he tried to grapple Ludinus. He saw his near success in destroying the pack, attacking the one who had killed him and his friends and Fearne's failure. He saw Vax being converted into a Lens. He saw it power the tower and he fucking heard the whole of Ludinus' speech, had massive realisation and all that shit.

And all this while the other two were trying to take down energy sources. Ashton and Laudna know NONE of what happened up there. All they knew was Ira was going to destroy the core, probably heard that explosion, probably heard some of the fighting and... that's it. They know none of the details.

And now Orym has to recount all of this to the two of them first because they are doubly clueless on what happened when they were taking the cores out. They don't know the gravity of the situation. They don't know what Orym experienced. They are completely, utterly CLUELESS! At least team Uthodurn, everyone is on the same page of stuff. They all were seeing the same shit. Ash and Laudna don't know shit

WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THAT?

And gods forbid they run into any of the Ashari or people who know Keyleth and has to report all of it. Alone. While also processing his own trauma and the fact that the first attack was just a test run and they were just... pawns.

Now I am seriously worried for Orym... man. I won't be surprised if he dissociates or is in shock and barely able to tell the other two what happened. But the man is going to crash so hard when the adrenaline drops and I really don't know what the fuck is going to happen.

I still don't know in all these weeks of talking to what will happen to Xandis and Keyleth and Beau and Caleb and the trio in general and who they will meet and who will blow up first and what will happen and where they are... how the FUCK DID I MISS THIS DETAIL!

How are Ashton and Laudna going to fucking react to this? How is Orym going to explain it to them? Will he be able to recount coherently in the first place? Will they even believe Orym or will they still be in denial?

[conditionaljewel]

You know what?

I hope we never find out if Ashley lied about the coin flip. I hope it truly remains a mystery.

The idea of not knowing whether or not it actually came up Laudna, or if it was just Ashley choosing that narrative, or if she just couldn’t not save Orym, or whatever, will not bother me anymore because it has since played out perfectly and the story that we got from it has been beautiful and to learn anything but “the coin said Laudna” might honestly ruin the magic of it for me, I think.

Idk why but I found myself flashed forward to the C3 wrap up and somebody asking (either as a fan question or a personal question) if she lied about the flip and her giving an answer, and I decided in that moment of my own fantasy making that I didn’t want to know and shut the thought down.

Because even *if* the answer was that the coin made the choice, or even *if* Ashley just wanted to feed the Limogen Imodna story (the two answers I’d most want it to be bc Imogen and Laudna own this [my] ass), just knowing that there is an answer and a finality to it would remove the weight of that moment on every rewatch thereafter.

I even hope that it remains a mystery in-game, that there’s no hard or direct admission of deviating from the coin’s decision by Fearne, I hope the characters remain as in the dark as the players and the rest of us.

Idk these are just musings. I just really loved that story arc and think it’s perfect and want to relive it again sort of, but that’s just the longing and desperation for them to be back together talking, cuz gods I miss them.

[revvethasmythh]

(You can delete this if you want. I’m just genuinely curious.)

I don’t know if you’ve seen some of the posts but, I’m wondering if you have an opinion on some saying Essek’s appearance is over shadowing fcg’s death? And I’ve seen complaints about matt interrupting the party talking and not giving them time to slow down and process their death. I personally think we might see more of the party talking about fcg when we get to Aeor. Maybe they will find out more details of fcg’s past (if matt wants them to). Idk.

Hey, anon! I have seen some of those posts (though, to be honest, I decided to do myself a kindness this week and protect my peace from most discourse because I was having so much fun, I wasn't in the mood to ruin it). I do actually have a lot of thoughts about this, but they're not very easy to articulate. That said, my opinion here is that if anything interrupted the processing of FCG's death or overshadowed it in the immediate aftermath, it was probably the Crown Keepers cut away, which, while I understand narratively what the purpose of it was and why it happened when it did. wow. deeply unfortunate timing.

And I think the thing about this campaign that has become clear is that time is of the essence. That's an inherent aspect of being in a possibly world-ending war with a rapidly approaching deadline to save everything. I think it would be difficult in any context for them to slow down given the nature of the campaign. I also think processing the death of a loved one is not something that could ever be done in one or two slower-paced episodes--I imagine it will take time for it all to hit, and the party will be dealing with the emotional repercussion of FCG's sacrifice for the rest of the campaign in different and varied ways. And I think the way the cast is handling it right now is very well done, especially Taliesin's reactions as Ashton, and also Laudna, asking about Imahara Joe and letting Ashton decide if Keyleth should tell him or if they'd wait to do it themselves. Fearne telling Ash how sorry she is, and then comforting each other that night. Zathuda's interruption of that is actually something I give a lot of leeway to because a) it was fun, and b) I think it needed to happen then specifically to try and push Fearne to the absolute edge (and to impart some rather important plot details about Zathuda wanting Fearne to be the Vessel).

Essek being in the story right now makes sense considering what they're doing and it's a fun thing for the cast. They're reaping the rewards of everything they did for him in C2! But he's also just propelling a plot that would be propelled anyway even if he specifically wasn't there--it's just extra fun that it's Essek. And you're right, anon, that I expect the Hells will talk about FCG a lot more in Aeor and we'll see more discussion about losing them. But yeah, ultimately, no, I don't think Essek is overshadowing FCG's death or anything. Time is of the essence, the Hells can't afford to slow down, but also if they're roughing it up in Aeor we might get a lot more opportunities for the watch conversations and travel conversations that we've been missing for a while. So, in a way, Essek being there and guiding them to Aeor might actually give them more time to discuss all thing in the long-run.